Kimmychu (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} csiny_sl) wrote,@ 2007-01-11 00:55:00 |
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| Current mood: |  sleepy |
| Entry tags: | blessings, dec2006req, fanfiction |
Blessings, Part 1, request by faces_of_angels
Here's the next fic request filled! Wow, I gotta tell ya, this one turned into a GIANT of a story. It's so long, I had to cut it into two parts. I think I oughta just change the drabble request meme to the Long-Ass Stories request meme. *lol* faces_of_angels, here's your Christmas story! I hope you'll like it, as well as everyone else. :> I put waaaay more than the prompts in your request, and I hope you don't mind about that. I know you like lots of romance and, well, what happened in my story, Nine Months, so yes, Danielle is definitely in the story. My apologies for the requests being filled so slowly. Been very busy with work and life and all that. Hope you guys understand.
Fandom: CSI:NY
Author: Kimmychu
Rating: FRAO (Of the out-of-this-world kind.)
Pairing: Danny/Flack
Content Warning: Romance and schmoop up the wazoo.
Spoilers: Nothing notable. Major spoilers only for my story, Nine Months.
Summary: Flack and Danny show each other how much they mean to one another, in their own special way. A Christmas / holiday season story.
Disclaimer: Danielle belongs to me, the mischievous, adorable thing. Oh, and her daddies do too. Whaaat?
It was snowing outside, a shower of pure white.
Some of the white flakes drifted towards the windows of the living area and bonded themselves to the glass panes, like tiny, stationary stars in a sea of comets in the night. The colorful Christmas lights hung along the sides of the windows caused the snowflakes to be equally multihued. Inside the apartment, it was dim, the shadows brightened by the glare of the switched on television and a lamp beside the dark brown couch in the middle of the living room.
And at the moment, a certain homicide detective had better things to occupy himself with than stare at falling snow or watch television.
Flack was sprawled on his back on the aforementioned couch. One of his long legs was hanging off the side, while the other was touching the back of the sofa. Danny lay between them, grinding their groins together with sinuous twists of his hips. Flack would have uttered his immense appreciation of his lover’s flexibility, if it wasn’t for Danny’s lips molded to his, or Danny’s tongue dueling with his.
Danny was murmuring something under his breath. Flack couldn’t tell what it was, although the shorter man’s lips were so close they moved directly against his own.
“What are ya sayin’, babe?” Flack whispered. He planted butterfly kisses along the line of Danny’s defined lower jaw. “I can’t hear ya.”
The CSI moaned, then got onto his elbows with some reluctance. He gazed down at Flack with warm, crinkled blue eyes.
“Ya know … I kinda expected ya to be a lot older, Santa,” Danny said with heavy-lidded eyes.
Flack laughed. He glanced downwards at himself. Yep, he might have looked like the regular Santa Claus an hour or so ago, but thanks to Danny’s roving hands, he appeared more like some guy in a Santa costume doing a Christmas Playgirl photoshoot instead. The red jacket with its white fur was spread open at his sides, exposing his broad chest, flat belly and his dark blue boxers. His red trousers was unzipped, pushed down to his thighs, bunched up around his shins due to the black boots on his feet. His fake beard was probably lying somewhere on the floor behind the couch.
As for his Santa hat, it had somehow hopped from his head to the other man’s. It sat lopsided to the left, folded in the middle so the white ball of fur on its tip swung from side to side every time Danny shook his head.
“Yeah, well, the beard’s just a cover up, don’tcha know?” Flack winked at Danny. Licked his lips, casting an intense stare up at his lover.
Damn, did Danny look edible and hilariously cute with those plastic, stick-on elf ears or what.
“So am I the only elf who’s seen the real you?” Danny pouted and leaned his chin on his left palm, eyes twinkling.
Flack’s handsome face split into a wide grin.
“Lemme put it this way …” He stroked his hands across the swells of the CSI’s buttocks underneath the man’s loosened, olive green robe. “Santa always gets the best.”
Danny smirked. “Oooh, and what does Mrs. Santa have to say ‘bout that, huh?” He wriggled on top of Flack, thrusting his bottom against Flack’s hands, wordlessly encouraging the homicide detective to roam between his legs.
“Mrs. Santa’s havin’ an affair with Rudolph,” Flack said into Danny’s slender neck as he used one hand to draw the smaller man back down onto him. The other slid between their bodies, wrapping itself around Danny’s hardening erection.
“Rudolph … the red-nosed … reindeer?” Danny’s hoarse question ended with a low moan. He got onto his knees, nuzzling his face into the crook between Flack’s neck and shoulder. Now, Danny’s buttocks were up in the air, no less appealing for being covered by his robe.
“Nope.” The homicide detective began pumping his hand. “Rudolph the red-nose Russian.”
Danny let out a husky chuckle. He struggled back onto his elbows, his eyes slitted from the pleasure rippling from his groin where Flack’s hands were deftly fondling him.
“Well, that … that explains … a lot.” The CSI laughed once more, then gasped loud. “Oh, fuck -”
It was Flack’s turn to chuckle. He rubbed his thumb hard against the underside of the shorter man‘s cock a second time, beneath the head. It was one of Danny‘s most sensitive erogenous spots, he knew that. “That felt good, huh?”
Danny groaned into his neck.
Flack could feel Danny’s thighs trembling. He ran his free hand up Danny’s lower back to his shoulder blades under the man’s robe, reveling in the feel of smooth skin. He closed his eyes and planted a kiss on Danny’s bristly cheek. God, he’d missed his lover like crazy. Two weeks of scarcely seeing each other due to working overtime on separate cases had felt like two eons.
“Don … I -”
A gurgle and a faint cry suddenly filled the air of the living area.
In an instant, Danny shot to a sitting position, the taller man’s hands hidden under folds of green cloth between his legs. The Santa hat virtually flew off the smaller detective’s head and onto the floor somewhere past Flack’s feet and the sofa. His right shoulder became bared as the robe slipped open.
“Did ya hear that?” Danny asked, his eyes sharp and alert.
“Yeah. I think I did.”
Both men revolved their heads in unison to look at the baby monitor on the low table in front of the couch. The walkie-talkie device shaped like a teddy bear didn’t emit any more sounds, and they waited in silence for a few moments to see if they had only been hearing things.
Eight seconds ticked by.
Then, the baby monitor crackled indistinctly. The sound of a baby’s wail emanating from it was irrefutable.
“Danielle,” Danny murmured. He slid off the sofa onto his feet, rearranging and tying his robe close with the cloth belt around the waist. “Maybe she had a bad dream or somethin’.”
“Do six-month-old babies have dreams?” Flack pushed himself upright and started to button up his jacket as well as pull up his pants. He yanked off his boots. They were getting somewhat uncomfortable.
The CSI was already striding across the living room towards the closed door of their baby girl’s bedroom. Danny glanced back at Flack and simply sent him a small grin. Added with the plastic elf ears still stuck to the guy’s ears, the impish smile made Flack blink a couple of times. Geez, perhaps Danny had been a real elf in a past life or something.
By the time the homicide detective had redressed himself and reached Danielle’s half-open bedroom door, Danny had their daughter cuddled tight in his arms. A single lamp in the corner of the room radiated a warm orange glow onto the toys left on the floor, the baby cot, as well as the walls that were covered in an endearing wallpaper of various baby animals.
“Hey, sweetie … it’s okay.” Danny gently tugged the pastel-colored blanket closer around the fidgeting dark-haired baby. “I’m here.”
Danielle’s discontented burbles dwindled into silence when Danny sat in the white rocking chair next to the crib. With one push at the carpeted floor using his toes, he got the chair moving back and forth at a languid pace.
“Ya like that, huh?” Danny chuckled, closing his eyes for a second as Danielle rubbed at his upper face with a small, chubby hand. She giggled back, and stretched out her other hand to pat Danny’s cheeks instead.
Flack propped himself against the doorway, hushed, a loving smile etched on his handsome features. He noticed that the stick-on elf ears were gone from Danny’s real ones.
Something inside his chest clenched at the sight of the other man placing raspberry kisses on their baby girl’s tiny hands and fingers. It was such a forceful feeling that he had to hold his breath and grip at the door knob until his knuckles were white.
“Oh, I see, ya just wanted a cuddle,” Danny murmured, caressing his daughter’s round, rosy cheeks with a forefinger.
Danielle just burbled her baby talk and smiled.
“Ya cry so little,” Danny continued in a mellifluous tone. “I know I shouldn’t even complain ‘bout that, but it gets me worried sometimes, ya know?” He sighed. “Sometimes I think I’m the one who’s got separation anxiety instead.”
The ends of Flack’s lips curled up in an empathetic smile. His lover wasn’t the only one who became anxious and vexed at the mere thought of being parted from their little girl.
Danielle gurgled some more, her large, blue eyes widening in attentiveness. She touched Danny’s goateed chin with the tip of her fingers.
“I know, I know, you’re a special little girl.” Danny’s own blue eyes crinkled in great fondness. “Maybe someday, I’ll tell ya ‘bout them one-eyed, green aliens from some galaxy far, far away. Yer daddy and I would never have had ya if it wasn’t for them. Imagine that, huh?”
Flack couldn’t help grinning upon being reminded of those very aliens who set the course to his present life over a year ago. If he remembered right, they called themselves the Deeediifriicks or something like that, and that they came from some galaxy called the Toookseeeaas-Ai galaxy. How he managed to remember that didn’t really surprise him.
It wasn’t every day that he got paid a visit by one-eyed, eight-armed extraterrestrials with green skin who got his boyfriend pregnant, thanks to some baby-making invention of theirs.
“Did ya enjoy yerself at the YMCA tonight, hmm?” Danny murmured to their baby. “Daddy was great as Santa Claus, wasn’t he? Givin’ out all those gifts to those kids … The only reason I haven’t strangled him tonight is because I got to see Stella and Hawkes in elf suits too.”
Danielle giggled loudly at that.
Flack had to bite his lower lip to stay quiet. He still couldn’t believe Danny actually caved in and went along with him to the YMCA, garbed as one of Santa’s elves. Pointy hat, shoes, ears and all. He couldn’t even think about the dark green tights without wanting to explode in manic laughter. Nevertheless, he had to admit Danny had the legs and butt to pull them off with style. Even Stella, who looked amazing in the same costume, agreed on that. Hawkes didn’t look too bad in the attire either.
The homicide detective carried on watching his other half and their daughter from where he stood at the doorway. He was certain that Danny knew he was there, but for some reason, he was very hesitant to enter the room. It was rare to see the shorter detective so calm and at peace. Yet another perfect moment in time for him to add to his mental rolodex of memories filled with love.
Danielle’s eyelids were beginning to flutter. Danny was holding one of her hands between his fingers, stroking it with his thumb. The rocking chair continued to move back and forth, the motion maintained by Danny’s bare feet pushing at the floor.
Danny was silent for a while before speaking in a muted timbre once more.
“We got all the Christmas presents ready under the tree for everybody comin’ over tomorrow … but ya know what?” The CSI lightly tapped Danielle on her small, pert nose. “You’re the best Christmas gift I’ll ever have.”
The dark-haired, blue-eyed baby sent Danny a huge, toothless grin, and babbled something inarticulate in a high-pitched voice. He returned the smile, then lifted her up to kiss her on her forehead.
“I love you too,” Danny whispered while he nuzzled one plump cheek. “Yes, I do.”
Flack had to blink numerous times to clear his vision.
It was some time before the homicide detective came into the bedroom, once Danny had tucked a somnolent Danielle back into her beige-colored cot. He wrapped his arms around the shorter man from behind, breathing in the scent of Danny’s freshly washed hair.
“Strangle me, huh?” Flack said with a smile into Danny’s hair.
“I don’t wear a freakin’ elf suit for just anybody, ya know,” Danny answered, his attractive face livened up by a smirk.
Flack tightened his embrace. “Well, then, I oughta take that as a compliment, hmm?”
Danny snickered mildly in reply.
They stood together as one beside the wooden crib, watching Danielle’s big, blue eyes close in slumber. Then, Flack reached into the cot to stroke her round head and ruffle the fine, silky curls there. His visage broke into a broad smile, as it always did whenever he got to express his affection for his baby girl. Heh, she certainly inherited his hair.
He stroked her cheek, marveling at the smoothness and vibrancy beneath his fingers. It was indescribable how much strength and hope infused his very being just by the sight and smell and touch of his daughter. One look, one smile, and he had the power to conquer the whole universe.
Flack drew in a deep breath.
It was true.
He was the luckiest son of a gun in existence.
“I used to be so mad at my mom for being clingy,” Danny said. “She would watch over me all the time, and ask me what I was doin’ and whether I was okay and all that.”
Flack straightened up and turned to face the other man. He waited for Danny to continue, content to stare at the CSI’s unguarded features.
Danny chuckled to himself. “It used to drive me nuts. I kept thinkin’ I had to be the only boy in the world who had such an overprotective mom. Even my dad got that way sometimes. Or maybe it was because I was the younger son and Louie … well.” He kept gazing down at their sleeping baby, appearing to be lost in contemplation. “When I became a teenager, I got even more annoyed by it, ya know?” He shrugged. “I was a man already. Didn’t need mommy to look out for me, could take care of myself just fine. But back then …”
The homicide detective enveloped his arms around Danny again. He kissed Danny once on the forehead. “But back then what?”
Danny leaned into the hug, nestling his face into Flack’s long neck. Flack heard him sigh.
“Back then … I didn’t have a child of my own, did I?”
Flack smiled into Danny’s tousled hair. “And now?”
A minute passed in comfortable silence. Flack rubbed the shorter man‘s back, waiting for a reply. He was a patient guy. He knew it was never easy for Danny to be forthright about his innermost thoughts, even to him. It had taken years just for them to come clean with each other about their feelings. Didn’t help either that Danny used to be so paranoid about the other CSIs learning about their relationship. It had all abruptly come out into the light when Stella and Hawkes discovered Danny was pregnant by means that were truly out of this world.
And against every likelihood, the rest of the team were accepting of their relationship, including the new girl from Montana. She had been the last one to know about Danielle, but she had no hard feelings about it. Danielle had a way of winning over the hearts of everything that got within her range. Everything.
Danny enclosed his own arms around Flack’s waist.
“Now … I know how my parents feel ‘bout me.”
Flack squeezed the other man closer to him in a bear hug. He didn’t say anything. Danny had already spoken for the both of them.
“You’re gonna love this.” Flack took out the shimmering disc from its plastic casing and placed it into the tray of the DVD player. “And by the way, you owe me ten bucks.”
Danny let out a surprised laugh. “What? How’s that so?”
Flack glanced back at the CSI who lounged on the couch, and grinned. “We made a bet that I couldn’t get a fireplace in here, right?”
“Uh huh.” Danny crossed his arms over his chest, smirking. “A lit fireplace.” He made a dramatic display of turning his head from side to side and even behind him, searching for the elusive fireplace. “Well. I sure don’t see any fireplace ‘round, Don. Seems to me like you owe me ten bucks.”
The homicide detective sniggered. Oh, Danny had no clue he’d already lost the bet.
“Ohhh, it’s here, alright,” Flack said in a low voice.
He pressed the play button.
The television screen went black for a second. Then, it flickered to life again.
Flack pivoted around to see Danny’s reaction to what was playing on the screen.
The shorter detective’s blue eyes were wide, and so was his mouth, shaped in a large ‘O’.
“What the -”
One moment, Danny was inclined forward and staring at the television like it was the Holy Grail. The next moment, he was hurling himself back onto the sofa, laughing his head off in amusement to the point he was grabbing at his sides and kicking his legs.
“What did I tell ya, huh?” Flack rested his fists on his hips, holding his head up high in a pose of victory. He felt warm and tingly even though his blue boxers was his sole piece of worn clothing. It was nice that their apartment’s heating was fantastic. “The ten bucks is mine, Messer.”
“That’s - that’s cheatin’!” Danny forced out between laughs. He had gone from a sitting position to being curled up on his side on the cushions, shoulders still shaking. “That’s just a video of a fireplace! Cheatin’!”
Flack studied the looping movie of the Victorian-like fireplace with its orange-yellow flames on the screen, then looked at Danny and said, “And yer point is?”
“It doesn’t count!” Danny was grinning.
“Never said anythin’ ‘bout it bein’ a real fireplace.” Flack made a smug face. “Ah haaaaah.”
That got Danny laughing once more, which got Flack chortling too. The CSI’s laughter was mighty contagious. Especially when all the guy was wearing was his robe. And it was slipping off his shoulders and bunching up around his arms because he was wriggling around on the couch so much.
“Yeah, I’m the King of Loop Holes, baaaaaabeee!” Flack said even as he dived towards the couch, intent on prolonging Danny’s cheerful mood as much as possible. He landed on the other man with an, “Oof!”, and Danny succeeded in poking him in the sides a few times before he seized Danny’s wrists and immobilized the guy with his hands and weight. He made sure he stayed on his elbows so he wouldn’t outright flatten Danny.
“Think you’re so smart, don’tcha?” Danny asked in a throaty voice from under him, gazing up at him with those bright, large eyes.
“Oh, yeah. Don’t forget handsome, strong, sexy, intelli-”
Flack’s words became garbled when Danny dragged his head down to kiss him. The smaller man’s lips were firm and moist from their earlier kissing marathons, and Flack could taste hints of the caramel dessert they ate about ten minutes ago. Part of the majestic organ called his brain pondered the juicy idea of slathering Danny all over with the sweet stuff and then licking it all off in some … licking game.
Mmmm. That was a nice idea.
As long as Danny shaved off the chest hair, that is. Who knew how difficult it was to get something like caramel out of hair.
He must have released Danny’s wrists, since the man had his arms around his waist now, and was nuzzling his face, neck and chest like a cat. Ahh, Danny wanted to cuddle first. Flack smirked inwardly, rolling them over so he was the one lying on his back on the sofa and Danny was lying on top of him. It was pure irony, just pure irony that his lover would behave like the one animal he was allergic to.
“Thought ya didn’t cuddle,” Flack said with an outward smirk this time.
Danny lightly nipped him on the collarbone with his teeth. “You gonna keep askin’ me that every time?”
The homicide detective snickered. “I just think it’s real funny ya actually said it out loud that ya didn’t cuddle to Stella.”
“Yeah, so I did.”
Flack could tell Danny was smiling into his neck. “Uh huh. And what are we doin’ here ’xactly?”
“ … never said anythin’ ‘bout not cuddlin’ with you.”
Danny had said it in such a soft tone, he almost didn’t hear it. However, the grin that threatened to split his mien was evident proof he did.
The taller detective ruffled Danny’s hair, and they lay intertwined on the couch, basking in each other’s presence. As they did so, Flack took the chance to scrutinize the ornately decorated Christmas tree near the television.
It wasn’t a huge tree, but it was just right. Iridescent green leaves, the classic, long triangle shape, with a tip that held up a shiny yellow star. Danny had gone nuts with the ornamentation that afternoon, covering the tree from top to bottom with every imaginable Christmas decoration they could buy. All kinds of bells, tiny angels in a variety of colors, those colorful balls, candy canes, and even miniature teddy bears coated in glittery dust. He literally became dizzy himself after dashing around and around the tree putting on those long decor that were like chains, except they were all pretty and had sparkly things hanging from them. And the tree lights, they’d be switched on tomorrow when the party started.
Flack smiled to himself. Their tree looked damn good. And it’d been worth it to see Danielle helping Danny to decorate the tree and wrap up the presents as best a six-month-old baby could.
His smile became wider.
This was going to be their first Christmas as a family.
Wow.
“I hope yer dad will like his gift,” Danny murmured.
Flack snorted. “Heh, don’t worry ‘bout that, Danno. I’m amazed he’s even gonna show up tomorrow.”
“Why wouldn’t he?” Danny shifted onto his elbows to look him in the eye. “You’re his only son, Don. And Danielle’s his grand-daughter. That’s gotta be somethin’ big even for a guy like him.”
Flack gave the CSI a listless shrug. He never liked discussing his father. Couldn’t help feeling anything less than apathy about his parents coming over for Christmas tomorrow, although he loved his mother loads. It was his dad with whom he wasn’t on such friendly terms. When he’d broken the news about having a baby, his dad reacted with nothing more than, “So who’s the unfortunate woman?”
Gee, if only he had his video camera with him when he finally told good ol’ Pop who the bearer of his daughter was. And proved it right to his dad’s face.
Flack smiled like the Grinch at the memory. Hah. Flack, one. Senior Flack, zero.
He noticed Danny’s raised eyebrow and amused smirk, and said, “What ‘bout your parents?”
Danny sent him a sharp look, and asked in a mild manner, “What ‘bout them?”
“Are they gonna come tomorrow?”
Danny relaxed, a small smile curving up his lips. “Yeah. Even Louie’s comin’, believe it or not. He wants to see Danielle, says she wants him to meet her uncle.” He resettled himself into a more comfortable position on Flack’s chest and shoulder. “Mom said she spent the last four months makin’ somethin’ for Danielle.” His smile grew. “I think it’s a woolen jacket or somethin’.”
“Aww, that’s nice. So those knittin’ classes a’ hers are finally payin’ off, huh?”
The homicide detective sensed Danny laughing into the crook between his shoulder and neck. “I dunno ‘bout that, but I sure hope it’s better than that sweater she knitted for me last year.”
Flack cracked up the instant Danny mentioned the dreaded, multi-colored sweater that now permanently lived in their closet. One of its sleeves was over five inches shorter the other, and the collar was so constricted, it nearly choked Danny on his first try of wearing the damn thing. The most horrific thing about it, however, was its spectacular combination of pink, purple, neon green, yellow and red. Even the most flamboyant, flaming flambé of a gay man would shove it away with a ten-foot pole.
“It’ll be okay, Don. It’ll be good, you’ll see,” Danny whispered in consolation.
Flack remained quiet, and merely ran his large hand across the back of the other man’s head over and over in tender strokes. In their relationship, he was so used to being the one to comfort that it never failed to move him deep within when the tables were turned. He was the constant pillar of support, the strong one. Like how Danny found it difficult to open up, it was challenging for him to step down and allow somebody else to be strong for him, allow somebody to see him vulnerable and flawed like every other human being in the world.
But Danny wasn’t just a random somebody. And when Danny chose to open himself up and extend his love, it was one hundred percent genuine and from the depths of his heart. That was something beyond extraordinary. All in the cash in the world or his blue blood family name could never buy Flack anything remotely close to it.
God, he was the luckiest bastard in all existence.
“I think Mac’s gonna like his present. I got him a set of them toy soldiers. Those dark green ones, ya know? I remember him mentionin’ once that he used to play with them as a kid, and he lost his set a long time ago.” Danny was babbling. It was something he did whenever he knew Flack needed some distraction from gloomy thoughts. “Hawkes is gonna love his, and I hope Lindsay will like hers too. And Stella, Stella’s gonna freak when she gets hers. Geez, I hope I got the right size.”
There was one thing Flack could say in certainty about Danny’s technique of sidetracking his mind out of a brood. It worked every time.
“Tell me ya didn’t,” Flack said with an amused guffaw.
“I did.” Danny sniggered.
Flack tilted his head back on the sofa’s armrest and released a bark of laughter, his blue eyes crinkled. “Oh, man, ya gotta tell her to open her present at home then! I dunno how my Ma’s gonna react to seein’ a two-headed dildo.”
“With five different vibratin’ settings too!”
“Ohhh, maaaaaan.”
The CSI cackled audibly at the funny face Flack made. “Hey, don’t diss somethin’ ya haven’t tried, ‘kay?”
“Sorry, babe, I like my dicks real.”
Flack saw the amused gleam in Danny’s half-lidded eyes.
“I know ya do. And you spoilt me for good, Don Flack, Jr.”
The taller man replied Danny with another long kiss on the lips. Flack rolled his hips, a motion that brought a low groan from Danny. Danny’s lean legs spread wider, letting Flack slide their bodies closer. The green robe was now crumpled around Danny’s elbows and waist, baring his muscular upper body to Flack’s perusal. A second louder groan reverberated in the living area as Flack began running his tongue all over Danny’s long neck, chest and nipples, and he grasped Danny on his upper arms to keep the guy in place. Danny could seriously squirm around when he was way into the heat of things.
Flack moved one hand down to his lover’s waist, getting a good grip on the thick fabric of Danny’s robe. Now, if only he had taken out more caramel from fridge -
It took Flack a couple of blurry minutes to realize the olive green robe wouldn’t be removed no matter how he yanked at it, because Danny was stopping him from doing just that.
“Hey, what gives?”
Danny wouldn’t look at him. Whether the guy’s face was red from their current activities or from some other reason, Flack couldn’t guess.
“Nothin’.”
Flack attempted to pull down the robe from Danny’s arms once more. Nope, Danny was clutching at his arms and effectively hindering him.
“Babe, you’ve never been shy ‘round me ‘fore …” Flack gave him a roguish smirk. “What, ya don’t want me to see yer new love handles or somethin‘?”
Uh oh, Danny’s eyes were narrowing in that laser-sharp glower of his.
“Since it’s Christmas tomorrow, I’m just gonna pretend I didn’t hear that.”
Flack chuckled, much relieved at the toothy smile that appeared on Danny’s visage moments after. Okay, he was fine with the no-taking-off-robe thing. He’d find out sooner or later what was up with that anyway. Danny had reasons for everything he did.
“How ‘bout we exchange our gifts now?” Flack asked. He maneuvered them to a sitting pose, watched Danny tug his robe back up and over his shoulders and then added, “Is that okay with ya?”
To his surprise, Danny was enthusiastic about the idea.
“Sure, that’d be great.”
Flack stared into Danny’s luminous eyes.
“Ahh.” Flack’s gaze narrowed in comprehension. “Yer gift’s somethin’ that’s for my eyes only, eh?”
There was no doubt why Danny’s face was red this time around.
The homicide detective snickered out loud, then hopped off the couch and leapt again out of harm’s way after Danny seized a cushion and chucked it at him. The cushion landed with a muffled thud on the floor behind him, missing his left shin by a few inches.
“Hey, heeey! I’m gonna give ya yer present, and this is how ya treat me?” Flack said in melodramatic fashion. He waved one forefinger high in the air. “Domestic abuse, I say!”
Danny made a rude, snorting noise through his prominent nose. Whatever snide effect there was, it was utterly ruined by his affectionate smile.
“Ohh, I see, you don’t want yer gift. Ohhh, well then, I oughta just give it to somebody else who‘ll appreciate it.” Even as he was speaking, Flack headed for the Christmas tree to pick out the wrapped up present he had purchased for Danny. He struggled to keep his expression as that of mock outrage, but inside, his level of bliss was reaching an explosive stage. Excited was a major understatement to describe how he felt right now. He’d been waiting like crazy for this moment since he’d gotten what he did for his other half.
When Danny opened his gift, the man’s reaction to it was going to be one reliable indicator of what his vision of their future was.
And a gigantic part of Flack’s heart was terrified into wordlessness that Danny didn’t have a vision of their future together.
“Don.”
Flack plucked up the eight-by-six-inch box in dark red present paper and a white ribbon, and then swiveled around to face Danny. The CSI had his arms crossed over his chest, lips pursed and brows lowered in a frown. The man looked absolutely miffed and intimidating.
“Gimme my present. Now.”
Too bad Flack knew every nuance of Danny’s face, right down to the telltale twitches of his lips whenever he put on an angry façade and was trying his hardest to not laugh.
“Okay,” Flack answered in a nonchalant way.
He dropped his boxers.
Now, Danny had to strain to maintain his outward displeasure. The shorter man sucked in his lower lip in the hopes of concealing his smile. It didn’t work.
“I said, PRESENT.”
Pokerfaced, Flack glanced downwards at himself and back at his lover. He stared at Danny for a short while, and said in an awed tone, “Wow. You’re complainin’ ‘bout me gettin’ naked.”
He suddenly pointed the forefinger of his other hand at Danny, blue eyes widened to the point the whites were visible around the irises.
“Who are you, and what have you done with my sex maniac?! My Danny would never have protested me barin’ my beautiful, magnificent six foot two body! Neeeeveeeeeeeer!”
Danny totally lost it. The robed man cackled until his eyes were scrunched up and he was holding a hand against his belly.
“Ya crazy nut,” Danny said once he caught his breath. He smacked at the empty spot next to him on the dark brown sofa. “Get over here, a’right!”
Grinning from ear to ear, Flack clambered around the coffee table between the television and the couch, but he didn’t sit beside Danny as Danny had directed. Instead, with his gift in hand, Flack went to kneel in front of the other man, shifting closer when Danny parted his legs to give him more room. On his knees, Flack was eye to eye with the seated CSI.
The homicide detective smiled. Perfect.
“Here ya go, gorgeous.” Flack passed the rectangular, ribboned-up present to his lover. He made a face at Danny’s lifted eyebrows for his use of that particular nickname. “Whaaaat? I can call ya babe, but not gorgeous?”
Danny smirked and said nothing. He looked down at his gift, the smirk transforming into a delighted smile.
“What is it?”
Flack rolled his eyes. “Danny, just open it.”
Danny rolled his eyes too, but he rapidly turned into a bundle of excitement, loosening the white ribbon tied around the present. The red wrapping paper was next to go. Danny was so preoccupied with opening his gift, he didn’t detect the huge smile spread across Flack’s features.
Heheh, with the box as big and rectangular as it was, there was no way Danny was going to guess what his gift was till he opened up all the boxes inside.
“Very funny, Don.”
Flack chuckled. Hey, a wrapped present within a wrapped present simply meant the guy got to open it twice.
Danny took out the smaller box from inside the main packaging, and also removed the red paper with haste. He gave Flack a curious glance, and then, with a trembling hand, he opened it.
There was a sudden tense silence in the living area.
Danny was staring at the contents of the box he grasped with wide eyes, his lips somewhat parted and revealing some of his pearly teeth.
Inside were two little, square boxes covered in black velvet, each small enough to sit on the palm of a hand. Based on the expression on Danny’s face, Flack was quite sure the other man knew what was in them.
“The one on your right is yours,” Flack said in a soft voice after a moment or two. He caressed Danny’s knees with his hands, feeling more and more nervous by the minute. What if Danny knew what he bought for him and didn’t like it? What if Danny took it the wrong way and was feeling pressured and -
Danny had the velvet box Flack pointed out on his palm, the other one left on his lap. The box was opened.
The white gold ring, with its trim of the same metal, was as inspiring to stare at as the first time Flack came across it on an online jewellery store five months ago. It glimmered in the illumination of the lamp on the side table next to the couch, tiny sparkles reflecting off the intricately engraved words and Saint Andrews’ Celtic knots.
He had chosen an Irish Celtic theme for the two rings, in part because he was proud of his Irish heritage, regardless of the fact he was born and bred in the United States. That, and he couldn’t think of a more romantic way to tell Danny how much he loved the man than to bequeath him with an authentic Gaelic wedding ring.
All the way from Ireland too.
Oh, man. Danny was going to kill him if the guy ever learned how much he spent to get the rings customized, hand carved and shipped over.
Flack held his breath.
“It’s, uhm … it’s made outta eighteen karat white gold, the, uh, the trim too. And it’s, ah, hand carved, see, and the words on the ring’s s’pposed to copy the writing in this book of Kells that the, uhm, Celtic monks designed a long time ago …”
Oh shit, he was jabbering and Danny wasn’t saying a word and -
“And - and, uh, I made sure they got the measurements right, ‘cause I measured some of the rings ya already got and -”
“What do the words mean?”
Danny had the ring in his fingers, cradling it as if it was one of his most precious possessions in the world. The croakiness in the CSI’s voice and the way his eyes glistened prompted Flack to speak again.
“On the outside, it says, gra go deo.” Flack swallowed visibly. “In Gaelic, it means … love for an eternity.”
Flack licked at his dry lips, staring into the other man’s blue eyes so close. He couldn’t have budged an inch even if he yearned to. There was … something, something in Danny’s large eyes that pinned him in place. Made his knees quaver and his heart beat at an accelerating velocity.
“There’s - there’s more inscribed. On the inner side,” Flack whispered.
Danny held the ring at an angle towards the lamp to read what had been etched there.
“‘To Danny’ …” The shorter detective squinted. “‘Gra geal mo chroi’.”
Flack nodded. “Yeah.” He gulped again, trying to clear his throat that was abruptly clogged. “It means … love of my heart.”
Danny kept looking down at the ring in his grasp.
Flack knew his lover was avoiding eye contact. His long fingers played with the olive green fabric of Danny’s robe. It prevented him from losing his cool and going into a total panic attack. He blinked, feeling a little giddy, feeling his stomach roil in apprehension. Maybe he was holding his breath for too long.
Maybe it was too soon. Maybe Danny didn’t want to be with him forever like he hoped. Maybe -
Danny finally raised his head.
Flack gasped.
There were wet trails running down Danny’s cheeks.
All of a sudden, Flack’s own eyes were blurry.
“If - if ya don’t like it, I could … I’ll buy ya somethin’ else that ya like,” Flack rasped, a nervous laugh following his words.
Under his hands, Danny’s knees were quivering.
The smaller man stared at him, not moving a muscle to wipe away the tears rolling down his attractive face. Then, little by little, Danny’s lips arched up in a wavering albeit elated smile.
“For an eternity, huh?”
Something wet was trailing down his own face.
“Yeah. An eternity. And more.”
His answer seemed to move Danny right down to a molecular level. Danny’s face crumpled for just an instant, his lower lip trembling violently and fresh wetness streaming from his eyes. Before Flack could touch his face, Danny had gathered himself and was blinking rapidly and sniffing aloud and sucking in a deep breath.
“Well?” The CSI thumped him on the chest with the hand that held the white gold ring. “Are ya gonna put this on me or what!”
It was just what Flack needed to free the knot of anxiety in his broad chest. He let out a hearty laugh, touching his forehead with his lover’s, rubbing them together. Now that he knew Danny loved the gift, he felt like he was floating in heaven somewhere. No, better, he was floating in heaven with Danny somewhere.
“Okay.” Flack took the ring and clasped Danny’s left hand in his right. “Okay. I wanna do this right.”
The taller man shifted on his knees into a more comfortable position, getting as close as possible to Danny without them touching noses. He wanted to be able to gaze into Danny’s eyes while he said what he was going to say next.
“This is … what I’m ’bout to say to ya is what the Gaelic call a gealltanas siorai,” Flack began in a resolved manner. “An eternal promise.”
“Kinda like weddin’ vows?” Danny was smiling at him, moist eyes filled with great warmth and adoration.
“Yeah.” Flack gave the other man a wide grin. “‘Xactly like that.”
Click here for Part 2!
