Notes: Mari and Sammy – Thank you for the eeeing and the awwing, and to Mari for the quick research! Sorry (not really) for the joint craving. Yummiest trifecta yet.
Readers and REAL McRollers – Thank you for your AMAZING support with each and every story. It's unbelievably heartwarming to know you're still with us three years in.
Hope you enjoy!
It's the Thought that Counts (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
Steve arrived home to Cammie greeting him at the door. He dropped his keys on the end table. "Cath?"
"In the kitchen," she called back, and he headed that direction.
"Hey," he said, finding her stirring a creamy white mixture at the island.
"Hi," she returned, accepting a kiss. "You're home early."
"Yep, Danny and Kono drew the short straws on finishing up paperwork." His hand rested on her round tummy in greeting. "Hi, Niblet."
She smiled at what she'd come to dub his talking-to-Niblet expression, full of warmth and sincerity, even if the words were light.
He looked back at her. "How was your day?"
"Lot of meetings and calls with the AG and the Solicitor General."
"Going forward with it?"
"Yep. Filed today."
He nodded, then his gaze moved to the bowl in front of her. "What's this?" he asked.
"Early birthday dessert." She held up the spoon so he could taste it.
"Mmm, coconut …" he said. His eyes lit up in realization. "Are you making coconut cream cake?"
She grinned. "I was hoping to be done with this before you got home so I could hide it out in the garage. You kind of ruined the surprise, there, Commander."
"I'm sorry," he said, those his eyes danced happily. "Though I'm not sorry to have this to look forward to for dessert."
"You know it's gotta refrigerate overnight. Twice."
"I do know that," he said, his expression softening. "I remember that from the first time you made it."
Naval Academy, March 1998
"How do you not like chocolate cake?" Freddie asked as he, Steve, Catherine, Carrie, and John walked toward Bancroft Hall.
"Yeah, McGarrett, how do you not like chocolate cake?" Carrie chimed in, grinning.
"I do like chocolate cake," Steve said defensively. "I'm just saying, the best cake I ever had was coconut."
Catherine glanced at him and looked suddenly thoughtful. Carrie caught the expression and squinted at her, trying to suss out the meaning of her reaction.
"How'd we start talking about cake anyway?" John asked.
"How else?" Steve replied, looking at his roommate pointedly.
"The cookies were good today," Freddie said, "I'm just saying, I'd relive plebe summer for some chocolate cake."
Steve snorted. "No, you wouldn't."
"What are you guys doing for Spring Break?" John asked, grinning wryly at his friends, but changing the subject nonetheless.
"Headed home to see my folks," Freddie said. "With Kelly."
"With Kelly?" John commented. He whistled. "Wow. Big step."
It was Freddie's turn to snort. "Are you kidding? My parents love Kelly. Frankly they'd be fine if it was just her coming and not me."
"That's not true," Steve said.
Freddie acknowledged the truth with a small smile. "It's not. But anyway, Kelly's folks are still in Philly, too." He grinned. "And Kelly's mom makes great chocolate cake."
Carrie rolled her eyes and Steve shoved him toward the edge of the pavement.
Laughing, Freddie regained his footing and asked. "What about you guys?"
"Home to Milwaukee," Carrie said.
"Pittsburgh," John put in.
Freddie looked at Catherine whose eyes flicked quickly to Steve and away before saying, "Here with my aunt and uncle till Wednesday then I'm flying to Chicago for a couple days. My dad's got leave and my parents are meeting me at my grandma's."
"Nice," Freddie said. He elbowed Steve. "And what home improvement projects does the colonel have lined up for you?"
"You know I like that kind of stuff," Steve pointed out.
"I know you do. So …?"
"He's got some shelves he wants to put up in the garage."
Freddie bark laughed. "Knew it!" He snickered. "Well, while you are cursing at a level, I will be enjoying some homemade double chocolate cake …"
"Coconut is better," Steve insisted as they reached the hall's doors, causing Carrie and John to laugh and Catherine to grow thoughtful again.
Later in their room, Carrie said, "You're gonna make Steve a coconut cake for his birthday next week, aren't you?"
Catherine looked up from her Comparative Politics textbook. "How did you know it's his–"
"John told me. Don't worry, I'm not going to say anything. He said Steve doesn't really celebrate it."
"He doesn't. But we had dinner last year and he was okay with that." She smiled, remembering his face as he picked up the simple blue party blower she'd brought to commemorate the event. "The Mills know because Mrs. Mills weaseled it out of him, but he's asked them not to make a big deal about it. I was going to see if we could do dinner at their house and I could make a cake. No candles or anything, but I bet it's been a long time since anyone made him a cake for his birthday." She shrugged. "I thought it'd be nice."
"Nice? It's more than nice. It's downright sweet, pun intended. In fact, it could even be considered roman–"
"We're just friends," Catherine interrupted.
Carrie waved a dismissive hand. "I know, I know."
"Friends can make each other birthday cakes."
"Sure they can," she said in a tone that could be taken as either agreement or sarcasm.
Catherine eyed her before returning to her textbook. Glancing back up quickly, she found Carrie still staring at her. She looked back down, shaking her head, but now there was a small smile on her face.
The following Tuesday, Steve and Catherine sat around the dinner table at the Mills' house finishing up dinner.
"That was very good," Steve said genuinely. "Thank you."
"Well, I know you like fish," Deanna Mills returned with a smile. "But we're not done yet. There's still dessert." She smiled knowingly at Catherine.
"Dessert?" Steve asked, looking around the table. "I told you guys not to make a big deal–"
"We're not making a big deal," Deanna said before Catherine could protest. "There's no candles. We're not going to sing. I'm not going to make you wear a funny hat. But Catherine made you a cake, and you're going to eat it."
He looked at Catherine, surprised. "You made it?"
She smiled. "Yeah."
"And it looks delicious," Deanna said. She nodded to Catherine. "Why don't you go get it, hon?"
Catherine glanced at Steve who still hadn't fully registered his surprise. She rose and went into the kitchen, followed by Deanna, and they returned a moment later with the cake platter, plates, forks, and serving utensils.
"That does look delicious," Hal said, craning his neck to get a better look as Catherine set the cake down in front of Steve. "What is that? Vanilla …?"
"Coconut," Steve said quietly, his eyes on the platter in front of him.
Catherine smiled, watching his reaction. "Yeah, coconut. You said–"
"I said that was the best cake I ever had." He looked up at her, slightly awed.
"Right." She shrugged. "I don't know if this'll be as good but …" Her voice trailed off.
"I … I'm sure it's …" He paused, his eyes dropping, and he swallowed thickly. He looked back up. "Thanks, Catherine."
She smiled. "You're welcome."
Deanna shared a pointed look with her husband, then said, "She was a little nervous she wouldn't have time since it had to chill overnight twice and some of the ingredients were hard to find."
Catherine's eyes widened and she paused in retaking her seat. She'd mentioned that to Mrs. Mills earlier when they'd been in the kitchen getting ready for dinner, but was surprised the other woman brought it up now.
"What?" Steve asked.
"Oh, it was nothing," Catherine said, sitting down. "Just … no one seemed to carry coconut cream or the fresh frozen coconut the recipe called for so I had to go to a few stores …"
"How many?"
She paused for a beat before admitting, "Four."
Now it was his eyes widening. "You went to four stores …?" He shook his head in genuine confusion. "Why?"
She raised her shoulders in a small shrug, holding his gaze. "I wanted to make you a coconut cake for your birthday."
He blinked, taking in the simple statement. Lost for words, he looked down at the cake and then back at her. He cleared his throat. "Thank you," he said again. "That's really …" He swallowed hard and licked his lips, nodding slowly, his eyes saying what he couldn't. "Thanks."
She smiled. "Happy birthday, Steve."
There was a quiet moment and then Colonel Mills said, "Are we gonna keep talkin' about it, or are we gonna eat it?"
"Hal!" Deanna chided, clucking her tongue at him.
"We're gonna eat it," Steve said, a smile growing on his face. He looked at Catherine warmly. "I'm sure it's gonna be delicious."
"It's been a while since I've made you one," Catherine said, leaning against the kitchen island and looking at him. "So I told Esther she could have a year off on the coconut cupcakes."
He smiled.
"And guess what?" she continued, stepping closer and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I was looking online for a recipe and guess what popped up in the ads?"
His arms automatically circled her waist, and he asked, "What?"
"Birthday pancakes."
His eyebrows shot up in interest. "You had me at pancakes, but out of curiosity, what makes them 'birthday' pancakes?"
"A cake frosting-type cream on top with sprinkles and a candle. But I don't think we need that."
"At this point I don't even think we need the pancakes."
She snorted, acknowledging the point. "But I like the pancakes."
"I do, too." He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.
Before he could the deepen the kiss, she pulled back enough to say, "Cake's gonna be out of the oven in a minute and I've gotta get this cream in it so it can go in the fridge."
He kissed her jaw, undeterred. "You're the one who brought up pancakes."
"It's for your birthday," she stressed.
He groaned, his lips halting in their descent. "How long?"
"Ten minutes."
"Anything I can do to speed things along?"
"Grab a bamboo skewer to poke some holes in the cake."
"Yes, ma'am."
He released her to find the utensil and she went back to stirring her mixture of coconut cream and sweetened condensed milk.
Eyeing the can on the island, he asked, "How many stores did you have to go to for this cake?" though he already knew the answer.
"Just one," she said with a smile. "Unsurprisingly, Jirou keeps his shelves well-stocked with coconut products."
His eyes softened as he looked at her. "That was really something you did back then. Driving your aunt's car all over the Baltimore suburbs to find every ingredient."
"I wanted to make you a coconut cake for your birthday," she said, echoing her simple statement from all those years ago.
"I hadn't had anybody make me a birthday cake for a long time before that."
She smiled softly. "I figured as much. So I wanted it to be a good one."
"It was very good," he said. "But it was more than the cake, it was … that you took the time, that you even had the idea … it was … it was the thought." He chuckled lightly at his words. "Cliches are cliches for a reason, I guess."
She raised her eyebrows in question, and he smiled warmly, as touched now as he was then, just now better to articulate it.
"It's the thought that counts." He reached for her free hand. "And you've always … thought about me. You've always done things like that for me." He shook his head in wonder. "You've always wanted to."
She set down her spoon and turned to fully face him, releasing his hand to cup his cheeks and leaning up for a soft kiss.
"And I always will."
Hope you enjoyed!
Watch for Sammy's story on Friday with Steve's birthday!
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