Sammy and Ilna, here we are. REAL time, as always. I love every single moment I spend with you ladies, and you're simply the pinnacle of talent and friendship.

REALMcRollers, thank you! Your response to RIGHT TIME was overwhelming and we are honored. Please know your support and feedback warms our hearts. REAL Steve and Catherine thank you for your love and congratulations!

The Most Romantic Thing Ever

Monday Morning HQ

"I was just dropping Grace off for her service project when Steve called us in early," Danny was saying as he and Chin entered the suite just behind Kono and headed for Steve's office. "Hopefully after today the criminal scum of the world will take some time off for the holidays …"

"Hey, the McMillan case is being pushed up, we need to get a jump on getting the DA our evidence so they can review it. It's on the docket for Wednesday," Steve told the rest of the team as they joined him and Catherine.

"Did you at least bring us breakfast?" Danny asked as he moved to grab a file from the pile on his partner's desk. "And why the hell do you two look so happy to be … ya know what, nevermi…"

He stopped teasing mid sentence when he saw his friends exchange a look.

Danny Williams was an excellent detective. He wasn't one to miss a clue. And right there in front of him were several.

The first was the way his best friend kept looking at Catherine. And her sidelong glances in return. Finally, she was playing with what looked like a Cracker Jack prize purple ring on the third finger of her left hand. Danny processed it all immediately and let out a whoop of, "Holy hell, that's fantastic!"

Chin and Kono burst into smiles and literal applause when they picked up what was happening a split second later.

Danny was the first to move. He wrapped Catherine in a heartfelt hug before turning to hug his best friend. "This is great news, stupendous news, I couldn't be happier." He stepped back and waved a hand over Catherine's ring finger. "But what the hell is wrong with you, Steven? Go get this wonderful woman a real ring, you animal." His huge smile was contagious.

Catherine was beaming as she and Kono broke out of a hug. She glanced at the plastic ring and then at Steve, who was accepting a hug from Chin. "I really don't need a ring, Danny."

Steve and Danny spoke simultaneously, "Yes, you do!"

"For once we agree." Danny was still grinning. "Wait till Grace hears, she'll be over the moon."

"I'll call her." Steve reached for his phone. "She's got another…" He checked the time, "ten minutes before the service project starts."

"Steve, no!" Catherine placed a hand on his.

"No?"

"No, Boss, you can't," Kono echoed Catherine.

"We have to tell her in person," Catherine confirmed.

"Don't you think Gracie would rather know right away?"

Danny shook a finger at him. "No, no. We're talking about a thirteen year old girl who romanticizes literally everything.

That and the fact my daughter thinks you and this terrific lady who loves your sorry ass and has put up with you for two decades have - I quote - 'a super romantic love story' means you're gonna make my kid's year. Trust me, babe, you're gonna want to see her face."

Steve grinned, clearly happy at the prospect of seeing Grace's reaction, and put the phone back in his pocket. "Okay, after work we'll stop over and …"

Danny was shaking his head.

"Now what?" Steve asked.

"She's got the Aloha Girls service project all day then Madeline is buying the girls a celebratory pizza. We can swing by your place after I pick her up and you can tell her then." At his partner's grin and Catherine's excited look, Danny gestured at them. "Besides, I wanna see her face." He impulsively hugged Catherine again. "For the record, Cath? I always knew. From the second I realized you existed." He winked.

Catherine smiled. Danny was always their biggest cheerleader, and she'd never lost sight of his support. "I can't wait to tell Grace. And Danny, I know you've always had my back, too. Thank you."

With a light squeeze to her shoulder as he broke the hug, a smiling Danny Williams said, "La famiglia" as he left his best friend's office and headed for his own.

Grace walked into the beach house followed by Danny and knelt to greet Cammie with a kiss before standing to give Steve and Catherine a hug in turn.

"Danno said we were going to stop here 'cause you wanted to show me something in person. Is it about my project? Did you get permission from the governor for me to shadow you at HQ for a day, Auntie Cath? I don't know why we couldn't just get the okay from Uncle Steve … I mean he runs the task force …"

Danny rocked on his heels wearing a huge smile as he stood behind his daughter while she went on. Steve and Catherine exchanged a look.

"It's not about that, sweetheart, but we do want to tell you something," Steve said. "We're working on getting a different … model, but for now…" He took Catherine's hand and held it out in front of their niece.

Grace looked down at the purple plastic ring.

She looked up at Catherine's dazzling smile.

She looked over at Steve's expression of unbridled happiness.

And let out a squeal that shook the walls.

"Oh my GOD!" Her hands flew up to cover her mouth, then out as she flung herself at Catherine and caught her in a fierce hug.

The two swayed back and forth laughing while Grace kept saying "I'm so excited; congratulations; I'm so happy," before turning to fly into Steve's arms.

"Uncle Steve! This is the best news ever! It's so awesome!" She moved to face a beaming Danny. "Danno! How long did you know?"

Danny held up both hands in surrender. "Since your Aunt Catherine wore that plastic ring to work this morning, kept looking at it and grinning at Uncle Steve. They were making moony eyes at each other, which they never do on duty, and your uncle was smiling like a giant goof. I knew in two seconds."

"You knew since this morning?"

Steve said with a grin, "They both thought we should tell you in person."

Grace was nodding, looking like she was about to burst. She wrapped her arms around Steve to hug him again before turning to Catherine and doing the same. When she pulled away her eyes were shining with tears. "I'd have cried during the habitat restoration project."

Before anyone could say anything, she wiped a few and nodded. "Happy tears. The happiest happy tears. I'm just so…" She swiped at her face again while trying to hold back a sob of joy. "So, when's the wedding?"

The adults laughed. "We didn't pick a date yet, sweetheart, but you'll be one of the very first to know, deal?" Steve promised.

"Deal!" Grace's smile broadened and a stream of questions came out in a rush. "Where did you ask Auntie Cath? Were you out somewhere fancy? What were you wearingwhen Uncle Steve gave you the ring? Can I see it again?" As she did, she looked at Steve. "Why is it plast… oh!" she gasped. "That's the ring from Jacob's party!"

Steve shrugged, "I wasn't actually prepared with a ring. I just … knew it was the right time, and I couldn't wait to ask, so until we get an actual engagement ring ..." He caught Catherine's eyes, and they shared another soft smile. "I want her to have the perfect ring, but I wanted to put one on her finger yesterday."

Catherine nodded, "We were right here at home, out on the beach."

Another look passed between her and Steve, and she decided to skip mentioning their 'naked except for his hastily pulled on boxers and her wearing his shirt' attire when he gave her the ring.

"By the time Uncle Steve insisted I have a ring right at that minute, it was really late. Even if a store was open, we were too, ah … comfortable… by then and I didn't want to go start looking last night anyway. Besides I told him I don't need a ring -"

Three voices chorusing, "Yes, you do!" made her laugh as Steve slipped an arm around her waist and settled his hand on her hip as he continued, "I remembered the bag of party favors had rings in it so …" he shrugged and exchanged a look of pure joy with Catherine.

Grace was absolutely dreamy-eyed. Taking hold of Catherine's hand, she ran her finger over the ring. "So you picked the purple one." She looked up at Danny and sighed. "Isn't that the most romantic thing ever, Danno? Uncle Steve went through the bag till he found the purple one."

"So, we don't have any definite plans yet, but there's one thing we know." Catherine ran a hand over Grace's hair. "We want you to be a part of it."

"Reeeeealy?!" Grace lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Of course." Steve's expression left no doubt.

"I wasn't sure if you'd do ... I don't know ... anything like that because you guys are, well, you." Grace giggled.

"We probably won't be going too traditional, but we want the people we love there and you're at the very top of that list… " Catherine turned to Cammie when the dog, picking up on the excitement, let out a happy "woof!"

"What do you think, my pretty girl? Wanna be the ... flower dog? Or maybe the ring bearer?"

Steve grinned. "Seriously?"

"Absolutely." Catherine ruffled her fur and gave Cammie a kiss.

"That's ... I like that." Steve nodded. "Cammie should be there."

"She can wear a beautiful flowery collar!" Grace offered.

"What about you, Grace? I bet you'd look incredible in a purple dress."

Grace looked between her aunt and uncle. "You mean like … I can be a junior bridesmaid?! And walk down the aisle and everything?" Her voice was pitched with excitement.

Catherine schooled her features and looked at her seriously. "Well, not exactly."

Grace was clearly trying to hide disappointment when she said, "Oh … that's okay … I'll be happy to do a reading or whatever you'd want me to …"

"No, sweetie, what I meant was, if you don't mind sharing the position with Carrie, how does Maid of Honor strike you?"

"For real? Me? That's like … Wow." Grace and Catherine were hugging again as they shared a few more happy tears and talked excitedly while flopping onto the sofa.

Snippets of their conversation floated through the room:

"...me, your Maid of …"

"... You'll be gorgeous, Grace."

"... most beautiful bride, ever."

"... love you, sweetie."

"... Love you. Carrie knows about me being in the wedding?"

"... excited for you …"

"... can we call her? What did she say when you told her?"

"... remind me to tell you, her reaction was epic …"

And as Steve couldn't stop smiling at the scene, Danny looked at his daughter bubbling with joy and remembered his partner producing tickets so a child he'd never met could swim with dolphins at a high end hotel instead of spending her much anticipated weekend with her daddy in a dingy one room apartment on a pullout.

Steve's mind went back to the tiny girl taking his hand and calling him Uncle Steve without hesitation at a time when he needed that level of trust more than even he knew. He remembered Catherine and Gracie both being anxious about their very first meeting, and the honest joy on his girlfriend's beautiful face when they clicked so effortlessly.

And as he watched the child he loved like his own beaming at the woman he loved more than anything, his heart swelled in his chest.

Seemingly reading Steve's thoughts, Danny clapped him on the shoulder. "Look at them. Back when we met," his eyes flicked towards the garage where they'd stood with drawn weapons, "who'd have ever …" He shook his head. "Thanks for making her a part of it." He nodded.

Steve cleared his throat. "Are you kidding, man? You know how much we love Gracie."

Catherine glanced at them as she handed her phone to Grace, having gotten an equally bubbling Carrie on the line.

The two friends caught each other's gaze and smiled at Grace's excited chatter. "There'll be no living with her now, you realize that, right?" Danny's eyes sparkled with mirth. When Grace was off the phone, he stepped closer and said, "You know it takes months to plan a wedding, Grace, promise me you will not drive them crazy every single day about details … wait, wait, what am I saying? This is you two - it's not the day after tomorrow, right?"

Steve wrapped an arm around Catherine's waist and pulled her close. "Shut up, Danny."

"Just saying, you get called the most romantic person in the world," he rolled his eyes to tease his daughter, "for getting engaged with a freaking cracker jack ring, so if you threw together a wedding in 48 hours with Kamekona as the officiant you'd probably still come off smelling like a rose."

Grace bubbled about the call to Carrie as she returned Catherine's phone. "This is so awesome. We can both wear purple, cause, ya know, it's gotta be purple. And … wait!" Another wave of excitement bubbled over her. "Does Nonna know?!"

"Not yet," Steve and Catherine said together. Catherine smiled in anticipation of how happy their adopted grandmother would be with the news.

Grace clapped. "She's going to be more excited than me!"

Danny grinned at his daughter and turned to his friends. "Maybe not quite."

Grace wrapped her arms around Steve and grinned up at him. "This is totally going to be the best Christmas ever."

Steve and Catherine looked at each other, and the look in his eyes said it all. Catherine ran a finger over the purple ring that meant more to her than the Hope Diamond and smiled. "It's going to be the best Christmas yet."

.

End - thanks for reading.

Today's REAL World Ask the Authors Q&A question:

ILoveSteveNCatherine asked, The REAL World stories r so accurate + well done. Do u all hve research assistants helping?

Oh, that's incredibly flattering, since we try to be as consistent and accurate as possible in the REAL World. We do our own research, and confirm our facts, locations and details before posting. Xo hugs, Mari

Answers to our REAL World ask the writers will appear in our endnotes and also on our tumblr page.

You can submit questions to the REAL World writing team via reviews, email, tumblr and to me on Twitter mari21763

Thank you!