Notes: Huge thank you to SuperSammy for not only inspiring the idea with last week's story, but contribution three beautiful scenes! Thanks to Mari for her wonderful feedback as always.
Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support! It is always appreciated.
Hope you enjoy!
Staying Connected (A McRoll in the REAL World Story by Ilna and Sammy)
"Knock knock," Catherine said, as she unlocked the door of the Rollins' condo so she and Steve could enter.
"Hey there," Joseph said, coming down the hallway to greet them with Smokey at his heels.
"Looks like we beat them here," she said when the lack of toddler feet running toward them indicated Angie wasn't there. "Mom said they were still at Bingo when I texted we were on our way."
Joseph nodded. "Should be back any minute."
"With all Grandma Ang's winnings, no doubt," Steve quipped.
Joseph chuckled. "No doubt."
"How was Angie's gymnastics class today?" Catherine asked. "I wish we could've made it again but both our days were packed."
"Come and see for yourselves," Joseph said, eyes brightening at the prospect. He walked around the sofa to grab his tablet from the end table. "I've got the video right here."
"You used your tablet this time?" Catherine teased. "What happened to your phone?"
He smiled at her tone, but his reply was serious. "I think the quality is better."
Catherine smiled, sharing a look with Steve, both touched that he wanted to take the best possible video for them.
They settled on the sofa, Catherine sitting between Joseph and Steve.
"Okay, here we go," Joseph said, pulling up the file and starting the video before handing the tablet over to Catherine so they had the best view of the screen.
"And reach down to touch your toes," came Miss Karen's voice on the video. The circle of toddlers around her imitated her movements, to varying degrees of success, as the gym's helpers assisted.
Catherine grinned. "Look at her go. She follows along right away."
"Of course she does," Steve said proudly. The very basic stretches continued and Steve nodded approvingly. "I'm glad they take the time to lead the kids in stretches first. Even kids this young. Builds good habits from an early age."
Joseph nodded his agreement.
"Now fly!" Miss Karen said, lying on her stomach and lifting her arms and legs up.
"Angie was trying to do this herself the other day," Catherine said. "She wanted Cammie to do it, too."
Joseph smiled at the idea. "She can get her arms up okay," he said, motioning to the video. "Still working on those legs."
"This'll help work on her core strength," Steve said.
Catherine snorted. " 'Core strength,' " she repeated, chuckling at him.
"What?" he asked.
"She's not even two."
"You wouldn't know it from that," he insisted, pointing to the video.
Joseph nodded. "Karen commented that she's very coordinated for her age."
Catherine pressed her lips together to hide her smile. She was as proud of Angie as anyone, but she loved how both her husband and her father couldn't help but voice that pride at every opportunity.
After the stretches were complete, the children were divided into their groups and led through the various activities. Steve and Catherine watched with rapt attention and with permanent smiles as Angie conquered every leg of the obstacle course, clearly remembering what to do on each apparatus and only needing to be reminded to wait her turn once due to her eagerness to scramble up the arched mat.
"Oh, watch this here," Joseph said, pointing to the screen. "This is great. Watch her turn to look back at Elizabeth and Ang and me. She knows what she gets to do next and she's so excited her arms start shaking. She's practically … vibrating with excitement."
Steve and Catherine both smiled at the trace of excitement in Joseph's voice as he described his granddaughter. Their smiles grew when in the video, just as he'd said, Angie looked back at her grandparents, grinning from ear to ear, her fists clenched and shaking with excitement when Miss Karen called her name to come forward and jump into the foam pit from the trampoline.
Catherine laughed. "There she goes. Angie's leap-and-the-net-will-appear attitude. Or the foam squares in this case."
Steve chuckled. "That's our girl."
She cleared her throat meaningfully. "Oh, that's all you, McGarrett."
As they bantered, Joseph's gaze stayed on the video. He slid his finger on the bar to rewind a few seconds and watch the moment again, shaking his head in amazement. "Some kids look back at their parents or grandparents for reassurance or encouragement, and Angie's certainly done that, too … but in this case, she doesn't need any more confidence. She just wants to share her excitement. Her joy. Look at that. She even goes up on her tiptoes. She can't wait to take that leap."
As he watched the video, Catherine looked at him, taking in his expression. She shared a smile with Steve, both realizing this video was more than a way for them to take part in the experience when they couldn't be there. They knew it was a moment a proud grandfather would go back to again and again.
They were on their second viewing when the front door opened and Angie returned with Elizabeth and Grandma Ang from Bingo.
"Mama!" Angie squealed immediately upon seeing them on the sofa. "Dada!" She barreled toward them, still clutching one of Grandma Ang's parfait containers of bingo chips in her hands.
Leaning over the arm of the sofa, Steve swept her up and into his lap. Catherine peppered her faces with kisses, and they all grinned at her peals of delighted laughter.
"Did you have fun at Bingo with Grandma and Grandma Ang?" Catherine asked.
" 'n-go!" Angie exclaimed, shaking the parfait container to hear the light clatter of the chips inside.
"We're still working on not yelling 'Bingo' until we actually have bingo," Ang said with an amused smile. "Right now she says it every time I put a chip on one of my cards."
" 'n-go!" Angie said again, beaming.
Elizabeth chuckled, putting Ang's bingo bag in the sideboard. "Luckily all the other participants are so enamored with her no one minds."
"See!" Angie said, pointing to the tablet Catherine had handed off to Joseph when the trio returned. She dropped the parfait container in Steve's lap and started to crawl over Catherine's lap to try and get to the device.
"Were you watching the video from gymnastics class?" Ang asked.
"Of course they were," Elizabeth answered easily. She smiled teasingly at her husband. "I bet Joseph couldn't wait to show it to you."
He smiled, acknowledging the truth in her words.
Angie, as technologically savvy as most 21st century toddlers, tapped at the screen until her finger hit the triangle icon and the video began to play. She beamed excitedly when she recognized what was happening.
"Ah bee nah do!"
"Who is that on the balance beam?" Catherine asked.
"Ann-giiiie!" the toddler said, pointing to herself on the video and clapping. "Nee yah!"
"Yes, that's Angie walking on the balance beam like a big girl," Catherine said, kissing her head. "That's you."
"She was such a big girl," Ang agreed, smiling at them from her armchair. "When she took a little fall off the beam, she got right back up."
Joseph nodded. "No hesitation."
"That's our girl," Steve said with a proud smile.
"Is this your sticker from gymnastics?" Catherine asked, touching something purple on the front of Angie's shirt.
"What's left of it," Elizabeth said with a chuckle. "She's been peeling it off to show everyone she talks to and it hasn't all made it back in one piece. But you wouldn't know it from her reaction."
As if to demonstrate, Angie looked at the slightly less than half a purple star that remained on her shirt. "Mah nah!" she exclaimed excitedly, pulling it off her shirt to show Steve and Catherine and losing another arm of the star in the process. "See!"
"You got a star," Steve said, smiling. "Great job."
Angie held it up to Catherine. "See, Mama."
"I see it, honey. That's great."
Angie put the sticker back on her shirt and slid off Catherine's lap, spotting her chest of toys in the corner and running toward it.
Elizabeth chuckled. "Ah, the attention span of a toddler."
Steve's eyes drifted back to the video as the sound of Grandma Ang yelling words of encouragement to Angie filled the air.
Joseph chuckled. "Some things never change."
Catherine eyed him curiously. "What do you mean, Dad?"
Joseph appeared to be wrestling with a decision for just a minute then he stood up and crossed to the TV stand. "I was going to wait and surprise you with these when they were all done but … well, I think we know my track record with keeping secrets is spotty at best."
Ang elbowed her daughter lightly. "I should have taken your bet, Elizabeth. I'd have an extra dollar for the Bingo fund if I had."
Catherine's eyes narrowed playfully. "What are you two up to?"
"Nothing really," Elizabeth explained. "Just a friendly little wager on whether or not your father could keep a secret."
"In this case, I can't." Joseph smiled as he pulled several DVDs out the top drawer of the wooden stand. "Recording Angie's gymnastics classes got me to thinking. I remember how much it meant for me that Elizabeth would tape Catherine's ice skating practices and competitions and send me the tapes when I was deployed." His expression turned wistful. "It made me feel like I was still connected to what was going on in their lives, even when I was half a world away. I would watch those tapes over and over. And even though I wasn't there for so many of those moments..." He smiled at Catherine. "I still feel like we share the memories in a way."
Steve nodded, a look of complete understanding on his face. "Thank you so much for giving us the same experience, Joseph. I know we're not half a world away but thanks for helping us keep that connection to something Angie clearly loves doing."
"My pleasure," Joseph replied around the lump in his throat.
"Of course it's much easier to do it with a tablet than it was back in the day when I had to lug around a huge camcorder," Elizabeth teased.
"I'm a little confused," Catherine said. "What's on the DVD? Angie's classes?"
Joseph's eyes sparkled as he inserted the DVD into the player and turned towards the TV screen. "Not exactly."
Seconds later visions of a seven-year-old Catherine twirling and leaping across the ice filled the screen.
"Like I said, recording Angie's classes got to me thinking about those old tapes of Catherine. They've been in a box in the closet for years but we didn't have anything to play them on anymore. So I took them to a place downtown and they're converting them all to DVD."
"Oh no." Catherine buried her head in her hands.
"Look at you go." Steve beamed. "And look at all those sequins."
The grainy music from the long ago competition program caught Angie's attention and she was immediately mesmerized by the young girl gliding across the ice. She ran to the middle of the room and tried to imitate the movements of the girl on screen.
"That's your mommy," Elizabeth told her.
Angie looked at Catherine then back at the screen, clearly too young to make the connection yet. "See, Mama!"
Catherine smiled. "I see, baby girl."
When a determined young Catherine landed a spin she'd been working on for weeks in the video Grandma Ang could be heard in the background cheering on her granddaughter with the same fervor she cheered on her beloved Cubs.
"See what I mean about some things not changing?" Joseph smiled affectionately at his mother-in-law.
Ang grinned. "I regret nothing."
As little Catherine finished her final spin and went into a deep bow Joseph hit the pause button. "You know, it's funny. Technology has changed so much since Catherine was young. Not only is the recording process itself so much easier but sharing the videos with everybody we know is as easy as tapping a button. No more getting anything developed. No more waiting for the mail. We can send videos around the world in a heartbeat."
"That's so true," Elizabeth agreed.
"But you know the one thing that never changes?" he continued. He tapped his chest. "That feeling of getting to experience a moment that was so important to someone you love, even if you weren't there in person." He looked at Catherine, smiling softly. "That part hasn't changed. I wasn't there to see a lot of your competitions but I feel like I was a part of them anyway … if that makes sense."
"It makes perfect sense." Catherine crossed the room, wiping a tear from her eyes, and hugged her father. "That's very sweet."
"If I can help you and Steve capture that feeling with Angie's classes on the days you can't be there, I'm happy to do it." He kissed her temple.
"We appreciate it," she told him. "I was gonna say more than you know but that wouldn't be right, would it? You know exactly how it feels."
"Yes." He cleared his throat. "I do."
"We'll have to have everyone over soon to watch the DVDs of you skating," Joseph said as he and Elizabeth walked Steve, Catherine, and Angie to the door.
Catherine rolled her eyes. "I can't wait."
"Is there any way I can get those sent to my phone?" Steve asked with a grin and was met immediately by an elbow to his ribs from Catherine.
They said their goodbyes which consisted of copious amounts of kisses between Angie and her grandparents and as the door closed behind them, Joseph wrapped an arm around Elizabeth and kissed her cheek softly. "Thank you."
She smiled. "For what?"
"For every single minute of our lives together." The sincerity in his eyes stopped her in her tracks. "For helping me stay so connected to you and Catherine even when I was so far away. And for agreeing to this Hawaiian adventure even after I promised you you'd never have to move again."
Her lips met his and lingered until she pulled back slightly to say, "Best decision we ever made."
"I still say you looked adorable in all those sequins," Steve said as they made their way across the parking lot. "Just wait until Grace sees them. And Kaitlyn. And Joanie. They're all gonna want lessons."
Catherine snorted. "I doubt that."
"I know what your dad means though." Steve turned more serious. "I hated I couldn't make it over to the class today but seeing the video, seeing everything that happened, it makes me feel … connected to something that is such a big deal in Angie's life right now."
"It's great," Catherine agreed.
"I know I say this all the time but I'm so glad your parents and Grandma Ang moved to the island. Not only for Angie's sake but for ours too. I love having them be a part of our everyday lives."
"Me too." Catherine beamed. "In a lifetime of lots of good decisions that may be the best one they ever made."
Hope you enjoyed!
Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll
Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net
Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com
You can still join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with Add me, please! in the subject line.
And find Mari on Twitter at Mari21763 and add #REALMcRoller