Sammy & Ilna - love you guys to the moon. Sammy thanks for your input on this one!
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Picture Perfect
"C'eeeeeeez!" Angie said as the photographer snapped the shutter.
"Beautiful!" Jeff Okowa waved and the toddler waved back. "You've gotten so big since the last time I took your picture. Can you stand up tall for me?"
When she complied, Catherine clapped. "Yay! Good job, Angie!"
"Okay, since Miss Angie is being so cooperative, how about if we do a few family shots? Catherine, Doctor Rollins, I'd love to get one with the three of you …" He shook his head. "I know I said this at Catherine and Steve's wedding, but the resemblance is uncanny and now we have a another little carbon copy."
"Oh, we weren't …" Catherine began and looked at Jeff. "We just planned for photos of Angie today."
"I know, for Dr. Rollins' Mother's Day present, but since you're all three here… please?" The photographer held up his hands. "On me. What do you think, Angie? Let's get Mommy and Grandma in there with you?" Jeff motioned and pointed to the seamless backdrop. "Catherine, why don't you have a seat and put her on your lap?
Catherine caught her mother's expression and shrugged while Angie, picking up on Jeff's intention to have her mommy and Ama sit with her said, "Ama 'mere."
"You have to let me pay for the extra shots, though." She said. "Mom? Are you up for a photo?"
"Don't say no, Dr. Rollins." Jeff's smile was wide as he was already snapping candids of Angie and Catherine.
Elizabeth was beaming as her granddaughter patted the place next to her. "It's Elizabeth, and I'd love it. Besides, how can I say no to my beautiful granddaughter?"
When they arrived at the condo, Angie burst through the door first at top speed. " 'mokey! Ah me Ama Mama C'eeeeeeez. An' cookies." She told the dog who was wagging with excitement.
Hearing the trio's return, Joseph and Grandma Ang came in from the patio.
"There's Grandpa's girl!" He scooped her up to kiss her cheek and held her aloft to kiss her great grandmother. "How was her photo session?" His eyes landed on the garment bag in his wife's hand and he shared a grin with Catherine. "How many outfit changes did Grandma bring for you?" He nuzzled the tiny cheek before placing Angie's feet on the ground.
"Apa, eee me cookie."
"Jeff had cookies and milk in his studio. He's now one of her best friends," Catherine explained as Elizabeth removed four outfits from the bag.
"Wello!" Angie pointed to a sunshine yellow t-shirt covered in a butterfly pattern.
"The star of the day should feel as beautiful outside as she is inside," Elizabeth said as she patted Joseph's cheek before kissing it. "I only brought a few."
"So when do we see these photos?" Grandma Ang asked as she took a seat in the recliner and was promptly joined by Angie, who pulled herself up and snuggled into a hug.
"Right now," Catherine took out her phone just as Steve entered the condo, carrying two bags emblazoned with Kamekona's face.
"Dada!" Angie announced and began to tell him about her day in great detail as he lifted her and looked at Catherine for a translation.
"She chose the yellow outfit with the butterflies and then she changed into the cammies and boots Carrie bought her."
"And she's the prettiest recruit ever." Elizabeth smiled. "She was such a good girl. Weren't you?"
As if on cue, Angie smiled and asked, "Ama, cookie?" at the praise.
"How about some yummy carrot sticks or pieces of apple?" Elizabeth offered as Steve put Angie down and kissed Catherine hello.
"Bow owse keem?" The toddler placed her hand in her grandmother's outstretched one and attempted to redirect her redirection towards a healthy snack as they moved towards the kitchen.
When they returned, Angie climbed onto the sofa next to Steve and made grabby hands for the baby carrots and pieces of apple her grandma was holding.
"What do we say to Grandma?" He instructed. At her "Tank oo," he smiled, asking, "Do you want help?" With a grin when she shook her head and took one item in each hand, biting a piece of both in turn.
Catherine chuckled as she sat on her daughter's other side and watched her enjoy the snack. Kissing the headfull of curls when Angie was finished, she told Steve, "We stopped for lunch after the pictures and your daughter housed a grilled cheese - crust and all - and a yogurt." Pointing as their daughter smiled happily, she added, "An hour ago. That's the McGarrett appetite right there."
When Angie looked between them, tilted her head and said, "Me cookie?" Steve barked a laugh. "And that…" he pointed at his wife "Is all your genes. I don't have your sweet tooth."
Murmuring, "chocolate sauce" for only his ears, she lifted Angie onto her lap and reached for her phone. "No more cookies right now, baby girl, but how about we show Daddy and Grandma Ang and Grandpa your pretty pictures?"
Distracted by her mommy's phone, Angie pointed when she saw herself. "Dada, see!"
"I see, look at Angie, you look beautiful." He took the phone and stood to show Ang and Joseph - the men gathered close behind Ang's chair to watch her scroll through the test shots Jeff had emailed Catherine.
"Oh," Grandma Ang's hand fluttered to her lips. "I didn't know you were going to … look at that. All three of my girls."
"We weren't," Catherine explained. "Then Jeff said we should take a few because we all look alike and Angie was being so good …"
"That is … outstanding. I'm getting a 16 x 20 of that one." Joseph indicated a shot of Elizabeth and Catherine sitting shoulder to shoulder, with Angie snuggled on Catherine's lap. When they'd simultaneously joined hands across Angie's body, securing her, the toddler had placed both her tiny hands upon their joined ones.
"I want at least two for my dresser." Ang nodded. "All my girls and the one of Angie in the butterfly outfit." She smiled at her daughter and Elizabeth beamed. "Actually… this reminds me … help me up, Steve." She offered a hand and he came around the chair to do so. "Speaking of genes, I want to show Angie something."
While she went to her room, the others 'ahh'ed over the personality that was clear in every photo of the toddler they adored.
Minutes later, Grandma Ang re-took her seat and patted the cushion. When Angie climbed up she held a twin frame over both their laps. It contained a photo of a brown eyed little girl in a dress and coat combo that was clearly taken at a studio, and a less formal portrait of another smiling child in a white top and red skirt.
Kissing Angie's head, her great grandmother asked, "Look, angel, who's that?" And pointed to the image of first Elizabeth, then Catherine, each at age two.
Placing her hands on each side of the frame next to her Ama Ang's, Angie looked carefully and smiled. "Angie!" She announced confidently. "See, Dada?"
"I see, baby girl."
"What did I say when I saw the ultrasound?" Joseph noted with a kiss to Elizabeth's cheek. "She's gonna be just as beautiful as you and Catherine. Inside and out, right, Steve?"
Steve looked between the photo of his wife as a toddler and his gorgeous, confident daughter and back again. Placing an arm over Catherine's shoulders and kissing her temple, he nodded at his father in law and smiled broadly at Grandma Ang. "I couldn't agree more. Picture perfect."
# End. Thanks for reading!
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