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.
Spoiler Alert: Contains details from Episode 6.
Danny had made peace with the state of Hawaii over the last few months; however, something would happen every now and then that set him off. Grace's first day of school was one of those things.
"Steven, it's the first of August. How can it be the first day of school? In Jersey, the kids have another month to sleep late and not worry about homework." Danny's life a year ago had been so miserable and disjointed that he lost track of when Grace had started school. He only had her one night a week or every other weekend. She usually had her homework finished by the time that Danny picked her up.
"Danny, take it easy. Grace likes school, don't you Grace?" Steve turned to their daughter, primly dressed in her private school uniform. Her hair was neatly braided, courtesy of her Daddy Steve. That's what Grace called him when she was with both dads. When they were alone, he was simply "Daddy". Steve never tired of hearing her call him that.
Rachel was shocked the first time that she heard Grace say it. Danny had always been very territorial with Grace, yet he obviously didn't object. She stayed while Grace said her goodbyes to the men, and then told Grace to go on into the house. Danny and Rachel had become friendly now that they had made their peace over the past. Rachel didn't want that to change.
Rachel looked at Steve and asked, "You're Daddy Steve now?"
Steve blushed and simply said, "It was Grace's idea. She started calling me that last weekend."
Rachel looked questioningly at Danny. "You don't object after all these months of objecting to everything that Stan did for Grace."
It was Danny's turn to blush. "I was angry about everything. Stan had everything that I wanted. He got to be more of a dad than me. I was jealous. I apologize. I should have appreciated that he treated Grace so well."
Rachel didn't know why she was so surprised at Danny's response. Danny had changed so much from last year. He answered all of her calls promptly. She hadn't heard a sarcastic remark in months. Danny asked about her pregnancy and showed concern when she had some mild complications. Steve and Danny had even helped Grace shop for a birthday present for Rachel; they clearly had helped wrap the gift judging from the amount of tape used.
"Thank you for that Danny. And if Grace wanted to call Stan "Daddy" too?" Rachel knew that she was pressing her luck but she wanted to be clear on this.
"It's up to Grace. She's a very loving child. I wouldn't object. You, Stan, Steve, Grace, and I are all family. What is good for Grace is good for all of us. She doesn't need us to be at odds."
Rachel finally understood the depth of the love between Steve and Danny. Only love could have healed the pain that Danny had carried with him since the divorce. Rachel stepped forward and briefly hugged both men. "Be careful at work. I'll see you next Friday."
Danny hadn't realized that he had been holding his breath. He exhaled deeply now and turned to Steve. "Why do I feel like I've just dodged a bullet here?"
"I think you probably did. It was a good thing to apologize. I know you had a lot of problem with Stan and his money when we first met."
"Well, I felt like he was buying my daughter's affection and I couldn't compete on my cop's salary. That was really a boneheaded idea. I knew that Grace couldn't be bought. I was so jealous and so angry."
"Danny, I knew you then, remember. How many times did I have to hear the Darth Vader death march when the lawyer called? How many times did you slam your cell phone on the nearest surface? I ran out of excuses on the paperwork to requisition a new phone."
"Steve, you helped me get here. I love you so much, you and Grace."
"Babe, you helped me too. I can look back on my life here with Mom, Dad, and Mary Ann without feeling only pain. I remember that we had some really happy times. And now I have you and Grace. I have a Mom and Dad and more sisters too. Come on, let's go to work."
Steve and Danny headed home at the end of shift that afternoon. Instead of watching the baseball game that Steve had DVR'd for Danny, they went upstairs. There was no need to lock the door tonight. There was no need to keep it quiet tonight. No one took control tonight. Indeed, no one was able to control their passion tonight.
They went downstairs long enough to finish leftovers for supper along with a couple of beers. They spent an hour soaking in the big tub with the jets turned on shortly after midnight. It was almost 3 a.m. before they finally slept.
When Steve awoke, sunlight was streaming in the bedroom. He was alone and Danny's side of the bed was cool to the touch. He could smell the enticing aroma of hot coffee and saw a steaming mug on his bedside table. Danny walked in the bedroom with his own mug looking way too chipper.
"Morning babe. I see that you've finally joined the land of the living." Danny looked smug; it wasn't often that he was awake before Steve.
"How can you even move this morning? I feel like I've been hit by a truck." Steve was sore but very satisfied today.
"Yeah well, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Does this mean you don't want a rematch?"
"You really want to…again? I think I broke something last night?" This was new. Steve never turned down sex. Of course, he never had a partner like Danny.
Danny laughed and shook his head. "No, I don't think I can either. I'm just jerking your chain." Danny put his cup down and slid next to Steve. He only had boxers on, which was more than Steve could claim.
Steve was sprawled on his belly, one arm hanging off the bed. Danny stroked Steve's spine because, well, because it was there and he was there. It was an innocent gesture and Steve should not have found it arousing. In a neat move that only a SEAL could pull off, he had Danny on his back. Steve pinned him there with a "now I've got you where I want you" look on his face.
Danny glanced down to see that Steve had 'risen' to the occasion. "Really babe, because I'm thinking that you don't have one more time left in you right now."
Danny would learn never to taunt a SEAL. Danny's boxers were on the floor and the coffee was cool before Steve had a chance to drain his mug. Steve finally revived enough to take a hot shower. Danny knocked on the shower door and asked, "If I join you, will you promise to keep you hands to yourself."
"No problem Danno. I really think that was my last hurrah for a while." For a change, the men exited the shower while there was still hot water left. They spent the day on the couch, watching the baseball game and old movies. They cuddled a lot, their passions spent for now. This was a first for them. No chores were done, no errands run. They would pay for it tomorrow. For today, they were in a bubble of quiet contentment.
That contentment lasted about ten days until the first day of school. Danny hadn't liked going to school. He enjoyed the freedom of summer days and hated homework. He did well enough at school mostly because he was so smart.
Steve, on the other hand, loved school. He had been a bright and very curious boy. He loved all subjects. Math helped him solve problems. English gave him words to express himself. Geography let him explore strange lands. History let him visit the past. Science let him…blow up things. He hoped Grace had a lot of science homework.
Steve folded down the brown lunch sack and handed it to Grace. "Here you go Grace. I put an extra granola bar in there for Ali. Let's load up now. First one in the car gets to drive." Steve added the last comment as he was almost out the front door. That left Danny to set the alarm and lock up.
"You always drive. I had hoped after all this time you would learn to take turns in the driver's seat." Danny was still agitated about school and was working his way up to a full rant.
Steve enjoyed stopping a rant now almost as much as he enjoyed initiating one. He stopped in his tracks, causing a pileup by the people behind him. "You want to drive this morning? Here." Steve gave Danny a kiss and the keys. He winked at Grace, who was giggling at the look on Danny's face.
That stopped Danny in mid-rant. He felt mildly deflated; he knew Steve did that on purpose. Still, there was no way he could continue. Grace was watching too closely. "Thank you Steven, for letting me drive my own car."
Grace talked excitedly about her new teachers and being with her friends. She gave both men a hug and an "I love you" before exiting the Camaro. Steve had a wave of sadness, which surprised him.
He looked at Danny and saw a similar emotion on his face. "She's growing up too fast Steve. Grace is in fourth grade now. Rachel warned me that some of the older girls in her class are showing early signs of going into puberty."
Steve looked horrified at that comment. As far as he was concerned, one of the best things about being with Danny was that he didn't have to deal with the emotional tailspin women went into every 28 days. Danny never asked him to stop on the way home for feminine supplies. He wandered down that aisle of the Wal-Mart one day on his way to the soap aisle. He was amazed at the variety of minis and maxis on the shelves. And some had wings. Why on earth would they have wings? It wasn't like they were going to fly.
Danny laughed hard at the look on Steve's face. He knew that he had looked the same when Rachel told him. He hadn't slept much that night at all. "Calm down super-SEAL. Grace is not there yet. I just wanted to warn you."
"Thanks Danny. Now I want to dangle a suspect off a very tall building. And after I've worked so hard on not being me."
Danny drove down the street from Grace's school and pulled into a deserted parking lot. Only then did he lean over and give Steve a consoling kiss. "When the time comes, we'll get through it together."
Steve needed the consolation, and not only about Grace. He had a meeting first thing this morning with Joe White. Danny dropped Steve back at the house so Steve could retrieve his truck. Steve had insisted that he come along to drop Grace for her first day of school. Steve stopped by Rainbow and picked up a couple of loco mocos before heading to Magic Island. He hoped the food would soften the blow of whatever Joe had to tell him.
Joe had not been particularly helpful pulling audio off the tape of Wo Fat, Governor Jameson, and John McGarrett. Joe had told him that he was working on something and it would take a couple of weeks. It had been much longer than that.
Steve was surprised to see a pretty brunette sitting at a picnic table looking at a laptop. Joe accepted the box of food and introduced Kensi Blye from NCIS. She was an expert lip reader and was watching the video tape.
Kensi told Steve that the early part of the tape was mostly small talk. "Then, your dad turned to Wo Fat and told him, 'I want to know about Shelburn'. Wo Fat responds with 'Who told you about Shelburn'?" The rest of the conversation was lost as John McGarrett turned away from the camera.
Steve had never heard about a Shelburn. Kensi told him that she had run it through the computer without result. Steve thought that maybe Mokoto might have some idea. Before he could pursue the matter, Steve was called away for a case.
Chin briefed Steve and Danny when they arrived. The victim was Jake Griffin, a popular restaurateur. He had been duct taped to a chair, shot and then dropped into the swimming pool. This case was the latest in a string of home invasions and the thieves got away with quite a haul.
Danny saw a picture of Griffin with a boy. When he heard that Josh Griffin lived with his dad, he knew the boy would be walking in any minute. He couldn't let the son stumble on the crime scene of his father's death.
Steve tried to stop Danny as he ran out the front and then realized where Danny was headed. Leave it to Danny to think of the son. Steve appreciated that Danny was the one to talk to Josh. Sometimes cases like this hit too close to home for Steve.
Steve paired with Lori to interview another couple victimized by the same assailants. Together they were able to jog the memory of the couple; valet parking was the common element among victims. Danny and Kono got the same information from the couple they interviewed.
The team pinpointed the suspects to four employees of the valet company; they found evidence when they raided the suspects' apartment. They also discovered another invasion was likely in progress. Kono was able to identify the location of the home in question. The full team went in to take down the robbers.
Steve threw a flash grenade and cleared the front of the house with Kono disabling two of the robbers. Chin, Lori, and Danny cleared the back of the house. Danny got the drop on the third man and took the fourth man out with a flying tackle.
It was already late when the prisoners were transported back to HQ. Emelina had already put Grace down for the night in Ali's room by the time that Danny went by to pick her up. Steve stayed at HQ to finish up and promised that he wouldn't be long. Danny was tucking Grace in upstairs when Steve came home.
Grace was sleepy but she was glad to be home. She had sat both dads down early on and told them that she wanted them to pick her up whenever they ran late even if she was already in bed. She understood that they might have to work all night on a very rare case, but otherwise she wanted to be home.
Danny was just leaving Grace's room when Steve softly walked in. "She's almost asleep again but made sure to tell me that you needed to come in no matter how late. She said you don't sleep well if she doesn't hug you."
Steve gave a sweet smile at that. "Yeah, she's a real softie." Steve went over and sat on the side of the bed. Grace stirred and opened her eyes.
"Hi Daddy. I wanted to say good night. I love you." She raised her arms to pull Steve in for a tight hug.
"I love you too Grace. Sleep tight." He kissed her forehead and stroked her hair for a few minutes. Grace was asleep when walked out in the hallway. He found Danny in the kitchen, packing Grace's lunch.
"No matter how often she calls me daddy, it always get me." Steve pulled a can of tomato soup out of the pantry. He heated it up on the stove and made a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches to go with the soup. "It was a good catch on the son. I'm glad that he didn't walk in and see his dad like that."
"We did good today. We saved that family tonight." Danny put Grace's lunch in the fridge for tonight and sat down at the table. Steve set two bowls of soup and the sandwiches on the table; they ate in a tired silence. After they were finished, Danny locked up and set the alarm while Steve cleaned up the kitchen. They climbed the stairs together, showered, and were asleep shortly before midnight.
Tomorrow would prove to be an interesting day. Their case was not over yet.