Rewrite
AvalonReeseFanFics
A/N: Happy Friday my lovely readers! So this is it, this is where we're meeting the new main character. And oh my gosh, there are going to be SO MANY cute things coming involving these three! Can you guys believe that I've written this much? I barely believe it, and we are just chugging along through this season. I can't wait for you guys to see what else I have coming up. Thanks to AJ and Alexlover for getting back to me! I'm glad you're both okay! Don't forget to leave a review I'd love to hear what everyone's thinking of the new developments and I'll see you guys on Monday!
Chapter 159
The case was hard. Thinking about what those poor lost kids had gone through, how they had died. It killed him that he had no idea at this moment how to pin it on who did it. So when he came home he was happy to have Rowan jump into his arms.
He had held her to him and felt the stiff anxiousness leave his body with every second he had held her. She had made him dinner, had a beer in his hand and had doted on him all the way up until they were getting ready for bed.
He liked getting ready for bed with Rowan. He liked that she would get changed with him, and that her PJs always incorporated some item of his clothing. She'd pile her red and blonde locks up on top of her head, they'd brush their teeth and floss together shoulder to shoulder before slipping into his bed and he'd get to hold her tight. There was just something about being that domestic with her that made his heart swell up in his chest. Not all the time, of course, but sometimes they'd be just doing some every day task together and it would hit him all at once. That he loved this, that he loved having her beside him, doing these things with him.
She dropped her toothbrush to the holder she had bought to replace the simple cup he had been using. She moved back to the bed to get changed and then called out: "So uh… how are you doing with everything? You seem a little down."
Down didn't describe what he was feeling. He was upset about so much. About what the boys had suffered through, both from the system and at the hands of the guards at their juvenile facility. About his poor car, and how upset his father would be to see what had become of it.
"Yeah… I'm not… it's just been rough you know?" he said to her and Rowan nodded. "That was my father's car, and seeing it like that… having it taken from me like that… it was like losing him all over again… which is stupid, I know that, I know it's just a car…"
"No, no, I get it," she said to him "That car means a lot to you. But uh… not gonna lie I don't know whole a lot about your model of car. So like… how bad is it? On a scale of one to ten, how bad is it?"
Steve scowled, spit out the toothpaste in his mouth and then stormed out of the bathroom to get changed purposely not looking in her direction. Danny had said that to him, word for word, but when he did it he meant it in a taunting way, he didn't want to think that Rowan would do the same thing but he was in a bad mood and took it that way.
"Why do you and Danny gotta do that? Huh?" he snapped.
"What are you talking about?"
"You two… with your one out of ten scale… don't trivialize my suffering," he ordered moving away from her.
Rowan's eyebrows furrowed in concern. "That's not what I'm doing," she said quickly. "It's like the pain scale the doctors use, it's a one to ten reaction too, I'm merely trying to determine how bad the car is to figure out how bad you're hurting so I know how to react and how best to comfort you."
Steve paused in his getting ready. He turned back to Rowan to where she was sitting on his bed in his softest grey sweater. He knew that underneath it would be one of her tank tops and a pair of lacy booty shorts. God, he loved her booty shorts.
"Oh," he said softly. "Uh… I guess I'm up at like a seven."
Rowan's look of pity that dawned on her face was worse than the pain he felt. "I'm so sorry Steven," she said and then pet the bed beside her. He crossed to her immediately and let her wrap him up in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry that this happened to you, babe."
He pulled her onto his lap, loving that she just mounted him immediately. He held her tightly, their arms wrapped up around one another. She stroked the back of his head in that soothing manner he loved so much.
"Don't you worry," she said to him. "We'll find the guy who did this, and we'll get your parts back. And when the car's all back together I'll let you take me for a spin in the back seat. What do you say?"
Steve smiled at her. So much for never letting him fuck her in the car again. He pulled his head out of her neck to look up at her. She was really way too good to him, god, he just didn't deserve her.
"It's not just the car," he said. "This case… it's just so…"
"Which one is this?" she asked. "The brain surgeon?"
"Well yeah, it's the brain surgeon, but she got murdered to cover up the fact that at a juvenile hall like thirty or forty years ago, these boys… well they were murdered. And I mean, they got locked into this room with ventilation, no food and water and they just…" he whispered. "Who could do that to a bunch of kids?"
"Well… why is this only coming to light now?" Rowan asked.
"Because, until this career convict was dying he didn't tell anyone what he witnessed and there was no one… they had no one to miss them…" he said. "And I guess… I guess it hits me a little harder because… well… you know… in that dream world we were expecting and I'd hate… to think that could happen…"
Rowan stroked the back of his hair softly, looking down at him with soft eyes. "I know, it's always harder when it's children. To think that they could slip between the cracks, that they could be lost or forgotten, it's hard," she said to him. "And with everything going on, I get it. Stuff like this… it piles on."
He smiled at her. He loved that she was so considerate and understanding with him. God he had to do that for her more often, he had to stop flying off the handle and refusing to bend.
"Thank you," he whispered. "Thank you for understanding."
She lowered her lips to his, the one hand against his jaw holding him in place, his own hands gripping her lower back tightly so he could press her closer to him.
"This is why the world needs people like you, you're not going to let these boys stay forgotten, and you wouldn't have given up until you found them," she whispered. "And don't worry, I know you'll get him. You always get your guy."
Steve just smiled at her. He loved that light grey sweater on her, loved that the sleeves covered her hands, but he liked taking it off of her more. His hands slipped up her sides and their kiss deepened until he couldn't handle it anymore and pinned her to the bed.
He felt like, so long as Rowan was with him, so long as he knew he was coming home to her, he could do and survive anything.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
The following morning, he left as he had a call from Duke. News about his car. He had left Rowan behind, who had a busy day of song writing and job searching, though why she needed a new job was beyond him. He had told her that, if he could manage it, he'd see her for lunch. She had smiled at him but he could tell that she didn't really believe him.
He met Duke at the Five-0 office doors and Duke immediately started to explain what happened.
"Your thief came back this morning," Duke said following Steve in through the doors, walking towards his office where his thief was being held. "There was a chase. We caught him hiding at the homeless encampment near the beach. And the prints from the Marquis were a match."
Steve got into his office expecting some homeless bum. Someone he could yell and get mad at. He wasn't expecting a dirty, crying kid. Damn he couldn't be more than thirteen.
The kid glanced up at Steve before lowering his tear filled eyes again and Steve all about melted. Well fuck. There went the mean McGarrett.
"Hey, hey," he said in what he hoped was a soothing manner. Though he didn't know why he tried it, it never worked on Rowan. He hoped maybe the kid would look at him, but he didn't. "What's your name?"
"Nahele," he answered, his voice quite deep. Okay maybe more than twelve.
"I have to call your parents, alright?" he said, because you know… he had to the kid was obviously a minor.
"My mom is dead and my dad is in prison."
Well fucking shit. He was just like those boys they just dug up. There was a complete possibility that this kid could end up just as lost and forgotten as them. This kid didn't deserve a fate like that, especially since he had a feeling he knew why this kid took his car.
"When's the last time you had something to eat?" Steve asked, though he had a feeling he knew when.
He tried to wipe his eyes but just smeared dirt around on his face. The handcuffs clinking against his wrists. "I don't know."
Yeah that sounded and looked about right. Sighing he pulled out his wallet, dug out a few twenties and then handed them to Pua.
"Get him some food, some new clothes," he ordered and Pua went off with a Yes, Commander.
The kid hung his head his tears returning as Steve went behind his desk. "I'm sorry. I… I've never stolen anything before. It's just that… I was so hungry."
Yeah hunger could do that to a man, and this was just a boy.
"It's alright, just take it easy," Steve said and then sat down in the chair beside him. "How long have you been on the streets?"
He tried to wipe at his tears again but the handcuffs were really hampering him there. "A few months," he answered. "They tried to put me in one of those homes after my mom died, but I couldn't stay there. So, I ran away."
He looked up to see Kono at the door telling him they got a break and that Max wanted to talk to them. Steve nodded to her and then turned back to the kid who was still avoiding his eyes.
"Get him fed, get him cleaned up and then just keep him here until I get back," he told Duke who merely nodded at him. And then he just left him there, he couldn't help it. He couldn't look at that kid without seeing the shrivelled corpses of those teen boys they had unearthed the day before. He didn't want anything like that to happen to this kid. He wasn't going to let this kid get swallowed up by the system. No, he was going to change the pattern.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
Steve had told her that he wanted to have lunch with her. And then of course the case ran overtime and they hadn't gone for lunch. She had expected that so she hadn't gotten her hopes up, but he was trying, which meant she could try for him too. The plan was to meet him at the palace and go out for dinner, hopefully just her and him together, not the whole team.
She was on her phone at the time, knowing he was probably in his office, the lights were on so someone was there. She wasn't paying attention but she ducked something, probably the door and then while she was texting and without looking up, she started talking.
"Alright, I know we skipped lunch but I thought we could go for…" she trailed off as she looked up because she wasn't looking at Steve. It was just a kid. A kid in a multicolored button up plaid shirt and khaki shorts. He looked like a brightly colored Steven.
"You're not Steven… who the hell are you?" she asked.
"This is the car thief," the Pua said. Rowan jumped cause she hadn't realized that anyone was in the room with them. What the hell, where had he come from? She hadn't even seen him.
"What? Pua? What are you doing here? Seriously… why didn't you stop me from coming in…"
"I did, you ducked past me," he said.
Rowan turned back to the tear streaked kid who was sitting there with a container of food in his hand. "Who is this again?"
The kid mumbled: "M'name's Nahele" keeping his eyes low while Pua repeated: "The car thief, he jacked McGarrett's Marquis."
"No shit huh?" Rowan said with a grin on her face. "Damn kid didn't you know to strip it all right away… some garages do that for you now, you know."
He just stared at her with big wide eyes not sure how to react to what she was saying. Alright, too much of the Ice Queen for the kid to handle. So she turned back to Pua. "Kay so what is he doing here?" she asked him.
Pua just shrugged. "McGarrett said to hold him. Get him food, some new clothes and hold him."
Rowan's eyes furrowed. She looked back at the kid, why was he so damn familiar? She hesitantly reached out and brushed a leaf from his hair. The static jolt startled him but it gave Rowan what she needed.
"Ah. So we finally found you huh?" she murmured. "Alright… uh… no parents, right? Dad in Halawa, mom's dead, didn't like your first foster home in the system."
Nahele just stared at her with those wide eyes still not sure what to say. She looked down to the clothes that had been picked out for him. "Geezus did they let Steve pick the clothes or did Steve set the budget?"
"He set the budget."
Rowan shook her head, she loved that man but he was a cheap son of a bitch. But it meant that this kid dressed like Steve. He was a mini little Steve if Steve had had a kid with a native.
"Alright, I got this," Rowan said. "Come on kid, let's get you some real clothes… like clothes you'll actually like to wear, and then I'll take you home."
Nahele whispered: "But I like these clothes." To himself while Pua said: "Now wait a second, McGarrett told me to keep him here."
"Really? You're gonna argue with me?" she asked him. Pua opened his mouth and she just held up a hand. "Kay, look, if Steve catches an attitude just say I got a little bit of a shock, and I know what he wanted to do and I've done it. Okay? Trust me, he'll understand."
She then turned back to Nahele who was standing and staring at her as if waiting for the next order.
"Come on, we got a lot to do and there's a lot you gotta tell me," she said, she put a hand out to his, just to usher him forward but he took his hand in hers and just like that her plan changed.
Ohhhh…. Steve wasn't going to like this. And neither would Dennings.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
Steve got back to his office ready to make the deal of a lifetime for that poor little homeless orphan kid before he was shipped off to his new foster home. Problem was, when he got there Nahele wasn't there. He didn't even have to say anything to Pua who was waiting for him nervously beside Duke. All he had to do was put his hands on his hips and turn a glare to the younger officer and he cracked.
Rowan. Rowan got a shock. Knew what Steve was going to do and did it.
Well. Okay… maybe that was good. It was a little annoying, but uh… good. It raised a lot of questions, like… was Rowan having visions again, like proper ones, or why was she at his office? But he figured he could just go home and ask her, which would be great because he missed lunch and he really, really wanted to treat her to something, whether it be a late dinner or a shaved ice and a walk out on the beach under the stars.
So, he was very, very happy when he walked through the front door and Rowan launched herself into his arms. It was something she tried to do every time he came home after her, but with all their arguing as of late and his really late nights, she hadn't gotten the chance. He was starting to think that maybe she didn't want to do it anymore.
So he caught his girl in his arms and then let her take his face in her small hands and cover him in kisses.
"My amazing." Kiss. "Perfect." Kiss. "Smart." Kiss. "Handsome." Kiss. Kiss. Kiss. "Man." And then she landed a really big one on him.
Steve knew then she had done something that she thought would upset him. "What have you done," he growled against her lips and found her smiling.
"Uhmm…. Something bad…" she admitted and he pulled away from her to look into her eyes suddenly very very, angry, disappointed and worried all at once.
"God fucking damn it. Is Wo fat in this house? He better be dying or you better be about to be assassinated, because so help me…"
"What? Wo? What part of I'm no longer speaking to Wo Fat are you not understanding?" she asked. When Steve opened his mouth to reminder her about her mysterious Christmas call and the spontaneous evolution of her app she hushed him quickly. "We're not arguing about this again… I didn't bring him home but I did bring someone else home… a cute little stray… per say."
Good god she had got them a pet? Fuck. It had better be a cat. Steve liked cats that was it. Nothing against dogs, he just preferred cats, and he knew Rowan had a preference for black cats. Ohhh a little black cat that would be cute.
"Hi again," came a voice from the kitchen and Steve dropped Rowan immediately. Luckily, she was expecting it so she landed on her feet. Fuck that was not a cat that was not a cat at all.
Steve was looking at Nahele, his little car thief. Steve turned to Rowan with eyes wide with shock and his mouth partly open.
"Guess who's a new foster mom?!" she asked with a big grin.
Foster mom?! What? That… that wasn't what he had in mind… that wasn't even close to what he was going to do. His plan was to show him the arrest forms, that weren't signed by him, and tell him that he was going to do community service with him, helping him fix up his car. What fucking vision did she have?
"Ro… Rowan… what… what have you done?"
"Well… the kid has no home, and he needs a home, and I figured why not here?"
"Why not…. Rowan… we… I'm not… for kids?!" he stuttered. "I'm not…"
"You're not doing anything. It's all in my name."
She had become a single foster mom? WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. So not only did she decide to do this but she had decided to do it without him. And she and the kid were going to live with him? Wait… she wasn't moving out with the kid, was she?
"How did you even… Rowan there are processes…"
"Which are shockingly easy to get through when the Governor vouches for you and makes the judge he was eating dinner with sign off on it," she said. "I mean, I still have CPS walk throughs to go through, but until further notice I've been approved as a temporary guardian so I could take him home tonight."
Steve just stared at her. He couldn't… he couldn't believe that this was happening. Rowan sighed and looked away. "Look. I thought this would be great, you wanted him to find all the parts he sold and then have him come by once a week to help you fix up your car, right? I mean… you weren't going to press charges."
The fact that she knew that already should have scared him, and it kind of did because it meant her visions were coming back and he wasn't sure he wanted them back. He wasn't going to say that to her though.
"Okay… yeah… you're right, I was going to have him come and help me put the car back together but that doesn't translate to wanting him to live with me," Steve growled.
"Okay… okay… but… he needs us," Rowan said and Steve softened. Because that part was true. "Think of those boys. Lost. Forgotten. Steve, you were meant to find this boy. Don't you see…?"
Steve sighed again and she smiled, realizing that he was about to cave. She put a hand out to his arm and he had to look away to mask his emerging grin. "And having him will make everything easier. Now he can help you with the car whenever you work on it, cause he'll be here. Oh, once he's done his homework of course. That reminds me, I have to enroll him in school…" she mused.
Steve groaned out her name. It was clear as day that she didn't see the problem and now that he was over the initial shock of the situation, Steve was starting to warm up to the idea. Didn't mean he didn't have major reservations. This was a lot of responsibility, and though he knew that Rowan be shouldering almost all of it, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't be helping, that didn't mean that he didn't want share that responsibility with her. He had found the kid first after all.
"Just so you guys know… I can hear everything you're saying," the kid said and Steve finally turned his eyes back to him. Nahele was in a set of PJs that Steve knew right away were brand new. He was sitting in front of a bowl of something, with a glass of water beside him. He turned to Rowan with sad eyes to say: "I told you he wouldn't want me to stay."
Oh. Fucking ouch. "No, that's not… it's not you… she didn't tell… this was just a big surprise okay…"
Nahele just lowered his eyes again. "It's okay," he whispered. "You can send me back. I won't mind. I get it… I do…"
Rowan turned her eyes to Steve who just groaned again. For the love of god. Like he was really going to send this kind back. He turned to Rowan with a dark glared and snapped: "You should have told me before I came home!"
Rowan just stared at him and then scoffed. "If I did that you would have tried to talk me out of it."
Her mind was clearly made up, and she was just as stubborn as him. Which meant that even if he had tried, it wouldn't have worked. Still it hurt that she did this without him. That she didn't think to include him, that she didn't think he'd be supportive of this. Okay he might not have been as supportive if she had told him at first, but at least he would have been prepared.
Steve sighed. "Alright, so we're doing this," he announced to the room, it was both a question and not, but he nodded both Rowan and Nahele nodded and Steve realized he was going to have to relent. "Okay, I've got ground rules. Okay?"
Nahele suddenly perked up and nodded quickly, almost eagerly.
"Alright, number one, no more stealing cars. You need something you ask me or Rowan. We'll give you a reasonable allowance, and we will discuss what that will be later. Number two you're to come straight home after school, unless otherwise specified and your bed time is non-negotiable. 10pm, you got me. Special considerations can be made for special occasions, like football games, and holidays. Three, you're going to help me with that car whenever I need you to, once you're done your homework of course. Four, you want spending money you gotta earn it. We'll give you reasonable chores and a reasonable allowance. Five, we need to know where you are, at all times. Obviously, we'll get you a phone, but if you're going somewhere and its not on your regular schedule, you have to tell both of us, or at the very least one of us. Six, I work in law enforcement, do not, ever, touch my gun or any of my team's guns. Seven, my job… look it's dangerous kid. Don't go with anyone I haven't cleared with you, okay? Yeah I may send someone to come get you if I think you're in danger or if me and Ro are tied up, but I'll only send certain people. I'll introduce them all to you soon, but if it's not one of them don't go anywhere with them. Lastly, you need to make, at the very least, all Bs at school. Extra curriculars cannot get in the way of that. If you need help ask us, we'll get you a tutor if we can't do it ourselves," he said he then stared at Nahele. "Agreed?"
"Yeah, totally, I can do all of those things," he said with a big grin on his face.
"Okay, so I'll start on a chore chart to get that allowance started," Rowan said, "We can have that up by the weekend. Oh and we're going to need to de-girl-ify his room."
"Room?" Steve echoed and then understanding dawned on him. "Oh, you've put him in your old room."
"Yep. It's okay for today but not permanently. And we have a walk through in a few days, so I need the room up to par. I thought that might be a nice project for you two? Me and the kid go to Ikea and home sense and pick some things out, then you guys put them together?"
Steve turned to Nahele who was eyeing him with wide eyes waiting for his response. "If I don't have a case, sure," he said to which Nahele actually smiled in this excited way that had Steve smiling too.
Oh… maybe… maybe he'd take a few days off, just to help get the kid settled in. But that was it.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
A week later Rowan and Steve were walking hand in hand to Kamekona's shrimp truck where their friends were waiting for them.
Though they approached together, it was Steve who said: "Well, guys, I have some bad news and some good news." They all turned to him waiting for the news, all concerned. "Delano has been officially released from the ICU and is expected to make a full recovery."
Delano was the originally reason they thought the doctor had been murdered, and because of that Chin had to face the man who put him in Halawa and was related to the man who murdered Chin's wife.
Rowan nudged him. "Tell him the good news," she hissed.
"I was getting to that," he snapped. "The good news is, when I went to see how he was recovering, I brought Rowan with me and the man literally crapped himself when he saw her."
"It's true, he actually defecated all over himself and I figure… if there's anything that could be a small consolation, that would be it," Rowan said to Chin who raised his beer to her.
"Well thanks for trying. I guess I'll just have to hope for stomach cancer," he said before taking a swig.
"Ohh, that's harsh cos, I'm hoping for a shiv in the lunch line," Kono said.
"What's a shiv?" Grace asked turning her eyes up to her Uncle Steve and Aunt Rowan assuming that one of them would explain, probably Rowan.
Rowan actually opened her mouth to tell her but Steve elbowed her and turned her words into a cry of pain. "Look at who's sporting the hardware!" he cried.
"You are looking at the number one girl in her age group on the entire island," Chin bragged for her and Grace nodded happily accepting a high five from Steve and a hug from Rowan.
"What did I tell you, huh?" he said to her. "No thanks to Marathon Man here, though, right?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, listen. I helped with everything except the running part, okay?" Danny snapped.
Grace turned to Steve and winced. "Yeah that's true," she admitted.
"Okay, I guess we can cut him some slack then, huh?"
"Cut me some slack," Danny echoed with a shake of his head. "You know what, you, how's fatherhood treating you."
"Fuck you," came out of Steve so fast it had everyone laughing. They knew he was still adjusting, but Rowan… Rowan had fucking taken to this like a fish in water. Nahele adored her but he was still awkward with Steve.
Rowan put a hand to his arm and smiled up at him. "He's doing just fine with it, thank you very much," she said primly. Though he knew it wasn't real fatherhood. This was fatherhood by proxy because the kid was living in his fucking house but, legally, all the paperwork was in Rowan's name.
"How is the kid doing?" Chin asked.
"He's doing good," Rowan said. "We let him do up the room, so the boys got to do painting and the whole moving the furniture around. I let him pick out the décor and what not."
Steve nodded, yeah that hadn't been too bad. "Yeah, I think he'd doing alright… still a little awkward around me, but uh… I think he's okay, he seems happy."
"I bet he is," Kono said. "Kid's finally in a happy home…"
"Yeah until they start arguing again," Danny snapped and that time Rowan cuffed him. He put a hand out to smack her back but Steve stepped in to deflect it.
"What did I say? Don't touch my girl, Danny!" he warned again.
"She hit me first…"
"I don't fucking care, don't touch her, Danny!" he cried but before the two could get into a real argument over it, Rowan started squealing as Nahele was coming towards them in a Kamekona's shrimp truck apron carrying the food for the table.
She let him set it down before pulling him in for a hug. "Oh my baby's first under the table job!" she cried kissing the top of his head over and over as she squeezed him.
"Rowan!" he whined in the same way most kids said mooOOOmmm. "Steve can you… please?"
"Just look at this cute but strikingly handsome face, you are gonna charm all the ladies at your new school aren't you," she said squeezing his cheeks.
"Ro, stop it," Steve ordered. "Come on now, give the boy some space."
Rowan smacked him away. "Whatever you do don't go to Steve for relationship advice, he's hopeless, you come to me or Danny," she said to him. He dropped his head to her shoulder and agreed breathlessly like it was a chore and she sighed again.
"My baby, all grown up and serving people food," she said watching as he straightened. She grabbed his cheeks again and then mushed them around. "Seriously, you're not allowed to grow anymore, if you grow taller than me, we're going to have issues."
Nahele turned a look to Steve which could have been nothing other than a cry for help and he stepped forward again to get her off of him.
"Of course, he's going to grow taller than you, look at him Rowan," Steve cried. "Now seriously let him go, you're embarrassing him."
Rowan just squeezed his cheeks a little tighter. "That is legit my job."
Steve grabbed Rowan's hands and pried them off of him. He tugged her back to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. "Run before she gets a hold of you again," he warned and Nahele, smiling up at Steve thanked him and then quickly scrambled away.
"Awww, they grow up so fast, already embarrassed of me," Rowan said as if she were proud. As if she had actually watched him grow up.
"Rowan… It's been a week," Steve reminded her and she smacked him.
"Let me have this, McGarrett," she growled and he shook his head.
Across from the happy make-shift-family on the picnic bench the Grover's SUV pulled into the parking lot. Grover had brought Samantha with him but he wasn't too sure about this. Especially with Rowan in attendance.
Samantha moved to get out of the car but Grover stopped her with a quick: "Hang on a second."
She stopped and turned back to him. She seemed to sense that this was a serious moment because she asked: "What is it dad?"
"Sweetheart you know I love you right?"
"Of course, I do," she answered immediately.
"Alright… and you know that if I could have, I would've done anything in the world to keep that stuff from happening to you," he told her. She didn't answer him with words but she did nod to him so that was good. "I'm afraid there's nothing I can do to change that now. The only thing that can change now is you, and that's gonna take time."
She nodded again and Grover thought about it very carefully before continuing. "Just like your body had to heal, your mind has to heal too, and you might have another bad night or two. I'm not gonna promise you you're gonna forget all about this one day, but I can promise you it's gonna get easier."
She just continued to stare at him, pain in her eyes and he hated that he could do nothing for her in this sense but she needed to know that they were going to get through this. "You know, I can promise you that we will get through this… as a family. Your mother, your brother, me and you. And I want you to know that whether I'm in the next room or not, I'm always there for you, little mama. Always."
She answered him by pulling him into a big hug. "I know Daddy," she whispered into his ear before pulling away. "But uhm… I do have a question, about Rowan…"
Oh, here we go. There were going to be real issues if she asked never to see that woman again. Especially with her dating Steve.
"She had a similar talk with me at that barbeque that Steve had and she mentioned that she has night terrors all the time, cause she got kidnapped once… and stabbed… and sexual assaulted… and crashed a car killing everyone inside but her…" Holy. Shit. That… that was a lot to take in right there. Like, a lot, a lot. Did Steve know about all that? Did this happen before she fell into their universe?
"So… what's the question baby…"
"Well… she said that the great thing about having family, is that they stand with you even when you're not ready to talk… so like what you just said about getting through it together. And well… you said that when she and Steve argue she runs away and she doesn't go to the people who are close to him because she thinks they're his friends and not her own, right?"
"Yeah and?"
"Well it got me thinking… that maybe she feels like she doesn't have a family… and if she feels like she doesn't have a family then… well… who's going to stand by her?"
Grover looked over to where Steve and Rowan were standing, her back to his chest and his arms around her, their default position because the man could barely stand to let Rowan go. He thought about what his daughter said and then carefully said: "You know, Rowan… she's a very special, very scary young lady."
Samantha nodded, and he could tell that she really was worried about Rowan and her wellbeing. "She likes to act like she's very strong… but uh… if you remember the day of baking…" he said trailing off. Samantha's eyes widened, she too remembered. "You see, the problem with Rowan is that… she thinks she's too scary for anyone to truly care about her. She thinks Steve's and his friends, and well… even us… won't like her for who she is. Which we know is not true, of course, but uh… she's just used to dealing with that sort of stuff on her own."
"I guess her real family didn't like her much?"
"Something like that," he murmured.
"Well… we should tell her that if she has nightmares, she should talk to us too," Samantha said. "So, she doesn't feel alone, you know?"
"You know… that's the best thing for Rowan. She may run, she may push us away, but you can't give up on her, because she's the one who needs us the most," Grover said and Samantha smiled at him.
"I'm going to go tell her," she said. "You coming? I'm starving, what about you?"
Grover got out of the car after his daughter, moving towards the table. He was there just in time to hear Kamekona discussing Nahele with his new Foster parents. Or well Foster parent, and boyfriend of foster parent because, just like he was with Rowan, Steve was not officially anything with Nahele.
"He's a good kid, eating through my profits like mad, but I don't mind," he said to them.
"Well seriously, thank you for giving him a job… I'll be sure to run another music night for you, okay?" she offered.
Steve turned to see Samantha getting ready to pull Rowan aside so he let her do it. Once Rowan and Samantha were off having their talk, Danny swooped in on him.
"Do you know what you are?" he asked.
Steve sighed and folded his arms over his chest like a shield. "This ought to be good," he said with a sigh.
"You're a half-baked cookie. All warm and gooey on the inside," he said. "That kid should be in juvenile hall, and you go and adopt him."
"No, now wait a second… Rowan is his foster mother that is all, he's staying with us temporarily…" Steve answered but Danny just shook his head.
"You can act like you don't like it, but I can see it. You're loving this. You're loving being a father, officially or unofficially. That kid's not temporary and you know it. You took a whole three days off to get him set up in that room, Rowan's been buying things for him right left and center, you got him a job. Naw that kid's staying and you love it, look at you, you love it."
Steve lowered his eyes… he had rather gotten attached to the kid. But he wasn't going to say that to Danny, and least of all Rowan.
"Well that's why I love you babe," Danny said slapping his shoulder. "You love fixing broken toys."
Steve looked back at the table where all his friends and family were sitting having a good time and whispered to himself: "Yeah… I guess I do."