"My Daniel speaks very highly of you, Mr. Stone."
"He does, does he?" Mickey took her hand in his and kissed the back of it. He smiled down at the tiny, white-haired, blue-eyed lady looking up at him with a flirtatious grin so similar to the one frequently seen on her grandson's face. "Call me Michael, please, Mrs. Rice."
"Then you must call me Joan, dear."
"I'd be honored." Mickey glanced over to see Danny and Stacie laughing as they danced together at the other end of the room. Raucous comments were being bandied back and forth with Albert and Ash as they stood at the bar, looking on indulgently. "May I have this dance, Joan?"
"Certainly."
Mickey led her to the middle of the room, tossing a grin Danny's way as he glared at the two of them over Stacie's shoulder. Danny's eyes narrowed as Mickey's grin widened, and he tried to guide Stacie closer to where Mickey and Joan were dancing, but Stacie unconsciously foiled that by spinning Danny forcefully in the other direction.
Joan's quiet voice interrupted Mickey's contemplation of his friends. "You'll be gentle and not break his heart, won't you, dear? Daniel puts on a good face, but he's really very sensitive."
Mickey twirled her slowly under his arm as he took a moment to absorb the comment. "I'm not sure I have the power to break his heart, even if we were in a relationship, which we aren't at the moment, as far as I know."
"Oh, but you must be aware that he idolizes you. He rarely talks of anyone else when he comes to visit. He does tell me about Albie, Stacie and Ash, to a lesser extent, but everything always comes back to you."
"Yes, but there's a bit of a gap between idolizing a male friend and wanting to be in a relationship with him." Mickey quirked an eyebrow as he returned the smile on Joan's upturned face. "You're quite blasé about the idea of your grandson and I being in a romantic relationship."
"If we'd judged him for what he wanted to do or who he is, we would have lost the last remnant we had of our dear Sarah." A sad look flitted across Joan's face as she looked away for a moment. "Peter and I couldn't take that chance with dear Daniel—so much like his mother was as a girl, always too carefree to fit into the boxes society tells us to. Life's too short, my dear, to let it go to waste holding ridiculous prejudices that have nothing to do with how you love your family."
"Very true." Mickey carefully leaned Joan over his arm in a gentle dip. "We'd all be better off if more people thought that way."
"That we would."
They danced in silence for a moment, both lost in thought. Mickey couldn't help but smile in response to the laughter coming from the other side of the room. Danny had an innocent look on his face, the one that said he knew he was going to get caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but that he also knew he'd be able to talk his way out of it. It was a look Mickey only saw when it was just the five of them, never when they were on the job.
"You do care for him, don't you?"
Mickey looked back at Joan, who was smiling up at him again, her eyes twinkling. "For my sins, I do. But we all have our burdens to bear," he replied with a beleaguered sigh.
"Some that we bear more gladly than others, I think."
"Definitely." Mickey twirled her and maneuvered them around Eddie as he slid through the crowd and back toward the bar. "What was Sarah like?"
"Oh, she was a wild child, that one. Never wanted to be part of the crowd, always focused on her stories. She would tell the most beautiful, fanciful tales to her father and me, and spent days at a time in her own little world working on them. My Peter always swore she was a changeling we were lucky enough to be entrusted to raise." Joan sighed softly, then continued. "Her Prince Charming died shortly after they were married, so she didn't have someone who was around very long to balance her and keep her feet on the ground while her head was in the clouds. Not like Daniel has."
Mickey swallowed carefully, not trusting his voice just yet. All of a sudden his heart was pounding. "You don't ask much, do you?"
"Only what you can give, if you're half the man Daniel thinks you are," Joan replied with a piercing look.
The song came to a close and they slowly stopped dancing, holding position for a moment as Joan searched his face for something Mickey wasn't sure she'd find. But it seemed she had, as her face now had that wise old woman look Mickey found all women got at one time or another, no matter their age. "I hope you're right."
"I am, dear, don't worry," she replied as she patted his hand.
Mickey led her back to the bar and retrieved their champagne glasses, handing Joan hers as he leaned forward to gently kiss her cheek. He winked as he straightened up, then turned toward Danny and smiled as he joined them. "I just had the most enlightening conversation with your lovely grandmother, Danny. Pity you weren't privy to it."
"What slanderous stories have you been telling Mickey, darlin'?" Danny's tone belied his words, the warmth and love he felt for his grandmother crystal clear as he clasped her hands and kissed her other cheek.
"Well, dear, there was the one where you ended up treed in the cemetery by the rector's dog, wearing only your pants—"
"Nan, I was eight! And you promised you wouldn't tell anyone about it!" Danny tried to hide his grin as he flashed an indecipherable look under his lashes at Mickey.
"Stuff and nonsense, Daniel, it does everyone good to be embarrassed by childhood stories now and then. Keeps you humble."
Mickey laughed and clapped Danny on the back, leaving his hand there long enough to softly brush the nape of Danny's neck with his thumb. "You heard the lady, Daniel, we can't let your ego get too big, no matter how good you get at what we do."
Danny rolled his eyes and wasn't quite successful at suppressing his shiver. "Ta very much, Nan, now I'm never going to hear the end of it. They'll never respect me again, so I may as well hang up my hat right now." He leaned back to shout at Albert. "Albert, can I join you in Jamaica for retirement?"
"I don't know, my dear boy, Ducky might have something to say about that. He's very particular about his space, you know," Albert replied with a smile.
"You could always tell him you've permanently acquired a pool boy, Albie." Stacie threaded her arm through Mickey's and leaned against him as she sipped her champagne, her happy smile helping calm Mickey's still racing heart.
"I want my retirement to be pleasant and relaxing, Stacie, not spent groveling!" Albert responded, a look of mock horror on his face.
The room filled with the warm laughter of Mickey's family, and Ash started to give Danny a hard time. Joan caught Mickey's eye and winked, radiant cheerfulness suffusing her face as she stood encircled by her grandson's arm. Mickey raised his glass and smiled in return. It was going to be an interesting year.
The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.
Thanks so much to Tiriel and Temaris for cheerful help on a story in a fandom they didn't even know *g*; and Veronica for putting up with frequent cries of "I need you to watch this episode with me *again*!" and loving this crew every bit as much as I do. :) (All remaining mistakes are my own, as usual.)
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