Mari & Ilna—you guys inspire me to be better every day. I am in awe of your creativity, your generosity and your drive … not to mention your superior time management skills. I am so incredibly grateful for your love and support. You are the absolute best, you have made every minute of this journey a pleasure and I am sooooo excited about what's coming up. Like legitimately chair dancing excited.

Sandy—it's such a joy to have someone to share the laughs and the tears with. And to help keep things in perspective. And most importantly someone who doesn't get judge-y when the perspective gets out of whack!

REAL Worlders—I am running out of superlatives for how AMAZING you guys are. We LOVE hearing your comments and ideas. Thanks for joining us on this ride. Your support and enthusiasm makes it exponentially more enjoyable.

Count Your Years: Part Two of Steve's Birthday Trilogy (1/1)

Kuli 'ou 'ou Ridge Trail

Wednesday 12:00 Noon

This was a great idea," Steve said as they approached the trailhead which would take them along the Kuli 'ou 'ou Ridge to the summit of the Ko 'olau range and its stunning 360 degree view of the island, where they planned to camp overnight.

He, along with Catherine and Cammie, had gotten up early, gone for a long swim, enjoyed the luxury of a leisurely, uninterrupted breakfast on the beach, and then headed out for their planned day hike and overnight camping trip. "I'm glad Francine suggested Cammie was far enough along in her training to come with us."

At the sound of her name Cammie turned and looked excitedly at Steve. Ever since they cleared the check-in station at the start of the trail she'd been happily exploring her new surroundings. She was wearing the bright orange bandana Catherine had purchased for the occasion with a matching bright orange leash, the end of which was draped around Catherine's wrist.

Because parts of the trail wound through local hunting areas it was important to make sure all hikers, even the canine ones, were clearly visible. They had hiked the trail before and never had any issues but safety first, especially where Cammie was concerned. Both Steve and Catherine were wearing bright orange t-shirts the same color as Cammie's bandana. Steve was also wearing cargoes as usual and Catherine was clad in a well-worn pair of camo pants which Steve definitely considered part of his birthday present.

"Me too," Catherine smiled. "I know Esther would have been happy to sit for her. Grace would have too for that matter. But it just feels right bringing her along."

"Of course it does." Steve smiled as he gave Catherine's shoulder a quick squeeze. "She's part of the family." He dropped his arm to his side and took her hand, intertwining their fingers, as they continued along the trail.

They made their way along the lower section where the incline was less steep and the trail was well maintained. Cammie explored the vegetation, happily examining the Norfolk Pines, the Ironwood and the Christmas Berry growth as her humans chatted happily about plans for their new deck and their trip to New York in the spring.

Suddenly Cammie dropped excitedly to a play bow and woofed.

"What's she see?" Catherine asked.

"I'm not sure." Steve gave the leash a soft tug. Cammie woofed excitedly again and pounced three steps forward then returned to her play bow, tail wagging furiously.

As Steve and Catherine headed towards her she repeated the maneuver again, moving further into the underbrush. They both smiled when they finally reached her and saw what was causing such a reaction. Their large, furry dog with her hind quarters in the air, tail wagging rapidly, had her head down and her nose within inches of a small orange spotted day gecko.

"What'd you find, girl?" Catherine asked as she and Steve knelt next to the pair.

The gecko was so focused on Cammie it hardly seemed to notice Steve and Catherine. It was as if it somehow knew instinctively Cammie meant it no harm and was just as interested in the large enthusiastic newcomer as Cammie was in it.

They stared at each other intently, neither moving a muscle.

After a minute Cammie turned to look at Catherine and the spell was broken. The gecko skittered off into the underbrush and Cammie was momentarily bereft at the loss of her new friend.

"It's ok, sweetie," Catherine said as she ruffled the fur on Cammie's back. "There's lots more to see."

It only took a few seconds for the sound of a tree frog to redirect Cammie's attention and the three of them continued along the trail.

About two-thirds of the way to the top they came to a shelter with several picnic tables. There were no other hikers in sight. Their previous hikes had taken place on weekends and Steve and Catherine were happy to see that the trail was far less highly trafficked on a Wednesday afternoon. They hadn't seen more than five or six other hikers all morning as they took their time and carefully explored some of the off trail areas. They were in no hurry and Steve intended to enjoy every minute of his unexpected days off.

They knew from previous hikes in the area that the trail got much steeper and was only sporadically maintained from this point to the top so they decided it would be a good time to stop and take a break. Catherine removed Cammie's travel bowls from her pack and made sure the pup had plenty of fresh, cold water and food to give her energy for the trip to the summit.

Steve handed Catherine several protein bars he'd taken from his pack and they grabbed a seat at one of the shaded picnic tables and enjoyed a small snack of their own.

After refueling and allowing Cammie a potty break, Catherine checked to make sure the area was completely cleaned up before the three of them headed into the guava forest that covered much of this section of the trail on their way to the summit. The tougher hiking through the unmaintained areas didn't seem to bother Cammie at all and Steve and Catherine couldn't wait to tell Francine how well-behaved her star student was, even in a new environment with so many things to see and so many things to smell competing for her attention.

When they finally reached the summit they stopped and stared at the gorgeous view of the windward side of Oahu and Waimanalo. As Catherine turned slowly she couldn't help but marvel at the panoramic view of the island below. Even though she'd seen it many times before it never failed to take her breath away.

"Beautiful," she sighed as she leaned into Steve's side.

"Absolutely," he said as he smiled at her, then kissed her temple.

She turned and saw him staring at her with emotion filled eyes. "I was talking about the view."

"Yeah," he grinned. "That too."

She couldn't resist the look on his face and wrapped her arms around his neck then kissed him softly on the lips. "Let's get the tent set up and a fire started."

If it had just been the two of them they probably would have open air camped but with this being Cammie's first outdoor overnight they thought it might be better to use a tent all three of them could sleep in.

Working together the tent was set-up in no time. They inflated the air mattress they'd be using and Catherine arranged a large fleece blanket into a makeshift bed for Cammie.

Once that was done she grabbed a plastic bag for clean up and took Cammie, who definitely looked ready for a nap, out for a potty break while Steve started a fire. When they returned Catherine walked the perimeter of the campsite, making the boundaries clear for Cammie, then went to her pack and grabbed the extra-long leash she had packed and placed it around a tree before clipping it to Cammie's collar leaving more than enough lead for the curious pup to fully explore her new surroundings.

"I think she's looking for another gecko," Steve teased as Cammie searched the underbrush carefully.

"Could be," Catherine smiled.

They watched Cammie silently until she finally exhausted herself and curled up happily in the fading daylight for a nap. Steve and Catherine passed the remainder of the late afternoon alternating between sitting wrapped in an embrace quietly taking in the view, talking about whatever crossed their mind, and making out like teenagers on their first date.

Finally Steve's stomach growled and Catherine chuckled. "Ready for dinner?"

"I guess I am," he smiled. "Are we having MREs?"

"No way." Catherine shook her head. "This is your birthday we're celebrating. I think we can do better than MREs." She opened her pack and extracted a large cooler bag. "I brought Nonna's antipasto."

"Are you serious?" Steve looked at her hungrily. He'd just assumed they'd be eating MREs for the sake of convenience. It never crossed his mind Catherine would go to the trouble of an actual meal.

"Absolutely," she beamed. "I figured the antipasto would be a good choice. Hearty enough to give us energy but light enough not to weigh us down. The only thing is I didn't want to give us food poisoning by just putting it in my pack. So I talked to Jirou about how to keep it cool enough all day and he gave me one of the packs they use for catering."

Steve beamed at her. "I've said it before and I'll say it again. You are amazing."

Catherine removed reusable plates, travel utensils and napkins from her pack along with Cammie's food and water dishes, a plastic baggie of kibble and a small bag of dog treats. Once Cammie's bowls were filled Catherine returned to her seat next to Steve who had already dished out the antipasto.

"Seriously, Cath, you thought of everything," he said as he handed her a plate. "This is awesome."

"I wanted it to be special," she said sincerely.

"You're here. We could have eaten tree bark stew and it still would have been special."

Catherine leaned and kissed him whispering "Thank you" against his lips. After a few seconds his stomach growled again and Catherine smiled. "Eat. I have a feeling you'll need energy for later."

They finished their antipasto and the crusty bread Catherine had somehow managed to fit in her pack as well in what Steve had to assume amounted to a game of culinary Tetris. He gathered up the remains of their meal and after rinsing of the plates and utensils placed everything in a bag to take home and either clean or dispose of properly.

"That was delicious," he said as he sat back down beside her.

"Thank you. But there's actually one more thing."

"More? You've already done too much."

"No such thing." Catherine reached into her pack and pulled out a hard plastic container with a shipping label on it. She opened the top cautiously to reveal two carefully packaged cupcakes.

"Is that … " Steve looked at the label with amazement then at Catherine. "Are those from … ?"

"Graul's Market in Annapolis? Yes. I had them shipped overnight," she replied softly.

"That's where … the cupcake you gave me after the physical training tests … it was from Graul's."

"Yes, it was."

"Catherine that's … I don't know what to say."

She took his hands in hers and looked into his eyes. "Steve, I wanted you to know … " her voice trailed off as she fought back tears.

"Know what?" he asked softly.

"I wanted you to know," she started again, "that even after all these years … I'm still so proud of your accomplishments. Of the man you've become. And so happy for every success in your life."

He wrapped her in a tight hug and buried his face in her hair. He hoped he could convey to her through touch what he wasn't sure he had the words to express. When he felt able to speak he pulled back and placed his forehead against hers. "I know you are, Catherine. And I'm so grateful. I hope you know I feel the exact same way about you."

"What does Nonna's birthday poem say?" Catherine asked as she placed her hands on his cheeks. "Count the years?"

"Yeah."

"Every single minute of those years since the day we met brought us to where we are now and I wouldn't change a minute of them. Even the hard parts. I love that we have years behind us to count, Steve, as well as so many years ahead of us."

"I love that too. And I wouldn't change a thing either. Except for maybe the time I lost my mind and broke up with you." He winced slightly.

Catherine smiled softly. "But if it wasn't for you doing that we wouldn't have had that weekend in Bangkok and that is one of my very favorite weekends ever."

"You have a point there." Steve nodded thoughtfully. "You know what I remember best about that weekend?"

"All the sex?" Catherine purred.

Steve laughed. "No … well yes… but before that. I remember that when I saw you sitting in Iron Fairies it felt like all the pieces of my life that had been out of whack since the breakup slid seamlessly back into place. And I've felt that way ever since."

Catherine beamed at him. "I love you."

"I love you," he said as he dipped his head and began to kiss his way along her jawline.

"There's just one problem."

Catherine's words caused him to stop his ministrations and look at her with concern. "What?"

"To fit the cupcakes into my pack I had to take out my sleep clothes." She waggled her eyebrows at him. "I may need to borrow your t-shirt."

Steve laughed as he gently lowered her to the ground and began kissing his way down her body. "I think that can be arranged."

THE END

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