Guardian
A/N: Slightly shorter chapter than normal in an effort to prevent some travel from causing too much of a delay.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and make no money doing this. I'm just having fun playing with them.
Chapter 6
Nearly two hours later the living room floor was scattered with pages pulled from magazines and paint sample cards; while the remnants of dinner sat on the coffee table. Chin and Kono were both impressed that the boss's normal OCD tendency to keep things neat and orderly seemed to have abandoned him.
Steve and Grace had thrown themselves into the process of sorting through the ideas. To them, the apparently chaos was an organizational system. There were the rejects, the maybes, and the running favorites each careful spread so you could see which ideas had already been reviewed when a similar one came up.
Sitting on the floor, his back leaned against the couch and the little girl perched on his lap reclining against his chest, they flipped through another magazine together.
"Gracie, do you not like the color pink?" He pointed toward the reject pile full of everything pink they'd come across.
"Not really. I like all those colors more." She pointed to the other sets of piles full of purples, blues, reds, yellows, greens, and oranges.
The Seal was surprised given that her room at Rachel's had been covered in pink. He'd always assumed she'd helped pick it out. Maybe her tastes had just changed over the last couple of years. Thinking back, he realized she never picked anything pink when she was with any of the team.
Before he could make any other comment, she continued. "Mommy and Step-Stan were so convinced that every girl loved pink, so they always bought all kinds of pink things for me. They always seemed so happy when they gave them to me that I just went along. I didn't want them to fight because of me."
Chin and Kono stared silently at the pair, waiting to see if there would be any fallout from the first mention of either Stan or Rachel since they'd found Grace. They also all mentally filed the piece information about them fighting away.
Wrapping his arms tightly around her, Steve's mind raced to come up with something to say. "It was very sweet of you to be so nice about accepting the things they gave you, but I'm sure they would have picked other colors had they known."
Her shrug and rather unconvinced, "Maybe," did little to convince the adults that she believed that. They all wondered about what things had really been like for Grace with her mother and stepfather. It was clear to everybody that she preferred her time with Danno and the Five-0 ohana, but she'd always been careful not to mention anything bad about the parents she spent the majority of her time with.
The quietness of the room was interrupted by Steve's cell phone ringing from the island. Kono jumped up to grab it so he and Grace didn't have to move.
"McGarrett's phone, this is Kono."
"Why are you answering Steve's phone? Is Grace okay? Is he okay?" Danny fired of the questions without breathing. His heart couldn't take more bad news.
"Relax, Danny. They're nice and comfy in the living room. I answered so they didn't have to move. Here's Steve."
She handed the phone off to the boss. "Danno, take a breath. We're just hanging out at home sorting through every possible bedroom idea that existed on the island, thanks to Kono."
"Let me guess, babe, it won't be pink." From the tone of his voice, Steve guessed that Danny had talked to Rachel about the color to no avail.
Putting the phone on speaker, the Seal smirked. "Nope, we were thinking more of a military helicopter theme. I bet I can get some really good pictures for the walls. Maybe even some spare pieces to mount around the room."
"You are not turning Grace's room in to some… some… shrine to the Army." Hearing him get keyed up for a long rant, everyone in the room fell into a fit of laughter.
"Danno, its Navy not Army." The little girl managed to choke out between laughs. Even knowing he was joking, she loved to correct him every time she made the mistake.
"Am I on speaker phone? You set me up!" The detective sounded indignant, though Steve could hear a hint of laughter in his voice. He could readily imagine that the sound of his daughter's laughter was something his partner loved to hear, need to hear, even if it was at his expense.
"Just a bit. Don't worry Danno, there aren't any helicopters in the ranks of possibilities yet, though that could change before you get back."
Before the detective could respond, Chin interrupted. "Hate to break this party up, but Kono and I are going to head home and get some sleep. One of us will be at the airport, Danny, so look for our cars. It okay if we come back around about lunchtime tomorrow? We'll bring the food." The pair had scouted out the kitchen earlier and decided they'd need to stock the boss's place a bit better given all the time everyone would likely be spending there in the coming days.
"Yeah, that'd be good." Steve gave them a nod as Grace stood to give them both a hug. While she was occupied, he took the phone off speaker and spoke quietly. "I'll give you a call later if I can."
Danny was grateful. He wanted to know more about how his baby girl was, but couldn't dare ask anything that might upset her. For now, he'd settle for an update on how the evening was going.
As the cousins headed out, the little girl reclaimed her spot on Steve's lap and he shifted the phone back to speaker.
"How was your flight?" The Seal asked the obvious question.
"Boring, but I'll be happy when I get home. Aside from helicopters, what are you thinking about for your room, Monkey?" He was more than willing to talk about home décor forever if she was enjoying it.
"We've got lots of options, Danno. We're waiting to narrow it down until you get home." She looked over the options spread around them. "Aunt Kono found some ideas with dolphins and fish, they look really neat."
"You mean being on an island surrounded by water and unknown sea creatures isn't enough?" He joked.
"Trust me, Danno. You have to see the pictures. They are awesome!" Both men could already tell there was a high likelihood that they'd be buying all kinds of marine life décor in the near future.
The detective thought the amount of time she spent with Super Seal clearly impacted her growing love of the ocean and its occupants. He'd lost count of the number of times he heard Steve answering her questions and showing her new things. For someone that lacked patience with some people, he'd spend hours explaining things to her as if there were nothing he'd rather be doing.
Personally, Danny preferred to be on dry land, but it never failed to make his heart melt when he watched his beloved daughter and partner get excited over their latest aquatic adventure.
"Gracie, is it starting to hurt again?" She'd reached to grab one of the magazines and he noticed her wince. You're about due for another dose."
She met his eyes and then looked at the phone, not wanting to worry Danno when she knew he would already be upset that he wasn't here.
"It's okay. It's not that bad." Her face didn't match her words and Steve nodded in understanding, though he suspect Danny would catch on too. He gave himself a mental kick for asking while they were still one the phone.
"Gracie, if it hurts you need to take the meds, Monkey. We don't want you to be in pain." Despite the joking tone of the call to this point, his heart broke that his baby was in pain, he hadn't been there to prevent it, and he wasn't there to help fix it yet.
"Why don't I go grab them and some juice while you talk to Danno some more?" Steve wanted her to feel better and wanted to give his partner a chance to speak to his daughter alone.
Gracie nodded and shifted to sit beside him as he handed her the phone. He quickly rose, grabbed the remnants of dinner, and headed toward the kitchen.
As he cleaned up, he listened to her quiet voice in the other room, reassuring Danno that she would be okay until he got home.
"It's okay, Danno. You'll be home soon and Da… Steve is taking great care of me. Kono, Chin, and Kamekona too."
He caught her almost slip again. Outside Rachel's house Sunday, he thought he was just hearing things. He was starting to be convinced this wasn't just his imagination and wishful thinking.
He was going to have to ask Danny about that when he got home, although he was unsure exactly how to bring it up or what to say. Admittedly, a very large part of him wished that she would call him Daddy, that the three of them were really a family. Of course, admitting the latter part of that to anyone other than himself might be a challenge.
Hearing Grace's footsteps coming toward the kitchen, he quickly finished cleaning up and grabbed a carton of juice and a cup to set on the island.
"Okay Danno, I'll tell him. Love you. We'll see you in the morning." She set the phone on the island in front of her and accepted the pain medicine and juice from Steve.
"Danno said to call him when you have time to talk." She looked up at him. "I think he meant after I'm asleep."
The Seal chuckled as he mussed her hair. "One day, Gracie, you are going to make an excellent detective."
/
Take a moment and review. I really appreciate every one of them. It is always nice to know people are enjoying the story.