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No Such Thing As Butterflies (1/1)
McGarrett/Rollins Residence
Sunday 11:30 A.M.
"Honey, I really wish you'd let me help with something," Elizabeth Rollins sighed from the kitchen doorway.
"I have everything under control, Mom," Catherine assured her as she finished placing the freshly made coleslaw into a serving dish before covering it and placing it in the refrigerator. "We have the whole barbecue thing down. Don't we, Grace."
Catherine smiled brightly towards the young girl sitting at the table, surrounded by bakery boxes, carefully positioning cookies on a large, oval tray.
"Yep," Grace agreed. "I'm always in charge of bread and dessert. It's my job to fix them so they'll look pretty on the table."
"You're doing very nice work," Elizabeth said sincerely as she took several steps into the room and observed Grace's cookie arranging technique.
Grace beamed at the compliment.
"I usually wait until closer to dinner to do this but I'm trying to finish early so I can play with Joan when she wakes up from her nap." Grace placed one empty white bakery box on the far side of the table, to be used for leftovers later, and grabbed another box of the cookies Catherine had ordered from a local bakery and continued her work. "Auntie Cath said if we cover them they should be ok until time to eat."
"I'm sure they'll be fine. Maybe if I help you can get done faster," Elizabeth offered as she crossed the kitchen.
"Mom," Catherine sighed with an indulgent smile.
"What?" Elizabeth replied guilelessly. "I'm just helping my new friend with her assigned task. There's nothing wrong with that is there?"
Grace looked uncertainly at Catherine. "Is it ok, Auntie Cath?"
"It's fine," Catherine chuckled. "Your Aunt Elizabeth is pathologically unable to just sit down and relax if there's anything at all that needs done."
"That's the same thing Uncle Steve says about you," Grace chuckled as she turned back to her work.
Elizabeth smirked. "Out of the mouths of babes."
"Yeah, well, at least we know I come by it naturally," Catherine conceded as she removed a container of macaroni salad from the refrigerator and began spooning it into a serving bowl.
Elizabeth smiled and took a seat at the table. "That bread, or all those kinds of bread really, go in here." Grace indicated the baskets she had carefully lined with cotton napkins. "Kamekona always says to arrange things artistically and don't just drop stuff on plates."
Elizabeth Rollins nodded attentively.
She could tell Grace took her responsibilities very seriously.
"I'll start arranging them and you stop me if I mess it up, ok?" Elizabeth suggested.
"You won't mess up," Grace scoffed. "I'm sure it will be very pretty. You know what else Kamekona says?"
"What?" Elizabeth asked with genuine interest. She hadn't known Grace Williams for long but she already knew she genuinely enjoyed talking to the young girl with the active mind and the big heart.
"He says that food that looks pretty tastes better." Grace's face was etched with skepticism.
"You don't agree," Elizabeth asked as she began to carefully arrange the hamburger rolls.
"I'm not sure," Grace took a step back and observed her cookie tray with a careful eye. "Last week Danno and I ordered a pizza and on the way to the kitchen Danno dropped it and it landed face down. When we turned it back over and opened it the toppings were all stuck to the top of the box."
"What did you do?" Elizabeth chuckled.
"We scraped the stuff off the lid of the box and put it back on the pizza," Grace shrugged. "It didn't look very nice but it still tasted good."
Elizabeth and Catherine laughed both at the situation itself and Grace's matter-of-fact delivery. Before they could collect themselves Danny came in from outside.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"Nothing," Catherine straightened. "Just girl talk. Is everything ok out there?"
"Yeah. The volleyball net is up," Danny reported. "I came in to get Joseph a water. All we have in the cooler right now is beer?"
"Dad doesn't want a beer?" Catherine asked in a bewildered tone.
"Now that he knows there's going to be a competitive volleyball game he wants to switch to water to … these are his exact words … ensure he is at his best for the big event."
"Uh-oh," Elizabeth sighed.
"Uh-oh what?" Danny asked, picking up on her tone.
"Joseph tends to get, well, let's say a wee bit competitive," Elizabeth confided.
"That's exactly what I was afraid of," Danny said as he opened the refrigerator and pulled out several bottles of water. "I have some experience with the Rollins competitive streak."
Catherine smiled proudly.
She wasn't the least bit embarrassed about her competitive nature.
Danny pretended to ignore her and turned to Elizabeth. "Usually we don't allow Steve and Catherine to be on the same team. But now with a third person in the mix … how are we gonna do this?"
"You don't have to worry, Danny," Catherine said. "My dad will be on my team."
"How will Steve feel about that?" Danny couldn't imagine his partner willingly agreeing to such an arrangement.
"He'll be fine with it," Catherine said confidently as she placed the bowl of macaroni salad in the refrigerator. "He always picks Mom to be on his team. She's the real volleyball shark in the family."
Danny looked from Elizabeth back to Catherine, took note of their matching smirks, then hung his head. "Of course she is."
An hour later most of the guests had arrived and made their way to the back yard. Grandma Ang, who had taken a morning nap to make sure she'd be ready for a full day of activities was holding court at the round wooden picnic table under a broad umbrella that provided her plenty of shade. She was regaling Kono, Adam, Chin and Leilani with tales of her helicopter tour of the island the previous day.
"It was absolutely beautiful," she said, her eyes dancing with excitement. "And between Steve and Kamekona we didn't miss a thing."
"You couldn't have had two better tour guides," Chin agreed.
"We saw waterfalls, and beautiful forests, and lots of surfers," Grandma Ang smiled cheekily. "When we saw them I was almost tempted to ask Kamekona to land his helicopter so I could take two things off my Hawaii bucket list on the same day."
"Hawaii bucket list?" Adam asked, clearly charmed by the older woman with the twinkling eyes and the perfect sense of timing when it came to telling a story.
"I made a list of things I want to do while I'm here and surf, or at least sit on a surfboard, is one of them," Grandma Ang explained. "Along with hula lessons and going to a real luau where they cook a whole pig. Like I've seen on TV."
Grandma Ang's enthusiasm was infectious.
"Unless Steve and Catherine have other plans it would be my honor to help you with getting on a surfboard," Chin offered. "If we do it like one of those old Frankie and Annette movies I can stand behind you and you might even be able to actually stand up, just to see what it feels like."
Grandma Ang beamed. "That would be amazing! And it would make all the girls back home jealous."
Chin winked at her. "Then after we eat, consider it done."
Scout and Cammie were playing together in the surf under the watchful eye of Steve and Danny who were preparing the grill and arguing, as always, about who should be in charge of the cooking.
"You rarely get to see Catherine's parents," Danny argued. "If you let me do the cooking you'll have more time to talk to them."
"They're here for ten days," Steve said. "We'll have plenty of time to talk."
"True, but I just thought you and Elizabeth might need time to talk volleyball strategy," Danny said pointedly.
Steve laughed. "Catherine told you?"
"Yes, she did. You should be ashamed of yourself trying to slip in Catherine's mother as a ringer." Danny shook his head with mock disapproval.
"Her serve is almost unreturnable," Steve said with awe in his voice. "And I've never seen anyone who can set a ball as perfectly as she can."
"Why am I not surprised?" Danny asked rhetorically. "She is Catherine's mother after all."
Not far away Grover talked to Duke while at the same time he kept a close eye on Samantha as she walked on the beach with her boyfriend Trey. Catherine was surprised when Samantha called and asked if she could bring a guest but readily agreed that if Lou said it was ok then Trey was welcome.
"So, that's the boyfriend you were telling me about?" Duke watched the two teenagers walk along the beach laughing and talking.
"That's him," Grover growled.
"He seems like a nice kid," Duke said. "He was very polite when Samantha introduced him."
"Yeah … I guess," the SWAT captain grumbled.
"Look … he's probably just the first of many boyfriends your daughter will have in her life," Duke said with a smile. "You better try to get used to the idea."
"You're not helping. You know that right," Grover said with a half-smile.
Carrie and John stood at the edge of the sand catching up with Elizabeth and Joseph Rollins. While they exchanged regular cards and emails, even the occasional phone call, as they had since Carrie and Catherine's days as roommates at Annapolis, this was the first time they'd actually seen each other in a number of years.
"We were so excited to hear that the two of you are going to be here in Hawaii permanently," Elizabeth said happily. "Well at least as permanently as naval life allows."
"It looks like it might turn into a long-term assignment," Carrie said hopefully. "So we have our fingers crossed."
"I'll cross mine too then," Elizabeth smiled. "You look great. Both of you. Better than last time we saw you. Island life clearly agrees with you."
"We were both just back from overseas deployments last time you saw us," John teased. "And on top of that came straight from the airport after a 12 hour flight."
"Still you looked pale and overworked. I was worried about you both," Elizabeth said. "I like this relaxed look much better."
"There's definitely a little more downtime here in Hawaii," Carrie agreed.
"Do you remember what I told you and Catherine right before we left Annapolis after getting her settled in," Joseph asked with a small smile.
"Yes, Sir," Carrie answered. "You said 'You're here to learn girls and to become proud naval officers. There's nothing wrong with having a little fun'." Carrie paused for effect. "'Just not too much. Be careful and stay out of trouble.'"
"That still stands," Joseph smiled broadly.
Grace, Mary and Joan sat not far away building a sandcastle. Or more accurately Grace and Mary would build it and in her exuberance Joan would knock it over.
"Joan, Grace and I were working hard on that," Mary said as she corralled the giggling toddler from the middle of the now destroyed sandcastle.
"It's ok," Grace said as she grabbed the bucket and prepared to rebuild. "We can pretend Joan's the giant out to destroy our kingdom."
"Well I think this giant needs a diaper change before she eats," Mary said as she gathered Joan in her arms and stood up.
"Can I help," Grace asked eagerly. "I have lots of practice from helping with Charles."
"Sure," Mary smiled. "If you want to."
As they headed for the house Elizabeth excused herself from the conversation with Carrie, John and Joseph and intercepted them. "Did I hear you say she needs changed?"
"She definitely does." Mary wrinkled her nose.
Elizabeth held out her arms. "May I?"
"You want to change a messy diaper?" Mary asked incredulously.
"I do," Elizabeth smiled at Joan. "It's been a while but I'm sure it'll come back to me."
Elizabeth held her arms out and a giggling Joan reached for her immediately. The toddler had become completely comfortable with all the members of the Rollins family in very short order.
"Be my guest," Mary said. "Grace wants to help as well."
"Perfect," Elizabeth smiled at Grace. "Then I have something I want to show the girls. So if we're not back down for a few minutes don't worry."
"Sounds good to me," Mary smiled. "Just give me a yell if you need me."
Catherine carried out a platter of meat and handed it to Steve just as Cammie and Scout both alerted and, wagging their tails happily, started towards the house. They turned just in time to see Esther drop to her knees and greet two of her favorite clients. A minute later Kamekona appeared around the side of the house as well.
"Did they come together," Steve whispered.
"I'm not sure." Catherine watched as Cammie and Scout moved on to greet Kamekona.
"Looks like neither of them brought anyone else. Did you tell them they could bring a guest?"
"Yes," Catherine assured him. "I told Kamekona Flippa and the others were welcome and I told Esther she should feel free to bring Anna."
"Yet they're here alone … together … alone with each other … you know what I mean."
Catherine smiled at Steve's stammering. Since the night they came home and found Kamekona and Esther on the lanai chatting over the remains of what was supposed to be their thank you dinner Steve and Catherine had been trying to figure out if there was something going on between the shrimp king and their favorite dog sitter.
"We're both detectives," she pointed out. "We should be able to crack this case."
"We should be, yes, I mean Kamekona is a lot of things but stealthy isn't one of them, yet we haven't been able to figure it out up until now." Steve looked at her expectantly.
"I'll check out front and see if they each drove their own car," Catherine said.
"There you go. That feels better doesn't it," Elizabeth cooed as Grace finished up changing Joan's diaper. Elizabeth had taken care of the messier parts of the operation and then Grace had proudly, and quite expertly, gotten Joan in to a new diaper and a fresh pair of shorts covered in anchors. "Very good job, Grace."
"I help change Charles a lot. He's my little brother."
"Yes, Auntie Catherine told me about him. And she told me you are the thoughtful person who got all of these baby things for Joan to use while she's here. That was very kind of you."
Grace beamed. "I want Joan to come back as often as possible."
"You're a very sweet girl," Elizabeth said. "Now follow me please. I want to show you and Joan something."
Elizabeth lifted Joan into her arms while Grace folded up the changing pad. She placed it on the dresser where she found it and the trio headed for the master bedroom. Elizabeth crossed the room and placed Joan on the bed. Grace sat down beside the wiggly toddler to make sure she stayed put asElizabeth moved to her luggage and pulled out a large drawstring jewelry bag.
"What's that?" Grace asked as Elizabeth joined them on the bed.
"This," she said, "is some of your Auntie Catherine's favorite dress up jewelry from when she was a girl. I thought maybe, if you want to that is, we could pick a few pieces and wear them for the barbecue."
"Really," Grace was awestruck as Elizabeth emptied the contents of the bag on the bed.
"'Een" Joan squealed excitedly as she reached for a string of green Mardi Gras beads. "'ritty."
"Yes," Elizabeth laughed. "They are pretty. Would you like to wear them?"
"YAY!" Joan bounced excitedly as Elizabeth placed the beads around her neck and doubled the strand. She immediately latched onto them with her hand but like with Elizabeth's necklace the previous morning she didn't pull. She just enjoyed holding on to them.
With Joan happily distracted by her beads Elizabeth noticed Grace carefully studying the remainder of the jewelry, none of which was expensive and most of which was far more sentimental than valuable.
Her attention settled on a silver necklace with a butterfly pendant.
"That was one of your Auntie Catherine's favorites," Elizabeth smiled.
"Really?" Grace replied.
"Yes." Elizabeth nodded. "You should ask her to tell you the story behind that necklace sometime."
"Do you think it would be ok if I wear it?"
Elizabeth knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that Catherine would love the idea of Grace wearing the butterfly necklace. "I'm sure it would be." She undid the clasp and placed the necklace on Grace. "It looks absolutely beautiful on you."
"Thanks," Grace smiled.
"Now help me pick one out for myself."
"The necklace you have on is so pretty though," Grace said.
"Thank you, but I can wear that anytime." Elizabeth removed her gold necklace and dropped it on the night table. "Today we're dressing for a special family barbecue."
Grace studied the pieces carefully and picked up a string of faux pearls. "I think these would look good on you."
"Pearls it is," Elizabeth said enthusiastically.
"Can we take the rest of this downstairs so Kono and Leilani and Samantha and Mary and Carrie and Esther and Grandma Ang can pick something to wear too?" Grace asked hopefully.
Elizabeth couldn't help but smile at the young girl's sweet gesture. How she didn't want anyone to feel left out. Catherine had talked many times about Grace's heart but seeing it action for herself brought a lump to Elizabeth's throat. "I think that is a wonderful idea," she said.
Grace picked up a string of purple Mardi Gras beads. "I'm saving these for Auntie Cath. Purple is Uncle Steve's favorite color on her."
"Is it?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes," Grace nodded and laughed. "It definitely is."
"Well then those will be perfect for her." Elizabeth clapped her hands. "Let's put the rest of these back in the bag and we can take them downstairs so the other ladies can be as fancy as we are."
Grace giggled. "This is fun."
Suddenly and unexpectedly she threw her arms around Elizabeth.
"Thanks."
"You are very, very welcome, angel," Elizabeth said as she hugged Grace back. "Anytime."
"Oh my I didn't realize this was a formal barbecue," Danny said as Elizabeth, Grace and Joan exited the house wearing their dress up jewelry.
"Very nice," Kono said admiringly.
"We brought some for you too, Auntie Kono," Grace said excitedly. "And some for Leilani and for every girl here."
"Awesome," Leilani and Kono said in unison as Grace crossed the patio and handed them the bag. In her hand she clutched the purple Mardi Gras beads she was saving for Catherine.
"What about me?" Chin said. "What if I want to wear a necklace for dinner?"
Grace giggled. "There's plenty in there Uncle Chin. I think you should wear one."
"Well now I have to, don't I?" Chin said as he spotted a yellow string of Mardi Gras beads in the jewelry Kono had emptied onto the table and grabbed them.
Grace crossed to where Steve and Catherine were standing by the grill. "I saved these for you, Auntie Cath. Because I know Uncle Steve loves you in purple. And because you look pretty in it."
"Thank you very much," Catherine said as she took the beads.
"Aunt Elizabeth said this butterfly necklace was one of your favorites." Grace fingered the necklace. "So if you'd rather wear this …"
"No," Catherine insisted as she placed the purple beads around her neck. "You wear the butterfly. It looks beautiful on you."
An hour later as they were all sitting around the table, munching on dessert and relaxing, Grace spoke again.
"Auntie Cath I forgot," Grace said. "I was supposed to ask you the story of why this butterfly necklace is one of your favorites."
Catherine smiled at her beloved niece and then at her parents. "You know all about how butterflies come to be, right?"
"Yes," Grace said. "We learned in science class. Butterfly eggs hatch as caterpillars and the caterpillars grow and then when they're ready to become a butterfly a cocoon forms and when the butterfly is ready it breaks its way out of the cocoon and flies away."
"That's very good, Grace." Joseph said. "And did you know that if you ever come across a butterfly cocoon it's important not to touch it because if you open it up to try to help the butterfly out you'll actually keep it from developing normally."
"Really?" Grace asked.
"Absolutely. The struggle to emerge from the cocoon is a big part of what makes the butterfly strong and capable of flight," Joseph explained. "If you make it too easy for them they won't be able to fly, or even survive."
"Wow," Grace said. "We didn't learn that part in school. Maybe we will next year."
"See when I was little we moved around a lot," Catherine picked up the story. "We've talked about that before. And sometimes when Dad told me it was time to move to another new city I would be upset. I would say I liked where we were and I wanted to stay."
"I felt bad that I had to keep uprooting her and Aunt Elizabeth," Joseph said with a tinge of sadness in his voice. "But it's part of the deal with a naval career."
Steve dropped his arm around Catherine's shoulders and placed a kiss on her temple. He'd heard the story many times before and knew this part always choked her up.
"One day Dad took me for a walk in the woods to tell me we were moving again," Catherine said. "And while we were talking we saw the very final stages of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. It was blue and yellow and I thought it was about the most amazing thing I'd ever seen."
"And on the leaf right beside it there was a caterpillar just starting to form a cocoon," Joseph remembered. "And I said to your Auntie Catherine, 'Can you believe that little caterpillar will turn into a gorgeous butterfly'."
"Then he squatted down and he looked me right in the eyes." Catherine smiled as she recalled the moment. "And he said that it reminded him of a quote he heard somewhere once. 'If nothing ever changed there'd be no such thing as butterflies.' And I realized all the changes, all the new schools, making new friends, they were helping me become a butterfly. The next time we were at the store I bought that necklace. I wore it every day for months, never took it off. So that Christmas Dad replaced it with the engraved silver one that's upstairs in my jewelry box."
Grace jumped out of her chair and impulsively hugged Joseph Rollins first then ran into Catherine's arms. "Thank you for letting me wear such a special necklace, Auntie Cath."
"Anytime, Grace," Catherine said. "Anytime."
"Man, did it just get dusty in here or what," Grover said as he swiped at his eyes.
Several hours later the party was starting to break up and everyone was pitching in to clean up the yard and put everything back in its place, as was their habit after a barbecue at the beach house.
Grandma Ang was back at her position at the round table staring at the picture Kono snapped on Elizabeth's phone of her and Chin standing on a surfboard in about three feet of water.
She couldn't believe she was actually standing on a surfboard.
She even had her arms out to the side.
And a huge, radiant smile on her face.
"All my friends are going to want to come to Hawaii and have their pictures made with you on a surfboard," she said to Chin as he carried the last of the coolers back to the porch after having dumped the ice.
"I'm sorry," he said as he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "That is a service I reserve for only the most special visitors."
"You're very sweet," she smiled, "for indulging an old lady."
"I wasn't indulging you," Chin said sincerely. "I had a blast. I only hope when I'm 80 years old I'm half as active as you."
"Wait till you see me at 100," Grandma Ang grinned.
"You come back, we'll make another picture," Chin said. "You might have to hold me up at that point though."
Grandma Ang held out her hand for a shake and Chin happily obliged. "It's a date," she said.
Lou Grover was rolling up the volleyball net while Trey and Samantha carried the poles and other assorted sports equipment that had been used during the day back to the garage.
"Your daughter is a beautiful young woman," Joseph said as he walked up beside Lou.
"Thank you," the SWAT captain smiled warmly. "Her mother and I are very proud of her."
"I was sorry I didn't get a chance to meet your wife."
Grover sighed. "She was sorry too. She just started a new job and when they asked her to go out of town this weekend she really couldn't say no."
"I understand all about career commitments getting in the way," Joseph assured him.
Trey and Samantha came back for another load, giggling the whole way over some shared joke.
"He seems like a respectful young man," Joseph said as the two gathered up some items and headed back to the garage with their arms loaded down.
"He's a knucklehead," Grover said with a wry smile.
"Isn't that true of all boys that age," Joseph laughed.
"I guess so," Lou conceded.
"I don't think I ever really liked any of Catherine's boyfriends before Steve came along."
"McGarrett won you over?"
"Well we had a long breaking in period with Steve," Joseph smiled.
"What do you mean?"
"For several years all her mother and I heard every time his name came up was how they were just friends."
"Didn't buy it, huh?" Grover chuckled.
"Not for a minute. From the first time I ever saw the look in her eyes when she talked about him I knew. This one was different."
"He's a good man," Lou said sincerely "Though if you tell him I said that I'll deny it. And he loves your daughter completely."
"I know he does," Joseph smiled. "But thank you for saying it. It's always nice for a father to hear."
"I also want you to know that my Samantha thinks your Catherine hung the moon. Her mother and I hear all the time how she wants to be just like Catherine. And I have to say, and I've told your daughter this, we couldn't have chosen a better person for Samantha to idolize."
Joseph nodded around the lump in his throat. "Thank you. That means a lot."
"Well it's true. Now if you'll excuse me I have to hurry up my daughter and the knucklehead or it's gonna take all night to get this stuff carried to the garage."
Hours later, after the leftovers were all packaged up and sent home with their friends and their houseguests had all said their goodnights Steve and Catherine lay together on the air mattress in the den after an intense round of lovemaking.
"How did I do keeping everything within the sound level restrictions," Steve teased as he lay on his back, Catherine pressed against his side, her head on his chest.
"Very good, Commander," she purred without raising her head.
"I aim to please," he said.
"As always, your aim is very good," Catherine said sleepily as she slid her hand across his stomach and rested it on his hip.
"Today was really great, Cath. I think everyone had fun."
"I think so too," she replied but Steve could tell by her voice she was on the cusp of sleep.
"Before you nod off there's something I have to say."
"What's that?" she raised her head and looked at him.
"I just want you to know, Cath, I need you to know, that you're the strongest most beautiful butterfly of them all."
Catherine's eyes filled with tears. "I love you, Steve."
"And I love you," he replied as he turned on his side and pulled her flush against him, whispering words of love softly in her ear as she drifted off to sleep.
THE END
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