Since Steve had already finished with the Governor, Danny was able to drop Joan off before he headed over to Rachel's to drop off Charlie. When Rachel invited him in because Grace had to run in for her homework, Danny drew his nerve together, "Rach, can we talk for a little bit?"

"Of course, Danny. Is anything wrong?"

"No, actually things have been going pretty good, knock wood. But, I'm worried about Steve…and Joan."

"Oh, dear, I hope things are all right with them. She is a delightful little girl, but I think the Commander might be a tad in over his head."

"And that's where you're right. See, this is what's been going on…."

Danny laid out for Rachel Steve's difficulties with the child care given their work schedules. The "new" Rachel, who was very much like the "original" Rachel, didn't fail to rise to the occasion, which is just what Danny was hoping for. She laughed a little when she said "I guess we are just going to end up being a rather unorthodox family, aren't we? "

"Seriously Danny, at a certain point, two children, three children, it doesn't make a lot of difference to me, and Joan is a true joy. Why don't we just leave it that when you find that Grace is going to need to stay here late or even overnight due to your duties, that we just have the same arrangement for Joan? She is used to Grace and Charles, and I must say that I have loved spending time with her."

"It's much better for her to have as stable an environment as possible, especially after all the changes the poor little thing has had to adapt to. I have that small sewing room next to Charlie's room, and you know how much I love to sew. I can convert it into a room for Joan and put in a small crib or toddler bed for her."

"Thanks, Rach! That's everything I could hope for. Oh! By the way, if Charlie starts to have a big interest in Tigers, you should know where it's coming from." Danny proceeded to tell her about the nicknaming, and tried to ignore how brightly her eyes shone at him with her pleasure at his having spared her little son's feelings.


Danny hadn't even had a chance to tell Steve about the new arrangement before it was time to actually call on Rachel for help. They had a case personally delivered to them by the Governor late Thursday afternoon. It involved one of the Governor's major contributors who had been taken in by a false charity and there was going to be a lot of late hours going over financials and some stakeout duty as well. The Governor was pressing them for a fast resolution.

Steve looked a little wild eyed as he realized that he was going to have to not only figure out an alternative for picking up Joan but also arrange something for overnight. Danny just put a hand on his shoulder, "Babe, I've got this." He picked up the phone and dialed up Rachel.

"You can pick her up? Great! I'll have Steve call and give them the permission at that Wee Care place. Didn't have a chance to get you put on the regular pick-up roster yet, but he'll take care of that right away. I doubt they'll give him a problem over the phone, they're going to be so relieved that someone will get her before closing time. Okay, we'll check in with you later." Danny began walking, filling Steve in as they went.

"Okay, babe, Rachel is going to get Joan. Leila is still at the house, so she can watch Charlie and Grace while Rach runs out. Rach will keep her overnight too. Oh, you're going to have to get a bag together for her in the next couple of days or you're going to end up owing Rach dough, probably a LOT of dough. She loves to shop and shopping for baby girl clothes was one of her favorite things when Gracie was little…um….you okay, Steve?" Danny stopped and turned around, realizing Steve hadn't followed him.

Steve stood there and the deer in the headlights look he sported was completely out of place on his normally self-assured face. He looked as though he were having difficulty deciphering what Danny had said.

"Why would Rachel be picking up Joan?"

"Oh, man, I meant to talk to you about this before we needed to use her, but I just talked to her the other day, and didn't have a chance to tell you before…. well, here's how this is going to work…" and Danny laid out his master plan of child care.

"She doesn't mind? That's a lot to ask, especially of your ex, man. You sure this is cool?"

"Yeah, we actually have been getting along pretty good since she's been back. The co-parenting thing has been working for us. So, I guess we're just going to add you and Joan into the mix. Who knows how long it will work, but all we can do is give it a shot, right?"

"Thanks, Danny. You don't know how much this means to me to know that Joan is safe and secure when things are going on with the task force. I was starting to wonder if maybe being her guardian was more than I could handle." Steve's voice faltered at that.

Danny clapped him on the back.

"Babe, I told you, we're going to make this work, don'cha worry about a thing."


They had to put the "Rachel solution" into effect several times over the next few months. Rachel was true to her word, having Joan was no problem for her. In fact, it was quite the opposite. She had always dreamed of having more children, but it seemed her marital issues were going to limit her to two. When Joan entered her life, she just folded the little girl in with her own children. She absolutely adored Joan, and Joan returned that love.

Danny was right again, Rachel loved to shop for little girl clothes. Steve ended up owing Rachel quite a bit of "dough" due to the many shopping trips she took with the girls, although Rachel refused to accept any money from him.

It was a relief to Steve that Joan was so well cared for and the clothes were a particular relief. He really wouldn't have minded the cost, as much as he would have minded the shopping. Plus, as Danny constantly teased him, little girls needed to wear 'more than cargos and tee shirts.'

After picking up Joanie the first time, Rachel signed Charlie up for Wee Care Day Care as well. She thought it was good for him to have the interaction with other children. They settled into a routine. Whether or not Rachel was dropping Grace off at school, she and Charlie would swing by Steve's house every morning to pick up Joan and then dropped both children at the day care. She would then head back to her house to work.

At 3:00 every day, Rachel picked up all three of the children and brought them back to her house. The two little ones went down for naps and Grace would get started on her homework. If 5-0 was having a horrendous day, with one phone call, she would keep all the children overnight and get them all to their proper schools the next day. If 5-0 was having a regular workday, Danny and Steve would pick up Grace and Joan. Sometimes all three adults and three children had dinner together and sometimes they were each at their respective homes.

Now that Leila didn't need to watch Charlie while Rachel worked, she began going to Steve's on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for a couple of hours in the morning to clean his house and run laundry. Just having that extra help suddenly made Steve's life a lot more manageable.

True to Danny's earlier decision, the team began descending on Steve's house on the weekends. It wasn't always everyone, every time, but it would be a rare weekend where Steve and Joan were left completely alone. They also tried to work things so that Steve could get some alone time without Joan.

Rather than being bothered by the attention, Steve appreciated all the help. He knew he had been a solitary person, but since returning to Hawaii from LA, he found himself craving company more and more. The loss of his sister had affected him deeply and made him more open to the overtures of his Ohana and he was extremely thankful for all of them.

Chin Ho Kelly was always ready to head out on an excursion whether it was spear fishing, surfing, or deep water fishing.

For the spear or deep water fishing, Lou Grover was always ready to join in, but the big man refused to get up on a surfboard.

Danny would go surfing, but he absolutely refused to have another deep water fishing outing with Steve. He said that considering what a danger magnet Steve was, he fully expected the Loch Ness Monster to attack them if they were out on open water again.

Kono would always surf with Steve, and often made plans to run with him as well, She laughed heartily when she had presented him with a camo jogging stroller for Joan so she could go along. Grace had discovered a joy of running during the time Steve had trained her for the President's Physical Fitness Award, and she went with them on some of their shorter runs.

Steve's family in California was not forgotten either. Danny had spoken to Chin, who luckily had a tech-savvy cousin living in LA. He put him in touch with Deb and Leonard and soon they were hooked up and trained with an easy system for FaceTime. Chin set up Steve's portable computer with it as well.

At least once a week, and more often if things were quiet, Steve and Joan would call Deb and Leonard to chat and keep in touch. Deb still continued to look well, but Leonard was obviously deteriorating. Even so, it was clear how much he adored Deb and the feeling was definitely reciprocated.

But, no matter how close he felt to these other friends and family, Danny was still the only one he had ever taken to the petroglyphs. When it came to family, Danny was the brother he never had, and he loved Grace mightily.

The time he and Joan spent with the Williams family was deeply treasured. He even began to receive sporadic phone calls from Clara Williams checking in on them. He felt as though for all the family he had lost, he had also found an amazing new family where he belonged.

A/N: I just want to take a minute to thank anyone who has faved, followed, or left a comment for this story. I am enjoying writing it and I am glad that there is someone out there who is enjoying reading it! Thanks so much! More coming tomorrow!