Thinking out loud

Pairing: McRoll

Chapter - 5

Part of the Wind of change, One for Sorrow series..

24 hours in the life of McRoll - Valentines Day edition.

February 15th 2020

7:00am.

Since it was a Saturday and there didn't seem to be anything much going on at work.. In fact, none of the five-o team had been called in to work so far that morning. They were all on call so they knew at any moment, the phone could go off, but so far so good, and anything non-urgent, they knew that HPD could handle it.

After having slept in till about seven am, Steve woke up, stretching and smiling.. "Wanna go for a swim?", Catherine asked, not taking her eyes off the task she was currently doing which was sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning into the drawer to get her bathing suit out, though she hadn't turned her head to see him awake, she had felt the bed shift and then him groan as he stretched. "Mmm sure, sounds like a good idea, then we can have a nice breakfast..".

Sitting up in bed, he leaned in closer, kissing her shoulder gently, "Good Morning", he added in a low voice, his eyes still struggling to adjust to the light, blinking a few times… "Good Morning to you too Sailor". She tuned around and leaned in to press her lips against his and kissed him softly.. "Get your boardies on and then we'll get going".

Standing up, she headed into the bathroom to change into her swimsuit, and grab some towels for them out of the cupboard, and coming back out to put a dress over her two piece, smiling seeing that Steve was up, changed and finishing off making the bed.. "What do you think the others will say when we tell them?", he asked her, rounding up near her and pushing her gently back up against the now closed bathroom door.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she smiled softly and kissed him again.. "I'd say they will say /about time/ or something similar to that", nodding his head and leaning in to kiss back, he smiled, chuckling.. "I think they will too". He was excited to tell everyone, he hadn't told anyone this time.. The last time when he told Danny, Danny in turn told Lou and Chin and then they all got excited for him and that's when it all went pear shaped, so this time, he didn't say anything to anyone, so none of them knew this was going to happen.

8:30am.

"McGarrett", Steve and Catherine had just finished their breakfast after their swim and he was kind of hoping it wasn't a work related call even though it was Danny who was calling him.. "Yeah sure, come on over buddy.. Actually.. I was thinking about having dinner here with the whole team".

After saying their goodbyes, he turned to Catherine whom was sitting on the chair reading a book as she finished her coffee, one foot up on the chair, her book resting on her knee.. "You okay with that?", he asked, sometimes just being on auto pilot, he didn't want her to think this wasn't their house and their decisions together though. "I'm sorry I didn't ask before I mentioned that to Danny", he added afterwards. "He is just feeling lonely lately with things not going so well with Rachel".

Smiling as she turned her head from her book, her free hand squeezing his, "You don't need to ask me anything Steve, and you know I love the team and would love nothing more then having them here for dinner.. I think it's a perfect idea, and even better, we can tell the team tonight about our engagement". Sighing at hearing that Danny was feeling lonely, "You know, he can come stay here if he wants to.. We have a spare room.. Junior is practically living at Tani's now.. and I'm more than happy to have a talk with him if you think he needs a pep talk".

That was the one thing he loved most about Catherine, the way she could just empathise and want to help out a friend in need, "We can talk to him when he comes over.. I know he feels a bit overwhelmed lately… He met that Joanna at a time when he needed clarity on his relationship with Rachel and she gave it to him.. I think by the way he spoke, it could have worked if the day hadn't ended so tragically".

Though none of them had met Joanna, Danny had given them a detailed description of her and Catherine could tell that she would have blended well into the five-o family as well, so she could really feel for Danny and wished she could just be there for him as much as she could.. It was a strange year for him as well. Grace was away on the mainland in college, having decided to go to Yale University. "I got that feeling as well, and I think with Grace going to Yale, it has unsettled him a bit".

Nodding his head, he sighed a little.. "It's why I'm happy he is reaching out instead of hiding away.. so I think now, we should figure out we are going to do for dinner, and get some shopping done".

10:30am

Having come home after shopping expedition, they still had not been called into work which they were both happy about.. For dinner, they decided to go for something a little different, usually they did a bbq or something similar that was easy, but tonight, they decided to make lasagne, salad and fries with garlic and herb bread, and for desert, Catherine was going to make sticky date pudding and pair it with ice-cream.

Not long after they got back, and once they had both put the shopping away, Catherine texted Danny to see if he wanted to come over and help with dinner.. She was going to start getting it all organised and prepared after lunch sometime to make sure she had enough time for it to bake in the oven when everyone got there, she was also going to use that opportunity to talk to him, and her and Steve wanted to tell Danny early before anyone else about the engagement.

"Hey Cath, I've just got called in to work for a bit.", Steve called from the bedroom where he got his gun and badge out of the safe after he had changed into work appropriate clothing. "Do you want me to come with?", she asked coming out into the living room and meeting him as he came down the stairs.. He shook his head, and moved to kiss her, "No, I'm fine, Lou's already at the office, and Tani and Quinn are coming in as well..I shouldn't be too long, you stay, relax, finish your book and I'll be back before you know it".

Nodding her head, she smiled, kissing him back and hugging him tight.. "Watch your back out there", was all she said as he pulled away and he smirked, giving her a salute, "yes ma'am".

Once he had left, Catherine headed back outside to soak up some rays, taking a bottle of water with her, her sunnies, a hat and her book, sitting back down on the chair she was sitting at that morning to continue her book, loving that despite knowing he was going out on a case, she trusted him to take care of himself and that while she was an offical member of five-o again, he was happy to let her enjoy her day off.

1:30pm

Nearly three hours later, and Catherine was really relaxed and starting on a new book. It was a lovely sunny day, unlike the day before where it rained nearly the entire day, and so she had decided she wanted to make the most out of the day, and who wanted to sit inside when you had an amazing backdrop like they did in their back yard.

Sitting in the same position she had been in earlier that morning with her leg propped up on the chair, her book on her knee, she smiled when she heard two voices, and had to laugh, hearing their arguments about Steve supposedly putting Danny in danger again and Steve protesting, it never got old and she had missed it when she wasn't here.

Moving to stand up, Danny shook his head as he came around the side of the chair, "No, don't get up Hun, you look all comfy there, just stay there and keep relaxing". She smiled softly, "Thanks Danny, we'll start the lasagne prep soon, I'm looking forward to cooking with you".

"I'm looking forward to it too, I can't wait to show you my families recipe", Danny smiled, though the smile didn't quite reach from ear to ear like usual, Catherine look pointedly towards Steve who took the hint, "I'm going to go have a shower, I'll be back soon".

Once Steve was gone, Catherine put her bookmark in and closed her book, putting it down and looked over at him. "So, Danny, I was thinking, if you want to stay here for a while, we have a spare room", she knew it would be difficult for him to accept, but she hoped he did.

Looking back over at her, he took her hand and squeezed, "I appreciate that Cath.. I might take you up on that if things don't improve, I just.. I'm feeling a little lost lately". His tone of voice showed Catherine he was feeling a little flat lately and she could understand why.

"With everything going on, things not fully right between Rachel and I, Gracie going off to Yale, the accident with Joanna, I really hit it off with her, and I honestly had hoped it would turn into something more, am I a terrible person for thinking that when I am still trying to sort things out with Rachel?"

Shaking her head, she gazed into his eyes, "No you aren't a terrible person, you connected with someone, that's not a bad thing, you and Rachel are in an off period, taking a break, so it's not like you did anything wrong by finding a connection and wanting it to go further, and I know you Danny, don't blame yourself for Joanna's death.. You did everything right and we will hunt down the son of a bitch that was involved okay".

Nodding his head, he sighed softly, running his hands through his hair, "I run through it every night, how I could have done it differently, how if I had done one little thing different, she would be alive". Shaking her head, she knew that he would do this, just like Steve still did the same thing about his father, Freddie, Joe and his mothers deaths. "I know that feeling Danny, I did it for months, years even about Billy's death, and it never made me feel better, the only thing that made me feel better was admitting that I couldn't have done anything different".

It made sense to him that he needed to do that, but like Catherine, he hadn't known how to do it. "I want to Cath, I want to move on, I just don't know how to, having Grace in New Haven, it just is all new to me as well, I'm worried about her being so far away".

Smiling softly, she nodded, understanding his concerns, "My father was the same with me Danny, fathers are always going to be more protective of their daughters, you raised a strong and resilient daughter who knows right from wrong and she knows that if she has any issues, she can call her father and her Uncles to back her play, you just need to focus on finding something to do Danny".

They both stood up and Danny leaned in, opening his arms to give Catherine a hug, "Thanks Cath, you always seem to know just what to say". She smiled and hugged him back tighter, "I'm always here for you Danny, you might be friends with Steve first but I'll always be a friend to you as well".

As he pulled away, she smiled and added, "let's go make that Williams lasagne".

2:30pm

Standing in the kitchen, Catherine and Danny were working well together, both in sync, Steve smiling as he came down into the kitchen to see them working on the lasagne.

Grabbing three beers from the fridge, he opened the tops and put one near Danny, one near Catherine, and as he set Catherine's down, he leaned in and kissed her shoulder. "Thanks Sailor, have a good shower?", she leaned back and kissed him softly.

Nodding his head, he smiled softly, and he whispered, "have you told Danny?", he asked wanting to know if she mentioned the engagement to him. Shaking her head, she continued to do what she was doing, smiling with a huge grin on her face.

Just as Steve was about to mention the proposal to Danny, Danny looked over at the two of them and smirked, they were acting even more goofy then usual, and he noticed that Catherine was glowing.. "Okay, what's going on with you two?" He asked in a rather curious manner.

"Whatever do you mean Daniel?", Steve asked, taking a sip of his beer, "I mean, you two are acting goofier then usual, Catherine has been positively glowing all day, you can't get that goofy grin off your face even when you had to leave Catherine to go to a case, I'd guess Catherine was pregnant except she is drinking a beer, so what's going on?"

Steve couldn't help but laugh softly at the way that it didn't take Danny long to figure out that something was going on.. Catherine had been discreet and had taken her ring off to make dinner when Danny hadn't noticed, and she smiled softly.. "Well, brother, there is a question I need to ask you actually".

Danny stopped what he was doing and nodded his head, "Sure ask away", resting his back on the counter, his eyes moving from Steve to Catherine and then back again to Steve.. "Well, I've always considered you one of my brothers Danny and I was hoping you could be my best man at my wedding". At that, Danny looked stunned and he looked at the two of them again, "Best man at your wedding", he stopped for a second and smiled wider, leaning off the bench and pulling them both in for a hug, "I should have known, Congratulations to you both, and honestly.. you do know everyone's gonna say it, so I wanna be the first.. it's", and as he was about to say the next words, Steve and Catherine joined in, "about time".

Catherine laughed and smiled, both Steve and her hugging Danny back, "Yes, we know Daniel, it's about time, and you are already too late because it's the same thing Mary said". Pulling back, he pretended to look shocked at Steve's words, even though he wasn't, "Ohh and so Mary gets told before I do". Catherine could sense the playfulness in his voice, and she added, "Well, Mary saw the ring, her and Joan came to visit for Valentines Day and she saw it".

Danny was genuinely happy for his friends, despite his own sadness and in the midst of his own grief and issues, he was happy for them, "I'm so happy for you both, I can't wait to be involved in this wedding, it's going to be beautiful, come here, I need another hug", he pulled Catherine back in for another hug and then opened his arm for Steve to join, "So are you telling everyone else tonight?", he asked when he pulled back and began to continue on the lasagne, they were both assembling one each so that there was enough to go around. "Yes, we are planning on that but we wanted to tell you first".

He was touched by that and though he was still a little sad, he was excited for his best friends, and couldn't wait for the wedding.. It was going to be an amazing night of fun and laughter and honestly, he knew it was exactly what he needed for the evening.

Author Notes:

Thank you all for your support.. I can't thank you guys enough for supporting me and continuing to read these stories of mine. The more I write, the more confident I feel and it's all because of you guys. I have really enjoyed this story, and have just loved the warmth and love radiating into it, this chapter is one I am really excited to share with you all, It's gonna continue into chapter 6 as well. I decided to continue it in the same way that I did the rest of this story with the hours of the day.. I felt it just gelled better then just having them go back to HQ or something, and besides it was a saturday the next day and so I figured I could get away with a dinner at Steve and Catherine's.

SteveMcGarrettLover:

Thank you so much, I really love that you love all my stories, I always think of you when I write these and can't help but get excited at your reactions to them. I will do the kids reactions as well, and I'm so happy you enjoyed the evening chapter.. Haha yeah Danny won't wanna sit on it if he knew what happened there the evening before lol. I hope you love this one as well, it's bit more Danny centric as well.