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.
Monday morning was much better for the McGarrett-Williams family. They woke up a little after eight. Grace took a running leap into bed with Steve and Danny, and they spent some time planning their day. They actually changed out of their sleep clothes so Steve could take them to Rainbow for loco moco. Danny insisted that they stop at the store so he could buy some baby back ribs to grill for supper.
Steve finally washed, dried, and packed his clothes in his ready bag. He also took a long run followed by his usual swim. Grace finished her homework while Danny paid the household bills that were due in the first part of the month. Steve and Danny had established a joint account to pay for items for the household and for Grace's expenses. Steve had made an impassioned argument that as one of Grace's dads, he should be responsible for some of the cost of her care. Danny started to argue, but he stopped when he realized how important it was to Steve.
Steve, Danny, and Grace took a stroll on the beach after lunch. Grace collected shells, an activity she never tired of. They played catch for a while and then threw Grace's football around. Steve made German Potato Salad and a fresh fruit salad to go with the ribs. They all finished the cobbler; Steve was back to eating like a grownup again. Steve made a batch of granola bars for lunches, putting cranberries and butterscotch bits in instead of raisins and chocolate chips. Steve and Danny packed their lunches as well as lunch for Grace. Things were finally getting back to normal.
Grace took an early shower and was ready for bed in time for a long story time. She seemed to be doing much better today. Grace had spent time in her room playing with her Barbies and their new boyfriends, the GI Joes. She also had a long phone call with her mommy. Rachel had been worried about Grace in Steve's absence and was relieved to hear that Grace was feeling better.
Rachel spoke to Danny briefly and asked that he call when Grace was in bed for the night. Danny was curious about the request, but he and Rachel were getting along well enough that Danny no longer expected the worst.
Grace enjoyed her story time with her dads and fell asleep quickly. Downstairs, Steve and Danny sat at John McGarrett's old desk and called Rachel on the speakerphone.
"Danny, thank you for calling. Is Grace in bed already?" Rachel was relieved that Danny called so promptly. She was often tired in the evening, and the reason for the phone call weighed heavily on her.
"Yes, she had a good day and wanted to be ready for school tomorrow. What's up Rachel?" Danny knew Rachel was stalling.
"Is Steve there also? This concerns both of you." Rachel knew Steve would have questions and wanted to get all the facts on the table.
"I'm here Rachel. Are you feeling okay? Is everything alright?" Steve was a little worried now. He knew whatever Rachel wanted to discuss was serious.
"I'm feeling well these days, just a little tired. Everything is fine. I wanted to discuss an opportunity Stan and I have. Let me start by saying that we will not be taking Grace away. In fact, it will involve Grace staying with both of you for an extended period of time."
"Stan will be general manager of his resort when it opens next fall. The owners anticipate a full house during the holidays and they want him to spend this holiday season touring other world class resorts to observe how they celebrate the holidays. I'll be able to travel with him. We'll be gone from Nov. 20th through Jan. 2nd."
"It will be my last opportunity to travel before the baby comes. I hate to be away from Grace for that long, but it's a wonderful opportunity for Stan and me. We're doing well together now, but I know it will be stressful after I have the baby. It was tough enough when I had Grace and you were a hands-on dad, Danny. I doubt I will be that fortunate again. At least we will have this time together."
"Danny, I know you've told me that you want Grace with you as often as possible. This will be for more than six weeks. The holidays can get pretty hectic. Stan and I will be happy to pay child support for that time."
Danny cut in now. "Rachel, stop. You will never pay me to have Grace. I want that understood." Danny looked over to Steve, who was doing a totally goofy, yet utterly charming victory dance. "I speak for myself and Steve on this issue. We accept. We'll work out the details later. You sound tired. Why don't you go and put your feet up."
Rachel was so relieved but she wanted to make sure that Steve was in agreement. She didn't want to further her marriage at the expense of Danny's relationship with Steve. Steve had been so good for Danny and a wonderful father to Grace. "Steve, is Danny correct? Do you agree?"
"Hey Steve, get back in here. Rachel wants to be sure that you want Grace for the whole holiday season. You'll have to excuse the goofy super-SEAL. He's doing a little victory dance around the living room."
Steve finally made it back to the study. "Rachel, Danny and I are in total agreement on this. We will take Grace for as long and as often as we can. I love her; we both do. I'm sorry that she was so upset while I was deployed. I swear I will make it up to her."
"Steve, I spoke to Grace. It sounds like you already have made it up to her. Then it's all settled. I'll tell Stan to work out our itinerary. Can you and Steve come over after work on Friday? We can have dinner and tell Grace together. I don't want her to feel that we're abandoning her."
It was the first time that Rachel had included Steve in one of their family discussions. This was a big deal. "We'll be there. Maybe we can talk again before then and brainstorm how to best present it to Grace."
"Thanks Steve. You too, Danny. That's a good idea. I am feeling rather tired now. I'll call in a couple of days. Good night." Rachel disconnected the call feeling hopeful for the future. She really wanted this time with Stan. Now it was going to happen thanks to her ex-husband and his partner.
Danny and Steve exchanged high-fives when Danny turned the phone off. "Can you believe it? We'll have Grace for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day. We hit the holiday jackpot." Danny was in heaven.
Steve' mind was racing. "We can have a big tree like you had back in Jersey. I still have boxes of ornaments we used when I was a kid. I bet your mom can find a nice Santa suit for you to wear. We can decorate the outside of the house and go Christmas caroling with the 5-0 family."
Danny grabbed Steve and kissed him hard. "Can you believe it babe? Grace will be here for the whole time our family comes in after Christmas for our ceremony. Last year, I was lucky to get her for a few hours on Christmas Eve. I had the dinky tree and the humongous Santa suit."
Steve hugged Danny. "Danno, it will be my first Christmas with family since Mom died. I feel like I just saw Santa putting presents under my tree."
Steve and Danny finally calmed down enough to go upstairs. They made love slow and tender tonight. They celebrated anew the miracle of being family. Steve and Danny whispered endearments to each other that would have otherwise embarrassed them. It was late by the time they slept.
The first day back to work or school after a holiday weekend is always rough. Not so for the McGarrett-Williams household. All was right with the world. Steve was safely home from unknown dangers, and both dads were rejoicing the prospect of a holiday season with Grace. Grace was still unaware of the plans, but she could tell than Danno and Daddy Steve were in a very good mood. The family had breakfast, grabbed their lunches, and went out to face the world.
Steve and Danny parked at Grace's school and went in to talk to her teacher while Grace put her backpack up. They explained that Steve was back from training and that Grace seemed to be adjusting back to their routine. They told the teacher about Grace's little meltdown on Saturday and how they handled that and the remainder of the weekend.
"Commander McGarrett, Detective Williams, we've been concerned about Grace. We knew the commander was performing his active duty. She has been very quiet and a little sad for a couple of weeks. It's very nice to see you back Commander. I must say that I wasn't sure how well Grace's home situation with you would work out. However, I wish that all our parents were as concerned about their children. When Grace is with you, she's always on time and neatly dressed. Her homework is complete and she has studied for her tests. You even pack a healthy lunch for her. It sounds like whatever you did this weekend, it certainly worked. You know, she's very proud of both of you. I'd better get back to my room. Thank you for keeping me up to date. I look forward to seeing you both at Parent-Teacher's Conferences."
Steve and Danny gave Grace one last hug and walked back to the Camaro. "Wow, that's the nicest anyone here has ever been to me." Danny was shaking his head in disbelief.
"Face it Danno, we've become the stable home for Grace. Rachel is focusing more on Stan than Grace, plus she's bringing another child into their home in a few months. I'm not suggesting that Rachel loves Grace less. It's just that we're more of a team working toward the same goal. Rachel is being pulled in different directions. It's got to be tough on her. I think we'll be seeing even more of Grace when the baby comes."
"That would be great for us. I just hope that Grace won't feel that she's not important to Rachel anymore. I know that's not true. I believe that Rachel is totally overwhelmed by circumstances. Like you said, you and I have become true co-parents. We love her, physically take care of her, and we discuss what's best for Grace when things come up. I think Rachel is on her own. Stan was always happy to write checks and spoil her. But I'm sure he never fixed her hair or cuddled with her on a weekend morning. He's probably never read a bedtime story, played with Barbie, or mopped up the bathroom when a little bubble bath got out of hand."
Danny and Steve laughed at the memory. "Did we get a picture of the mess? I wanted to send one to Mary."
"Of course I did. It was a great end to a really tough weekend. I've never seen Grace like that. You were really good with her Steve. I think she senses that Stan is pulling back and that Rachel's attention is divided. It helped her to know that you love her and that you are proud of her. Shall we head to the office? I'm sure that Chin, Kono, and Lori are waiting to tattle on me for everything I did while you were gone." Danny slipped into the passenger seat of the Camaro.
Steve laughed and started the car. "Hey, if you solved the case, none of the team is in the hospital or jail, and the governor hasn't called, you did a good job."
The team was waiting for them at headquarters with fresh coffee and malasadas. Danny only hesitated a moment before grabbing a fresh cup and a malasadas. "Oh, I've forgotten how good these are. I used to have them almost every day before I moved in with Dr. Oz here."
Steve helped himself too, and then shot back, "Yeah, well your blood pressure is in the normal range and your cholesterol dropped 30 points. You'll still be bitching at me when we're eighty.
"I hope so, babe. I really hope so." Danny took the chair at the head of the table. He briefed Steve on their activities of the last two weeks. Steve asked questions periodically and then would nod his approval.
Finally, Danny sat down and let Steve take over. "It sounds like everyone did a fantastic job. It made it easier for me to be away because I knew that 5-0 was in good hands. The governor was also happy with your performance. Do you have any questions?"
Chin spoke up first. "Boss, we heard some chatter about a new drug cartel moving in. The head has some ties to the group we took down last year. Do you want Kono, Lori and I to check into it?"
Steve glanced at Danny, who gave an almost imperceptible shrug. Steve looked closely at his team and simply said, "I don't think there will be any problem with that cartel." Lori started to question Steve's decision, but Chin stopped her.
"Are you sure boss?" Chin and Kono had discussed Steve's assignment and both concurred that he was on a special op with his SEAL buddies. Chin had also heard that the cartel had been neutralized recently and was fishing for information now.
"I'm quite certain Chin. Anyone else have a question? Good, I suggest we all get back to work." Steve stood and went to his office. Just as he was sitting down, Chin stuck his head in. "I guess we're not the only team to do a good job. I wondered if that was you. And I know, I wasn't here and we didn't have this conversation."
It was a short week with the usual assignments. The team monitored on-going cases and provided assistance to HPD when asked. Steve was trying to mend fences for all the times that he had upstaged or even attacked HPD. He knew they thought that the governor had ordered Steve to make nice with the other police, but Steve recognized that they all needed to work together.
Thursday night, Steve and Danny called Rachel again, and they discussed how they should tell Grace about Rachel's extended trip. They agreed that Grace needed to know that they all loved her, and that Rachel wanted Grace to have more time with Danny and Steve to make up for all the time that Danny hadn't been able to see Grace much since the divorce. They also agreed that Grace would know ahead of time that Danny and Steve were coming to dinner so that she didn't suspect the worst when she saw them. They intended to show family unity.