A/N: So I thought we were going to get to McG's surprise at the beginning of this chapter, but … j/k it's there. I promise. Please don't kill me.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and make no money doing this. I'm just having fun playing with them.
Chapter 62
Turning off the main road, Steve could not keep the grin off his face as Danny sat in the passenger seat ranting.
"What part of I don't like surprises do you not understand you crazy Neanderthal? You promised you would tell us what was going on as soon as the therapy appointment was over. We left Dr. James's office half an hour ago, and yet we are no closer to knowing what in the world you have planned. I swear, if this is some hair-brained idea that gets us shot at, I will shoot you myself."
Grace's uncontrollable giggles from the back seat filled the cab of the truck. Steve gave his partner a sideways glance as he made another turn and could see the laughter in his eyes as he kept fussing about not knowing where they were going. Danny really didn't care where they were going at this point. He had absolute faith that whatever Steve had planned would be something fun and no doubt memorable for all involved, but his teasing rant had thrown Grace into such hysterical giggles that he couldn't resist keeping it up.
"For the tenth time Danno, if you'd stop talking so much and pay attention you might actually figure out what we're doing." McGarrett laughed as he talked over Danny. He knew exactly what Danny was doing. No doubt everyone in the truck, including Grace, knew what he was doing, but they were all having so much fun laughing that nobody would call him on it.
Pulling into a small parking overlooking a beautiful view of the island and ocean, Steve parked next to the two other cars that were already there.
"They all knew?" Danny turned on him. "I wasn't allowed to know, but they did?"
"Until this morning, only Chin knew. Kono and Cath just knew to keep their afternoon free, and Kamekona knew he was providing some food but not for what." Steve defended.
"Quit griping, Daniel. If my guess is right, Steven just arranged a picnic that will easily outdo any I've ever been on before. Don't ruin it." Beth reached up and tousled his hair just to annoy him further.
"Good call, Ma. I just need to make a quick call then we can head up to the spot." Steve jumped out of the truck and turned to help Dianne out. "Everything set?" He called to Chin as the man approached.
"It is ready and waiting for us, brah. Kamekona is on guard duty to make sure the food stays safe until we get there." Chin confirmed. Steve stepped off to the side to make a call and find out about getting Dianne that meeting with Stan.
"Hopefully he doesn't eat it all." Danny cracked as they lingered at the trail head waiting for McGarrett.
"Doubtful. Even the big guy couldn't demolish that much food that fast. We won't be going hungry today." Kono laughed.
"So how long are we going to be traipsing around the wilderness?" The detective asked as Steve joined him, the others just ahead following Chin.
Grabbing his partner's hand, Steve shook his head. "Less than ten minutes." Despite the laughter in his voice, Danny noticed a hint of something else in his eyes. Sensing that now wasn't the time to ask about it, the Jersey native settled for listening to the chatter from those ahead of them as they made their way up the trail. "Halawa is expecting one of us with Dianne before dinner. It crams a bit more into today than I'd planned, but I feel like that is at least a tiny bit of closure we can give her before she goes back." Steve had managed to brief Danny about Ms. Bradley's request before leaving the therapist's office.
"I hate to ask this, but can you take her? I'm not sure I'm ready to face off with him again yet. Plus, he's way more scared of you than he is me. The intimidation will do him good."
"Of course, Danno. When we're done here, we'll stop by the house to let you guys out and change clothes before we head over."
"Worried about looking good for Stan?" Danny teased, though he was curious about his partner's need to change for a visit to the prison.
"Not exactly." Steve replied stoically.
"Then what?" Danny pushed.
"Just taking every opportunity to impress upon him that, whether intentional or not, he is on the wrong side of some very dangerous people." Steve's tone was pure ice.
"I should find everything about what just come out of your mouth terrifying, instead I want to shove you up against the nearest tree and demonstrate just how not terrifying I found that." Danny practically growled as they continued along the path, glad that they were just far enough back from the others to keep the conversation private.
"You can show me later." Steve brought Danny's hands to his lips, eyes full of promise.
True to McGarrett's word, the trail was an easy one and they arrived at a large flat area perfect for a picnic, and Kono had not been kidding about the food.
"Look who finally decided to show up." Kamekona gave Grace a quick squeeze. "I hope you brought your appetite, sista." She nodded her head at him turning back to her dads.
"It's so pretty." Grace exclaimed as she ran toward the pair. "How did you find it?" She let Steve lift her into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck as he carried her closer to the edge. Still not sure what the deal was with this particular location, Danny followed right behind them, letting his hand rest on McGarrett's lower back when they stopped.
"My parents brought Mary and me up here once when I was fourteen. For about two hours, it was one of the best days I had ever had." He didn't elaborate on what happened after that.
"Monkey, why don't you go see what we've got for lunch." Danny smiled as she gave Steve a quick kiss on the cheek before sliding out of his arms. "You okay, babe?"
"Yeah. I guess." Steve shrugged.
"How about you tell me what's going through that head of yours, and I'll decide for sure." Danny pressed, slipping his arm around his partner's waist as they stood overlooking the edge of the landing. When Steve wrapped his own arm around Danny's shoulders, the detective knew he was going to answer and opted to just wait him out.
After a long moment of silence, the SEAL finally cracked. "Everything was great that afternoon. We had a picnic. Mom was taking video of us together. Then some guy in a suit showed up. I assumed it was somebody from HPD at first, something for dad's job, but it was Mom that hurried over to meet him. They spoke for a few minutes. Then he left and Mom and Dad argued. Mary and I had no clue what was going on, but all of a sudden our very rare perfect day as a family disintegrated. Looking back it makes more sense. Then it was just another source of disappointment."
They stood silent for another minute before Danny spoke. "So why did you decide to bring us here now when you've avoided it thus far?" Steve had taken him and Grace to a multitude of his favorite spots, but this one had never come up. "Why dredge up bad memories?"
"Because it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen and it deserves a memory to match." Steve hedged, not quite revealing the full answer.
"And we could have done that any time over the last few months. Why now?" Danny pushed. He wasn't sure why, but for some reason it felt like it was important for Steve to answer the question.
The SEAL looked back over his shoulder, watching Grace with the rest of their ohana and struggling to find the right way to explain without sounding like an overly sentimental idiot.
"Babe, tell me what's going on. You can't honestly believe there is a single thing you can't tell me." Steve looked back to him, eyes misty.
"It's stupid." He shifted his eyes back to the landscape before them. "It's just that I always wanted this to be somewhere that could be special for my family."
"But …"
"Not just family Danny, but my family. My children, my spouse, my family in the most literal sense of the word. Honestly, in the last few years I had given up on the idea of ever coming back here." His tone was emphatic even as his voice dropped so low it was nearly a whisper. He chanced a look at his partner, needing to know if he understood.
"Oh Steven." The detective turned, wrapping his other arm around his partner, embracing him as he rested looked up into his eyes. "I get it. I know we aren't married, so technically I'm not your spouse, but we are very much a family. You can bring us up here any time you would like."
Steve leaned his head down, grazing his lips gently over Danny's. "I love you."
The moment was interrupted by Grace barreling into them from the side, wrapping her short arms around their waists as best she could. "Come on you two. It's time to eat." The men each wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into their embrace.
When they finally stepped apart, Grace took one look at Steve and immediately extended her arms up so he would pick her up. "Are you okay, Daddy? You look sad." She wrapped her arms tight around his neck.
"Yeah, Gracie. I'm okay. I was just telling Danno how happy I am to have a family to share this spot with." Holding her close, the headed back toward the others. The others had left a spot big enough for the three of them open on the blankets, and he managed to lower himself to the ground without releasing Grace. "Mmm. This looks delicious."
Everyone agreed as they began to dig into the meal. As they ate, Steve noticed that Cath, Chin, and Kono were passing a camera around, taking turns snapping pictures of everyone. While Chin didn't know the full history of the spot, he knew enough to know this was an important milestone to his boss. With Dianne leaving tomorrow, they also wanted to capture the moments for her to take home.
His family leaning against him and surrounding by the laughter of his ohana, Steve felt his mood lightening. He knew he had made the right decision bringing them all hear, though he did wish they'd managed it while Mary was there too.
"Does your camera have a timer on it?" Beth asked after everyone had finished devouring the food.
Holding the camera, Kono looked down at it. "I see something that looks like a timer button."
"Here we can prop it up on this." Kamekona stacked one of the coolers on top of another. Without further explanation, everyone hopped up for a group picture.
"We should take it over there." Catherine pointed to the area where Danny and Steve had stood earlier.
Kamekona and Steve repositioned the coolers to put the camera in the right angle as Chin figured out how to turn the timer on.
"Everybody get in position. We'll see if this works. It should take 3 shots a few seconds apart." When they were all ready, he pushed the button and sprinted around to the spot they'd left open for him.
In the end, they went through a few rounds of shots, trying to get one where everyone looked good and then a few where they all looked pretty crazy. Then the camera got passed around as different smaller groups posed for pictures.
"I'll load all these onto the shared site so everyone can get them." Chin announced, making Dianne smile. Chin had set her new laptop up with the access so she could see everything and add any pictures she wanted to share from England.
"Hey cuz, did you bring the horseshoes?" Chin called to Kono.
"In that bag over there." She pointed to a black carrying case.
Chin grabbed the case and brought it over to Grace and her grandmas. "It's just a plastic set, but we thought it might be fun."
"I haven't played in years." Dianne laughed as he started setting things up.
"Me either." Beth smiled. "This should be entertaining."
"Who is up first?" Chin looked to Grace. "Why don't you take a quick practice throw to get a feel for the weight?" The little girl accepted the plastic horseshoe and followed his example of what to do. When she released it, it fell mere inches from the post.
"Looks like we are going to have some stiff competition." Beth smiled at her granddaughter.
Several rounds of horseshoes later, Grace came out as the victor. Steve and Dianne were the only two that came close to holding their own against the little girl. Nearing three thirty in the afternoon, the group decided it was probably time to head back down.
"Thank you for the lovely afternoon." Dianne spoke as she walked back down the trail with Steve. "It will be wonderful to have the pictures to remind me of the ohana I have here when I leave." She stumbled slightly and he reached out to steady her, wrapping her hand around his arm to encourage her to hang on if needed. "Leave it to me to trip on a perfectly clear path."
"Happens to the best of us." He assured her.
"Sounds like there is a story there." She teased him.
"Let's just say after my first hike with Danny ended finding a dead body and me getting hauled out by a helicopter with a broken arm, I wasn't sure if I would ever get him on a trail again." He shook his head, chuckling at the memory of their misadventure. Remembering Danny's signed 'I love you' made him wonder if his partner had been joking as much as he thought he was at the time.
"So how did you ever convince him to go back out?" She was genuinely curious. Grace had told her about some of their hiking trips, so she knew it happened.
"Gracie. Just like surfing and a lot of other things, she stayed after him. We picked her up from school one Friday, and I was talking about a spot I wanted to go visit. It had a small waterfall, just a very peaceful area. We had a rough case that week, and it just felt like what I needed to help get my head right again. Of course, Grace being Grace could tell that neither of us were feeling quite right. It was her weekend with Danno, back before they became regular fixtures at the house, but she was adamant that they would not leave me alone." He grinned. "He protested, though I think it was more for appearances than anything. We were both rattled from the case. I don't think he was ready to leave me that day any more than I was to leave him."
"How long ago was this?" Dianne asked. She could see Steve realizing that all the signs had been there even then.
"Back in the spring. Just a couple of weeks before Grace got out of school. Anyway, she had so much fun on the little trip that we ended up going to several other spots over the summer." Steve finished as they reached the edge of the parking lot. Stopping to let the others get a bit further ahead, Steve turned to Dianne. "We're going to drop the others off at the house, and then we're going to see Stan. It's all set."
"Thank you." She nodded at him. "You'll stay with me?"
"Of course." He assured her as they headed to the truck.
"We'll come by in the morning to say goodbye, okay?" Catherine checked with them as she stood at the passenger door to Kono's car.
"Sounds good." Danny called back to her before hoisting himself into the truck.
Less than five minutes into the ride home, Grace had fallen asleep in the back seat, a smile on her face.
"As far as surprises go," Danny started, "I will acknowledge that this ranks among the best I've ever had." He reached over and laced the fingers of his hand with Steve's. "Thanks for sharing it with us."
"Thanks for being there." Steve replied before they fell into an easy silence to continue the drive home.
/ GUARDIAN /
Nothing like a big of feels and fun for a Monday, right?