Hello Dearies. I own nothing of Hawaii 5-0. This is a sequel to Star Crossed Misunderstandings. I have not written many of Future Misunderstandings, but I hope to. Please feel free to offer suggestions of some of the trials and tribulations and happy times you would to see everyone experience.
"Mom what are these," asked Francesca as she rifled through a shoe box.
Vicki stopped her perusal of old photo albums to peek into the box her daughter was holding. It took a moment to recognize the contents.
"I can't believe I still have these," exclaimed Vicki as she began pulling cards out of the box.
"Are those from dad," asked Anne as she looked over her mother's shoulder.
"Yeah they are," answered Vicki absentmindedly as she read a few of the cards.
"Hey look a CD, " pointed out Dai, reaching over her sister's shoulder to grab the disk from the box.
"Ow," grumbled Francesca as her sister's elbow knocked her shoulder.
Dai ignored her sister and grabbed her mother's laptop. She put the disk in and within moments "Far Away"was coming out of the speakers. Dai shuffled through the music. The girls looked at each other before bursting out into a fit of giggles.
They couldn't imagine that their father had listened to this music.
"Did dad seriously make this CD," asked Alexandra, still giggling.
"Yes," replied Vicki with a sentimental smile.
"Why," asked Anne, trying to rein in her giggles.
Vicki paused for a moment, remembering back almost twenty years to the first and only time Steve had ever laid a hand on her. Steve still regretted what happened that day and to this day he still didn't touch hard liquor. Vicki and Steve had talked about sharing this story with their children, when they were old enough, and with her kids being between twenty and fourteen, Vicki figured it was alright.
"Your father made me that CD to convince me to come back to him," said Vicki slowly.
"You mean when you visited Jersey for work once," asked Francesca.
"No. About twenty years ago I left your father. He made this CD to remind me of us," said Vicki.
"You left dad," exclaimed the girls.
"Yes, for about a week and a half. Which, at the time, was three weeks before you and your brother were born," said Vicki, smiling at her eldest, Anne.
"Why did you leave him," asked Alexandra.
This was the part of the story she wanted to spare her children from. Steve's actions at the time were born from a life changing event and Vicki did not want her children developing any animosity toward their father or their grandmother.
"I left your father after the one, and only time, he laid a hand on me," revealed Vicki.
"He hit you," breathed out Dai, heartbroken that her hero had once hurt her mother.
"Not quite, sweetheart. He grabbed me and pushed me. Unfortunately I fell, causing me to hit my head."
"How could he do that? Especially when you were pregnant," demanded Francesca.
The anger and disappointment Vicki heard in her girls' voices was something she was trying to avoid.
"I am not condoning what your father did, but you girls must understand that many things were going on at the time. Life altering things. Not only were we expecting our first children, but your father had just captured one of the most dangerous criminals he has ever faced and your grandmother had come back into his life," explained Vicki, leaving out that said grandmother had been thought to be dead.
"Yeah, but still. You and dad say if anyone ever lays a hand on us to leave immediately," said Anne.
"Which I did. I packed a bag and took Jareth to your Uncle Danny's."
"But you returned to dad," said Alexandra confused.
"I talked out what happened with your aunts and uncles. We discussed how your father had started drinking to deal with everything. We determined that while what your father did was inexcusable, it was an accident."
"What else did he do to make it up to you," asked Dai.
"Well, first he brought all the alcohol from our house to your uncle's as a peace offering to me," started Vicki.
"Is that why dad doesn't drink anything, but beer," asked Alexandra.
"Yes. He didn't even drink beer for a while. He also sent me a bouquet of lilies everyday," revealed Vicki wistfully.
"Everyday," exclaimed Dai.
"Is that why there are all these cards in here," asked Francesca as she pulled several flower cards out of the shoe box.
"I kept every one," said Vicki with a smile.
"There's a letter in here too," said Francesca as she pulled it out and Anne took it from her.
"Let's see how sentimental dad got," joked Anne as she opened the letter and began to read aloud.
She quickly stopped however when her dad referenced her mother's ex-fiance.
"You were engaged before dad," exclaimed all four of Vicki's daughters.
Vicki froze. Her and Steve never talked about telling the kids about Ben. Especially since the kids considered him their Uncle Ben now. Vicki racked her brain for something to distract them.
"Uhh did I tell you guys that your father also stood under my window while playing our wedding song on a stereo," asked Vicki with a nervous smile.