Epilogue

"It'll be okay," Danny assured Steve, who sat next to him as jittery and jumpy as he'd ever seen his partner. "Steve, it's going to be fine. The papers are all signed off on, this is just a formality; he's gotta serve you officially, that's all."

"I know, I know, but Danny, what if he's changed his mind?" Steve looked at Danny from his hunched over position, worry and anxiety etched into his handsome features. "What if this judge has had second thoughts, huh? A single guy raising a kid alone? No mother figure in the house, the kind of job I have –"

"Hey, stop that. Don't do that, that's not going to happen." Danny stood up, moving in front of Steve. "Babe. Look at me." He waited until Steve's gaze was on him. "You remember seven years ago, we were right here, right on this bench right here, and you showed up to my custody hearing for Grace in your uniform? I was going crazy, I really thought they were going to take Grace away from me that day, and for all of the reasons you're thinking about and more. But you told me not to worry, and you were right. No, you don't have a traditional mother figure to help raise Khalid – you got me, and I can do a really good impression of a mother hen," he laughed, and was gladdened to see Steve's mouth twitch, "but he'll have a female in his life, right? Your sister will visit, and when Rachel's home, she said she's happy to have Khalid over some nights to hang out with Charlie, and Tani likes Khalid, Grace is already treating him like a little brother." Danny stuck his hands in his pockets. "You have a family unit, Steve. You have me. It'll be okay, babe; I promise."

Steve blew out a breath that echoed through the lobby of the courthouse and rubbed his hands together. "Yea," he nodded, inhaling deeply. "You're right. It'll be fine."

And it was. The entire hearing lasted 15 minutes, where the judge read off his official expectations for Steve taking permanent, legal guardianship over Khalid before handing over a copy of the original order and adjourning, and while Steve was no stranger to court procedure, it took Danny tugging on his shoulder to get him to leave the court room, signed order in a tightly clenched fist as he processed out into the lobby.

Khalid was coming home with him to stay. The formal adoption would take some time of course, but until that process was complete, Khalid would remain safely with Steve, would live with Steve, would run to Steve from the bus stop with his latest piece of art work, would have sleep overs with Charlie and nights at the Hilton with the team.

"You want me to pick him up and hand him off to you when we get to HQ? Snap a photo?" Danny mimed taking a picture with his fingers, and the odd question was enough to knock Steve out of his shock. "What?"

"I've been saying this to you since you took the kid in, but you're a father now, Steve. Every new dad gets their kid handed to them, so…"

"What do you want to do, you want to bundle him up in a little blue blanket too? He's not a baby, Danny," Steve tugged his tie off as they headed to the car. He couldn't wait for his cargos and t-shirt.

"I got news for you, babe; when they're your kids, they're always going to be your babies no matter how old they get."

The drive to headquarters was blissfully short, mostly because it wasn't that far away, but also because Steve drove like a mad man. He was up and out of the car before Danny could even unbuckle his seat belt. "Hey, Zippy Gonazlez!" Steve stopped short and turned around, waiting for Danny to get out of the car and stride up to him, all the while dancing on his feet.

"Danny, c'mon!" Steve whined, but Danny just took his time until he reached Steve's side. "Look, you run in there all excited and urgent, Khalid might thing something's wrong, right? But if you just walk in there all normal, you can tell him the good news immediately and not spend precious time trying to calm him down when nothing's the matter. Okay?"

Steve huffed (adorably, Danny thought), but none the less turned around and, at a much more sane pace, made his way into the palace and up the stairs into headquarters.

Lou was the first to greet him, followed by Tani and Junior. "Hey, Steve; how'd it go?" Lou asked before anyone else could, and Steve could tell just by looking at Tani and Junior that the same question was right on the tips of their tongues. He held the order up in his hand, pointing at it.

"It's done. He's uh… you know, he's mine, legally, for now. I'm his legal guardian and I've gotta start the adoption paperwork but other than that, yea…" Steve grinned stupidly for a second, looking around the bullpen. "Where is he?"

"He's hanging with Jerry and Adam, showing them something he learned on his laptop," Tani grinned. "I think Jerry was going to show him some beginner conspiracy videos or something." At the look on Steve's face, Tani broke out laughing. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding," she laughed, watching as Steve practically slumped against the table in relief.

"Steve!"

Khalid shot out of Adam's office as soon as Jerry opened the door, running right to Steve who scooped him, hugging him tightly.

"Hey buddy, I got some news for you," Steve settled Khalid against his hip, handing the order over to Danny to preserve it. Hell, he might even frame it, hang it on his living room wall. "You want to hear the news?"

"Is it good?" Khalid asked, slightly worried, and Steve nodded his head vigorously. "It is, it's really good news. At least, I think it's good news. I hope you think it's good news, too."

"Do I get to go to the Hilton this weekend with Charlie?" Because to any child, the Hilton's pool was pretty bad ass and Khalid going only once had solidified that fact into his mind. Steve grinned. "We can do that if you want to. But do you remember how we talked about how I was going to talk to some people and make sure that you could stay with me?"

Khalid nodded, his head bobbing up and down.

"Well, I talked to those people again today, and guess what?"

"What?"

"You get to stay with me," Steve looked at Khalid and he couldn't help the hopeful look in his eyes, like he wouldn't be able to stand it if Khalid suddenly changed his mind and started crying for his parents right then and there. "You get to stay with me, buddy; what do you think, huh? Is that good?"

For a second, nothing happened in Steve's life. He didn't breathe. He didn't move. He didn't speak. No one else around him did any of those things either, or rather, they did, but Steve didn't register it. He didn't register anything. It was just him and Khalid and him waiting for six-year-old's judgement that could gut him if it wasn't exactly what he hoped for, what he'd been working towards for months.

"I can stay with you? And with Eddie? And Charlie? And Danno?"

"Yea, buddy," Steve smiled, answering him softly, because his throat was closing up with emotion and that was all he could muster at the moment. "You get to stay with me and Eddie and Charlie and Danno and everyone else."

The two little arms wrapping around his neck squeezing him tightly was all the answer Steve needed.

Author's Note: Hanai was actually mentioned during this year's Thanksgiving episode by Junior when he was talking about his 'Hanai brother', Owen. I'd searched for the Hawaiian word for adoption a few days before the 10.09 episode aired and found the word 'Hanai' kept popping up. Hanai is a long standing tradition among Hawaiian families originating from the Polynesian culture, one which sees Hawaiian families taking in children who no longer have parents or guardians to look after them, or who may still have a parent in the home, but the parent can no longer care of them. It isn't a legal process, per say, but it's no less important or legitimate in Hawaii. In fact, one might say that with the relationship and/or outlook on the U.S. government many older, native Hawaiians have, a Hanai adoption may be seen as far more legitimate than what many mainlanders and non-native Hawaiians would consider a legal adoption to be.

With as Kama'aina as Steve is portrayed as on the show, it made total sense in my mind for him to take Khalid in, and then of course, being Steve, he kept finding excuses to keep him. He grew up on the island, immersed in Hawaiian culture; I think it would've been second nature for him to do so. It's likely he grew up with some kids in his school that were Hanai. It wouldn't have been a foreign concept for him to consider. Throw in the fact that there's show canon that supports Steve wanting kids, and the idea the show floats that a family can be created all different kinds of ways, and how could I not write this fluffy, angsty, McDanno bucket of a fic?

I've also created a series for this 'universe', I guess you'd call it, in case I get any other one-shot story ideas and want to add to this in the future. Hope you enjoyed the ride and thanks for reading!