Disclaimer: Ideas are fictional; not making any money on this. Hawaii 5-0 belongs to CBS. That's okay because none of this would work on TV.

Family Court, Chapter 1

May, 2021

The months passed quickly after Steve, Danny, and their family returned from Disney World. Five-0 had a couple of major cases that spanned weeks instead of days. Grace was finishing her freshman year at U of H. She was preparing to study her second year in England thanks to an exchange program. Jesse and Jack were in their last month of the second grade.

More importantly, Jesse's adoption was scheduled to be finalized in family court in a couple of weeks. Steve and Danny passed all the home visits and other interviews. Their friend at CPS, Charlotte Harmon, was their caseworker. She did the initial interview with Jesse at the McGarrett-Williams home the morning after his parents' death. Charlotte considered Jesse's placement with Steve and Danny a great outcome. CPS had trouble placing older kids, and she knew that Jesse would have been permanently traumatized if he remained in the system. Instead, he was flourishing in his new home.

So it wasn't unexpected to get a call from Charlotte first thing Monday morning. Steve saw her name on his caller ID and picked up the call. "Hi Charlotte, is everything ready for Jesse's adoption?" When Charlotte paused before returning Steve's greeting, he had a sinking feeling deep in his gut.

"Steve, I need to talk to you and Danny. Are you at the Palace? I can swing by in a few minutes."

Steve wanted to press Charlotte for the reason for her visit, but he decided that it was probably something that Danny needed to hear. "We'll be waiting for you." Steve wanted to put his head down just for a few minutes. They couldn't lose Jesse now; he's part of their ohana. Danny found Steve in deep contemplation when he brought Steve coffee.

"Hey babe, what's up? You look like someone stole your puppy?" When Steve didn't answer, Danny put down the mug and leaned over to hug Steve. "Whatever it is, we'll face together."

Steve drew a deep breath. He didn't want to share the news but he knew he had to. Charlotte would soon be there. "Charlotte is coming over to talk to us. I don't know what's going on but I don't think it's good news."

"Maybe she just wants to go over the final paperwork. There shouldn't be any problems this late in the game. We've passed all the visits and interviews."

"I hope you're right, but I wouldn't bet on it. She wanted to talk to both of us about something in person."

Charlotte found the men in Steve's office; they had coffee waiting for her. She sat and took a sip of her coffee before breaking the bad news. "First of all, I want to say that I think you are the perfect family for Jesse. I think we can still make this work especially if you're half as scary as I think you can be. Jesse's aunt, Elizabeth Erlich, is petitioning the court for custody of Jesse. I have no idea why she suddenly cares about what happens to Jesse, but I doubt it's out of the goodness of her heart. I suspect that you and your friends can find what's motivating her."

There was silence as Steve and Danny considered their options. Danny was the first to voice the obvious question. "Does she have a chance of winning? How can she turn her back on Jesse for all these months and suddenly think she can come in here to break up our family. I put up with this from Rachel for a long time before we all started acting like grownups. I'll be damned if I'll put up with this shit from an outsider. Oh, sorry Charlotte."

For the first time, Charlotte smiled. "Don't apologize, Danny. That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Of course, I have to be unbiased. I can't give you any other information, but I might accidentally leave a copy of the petition. You know how Mondays are, and I just had my birthday last week. I seem to be experiencing 'senior moments' now and then. Well, it looks like my work is done here. Let me know if I can help you."

When Charlotte walked out, she left a folder on Steve's desk. Steve and Danny wasted no time reading the petition. Even as they read, Steve punched in Erlich's information to run a background check.

Danny saw something in the petition that might explain motive. "She's getting married. I bet that she's getting pressure from the fiancé."

Steve thought there could be another motive. "Danny, I heard from the executor of the Wright estate a few days ago. I meant to tell you but we've been so busy. Wright was broke just as we thought, but both parents had life insurance policies. The creditors can't touch the insurance because Jesse was named as a secondary beneficiary. It adds up to almost a million dollars. It will be more than enough to take care of his college education and give him a big start in life."

"Wow, Jesse has more money than we do. That's a lot of motive too. I know a cop on the Minneapolis police force. I can call Ted and see if he can sniff out any info."

Chin and Kono saw the social worker leave Steve's office and the worried look on everyone's face. They came in to offer moral support and help with whatever the problem was.

Steve considered the propriety of using Five-0 resources to win their case. He finally decided it fell under the charter of protecting the citizens of Hawaii. Jesse was definitely a citizen who needed protecting. "Guys, Danny and I thank you for the offer. We need to find out why Jesse's aunt suddenly wants to adopt him."

Chin and Kono took over running checks on Erlich and her fiancé. Steve made a phone call to the Wrights' executor. He wanted to ensure that Jesse's money was untouchable until Jesse started college or turned 21. That way the aunt wouldn't be able to get to the money.

"Steve, do we tell Jesse what's going on? I don't want to alarm or upset him, but I also don't want him to get blindsided by it."

"I don't know Danny. I think that we should talk to our family counselor. She's been so good getting us through the rough spots. I think we need to tell him but we could use some advice on what to say."

Steve made that phone call and was pleased to reach their counselor between appointments. She advised Steve and Danny to present a united front to Jesse and let him know that everyone was working to keep him in the family. She offered to testify on their behalf and penciled the court date on her calendar.

By the end of the day, the team had amassed a lot of information. The fiancé was wealthy and apparently a decent person. Erlich convinced him that she had been unable to bring Jesse to Minnesota because of a lack of funds. She also told him that Steve and Danny closed ranks and intimidated her into giving up any hope of adopting Jesse.

Steve summarized some of the positive points in their favor. "Sean Singer agreed to testify that Erlich made it clear that she didn't want custody of Jesse. Charlotte also spoke to her then and she got the same answer. Our lawyer suggested compiling a photo album showing everything we've done as a family. That includes Christmas, Disney World, Jesse's birthday party last month, and the weekends at the cabin."

Danny had more to add to the positive column. "I spoke to our lawyer. He said that it helps that the Wrights didn't designate her as guardian and that the parents trusted us enough that Jesse spent a lot of time with us. Jesse's health has improved. His grades have improved at school, and he's much more social with the other kids than before."

Chin agreed with their assessment. "I could see that. When we first met Jesse, he barely spoke to us and wouldn't make eye contact. Now he gives me a hug. I'm Uncle Chin, and I always get a report on his day. You two have done such a great job."

Kono did her part too. "I talked to Finn. He knows businessmen from all over. He knows the fiancé, Cliff Russell. He's a decent guy who's big on family and but not notable otherwise. Finn thinks that Russell would drop Erlich like a hot potato if he knew the truth. Finn offered to make a phone call and clue the fiancé in."

Steve was so proud of his team. They always had his back. "Thank Finn for us but I have a better idea. I think we should invite them to dinner at our house. You guys can join us with your families. We can ask Stan and Rachel and the boys. Let him see how we are with Jesse and how Aunt Liz reacts. She needs to understand that children are a lot of work and Jesse belongs to us.

Now that they had a game plan, Steve and Danny were more confident about talking to Jesse. They knew that Jack would need to be in on the discussion. The boys were playing soccer with Drex in the back yard when Steve and Danny came home. After Leah left, the men walked out to join their sons.

"Daddy, Danno, you're home!" Both boys were happy to see their dads and ran to give them a hug.

Steve picked Jesse up while Danny picked Jack up. They walked down by the beach and sat in their favorite chairs. On the way home, they decided that Steve should break the news. Actually it wasn't a decision so much as a coin toss. Steve lost.

"Jesse, we have some news about your adoption hearing. First we want you to know that we believe that the adoption will be approved but maybe not when we thought. Your Aunt Liz is asking the judge to let you live with her. Danno and I are going to fight her and we believe that we will win. We love you so much and we won't let anyone take you away from us. Aunt Kono and Uncle Chin are helping us. So are Mrs. Harmon and Detective Singer."

Steve pulled Jesse close to him. He could feel the tension in Jesse's body, and Jack was also clearly distressed. Jack was trying to put on a brave face when all he wanted to do was cry. He couldn't keep the tears from spilling over.

Danny hugged Jack and rubbed his back. "Hey Jack, when have you ever known Daddy to lose a fight?"

"You told me that he got his ass whipped in a cage fight before I was born."

Steve was affronted by Jack's reply. "Jack, watch your language. Danno, I can't believe you told him that. My opponent was a champion MMA fighter and it was a charity match. I didn't lose. I just decided that it was time to end the match before I hurt him."

"Steven, I can't believe you're still claiming that Liddell didn't win. I saw your bruises that night. I dumped two big bags of ice in the tub to ease your aches and pains."

"Danno, I had it under control. You were so concerned about me that I decided to cut you a break even though I knew that it would make me look like I lost."

Jesse was a very smart little boy, and he knew that his daddies wouldn't be bickering now if the situation wasn't under control. "I'm going to get to stay here?"

Steve turned Jesse so he was facing him. "Danno and I spent the afternoon digging up information. Everyone is on our side. We plan to have a family dinner. Aunt Malia and Uncle Chin will be here with Kekoa. Aunt Kono and Uncle Finn will be here with Fiona. Aunt Rachel and Uncle Stan will be here with Charlie and Andy."

Danny wiped Jack's tears away. "Your aunt is getting married and we think that she's afraid it will look bad to the man she wants to marry if she doesn't want to adopt you. We're going to make sure that he knows that your Aunt Liz didn't want to adopt you last year when your parents died. We're going to make sure that he knows how much we love you and how much you love us. If they still go ahead with the petition, we're going to fight them in court. We believe that we will win."

Steve and Danny did their best to maintain a normal routine. They worked around the house and shopped for groceries. They checked the boys' homework and listened to spelling words. They both even did a shift in the dunk tank at the boys' school spring carnival that weekend.

Liz and Cliff arrived in Honolulu the following week. A social worker in Minnesota already did a home visitation, and Charlotte needed to interview Liz in person. Liz Erlich was still a stone-cold bitch, but she put on a more pleasant demeanor in front of her fiancé.

Charlotte started the interview by turning on a digital recorder. "I need to record this for my files. You're Elizabeth Erlich and you are Max Wright's sister."

"Actually he's my half-brother. My father married Max's mother when Max was five years old. I was born a year later. Miss Harmon, I can't wait to see Jesse. It broke my heart to think about that poor boy so far away from his only family and being raised by strangers."

"Miss Erlich, I still have my notes from our only phone call. Let me see, when I told you that your nephew was orphaned you told me that you wouldn't be responsible for 'the brat' and you wouldn't pay for burial expenses either."

"No, I'm sure you told me that Jesse was being placed locally and I should just forget about him."

"Miss Erlich, I keep accurate notes and Detective Singer from HPD recorded his phone call with you when you told him the same thing. And Jesse isn't being raised by strangers. He spent a lot of time with Jack McGarrett-Williams before his parents' death and was well acquainted with Steve and Danny. It was advice that Steve gave him that saved Jesse's life. He became a part of their family that night when Steve and Danny found him hiding in the attic and took him home. He celebrated Christmas in New Jersey where Danny's family lives. He went to Disney World with the family on winter vacation. They taught him how to ride a bike and surf. They're his family."

"No they're not. I'm his family and I'm going to take him back to Minnesota with me. He'll live in a normal family with me and Cliff."

"Miss Erlich, I can assure you that Steve, Danny, and Jack McGarrett-Williams are not going to go away. They have issued an invitation to have dinner at their home. The rest of their family will be present. You haven't seen Jesse since he was six years old. You should see for yourself how happy he is. Mr. Russell, the invitation includes you. Here is the address and directions to their home. Dress code is island casual."

With that, Charlotte dismissed the couple. She was pleased to notice that Cliff Russell seemed a little surprised that her account of their only contact differed from Erlich's. She called later that morning to give Steve and Danny the lowdown on their meeting. Charlotte would give anything to be there this evening, but she knew that Steve and Danny would give her an accurate accounting of the meeting.

Charlotte knew that both dads could be a little hot-headed when it came to their family, but she was sure they would play it cool tonight. She would listen to the police scanner tonight just in case.