A/N: As always thank you for your reviews / alerts and just for reading. Doctor signed me off with an upper respiratory tract infection (cold to you and I) but at least it gave me some time to write some more and relax as I did so. This story is rapidly coming to an end. I think it will be another couple of chapters with maybe an epilogue. For now though, here's the next instalment!

Chapter 21

Danny stood frozen in the doorway as his eyes took in the people before him. "What…? I mean, when…?"

Steve chuckled at the look on his partner's face and watched as his eyes scanned the lanai finally noticing the other people there. Steve hurried forward and helped Danny into a seat before he collapsed in a heap from seeing his family suddenly appear on Steve's lanai.

Danny then found himself enveloped in his Mom's arms, quickly followed by his Dad and then each of his sisters; he looked over their shoulders at his two brother-in-laws who smiled affectionately. Screaming from the beach drew his attention and he saw Grace with Kono and Malia playing with his two nephews and his niece.

"Danno!" Grace squealed as she spotted her father in amongst the sea of people. She ran full tilt over to him, slamming on the brakes just as she reached him and threw her arms round his neck gently. "Uncle Chin, Auntie Malia and Auntie Kono picked them up from the airport earlier," she told her Dad as if sensing his utter confusion with the sudden appearance of his family.

"Hey Monkey," Danny folded his daughter into his chest and looked around. He was actually lost for words.

"I think he's speechless," Steve grinned, "That's gotta be a first Danno!"

"Is this why you were late?"

"Kind of," replied Steve, "I was supposed to be there with the rest of our ohana to pick up your family, but the flight was delayed so Chin brought Malia over and picked up the truck otherwise there wouldn't have been enough room for all the people and luggage."

"I don't know what to say," Danny glanced over his family still not quite ready to believe that they were all really here, "except, thank you."

"You're welcome Danny," Steve squeezed his shoulder before moving off to play host and make sure that everyone had drinks.

"Gracie, why don't you go back and play with your cousins," suggested Danny's Mom.

"Can I Danno?"

"Of course you can Monkey," he planted a kiss on her head and gently pushed her in the direction of the beach where the Hawaiian contingent had taken to watching over the kids.

"I'm surprised their yelling didn't wake you," Cassie, the oldest of his three sisters stated, taking a seat opposite her brother, her husband, Jon took the one next to her, "How are you doing big brother?"

"I'm alright Cassie," he smiled at the questioning raise of her eyebrow, "I'm getting there."

"You have great friends Danny," Gena, the middle sister stated, pulling a chair into the shade near Danny, her husband Keith, stood behind her with his hands resting on her shoulders.

"They're my ohana, family," he explained as he saw the brief looks of confusion at his use of the word. He looked appraisingly at Gena, "Something you want to share, Little?" he used the nickname he'd given her when they were kids. Cassie was Big (as in the big sister), Gena was Little and his youngest sister, Josie, was Littlest.

"I told you that you wouldn't be able to hide it from him," Keith chuckled as he received a glare from his wife.

"Fine, yes, I'm pregnant again."

Danny got to his feet, walked over to his sister and pulled her into his arms, "I am so happy for you! It's about time Melinda had a younger sibling."

"Or two," murmured Gena.

"What was that?" their Mom asked.

Gena groaned while Keith just grinned, "I shoulda kept my mouth shut."

Danny leaned back and looked her in the eye, "Out with it!"

"Twins, I'm having twins."

Cassie and Josie screamed, throwing their arms around their two siblings in one group hug. Jon slapped his brother-in-law on the back, "Congratulations man!"

"Should you even be flying? Sit down. You should put your feet up…"

"Danny…" Gena tried to get her brother's attention as he started to fuss.

"I don't know what you were thinking flying all this way when you're pregnant with twins…"

"DANNY!"

"Huh?"

Gena pulled him down to sit on a chair next to hers and took his hand, squeezing it, "I am absolutely fine! I am thirteen weeks pregnant; I can fly up to thirty two weeks. I am fit and healthy."

"You shouldn't have come, you should be resting," he looked at his brother-in-law, "Keith, you shouldn't have let her come."

"Like I could stop her!" scoffed Keith, only too aware of the Williams stubborn streak that was part of his wife's personality.

"And if you're thirteen weeks how come I didn't know already?" he glared at her accusingly.

"I was going to tell you when I next called, but then you went and got injured!"

Danny hung his head, feeling uncomfortable as the attention turned back to him, "Well you still shouldn't have flown!"

"Danny, I am a nurse, Keith is a doctor and we know all the risks of a twin pregnancy. Trust me when I tell you that getting on a plane to come and see my injured brother isn't going to put the babies or me at any greater risk. Do you hear me?"

"You're sure?"

"I'm positive. I had a check-up before I left Jersey and everything is fine. Malia has already said if I don't feel well at any time during our trip to let her know and she'll get me in to see a friend of hers that's an OB/GYN. OK?"

"I worry about you."

"I know you do Danny, but I worry about you too."

The pair hugged and the others sat quietly while Danny tried to take in that his family was actually here, in Hawaii.

"How long are you all here for?"

"Cassie, Gena and I are here for two weeks, Ma and Dad are here for four," Josie told him with a smile.

"Four weeks? Can you take that much time of work Dad?" Danny turned to his father.

"Everything is fine Danny, the guys at the station are covering," Patrick assured his son.

"Here you go Danny," Steve handed his friend a glass of fresh homemade lemonade.

"Thanks man," he smiled at Steve, "Hey, did you hear, my sister is pregnant… with twins!"

Steve laughed, "I heard, congratulations Gena."

"Thanks Steve. I thought I was hiding it better but Danny always did know when one of us was pregnant!"

Any further conversation was interrupted by the arrival of four little people, "Danno, can I have a drink please?"

"Why don't you ask Uncle Steve if you can have some of this lemonade," Danny indicated his glass.

"Can I Uncle Steve?"

"Sure Gracie," Steve turned to look at the three other children, "Melinda, Luke, Josh, would you like a glass too?"

"Yes please Uncle Steve," they all chorused together, much to the amusement of the 'Williams' clan and the bemusement of Steve.

"Uncle Danny?" Luke was the eldest of the cousins, he was nine, the same age as Grace, but was born a few months before her; he was tall for his age but had the blonde hair and blue eyes that Steve associated with Danny, which he also shared with two of his three sisters. Josie was dark haired and dark eyed like Matt.

"Yes Luke."

"Can I see your stitches?"

The adults all went silent, Cassie opened her mouth to chastise her eldest but Danny put his hand up to stop her.

"Well I dunno Luke. Did your Mom and Dad tell you how I came to have stitches?"

"Uh huh. A bad man hurt you."

"I heard her say that you'd been shot," chimed in Josh, at six he was the youngest of the four cousins, "Did it hurt?"

Danny's siblings, parents and friends stood steady in case they needed to intervene or help in some way that they couldn't yet fathom.

"Come here," getting to his feet Danny gathered the four kids and took them over to the grass where he sat down, he pulled each of them down, Grace and eight year old Melinda to sit on his lap, Josh and Luke snugged against his sides, which were no longer painful from the stitches unless he overstretched, much to his relief.

Steve watched not sure whether to join him and help or to let him handle it until he looked over at Anna Williams who indicated with her head that he should go and sit with her son. He smiled as he quietly moved to sit in front of Danny, receiving a grateful smile from his friend. The group on the lanai just watched silently, allowing Danny to deal with this however he saw fit.

"You all know that I'm a policeman, right?" the kids all nodded, "You also know that the job I do can be dangerous, the same as the job that Pops, Jon and Josie do as fire fighters, sometimes that means we get hurt."

"We don't like it when you get hurt," stated Melinda in a tone so like her mother that Danny had to smile; he glanced over at Gena who just shrugged, knowing full well that her daughter acted older than her years.

"I know sweetie, it's something we try our best to avoid, I promise," he gave her a light kiss on her head.

Luke sat looking up at his Uncle, a man he hadn't seen for over a year but still idolised, "How did you get hurt Uncle Danny?"

"Just like your Mom said Luke, a bad man shot me," there was no point sugar coating it, even for Josh; he knew what guns were even if in his mind they were just toys.

"With a gun?" asked Josh.

"Of course with a gun, dummy!" Luke rolled his eyes.

"Hey! None of that," Danny scolded the older boy who had the grace to look sheepish at least, "Josh, I know that you think a gun is a toy, but grown-ups don't use them as just toys, they use them to hurt people. Part of my job is to stop people from doing that."

"Narna and Pops say you're good at it too!" Melinda informs him.

"He is!" Grace chimes in proudly.

Danny regretted ever starting this conversation, Steve was sitting opposite him grinning like an idiot and he could hear his family chuckling behind him. Still his nephew had asked a legitimate question and he never lied to the kids, none of the family did which was why they all knew Danny had been shot. Of course that left Danny with the job of figuring out how to explain his injuries to them without giving them nightmares. Rachel would have his head if Grace went home upset.

Josh looked up at him, his blue eyes round and filled with tears, his bottom lip quivering, "So one of those grown-ups used a gun to hurt you?"

Grace looked at her Dad before sliding off his lap and moving over to Steve who willingly pulled her on to his own lap. Melinda glanced between the two men and then followed Grace, much to Steve's surprise.

Danny was so proud of Grace and the example she set for Melinda, he was also grateful that his daughter trusted Steve enough to provide comfort that Melinda also easily followed her example. Though he didn't think he'd ever forget the look on the SEAL's face as she settled next to Grace on his lap.

He scooped Josh up and sat him on his lap arms securely wrapped around the small boy as he rocked him, "It's alright Josh, I'm OK."

Josh didn't really understand the true danger that his Uncle had been in, but he did remember waking one night and getting out of bed because he was thirsty, his Dad had been talking quietly on the phone as his Mom pressed against him and she was crying. He had run back to bed unsure as to what was wrong but knowing something was. The next morning they had explained that Uncle Danny was in hospital after being hurt while working and he knew that must have been what made her cry.

"You made Mommy cry."

Danny threw a glance over his shoulder at Cassie who was currently wrapped in Jon's arms as she fought back tears again.

"I didn't mean to make your Mommy cry Josh, the last thing I would ever want to do is hurt any of my family but sometimes things happen that we can't control. I know that's hard for you to understand."

"Josh, remember when we played cops and robbers at the park with Mikey and Joey?" Luke suddenly spoke up.

"Uh huh," Josh sniffled and wiped his nose on his hand.

"What did we wear when we were playing the cops?"

"Special jackets."

"That's right, they were bullet proof ones. Uncle Danny has one of those, right?" he looked up at Danny.

"I do have a special vest that I wear," Danny hesitated not knowing whether he should say what he was going to, not sure how his sister and her husband would feel about it, but something needed to reassure this little boy that he loved as much as if he were his own, "In fact I can probably show you one."

The words were no sooner out of his mouth than Kono appeared with one in her hand, "Sorry brah, we've been listening and as soon as a vest was mentioned your Ma asked me if I had one so I grabbed Steve's out of the Camaro."

Danny looked gratefully at her as he took it, "Thanks Kono," at least he knew his Ma wasn't going to kill him for showing them a vest, though he wasn't so sure about his sister's and their husbands.

Josh shifted on his lap and Luke knelt up and leaned carefully against his Uncle as Danny laid it out on the grass in front of them, "You can touch it."

The two boys leaned forward and ran their hands over the material as the two girls exchanged looks that clearly said 'boys' but with a little encouragement from Steve they moved forward and touched it as well, though Grace had actually seen Danny wearing his.

Josh of course was too smart for his own good, "Were you wearing one when you were hurt?"

"Of course," assured Danny.

"Then how did you get hurt?"

Steve tried to smother a smile as Danny cringed, he had really hoped that the vest would distract Josh from his train of thought but he was very much like his Uncle and once he had an idea he had to worry at it until he was sure he had all the answers.

"The bullet caught me underneath the vest Josh," he sighed, resigned to getting the mother of all lectures from at least one of his sisters, "What I'm trying to tell you, is that we do everything we can to be safe but sometimes it's not enough and bad things happen. What I need you to remember is that whatever happens, I love you all very much."

"You also have something else the bad guys don't have," piped up Grace.

Danny raised an eyebrow in question as Josh tilted his head sideways, "What's that Grace?" the little boy asked.

"He has Super SEAL and the ohana!"

"Oh no!" groaned Danny, dragging his hand down his face.

"Super SEAL and the ohana, what's that?" Josh asked curiously.

Danny wasn't sure whether to be glad that the young boy was now distracted or not as Steve sat with the girls, a grin plastered across his face.

"Uncle Steve is Super SEAL; at least that's what Danno calls him sometimes. He's also part of Danno's ohana, it means family and that means nobody gets left behind. Uncle Chin and Auntie Kono are part of that too, along with Auntie Malia."

"So is Uncle Steve like a real super hero?" Melinda asked, looking at the man in question with wide eyes.

"No! No, no, no! Uncle Steve is not a real super hero!"

"But Danno you said he jumps off tall buildings and hangs bad guys off roofs!"

Danny groaned again, he knew that even talking in whispers when his daughter was around was a bad idea, "That doesn't mean he's a super hero! That just means he's reckless and doesn't follow proper police procedures!"

"What's proper police procedure?" asked Josh.

"Something your Uncle Steve needs to learn to follow," growled Danny, glaring at his partner who was practically crying with laughter as he watched Danny squirm.

"But what does it mean?"

"I think it means that Uncle Steve and Uncle Danny have had enough questions for one day!" Cassie came up behind her brother, "Come on kids, time to get cleaned up for dinner."

Josh, Melinda and Grace got up and ran into the house but Luke wasn't done yet, "Awww but Mom, I didn't get to see Uncle Danny's stitches!"

Danny rolled his eyes and carefully whipped off his t-shirt, mindful of the catheter, much to the amusement of everyone watching, "There ya go Luke."

His nephew stared at Danny's stitches, "Is that it?"

"What d'ya mean 'is that it'?" Danny sounded affronted.

"I thought there would be more," Luke put his head on one side as he considered the stitched wounds, "They look like a row of stitching on one of Josh's teddy bears!"

"Well I'm glad there aren't more," Cassie told her son.

"I'm glad they're nice and neat," stated Danny.

"Girls like scars!" pointed out Steve.

"Steven!" admonished Danny.

"Girls are silly!" claimed Luke.

"You won't always feel that way," Danny told him as Steve helped him to his feet and he followed Luke back towards the house.

"They like to play with dolls," Luke shuddered at the thought.

"One day, in the not too distant future, you'll think very differently about girls."

"I won't Uncle Danny. I'm going to grow up and become a SEAL!"

Danny's mouth dropped as Luke ran off and then turned to his partner, "You! You've corrupted my nephew!"

"Of course I haven't Danny," Steve rolled his eyes.

"He hadn't even heard of a SEAL until he met you, now he wants to be one," Danny narrowed his eyes, "Did you bribe him to say that?"

Cassie walked on ahead as Steve protested his innocence. When she got to the lanai she looked at Chin and Kono, "Are they always like that?"

"Oh yeah," nodded Chin.

"Pretty much," agreed Kono.

While Steve and Danny carried on bickering good naturedly, the rest of the family got cleaned up for dinner.

-5-0-

A/N: OK, I always swore that I would never write anything with lots of OC's in! As you can see I broke my promise to myself. *face palms* I kind of got carried away with Danny's family, so yeah, sorry about that! Hope it didn't spoil the story for you.