Sammy & Ilna - Every day it's better than the day before. Love you both. La famiglia.

REALMcRollers sending you all Nonna hugs and Cammie kisses for the wonderful support & feedback.

Our hearts go out to those affected by the tragic shooting in Nashville, and we continue keep those dealing with the impact of the recent devastating natural disasters in our thoughts.

Just Not Interested

10:30 a.m.

"Gail Wagner called again," Jen said as she popped her head in Catherine's office. "That's three times since Friday." She handed her a document. "This just needs your signature."

"That woman from the ad agency?" Catherine looked up from her screen and took the legal-sized paper. "Thanks." She reviewed the page, signed and passed it back.

Jen nodded. "Biddle and Johns in L.A. I told her again you didn't recognize her name and I wasn't able to put her through to you unless she could give me a little bit more than 'I would like to talk to Catherine Rollins.' She insisted she's not calling about state business, so I suggested she email me and I'd pass it on."

Her nose wrinkled slightly with her frown. "I have no idea what the head of an ad agency could possibly want with me," she began, but her phone rang and Jen excused herself as she answered. "Lea, thanks, I just need two minutes of your time before you leave for the Chamber of Commerce luncheon."

After a quick conversation with the governor and a text from Esther containing a picture of Angie wearing her butterfly onesie that made Catherine smile for a full ten minutes, the call from the woman she'd never heard of was forgotten.

4:55 p.m.

At the sound of her office door opening, Catherine began to say, "Jen, go home, I'm leav ..." when she sensed his presence and Steve's form filled the frame.

"Jen's gone." He strode up and embraced her when she stood, kissing her lightly. "I'm thinking…"

Stepping back so she could grab her purse and keys she said, "Thinking what?" over her shoulder as turned to lock her desk and file cabinet.

"That since you're my ride we should pick up dinner on the way home."

"Truck's not done?" She grinned. He had gone to an active scene from home at 5:30 that morning. Seeing a fleeing suspect as he drove up he, being Steve, chased the guy into a muddy pit deep enough to coat the inside of the Silverado. While in the past he would've hosed it down inside and out, he decided it needed to be detailed at the HPD garage before Angie rode in it again.

"They said tomorrow morning. I went with the steam surge cleaning. To make sure no microorganisms are lingering. "

"Perfect. Angie will appreciate that." Stepping into the hall, she added, "And I appreciate the idea of take out. Especially since it's my turn to cook."

She'd been at work since 8:30 and would rather spend the time with their daughter than cooking and knew he felt the same.

"I want a double order of spicy shrimp. I'll call ahead." She pulled out her phone. "Fish wraps or do you want to take another go at trying Kamikona's new chicken katsu?

Steve grinned. "Chicken. And extra…"

"Tonkatsu. Got it." She'd already dialed and as they exited the building was saying, "Hey, Kame, we're going to stop there in ten, can you …"

He shook his head, remembering he'd told her he abandoned his untouched chicken katsu last week when a hot situation had them flying into action.

By 6:30, they'd eaten dinner - all four of them, and were sitting on the deck. A wide awake Angie was cooing and smiling as her mommy read a story. Catherine tapped different body parts and made animated facial gestures while the baby sat on Steve's lap, resting against his chest. When her tummy was tickled gently, her little feet kicked and pushed against his legs.

"Look at that, she's definitely gonna stand early," he said as he ran a hand over her head and bent to kiss her cheek. "Aren't you, sweetheart? You're going to tear up the obstacle course like mommy, too."

When Angie moved to look up, trying to find Steve's face when his voice and happy laughter got her attention, Catherine placed the book down and bent to retrieve the tiny sock that had escaped its owner's kicking feet. Taking a foot in each hand, she moved them up and down.

"Thing to remember is stay focused on the course. Even if a really, really handsome ensign is on leave and waiting for you."

Steve grinned proudly. "You beat the field by 4 seconds."

"The faster I finished the course, the faster I could start leave. Hadn't seen you in two months." She leaned forward and pecked his lips over the baby's head.

Cammie, who was close at hand enjoying a tasty deer antler chew glanced up at the sound of Steve's phone.

He adjusted his hold on Angie and grabbed it off the table.

"McGarrett."

Catherine could only hear Steve's side of the conversation, but his expression told her it wasn't work related. She reached for Angie and silently asked who it was.

He shrugged, indicating he didn't know the caller. "This isn't Lieutenant Rollins' phone. How did you get this number? Well, Ms. Wagner, you've reached …"

"I'd like to discuss an opportunity for Angeline Elizabeth."

Steve's brows shot up involuntarily and his jaw tightened. "What?"

Catherine shifted the baby to a more comfortable position so she could put her head next to his. To a trained ear, the voice on the line held a hint of accent that suggested the speaker had either roots in New York City or had spent many years living there.

"I tried to reach Ms. Rollins several …"

"Lieutenant," Steve automatically corrected.

"My apologies, Commander. As I said, I tried to reach Lieutenant Rollins several times, beginning on Thursday. I'm sure as Chief of Staff to the Governor she's incredibly busy, but this opportunity is one that simply doesn't come twice in a lifetime. So I took a chance this evening and reached out to you." She gave a small chuckle. "Believe it or not, you were easier to touch base with. I called the Honolulu Police Department and a very helpful operator offered to forward my call. I actually expected to leave a voicemail. It seems fate smiled upon me and you picked up."

'I was waiting on the LA lab to confirm Max's findings,' he mouthed to Catherine, who nodded. "Listen, Ms. Wagner, where exactly are you calling from? You mentioned my daughter by name so I'm giving you thirty seconds to explain before I order a full background check on you."

As he was speaking, Catherine wrote a text and held up her phone to him. Tried to call me 3 or 4 times since last week. From ad agency in LA

"If the Lieutenant is available, I could speak to you both…" Gail Wagner was undeterred and unruffled. Her voice remained smooth and practiced.

"Twenty five seconds." Steve left no room to argue. She'd mentioned Angie - repeating it was 'a matter of great opportunity for little Angeline', which set off enough of a warning light that he was already planning to run her history regardless. He hit speaker so Catherine needn't lean close to hear while juggling the baby in her arms.

"Very decisive. Okay," Gail Wagner continued. "I'm creative director here at Biddle and Johns, LA. We recently won the account for Hana Hou Fashions. They feature clothes with authentic Hawaiian Style and are expanding the line to include clothing for children from cradle to tweens." She sounded like she was pitching and Steve exchanged a look with Catherine.

"Ms. Wagner, this is Catherine Rollins, what does all this have to do with us, or more specifically, our daugher?"

"Oh, it's so nice to be able to speak with both the proud parents. When you hear the exciting … you should both take a seat - it's quite thrilling!"

"We can handle it. And you're down to fifteen seconds," Steve reminded her.

"And time is money as they say. Well, it seems our clients are looking for a beautiful baby girl to front the launch of their children's' clothing line." She took an audible breath. A rehearsed display of excitement from someone used to speaking to groups. "And we did a brainstorming session with our department leaders, Mr. Jeffries the CEO of Hana Hou Fashions and the talent heads of Utopia and TTN Models children's' divisions. Long story short, we couldn't find a thing." She sighed dramatically and went on. "Until … Mr. Jeffries himself saw …" Gail Wagner paused for effect. "Angeline Elizabeth's birth announcement in, of all places, a colleague's copy of the Navy Times." She exhaled.

"What are you saying, here, Ms. Wagner?" Steve's voice was serious and tight.

"I'm saying, Commander, that we'd like to do some test shots of your gorgeous daughter. We believe she'd be perfect as the face of Hana Hou's new children's line."

Steve and Catherine exchanged a look and their voices rang out in sync.

"No. No way."

"No, thank you."

"The test shots are merely a formality since she doesn't have a portfolio." She paused. "She doesn't, does she? She hasn't been signed with anyone …"

"No," Steve repeated without elaboration. There was no way in hell Angie was modeling anything for anyone. Just because she was clearly the most beautiful baby in the world didn't mean they'd ever consider putting her on display like that.

"Ms. Wagner," Catherine said. "We're not interested in Angie modeling."

"But, she'd be perfect. Baby clothes with an authentic Hawaiian theme. She's Hawaiian. And the client specifically wants a child from Hawaii as the face of their line, especially for the mainland campaign. Your baby is gorgeous." Gail Wagner continued selling, unable to believe anyone would turn down the chance for their child to appear in a national ad campaign. "It could easily launch a career for her."

Steve took a breath. "First, let me explain something. We aren't natives. Neither is Angie. Caucasian people who are born and raised on the island aren't called Hawaiian - it's disrespectful to people with Hawaiian heritage. Non-Hawaiians born here are referred to as locals to distinguish us from ethnic Hawaiians. And second, we're not interested. So, no."

"But … Commander … it's a very lucrative offer. If you'd just meet with …"

"I'm hanging up, Ms. Wagner." He reached out and took Angie's hand in his and smiled at her. When she grinned back, he beamed at his wife. "We're busy here. It's our daughter's bath time."

Tuesday

Catherine had just taken a bite of her lunch when a man about ten years her senior with movie star good looks stopped at the cafeteria table where she and Angie were sitting with Steve. It was an 'Angie at work day' and he was happy to be free for a few minutes to run by when he'd received the text that read, Hi Daddy, want to meet us for lunch at 1:00? Xoxo Angie.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant, Commander. Nathan Kaipo." He placed a card on the table. I'm with DivaKids, a division of DivaModels right here on Oahu, I was hoping for a moment of your time."

Catherine put her wrap down and looked up as Steve stood, placing himself between where Angie sat in his wife's lap and the stranger.

"I'm also hoping you haven't made any decisions to sign your gorgeous little girl with anyone or that you've agreed to have her represent Hana Hou Fashions. Rumors are flying that they've approached you and we, being a local …"

Steve cut him off. "Another one? Look, we're not …"

"You've already signed her?" Nathan Kaipo's handsome features sank into disappointment.

"No!" He shook his head. "We haven't …"

"Oh! Then we should talk. Like I said, we're local and we could not only represent Angeline here on the island but on any LA or New York bookings. With companies who have far better … reputations than..." He frowned slightly. "Hana Hou. We could even assign her a guardian from DivaKids to be with her on assignments when you couldn't go along." Seeing their expressions, he quickly amended, "But no need to travel. So many local businesses would be very interested in such a beautiful baby and having the daughter of Commander McGarrett and Chief of Staff Rollins represent their product or service would only add to her appeal."

"Okay, stop." Steve was done. "Listen carefully. We do not want our daughter modeling. We aren't signing her with anyone, ever."

"That really is too bad. She's a beautiful child." He glanced at the baby.

"Thank you, but, no," Catherine reiterated. "We're just not interested. If you'll excuse us…" She gestured at the food on the table.

"Please keep my card. If you ever change your mind." He shook his head slightly at the stunning couple. As he walked away, pulling out his phone as he did, the former model thought how many bookings he could have gotten for Steve and Catherine if he'd have met them twenty years back.

3:00 p.m.
Catherine's office

"Catherine Rollins," she answered and was instantly sorry she did. She'd picked up while Jen was on a late lunch and the outside caller was Gail Wagner.

"Lieutenant Rollins, Gail Wagner here. I just want to make one last appeal to you about Angeline representing my client. He's really quite adamant that she's perfect."

Catherine sighed. "Ms. Wagner, the answer is still no. I'm sure there are a lot of babies whose parents would be thrilled, but Steve and I aren't among them. We heard just today there's an agency here on Oahu that has a children's division …" Always the problem solver, she mentioned it.

"Oh, but Angeline has just the right … presence, you see. Your daughter really is perfect. The perfect combination. She's Hawaiian with the right look."

Catherine's expression changed from mildly annoyed to angry. "Excuse me?"

"She's perfect for the mainland market. Our target audience, if you know what I mean. Middle America."

"Wow," she said as the truth was revealed. "Really? That's …" She shook her head at the ignorance; the offensive prejudice. "What you mean is my daughter's not Pacific Islander. You want a child you can boast was born on the islands but who isn't the ethnicity of actual Hawaiian native. We're done, Ms. Wagner, don't contact me or my husband again or there will be consequences for your client."

Catherine ended the call. She was seething. Glancing at Angie's photo she stood and walked into the room where she was napping to cancel the ugliness by being in the baby's innocent presence.

A few minutes later when she was back at her desk, Marliyah tapped at the door.

"Catherine, do you have a minute? I need to tell you something."

"Of course," she said and motioned to a chair. "Please."

Marliyah sat and leaned forward. "I heard that a company approached you about Angie modeling for them. I just … my cousin Oke is a singer. He sometimes models locally to pay the bills. Anyway, that company, Hana Hou Fashions? The CEO and the board have a reputation for being … well, let's just say Oke told me they hire models from the island for their adult clothing line, but they're never Hawaiian." She took a breath. "They only want Hawaiian born caucasian models. I know Angie is beautiful, but I just thought you and the Commander should know the rumors before you maybe waste time researching the company."

Catherine placed a hand on Marliyah's. "I know. We wouldn't be interested anyway, but they tipped their hand in their last call." She filled her in. "Thanks so much. I … we appreciate it."

Marliyah smiled. "Not a problem. I didn't think you'd be interested, but I thought you should know. I'll let you get back to work." With a smile, she nodded and closed the door softly on her way out.

Later that day, Catherine was walking out of the building with Lea, who said, "I heard Angie's getting offers to model."

Catherine nodded. "Two, actually. One was relentless. She called me here and even got Steve on the phone last night."

"I'm sure that didn't go over well," Lea replied as they reached the parking lot and Catherine transferred the baby to her car seat. Straightening, she faced the governor.

"She called again after lunch today trying to convince me. When I suggested she hire a child from a local modeling agency, she alluded to the truth." She huffed a sigh. "She pretty much said they wanted Angie for several reasons, not the least of which is she's white and born here - apparently they think that's the perfect solution for the mainland market." She shook her head. "I'm disgusted and offended but I wish I could say I was shocked."

Lea nodded. "Me too." She glanced at the baby who was looking at them from her car seat, a smile on her face as she cooed. "But hopefully by the time you're a grown up …" She let the sentence drop and reached to touch Angie's hand. Looking at her chief of staff and back at the smiling little one, she nodded firmly. "That's another thing our generation is hoping to change."

End thanks for reading

You can find allour REAL World stories in chronological order on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll

Or in the McRoll in theREAL World community here on fanfiction dot net (Thanks to Katy!)

Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com

You can always join our mailing list or say hi by emailing us at realmcroll at yahoo dot com with add me, please! in the subject line.

And say hi to me anytime on Twitter where I'd love to hear your opinions on all things McRoll in the REAL World! Mari21763 and tag #RealMcRollers