A/N: I had this great theory that I'd have this chapter done Wednesday. Then my son got a concussion while at school and you can roughly imagine how the rest of the day went with the ER visit and such. Fortunately, he's home recuperating and I have largely recovered from the less than fun surge of adrenaline and panicked mom. Why do these things always happen when my husband is traveling?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and make no money doing this. I'm just having fun playing with them. My beta reader is awesome, but all mistakes are my own.

Chapter 74

Stretching out on the floor with a couple of pillows and a blanket, Steve rolled onto his side as he watched his partner weave his way around the rest of the ohana toward him.

"This spot taken?" Danny toed the open section of blanket in front of Steve's chest.

"Only by you." The SEAL patted the space invitingly before Danny slid on the floor. Scooting himself back against his partner's chest, Danny rested his head on one of the pillows and smiled as Steve's long arm wrapped around his middle.

Grace was already settled on the couch between her grandparents, holding the book, and watching as the rest of the ohana settled in to their spots. Chin was stretched out in the chair, while Cath and Kono had spread a couple of blankets on the floor.

Steve smiled as he looked around the room. He imagined they made quite a picture. There were seven adults, five of them capable of all matters of dangerous things, all settled in to listen to one nine year old girl read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

"Ready?" Grace asked her audience. When she got a variety of positive responses, she cracked the book open and started. The audience wasn't exactly a quiet one. There were occasional remarks about what was happening and how hard it must have been for Harry to tolerate life with his muggle relatives.

Steve noticed a thoughtful expression on Grace's face and wondered if perhaps she could relate a bit given everything they'd learned about her final months with Rachel and Stan. He knew now that she hadn't felt like she belonged there. She'd felt like she was in the way. Seeing her surrounded by the people that loved her, he hoped she really did understand just how much she belonged here with them.

The SEAL's reflections were interrupted when they reached chapter two, and Danny pushed away from his chest and sat up. "What the heck is a dobby?"

"Not a what. Dobby is the character's name." Kono corrected. "He's a house elf."

"What kind of name is Dobby?" Danny asked, and was immediately perplexed by the stricken looks he received from everyone, including Grace.

"Do not disrespect Dobby. You will love him, or you will regret it." Kono level a glare at him.

"Okay." He held his hands up in surrender. "I know better than to argue. Grace, you haven't seen the movies or read the books, so why do you look like you know so much."

"Kids talk. My friends that already read the books tried not to give anything away, but it's pretty obvious they all love Dobby. There's gotta be a reason." His daughter answered.

Danny turned to Steve. "Have you heard of Dobby?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that I am aware of any exploits related to the house elf known as Dobby." Steve propped himself up on one arm, grinning at Danny.

"I give up." The detective pushed at Steve's chest with his shoulder.

"Does that mean I can continue reading?" Grace asked, an air of exasperation in her voice.

"Yes, mi'lady. You may continue." Danny gave her a half bow from his still seated position before squirming back down to rest against Steve again. "I didn't mean to cause a fuss with my innocent question." He grumbled the latter under his breath, but settled when his partner began gently stroking his arm.

By the time Grace finished chapter three, Paul was struggling to keep his eyes open and the others weren't much more awake.

"Why don't you go hit the showers, Dad? You wait any longer you won't be able to stand up long enough to wash your hair." Danny suggested as he climbed off the floor. "I'll go grab your bags from the truck."

"I'll give you a hand." Steve jumped up the floor, making Danny roll his eyes at how ridiculously easy he made it look. As the pair headed toward the door, the others began picking up the living room and saying their good nights.

"It's nice having them both here, isn't it?" Steve asked as they meandered toward the truck.

"Yeah. It is. I'll admit, I was a little nervous when he managed to get you to himself so fast after arriving." Danny wrapped his arm around Steve's waist, slowing their pace even further. "I take it since you came back in plotting a spearfishing outing that he didn't manage to scare you off."

"Far from it, Danno. He was just making it clear that he approves, but something tells me you knew that was the case already." Steve stopped next to the truck, turning to face his partner. "Were you really that worried about leaving me with him?"

Danny shrugged. "He likes to talk. A lot. You don't. I wasn't so much afraid of what he would say because, you're right, he'd made his approval abundantly clear on the way home. I was more concerned that he'd overload you with talk of feelings and freak you out."

Wrapping his around the back of Danny's neck, Steve pulled him closer. Leaning close, the SEAL chuckled quietly. "I find I'm getting used to the talking thing."

Danny stretched up, closing the short distance remaining between their lips. The kiss was brief, but welcome. "Well, hopefully having two of us jabbering at you all the time won't prove you wrong." This time Steve's laugh wasn't quiet. His head fell back and he laughed hard, a huge grin on his face. "I'm glad you find that entertaining." Danny laughed, shaking his head as he moved to the back of the truck.

Still shaking with laughter, Steve reached around his partner, grabbing the two biggest bags before Danny could argue. "What?" He questioned when the detective gave him a challenging look.

"You know what? Never mind. You want to be the big tough guy and take the bulk of the load I'm not going to argue." Danny grabbed the last bag and slammed the tailgate shut again.

By the time they were headed into the house Chin, Cath, and Kono were walking toward the door.

"We'll see you guys tomorrow afternoon. Thought we might sneak in another practice session before Grace starts back to school." Chin commented, though Steve could tell he was waiting for confirmation the plan was acceptable.

"Sounds good to me. I think Beth wanted to go over the house earlier in the day and do a walk through with us and Paul. Other than that, I think ordering Grace's furniture is the only other exciting thing we have planned." The SEAL answered. "Danny and I will be back in the office after we drop Grace off on Wednesday."

"I guessed as much." Chin nodded. "Hopefully it'll stay quiet for a few more days."

"That'd be nice. Though I can't imagine we can expect it to hold for too much longer. We've gotten lucky enough as it is. Hopefully HPD hasn't had to pick up too much in our absence."

"I talked to Duke earlier. It really has been pretty quiet."

"Come on old man, I'm tired." Kono nudged her cousin with her elbow.

"You call me old and yet you're the one that's ready to crawl in bed already." He teased, but headed out of the door. "You riding with Cath?"

"Might as well since we're headed to the same house." Kono yawned.

"Don't worry, Chin. I'll get her tucked in safely." Cath patted him on the shoulder before pausing to get Danny and Steve both a hug. "I'm going to pop over to the ship and see how things are going in the morning. I should be back in time for practice."

"Okay. We'll see you tomorrow." Tucked under Steve's arm, Danny waved as the three headed for their cars. "Is it strange that I just assume they're coming back each day?" He asked Steve once they were gone.

"No. I'm sure at some point they'll skip days here and there, but right now we all want to give Grace a sense of stability. To them that means being here for some part of each day. They could pick up the phone and call to check on her, but it wouldn't be the same." The SEAL answered.

"And you know this because you asked?" Danny was curious how he seemed to know so much.

"No. I know this because if the situation were different I would do the same for any of them. We've never exactly been the phone it in kind of team. As a collective, we tend to fully commit where the welfare of one of our own is concerned."

"You know, you're a lot smarter than I give you credit for sometimes." Danny laughed as they headed toward the noise in the kitchen.

"I'm just making sure everything is set for the night and the water bottles are filled for the morning." Beth spoke from the sink, her back still facing them. "Your dad's already in the shower, and Grace headed up to bed." Screwing the lid back on the bottle she was filling, she popped it in before turning and spreading her arms wide, encouraging both her boys to collect their nightly hugs. "I love you two."

"Love you too, ma." Both men replied pulling her into a tight bear hug between them. When they finally let go, Beth led the way toward the door, Steve bringing up the rear and flipping off the lights.

"I'll see you boys in the morning." Beth called over her shoulder as she headed down the hall to the room she and Paul were staying in.

Danny turned to their bedroom door, but caught Steve looking toward the door where Grace was staying. He waited for a second, trying to guess exactly what this particular SEAL expression meant before deciding to take a guess. "You can go check on her, you know."

"What?" Steve's eyes swung to him, looking slightly startled.

"Grace. You can go check on her. Something about the way you were staring at her door tells me you want to, and I'm telling you it's okay. I can come with you if you want, or you can tell me whatever it is you two talk about later, or you can keep it between the two of you. I know this sounds crazy given how incredibly resistant I was to Stan and even sometimes Rachel keeping things from me about her, but it's different with you. I know with every piece of me that you'll tell me anything that I should know, but that sometimes you two are going to commiserate on things I just might not understand as well. If we are truly going to parent her together, I've gotta respect that bond." Danny had closed the small gap of space between them while he spoke. Grabbing the SEAL's hand he squeezed it before stretching up to give him a quick kiss. "Now go do whatever it is you feel compelled to do. You know where to find me when you're done."

Steve leaned down to return Danny's kiss, still marveling at his partner's words. It wasn't that Danny hadn't said similar things since this whole crazy ride started, but part of the SEAL had wondered if Danny would really be able to follow through with that level of trust and commitment when it came to Steve and Grace. For a father so wholly devoted to his daughter, it was a gigantic step to stand back and let someone else get that close. Not for the first time, Steve felt the weight of his new and still developing role in Grace's life. What surprised him is that the responsibility didn't scare him like he thought it might. Part of him just knew that this was as right as him being a SEAL. Some things were just meant to be, being Grace's daddy was apparently one of them.

Hearing the door to the master bedroom click shut, Steve headed down the hall toward Grace's room. Knocking gently, he heard her soft reply before pushing the door open and stepping inside.

"Hey Gracie. Mind if I come in for a minute?"

The little girl shifted over in the bed, making room for him to sit down next to her. "Come on in." She smiled at him.

"You don't look very surprised to see me." Steve commented as he sat down, leaning back against the headboard.

"Nope. I saw your face while I was reading." She replied. "That was your thinking face." Grace giggled.

The SEAL chuckled as the little girl pulled herself up, curling under his arm much like her father had earlier in the day. "Did Danno give you a guidebook for my faces? He swears I have a bunch."

"Didn't need one." Steve laughed a bit more at her response. "What'd you want to talk about?" Grace finally asked. She had her guesses already.

"The stuff with Harry at the beginning of the book, it got me thinking." Steve started.

"Me too." Grace admitted.

"You know how he felt living with the Dursleys, don't you?" He asked quietly.

"I think so. It's hard being somewhere that you don't really fit in, and you're pretty sure you aren't really wanted." Grace's voice was barely louder than a whisper.

Steve swallowed, trying to fight the tears that threatened to come hearing her admit that. He wrapped his arm tighter around her, and wasn't really surprised when she squirmed her way into his lap. Sitting sideway, her head resting on his shoulder, Grace looked up at her guardian Super SEAL.

"It's different here." Her voice broke the silence. "I fit in with you and Danno. I don't feel like I have to pretend to like something or act a certain way to keep from causing a fight. I'm safe here. I feel more like me and less like a dress up doll that's supposed to stay quiet and be cute." She watched Steve's face as she talked, saw the sadness in his eyes. "That's good, right?"

Steve swiped at his eyes, brushing away the unshed tears. "Yeah, Gracie. That's good."

"Then why are you crying?"

"Because I hate that you ever had to feel like you didn't belong. I wish I had known sooner. Maybe I could have figured out a way to bring you here more often."

"That would have been nice, but I doubt it would have worked." Grace sighed. She knew better than to think Stan would have allowed it even if he didn't really want her there. "I'm glad I'm here now. I'm glad Grandma and Grandpa came, and that the rest of the ohana is here all the time."

"Me too." Steve rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, Gracie?"

"Can I go running with you in the morning?" She sat up a bit straighter.

"Of course. I'll come wake you up when I'm up." Steve smiled.

The little girl shifted back onto the bed, sliding down so the SEAL could tuck her back in as he rose from the bed. "I love you, Gracie. Get some sleep." He kissed her forehead as he pulled the blanket up to her shoulders.

"Love you too, Daddy." She smiled brightly as he handed her the stuffed seal from her bed.

Slipping out of the room, Steve felt a combined sense of sadness and relief. When he stepped into his bedroom, Danny was sitting up in bed waiting for him.

"Everything good?" The detective asked.

"Yeah. It's all good." Steve smiled as he ducked in to brush his teeth and throw his sleep pants on. When he slipped into bed beside Danny, the shorter man was on his side, facing the SEAL.

"I'm glad it's all good." Danny smiled before giving him a gentle kiss.

"We were just chatting a bit about Harry and the Dursleys and …"

"And I probably don't want to know just how much like Harry my baby girl felt, do I?" Danny interrupted.

"Possibly not, but I will tell you if you want to know." Steve answered.

"Just tell me she doesn't feel like that now. Don't lie to me, but please tell me she feels different here." Danny spoke, eyes pleading with the SEAL.

"And I quote, "It's different here. I fit in with you and Danno." There was more too, but that's the summary." Steve smiled at his partner, happy to provide honest reassurance.

"Good." Danny burrowed closer to Steve, content to fall asleep in his arms with the promise that Grace knew she had a home where she fit in.

/GUARDIAN/

A/N: For any of you that aren't HP fans, I'm sorry. Not really, but hopefully you aren't holding the references against me because with a 9 year old in the house (both for me and for the story) it was inevitable. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the doses of family bonding and the bit of Steve and Grace sweetness at the end. I don't think I'll ever get enough of those two.