Sammy and Ilna, love you guys to the moon.

REAL McRollers and Readers, thank you, always!


Pizza Theory

"That's a pretty watch." Angie stood on her tiptoes to see what her father was holding. "What time'sit, Daddy?"

"It's fifteen twenty-two," Her father said and bent to show her the watch face.

"That means it's twenty two minutes after three o'clock." DJ's statement caused Steve to smile proudly.

"Good job, buddy."

"Thanks! I've been practicing with Grandpa." The nine year old returned his daddy's smile.

"How come the numbers are like that?" Angie asked, focusing on the analog watch. She was far more familiar with digital time displays.

"It's another way to tell time, an older way," her brother supplied. "Right, Daddy?"

Catherine chuckled at Steve's expression. "Definitely an older way. But everyone needs to know how to use what we call an analog watch. This one has lots of numbers because it shows the 24 hour clock. That's what we used in the Navy."

"It's pretty," Angie stated again about the Luminox Carbonox Quartz Men's Watch. It had blue visuals on a black band. "It's a secret present, right?"

"Right, so we can't tell Dylan before graduation." DJ bubbled. "It's an awesome watch, just like Daddy's. I think Dylan's gonna love it."

"I think he will," Catherine said with a smile. "It will need to be stored with his other civvy items for plebe summer, but he can wear it when classes begin in the fall."

"When he's in school for the navy academy!"

"Right, baby girl, when he's at the academy." Steve replaced the watch in its box and passed it to Catherine when his phone rang.

"McGarrett," he began and a few seconds later, he was kissing everyone goodbye as he dialed his partner. "Danny, Whitman's asking for us - said he's ready to talk. Meet me at HQ."


"...and he knew what time fifteen twenty-two was," Steve told Danny as they walked upstairs from interrogation at HQ.

"Of course he did. Osmosis again." Danny grinned. "And Dylan's gonna love the watch." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed as they reached the office doors. "I know Jenna's proud enough to explode, but Annapolis seems like it's across the universe when it's your kid going that far. Nonna told her Dylan is welcome anytime there's a break, even if he's signing up with a sponsor family."

"Of course she did," Steve smiled at the thought of Nonna. "I know that makes Jenna, and Dylan for that matter, feel good with him being so far from home."

"Grace got him a gift card for the Midshipmen Store."

"That's a great idea. Gracie always gives the best gifts."

"And she's channeling Nonna. She arranged for antipasto stuff to be delivered once he's in the dorm. Someplace Caherine suggested."

"Graul's." Steve said immediately. They'd reached his office and he sat down to write up the confession report from the arms' dealer's lackey. "People dream about their food when they're deployed."

"How'd..." Danny shook his head. "Nevermind. Of course you know it. McGarrett Rollins monobrain."

Steve grinned and looked across to a framed photo on his desk. It was him, Catherine and Cammie standing in front of a tent on the camping trip where she'd ordered cupcakes shipped all the way from the store. "Cath made Dylan a list of the best places to eat on liberty."

"That's Catherine. Are any of your haunts still standing?"

"A few. There's a place called Mangia's that's been there forever. New owners, same family, from what Catherine said." He logged off after submitting the report. "Thinking about it, I'm gonna stop for a pizza to bring home."

"Sounds good." Danny checked his watch. "We're definitely doing take out. Grace is bringing some of Kendra's stuff home later. I'm going to put it in the garage over summer break."

The partners headed towards the parking lot. After saying goodbye to Danny, Steve hit the speed dial and waited for the call to connect.

"Hey, we're done. Feel like pizza? I'll grab one."

"Sure. Especially since the kids always feel like pizza. I'll make a salad." He could hear the chuckle before her next words, "Did you get a craving during the guys' statement?"

"Danny was telling me Gracie's ordering stuff for Dylan from Graul's and he asked if some of the places we went to were still around. I thought of…"

"Mangia's," she read his thoughts. "One sausage and one pepperoni?"

He grinned, recalling a memory. "Copy that, Lieutenant, see you in half an hour."


Mangia's Restaurant, Winter 1999

"One pepperoni and one sausage," Catherine told the waitress at the counter.

When the girl leaned a little closer to Steve than was necessary, she stifled a smirk at this usual obliviousness. "For here or to go?"

"To go," Steve said with a nod and the girl smiled.

"It'll be about twenty minutes." She stepped back towards the kitchen.

Turning to Catheirne, he faux-grimaced. "Twenty minutes? Who's idea was this again?"

She patted his chest. "That would be yours, sailor. How many times did you write how you wanted Mangia's pizza on leave?" She lowered her voice. "And once we get to the room there's not a high probability that's gonna happen since they don't deliver."

He sighed and kissed her softly. "Shoulda did Pizza Hut."

"You can get that anywhere. This is our favorite. And two pizzas will last till tomorrow. There's a fridge, right?"

He nodded distractedly when she leaned into his side. Tugging her closer, he rested his chin against her hair and breathed her in. It had been months and he was lucky to grab the three days leave. As they spoke softly, he could feel her warmth, even through the pea coat she wore. When the bell at the counter dinged, he realized the order was up.

"That was fast," he noted, passing cash over to the still smiling waitress who Catherine noticed was wearing fresh lip gloss.

"I put a rush on it for you." She beamed at him. "And here's some extra plates and stuff." She placed a bag on top of the two boxes. "You come back soon, ya hear?"

He politely thanked her but his attention never left Catherine. She took the bag and they made their way out of the pizzeria and began the block walk to his hotel.


Steve's eyes followed her naked form when Catherine reached for the last slice of sausage pizza. "You want it?" She asked, but his gaze wasn't on her face and she giggled. "Steve?" She took a bite and held out the rest of the slice. They were sitting on the bed, finishing the first pizza.

"No, you eat it." He smirked. "Your theory that pepperoni pizza is better cold than the sausage…"

"Is absolutely correct." Her eyes sparkled with challenge but when her laugh broke through her attempt at a serious expression he thought how much he'd missed hearing that laugh in person.

"This isn't hot anymore," he pointed out. They hadn't gotten to the pizza before several very enthusiastic romps.

"But it's not refrigerator cold. Pepperoni is better cold than sausage. And now we have it for breakfast and we don't have to leave the room. I maintain my theory." She finished the slice and looked him in the eyes as she licked her lips.

"And … I'm done eating." He shifted them until he was hovering above her.

"Someday you'll agree with my pepperoni pizza theory," she murmured with another giggle, while across the room the pepperoni pizza sat in the refrigerator, ready for breakfast.

Leaning down for a kiss, Steve grinned just before their lips met. "I already do."


Present

When Steve arrived home with dinner, the family was already outside at the deck table waiting as Cammie trotted to greet him.

"We made salad, Daddy!" Angie announced as he placed the boxes on the table.

"Looks great, you guys." He pecked Catherine's lips after kissing the kids hello.

"I got two pizzas, so who wants sausage and who wants pepperoni?"

When both kids grabbed a slice of pepperoni, he shared a look with Catherine as they each took a sausage slice and began to eat.

"Since there's two pizzas we can have leftovers for lunch tomorrow," DJ pointed out.

"Yay!" Angie said with a grin. Her next words made both parents smile. "Mommy, Daddy, did you know … pepperoni pizza's very yummy for breakfast?"

# End. Thanks for reading!


Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll

Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com

You can join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with: Add me, please! in the subject line. Or just drop us a line to say hi! We love hearing from our readers.

And find me on Twitter asking your opinions on all things McRoll in the REAL World! at Mari21763 and add #REALMcRoller