Disclaimer: still own nada.
Author's Note: thank you so much for all the alerts and reviews for the previous chapter. I'm almost done with finals, but since I finished my project and only have one left I took some time to write this, and it's a long chapter with a lot of stuff.
Danny sighed and hung up the phone rubbing his eyes tiredly. He's been calling law offices all morning, and their billable hour rates are outrageous. Danny would move heaven and earth for this daughter, but his bank account can't handle it and he has to be very conscious over how he spends his money. It's tiring really, living in one of the most expensive places ever.
"Hey Danno." Steve called from his office making Danny sigh again as he gets up and walks the short distance into Steve's office. When he walks in he sees that he's on the phone and wonders why he was called over to begin with. Steve looked up and smiles, motioning for Danny to take a seat, perking up slightly. "Hi this is Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, is Mr. Henderson in today? Yes, thank you." Steve looks over at Danny and sighs, he can just tell without asking that he's having a rough day. Not only did he have a suspicion that once they got to the office he would be searching for attorneys, but there was no doubt that he was worrying about how he was going to pay for it. But Steve had already thought about that and had a plan. "Hey Chris, its Steve McGarrett." Danny perked up at the friendly tone that Steve's professional voice had taken. "I have a problem to run by you." Steve then launched into his explanation of "Rachel-gate" as they were calling it now; Danny leaned back and shut his eyes hoping that if he woke up this would all be a really bad nightmare. "Yeah we can be there in an hour no problem, okay thanks." Steve hung up the phone and leaned forward against the desk.
"So this Chris, he's a lawyer? And from what I've gathered a friend of yours?"
"Yeah, we went to high school together and recounted when I got back. He's one of the best family lawyers on the island and I knew that he'd be able to help."
"How much is his help going to cost me?" Danny asked already dreading the response.
"Us, cost us. Danny I've told you I'm going to help you and don't worry about how much okay? Let's just go talk to him and see what he has to say." Danny nodded and stood when he saw Steve leaning back. "Come on, we're stopping for coco puffs before we have to meet Chris." Danny smiled, shaking his head at Steve, of course he was going to try and bribe him with one of his favorite sweets. Bribery was a tactic that Danny was very familiar with, he did have a young daughter after all. Danny was quiet the entire drive from the Palace to Chris's office, and as tempted as Steve was to rile Danny into talking, or even ranting, he refrained allowing Danny his quiet time.
But once they reached the office, Steve felt a nervous air coming from Danny. "Danny, you okay?" Steve asked his hand on Danny's forearm stopping him from exiting the car. "Talk to me Danno."
"I'm just nervous about what's going to happen. I didn't really have a pleasant experience the last time I went through this." Danny sighed looking at Steve with worry clouding his blue eyes.
"Danny, I promise you Chris is nothing like your previous lawyer and he's going to give you every single scenario that could happen. But don't worry okay? I'm right here with you prepared to do whatever it takes. So relax and let's go see what Chris has to say." Danny nodded and got out of the car, his stomach twisted in knots and his hands starting to shake. Steve watched Danny take a deep breath and felt anger swell in his stomach at Rachel it was all her fault that Danny was going through this. Without even thinking about it, Steve reached over and grabbed Danny's hand, trying to give him any bit of comfort that he could. Danny looked up with grateful eyes and squeezed his hand, allowing Steve to walk a little bit ahead of him and open the door.
"Let's do this." Danny whispered once they reached the receptionist's desk and Steve couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. Danny watched as the receptionist smiled up at Steve as he spoke, before picking up the phone and calling Chris, the man that was hopefully going to give Danny good news. Danny yet again fell silent, preparing himself for anything that he could be walking into.
"If you'll follow me." Danny watched as the receptionist stood up, motioning for them to follow her and Steve started walking using their joined hands to shock Danny into moving, since he was so focused on his mental pep talk. Once they reached Chris' office Danny stopped breathing, this was it there was no going back and whatever happened was going to happen. Danny just hoped that for once things went his way with Grace.
"Hey Chris, it's been a long time." Steve greeted dropping Danny's hand just long enough to give Chris a man hug before grabbing his hand once again. "This is my partner Danny Williams." Steve greeted giving Danny one of his dazzling smiles.
"Nice to meet you." Both men said at the same time as they shook hands and Chris motioned for them to take a seat.
"So I know a little bit about why you're here but why don't you tell me exactly what I can do for you." Chris smiled at Steve, who turned towards Danny, with an expectant look. Danny smiled and nodded leaning forward in his seat.
"Do you want the whole story that led us to this moment? Or just the most recent events?"
"The whole story, I want to know everything." Chris replied leaning back in his chair, based on the limited information that he got from Steve's email and subsequent phone call he knew that this was going to a somewhat long story.
"Okay so I was married back in New Jersey and we had a child together. We divorced because she couldn't be married to a cop, she remarried, and moved my daughter here with her new husband, and I followed to be close to my daughter. From the moment she married Stan, she's been trying to take Grace from me. I think it's because she didn't want to be reminded of the failure that was our marriage, plus she had remarried a wealthy guy so she thought that Stan could serve as a better father to Grace than I could. But still I didn't even think about not following her, because that's my daughter, and I would do anything for her. So I got a job with HPD and then this crazy goof over here kidnapped me for the Five-0 task force. Rachel, my ex, is always complaining about how dangerous my job is for Grace, and threatening to take Grace, my daughter away from me. She almost succeeded because I had a shitty attorney that couldn't even answer his phone, but yet again Steve jumped in and sent the governor in to calm Rachel down. So things were okay for awhile, we even thought about getting back together since she thought she was pregnant with my kid." Danny paused taking a long sip of the water that Chris offered him.
"But I was framed for murder and Danny stayed behind to clear my name while Rachel took Grace back to New Jersey. It was then found out that Danny wasn't the father of Rachel's baby, and she was going to make it work with Stan. And since she had her other child Charles and she's working on her marriage with her husband Stan, she's been trying to keep Grace from Danny." Steve supplied, letting Danny take a break. Plus Steve knew this story almost as well if he had lived it himself.
"Yeah and then Steve and I got together almost seven months ago, Rachel's been even worse. I'm supposed to have Grace on Wednesdays and every other weekend, but lately she's been trying to find reasons why I can't see Grace and taking her on trips so that I miss my weekends with her as well. We've had arguments about my time with Grace, and even when she did allow me to see her, she would find something to complain about. She thinks that Grace should be the pretty little girl that should have the nicest clothes that she never gets dirty, and do all the country club activities and I can't really give that to her. But I know that Grace wants to be a normal little girl that can get dirty and do what she wants, so I make do with what I can give her. And Rachel never ceases to find something to bitch at me about on a regular basis. Finally it all reached a head this past weekend when I went to tell her that I had moved in with Steve, I thought she'd be happy because she was always complaining about my apartment."
"It was a real hell hole." Steve joked, making both Chris and Danny chuckle breaking some of the tension in the air.
"Yeah but she flipped out and we got into a huge fight about my relationship and the message it's sending Grace and how unsuitable the environment is for Grace." Steve leaned over and squeezed Danny's hand as he heard his voice crack a little bit.
"So Grace called me in tears since the fight was so bad and I rushed over there to make her feel better and make sure that it didn't escalate any further. When I arrived Rachel decided that she and Danny needed to rethink their custody agreement, meaning she was going to go for full custody. And I think she's doing it, no I know she's doing it because she's jealous and angry that Danny's finally happy and moving on with someone that's not her. She's always using Grace against Danny to make him feel guilty or to hurt him. I want to make sure that that doesn't happen, Grace needs her Danno, and Danny needs Grace. Hell even I need Grace. So please tell me she can't take Grace away from us." Chris leaned back, silent for some time as he let everything sink in.
"After hearing everything, I really don't think she has any valid reason as to why Danny shouldn't see Grace. Yes, your relationship could be considered alternative and some might balk at that, but most of the island knows and no one seems to be upset about it. Plus your jobs are high profile enough that I think any one on the island would sing your praises, I know I would. I have to wonder what this is doing to Grace, I assume that based on her reaction to the fight this weekend it's upsetting her."
"Yes, she was shaken up for quite some time afterwards." Steve said, feeling Danny relax a little bit as Chris spoke.
"So I would suggest that Grace see a counselor, one that she would feel comfortable talking to, so that if we do happen to go to court we can have an unbiased third party shed light on how this is affecting Grace. I would also suggest that we go for joint custody just for the simple fact that Rachel has a young child and most likely a rocky marriage, since she had an affair with you last year. So it might help Grace to have a stable environment with the two of you."
"Do you think we could get joint custody? I mean Steve and I are two men in a relationship together, so wouldn't that hurt our chances of joint custody?" Danny asked, finally giving the nagging voices in his head an outlet.
"If this was ten years ago, I'd say yes. But no, I don't think it will. Because if Rachel were to argue that your relationship was the reason for her wanting full custody, then you can turn around and sue her for discrimination. And really if her attorney's as great as Steve told me he was, even he would tell her not to go that route."
"So how do we go about finding a counselor?" Chris nodded and hit a button on his phone and a woman's voice filtered through the speaker.
"Hanna, could you get DA Roberts on the phone?" Moments after Chris had ended the call with his assistant he was picking up the phone and conversing with DA Roberts.
"How are you holding up Danno?" Steve turned towards Danny using these few moments to find out how Danny was handling all of this information.
"I think it's a good idea for her to see someone, because I know that she's bottling a lot of this up and I want her to talk to someone about it. Plus it would be a good way to show Rachel that by hurting me, she's also hurting Grace." Steve nodded squeezing Danny's hand.
"It could also help if you and I were to talk to someone. I know you're still dealing with stuff from Rachel. I'm not saying you need it, but maybe it could help I'd even go with you."
"Lord knows you have some emotional baggage that needs to be unpacked." Steve smiled softly because if Danny was making jokes he wasn't offended by Steve's offer. "But it might also help Grace feel better about seeing someone, if we told her that you and I were going to as well."
"Good point Danno." Steve replied hearing Chris wrapping up his phone conversation and hanging up the phone.
"Alright so after being transferred to family services, one of ADA's there Jill is going to email me a list of counselors they have used in the past and you just have to pick one that seems like a good match. Jill said she would answer any questions you have and if we're in agreement I'll file the papers for joint custody right away." Steve and Danny looked at each other and nodded, they didn't need to even discuss the possibility of not filing for joint custody. "Alright then, I'll let you know as soon as I file the papers and we'll set up a time to meet before the hearing, if it goes that far."
"Thank you so much Chris, you have no idea how worried I was about this." Danny said standing up and shaking Chris's hand, he was so thankful for everything that Chris was doing for them.
"It's the least I can do for someone who risks their life to keep my island save, plus after Steve told me some of what was going on I knew that I had to help out."
"Thanks Chris, it really means a lot." Steve stood as well and shook Chris's hand guiding Danny from the office with a hand on the small of his back. Danny relaxed when he felt the warm comfort of Steve's hand. He had been a nervous wreck throughout the whole meeting, wondering when the other shoe was going to drop. But instead Danny felt relieved that someone was going to help him see his daughter even more, all he wanted was more time with his daughter before she grew up and wanted to spend even less time with him. "Do feel a little bit better after that?" Steve asked once they were back in the car.
"Yes, thank you for setting this up and being there for me. I know you said you'd always be there but it's different when you are actually there with me." Steve's only reply was to lightly squeeze Danny's thigh as they quietly drove back to the palace, they had a lot of things to think about.
Danny wasted no time in looking through the list of counselors and even calling a few to gage a feel for them. By the end of the day, Danny had scheduled an appointment for Grace, that Wednesday and he was willing to give up an hour of his time for Grace to get some respite from the drama surrounding her parents. Danny also took Steve's advice to heart and looked into finding someone that both he and Steve could talk to, separately and together because as happy as they were now, they both still had things from their pasts that needed to be dealt with.
Broaching the topic with Grace was much easier than both Danny and Steve had even thought it would be. They had picked her up from school the day before, after Rachel had reluctantly called Danny and asked him to because Charles had a doctor's appointment. Danny didn't argue just texted her back and happily went to pick her up. They met up with Steve at Kamekona's for some shaved ice and Danny brought up the subject.
"Hey Grace, Steve and I have something we have to talk to you about." Grace looked up from her treat and nodded, an unsure look in her eye.
"Yeah Gracie, Danno and I were thinking that maybe it might be a good idea if you were to talk to someone about what's going on between your mom and Danno."
"What do you mean?" She asked not sure about what they were saying to her.
"Well Monkey, after what happened this weekend we were thinking that maybe you might like to talk to someone about how that makes you feel. They wouldn't tell your mom or me about what you say, unless it was really important. I know that you don't like to upset anybody, so this would be a way for you to get it all out there." Grace sat there silently not sure about how Danno's suggestion made her feel.
"Danno and I were also going to talk to someone, because we also have stuff that we need to get off our chest without hurting anyone's feelings."
"You are? But you guys seem happy, what could you have to talk about?" Grace asked even though the idea of Danno and Uncle Steve also going to see someone made her feel a little bit better.
"You know that I lost my mom and dad right?" Grace nodded having heard bits and pieces about his parents, while also knowing that it was a hard subject for him to talk about. "Well I haven't really ever talked about it and after awhile it just reaches a point where you have to tell somebody. So I thought that if you were going to talk about stuff with a counselor to help you deal with them, then so could I."
"You're really doing it?" Grace was amazed that the possibility of her doing it helped Steve do it as well.
"Yep, I already scheduled an appointment and everything."
"When would I go see this person?"
"Her name is Victoria and you could go as early as tomorrow." Grace nodded letting it all sink in for a few moments before nodding her head.
"Okay, I mean if you and Uncle Steve are going to do it than I can to." Danny smiled and nodded his head getting up from his side of the table and sitting next to Grace.
"It's going to be okay Grace, I promise. I just don't want you to feel like you have to keep it all bottled up. Plus if you happen not to like Victoria, you don't have to go back." Grace nodded and hugged her Danno.
So the next day Danny and Steve found themselves sitting in a colorful waiting room, while Grace spent time with Victoria reading through the various highlights magazines they had for the kids to look through. Grace had seemed pretty excited about meeting Victoria and talking to her, a trait that Danny's convinced she got from him but that didn't mean that Danny wasn't nervous about how it was going.
"Danno relax. She's fine. I bet she's in there talking up a storm and wowing Victoria with her Danno conversation skills." Danny shook his head and lightly knocked Steve's shoulder. "Ya know what?" Steve asked looking up from the parenting magazine he was reading. Danny didn't answer but turned to look at Steve. "I think we should get a dog. I mean if Grace is going to be living with us more; it might be nice ya know? Plus it would give her something that would make her feel even more at home and it would help when Grace is gone."
"You want to get a dog? Didn't you throw a fit when we were working that case with the dog?"
"You treated that dog better than me Daniel, but yes I'm saying I think we should think about it. It might be a nice birthday present for Grace."
"Yeah we can think about it." Danny finally agreed moments later after giving it some thought, having a dog might be a good thing for all of them. Plus it would probably make Grace insanely happy to have a dog. They talked about what kind of dog they might get and the logistics of how they would go about taking care of the dog and such before Grace finally came out of the office a huge smile on her face. "Hey Monkey." Danny greeted standing up with Steve to meet Grace and Victoria half way.
"Victoria's so cool, she has a lot of markers and crayons!" Steve motioned for Danny to talk to Victoria while he listened to Grace talk about different crayon colors and show him her pictures she drew.
"You have a very well mannered, yet talkative little girl Detective Williams. Once she got going it wasn't hard for her to talk about anything."
"She probably gets her talkative manner from me. But I hope that she was able to open up with you because I'm worried she's keeping a lot of stuff inside and I don't want her to." Victoria nodded and smiled at the sight of Steve listening very attentively to Grace, a large smile spread across her face.
"We didn't past much besides the basics, but I think after a few sessions we'll start talking about the divorce and custody issues. I think she'll open up about it without a problem."
"Thank you so much." Victoria nodded and took once last look at Steve and Grace before going back into her office. Danny turned and smiled as Grace looked up at him and smiled before telling him everything she had just told Steve.
"You were so right Danno, Victoria is so cool. I really like her; do you think I could see her again? Because she's really nice and actually listens to me."
"If you want to, we'll make the appointment before we leave." Grace nodded and grabbed both Steve and his hands, still going on about crayons and how much she loves to draw. Steve and Danny looked at each other, feeling for the first time that maybe they were going to make it through this after all.
A/N 2: wow that was a long one huh? But I hope that you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought, I'd love to hear from you guys ~thatredheadgirl~