I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: For Komodo Queen as a very Happy Birthday present. Posted in short snippets until done!

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*

Birthday Wishes

He could do this. He could. He was a Navy SEAL for goodness sake – trained with the utmost of skill.

He was manually dexterous; mentally sharp.

Always on his game and hardly ever bested.

There was no way on earth that Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, a decorated member of the military, would allow a few lousy ingredients and one Susie-homemaker recipe stand in his way of reaching his ultimate goal. Leveling a look that might kill the enemy at his iPad, Steve glared at the Pinterest page with an open hostility. The damnable cake was a masterpiece of beauty. It was a delicious, awe-inspiring kaleidoscope of sweet tasting colors on top of a gourmet chocolate foundation.

He could replicate that.

He had the tools.

He had the means … and almost twenty-four long hours to get it right. He would not be bested by an eggbeater and a few cups of flour!

Growling under his breath, Steve glared again at the picture. The funfetti cake batter cookie dough brownie layer cake was his to be had. With a studious hand, Steve counted out the dry products he'd already purchased with a proud glimmer.

Baking powder, chocolate chips, chocolate frosting, cocoa, flour, dry cake mix, powdered sugar, semi-sweet chocolate chips, sprinkles, and white chocolate chips all fell happily under his hand and mental checklist. The wet ingredients were already accounted for in the refrigerator. But he stopped and blinked hard to be sure before pinching the screen on his iPad to enlarge the characters. Then he felt like sharply pinching the bridge of his nose in disbelief.

He'd inconceivably missed something.

"What the heck is ganache?" He griped under his breath, scowling darkly at the list of ingredients. "And one what? One cup? One container? One tablespoon?" He'd been to the store twice thus far for things he'd forgotten or overlooked. With a look of total disgust, he angrily slapped the kitchen towel over his shoulder.

He could pick another recipe. An easier boxed one.

Heck, he could even ORDER a cake for his partner.

But Steve wanted to do something special for Danny. And now, his eyes … and stomach … were set on this cake. It had to be the Funfetti Cake Batter Cookie Dough Brownie Layer Cake or nothing at all.

With another sharp sound of annoyance, he slammed his iPad closed, left it on the kitchen table, and grabbed his truck keys.

~ to be continued ~