I made my way to the surprisingly quiet kitchen, breathing in the fresh Hawaiian morning air. The path of light illuminated through the glossy windows from the sun danced on the hardwood floor as if it were making a route for me from my bedroom to the kitchen. Upon reaching the kitchen level I was expecting to see Kono at the stove. Ever since she had to evacuate her house temporarily for a surprise asbestos case I was kind enough to offer her a spot in my home. Obviously she knew the only reason I would ever reach out my hand to her in such drastic measures is because I promised her, as her boss, I would take care of her. Never in my life did I ever think those words would turn out to be so literal. However, she was still my teammate and whether it was Danny or Chin I would probably do the same. After all, we were a team.
"Kono?"
There was no answer. "That's weird." The familiar smells of cooked bacon with scrambled eggs on the side and a couple slabs of sausages on the side usually accompanied by mornings with a warm smile. However, this morning there was no warm smile to greet me. "Kono?" I called out, desperate to know where she went. There was never a day during her stay was she not in the kitchen preparing me breakfast against my will as the host of the house. Hesitant, I came to the conclusion she probably went down to headquarters early for whatever reason there could be. "She's a big girl. She could take care of herself."
So for the first time in a long time I sat myself down at the kitchen table and ate breakfast alone. The only difference between this breakfast and all the other breakfasts from the past month and a half is that Kono was not sitting across the table from me sharing whatever stories she had on mind. She was an incredible conversationalist. She was the type of person who could keep a story going forever and you would not get tired of the sound of her voice. I loved how she always had something to say. I never knew one person could make a typical monotonous morning routine so much more entertaining.
When I was finally done with my meal I grabbed my car keys and headed out. As I was locking the door to my house I felt the right pocket of the dark denim jeans I threw on this morning begin to vibrate. Turning to walk down the path toward the parked car in my driveway I reached in my pocket only to find Danny's name lighting up on my screen. "What?" I asked in annoyance as I opened the door my car.
"What's so bad that you sound like you hate me so early in the morning?"
I sighed plopping down into the driver's seat and turning on the engine. "Maybe 'cause I know your face is the first thing I'll be seeing this morning which is, unfortunately, in a couple minutes."
"Oh, yeah. That's the worst," he replied sarcastically. "Hey, wait. What about the rookie? Don't you, like, live with her now?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. She wasn't here this morning. She probably headed early."
"Yeah, probably. She did say she had something to tell us once we all got to headquarters today."
I paused for a bit, confused. "When did she say that?" I asked curiously as I backed out of the driveway and found myself cruising down the road.
"She never told you? Or left you a note, at least?"
I stopped to think, wondering if I passed by any unread notes this morning. Maybe she left something for me on the fridge, or the counter, or even my bathroom mirror, but I was too blind to see. After a bit I shrugged again. "Oh, well. It's too late now. That might explain why she left so early. I guess we'll just have to find out once we get to the office," I said casually. But in all honesty, I was really curious as to why she left so early. She should have at least texted or called me to let me know. I mean, she of all people should know I am practically oblivious to the world in the morning.
"Alright." And with that he hung up.
The rest of the trip to work was casual. I've been down this route so many times it has become a second nature to me. I could be dazed the whole drive and still make it to 5-0 in one piece. Well not really, but I can imagine I'm superhuman like that sometimes. I mean, I am a SuperSEAL. I might as well live up to the name. At different points during the drive I caught myself thinking of Kono. Out of all days why would she choose such a random day to give the team an announcement? I wonder if it was good or bad news. Or, was it good for her but bad for us? Or vice versa? Eventually, I gave up. I was two minutes away, I might as well find out for myself.
Once I finally got to headquarters and headed inside I was not surprised to see Danny and Chin in different parts of the building setting up for the day. Chin turned in time to greet me, "Hey, Boss," from his position in front of the computer where he usually was.
"Morning," I replied. "Where's Kono?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. That's what we were both wondering," he replied, gesturing to Danny behind the closed door to his office where he was arranging a stack of manila folders on his desk before getting up to meet with the rest of the team. Well, minus one. "I haven't heard from her since her text."
"She texted you?"
Chin chuckled under his breath. "She's my cousin. What do you expect?"
"Don't worry. Steve-o's just sad 'cause he never got to see her this morning," Danny joked as he approached us with his infamous smirk.
Chin glanced from Danny back to me. "But you live with her, don't you?"
Danny's arms flailed out in a 'that's-what-I-said' gesture. "Exactly."
"I don't know. Maybe she figured she was going to see me here anyways so there was no point." It's true. It wasn't like we were married. I did not have to know where she was or what she was doing 24/7 because I know she would never want to know what I was doing more than half the time so technically we were even. "She knows what she's doing."
Just then, as if on cue, Kono entered the room with the biggest smile I've ever seen on her face.
"There you are. I missed you this morning," I half joked. True, she has only been a temporary part of the McGarrett household for a little over a month now, but she has definitely marked her place. Even Mary Ann didn't mind her presence which meant a lot to me since she can be quite judgmental when it came down to things. "Breakfast wasn't the same without you."
She giggled, smiling her cheeky smile. "I'm sorry, Boss."
"So, what did you have to tell us, Cuz? And whatever it is the look on your face tells me it is pretty damn good," he said, amused at the expression plastered on his cousin's face. She took a breath in preparation. And that was when my casual morning turned into something I never expected.
"I'm getting married."
I was silent. Both Chin and Danny were pulling her into warm hugs and sharing congratulatory words. I, on the other hand, stood where I was as if an invisible pair of chains had shot up from the ground and bound themselves around my feet, pinning me to where I stood. It's not like I wasn't happy for her because I was. I mean, who wouldn't be happy about a close friend succeeding in their love life? But even though I was honestly really happy for Kono, I wasn't as ecstatic as I should have been. Instead of congratulating her and telling her I was really happy for her I was just standing here like a complete idiot.
"Hey, Boss. What's wrong?" Kono asked after finally being able to come up from air in between the tight squeezes she's been getting from Chin and Danny.
I glanced back at her, finally catching her focus. I could see the other guys staring at me curiously from the corner of my eye. I cleared my throat as I casually strode over to her with my arms outstretched. I put my hands on her toned shoulders, firmly gripping her as if making sure she wouldn't escape from my line of vision. I peered into her brown eyes with my blue ones and tried to show her how completely genuine I was trying to be. "Kono…" I said as I trailed off getting lost in her expectant gaze. "Kono, I am so happy for you. Really, I am." I was cast with relief when I saw tense glint in her eyes soften to one of content. But looking back on my words I could not help but wonder if I was trying to convince myself those words were true rather than her. I shook those thoughts away immediately and pulled her into a passionate embrace. She deserved every bit of love out of me and I needed to make sure she got what she deserved. "I am so happy for you, Kono. I wouldn't want anything better for you," I assured her.
She sighed in bliss, obviously thankful for my kind words. "Thank you. It means so much to hear you say that." She dug her face into my chest. I could feel her warm breath tickling my skin from beneath the barrier of cloth I wore. After a while she finally let me go and smiled as she took a step backward to look at our team as a whole. "Thanks, you guys. It makes me so happy to know you guys accept me."
"Why wouldn't we? You're our rookie, no matter if you're going to be a married woman in…"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Charlie and I haven't really discussed that part, yet. We were kind of lost in the moment with the engagement and all," she giggled.
"You know, maybe you should have just stayed over at Charlie's last night instead of coming back over to my place," I blurted out. I wasn't sure what caused me to say it or why I delivered it so rudely, but it was too late to take it back now. Besides, it was half true. She should not have had to take the time out of her day to come back to my house after probably spending one of the most incredible moments of her life with Charlie just a couple hours before. "It only makes sense."
"What would make you say that?"
I sighed, buying a brief amount of time trying to find a sensible reason to back-up my previous statement. "Well, don't you think he would suspect something if you knew that you and I were sort of living together? Because I would," I said, gesturing to myself as if I was good enough proof as a credible source.
"Charlie knows about my situation. Plus he knows you would never try anything on me. You're like an older brother to me so it might as well be like hooking up with Chin," she explained.
Chin groaned. "Ugh. Bad example, Cuz," he grumbled as he covered his face with his hand, shaking his head. Danny chuckled in response to the lighthearted atmosphere that hovered over the room.
I nodded. "Yeah," I chuckled under my breath. "You're like a little sister to me," I said, nudging her arm lightly. "Mary Ann loves you." I gave her as honest of a smile I could give her at that moment. She nodded her head, amused at the 5-0 team.
"God, I love you guys. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you," she admitted with a sentimental look on her face. "And I would love to stay and chat, but I have to go meet up with Charlie real quick."
"Wait, what do you mean you have to go meet Charlie?"
"I'm sorry, Boss, but he wanted me to have breakfast with his family unless you mind. I figured since nothing was going on today I would have taken this opportunity to impress his parents. I'm sorry. I should have let you know sooner. I swear I can—"
"No. You know what? It's fine. Go have fun," I said. "It's the least I could do."
Once she finally realized I was letting her go despite the fact she was supposed to be on duty, she smiled eagerly and pulled me into a spontaneous embrace. "Thank you so much. I'll see you guys later."
"See you, Kono," Danny called as walked back toward his office.
Chin gave her a salute goodbye and returned to his position in front of the computer.
"I'll see you," I said as I watched her run out the door in excited. I have never seen her so happy before. I chuckled, amused at how giddy she was today. But at the same time I couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt scratching at my core from the inside. I was still feeling really iffy about not being over the moon about her engagement to Charlie Fong. He was a great guy and he definitely made Kono happy. Whether it was because of the fact I've always been really adamant about change or not, I didn't know.
"What's up with you, Boss?" Chin called from where he was typing rapidly. "You seem off today."
It took me a while to process Chin's words in my brain to which I immediately replied, "Nothing. Don't worry. I think I just had a weird morning." I shook my thoughts away from the problem at hand. I really needed something to distract me from whatever this was in order for me to be able to focus on my work. I could not put my finger on it, but whatever it was it was eating me from the inside. Whether it was because of Kono or not, I was not willing to accept any of it no matter what I might have told her.
