Guardian
A/N:
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and make no money doing this. I'm just having fun playing with them.
Chapter 59
"Alright, you kids take your drinks outside and go play. I'm going to get the pork chops into the marinade so they have plenty of time to soak before dinner." Beth started shooing everyone out of the kitchen.
"Can I help?" Steve asked as the others did as they were told.
"Yes. You can go play with Grace. Now shoo." She gave him a one armed hug before swatting at him. "I'll be out in a bit."
"Okay. I'm going." Steve knew better than to try and argue with her.
"Come on Daddy." Grace called to him. "We're going to have a sand castle competition. You're on my team."
"Who are we building against?" Steve asked as he followed Grace closer to the water.
"It's you, me, and Grandma against Chin, Cath, and Kono. We'll make Danno and Grandma Williams judge them later."
"What are the rules?" Chin asked as he sat down with his team mates several feet away.
"We have 30 minutes to build. Castles will be judged on creativity and structural integrity." Grace declared, making Steve smile. She reached for his wrists, pushing buttons on his watch. "Time starts now." She pushed the button to start the timer.
By the time Beth came out, the two groups only had about five minutes left. Steve gave her a rushed explanation before turning his attention back to their project. Beth just smiled and took a seat where she could watch both teams work.
"What'd I …"
"Ssshhh." All six contestants hushed Danny when he appeared.
"Have a seat son." Beth patted the ground next to her. "Best I can tell we'll be judging the results sometime in the next few minutes."
"The what?" Danny sat down next to his mother.
"Judging by what they're up to, I'd say a sand castle building competition. Steve didn't exactly elaborate when I came out." The pair watched the frantic activity as the final moments wound down. When Steve's watch beeped, everyone froze.
"Time's up." Grace squealed. "Danno. Grandma. You guys have to decide which one you like best." Grace instructed them. "You're looking at how creative they are and the overall structural integrity."
Danny gave Steve a playful glare. "First she's properly fortifying things. Now she's concerned with structural integrity. What's next?"
"Don't tempt him, Danny. You know he'll come up with something." Chin smacked Danny on the shoulder.
The six builders sat back giving the judges room to look at their masterpieces. Then Danny and his mom huddled off to the side, conferring on their decision.
"I believe we have a tie. While we think this one," he pointed to Chin, Catherine, and Kono's castle, "was the more creative one, there is no doubt that this one would be most likely to survive a monsoon."
"Cheater." Steve reached out and grabbed Danny, pulling him into his lap. "You just didn't want to play favorites."
"That might have factored into the decision too." He gave his partner a quick kiss. "Now give me your phone and I'll take the pictures with you guys and your creations."
Steve forked over the device before gathering Dianne and Grace close next to their castle. "Everybody smile." Danny snapped their picture, one of the other group, then stepped back so he could fit them all into a shot.
"Would you like me to get a shot of all of you together?" A feminine voice called from the corner of the house. "I knocked, but nobody answered so I thought I'd check the most likely place." The tall Hawaiian woman kicked her sandals off on the lanai before heading toward them.
"Alyssa! I'm sorry I must have lost track of time." Steve apologized. "Let me introduce you."
"You didn't lose track of time, I just got here about 20 minutes early. I hope I'm not interrupting." She apologized.
"Not at all." Steve gave her a quick hug.
"Why don't I get that picture first and then you can do introductions." She reached her hand out to take the phone from Danny. Still processing that his partner's painter friend was quite the beauty, Danny almost dropped the phone.
Everyone gathered around the sand castles, Danny and Beth in between the two, and smiled for a couple of quick shots. Handing the phone back to Steve, Alyssa turned to Grace.
"You must be Ms. Grace." She squatted down to eye level. "I can't wait to see what you want me to paint for you."
The little girl gave her a huge smile. "I am. It's nice to meet you."
"And you must be the one that is finally taking Steve McGarrett off the market." She turned to Danny. "I'm sure you'll hear hearts breaking across the island as women find out he's settling down." Alyssa teased. It was easy to tell that he was feeling a bit ruffled with her arrival. She'd have to clue him in that anyone that knew Steve at all would be able to tell he had eyes for no one but his partner.
She grinned as Steve slipped his arm around Danny, pulling him to stand at his side. Alyssa couldn't suppress her smile at how obvious their body language was. No wonder she kept hearing talk that they were secretly married.
"Yes. This is Danny." Steve's eyes fell briefly on his partner. "And this is the rest of the ohana. This is Danny's mom, Beth, and Rachel's mom, Dianne. And this is the rest of Five-0, Chin and Kono, and you've met Cath before."
"It's lovely to meet you all." Alyssa waved at them all.
"Why don't we go show you your canvas?" Steve asked.
"Let's go." Alyssa held her hand out to Grace. "You want to lead the way?" The little girl took her hand, and turned for the house, her fathers following behind them.
Still not over the revelation that Steve's painter friend, whom he appeared to have a history with, was so attractive, Danny was prepared to sulk a bit. Having no choice but to follow along, he chanced a glance up at Steve, expecting to find him watching Alyssa. Instead he found him staring back down at him, brows furrowed in confusion.
Leaning down, Steve nuzzled Danny's ear. "What's wrong?"
Danny felt the SEAL's hand caressing his side. "Nothing. I was just being stupid." The fact that Steve was so entirely focused on him despite Alyssa's presence was enough of a clue to relieve his concerns. Some part of his brain acknowledged that he was going to have to get a grip on himself if he was ever going to let the SEAL out in public again. Women weren't particularly subtle about their appreciation.
"Okay." Steve grinned as they climbed the stairs toward Grace's bedroom. Before following them into the room, the SEAL pulled Danny to a stop, capturing his lips for a brief kiss.
By the time they made it into the room Grace was already showing the paint colors they'd chosen and some of the inspirational pictures they had pulled together for the room.
"So this wall is for me?" Alyssa eyed the wall, stepping to the other side of the room to get a good look at the lighting and her full work surface. "Any specific animals that you absolutely must have?"
"Dolphins. The first time I got to pet one was because Daddy sent Danno and I to a fancy hotel for a weekend where I got to swim with the dolphins." Grace explained to Alyssa.
"You told her about that?" Steve whispered to Danny.
"Not initially, but it did come up." The detective confessed. "I couldn't take credit for something so nice when you were the one to do it."
"It would have been fine with me."
"All the more reason why I couldn't do it. If you'd been an ass about it I wouldn't have minded taking credit." The pair watched as Grace and Alyssa talked animals. Alyssa pulled an album full of pictures of her paintings out of her small bag so Grace could point out things she did or didn't like. Before long it was clear that the two would get along very well.
"It will make for a few long days, but I bet I can have it done in under a week. I should be able to start by next Wednesday." Alyssa told them as she put the album back in her bag. "Grace, would you like to help me when you aren't at school? I can always use a good assistant."
"Really? That would be awesome." The little girl could barely contain her excitement. "Is that okay?" She looked to her fathers for permission.
"Of course. It will make the room even more special to know you helped with it." Danny didn't hesitate to answer.
"Perfect. I'll call you Tuesday evening and let you know if everything is on track to start. You will have the base layers up by then, right?"
"Yes, ma'am." Steve laughed. We're going to start Sunday after we get Ms. Bradley to the airport and we'll get the second coat up Monday."
The four headed down the stairs so Alyssa could head out and the men could see what they needed to do for dinner.
/ GUARDIAN /
Grace safely tucked in for bed, all the adults were back in the living room. It was getting late, and everyone was starting to wind down.
"I think it's time we call it a night." Kono yawned. She and Catherine both rose from their spots on the couch.
"Before you guys go, we'd like to talk to you about something." Danny's voice made Catherine and Kono pause and sit back down. "I called Mrs. Jones earlier to set up time to meet with her and the school's director first thing Monday morning. She emailed us the emergency contact form so we could update it."
"While we certainly hope there is not a time when the school is unable to reach both Danny and me, we thought it best to make the list as comprehensive as possible. Mary has already consented to being added, and we would like to include each of you as well. It gives the school the best possible list of people to reach should anything happen, and also provides consent for any of you to pick her up should the need arise."
"But I'm …"
"On a Navy ship a good portion of the time? Yes. We know that, but we still want to include you for when you are here. Given the circumstances, Mrs. Jones has assured us that only people on this will list will be permitted to take Grace. While we know some of you," he looked to Dianne, "will not often be in a position to do so, we feel it is important that the list is complete."
"In that case, I'm in." Catherine didn't argue further.
"Are you sure?" Dianne asked. She hadn't forgotten how badly things had started when she arrived on the island.
"Yes. First, over the last several days you have demonstrated how much you care about your granddaughter. While we know it won't be the same as having her there or having you here all the time, we do look forward to seeing you more often. Second, you're a smart woman. Even if you did get a crazy idea, you're bound to realize how incredibly stupid trying to take her would be." Danny chuckled with his last statement, hoping he knew that he was joking, though if she ever turned on them she'd have no way to save herself.
"Believe me, I have no desire to cross this family. I do however hope to visit more often, at least twice a year if all goes well." She admitted.
"And we'll be happy to have you stay here when you do." Steve offered.
"And if for any reason you can't stay here, you are always welcome at our place." Beth seconded the offer.
"Thank you." Dianne clasped Beth's hand, giving the other woman a genuine smile. She'd been very surprised at how well they got along when she stopped being such a horrid snob.
"Okay. We have that settled. I assume the rest of you have no objections to being placed on the form?" Steve asked.
"None at all son." Beth confirmed.
"Quit asking stupid questions." Kono climbed back out of the couch, giving both men a hug. "I'm too tired for stupid questions."
"If you're so tired, I'll drive." Catherine grabbed the keys from Kono's hand. "Dianne, do you want us to drop you off?"
"That would be lovely." The older woman accepted the offer.
"We'll see you tomorrow, brah." Chin patted McGarrett on the shoulder before leaning in closer. "You still want to do the thing?"
Steve nodded. "We're meeting Dr. James at ten, so we should be in good shape for lunch."
"I'll wrangle Cath and Kono and we'll meet you there." Chin confirmed.
"Mahalo." Steve nodded as Chin headed for the door.
When it was just Steve, Danny, and Beth left in the room, Danny gave him a suspicious look. "What exactly is the thing?"
"It's a surprise Daniel. I promise you will like it."
"Does it involve guns or explosions?"
"No." Steve answered indignantly.
"Does it involve strenuous physical activity?"
"No. There will be a very short walk, but it is easy terrain and will take less than ten minutes. I promise, no one in the group will have a problem with it." The SEAL replied with dramatic sigh.
"Okay. Then I will let you surprise us. But I warn you. If anyone gets injured …" Danny didn't bother finishing his threat. Instead he turned to give his mother a hug and a kiss good night.
"You boys sleep well." Beth came to give Steve a hug before heading up to her room.
Checking the locks, Steve grabbed Danny's hand. "Come on Danno. Let's get some sleep. I don't know about you, but I'm tired." Danny yawned, but followed behind the SEAL.
/ GUARDIAN /
A/N: Okay, this is the part in the story where I give you all a little assignment :)
The interview with Five-0 will eventually get its own chapter, though I'm still deciding exactly how I'm going to handle it. I have some questions already in mind, but your assignment is to either leave review or send me a PM with the questions you'd like to see them get asked. Keep in mind, they have veto power on questions, so if you try to cross the line they'll shut you down. Although, if you do I might be forced to write in a scene where they review the questions and have some fun with the less appropriate ones. I'll let you guys decide how brave you want to get. Feel free to submit more than one question per person.
Of course, regular reviews are welcome too.