Summary: Life's a whirlwind for Steve and Romy, but despite all that, they manage to make a very important decision
Warnings: None
Episode: Season 7 - Episode 12 - 15
Hello lovelies,
I think I've been missing my family in the last couple of weeks hence we got a chapter full of family moments. This chapter brings us one mire closer to the big reveal.
Your reviews and messages make day, please keep them coming.
Enjoy xx
—xx—xx—
"Hey man!" Steve greeted Lou "what are you doing here? I don't pay you enough to come here on a Saturday."
"Yeah, I know, but Duke had asked me ages ago to help him out with a SWAT seminar for the convention next week and" Lou shrugged "my wife is out with Romy shopping for a dress."
Steve groaned The annual New Year's Eve Gala at the Royal Hawaiian. Last year he could bow out because the kids needed a place to host their party and he'd rather play chaperone than schmooze on that gala. What were his chances to get out of it this year? His attention was suddenly diverted to a yawning Jerry in his office. Was he wearing Cookie Monster pyjamas?
"Hey, Jerry..."
—xx—xx—
"So let me get this straight - Jerry is homeless, Lou pretended to be a car salesman, Hirsch crashed your truck, you busted up a heroin dealer, Max is leaving us and you managed to lose a uranium rod?"
Steve's head fell onto Romy's shoulder and groaned. Wasn't that enough?
"You had a busy day, Schnuffi." Romy scratched his scalp. "But can I ask a question?"
"Sure," Steve mumbled against her neck.
"How do you lose Uranium? I mean it's not like you can carry this around like a handbag?"
"Don't, please!" Steve groaned again, he sounded like he was in physical pain. "It was a shitty day. I just want to forget."
"Well," Romy pushed his head up, so their eyes met "I think I got just the right thing for you."
Steve squinted at her, this could mean anything.
"I went to your favourite shop after getting my dress, and I think you might like what I bought." she hopped down from the kitchen counter and sauntered towards the stairs. "You coming or what?" Romy threw over her shoulder. Steve didn't need any further encouragement, within two steps he had caught up with her and threw her over his shoulder, making Romy giggle in surprise. It didn't take long for those to turn into moans.
—xx—xx—
How was it New Year's Eve again? Steve could not believe how quickly this year had passed. Have they really been married for over 6 months? Is Nahele going to be 17 next year?
"Thank you again!" Steve lounged on their bed watching Romy getting dressed.
"For what?" she had disappeared back into the bathroom applying her make up.
"That you don't make go to this thing tonight." he fell back into the pillows.
Romy laughed at his relief "My pleasure." she watched him scratch his belly through the mirror. "To be honest, I don't think I would have wanted to take you anyway."
That made Steve sit up "What? Why?"
"You only ever complain about dressing up, and doing the small talk and schmoozing with people. I'd rather go alone than you being miserable and then me being miserable because of your mood."
Steve came up behind her, pressing a kiss to her shoulder "Fair enough," he grinned sheepishly.
"I'm gonna be working in any case. It's not likeI'm doing this for fun." Romy turned around and patted his cheek, before slipping past him back to the bedroom. She stepped into the ruby red dress, she had bought for the occasion. "You mind zipping me up?"
Steve slowly dragged the zip up her back "I'd rather help you get out of it."
"A couple of hours and you can," she whispered.
The loud slam of the house door interrupted their moment, and they shared a worried look. Nahele should be at a party of his own.
"Nahele?" Steve called out into the house, and they could hear the stomping of feet. Romy let out a startled gasp when she saw him at their door. "What happened?"
"Madison and I - we are over!" he declared hotly.
"Oh, Nahele!" Romy gathered the skirt of her dress and rushed over. A stretched out a hand from Nahele stopped her.
"Don't Mom. I'm not in the mood." with that he stormed back out, a moment later another slammed door vibrated through the house.
Romy turned to Steve, her facial expression completely helpless. "Did you know?"
"Did I know what?" Steve shrugged "He hasn't said anything about them having troubles. You?"
"Me? When?" Romy gnawed on her thumb. "You're the one going running with him every morning."
They stood in front of his closed bedroom door, Steve knuckles hovering over the wood and glanced over at Romy. She shrugged at him and then nodded 'Go for it' and his hand rapped against the door.
"Nahele, kiddo. We just want to make sure you're ok."
Silence on the other side, until a heavy and drawn out sigh, reached them. "Just leave me alone."
"What do we do?" Romy whispered harshly.
"What do you mean!" Steve looked at her panicked. "I thought you knew how to deal with that."
"Yes, if he'd be a girl, we would be wallowing, eat ice cream and watch bad movies. You're a guy what did you do as a teenager?"
She sighed when Steve didn't respond.
"I don't think I ever had a break up like that..."
"Pfft...true you just tumbled into women sideways and then waited for it to fizzle out..." Romy looked at him sharply when Steve didn't refute her statement straight away. "Please don't tell me there isn't a poor woman somewhere in this world who still thinks you guys are in a relationship."
"Brothers!" Steve blurted out. "You got them right?"
Romy frowned, did he had a stroke in the last two minutes and forgot she had two of those? Or did he really wanted to get out of her previous question that badly?
"Text them and ask." He handed Romy her phone.
"You've met my brothers, right? They're useless...the only thing they ever suggested was to either beat the dude up or tell me not to date."
"Yeah, well Nahele ain't their little sister." Steve tapped her phone again.
He did have a point, with a put-out expression Romy typed out a message in the group chat. "I bet you a foot massage that they'll come through." Steve smiled.
"My mangled feet are looking forward to it and since when the overwhelming confidence in my brothers?"
"Trust me, gorgeous. They'll come through, you'll see." Steve really hoped they did or they were done for.
He had no idea for how long they waited for, Romy had grasped his hand anxiously, trying to get him to stop pacing, while she had gnawed off her red lipstick. They both startled when her phone vibrated in her hand.
Romy snorted "They're even more useless than I gave them credit for."
"What do you mean?" They wouldn't let him down, would they? What happened to the Bro Code.
"Lars just wrote 'no one ever broke up with me so I can't help.' I don't know if I want to smack him or smack Kristin for marrying him." Romy took a healthy sip of her whiskey, that had made appearances during Steve's first round of pacing. "And Paul suggested ugh...I can't even…" she turned her screen over to Steve. "Sometimes he forgets that Nahele is 16 and my son." She shuddered again.
The sudden opening of the door made her stumble backwards, almost taking Nahele down with her if it wasn't for Steve's quick reflexes.
"I can hear you, you know!" Nahele growled. "I don't want ice cream or advice or the whole world to know. I just want to be left alone!" and the door slammed once more.
Steve's hand was on the doorknob in an instant.
"Don't" Romy shook her head at him.
"He cannot talk to us that way."
"I know, but he's hurting." Slowly she managed to drag him away from Nahele's bedroom down the stairs.
"That's no excuse."
"Let it go for today, please." she pleaded, her phone vibrating once more. This time it wasn't her brothers but Ani, checking where she was. Apparently, she was running 15 minutes late to the gala already.
"Should I still go?" Romy fretted while pulling on her heels.
Steve steadied her, with his hand on her elbow. "It's a breakup, we'll be fine." he tried to reassure her.
"You sure?"
"Yes, go! Before Ani has a heart attack dealing with all the bigwigs on her own."
"Thank you and you call me if some…" she was interrupted by his lips on hers.
"Go and try to have fun." Steve pushed her out of the house gently "I love you."
—xx—xx—
The house was dark when Romy pulled back into the driveway. Steve must be out on the lanai or drawn the curtains to watch a movie. She unlocked the door carefully.
"Romy? Really?"
She let out a startled gasp, her hand flying to her chest. "Steve! You planning to kill me?"
"I'm not sneaking into a dark house" he looked at his watch "2 hours after leaving it for a work do, you should still be at." he raised an eyebrow questioningly.
Romy sighed "I couldn't concentrate. I kept checking my phone." she let out another sad sigh.
Steve held out his arms and she readily collapsed into them, burying her face deep into his chest.
"It's not that I don't trust you to handle this…it's just…I didn't want to be away."
Steve's large hands making broad strokes down Romy's back, pulling her legs over his lap, settling her more comfortable against him. "I know," he whispered into her hair. "He's our son and he's hurting." Romy nodded at this. "I ventured into his room after you left. He's staring at the wall and doesn't want to talk. I told him the way he spoke to us is not on, but whenever he's ready we're here."
Romy fingered his wedding band "You're a good Dad."
Steve smiled, kissing her temple "You're a good Mom."
"Do you think we should go check on him again?" Romy asked after a couple of minutes.
"Will you listen to me when I tell you to leave him be?" Steve asked knowingly.
Romy hid her face in his shoulder "I'd try."
"Well, that's all I can ask for."
With a sigh Romy got up, "I'm gonna go get my make up off and try very hard not to knock on his door."
Steve watched her ascend the stairs, the dress of her skirt swishing with every step she took, revealing her leg by a very strategically placed slit.
How did he not notice this before?
She had looked amazing tonight, he almost regretted not going with her, but her sheepish look when she tried to sneak back into her own house, made his heart grow even more. With a silly smile on his face, he turned back to the TV, trying to find where they stopped The West Wing before he went to Mexico.
He turned around to again when he heard her footsteps, he sucked in a breath. She looked so soft right now. How did she manage to go from the absolute dramatic outfit a second ago to this? Romy had scrubbed her face free of makeup and her hair no longer swept to the side with the large hairpin but tucked behind her ears. The shirt she wore soft from being washed a thousand times and tucked slightly into her sleep shorts. He held out his arm, ready for her to snuggle into it. Romy took the invitation without a second thought, making herself at home being draped over Steve's lap. The only remnant of her earlier get up was the leftover perfume still hanging in her hair, Steve took a sniff.
"Is that my shirt?" He asked, fingering the neckline, it did look vaguely familiar.
"It went back to London with me two years ago, I don't know if it still classes as yours?" Romy grinned.
"That's where it went?" Steve gasped and poked Romy's side, making her squirm.
she batted her eyelashes at him "You want it back?"
Steve lazed his hand together around Romy's midriff "Nah it's ok. Suits you better in any case."
She grabbed the remote to press play on the queued up episode and said "And you'll be proud of me. I just knocked on his door, telling him I'm home."
"I'm so proud" he chuckled, and squeezed her closer to him. "And I put the champagne in the fridge for midnight."
"We can never tell anyone that we spend New Year's Eve like this in our Pj's on the sofa, we'll never hear the end of it."
"Our little secret."
They were halfway through their second episode when Nahele appeared next to the sofa "I…I think, I'm ready for some wallowing now." his voice hoarse.
"Come here" Romy scooted away from Steve, making some space between them. Nahele didn't hesitate and made himself comfortable with his parents. "Anything else we can do for you?" she stroked his hair.
"Maybe some ice cream?" Nahele looked up with pleading eyes.
When no one made a move, Romy pinched Steve in the shoulder, prompting him to get up with a look.
"Sure - I'm going, I'm going," he said, heaving himself off the sofa.
He spooned ice cream in the bowls when he heard Nahele's voice carrying over from the living room "Why does it hurt so much, Mama." His heart broke a little at the question. With three full bowls, he made his way back into the living room and his heart burst at the sight. Romy had her arms slung around Nahele and his son's head nestled in the crook of her head.
"I don't know, kiddo. It just does and it sucks." Romy whispered, looking heartbroken at Nahele, her hands still stroking through his hair.
Steve sat down with them and distributed the ice cream, his fingers catching Romy's behind Nahele's head, holding on. If anyone would have told him two years ago, that he would not want to be anywhere else on News Years Eve but here. With his wife, a heartbroken teenage son, in their pj's, melted ice cream and the TV on, he would not have believed it.
But this right here was everything.
—xx—xx—
Romy was running late, oh so late. She had two last-minute conference calls at work and watched the minutes tick by way too quickly. And honestly, if you asked her, the last one definitely could have been an email. She dashed quickly from her car to Kamekona's. He had outdone himself, the area was decorated beautifully with strung lights and candles.
She suppressed a giggle, as she slid onto the bench next to Steve, Gerard was giving a little impromptu speech "… a good egg."
"Wow he's wasted." she kissed Steve in greeting.
"Yep." her husband returned the kiss and slid up on the table, so Romy could sit between his legs. He handed her a glass of champagne next. "God I love you." Romy moaned in appreciation as she downed half of the glass.
"And you're... you're obviously well-loved. I mean, look at this turnout. Anyhoo, I wanted to wish you luck. Rumour has it, you're heading to Madagascar. Never been myself, but hear it's lovely. So, uh, I want to wish you safe travels. I wish you health and happiness. A-And, uh, may the odds be ever in your favor. Oh, and if any of you are interested in acquiring a Crime Clean franchise…"
"You're done." Romy and Kono shouted at the same time.
"Okay, all right," Gerard shrugged "Th-that's all. Oh! And l'chaim!"
"L'chaim." they all cheered and soon chanted for Max to give a speech as well. "Come on, Max." "Come on, Max."
"I haven't prepared anything." he tried to get out of it.
"Come on, say a few words." Lou shouted out, followed by Kono once more "Speech!"
A little bit nervous Max stood in front of his friends, his family, clearing his throat "Oh. Well, um, thank you, everyone, for coming out tonight. And a very special mahalo to Kamekona for hosting tonight's festivities. Also, I want to reassure my, now, former colleagues that the M.E.'s office will be in very capable hands. Dr Noelani Kunha is more than up to the task. However, if you ever need to consult on open or prior investigations, of course, I am available by e-mail or text. So please contact me at any time. So with that, uh, I just wanted to say mahalo. It's been an honor and privilege to be working with the HPD and the Five-0 Task Force."
They all applauded, Romy could feel Steve holding in a breath behind her, he was trying not to be too emotional.
"But, what I will miss the most is" Max continued "is my adopted family. And by that I mean you. Commander McGarrett. As you know, I grew up as an only child. And I always wanted a big brother. And when I started working with the Five-0, I finally got one."
Romy turned around to Steve with a soft smile, squeezing his hands that were looped around her shoulder hanging in front of her.
"Mahalo, Max." Steve's voice choked, happy that Max saw him the same way as he did. A brother.
"Detective Williams. This might be a surprise to you, but I always considered you as something of a role model."
"That does, that does surprise me." Danny quipped, making everyone laugh once more.
"Surprises us all, Max, but go on." Steve couldn't help himself but tease, receiving a small punch on his leg from Romy for his effort to lighten the mood.
"I've always been on the receiving end of your sarcasm, but, truth be told, it never bothered me. I always took them as a token of affection. I'm going to miss your little quips. I hope that you would consider texting me one of those from time to time."
Danny raised his glass, visibly moved by Max words "To you, buddy." he raised his glass.
"Lieutenant Kelly. Nobody understands the meaning of Ohana more than you. And for that reason, among many others, you are gonna make an amazing father to little Sara. And from what I've already seen, you already are."
"Mahalo, brother." Chin smiled, touching his hand to his heart in thanks.
"Kono. Without you, I would've never married my beautiful Sabrina. And Detective Williams is my role model as an individual, but your loving relationship with Adam is something that Sabrina and I hope to emulate."
"Love you, Max." Kono held up her glass in thanks.
"Captain Grover. I'll miss your smile." Bringing out Lou's trademark smile once more. "Yes, that one." Max chuckled. "I know a part of you will always belong to Chicago, but Hawaii has claimed you as one of its sons, and I truly believe that the islands are a better place because you are here."
"Oh, damn it, Max," Lou said, wiping away a stray tear.
"Jerry. Thank you for being a friend and for all your counsel. You've changed me in many ways and allowed me to grow in ways I never could've imagined. And Romy, if Commander McGarrett is my big brother, then you are my big sister. It was you, actually, that gave me the courage to do what I'm doing now. The way you just packed up your life and followed your dreams or well the man of your dreams" The others cheered and Danny mimed to be sick. "It made me want to do the same. So thank you for inspiring me to go after what I want in life."
"Oh, Max!" Romy blew him a kiss and used Steve's shirt to wipe her eyes.
"All of you will be Ohana to me. Forever. I love you."
"To Max!" They all shouted and lifted their glasses for a toast. One after another they got up and enveloped Max in hugs, wanting one final memory with him, before he left.
"It sucks, how all good things need to come to an end." Romy wiped away her tears.
"Not all, hopefully." Steve rested his chin on her shoulder, enveloping her from behind, while they watched their Ohana bid farewell to one of their own.
—xx—xx—
Why was this making him so nervous? Steve tapped a rhythm onto his phone while waiting for the examiner. He really should not have brought Danny to this, he was having the time of his life going after the gleeful expression on his face.
"Good Morning." he stood up straight when the woman came over to them with a clipboard. Why oh why did she remind of Ms Bowers?
"Good morning. Commander McGarrett?"
He swiped his hands o his trousers. "Yes, ma'am." He needed to get a grip, he taught Nahele how to drive and he passed his test, then his passing should be a given.
"Says here you've never renewed your license since returning from active duty?"
"That's correct." Danny butted in "That's correct. For seven years, this man has been driving without a license. I-I would say that that is grounds for permanent suspension or expulsion. Don't you think so?"
Why did he think this was a good idea? Bringing Danny? He needed this license, everything was depending on his fucking driver's license.
"And you are?" The instructor turned to Danny, clearly not happy with his intrusion, at least they got that in common.
"I am, uh... "
"Annoying." Steve filled in.
"Yeah," Danny nodded "very, eh, annoying, yes, but also, very excited to see if you survive this man's driving test."
"This is my partner, Detective Danny Williams." Steve gestured over to him "Uh, I don't even know why he's here. If you could, uh, do me a favor, ignore him, maybe we can we get started?"
"Hold on. I got some questions." Danny piped up again, and Steve contemplated how much trouble he'd be in if he shot him or maybe just dump that stupid coffee over Danny's shirt.
"Just one quick thing before you get started, uh... You guys are go gonna go over speed limits, correct?"
The instructor frowned "It's a comprehensive road test, covering all the driving laws in the state of Hawaii."
"Good, comprehensive" meaning, uh, like, driving on sidewalks, popping curbs, going under semi-trucks. Stuff like that?"
That was it, he really was going to shoot him. "Shut up!" Steve pressed out.
"Is he serious?" The instructor turned to him, she looked worried.
"No. No. He's not serious…" Shit this was so not going the way he wanted. "Well, kind of, but I, look, but I would only... I would never do anything like that unless I absolutely had to." He moved over to the passenger side, opening the door for her.
"He would never do anything like that," Danny added sarcastically.
"Hey." Steve closed the door and gestured wildly "Go away. Just go away."
"No. I will not go away." Danny retorted.
Steve was getting desperate "Get... Would you get out of here, please?"
"Sir." He opened the door for Steve with a smug grin on his face, and then bend through the open window "Hey. Hey. You are safe, okay? And you, your best defence would be two hands up on the dash, at all times."
Steve ground his teeth together and wondered how many points he would get deducted if he drove over Danny's foot, by pure accident, of course, then Danny started chanting and damn this would not be an accident and definitely not just Danny's foot.
"Go away, please." Steve buckled his seat belt.
"Vamanos, uh, hibiscus, or whatever they say."
"Thank you. Go away." Steve pressed out, as he rolled slowly out of the parking lot.
Trying very hard to ignore Danny's shout of "That's not how he would do it normally just so you know!"
—xx—xx—
"Let me through now!" Nahele shouted at the US Marshall in front of him. "Dad! Dad!" that finally made Steve turn around. All the colour washed out of his face and he jogged over to the roadblock.
"Let him through!" he barked at the Marshall.
"No one in and no one out, Commander."
"He's my son. Let him through right now." Steve's hand hovered over his weapon, he wouldn't shoot but damn if he didn't let his son through in an instant. Finally, the Marshall nodded and stepped aside, letting Nahele pass the control station. Steve clasped him closely, leading him over to his truck "What are you doing here, Hele?"
"How can you let them do this, Dad! This is sacred land! This isn't right." Nahele blurted out.
"Hey, take a breath." Steve interrupted him, his hands on Nahele's shoulders. "Now tell me what are you doing here?"
"It's all over social, Dad. That the government plans to invade the nation." Nahele was beside himself. "You've got to stop this, Dad! Please! Promise me."
"I'm trying, kid. I really am, but the matter is out of my hands." at that moment Steve hated himself, disappointing his son when he wanted something so desperately.
"No! You always come up with something." Nahele threw his fists against Steve's chest. Steve closed his eyes at the onslaught, holding Nahele close.
"It will not come to that. We've got until sundown. I promise you, this will not happen."
"Promise?" Nahele's voice was incredibly small.
"Promise." Steve pressed a little kiss into the teenagers hairline.
"McGarrett, what is this?" Bumpy barrelled towards them. "We have children inside. People are frightened." He stopped short when he saw the teenager in the ranks of police.
"Bumpy - this is my son Nahele." Steve interrupted the man, not trying to be rude, but he had a child here as well. "Nahele this is Bumpy the head of the Nation Hawai'i."
Bumpy took a breath "Aloha Keiki." he said. "I didn't know you had a child."
Steve nodded at that statement, unsure where the native Hawaiian was going with this.
"He's native." Bumpy asserted. "And you still condone this?" He made a sweeping gesture.
"Does it look like I'm condoning any of this?" Steve started but was interrupted by Chin.
"They're going to cut Water and Electricity in 15 minutes," he spat out.
Fuck - this was escalating quickly and now his son was right in the middle of it. His phone still in his hand with the message from Danny, requesting him to come back to the Palace.
"We've got a lead, Chin. I'm going to go back to the Palace to follow it up with Danny. You good here?"
"Yeah, I'll handle the situation here," Chin assured him.
"Nahele, you're with me." Steve waved him over.
"I want to stay here, Dad."
"Yes, and that's exactly where I don't want you to be - in a standoff between two police forces. Get in the car now!"
"Dad!"
"Now, Nahele," his tone was not open for suggestions and Nahele trudged over to the truck. Sullenly he slammed the door. Steve put the car into gear and drove off. "I get that you're mad at me, but I'm not leaving you in such a volatile situation. You can sulk all you want. And let's not forget what your Mom would do to either of us if she ever finds out you were there."
The mentioning of Romy made Nahele pale and he nodded quickly. He was going to be in such deep shit if she ever found out. "Ok."
—xx—xx—
As it turned out Bumpy had been right Kanuha did not kill his ex-business partner and the US Marshalls finally ceased their standoff with the Nation of Hawai'i.
"It's beautiful here, so peaceful." Romy leaned against the fence of the lanai, watching her friends eat with the others. Steve smiled at her, his chest moulding against her side, sliding her close to him.
"It is." he agreed quietly, laughs of the others drowning out his hum of appreciation when he caught a glance down Romy's top.
"Do I want to know why Nahele was at the Palace and Bumpy seemed to know him already?" she asked.
"No, gorgeous. You really don't."
Romy let out a breath "Ok. You guys are going to end up giving me wrinkles." she teased.
"Would just make you more beautiful."
Romy looked up at him with a fond smile. "Sweet talker." They marvelled at the view for a while when Romy asked "You want to tell me why you went to the DMV however?"
"Needed my new driving license."
Romy snorted "Steve, that hasn't bothered you for the last 7 years and not stopped you from teaching Nahele how to drive."
He bit his lip, of course, that excuse would not fly with her. Romy knew him way too well. He buried his face in her hair and mumbled it.
"What?" Romy shook her head, she had not understood a thing.
Steve tucked her hair behind her ear and whispered it softly. Romy let out a gasp and whirled around, a large smile stretched over her face mirroring Steve.
"What do you think?" he whispered.
"Hell yes!" She hopped onto her toes and kissed him passionately.
"Oi McGarrett!" Danny hollered over, breaking up their moment. "Stop mauling at Romy and sit down and have some food."
Romy giggled "Come on, better do what he says." With that they joined the others again. Steve squeezed in next to Nahele, bumping his shoulder against his with a grin.
Nahele looked over to his Dad and said solemnly "Thank you, Dad. For keeping your promise."
"I'll always keep my promises to you."
"I know."
—xx—xx—
"You know this is kind of a full circle," Romy said from the passenger seat, sipping her coffee all the while handing a Malasada to Danny who was sitting in the backseat.
"What? Why?" Steve pulled onto the parking lot next to Kamekona's.
"Us being involved in another fight between Kamekona and Flippa, she pointed to a group of people in front of them. Kamekona's complete team was waving signs and chanting about their treatment.
"Kamekona, you're no good! Treat your workers like you should! Kamekona, you're no good! Treat your workers like you should!" "…three, four, we don't want this shirt no more! One, two, three four, we don't want this shirt no more!"
"Ugh. Finally." Kamekona greeted them, talking loudly to drown out the chants.
"Please tell me this is not the, uh, the emergency you called us about." Steve pressed his hands into a prayer gesture.
"Dang right. You got to arrest this guy. And get him off my beach!" Kamkeona waved behind him.
"Your cousin?" Romy asked.
"Yes."
"The one you told me that you loved more than your first shave ice stand?" Steve wanted to know.
"Not anymore. He's dead to me. He got my workers to unionize; now they're all on strike."
"Excuse me. Uh... we've talked about this before, yeah? About emergencies. And that they have to be actual emergencies, remember? Now, a labor dispute, it's just like a flat tire; it's not an emergency." Steve could not believe it, the only redeeming thing was that Nahele was not involved this time.
"Brah, I haven't sold a single shrimp all morning. You got to throw them all in Halawa or they gonna kill my business."
Romy snorted, yeah throw them into Halawa for a protest.
"Can't do that." Danny shrugged.
Steve looped his arm around Romy's shoulder, happy to let Danny handle this one.
"Why not?" Kamekona was all put out.
"'Cause this is public property. Also, uh, it is perfectly legal for someone to engage in a peaceful protest against what they feel are unfair working conditions." Danny tried to explain once more.
"Unfair? I haven't missed a single paycheck."
"It ain't about that. We get paid pennies for what we do. We don't get no health, no dental, no time and a half for overtime. And every Christmas, he forces me to dress like an elf." Flippa butted in now and a whole other argument broke out about elf costumes and bringing joy to children, which amused Romy immensely.
"So clearly you both have very strong opinions about all this," Steve tried to put an end to the whole thing "but as I said, labor disputes are out of Five-O's jurisdiction. So you guys are gonna have to figure this out by yourself, all right?"
"If you can't arrest him, at least buy a delicious breakfast shrimp loco moco." Kamekona smiled at them encouragingly.
"Well, I-I definitely can't do that. That would be crossing a picket line. I'm from a union family. And I'm a friend of the working man. Crossing the line is just something that we do not do." Danny shrugged from his perch on a table.
"Socialist." Kamekona scoffed.
"How about you, McGarrett?"
As usual, his phone saved Steve from answering "Excuse me, just for a second, please. Yeah, Chin"
"And you German Rose?"
Romy sighed out loud, crossing her arms "Kame you know I love you, but we've been arguing for over a year about staff benefits"
"Oh no, not you too!" Kamekona lamented.
"Sorry, Kamekona." Steve stepped back to them "Hey, listen, we just caught our second homicide for the day. Guess the Coast Guard just fished a body out of the water."
Romy pulled a face, water bodies always turned her stomach.
"Do me a favor, would you stay here and make sure these two don't kill each other please?" he asked Danny, who shrugged. There were worse days than sitting on a beach watching Kamekona and Flippa argue.
"You still dropping me off at work?" Romy asked.
"Sure." His hand slipped to her lower back guiding Romy back to the car.
—xx—xx—
"So when is Dad going to be back?" Nahele munched on his after school snack.
"Hopefully tomorrow." Romy sneaked herself a piece of mango.
"And this woman really had a tattoo from a concentration camp?" he scrolled through his phone.
"Yes, it was the number they tattooed into her granddad." Romy's voice was heavy.
Nahele played with his food for a moment and then asked nervously "Mama, can I ask you something."
"Sure."
"Were any of…were there any Nazis in…"
"Were there any Nazis in my family?" Romy helped him out and Nahele nodded relieved. "I don't know." she shrugged.
"What do you mean? How can you not know?" he pushed himself off the kitchen island.
"My grandparents were children. They were just born when Hitler took over power in Germany, when the war ended they were your age. It was all they knew, all they were taught."
"What?"
"Think about it, when you're a kid, you tend to get your worldview from where? School and Family and well you can imagine what they taught in school. And my great - grandparents died before I was born. I couldn't ask them and my parents never really did I think, it wasn't something you would talk about when they were young" Romy let out a heavy sigh. "I want to believe that they weren't Nazis, that they were scared of the SS and the secret police, but that they still tried to help somehow."
"You know Grandma Marianne told me about her fleeing from the Red Army and that she was in Dresden when the bombs fell and Grandma Ellie how her Dad fled the army in 1945 walking back from Italy." Nahele pondered.
"You know the time between 1933 and 1945 is called the great shame in Germany. The atrocities committed in those years by Germans and in the name of Germans is a shame that the country is still rightfully atoning for. I still can't comprehend how people would just follow someone like him, believe him so blindly, that they would outcast people, friends, family that they lived with their whole lives." Romy shook her head. "You know what the scariest thing is for me though, I don't know if I would have followed blindly?"
"You, Mom? You've got an opinion on everything." Nahele tried to contradict her.
"Yeah, but is it because I grew up in the freedom to voice it or would I have done it then as well?"
He nodded at that and then voiced a thought that has been on his mind since his Dad had left for Kalaupapa "You know, you and Dad would have been enemies during that time. Our family wouldn't have existed."
"I know," Romy said softly.
"I want to know more" Nahele breathed out.
"More about what?"
"That time. Do you, do you think your grandparents would talk to me about it more?" Nahele bit his lip.
"Grandma Marianne and Grandpa definitely will, not too sure about Ellie, but we can always ask."
"Thanks, Mama."
—xx—xx—
"What are you watching?" Steve let his go-bag fall to the floor and shut the front door, it felt good to be at home.
"Mom gave me some documentaries to watch." Nahele held out his fist for a bump, which Steve gave gladly.
"Documentaries about what?" Steve sunk into the armchair.
"Nazi Germany" Nahele answered, making Steve groan quietly, he had enough of that topic for eternity. His head fell back, as the narrator continued in German. He was exhausted, he did chase a Nazi war criminal halfway across the US for the last 48 hours. His mind went back to when he arrested Thomas Sauer.
'Tomas Sauer... for forced imprisonment, torture and murder, you're under arrest for war crimes under the laws of the Geneva Convention.'
This old man, a coward who tortured and murdered people as a teenager and then fled instead of answering for his crimes. It made him itchy all over.
"You're back!" The happy exclamation made him sit up again. Romy stood in the lanai door, a bright smile on her face, she had a towel wrapped around her and her hair was dripping down her back. She must have gone for a swim. The afternoon sun illuminated her from behind making her glow even more. "You got him?" she asked as walked towards him.
Steve nodded and pulled her down to him for a kiss, relishing in her lips, trying to forget the last couple of days.
"Why are we watching Nazi documentaries?" he mumbled against her skin.
"Nahele wanted to." she shrugged and quickly dashed upstairs to get out of her wet bathing suit.
"Any specific reason why kiddo?" Steve leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees.
"Well" the teenager shrugged, he saw Romy coming back downstairs again "Mom is German and I'm her son…I just want to know more about our history."
Romy sucked in a breath and squeezed her fingers into Steve's shoulders. Steve turned around and saw how tears were shining in her eyes. He cocked an eyebrow, asking a silent question, that has been part of their lives for the last couple of weeks and Romy nodded.
"'Hele." Steve caught his attention back from the TV. "We were wondering…" he searched for Romy's hand on his shoulder, intertwining their fingers.
"What?" Nahele looked worried, where was this going?
Steve cleared his throat - why was this so hard? "We were wondering if you would be happy to make this - our family permanent."
Nahele's eyes moved quickly from Steve to Romy, her smile big, hopeful almost, his attention drawn back to Steve.
"We want to adopt you, Nahele." Steve smiled now as well.
Nahele's eyes blew wide, his mouth moving unable to form any words.
"What do ya say, kiddo. Make our family official?" Romy winked at him.
—xx—xx—
If you're interested in the topic, I can recommend the series Charité at war on Netflix. It's a German tv series that covers the war years through the eyes of doctors at Germany's first hospital. If you want to chat about it with me - my DM's are always open.