Mari & Ilna-you're the best.

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"Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful day of your life." -Mark Twain

A Beautiful Day (1/1)

"I didn't realize that was still a thing," Steve said as he nodded his head towards the two young people sitting on the far side of the deck, heads together, laughing softly.

"You mean Kaitlyn and Simon?" Catherine continued placing fruit on skewers. "Definitely still a thing. He was in South America with his family for most of the summer but according to Jenna he Facetimed Kaitlyn almost every night."

Steve handed her another skewer without taking his eyes off the young couple. "I still think she's too young to get involved in a serious relationship."

"You ran a background check and you said there were no red flags," Catherine reminded him. "He's a good kid." She looked across the deck and smiled. "And he clearly makes Kaitlyn happy."

"He's just out of sorts because he knows someday Angie will look at someone else like Kaitlyn is looking at Simon and daddy won't be her number one anymore," Danny snorted.

Steve huffed. "You're ridiculous. That's not it at all."

Suddenly Angie zoomed towards them. "Aunt Carrie and Uncle John are here and they brought cookies! Can me and DJ have one?"

"Just one each before dinner," Catherine said.

"YAY!" Angie threw her arms in the air with delight.

Danny smirked at his partner before turning to his goddaughter. "Before you go get your cookie, can I ask you a question?"

"Yes." Angie nodded vigorously.

"Are you gonna live here in this house with your mommy and daddy forever?"

"No," Angie replied matter-of-factly. "When I get bigger and finish school I'm gonna go to college like Grace and Kendra. It's gonna be very, very fun."

"Won't your daddy miss you?" Danny asked, watching his partner carefully for a reaction.

Angie twisted her lips and tilted her head, clearly thinking the question through. "He'll be ok," she finally answered. "Mommy will be here with him." After a few seconds she added, "That's why you should get married to Aunt Gabby. That way she won't go live with somebody else and leave you all alone."

As she turned and skipped towards the kitchen it was Steve's turn to smirk..

"She's clearly your daughter," Danny grumbled. "Even she can't ever let me win."

"What did I miss?" Gabby asked when she arrived at the annual Labor Day barbecue a few minutes later.

"You don't want to know," Danny mumbled.

"My daughter is afraid you're going to get a better offer and leave Danny all alone in his old age if he doesn't marry you," Steve explained.

Gabby's eyes widened. "What? How in the world did that even come up?"

Catherine waved her off with a smile. "Just ignore these two. I have bigger news for you."

Gabby shot Danny a confused look then turned to Catherine. "What kind of big news?"

"You'll never guess who is fresh back from a conference on the big island and eager to talk to you about some artifacts that were dug up last year on Maui that he is convinced are of alien origin."

Before Gabby could answer, the man himself appeared on the deck and John and Carrie simultaneously called, "Jerry!" Cheers-style.

"It's been a while, buddy," Danny said as Jerry came over and took a seat on the bench beside him. "Where have you been hiding?"

Jerry's posture stiffened. "Who said I was hiding?"

Danny held up his hands in front of him. "Whoa. Calm down. It's only an expression. I just meant we haven't seen you much lately."

Jerry took a deep breath and appeared to calm down. "I've been very busy doing … stuff."

"It's best not to ask," Steve advised in a loud whisper.

"That's right," Jerry nodded towards Steve's phone that was laying on the table. "You never know who's listening."

"Can I get you something to drink?" Catherine asked Jerry in an attempt to head off a lengthy rant about electronic listening devices.

"Lemonade would be great," he replied. "But first I was wondering if I could get a few minutes to talk to you in private, Gabby?"

She smiled. "Of course." Jerry often wanted to run his latest ideas past her in order to get a scientific opinion. Despite the fact that each theory seemed more outrageous than the last, she was genuinely fond of him and actually enjoyed their talks. "Grab your drink and we'll go for a walk on the beach."

"We heard about what you did the other morning at the pancake house," Cody said as he, Jess, and DJ carried side dishes out to the deck from the kitchen. "That was very brave of you."

DJ blushed. "Thanks. Daddy and Uncle Danno and Ms. Longo did most of it."

Jess sat a dish of potato salad on the outdoor bar and knelt in front of DJ. "Don't minimize what you did," she told him. "You were a very important part of what happened. If you hadn't been brave enough to step in and help that boy who knows what might have happened to him. You should be very proud of yourself. I know Cody and I are very proud of you."

"Thanks." DJ's chest puffed out with pride. He was getting better at accepting praise but it still made him feel a little bit funny inside. "I'm just glad Robbie was able to go and live with his brother and he's safe now."

"You did a very good thing." Cody ruffled DJ's hair. "What do you say you, me, Michael, Robbie, and Jacob find a night we're all free to go to the batting cages. My treat. Robbie's brother can come along too if he wants."

"Really?!" DJ's eyes sparkled with excitement. "That'd be great. We can pick a day and then I'll call Robbie and hopefully he can come too. I'm gonna go ask mommy if I can call Michael!"

As DJ headed off to find Catherine, Jess leaned over and gave Cody a gentle kiss on the cheek. "You're gonna make a great father someday."

"I had homework from school," Angie told Grace and Kendra. "DJ helped me with it. He's very, very good with homework. We had to find shapes."

"Sounds like kindergarten is going great!" Grace said excitedly.

"We went to the gym and there was mats there." Angie cast a sideways glance at her mother who was standing across the deck talking to Adam and Kono. "But I didn't do no flips because that's a rule. No flipping at school."

Kendra nodded. "That's a good rule. Flips are for the gym."

"I know." Angie sighed with disappointment. "Do they have a gym at your school?"

"Yes, they do," Grace said. "A couple in fact."

Angie's eyes lit up. "Do they has mats there? Do people do flips?"

Grace grinned. "They sure do."

"A girl in the orchestra with me is on the gymnastics team," Kendra said. "Maybe I can talk to her and see if it would be ok if we take you to watch the gymnastics team practice someday."

Angie clapped her hands together and looked between Grace and Kendra with hopeful eyes. "Can we go, pleeeeeeeeease?"

"If it's ok with your parents and okay with the coach we'll do it," Kendra promised.

"Mommy! Daddy! Can I go with Grace and Kendra," Angie squealed as she ran off in search of her parents.

From her perch in Kono's arms Angie studied Adam's neck. "Do you need another goat tattoo?" she asked. "Yours weared off."

"No," Adam chuckled. "I'm good."

The first one he had gotten at Angie's birthday party had required theatrical makeup to cover it for a series of important meetings.

Angie frowned. "Didn't you like your tattoo?"

"Yeah, Adam," Kono teased. "Didn't you like your goat tattoo? I think Felix is adorable."

"Me too," Angie agreed.

Adam wilted under the glare of their questioning eyes. "Ok," he sighed. "But this time it has to be somewhere my shirt will cover."

"Here, let me help you," Simon jumped up and offered Grandma Ang his arm after dinner when she was ready to move from the bench to one of the more comfortable cushioned chairs.

"Well, aren't you sweet?" Ang said as they made their way across the deck. "Kaitlyn told me you were in South America for most of the summer."

"Yes, ma'am. We were. My family is in the coffee business and my father wanted to go and learn about some interesting new blends they're developing in Brazil. We were very lucky to meet some growers who were willing to teach us how they do things."

"You can call me Grandma Ang," she said with a wink. "And I hope you didn't spend the whole summer working. Young people need to have some fun too."

"I definitely had fun." Simon held her arm until she was settled then took the chair beside hers. "We spent a lot of time at the beach and I even got to spend a few weeks working with Habitat Brazil helping build a new home for a family who lost theirs to a fire."

Kaitlyn joined them and sat in the chair on Ang's other side.

"You seem like a fine young man," Ang said. "There's only one other important question I need to ask you." Her eyes sparkled with mischief. "Do you like baseball?"

"I love it," Simon replied.

Ang's eyes narrowed. "Who's your favorite team?"

"The Angels," Simon admitted, then shared a glance with Kaitlyn who talked often of Ang's devotion to her beloved team. "But my favorite National League team is definitely the Cubs."

Ang barked a laugh. "I'll take it."

"What are you gonna do in that big house all alone once I leave for college?" Jacob asked his mother as they leaned against the railing watching Cody and DJ throw the ball for Cammie.

Jenna turned her head to look at him. "What brought that on?"

"I don't know." Jacob shrugged. "I've been thinking about it since we got back from Annapolis. In a few years both Kaitlyn and I will be gone and you'll be all alone."

His words caught the attention of his sister who was returning from a trip to the restroom. "Where are we going? Why is mom gonna be alone?"

"I mean when we're both at college," Jacob clarified. "Mom will be living all by herself."

"It's been a long time since you've lived by yourself," Kaitlyn said, suddenly sharing her youngest brother's concern.

"I've never lived by myself," Jenna admitted.

"Maybe you can live with Cody and Jess until I get out of college and then you can live with me," Kaitlyn suggested.

"Then when I graduate from college you can live with me some of the time too," Jacob offered.

Jenna reached out and hugged her two youngest. "You guys are very sweet but there's nothing to worry about. I'll be fine. When it comes time for you to leave the nest it'll be just like with Cody, Casey, and Dylan. I'll be sad to see you go but even more excited to see where life takes you."

"Ok." Jacob looked at her skeptically. "But if you change your mind just let us know."

"These cookies are yummy, Aunt Carrie," Angie said with a telltale ring of chocolate around her mouth.

"Thank you, gorgeous." Carrie booped her nose. "I made them myself."

John snorted. "By that you mean you squeezed the batter out of a little tube you bought in the grocery store and put it on a cookie sheet I'm pretty sure you didn't even know we owned until I told you."

"I had to turn the oven on," Carrie said as she adjusted her sunglasses. "So that means I get to call them homemade."

John barked a laugh. "Does it?"

Carrie picked Angie up and said, "Tell your Uncle John that just because he doesn't understand how baking works it doesn't mean he gets to ridicule my cookies."

Angie turned to John then back to Carrie. "Huh?"

"Tell him my cookies are good," Carrie whispered in her ear.

"Aunt Carrie's cookies are very, very yummy," Angie giggled.

"You win," John conceded. "By using a child. I hope you're happy."

Carrie kissed Angie's cheek then winked at her husband. "Whatever it takes."

"The potato salad was really good," DJ said as he sat eating a brownie with Elizabeth. "Just like it always is."

"Thank you, sweetheart." Elizabeth brushed a few crumbs from his shirt. "I'm glad you liked it."

"We're having a parents and grandparents day picnic later this year at school," he said. "All the kids in my class are gonna help make their favorite dishes at home then bring it in for everyone to share at a big picnic outside on the playground."

Elizabeth smiled. "That sounds like fun."

"Do you think maybe I could help you make potato salad and we could take that in?" DJ asked. "I think all the kids in my class and their parents and grandparents will love it as much as our family does."

Elizabeth smiled at the sincere look on his face. "I would love it if you help me make a batch and we share it with your friends from school and their families."

"Good." DJ wrapped her in a spontaneous hug. "I'll let you know as soon as I find out when we're doing it."

Kamekona flagged down Joseph as he exited the kitchen after putting away the last of the dinner leftovers. "Hey, can you settle an argument for us, bruh?"

"I'll try," Joseph said.

"I have been telling this fool that a grizzly bear would win every time in a fight with a wolf," Kamekona said, pointing at Chin.

"And I say that a wolf is too quick to get pinned down by a bear," Chin argued. "Also, they travel in packs so they would most likely have the numerical advantage."

"A bear's jaws could tear those wolves apart one by one," Kamekona insisted.

"There wouldn't be time," Chin countered. "Those wolves would be on him like … a pack of wolves. He wouldn't stand a chance."

"They've been going back and forth like this for," Leilani checked her watch. "Fifteen minutes."

"It's my fault," Esther said guiltily. "I mentioned a video I watched this morning about how the only animal an elephant is afraid of is a bee. And how some farmers keep elephants from coming into their fields and destroying their crops by putting hives of bees around the perimeter."

"It was an interesting video," Leilani said. "Who knew these two were gonna use it as a jumping off point to debate strange animal fight scenarios."

"Ladies, I happen to know that the dessert table is almost fully stocked." Joseph held out his arms. "What do you say we leave these two to it and go indulge our sweet tooths?"

Leilani and Esther jumped up immediately. "Best offer we've had all day."

"Another fantastic barbecue," Steve said as he and Catherine stood on the deck and watched everyone split into teams for volleyball. "You are amazing."

"It's a team effort, Commander." Catherine wrapped her arm around him. "I couldn't do it without you."

"Do you think any of them remember how good your mom is?" Steve asked as the teams began to take shape.

"I think it's etched in their memories forever."

He grinned. "What do you say we go down there and kick some butt."

"Perfect end to the day," Catherine said as she kissed his cheek.

"Catherine and I are on Elizabeth's team," Steve yelled as they stepped off the deck.

"Over my dead body," Danny called back.

THE END

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