Chapter 3

"Battleship, Bubble Bath and Bedtime"

Chin was a very observant man and no matter what his cousin Kono said, he knew she liked Nate McGarrett. When Danny opted to forego the plans they all had for dinner that night to be with Grace, Chin decided he might be a little sneaky… just this once.

He arranged to finish up the paperwork on the Tarella case, so Steve and Danny could get out of the office to pick up their respective eight year old girls. His generous offer would prevent him from leaving with Kono and Nate as planned, but it would allow his cousin to spend some time alone with the youngest McGarrett.

"Hey, coz," Kono said, standing in the doorway to his office. "Are you ready? Nate's here."

Chin looked up from his stack of papers. "Ah…you know what, I'm going to be stuck here for about another hour."

"We can wait," Nate said from behind Kono.

She rolled her eyes.

Chin saw his cousin's eye movement and added, "Why don't you guys go on without me and I'll catch up with you. Kono, you can take Nate to get some shave ice. I'm sure a certain friend of ours would love to meet him."

Kono turned, looking up at Nate and asked hopefully, "Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Nate replied. Kono lost herself for a moment in his blue eyes until he continued, "But it's really not a problem to wait."

She turned away frustrated, not fully understanding why she felt that way, but Chin saved the day.

"No, really, go enjoy yourselves, there's no sense in the two of you sticking around here," he said. "I'll be there before you know it."

"Okay," Nate replied.

"Great," Kono agreed. You don't have to tell me twice, she thought.

Smiling to himself, Chin leaned back in his chair and watched them leave, discussing whose car they were going to take. No one would suspect Chin Ho Kelly of playing matchmaker, but then his father always said, "It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for."

* * * * * * H50 * * * * * *

After the day Steve endured, making dinner was not an option. Natalie was more than thrilled when he suggested getting a pizza. He asked if she liked pineapple and she informed him that she did like it.

While they ate their pizza and played Battleship, Steve noticed Natalie's plate held a small collection of the sweet yellow fruit.

"I thought you liked pineapple on your pizza," he said.

"I like pineapple," she said chewing on a carrot stick, "but I like to pick it off and eat it when I'm done."

"Okay, that's fine," he said as he peered over his Battleship board. "J10."

"Miss…again," she replied with a mouthful of food.

"Are your pieces on the board?" he inquired. "And don't talk with your mouth full."

"Yes."

"Yes, to what?"

"My pieces."

"Then explain to me why I haven't hit one of your ships, yet."

"Daddy, I'm not cheating."

"Let me see your board."

"No," she said, putting a protective arm around her board, "that would be cheating." Steve leaned back in his chair frustrated. Natalie saw his look and continued, "Papa and I play this game a lot and he taught me all the tricks. He said you might get mad if I beat you."

"I'm not mad," he grumbled.

"Why do you have that funny face then?" she wondered.

"I think we need to do something else," he suggested.

"Can we watch a movie?"

"What movie?"

"The one I was watching earlier."

"The frying pan movie?

"It's called Tangled," she informed him, popping the last of her pineapple into her mouth.

"Yeah," he agreed, "let's do that."

"Do we get to have popcorn?"

"We just ate."

"Mommy always makes popcorn when we watch a movie."

"I'll make a little."

"Swimming in butter?" she asked, her eyes wide with delight.

Steve's brow furrowed. "Food should not swim in butter. It's not healthy."

"That's how mommy does it."

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not mommy," Steve said irritably, as he cleared the table.

"I noticed."

Of course she noticed, Steve thought. What doesn't she notice?

He went into the kitchen and set the dishes into the sink before he started the popcorn. Natalie followed him and watched as he poured the oil in a pot and placed a kernel of corn in it.

He glanced at the little girl. "What?" he asked.

Natalie's face was serious. "Are you missing mommy?"

He drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Earlier in the day when Danny had asked him about Alex he would not talk about it, but he could not ignore Natalie. "Does it show that much?" he asked, leaning up against the counter.

She nodded her head. "You've been a little grouchy, but that's not a bad thing. It means you love her."

Steve was not sure being grouchy was a sign that you loved someone, but to an eight year old he imagined it did. He decided he needed a few minutes to himself. "You know what, why don't you go and have a shower before the movie."

"I don't have showers. I take baths."

"Okay, go do that." Natalie opened her mouth to protest, but Steve held his hand up to stop her. "I'll show you how it works and get you a towel."

"Fine then," she said reluctantly, "but do you have any bubble bath?"

* * * * * * H50 * * * * * *

Kono hardly believed her good luck. Here she was alone with Nate. She almost thought Chin arranged this one on one time purposely, but she knew better. He would never do something like that. Not even for her. Right?

They arrived at Wailoa Shave Ice and parked Nate's silver Corvette on the street.

"Kamekona is a funny guy I'm sure you'll like him," Kono remarked to Nate, upon exiting the car.

He smiled in reply as they walked up to the window and were met by a rather large Hawaiian man.

"Hey, Kamekona," she said, flashing him a bright smile.

"Kono, where have you been?" he greeted her. "I haven't seen you in awhile. I thought you forgot about me." He looked at Nate. "Is this haole with you?"

"Yes, he is."

Kamekona leaned over the counter toward her. "Is this a date? Because I can fix you up with my new shave ice flavor, passion fruit," he said wiggling his left eyebrow up and down.

Kono laughed nervously. "No, no he's just a friend."

"Are you sure? I feel like I've seen him with you before."

"You've seen me with his brother."

"He has a twin?" Kamekona asked. "Are you cheating on him?" he said pointing to Nate, "or his twin?"

"No, this is Steve's younger brother."

"I didn't know McGarrett had a brother. Wait! You're cheating on McGarrett with his brother. You've got guts."

Kono rolled her eyes. "I'm not cheating on anyone because I'm not dating anyone."

"So wait," Kamekona said, "who is he again?"

Kono sighed in frustration, but Nate rescued her by making the introduction himself. "I'm Nate McGarrett. Steve is my brother."

Kamekona looked him over. "And who are you dating?"

"Um…no one," Nate answered.

"Problem solved. You two were made for each other. And I brought you together. Free shave ice for the happy couple."

Kono hoped her embarrassment did not show. She glanced at Nate to see his reaction, but he seemed unfazed. She wondered if anything or anyone ever got under his skin.

* * * * * * H50 * * * * * *

The aroma of Mrs. Williams' famous spaghetti sauce filled Danny's small apartment. Considering the events of the day, he had been ambitious and made his mother's sauce and meatballs. In his mind, there was nothing better than a homemade meal and your daughter sitting across the table from you to make things right.

Danny smiled as Grace attempted to twirl her spaghetti on her fork and bring it to her mouth. Half of the pasta fell back onto her plate and what did not make it into her mouth she was now wearing on her face.

"Hey, Monkey," Danny said, as he munched on a crunchy piece of garlic bread, "you have sauce on your chin." She attempted to wipe it off, but only succeeded in smearing it onto her cheek as well. "Here let me help you," he said.

Grace gave him a toothy grin as he wiped off the sauce. "Thanks, Danno."

"You're very welcome, Grace."

Danny sat back in his chair and watched as his daughter continued eating her dinner. He let out a deep contented sigh as a smile spread across his face.

Grace glanced up at him. "Daddy, are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

She shrugged as she tore apart her garlic bread and soaked up the remaining sauce on her plate. "Well, you keep hugging me and smiling at me. You're not sick or something are you?"

"Can't a father hug and smile at his daughter?"

"Yeah, but you're doing it a lot."

"That's just because…I love you."

She smiled. "I love you, too, Danno."

* * * * * * H50 * * * * * *

Steve lay on his bed with his arms folded across his chest as he listened to Natalie sing while she took her bath. He did not know the song, but he thought she had a nice voice.

Closing his eyes, he decided to give her a few more minutes before he interrupted her concert and told her it was time to get out of the tub.

His thoughts wandered to Alex. He wondered why she had not called yet. It was late in Virginia and by now she must be asleep. He toyed with the idea of calling her, but the thought was interrupted when his phone rang. It was his sister, Mary.

Steve sat up instantly and answered the phone, "Is everything alright?" he asked with concern.

"What is wrong with our family?" Mary replied, an edge in her voice. "Can't you say 'hello' or 'hey' and then ask me how I'm doing?"

Steve was relieved to hear the sarcasm in her voice. It meant she was okay. "I'm sorry, but you rarely call," Steve said, leaning forward and resting his left hand on his thigh.

"Well, you don't call either," she shot back. "We would probably win the award for the worst family ever."

"Aren't you exaggerating a little?"

"Whatever," she said rudely. "Look, the reason I'm calling you is…I need to know something."

"What is it you need to know?"

He heard her sigh into the phone. "This man left a message on my phone yesterday, claiming to be my little brother. It sounded like you, but I wasn't sure. I just wanted to know if it was you pulling a prank on me. Remember, like you used to when we were kids."

Steve laughed, reminiscing about how fun it was to pull pranks on Mary. "I didn't call you," he assured her. "That man you're talking about is probably Nate. He's here in Hawaii."

"What? And you're just telling me this now."

"I didn't know it was my responsibility to tell you when people drop in."

"I'm annoyed with you right now." She paused for a few moments. "So, do you think I should call him back?"

"Why wouldn't you call him back?"

"Um, I don't know," she said in a loud voice, "maybe it's a little weird because I haven't talked to him since…okay, the fact that I didn't expect a man's voice to belong to my little brother should tell you the last time I spoke to him. Weren't you there during our childhood? I pretended he didn't exist." She sighed deeply. "And, yet, he was always so nice to me."

"I think you should call him," Steve advised her.

"Daddy!" Natalie called from the bathroom. "What do you think of my song?"

"It's beautiful, sweetheart," he yelled back. "Are you done, yet?"

"No," she said and went back to her singing.

"What the heck was that?" Mary blurted out. "Who are you talking to?"

"Oh, that's Natalie," Steve told her.

"Like I know who Natalie is," she snapped at him.

"Natalie is an eight year old girl who belongs to Alex…my fiancé," he finished sheepishly. He pulled the phone away from his ear as his sister yelled something unintelligible.

"Wait," she laughed, after she collected herself, "this is a joke, right? You're not really getting married." When he did not respond, she added, "Are you?"

"I am."

"Oh, my, gosh, when did this happen? Where did this woman come from?"

"It's a long story, but I've known her for a long time."

"You never mentioned her to me when I was there."

"It's a long and complicated story," Steve said.

"Well, I have plenty of time to listen," she informed him.

That's when Steve realized he no longer heard Natalie singing. In fact, he heard nothing.

"Hey, Mary, I have to go," Steve said.

"Oh, sure you do. Our conversation was just getting interesting. I guess I'll have to come meet this woman for myself."

"No!" Steve said. His answer came out a little stronger than he intended.

"Why not?"

Steve looked over at the bathroom door anxiously. "Mary, I have to go. You can come to the wedding, but not before."

He ended the call before he heard Mary reply, "We'll see about that."

Standing up, Steve walked to the bathroom door and knocked. "Natty? Are you okay in there?" he asked. When no reply came he knocked again and called louder, "Natalie, are you alright?"

There was still no answer.

He held his breath and listened intently. No sound. He was going in. "Natalie," he yelled. "I'm coming in!" Bursting through the door, he heard a splash of water and saw Natalie's soaking wet head pop up from inside the tub.

"I'm Santa Claus!" she exclaimed.

Steve braced himself against the sink, allowing his pounding heart to return to its normal rhythm. "You're in trouble."

There Natalie sat in the tub, her hair slicked back from the water; wearing her bathing suit, goggles and a shaving cream beard.

"What did I do?" she cried innocently.

Steve took several deep breaths before answering. "Get. Out. Of. The tub."

"But-"

"Now," he ordered in a firm tone.

* * * * * * H50 * * * * * *

"I'm sorry about that," Kono said, taking a bite of her grape flavored ice.

"Don't worry about it," Nate replied. "Like you said, he's a funny guy."

Kono wondered if Nate thought Kamekona was funny because he said she and Nate were made for each other or if Nate really meant he was humorous.

"So, what are you doing about Danny's car?" she wondered.

"It's going to take a few days," Nate answered, picking at his ice, "but I'm going to get him a new one."

"Really? You can do that?"

"Getting people cars is what I do and Danny's a nice guy who's been really unfortunate in the past two weeks."

"That's really nice of you," Kono said with admiration. "What kind of car are you going to get him to drive in the meantime?"

"That's a surprise, but if you, Chin and Danny are free tomorrow night for dinner you can see what kind of car I picked out."

"You're going to make me wait?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I have it all planned out, but you'll want to dress up for the occasion. For a car like this you want to go somewhere fancy to show it off."

"Sounds like fun."

"What sounds like fun?" Chin questioned, coming up to them.

Drat! Kono thought. "Hey," she greeted him. "Nate is going to unveil the car he is loaning Danny tomorrow night. Are you free for dinner?"

"Sure, I'm free," Chin replied. "Where are we going?"

"There's a certain French restaurant that I've been to on occasion," Nate answered. "I think it's the perfect place."

"Is it the one on the water with the fountain in the courtyard?" Kono asked hopefully.

"That's the one," Nate confirmed.

"I've wanted to go there for so long, but it's so…" she stopped not wanting to explain further.

"It will be my gift to the three of you for taking such good care of my brother," Nate announced.

Chin smiled. "Thanks, Nate, but it goes both ways. He takes good care of us, too."

"Hey, brah," Kamekona called to Chin. "How've you been? Where've you been?"

"Busy," Chin replied.

"Too busy for me? I haven't seen Jersey boy or McGarrett here in a while either."

"Well, they have been pretty busy, too" Kono replied. "We just finished up a big case and Steve is engaged."

"Engaged in what?"

"Um…engaged as in he's getting married."

"Married? McGarrett? How come I haven't met this woman, yet?"

"She's actually away at the moment," Chin added.

"Well, I guess McGarrett knows better because after she sees this," Kamekona boasted, placing his hands on his chest, "he will pale in comparison."

Nate coughed, presumably choking on his shave ice and Kono nearly spewed her ice all over him.

Chin raised an eyebrow and said, "I'm sure you'll get to show off your wares when she gets back. I'll tell Steve you'd like to meet his fiancé."

"I can provide shave ice for his wedding. Tell him to give me a call and I'll give him a deal. Better yet, have him bring by the mystery woman so we can get to know each other," he smiled widely.

"I'll let Steve know you said that," Chin assured him as the big man ambled back to his business.

"Steve better watch out," Nate smirked. "It looks like he has some competition." The three shared a laugh.

A few moments later Nate's phone rang and after looking at the caller he ignored it. Kono noticed a veil fall over his bright blue eyes, blocking out the merriment that had been there only seconds before. He withdrew into himself and to her disappointment he seemed distracted and distant for the rest of the evening.

* * * * * * H50 * * * * * *

Steve was having a hard time believing anyone could survive being hit in the head with an iron frying pan, not once, but twice. Natalie seemed to think it was funny; perhaps he was too much of realist to understand the humor in it.

When the movie ended and he announced it was time for bed, she said she needed to wash off her buttery fingers. Then she asked for a glass of water. In between small sips, she gave him a commentary on the movie, which would have lasted until midnight if he had not intervened.

When it was time to go upstairs, Natalie decided to close her eyes and find her way to and up the stairs without seeing where she was going. Steve's patience was dwindling and he almost lost it when she took too many purposeful wrong turns and began heading back toward the kitchen.

"Natalie, up the stairs, now," he said firmly. She scurried up the stairs while he followed close behind.

Steve now leaned against the doorframe of the bathroom with his arms crossed, watching Natalie balance on a stool as she brushed her teeth. She looked at him in the mirror giving him a big foamy grin before she started to hum one of the songs from the movie. He was beginning to get the idea she did not want to go to bed.

"I think your teeth are clean enough," he told her.

Her response was lost in a mouthful of toothpaste bubbles.

"Natalie, spit and rinse, now," Steve ordered.

There was something in the tone of his voice when he said "now" that made her respond quickly. "Do you have any floss?" she asked.

"You're done for tonight."

"But I have to go to the bathroom."

"You have thirty seconds."

"I can't finish in thirty seconds. I have to wash my hands."

He looked at his watch. "You've used up five seconds arguing, you now have twenty-five."

She closed the door in one swift motion. Twenty-five seconds later, she opened it and came flying out of the bathroom and jumped onto his bed, wrapping herself in the blankets.

"This is my bed," Steve said. "Your bed is in the other room."

"I want to sleep here."

"I have my sister Mary's room fixed up for you."

Natalie pulled the covers over her head as he stepped toward the bed.

"Don't do this with me," Steve warned. He threw back the covers, but Natalie squealed and scooted toward the end of the mattress. This time he ripped the blankets completely off the bed. "Natalie Marie, get out of that bed!"

The use of her middle name along with her full first name caused her to snap to attention. "Daddy, I just got here," she whined. "I don't want to go to bed."

"You have school tomorrow, move it."

She stood up on the bed and held her arms out to him in surrender. "Will you carry me?" she asked with sad eyes and a little sniffle.

Steve was not sure it was wise to reward such behavior, but he gave into her nonetheless. He lifted up the small girl in his arms and brought her into Mary's room.

"Can we call mommy?" Natalie yawned as he tucked her in.

"No, I'm sure she's already asleep," he said with a measure of disappointment in his voice.

Natalie rubbed her eyes. "Will you sing to me?"

"Sing to you?"

"Mommy said you have a nice voice. And mommy always sings to me-"

He held up his hand. "I get the idea. What do I sing?"

"Whatever your mommy sang to you," she said, her sweet voice fading toward sleep.

He pushed her hair back from her face and stroked her cheek. She murmured something before her heavy eyelids closed. "Goodnight, Natty," he whispered as he kissed her forehead. "I love you."

* * * * * * H50 * * * * * *

Alex was feeling overwhelmed. Two days had come and gone and there was still so much to accomplish. She walked up the stairs to her room, her footsteps heavy with exhaustion. Collapsing on the bed, she looked at the cardboard boxes cluttering her room; some that were taped and labeled others half filled.

Alex glanced at the clock; it was almost three AM that would make it a little before nine PM in Hawaii. She realized she had not yet called Steve. He said he would be waiting.

Picking up her phone she selected his number and waited for him to answer.

"Hey," he said in a tired sounding voice. "I've been waiting for you, but shouldn't you be sleeping?"

She sighed. "I just fell into bed."

"At least we can be in bed together," he responded.

She could hear the smile in his voice and she rolled her eyes. "Is that all you think about?"

"It's been on my mind lately."

"How was your evening with Natty?"

"It was exhausting, but nice," he confessed. "What are you wearing?"

"What?"

"You heard me. What are you wearing?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"I definitely want to know now," he said with enthusiasm.

She ran a hand through her hair. "You might be disappointed."

"Try me."

"It's blue and soft and silky," she lied, looking down at her gray t-shirt and shorts. She heard him whistle quietly.

"I'm not going to be able to go to sleep now," he confessed.

"You're ridiculous," she chuckled. "I miss you."

"I'm sure I miss you more," he assured her.

"Of course you do," she yawned. "Well, seven o'clock will be here very soon. I should go."

"Alex…" he stopped, unable to continue.

She smiled knowing what he could not say. "I love you, too, Steve. Goodnight."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you to all the readers and reviewers.