Steve thought it felt good to be chosen.
And chosen he was—the people of the State of Hawai'i had chosen him as their governor for a second term, and that was reason enough to celebrate. But that wasn't the primary celebration for the evening's festivities.
He glanced over at Danny, who was dressed in white. A maile lei adorned his neck, matching Steve. Danny smiled and shared a quick kiss with him. Steve thought about how they'd worn the same clothes, the same maile lei on their wedding day, thirty years ago this evening.
Danny stepped out of the car first, offering his hand to his husband. Steve appreciated that although he knew he could still take Danny in a wrestling match, that his partner still treated him with the same reverence and respect he would have if he'd been his wife instead. Steve took Danny's hand and kept it as they entered the pink façade of the Royal Hawaiian. Danny wasn't so much altered since their wedding day, he thought. He'd gained a few pounds, and he had some definite crow's feet, but he was still the same Danny: argumentative, gesticulating, anal-retentive Danny that he'd fallen in love with so long ago.
Danno had headed the Five-0 task force for over a decade now since Steve had entered politics. The team hadn't changed, they were still ohana, but their ohana was much larger. Chin had married and had children: twin girls. Kono hadn't married, but had also had a daughter. Steve remembered the day she'd told him, afraid and ashamed, but she'd managed to raise one of the brightest young women Steve knew, in the middle of her second year at Stanford.
Steve took mental stock of the McGarretts that would be waiting inside the party for them to arrive. He never thought there would be so many, but he and Danny (who took his last name when they married) had found Jenna a more than willing surrogate, carrying no less than seven perfect babies for them. In order: Jack, Michael, Rebecca, Mark, Jane, Kevin, and Jacob. They ranged in age from 29 to 18, or at least Jacob was 18 when he died during a training accident within weeks of joining the Marines, less than nine months ago. The wound was still fresh— it just didn't feel natural to outlive your children, Steve thought.
Danny had been hit the hardest. The embryos in each in vitro were always a mixed sample, but it wasn't difficult to tell who was the biological father of each child—it was obvious Jake had been Danny's. Of course, he loved all his children, but Steve saw something different in his husband raising his youngest child—it reminded him of the way Danny was with Grace when she as little. Danny had steadfastly refused to let Steve touch anything in Jake's room, although Steve told himself he was going to put his foot down after a year—Danny was much more apt than he to hold on to the past, and it wasn't healthy, Steve thought.
Grace, or Dr. Williams as she was known professionally, who had grown into a stunning woman, nearly 40, had two boys and a tenured position at the University of Hawai'i. Danny kept teasing her about more grandchildren, but she thought two was enough at present. Steve wasn't sure why Danny kept bringing it up; he had four other grandchildren, and he told Steve on more than one occasion he wouldn't turn into his mother by nagging about grandkids. Steve teased him about it when he could, but deep down he understood his partner's wishes—grandkids were great.
Steve felt oddly self conscious, and he remembered the reason why as it glinted in his peripheral vision. He never thought he'd be comfortable wearing diamonds (although his engagement ring had grown on him after a while) finding them utterly feminine, and he shuddered to think about how much they had cost Danny, but he certainly appreciated his partner's sense of occasion. Diamonds for Steve on their diamond wedding anniversary—you just can't marry a classier man than Danny.
They had walked through the hotel and entered the garden, where the band stopped and the emcee announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Governor and Mr. McGarrett on their Diamond Anniversary. 30 years of Aloha!"
As the guests raised their glasses, Steve reflected that it had indeed been thirty great years.
Three decades of Aloha.