Chapter 18

Chelsea saw her mom crying. She looked over at Evie, and saw the look on her face; she knew Evie knew what was happening.

Chelsea got up and walked over to her mom.

"Please tell me you're not doing this mom." Chelsea said stopping just behind her.

"Why are you letting Jay do this? Because when I did something similar earlier this summer you didn't listen. This is either favouritism or you don't know what you want." Chelsea said.

Jay took this moment to walk down the hill towards them.

"Jay, what are you doing? Mom and Steve are happy together. You told me when I did something like this; you said that as long as she was back now and happy then we should be happy." Chelsea said. "Why are you trying to ruin it now? Mom please don't do this." Cath couldn't look at them, Jay just stood there, trying not to look at Chelsea.

"Chelsea, I understand what your mom said and why she is doing this. Can you just give me your mom and brother some time?" Steve said.

"Okay, come on Evie." Chelsea took Evie's hand and they walked back over to the table.

"Cath" Steve said, walking over to Cath to put a hand on his back.

"Just give me a minute and I will be fine." Cath said stepping away.

"Steve, I am so sorry for shouting and everything. I didn't want my mom, to do this. I didn't want her to break up with you; I wanted her to just understand." Jay said.

"Jay, I understand it's not your fault. But your mom has to do what she thinks is best and I will agree with her for it." Steve replied.

"I know, but what I told her was the truth, but I didn't want this to change. I wanted her to know how I was feeling, and nothing I said to her can change, and Chelsea was right, I told her that if mom was happy we should be too, so I am going to take responsibility for this." Jay said, he walked past Steve and over towards Cath.

"Mom, please don't do this. Everything I said was true, but I said it because I need to tell you. I don't want you to break up with Steve. I just want you, me and Chelsea, to spend some time together, and talk about dad and talk about things before Steve and Evie." Jay said. When Cath was still crying, he stepped forward and hugged his mom.

"How about we go home, and we can come camping again." Cath said.

"No mom, we came to go camping, I am so sorry, but it can wait until tomorrow, when we are meant to go home." Jay said.

Later that day...

After the last few hours, things had gotten better. They had played a little football, talked a little more about all three of the kids. Jay and Steve had found a joint interest in football. Jay had seemed to relax a little more. Cath knew that she, Jay and Chelsea still needed to sort some issues out, but for now they were all happy.

"What's for dinner?" Chelsea asked.

"Why don't you go and have a look what we have and you can decided." Cath said, pointing over to the tent in which they had left the food.

"Okay, Evie, Jay you coming with me?" Both Jay and Evie got up and followed Chelsea over to the tent.

"Well things seem to be going better." Steve stated.

"Yeah I think things are going much better. When we get home, I am going to talk to both Chelsea and Jay, and see what they think about family counselling sessions." Cath replied looking over at the kids.

"That's a good idea." Steve said, as the kids returned back over.

"How about a chicken salad?" Chelsea asked.

"Sounds good." Steve said, as he walked over to the camp fire to relight it.

That night...

Dinner had gone well. Talking over dinner, made Cath realise they were turning into a family. They should all be living together and hopefully be married one day soon. Cath knew that she had to sort things out with her kids before this happened but she was sure that if her kids agreed to family counselling then things between them would get better fast.

Evie had went to bed earlier than everyone else. They had eaten dinner and she had then said her goodnights and went straight to the tent, she would be sharing with Jay and Chelsea. A couple of minutes ago Steve had left to go the toilet and just left Cath, Jay and Chelsea sitting around their little camp fire.

"I know this is not really the time to talk about this but I want you to think about it. When we get back I want all 3 of us to go to family counselling, together. Just to talk about what we have all been feeling. But I don't want it to ruin tonight so I just want you to think about it." Cath said.

Neither of her kids said anything about it in return. They had listened to what Cath had said, and took it on board.

"Right well I think I am going to go bed. Jay you coming?" Chelsea asked standing up.

"Yeah. Goodnight mom." Jay said, standing up and walking over to his mother to give her a goodnight kiss. Chelsea did the same and they both walked off to their tent.

"Family counselling?" Jay asked when he was sure that Cath could no longer hear them.

"Let's give it a try for mom. And who knows it could help us all." Chelsea said.

When they both got into the tent, Jay went over to his side of the tent and went behind the curtain that separated a little dressing area and got changed. When Jay came out Chelsea went and did the same.

Meanwhile...

"Well, with the kids in bed it gives us the night to ourselves." Steve said, as he sat down right next to Cath.

"Well, I am not sure what we can really do. With our kids in a tent next door, and this being a public place, I am not sure we can really do what you want." Cath replied.

"Well we could always get in the truck, go for a drive home, and come back in the morning before the kids even wake up." Steve replied. He and Cath hadn't been interment in a while and he was missing it. Not just the sex, just the time to themselves, were they could talk and just lie in each other's arms without any interruptions.

"You know, we could but if one of the kids wakes up in the night, and they come to find us, that won't work. And I am fed up of telling you, we have kids Steve things change." Cath said, she was half playing, half being serious, she wanted the same thing as Steve, but she knew they both had kids and both needed to put their kids first and them two sneaking off would not be putting their kids first.

"Fine are you coming to bed?" Steve asked. He understood what Cath had said, didn't mean he liked it but he needed to remember about the kids.

"Yes, but not for what you think." Cath said.

They both got into the tent and ready for bed. They both settled down, arms wrapped around each other, and put the blanket over them.

"I told the kids about counselling." Cath said.

"What did they say?"

"Nothing, I told them I didn't want them to say anything, just think about it until we got home and could talk properly, I just wanted them to think about if they would like to, or if they think it would help."

"Okay, well that sounds like a good idea."

"There is something else I wanted to talk to you about." Cath said, this time her voice became more serious.

"Ok" This scared Steve, the last time they had a talk like this, she had wanted to break up with him.

"I was thinking that when me and my kids start to get better then maybe we could think about you moving in with us. I think it would be easier, when Evie starts school, and it would put a structure into place early to stop more upset in the future." Cath said.

"Well that sounds like a good idea. But I want to talk to Evie about it first if that is ok."

"That's fine, I want to give it a little time though before telling the kids, I want Jay and Chelsea to be accept me being back in their lives permanently."

"Okay."

"Goodnight Steve. I love you." Cath said placing a quick kiss on his lips and then rolling over so her back was facing him.

"I love you too Cath." Steve replied.

The next morning...

Steve was up first. With his only choice of exercise being a run he decided to leave Cath and note and go for his morning run.

When he got out of the tent he saw Jay sitting around the remains of the fire they made last night. Jay was dressed in a tracksuit just staring at the ground.

"I'm going for a run if you would like to join me." Steve said to Jay. He wasn't sure if Jay was into running but he had wanted to try and get Jay to talk.

"Yea, I will just get my trainers." Jay said as he walked over to the tent. Steve walked back over to the tent her was sharing with Cath and added to the note he had left for Cath telling her Jay was with him.

When they both met back by the fire, they set off, Jay following Steve. Steve was quite impressed with Jay and how he managed to keep up with him. Steve chose not to say anything; he wanted Jay to talk but knew the only way Jay would talk was on his own terms. He learnt that after yesterday's incident.

"I am really sorry about yesterday." Jay started. They had been running for a while and Jay had been debating whether to say anything. "I don't know why I did it. Chelsea told me not to and that camping was not the time to flip out. And it was mom that I needed to talk to, but I took it out on you and it wasn't fair."

"Jay, it really is alright." I used to flip out about my dad too. Steve added in his head. He didn't want to say it out loud because he thought if he did Jay would flip out about him not being his dad.

They carried on running in silence for a while after this.

"I know you love my mom." Jay said, again breaking the silence. "I know she loves you too. I see it in the way that she looks at you, the way she smiles, when you are around. In photos of her and my dad when they first got together she had the same smile."

"I do love your mom." Steve replied. "I loved her from the first time we met. I remember the first time we meet, and how beautiful she looked and still does."

Jay wasn't sure how to respond to that so chose to leave it and carried on running.

"You ready to head back?" Steve asked when they had been gone for about an 90 minutes. He normally didn't run for this long but was enjoying the running with Jay. They didn't have to speak but they didn't have to, for Steve running with him was bonding time that he used to have with his dad, before he and Mary had been shipped away.

"Yes if you are." Jay replied and they turned around and ran back along the same path they had just come from.

"You used to play football for your school?" Jay asked. It was worded as a question but the way Jay said it made it sound more like a statement.

"Yes, used to be the starting quarterback." Steve replied. He wasn't really sure where this conversation was going but it was still bonding time.

"You broke all of the records." Jay said, all of my friends know about the famous Steve McGarrett who holds all the records. I am trying to become the schools quarterback and was wondering if you would help me?" Jay asked.

"I would love to." Steve replied. Steve was a little confused at first; he wanted to help Jay but was unsure of where the sudden change of heart had come from. Only yesterday he was angry and both he and Cath and now Jay wanted his help.

Meanwhile...

Cath had woken up and found Steve's note. She read the first part of the note, and then was surprised by the last part that had been added on. She couldn't quite understand why Jay and Steve had gone running together, yesterday Jay blew up at Steve and now they were running together. Cath wasn't sure it was going to end well. Just Jay and Steve running together, that could end up bad.

Cath got out of the tent and walked to the table they had set up. She picked up one of Chelsea's magazines that she had left on the table. She started to read the magazine, not really paying much attention to the words that were printed onto the paper.

It wasn't until Evie got out of the tent that Cath put the magazine down.

"Good morning." Cath greeted to Evie.

"Morning." Evie said back. "Where's my dad?" Evie knew her dad wasn't around the camp site, as he was normally the first person up in the morning, and if Cath was up she knew that Steve would be up as well.

"Your dad and Jay have gone for run. They should be back soon." Cath said looking at her watch. She wasn't sure how long Steve and Jay had been gone before she woke up but she had been awake for about an hour so they should be back soon.

"Okay. I thought he might have got a case." Evie said.

"No your dad has booked the weekend off, to spend with us. I don't think his phone is turned on, for him to even get a call." Cath replied back. She sensed that Evie was a little upset about Steve's job and how demanding it was. She got a little fed up of it sometimes but at least she had friends on the island that she could call or go out with her kids when Steve caught a case. But Evie didn't know anyone. She only knew the people Steve worked with and her, Chelsea and Jay. "Are you excited for school?" Cath asked.

"Sort of, I am looking forward to going back and being able to do things with my day and not just spend them at home with dad or by myself." Evie replied.

"But?" Cath sensed there was more to come but she was holding it back. She could tell that Evie had not had this conversation with Steve, and didn't think she would. She would need to have a word with Steve about talking to Evie and getting Evie to open up to him.

"I miss my mom, and starting a school out here will mean that she is gone, and she doesn't want to see me again. But it also means that I have left all of my friends, and I am scared that I am not going to make new friends, and they are going to think I am different." Evie said back, this time a little quite.

"I understand that your scared, but sweetheart, but you will fit in, and your mom does want to see you, she just needs a little time."

Cath and Evie had just finished talking when they saw Steve and Jay running back to the camp. Things seemed aright between Steve and Jay. Cath had been expecting them both to come back looking upset or angry but this surprised her.

"Did you two have a good run?" Cath asked as they both stopped just in front of the table.

"Yeah it was a good run. I am going to go to the showers." Jay said heading off towards his tent.

"Okay." Cath called after him. "How was it really?"

"It was good, we talked a bit, he asked me to help him with football and we just ran. We must have been out for about 2 and half hours." Steve said. "I am going to go to the showers too."

As Steve walked off Cath couldn't help but smile that things were slowly getting better between her family.

Cath and Evie had gone to get dressed, before the boys got back ready for them to make breakfast.

When Jay and Steve came back from the showers, they went into their separate tents and got changed. They all then met outside the tents back at the table, ready for breakfast.

"Jay is Chelsea up?" Cath asked, she was sure that Chelsea would be awake especially with all the noise that they had been making around the camp site.

"I don't think so. I think she fell asleep with her headphones on last night so won't have heard us up yet." Jay replied.

Cath looked at her watch and saw that they were all up earlier than normal and that Chelsea wouldn't be up even if they were home.

"I will start on breakfast and leave some for Chelsea, when she gets up." Cath said.

Steve got up and went with Cath to light the fire and start cooking breakfast.

"You ready for back to school?" Jay asked Evie.

"I think so, me and my dad went shopping the other day and got everything I need." Evie replied.

"Are you excited?"

"Yeah, I think so I am a little nervous." Evie said again being honest about her feelings towards school.

"You will be fine. I am sure once your first day is over it will be fine." Jay replied, sympathy and trying to make people feel better wasn't one of his strong points.

"Thanks, but I think everyone is going to know everyone else and I am just going to be the odd one out. The one who came from the mainland, he talks funny, and things get worse by everyone knowing who my dad is."

Jay really wasn't expecting this conversation to be so deep with Evie telling him all of her problems. He wasn't entirely sure what to do. He and Chelsea did talk, but when Chelsea was upset or worried most of the time she went to Shannon or George to help her. On the few times that he had a deep meaningful conversation with Chelsea he would just tell her how things were, but this was all new to him.

"You know just because people know who your dad is, it's not a bad thing. A lot of people from my school know who your dad is because of all the sporting records he broke and they think it's cool." Of course there are those people who hate your dad because he has either arrested some of their family or just hate him because he is police. Jay added in his head but he was not going to tell Evie that. Of everything he knew about Steve he chose only to tell her the parts that would make her feel better. "And being from the mainland isn't all that bad. I remember, a couple of years ago and new boy started my year and he was from the mainland, and because he was different, because he had a different accent he was found interested and everyone wanted to talk to him, and be his friend, and I am sure that when you start school things will be the same."

"I hope so."

"You two alright?" Cath said as she walked back over to the table, to pick up the empty glasses.

"Yeah we're good." Jay replied looking over at Evie who just smiled at Cath.

"They seem to be getting on well." Steve commented when Cath walked back over to him.

"Yeah they all seem to be getting on well." Cath replied.

All four of them ate breakfast together, and waited for Chelsea to wake up. When it started to get later in the day Cath went into Chelsea's tent to wake her up. After Chelsea had got dressed and ate her breakfast, they all helped packed all of the camping stuff away into each of the cars, and decided to go for a walk, before they all said goodbye and went back home.

The walk went quite well, they didn't go as far as Steve or Cath would go on a normal walk, as they had all, except Chelsea, had a bad night's sleep, and wanted to go home and relax. Steve tried to prolong them leaving for a little longer, by them all stopping at a cafe that was on the way back to the campsite. They had all had a good time, apart from Jay's outbreak, and would remember this trip for a long time, and hoped that times like these would carry on.

But after they had all finished in the cafe, they headed back to their campsite and said there goodbyes, before Steve and Cath decided that they would all meet up the following day for dinner.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review. Next chapter should be up soon as I already started writing it.