Guardian
A/N: Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and make no money doing this. I'm just having fun playing with them.
Chapter 9
Danny had barely turned the coffee pot on when his partner reappeared. He quickly decided he could get used to the sight in front of him.
"Steven, do you own anything other than cargo pants?" Though the detective had to admit the man looked good in them with a snug grey t-shirt that seemed to set off his eyes. He grinned seeing Steve still with bare feet.
"Of course I do." He scoffed indignantly.
"Army issued uniforms and PT gear don't count." He smiled at the grimace on Steve's face.
"Danno, he's in the Navy, not the Army. Get it right." Grace entered the room, defending the Seal once again.
Turning to the entry, Steve reached down and swept the little girl up into his arms. As her legs wrapped around his waist, she gave him a broad smile.
"Thank you, Gracie. Nice to know someone can tell the difference." He smiled at her choice of shirts. The 'Five-0 In Training' shirt Chin had given her for her birthday the year before was well worn. She'd told him once that it reminded her she was strong and tough like all of them. At the time, he'd wondered why she needed to feel strong and tough. Right now, he was glad she had something to remind her.
"Okay, fine. Navy. Still Navy issued clothing doesn't count."
Thinking for a second, Steve appeared to running a mental inventory. "I bought my swimming trunks."
The three erupted in laughter.
"Monkey, we may need to take him shopping someday. Expand his fashion horizons beyond the military standard."
Steve groaned as Danny slipped a cup of freshly brewed coffee into his hands.
The three fell silent as they settled into stools at the island. The men drank their coffee as Grace sipped the juice Steve gave her with a couple of Tylenol, staring at the glass.
"Why did he do it?" Her voice broke the silence. Danny and Steve both looked to her. "Why did Stan kill Mommy? He could have just left."
She shed no tears, as she looked up, a serious expression on her face.
"We don't really know, Grace, but we plan to find out." Danny wanted to speak to Stan before giving her the story Chin had relayed to them. Plus, he needed time to sort out what to tell her.
"I want to know. Can you go ask him now that you're home?"
They'd planned to have the cousins watch her so they could do just that, but had thought they'd need to come up with a way for her to be okay with them leaving.
"Yes, Grace. Danno and I can go after lunch if you're okay staying with Kono and Chin."
She nodded her head and took another drink, leaving the two men staring at each other a bit confused. Grant it, neither of them blamed her for wanting answers, but they hadn't expected her to send them off to find them.
After a few moments of silence, Grace looked up again. "Can we show Danno the ideas for my room now?"
The pair released the breath they'd both been holding.
"Of course, Monkey. I'd love to see what you guys came up with. I'm quite impressed with how fast you two have mastered interior design."
Excited to show off what she'd decided she wanted as her new room, Grace hurried off to the living room.
Following more slowly behind, Danny looked up at Steve. "She had me scared for a minute there."
"Me too, Danno, me too." Steve wrapped an arm around his best friend and led him into the living room.
Grace already had the stuff for the favored design in hand and was kneeling in front of the coffee table, facing the couch. Taking their seats, both men focused their attention on her.
"I really like this one." She declared. "But if you don't we can find something else." She added hastily as if afraid being so decisive about her own room would upset them. Given what Steve had learned about her room at Rachel's he could understand.
"Gracie, we talked about this yesterday. I want you to make it your room. Unless you plan on covering it with something we think is inappropriate, which I know you don't, it's your choice. Right, Danno?"
Steve took the lead knowing his partner was likely to harbor some concern about upsetting what he always seemed convinced was Steve's delicately balanced structure in the house. Albeit, until Grace that wasn't far from accurate, but now he wanted it to feel like home not just the house he'd inherited.
"Right. It's your room, so show us what we're going to do." If Steve was prepared to go all in on this, he wasn't going to argue. He just couldn't muster up any motivation to argue them living here when a part of him wanted the proximity to the Seal for other reasons.
Satisfied that she wasn't in trouble for making up her mind, Grace set out several pages and a few paint sample cards.
Steve nearly beamed at her. The ocean was their thing and seeing her so excited to bring that to her room made him incredibly happy.
"I like both of these colors for the walls." She held up two shades of a beautiful bluish-green. "I just can't decide which one."
Danny grinned at her. "It's going to look like you're sleeping underwater." She raised her eyebrow at him. "Okay, I suppose that's the point. Anyway, I bet we can get some small sample jars of each and decide then."
Leaning forward to pick up a magazine page, Steve held it up for the other two. "Maybe we can do something like this." He pointed to a picture where one wall was in a darker shade."
"Never would have pegged you as the Martha Steward type, babe, but you may be on to something." He and the little girl both laughed at Steve's mock offended face.
The next half an hour was spent looking at pictures Grace really liked. Noticing she seemed to lean toward the realistic paintings and pictures of ocean life, Steve had an idea.
"Hey Gracie, I have a friend that paints murals of sea life. Would you like to meet her and see if she can do something cool for one of your walls?"
The little girl jumped up and nearly launched herself at him. "Yes. Please. Can we?"
Danny smiled at the pair of them. "I think she likes that plan."
Situating her on his leg, one arm wrapped around her, the Seal laughed. "Never would have guessed."
The trio all seemed pleased with the progress they'd made thus far. Danny was happy to see Grace smiling, having feared the worst during his entire trip. Once again, he considered how easy it would be to get used to life with the three of them together.
As Grace chattered away about picking out bedding, Danny stole a glance at Steve and was surprised to find the Seal staring at him with a somewhat wistful expression. Their eyes locked for a moment before Steve looked away.
Before he could wonder more about their shared look, he heard the sound of car doors closing.
"Sounds like lunch is here." Steve commented as Grace stood next to him. "Let me go unlock the door."
For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, McGarrett opened the door to find Kono with her arms full of bags. This time, Chin followed behind, equally laden.
"There's more in the car, brah."
Steve looked somewhat bewildered. "Are we expecting company for lunch?"
Chin paused in the doorway. "No, just didn't think you guys would be quite ready for the grocery yet."
Understanding hit Steve. The cousins were protecting them from prying eyes and question they may not be ready to face yet. Denning said word was out and as Five-0's leader, plenty of people would recognize him.
"Thanks, Chin." Letting the door fall closed, he jogged out to get the remaining bags. When he returned to the house, he found the rest of the team and Grace busily putting things away. After so many team gatherings and weekends spent here, they all knew their way around the McGarrett kitchen almost as well as he did.
Starting on a second bag, Danny help up a box of lasagna noodles and looked accusingly at the cousins. "Why am I noticing a very Italian trend here?"
Both cousins froze in place.
"What did you two do?" Danny stared them down, hands on his hips.
Exchanging guilty looks, Kono finally spoke up. "We may have talked to Mom last night and gotten a list of ingredients she would need for cooking."
"You called my mother? In the middle of the night in New Jersey?" Danny sounded both exasperated and amused.
"Actually, she called us. Right after we left here. She was up all night in a flurry getting ready for the trip. Said she'd sleep better on the plane if she knew she'd be able to cook a good meal tomorrow, but didn't want you two fussing over groceries."
Danny shook his head as he threw his hands up in defeat. "That sounds just like her." Turning to face Steve, he asked. "Are you sure you are prepared for the force that is my mother to take over your house?"
"We'll be fine, Danno. I'm looking forward to seeing Mom again." He struggled to admit it, but lethal Seal or not, he missed having a mother to take care of him sometimes. Doris had briefly reappeared in his life after he'd discovered her, but just as quickly vanished again. Even if she'd stayed he wasn't sure he could really trust her again, really let down his guard enough to let her be mom.
Danny fought the urge to cross the room and wrap his partner in his arms. He didn't have to be a genius to know what Steve was thinking. He could kill a man in more ways than Danny could imagine, but sometimes he was just a lost little boy.
In a move that didn't really surprise her father, Grace did exactly what he wanted to. For someone so young, she was incredibly adept at ready Steve.
The little girl wrapped her arms around Steve's neck. As soon as she reached out to hug him, he'd lifted her into his arms. "It'll be nice to have Grandma here."
Of course, Grace wasn't about to tell that that this unexpected trip meant she and Grandma could enact their plan sooner than either had expected.
/
A/N: Up next – a visit to Stan.
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