Mari & Ilna- you guys are the absolute best. Thanks for EVERYTHING! There are no two people I'd rather be on this ride with.

Sandy-what would I do without you?

REAL Worlders-I can never fully express what all your amazing support means to me. All I can say is that in our fourth calendar year your support and encouragement keeps me as enthusiastic as I was about this project day one.

Same Wavelength (1/1)

"Hi!" Catherine's smile was bright as she opened the front door. "Thanks for coming over."

"Thanks for inviting me." Esther stepped into the living room, tote bag slung over her shoulder. "To be honest I've been dying to see Angie and get to hold her again." She knelt and exchanged an excited greeting with Cammie. "And I never pass up a chance to see one of my favorite girls."

"Wow." Catherine chuckled. "Looks like I've dropped to third on the list."

"Oh no, I didn't mean … "

Catherine couldn't help but be amused by Esther's flustered demeanor.

"Obviously I wanted to see you too." Catherine indicated the couch and Esther took a seat, still searching for the right words. "What I meant to say was … "

"It's fine," Catherine smiled as she took a seat in the armchair across from her guest. "I was only teasing."

"Thank you!" Esther sighed gratefully. "Because I would never want you to think I only accepted your invitation so I could see Angie and Cammie. I always enjoy a chance to catch up with you."

Esther twisted her hands nervously in her lap in a move that was uncharacteristic enough that it had Catherine concerned.

"Is everything ok?" she asked, keeping her voice purposely light. "Is Kamekona alright?"

"He's fine." Esther fidgeted in her seat. "Busy. But that's nothing new. We're going to look at a building later that he thinks might make a great space to rent out for parties and weddings."

"Really?" Catherine couldn't hide her surprise. "I thought he was only kidding about starting a party business."

Esther relaxed and her face lit up as she talked about her husband. "Have you ever known him to kid about a new business venture?"

"Excellent point." Catherine grinned. "Well if anyone can make a success of a new business it's you and Kame."

Esther beamed for a moment then her face grew serious.

She was pretty sure she knew why Catherine had asked her to come over.

She had to admit she was disappointed but she understood completely.

She had no intention of making it difficult on her friend.

"Listen, Catherine, I understand if you're not going to be needing me as a nanny anymore. It's ok. I want to thank you for even considering me."

Catherine's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Why wouldn't we need you? I actually invited you over so you can start to get familiar with Angie's schedule."

Esther's face brightened in surprise. "Really? I just thought now that your parents are moving to the island full-time you might want to leave Angie with them."

Catherine shook her head and grinned. "I'm sure they'll get to do their fair share of babysitting, in fact they'll probably insist on it, but Steve and I still very much want to hire you as our nanny if you're still interested."

"Of course I'm still interested!" Esther clapped her hands and Cammie, sensing her excitement, began to wag her tail wildly. "What could be better than spending a few days a week with two of my favorite girls?"

Lea looked up at the sound of a knock on her office door. "Come in."

This appointment was a last-minute addition to the schedule. Her day was packed with meetings and work sessions but when she heard who was making the request for some time asap she instructed her assistant to rearrange a few things and bring him in during her lunch break.

He wasn't the type to ask to fit into the schedule on a moment's notice so Lea was concerned. She hoped it wasn't bad news.

"Hi, Lea." Steve stepped into the office carrying a thin manila folder and closed the door behind himself. "Thanks for agreeing to see me on such short notice."

"I'll always make time for you." Lea smiled somewhat uneasily as Steve took a seat across the desk from her. "I'm afraid I don't have much time before my next appointment."

"That's ok," he assured her. "This shouldn't take long."

"I talked to Catherine yesterday and she said everything is going well." Lea rearranged a few folders on her desk. "Sounds like you two have the nighttime feeding schedule down to an art."

"We kinda do." Steve smiled proudly.

"I wish Lance and I had been like that." Lea's face softened at the memory of the early months after the birth of each of her children. "Lance helped as much as he could but it seemed like we were always dealing with either colic or teething or something else that prevented a good night's sleep." She chuckled. "I remember being completely exhausted for a stretch of like five straight years."

"So far we're lucky. Angie is a very good sleeper." Steve beamed.

"That's great to hear." Lea moved the folders back to their original places. "Please tell me …" she started just as Steve said, "The reason I'm here … "

They both stopped.

"You first," Steve said.

Lea took a deep breath. "Please tell me you didn't come here to say Catherine has decided not to come back to work." The words tumbled out in a rush.

"What?" Steve looked confused. "No. Why would I … of course Catherine is coming back to work."

Lea sighed with relief. "Good. That's good … that's better than good actually. That's great."

"Why would she not come back?" Steve asked.

"I don't know. I mean I had no reason to think that but you never call and ask to come over on short notice so I thought maybe … I just let my anxiety get the best of me. This infrastructure bill is making me crazy." She smiled apologetically. "I just really miss her here and can't wait for her to get back. We've got a lot on the agenda for fall and I need her help to keep all the balls in the air."

"You don't have to tell me." Steve smiled. "No one knows better than I do that sometimes you just need Catherine around to remind you everything's gonna be okay."

Lea tapped her finger on the end of her nose. "Exactly. So, if it doesn't have to do with Catherine what did you need to see me about?"

"I wanted to see about reopening the budget," Steve replied. "I want to give Chin and Kono raises."

"We should have about an hour before Angie wakes up," Catherine said as she and Esther sat down at a table on the deck, baby monitor between them. Catherine had prepared a shrimp salad for lunch and they chatted amiably as they ate. Cammie stretched out nearby in case the chance to snag a dropped shrimp presented itself.

"Steve and I were thinking that on the days you're with Angie we'd like you to drive the Highlander. I know it's bigger than your car so if you want to take it for a couple of days to get used to the feel of maneuvering it that'll be fine. We'll set up a time."

"I've driven Kamekona's truck a few times so I should be fine with the size of it." Esther jabbed at a piece of lettuce with her fork. "But are you sure it isn't gonna be inconvenient? I can get a car seat for my car if that would make things easier on you and on Elizabeth and Joseph."

Catherine shook her head. "No, it'll be fine. Mom and Dad will be having their cars shipped here when they go home to pack and say goodbye to their friends so they won't be using the Highlander anymore. And Steve and I would both feel better if the car seat didn't have to be moved around."

"Understandable." Esther took a sip of lemonade. "Once they're installed right it's a good idea to leave them where they are."

"Definitely. Also, I wanted to show you a couple of the features on her stroller that can be a little tricky until you get used to them. In fact, we should probably just go over all her gear so you can ask any questions you might have."

Esther nodded. "Good. I have a notebook in my bag. I'll take some notes as we go just to be sure. I also brought along copies of my CPR and first aid training certificates. I kinda thought you were gonna tell me you didn't need me after all," she admitted, "but I wanted to have them with me just in case."

Catherine smiled. "I want you to know, Esther, actually Steve and I both want you to know, that Angie's safety is the most important thing in the world to us. We would never have asked you to be her nanny if we weren't 100% sure you'd do everything in your power to protect her and keep her safe."

Esther nodded seriously. "I will. I promise." She smiled affectionately at Cammie. "And I'll have my second in command for backup if I ever need it."

"Very true," Catherine chuckled then turned more serious. "The thing is, if we were only looking for someone qualified to tend to Angie's physical needs we could have just picked the best resume the nanny finder service sent us and been done with it. But we asked you because we want something more than that."

"More?" Esther cocked her head to the side.

"We want you to be Angie's nanny because of your kindness, your good heart and your sweet spirit. You have the exact sort of upbeat energy we want to surround her with as much as we can."

Esther blushed wildly. "Thank you."

Catherine pushed what was left of her salad to the side. "No one knows better than Steve and I that the world isn't always a kind place. Let alone a safe one. And someday we'll need to prepare Angie for that. But until then we want her life to be filled with people who love her and who exude positivity in a way that helps her feel happy and secure."

"I think that's something I can definitely do," Esther grinned.

Before Catherine could say anything else the sound of Angie's cry came over the monitor.

"Looks like someone is ready to come down and say hello," she smiled. "After she eats maybe we can get in some tummy time so you can see how that works."

Esther wiped her mouth with her napkin. "I'll get my notebook."

"Raises?" Lea asked with a small smile. Compared to all the wild ideas that had run through her mind in the last hour that seemed like a tame subject.

"Yes. They deserve them," Steve said adamantly. He squared his shoulders and launched into the argument he'd prepared in his head on the way over. "Are you happy with the way we've handled the changes you've made in the duties of the task force since you became governor?"

Lea nodded. "I am."

"Good. We are too. We talk a lot about community outreach and about connecting with people, especially teens, before they head down the wrong path. Both Chin and Kono have deep roots in this community and that's invaluable with this kind of project. Not only for their extensive contacts but because they understand the way people here think and what they need."

Lea nodded. She sensed Steve had more to say and she didn't want to interrupt him when he was on a roll.

"Honestly I hate to even think about having to try to do my job without either one of them. Danny too, of course, but he got a nice raise when he got promoted. I'm not necessarily looking for promotions for Chin and Kono, though that's certainly something we can talk about down the road, but for right now I think they both deserve more money."

He looked her directly in the eye and waited for her reply.

"You make convincing argument, Commander. I'll have to take a look at the budget … "

"Actually, I have a thought on that," he said.

Lea leaned back in her chair. "Let's hear it."

Steve removed a piece of paper from his folder. "I've been keeping an eye on the Five-0 discretionary fund."

Lea arched her eyebrows. "You mean the one we use to pay for all the damages you guys leave in your wake?"

"That's the one." Steve grinned. "We're down almost 25% compared to the last several years."

"Must be Catherine's good influence," Lea suggested.

"I won't argue with you there," he smiled. "But I was thinking maybe we could use some of that money to give Chin and Kono raises."

"Using that money to increase their salaries would mean it wouldn't be available for other things," Lea pointed out. "Do I have your word you're gonna keep the claims down moving forward?"

"We'll do our best," Steve promised earnestly.

Lea had no doubt he meant what he said but truth be told she was more than willing to do whatever she needed to do to keep Five-0 intact. The crime rate on the island was falling and Steve's team was a big part of the reason why. Each member possessed their own special set of skills and when you put all four together they were practically unstoppable. Their team chemistry was a big part of their success and she wasn't willing to take a chance on losing that.

"Go ahead and do it," she said. "I'll approve the additional funds."

"Thank you," Steve said sincerely. "You won't regret it."

Lea smiled. "I'm sure I won't."

"How's your day going?" Steve asked as soon as he heard Catherine say hello. He had a few minutes before Danny got back from lunch and they headed over to HPD to interview a potential witness and his first thought, as it always was when he had a few free minutes, was to call Catherine. He'd been dialing the phone before he even exited the capitol building.

"Good. Esther is here. She just finished feeding Angie."

Steve headed for his truck. "How's my little angel doing?"

"Good. She can't wait to see you."

"Same here," he smiled. "I should be home on time unless something comes up."

"I thought I'd throw a lasagna together unless you had something else in mind."

"Lasagna sounds perfect." Steve nodded to the security officer stationed near the edge of the parking lot. "I skipped lunch to meet with Lea so I'll be starved."

"How'd it go?"

"Good." Steve smiled happily. "She approved the raises."

"That's great news. When are you gonna tell Chin and Kono?"

"Probably this afternoon. Hey, you know what's funny?"

"What?"

Steve opened the door of the truck and slid into the driver's seat. "Lea said she was afraid I was gonna tell her you weren't coming back to work."

He could picture the look on his wife's face as she said, "Why would she think that?"

He shrugged. "I have a feeling she just really misses you. She said the infrastructure bill is giving her a migraine."

"I'll give her a call later. See if there's anything I can do from home for the next couple of weeks before I get back to the office."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate that."

"Wanna hear something else funny?"

"Absolutely."

"Esther thought I was gonna tell her now that Mom, Dad and Grandma Ang are moving here full-time we wouldn't be needing her as a nanny."

Steve chuckled. "What is it with people today?"

"I have no idea."

"You set her straight of course."

"Of course. Hey, you know what I was thinking?"

"That a nice loaf of crusty bread from Leonard's would go great with the lasagna?"

"You read my mind."

"Always. Kiss Angie for me and I'll see you guys after work."

"Be safe. I love you."

"Love you."

He started the truck and put it in reverse. He smiled to himself as he thought that no matter what else might happen in his crazy world he and Catherine were always on exactly the same wavelength.

THE END

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