Chapter 69

6 Years Later . . .

Steve found himself facing off with a formidable foe, he must've been in tougher situations but at this moment in time he couldn't immediately recall exactly when. His empty fingers twitched, missing the feel of the solid weight of a weapon in his hands. He kept his voice calm, years of combat training not letting the rising panic he was feeling creep into his tone, "Jonathan, I need you to stand down and give it to me. Just hand it over and it'll all be okay."

His 4 year old son froze on the spot and tilted his head to one side as he processed his dad's words, "Hmmm . . . his full name had been used instead of Johnny, nothing good could come of this," he pouted and then held out the dripping paintbrush for Steve to take, "Sorry, Daddy," the little boy mumbled. Steve was too relieved to have the offending item back in his possession to chastise his son any further. He quickly wiped up the paint drips from the floor before they went hard and took the paintbrush back through to the nursery, where his wife was carefully applying a transfer to one of the walls that had already been painted. The baby room was being converted to a neutral color scheme of pale fawn and cream, with soft yellow highlights.

Johnny had been upgraded to his new 'big boy' room and it was colorfully decorated in a jungle theme, complete with camouflage netting hanging down from his bed and a hanging chair made from knotted rope suspended from his ceiling. It was double-size and filled with cushions, making it the perfect place to snuggle in with his dad for his bedtime story. Mia stood up and cracked her back with a groan, "You'd better be arriving soon, my little one or Mommy is going to have back problems for life," she turned to Steve, "she's coming soon, I can feel it." Steve couldn't help but smile upon hearing his wife's words; Mia was insisting that baby number two would be a little girl - but they hadn't found out the gender, wanting it to be a surprise. She had even refused to consider any boys names as she was so sure that it was a girl. He came up behind Mia and started to massage the tight muscles in her back. She let out a filthy-sounding moan, "Oh my God, that feels so good. Don't stop."

Steve's lips lifted into a very self-satisfied smirk as he worked his magic on Mia's back and the lady in question decided that Danny was absolutely right when he declared that Steve could do 'smug' better than anyone he had ever met. Steve chuckled as he carried on with his ministrations, "I love the power I have over you right now. I reckon you would sell your first born just for me to keep on with this massage." She laughed,

"Damn straight, take him – he's all yours. Now. Just. Don't. Stop." His military upbringing meant that he knew how to obey a direct order when he heard one, so he kept on with the massage until Johnny came running in to see where his next snack was coming from and Steve had to take the little boy to forage for food in the kitchen.

That night, Steve was jolted awake by the doctor swearing up a storm under her breath. She had a varied and imaginative vocabulary, having picked up more than just her medical degree from the Army. In fact, they both had to work on not letting their more colorful language reach little ears – the phrase 'swear like a sailor' was not just for effect. He sat up and turned on the light and immediately noticed the large wet patch on the rug next to the bed. Mia looked at him mournfully, genuine sorrow in her tone, "There go my waters and my bloody favorite rug – they couldn't wait to break for the 10 seconds it would have taken me to reach the bathroom? Oh why?" She let out a pained sigh as a contraction hit, "Time to get to the maternity unit, this baby girl is on her way out and I want to make full use of every pain relief drug known to modern medicine. They can stick their meditation to the sound of whales where the sun don't shine!"

Steve was at her side by that point, guiding her out of the bedroom, "Quite right, Doctor. Pharma companies have invested millions and spent years developing these drugs, it would be rude not to use them after all that effort!"

He paused when they were downstairs to quickly scribble a note for Mary to let her know that they had gone to the hospital in the night and to take care of Johnny when she woke up the next morning. She had been stopping with them the last few days for this very eventuality. She absolutely doted on her nephew and he declared her the 'best Auntie ever', the small matter of her being his only aunt not coming into it. Mia was an only child and so Johnny only had one actual aunt, but more than made up for it with too many honory aunties and uncles to count. After Mary, his next favorite was his Uncle Danno - the detective very graciously adding Johnny to the select few who were allowed to use his 'special' name. Steve had never formally be made a part of this group, but didn't let that small matter stop him from using the moniker for his partner at each and every opportunity.

Mary had decided that LA wasn't a healthy place for her to be living and had settled on the island, but had her own house – deciding that she didn't want to live in their family home, even after the renovations. She had retrained as a paralegal and was very highly thought of at her job where she had also met her fiancé, Sean Gregory. He was a great guy, although that hadn't stopped Steve from running a deep background check on the man just to be sure. At their first meeting Sean had manfully withstood Steve's scrutiny when the imposing Navy SEAL had stood right in front of him with his arms tightly folded across his chest, staring him down for a minute before introducing himself. Mary was no pushover and so anyone who could stand their ground with the younger McGarrett could also handle the big brother. Steve couldn't be happier for his little sister, she had struggled to overcome her trust issues just like he had and he was delighted that she had quashed her natural urge to self-sabotage this relationship. The wedding was happening early next year and then he wouldn't be at all surprised if a baby followed soon after – Mary would make a great Mom and had been 'practicing' her parenting skills on a very willing Johnny ever since he had been born.

Steve not only had his sister back on the island with him, but also his beloved Aunt Deb – a wonderful lady who had become a substitute Mom to them both when circumstances had taken away their own mother. She too had tired of life in LA and followed Mary back 'home'. Steve had secretly arranged for his aunt to sing at La Mariana Tiki Bar and she was a big hit, the grand old lady had a pair of lungs on her! The owner of the bar, Nicky 'The Kid' Demarco, had been blown away and offered her a contract on the spot. For his aunt, it was like a dream come true – it wasn't the big studio contract that she had been offered all those years ago but it gave her a chance to sing her sort of songs to her sort of patrons. Her 'concerts' were invariably sold out within days of the tickets being released and she was even recognized in the street by some of her fans from time to time. Whenever it happened she was probably more excited than the fan who had stopped and asked for a selfie or an autograph.

When Jonathan came along not long after she had moved back to Oahu she was overwhelmed when Steve and Mia named the baby after her brother, John. It had been Mia who first suggested the name, knowing how deeply her husband felt the loss of his father and the regret he had for not reconciling with the man when he was still alive.

But darker days lay ahead as their beloved aunt was harboring a sad secret - Deb reluctantly told Steve about her cancer diagnosis after procrastinating for months and only after landing in a jail cell when trying to score some medicinal marijuana. However, the typically stubborn McGarrett was determined to beat it and be around to see little Johnny grow up and promptly started aggressive chemo treatment and joined a support group. The lady had quite unexpectedly found love in the shape of a kindly old widower who was attending the same cancer support group on the island; they had married at the iconic Royal Hawaiian Hotel but he had tragically succumbed to the disease just a few short months after their union when his own cancer came back with a vengeance.

Steve had held his Aunt Deb as she had mourned her late husband during the funeral; life was just so cruel sometimes. She stepped up to the coffin and announced to all the mourners that she truly believed that it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. She had even managed a sad little laugh at herself for saying such a terrible cliché out loud, but declared that in her case it couldn't be more true. Her last words to her husband were, "I'll miss you, Darling."

She had wanted a traditional Hawaiian sea burial after the funeral and so Steve had arranged for Kawika, the leader of the North Shore's Kapu, to take the man's ashes out to sea to conduct the sacred ceremony. The two powerful men had rested their heads together in a solemn honi before Kawika took the lei-wrapped urn and pushed his wa'a through the surf and paddled out to sea. The outrigger canoe cut gracefully through the waves until he was just a speck in the distance.

They were all devastated when Aunt Deb died in the January of '16 after a brave, but ultimately unsuccessful, battle with cancer. During the last months of her life she had been working through her bucket list and the siblings had found it in the bedside table of the guest room. Steve took it in his hand and slowly read through all the crossed out items, a little smile playing at his lips when he remembered Deb driving his truck with all the lights and sirens blaring through the 'mean streets' of downtown Honolulu. He had gone very green as she had weaved in and out of traffic, Mary and Johnnie laughing at his obvious discomfort from the back seats.

He called over to his sister, "Look Mare, Aunt Deb had made a bucket list . . ." he passed the piece of paper across to his sister, "she hasn't crossed off the last entry."

Mary read it aloud, "Climb a really tall mountain . . . we have to finish this for her, Steve." The next week they took Aunt Deb's ashes and fulfilled the very last item on her list by hiking up the Kamehame Ridge Trail in the Koʻolau Mountain Range. Little Johnny had wanted to come too and Steve alternated between carrying him and letting him walk.

Once at the top, the McGarrett family took in the spectacular view with the deep blue sea shimmering in the distance. Steve very carefully took out the urn holding Aunt Deb's ashes and looked across to his sister. Mary nodded to Steve to do the honors and he reverently held out the urn and let the ashes get taken by the wind, swirling in a beautiful pattern on the breeze and scattering over the valley far below. Mary was diligently holding onto Johnnie's hand, not trusting him near the edge of the mountain; the little boy turned to his Auntie Mary, "Do you think Great Aunt Deb will reach the ocean?" Mary gave him a watery smile, trying to keep her tears in check,

"Yeah, Johnnie. I think she will."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Jonathan had two sets of doting grandparents, Eddie and Eleanor Brown eagerly stepping into the role whenever they were on the island. Since Eddie retired, they split their time between Oahu and the mainland. Just as Steve had predicted, Harry was on the fast track to become a rear admiral by his mid-40's but this did mean that he rarely got to travel back to Hawaii and so his parents decided that they would go to him as often as they could.

Set number two was Mia's parents. They had hardly been able to contain their excitement on the birth on their first grandchild and helped with childcare as often as they could, they were both retired and loved spending time with their grandson. They only lived 20 minutes away and had proved to be indispensable on many an occasion, when Steve had an unexpected glitch in a case or Mia was stuck in surgery. They had welcomed Steve into their family as the son they never got to have. After having Mia they had tried for another child for years, but with no success.

Kaia Hope McGarrett was born the next day and all Mia had to say was, "Told you it would be a girl," as at some point during the labor Steve had raised the possibility that soon-to-be-baby could in fact turn out to be a boy and they had no names lined up for such an eventuality. He didn't mind that his wife was right, he had secretly hoped that the baby would be a girl as now they had one of each – a perfect combination.

They had chosen Kaia as it was a beautiful Hawaiian name meaning 'sea', reflecting the importance of the ocean to both Steve and Mia. Her middle name had been Mia's Grandmother's name, a wise and loving lady who had sadly died some years ago. They had already honored the memory of Steve's Dad by naming their son Jonathan; now it was Mia's turn and she wanted to keep the name of her beloved 'Nana' to be kept alive through their new baby daughter.