Chapter 2

"Should we have brought a stroller?" Sam's dark eyes sparkled as she took in the sight of her friend staring in dismay at the distance they had to walk through to enter the mall.

Myah crinkled her nose in response. "No. But I wouldn't refuse the offer of a piggyback ride." Her legs had yet to recover from the morning's workout and she was thankful her purse was a backpack style, as she was pretty sure her arms were now completely useless.

"Come on." Grace linked her arm through Myah's right elbow and nodded to Sam to take the other.

"Aww," Mrs. Grover cooed from behind them. "You girls look like you should be in the Wizard of Oz."

"Mom…" Sam rolled her eyes.

"I love that movie." Grace said.

"You guys start skipping, you're really going to have to carry me." Myah said. The threesome giggled as they awkwardly weaved their way between parked cars, attempting to keep their arms linked up. Mrs. Grover followed behind, her cell phone up, attempting to capture the moment with her camera.

When they reached the entrance to the large outdoor mall, she pointed to a coffee shop on the corner. "Alright girls, I'm going to plant myself at one of those tables with my laptop. If you need anything at all let me know. Otherwise, make sure you check in with me around lunchtime. Have a fun time and behave yourselves."

"Okay mom."

"Thanks, Mrs. Grover!" Myah and Grace chorused.

Their first stop was a cute boutique with every available surface covered in jewelry and various accessories.

"This is cute." Grace held up a gold necklace with a charm in the shape of a bow. "So what'd you guys do this morning anyway, Myah? Why are you so extra sore?"

Myah sighed. "Burpees."

"Excuse me?" Sam exclaimed. "What is that?"

"It's a stupid name for a stupid exercise. Look it up on your phone because I physically cannot do one more to show you."

It took Sam only a second to pull up a video on her phone and she wrinkled her nose at the sight before showing Grace. "That does look hard."

"They are. We did seventy-five."

"Why? That seems extreme." Sam held a leopard print scarf headband up to her hair.

"It was sort of a punishment. I'm supposed to be in bed by ten and I was but when I got up to go to the bathroom, I got distracted talking to Nahele."

"So it's his fault." Sam declared, laughing. "And here you thought you had a cool brother. Seriously sometimes I think Will lives to get me in trouble."

"Well, he actually did take the blame," Myah clarified. "So technically he was the only one who was supposed to get punished. But I felt bad. It wasn't like he forced me to talk to him."

"So you took the punishment with him?" Grace asked. "I think that's sweet."

"Or crazy." Sam said. "I don't want to hear anymore complaining considering you didn't even have to do them."

Myah shrugged and pointed out a pin in the shape of an owl. She had regretted her decision about five reps into the punishment, but her heart warmed a little at the memory of the three of them sitting on the ground together at the end. She remembered again when Steve had told her she'd learn more about herself through hardship than comfort. She thought that might be true for other things as well. The workout had been miserable, but the experience had reminded her that Nahele would always protect her if he could. He had been willing to take the punishment on himself, not once indicating that she should share in it. Steve had joined in as well, completing every rep alongside them. He was strict and much more of a disciplinarian than her mom had been, but Myah felt he'd clearly demonstrated that it was out of love for them and not due to any sort of ego or vindictiveness.

"Hey look at these." Grace's voice broke through Myah's thoughts and she looked at the necklace rack that her friend was pointing to.

"Oh, pretty." Sam said, pulling one of the delicate chains off the rack. There was a tiny shell shaped charm with an initial on it. "Myah, here's an M. We could all get one, sort of like a… a friendship necklace."

"We should!" Myah said, inspired. "We should also find fake tattoos and take pictures. Uncle Danny was over last night and I told him we were going to get either tattoos or piercings to celebrate our friendship."

Grace snorted. "I bet he loved that. I'm in. Do you see a G?"

They made their purchases and outside the store stopped to put their necklaces on, with Sam laughing and helping Myah fasten hers, forgoing her plan of refusing sympathy in regards to Myah's sore muscles.

The next two hours were pleasantly spent, with the purchase of mango smoothies, trying on the most extravagant sequined dresses they could find and finally finding temporary skull and cross bone tattoos. They paused their adventure to sit on the edge of a large fountain to apply them to their ankles. Grace managed to snap a picture of all three ankles in one shot and giggling, sent it off to her father.

After checking in with Sam's mother, they headed to the food court where they decided to share a large order of nachos. They had finally found a table in the crowded area when Danny responded with: "You girls are directly responsible for my gray hair. Tell Myah she's supposed to be grounded."

Myah laughed before biting into a nacho. "So tonight we're supposed to talk about what we think the rules in our family should be. Or anything we think should be important in our family."

"Interesting." Sam delicately licked a spot of sour cream off of her thumb. "I never thought of having to do that, because we just sort of grew up with the rules. So you all get to pick? I can't see that happening."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure Uncle Steve… Dad gets the final word. But I'm trying to think of anything I should bring up. Which reminds me, Grace… what's this about you getting in a fight at school?"

"What?!" Grace squawked around a mouthful of cheese. "That was years ago."

"You were in a fight?" Sam asked, echoing Myah's disbelief.

"Yeah," Grace rolled her eyes. "Lucas… he was such a bully and kept making fun of my friend Katie. Calling her names, making fun of how she threw a basketball. She was about to cry and so… I punched him."

"High five." Myah held up her hand for Grace to slap. "Did you get in trouble?"

"Suspended from school for a week. Danno was really mad at first… I think he was just completely caught off guard that I got in trouble at school. I actually think Uncle Steve might have talked him out of grounding me for life."

"Really?" Myah asked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. You know they're like guidance counselors for each other."

"Well, I am definitely going to keep that in mind if I ever get into a fight at school. I'll just remind him that he was okay with Grace punching somebody in the face."

"I wish we were going to the same school." Sam said wistfully. Myah and Grace nodded in agreement. Grace attended a prestigious private school, Sam was in eighth grade at the public school and Myah would be a freshman in high school.

"You know if Grace transfers, then next year, we'd all be at the same school, right?" Myah suggested half-heartedly. She thought she'd give her right arm to be able to attend school with her friends.

"Yeah, right. Mom and Stan would never go for that. It's like a status thing with their friends." Grace rolled her eyes.

"Do you have different rules when you're at your dad's than when you're at your mom's?" Sam returned to the topic of family rules.

"Mmm, sort of. Stan has business associates over a lot, and they're very… proper. So I have to act a certain way around them. Completely different than when we all hang out at your house, Myah."

"Well, I can think of plenty of rules you should ask for." Sam smiled.

"Really?" Myah raised her eyebrows. "I don't really want a lot of-"

"No, these are good ones." Sam interrupted. "It's mandatory, you have to have at least one sleepover a week, at least while it's summer. You need an allowance. You need a later bedtime and curfew… Important stuff right?"

"I'm all for the sleepovers." Myah said. "He always gives me cash when I'm going out like this. I guess allowance would be nice. I feel funny asking for that though."

"Why?" Grace asked. "It's a normal thing."

"I just…" Myah felt her throat tighten a little. "I know that I'm adopted now and he's not going to get rid of me. I just don't want him to ever regret it. I don't want to ask for too much."

"Myah…" Grace scolded. "You've got to get past that. He loves you so much. He's your dad now. I thought you said that when he decided to keep you even after you took off on that hike, you wouldn't worry about that anymore."

"I don't, at least most of the time." Myah protested. "I really do believe it, like 95% of my brain does. There's just that stupid 5%."

"I'm sure that 5% will go away for good soon." Sam said reassuringly. "I know part of the hike story. Did you get in so much trouble for that?"

"Um… yeah." Myah glanced around to ensure no one was close enough to hear and leaned forward slightly. "I got whipped so hard I was pretty sure I'd never sit down again."

"Yeesh." Sam said, sympathetically. "I haven't been spanked since I was little. Mom threatens sometimes but that's it."

"I've never gotten it from mom, but I did get in big trouble with Danno two years ago when I rode home with another friend and didn't tell them." Grace said. "Mom and Stan were fighting a lot and I just didn't want to deal with it, so I got in the car with Maribell and her driver and went home with her. When Danno found out, he was mad, but more mad at mom and Stan I think." She shook her head sadly. "It's not like I want to do bad things, or go crazy or anything, but it's a lot of pressure. I feel like if I do anything wrong they'll go after each other and it's just not worth it."

Myah touched her friend's hand sympathetically. Grace hadn't spoken much about her feelings regarding her two households until that point but things were clearly not all hearts and flowers.

"You shouldn't have to worry about that." Sam shook her head.

"I'm sure they'd say the same thing, but it doesn't change the way it makes me feel." Grace responded.

The girls were distracted from their conversation when a slightly older teenage girl brushed by their table. She was carrying a purse and texting on a phone, as she wobbled along on ridiculously high heels, but what made her stand out were the two older women scurrying behind her. Myah guessed that they were probably her mother and grandmother based on their appearances. They were each carrying no less than a dozen large, overflowing shopping bags and panting with the exertion. They settled with apparent sighs of relief at the table adjacent to the girls, who couldn't help but listen as the teen began to berate the older women.

"Look I'm not going to walk around there looking like I'm homeless or something," she snapped. "I'm serious, mom, either get them to order my size in that color, or I'm just not going."

"Oh… honey," the woman began. "They said they didn't know if they could get it in time for the cruise…"

"I don't care what they said!" the girl snapped. "Who do they think they are?! Just make it happen! I'm sick of you guys!" She returned to texting on her phone, and Myah, Sam and Grace turned back to each other and tried to appear that they hadn't been listening in.

"Wow." Grace whispered. "I can't believe she's talking to her mom like that."

"Obviously spoiled." Sam shook her head. "My mom would smack me, and rightly so." She giggled softly. "I don't think Uncle Steve would go for that either, huh, Myah?"

Myah snorted and then shook her head. "It just makes me sad. I'd give anything to just talk to my mom one more time. But yeah, no, I'm pretty sure If I said something like that, it'd be the last thing I ever said. I would never want to be like that though."

Her friends nodded in agreement, and then stood to vacate the table, carefully throwing away their trash. Sam requested they find a store where she could purchase some lip gloss and they shortly found themselves in the large well-lit Sephora. Sam picked up a small tube of hand lotion. "Black cherry vanilla." she showed Myah and Grace. "Mom loves this scent. I'm going to get it for her as a little thank you for bringing us."

"That's sweet," Myah said, pleased with the idea. "I'll get her this candle to go with it." She held up a small candle of the same scent.

"I want to find something too!" Grace chimed in. She started to dig through the scented hand soaps.

"Grace! Myah! What are you guys doing here?"

Myah's heart sank a little at the sound of that voice. She looked up to see her old friend Lacey striding towards them. The last time she'd seen Lacey had been on a girls club hike and Myah had gone after some heirloom jewelry that Lacey had lost. Myah had delivered the ring, but hadn't gotten much of a thank you for her troubles, as Lacey was determined to hide the fact that she'd lost the jewelry from her parents. Other than a few brief texts, they hadn't spoken since.

"This is Kira." Lacey said proudly, motioning towards the petite girl next to her. Kira gave a small nod in greeting.

"This is Sam." Myah responded, trying to sound more engaging than she felt. "Sam this is Lacey. We knew each other back in Missouri, and she goes to the same school as Grace."

"Hi." Sam smiled politely, but glanced back at both Myah and Grace, clearly picking up on Myah's less than enthusiastic attitude. Lacey did not.

"They're offering free makeovers at the back counter! Come with us." She grabbed Myah's arm.

"I'm up for it." Sam said, obviously still trying to get a read on the situation. "If… you guys want to."

"Okay." Myah said finally.

"Sure." Grace seemed even less enthused, but turned to follow Lacey and Kira.

At the back counter, the attendant smiled and said that you have to be eighteen or with a parent to get the makeover.

"Are you kidding me?" Lacey muttered.

"It's our policy." the woman smiled. "I do, however, have some free samples you all are welcome to." She passed around a basket with samples of lotions, lip balms and perfumes.

Myah chose a perfume and thanked the saleswoman, who nodded and then moved to attend to some older women on the opposite side of the counter.

"Can you believe her?" Lacey glared over her shoulder. "It's discrimination."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Riiiight."

"It's okay, Lacey." Kira smiled. "We'll get what we need."

Myah watched in shock, as Kira picked up several bottles of foundation, and then setting them back, discreetly slipped one into her bag. She glanced up to see their shocked faces.

"Come on, guys. It's not our fault. If they won't give us the makeovers, it doesn't leave us a choice."

"Uh… yes it does." Myah said, incredulously.

"It's called paying for it." Sam muttered. She glanced around uncomfortably.

"Whatever you say." Kira rolled her eyes, and quickly slid several tubes of lipstick in her purse. "Bet you're real popular at school. There you go, Lacey." She nodded in approval as the taller blond girl carefully placed some sunglasses into her bag.

"Let's just go." Grace said softly.

Myah shook her head at Lacey and then quickly turned to follow Grace and Sam out of the store. They were in such a hurry to leave that they nearly walked out while holding the items they'd picked out for Mrs. Grover. An associate near the door gave them a pointed look and pointed at the registers. Now completely flustered they rushed over to pay. Myah was first in line and then stood waiting. The man at the register needed to double check the sale price on the lotion Sam had picked out and seemed to take forever. Myah felt her stomach clench as she picked up on what seemed to be increased movement from the associates around the store. She locked eyes with Grace, whose wide eyes indicated a growing concern as well. When two security guards entered the store Myah wasn't surprised. However, her breath caught when one of them deviated from the path that would have led him towards Kira and Lacey, and headed straight for them at the register. She heard Grace inhale sharply.

"Oh, my gosh…" Sam murmured.

He stopped right in front of them, started to speak and then turned slightly and they watched as Kira raced towards the exit. He didn't seem concerned and the sound of a noisy commotion that followed indicated that there had been more security waiting outside the store. "I'm going to need you ladies to come with me."

"We didn't take anything!" Sam burst out. "You can check our purses. We would never do that!"

Grace nodded emphatically. The guard eyed them. "You tried to leave the store without paying for those items."

"We were distracted." Myah said quickly. "As soon as we realized we came over here to pay."

"I'm still going to need you to come with me. I'll be calling your parents."

"My mom's here." Sam said quickly. "I'll call her."

"Tell her to meet us at the security office. It's on the backside of the mall."

"Yes, sir." Sam said. The three of them followed the officer out of the store and back to the security office. Myah tried to slow her breathing. Combat breathing, Steve called it. She glanced at Grace and saw her eyes had filled with tears.

"It's going to be okay," she whispered. "We didn't do anything, Grace."

"I don't know why you're friends with her." Grace answered back.

"I'm not anymore."

"I don't think she knows that."

They entered a dully painted back room and were seated in folding chairs. Moments later the door pushed open and Mrs. Grover rushed in. "Are you girls all right?"

Sam immediately rushed into her arms. "We didn't do anything, Mom, I promise. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Of course, baby." She let go of Sam and stepped into the side office to speak to the security officer.

"Are you girls willing to empty your purses and pockets?" He asked after speaking with Mrs. Grover.

They immediately complied. Myah had a terrible thought as they did, and when their purses revealed no unpaid for merchandise, tried hard not to look too relieved. It had occurred to her that Kira might have slipped something into one of their bags as she'd passed and that would have been a disaster that would have changed the course of events entirely. With no evidence for any wrongdoing the security officer took down their names and information, and informed them that their parents would be getting a call but that nothing would be going on record and they were free to go.

The girls were more than happy to comply when Mrs. Grover informed them that they'd all had enough excitement for the day and would be heading to the car. The sober trio was a far cry from the girls with clasped arms that skipped through the parking lot that morning. Once in the car, Sam held out the lotion. "We got some things for you, Mama. To thank you for driving us."

Myah leaned forward over the backseat. "Here's a candle to go with it."

"And scented hand sanitizer." Grace chimed in.

"Wow." Mrs. Grover eyed them. "That is really sweet of you… you're not trying to distract me from the fact that I had to come pick you up at the mall security office are you?"

"No." Sam sighed.

They were quiet for the rest of the ride. Upon Myah's request she dropped her off at the shrimp truck where Nahele worked. He had Steve's truck for the day and had texted that she could ride home with him. He only had about fifteen minutes left on his shift, and after waving to him, Myah climbed inside the truck, leaned her head against the door and closed her eyes. She felt very mentally and physically fatigued.

"Coconut water?" Nahele held the drink out to her when he pushed open the door and entered the truck. "What's wrong with you?"

Myah took the drink from him and sipped the sweet drink gratefully. "I'm just tired." She proceeded to fill Nahele in on the less than desirable events of the day.

Nahele slowly buckled his seat belt. "So they're still going to call dad?"

"Yeah. They're required to since we're minors."

Nahele clenched and unclenched his grip on the steering wheel. He pressed his lips together.

"Are you okay? You look like you're about to be sick."

"I'm… I'm fine. I just wish… I don't want you to be in too much trouble."

Myah stared at him in amazement. "Well I don't want to be in trouble either and I didn't do anything so I shouldn't be. Why are you freaking out though? You didn't freak out about having to do a million burpees this morning. Even if uncle… Dad is mad, it's going to be okay."

"I know…" Nahele tried to relax his shoulders. "It's just… this is legal trouble."

Myah didn't know what to say in response to him, but felt worse about the situation than she had before Nahele had joined her in the truck. When they pulled into the McGarrett driveway she tilted her head and noted the open front blinds, indicating Steve was already home.

"Dad's home early." she said softly.

Nahele exhaled slowly, clearly attempting to employ the same combat breathing that Myah had attempted earlier. She reached over and touched his arm. "It's going to be okay."

"I know." he said again, and swung his lanky frame out of the truck.

Steve was standing in the kitchen making coffee when they entered the kitchen and his gaze immediately turned to Myah. "Myah. Study." He noticed the expression on Nahele's face. "Are you alright?"

"Uh… yeah." Nahele gave a shaky nod.

"Alright." Steve gave him a searching look, clearly picking up on something more. "Give us the room."

Nahele hesitated only briefly, looking at Myah. Steve raised an eyebrow at him and Myah willed him to just go. As unfortunate as the situation was, she really didn't feel she had done anything wrong, but disobeying a direct instruction from Steve was not going to do anything to de-escalate the situation. Thankfully Nahele turned on his heel and headed for the stairs, giving Myah room to exit the kitchen and make her way into the study. She sat down at the small table and nervously tapped her feet. It was an incredibly long five minutes before Steve joined her. He was carrying a steaming cup of coffee and perched himself on the back of his desk looking down at her. The silence was unnerving and Myah finally spoke. "I guess the mall cop called you?"

Steve's eyebrow shot up. "You mean the mall security officer?"

Berating herself for the thoughtless use of the term, Myah immediately said, "Yes, yes, that's what I meant. I didn't mean to be disrespectful."

Steve eyed her for a long moment and then held up his phone. "I don't like getting these kinds of phone calls."

"I really don't want you to get them either." Myah said frankly. "But we honestly didn't do anything. I would never shoplift, I promise."

"I know." Steve's posture relaxed incrementally. "I know you wouldn't. Tell me what happened. The security officer said you guys were with some girls that actually were stealing."

"Well… we were looking for a little gift for Mrs. Grover to say thanks for driving us and we ran into Lacey. And her friend Kira."

Steve's expression darkened. "Lacey, huh." he muttered.

"We didn't plan it, it was totally random. They said that they were giving free makeovers at the back counter and we should go too. But it turned out you have to be eighteen or with a parent. Kira and Lacey were really mad and started slipping stuff in their purses. We tried to leave right away and almost forgot about the stuff we were getting for Mrs. Grover, and that's why we looked suspicious."

Steve sighed and eyed her. "Nice friends. You're lucky they didn't slip something into one of your purses."

"I know. I thought of that when they were searching our bags."

"So you think they're the kind of people that would do something like that?"

"Yeah…" Myah rolled her eyes. "I honestly wouldn't put it past them at all."

"So why would you hang out with them?"

Myah shifted uncomfortably. "I don't… we weren't really… well, we didn't intend to."

"When they asked you to go with them to get makeovers, you couldn't say no?"

Feeling stuck, Myah said, "I guess we could have. I should have."

"You know my team is the best but I'm still in charge. That doesn't just mean giving orders. It means that if something goes wrong it's on me. It's my responsibility to make sure they have the information they need and strategies to follow to stay safe while working our cases. You understand?"

"Yes." Myah said softly.

"I'm not saying you're in charge but you are the one with the connection to Lacey, and if not for that, you guys wouldn't have even been in that situation, would you?"

Myah nodded, her mind drifting to her friends. Sam didn't know Lacey and had simply followed her lead. Grace had been clearly uncomfortable as soon as Lacey had made her presence known. Myah definitely owed them even more of an apology than she'd thought. She snapped back to the moment, realizing Steve's gaze was still locked onto her.

Myah felt a sinking feeling. "You're right. Am I in trouble then?"

Steve nodded. "Little bit. Every time you have gotten together with Lacey, things have gone south. Three strikes and she's out. In my opinion there shouldn't have been a third time."

Myah nodded slowly. "Are… are you going to whip me?"

Looking almost sympathetic, he asked, "Do you think I should?"

"I don't know." Myah shifted back and forth uncomfortably. She wished he wouldn't have asked her. She had initially been confident that she hadn't done anything wrong but was now feeling a pretty overwhelming sense of guilt about the situation she'd put Sam and Grace in. "Maybe. I don't want you to."

He nodded. "I don't either. But actions have consequences kid, and you're lucky things went your way today. Come here."

Myah poked her lower lip out at him but his expression did not change.

"It won't be like last time. You'll survive."

Resigned to her fate, she slowly stood and followed him behind the desk to his office chair. She didn't resist him as he gently pulled her onto her belly over his knees. Trying not to panic at her position she murmured, "Too bad I didn't put my cargo pants on." The stiff material and heavy pockets would have provided some protection against his hard right hand. And while she believed him when he said this wasn't going to be as severe a spanking as when she'd taken off in the woods alone, she still knew it wasn't going to be fun.

"You try that with me, you'll regret it, kid," Steve warned.

From her position bent over his lap, Myah awkwardly looked back at him, guessing what he meant and completely horrified at the thought.

Steve didn't give her anymore time to think about it and his hand connected firmly with the right side of her bottom.

"Ow!" she gasped. She knew it was going to hurt but it still caught her off guard. Steve made short work of the job and Myah had to grab his ankle with one hand and the chair leg with the other to keep from twisting off his lap. Or at least attempting to. She knew from experience that she wouldn't get far.

Myah didn't take the time to count but Steve probably delivered around fifteen swats before gently pulling her into a sitting position onto his lap. Myah winced when sitting on her tender backside but didn't move away, instead curling her body against his chest.

"You going to survive?"

"Yeah," Myah muttered. "I'm still sore from those stupid burpees."

Steve actually laughed. "I forgot about that. Getting a spankin' was actually probably a good thing for your sore muscles then."

"No," Myah looked at him incredulously. "Never a good thing."

"Would you rather read a book or listen to a podcast?"

"I don't know, why?"

"There's a guy I know, a retired army ranger that's put out some really good material on leadership, and I want you to either read his book or listen to his podcast. You can either write or present to me what you learn. I'd recommend the podcast."

"Okay." Myah responded.

"I know today was not an easy position to be in. And when I asked, the security officer told me you girls were very respectful, which I was glad to hear."

Myah nodded and then hugged him tightly, burying her face into his neck. She felt like she'd been on an emotional rollercoaster and he was her safe place. She sighed after standing up, but shot him a grin. "I don't know why I like you so much. You're always mean to me."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Right. Why don't you go let your brother know you're still alive."

"Okay. I'll walk in like this." Myah took a few steps with her hands shielding her backside along with an exaggerated limp.

"You saying I didn't do a thorough enough job? We can start where we left off…"

"Uh…no. No thank you." Myah quickly straightened up. "Are we still having a family meeting?" She made the quotes sign with her fingers when saying the words family meeting.

"Yeah. I've got some work to do right now, so at dinner. Can you two make stir fry?"

"Nahele can. I'll make the rice." Myah was very aware of how much his skills in the kitchen outweighed her own.

Steve looked at her knowingly. "You're not going to get better at it unless you practice."

"I know." Myah slowly made her way up the steps, cursing their two story residence. She knocked on Nahele's closed door, and hearing his voice entered. He was laying on his back looking at his phone. His head turned to look at her.

"I'm supposed to let you know I'm still alive and we're making stir fry for dinner."

Nahele swung his legs over the side of his bed and sat up. "Okay. You okay?"

"Yeah. He wasn't too mad although I definitely owe Grace and Sam an apology. It's my fault we were even in that situation. Dad's got a podcast for me to listen to that I'm assuming will help me learn to make better decisions in the future."

Nahele eyed her closely. She shifted uncomfortably.

"And…"

"And I got a little spankin' for not making a better decision today, and I would like you to know that if not for your stupid burpees this morning, it really wouldn't have been bad."

Nahele's mouth quirked.

"It's not funny."

"Only you, seriously."

All seemed to be right in the world at that point, and after some convincing, Myah agreed to shoot baskets with Nahele until they had to make dinner. She also took time to send her friends a text with a heartfelt apology for putting them in the situation that day, and asked Sam to pass her message along to her mother. Both girls responded graciously, and Sam said that it had added a little excitement to their day. After adding the ingredients to the rice cooker, Myah dutifully began chopping up peppers and carrots, while Nahele kept the onions to himself. Steve stayed in his study, busy with phone calls, his voice keeping to a low tone.

They were all ready for dinner by the time it was ready and Steve complimented Nahele on the seasoning.

"Guess I picked up a few things from Kamekona." he grinned.

They finally sat down at the table with bowls of rice and the steak and vegetable stir fry that had been concocted."So," Steve said, smiling. "This meeting will now come to order."

Author's note: Thank you so much for the response to the first chapter. I'm excited to continue. Let me know what you think and I'm curious what you guys imagine the McGarrett family rules to be. Have a great week everyone.