Guardian
A/N: I can't guarantee that I'll keep getting chapters out every few days, but I am aiming for at least one a week. If you've read Guardian: Love Explored (the adult scenes from this fic), I did post another one there that gives the extended ending to Chapter 50. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and make no money doing this. I'm just having fun playing with them.
Chapter 51
Judging by the faint light coming from the window, Steve had been staring at his sleeping partner for at least a half hour. Fortunately, the smaller man had slept through his abrupt waking from a new nightmare. The vivid images of Danny's screamed accusations of trapping him on this pineapple infested hell-hole persisted in playing on a loop in his head.
Unfortunately, the last 30 minutes hadn't done anything to calm these new concerns. Things had moved so fast over the last week that he hadn't thought to take a step back and ask Danny if staying here was what he really wanted. It didn't matter that his partner hadn't implied any interest in going back to Jersey. It didn't even matter that Danny's parents were moving to the island. Steve remember all too well the energy Danny spent loudly claiming that Rachel having Grace here was the only reason he stayed in Hawaii, and he was so worried about her right now that it wouldn't immediately dawn on him that he was free to leave.
Giving up on the idea of sleeping, the Seal slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb his still sleeping partner. Not really in the mood to workout yet, he threw on his running clothes anyway. Maybe after Grace woke up the two of them could go for a short run. For now, he just needed to get out of the room.
Ducking out of the room, he crossed to Grace's room and opened the door just enough to peek inside. The sight of the little girl curled up with her Aunt Mary, both still sound asleep, made him smile. It was great to see the two growing even closer. Backing away and shutting the door, he headed down the stairs. He was almost to the kitchen before he registered the scent of freshly brewed coffee in the air.
"Morning son." Beth greeted him before he could consider whether he was ready to face someone else.
"Mornin'." Steve busied himself getting a cup of the coffee and wiping down the already clean counter before sitting on one of the stools across from Danny's mother.
"Not going for your swim this morning?" While she waited a few moments to ask, he could see a hint of surprise on her face.
"Grace mentioned wanting to start running the other day. I thought I'd see if she'd like to go out for a short run later."
She gave him an approving smile. "It's wonderful that you encourage her with things like that. It's never too early to build those habits, and I'm sure she'll love sharing that with you."
"I hope so." Sitting across the island from the man she now claimed as her son, Beth could see something was bothering him. Danny was right, his face made him easy to read if you paid attention and he wasn't keeping his 'I'm a bad ass SEAL' mask on. She'd been pleased to notice that when at home he let it slip more and more. Grabbing the coffee pot and refilling both of their cups she decided to try to get him to open up to her.
"Steve?" He immediately looked up at her, "What's bothering you son?"
He met her eyes for a brief moment before returning his gaze to the coffee cup and frowning.
"Don't tell me nothing. I may not have given birth to you, but as the mom in residence I can tell when something is wrong." She kept her voice firm, but still full of love.
Shoulders sagging, he had the good graces to appear slightly embarrassed at his attempt not to answer.
"I'm worried that Danny's gonna blame me for being stuck here. He's always made it very clear that Grace was the reason he came, the reason he stayed." Before she could reassure him, he continued. "There's nothing stopping him from going now."
Placing her hand over his much larger one, she managed to stop him. "My dear boy, it's been a long time since Grace was the only thing keeping him here. For him, home is with you now."
"But I'd go with him. For him, for Grace, I'd go anywhere they wanted. I'd move to Jersey in a heartbeat to make them happy."
Beth was taken a bit by surprise with how ready he was to give up everything for her son and granddaughter.
"Not to mention that his father and I are moving out here now." Before she could say more, she saw a slightly movement in the doorway. Danny held his finger up, telling her not to announce his presence as he quietly slunk into the room and pulled up the stool next to Steve. Seeing the two would work out Steve's concerns, Beth handed Danny a cup of coffee before slipping out.
"I suppose it's too much to hope that you missed all that."
"Is that why I found you in the kitchen with mom instead of still in our bed or out swimming with your aquatic brethren? Where did this sudden concern even come from?" Something about the look in Danny's eyes gave it away. "You had a nightmare. Why didn't you wake me up? We could have talked about it."
Steve took a deep breath, bracing himself for Danny's reaction to his answer. "Because I was afraid it would be true."
The detective reached a hand out and squeezed the Seal's forearm. "Babe, I don't want to go back to Jersey." Steve turned to face him, a look of total shock on his face. "Listen to me, yes I miss the pizza and the weather, but family was always the biggest reason I missed Jersey." Reaching up, he held McGarrett's face, forcing him to meet his eyes. "My family is all here or spread out now and I don't just mean my parents. Between you and the rest of the lunatics we call ohana, this place is home now. We're not going anywhere; not that I'd argue if there were a few less pineapples running around. Besides, Grace would hate me if I took her away from the warm ocean." Reaching forward, he placed a gentle kiss on the Seal's lips. "I do love you for being willing to go, but you would seriously hate living in Jersey. I can't imagine taking you away from here."
"You're sure?" Steve asked on last time. "I've had to adapt to plenty of places being in the Navy. I could do it."
"Yes babe. I'm 110% sure." Danny laughed. "I have no doubt you would do it for us, but I also know that's that the right thing for any of us."
Pivoting on his stool, Steve faced his partner with his full body. Grasping the shorter man's hips, he tugged him off the stool and firmly between his long legs.
Before Danny could argue about being manhandled, Steve captured his lips. The kiss was rough and possessive as Steve's arms wrapped around his partner, one securely around his lower back and the other holding the blond head. Recovering from this abrupt attack, Danny responded quickly, wrapping his own arms around Steve's neck as the nestled his body closer. When the kiss broke, they were both breathing heavily, eyes alight.
After a moment, they'd both calmed their breathing, but Danny remained trapped by Steve's arm when they heard footsteps approaching. Rather than release his partner, the Seal simply pivoted them around, turning Danny so his back rested against Steve's chest.
"Mornin'" Steve greeted Mary and Grace as they entered, Beth right behind them. Her eyes shifted from Steve to Danny, silently assessing if they had resolved things or if she needed to find a way to get them more time alone. Seeing Steve much more relaxed and both of them smiling, she decided things must be okay.
Grace managed to maneuver so she was sitting on the Seal's lap with Danno pulled close to her. Steve's arms wrapped around them both, his eyes closing briefly at the feel of his family in his arms.
"Daddy, did you skip you workout?" An accusatory voice interrupted the hug. "You haven't had time to change and you aren't wet or sweaty."
"I thought I might take it a bit easy this morning. Believe it or not I don't do crazy workouts every morning."
"So what, you're only going to run up half a mountain today instead of a whole one?" Danny quipped. Steve lowered his hand and made the smaller man help when he pinched his backside. "Hey!" Everyone laughed at his indignant tone.
"No. We talked the other day about Grace wanting to run. I thought before we went and bought her new running shoes, I might take her out for an easy run and see if she enjoys it." He looked to the little girl. "What do you think?"
"I'll go change." She hopped off his lap and ran upstairs before anyone could say anything else.
"Looks like she approves of the plan." Danny grinned at him. "You two have fun."
"What? No mile long list of restrictions and warnings?" Steve looked slightly surprised.
"Nope. She's your daughter too. I trust you to take good care of her." Reaching up on his toes, Danny gave his partner a quick kiss to help wipe the look of surprise off his face. "Maybe while you two are off working up a sweat, the three of us can manage to wrangle breakfast."
"I think we might be able to do that." Mary laughed. "You better go lace up your shoes before she gets back down here and leaves you behind." She shooed her brother out of the kitchen.
A few moments later, the three heard the door close behind Grace and Steve.
"I take it he's feeling better now." Beth commented to her son.
"Yes. Neanderthal had a nightmare. That's what brought it up." His shoulder sunk a bit. "I guess I can't blame him for thinking about it though, I may have stopped being quite so vocal about wanting to go back to Jersey, but I never told him I had changed my mind."
Mary didn't say a word during their conversation, busying herself instead with getting ingredients out to fix omelets. She could fill in the blanks well enough though, and was glad that Steve wasn't stuck still worrying. He seemed so content with Grace and Danny here, she hated the idea of him losing the family he'd built.
"How long do you think they'll be out?" She finally spoke up seeing that the other discussion seemed to have died down.
"Can't imagine they'll be gone more than a half an hour. Knowing him he'll be making sure she warms up, cools down, and stretches, but he won't push for any real distance today."
"This coming from the man that accuses him of swimming to the mainland." Mary rolled her eyes at him.
"He may be reckless and extreme when it's just him, but you know how protective he is of Grace. Plus, I can tell he really wants her to enjoy it, so he'll make it as easy a start as possible.
/ GUARDIAN /
"You feel warm enough to try a short run?" They'd been walking for about five minutes, so Steve guessed she would be about ready.
"Yes."
"Okay. Let's aim for that red car up the road." He pointed to a vehicle about a tenth of a mile ahead. "Once we get there you decide if you want to go further or stop. Like I said earlier, we'll start off mixing up running and walking, and eventually the walking will just get squished out." Grace giggled at his word choice before she took of running.
They didn't speak while running, but Steve fell into an easy pace next to her. He wasn't surprised at all when they passed the red car without slowing. They'd gone for roughly three minutes when Grace finally slowed to a walk.
"Way to go, Gracie!" Steve gave her a high five as they walked. "That's an impressive start."
She had a huge smile on her face as she looked up at him. "This is fun." She was breathing a bit heavier than usual, but loved the feeling of pushing herself. She'd definitely picked up some of the Williams and McGarrett competitive streaks.
"Ready to go again?" Steve asked after a couple of minutes. He watched as she looked ahead of them.
"Black truck." She pointed before taking off.
The Seal took off after her, quickly spotting her assigned target a ways in front of them. By the time they made it back to the house, both were sporting huge smiles and shirts full of sweat.
"I'd say that was a pretty impressive first run, Gracie. What do you say we go clean up and see what they fixed to eat?"
Rounding the corner, they found Mary, Beth, and Danny carrying trays of food and drinks out to the lanai. "We thought you two might be hungry by the time you got back, so we'd eat out here where you won't stink up the kitchen." Danny teased.
"You are a god among men." Steve gave him a quick kiss, stealing a piece of melon off the tray in his hands.
Recounting their run around bites of food, everyone was properly impressed with Grace's tenacity.
"Think we should go get some new shoes after you two clean up?"
"Really?" Grace's voice was full of excitement. "Can we please?"
"Of course. We probably need to restock the kitchen too." Steve couldn't help the grin that was plastered on his face at her excitement about another thing they could share. Maybe they'd even get Danny out more often with Grace running.
"Why don't we divide and conquer. Mom and I can cover groceries, and you three can handle shoes." Danny's suggestion was met with easy agreement from everyone. Less than an hour later, breakfast dishes were cleaned, Steve and Grace were no longer covered in sweat, and they five split off into Steve's truck and the camaro to knock out the errands.
/ GUARDIAN /
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