Mari & Ilna-A Family is a Support System, Butch
Sandy-You soaked his underwear in meat. That is so wrong. Funny, but wrong.
REAL Worlders-Henry, you have band practice, all right? I cleaned your clarinet. Please don't play with food in your mouth again. Kim and Jessica, your teacher called and has made a request that you do not correct her in front of the class. Mike, you have show-and-tell today. And please, honey, remember that body parts do not count. Kyle and Nigel, you have a dentist's appointment at three o'clock, so you're going to work with Dad.
Today's ANs brought to you by Cheaper By The Dozen
Boys Night Out (1/1)
"Steve," Danny exhaled heavily as the two men sat across from each other at table at Sidestreet. They'd wrapped their latest case right after lunch but the paperwork had dragged on through the afternoon. Once the last of it was finished they decided to head out and grab something to eat. Chin and Kono both had previous commitments but promised to join them later if it was at all possible. Danny looked at his partner then down at the table. "I'm not sure how to ask this … "
Steve's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "What?"
"It's hard." Danny fidgeted with the napkin in front of him. "I mean it's not the kind of thing men usually talk about … even to their best friend."
"Is everything ok?" Steve's entire body tensed. "Is Gracie ok?"
"She's fine," Danny assured him. "This isn't about her."
"Then what is it?" Steve asked.
"It's just … to tell you the truth I never thought I'd have to ask you this question. Other people maybe … but never you."
Danny paused as the waitress approached and sat down their first round of drinks. "Your appetizers will be right out," she smiled.
Both men thanked her and once she was out of earshot Steve turned his attention back to his partner. "You were saying?"
"Ok, here goes … " Danny took a drink of his beer then stared into the glass for a second as though the amber liquid held the answer he was looking for.
Steve's concern grew. "Whatever it is just spit it out."
"Fine." Danny took a fortifying breath and looked directly at his partner and best friend. "Do you have glitter in your hair?"
Steve narrowed his eyes. "I hate you."
"I'm just sayin," Danny replied, struggling to keep a straight face. "A couple of different times today you moved your head and I could swear I saw you sparkling."
Steve instinctively rubbed his hands over his hair. "I showered three times," he sighed. "I thought I got it all out."
"Good luck with that," Danny snorted with the experience of someone who'd dealt with the issue. "You never get it all out. A month from now you'll still be finding glitter on your pillow and on your collar."
"Gee, thanks." Steve checked his shoulders. "That gives me something to look forward to."
"My pleasure," Danny grinned. "Do I even wanna know what you were doing with glitter to begin with?"
"I was doing a project with Kaitlyn last night," Steve explained as though it was the most natural thing in the world.
Danny couldn't help but smile to himself about how much progress Steve had made when it came to kids. "Ahhh that explains it," he nodded. "Glitter is the currency of pre-teen girls. What was the project?"
Steve mumbled a reply that was lost in the increasing crowd noise as the room began to fill with dinner patrons.
"I'm sorry," Danny said, "I didn't hear that."
"We were making crowns," Steve repeated with a mock glare.
"Oh please … please tell me there are pictures of that."
Steve raised his beer to his lips but before taking a sip said, "You'll never see them if there are."
"Don't bet on it," Danny chuckled. "If Kaitlyn took a picture she more than likely sent it to Grace who will show it to me if I ask. But if you make me work too hard to see it I just might have to send it to everyone I know."
"Fine." Steve pulled out his phone, located the picture of he and Kaitlyn, cheeks pressed together, wearing matching crowns made out of construction paper and covered in glitter, and passed it to Danny.
"I know you have a fondness for purple," Danny grinned as he looked at the screen, "but I think sunshine yellow just might be your color."
"I repeat … shut up."
"Those are some pretty fancy crowns," Danny went on. "Are those jewels glued on them?"
Steve nodded. "Kaitlyn was very thorough in her planning."
Danny handed the phone back. "I'll say."
The two men sat in companionable silence for a few minutes and watched as more people filed in.
"What's next on the agenda?" Danny asked. "Who gets next crack at keeping poor Uncle Steve company?"
Steve shook his head. "I'm not sure. I need to check the schedule. All I know is that tonight was you but it was also optional. I'm kinda wishing I'd turned down the option," he teased.
"No, you're not," Danny smirked. "I told you you'd be eager for a night out with me before the two weeks was up."
Steve shrugged. "I'll admit it's nice to have a little adult conversation … or at least it will be if you ever get done talking about glitter … but this last week has been very interesting. And to be honest … kinda fun."
Danny leaned back in his chair. "Interesting how?"
Steve took a few seconds to gather his thoughts.. "Do you remember when we first met the Allen kids?"
"Of course," Danny nodded.
"Spending time with each of them one-on-one this last week has made me realize how much they've all 've gone from scared and unsure to outgoing and confident. It's really great to see."
Danny smiled. "A little stability, like getting the house and Jenna's new job, along with the love and support of family can do wonders."
"Definitely," Steve agreed. "I mean Jacob, well, he's always been Jacob but the other day at the library we were looking at a book on signal flags and he was so eager to learn all about them. He just soaks up new information like a sponge. He even made a message for Catherine from just flags he colored himself."
"I'm sure she loved that."
Steve smiled, remembering Catherine's delighted look when they facetimed after she got the flags from Carrie. "She did."
The waitress approached the table again, this time with a plate of buffalo wings and a fresh round of drinks. "I figured you'd be ready for another round," she said as she placed the beers and wings on the table."
"You're a mind reader," Danny smiled.
"One of my many talents," she replied. "Just give me a sign when you're ready to order dinner."
"Will do," they said simultaneously.
Danny took an extra napkin then reached for one of the wings.
"And just look at Kaitlyn," Steve said, continuing the conversation. "She was so quiet and reserved when we first met her and now she's really opening up and embracing new things. Did you know she's gonna spend the day tomorrow with Esther and Kamekona experimenting with different kinds of cupcakes for the new dessert truck?"
"Really?" Danny said. "That's great."
When Grace first showed Danny the Operation Lonely Uncle Steve schedule he'd been a little concerned there was a bit too much 'kid time' involved, but sitting here listening to his best friend talk he realized he'd been wrong. Steve had truly enjoyed the last week as much as he could enjoy any week that didn't include Catherine.
"And Casey was telling me the other night when we went to the batting cages about some really great ideas she has for team building exercises the track team can do. She said her coach is totally on board. She's really taking to her role as captain of the freshman team," Steve said proudly.
"Grace says a lot of the kids at school want Casey to run for one of the class offices," Danny added.
Steve dipped a wing in bleu cheese dressing. "That's great. I think she should."
Danny finished his first wing and took a sip of beer to cool off his mouth. "Apparently Dylan has been asking for months to help work on Chin's bike even if Jenna doesn't allow him to ride it yet. So finally last weekend Chin had to take apart the exhaust system to make a repair and he let Dylan help."
"I heard about about that," Steve smiled as he lifted the wing towards his mouth. "Dylan couldn't stop talking about how they took everything apart and laid the parts out carefully on the driveway."
"Chin said Dylan is a natural mechanic." Danny picked up another wing. "He remembered exactly how everything went back together with only minimal prompting. By the time he's old enough to ride he'll be able to completely take a bike apart and reassemble it."
"I'm not sure Jenna is looking forward to the day he's old enough to ride," Steve said.
"Me either," Danny agreed. "He couldn't have a better teacher than Chin though so at least he'll learn the right way to do things and also know how important safety is."
Steve tossed the chicken bones onto his plate. "True."
"Hey, how's Cody doing at the governor's office with everything that's going on over there?" Danny asked.
"Really good," Steve said proudly. "Both Governor Denning and Lea Kekoa have told me he's been doing great work under really tough circumstances."
"He's a great kid. I'm glad so many people are getting a chance to see that."
"Me too," Steve agreed. Just then his phone buzzed with an incoming text. "Speaking of great kids … " he said as he looked at the screen, "Gracie wants to know what I want for breakfast in the morning because apparently I'm invited to your place and she's cooking."
"Is that so?" Danny asked.
"It is," Steve smiled as he typed 'Whatever you make will be great.'
"She's taking Operation Lonely Uncle Steve very seriously," Danny grinned.
"She's a great kid," Steve said sincerely. "I mean I know I say that all the time but that's just because it's so true. She's one of the kindest, most considerate most big hearted people I've ever met. She puts people three times her age to shame."
"Thanks," Danny replied around the lump in his throat.
He obviously knew Grace was special but he never got tired of hearing other people say it as well.
"You know it's funny, one of my biggest fears about Grace moving to the island was that she'd be so far away from family." Danny dipped a celery stick in the dressing and took a bite. "When we first came here it was almost daily long distance phone calls and now it's skype and facetime and those are all great, don't get me wrong, but there's still something to be said for spending time with family in person. I was trying to figure out … I don't know … how to make the continent between us disappear or something and then Grace, for some inexplicable reason," he grinned, "decided to start surrounding herself with a new group of people … starting with you."
"A very lucky day for me," Steve smiled.
"Then there was Chin and Kono and Kamekona and Max and it made me feel better to know she had so many people who loved her and looked out for her and I finally started to relax and think everything might actually be okay and then something happened that made everything even better."
Steve's interest was piqued. "What was that?"
"Catherine came to Hawaii full time," Danny replied. "And all of the sudden this amazing group of people started to become a family. I mean the love was there before and all the support but Catherine's arrival kind of pulled it all together. You know what I mean?"
"I know exactly what you mean," Steve beamed.
"And then before I knew it we combined our island family with Mary and Joan and Catherine's family and our Jersey family and now we're one even bigger, even louder, even happier family. It's amazing for me but even more amazing for my kid."
Steve smiled happily. "I gotta say, as a guy who grew up without a lot of family around even when I was young … and then once I was sent to the mainland … well I didn't have anyone until I met Catherine, then her family … I can see what you mean when you talk about how great it is to have a big family."
"Feels good, doesn't it?" Danny nodded.
"It does."
Danny pushed the plate of wings away and grabbed a menu. "Just wait til you get to see your own kids surrounded by a big family."
"Don't put the cart before the horse," Steve warned good naturedly.
"I'm not," Danny assured him, "but I figure after two weeks apart your little swimmers are gonna be ready to bust out of the gate. I have a good feeling."
Steve shook his head in disbelief. "So glitter is something men don't talk about but my little swimmers are acceptable dinner conversation?"
"Technically we're not eating dinner yet," Danny pointed out.
"If we order can we please change the subject?"
"Sure," Danny nodded and Steve looked around for their waitress. "Just turn your head and maybe you can signal her with the light dancing off the glitter," Danny smirked.
Steve sighed. "I hate you."
THE END
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