"Daddy," Grace Williams called as she looked at the tree in the corner of the living room.

"Yes, Monkey?" Williams answered from the kitchen where he was busily making breakfast. It was Christmas Eve morning and with McGarrett down, the governor had told them all to take some down time. He was only too glad too spend that time with his daughter.

"Uncle Steve was sad yesterday, wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was," Williams answered and buttered the bagels as soft strains of Silent Night filled the room.

"He's sad because he won't be home for Christmas."

"I know. Come eat and we'll go visit him."

"Can we bring Christmas to him?"

"Bring Christmas to Steve?"

"Yes, we could get a little tree and some decorations and maybe ask Uncle Chin and Aunt Kono to help. We could make cookies and sing carols and you could ask Aunt Kono to call Uncle Steve's girlfriend and she could show up on Christmas morning..."

"Hold on, Grace..."

"You don't like the idea?"

"I didn't say that, but it's going to be a lot of work."

"We can get lots of people to help. What about all the people at the police station; we could ask them to come to the hospital."

"What about your Christmas?"

"We can bring our presents to the hospital and open them with Uncle Steve," Grace said.

"What kind of cookies should we make?"

"How about those chocolate cookies with the marshmallow in the middle and icing on the top?"

"It's a lot of work," Williams observed.

"We can get Kamekona to help."

"Well, he'll probably eat more than we can make."

"Then we'll make a big batch," Grace said. "Can we call Uncle Steve's girlfriend?"

"We can try, but if she's on duty she may not be able to get away," Danny said and poured his daughter a glass of milk. "You drink that and eat your breakfast while I call Kono."

"Okay, Danno," Grace said, happy that they'd be doing something for her 'Uncle' Steve. She liked her father's friends and knew Danno liked Steve even though he sometimes said his insurance rates would go through the roof if he kept Steve as a partner. She didn't know what insurance rates were, but she knew they needed it because even Stan and her mother had it.

"All right," Williams said and rubbed his hands together before sitting next to his daughter. "Chin and Kono will be here in half an hour and we'll see if we can work this out."

Grace smiled at her father, excitedly bouncing in her seat at the idea of bringing Christmas to her 'Uncle' Steve. She knew it would take a lot of work, but if they all chipped in they could get it done.

"I'll need to find out what the hospital policy is before we go bringing anything in. We might even be able to set it up in one of the rooms the doctors and nurses use for meetings."

"Or we could fix up his room while he's gone for tests or x-rays," Grace suggested.

"Not a bad idea. We could arrange for him to be out of his room for an hour or so tomorrow morning," Williams said, amazed at how excited his daughter was getting and knew he would find a way to make this happen.

5050505050

The lab tech had been in before sunrise and taken several vials of blood before leaving him alone with his thoughts. He was frustrated, yet he knew there was nothing he could do until the doctor signed his discharge papers, and right now that didn't seem like it was going to happen today, or tomorrow for that matter.

Steve lay back against the pillow with his eyes closed as Asai and a nurse discussed the results of his latest blood tests. He knew he should probably listen to what they were saying, but right now he was so damned angry with himself. He knew he was in no shape to go home, but that didn't lessen the disappointment of not being able to surprise Danny and Grace.

"Commander."

Steve opened his eyes at the man's voice and knew what he was about to say. "Go ahead, Doc."

"I know you'd like to spend Christmas at home with your family, but I'm afraid that's just not possible right now. Your blood pressure is still a little low and your temperature is a little on the high side. I can't sign discharge papers until I'm satisfied there's nothing more going on," Asai explained.

"I could sign myself out," McGarrett said.

"You could, but you're a lot smarter than that and I know your partner would never let you live down that kind of reckless decision," Asai told him and saw the look in his patient's eyes, one he'd seen many times, and wished there'd come a time when he didn't have to keep a family apart. "Look, Commander, you'll be able to celebrate, it'll just have to wait a week or so. I'm sure your family will understand."

"They will...I'm lucky that way," McGarrett said.

"Well, I believe by this afternoon we can let you have solid foods so you'll be able to enjoy the turkey and stuffing," Asai observed.

"Are you sure you're not trying to prolong my stay?" McGarrett asked with a hint of a smile.

"Now it's not really that bad, is it?" Asai asked.

"How often do you eat in the cafeteria?" the SEAL asked.

"Point taken," Asai said and made several notations on McGarrett's chart. "Okay, Commander, I've written up new orders to have the pump changed so you can take the medication as you need it. The pump is regulated so you don't have to worry about taking too much."

"Thanks, Doc," McGarrett said.

"You're welcome. Now I'm taking a few days off, but my colleague, Dr. Marseille will be here and the staff will call him if you need anything at all," Asai said.

"Thanks, Doc."

"Mele Kalikimaka, Commander," Asai said.

"Mele Kalikimaka, Doc," McGarrett told him and watched the man leave as the nurse changed the IV solution.

"I believe National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is on this morning, Commander," Miki told him.

"One of my favorites," McGarrett said.

"I do enjoy it. Now, Commander, I'll be back shortly with your breakfast and your meds," the woman said and hurried from the room.

Steve sighed heavily and looked at the card Grace Williams had made for him and couldn't help, but smile. Danny's little girl had adopted the whole team ever since the first Christmas when they'd helped him with a small Christmas celebration. That was why this one had been so important to him; he'd wanted to show Danny that Hawaii wasn't a pineapple-infested hellhole. It was paradise as long as you kept your Ohana close by.

5050505050

"Danny, I contacted Catherine and she's going to try and get here tomorrow, but she's not sure whether or not she can clear it through her CO," Kono explained. They'd arrived at Kamekona's Shrimp truck at ten and were making plans for the next day with help from the big man and several officers from HPD.

"What about Mary?" Williams asked.

"She's got a flight booked this afternoon and will call. Officer Mitford will pick her up and bring her to your place," Chin answered.

"Governor Jameson is clearing the party with the hospital administration, but she can't be there," Williams told them.

"What about food?" Kono asked.

"You wound me," Kamekona said and held his hand against his broad chest. "I could supply the food."

"Better to wound you than to poison Steve," Williams told him.

"We want real turkey, not Tofurkey, Big Guy," Williams said.

"What about Turducken? I make a mean..."

"No, we're trying to help make him better, not kill him," Chin teased.

"You people don't know what you're missing," Kamekona said.

"Yes, we do and it's called salmonella," Williams told him.

"See if I make you any shrimp scampi anymore..."

"Okay, can we get back to the dinner menu?" Kono asked and turned to Grace. "Your dad said you're making some special cookies. Can I help you with them?"

"Sure, but we have to make them today...after Danno and I pick out a tree," Grace said.

"What about decorations?" Chin asked.

"We can pick some up when we get the tree," Danny assured them.

"Okay, what about food?" Kamekona asked.

"I can call Uncle Keahi and ask him if he can cater the lunch tomorrow," Chin offered. "He can do a traditional Hawaiian lunch..."

"Just as long as there's no turkey pizza or anything with pineapple on it," Williams said.

"Turkey pizza...now there's something you could try, Kamekona," Chin said with a grin.

"People would probably flock to your door for some of that," Williams said sarcastically. He glanced at his watch and knew it was time to visit McGarrett before taking Grace on her mission to find the perfect tree for her 'Uncle' Steve. "All right, it's time for Grace and I to find Christmas for a certain SEAL while the rest of you figure out what to serve and how to get it set up without Steve getting suspicious."

"I'll call you after I talk to Uncle Keahi," Chin said as Williams took his daughter's hand and walked across the sand, toward the parking lot. If they pulled this off, then just maybe they could all feel better about celebrating the special meaning of Christmas.

TBC