Mary & Ilna-What can I say? You guys are the best of the best. Thanks so much for all the laughs and for listening to me vent. You two are ROCK STARS and I'm loving every minute spent building this universe with you.
Sandy-you're the best and always will be. Thanks for sharing the ups and downs.
REAL Worlders-You guys are every kind of AWESOME! Thanks so much for your enthusiastic support of the REAL World universe. As always I'm woefully behind on responding to reviews but please know every word is read and appreciated.
Understanding (1/1)
Home of Mary and Joan McGarrett
Saturday Noon
"Mary, what a nice surprise," Elizabeth Rollins said cheerily as she connected a Skype call on her laptop which sat on the coffee table in front of her. "Oh and Aaron too. It's great to see you both."
"Hi there," Mary smiled broadly. "I hope we're not interrupting anything."
"Not at all," Elizabeth scoffed. "Mom's taking a nap, Joseph is tinkering in the basement and I'm just catching up on my reading. Besides, I'm always happy to hear from the two of you."
"Thanks." Mary shared a conspiratorial grin with Aaron. "We were actually hoping maybe we could talk to Joseph as well but if he's busy … "
Mary trailed off as she saw Elizabeth's eyes leave the screen. She could tell immediately that Joseph had entered the room by the way the older woman's face lit up. Even after so many years together it was clear Catherine's parents still adored each other. She smiled when she realized that look was the exact same one she'd seen on Catherine's face countless times when Steve entered a room.
For most of her life Mary was afraid she'd never find love at all, let alone love as lasting as what Steve and Catherine and Joseph and Elizabeth shared. She wasn't sure she was even capable of forming that kind of a bond with a romantic partner.
Then she met Aaron and everything changed. For the first time in her life she saw a bright future stretched out in front of her. It exhilarated her but at the same time it also terrified her. It was hard to believe something so good was within her grasp and her old insecurities came roaring back. Luckily Aaron was perceptive enough to realize what was going on and loved her enough to fight his way past her walls.
When they talked for the first time after their fight Aaron was patient and understanding in a way Mary had never experienced from a lover before. He made it clear he wanted to be with her long term, that she and Joan were the most important people in the world to him, and that they could overcome anything if they kept the lines of communication open. And as he reassured her and calmed her fears and doubts she knew.
She didn't want to wait any longer.
She certainly hadn't anticipated asking him to move in that night but once the idea settled in her mind it felt so right she couldn't stand to put it off another minute.
Aaron moved a few things in immediately, mostly clothes and things he needed for work. He was scheduled to take a business trip from Sunday night to Wednesday and when he returned they would move in the rest of his things.
"I'm here, I'm here," Joseph chuckled, pulling Mary's attention back to the present. His face came into view as he took a seat on the couch beside Elizabeth. "Hello, you two."
"Hi," Mary said as she looked at Aaron and grinned. "We have news we couldn't wait to share with both of you."
Elizabeth took note of their matching excited expressions. "What kind of news?"
"I asked Aaron to come and live with Joan and me," Mary blurted out.
"And I accepted," Aaron said enthusiastically.
Five-0 Headquarters
Saturday 9:30 A.M.
"So they're moving in together?" Danny asked, concealing a smile. "How long have they been dating again?"
The team had assembled early for a pre-dawn raid that netted two of the island's most wanted drug dealers, responsible for a string of deaths over the last week from tainted product. While Catherine and Kono accompanied the suspects to HPD for booking Danny, Steve and Chin returned to headquarters to complete the paperwork on the case.
The three men were gathered around the smart table. Steve and Danny were sifting through crime scene photos and lab reports while Chin pulled up and copied phone and financial records. The hope was they could get done quickly and salvage most of their weekend.
"Almost a year," Steve sighed.
He already knew where this conversation was headed.
"Almost a year as in nine months?" Danny teased. "Because I distinctly remember you coming back from visiting Cath's parents last spring and grumbling about Mary having a new boyfriend."
"I wasn't grumbling," Steve insisted.
"You were grumbling." Danny turned to Chin. "Was he not grumbling?"
"Please leave me out of this," Chin requested.
"So that was last May … " Danny continued, unfazed by Chin's unwillingness to join in.
"They'd already been dating for about a month before Cath and I heard about it," Steve pointed out.
Danny snorted. "Okay, so let's call it ten months."
Steve nodded and pretended to be engrossed in the reports spread out in front of him.
"Ten months," Danny repeated and waited for a response.
After a few second of silence Steve couldn't stand it anymore and looked at his partner. "Your point?"
"I'm just sayin' … " Danny grinned, "Ten months."
"Aaron is a good guy," Steve said steadfastly.
"He is," Danny agreed.
"He's good for both Mary and Joanie."
"I absolutely concur," Danny nodded.
"So again I ask," Steve exhaled loudly, "What is your point?"
"Just that it took you more than ten years to ask Catherine to move in with you and it took Mary ten months to ask Aaron."
"Catherine and I were on active duty most of that time," Steve said defensively.
Danny fully understood that Steve and Catherine's relationship moved to its own rhythm but he couldn't resist pushing his partner's buttons.
"Are you really going to stand there and try to tell me you didn't move your relationship with Catherine along at a glacial pace?"
"It works for us," Steve smirked. "Catherine has no complaints."
"I'm sure she doesn't," Danny grinned. "I'm only trying to point out that it's a good thing Mary is on a different schedule than her big brother. That means she and Aaron actually have a chance of getting married before Joan is old enough to drive them to the airport for their honeymoon."
Home of Joseph and Elizabeth Rollins
Saturday 12:05 P.M.
"Oooohhh," Elizabeth said excitedly. "We're so happy for the two of you."
"Thanks," Mary and Aaron said in unison, matching grins still firmly in place.
"Congratulations," Joseph said sincerely.
"When did the two of you decide to do this?" Elizabeth asked. "I didn't know you were even talking about it."
"We weren't really," Mary blushed. "I just kind of blurted it out. We had a fight and then Aaron came over to talk and … well I just knew the time was right so I asked him to move in."
Elizabeth smiled knowingly at her husband. "I understand completely. We have some experience with a couple that just knows when the time is right."
"Must be a McGarrett family trait," Joseph chuckled.
"So you'll have to do a little rearranging to make space for a man in your house," Elizabeth said.
"I think that's our cue," Joseph grinned as he kissed his wife on the cheek. "Elizabeth wants to get all the romantic details so she thinks if she pretends they're going to talk about decorating we men will excuse ourselves from the conversation."
Elizabeth chuckled but didn't deny her husband's claims. They'd been together a long time and he knew her too well.
"Are you saying you want to hear us gush over every sappy detail," she challenged.
"I do not," Joseph admitted, "Which is why I'll be saying goodbye for now."
"Me too," Aaron chuckled.
Joseph pulled out his phone and held it up. "Could you spare me a few minutes, Aaron?"
"Of course," Aaron replied with a slight tremor in his voice.
Mary squeezed his hand supportively as he pulled out his phone, said goodbye to Elizabeth and headed for the kitchen.
"Congratulations and I'll talk to you later," Joseph smiled at Mary. "Kiss Joan for me."
"Will do," she said with just a hint of trepidation as Joseph disappeared from sight.
As soon as he left the room Elizabeth looked back at the screen, her forehead creased with concern. "So, you said you asked Aaron to move in right after you made up from a fight?"
"I did," Mary looked at the carpet, "The fight was all my fault though."
"Sweetheart, look at me," Elizabeth said softly.
When Mary looked at the screen she could see both the love and the apprehension on Elizabeth's face.
"All couples fight," she said. "It's not important to assign blame."
Mary nodded.
"I just want to make sure you didn't jump into this decision in an emotional moment."
"You think we're making a mistake?" Mary's bottom lip quivered.
"Absolutely not," Elizabeth assured her. "Aaron is a good man. And he clearly adores you and Joan. I just want to make sure you asked him to move in for the right reasons. It can't be that you felt you owed him something because you think some fight was your fault."
Mary smiled gratefully. Elizabeth's concern made her heart feel as if it would burst. She knew it was born solely out of the fact that Elizabeth loved her and wanted what was best for her.
"I appreciate you asking, but it wasn't like that at all," she sighed. "I said some stupid things out of insecurity and fear. I guess … I don't know … I guess I decided to push Aaron away before he had a chance to push me away."
"What made you think he was going to push you away?"
"I have no idea. It definitely wasn't anything he said or did … it doesn't even make sense really … but I just panicked at the thought of meeting his work colleagues and I was scared I'd embarrass him …"
"Mary," Elizabeth interrupted. "You're an amazing woman and a great mom. Aaron could never be embarrassed of you."
"Thank you," Mary said sincerely. "I talked to Catherine and she told me I needed to be honest with Aaron and when I called him … well he was already on his way here. He knew something was up and he wanted to fix things before it went any further. He told me that Joan and me are the most important things in his life. And that we can face anything if we're just honest with each other and talk about it."
"Sounds like a very smart plan," Elizabeth smiled.
"It was weird I just … in that moment I could actually see us having a future together. And I just … well … I couldn't wait to get it started."
"I think maybe it just became clear in that moment but I'm betting you'd been building up to this for a while."
"You're probably right," Mary agreed. "And I want to thank you because I'm not sure I'd have ever gotten this far without you. And Grandma Ang. And Nonna. And of course Catherine. You guys accepted me unconditionally and helped me see myself in a completely different light. As a person worthy of love."
"You were always a person worthy of love," Elizabeth assured her.
"I didn't always feel that way," Mary said softly. "But you guys helped me change that. And you and Catherine showed me that happy, successful relationships are possible. So when Aaron came into my life I was open to it."
"I'm happy to have helped, sweetheart. You deserve all the love and happiness in the world."
"Thanks."
"Now … I'm ready for all the sappy, romantic details."
Kitchen
"Aaron, thanks for giving me a few minutes," Joseph said as he answered his cell phone.
"My pleasure."
"I just wanted to offer you my congratulations again and say how happy I am you and Mary have decided to take this step."
"I appreciate that, Sir. It means the world to both of us. I'm pretty sure Mary would dump me in a minute if you and Elizabeth didn't approve."
"No worries there. You're a good man. And it's clear how much you love Mary and Joan both."
"I do indeed."
"Relationships are complicated enough with just two people involved but when there's a child in the mix things are even more delicate."
"Understood, Sir. I love Joan as if she was my own."
"I can tell that when I see the two of you together," Joseph nodded.
"I want you to know that Mary and Joan are the most important people in my life. I fully intend to ask Mary to marry me at some point and for the three of us to be a family."
"Be prepared for my wife to start hinting about you expanding that family sooner rather than later."
Aaron could hear the smile in Joseph's voice.
"I'll keep that in mind, Sir."
"Mary hasn't always had the easiest time," Joseph continued. "She's an amazing woman and a fantastic mother but with some of the things she's gone through in the past old issues are bound to arise."
"I'm completely committed to this relationship," Aaron assured him. "When and if things come up we'll deal with them together."
"I'm glad to hear it."
"Besides, Steve already made it perfectly clear what will happen if I do something stupid."
"I know you're not the type to do anything stupid."
"Thank you, Sir."
"But just keep in mind," Joseph said, his voice serious, "If you ever did do something stupid and hurt Mary and Joanie, the SEAL will be the least of your worries."
Aaron swallowed hard. "Understood."
THE END
If you are not on the REALMcRoll email list and would like to be, drop us an email at realmcroll at yahoo dot com with "Add me, please!" in the subject line. You'll get updates, contests, and fun McRoller games.
Looking for links to all the REAL World McRoll stories in one place? Check out our Tumblr page mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com.
In addition, one of our AWESOME REAL Worlders, katydid13, has created a community on here onfanfiction dot net that brings all of the REAL World stories, and all of Mari, Sammy & Ilna's pre-universe stories in one place. You can find it at community/McRoll-in-the-Real-World