I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: thanks to Phoebe who always comes through for recalcitrant muses!

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O

Utterly content despite his overall lack of good health, Danny's eyes were peacefully closed as his daughter sat on the edge of his hospital bed, holding his hand.

"So Dad?" Grace asked. "When's the date?"

His sense of peace waffled as he forced his eyes partly opened, to squint upwards, his vision uncomfortably cloudy. Grace's face was nothing more than a soft dim blur of white surrounded by a darker haze made by her long hair, hanging long and loose. "Date? For what?" He pursed his lips, already knowing the answer before he managed to get his eyes opened. And when his vision did decide to sharpen, he saw the mischievous look on his favorite daughter's face.

"Uncle Steve is over the moon," she added with a coy toss of her head that sent her long hair flying over a shoulder. "Like way ... way ... over the moon because you said yes." She tucked the stray strands back over an ear, her expression just as sly as it was before.

"So Dad? When's the date? I need to buy a dress."

"A dress," he said it as a statement and then tightened his lips.

"Well, yeah. Of course," Grace pushed harder and Danny raised an eyebrow despite the ache it exacerbated in his head. That ache was worth every bit; even the dull ache down his neck and into his shoulder. The crease caused by Billy Travers' bullet had been and still was deep, nicking bone and risking far too much. Danny boasted a stitch or two. Swelling and a concussion. He now knew that if the bullet had traveled just a slim thickness of a piece of paper in the wrong direction, he'd either be a vegetable or even dead. But knowing that now wasn't why he'd woken and said yes to Steve. Or maybe it had been the reason. Just maybe his subconscious had supplied him with the terror of that innate information. That he'd almost died and that he needed to say yes. But Danny hadn't expected his partner to confide this special bit of information so quickly, even to Grace.

"Uh, who else knows?" Danny asked. He couldn't help sounding petulant, even annoyed because Steven had spoken out of turn. Over the moon or not.

"Why? You're not already changing your mind, are you?" Grace challenged back loudly, instantly all over him, and Danny winced as her voice resonated inside his aching head. "You wouldn't!"

"Grace, please," Danny whispered. He made a small gesture with his free hand, asking that she take it down a few notches. "Just ... a little softer, alright?"

"Sorry!" She whispered back. "But you can't change your mind!" Her eyes had widened in alarm and now, she nearly crushed his fingers. "Because you can't ... you can't and you shouldn't ... Dad, that would just be so wrong! Uncle Steve is so happy! And then there's the boys ... hell me, too."

"That damned Neanderthal," Danny griped to himself. He was suddenly overwhelmed by his daughter's shock. "No, I'm not changing my mind, Grace. It's just ... I hadn't expected him to tell anyone yet."

"Not even me?" Grace complained, instantly insulted.

"Well, no," Danny admitted. There was just so much to figure out and to take care of; so many things to consider like Grace, and the boys. Helpless to argue, Danny scrubbed idly at his head, shy of the bandage. "Maybe I should fake amnesia. Tell him I don't remember saying something like that. Cut our losses now ... I mean after all, my track record in relationships stinks. You have to admit that Gracie. Right?"

"Are you crazy?!" Grace tried to squeak quietly but failed miserably and Danny sighed around his next painful wince. "No! No way! All of this has been on mom since Jersey and Stan. Not you ... never you."

"What?" Danny blinked wondering how he'd been so unaware of Grace's level of understanding at such an early age, all the way until now. Grace rolled her eyes, easily reading his facial expressions.

"Well duh, Dad," She said heatedly. "Seriously? I was never stupid then and I sure as hell wasn't stupid when Charlie was born."

"Grace! Language!" That she was mad wasn't lost on him at all and Danny rubbed at his face again, wondering what had happened to his baby girl and when.

"I'm not sorry," Grace said. She certainly wasn't as she folded her arms across her chest, then repeated herself for impact. "I'm not." She managed to whisper but stayed adamant about her feelings. "I never told you ... I mean, I held it in all this time. But you and Uncle Steve? Yeah, it's kind of weird but kind of not and ... you two? Well, I'm over the moon, too, Danno."

"You are?" Danny whispered as his lips twitched upwards. He raised his hand to shakily push her hair away from her face where it had fallen like a soft veil. He was surprised to see the pink in her cheeks and the tears in her eyes. Not of happiness, but of sadness or maybe it was dismay and Danny wound up gently shushing her.

"Yeah, so don't do that ... don't change your mind or play games. Please, Danno?" Grace bit her lip as she tried not to cry, clearly worried and even scared that he still might.

"Nah," he promised, aiming to soothe because all of a sudden this seemed all wrong and he needed to calm her very ruffled feathers. "I'm sorry. Don't be upset." He needed to even if he couldn't figure out how they'd gotten here so damned fast.

"I said yes and I meant it."

"Good," Grace replied. "That's ... good." She took a deep breath. "You know what? You should do it now. Here. In the hospital," she said, surprising herself as words began to spill from her mouth.

"Now? H-here?" Danny stammered. "In a hospital?"

"Yeah! Just think about it!" Excited now she nodded as this idea took shape. "Here ... definitely! I ... I want to be a witness. Now before I have to get back to school; I can help plan it out. And ... Uncle Lou could be the other. He'd love it! And the boys? Ring bearers! Oh come on, Danno! Say yes! Please!"

"Grace, I don't want to get married in a hospital ...it's not decent ...and what about our friends?" Danny tried to argue but oddly the hospital setting was almost making sense. "Besides, I'm barely on my feet." He'd thought maybe he and Steve would talk more at home. Consider a date way off in the future, too. Nonetheless, Grace was rolling her eyes again towards the ceiling.

"Decent? Oh come on!? Seriously? You two spend half your time here anyway! What better place is there?" His eyes widened and his mouth fell open. Grace giggled as she refused to back down. That was all just plain ... rude.

"We do not!" Well, yeah. They kind of did, but that didn't make this a good decision even if he secretly did kind of think it funny. He couldn't tip his hat to Grace though, so he gave an idle wave of his hand. "No, come to think of it? I DO think I have amnesia," Danny stated, this time much to Grace's delight.

"It's so romantic ... do it secretly; then have a bigger wedding. Later, on Uncle Steve's beach."

"Romance? Secrets? Who are you anyway? Grace who? I don't have a daughter ... if I did she wouldn't be this devious." He might as well have just agreed with her based on the size of her smile though.

"You don't have amnesia, Danno." Grace giggled again. "And I bet you like my idea ... a lot. You're the romantic at heart, not mom."

"I don't. And wait? Who's romantic?" He sputtered and then gave up because Grace was right. Still, he tried to object because this had to be all kinds of wrong. Right? "Nope. This is a terrible idea. How could you even be excited about all of this?" His lips twitched again as he fought smiling back at her. With that brief bout of sadness now gone, Grace's eyes were sparkling.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Grace laughed as she got to her feet and twirled an excited half circle. "Like I told Uncle Steve, I'd have two awesome dads."

His lips quirked again at that. Danny swallowed hard nearly choked by an unexpected lump in his throat. "Really? You're completely okay with this?"

"Really?" She scoffed back lightly. "Dad, you said yes for a reason. Besides," Grace stopped and took another deep breath, her face serious and her eyes sharp. "Dad. It would mean so much to do this now because I saw the adoption papers. You really don't want to not be C.J.'s dad, do you? I mean why just Uncle Steve's name? You're every bit his dad, too, and C.J. would just never understand anything different. And worse yet? It would mean that he and Charlie wouldn't actually be real brothers. Do you know how much that would hurt them? Do you? They'd never understand. Besides, neither would I because - you and Steve - now? It's just the right thing to do. I am completely, absolutely and perfectly fine with this. So please? Just say yes. Do it now ... here ... for all of us."

"And then later? What?" He asked. Danny had to grin as Grace's impish smile brightened her face.

"A reception. On the beach," Grace was oozing a young girl's romantic drama now. Eyes shining, she sat back down on the edge of his bed and took his hand back up. "It's perfect. A small ceremony now and then a bigger reception for everyone else ... and just think, Dad ... what if the adoption came through at the same time? Think of it ... it would be so, so big ... so amazing. We could plan it that way. Don't you think? I bet we could pull it off."

"Yeah, yeah that would be nice, Grace," Danny murmured half to himself, thinking out loud and suddenly very worried if Emily Gardner would indeed put up a fight. "But what if it takes forever for C.J.'s adoption or not at all? What if Emily says no and won't allow us to adopt C.J."

"I don't believe it. She will say it's okay," Grace insisted. "She just has to. We all love C.J. but Uncle Steve and you just have to be his real dads. Charlie and I need him as our little brother and he needs us so much. He needs to believe, Danno after what that terrible man did to you ... and tried to do to that little boy. Everyone knows this has to happen for C.J.'s sake. Everyone. So Danno please. Just say yes. Please."

Her arguments made sense. Her refusal to say Billy Travers' name did, too. She was right about C.J. needing to believe and know how much he truly belonged. That no one could ever take him away.

"Okay, Grace," Danny said. He gripped her fingers more tightly. His not so little baby girl was right: getting married privately, now, fit his and Steve's already somewhat unexpected collision in life. A formal union would firm up the adoption and give that commitment more validation. With a shocked nod, Danny found himself saying yes again within just a few very short hours to a huge step forward in his family's growth and well-being - and feeling damned good about it - as Grace fought hard to stifle a happy shout.

~ to be continued ~