AN's in chapter 1
San Pan Frisco Here We Come (2/2)
"Do you want to grab a cab back to the hotel?" Steve asked as he and Catherine strolled hand in hand through Chinatown.
She smiled. "I think I'd rather walk. It'll help work off some of the extra dumplings the waitress kept bringing us. McGarrettitis followed us to the mainland."
He laughed. "She had to have been close to eighty years old."
"Probably." She squeezed his hand. "But when you talked to her in Mandarin she giggled like a schoolgirl."
They'd spent a good part of their Saturday afternoon strolling leisurely through the back alleys of one of San Francisco's most iconic neighborhoods, exploring the markets and taking time to sample ingredients they'd never tried before.
They spent close to an hour in the Red Blossom Tea Company picking just the right blends for Elizabeth, Leah, and Jenna and arranged for them to be shipped back to Hawaii.
They ended up eating at a small, out of the way family restaurant where the food was delicious and plentiful and the staff was very taken with the attractive couple, but Steve especially.
"Are you ready for your speech to the travel professionals' convention?" He asked as they headed back towards Fisherman's Wharf. "That's coming up this week, isn't it?"
Catherine nodded. "It starts Monday but my presentation isn't until Thursday. I think I've got everything ready to go. Instead of a slide show or a PowerPoint, I've rented some busses and we're actually going to take them out and show them some of the less touristy parts of Oahu their clients might enjoy seeing."
"That sounds like a good idea. Everybody loves a field trip. Especially people who deal with travel for a living." He smiled. "If not, they're in the wrong business."
"We're hoping this will help increase traffic for some areas and attractions that get overlooked too often by tour companies and travel agents," Catherine explained. "Tara, Marliyah, Cody, and I have been studying up for weeks and we're ready to make our pitch."
"I'm sure you'll do great," Steve said confidently.
"Has Cody talked to you about it," Catherine asked. "It's his first big presentation and I think he's a little nervous."
"He hasn't mentioned anything the last few times we talked," Steve said. "But I think that's because he's had something else big on his mind."
"Is everything ok?" Catherine's tone was concerned. "He hasn't said anything to me about any problems."
Steve's eyes sparkled. "It's not a problem exactly. Now that he and Jess are both out of school and working in their fields he's thinking about what the next step in their relationship is."
"Ooooooh!" Catherine did a happy little skip. "This is exciting."
"Slow down," Steve cautioned her playfully. "There's nothing to report at this time. He's just trying to figure out where his life goes next. Don't start planning any kind of celebration yet.
"I won't jump the gun," Catherine promised. "But still … so exciting!"
They walked a short distance in silence before Steve stopped and turned to her with a bemused expression. "Can you believe someone is actually coming to me for romantic advice? That's something no one would have ever predicted."
"It doesn't surprise me at all." Catherine wrapped an arm around his waist. "He couldn't have picked a better person."
After a sunset catamaran cruise on the bay during which they discussed various beautiful sunsets they'd seen together over the years, they returned to the hotel for a goodnight call to the kids.
When the FaceTime connected they could tell immediately that something looked very different.
"What's going on there?" Catherine asked her mother who, even in a tight shot, it was apparent was crouching for some reason.
"I'm holding down this corner of the fort while your father secures the center pole to the ceiling," Elizabeth replied as though it was an everyday occurrence.
Before Catherine could ask any more questions DJ's beaming face appeared on the screen. "We're building a super big fort! It takes up almost the whole living room!"
"That sounds like fun, buddy," Steve said enthusiastically.
DJ's excitement practically burst off the screen. "Grandma Ang sewed some sheets together so we could make the biggest fort ever!"
"The biggest one ever?" Catherine smiled. "That's awesome. Are you having fun?"
"So much fun." DJ flung his arms open wide to make his point. "Angie is in the kitchen helping Grandma Ang make snacks. I'll go get her," he said as he darted out of camera range.
"Looks like the Happy Funtime Express had added a construction company," Catherine teased her mother.
Elizabeth waved her off unapologetically. "What's a little spackle to fix the holes in the walls where we put the anchors compared to all this fun?"
Steve barked a laugh. "It's anchored to the walls and ceiling?"
Elizabeth beamed as Angie ran onto view and plopped in her lap. "Go big or go home I always say."
"Hi, Mommy. Hi, Daddy. Are you havin' fun in San Pan Frisco?"
"We are," Catherine said. "Are you having fun with Grandma and Grandpa and Grandma Ang?"
"Yes!" Angie threw her arms in the air. "We camping and guess what else we did?"
"What?" Steve asked.
Angie's eyes sparkled. "We made cookies."
Catherine chuckled. "I would have bet on that."
As they ate breakfast at a small restaurant Sunday morning with seating that looked out over the bay Catherine took a deep contented sigh and said, "This has been nice."
Steve nodded in agreement. "I love every minute we spend with the kids, and our friends and family, but it's nice to spend some time with just the two of us once in a while."
Catherine reached across the table and took his hand. "To reconnect."
He smiled softly. "I prefer to think of it as a recharge."
She looked at him quizzically and he continued.
"I always feel connected to you. Every minute of every day. So I don't need to reconnect." He struggled to find the words to express what he was thinking. "It's like the battery in the Impala. I can't ignore it for a long stretch of time or it will lose all its power. I have to take it out and drive it regularly to keep it in peak working condition. Give it a regular recharge. Just to keep it in good working order."
"So our relationship is like a car battery?" Catherine teased.
Steve chuckled. "Not every metaphor is poetry."
"It sounds like poetry to me." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I agree, recharge is a much better term."
"It's not like we can do this all the time, especially with the holidays coming up," Steve said. "But we should definitely make plans to do it more often."
"I've been thinking it would be nice to go to Japan for a few days," Catherine said. "I haven't been there in a long time."
"Let's plan something for the first of the year," Steve suggested.
"Sounds good."
They stared out over the water in quiet contentment until their food arrived.
"For the record," Catherine said as they prepared to dig in, "You recharge me every day. Even if it's only half an hour after the kids have gone to bed or a quick lunch at the shrimp truck between meetings. Every minute I spend with you re-energizes me."
Steve smiled softly. "Right back at ya, Lieutenant."
THE END
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