One for Sorrow
Pairing: McRoll
Spoilers for season 10 - Episode 7
Chapter - 21
The girls made small talk and Catherine introduced Quinn to Mary and Joan while Steve was introduced to the funeral director who would be conducting the funeral for Doris. Though she was still participating in the conversation, she had her eye on Steve, always ready to be by his side in case he needed her. She hadn't introduced herself to Quinn as Steve's ex, though she could sense that Quinn was a quick learner and could see the undeniable connection between the Commander and the Lieutenant.
"You and Steve? Am I reading this right, it seems you two have had some kind of relationship in the past and now have some unfinished business?". Quinn wasn't shy and certainly wasn't one that was used to keeping her opinions and thoughts to herself. Mary chuckled and smirked, nodding her head at the new comer to five-o. "Wow, you have only met Catherine for what? Five minutes and already established that, I like you already".
Quinn and Mary both high fived each other while Catherine's face went a little red, blushing with embarrassment. "As a matter of fact, Steve and I have been involved before.. We haven't really talked things through fully, but yes, I can say we do have some unfinished business that we need talk about and hopefully after we do have that conversation, I might possibly be here a little more regularly". She was still coy about her true intentions, she wanted to talk to Steve about it first, and perhaps Danny since he was the one that had the chat with her last time.
Joanie was now in her Uncle Danny's arms, her head resting on his shoulder, a big yawn escaping her lips. It was a little after nine in the evening now and it had been a long day, and Joan hadn't slept a lot on the plane so she could understand why she was now almost half asleep in Danny's arms. Just at that moment, Steve came back over, "Okay, so this funeral director, his name is Peter Garcia, he is going to transport Doris back to his funeral home, and tomorrow once we have all had a chance to sleep, he is gonna come over to the house so we can get a start on planning the funeral".
Mary nodded, sighing softly at the thought of having to go through this. It was too overwhelming for her and part of her wanted to run and stay away like she had at her father's funeral service, but the other part of her knew it wasn't fair on Steve to deal with it all on his own the way he did all those years ago. Quinn also seemed to sense that, she was very observant and though only knowing her all of twenty minutes or so, she talked her through her feelings in a truly empathetic way. Putting her hand on her shoulder, she looked at the woman that looked so much like Steve, "I've been there, and as hard as it is going to be, you will get through this.. You have a lot of people here that love you and your daughter just as much as they love Steve so it seems so I think you will be fine, eventually".
Right from the get go of meeting her, Steve had this feeling about her even as she was holding a firearm up to him and Danny, and this just showed it in spades. Comforting his sister, a woman she had never met before. Looking up to the sky, he thanked whomever it was that brought this Ohana into his life. He knew he was one lucky man to have this kind of love and support around him. It was what helped get him up out of bed sometimes, just knowing he had people that he loved to protect and that had his own back. Mary nodded and reached up to put her hand over the top of Quinn's and smiled softly. "Thank you so much, I appreciate that".
Danny walked over to them, "I'm sorry to interrupt guys", his words were soft and whispered, having not long heard a soft snore coming from the little body in his arms, "Why don't we get this young lady home and into bed, and I'm sure you three could go for a good sleep at home too.. Junior's gonna stay at my place tonight so that Mary and Joan can have the spare room at your place, and no I don't want to hear any objections to this at all Mary, Junior was the one that offered to let you guys stay at your brother's while you are here".
The more Mary thought about it, the more she realised that being here was good for them. Sure she had friends in Los Angeles and a good job and Joan went to a good school and had some good friends, but this was her home.. It was where their family was and if Mary needed a night off from being a full time single mother and enjoying herself, then she knew her brother or one of her adopted brothers would look after Joan for her. "Thanks Danny, it means a lot to us both, I'll thank Junior as well before we leave here". Junior, Lou and Grover picked up their luggage and walked over to the cars as Danny walked with Joan still in his arms, and Grace with her little brother in her arms who was nearly asleep as well. Behind them were the girls, Catherine, Mary, Quinn and Tani walking slowly and talking amongst themselves.
Before they all got in their own cars and took off for the evening, Steve asked for their attention for a moment, "I just want to thank you all for being here for me, Mary and Joanie, it means a lot to us and you guys truly are Ohana to us". His eyes were a little glazed over with tiredness and misty from holding back tears and it was a struggle to hold back the lump in his throat, but he managed. As each of them all gave him one last hug as the hearse drove off towards the funeral home, his heart swelled with love and pride for his family. It wasn't the first time and certainly wasn't going to be the last time he considered himself the luckiest man on the universe.
Author Notes.
I can not say it enough, thank you all for all your support, love and just for giving me the inspiration to keep going with this. Even the ones that don't review, I still get email notifications when someone follows the story or adds this to their favourite stories or favourite authors and it really makes me feel so happy to know my work is appreciated and loved. This here is my happy place right now, it is where I feel at home being and it makes it more enjoyable knowing people are reading my work. I don't really have a certain amount of chapters to hit before I call time on this, I didn't really expect to hit 21 chapters in such a short span of time so I hope you are all happy to hang in with me for as long as it takes to ride out this journey.