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My New Cousin (1/1)

"Angie went right to sleep with no problems at all," Grace told Steve and Catherine when they returned home from the fundraiser to support Lea Kekoa's reelection campaign. "Though to be totally honest, she did manage to get an extra cookie from and an extra bedtime story." Grace's cheeks blushed slightly. "Two extra bedtime stories."

"No worries. She's very good at that." Catherine chuckled. "You should see what she gets out of her father some nights."

Grace beamed at her beloved uncle. "Glad to know I'm not the only soft touch around here."

Steve's hand went immediately to his chest as though wounded by the thought of being a pushover when it came to his daughter, but his happy smile gave away the fact that he was both guilty as charged and not ashamed at all.

Elizabeth was rubbing off on him.

"We're just gonna change out of these clothes and check in on Angie then there's something we wanted to talk to you about if you're not too tired," Catherine said to Grace as she started up the stairs.

"I'm not tired," the teenager replied. Her yearly birthday adventure was coming up in a few days and she thought Steve and Catherine probably wanted to go over the details. "I'll just grab us some drinks from the kitchen and meet you back in the living room."

When Steve and Catherine came back down the stairs fifteen minutes later, they found Grace sitting in the armchair across from the couch scrolling on her phone. On the coffee table in front of her sat three bottles of water. They seated themselves on the couch side by side and Grace immediately slid her phone in her pocket and gave them her full attention.

"Angie and I were watching the livestream from the fundraiser earlier on Facebook," Grace said. "They showed some shots of the food being served and it looked really rich and heavy. I figured you might not want anything stronger than water, but I can grab you a beer or some lemonade if you'd rather have that," she offered.

"No, this is fine," Steve replied.

"This is perfect," Catherine agreed. "The food was good, but it was definitely sauce and cheese heavy."

"You should have seen Angie when she spotted Governor Kekoa walking in." Grace smiled brightly. "She was waving like crazy. We must have missed you guys arriving though. We looked but couldn't find you."

"I had to go over a few last-minute things with the new campaign staff, so we snuck in a little bit late," Catherine explained.

"We did see Jen," Grace said of Catherine's assistant. "Angie was so excited by her sparkly dress. She was talking away and couldn't understand why Jen wasn't talking back to her."

"She's used to talking on Skype." Catherine smiled. "She saw Jen's dress hanging in the office last week when it was delivered and she couldn't stop touching it."

"It was adorable." Grace opened her water and took a sip. "I took a few pictures on my phone. I'll send them to you."

Steve smiled. "Thanks, Gracie."

"So, what did you want to talk to me about? Is it my birthday? Because I've been reading up on everything and practicing the technique you taught me." She beamed at Steve. "I'm ready."

"I know you are," he replied confidently. "But this isn't about that. We have something else we wanted to tell you."

Grace's brow crinkled in a manner reminiscent of Danny's when he was concerned. "Is everything okay? If you need to move my birthday adventure or something I'll understand. We can do it another time."

"Absolutely not." Steve shook his head. "We are all set to go with that."

"What we wanted to talk to you about …" Catherine reached over and squeezed Steve's hand. "We've decided we're ready to expand our family."

It took a second for Grace to work out exactly what Catherine meant then her face exploded it a hopeful smile. "Do you mean … are you having another baby?"

Steve could tell a squeal was about to launch. "Not exactly," he said quickly.

Grace's brows knit again.

"We've decided that we want to adopt," Catherine said. "We've put a lot of thought into it and for a variety of reasons we decided that we want to give a loving home to a child that needs one."

"I think that's awesome!" Grace exploded out her chair to hug them both. As she squealed with excitement, they heard Angie stir slightly through the baby monitor. "Ooops." She lowered her voice to more of a whisper squeal. "I'm so excited. When did you decide? How long does it take? Have you decided whether you want a boy or a girl? Who else knows? Tell me everything!"

Catherine and Steve both smiled at her enthusiasm. They'd known she would be happy about the decision, but she looked practically ready to bust into a Jacob-style happy dance.

"We've each been thinking about it on our own for a while, but it was just a few weeks ago that we actually talked about it and realized we were both thinking along the same lines," Steve said.

The look on Grace's face turned dreamy. "That's so romantic."

Catherine smiled at Grace's oft repeated phrase regarding her and Steve's relationship.

"I'm not surprised though," the teenager continued. "You're always totally in tune. Everybody knows it."

Steve dropped his arm across Catherine shoulders. "As far as how long? It can take anywhere up to nine months to get approved. We won't know exactly how long until we get a little farther into the process."

"And as for whether Angie is gonna get a brother or a sister, we haven't decided." Catherine looked at the baby monitor with a smile. "We're gonna let her be part of that decision. We're open to whatever happens."

"So far the only people besides you that know are your dad, my parents and grandmother, Carrie and John, Mary and Aaron, and Governor Kekoa," Catherine told her. "You're very special to us, Grace, and we were so excited to share the news. We were counting the days until this sleepover because we thought it would be the perfect time."

"I am so excited." Grace began talking a mile a minute. "I'm gonna have another new cousin. I'll bet Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Joseph and Grandma Ang are sooooo happy." Her eyes sparkled. "Another grandchild to not spoil."

Catherine chuckled.

Grace froze and looked up the stairs then her head snapped back towards the couch. "You're gonna need another bedroom." She pinned Steve and Catherine with an earnest expression. "You can totally turn my room into a bedroom for my new cousin. I'm super ok with it. I can sleep on the couch when I stay over."

Steve smiled at her considerate nature and her kind heart. "That's ok, sweetheart, we'll figure something out."

"I'm serious," Grace insisted. "I'm totally fine with it."

"Maybe we'll have to add on another bedroom or two," Steve tossed out matter-of-factly.

Catherine started to chuckle at the idea and moved to elbow Steve until she realized he wasn't laughing. "Really?"

"Something worth looking into," he replied. "Maybe we could add on a new master suite and move Angie into our room when she gets a little older."

Catherine's eyebrows shot up. "With the soaking tub and the color change shower tiles?"

"Oh no," Steve said adamantly. "Those stay with us. We could add on to that side of the house, reorient the entrance to the bathroom from the other side, close off the opening into what's the master suite now, and you could get one of those big walk in closets you always salivate over when we see them on tv."

Catherine looked at Grace then back at Steve. "You've really put some thought into this."

He flashed her a crooked grin and shrugged. "Maybe a little. I just want you to know Gracie, we both do, that you'll always be welcome in this house and there will always be a room for you."

Grace swiped at her suddenly damp eyes. "I am so happy. You two are the second-best parents I've ever known, next to my mom and Danno of course, and my new cousin is gonna be lucky to have you. I wanna grab some paper and start making a list of all the things I want to do to be ready when he or she gets here."

THE END

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