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.
'Steve and Grace, are you ready to eat?" Danny hated to break up such a cozy scene. He idly wondered if he looked as blissful as Steve did now with Grace cuddling on his lap. There was no response, so Danny walked in the living room and gently shook Steve's shoulder. "Babe, supper's ready."
Steve blinked a few times and shook his head. "Gee, I must have dozed off. Grace, wake up sweetie. It's time to eat. "
Grace was worn out from the emotional upheaval this morning and the long day at school. She had proudly passed the pictures of Nana and Poppa around the classroom during their class discussion about the holidays. But Grace had been worried about her behavior with Daddy this morning. He was so brave about everything, and she had been such a baby. Grace hated to disappoint him like that.
Daddy hadn't been disappointed at all. He picked her up for a hug, and now they were cuddling in Grandpa McGarrett's old chair. That was the last thing she remembered until Danno came in to wake them both up for supper. "Danno, is it time to eat yet? I'm getting hungry."
Danny tousled her hair. "Monkey, I've been trying to wake you and Daddy Steve up. I guess I have a couple of tired people on my hands. I think we'll all go to bed earlier today. Come on you two, wash up for supper." Danny gave Steve a hand up and they all proceeded to the kitchen.
The big table was another reminder that some of the family was missing. "We should take the extra leaf out of the table." Steve's respite with Grace had restored some of his equilibrium, but he still felt a little flat. There was a time when the long holiday weekend would have been lonely and he would have enjoyed being back at work. Today had been a rough day, starting with goodbyes and Grace's meltdown, and moving on to his long morning at the medical center. He missed Mom and Dad; he had thoroughly enjoyed the long week with them.
Danny sensed the direction of Steve's thoughts, and had an antidote. "No babe, we're going to need the extra space. There will be gifts to wrap, and we want to do some Christmas baking. We can let the cookies and pastries cool on the table. I found a pasta maker when we emptied the cabinets so the installer could put the new ones in. Mom left me her pasta recipe, and I thought we could try our hand at making our own spaghetti noodles. We'll need a lot of space to let them dry."
Grace perked up at the idea. She remembered making noodles at Nana's house in the spring. Steve didn't remember his mother ever making pasta when he was a kid. He had no idea what was involved. "Do you think it was Mom's machine? I don't remember her using one."
"The box hadn't been opened. Maybe she bought it and never got the chance to use it. Or maybe she had it for a while and wasn't sure how to make pasta. It's pretty easy. I thought we could have an Italian dinner next weekend and test the pasta maker. Anyway, maybe we should leave the table the way it is. It's going to be a busy month, and we can use the extra work space. "
Danny eventually steered the conversation back to outside decorations. "I want to put up a lot of lights. Maybe we can do multi-colored lights in the front, and white lights in the back. We can leave them up in the back for lighting for our ceremony."
"I like the idea. I found a big tangle of lights with the rest of the tree decorations. I think it's a lost cause and we should go with the new energy-efficient LED lights. Let me do some measuring this week and I can estimate how many strings we'll need. Do you want to put up anything else besides lights?" Steve was trying to remember if there was anything else left from the old decorations.
"We always had a nativity set, but I only want to do that if we can find something nice for a reasonable price. What do you think Grace?" Danny wanted Grace to help in the decision-making.
Grace closed her eyes and thought for a moment. "Can we go to the big Christmas store and look around?
"I think that's a great idea, Grace. What do you think Danno?" Steve liked the idea. He enjoyed his visit to the smaller Christmas boutique. He had passed the larger store and admired the displays. "Grace, if you get your homework finished at Ali's tomorrow, we can get supper out and go shopping after. We can take my truck so we'll have plenty of room to bring stuff home. Please Danno?"
Danny looked at two pairs of puppy dog eyes and knew that it was a lost cause. Steve and Grace had played him and won. "Okay you two. We can do that if you will clean up the dishes tonight, and we all hit the sack early. Even on a Tuesday, I expect that the store will be busy." At least Steve and Grace were in a good mood. "Steve, you'd better do your measuring tonight. I don't want to make another trip if I can help it."
The rest of the evening was busy. After the kitchen was cleaned, Steve and Danny went around the front and back yards measuring various surfaces where they wanted lights. Grace had a pad and a pencil and made notes for them. Steve spent some time lifting some light weights to strengthen his shoulders; tomorrow he would resume running.
Grace was in bed early, but Steve and Danny read to her for a while. Getting back to their normal routine was a comfort in its own way. Steve and Danny retired to their room early.
"Steve, promise me that you'll be reasonable tomorrow night. I know you spent a lot of money last week on our helicopter tour. We're also committed to picking up the tab for the hotel rooms for my family. I think that was a very gracious offer and I insist on paying part of it. Unless you're independently wealthy, you're taking a serious hit on your bank balance." Danny had necessarily been frugal since his marriage to Rachel and old habits die hard.
"Danny, please sit down. I guess it's time to make a full disclosure on our financials. This is the first time I've ever had a family to spend any money on. Most of my Navy checks were banked, and I seldom had an opportunity to make any sizable withdrawals. On top of that, there was insurance money from both Mom and Dad. I used part of that to buy Mary's share of the house, but there's still a nice chunk left."
Steve pulled a small file box from the shelf in the closet. He rummaged through the folders, selecting a green one to hand to Danny. "I have around $20,000 in my savings account at the bank. The rest is invested through a local brokerage. There's another $10,000 in liquid assets I can tap into if I need it."
Danny warily paged through the folder. It listed various stock holdings and their present value, current through the last quarter. Some of the stock was quite valuable. "All those nights I bought your beer because you forgot your wallet, you had this kind of money?" Danny didn't know whether to be mad or relieved that Steve obviously had his financial house in order.
"Danny, I really do forget my wallet. I never carried one when I was in the SEALs. Anyway, you can see that money is not an issue. I bank a large portion of my check even now. I have no debt. Until earlier this year, I had no one to spend money on. I want to celebrate Christmas this year. I'll probably overdo the Christmas decorations and spend too much on gifts, but please let me do this."
Danny could see how much it meant to Steve, and he didn't have the heart to give Steve a hard time about it. "Okay Tiny Tim, God bless us everyone. I wish I could produce a healthy portfolio like yours. The good news is that my only debt is my car payment. I've been able to make regular deposits to savings since the summer, so I'm in a lot better shape that I used to be. I've got another question for you. I've watched how you are with Grace. Have you thought about having more children?"
Steve was pleased when Danny agreed to let him go all out for Christmas, but the question about children took him totally by surprise. He thought about it carefully. "No, I really haven't. Right now, it would be very unfair to Grace. She's already feeling a little displaced by the new baby. I can't imagine how we would manage a baby here. We work too many hours. There might be a time when Grace is a little older that I might consider adopting an older child, but I am just happy with Grace. What about you?"
"I am happy to have Grace back in my life as much as she is. I agree that a baby would be a bad idea for us. I just wanted to know how you felt. You are so great with Grace; she fretted from the time I picked her up until you came home. I tried to tell her that you weren't upset or disappointed in her, but she thought that she had let you down. You really put her at ease. That's twice today that you calmed her down. I think you deserve a reward. Why don't you take a shower and I'll rub your shoulders. You didn't overdo it with the weights, did you?"
Steve leaned over to kiss Danny. "No, my shoulders were a little sore from my appointment this morning. I have a better idea. Why don't you join me in the shower? It won't matter if we drain the tank tonight."
"Babe, is that a euphemism for having sex?"
"No, and I would tell you to get your mind out of the gutter, but I kind of like it there for right now."
There were both a little tired, and Steve ached all over, but this was about comforting each other. It had been an emotional day for everyone. Steve felt like he had been through a wringer. He wanted to take every bit of unhappiness from Grace, but he knew that the only way she would learn to cope was through experience.
"Hey babe, are you still with me?" Danny could see that Steve had drifted away for a bit. He wanted to soothe Steve the way that Steve had soothed Grace. The steamy water was starting to loosen the muscles in Steve's back and shoulder. Danny turned Steve to face the shower wall and ran his hands the length of Steve's torso. Steve almost melted into the wall.
Eventually, Danny turned Steve back to face him and pulled him down for a sweet kiss. They moved closer and Steve's hands roamed over his favorite parts of Danny. There were a lot of them, and he wasn't aching any more.
"Danny, I swear that I will never get tired of this. I was so drained when I pulled in the driveway, and I hurt everywhere. Then, Grace ran out to meet me, and I walked in to see the tree all lit up. Sometimes, I still can't believe that this is my life. I would die of loneliness without you and Grace." That was as much as Steve could say.
There was no more talking after that. They were really good at this part. In truth, they were getting really good at the whole being together thing. Maybe it was because both men had lost almost everything that they were determined to wring every last drop of happiness out of their life together.
While Steve finished dressing, Danny went downstairs and came back with a small glass of milk and Steve's antibiotics. "You don't want to take this on an empty stomach."
"Thanks Danno. I'd forgotten about taking my medicine. I don't like taking this stuff; it's really hard on my system." Steve took his pill and washed it down with the milk.
"Well, I noticed that you don't always take it with food or at least some milk. We need to pick up some yogurt when we go to the store. It will help counteract some of the side effects."
Steve and Danny settled into bed, curled around each other in their favorite position. They talked for a little while. Chin's wedding was coming up soon; they were happy that Chin had found some happiness. Steve realized that his pain was gone. "Thanks for taking care of me tonight Danno. I love you."
"You quite welcome Steven. I love you too. Go to sleep. Tomorrow, you and Grace are going to buy out the Christmas Barn. And God help me, I'm going to let you."
