A/N: Okay, here I go again and let me tell you this one is really long. It's the longest story I think I've ever written. I don't remember if I mentioned in any other author's notes that I like to have my stories written out completely before I begin posting them. Let's just say I've been working on this one on and off since February. I also want to add that this story came about from a dream that I had over my Christmas break. Unlike "In Pursuit" I knew pretty well where I wanted the story to go within a day or so. Mind you the entire plot changed a little while later, but the original inspiration came from a dream. I was hoping to start posting at the beginning of the month. I had a week off work, but decided to schedule to have my gall bladder out. Unfortunately, my pain medication made me a bit too drowsy to work on it.

Just one shout out for the latest episode of 5-0. Loved loved loved loved loved it. I wonder if some of the writers read the fan fiction for the show and see that there are quite a few people out there who enjoy Danny whump. Man oh man did Danny get whumped in this episode. But it was sure awesome to see Steve in survival mode. By the way did anyone else notice that despite being in an explosion and have a building come down on top of them that Danny's hair looked good throughout the entire episode? Even when he woke up with Amber his hair looked great. Looking forward to the last couple of episodes this season although I feel like we are being gypped just a bit as it looks like we will not be getting 24 episodes this season. Okay, Okay, I'm done rambling. I just have to do my disclaimer and then the story will begin, I promise.

Disclaimer: I do not own 5-0.

Day 1: Afternoon

The pink football went flying through the salty sea air. A wave rose up over Grace's ankles as she reached out and caught it.

"Nice catch baby," Danny called from a little ways down on the sandy shore as he prepared himself for her to throw it back.

Grace held the football in one hand and threw it as hard as she could towards her dad. He quickly anticipated where it was going to land, rushed forward, and caught it just before it fell into the moist sand. Grace let out a frustrated breath as she watched Danny rush forward to catch the ball. He knew she couldn't throw as far as he could and yet he insisted on keeping his distance. He claimed that it would help her to throw the ball farther if she had a target that was too far. She hated to admit it, but it was working. She had gotten better since Danny had given her the pink football for her eighth birthday.

That was the first birthday she had celebrated in Hawaii. The last one she had celebrated had been her 11th birthday. She couldn't believe all that had happened in the four years the pair had lived in Hawaii. Her mother had moved back to the mainland with her step father, Stan, taking her half brother Charlie with them. Grace missed her mother, but they emailed, Skyped, and talked on the phone often. It seemed that not having her there had been a bit better for Rachel and Stan's marriage. Charlie was only two and not in school so Rachel could take him and travel with Stan when he was out of town on business. This was something she hadn't been able to do when living in Hawaii. Anyhow it increased the amount of time the struggling couple was able to spend together. Danny and Grace had noticed a bit of a lift in Rachel's mood. Both hoped that things continued to go well for them.

Grace watched carefully as Danny backed up with the football in hand not caring that he was getting a few stares from passersby due to the unusual color of the ball.

"Here it comes, Monkey!" Danny yelled pulling his arm back and letting the ball fly from his hand

Grace looked up squinting in the sunlight. She moved slightly putting herself under the ball as Danny had taught her to do. She held out her arms just as the ball came down landing in them perfectly. She could hear her dad cheering for her. Grace looked up and saw him jogging in her direction. She started walking toward Danno carrying the ball under one arm.

"Nice catch," he said when he reached her.

Danny put an arm around her neck and pulled her gently towards him placing several kisses on the side of her head and face. Grace smiled feeling his in growing whiskers next to her cheek. Her dad shaved every day, but always had something growing back in by early afternoon. It was okay, though. It was one of those things that made Danno. . .well Danno. She put an arm around his bare back and the pair walked to their beach blanket.

Danny opened up the small cooler he had brought and pulled out two bottles of ice cold water. The ice had been added just a few hours ago on their way to the beach so it hadn't melted too much just yet. They both drank a little. Danny put the cap back on his bottle and dug through the bag he had brought that had their towels and other beach essentials. He pulled out a bottle of sunscreen.

Grace still holding her bottle walked over and sat down in front of him without being told to. Danny took off the blue and purple tie dye hat that she wore and tossed it next to the bag. He sprayed her shoulders and the bare skin on her back. Grace stood so he could get her legs and turned. Danny sprayed her front, and then handed her the bottle. She then went around to Danny's back and sprayed. She remembered how much Danny had despised putting on sunscreen when all that was available was lotion. It was hard to rub it in with all the hair on his back and front. The spray didn't need to be rubbed in and was much easier for the both of them.

Grace placed a kiss on the top of Danny's head before she handed the bottle back to him. Danny finished his front and placed the bottle back inside his bag. He opened his bottle back up and quickly drank the rest of the water. He placed the empty bottle back in the cooler and leaned back on the blanket. He felt pretty relaxed. Their day hadn't been interrupted with a call from work so both were pretty excited about that. Between Danny's work schedule and Grace's extra activities besides school the pair stayed pretty busy. It had been a welcome treat to come and spend an afternoon at the beach together.

"I don't know about you, Monkey," Danny said looking over at her, "But I'm still kind of hot. How 'bout some shaved ice?"

Grace nodded enthusiastically.

"Can I go by myself Danno?" Grace asked.

Danny looked at his daughter thinking over her request.

"It's not far," the little girl said pointing to the brightly colored building at the edge of the sand.

Danny took a deep breath and had to remind himself that Grace was getting older. She didn't always need him with her to hold her hand, as much as he would always love to and want to do that. He knew he needed to give her a bit of independence, beside she would be where he could still see her.

"Yeah, you can go," he said reaching into the back pocket of his cut off jeans and pulling out his wallet.

He handed her some money, and she got up off the blanket.

"Hey, don't you want your hat?" he asked.

Grace shook her head and started trudging through the sand. He watched until she got into the line. He then laid down on his back and closed his eyes. Part of his brain wondered what he was doing and why he wasn't watching his little girl's every move. The other part of his brain told that part to shut up so he could relax. Grace was fine. She was no more that thirty or so yards away. Besides they were on a beach that wasn't crowded per say, but he figured it would be pretty hard to try and get away with something in front of so many people. Danny took in a deep breath and settled his body onto the blanket.

Grace got into line and looked at the menu of flavors that there was to pick from. She thought about what kind she was going to get for her and Danno to share. For a bit Grace was the end of the line. She was almost to the stand when someone got into line behind her. Grace ignored that the person was standing kind of close to her as she stepped up to the window.

"What can I get for you sista?" the Hawaiian man inside the shack asked.

"Um a large with. . . banana. . . .pina' colada. . . .and pineapple."

Grace knew that her dad only despised pineapple when it was on a pizza. Other than that it seemed to be something he enjoyed. Besides the three flavors sounded refreshing on this hot sunny afternoon. Grace waited patiently as the man prepared the frozen treat.

"Can I have two spoons please?" Grace asked as he set it on the counter.

The man added an extra spoon, took her money, and gave her back some change.

"Enjoy keiki," he said with a smile.

Grace picked it up with both hands and felt herself bump into the person behind her as she took a step back.

"Excuse me," Grace said turning slightly seeing that it was a woman.

The lady just smiled as she stepped up to the counter to place her order. Grace wondered why she had been standing so close in the first place. With a quick glance back she could see that the woman had plenty of room. Grace put the thought out of her mind as she arrived back on the blanket and presented the shaved ice and the change to Danno.

"It's very yellow, Monkey" Danny commented picking up one of the straw spoons and tasting it, "Not bad."

Grace smiled and started to eat as well. They ate quickly so the shaved ice didn't turn into a tropical flavored liquid in the bottom of the cup. Both laughed when one or the other got a cold headache from eating too fast. Despite it all the shaved ice really hit the spot and cooled the pair down. They spent a little more time laying on the blanket afterward. Having the down time to just sit and talk without interruptions was not something the pair had time for often. Both wanted to take advantage. They talked about Grace's school, work at Five-0, as well as other things that pertained to their day to day lives.

"Danno?" Grace questioned. "Yeah babe?"

"I miss talking to mom?"

Danny noticed the hint of sadness in Grace's tone.

Stan and Rachel were in Africa for a few weeks. Stan was entertaining potential clients, and he and Rachel had been invited to go on a safari. It would be very difficult to reach them for any reason for up to two weeks or even longer. Up until this trip the mother and daughter hadn't gone longer than a day without communicating. Although Grace had known about the trip for several weeks it was difficult for her to not have any contact with her mother. Danny hated seeing her with such a melancholy look on her face. He reached across the blanket and took her hand. Although she felt sad the contact put a smile on her face.

"You know you can still email Mom and tell her what you have been up to even if she can't respond back right away. I'm sure it would brighten her day to have a whole bunch of emails from you telling her about what you've been doing when the safari ends. She'll email back or call when she is able to."

Grace's smile got bigger as she felt better about the whole situation. She moved the beach bag out of the way and scooted right next to Danny. She put her arms around his neck and gave him a big hug.

"Love you, Danno" she said.

Danny returned the squeeze.

"Love you too, baby."

The pair sat up and looked at the waves as they slid up the sandy shore and then back down. Danny kept an arm around Grace. She kept the side of her head pressed against his chest listening the his heart beat mix with the sounds of the ocean and the noises of others around them enjoying the beautiful Hawaiian day.

Danny took in a deep satisfied breath and patted Grace's shoulder a little while later.

"Should we head out, Monkey?" he asked looking down at her.

Grace looked up with a smile and nodded. The pair started to gather their belongings. Grace started digging through the beach bag as Danny found the tank top he had been wearing earlier that day and slipped it on.

"Danno, have you seen my hat?" Grace asked looking up from the bag.

Danny shook his head.

Grace continued her search and looked at him with a frown when she didn't find it in the bag. The pair quickly scanned the blanket as well as the sand around them seeing if it had been knocked off.

"Don't worry, babe," Danny tried to assure her, "I'm sure it will turn up."

Danny knew Grace would be sad if she couldn't find it. The hat had been a gift from her mother just before she had left for the mainland. They picked up the rest of their stuff and started toward the Camaro. The pair trudged through the hot sand. Both wore sandals making it easy for the heated grains to get inside. Both were relieved when they stepped onto the asphalt of the parking lot.

"Excuse me?" came a woman's voice from behind them.

Danny and Grace both turned as a lady approached them. She wore a sun hat and strapless dress.

"I think you dropped this," she said holding up Grace's hat.

Grace let out a relieved breath and thanked the woman as she took her hat back.

"There you see," Danny said before turning the to stranger and thanking her as well.

"You were right, Danno," Grace said slipping an arm around his waist.

Danny put an arm around her shoulder, and the pair continued on. Grace suddenly stopped and looked back at the woman.

"Something wrong?" Danny asked stopping too.

"I bumped into that woman at the shaved ice shack," Grace said remembering how close she had been standing behind her. Danny looked at the woman's back as she headed in the opposite direction.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Danny said turning back towards his car.

He pulled the keys from his pocket, unlocked the doors, and popped the trunk. He and Grace put their stuff into the back and then climbed in up front. Danny started the car and headed in the direction of home.

A/N: Hope you liked it. More to come soon in the next chapter. Please review and thanks for reading.