Sammy & Ilna, wow, Mid- April already! Every day in the REAL World gets better and better. Love you both for all the fun you've brought to my life. Can't wait for the marathon!
#REALMcRollers, you're the best readers anywhere! Thanks for the undying support!
This one was inspired by an adorable little friend of mine from across the pond. Hugs, little lady, to you and Spotty Bunny.
Comfort
McGarrett/Rollins Home
5:00 p.m.
Catherine called out, "Steve?" from where she was working at the coffee table. "Isn't one of your teammates stationed in Rota?
He popped his head in from the kitchen. "Yeah." Steve smiled at the thought of his friend Kyle Simmons. "Hoss Simmons, why?"
"Mary called. She said she'll call back after Joan's bedtime, by the way. But she told me Joan lost her favorite bunny toy and she's really out of sorts. The one my parents sent her, called Comfort Bunny." She grinned as she added, "So I did a little research …"
Steve came into the living room. "Of course you did."
"I asked Mom to check the little boutique where she bought it, but when she called, they said it was the only one they had. They gave her the inventory information though. They're manufactured in Rota, Spain, and the design department and retail locations are in London and Germany. One of my feelers sort of panned out. I thought maybe we could ask your friend to pick a bunny up and ship it for us." Catherine smiled and took a sip from the teacup on the coffee table.
"The distributor doesn't ship direct to consumers," she continued. "And Joan's bunny was a special edition, the shops no longer carry it. But ... they will part with one of the overruns stored at the factory as a favor. If someone will go get it in person."
Steve raised an eyebrow. "And that would be why, exactly?"
She shrugged. "I may have said I'd have it picked up." Her eyes sparkled. Her look was victorious.
Steve knew her way too well. There was more. He leaned against his desk and waited, crossing his arms. "And?"
Her nose wrinkled with a little grin. "By a US Military officer and former SEAL."
Steve said nothing but his smile grew.
"In uniform."
He snorted a laugh. "Keep going."
"For the niece of another Navy SEAL." Catherine spread her hands to indicate she was done.
"And you employed all your resources for Joan to have a new bunny." He crossed the living room to join her on the sofa.
"Absolutely. She needs her bunny for comfort so she can fall asleep. And if she can't get a little perk from her Unc Teeve and Ann Caf being Navy and Five-0, what's the fun in that? "
"No fun at all." Steve placed a kiss in her hair as she continued to tap away on her tablet. "You're something else, Rollins. Have I mentioned that today?"
She stopped working and looked at him with laughing eyes. "Not in so many words. Maybe you could show me later?"
"Absolutely." His eyes lit mischieviously. "You're clearly on a mission like with the discontinued sheets."
She laughed. "Hey, I'm closing in on the sheets. I'm only sorry I didn't order half a dozen more before the company went belly up."
"I have every confidence in you, Lieutenant." He smiled. "In completing both missions."
"Thank you. If you wanna contact Simmons, stage two of Operation Lost Bunny will be underway. We can move on to a victory celebration."
"Well in that case …" Steve moved closer and indicated he needed the tablet. "Hoss Simmons is in Rota and if that doesn't pan out, I actually know the base commander, too." He tapped a few letters and prepared to contact his former teammate.
"Go for it, Uncle Teeve." She stood and stretched, grinning as his eyes flicked over her exposed torso when the movement caused her shirt to ride up, before his attention returned to the tablet. "I'm starving. You want one of those wraps for dinner?"
"Yeah." He nodded absently. "Whatever you're having is fine. Thanks." He may have teased her about a bunny mission but he was just as focused as she was.
When Catherine returned with a couple of overstuffed wraps, some fruit and two waters, Steve was, as promised, talking to his former teammate.
"Yeah. Thanks, Hoss. My sister will be thrilled. I owe ya one." He listened for a minute and nodded absently. "Six years apart. Mary's actually gotten pretty close to Catherine, too." He smiled as she sat and handed him a water while placing his food on the table. "I happen to be an awesome uncle." Steve laughed. "Actually, I do. My partner's daughter, Gracie. She's going on thirteen." He paused and listened. "Nah, I'm the lucky one. She's a great kid, Hoss." There was such happiness in his tone when he stated, "She even calls me Uncle Steve," that Catherine rubbed his back and smiled.
"Remember how we used to bust DelGado for being all soft over his brother's kid?" Steve paused while his friend spoke. "Yeah. Me, too. Listen, I'm gonna have Catherine email you the info. I appreciate it, man. Really."
Catherine smiled ear to ear, the bunny was as good as delivered.
Steve ended the call and turned to Catherine. "Done." He toasted her with the bottle of water."
"Great. Call Mary."
"You call her. This is your victory, go for it."
"Team effort, as usual. We'll call together." Catherine reached for her phone.
Next day
HQ
Catherine entered Steve's office and stopped when she saw he was on a call. He waved her in with a smile while saying, "I really owe you one, Hoss. Thanks. If you're ever out this way, Catherine and I would be happy to show you the island. Take care, Brother." He ended the call and nodded to Catherine. "He shipped the bunny."
Catherine clapped. "Sweet! Joan will have it in a few days."
"You're amazing." He looked at her with admiration.
"Like I said, teamwork. You got Simmons to pick up a stuffed bunny." She grinned. "For a two year old."
"He's a good guy. He's got two little girls now." Steve smiled, and Catherine saw the shift in his eyes. They looked contemplative and he ran a hand over his neck.
She waited quietly for him to speak.
"He, ah, he said he didn't realize I had a sister." Steve looked at her and then at the photo of them with Mary and Joan from Thanksgiving that Catherine had printed and put on his desk.
She immediately sat in the visitors' chair.
"He didn't ..." When Steve continued, she placed a hand on his forearm where it rested on the desk. "You know I didn't talk about my family much to anyone else, but . . ." His eyes were far away. "I was in-country with the guy, Cath. On a lot of missions. I never once mentioned Mary?"
"Well, that's in the past, because you guys are much closer now." She squeezed his arm gently.
"Thanks, in part, to you." His eyes held hers.
"And you and Mary really making an effort."
"Yeah, well, thank you." His hand covered hers briefly. Gratitude clear in his eyes. "You're … thank you, Cath."
"You're a wonderful uncle, you know that. And you're being a wonderful brother now that you and Mary have come to know each other again."
"I want that. What Danny has with Angela and Theresa, that ... easiness. Mary and I will never have the history they do, we can't get that time back..." He shook his head and huffed a sigh. "All those years," he said softly. When he looked into Catherine's eyes, his were earnest. "But it feels good to be moving forward."
Catherine's heart melted at how a simple thing like being in touch with his sister could put that look in the eyes she loved so much. "It is good. And it's only gonna get better."
Steve's smile was warm and loving. "Hoss asked about you right off, by the way."
"We've never ..." She was about to say, 'met', but stopped and smiled gently. She knew most of Steve's former teammates, either having met them or via his stories. Simmons asking after her meant not only that Steve had talked about her often, but that his teammate had assumed they were together then, and still were now. Both facts warmed her heart.
Being at work, Catherine stifled the urge to kiss him and said, "Hoss, huh?"
His demeanor immediately lightened. "He's a big guy. Like six four, linebacker big."
Catherine smiled at Steve's grin as he remembered. "The story was when Simmons was in ROTC, he risked disciplinary action because he'd found a kitten somebody dropped by the dorms. He was late because he brought it inside, warmed it up, wouldn't leave it till his girlfriend got there to take it to the vet and comfort it." His eyes moved to the photo of the two of them with Cammie on his desk. "They ended up keeping the kitten."
"Sounds like something Danny would do," Catherine observed. If it wasn't for Danny, Grace wouldn't have Scout and they might not have Cammie.
"Yeah," Steve agreed. His partner's soft spot for animals was rivaled only by his love of kids. "So, we're at BUDs and one of the other commanders says to Wade, 'Son of a bitch is as big as Hoss.' The guys all hear it, and one of 'em explained who Hoss was. He's a character from an old TV western. A big guy like Simmons, who supposedly liked animals. When the rest of us found out about it, Al Cuzzi said something like, 'jeez you act like Hoss, too.' And it stuck." Steve was grinning at the memory. "Bonanza was on in the sixties ..."
"I know Hoss and Bonanza, Steve." Catherine smirked.
He looked surprised. "None of us got the reference."
"I used to watch with Grandma Ang. I think she had a crush on the oldest Cartwright brother."
"Really?" He smiled at the thought of a young Catherine watching a TV western with her beloved grandma.
"Absolutely. Mom always liked the Hoss character. He was this powerful, intimidating guy who had a soft spot for animals and was really protective of his little brother and his family. She always said he had the best heart." She smiled. "I agree."
"About her favorite character?"
"About a strong, brave man who may seem intimidating to others but has the best heart I've ever known."
Steve blinked twice before his mouth formed a slow half smile and he whispered, "Thank you."
"Thank you for being my … comfort." Catherine gave his fingers a gentle squeeze. "We may need to get that show on Netflix or Hulu," she said to lighten the moment and stood, moving close enough to touch his shoulder. "I need to go finish my analysis." Looking around quickly she mouthed. 'Love you.' Followed by, "I'll have the data in twenty minutes. Just waiting for one piece of info to plug in."
Steve nodded, his body language reverted back to work mode when hers did. "Good. CC Chin on the data." She'd reached the door when she turned back because he'd called her name.
"Cath?'
"Yeah?"
"Same here, very much." He held her eyes for a second to make sure she'd understood.
The brilliant smile that reached her eyes told him as usual, she absolutely did.
.
End
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