A Boys' Day

You've asked for it and here it finally is: Danny and Donovan.

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The room was still dark as Donovan walked out of the closet dressed in workout clothes. Carter shifted on the bed and he crept to her. When he planted a gentle kiss on her cheek, she stirred.

"Where are you going?" she mumbled.

"Boys' Day."

Carter hummed in response, already falling back asleep. Donovan eased the bedroom door shut behind him. Crossing the hall, he peeked in on Kennedy. Her soft snores made Donovan smile. He had to resist the urge to step inside and kiss his daughter goodbye.

The early morning Saturday kept the world quiet as Donovan drove to his in-laws' house. When he arrived, he grinned as he saw Danny stepping out of the house. At fifteen, Donovan knew if he was anyone else's kid he'd be a heartbreaker. But Steve and Maggie wouldn't have raised a callous son.

As Donovan climbed out of the car, he couldn't help remembering the first time he'd held Danny. He'd never told Carter, but holding her little brother made Donovan want a kid. He saw the way Steve beamed on his son, the pride he felt for a baby whose greatest accomplishment so far had been breathing. Maggie, though exhausted, glowed with happiness.

Carter and he had only been dating for two years and nowhere near baby plans talk, but right then Donovan knew he wanted a kid. It didn't matter how long it took to happen. It would be when Carter was ready.

"You ready for this," Danny asked, stretching his legs.

"Are you? You've been out of track practice for a week now, I feel like you might have lost your touch."

Danny grinned and shoved Donovan's shoulder.

"Not likely, just try to keep up, won't you," Danny taunted.

Donovan ruffled Danny's hair then took off, Danny charging after him. For a mile, they raced, Danny's growth spurt keeping him tied with Donovan, though Donovan had years of stamina built up. Eventually, they fell into a manageable pace. One that lent room for talking. Donovan did little talking, leaving Danny to fill him in on what was going on in his life, in school.

The ease with which Danny talked never failed to make Donovan happy. There'd been times when he worried he might not matter to Danny, not when he looked at Carter like she was the whole world. He couldn't blame him, Donovan felt the same way.

But then Donovan had one moment when babysitting Danny when he was four that changed it all. Carter had been on a stakeout and it was the first time Donovan volunteered to babysit without her being there. After a moment of uncertainty at arriving at Steve and Maggie's house, Donovan had thrown himself into the task.

Across the living, into the dining room, and down the hall, Donovan had created a pillow and blanket fort with obstacles laid out within. He'd timed Danny on how fast he could get through it all. The night had ended with an exhausted Danny, but a new connection between them. After that each time Steve asked Danny who he wanted to watch him, Donovan was asked for.

Though Donovan worried Carter might not like the shift, instead she encouraged it. She and her brother would always have a bond and she knew that.

When the pair reached the Washington Monument, they exchanged a look then bolted. Donovan sprinted towards the steps, his lungs burning, his limbs lead and jelly all at once. Danny shot him a grin.

"This time I beat you," he said.

Donovan didn't answer, he put an extra spurt of speed into his feet and charged up the steps. As they reached the top they were neck and neck. Donovan sprinted up the last step a breath before Danny. They both jogged forward before stopping, leaning over their knees.

"That always kills," Danny panted.

"Told you," Donovan said, breathing hard. "You're losing your touch."

Shaking his head, Danny straightened. They jogged back down the steps and took a few cool-down laps around the Reflecting Pool before sinking onto the steps of the monument. The world seemed peaceful with only a few early-bird tourists and the low sun highlighting the treetops.

"Donovan, how did you know that Carter was The One?"

Donovan nudged Danny with his shoulder. "Why? You think you've found the girl you're going to marry?"

Grinning, Donovan waited for Danny to laugh and roll his eyes but instead he scuffed his shoe and stared at the ground. Donovan dropped his smile, Danny was completely serious about this.

"Is that crazy to think?" Danny asked, lifting his gaze.

Donovan looked into the familiar eyes of the boy he helped get ready for his first date. Danny had teetered between eagerness and panic. Donovan hadn't asked him what he wanted to wear, instead he'd handed him an outfit, knowing Danny wasn't likely to be able to think with his tumbling thoughts. Donovan had waited with Steve and Maggie for Danny to come home. When he had, he'd wore one of the goofiest grins Donovan had ever seen.

"No," Donovan said. "It's not crazy. I've known people who walked to school together since third grade and got married. Link married his high school crush. Some people simply know. Now tell me, what has you feeling like you've already found your girl?"

For a second, Danny didn't say anything and Donovan watched as a tiny smile overtook his face.

"Pippa is...everything," he said. "She's my best friend. She makes me laugh when I want to punch someone. She smacks my head when I've been stupid. She can look at me and know what I'm thinking. I know most guys at school would say she isn't as hot as other girls..." He shook his head. "But to me, she's the most beautiful girl in the world and every time I see her it's like I fall in love with her all over. And her smile!"

Danny grinned then ducked his head, embarrassed. "Yeah, she's unlike any other girl."

"When a guy feels that way about a girl it means she's something special," Donovan said.

Danny nodded. "Did I ever tell you what she said to me the first time we went on a date?"

"No."

"She asked me if I was going out with her just to get over my crush on Melina. It was such a blunt question that I answered yes. Instead of being annoyed, she simply said she was okay with that, but if after a month my feelings hadn't changed then she didn't want to go out anymore.

"She was so upfront that it was relieving and I think that did it. We didn't even hold hands or kiss for ages instead we hung out and I found a friend I hadn't known I needed."

"My thoughts?" Donovan said and Danny nodded engagingly. "Friendship makes for the strongest of relationships. If you truly believe she's the girl for you, don't ever stop being her best friend as well as her boyfriend."

"Good to know."

Donovan's phone dinged and he checked the message.

"Come on, breakfast is waiting."

They both stood and jogged off, heading deeper into DC city streets. By the time they reached James' apartment both of them were eager for food. The smell of bacon, eggs, and toasted bagels welcomed as they stepped inside, as did the other Keller brothers.

"Where's Ali and the kids?" Danny asked, surveying the apartment.

"Head start on our vacation, I'm taking a flight out tonight. I had something I had to finish up here. Now everyone sit, I slaved away at this and you are all going to tell me it tastes amazing or I'm kicking you out."

Donovan snagged a spot between Danny and Clint, who clapped his younger brother on the shoulder in greeting. After the five of them managed to demolish their food in record time, Donovan held his mug of coffee and leaned back in his chair.

"Danny asked me how I knew Carter was The One," he said to the table at large.

"Which you never answered," Danny cut in.

"Which I forgot to answer," Donovan said. "But I figured all of your inputs would be interesting."

Brock let out a loud laugh. "That's an easy one."

"Oh yeah?" Danny asked.

"Yup, I had been dating Ashley long enough that I wasn't sure if I was serious or ready to move on. One day she simply tells me, 'Brock you are showing signs of wanting to break up with me, either man up and do it or ask me to marry you."

Danny laughed. "So you asked her to marry you then?"

"No, I told her I wasn't going to propose without a ring and a speech prepared. She asked if a week was enough time and I said it was. The rest is history."

"You're a bit of an idiot," Donovan said.

Brock merely shrugged and downed his coffee.

"I knew Ali was The One," James said. "Because one time during a date I got extremely mad at her and yelled, something I don't do, and after I was done she kissed my cheek and she was sorry it had been such a stressful day for me."

James smiled a soft smile. "She knew, somehow she knew I was maxed out at work and that my anger had nothing to do with her. After that, I knew I could never be with anyone else because no one else would get me like she did."

Donovan would never admit this to his brother, but if James had ruined it with Ali, Donovan planned to side with her. She was the level-headed one in the relationship, the perfect counterbalance to his brother.

"I fell for Eva pretty quickly," Clint said. "On your fifth date, I said, 'I think I'm in love with you'."

All the brothers made concerned faces and let out low 'oohs' at the early admittance even though they knew the ending of the story.

"What did she say?" Danny asked.

"She looked at me and said, 'All right, please alert me when you're more certain about your feelings'."

The table burst into laughter, all aware that they'd known they'd found The One when their wives had made bold moves. Donovan figured it couldn't be any other way, they weren't likely to fall for timid women.

"Donovan," Danny said. "You haven't told me when you knew Carter was The One."

"I know when it was," James said. "When Carter beat him in a race."

"No," Brock said. "It was when she punched him for not talking to her."

"Not even close," Clint said. "It's when she was the one to kiss him first."

It didn't surprise Donovan that his brothers knew all these details, he told them everything. And well with Carter he'd wanted to tell them everything.

"Which is true?" Danny asked.

"None of them, but they are all moments I realized Carter was an amazing girl. No the moment I knew Carter was The One was during the attack on the school. She loaded and cocked a gun like a pro and I knew I'd found the girl of my dreams."

The brothers all let out loud and dramatic awwws. Donovan shoved Clint's shoulder. He'd been married for years yet he was still the little brother who got mocked. Somethings never changed.

"All right," Donovan said. "Thanks for food, but Danny and I have a mission today, we're getting him clothes for Winter Formal tonight."

James stood and started collecting dishes. "Have fun with that. You know where the showers are and whatever clothes I have that will fit you, you can borrow."

After they'd cleaned up, Donovan and Danny left the apartment to a day halfway finished. With a message sent for backup, they headed towards the closest mall. They reached the men's department in Nostrums and were scanning the multitudes of clothes when Mason and Link appeared.

"You summoned me?" Mason asked.

"I did," Donovan said.

Mason had an effortless way of dressing that made it seem natural though Donovan knew it couldn't be. Mason's sense of style made Donovan wonder at times if he should care more about what he wore. But since he knew Carter wouldn't even notice, the thought was always discarded.

"Why did you summon him?" Danny asked.

"Because you need something to wear for Winter Formal and need to look good," Mason said. "I had three stylists by the time I was your age. You spend hours with other people dressing you and talking about it, you pick up a thing or two."

"Cool and you, Link?" Danny asked.

"Mason was hanging out with me and I was curious so I decided to join."

"Okay."

"Are you doing that annoying thing where you match with your date?" Mason asked.

Danny laughed at Mason's disapproving look.

"No, but she told me not to clash with her dress." Danny pulled up a photo and showed it to Mason.

He nodded. "Okay. Well, we'll go with charcoal slacks because every other guy will be in black. With your skin tone, we'll go for warm tones. Sizes?"

Danny rattled them off. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Mason eyed Danny and shook his head.

"No, you're smaller than that. That's why clothes look baggy on you. Don't worry about size, worry about fit. No one's going to see labels but they'll see how it looks."

Mason motioned for one of the workers standing nearby and the young man hurried to Mason's side. Without a word, Mason moved around the section taking ties, suit jackets, shirts, and slacks and dumping them into the assistant arms.

"I feel like this is a power play reminiscent of his First Son days," Link said.

Danny laughed but Donovan didn't argue, Mason knew what he was doing and did it with utter confidence.

"Changing room," Mason called out and headed through an archway.

The trio all followed and Mason waved Danny into a stall, telling him to start with the slacks then pair whatever he wanted to with them and they'd go from there. Donovan leaned back against the wall between stalls as they waited.

"Do you ever miss having personal stylists?" Link asked Mason.

Mason stared at him. "Do you mean do I miss random women telling me what to wear? No."

Donovan laughed. "Earlier, my brothers and I were talking about how we all knew that our wives were the Ones. How did you know?"

Mason didn't answer, instead crossed his arms and walked a small circle.

"You know how I knew," Link said, filling the silence.

"How?" Danny called out.

"It was the same moment that I asked Maddy to marry me. Where I had to keep my secret from everyone and didn't know who I could trust with it, she proved that she could be trusted. And I knew."

Both Link and Donovan turned their gazes on Mason. But before Mason could be pressured into sharing, Danny opened the curtain and walked out. He'd paired the charcoal pants with a black collared shirt. Mason made a face.

"No," he said. "You look like a teenage undertaker. Try the maroon shirt."

With a shrug, Danny went back into the changing room.

"How did you know Yvette was The One?" he said.

Mason stared at the floor, lips pressed together. Donovan still found it interesting how Mason remained reluctant to share things even after the years of being friends.

Finally, he spoke. "I knew because after dating for five months, I told her I wanted to break up."

Donovan and Link exchanged a look, this was the first time either of them was hearing of this.

"Her response was, 'okay, if that is really what you want and you're not simply afraid of letting someone get close'."

Mason shrugged and went back to his leisurely pacing. "Not something I could argue with and that was that."

Donovan held in his laughter.

Danny walked out, this time with the right pairing. Mason nodded his approval.

"Good, you don't need to try on anything else," he said. "That's it." He put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "Now listen to this. You will take off your suit jacket before you start to dance. After half an hour you roll up your sleeves and loosen your tie, unbuttoning the top button. An hour before you leave, take the tie off and put it in your pocket. When you leave put her jacket around her shoulders. Make sense?"

"You make it seem like a science."

"I went to a million formal dances with a lot of different dates, it is a science."

They all laughed and headed out to pay while Mason shared some of the worst of the formal dinners stories.

The rest of the day slipped by with lunch and later helping Danny dress of Winter Formal followed by too many photos, in Danny's opinion, taken by his eager mother. With the agreement that Steve and Maggie would be the ones to pick Danny up, Donovan got to be the one to drop him off.

Donovan stopped the Mercedes at the curb and Danny hopped out. He straightened his jacket and pressed down his tie, then held out his arms.

"Do I look good?" he asked.

Donovan smiled. "You do, Corporal."

"Good." Danny leaned down. "Thanks for today, Donny."

"My pleasure."

Danny closed the door and headed towards the school but stopped when a girl with a sweet face approached him. From the cover of the car, Donovan watched as Danny took in the girl's dark dress and the smile that overtook his face. He slid his hand into hers and kissed her then said something. Each action was common and simple but Donovan could see from the way Danny acted that this girl meant the world to him.

As Donovan drove home, his mind turned to the One that meant the world to him. When he walked into the apartment, he found Carter sitting on the couch reading, dressed in one of his t-shirts, and joggers with her hair in a messy bun. She looked up as he crossed over to her.

"How was Boys' day?" she asked.

Donovan didn't answer, instead he planted his hands on either side of her on the back of the couch and kissed her, deeply. She laughed against his mouth.

"Must have been a bad day if that's how you're greeting your wife," she said.

Donovan gazed into her eyes and the face he knew so well.

"I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you, Carter Owens," he said.

"Is that so? And here I was planning to serve you divorce papers in a year or two."

"You won't be able to get rid of me that easily."

"So...murder?"

"Till death, remember."

Carter laughed and Donovan smiled before kissing her again.

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Ho there my wonderful little nugget!

There you have it, the chapter so many of you wanted go ahead and tell me how much you loved it! 🗯💭💬

Honestly I think it would be amazing to go shopping with Mason. I feel like he's make you cry at some point but you'd come away looking amazing!

Also do you have any ideas for fluffy Carter and Donovan chapters cause I realized I've run out of ideas for cute moments between them.

Vote, comment, follow!

I slept late that's what this is short.

The Keller Brothers as penguins!

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