The nurse handed Steve a list. "These are the basic necessities that you should have tomorrow. You should also start looking into getting a Nanny or some kind of day care. That could take a while, so don't put it off. Oh wait!" she grabbed the list back from him and jotted down another item. Danny and the other nurse looked over her shoulder and both started laughing, agreeing wholeheartedly.

Steve took the note back and looked at what she wrote. His face showed his confusion. "What's a binky?"

Danny slapped him on the back, "It's going to be as important to you as having ammo for your gun, trust me buddy."

The nurses both agreed, nodding.

He folded the note up, sticking it in his back pocket as he walked into the room where Mary was sleeping in the crib. A smile instantly grew on his face when he saw her. He rubbed his hand over her hair, careful not to wake her. "I'll be back tomorrow," he whispered. "I promise." He stared at her a couple more seconds, feeling pretty triumphant that he had fed her, burped her and put her to sleep. 'I can do this,' he told himself. 'I can do it.'

The nurses both smiled as he came back out. "You have a lot of work to do before you pick her up tomorrow," one said.

His eyes got big in anticipation of it. "I know! I'm sure I'll be up half the night trying to get things baby proofed around the house and her room set up. I don't have anything!"

She smiled sweetly at him, "I suggest you go home and get a good nights sleep and start fresh in the morning."

Danny agreed, "Good advice. Because it will be your last, especially with a daughter."

"A girl," he smiled uneasily. "Well, at least she'll know self-defense that's for sure."

Danny rolled his eyes, "If you dress her in black ninja gear, I'll file for custody."

Steve raised his hand, "I swear, I'll raise Mary like a girl. If she wants pink tutus then she'll have them."

"Thank you," Danny said relieved.

Steve went over to the two nurses and put his hand out, "Ladies, I can't thank you enough for taking such good care of Mary and," he looked sheepish, "and for helping me through this little transition here tonight."

They both shook his hand feeling confident Mary would be in good hands. "Don't forget to stop by the Administrator's office tomorrow to sign the papers before you come up."

He shook his head, "I won't. Thank you again."

He and Danny walked out and both of the nurses looked at each other and grinned. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" one said to the other.

"Oh my God, they are both so cute? Because that's what I'm thinking."

They both started to laugh. "Yes! That's what I was thinking," she sighed, "If we were only ten years younger…"

"And single!" the other chimed in as they both laughed again.


Steve slid the dresser up against the opposite wall, making room for a crib. The boxes that had been stored in the spare room were sitting in the hallway, waiting to be carried down to the garage. He sat down on the bed and stared at the vacant spot. Tomorrow a crib would be in that place and tomorrow night a baby would be sleeping there. But not just any baby, he thought, his baby daughter. The reality of that still seemed so unreal to him.

His thoughts drifted to Tracy.

He was still furious and resentful that she had excluded him from the whole process. He missed out on the pregnancy, the birth and the first five months of her life. It pissed him off that she didn't think him worthy enough until her life was obviously too important to take care of Mary anymore, thus making that life changing decision for him once again, without even discussing it; the same as she had done almost a year earlier standing out in front of the Turtle Bay Resort.

He took in a deep breath, growling over the continued frustration he felt over her. But as he stared at the vacant spot all the hatred he had been harboring over her telling him she had aborted Mary seemed to vanish. Not only was he pleased that she hadn't gone through with it, but he understood now that she just wanted him out of the picture. It didn't justify the fact that she had lied to him, but knowing Tracy and how she was, he could somewhat understand her notions. After all, her greatest motto was that she didn't need anyone. Well he proved her wrong there, almost laughing over it; she obviously needed him.

He looked at his watch and decided to take everyone's advice and go to bed early, it was going to be a really long day tomorrow.


Steve jumped out of bed, hearing his doorbell ring at 7:30 in the morning. He threw on a quick pair of sweatpants and came downstairs, wondering who in the hell would be there so early. He opened the door seeing Danny, Chin and Kono standing there, each one holding an object.

Kono had a large bag filled with items that he couldn't quite decipher. She went up to him first, hugging him, "I can't believe this! This is so great! You're going to be such a great Father!" she said excitedly. "Perfect dad!"

He smiled uneasily at her over enthusiastic display. "Thanks."

Chin stepped up next, setting a large box on the floor, "Congrats Buddy. A little McGarrett keiki, who would have guessed? You're going to do a fantastic job at raising her. You'll be perfect!" he said a little too over the top as well.

Steve eyed Danny who was holding a box of donuts, "So are you the head cheerleader that got the team all fired up at the pep rally?"

"What?" Kono laughed, "We're excited!" she tried to continue to play it off.

Chin swiped his hand in the air, "Give it up Cuz, he's on to us." He patted Steve on the arm as he entered the house. "We are happy for you, and we can't wait to meet the new edition to the team, but buddy you are entering a whole new chapter of life and we just wanted to let you know that we're here for ya."

Kono set the bag down. "To be honest, I'm still stunned but like Chin said, I'm so excited to meet her and I do mean it when I said you'll be a great father." Her eyes got big just thinking about his feat at hand, "But wow! Just Wow!"

Steve put his arm around her shoulder, "That's exactly how I feel. I'm not sugar coating it by any means because I know it's going to be tough as hell." He smiled at each one of them, "But I appreciate your support. I really do."

"Good," Chin replied, taking the donuts from Danny's hands. "Because we're here to help you get set up. Coffee and donuts first and then give us a list of what to do."

Steve grinned, more than pleased for the help. He looked at the items they brought in, "What is all that stuff?"

"Oh," Kono held the bag up. "Chin and I ran over to the store this morning and grabbed a couple of things for you." She walked over to the sofa and turned it over. The couch was littered with baby bottles, two pink blankets, baby spoons, baby wipes, shampoo, pacifiers, bibs and four little outfits. "This outta get you started," she said.

He looked down at all the supplies; marking off items that were on the list the nurse had given him. He put an arm around her shoulder, squeezing, "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." She turned to Chin, "we also got you a large supply of diapers, which we were told at the store should last about a month."

He looked at the box and did the math from how many were in there. He looked over at Danny for confirmation, "That's like fifty a week? That's seven a day? Is that right?!"

Danny laughed, "That's being conservative." He tried to reassure him, seeing that deer in a headlights stare. "Believe me Steve by the end of the first week you'll be able to change a diaper faster than you can change a clip in your gun."

"Ok," he let out a breath, refusing to get hung up on the small things. He reached his fist out to Chin, "Thanks buddy for supplying me up."

They spent the rest of the morning working in the house, deep cleaning the bathrooms, kitchen and Mary's room. Having the extra help was a blessing. He never would have been able to get even half of what they had accomplished done.

He went to the baby store with Kono and picked out a crib, stroller and a car seat among the other items on the list that Kono hadn't already taken care of. By the time the register had stopped adding up the expenses he had a running total over $1600 dollars.

He stood and stared at the total. "Sixteen hundred dollars!" he said, holding his wallet. He looked over at Kono, "Sixteen hundred dollars?"

She smiled, "Why do you think women have baby showers."

Steve shook his head, handing his Visa to the clerk. "I guess I won't have to buy any of this stuff again. It's just the one time start up cost. Only milk and diapers now."

"Right," Kono agreed. "Think of it as when you buy a new gun. You get the extra clips, the case, maybe a holster, the cleaning kit, but then all you have to buy to maintain it are bullets."

"Why does everyone try to explain every scenario to me with a comparison to guns?"

Kono shrugged, "Because we know you can relate. Does that comparison make sense or what?"

Steve looked at the clerk who couldn't help but over hear the conversation and eyed each of them suspiciously. "Don't worry," he said, "we're cops."

She smiled like that explanation really didn't help, handing him his receipt. "Have a nice day."


Chin picked up the small mattress and set it inside in the crib, "Done!"

Kono scooped up the wrappings and instructions and began to shove them inside the box. "The sheets are in the dryer, they should be ready soon." She looked around, "What's next?"

Chin did the same, "I don't know. I think we're done. All we need is a baby."

"They should be back pretty soon." Kono sat down on the bed, "I can't believe this is happening. I mean I'm really happy for him, but seriously, Steve and a baby all by himself! How is this going to work?"

Chin put his hands up as if that was the question that had been going through everyone's mind. "I don't know, but he really doesn't have a choice in the matter? At least he's stepping up." He sat down on the bed next to her looking at the crib. "Did he say anything to you about the Mother?"

She shook her head, "No, you?"

He did the same, "Nope. I only know what Danny told us. I just can't believe she would dump her like that. No note, no nothing, just see you later."

"Well, she did take her to a hospital and with that new abandonment law, it was totally legal."

"C'mon Kono," Chin huffed, "she keeps this kid a secret from Steve the whole pregnancy plus the first five months, and it sounds like all of a sudden she didn't want the burden anymore and, bam! Dump her off on Dad."

"Wow," Kono stood up, looking down on him, "that's a little harsh. For being a detective you sure are jumping to conclusions without knowing the facts."

"Why are you sticking up for her?"

"I'm not, but I'm also not going to point a finger at someone until I know the facts, or," she pointed down at him, "until I've walked a mile in her shoes. Maybe she felt this was Mary's only hope. Have you thought about that?"

He rolled his eyes, feeling outmaneuvered and scolded by a rookie and a woman. "Yeah, yeah whatever. It's really none of our business anyway. Like I said before at least he's stepping up and that's what we need to focus on."

"Good point. He's going to need help too and I don't mean from just us. I was thinking about giving him Aunt Celia's phone number. I know she's looking for work and he's looking for help, so maybe the timing is good."

Chin narrowed his eyes, "Has she ever been a Nanny?"

Kono looked at him as if he had forgotten, "She was like a second mother to practically every kid in our family. I think she could do this and I think she would enjoy it."

He shrugged, "I would bring it up to her first before you mention it to Steve. Make sure she's really on board and get a price so he knows what he's dealing with."

Kono came off the bed excitedly, "I'm going to go call her right now."

"He's not going to want her right away. You heard him, he wants to take a couple of weeks by himself."

"I know, I know," she yelled back, heading down the stairs. "But by the end of those two weeks you know he's going to be begging for help. Might as well get the ball rolling."


Steve sat in the Hospital Administrator's office signing form after form.

"You realize Mr. McGarrett that this is just the hospital formality. It would be in your best interest to hire a family lawyer to understand your parental custody rights."

Steve looked up at her, "That's probably not a bad idea." He signed the last one and sat back in the chair. "I'm just curious, did Tracy tell anyone she was leaving, or did she just walk out?"

She picked up a manila folder, "This is a copy of the police and hospital report." She held it out, "You have every right to read it."

He went to take it and then changed his mind. What difference did it make what was in there. It was done. She was gone and his only fear was that if he did read it he would be even angrier with her than he already was. He didn't want that extra emotional turmoil today. He had enough to deal with. He also wanted this to be a good day and one that he would remember fondly, whatever was in that report could spoil that. He shook his head. "No thanks, not today. This is Mary's and my day."

She smiled understanding his motives. "Very well then," she pushed her chair back, motioning to the door of her office. "Let's go get Mary so you can take her home."


Steve came in the house with a sleeping Mary in his arms. Chin switched the TV off and Kono came out of the kitchen. They both made their way over to him as he smiled. "She slept all the way home," he whispered proudly.

Kono looked down at her and then up at Steve with an amazed expression on her face. "Oh Steve, she is so beautiful," she whispered.

"Nice job!" Chin agreed. "She's a little doll."

They took turns holding her and enjoying the moment…until she woke up.

She opened her eyes and looked up at Chin expecting to see her Mother, or the nurse that had been caring for her, but certainly not him. She was startled at first and then the pleasant moment quickly took a turn. Her face contorted and the beginning of a crying fit emerged.

Chin tried to console her knowing a little about children from family, but quickly became uncomfortable, looking to Steve to take her, who in turn looked to Danny.

"Don't look at me," he motioned to Mary. "Lesson number one coming up."

"She's probably hungry," Steve said.

Danny shook his head, "I don't think so. She just ate before we left. Remember the nurses said they gave her a bottle," he reminded him, seeing the panic begin to set in in Steve's eyes. "Just take her," he suggested. "She might just be scared."

Chin handed her over to him and he put her over his shoulder walking into the kitchen away from everyone. "It's ok Mary," he consoled her; rubbing her back, silently hoping this would work. She pushed off his shoulder not recognizing his voice either and the wailing continued. He switched positions and held her so they could see each other but she squirmed in his arms, wanting nothing to do with him. She missed hear her Mother's presence, the only person she had known her whole life and had had enough of all these strangers. She simply wanted her Mother. The crying turned into a raging fit.

"She's really pissed!" Steve said, trying to hold her as she stretched her body out trying to get anywhere but in his arms. "What do I do?"

"Sometimes there's nothing you can do," Danny explained. "First you check out the obvious. Is she hungry? No." his voice got louder as the crying turned to screaming. "Is she wet? No. Is she sick? I don't think that's why she's crying. She'll eventually wear herself out."

"Eventually?" Steve looked horrified over that because at the moment she was practically hysterical. He held her tighter afraid he would drop her as she fought him. He was becoming exhausted already after only about five minutes. "Hey!" he yelled down to her. "That's enough!"

She startled over the loud noise and froze, looking up at him. He stared down at her just as surprised that it worked. He glanced over at Danny, "What do you know." Before he could revel in his triumph, the crying resumed as well as the temper tantrum. "Shit," he said uneasily.

Kono went to take her, when Chin held her back. "Let him be. He needs to work this out." He motioned with his head toward the door, "As a matter of fact, we should go."

They walked over to Danny as Steve went back into the kitchen, pacing back and forth with her.

"We're going to take off," Chin said. "Unless you want us to stay and help out?"

Danny shook his head, staring into the kitchen. "Nope. I'm leaving soon too. He believes in tough love and this is the epitome of that. He has to learn by doing."

"You guys," Kono jumped in, "we can't just desert him like this." She pointed toward the kitchen almost laughing, "I'm mean look at him. He's drowning." They all watched him switch positions with her for the third time in less than thirty seconds.

"Do you think parents of newborns are any more prepared?" Danny argued, "No. He needs to figure out her needs and personality and she needs to figure out him too, and if we keep jumping in and trying to save the day then its just going to be a longer process." He sighed, feeling for him. "It needs to start right now."

They all three agreed that they would be there for him, but right now the best thing for him, was for them not to be.

Chin and Kono came in the kitchen, but kept their distance, waving to him. He shook his head frustrated and rolled his eyes, talking over the loud noise. "Thanks for all your help today."

He tried to play it off that it was ok, but they could both see in his eyes what he was trying to hide, and when they left and Danny began to give him the same departure speech, Steve's panic showed without any hesitation.

"What do you mean you're leaving?"

"I'm taking off. I'll be back in the morning sometime." He turned toward the door.

Steve held Mary's head against his shoulder as he chased after him. Her little legs kicked out of frustration, anger and fear over being held too tightly and by the wrong person. She didn't like him.

"Danny please!" he begged, "You can't go! You have to stay here and help me! I don't know what to do!"

"You'll figure it out." He grabbed his keys off the table.

"Are you kidding me? You're seriously going to leave me like this? Fuck!"

He turned around pointing a finger at him. "I would watch the language too, you don't want that being her first word do you?"

Steve glared at him, "I can't believe you're ditching me!" He leaned his head back as Mary's little fist hit his chin. He reached up cupping both of her hands with his one, which only made her angrier. "Thanks for nothing!"

"I'm not ditching you Steve. This is your daughter! She's going to be depending on you for the rest of her life. You need to show her, starting right now that you'll be there for her no matter what." He tilted his head. "That is your plan isn't it?"

He saw where he was going with this, and agreed but still didn't like it. He was terrified to be left alone with her for the first night, but knew that first night had to come sometime. "Alright, alright." He looked at her face that had red blotches all over as she began to gag from crying so hard. "She'll eventually stop, right?" he looked almost as bad as she did.

"Just let her cry it out and if it gets to be too much, set her down in her crib and walk away and count to one hundred. That used to work for me." He put a hand on his shoulder, "She doesn't know you. She's just as scared as you are."

Those words hit home for him. It suddenly wasn't about his fear anymore; it was about Mary's. "Ok." He put both of his hands under her arms and lifted her up in the air above his head, looking up at her as she continued the rant. "Hey you, there's nothing to be afraid of. Do you hear me? You can cry all you want. I'm not going anywhere."

She replied by vomiting her last bottle all over the front of him.


Danny walked out to his car and couldn't help but laugh again over the look on Steve's face as Mary puked all over him. He also couldn't just leave after that incident either with him standing there in utter shock covered in white gook. He stayed until Mary calmed down and Steve finished taking a shower. He warned him again about holding her up over his head or even tossing her up in the air, although it sounded like fun, it was something that should be saved until she was older and never after or during a crying fit. He looked back when he heard his name.

Steve came running out after him. "Hey," he said a little unnerved, "It's ok if I call you right? I mean if something comes up that…" he couldn't think of anything at the moment but wanted that reassurance that someone was just a phone call away. "You'll answer your phone right?"

Danny chuckled at him, "Yes, I'll answer my phone." He backed away from him, "You'll be fine though. Just no…" he pretended to toss a baby in the air.

"I'll never do that again," Steve said adamantly, turning and waving over his shoulder as he strutted back toward the house. "Thanks Danno."

He came inside seeing Mary still asleep in the playpen by the couch. He carefully shut the door as quietly as possible. "Thank you, Danno!" he whispered his praise for him being able to put her down. He made his way over to the kitchen. It had been a long day and he hadn't eaten since that morning. He took a step near Mary on the wooden floor and as he lifted his foot the board creaked and she opened her eyes. Steve froze but it didn't matter, she looked up at him and within in seconds the crying resumed. He let his head fall forward, staring down at that piece of board making a mental note of its existence.

He bent over and picked her up so she was on his shoulder, rubbing her back as she rubbed her face and nose on his shirt. She laid her head down for a moment and he thought she was going to go to back to sleep but it was short lived. He continued into the kitchen trying to remember what Danny had done to calm her earlier, but no matter what position, tone of his voice or soothing antic he tried, nothing was working. His head was pounding and his stomach was growling.

He felt his patience wearing thin so he took the advice that Danny had suggested and pulled the playpen into the kitchen with his free hand and laid her down in it on her back.

"You go ahead and cry all you want. I'm going to eat." He ignored the tirade coming from her and went to the fridge taking down the bottle of aspirin first and popping two in his mouth. He glanced over on his way to the sink as her whole body clenched up in a fit of rage. He bent his head over and drank right from the nozzle, wiping his mouth off. "Boo hoo hoo," he mocked her. "You're just going to have to wait a couple more minutes."

He threw a left over container of lasagna in the microwave and braced his hands on the counter, hanging his head with his eyes closed, counting to one hundred, trying to block out the screaming in the background. He got to about thirty when he began to second-guess his decision. 'What are you doing? How are you going to take care of this little kid? You can't even get her to stop crying. She hates you already. She doesn't want anything to do with you. You're fucked. You are so fucked.' He told himself, feeling it too. It had only been four hours and he was already close to throwing in the towel. The microwave timer went off and he looked up, so deep in his own self-pity that it took him a second to realize it was quiet. He looked over in her direction feeling a wave of fear that she had thrown up again and had choked on it. But as he caught sight of her, he smiled.

She had rolled over on her stomach and was using her arms to push herself up. Her face was still blotchy from the temper tantrum but she had stopped crying. She looked around at nothing in particular and then laid her head down on the mattress. He watched with amusement as she popped her head back up again as if someone had called her name, looked around and then resumed the position. He watched her eyes flicker open and close until they closed for good.

He just stood at the counter and stared at her, forgetting all about his depression from earlier as he reveled at the little beauty that laid just a couple of feet from him. She had worked it out on her own. He wasn't naïve and knew that it would have just been a matter of time, but the fact that she had done it all by herself made him feel proud of her. Even though she had just exhausted herself out, he didn't want to see it that way, he couldn't. He needed something positive to dwell on to carry him over until the next storm erupted, and this was working for him.

He felt he was in the eye of the hurricane and had only a brief amount of time before she woke up again. He took his food and started walking toward the table when another loud creak came from the floor. He stopped mid step and went back on his heel, holding his breath. She fidgeted slightly but didn't wake up. He didn't want to press his luck and stood his ground, eating his food while standing in the middle of the kitchen.


He shot up off the couch out of a dead sleep, smacking his knee on the edge of the coffee table.

"Ouch! Shit!" he grumbled, stumbling over to the playpen as Mary sang out another song at high pitch intervals, letting him know she wanted a bottle.

He picked her up, which to his surprise pleased her. She gripped onto the back of his shirt with her tiny hand and grabbed a fist full of the front as well along with some chest hair.

"Hey, careful now." He pulled her hand away, making a painful face as well a few groans, positive he was going to have a bald spot there. She placed her now free fingers on his lips as he stood over the sink filling up a bottle. She toyed with his bottom lip gently gliding her fingers over it until it would snap back in place. She did this over and over until he got the bottle made and in the microwave, setting the timer.

He leaned back against the counter looking at her. She went to reach for his lip again and he pulled it inside his mouth hiding it and then stuck it back out. They did

this again and again until to his complete enjoyment, she laughed. He didn't think he had ever heard anything so sweet before at 3:30 in the morning. They played this game over and over until the microwave went off.

He sat down on the couch and tested the bottle on his arm like Danny had showed him. It felt right so he laid her back in the crevice between his arm and body and

began to feed her. She took it happily, sucking on it energetically at first and then calmed looking up at him.

"Is it good your highness," he said smiling.

She smiled with the nipple still in her mouth and reached up for his lip again. He stuck it out for her but she waited, wanting to play the game again. "You like that

game huh?" he blew through his lips making them vibrate, which delighted her even more. She laughed again as milk began to drip out the side of her mouth. He moved the bottle around, reminding her to eat and she instinctively began to suck again, but was enthralled with his lips, putting her whole hand over his mouth as he made them vibrate again, keeping her hand pressed against them. She took turns laughing and eating, not sure which she was enjoying more. He on the other hand was having more fun than he could stand. He needed this so badly. Getting her to laugh was like a gift and every time he heard it he felt more and more at ease. It was an amazing moment that he knew he would remember fondly for the rest of his life.