Sammy and Ilna, love you guys.
REAL McRollers and Readers thank you for all the wonderful feedback.
I'm a wee bit early because it's actually on Wednesday but HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMMY! Love you to the moon!
Really Coming Together
"Ready to go?" Joseph asked and placed a hand on DJ's shoulder.
"Yeah, thanks again, Grandpa," he grinned up at him excitedly.
"My pleasure." Joseph turned to Catherine, who was smiling at them both. "Don't worry about us for lunch, we'll get something after our mission."
"Aye, aye," she said. "Have fun. Both of you."
"We will." DJ hugged her before moving to his grandfather's side. "Bye, Mommy."
"Dad?" She asked, "You're sure you don't want my Amex?"
"Don't be silly, sweetheart, buying my grandson his costume is a treat for me." As Catherine chuckled, he grinned at his pun and led DJ out the door.
DJ exited the makeshift dressing room at the store in a pair of pants and matching shirt. "These are them!"
"Perfect," Joseph said. "And they fit perfectly.
"You think it'll be a surprise?"
"I absolutely do. And it's a great idea."
"I got it from Angie's idea. When she said she wanted to dress up like Daddy and be Five 0, she gave me an idea for my costume."
"And I bet somebody is going to be very surprised." His grandfather winked at the beaming little boy. "We'll take the gear, too," he said to the store's owner.
"And very flattered," the man, who knew Steve, Catherine and the kids, held up a bag with accessories. "Can't forget these."
"Ohhh cool!" DJ looked at each one he took out of the bag reverently. "Thanks again."
"My pleasure. Good to see you, DJ, and to meet you, Captain."
"It's Joseph, please." He extended his gand and they shook while DJ ran into the changing room to put his regular clothes and T-shirt back on. "You just made his Halloween that much better."
"Your costume is really coming together. One more stop," Joseph said as he pulled into a spot in the familiar lot.
"My costume's gonna be so great. I wanted it to be as real as possible and it totally is. Thanks, Grandpa." They walked towards the building that had Officers' Club above the door.
"You're absolutely welcome. I'm happy you asked me to help." He gave the boy's shoulder a little squeeze. "What are you thinking for lunch?"
"Hmmm, I think the crispy chicken sandwich and fries."
"Sounds perfect." Joseph took the hand his grandson held out and the two continued on toward the O Club.
They'd just been served and DJ took a bite of his sandwich, when the door opened and a man about Steve's age entered and came to their table.
"Hey, Captain Rollins," he offered and Joseph shook his hand. "And you're DJ. Hi, I'm Brian Ward, your dad knows me as Rowdy."
The nine-year-old shook the man's hand with a smile. "Nice to meet you, Sir. You know my daddy?"
"I was on a few missions with him." Brian nodded. "Different team though." He grinned. "I know your mom, too. Great NI officer. She saved my butt once in Syria."
DJ beamed. "Mommy's super smart. Daddy always says she was the best intelligence officer in the whole Navy."
Brian chuckled. "Definitely. And I have something for you. I hear you're putting together a special costume and want to surprise your dad." He reached into a pocket. "Here you go."
DJ gave a little gasp of excitement as the smiling man held out his palm, in the center of which sat a US Navy SEAL Trident. "Wow. A real one, thank you. I'll take super good care of it, I promise."
Brian chuckled. "I know you will, but that one's yours. Now you can keep your costume a surprise since don't have to ask your dad to borrow one."
"Really? Wow." He repeated. "Thanks so much."
"No problem. Your grandfather and I volunteer together and when he gave me a call and asked to help with your secret special project I was all in. Besides, it's not easy to surprise Steve McGarrett, so make sure you take a picture of his face when he sees your costume."
"I will!" DJ studied the trident for a moment before passing it to Joseph. "Will you keep it for me, Grandpa, with the rest of my costume? I don't wanna accidentally lose it."
Joseph pocketed the trident and nodded. "Brian, thanks again. Join us for lunch?"
"Yeah, please?" DJ pointed to the empty chair. "
"I'm free until dinner, my wife and son are out getting costumes for us." He shook his head. "She's a drama teacher at Kukui so she goes all out."
"Cool, what's your costumes?"
"Monsters, Inc. JJ, he's three, is Mike, Toni is Roz and I'm Sullivan." He glanced at Joseph. "That means a blue tshirt and blue pants with some polka dots on them. I can live with that."
"You sound like my daddy," DJ said. "He always says no criminals, no wigs and he definitely has to have pants."
"That's as good a rule as I've ever heard." He waved the young server over and indicated he would have a chicken strip sandwich like DJ's. "Now, how about I tell you a story about how your mom got us intel that saved two teams. Your dad's and mine."
Hearing about something his parents did from another perspective had DJ intrigued. Not to mention it was from when his daddy was on the teams. "That'd be really cool."
The nine year old took a bite of his sandwich and listened with rapt attention. He was more excited than ever and couldn't wait to surprise his father with his costume. He leaned forward so he wouldn't miss a word as the man who'd given him the last and most authentic piece he needed to dress not only as a SEAL, but as his daddy when he was on the teams.
Brian smiled, took a sip of water and began with, "So, we were in Syria, and were after a pretty bad guy…"
# End thanks for reading
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