"Do you want to repeat that, partner?" Danny asked in shock as Steve's garbled explanation finally wound down. "Because you're making even less sense than you usually do and that's really saying something."
Danny didn't get much more out of Steve second time around but he did understand enough to realise that somehow, within the space of the last 16 or so hours since they'd last seen each other, Steve had become a father and was seriously freaking out about it. After hearing that Danny hightailed it over to his partner's place. Seeing as he was going to have Grace with him all the time from now on he didn't resent the intrusion on the time with his precious daughter and he hated to think what would happen if McGarrett was left alone for too long with a baby.
As he drove he told Grace what was going on and watched his daughter closely, out of the corner of his eye, to see her reaction. Rachel was correct when she'd said Grace hadn't taken the news that she wasn't going to be an only child anymore well so Danny wasn't sure how she'd react to Steve's child. Surprisingly, though she seemed excited although Danny realised that that was probably because Steve was the goofy 'uncle' she'd adopted when they moved to Hawaii and Rachel was her mother. That meant that as much as Grace cared for Steve there was still a huge difference between the two and how she was going to react to their news.
Pulling the Camaro up outside Steve's beachfront home Danny let himself and Grace inside with the key he'd forced his partner to give him after the fiasco where Steve had been tasered by Wo Fat's thugs and Mary had been kidnapped. They found Steve standing in the middle of the living room, still clutching his cell phone. "Uncle Steve!" Grace squealed, rushing to hug him. "Danno says you have a baby now."
"Yeah," Steve said, gesturing to his daughter who was still sleeping in her car seat on the couch.
"She looks like you," Grace said, studying her intently.
"Nah," Steve said, shaking his head. "I think she looks like my sister."
"And Mary looks like you as well, dumbass," Danny said, squeezing his partner's shoulder reassuringly as he realised how close Steve was to a total meltdown. "I guess congratulations is in order, man."
"Thanks," Steve said, not taking his eyes off his daughter.
"Uncle Steve?" Grace asked. "What's her name?"
"She doesn't have one yet," Steve admitted. "She was kind of unexpected so I haven't had the chance to come up with any ideas."
That set the alarm bells ringing in Danny's mind. In the two years he'd known the SEAL he'd never known Steve to be anything other than ulta-prepared for every possible eventuality. There was also something else bothering him. Why were Steve and the baby the only ones here? Steve's daughter didn't look more than a day or two old and Danny couldn't imagine any of the mothers he knew not spending every possible moment with a child that young. "Steve, where's her mother?" he asked carefully.
"Don't know, don't care," Steve bit out tersely.
"What?" Danny asked, shocked. That seemed like something pretty messed up to say about the mother of your newborn baby.
Steve shot Danny a venomous look, obviously conscious of the presence of Grace and the baby and trying to censor his words. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she had the baby but if she doesn't care enough to stick around then why should I care about her?"
Danny realised that he and Steve needed to have a serious chat, one that wasn't going to be appropriate for Grace's ears. "Uh, Monkey you told me the other day that you wanted to go to the beach. Why don't you go and play? Uncle Steve and I will be on the lanai. You just stay in sight, okay?"
"Okay!" Grace said, grabbing the bucket and spade from the laundry which Steve left there for that exact purpose, and skipping off.
"Steve?" Danny asked, as the two men settled down, making sure that they were in earshot of Grace, on the beach, and Steve's daughter who was still sound asleep in the living room.
"Catherine and I were together for years," Steve explained in a detached sort of voice. "But we were always stationed in different parts of the world so we hardly saw each other and everything was real casual. After I moved back to Hawaii when the old man died, though I think she was scared I was going to try and force a more serious commitment. She picked a fight literally every time we saw each other and we ended it altogether about six months ago. I didn't even know she was pregnant until she called me at one o'clock this morning. The baby was born at twenty five to two. Catherine doesn't want anything to do with her so said I could take her myself or put her up for adoption."
"Jesus," Danny said in disbelief. "So you're keeping her, then?"
"I guess so," Steve said. "I don't have a clue what I'm doing, though."
"That's okay. You'll figure it out," Danny said. "Right now I think the more important question is do you have any stuff for her?"
"Catherine had already brought the car seat and a little bag with a few things in it," Steve said. "But not really. I only got about 30 minutes notice that I was going to be a…..dad."
Danny smirked at Steve's hesitation. "First time you've said it out loud?"
"Yeah," Steve said dazedly, his gaze returning to the living room where his daughter was. He was a dad!
"Don't worry about it," Danny laughed. "I was just as shocked and I had over six months to prepare myself. You'll get used to it. Anyway, once Grace is finished we'll go shopping with you, if you want."
"You don't have to do that," Steve said. "I don't want to interrupt your time with her."
Danny rolled his eyes. "I know I don't have to, dumbass. I want to. After all someone has to make sure you don't buy her a bullet proof vest and a sniper rifle instead of diapers and a rattle. Besides, you don't have to worry about cutting into my time with Gracie. She's going to be around a lot more from now on. Rachel told me today that she's giving me full custody."
"Congratulations, man!" Steve exclaimed. "You must be thrilled."
"I am," Danny admitted. "I'm worried about Gracie, though. Despite what Rachel says about this being for her own good it feels to me very much like she's choosing one child over the other and I think Grace feels the same. And we're going to have to move now I've got her with me all the time. I'm worried that after the last few months that might be one change too many."
"I never thought of it like that," Steve admitted. "When I thought about everything that happened these past few months it was how you were dealing with it that I focused on. I never thought about how it would be for Grace."
"Neither did I until recently," Danny sighed regretfully. "She's always been so mature for her age and the divorce showed how resilient she is. She seemed okay until not that long ago but now, I don't know."
"Hey, as you said, she's resilient," Steve said, trying to sound reassuring. "And even if Rachel's choosing to focus on her other kid Grace still has you."
"I just hope that's enough," Danny sighed.
"It is!" Steve exclaimed. "You're a great dad, Danno. A blind man could see how much Grace loves you. And hey, if you two need a place to live you guys can move in here, if you want. I've got plenty of space."
Danny's eyes widened at the very generous offer. He knew what a fiercely private person Steve was and that the SEAL was inviting him and his daughter into his private domain amazed him. "A-Are you sure?" he asked, admitting to himself that a nice house on the beachfront was a lot more appealing than a crappy little apartment somewhere in the city.
Steve rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't, Danno. You're my friend and I love Grace. And hey, it might be a good idea for me to have someone who actually knows what they're doing with kids around at the moment."
"True," Danny snarked. "I wouldn't want your kids to be a qualified sniper before she can talk."
"Don't be ridiculous," Steve shot back. "She'll have to be qualified in hand-to-hand before she gets a gun."
"Oh god," Danny said. "Now I have to move in if only to stop you turning your kid into the female version of Rambo."
"For the last time, Danno Rambo was army not Navy!" Steve exclaimed.
Both men fell about laughing at the familiar argument. Both knew that the neither meant anything by it – it was just their way of relieving stress. Leaning back in his chair on the lanai Danny snuck a look at his partner. He still found it hard to imagine Steve as a parent but even if Steve hadn't yet acknowledged it himself Danny could see how much the SEAL loved his tiny daughter. Eventually the two McGarretts would definitely be okay and now that Steve had solved his accommodation problems Danny could see light at the tunnel for himself and Grace as well.
Somehow he just knew that everything was going to be fine.
Suggestions for baby names would be much appreciated. I think I've settled on a name for Steve's daughter and then I change my mind again so help narrowing it down would be great. Let me know when you review. Thanks!