Mommy Issues

Chapter 1

"Hey, I'm getting ready to head out. I'm trying to decide if I should just save myself the trouble and spank you now."

Myah McGarrett had music playing through her earbuds, but she could still hear the words of her recently adopted father clearly. She turned from where she was carefully removing the painter's tape that had protected the floorboards of the room, and squinted her eyes in mock offense. "I'm sorry, are you talking to me? I can't hear a word you're saying."

Steve McGarrett folded his arms across his chest and gave her a knowing look.

Myah sighed and reached for her phone to silence her music. "What now? You decided to take me with you? I'd love to go to Japan."

"You want to go to Japan?"

"Yeah. With you."

"Well, I'll put it on the list, kid. I'll take you to Japan and we'll climb Mt. Fuji together, because that's definitely on my bucket list."

Myah smiled at his words, and then poked her lower lip out. "But not this time, right?"

Steve shook his head. "No, not this time. This time I'm going for answers."

"About Shelbourne?"

Steve nodded. Myah crumpled up the tape and tossed it into Nahele's trash can. Her brother had agreed, after much pleading on her part, to allow for a room makeover and she had spent the last few days prepping and painting three of the walls a slate blue and one wall a soft tan. She was proud of how it had turned out and Nahele's grin of approval when he'd seen the nearly finished product had made every minute worth it. Since painting her own bedroom and then the hallway bathroom, Myah had found she enjoyed painting and that day in particular had been thankful for the distraction and the rhythmic up and down motion of the paint roller. Midday there had been the news of an explosion at the Honolulu Police Department. Steve had not responded to her text immediately, being involved in what she later found out was the close pursuit of a murderer and the person responsible for the explosion. Thankfully, Steve's former commanding officer, Joe White, had messaged her, assuming she had heard about the explosion and had confirmed Steve and the rest of the team's safety. Myah was slowly coming to terms with the understanding that her father had a job that would continually put him in harm's way, but didn't think she'd ever be able to hear about an event like the explosion that day and not feel like her heart was about to explode out of her chest. Then about an hour previously, Steve had informed her and Nahele that he was leaving the island for a couple of days.

Myah knew he had long since been searching for information regarding some person called Shelbourne and reminded herself that this could lead to answers regarding his mother's death. How could she not be sympathetic to that? Because I'm selfish and I just want him here at home. I'm afraid someday he's not going to come home.

"I'm right here, kid." Steve said, his voice soft, but enough to pull Myah out of her thoughts and back into the moment.

"Sorry."

"Come here." He held out his arms to her.

Myah obeyed and relaxed into his hug, happy to be crushed against his chest. He rocked her for a minute and then kissed the top of her head. "I love you, kid. I'll only be gone a couple of days."

"And you'll have Uncle Joe with you." Myah reminded him and herself.

"Yep." Steve's voice was dry and Myah eyed him, getting the feeling that there was more to the story than he was letting on. He shook his head at her questioning gaze and placing his hands on her shoulders, turned her towards the door. He stopped to grab the green duffle bag that was sitting outside his bedroom door, and Myah preceded him down the stairs. She had spotted the aforementioned Joe White standing by the front door.

"Hey young lady." Joe gave her a tight hug as well. "You behave yourself, hear?" He raised a knowing eyebrow down at her.

"You guys have no faith in me, seriously. I don't go looking for trouble."

"Regardless, it seems to find you anyway."

Myah sighed, feeling like she couldn't in good conscience deny what they were saying. Her choices during Steve's last trip off the island were not ones she was particularly proud of, but could at least be considered good learning experiences. "As long as you keep dad safe, I promise I'll be a perfect angel."

Steve scoffed from behind her on the stairwell. "A… that's not how that works. And B… I am pretty good at taking care of myself, you know."

Myah ignored him and looked up at Joe. "He still has broken ribs. Ow!" Steve had popped her from behind with his duffle bag. She shot him a look of mock offense, and then stepped aside before following the two men out the door. Steve tossed his bag into the backseat of Joe's car and grabbed Myah in another hug.

"I'll text you when we land. I love you." He playfully tousled her hair. Myah shook him off, but felt warm as she always did from those words.

"Love you too. Hey Uncle Joe… bring me back something from Hello Kitty Land!"

"From what?"

Myah pursed her lips. "You cannot go to Japan and not bring your namesake back a souvenir."

"I'll… do my best."

Myah laughed at his expression and waved as they pulled out of the driveway. As they disappeared from sight, she hugged herself, feeling cold in spite of the island heat. After a long minute, she let herself back inside and returned to her previous task of removing all the painters tape. Even with her music the house now seemed a little too still. She was glad when she heard the door slam, knowing Nahele was due home. His movement was predictable and it was only a few minutes later that he made his way upstairs to inspect his room.

"How's it, tita?" Nahele's voice was warm as he looked around the room. "This is…uh… definitely not bad. You don't suck at painting."

"Wow." Myah rolled her eyes. "You do suck at giving compliments. Anyway, we can move your furniture back. I think the bed would look good over there." She indicated the blue wall opposite the tan wall.

"Okay." Nahele shrugged, not seeming to have much of an opinion on the matter. He seemed to be in an agreeable mood and stepped in to help her move the bed, dresser, desk and shelf around. The bedroom set was made from a knotty pine and was leftover from Steve's boyhood. Myah had taken apart a vintage car calendar that Nahele had said he liked and framed the pages in simple black frames. Nahele took the box of frames of her, as well as the rolled up surfing posters he'd wanted and began to hang the artwork up around his room.

"I'm going to get your new bedding. It's in the dryer." The bedding was pleasantly warm when Myah removed it from the machine. The sheets were dark gray and the comforter medium gray with light gray pinstripes. She laid a hunter orange blanket across the foot of the bed, thinking that while it would probably never be folded so neatly again, it definitely gave the room a pop of color. She perched on the edge of the neatly made bed and watched Nahele hang the posters.

"Do you like it?"

Nahele nodded.

"I think it looks awesome in here." Myah thought back to when Nahele had sliced his hand open while helping her set up the new rug she had gotten for her room. "And we got it all done without any bloodshed."

"Good thing. I still have a scar from your room. That seems like forever ago now."

"Or like yesterday," Myah responded. "Did you ever think that all this would happen? Like, when you were helping me set up my room, that we would be family?"

Nahele shrugged. "Wasn't that the first day I met you?"

"Yeah."

"I just thought you were really annoying and was jealous that you got to move in with Dad. I was afraid he wouldn't want me around anymore. I was definitely right about the first thing."

"Whatever. I am not annoying."

"Oh, you definitely are, but I'm glad you're here."

"You are?"

"Yeah… you're actually a pretty good housekeeper." He motioned to his bed.

"Alright, mister, listen here, this is one hundred percent, the only time I am ever making your bed for you. I don't care if you're paralyzed, you can figure it out yourself."

Nahele snickered. "Okay, brat."

"Jerk." Myah noted the text notification sounding on her phone. "Hey, Kono wants us to come over for dinner later. You want to?"

"Well, the alternative is I have to cook or you get to set off the smoke alarms so…"

"Excuse me!" Myah glowered at him. He wasn't actually too fair off the mark, as she did tend to get easily distracted when using the stove. "I'll go and leave you here." she muttered.

"How are you getting there, then?"

"Well, I'm already a better driver than you are."

"The heck, you are!" This time it was Nahele's turn to sound outraged.

Myah laughed at the look on his face. "Just kidding. Probably."

"How'd you learn to drive, anyway?"

"My neighbor friend Josie and I taught ourselves. Her mom worked nights and there was a big warehouse parking lot nearby that was always empty. I mean I guess technically there's more to driving than steering around a parking lot though, right?"

"Yeah, just a little. Did your mom ever find out you did that?"

"No." Myah shook her head. "I wouldn't have done it if I thought she'd find out. I never wanted to worry her. I never ever got in trouble back then."

"Sounds to me like you just never got caught."

"I guess. More like nobody ever gave me any rules to break. Not like here. Do you think we would have gotten along if we'd… grown up together?" Myah looked at her adoptive brother hesitantly. She was curious to explore the idea, but didn't want to make things awkward. Her phone rang before Nahele could answer and when Lacey's name flashed across the screen she answered without thinking and immediately wished she hadn't. At the same time, she supposed this conversation was somewhat inevitable. The island just wasn't big enough to hope she never saw her former friend again. Nahele was absorbed in hanging a poster, but Myah decided to step out of his room for privacy anyway.

"Hi." As she stood Myah stepped onto a piece of duct tape she'd left laying on the ground. Awkwardly she tried to kick it off.

"You haven't been returning any of my texts." Lacey clearly wasn't in the mood for small talk.

"I'm sorry…" The tape was now also stuck to the area rug on Nahele's floor, and Myah reached down to try and pull it off. "Look, my dad doesn't think it's a good idea for us to hang out together anymore."

"What?!" Lacey's voice immediately reached screech level and Myah winced, holding the phone away from her ear. The noise had caught Nahele's attention as well, and he was now staring at her, eyebrows raised and looking slightly amused at the duct tape she was still attempting to dislodge from herself and his rug. "Why would he say that?!"

"Why do you think?" Myah shook her head. This was an incredibly awkward conversation to have but she didn't think it should come as a surprise at this point. "You almost got us in trouble because of your shoplifting and last time we hung out we got drunk!"

"How did he even find out about that? I thought he was on a trip!"

"Well, he was, but-"

"Well, who told him?!"

"I did! I mean, Uncle Danny really didn't give me a choice, but honestly Lacey, I'm not going to lie to-"

Lacey interrupted her. "Okay, but that still doesn't give him the right to deprive you of your childhood friendship! You know what I think, is that he's an egotistical maniac that's trying to wipe your former life off the face of the earth! He just wants it to be all about him!"

"My former life… Lacey, that's crazy! You don't even know him. He's my dad now, by choice, and I love him." She thought that statement was firm enough to put a stop to the other girl's rambling. Nahele chose that moment to yank the tape off her foot and she gasped at the sting the motion created. Limping, she finally managed to vacate his room. Lacey wasn't finished.

"You know… I think it's really sad how you're just choosing to forget your mom."

"I am not choosing to forget my mom! How dare you-"

"Well, I don't know what you call it then. Just starting up a whole new family like she never even existed. I know you don't keep in touch with anybody else from back home. And me, you childhood friend that your mom used to invite over because she loved me, is being shut out. I guess you'd just be happy if I died too."

Myah found herself gasping for air at Lacey's words and sank down at the top of the stairs. Nahele had followed her and yanked the phone from her hand. "Hey Lacey," he growled. "Go back to whatever swamp you crawled out of. Your number's blocked." He hung up and his finger moved rapidly across the screen, before he sat down next to Myah.

Myah could feel the tears tracing between her fingers and hitting her bare feet, one of which still stung from the removal of the duct tape. She turned and looked at her brother. "I know Lacey's crazy…" she said softly. "But I mean, she's sort of right. I am moving on with a new life."

"Yeah. Because your mom would want you to. The same way my mom would want me to. You can't listen to anything she says, she's just pissed because for once, she's getting called out on her crap."

"I guess so… I mean… being happy now, doesn't mean we're happy our moms… died, does it?"

"No way."

"You're right." Myah felt her heart rate slowing and her breathing return to normal. "I should be mad at you for listening in on my private conversation. Usually that's my m.o."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't have if you hadn't been tripping over duct tape and she hadn't been screeching. I just know that no way are you hanging out with her on my watch."

"Well, I'm not going to, but last I checked, you're not my boss."

"I am while dad's gone." He held her glare without wavering.

"Whatever." Myah gave in, finally looking away. She was loath to admit it, but after the stress of the phone call, she actually had no problem letting her big brother be in charge. Unable to help it, she lowered her head onto his shoulder.

"I blocked her number." Nahele said.

"It's not like there's not a million other ways she can try and get a hold of me."

"I know. But you definitely are not hanging out with her."

"I know. I don't want to, especially not after what she just said. Plus, I promised dad I'd try to be good while he's in Japan."

"He would definitely be pissed."

Myah grimaced. If she remembered correctly, his exact threat to her if she hung out with Lacey again, was that he'd whip her bare bottom every night for a week. She couldn't imagine that he'd actually follow through with something that severe, but she certainly didn't want to find out.

Nahele nudged her side. "What?"

"Nothing… I just… do you think Dad would whip me every night for a week? That's what he threatened if I hung out with her again."

"Uh…" he looked uncertain. "I don't know. He always does what he says he's going to do."

"Yeah…" Myah decided it was time to move along. "Are you done hanging your stuff? I'm going to take a shower and then we can head to Kono's."

"Okay." Nahele was agreeable to the plan and about an hour later was driving Steve's truck towards Kono's home. They parked on the street next to her small white house and teasingly jostled each other as they approached her green front door. Myah cocked her head when she realized the door was partially open.

"Nahele…"

He grabbed her arm and stepped in front of her, before calling out "Kono? You home?" There was no answer. Nahele glanced down at Myah and then carefully pushed the door open. Myah followed him in, her heart pounding. The bungalow was brightly decorated and the whole house was pretty much visible from the doorway and there was clearly no one there. There were a couple of lights on and the television played softly in the background.

"Maybe she got called into work?" Myah asked softly.

"Her car's outside." Nahele responded, tersely. "Try her cell?"

Myah immediately hit Kono's name on her cell and jumped when the ring sounded from the phone lying on the counter. "Should we call 9-1-1? Or Chin?"

"I think-"

"Hey!"

Myah jumped for a second time and Nahele immediately pulled her behind him, as a tall, dark haired man stepped into the room. They stared at each other, frozen for a moment and then he spoke. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Nahele and Myah shared a quick glance and then she spoke. "We're just here to see Kono. She invited us for dinner. I don't… think she's here." The man was not familiar but Kono had indicated discreetly a couple times that she was dating someone. Myah had wondered at the reserved behavior from her normally outgoing friend, but had caught enough of the tail end of a few conversations to know that Kono's cousin Chin did not approve of the relationship. Was this the mysterious boyfriend? "Who are you?"

He hesitated, but finally answered, "Adam. Are you McGarrett's kids?"

"Yeah." Nahele said, his eyes narrowed while watching the man closely. "Do you know where Kono is?"

"She's actually in the hospital. She's going to be okay, but there was… an accident in the water and they need to monitor her for a few hours. I'm just getting some of her things. You guys go on home."

"Does Chin know she's in the hospital?" Myah asked.

"Uh… yeah, he does. He's the one who called me. Go on guys. I'll tell her you were here."

"Okay." Myah said reluctantly. She followed Nahele out to the truck. "What the crap?! I hope she's okay!"

"I know." As usual Nahele was of few words, but his expression clearly indicated his displeasure with the entire situation. "I'm calling Chin."

"I'll call him, you drive."

"Drive where?"

"The hospital. We'll find her ourselves."

Nahele hesitated only briefly. "Okay. It's not far."

She quickly dialed Chin's number but it went straight to voicemail. Myah frowned and tried Danny's number and sighed when he didn't pick up either. "Can you drive any faster?"

"No." he answered shortly. Myah didn't ask again, but sat alone with her thoughts. She loved Kono, as the woman had accepted her with open arms from the day she'd met her. Kono was brave and feisty, as well as kind and loyal and Myah couldn't imagine a better role model. Other than mom, of course. She was caught off guard when the thought slid in place and shook her head as though to rid her brain of the words. Loving Kono didn't mean she loved her mom any less. At least she didn't think so. Regardless, she shifted back and forth on the seat and prayed Kono was alright. They reached the hospital without incident and after a quick debate entered through the emergency room.

"You ask at the desk." Myah said softly.

"Why me?"

"Because if it's family only, I feel like you could pass for that a little better than I could." Myah motioned to her face.

Nahele rolled his eyes, but strode up to the desk. "Hi, I'm here to see my aunt, Kono Kalakaua. She was just admitted and she's expecting us."

Myah held up her own cell phone and her purse. "We have Aunt Kono's things."

The woman behind the desk was clad in gray scrubs and didn't look much older than them. "Well… technically it's past visiting hours."

"Please?" Myah pleaded. "If we could just give her her things, then we'll go. She has a really hard time sleeping without her music."

"Well, I could just take it back to her."

"No, I'd really feel more comfortable delivering it to her personally. Please, we'll be quick." Myah could see the girl was wavering.

Nahele leaned forward at the desk and smiled. "We'd really appreciate it." Myah held back at eye roll, at his attempt at charm. It appeared to seal the deal with the blond girl behind the desk however.

"I guess I could take you back real quick. She hasn't been transferred out of the ED yet."

Nahele rewarded her with another smile, the kind that Myah had noted could light up a room. She was pretty sure Kamekona's increased sales were largely due to girls wanting their food hand delivered by the handsome teenager. Myah shook her head. The last thing she wanted to think about at that moment was Nahele having a girlfriend. She couldn't even imagine how that would change up their family dynamic. She had dubbed Grace Williams and Samantha Grover as her kindred spirit soul sisters, but Nahele was her best friend. She didn't know if she was ready to share her big brother with another girl.

The receptionist waved her badge over a wall sensor and the double doors opened. "She's in room 7."

"Thank you." Nahele waved.

"What a flirt." Myah muttered, as they headed down the hallway.

"I think she was nice."

"I was talking about you." She nudged him with her elbow, and got a sharp poke to her ribs for her trouble.

"Hey, you wanted to get in here, didn't you?"

"I know." Myah hesitated outside room seven, before calling out softly, "Kono?"

"Myah?" came the weak response and Myah, pushed the curtain aside, before entering the room. Kono was laying on a stretcher with her head elevated. Oxygen tubing trailed from her nose and an IV bag of fluids was attached to her arm. She looked pale and weak and Myah noticed what looked like burn marks around her mouth.

"Hey, sweetie, are you okay? I'm sorry I didn't make dinner." Kono held out her arms.

Myah couldn't help the tears that threatened to fall, and didn't hesitate to climb onto the stretcher and with the greatest of care hugged Kono.

"Myah…" Nahele cautioned, but it was a position all too familiar to her.

"What happened?"

"Well…" Kono sighed. "Let's just say Five-0 has a major case to get to work on."

Myah stared at her in disbelief. "So it wasn't an accident? Someone did this to you?"

"We piss off some bad people in our line of work. But I'm okay. How'd you know I was here?"

"Adam?" Nahele spoke his name as a question.

"Yeah, is he your boyfriend?"

Kono smiled. "Considering he saved my life tonight, I'd say yes. He's my boyfriend."

"Why was he a secret?" Myah wanted to know.

"I'll tell you more later, but it's just complicated right now."

Myah noticed how fatigued their friend looked and decided now was not the time to press her. "Do you need anything?"

"Just hang with me for a bit. I'm glad to have you two for company." At her words, Nahele sat down on a stool next to the bed and gently squeezed her hand and Myah continued to lay next to her. They sat in comfortable silence for several minutes, until the curtain opened a second time.

"What's this?" Adam stood in the doorway, Kono's purse and a small duffle bag in hand. "I told you two to go home."

"We needed to check on her for ourselves." Myah responded.

He shook his head. "You're McGarrett's kids, all right."

"And they should be home in bed!" Danny Williams stepped into the room behind Adam. Myah didn't miss the suspicious once over he gave the taller man.

"Kono, babe, are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be right as rain. Might be a little late to work tomorrow though."

"Uh, yeah, you take as long as you need."

Kono's expression turned worried. "Any word on Malia?"

Danny nodded. "I just talked to Chin and it was touch and go, but they think she's going to be fine."

"What happened to Malia?!" Myah nearly jerked up on the stretcher, but muscle memory from years of being around her mother, kept her still.

"She… uh… she was shot, but she's going to be fine. I would like to know what the two of you are doing here." Danny's voice turned stern, and Myah felt herself balking, especially since he was clearly changing the subject to avoid giving them more information. She opened her mouth to protest, but he beat her to the punch, saying "Oh, don't even start with me, young lady. I am not in the mood. Aren't you two supposed to be with Kamekona?"

"He's staying with us." Nahele confirmed. "He's got a private catering event tonight though and won't be in until late." He shook his head. "You've got to be twenty-one to work the venue, so I missed out."

"Well, it's way past MJ's bedtime and almost past your curfew, so you two need to beat it. I'll follow you home."

It was Nahele's turn to look offended. "I'm good, uncle Danny."

"Yeah," Myah spoke up in support. "I can confirm, he didn't even speed to get here."

Danny rolled his eyes. "High standards. Come one guys, let's move. Kono, rest easy and call if you need anything at all. Adam." He nodded and Adam nodded back. The smallest hint of amusement could be seen at the corner of his mouth, as he listened to them. Danny herded them out like a mother hen, and Nahele barely had time to wave at the receptionist at the desk. She was looking a bit overwhelmed and Myah supposed she was starting to worry considering she had allowed four non-family members past the desk during non-visiting hours. Once outside, Nahele again tried to talk Danny out of following them home.

"I'm a good driver. I'll text you when we get home."

"I know you're a good driver, but it's late and frankly it's been a hell of a night, after a hell of a day. I hear one more argument and you're grounded until your dad gets home, you got me?"

Nahele sighed, but nodded in acceptance as he unlocked the truck. Myah made a face at Danny. "You want to push it?" he asked her.

She shook her head, feeling her surliness fade away at the reminder of the kind of day the whole team had had. She rarely initiated physical affection, but quickly wrapped her arms around the blond man's waist. "I love you, uncle Danny."

His expression softened as his arms tightened around her as well. "I love you too, MJ. You stay in one piece, you hear me?"

H50 H50 H50

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello, to the best readers ever. Hope everyone's doing well and that a little H50 brightens your week. This story takes place loosely between episodes Ua Hala (S2 E23) and La O Na Makuahine (S3 E1), obviously any dialogue borrowed does not belong to me. This is the first time I've ever fully mapped out a story, so hopefully that means that updates will come easily. Yes, I am choosing to let Malia live. It was just too sad for me, so while I don't intend for as speedy a recovery as the ones on the show, in the Myah-verse, she does survive the gunshot. As always thank you for going on this journey with me, let me know what you like, what you don't and what you wish for.