A/N: The muse and real life are cooperating at the moment, so this chapter just kinda popped out.

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 76

"Are my fish out there swimming?" Danny asked his parents as soon as he stepped out of the house. He'd heard his mom head downstairs and followed shortly after.

"Yep. They just went in a few minutes ago." Paul confirmed as his son took a seat across from him. "Those two really are something."

"Tell me about it. I know you guys pick up on a lot from phone calls, Skype, and a couple of short visits, but it's different seeing them together every day." Danny took a sip of his coffee. "If you'd told me right after I met Steve that I'd let him anywhere near my daughter, much less be raising her with him, I'd have thought you needed your head examined."

Both his parents laughed. "Oh, believe us. We remember just how fondly you spoke of that "crazy fucking lunatic" back then." Paul reminded Danny of how he used to refer to his partner when Grace wasn't around. "People change." He added as if that explained it.

"I think it's probably me that changed more than him." Danny admitted. "It just took me a while to figure it out and earn his trust so he'd show it. Well, it took me a while. I'm pretty sure Grace had him wrapped around her little finger at the football game where they first met."

"You might be right." Beth smiled. "Despite the excitement of that day, it was your partner and team that Grace's retelling focused on. I think she fell in love with all three of them that day."

"I think the feeling was mutual." Danny smiled and waved when he noticed Steve and Grace both treading water a ways out from the shore. "Steve told me he knew he loved me the day I almost died from the sarin exposure, but I bet if I pushed he'd admit to loving Grace well before that." Danny's expression was a bit wistful as he watched the two out in the water.

"I know the last few years have been hard." Paul spoke again. "Hell the last couple of weeks have been hell, but it makes your old man very happy to see you finally happy. I'm glad you married Rachel, but only because that gave us all Grace. I'm far more pleased that you found Steve. He suits you in a way Rachel never did. You're more relaxed with him, more yourself."

Danny's eyes turned to his father. He always knew his dad hadn't been Rachel's biggest fan, but it made Danny very happy that he had no such reservations about Steve. "And apparently Grace feels much the same way."

"I take it Steve talked to her before bed?" Beth answered. She'd suspected something was up last night when they'd come upstairs.

"You don't miss anything, do you?"

"I'm the mom. Of course I don't." She shook her head at him as she laughed.

"Yes. They talked and Steve was quite pleased to report that she feels like she fits in here with us." Danny's eyes drifted back to the water.

"Of course she does, son." Paul set his coffee mug on the ground beside his feet, leaning forward in the chair. "You've never placed unrealistic expectations on her. The two of you respect her opinions, and encourage her to have them. You've made it abundantly clear that she is a central part of the family, not just a necessary burden to be dealt with. Hell, even before she moved here I could have told you that. We may Skype with her when she's with you, but we did talk to her quite often when she wasn't. The more Rachel and Stan fought the more she would call us to help distract herself. She never wanted to talk about what they were fighting about. All she ever wanted to talk about was things with you and Steve. That little girl lived for those days and hours with the pair of you."

"I wished I'd known how miserable she was there. I would have found a way to challenge the custody arrangements." Danny hated that he hadn't known the full extent. "I might have gone broke in the process, but I could have tried."

Beth looked at her son, seeing how much it upset him that he hadn't done more. "And Stan would have rung you dry in the process. As stupid as it is knowing that he didn't really want her, I think the idea of his reputation taking a hit because he lost custody of his wife's daughter would have been too much for him, so he would have fought you tooth and nail."

"I know. While I didn't necessarily realize all that, I always knew he wouldn't back down gracefully if I challenged custody. Hell, Steve and his connections are probably the only reason I still had what rights I was hanging on to."

"Well, I don't know about the two of you, but this line of conversation is going to get us nowhere. What's done is done, and we can't change that. I, on the other hand, know that it will not be long before two very hungry people come out of that water, and I can do something about that." Beth rose from her chair and headed to the house.

"I think that's our cue to talk about something else." Paul smiled after his wife.

"Excited to see your new house in person today?" Danny went with it, knowing that he didn't need to be rehashing regrets when Steve and Grace emerged from the water.

"Yes. The pictures were beautiful, the information made it sound wonderful, and your mother just fell in love with it." Paul perked up at this new avenue of conversation. "I'm sure we'll have things to do before our stuff arrives. It should be here next Friday, which leaves us a week from closing to get it done. Any word yet on when Mary is returning?"

"No, but I'm hoping she'll be back by next weekend. If not, one or both of us," he pointed toward the SEAL in the water, "may be going to retrieve her."

"I don't blame you. The whole situation sounded rather messed up from what Beth said."

"It is. Steve is wondering if something got messed up with her portion of the inheritance from their dad's estate. It wasn't like it made them independently wealthy, but it should have been more than enough for her to live for a while."

"Does he think she spent it or that someone swindled her out of it?" Paul questioned.

"He's got a call in with the lawyer to find out if she ever submitted the correct paperwork to get it in the first place. Mary's had a rough patch in recent years. Their aunt did her best, but the estrangement from their parents and Steve did a number on her. He's tried to bridge the gap since returning home, but it's been slow going. I think it about tore him to shreds to know she thought he only viewed her as a burden."

"Because he never sees himself that way." Paul's sarcastic tone made Danny roll his eyes and laugh.

"Yeah. They are two peas in a pod sometimes, even if they don't see it." The detective shrugged his shoulders, a silent admission that those were the cards he was dealing with when it came to the McGarrett siblings.

"So really the mission to indoctrinate McGarrett into a stable and supportive family life is more of a mission to indoctrinate the McGarretts." Paul placed great emphasis on the plural.

"That is the mission, should you choose to accept it." Danny laughed.

"Oh son, your mother and I accepted that mission the moment you introduced us to Steven. She got me up to speed on what's happened around here, and things with both McGarrett siblings. Rest assured, I'll do my part to remind him he's family now, and I'll damned sure make sure little Ms. Mary Ann McGarrett knows she's not alone. Money or not, we'll make sure we convince her to stick around our house for a good long while." Paul spoke with a conviction that left no room to question his determination.

"Just remember, she's a McGarrett so she's pretty scrappy, and she's used to trying to cope on her own. The aunt that helped raise her died a few years ago, so she's been on her own for a good long while." Danny wanted to make sure his dad knew what he was getting into.

"All the more reason why I'm delighted she's coming to stay with us. What was she, all of twelve when their mother supposedly died?" Paul waited for Danny to nod. "That's too damned young for anyone to have everything yanked away from them and be dumped into an unfamiliar environment." He saw the shadow cross his son's face. "It's not the same for Grace, Daniel, and you know it. Yes she lost her mother younger than Mary did, but your daughter has a rock solid foundation of family support. Don't for one second let yourself think she's going to have the same issues Mary does. They both lost a mother too young, but that is where the similarities of their formative years ends. Just take one look at Grace and tell me that isn't abundantly clear."

Danny's eyes shot to the beach, where he watched Steve swing Grace up into his arms, both of them smiling laughing. He felt his own face split into a huge grin. "You have a point there, pa."

"Of course I do. Now why don't you go down and make sure they find their way back to the house while I go see what you're ma's cooking up for breakfast. I've missed her cooking." Paul grabbed his empty coffee cup, took Danny's from his hand, and scurried off into the house.

The detective didn't waste any time following his dad's orders. He wasn't wearing any shoes, so he took off through the sand without reservation. He could practically feel his heart swelling as he watched the two most important people in his world. Steve stood Grace on one of the chairs in the sand, carefully holding her in place with one arm as he helped her dry her hair.

"Mornin' Danno." McGarrett grinned at him as he got close. "Enjoying your morning with mom and dad?"

"Yep. We were just enjoying our coffee while we made sure the two of you didn't stray too far from shore." Danny grabbed the towel off Steve's shoulder and began drying his partner as the taller man continued to help their daughter.

"Define too far." Steve teased. "Am I to assume that swimming to the mainland with Gracie would be too far?"

"Yes, Neanderthal. The mainland would be too far." Danny swatted at Steve as both the SEAL and their little girl giggled at him. "I'd prefer to keep with within sight of the shoreline."

"So much for that long swim we had planned this weekend, Gracie." Steve teased. "Guess we'll have to figure out something else to do." The SEAL winked conspiratorially at the little girl.

"You two! I swear I don't know what I'm going to do with the pair of you." Danny griped at them as he tried not to laugh.

"Feed us?" Grace suggested. "I don't know about Super SEAL, but I'm hungry."

"I could eat." Steve laughed.

"Lucky for you, Ma is already working on breakfast. Though Dad went to check on what she was cooking, so we might want to hurry before he eats it all. He did mention missing her cooking."

"Hop on Gracie." The SEAL grinned as the little girl jumped onto his back, arms wrapped around his neck.

Danny laughed as he watched them run toward the house, the sound of their laughter trailing behind them. "Don't track sand into the house." He shouted after them, knowing he really couldn't complain. If they tracked sand into the house, his OCD Super SEAL would be the one to clean it up before anyone else could comment.

Checking to make sure they hadn't left anything on the beach, he followed them at a much more leisurely pace toward the house. He knew Steve and Grace both still had their cracks, but they were a far cry from the shattered people he knew they could easily be if things had been just a little bit different.

/GUARDIAN/

A/N: Again, thought I'd get further into the day than I did, but with Paul's arrival there are things to be said. I will also confess that there will never, ever be enough Steve and Grace as far as I'm concerned, so when the two of them scheme to take over any or all of a chapter I don't even fight them on it. I'm going to guess most of you are okay with that, otherwise you likely wouldn't be reading the 76th chapter of this beast.