To New Beginnings

Fandom: Hawaii Five-O

Ship: Ranno
Characters (also mentioned): Danny Williams, Rachel Hollander, Grace Williams, Charlie Williams, Steve McGarrett, Stan Edwards, Five-O members.

Chapter 5: Aia ka home ma kahi o ka naʻau

(Home is where the heart is)

That day had turned out to be a longer day then Danny had anticipated. It wasn't till well after seven in the evening that he had managed to get home from the case. It had taken a while to apprehend the suspect and even longer to break him in the rendition room, however, he was now finally on his way home with the promise of dinner for his family. Smiling softly when he felt two arms around his legs when he walked in the door, he looked down to see his son's beaming smile, "You missed me did you buddy?", he hugged him as best he could with one arm while the other was holding dinner.

Charlie nodded his head and hugged him tighter, the hug not losing meaning on Danny at all. He had always been happy with having a daughter, but he had to admit, it was an awesome feeling to be the father of such an amazing young woman and a cheeky and happy son. As much as he still hated that Rachel lied to him about the paternity which meant he missed out on so much of this kids life, he was grateful to know now. The rare condition Charlie had was what brought it all to the surface and whilst he hated to think of his son or any child for that matter going through that, he was grateful it brought him and his son together.

"Alright buddy, now since you are here with me, you think you could help me out?", His son smiled and nodded, "Yes Danno", Rachel and Grace both smiling at the scene, Grace on the couch resting while Rachel was beginning to set the table for dinner. "Well, how about you take one of these bags and take it over to the counter for me, you think you are strong enough to do that?", again, the little boy nodded and giggled, showing his muscles off to Danny, "Well of course you are, how could I doubt that". He gave one of the lighter of the bags to Charlie whom carried it over to the counter and set it down, Rachel coming over to take the other bag off him, whispering softly, "We missed you today".

There was a moment when Danny thought about distancing himself again, however he remembered Steve's words, 'If you love her, don't wait' and instead, he decided to be bold and do something he hoped he wouldn't regret.

The two of them hadn't shown a lot of romantic affection to the kids since the accident, but this time, he decided that now was the time. He still wanted to talk to her more about all of their issues, maybe even go to a therapist, like one she had been wanting to see when they were both still married to each other, but for now, he pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her body and smiling softly with a renewed sense of confidence that was all due to Steve's influence. "I missed you guys too" before giving her a chaste kiss on the lips, nothing over the top, just a soft slow greeting that had him wanting more.

Aware that their children were in the room, Rachel smiled softly, blushing a little, feeling a little shy all of a sudden, "yeah?", she questioned in a low voice, her eyebrows raised a little as though playfully challenging him, "yeah.. and if you play nicely, I might even show you how much later on if you catch my drift", responding with a chuckle at the redness spreading over his ex wife's cheeks. Winking to show him she understood exactly what he meant, she leaned in and kissed him once more, and then pulled away, noting the smile their interaction had put on both of their kids faces. "Come on Grace, let's get you up so we can all eat together in the dinning room". She walked over to Grace, helping her stand and whispering into her ear that her and Danny would sit her down tomorrow and talk to her about everything that was going on.

Both of them would have questions about their relationship and Rachel knew it would be best to answer at least some of them the best they could to try to alleviate any stress or worrying. As a mother, she didn't like seeing her kids hurt in anyway whether it be a physical trauma or an emotional one, and while they might not have all the answers right now, she also knew it was going to be hard to hide her and Danny's new relationship status with each other for long, especially from their children.

To be honest, she knew herself she also needed to talk to Danny again as well, they hadn't talked much since the revelation about what her family had done to aid in tearing the married couple apart, so she needed to address it once more with Danny before she could answer any of their daughter's questions. Charlie wouldn't ask many questions, he had been happy to just go with the flow, which made it easy when she finally told Charlie that Danny was his father and that Stan was his step father like he was to Grace. He had taken to the change quite quickly and easily, so she wasn't concerned about him, but Grace.. She knew she would have many questions.

Eating as a family was a relatively new thing for the four of them. Both Rachel and Danny had eaten meals with both Grace and Charlie together but never the four of them, so this was new, but it was also familiar at the same time. There was laughter and smiles, playful teasing and lots of encouragement from Grace to Charlie to eat all his dinner so they could watch a movie together in her bedroom. The accident, though they hadn't told Charlie a lot of the traumatic details, it had still been hard on him as he worshiped his sister and hating seeing her hurt or in pain..

Grace seemed to realize this as well so it was why she was making sure to spend as much time with Charlie as she could. The realization of how big an accident it was and how close her family had come to losing her had not been lost on the teenager at all. "Alright, I think that should be enough shouldn't it Mommy.. He has eaten pretty much everything on his plate", Danny could see the excitement in his son's eyes at the thought of a movie night with Grace so he was giving his own okay to leave the table, hoping that Rachel would follow his lead.

"I think Danno is right, you and Grace go and watch your movie, we'll clean up in here", She smiled softly at Danny, it was nice to be able to parent together for once and though either of them had the right to discipline and say when it was okay to be excused etc, it was still nice to know that Danny still respected her place as their mother as she knew she would do the same, respecting his place as their father. Once the kids had gone off to Grace's room, Danny leaned over and kissed Rachel on the cheek before standing up to start clearing up the dishes, "We have raised two good kids there Rach".

Nodding her head in agreement, she smiled and began helping him with the dishes, "We sure have Danno", using the nickname which was usually only reserved for the kids and Steve. "I was thinking", she started at the same time Danny began with, "I think we should", both stopped for a moment and chuckled, smiling as they cleaned the dishes, one washing and the other drying, ""You go first", Danny began once more after the chuckling died down, "I was going to say, we should talk again". Once the dishes had been washed, Danny wiped his hands on the hand towel and pulled her closer to him, "You're not rethinking things are you Rach?", his brow worrying a little, looking at her tying not to be too concerned.

Shaking her head, she smiled, moving her own hands to around his neck, her fingers threading through his hair, "No, not at all Daniel, We just didn't talk much after what I told you the other night.. I was worried it might have been a little too much for you, or you were doing your distancing thing again, you know using a case as an excuse to be away from me". All those years of being insecure in her marriages, both of her marriages was leading her to think this way, this was how it started, with the end of the marriage to Danny.. He used to make up excuses to say he had to go on a case and she wouldn't hear much from him even when he came home since he was only home to eat, shower and sleep.

Danny opened his mouth to try to protest, but then he thought about it.. She was right, it wasn't as much of an excuse as it was the truth, but the truth of it was, that when they started having problems, he did stay out on a case for much longer then he really needed to. Sighing softly in defeat, he nodded, "I guess I was a little.. We both have a lot of things we need to work on to make this work this time, I guess though I had a little advise from SuperSEAL and honestly Rach", stopping for a breath, he gazed into her eyes, "While we may have both done things to upset or hurt each other, I'm all in.. I'm putting my whole heart into this with you".

'Putting my whole heart into this with you'.

Those words were like on repeat in Rachel's head and she smiled brightly upon hearing them coming from Danny's lips. Truth be told, she never thought they would get here again.. She was sure that everything she had done in the past was too much, but he was willing to forgive and maybe not forget, but move on.. It felt incredible to her that this opportunity was even here, and same with how she knew Danny felt about Charlie's health issues, she wouldn't have wanted Grace or any of them to go through that again, it did give them their opening. Two of the most poignant moments in their lives came from health issues with their children that finally got them to this point in their lives.

If not for Charlie's medical issues, Rachel can't answer if she would have ever had the strength to tell Daniel, Stan, Charlie and Grace the truth, and if not for that moment when she finally did tell him at the park, then she might have still be married to Stan pretending to make it work and not here in Danny's arms where she truly felt she belonged. "Thank you Danny", her eyes were filled with tears and she fought to keep them from falling down her face, "I never thought we would ever get here.. Thank you for giving us a chance.. I'm all in this as well Daniel.. Whatever comes next, we can deal with it together and as a family".

Smiling softly as he held her closer, "Thank you for giving me the two most amazing kids in the world, for giving me your heart.. and thank you for running into my police car all those years ago, now.. I believe I made you a promise... to show you just how much I missed you". Picking her up into his arms, he switched off the kitchen light and began moving to the bedroom, "What about the rest of the dishes, I know for a fact you hate leaving them till the next morning". Grinning from ear to ear, he chuckled, "Well, my job was done, it was you who was drying who needed to catch up.. If you prefer, I can leave you out here to finish and have a little fun on my own".

Catching his lips with her own, she smiled happily, her heart racing at the thought of her being intimate with Danny again.. He after all had been the only man the fully satisfy her in a way that no one else ever could, "I can't have you having fun all to yourself while I'm in the kitchen now can I?". Whispering in his ear, "Show me how much you missed me Detective Williams or I might need to use those handcuffs on you now". Smiling wider, he nodded, "Yes Ma'am", winking before he carried her into the bedroom and closing the door.

Hours later, both of them fully sated, Danny fast asleep after having a long day on a case, Rachel lay next to him, her head on his shoulder, feeling exhausted after the last couple of weeks, but still unable to sleep, tracing her fingers along Danny's chest, listening to his heart beating calmly, she knew that this was where she was meant to be. She had a lot to think about and a lot to talk over with Danny and the kids about the future. The house she was living in was still her and Stan's place when they were married, Stan having given it to her in the divorce settlement, but she knew that Danny wouldn't want to live there..

Truth be told, she really adored Danny's modest house.. It was big enough for the four of them, Grace and Charlie each had their own bedrooms, and it just felt right to her.. It felt home.. As much as her mother was someone who craved possessions, it was never something Rachel inherited.. Sure she had loved the huge gated home she had lived in with Stan, but she wasn't one for material possessions herself.. As long as she had her family, it was all she needed or could ever want..

This was home...

Author Notes:

I am so sorry it has taken me nearly a month to update this story. My job requires me to change roster every month and I have changed shifts onto a 7pm finish and I have another two weeks left on that shift. It doesn't give me a whole lot of time to write during the weekday and I had my niece and nephew to take care of last weekend while my sister and brother in law attended an engagement party.

I am hoping to also update the Missing Piece and also Winds of Change over this weekend as well, so please look for those updates at some stage during the next couple of days.

I am going to use the next two chapters for Rachel and Danny to have a sit down and talk with each of the kids. I'll have Steve perhaps take Charlie out for a while as they talk to Grace and then maybe as well, Grace can spend some time recuperating in her room as they talk to Charlie in his room. I also would like to have a chapter where Stan comes around and apologizes for giving Grace the car without including Danny and they tell him they are together.

I know as well that there is an upcoming episode with Amanda Savage whom is Rachel's mother, so once I see that episode and see how she acts and is around both Steve and Danny, I might also write a chapter based around her finding out that her daughter and ex son in law are back together as well.

Shoutouts:

SteveMcGarrettLover:

Awe thank you so much. I am so glad you enjoyed chapter four, I hope you also enjoy this one to. I do enjoy how they both act annoyed at each other but at the heart of it all, they both care for the other and are best friends so I do love seeing any scene whether it's in the show or in a story where they are having a heart to heart conversation. You are welcome, and thank you for continuing to support and read my works. Your encouragement has a lot to do with me wanting to keep these stories moving forward.