CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
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 11, 2013
A/N: Hello, everyone. So very sorry that I haven't updated before now. Life has been a little hectic lately, but I sincerely hope to post more often. This story is ending but I hope to start #10 very soon thanks to some wonderful ideas from Runner043. Thank you all for reading and reviewing! Michelle
(Two months later, everything is back to normal with the Five-0 ohana, or as normal as it can be considering their chosen professions. On a bright, sunny Saturday afternoon right after lunch, everyone finds themselves, once again, in the terminal reserved for private planes at Honolulu International at the invitation of Sam and Steve. Although everyone has questioned Sam and Steve as to why they're there, neither of the McGarretts has so much as offered any of them the slightest clue saying only that they have a surprise for everyone. Caroline, Danny, and Grace are the last two to arrive, and, once they are seated with everyone else in the terminal's waiting area, Sam and Steve exchange mysterious, little smiles and explain their surprise with Sam starting.)
"As some of you know, my biological parents were both only children so both sets of my grandparents left everything to them and they, in turn, left everything to me. I invested the majority of my inheritance, and those investments have done pretty well over the years. A couple of months ago, when we all went to Washington, an idea started running around in my head, and I talked to Steve about it and then we talked to Rob Stanton, Steve's former BUD/S instructor and the very sweet and generous man who gave us the use of two of his private jets for the Washington trip. We did some research and, well, we bought a plane."
(Both Sam and Steve have to smile at the expressions on the faces of everyone in the room which range from stunned to shocked to the wide-eyed wonder on Grace's sweet face.)
"Samantha, did you just say that you and Steve bought a plane?"
"Yeah, Mom, I did. We didn't buy a jet, but we did buy a brand new, single prop, six passenger Cessna."
"Sam and I decided that, since we both like to travel, Sam's certified on everything that flies and, while I'm not certified for fighters or jets, I am certified for single or twin props, Emily has taken to flying like a duck to water and will probably become a pilot as soon as she's old enough, Sam's going to teach Gracie to fly, and, unless she's chickened out, Lana's going to learn to fly, too, buying our own plane just made sense in the long run."
(Now it's Chin who has an astonished look on his face as he turns to his wife.)
"You want to learn to fly?"
"Yeah. I talked to Sam and I'm already halfway through ground school."
"Wow."
(Tony has a grin on his face a mile wide and now he pipes up.)
"You know, Sam, I, too am certified on single and twin props aircraft. My license's up to date, so . . . Think Kono and I might borrow your plane to go, say, to Molokai for the weekend sometime?"
"Tony!"
(But Sam just laughs at Kono's somewhat embarrassed outburst, and she turns to a grinning Steve with pure pleasure on her beautiful face.)
"I knew this was a fabulous idea!"
"You really are going to teach me to fly!"
"I am, Nugget."
"I LOVE you, Aunt Sam!"
(And Grace throws her arms around her aunt and hugs her tightly. Returning Gracie's hug, Sam glances in Danny's direction but he, too, is grinning as he turns to his wife.)
"I suppose that, although you don't fly fighter jets, you're perfectly capable of flying Sam's and Steve's plane?"
"Oh, yeah, and my license is also current."
"As is mine, as is Mike's."
"Now how did I not know that, in addition to Super Girl and Boy Wonder, my wife and in-laws were all licensed pilots?"
"You didn't ask, Romeo."
"Fine. Sign me up, Sam, or can any of you teach me to fly?"
"It's going to have to be Sam, Son; she's the only certified instructor in the bunch."
"Are you really going to let Aunt Sam teach you to fly, Danno?"
"You bet I am, Monkey. I'm going to learn to fly, get my dive card, and learn to rock climb, too."
"Cool, but . . Why?"
"So I can spend more time with you doing the things you like to do; because I love you, Grace."
(And, of course, the "awwww" moment has an appropriate effect on everyone as Grace hugs her father tightly and kisses his cheek.)
"I love you, too, Danno."
"Looks like we're the only two out of this loop, Cuz."
"Speak for yourself, Chin, if Sam and Steve decide to let us borrow their plane every now and then, you can bet your six I'm going to learn to fly it. I really don't want to be hundreds of feet up in the air and, God forbid, something should happen to Tony and I couldn't get us down safely."
"Good point. So, Sam, can I join Danny and Kono in the flying lessons?"
"Indeed, you can, Chin, but the first thing you all have to do is complete ground school. Lana and Tony and Caroline can help you guys, but it's going to take some time, so decide when you want to start and I'll get your books for you."
"Books? As in the kind you have to read and take tests on and stuff?"
"Yes, Danny. What? Did you think you were just going to get in the plane and have Sam show you the controls a few times and that's it?"
"No, Steven, I did not think anything of the sort. I just didn't realize how involved this process was, thank you very much."
"Didn't rea . . . Danny, do you ever think anything through before you open your mouth and stick your foot in it?"
"Oh! You're a fine one to talk, 'Mr. Shoot First and Ask Questions Later!'"
"Would you two either shut up or take it outside, please?"
(And both Steve and Danny glare at Caroline and snap out a loud "No!" at the same time before continuing to glare at each other. Sam is giggling to the point she's about to emit a very unladylike snort, and she finally gets enough control to whistle very, very loudly effectively halting the latest installment of the "Steve and Danny Show".)
"Enough! Do you guys want to see the plane or not?"
"Of course, we do, Sam. That is, if my two sons-in-law can stop acting like two year olds."
"Trust me, Dad; they're going to straighten right up. 'Cause if they don't, Caroline will be spending the night at our house and Steve will be spending the night at Caroline's and Danny's."
"That's not a bad idea anyway, Sam. Maybe the two of them will finally get it out of their systems. Either that or they'll kill each other."
"Really, Caroline?"
"Yes, really, Danny."
"I like it, Caroline. You and Emily and I can have a spend the night party and, after Em's asleep, we can find and old horror movie and eat popcorn until we're stuffed."
"Yeah, we haven't done that since you were pregnant with Emily."
"I want to see the plane, Aunt Sam!"
(And it's only Gracie's pleading question that ends the back and forth conversation between the two sisters. They all head out to the tarmac, Steve and Danny still sending small frowns in each other's direction, and there sits a brand new Cessna. Everyone takes a few minutes to walk all the way around the plane while Tony questions Sam about some of the plane's specs and it is Grace who spots the plane's name neatly stenciled in cursive on the fuselage.)
"You named your plane 'The Nugget', Aunt Sam?"
"We did, Gracie. I've been calling you 'Nugget' for a while now and you're the person who gave me the idea to buy a plane. We named our plane for you."
"Wow, this is totally cool! Can we take it up, Aunt Sam?"
"You bet we can, Gracie. The Nugget's fueled up and I've filed a flight plan so we're good to go whenever you're ready."
"Okay, so there's four open seats, so who else is going?"
"Sorry, Danny, this first flight is going to be just me and Nugget."
"You're kidding, right?"
"Nope. Gracie finished ground school and passed all her written tests with flying colors, no pun intended. Today, I'm going to take off and land, but Gracie's going to actually be in control once we're in the air; at least, for part of the time."
"I am?"
"You are."
"You're the best aunt in the entire world, Aunt Sam!"
"You're not really going to let Grace fly the plane, are you, Sam?"
"Yeah, Danny, I am. She needs to get a feel for the controls while the plane's actually in the air before she learns how to take off and land. And she doesn't need any distractions while I'm explaining everything to her, so the rest of you are just going to have to wait your turn to go up."
(Surprisingly, Danny takes this information calmly and slowly nods his head as he glances at Sam and then at Grace.)
"Okay. Pay attention to your Aunt Sam and remember what she tells you, Monkey, 'cause if you don't, I'm going to learn to fly before you do."
"Not gonna happen, Danno! Let's go, Aunt Sam!"