CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
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: April 3, 2013
(Sam and Steve are the last to arrive at the airport and Libby is standing in the terminal reserved for private planes looking out the floor to ceiling glass when Steve parks their rental car near the door. Both Sam and Steve are smiling and appear to be in the middle of a light-hearted conversation, and after parking, Steve turns toward Sam and she meets him halfway for a kiss. Steve is out of the car and helping Sam out in moments, and pulls her in for another, longer kiss when she steps out of the car. Chin steps over to join Libby just as Sam gets out of the car and he sends a smile in Libby's direction.)
"Looks like this trip did Sam a lot of good."
"I think this trip did us all a lot of good. I'm so glad everyone was able to come."
"Well, as Danny is always saying, we're all family and family sticks together no matter what. Neither Lana nor I have forgotten what everyone did for us when Lana was injured in that accident so we're going to be right here anytime someone needs us."
"Thank you, dear, I know that I appreciate that and I'm sure the rest of the family does, as well. You know, I was so very hurt when Mike and I lost those four babies before Caroline was born. I couldn't understand why God only allowed us to have one child when we both wanted a houseful. I believe I understand now. While Caroline was the only baby we had, we've been blessed over the years with more 'children'; first Sam, then Steve, then Danny, then Kono and Tony and you and Lana, and, of course, Grace and Emily and Eric. I believe the good Lord gave all of you to us; brought all of us together. So, while we didn't get a houseful of children as infants, we have a houseful now and another generation, too."
"We've all been pretty blessed, too, Libby. You and Mike are amazing people and you always put the needs of others before your own. I think we're all very fortunate to have the two of you."
"I think we're all fortunate to have each other, Chin."
(Sam and Steve, holding hands and sending one another little smiles every so often, walk into the terminal and Emily, who was being held by Mike, spies her Mommy and Daddy and starts wiggling so fiercely that Mike immediately sets her down. Once her little feet touch the floor, she runs to her parents yelling "Mommy!" and "Daddy!", and Steve scoops his daughter up and both parents kiss her little cheeks. Emily grabs her mother's face in both her little hands, kisses Sam on the forehead, and then starts giggling; which causes both Sam and Steve to start laughing and it's quite obvious that the three McGarretts are very happy and relaxed as Joe Monroe walks over to join them.)
"Everyone's luggage is already on board except yours, I've got the latest weather report, the plane has been fueled up and is ready to go, and I've filed our flight plan. All we have to do is run the pre-flight and we're good to go, Sam."
"Thanks, Joe. I really appreciate you taking care of all that."
"Not a problem. I knew you and Steve had somewhere to go this morning."
"You're a really good friend, Joe. Steve and I want to have you and Deana over for dinner soon; we appreciate Deana's help, too,"
"Like I told your Dad; you've been there for Deana a few times, so she was happy we could help you out with this trip."
"Okay, then, let's go take care of running the pre-flight so we can go home."
(Joe heads toward the door leading to the tarmac and the waiting jet, but Emily screws up her little face when Sam starts to follow him and starts to cry.)
"Mommy has to go get ready to fly us home, Emily. Daddy's going to stay right here with you, and we'll be ready to go in no time, okay?"
"Want Mommy!"
"Hey, you're going to hurt Daddy's feelings, Em. You'll be getting on the plane soon. Mommy's not going to leave you, Sweetheart."
(But Emily is still not happy and Steve picks up on Sam's first sentence and turns around so that Emily can't see her mother walk out the door.)
"Mommy's right, Baby Girl, you're hurting my feelings. Don't you love Daddy?"
"Love Daddy; want Mommy!"
(Steve, trying very hard to hide a smile, looks at Sam over Emily's dark-haired head and subtly nods toward the door silently telling Sam to go ahead and he'll deal with their daughter. Sending him a smile of thanks, Sam heads toward the door and grabs Grace's hand as she walks by the chairs where Grace is sitting with Kono and Eric.)
"Come on, Nugget. You get to sit in the cockpit with me and Joe. I promised you a couple of years ago that I'd teach you to fly when you were old enough, and I think it's about time you got an up close and personal look at exactly what's involved in flying a jet."
"I get to sit in the cockpit?"
"You do."
"Wow, this is so cool, Aunt Sam!"
(And as Sam and Grace head out the door hand in hand, everyone else bursts into laughter at the look of pure fear on Danny's face. Caroline, more like herself than she's been in months, can't resist and fires a teasing comment in Danny's direction.)
"Once she masters flying, Grace will be getting her dive card and tackling rock climbing. Didn't you say you were going to teach her about rock climbing, Steve?"
"I did. Guess I need to check my climbing gear and make some time to take Gracie out."
(And Mike throws in his two cents' worth.)
"Right after I help Grace get her dive card, Son."
(And as Danny turns another shade paler, Libby "ices the cake".)
"You all need to check with me before you schedule any diving or rock climbing expeditions. Just last night Grace was telling me about a boy at her school she thinks is really cute who told her she was 'hot', so I'll be helping Rachel and Caroline take Grace shopping for some outfits that are appropriate for dating. And she said something about wanting to look for a new swimsuit, too."
"That's right, Mom, Grace said she wanted a bikini. Guess I need to call Rachel."
"Guess you do, Caroline."
(Danny has gone from pale to a deep, dark red, seems to be getting short of breath, and looks as if he's about to pass out. Not even Chin takes pity on him, though.)
"Hey, you knew this day was coming, Bra."
"What is wrong with you people? She's. Just. A. Little. Girl!"
(But amid all the suppressed snickers, Caroline sends her husband a serious look and really gets his attention with some serious statements.)
"But she's not, Danny. Grace is growing up whether you like it or not. She is going to learn to fly and dive and rock climb eventually. Wouldn't you be more comfortable knowing that she's learning all these things from people you know and trust and who actually know what they're doing? And as for boys and dating. . . Sweetie, Grace is a beautiful, sweet young lady; boys are going to be lining up just to talk to her. You are going to have to learn to bite your tongue, sit on your hands, and resist the urge to put any young man who so much as looks at Grace in an interrogation room and give him the third degree. Grace is a smart young lady, Danny; she's not about to waste her time on any boy who isn't worthy of her. That's not to say, however, that she's not going to get her heart broken because she will, and probably more than once. You're going to have stop yourself from rushing to lock up the boys who hurt her because, as painful as it's going to be for Grace, for all of us, it's all part of growing up. What you need to remember is that you were Grace's first hero; you'll always be her hero and she will always love you, but you have to let her go, Danny. You have to let her learn to stand on her own two feet. Just make sure she knows that you'll be there when she stumbles."
(The snickers have long since stopped and it seems as if everyone is holding their breath because Caroline has figuratively just hit Danny right between the eyes with some hard truths and none of them are sure what's going to happen in the next few minutes. Mike, however, has been right where Danny is now, and he quietly, but firmly, moves everyone to the other side of the terminal to afford Caroline and Danny what privacy he can. Caroline moves out of her chair and kneels in front of her shell-shocked husband, taking both of his slightly shaking hands in hers and looking him directly in the eye.)
"I know this is hard for you, Sweetheart. I know that you want to protect Grace from anyone or anything that could possibly hurt her, but you can't. All you can do is be there for her through all things, good or bad, and love her. Grace has a lot of people in her life who love her and will do everything humanly possible to protect her. We'll all be there for you, too. I'll be there with you every step of the way, Danny, you and Grace."
(Danny actually has tears in his eyes and he's trembling slightly but his grip on Caroline's hands is firm and he takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out before his color starts returning to normal. Leaning forward, he kisses Caroline and then leans his forehead against hers.)
"Everything you said is true. You're probably going to have to smack me quite a few times in the coming years to keep me from doing something totally stupid, not to mention illegal, where Grace is concerned. Thank you, Caroline; Grace is very lucky to have you as her mom and I'm . . I'm the luckiest man on Earth because you love me."
"I'm pretty lucky myself, Romeo. I got you and Grace and I couldn't be happier."
(Steve walks over to tell them they can go ahead and board the plane and is a little wary of the expression on Danny's face when Danny looks him in the eye.)
"So, think you could maybe take me rock climbing sometime? I think I'll pass on learning to fly, but Libby says I'm close to getting my dive card and rock climbing can't be that hard."
"You want to go rock climbing?"
"Yeah. I figure if I learn how to do most of the things Grace likes to do, we can spend some quality time together. At least, when she has some spare time on her social calendar which is going to be a rare occurrence since, as Caroline said, Grace is a beautiful, smart young lady and she's going to be quite popular with . . .Boys."
(A slow grin spreads across Steve's handsome face and he slaps Danny on the back as they, and Caroline, head out to the tarmac.)
"Don't worry, Danny, you've got me, Mike, Tony, and Chin for back-up where Gracie is concerned. Any boys who mess with our girl is going to have to answer to all of us."