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.

Grace woke up early on Christmas Eve. She was hungry because she left most of last night's meal on her plate. After spending the afternoon eating cookies at Ali's, she had little appetite last night. Then she crashed when the sugar high wore off. Danno and Daddy tucked her in a little early because she was so tired. Now she was ready to collect her morning cuddle.

After stopping by the hall bathroom, Grace tiptoed to the master bedroom. Both of her daddies were still asleep and she wasn't sure what to do. Grace softly walked to Steve's side of the bed. He was sleeping on his belly and his arm dangled over the side. His hair was sticking up and he needed a shave. Grace loved him so much.

Before she knew what was happening, the arm grabbed her around the waist and tucked her into bed between Daddy and Danno. "Merry Christmas Eve Grace." Steve hugged her tightly and settled in to go back to sleep.

Danny woke up when Grace hit the mattress. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was barely past 7 a.m. Instinctively, he had brushed her forehead with his hand to see if she was running a fever. "What's up Monkey? Are you feeling okay?"

"Uh-huh. I couldn't sleep anymore. Is it okay for me to come in?"

Danny rolled onto his side and hugged Grace. His legs were tangled with Steve's, much like the first morning that Danny and Grace invaded Steve's bed. "It's more than okay. It's the perfect start to our day.

It was a warm, fuzzy start to Christmas weekend. Tucked between her dads, Grace dozed off for a little while. It was almost nine o'clock before she woke up again. Steve and Danny were still curled around her in a family group hug. They were awake and grinning. Grace never had any doubt how much they loved her and each other.

"Danno, Daddy, will I still be able to come in here like this after your ceremony?" One of the girls at school told her how everything changes after your parent remarries. The new step-parent doesn't have to be so nice anymore because they got what they wanted. The kid is just stuck with it.

Steve and Danny looked at each other. Steve caught Danny's signal to field this question. "Grace, the ceremony will mean that in the eyes of the law, we will all be a family. In our hearts, we're already a family. Danno and I are taking each other's name. We'll be McGarrett-Williams. Nothing else changes. You can still come in here. We will still tuck you in. I will still help you with your hair, and we can still play GI Joe and build sand castles. Does that answer your question?"

Grace kissed each man on the cheek. "Yes, it does. I love you Danno. I love you Daddy."

Danny and Steve returned her kiss. "We love you too, Monkey. One more day until Christmas. We have some baking to do. Do you want to help, because I'm not sure we can do it all by ourselves."

"Yes, I want to help, but can we eat? I'm starving." Grace didn't wait for her dads to get up. She crawled to the end of the bed and rolled off. "Last one to the kitchen has to clean up the dishes."

Danny looked at Steve and laughed. "I think she cheated. She's been hanging around you too long." Danny lost again when Steve beat him to the bathroom.

Steve decided to fix oatmeal for breakfast. It would probably be one of their last totally healthy meals for a while. Christmas was a time to indulge in food. Mom and Dad were coming in a few days, and he hoped for another tray of lasagna. Mom said something about inviting his 5-0 family over to meet the rest of the Williams clan. He thought that it might be a good idea to invest in a couple of tables and some folding chairs. It looked like they would have a houseful of family. He liked that a lot.

After breakfast, Steve and Danny assembled the ingredients to make bread. They took turns making up a batch. Everyone had raved about the bread for good reason. It was amazing with the taste of raw honey in every bite. Steve and Danny were afraid that they would lose the skill if they didn't use it.

It took about an hour to get both batches of dough assembled. Steve and Danny moved on to make the pie crust. They needed three pie crusts, two bottoms and one top crust. It was a collaborative effort. They took turns mixing up the crust, and then Danny rolled out the bottom for the apple-cranberry pie. All three sat at the table to core and pare the apples. Grace helped them cut the apple quarters into thin slices. Grace also helped stir the apple-cranberry mixture to pre-cook the filling.

Steve rolled the bottom crust for the chocolate pie and started on the pie filling while Danny and Grace finished the other pie and put it in the oven. Steve patiently stood at the stove and stirred the chocolate mixture until it was bubbling. Danny and Grace had their spoons ready to taste it when it was ready. Steve started to complain until he realized that he would get to sample it too.

"This is Mom's recipe, right? I'll have you know that all of the filling never sees the pie pan. The recipe is for a ten-inch pie, and we only have nine-inch pie pans. Ergo, some of the filling must be diverted elsewhere or the pie will be too full." Danny looked really pleased with himself as he snitched a spoonful of the filling to taste. "Oh Steven, you have a talent for chocolate pie. I'll bet I could fix up a Facebook page for you to market them. What do you think, Grace? We could sell Daddy Steve's Deluxe Chocolate Pies. If we add deluxe to the name, we can charge extra."

"That's a great idea Danno. We could be his tasters." Grace turned her puppy dog eyes on Steve.

Steve shook his head and laughed. "Yeah, and in six months you'd both be as big as a house. I don't think so. So it tastes okay?"

Grace took her taste and licked the spoon clean. "It's great Daddy, just like Danno said. It's almost as good as Nana's."

That was the ultimate compliment. Steve blushed with pleasure. Grace ran to the bathroom to wash her face and hands. Danny took another spoonful of filling and offered Steve a taste. Then he moved in for a kiss. Steve tasted of coffee and rich chocolate. Danny needed another taste of Steve.

"Babe, you taste really good. On second thought, forget selling the pies. There are some things that I won't share." Danny was moving to Steve again when Grace came back in.

The apple pie was ready to come out of the oven, so Steve adjusted the temperature to bake the pie crust for the chocolate pie. He continued to stir the chocolate mixture until it set up almost like fudge. When the pie crust came out of the oven, Steve poured the filling in.

"It looks good Steve. I think the bread dough is ready to be punched down. Grace, do you want to do the honor?" Grace liked this part of making bread the best. She liked to see the air whoosh out of the dough.

Steve and Danny made up the loaves of bread and put them aside to rise again. Then they washed and dried all the dishes with Grace's help. Danny sent Steve out for his daily swim. Steve did well enough without his morning run, but he got pretty antsy without his swim.

It was a gorgeous day, so Danny and Grace joined Steve in the water. Danny still wasn't crazy about sand everywhere, but he had to admit there was something appealing about a frolic on the beach with Grace on Christmas Eve. He checked the weather report for New Jersey every morning. It was in the 40's there, almost balmy for December weather. He knew the water would be frigid, and snow was forecast for later in the week.

Steve cut his swim short to play with Grace and Danny. They played tag, and Steve let Grace dive off his shoulders. He knew it was about time to bake the bread. Mom had cautioned that the taste of the bread would suffer if they let it rise too long. "Danno, I'm going to dry off and check the bread. I think it's probably time to bake it."

"Yeah, you're probably right. We'll go in too, won't we Monkey." Danny didn't want to miss the wonderful aroma of baking bread.

Steve was right. The loaves of bread rose beautifully. He turned the oven on to preheat and grabbed a bottle of beer. He turned when Danny walked in. "You want one? How about some juice, Grace?" Steve pulled out two Longboards and a juice box. They stood in the kitchen sipping their drinks until the oven light went out, signaling that the oven was at the right temperature.

Steve slipped the four pans of bread into the oven and set the timer. "I think we have time for a shower while the bread bakes." They were walking toward the stairs when the phone rang. It was Wade Gutches. One of his men had been injured on their last mission; he was doing well, but they had to leave him in the base hospital while the rest of the team went home on leave. Would Steve and Danny mind having another guest for Christmas dinner? It was one of the team who went to North Korea to bring Steve home.

Steve didn't hesitate at all. "Sir, it would be an honor to have him with us. Is he still in the hospital, and does he need a ride here?" The man was in a step-down unit and would need a ride. Steve took down the details and agreed to pick up his fellow SEAL tomorrow at 2 p.m.

Danny was in the shower when Steve finally came upstairs. "Hey, do you mind sharing?" Steve called into the shower before he joined Danny. He quickly explained the reason for the phone call. As he expected, Danny agreed the injured SEAL would be welcome. They didn't linger in the shower. Neither was willing to risk the bread for a quickie in the shower.

Danny went down to check on the bread while Steve stayed upstairs to dry Grace's hair. Grace loved getting her hair dried like this. Steve was careful to get the tangles out first. Then he brushed through her hair while he dried it. Grace's hair was smooth and shiny when Steve finished. "You are a beautiful young lady, did you know that Grace? You can wear your new dress to church tonight. Danno and I will wear our best suits. I'll even wear a tie, but don't tell Danno. It's a surprise. When we come home, I'll get a family picture to send your mom and Daddy Stan."

Steve and Grace went downstairs to the sight of four beautifully browned loaves of bread. The aroma in the house was amazing. Danny and Steve popped the loaves out of their pans and set them on the rack to cool. Steve pulled the leftovers from last night out. "I think we have enough for lunch. I guess none of us were too hungry last night."

The rest of the day passed quickly. Danny convinced Grace to lay down for a while in the afternoon for a short nap. Steve made a stir-fry for supper, using chicken tonight with carrots, peapods, and water chestnuts. After supper, they all went upstairs to get ready for church. Steve bravely agreed to curl Grace's hair. She wanted to wear it down for church. Kono had spent part of one afternoon showing Steve how it's done. Grace was very pretty with her curly hair and new dress.

Steve went in to shave and dress just as Danny was putting the finishing touch on his tie. "Don't say a word about the tie. It is Christmas Eve, so I believe that it is allowed." Steve rolled his eyes but didn't say a word. He thought that Danny looked very handsome in his dark suit and tie. Steve picked his suit and shirt out carefully. He was knotting his tie when Danny came back in.

"Babe, you look amazing. Let me see the tie." Steve turned to let Danny examine his tie. It was a Christmas tie with Santa surfing with his sleigh and all eight reindeer. "I should have known. Somehow, it works for you. You did a beautiful job on Grace's hair. I can't believe our little girl looks so grown up."

"She's a beautiful girl, Danno, inside and out. She sat there patiently while I fumbled with the curling iron, trusting me to somehow get it right. She humbles me, Danno." Steve rested his forehead on Danny's. Sometimes, the emotions were almost too much for Steve to bear. It was still so new, loving like this, the father and the daughter.

"I know, babe. Me too. I think about all the millions of things that had to go right to create her. She's so smart and loving and everything. She's more than I imagined the first time I saw her. She was so tiny." Danny was sorry that Steve wasn't there from the beginning to see Grace then. He knew that it made no sense, but the regret was there.

Grace came in then to admire her dads. "Wow, you both look so handsome. Is it time for us to go?"

Steve checked his watch and saw that it was indeed time. They rode in the Camaro to the now familiar church. The ushers greeted them at the back door and escorted them to a pew. Another family moved closer to make room. By the time of the service, the church was packed. The choir sang carols for about twenty minutes before the lights were turned low.

The children's choir came out to sing "Away in a Manger" and then joined the adult choir for "Silent Night". Then one of the older children read the story of the first Christmas. The pastor welcomed the congregation and any visitors. He spoke of the joy of the season and the importance of family. He reminded them that goodwill toward men should happen every day. A special collection was taken up to be donated to one of the local homeless shelters.

As in previous visits, the pastor stood at the door to say a few words to every person or family that attended. "Good evening Steve and Danny. Miss Grace, you look vey festive tonight. According to an article in this morning's paper, the big day is coming up for your family next week. I'll keep your family in my prayers. I hope to see you in the new year."

The ride home was quiet. Grace was tired; Steve and Danny were considering the pastor's words. Finally, Danny spoke. "I guess we could go back there. They don't seem to mind the slightly unusual configuration of our family, and everyone made us feel welcome. Do you know what article he was talking about?"

"The article was about the business impact of the civil union law. It speculated about which couples would have their ceremony in January. We made the list. It's okay, Danny. That's why we're having a ceremony, so everyone knows we're together." Steve reached over to hold Danny's hand. They were still holding hands when Steve pulled in the driveway. "Are you still awake back there Grace?"

Grace yawned but got out of the car unassisted. Danny set up the camera before they left for church. He set it to record, and they gave Christmas greetings to Rachel and Stan. Then Steve set the camera for a delayed picture and hurried back to get in the shot. It took several attempts. The first time, Steve was halfway in the shot when the camera went off. The next time, the camera didn't go off until Steve decided he screwed up the time delay and stepped toward the camera. The next shots were variations of the first two shots, with Danny and Grace laughing at and with Steve. Finally the shot was perfect.

Steve uploaded the photos and video and sent them to Rachel and Stan. A few minutes later, Rachel and Stan called to wish them all a Merry Christmas. They were both still laughing at the outtakes; Steve sent even the funny pictures. Grace spent a few more minutes talking on the phone before the call ended.

Grace was wide awake now. The family changed into their pajamas and settled on the couch for the last of a Christmas movie. Steve fixed some hot chocolate, and they had some cookies to go with it. By the time the movie was over, Grace was ready for bed.

Danny slipped upstairs while Grace helped Steve clean up the kitchen. As they were walking toward the stairs, they heard the ho-ho-ho of Santa above them. Santa Danny came downstairs with a bag of gifts over his shoulder. The suit was beautiful, not like the cheap suit he used last year. Grace helped Santa distribute the gifts under the tree until the bag was empty. Then Danny carried Grace upstairs.

"Now Grace, it's time for you to go to sleep. When you wake up, it will be Christmas. Try to let your dads sleep until at least 7, okay?" Danny pulled the beard away to kiss Grace good night. "Danno loves you."

"I love you too Danno. Thanks for being Santa." She hugged him before reaching for her other daddy.

"Good night Grace. I love you." Steve kissed her cheek and hugged her before standing up.

"I love you too Daddy." Grace turned on her side and was soon asleep.

Steve and Danny had a few more items to put under the tree. They sat on the lanai until just after midnight. They wished each other a Merry Christmas and went upstairs to make love. It was a lovely way to start their first Christmas together.

Merry Christmas to all. The Christmas picture was a tradition in our family. My husband, Steve, always had a problem setting the camera. The outtakes are priceless.