The First Goodbye

"Do you really have to go?" Steve let out a breath before turning around. "Sweetheart I'm so sorry to leave you but yes I really have to go. The Navy is important to me sweetie." "More important than me?" Steve kissed her forehead. "Never, baby never."

Steve reluctantly got out the car to head over to where he was supposed to line up for deployment. Steve crouched down to eye-level with his twins Alias and Kimbella. "You know that I don't want to leave you but I need to serve my country. I love you guys and I always will. Take care of your mom." He kissed both his kids on the head and wiped their stray tears away. He cleared his throat and stood to face Emily. "Emily I'm really sorry." "Steve stop. We met too soon remember? But I don't regret our children. I will never keep them from you, you know that, so don't worry about that. Just be careful and come back to them." She backed away slightly before he had a chance to kiss her cheek. Things like that would only break her heart more, so she drew the lines for the both of them. Steve thought that he was in love with Emily but thinking it wasn't fair to her. Steve and Emily had been dating on/off since their junior year of high school. She was at Garfield High and he was at the Naval Academy. They hit it off immediately and spent an obscene amount of time together, much to the dismay of her mother. When he enlisted, she still stood by his side. When he cheated on her with Catherine Rollins, she forgave him and they moved past it. Emily always stood by his side but it was unfair to Emily because he didn't know what he wanted. Emily got pregnant but told Steve that she didn't want him to stay out of obligation.

He felt awful for hurting her, but Emily assured him that they met too soon and if it was supposed to happen, then it would. Emily would essentially be raising their kids by herself. It wasn't fair but from the moment she delivered, she made sure that Him, his sister Mary, and his Aunt Deb never missed a thing in the twins' lives. "They're going to hate me." Emily walked up to his side, "They're three. We'll go to the park, museum, or bookstore and they'll be fine. Now go before they give you hell." Steve looked deep into her eyes thanking her and she responded with a similar look which gave him the strength to leave.

Steve turned around once more, "In all the time I've known you, I never thought for a second that you'd be a Fed but good luck anyways Sassy." Emily's lip quivered at the nickname Steve had given her when they were teenagers. "I'll be fine McGruff." Steve grabbed her hand and kissed it before giving their kids one last kiss and walking away. Emily kneeled down just in time to catch her kids when they fell into her crying. "It's ok my sweet babies. Daddy will be fine. He's going to come back okay?" Alias lifted his head and nodded before wiping his tears. Kimbella refused to take her head out of the crook of her mother's neck. "Guys do you still want to see Grandpa John?" "Yes" was Alias's quiet answer and Kimbella's was a nod of the head.

The trio spent the next week together as Emily prepared herself for starting at the BAU. Emily flew in to Honolulu with the kids and the moment they stepped off the plane, they were all caught in a bear hug by John McGarrett. She always tried to get Steve to forgive his father and not hold grudges because life was too short. She always kept John in the twins' lives but didn't tell Steve. She never wanted to be the middleman but John deserved to know his grandkids even if he didn't talk to his son. "How are my two little superstars and their supermom?" "I'm not super John. These two balls of energy have missed you. I start work in a couple days so are you absolutely sure that you want to keep them for a month?" John smiled at her panicked expression. He never understood how she could doubt herself as a parent when she was amazing at it. He knew that she could get a great nanny, but John always wanted to spend as much time with them as possible to help Emily out.

Steve looked at the picture of Emily and the twins and felt his eyes water. "That your old lady? You kids look like the both of you. You're a lucky man." He glanced out the corner of his eye before extending his hand, "Steve McGarrett" "Freddie Hart". The two hit it off quite well; they became like brothers.

Weeks had passed and Freddie caught Steve staring at that picture almost 5 times a day. They had already argued over it when he suggested that Steve call Emily. From the few bits of conversation Freddie could tell that she made sure he knew everything that happened with his kids. So when Freddie saw Steve spending more and more time with Catherine Rollins, he got irritated but kept it to himself.

"Yo Smooth Dog, is this whatever with Rollins a smart thing for you to be doing? Even though you said that you aren't together, you still have Emily." "STOP JUST STOP! You don't know a damn thing about me and Emily so just shut the hell up!" Freddie paused momentarily at Steve's outburst before muttering, "I know that if it didn't bother you so much, you wouldn't be this pissed off about me bringing up Emily. I know that if you're this pissed off then you must still have feelings for the MOTHER of your children."

Steve logged into a secure Skype connection hoping to catch a glimpse of his sleeping kids. When the call connected he instead was graced with Emily's flawless sleeping face. The light from the screen caused her to stir, "Steve? What's wrong?" Her half-sleep voice warmed his heart reminding him of a 16- year old sleeping Emily in the bed of his truck wrapped in a blanket. She slowly opened her eyes to focus on the screen across from her on the bed. "We were watching movies earlier before I put them to bed. I can take the computer in there." She started to move but Steve's voice stopped her movements.

"Emily I-i-I" She stopped his confused thought, "Where am I going Steve? I'm here, just talk to me or don't but I'm here and you know that."