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Where She Gets It
Catherine stood to open the door for her mother, smiling broadly when Elizabeth greeted her with a warm hug and a kiss before making a beeline for the baby.
"And there's my big girl." She swooped her up out of the napper for a hug and Angie kicked her legs and cooed happily. "You come see me and we'll sit right over here." She sat on the sofa and Catherine joined her. Not seeing Cammie, she asked if she was out with Steve.
Catherine nodded. "They're swimming." She wiped a tiny bit of drool from the baby's chin and handed her mother the burp cloth. "They'll be back in a few minutes then we can go."
They had lunch plans with Grandma Ang, who they'd be picking up after her hair appointment. She was trying out a stylist one of her new friends from the condo complex had recommended, and the woman's daughter had dropped them off.
"No rush. I actually wanted to run something by you before I bring it up with Steve." Elizabeth tickled the baby's tummy and grinned when her granddaughter gurgled and waved her arms.
"Is anything wrong?" Catherine asked, not terribly concerned because her mom's demeanor was relaxed and natural.
"No, not at all. But I was talking to your dad and Grandma Ang last night and … I'd like to do something a little special for Mary. For the wedding. I know Aaron's parents are probably hosting a rehearsal dinner, and this is not in the slightest because I think you're too busy with Angie…" She kissed he baby's head as she spoke. "But I'd like to maybe do a little shower, or even host a girl's night at the hotel the night before the wedding. I'll run it by Steve, too, of course, to see if thinks Mary would be okay with it, but if you think …"
Catherine nodded enthusiastically. "I think that's an amazing idea. I love it."
Elizabeth smiled. "Great. I don't want to overstep, I know Deb's doing a lot, but I also know what it's like to be missing a parent when you're planning a wedding. Mary's missing both. And while we can't make up for her having neither since she was ten, or for John's loss …" She sighed a bit and hugged Angie close. "I've missed my father every day, but I always knew I was wanted and loved. It's got to be especially hard knowing your parent is absent by choice." She shook her head. If she lived to be 100 she'd never understand that woman's actions.
Catherine touched her mom's arm before gently running her hand over Angie's back. Just then the door slid open and Cammie bounded in to greet Elizabeth and check on Angie. Satisfied all was well, she nuzzled Catherine's face and settled at her feet.
Steve followed, pulling a t-shirt over his head. "Hi, Elizabeth." He bent to kiss her cheek and touched his daughter's hand. "Are you having fun with Grandma?"
"I'm not sure about Angie, but Grandma's definitely having fun," she said as she passed him the baby, who'd opened her eyes wide at the sound of his voice. "But I think someone wants Daddy. She gestured to Catherine with excited eyes. "She's smiling at Steve! She's definitely happy to see her daddy."
Steve beamed as he took a seat on the arm chair. "She really is smiling now, aren't you, Angie?" He glanced at Catherine then back at their daughter. "Did you tell your mom she totally grinned at you this morning?"
Catherine nodded excitedly. "I really think she did. I picked her up at 5:30 and she got this big smile when I said good morning. I know sometimes it takes up to ten weeks, but ..."
"She smiled," Steve said with absolute certainty. "The book said sometimes at first it's hard to distinguish between a real one and a reflex smile."
He ran a finger down Angie's cheek and when her eyes found him, grinned widely at her. "But when the baby uses her whole face including her eyes, that means she's smiling to please you or in response to your reaction," he quoted and Catherine's expression radiated joy. "See that? She's watching me smile and responding." He looked between his mother in law and his wife. "She's incredibly astute, too." He tickled her tummy and bent to kiss her forehead when another smile appeared. "She knows we're happy when she smiles. You're smiling at Daddy on purpose, aren't you?" he murmured.
Catherine and Elizabeth exchanged a glance.
"I'm not sure about astute, but she definitely smiled with her whole face, her eyes changed and everything," Catherine practically bubbled.
"Definitely a deliberate smile," the proud grandmother agreed. "Wait till your grandpa sees you smiling like a big girl! Actually…" She took out her phone and snapped several photos and texted him. "There you go. He can see for himself as soon as he's done at Pearl." She placed the phone on the coffee table. "And as for her being astute," she addressed her daughter with an amused grin, "your father insisted you could calculate his ETA and would plan to wake up just before he got home from base."
"Awww, from my nap? I remember standing on the sofa to look outside a picture window."
Steve glanced at his wife, clearly able to imagine a tiny Catherine waiting excitedly for her father. "That's not unusual, though, right? I used to wait for my dad when he was on nights. I always managed to be awake at 6:00 when he came off duty, even though I didn't have to be up for school until about eight."
"That's so sweet." Elizabeth smiled and added, "but I'm guessing you were five at least? In the incidences I'm talking about, my very intelligent, logical husband was telling people with complete conviction that his daughter was timing her naps to be awake at 5:45." She covered Catherine's hand with hers. "I know exactly how much you adore your dad, sweetheart, but even my dazzlingly brilliant daughter probably wasn't calculating time and distance from the base at twelve weeks old to greet him."
Mother and daughter laughed out loud.
"He didn't tell people that for real, did he?"
Elizabeth held up her hand and surrender. "I kid you not. But everyone humored him - from commanding officer to the nice couple next-door who had six kids."
Steve reclined and repositioned the baby whose eyes were closing as she was settling for a nap.
"In Joseph's defense," he took a free hand and waved it up and down to indicate his wife, "look how brilliant you are, who's to say you didn't start very very early?" He was only half teasing.
"And there you have it, two of a kind." Elizabeth chuckled.
He smiled. "I'm taking that as a compliment."
"I absolutely meant it as one." Her eyes sparkled with mirth.
Catherine was grinning but her eyes held Steve's "The two best men I've ever known think I was smart enough to calculate at three months old? You're both a tiny bit blinded because you love me. I couldn't get much luckier."
Angie startled awake and mewled, looking around in attempt to focus.
Steve leaned down into her field of vision as he rubbed her tummy. "Did you have a dream, baby girl? Daddy's got you. I'm right here." His voice was soothing as was his touch, and she settled back to sleep with one tiny hand latched onto his thumb.
"We should get going, Mom," Catherine said softly. "We don't want to keep Grandma waiting."
"Did she eat?" Steve asked his eyes on the baby who was now comfortably snuggled against his chest.
"Half hour ago. That's a fresh diaper, too."
"Then she's all set for a nap while Cammie and I watch a couple of DVR-ed SEAL K-9 Challenge episodes."
"Mom had an idea she wanted to run by you," Catherine said as she stood to slip on a pair of shoes. "Do you want to wait till we get back?"
"No, I'll take just a minute. You can even think on it while we're out. It's about Mary. Well, for Mary, actually," Elizabeth explained before elaborating on her thoughts in detail. She was pleased his smile had grown by the time she finished.
"So if you don't think it'll be upsetting in any way, in that it'd be too much of a reminder …" She waved a hand, unwilling to even say the name of the woman who'd twice abandoned not only his sister, but the incredible man watching her with intent hazel eyes. A man she was proud to call her son in law, who she loved like a son. Gauging his reaction, she went on, "Or that it's infringing on Deb's role, I'd like to talk to Mary about it."
Steve shook his head when she'd finished. "That's just ... I'm sure Mary will love it. Either idea. The fact that you thought of it, even. And it's very generous, we could hel-"
"Ah, ah, no, you can't. I really want to do this, and I'm happy you and Catherine think it's okay."
"Okay? I'm know she doesn't expect ... I mean Aunt Deb did the dress thing and is gonna dance with Aaron and all, but you - all of you - mean so much to her …" His eyes held his mother in law's.
"We love Mary. And I know her friends from work and the ones from Joan's play group will do something, and Catherine would absolutely host a shower - that's why I'm going to ask Mary about it as soon as possible - but this could be a little extra for the out of town guests or, like I said, we could do a girls' night." She turned towards Catherine. "Massages, mani-pedis, a nice dinner in the hotel suite. Maybe a relaxing massage."
"I'm sure Alyssa would help us find the best options," Catherine said, willing to help her mom as much as necessary with the planning.
"Perfect. I'll talk to Mary tonight after our Skype story with Joan. Joseph's got a new book about polar bears he can't wait to read to her." She stood and reached for her purse. When Steve shifted, Elizabeth immediately waved him down. "Don't get up, you'll wake my beautiful granddaughter."
Catherine bent to kiss him and the baby and gave his shoulder a little squeeze. "I'll be back in a few hours. Love you. Bye, bye, sweetie, Mommy loves you so much. Take a nice nap and have fun watching the doggies with Daddy and Cammie." She kneeled to kiss the dog. "Bye, pretty girl, we'll have a run later when it's cooler."
Cammie thumped her tail and Steve said, "We all love you. Take your time, have fun."
Moving closer to kiss Angie, Elizabeth patted Steve's arm. "See you soon."
He nodded, a contemplative look on his face.
When she was at the door, he said, "Hey, Elizabeth …"
She turned, one hand on the knob.
"Thanks."
Smiling a smile so very like his wife's she nodded in understanding.
He wasn't only thanking her for embracing Mary and Joan. He was thanking her for so, so much more. His eyes flicked to Catherine, the baby, and back and he knew she understood.
Looking at her daughter's blissful face and her granddaughter snuggled in her daddy's arms, Elizabeth smiled at the content husband and father who was so very different from the young man she'd met years ago who was reluctant to discuss his family. She knew Catherine was responsible for that look, just as Steve was responsible for the happiness that simply radiated from her daughter.
From the first day Catherine mentioned 'Midshipman McGarrett', she'd picked up on the smile in her daughter's voice. Not long after, with every subsequent mention, she knew she'd been right. Steve was the one who put the smile there way back then. She couldn't hold back a grin of her own knowing he still was and always would be.
Briefly touching Catherine's cheek, Elizabeth turned and faced him fully. With love in her voice she said, "Actually, thank you."
# End - thanks for reading
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