Genre: Romance/drama

Tagline: "I let it fall, my heart, and as it fell you rose to claim it. It was dark and I was over, until you kissed my lips and you saved me."

Summary: The last thing Dr. Katie Giordano was looking for was love. With a ten year old son to raise by herself and a thriving medical career, her plate is as full as she wants it to be. And now an arrogant new patient is butting his sexy nose into both her professional and personal life! But Katie's son, Matt, seems to think that something is missing from both of their lives. So when Matt sets out to fill that void, the pair realize that they've lived for so long without a man in either of their lives that neither of them could admit how much they both need someone to depend on. And they also learn some interesting things about life, love, and the everlasting bonds of family and friendship.

Hello to all of my old and new friends! I'm back with another Hawaii Five O fic. This one will be much different from "The Ex Factor" since it will be mainly romance and not too much action. But since the romance will be with our beloved Commander McGarrett, I hope you'll stick around and read this one! If any of you have read my Blue Bloods fic that I abandoned when I ran out of storyline ideas, this fic will sound familiar to you since I am going to recycle some of the storyline into this fic. I couldn't salvage that one but I have been able to create a new one.

Once again I am creating an original character to interact with our favorite team, although in this universe the character of Lori Weston does not exist. I wish that were true in my tv viewing universe, but that's a story for another day. I will, however, be using the characters of Lt. Commander Joe White and Chin's fiancée Malia Weston.

So, let's dive right in to this fic! Since we already know a lot about our story's hero (Steve), I am beginning with a little background on our heroine (Katie). But don't worry, Steve will be along soon enough! I hope you enjoy…

Chapter One – Manic Monday Morning

"I have a "carpe diem" mug and, truthfully, at six in the morning the words do not make me want to seize the day. They make me want to slap a dead poet."

~Joanne Sherman

"Matthew James Giordano!"

The sleepy, ten year old boy slowly opened his dark, brown eyes and glanced at the digital alarm clock next to his bed.

7:20.

He groaned and burrowed back underneath his covers, pulling them up over his head and tried to drown out the sound of his mother's persistent voice.

No such luck.

"Matthew James! Get your lazy butt out of bed right now! You are going to miss the bus!"

The voice was closer this time and Matt knew that it would only be a matter of time before his mom was standing in his room, yelling at him to get up. But he was so tired...

"Matthew!"

She was standing right over him this time and before he could respond, he felt the warmth of his covers being jerked off of his snuggled up body.

"Mom!" He mumbled, grabbing for his pillow to cover his suddenly exposed head. "I'm tired."

But Dr. Katie Giordano was not in the mood for her son's antics this morning. Grabbing the pillow from him and tossing it across the room, she reprimanded, "Then you should have gone to bed when I told you to last night instead of sneaking downstairs to watch T.V."

"No one in my class has to go to bed at 9:00," Matt mumbled, once again bringing up the bedtime that he believed was too strict. "It's stupid."

"No, this is stupid," Katie remarked, moving across the room and ignoring the bedtime remark. She didn't have time to get into that argument with him this morning. Opening up the wooden blinds on his bedroom windows to let in the morning sunlight, she continued, "You are in fifth grade and have a perfectly good alarm clock sitting right there next to your bed. I should not have to come in here to get you out of bed..."

"So don't."

"You should be responsible enough to get yourself up and ready for school in the morning without me," his mother continued, ignoring his mumbled remarks as she opened the blinds on a second window.

The sunlight poured into his darkened bedroom and Matt groaned again as he covered his face with his hands. He listened as his mother moved around his room, but made no move to get up as he heard her walk into his adjoining bathroom and turn on the shower for him. Remaining in his bed with his eyes closed, he heard her come back into his room and could feel her standing over him but couldn't stop himself from opening one of his eyes to look up at her.

"I'm sick."

Putting her hands on her hips, she shot back, "Get up."

"I really am sick!" He protested, biting back a grin. Having a doctor for a mother, he knew that excuse wouldn't work before the words were even out of his mouth. But it didn't stop him from trying. "Feel my head."

"I am not playing around, Matty," Katie answered, glaring at him. "I have an important staff meeting at the hospital this morning, so neither one of us can be late. Now, get up."

Matt laid there for another minute before he finally dragged his tired body up into the sitting position. Knowing that she would not leave his room until she saw him walk into the bathroom, he slowly stood up and said, "One of these mornings, I really am going to be sick," he said as he trudged toward his bathroom door and then remarked over his shoulder, "And then you're going to be sorry."

She shook her head at him and turned around to leave the room, muttering, "Just hurry up so you won't miss the bus."

"I won't miss the bus!" he told her before shutting the bathroom door firmly between them.

Twenty minutes later a freshly showered and fully awake Matt bounded down the stairs into the kitchen of the Hawaiian home he shared with his mother. Katie was standing in front of the toaster, using it for a mirror as she hastily applied some mauve lip gloss to her lips. Matt shook his head and remarked, "We have a hundred mirrors in this house and you have to do that here?"

"This lip-stick was down here in my purse," the trauma surgeon explained as her son pulled open the cabinets in search of something to have for breakfast. "And this was the closest thing, so get off my case."

"Get off my case," Matt mimicked her as he opened another cabinet. Shaking his head again, he pulled out a bag and began opening it up.

"Cheet-ohs are not breakfast," Katie scolded when she realized what he had chosen.

"It's all we have," he shot back, popping a stale, cheesy snack into his mouth. When she frowned at him, he pulled open the cereal cabinet to reveal an empty space where the cereal and pop-tarts were supposed to be. "And even if we did have cereal, we probably don't have any milk." Matt moved over to the refrigerator and opened the door to prove his point. "See? I drank the last of it last night."

"I'm sorry, buddy," Katie apologized quickly. "I forgot to go to the grocery store."

"That's what you said yesterday," he muttered before popping another Cheet-oh into his mouth. Then he asked, "What about lunch?"

"What about it?"

"Did you make me any?"

"I put twenty five dollars on your school lunch account last week," Katie reminded him, pouring her morning coffee into a travel mug, "Eat lunch at school."

Matt watched as his mother went about her daily coffee routine and said, "It's Thursday. They serve fish sticks on Thursday."

"So?"

"I hate fish sticks."

"You do not," the pretty brunette chided, twisting the cap onto her travel mug, "You love fish."

"I like fish...fried fish, grilled fish, and even that fish stew you make...but I do not like fish sticks," Matt protested, wrinkling up his freckled little nose.

"Well," Katie countered, checking her reflection in the toaster again, "don't they serve sandwiches in the cafeteria, too?"

Matt quickly checked the menu that was hanging on the refrigerator and then said, "Peanut butter and jelly. I don't like their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...they put too much peanut butter on them."

"Well, you'll survive," Katie remarked lightly. "Now go get your bookbag before you miss your bus."

"I won't miss my bus," Matt said for the second time that morning. "Did you sign my permission slip?"

"Permission slip?" she asked absently. Her mind was definitely elsewhere this morning.

"Mom!" Matt cried in exasperation. "My permission slip! To go to the Naval Airship and Museum. It's due today."

"I thought we already did that."

"You gave me the money but forgot to sign the permission slip," Matt reminded her, digging around in his bookbag for the half-sheet of paper in question. "Mr. Byrnes says I can't go without a parent signature...whether I paid or not."

"Well, that doesn't seem fair," Katie said, glancing at the clock on the stove. "Okay...give it to me and I'll sign it now."

Matt rolled his eyes and shoved the permission slip across the counter to her. He watched as she scanned it and then signed her name at the bottom before handing it back to him. Kissing him on the forehead, she said hurriedly, "Okay...you're all set. Now get out to that bus stop before you miss your bus."

"I am not going to miss my bus," he grumbled as he headed out the door.

"Have a good day at school!" Katie called after him as he closed the door behind him. "I love you!"

She thought she heard him mutter a response, but she didn't have time to think twice about it. Katie, a well respected trauma surgeon at Honolulu Medical Center, was meeting the new chief of trauma surgery this morning at a meeting with the hospital board of directors and she couldn't be late. As one of the few female trauma surgeons on the island, she had been through these staff changes before and each time it took a little getting used to.

"I was just getting used to arguing with Dr. Akino," she muttered to herself as she gathered her coat and her briefcase, "I had him right where I wanted him and now they give me some new jackass who thinks he's God's gift to..."

Katie's little rant was interrupted by the sound of the back door opening. She looked up to see her son walking back into the kitchen.

"Don't tell me..." she said with a frown.

Matt looked up at his mother with a sheepish grin on his face and informed her, "I missed the bus."

Fifteen minutes later…

"Come on, people."

Katie impatiently tapped her fingers on the steering wheel of her white Honda Pilot SUV and silently swore at the line of traffic sitting in front of her. She knew this would happen. There was always a line of parents outside the school to drop off their kids in the morning and she was stuck in the middle of the chaos.

Matt, sitting in the front seat and playing with the radio, simply smirked up at his mother as she continued to complain to herself, "Just open the door and let the kid get out of the car. What is so hard about that? What could possibly be taking so long?"

"Does it make them go faster when you mutter at them?" Matt finally asked, grinning up at her.

"No," she shot back at him with a grin, "but it makes me feel better." Reaching over to muss his hair, she added, "Who is the parent here, anyway?"

"Parent?" Matt asked sarcastically. "You're more like a raving lunatic this morning."

"And you're stuck with me."

"Lucky me," he added, rolling his eyes at her. It was in moments like these that he reminded Katie so much of his father. Changing the subject, he asked, "So, this new doctor you have to work with today is a jerk?"

"Probably," Katie said, moving her car up again.

"You mean, you haven't met him yet?" Matt asked, looking at his mother curiously. "Then how do you know he's going to be a jerk?"

"I know his type…"

"Dr. Akino wasn't a jerk," he interrupted, "So maybe this new guy won't be either."

Katie grinned. She loved his ten year old logic. And she also knew when she had been put in her place.

"Maybe he won't be," Katie agreed. "I should give him a chance, shouldn't I?"

Matt nodded and grinned at her as his mother sighed and said, "I guess I don't handle change well, Matty. I had just gotten so used to working with Dr. Akino and we've developed such a good working relationship...and now I have to get used to this new guy."

"Moving back to Hawaii from Virginia Beach a few years ago was a big change," Matt reminded her and then added, "And that turned out okay."

"Yes, it did," she agreed. Smiling at him, the doctor asked him, "How did you get to be such a good kid?"

He shrugged off her compliment and reached down to get his bookbag when he saw that they were approaching the drop off spot.

"Thanks for the ride, mom," Matt said as he opened the car door.

"Anytime kid," Katie replied, leaning over to receive the kiss he planted on her cheek, "Do you think you can manage to be on time for the bus to go home?"

Matt screwed up his face at her sarcasm and said, "I'm not riding the bus home. I have football practice today after school and Danny's mom is picking us up at 5:00."

"Right," Katie said, remembering the day's schedule. "Well, have a good day at school and a good practice. I love you."

"I love you, too," he said, hopping out of the car. "Sorry if I made you late for your meeting."

Katie waved as he ran up the sidewalk toward the Kauluwela Elementary School and then somehow managed to maneuver her SUV to the exit of the parking lot without running into anyone. Picking up her cell phone, she dialed the number of her colleague and best friend, Dr. Malia Weston.

"Where are you?" Malia demanded when she picked up on her end of the phone line, "I thought we were going over the Gracie DuBois case before the meeting this morning."

"And good morning to you, too," Katie chirped into her phone as she joined the line of cars waiting to exit the parking lot onto the main road that led to the hospital, "Matt missed the bus and I am running late. Save me a seat, okay?"

"Of course," Malia said. "Want me to get you a cup of coffee, too? I don't know if we'll make it through this circus without large doses of caffeine."

"Now I remember why I love you so much," Katie said with a grin, looking down at her already empty travel mug, "Coffee would be wonderful." Switching her cell phone to her other ear, Katie asked, "So, how are the wedding plans coming along?"

"Surprisingly well…Chin is actually helping with some of the planning," Malia said, referring to her fiancé of two months, Detective Chin Ho Kelly. Katie could hear the smile in her friend's voice as she added, "After everything we've been through, I never thought we would get here."

"I did," Katie teased. "You and Chin are the real deal…and you can't mess with true love."

"And speaking of the wedding," Malia continued and Katie could hear the sudden mischief in her voice as she said, "You are finally going to get to meet Chin's boss, Steve. No excuses this time. I think that you two would be perfect…"

"Shit!"

As Katie pulled out of the school parking lot, she instantly felt her car collide with another. Pulling off to the side of the road, she muttered into her phone, "Malia, I've gotta go. See you in a bit."

Hanging up her phone and looking in her driver's side window at the silver Camaro that had pulled off right beside her, the petite doctor got out of the car in a huff as she muttered, "Damn. This is all I need today."

A tall, dark haired man got out of the driver's side of the Camaro...looking just as pissed off as Katie felt...and walked toward her with his jaw set in anger.

"Don't you look where you're going?" Katie demanded, walking right up to the man and realizing that she only came up to his chin. Raising her own chin to look into his face, she added, "You drove right into me!"

The man had no patience for the little spitfire in front of him and asked incredulously, "I hit you? I don't think so!" Gesturing to the point of impact between their two cars, he said, "You pulled right out of that parking lot without looking!"

"I did not!" Katie shot back indignantly.

"Well if you weren't so busy talking on your cell phone and fixing your make-up, then you'd remember what just happened." he said angrily. "You pulled out..."

"Talking on my cell phone and fixing my make-up?" Katie repeated in anger. "Is that some sort of sexist remark?"

"No," he said dryly, crossing his arms over his muscular chest, "It's an observation."

Katie followed his gaze and felt her cheeks turn a bright shade of pink as she realized that her cell phone was still in her hand. Pursing her lips, she said lamely, "Well, I wasn't fixing my make-up."

"Obviously," he shot back, taking a moment to look at her.

That remark rubbed her the wrong way. What the hell did he mean by that? Furiously, she sputtered out, "Well, you know what...there's nothing like meeting a gentleman."

"Or," he quipped at her snidely, "you could say...running into one."

"Great," Katie shot back at him. "You're a smart-ass on top of everything else. I already have one of those in my life, thank you very much. But he's ten...what's you're excuse?"

The owner of the silver Camaro stared hard at her before Katie swore she saw the corners of his mouth turn up into a bit of a half smile. He shook his head at her and then went to survey the damage done to both of their cars.

"Look," he said, examining the front bumper of his sports car, "let's just forget this ever happened, okay? I'm late..."

"Well so am I!" Katie exclaimed, not believing the audacity of this man. "But I know better than to leave the scene of an accident without calling the police..."

"Lady, I am the police!" he said, running a frustrated hand through his hair as he scowled at her, "And there is no damage to your car! Isn't that why you bought that gas-guzzling tank?"

"As opposed to your much better 'mid-life crisis' mobile?" Katie shot back, not at all sure why they were suddenly insulting each other's cars.

"Mid-life crisis?" He repeated, shaking his head in disgust. He then paused for a moment and then continued in a more even temper, "Look, why don't you just quit while you're ahead? My car is fine, your car is fine and we're both late. So let's just get back in our 'fine' cars and get away from each other?"

"Fine!" Katie spat at him, marching back to the driver's side of her car. As she watched him pull away ahead of her, she muttered to herself, mimicking his earlier statements, "Lady, I am the police!" and then as she put her car in gear and checked the oncoming traffic, she added, "What a jerk."