Hey guys!

Sorry for taking so long! I've been dealing with some drama and I'm really panicked about tomorrow.

Anyways here's the next chapter!

I don't have a beta so any grammar or spelling mistakes are mine until I can find one. If anyone wants to be my BETA, PM me please!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Hawaii Five 0. Only Elisa, Courtney, & Mackenzie.

Steve hadn't let her back on the field for many reasons yet he didn't explain them. She knew, deep inside, that it because he was concerned about her stressing out. The past week had consisted of staying at HQ, doing paperwork. Her only company was Danny's dog who proved to be a wise, fun, and useful companion. Danny thought the dog would be a good babysitter and Steve agreed. That and that tablet computer that was on video chat. Still, he left a DOG, A DOG! to baby sit her. It was better then Malia or Rachel watching her like she was some nutcase. Every hour, Kono had to check in with Steve and tell her what she had done for the past hour and what she had eaten. Seriously, this was getting to her. The whole protective streak to him was starting to annoy her. In some way, she enjoyed waking up every morning in his house. She was living in a fairytale but even a fairytale would be broken soon and Kono knew it. Once Lori returned, everything would go back to normal. Yet she couldn't help but enjoy the life she had now. Even Mackenzie was enjoying having both of her parents live in the same house. If her daughter was happy, she was happy. It was starting to begin to feel like when they were in a relationship again. Life was good … for now.

"So what's up with you and the rookie?" Danny asked as they drove back to HQ.

"There's nothing going on between Kono and I. Besides if there was I wouldn't tell you,"

"Oh really. Spending all this time with her and not once have you mentioned Lori. Also may I remind you of what I saw a few days ago?,"

"Stay out of my private life. I'm just helping her recover and some other things,"

Danny snickered, "Helping her recover would be like checking up on her at her house! Not having her live with you and play house! Just admit it you still love Kono!"

"I wont either deny or admit that statement,"

"I think I'm gonna call Charlie Fong and tell him to ask Kono out on a date," Danny said as he took out his phone. All of a sudden Steve slammed on the breaks and snatched the phone out of his hand.

"What the hell man! Give me my phone back!" Danny yelled.

"You will not call Charlie Fong," He ordered, his eyes sharp and stone.

"Okay. Okay," Danny said and Steve relaxed before handing him his phone back and returning to drive.

"You totally like Kono," Danny grinned.

"Shut up,"

"I will shut up when you admit you like Kono,"

"I told you my answer,"

"Yeah and it's a fucking bullshit one! You like her! You still do! Either that or a damn great actor at pretending your enjoying her around!"

"I see my daughter more because she lives with me," He objected. He didn't want to talk to Danny about his relationship with Kono. He wanted to keep it under the radar for a while.

"And? I see Kenzie too a lot. More then you do. Well did ya know?,"

"Kono and I are simply being parents to Kenzie. I'm helping the mother of my child recover,"

Danny laughed dryly, "Oh yeah, sure. Just admit it, you love Kono and your falling out of love with Lori,"

"Whatever you say," Steve replied as he pulled up into a parking space at HQ.

They still argued at times but they weren't as bad. The fighting was lessening as each day passed. Their relationship was beginning to get better as he was the one to help her. She had begun to talk to Malia and Rachel again which was pleasing Steve. She was beginning to regain old friendships she had.

She was still paranoid that he may hurt her but she knew she had to take risks. Though the question of Steve's relationship with Lori lingered in her mind.

The dog began barking and Kono quickly snapped out of her thoughts and stood up to see the team walking through the doors.

"Hey boy!" Danny cooed to the dog. She sniffled in a laugh at the sight of Danny crouched down in front of the dog cooing him like a baby.

"Don't laugh at my love for my dog!" He gave her a playful strict look.

"Yeah. I have to wonder if Rachel is jealous of your dog,"

"Nah. She knows I love her a lot. How did my dog do?"

"Well, I took a break, but you already know that. I walked the dog around and let it do it's business.

Then I asked the dog which pile of paperwork I should do first and it proved to me it's wise since it picked the smaller pile,"

"Still, it's good to hear it. Well later we're planning to have a BBQ at Steve's,"

"Yeah I know. He told me this morning,"

"Okay. Well I'm going to give this guy a little treat for it's good behavior," He gave her a nod before attaching a leash to the collar and walking out of her office.

Steve smiled at her as he walked into her office, hands in his pockets after Danny left.

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Great. I've spent my morning with a dog as my only companion. How about yours?"

He chuckled, "That sounds fun,"

"Yeah. I finished all the paperwork then I ate some chocolate cake that Kamekona dropped by,"

"That's good,"

"Mackenzie text messaged me and asked she can stay the night at a friend's house," Kono said as she took out his phone.

"Which friend?"

"Courtney's place,"

"Oh Courtney's mom called me a while ago about that. She said that Mackenzie wanted to stay the night but I wasn't sure so I told her to call you,"

"Oh okay. Good because you know, Kenzie will lie in certain situations,"

"I know. I say yes but I don't know about you,"

"It's fine. Courtney is a nice girl, I'll send her a quick text," Kono began to type on her phone before sending the message and placing the phone back in her pocket.

"Tonight's going to be fun," she confirmed.

"Definitely. Did you finish the reports?" He asked.

"Yeah I did. Finished the smaller pile then the bigger one. Don't worry, it was no problem finishing them all," she assured him.

He nodded before speaking again, "I'm going to go to my office. If you need me or need anything, just call," he gave her a smile before walking out.

Mackenzie's POV(I missed writing her thoughts!)

Lori being gone has been proven to be the best thing I and Uncle Danny have ever done. Ever since she left her for Florida or something, life has had an extra beep to it. Like happiness ya know? I no longer feel all this tension when I walk into HQ. Everyone is more preppy and happy. Besides the part that my mom is confined to paper work, everything is perfect. I adore no love living at my dad's house with my mom. It's brilliant, it's amazing. It's happiness! Especially the looks my dad gives my mom every morning. Now that they are dating, I just have to secure their relationship! I like seeing that spark in my dad's eyes every time he sees my mom. I also love the little ways they've developed to say "I Love You". In some way, my mom passing out in HQ was a great way for my parents to get closer you know? I don't mean it in a bad way because I know stress isn't good at all for anyone. But still, all of that lead to my dad becoming this protective SEAL on her! And me, of course.

When we went grocery shopping a few days ago, my dad began to play with the food at the store to make my mom laugh. Believe me, that was a KODAK moment! My dad had two baby carrots in his teeth and he told my mom he was a "carrot vampire". Somehow, that made her laugh and I, wanting to cherish the moment, took out my phone and took a picture of my mom laughing and my dad with his "vampire carrot teeth". What was so much more awesome was that he kissed her near her lips after he ate the carrots.

Yes, little things are like BIG to me okay? I'm so close to having my parents become an official ITEM again. Like item in the sense that their relationship is secured and strong! Then once Lori arrives back on the island, she'll find my parents happily together, in love like two lovesick teenagers. Well that's my plan, anyways. In my mind, my parents get back together, then my dad proposes, they get married, and finally my mom get's pregnant and gives me a little sibling.

What? I'm an only child and lonely okay? I love Grace and Charlie but I need a little sis or bro that I can hang with. Another mini McKono! One I can take shopping and show how to text message without looking! One that I can teach things like how to annoy Uncle Danny or how to win arguments with dad! It would be awesome. Once that happens, I'll be good.

Anyways, I'm staying at Courtney's for the night because I want to give my parents some privacy after the BBQ wink wink.

"Hey. I'm heading out to get some steak for the BBQ. You ready?" Steve asked popping his head into her office. She smiled and stood up walking over to get her jacket.

"Yeah I'm ready. What time is everyone arriving?" she asked as they walked out of HQ.

"Around 9. We've got about two, three hours to get everything ready," Steve said as they began to walk out of HQ.

The two went by the grocery store and picked up some stuff before heading over to the house. They converse and use Mackenzie as a starting topic but pretty soon they move on. Before they know it, Steve is pulling up into the driveway.

"I'm going to go take a shower," Kono said as he unlocked the door.

"Okay. I'll take one too. After I'll start up the BBQ," Steve replied as he headed for the backyard.

"Steve," Kono called out walking towards the BBQ.

He turned around and saw her wearing one of his button-up shirts that she turned into a dress with a waist belt and black gladiator sandals. He had changed into jeans and a plaid shirt with sandals.

"You look beautiful," He complimented her as she walked up to her.

"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself,"

He chuckled, "I see you turned one of my shirts into a dress,"

"Yes. I wanted to try something new. You don't mind right?,"

"No. Of course not. It's been a long time since I've seen you in one of my shirts,"

"Yeah. Definitely. Do you want me to bring out the beer?"

"Yeah. Thanks,"

"No problem,"

The guests arrived a few minutes later with Kamekona bringing desert while Rachel brought some some hot chocolate. By then, Steve had set up burning Tiki Torches around the lanai.

"Kono!"

"Elisa!" Kono rushed to hug her.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Your hot boyfriend invited me," She grinned raising her eyebrows up and down

"He's-"

"Then your smoking hot friends-with-benefits partner,"

"We aren't-"

"Stop denying it! The two of you have more chemistry then I have with my new boy toy. And that is saying something girl!" Elisa squealed.

"Okay. First of all, we are taking this relationship slow since we don't want a repeat of last time. We are technically dating, I think. I don't know if we are even in a relationship. After I recover I'm moving back-,"

"Really? Your moving back to your place when you two have been living together?" Elisa asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Hey girls," Steve greeted interrupting the little discussion.

"Thanks for the invite," Elisa thanked him.

"Anytime. Any friend of Kono's is a friend of mine,"

"Well I'm going to get some beer," Elisa said before winking at Kono who shook her head.

"How are you feeling?" He asked wrapping an arm around her waist, as they walked towards the BBQ.

"Good,"

"Have you eaten?" He asked flipping the steaks and Shish kabobs.

"Not yet,"

"You should"

"Steve, I'm not hungry,"

"At least eat something. You worry me," he pulled her closer and kissed the side of her head.

She sighed, "Fine. Would a strawberry makes you less worried?,"

"As long as it's dipped in chocolate,"

"Your lucky I decided to make some last night,"

"So that's what you were doing. If I had known I would have joined you," he winked at her. She jokingly hit him.

"You would have distracted me,"

"And?" he leaned down and kissed her.

"That would have been bad," she murmured against his lips.

"So?" He replied.

Steve McGarrett didn't want history to repeat with Kono. He didn't want that to happen and he was going to make sure of it.

Their mistakes and fighting had harmed their daughter. He knew so because both of them had pushed Mackenzie away from each-other. In the end, Kenzie had ended up with two ignorant parents who lived two separate lives, deliberately trying to get away from her. For him, she reminded him too much of Kono and for Kono, he knew, reminded her too much of himself. Together, they were able to be parents but alone, that was a different story.

He blamed himself for ignoring and pushing away his daughter until seeing her was rare. Truth is, he didn't know how to parent without Kono around. She reminded him too much of her and that he just wanted to forget and move on with his life. A child was long term. That, he couldn't get out of. So he did what he thought would do his situation justice, he buried himself in work and his relationship with Lori. He never mentioned to Lori, that he had a daughter. It simply never came up. He knew she was suspicious of the phone calls between himself and Kono. He would simply replied "We had to talk about custody agreements" and change the subject immediately.

It was a mutual agreement between him and Kono to stay as far away from each-other. She would stay in her area where she lived and he would stay in his. Whenever a case lead him to her area, he would avoid her at all costs.

When he first found out, the mother of his daughter was Chin Ho Kelly's cousin, memories of him disappearing a few years back, came back. He knew, he was a coward by running but he was afraid. Five years with Kono and Kenzie proved to be worth it but it also made him realize that now he was heading for hardships.

Having a child at 22 was never part of his life plan. He wasn't prepared nor ready to be a father. He didn't have much of a choice though because if it was one thing that his father had taught him was to never run from his problems. Having children was part of his life plan but farther along the line, maybe late 20's, early or late 30's.

He did what Kono asked of him. He paid for everything that he could. He was there whenever he could be. Whenever they ran out of diapers, despite it being 1am or 3am, he would go to the store. Kenzie took up most of their time and whenever she didn't Steve was training in the navy, so they rarely talked. They lived in a small house nearby from Steve's dads place and Kono's parents place. Steve would usually sleep on the floor while Kono slept on the bed. It all depended on the night. If Kenzie made them stay up, they would crash sometimes on the bed or the couch.

Five years later and he disappeared without a trace. It was around 4am in the morning and Steve had stayed up most of the night thinking. He woke up and grabbed his stuff. He didn't have much, just a few things. It was a hard decision especially since he was leaving his own daughter behind but he knew it was time. It took him a while to leave though. Every time he was about to, something stopped him. It wasn't until he promised himself to write to her and Kono that he finally left. He kissed her forehead and checked up on Kono before opening the door and leaving.

To this day he still regretted his decisions but knew that without those decisions then he would have never gotten as far in his life as he did.

Lori was a poor replacement for Kono, in Steve's mind. When Kono left, he wasn't exactly sure of what he was suppose to do. So when Lori asked him out for drinks, he took it as a distraction. He did that and tried to be happy. She was everything he asked her to be but she wasn't Kono. He got used to Lori, so of course, he got defensive with Mackenzie when she refused to do anything related to her. Their relationship was completely over now.

He understood why Kono was having trouble with their relationship. She didn't want to hurt again and go back to how she was before. He planned to make sure their relationship lasted this time. He was ready to do whatever to make sure of that.

"Uh Kenz, I think you took your dad's phone," Courtney said holding up the I-phone.

"Really? How is that possible?" Mackenzie rushed to her and grabbed the phone.

"Uh unless Lori likes to call you SEAL then you have your dads phone," Courtney replied crossing her arms over her chest.

Mackenzie glanced down at the text message flashing on her dads phone.

To: Steve
From: Lori

Hey, SEAL!
I'm coming home soon.
Only more day then I'm getting on a plane back to Hawaii and we can get back together. ;)

Love you,
L

"Shit," Mackenzie muttered.

What did you guys think? Good? Bad? Review!

So now hopefully you guys understand why Steve left in the first place. Guys, Steve and Kono were both dealing with their breakup and they hated being reminded of the other so that's why they ignored Mackenzie for a while. They aren't bad parents, they just aren't perfect.

Next chapter, Lori returns, unfortunately!

McKono, Mikita, Music,
Nina