A/N: It's New Story Day!
I've fallen victim to peer pressure. So many people have told me how much they love Mrs. Williams (well my version of her) and so many people wanted me to tackle the Doris 'issue'. So I have decided that even though I only just finished the Jersey Appeal a couple of months ago, I will start a new Williams family Hawaiian Adventure.
For some reason I have the opening to Romeo and Juliette in my head…'In fair Hawaii where we lay our scene…' foreboding much?
Chapter 1: An Unexpected Arrival
For the first time, in a very long time, Danny Williams believed that life was good. He had found, bought and settled into a new house – having his mother and father ship all that was left of his life back in New Jersey out to Hawaii and effectively ending his nomadic life style. He had also won full custody of his daughter – Grace – and he had seen his ex-wife, tearfully leave the island for the foreseeable future with her husband and their baby boy. And, to make life that much better, he was content to know that he had a stable income and job that he loved with the Governor's Taskforce – Five-O.
Truth be told, Detective Danny Williams, Jersey born and raised, wondered how he had not done this much, much sooner.
Danny was adapting perfectly to his new situation. In the morning he would get up and look out his front windows at the beautiful ocean and the surf, and be thankful. He'd wake up his daughter, get her ready for school and then, as so many parents would do, he would walk her out to the curb to wait for the bus.
With a cup of coffee in one hand, Danny stood with Grace, chatting pleasantly about the mundane and he was happy. They'd watch Chin drive by and wave – his house was just down the street and Danny knew that he was always one of the first to arrive at the office in the morning. And then, Danny and Grace would wait for the two other children in the neighbourhood to make their way to the bus stop in front of Danny's house. It was all part of his new routine.
Once Grace was safely on the bus, and in the afternoon, thanks to a friendly neighbour and one of Grace's school friends, she always had a place to go when school was over and Danny was still at work. He trusted the mother and father that watched his daughter so diligently for him, but he always rushed home as soon as he could to make her dinner and spend time with her. In the morning, however, he sauntered back into his house, cleaned the breakfast dishes and prepared to head into work. He was never late, by any means, but he was always the last to show, and this settling into his new routine had him running like clock work unless Steve found a reason to upset the gentle balance.
Danny believe that he had found enough excitement in his life, being on such a prestigious task force and having a friend like Steve McGarrett, so the mundane of his routine was very welcome and framed his adventurous lifestyle perfectly.
One morning after having one last cup of coffee and making sure that everything in his house was tidy and just as he liked it, Danny was just about ready to jump into the Camaro and head into work when he heard his front door open and he popped his head around the corner to see Steve in the doorway.
"Danny you gotta help me," Steve said as he burst into Danny's house, knocking his friend aside in his agitation and heading on through the house toward the kitchen.
"Please, Steven, come in," Danny said sarcastically as he followed Steve into the kitchen. "What have you done now?" Danny asked when he saw that Steve really was worried and freaking out this morning.
Steve took a deep breathe, practically chugged the beer he had pulled out of Danny's fridge, at 9 a.m., and then started to pace. "I may or may not have ruined everything."
"Can you be more specific please?" Danny asked. "I accuse you of doing that almost daily. How is this time any different?"
"Well, I have been struggling with this whole Doris thing."
"I know," Danny said with a nod, "you tell me everything about your mother. It hasn't ruined everything before."
"And when I'm not turning to you for advice and a sympathetic ear, I turn to someone else I truly admire," Steve said and looked right in Danny's eyes.
"YOU CALLED MY MOTHER?"
"I talk to her weekly, you know that."
"And you told her about Doris?"
"I told her about everything," Steve said with a sigh as he leaned his elbows on the counter and grasped his head.
"Does Doris know?" Danny asked trying not to sound angry, but his own anxiety level was rising.
"Not yet, but she will know about it all really, really soon."
"Steve, what did you do?" Danny asked as his eyes grew wide.
"Veronica and Patrick are arriving at Honolulu International in six hours," Steve said as he looked up, his face telling a story of fear, making him look like a child as he braced himself for Danny's retaliation. "Veronica called me from California about an hour ago."
"That's impossible. I spoke with my mother yesterday morning," Danny said. "She was content, her gardens are doing very well this season and she was talking of a vacation to Hawaii but she wasn't sure when it would be. How could she be on her way already?"
"I may have called her at lunch yesterday after the incident with Doris that I had in the morning, and well, I didn't know she'd jump on board so quickly. I had no idea that she and Patrick would be able to fly out so soon, but they are on their way now," Steve explained as Danny face palmed him self. "Are you mad?" Steve asked sounding like he was about six years old.
"No, I'm not. I've been looking forward to showing off my new place. Contrary to popular belief I love my parents and I want them to come and visit and stay with me – so does Grace. The person who is going to be mad is your mother," Danny stated as he started to walk through his house and up to the second level – Steve followed him like a lost puppy.
"How am I going to tell her before Veronica gets here to give Doris a piece of her mind?" Steve asked as he watched Danny move around the spare bedroom – opening the windows and pulling clean bedding out of the closet.
"I'll pick up my parents from the airport. You'll try and get eyes on Doris. Remember she has disappeared again after what you said to her yesterday," Danny said as Steve helped him with the new bed sheets.
"She was back at my place last night when I got home from the bar. She gave me shit for driving," Steve said with a sigh and punched a pillow a little too hard.
"You had two beers over a three hour period. You were fine. Beside, if you were intoxicated you were with a group of cops and we wouldn't have let you drive. Does she not get that?"
"I know that, but clearly our talk from earlier that day, the one that caused her to storm out and she called me a terrible son, meant nothing and she's still trying to mother me even though I'm thirty seven years old and have been without a mother since I was a teenager."
"She will try to mother you for the rest of your life!" Danny stated with a laugh. "I mean, look at my mother."
"Yes, but your mother didn't fake her own death, disappear for twenty years and then decided that she was going to come back into your life and try to mother you. You've had your mother all your life, and sure when she gets here she's going to move into your house and mother you for the duration of her stay, but mine left me, Daniel, she doesn't have the right to try and come back into my life and be my mother in all the traditional ways. I'm sorry, I'm too old for that, and frankly the only mother I want is yours," Steve stated angrily, "because mine doesn't know how to be a mother."
"Yeah, I can tell," Danny laughed at his partner's childish behaviour but, it had been two years since Steve had met Veronica, had saved her life and had been to visit in New Jersey over the Christmas holidays. He literally became on of her children. "But you are going to have to give Doris a chance. You were the one that went looking for her," Danny said trying to have some sympathy for a woman he really didn't care for.
"I didn't think I was looking for my mother."
"You were warned not to dig too deeply into your family's history."
"So you are blaming me for all this?"
"You're blaming yourself," Danny stated when the room was ready and everything looked tidy enough for his parents stay. "You found your mother, while looking for Shelbourn. You find out why she was Shelbourn and you bring her back to Hawaii only to have her let Wo Fat go, and lie that she was on the island. Then she shows up at your place to make breakfast and you let her stay there. You've invited your mother back into the house where you live, and where your father was murdered. Do you see how messed up this is and why she might think that you are inviting her back into your life as your mother?"
"My life has never been normal Danny," Steve answered, "I clearly don't know what I am doing."
"No it hasn't, not in the traditional sense, but you are trying to make it normal, and so is Doris, although she has a bad attitude about almost everything, she is trying. Give her a little credit," Danny said as he marched back down the stars and again Steve followed him. "Maybe my mother coming here to moderate your relationship with Doris is a good thing. Maybe Veronica will be able to show Doris how to mother an adult from a distance."
"Or maybe it will turn into a fight to the death and even though Doris is a spy, Veronica will mortally wound her with her words," Steve said skeptically. "World war three, Danny, does it mean anything to you?"
"In a fight to the death, your money is on my mother?" Danny asked in shock.
"Have you met your mother?"
Danny smile. "Oh yes, she's been my friend and my enemy these thirty seven years."
"I only had mine for sixteen."
"I'm sorry Steve. I'll help you through this. Everything will be okay."
"What should I tell Doris?"
"Tell her that my parents are coming into town and that I am planning a quiet family dinner and I would like to invite her to join us," Danny said as he looked into his fridge, "but first I am going to need to get groceries and pick up Grace from school, and then pick up my parents. I'm going to need today off, boss."
"So am I."
"Kono and Chin can hold down the fort. You had better call them and prepare them for world war three – also, invite them to dinner. I'm sure mom hearing about Malia and Lori and all the rest of our sad news since the last time we saw her will be enough to distract her from all of the Doris drama."
"Oh no, I'm going to have to really prepare Chin for that." Steve sighed. "It kinda doesn't seem fair, but I guess, Ma already knew about it and she's going to voice her condolences at some point during her stay."
"Yes, but it will be for the best. On the bright side, there will be much joy for my parents in seeing how great of a single father I have turned out to be for my Gracie – with my new house and full custody." Danny smiled. "Maybe you should bring Catherine too, and tell Kono to bring Adam. It will make my family feel at home with a huge extended family and it will take away from Doris - call Max, Charlie and Kamekona as well."
"Why am I calling all these people? I though you said this was going to be a quiet family dinner."
"Think about my family back in New Jersey. This is going to be a small, quiet, family dinner comparatively," Danny stated. "Beside, I'll be doing all the cooking, Steven, the least you could do is make sure our guests are invited – this is all for you, after all."
"Danny, you are your mother's son," Steve said with a smile.
"Do you feel better? I can tell that you do because your anxiety has faded away. You see, Steven, you didn't ruin everything, but then again, the day is still young."