Author note:
Hello, everyone. English is not my first language, so be easy on me. First of all, a big thanks for all those who have taken time to review and share your thoughts about the story. I really appreciate your support. Some of you even shared on what you would like read in this story, I can't promise if I can fulfill all but I will try my best.
Please share more via review if you guys have time again, all feedback are appreciated.
Have a nice day.
Leaning against his pillow, Steve's eyes were on Harper who was sleeping beside him on his bed. A small smile spread across his face.
Until yesterday, Steve has a strict morning routine. Waking up early and going for a swim or for a jog. But today, his morning routine has changed. All he did was only to wake up at the same time. Since there was no way he was going to leave her alone, so he leaned back and kept his eyes glued on Harper's sleeping form. That was just the beginning of the changes about to happen to his daily routines and his life of course.
Steve mentally remembered what happened last night. After their little discussion at the bench, Harper again chose to remain silent and talk only when it was needed. Steve don't blame her, in fact considering what she was going through, she has been a very brave girl so far.
Steve didn't bother about anything else and made himself fully available for her. They had dinner together, and they call it a night early but what Steve hated the most was the nightmares that kept waking up Harper. The third time she had a nightmare, she kept crying and refuse to go back to sleep. To divert her attention, Steve showed pictures of his team and told stories about them. Listening to stories about those wonderful people, Harper finally drifted off and has been asleep until now.
Steve slowly and very quietly got off from his bed. He pulled the blanket and covered her properly, and placed two pillows on her both sides. Satisfied that she was secured, Steve excused himself to the washroom. He quickly refreshed himself and walked out wiping his face. He stopped dead when he saw her sitting on the bed, eyes red and filled with tears.
He was on the bed beside her within seconds. "Harper, what's wrong?"
"You left…"
"Oh, no Harper. I didn't leave. I just went to the washroom." Steve explained softly as he gently wiped her tears away. "I promise you, didn't I? I will never leave your side, okay?"
Harper nodded.
"You want to sleep for some more time?"
She shook her head.
"Okay, then how about we get you cleaned up and then we will cook breakfast together? What do you say? Sounds good?"
This time she nodded her head.
By the time Steve got her cleaned up, changed her clothes and tie her hair, Steve made a long list of the things he needed to buy for her and the things he has to learn. Luckily, Ms. Adele had given him some clothes before she left yesterday if not Harper would be left without any proper clothes.
Steve carried Harper downstairs, set her down on the chair by the kitchen counter and picked up his phone that has been buzzing since he was walking down the staircase.
"McGarrett."
"Commander, it's Adele."
"Oh, hello. How are you?" Steve was little surprised to get her call the next day itself.
"I'm fine, Commander. Thank you. I just called to check on Harper, everything okay?"
"Last night was a bit rough but we got through together."
"Well, that was expected but I know you will take good care of her. The reason I called is to let you know that I stopped by Harper's house yesterday. I collected certain things that belong to her, you know like her family pictures and all, things that she perhaps would want to see one day. I will keep them for now, but just in case if she asked for those things, you can get them from me. I also got her things, like clothes and all. I have passed them to Sergeant Lukela, he said he would pass them to you today."
"Those things that you said was important, I understand that it is necessary to keep to them but her others things you can give away those, Ms. Adele. I will buy new things for her."
"But then Commander you will have spent some money, I'm just trying to help here."
"I know Ms. Adele and I appreciate that but I don't want anything around her that would remind her of, you know…" Steve trailed.
"That's very thoughtful of you, Commander."
"Whatever she needs I will get them for her, don't you worry about that."
"Oh, I'm not at all. Have a great day, Commander."
"You too." Steve ended the call and looked back at Harper. She was playing with the mugs on the kitchen counter.
"Harper, you like pancakes?"
The girl looked up and nodded. Steve was positive he saw a tiny smile lingering on her lips.
-H50-H50-H50-
Steve was happy he made the right choice for breakfast. The girl seemed to have a good appetite for the morning or it's her favorite.
Steve made a mental note to himself.
Harper's favorite breakfast: Pancake
"Okay, since you have been so good and finished your breakfast, how about you sit on the couch and watch cartoons while I cleaned the kitchen?"
Harper looked alarmed.
"You will be able to see me from the couch, okay?"
Harper looked a bit hesitated but then she nodded.
Once she agreed, Steve took her to the couch, help her to settle down and turned on the television. Steve was flipping through the cartoon channels when Harper suddenly touched his arm.
Steve went back to the previous channel. "This one?"
She eagerly nodded her head. Steve made another note to himself.
Looks like her favorite cartoon but I don't know what the hell is about. Okay, time to do background check on cartoons.
"I just going to head over and clean the kitchen, okay?"
Harper nodded, slightly engrossed with the cartoon she was watching. Steve went over and started to wash the dishes, he slightly stood on his side so that he could keep his eyes on her.
For time to time, Harper would turn to her side and look at Steve before she turned back to the cartoon she was watching.
After some time, Harper frowned when she heard sound coming from the front door. She turned to the door and watched it closely. Suddenly the door swung open and a man stepped inside.
Harper screamed at the top of her lungs. She got really scared, tried to jump out of the couch and ran to Steve but then she tripped and fell.
Steve dropped what he was washing when he heard her scream. Steve ran to the front and rolled his eyes in annoyances.
"Danno, how many times do I have to tell you to knock first?" Steve hissed before he swept the crying girl in his arms. He gently rocked her. "Hey, it's okay." He gently rubbed her back when she strongly buried herself in his shoulder.
Danny on the other hand, who was taken aback by the scream, stood at the door with his jaw practically hitting the floor.
"It's okay, Harper," Steve assured softly. "It's just Danno. You remember Danno? I showed you his pictures, he is Charlie and Grace's daddy."
Harper looked up when she heard Charlie and Grace's name and Steve took the advantage to wipe her tears away.
"Uh, Steve?" Danny called uncertainly.
"You scared her, Danny."
"Hello? I scared her? Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that there would be a little girl sitting on your couch when I about to walk in today."
Steve rolled his eyes again before he looked back at Danny.
"Can I at least come in now?" Danny asked.
"What do you say, Harper? Can we let him in?" Steve asked, looking at the girl in his arms.
Harper sniffed. Steve lowered his head and whispered into her ears. "I'm sorry you got scared but Danno is my very best friend and he will keep you safe as well. If we let him in, he will even bring Grace and Charlie over and we can have a play date."
Harper looked at little interested with the idea. She nodded.
"Are you guys done with the discussion?" Danny asked again.
"Yes, we are done and you can come in but we have few rules for you. One, you have to knock first before you come in again and second, Harper here she would like to be friends with Charlie and Grace."
Danny smiled. "So Harper uh?"
The little girl looked intently at Danny.
Danny clasped his hands together in front of his chest. "I'm so sorry, Harper. I didn't mean to scare you. Will you forgive me?"
She looked back at Steve and when Steve nodded, giving her encouragement, she turned back to Danny and nodded.
"Oh, thank you very much." Danny smiled at the little girl before he looked back at Steve.
You owe me an explanation. Danny's eyes conveyed what he was thinking.
You will get one later. Steve's eyes replied.
Danny walked closer but then keep his distance. "Is that true? You want to be friends with Charlie and Grace?"
Harper nodded again.
"That's great but what is even greater is that I can bring them over and we can have lots of fun together."
Her mouth curved into a smile as she nodded excitedly in Steve's arms.
"But first you have to do something for me." Danny continued.
Her smile faded.
"We have to be friends first. Whatca say? You want to be friends with the awesome Uncle Danny?"
Harper looked up to Steve.
With a lopsided grin, Steve lifted his shoulder in a half shrug.
"Friends?" Danny held up his palm to Harper.
Harper leaned a little forward and brushed her palm against Danny's.
-H50-H50-H50-
One hour later, Harper was playing ball with Grace and Charlie on the bench with Danny and Steve watching over them from a little distance.
"Please thank Rachel for sending Grace and Charlie," Steve spoke. "This is probably the first time I'm actually seeing her being a little open."
"I noticed," Danny replied. "She wasn't even talking just now."
"I can't blame her, considering what happened to her."
"What happened to her, babe?" Danny questioned.
Keeping his eyes on Harper, Steve told Danny what happened yesterday, every single thing that he knew.
"Ah, man." Danny groaned a little. "That's bad."
"Yeah," Steve nodded. "Duke said that they actually found her locked in a cupboard, holding her father's phone. The 911 operator told Duke that when she got the call, no one was talking on the other side, sensing something might be wrong the operator sent police to her house after tracking her phone. So, they concluded either she hid in the cupboard herself, called 911 but then too scared to talk or her parents hid her in the cupboard together with the phone after dialing 911."
"That's what a parent would do," Danny said. "Kids life and their safety come first. I would do the same thing without a blink of an eye."
Steve nodded, silently agreeing with Danny.
"You know," Danny spoke after some time. "How I would always nag you for suddenly jumping into action without thinking?"
Steve nodded, now looking at Danny.
"You are not going to get any of those for this." Danny smiled. "You did the right thing. The girl deserves a better place, and you without a doubt can give her that."
"I'm not really sure about that now, Danny."
"Why would you doubt yourself?"
Steve leaned back in his chair. "She asked for her parents yesterday and I had to tell her that she can't see them anymore. She cried and I felt so bad. All I could do at the moment is hold her in my arms, nothing else."
"Steve." Danny sighed. "That's exactly what she needs. Her parents had died, obviously, she needs some time to get over it and you being there for her is the only thing she needs. Trust me on this one."
Steve puffed out his chest before he continued. "You should have seen me today morning when I try to dress her up and tie her hair, Danny. I was a duck without water.
Danny chuckled. "Oh relax, you will learn them and everything else as well. After all, you have me, the super cool daddy, I got you covered, buddy."
"Well, I'm indeed counting on you, Danno."
Just then, Danny saw Harper running towards them but Grace and Charlie were still where they were. Danny could guess why Harper was running towards them, but he didn't make any attempt, he wanted to see how Steve would deal with the situation.
Just when Harper stopped in front of Steve, he bent down and took the water bottle beside his chair. He opened the lid of the water bottle and handed it over to Harper. She carefully took the bottle in her hands and took a few sips. While she was taking sips of water, Steve pushed the hair caressing her forehead back and wiped the sweats with a towel. After taking a few sips, Harper handed the bottle back to Steve before she ran back to Grace and Charlie.
Danny had to agree that he was indeed a little surprised. He cleared his throat. "She didn't say a single word but then how did you know she wanted water?"
Steve shrugged. "She didn't look distressed and while she was running towards us, her eyes fall on the bottle a few times, so I make the connection…"
"And you were talking about being a duck without water'? Danny scoffed in disbelief.
Sincere apologies for the mistakes if there are any. Thank you for your time. Have a nice day.
