Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of this work of fiction, and no profit, monetary or otherwise, is being made through the writing of this.
A/N: This is AU. Steve is a dog, Danny's a widower, moved to the island on a recommendation from Grace's psychologist. I started writing this forever ago (a year or maybe more), and, as I am participating in NaNoWriMo's summer camp this July, I thought I'd take a look at some of these stories that I'd started, and try to finish them. There are other things that I'd like to do with this, like have the real Steve return home, and move in with Danny and Grace, but I am not sure if that will happen. If it does, this will change from a one-shot into a chapter story. I'm not sure where the muse will take me next, though, so I cannot make any promises. Let me know if you like this. There are run on sentences, fragments, and words that simply do not exist as I have written them (all done purposefully). Please forgive me my errors, and enjoy. Mahalo. :-)
Warnings: There is some angst in this, and sappiness, too.
"What do you think you are, a seal!?" Danny was flabbergasted as he viewed the contents of his closet, strewn around his bedroom; the culprit was lying flat on his belly on the floor, doing his best to blend in with his surroundings as he attempted to hide under Danny's bed.
Danny sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. He closed his eyes, and counted to ten, then back down to one, and then back up to ten again. When he opened his eyes, the only thing he could see of Steve was a foot.
Adopting Steve meant there were too many puppy dog eyes in the house between Steve and Grace, and both of them were willing to gang up on Danny to get what they wanted, but it also gave him his Grace back, and Danny figured it was worth the dent in his pride, and wallet. Of course, it also led to more mischief, and mayhem, and at least doubled the messes that he had to clean up around the house.
Danny should have put his foot down the first time that Steve came home with a tag along, but at the time he didn't realize that it was going to become a habit of Steve's. He'd let it slide, and now, two months, and several tag-a-longs (apparently of the same family) later, and Danny's wishing that he would have had the foresight to tell Steve, 'No.' the first go-round.
Now he was stuck with an entire family, or whatever the heck a grouping of ducklings is called, that apparently consider Steve their 'papa' or 'mama'. Grace, helpfully, informed him that it's called, imprinting.
At first it was cute, maybe even a little endearing, to watch the ducklings waddle along after Steve everywhere that he went, but now that the ducklings are more duck than lings, and definitely a lot more vocal, Danny's less inclined to find it 'cute', no matter what his daughter says to the contrary.
No amount of Grace oohing and awing over the odd little family unit that has taken up residence in his home made any of it more bearable. First, there was the poop (and Danny knew it was called something else like guano, or guana or something gua...but hell if he knew or cared to know, because bird shit was...well, bird shit, no matter what you called it), and second, there is the smell, which wasn't entirely caused by the poop, and third, there was the fact that Steve insisted on bringing the horde, or whatever the heck a grouping of six (six) ducklings - more like greedy, squawking teenagers now - into the house, and into Danny's room.
The dog had a big heart, though, and it was clear to Danny that, wise or not, Steve cared about the ducklings he'd adopted. He cared about Grace, too, and had, in a way, adopted both Grace and Danny.
Danny had drawn the line at allowing the waterfowl into his bed, though and had thankfully won that battle. It was tough, because he'd been double-whammied with the puppy dog eyes - Grace's and Steve's, a typically unbeatable combination - but he'd held onto his resolve...once the ducklings had become less fluff and more feather - he was not a monster after all - and a few weeks after the ducks had started calling Danny's place home, they were now out of his bed.
"Aw, Steve, c'mon." Danny shook his head and wagged his finger at the miscreant who had come out from underneath the bed when Danny had whistled for him.
Steve lowered his head, his eyes growing bigger, a distinct frown marring his normally cheerful features as he backed away from Danny, the six ducks beneath his feet moving with him.
"Danno." Grace frowned at her father, and sighed. "He was just trying to help."
Danny gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to pull out his hair. Steve's idea of 'helping' him would make him late for work for the second time that month if Danny took the time to clean his room before heading out, and Danny really didn't need the police chief on his case. He still had to secure the ducks, and Steve, make sure that Steve was fed and that he had something to occupy his time with, other than chewing on Danny's slippers and ties, and get Grace off to school.
Danny closed his eyes and silently counted to five, that was all that he had time for at the moment, and when he opened his eyes, he found Steve and Grace staring at him. Sighing and shaking his head, Danny knelt on the floor and held his arms out. It didn't take long before his arms were filled with Grace and Steve, and one of the ducks that had apparently gotten trapped between the three of them. Danny didn't mind though. It's what his life had become since his wife had died, and he'd moved halfway across the world with his daughter to give her, and himself, a chance at a fresh start.
That the home that he'd purchased on the ocean came with its very own guard dog - a bull mastiff named Steve, after the Navy SEAL who had disappeared on a mission; presumed dead, Steven J. McGarrett was apparently a lot like his namesake (loyal, and caring, if a bit gruff; at least that's what Danny had learned about the man in his brief investigation into his disappearance, brief, only because everything was classified) - was a bonus. Grace loved the dog, and Steve, with his big doggy heart, had brought her out of the depression that she'd been in since her mother had died.
John McGarrett had sold Danny the place at a very discounted price, claiming that the memories were overwhelming, and that he just couldn't live there anymore. Danny could understand that, his home had felt empty and yet haunted after Rachel's death. He knew that, where he and Grace found comfort, John would only find pain and loss.
The dog had apparently been named by John's daughter, Mary, who'd moved out, months ago, leaving the dog with her father, because she'd been unable to take Steve with her. John couldn't take Steve either, and if Danny hadn't taken Steve, the dog would have ended up going to the Humane Society. It was a good organization, but, one look into those dark, brown eyes, rimmed with green, and Danny couldn't do it. He'd crumbled, caved, the whole nine yards.
Grace's tear-filled eyes also sold him on the idea of keeping Steve, as had her trembling, "Please," the first thing that she'd asked for since her mother's death.
Danny couldn't deny Grace her simple request, not that he spoiled her, or anything. There were things that he said, no, to - chocolate sundaes for breakfast (except for a Sunday or two a month), surfing lessons, boys... for example.
Seven months later, and Danny really had very few regrets, squawking ducks, and a messy bedroom aside. The bull mastiff had a big heart, and Danny believed that it was the dog, more than their change of address (move which had come recommended by Grace's child psychologist), which had brought Grace's smile and laughter back, and which had helped him move on from Rachel's death.
"I love you," Danny said, ruffling both Grace's and Steve's hair. "You two goofs."
Grace giggled and wriggled out of his arms; Steve rested his head on Danny's shoulder and sighed deeply, encouraging Danny to pet him a little longer. The dog's groan and the trapped duck's squawk, made Danny laugh, and he pulled away, reluctant to go to work.
"Alright, if everyone is done chewing on my best work tie, and slobbering all over my shoe, I can finish getting ready for work." Danny held his hand out for the tie, and, head bowed, Steve brought it over to him.
Danny scowled at the slobber-encrusted tie, and flung it onto the pile of laundry that he had in the corner of his room. Shaking his head, he got to his feet and rummaged around for a new tie, wondering what Steve had against him wearing ties to work. It was a battle for him to get out of the door, with a suitable tie, almost every single morning.
The dog seemed intent upon ruining every single tie that he had, except for the special tie that Grace had gifted him for Christmas two years ago. It was almost like the dog had a tie-vendetta, or maybe he, too, agreed with Danny's co-workers that ties and Hawaii didn't mix. As it was, he only had half a dozen left, and if Steve had his way, Danny would only have the one tie from Grace, and he could not wear that to work every single day.
"Can't we play hooky, Danno?" Grace asked.
Full puppy dog eyes were being employed by his little girl, but as much as he wanted to say, yes, he couldn't. He and his partner, Meka, were working on a rather big case involving blackmail, murder, and stolen, misappropriated pineapples (of all things).
Danny doesn't know if the pineapples can be recovered or not (they've been in the wind for a couple of weeks now), and, quite frankly, he doesn't care, but he does want to arrest the person, or people, behind the blackmail and murder of the elderly Kimo Akamai. Whoever it is also stole a truck full of pineapples bound for the market.
It's an unusual case, and definitely not something that Danny would have been faced with while on the force on the mainland, but it's work, and a case for Danny to solve, and there's nothing he likes better (Grace aside) than solving the unsolvable. Danny's always loved a good mystery, and, pineapples aside, this is a good mystery for him to sink his teeth into.
"Sorry, monkey, I can't," Danny said.
Grace pouted, but he picked her up and swung her around, eliciting giggles from his little girl, and happy barks from Steve. The tiny, not yet ducks waddled around Danny's feet squawking.
"Tell you what," Danny said as he sat his little girl on her feet and knelt so that they were eye-level. He tapped the tip of her nose, making her smile. "How about if you and I go out for pizza after I pick you up from Aunty Lehua's?"
Aunty Lehua ran a before and after school care program from her home. She lived only a few houses down from Danny, and was very good with children. She also didn't charge an arm and a leg like some of the other programs did.
Grace bounced in place. "And ice cream?"
"And ice cream," Danny said, sealing the deal with a fist bump, and tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.
Grace smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek and a hug. Steve nosed his way in between them, wagging his tail and bathing their faces with his tongue. It made Grace giggle, and it made Danny want to wash his face and brush his teeth again. He didn't have time for either, though.
"Alright, it's off to work for me, off to school for you, and into the kitchen for Steve and his horde," Danny said, ignoring the way that Steve's tail drooped, and his head dipped. "Remember, Aunty Lehua will be picking you up from school today, and-"
"I know, Danno," Grace said, cutting him off with a sigh and an eye roll. She was far too young for eye rolls, Danny thought. "I won't get into any trouble, and I won't get into a stranger's car, even if they say that they've got puppies or kitties in the backseat, and I won't go home with anyone besides Aunty."
Danny hugged Grace tight, and then stood, holding his hand out for her, and motioning for Steve to head into the kitchen. The dog was a quick learner, Danny only had to point in the direction of the kitchen for him to head there, and it was good that his feathery entourage seemed content to waddle after him, like they lacked a mind of their own. Maybe there really was something to the phrase, birdbrain.
Once Steve and his flock were within the confines of the kitchen, and he'd made sure that they had food, water, a few toys, a large dog bone, and the extra large dog bed that Steve and the ducklings liked to use at any time that wasn't bedtime, Danny put up the child safety gate he had purchased soon after moving into the house.
He didn't believe in using kennels or cages for dogs, or keeping them on a tether in the backyard, but, after Steve had gnawed his way through Danny's last pair of loafers, Danny had realized that he couldn't let the dog have free rein of the house, and then Steve had found the strays and Danny'd learned that they could not be left on their own for any amount of time. The kitchen worked best, and once Steve had been walked in the morning, he seemed to be okay for the rest of the day. At least there hadn't been any accidents yet. Danny and Grace took him on a walk when they got home. In many ways, Steve was an ideal pet.
Taking one last look around his home, Danny set the alarm, and ushered Grace out the front door. It was going to be a long day, but Danny had a pizza and ice cream date with his daughter to look forward to, and, when they got home, Steve (and his ducklets) would be waiting for them.
It wasn't the life that Danny had envisioned when he was younger, and it certainly wasn't what he'd dreamed of having when he married Rachel, and they'd had Grace. It wasn't perfect, there were days when he missed Rachel so much that his chest ached, and it was hard to breathe, but Danny had Grace to look after, and now Steve, and his little underlings, so he had to keep breathing, had to move on.
The more he kept breathing, and moved on, the easier it got, and Danny found that, while not ideal, and not the life that he'd dreamed of having when he was a kid (becoming a Nascar driver, or a pro ball player just hadn't been in the cards for him) it was, in its own way, a good, happy life. And it was fast becoming a life that he could be proud of when he got older. He could see himself sitting down on the lanai, surrounded by Grace's children, regaling them with tales of the grandmother that they'd never meet, and Steve, the dog with a big heart, and a strong duck following.
A dog who had won over both Grace's and Danny's hearts, and, in his own way, was now as much a part of their family as the human people in it.