CHAPTER NINETEEN
Title: "Salvation: Forever and Always: Elusive Dreams – PART III"
Author: Michelle Heath
Rating: MA for adult situations and language
Summary: Story #9 in the Salvation series. The bonds of family bring the Five-0 ohana even closer.
Disclaimer: I so do not own Hawaii Five-0; unfortunately! All original characters are the property of the author!
Date Written: November 5, 2012
(Libby and Grace have carried on a running conversation about the jeans Grace has been wanting and what's going on at school while Sam and Caroline, with Emily in her car seat between them, listen quietly. Caroline catches Sam's eye at one point during the conversation and both young women roll their eyes when Grace makes a comment about boys being "totally gross". They both know it won't be too long before Grace is going to change her mind and then life's going to get a lot more complicated. As soon as Libby has parked, she and Grace are moving to the back of her SUV and have Emily's stroller out and ready by the time Sam and Caroline join them. After Sam has placed her daughter in the stroller and buckled her in, Libby, pushing the stroller, and Grace head off in search of Grace's jeans, leaving Sam and Caroline on their own. They follow their mother and Grace at a more leisurely pace, and, after Caroline shouts to her mother that they're going to walk around the Mall and Libby waves them off, they head in the opposite direction. They window shop for a little while until they come across a lingerie store and Caroline grabs Sam by the arm and practically yanks her inside.)
"Hey!"
"Come on, Sam, I've been out of it for two months; I need something that's going to make Danny's eyes pop out!"
"Trust me, Caroline; you do not need anything from here. You'll have no problem getting his attention."
"Yeah, well, it never hurts to have a little extra ammunition in one's arsenal. . Hey, while we're here, why don't you get a little something for Steve?"
"A little something for Steve?"
"Wait, I forgot. You guys were rabbits in another life; never mind."
"Yep, you're back to normal."
(Twenty minutes later, the two leave the store with a couple of bags and giggling like teenagers. Libby and Grace, carrying some bags of their own, see the two and Libby calls out to them. They meet up in front of the store and Libby gives both her daughters a questioning look which causes them to start giggling again.)
"I'm glad you girls are having a good time. Why don't you take Grace and Emily to that chocolate shop and I'll join you in a few minutes?"
"Aren't you coming, Grandma?"
"Me, miss chocolate? Never! I'll be right there, Grace. I just have to pick something up first. Go on with your Mom and Aunt Sam."
(And Grace dutifully does as Libby asks and pushes Emily's stroller in front of Sam and Caroline. Libby's daughters, however, are not fooled and they turn just in time to catch Libby slipping into the lingerie store which sets them both off in another fit of giggles. A few minutes later, Libby joins them with a bag of her own from the lingerie store and is on the receiving end of questionable looks from her daughters. She completely ignores them both and she and Grace proceed to select several different kinds of chocolate candy. Caroline decides that she and Grace need to stop in at an infants and children's store a couple of shops down from the candy store, and they take of, hand in hand, while Sam and Libby finish paying for their chocolate. Libby couldn't be happier. There has been no opportunity for her to talk to Sam and find out the results of the pregnancy test. As they slowly walk in the same direction Caroline and Grace took, Libby veers toward a bench and sits down. When Sam joins her and Libby finally has a moment to take a good look at her daughter, the stress and worry are apparent in Sam's face.)
"What did you find out, Sam?"
"I'm not pregnant. Lt. Cmdr. Denning thinks that the stress of everything that's been going on the last couple of months coupled with talking Caroline through everything is what caused the nightmares and made me sick. He said it was my body's way of coping.
"Are you all right?"
"I don't know, Mom. The dream I had last night was so sharp, so clearly defined, so . . Real. I saw their bodies, broken and bloody and gray, like it happened yesterday. I felt the pain all over again."
"Oh, Sam, Sweetheart, I would give anything if I could spare you this! If I could get my hands on that stupid man who made you identify Anne and Jonathan, I would cheerfully strangle him!"
"It is what it is, Mom. I desperately want to move past this, but I can't and that's what scares me. I've decided to talk to Capt. Stewart."
"I think that's a good idea, Sam. We should have arranged for you to talk with someone when it happened."
"I didn't want to talk with anyone then. All I wanted to do was go back to school, go back to regimented routine of the Academy where I didn't have to think about it."
"And we were foolish enough to let you. You threw yourself into your studies and then graduated with honors and received your commission and went straight to Pensacola to flight school, and. . . You've never really talked about it until recently, Sam. You locked all your anger and pain and grief away somewhere deep inside of you right after the funeral. I am so sorry, Sweetheart; this is all our fault."
"No, Mom, please don't think that! You were in pain, too. You had just lost your best friend!"
"And my best friend's child had just lost both her parents! Mike and I should have realized that you needed to talk with someone."
"Mom."
"I let you go back to the Academy without even trying to talk with you about what happened. You were only seventeen years old, Sam, you were a child!"
"I'm not a child now, Mom. I'm a grown woman with a child of my own. I cannot allow this to take over my life!"
(But before Libby can respond, Grace comes running up giggling; apparently, having won a race with Caroline. The little girl is totally oblivious to what she's just interrupted and Sam smiles and hugs Grace while taunting Caroline for losing. Libby watches all this and her heart nearly stops because the truth hits her squarely between the eyes. She begins to tremble, not very overtly at all, but she is suddenly very frightened and desperately needs to get them all back to Sam's and Steve's. Although her stomach is roiling, she pastes a smile on her face and suggests that they go back to the McGarrett's and see if the guys want to join them for lunch. Sam, Caroline, and Grace all agree and they are soon on their way. Although the girls keep up a steady chatter, Libby is unusually quiet and she breathes a sigh of relief when they pull into Sam's and Steve's driveway. The girls grab the packages and Emily and head into the house, but Libby hits the speed dial for Mike and it seems like an eternity before he answers.)
"Libby? Aren't you coming inside?"
"I need you to come out to the car, Mike. Right now, and bring Steve with you!"