A/N: Well this is it. We've reached the end of this part of the journey. I've kind of purposely left things open and not tied up some of the loose ends. I also realized that I've so far ended both stories with the same subject: Steve's tattoos. Funny how that worked out. Anyways, I absolutely plan to continue on in with future stories about Steve and Danny and fatherhood. If you have any ideas of things you'd like to see them go through feel free to let me know. So long for now.

The child most know he is a miracle. That since the beginning of the world there hasn't been and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him- Pablo Casals.

"I cannot believe you did that." Danny said incredulously as he stared at his husband's back as if he had x-ray vision to see through to the front.

"Oh come on Danny, it's not like it's the first time I've done it." Steve reminded as he attempted to dress his month old daughter.

"No but it's the first time you've decided to permanently brand yourself with someone's name-and not just any someone's name—it was my name." Danny explained unnecessarily. Steve was perfectly aware of what was now inked onto the left side of his chest. "Don't you know that's like the number one rule of tattoos? You can get your mother, your dog—even your child—but you NEVER tattoo your spouse's name anywhere on your body no matter how romantic it is."

"What? You try to say we're not going to last Danno?" Steve asked sarcastically.

He was completely aware of the unspoken rule of body art. The guy at the shop had reminded him of it before he started, wanting to make sure that Steve knew the consequences of what he was doing -which he did. He understood the rationale behind not tattooing a lover name when they could be gone before the proverbial ink dries but the truth was that even if Danny did ever leave him (And god forbid that should ever happen. They were too invested to turn back now) he would still have been an important part of Steve's life which left him with no regrets.

The tattoo was simple but highly symbolic. It consisted of the Navy emblem of an eagle perched above two crossed anchors and a shield. It was something that he had been wanting for awhile but had never gotten around to getting done. He had taken it a step further though. Along one of the eagle's wings was his mother's name in flowing script to represent the way that he felt she was always watching over and guiding him in his life. On one of the anchors the two bottom hooks were made using Grace and Makayla's names while the other one simply read Danno. He had put them there because they were his anchors in life and kept him grounded and centered instead of wondering around like a ship lost at sea as he had been before they came into his life. On the shield was the 5-0 that served as the protectorate of all the things Steve loved. The tattoo was no more than a couple inches big placed strategically across his heart where he always would carry all of those things.

"I don't get why you're upset about this. Casey said you would love it." Steve shrugged as he tried to get Makayla's arm through the sleeve of her dress.

"Casey knew about this?"

"Yeah, she was with me when I got it. She had asked me where I got my ink done and so I tagged along with her when she wanted to get hers done." Steve explained.

"You let my sister get a tattoo?" Danny exclaimed, clearly not pleased with this information.

"Danny she's almost 25, I can't exactly tell her she can't. Besides, it's a pretty awesome tat." Steve pointed out.

"With her I can only imagine." Danny mumbled.

Steve wanted to correct his partner's assumption that he was something frivolous or stupid. It was anything but. She had gotten 'Makayla Rose' in a deep pink script tattooed just above her C-Section scar with a rose bud coming off of the 'e' at the end and resting on her hip bone. It was classy and simple and it had broken Steve's heart a little when she had told him her reasoning behind the ink.

"That way I can always know that right there for at least a little while…she was mine."

Steve wanted to tell Danny all of this but Casey had begged him not to make a big deal about it, knowing if Danny found out he would. So he just turned his attention back to trying to get Makayla into the long white dress that was far too intricate and complicated for a newborn to be wearing but it was a special occasion. They were having an adoption ceremony for Makayla which was their attempt at a Christening.

Maggie had been commenting about having one ever since she had arrived saying that all of her children had been christened in the Catholic Church and that they needed to do it soon if they were going to do it at all. They had no problem with a christening but the Church did considering Steve wasn't Catholic, Danny was divorce, they were in a same sex relationship and Makayla was bastard child considering that Steve and Danny weren't technically married in the eyes of the Church and neither were her biological parents. So as they had done with their wedding, they had improvised.

Danny had done some research about adoption ceremonies and felt that it would be a suitable replacement for a christening. He had even managed to convince Casey to stick around for another week so that she could be a part of it even though she had made up her mind and was desperate to leave. Maggie had insisted though that they use the christening gown she had brought with her for reasons unknown.

"The dress is a little overkill, don't you think?" Casey commented as she came to stand in the doorway of the nursery.

"I don't think so." Danny replied. "I think you look nice." He said, giving her a kiss on the cheek as he passed.

Mary had taken his sister shopping for a new dress the other day after Casey had made a comment about how the only nice dress she had that fit anymore was the one she had worn to the wedding. The new dress they had purchased light blue sleeveless number that was rouched in the chest and flowed out from an empire waistline which covered up any residual weight she was still carrying from the pregnancy. A silvery grey sweater accompanied the dress and she had her hair in soft waved pulled away from her face with clips. She looked natural and Danny always thought that was when she looked prettiest.

"Well thanks for the compliment, but I wasn't talking about me. I was talking about her." Casey said gesturing towards the baby dressed in the long white gown. "Where did you even get it?" She asked. It was clearly a christening gown but from what she had been told, this wasn't an official christening ceremony so the fancy gown seemed like a bit much.

"It was yours." Maggie answered as she entered the room. "That was the gown you were christened in." Casey looked at her daughter and then to her mother who had a distant look in her eyes as she stared at Makayla. After a minute, she noticed Casey's attention on her. "What?"

"Nothing…I just can't believe you kept it." Casey replied, trying not to let her emotions show.

She was trying to fix her relationship with her mother. It wasn't going to an easy process and she didn't need to make things worse by adding inflammatory comments when they weren't necessary. Maggie for her part didn't rise to the occasion either.

"Danny, the guests are starting to arrive downstairs." She informed.

"Alright thanks Ma, we'll be right now." Danny assured. His mother simply nodded and returned back down the stairs.

"I should go downstairs and see if Kono needs any help." Casey said.

Kono had helped them put this whole thing together including getting things set up that morning. It was increasingly harder to do things at any kind of a normal pace with an infant in the house and it was only going to get harder when Maggie and Casey left and it was just the two of them.

Alone again, Danny came over to stand next to Steve as they both looked down at their daughter staring back up at them with her big blue eyes.

"It's hard to believe that it was just under a year ago that we stood out on that very beach and committed ourselves to each other and now here we are about to commit ourselves to this little miracle." Danny said softly as he ran a hand over Makayla's soft head. "Is it everything you wanted?" He asked, looking up into Steve's sea green eyes.

"It's more." Steve said, leaning down for a kiss. "It's so much more."