Ahh, Sammy and Ilna you're so much a part of my life, and you brighten it every single day. I feel like I've known you both forever. I thank goodness that we became friends, because you're the best.

REAL McRollers your positive feedback, love for the REAL World and support makes us smile every day. The old saying goes, "if you can't say something nice ... don't say anything..." Well, you say an awful lot of not only nice, but beautiful, heartfelt things and we're honored. Thank each and every one of you.

Congratulations to D & K - many years of happiness!

Happy early birthday, Ilna. May you have a year filled with as much joy and happiness your friendship brings to me and Sammy every day! Many happy returns, my friend! Xoxox Nonna hugs.

Waiting for you

McGarrett / Rollins home

"What's that?" Steve entered the den to find Catherine reading a yellowed-with-age document.

"I found your baptism certificate." She smiled, pointing to an envelope on the tabletop. Steve needed it to be Grace's confirmation sponsor. "But this is a wellness visit baby report." She waved the paper gently. "For a 'healthy seventeen month old baby boy. " Her smile grew. "Who was 'very alert, aware of his surroundings, and had excellent dexterity.' Looks like the doctor had ... foresight."

"How so?" Steve leaned over her shoulder to get a look at the paper and she turned to kiss his cheek.

"He suggested swimming lessons," she said. "A momentous day for you."

"Absolutely, but for a much more important reason than that, look at the date." He pointed.

Catherine turned to catch his eyes. "Yeah, my birthday."

"Exactly." He wrapped her in a hug. "I can't think of a more important day."

She placed a hand on his face to draw him into a kiss. "And I think it's kinda cool that I know exactly where you were and what you were doing the day I was born."

He grinned, but his tone was serious, "I didn't realize it yet, but I was waiting for you."

"Awww... " Her voice was teasing, but her eyes were full of love. "Well here I am, so if you wanna swim with me ..."

Steve bent to kiss her with a shrug, his voice suggestive. "Let's go for a ... swim before dinner, and I'll explain all about how much I wanna swim with you ..." He kissed her again, with more ardour.

"About this swim ... " She whispered against his lips. "Are bathing suits required?"

"Absolutely not."

"Hmmm," Catherine purred, "in that case," she placed the papers gently on the desktop, pressed against him to deepen the kiss, and pushed off his chest with her hands. "Race ya!" She laughed as she took off for the door.

Steve shook his head with a grin, pausing for the briefest moment to watch her before he took chase.

The breeze fluttered the edge of the papers printed with 8/21/78 as Steve closed the door.

Naval Hospital

1:15 a.m. August 21, 1978

"Nice deep breath, and on the next one, let's give a big push. Good girl, we're almost there ... " Doctor Ronnie Samuels smiled encouragingly.

"We?" Elizabeth Rollins ground out between contractions and managed a smirk. "I don't see anyone else here pushing, Ronnie."

"Even now you have a sense of humor?" Their doctor and friend shook his head. "I don't hear too many jokes during active labor." He lifted his eyes to meet his friend's. "You're a lucky guy, Joseph."

Joseph ran a cool compress across his wife's sweaty forehead and kissed her cheek. "Don't I know it." When a contraction made Elizabeth sit bolt upright and squeeze his hand, his focus was instantly back on her. "Ready, Honey?"

Elizabeth gritted her teeth, nodded, and scrunching her nose with the effort, pushed her baby into the world before collapsing back against her husband from the effort.

A loud wail filled the room and Lieutenant Ronnie Samuels' grinned. "It's a girl!" He laid the infant across her mother's chest. "A beautiful girl." He clasped Joseph's hand and stepped back so he could assist in cutting the cord. "You're doubly lucky. She looks like Elizabeth."

Joseph Rollins' smile lit his face.

Minutes later their nurse, Ensign Terry Sikes, handed the cooing baby back to Elizabeth, stepping aside to give them a moment. "Seven pounds, eleven ounces, twenty one inches."

"Hey there, you really do look like me, don't you?" Elizabeth glanced up at a still beaming Joseph and shrugged. "Guess I've got strong genes?"

"Beautiful ones. And look at this grip." He'd slid his finger into his daughter's tiny hand and she was holding on tight.

"Okay, so are you saying that's all you, Daddy?" Ensign Sikes joked. "She's a perfect ten on the Apgar test, too."

"That's a future Annapolis graduate, right there." Joseph smiled proudly. "Brains and strength. Not to mention beauty."

"And determination." The nurse nodded. "She's feeding wonderfully. Sometimes they can't quite figure out how to latch on."

"Clearly our daughter ..." His eyes shone ever so slightly at the term "has a keen analytical mind."

"Hey, Daddy?" Elizabeth smiled as her husband's grin grew at her first use of the word.

"Hmmm?" His eyes were fixated on the baby.

"Wanna grab the phone and call the family? I'm a little busy feeding ..." her voice caught and her own eyes misted. "Catherine." She beamed as she addressed the baby, "Your name is Catherine, by the way. Isn't it a pretty name?" She ran a finger over the soft baby cheek.

Joseph leaned down to kiss the baby. "I hope she likes it."

"She does." Elizabeth said. "She'll love it more when we tell her it's after her grandma Kathleen."

He glanced around the room. "Guess I should hop to and call your grandparents, Catherine." Lieutenant J.G. Joseph Rollins picked up the phone, his eyes reluctantly leaving his daughter, and began to make calls.

Elizabeth grinned when she heard him say, "Mom! It's a girl!' to her mother. "She's perfect. And beautiful; she looks just like Elizabeth, who did great, by the way. Both your girls are doing great. Have a safe flight, we'll see you soon."

As Joseph ended the call, Elizabeth whispered to the baby, "That was your Grandma Ang. Just wait til you meet her. She's flying here just to see you and she's going to stay with us for a little while." She placed a kiss on the baby's head. "You know what, Catherine? It looks like you're all finished eating your very first meal, so you should be ready to sleep." She watched as the baby's eyes drifted closed. "You sleep, I'll sleep, and before you know it, we'll get you home."

Oahu Pediatric Center

6:15 p.m. August 21, 1978

"Well, well, Mr. and Mrs. McGarrett, everything checks out perfectly. Steven is a strong, healthy boy." The pediatrician grinned at the young police officer and his wife as he traded a cookie for the stethoscope his patient was grasping with a surprisingly determined grip.

The seventeen month old flung one hand around his father's neck and closed the little fingers of his other hand over John's badge as his dad lifted him off the exam table. He gave the doctor a smile around the remnants of the animal cracker he'd happily devoured.

"He's a handful, always on the move." John noted proudly.

"It's that age. And he's leveled out well, considering he was such a big baby." He eyed Doris sympathetically. "He's not overweight at all, and calculating both your heights and the measure of his tibia, fibula and femur, Steven will probably just top six feet."

"He's got a great appetite. He'll eat anything."

"That's excellent. It's really all about food texture at seventeen months, and picky eaters can be a challenge." He laughed when the toddler pointed to the cookie box and said, "More cookie."

"Clearly not a problem." He gave the boy another animal cracker. "Looks like we're all set, there's just one thing I'd like to mention before you take this little guy home. I see you live on Piikoi, beachfront." The doctor noted, closing the chart to look at the hazel eyed toddler who was watching him thoughtfully. "Just something I ask all new parents to consider." He handed John a pamphlet.

When the new dad said, "Swimming lessons?" the doctor continued.

"Water poses a bigger danger to toddlers than nearly anything else. I don't want to scare anyone, I just want to keep all my patients safe and happy. Drowning is the second most common cause of injury-related death among children. As a matter of fact, of children aged one to four years old who died from an injury, almost 30 percent drowned."

The couple exchanged a glance before both looked at their son. "Stevie really loves the water," Doris pointed out.

John nodded, "Especially the ocean. He makes quite a fuss when we tell him it's time to go inside." They shared a grin. "Stevie can be very ... determined when he sets his mind to something."

"All the more reason lessons would be fun and beneficial." The doctor suggested.

John tucked the pamphlet into his pocket and hugged his son. "We'll sign up right away. Maybe I'll have a Frogman on my hands, huh, Stevie? You're gonna be a great swimmer, aren't you?"

The toddler smiled happily, if not at all the words, at his father's upbeat tone and mention of his favorite activity. He nodded, announcing, "Swim!"

"That's right! You love to swim." John shifted the boy on his hip and shook the doctor's hand. "C'mon, Son, let's get you home."

/

End. Thanks for reading.

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