snowflake_challenge

Despite being quite grown up enough to stay home by herself, Grace doesn't like staying alone at night. Every little sound wakes her up. Usually she can identify it as the house settling or an animal outside but right now the sound that woke her is not any of the usual ones that she knows are harmless. No, this one is coming from inside the house and means someone broke in.

'They must have disabled the alarm,' she thinks, rolling from the bed before creeping as quietly as she can down the stairs.

When she gets to the bottom of the stairs she sees that the alarm has been deactivated by the main code. Steve's code. She breathes a sigh of relief because that means her dads are home.

Now that she's awake and satisfied she's not in any danger, she decides to find out what that noise is. Following it through the living room, she passes the dining room, the kitchen, Steve's office and comes to a halt outside the open laundry room door. "Papa?" she calls to the figure standing in front of the washing machine.

He jumps like he's just received a jolt of electricity, then spins around to grin sheepishly at her. "Hey, Baby Girl. What're you doing up?"

"Someone's banging around down here and it woke me."

"Sorry." He twists around to finish turning on the washer then ushers her out of the room, shutting the door behind him. "So, what's up?" Grace has known Steve McGarrett a long time and she's beginning to suspect he's hiding something from her.

"I could ask you the same thing." She raises one brow in a move she learned from her mother.

"Uh…" Steve scratches the back of his head.

"Is that blood!?" she exclaims, grabbing his arm and holding it still so she can examine the smallish patch of dried blood on the underside of his wrist.

He growls low in his throat. "How'd I miss that?" he mutters. She glares at him and looks so much like her father that Steve has to swallow hard around the lump that has formed at the thought of his sweet Baby Girl growing up. "It's not mine." He winces when she digs her nails into his skin. "And it's not Danno's either!" When she lets him go, he rubs the spot and pouts at her. But she just rolls her eyes at him because she knows she didn't really hurt him.

"So whose blood is it? That suspect you went tearing off after earlier?"

Taking her by the upper arm, Steve leads her back toward the living room. "Yeah."

"What'd you do, Papa?"

He stops and turns her to face him. "What makes you think I did anything?"

"So I'm to believe that he just bled all over you of his own free will?"

"I didn't lay a finger on him. I swear!"

"Mmhm. Full immunity will only get you so far, Papa. One of these days you won't be able to get away with it."

"So, you're saying you don't believe I didn't touch him?"

"If you're going to try and tell me that Danno did it, then, no, I don't believe you."

"What didn't I do, Monkey?" Grace squeals at the sound of her father's voice before spinning to face him.

"She doesn't believe I didn't beat up our suspect," Steve says over her head and she manages to turn her head enough to catch the tail end of some motion Steve's making, obviously trying to tell Danny something he doesn't think she needs to know.

"Steve's right, Gracie. He didn't hurt our suspect."

"Danno!" Grace exclaims because obviously if Steve didn't cause the guy to bleed then Danny must have.

"I didn't hurt him either. Stupid idiot tried to run and tripped over his baggy jeans. Busted his nose when he face planted on the sidewalk."

"Oh." That makes her feel better. She doesn't like thinking of her Danno and Papa getting in trouble for police brutality.

"Would serve the two of you right if someday some DA objected to your interrogation tactics." She stubbornly keeps her eyes on Danny while speaking.

"You planning on being the one?" Danny asks, one brow raised.

"Maybe," she hedges. Truth is, she's decided to become a cop and join the task force but since she's only fourteen, her dads won't take her seriously. Yet. They'll just bring up how four years ago she wanted to be a marine biologist. Until she realized how much science is involved.

"Oh, Baby Girl,-" Steve puts his arm around her shoulders. "-I'm fairly certain that Danno and I won't still be working by the time you become a DA."

"It doesn't take that long-" she begins only to have Steve interrupt her with, "It takes longer than you think before you'd be prosecuting any cases. Trust me." She concedes the point with a sigh.

"Not to change the subject or nothing-" Danny puts his arm around her shoulders from the other side. "-but why're you up at 3 am?"

"Papa was making a lot of noise and you know I don't sleep well when I'm home alone."

Danny lightly smacks Steve's arm with the back of his hand. "I told you to be quiet. Some ninja SEAL you are."

"I was as quiet as I could be. Is it my fault she's a light sleeper?"

Danny rubs circles on her upper back. "Alright, Monkey. We're home. You're officially off the clock. Back to bed with you."

"Night, Danno." She kisses Danny's cheek, feeling slightly awkward at not having to lean up to do so. "Night, Papa." Steve's cheek also gets a kiss before she skips up the stairs and out of sight. She pauses where they can't see her but she can still hear them because she's hoping they'll talk about why Steve really has blood on his wrist.

"I think we should tell her. She'd understand, D."

"Shelly asked us not to, Steve. I, for one, plan on honoring my sister's wishes in this."

'Aunt Shelly's here? And hurt?' Grace thinks with a touch of sadness tinged with anger that Aunt Shelly doesn't think she's old enough to understand whatever it is.

"But Danny-" Steve tries again.

"No, Steve. This is the very reason she didn't want anyone to know she agreed to be our surrogate."

Surrogate!? The word isn't completely unfamiliar to Grace. She remembers back when Steve and Danny first got together they discussed having a kid or two of their own and they mentioned Steve being the biological father. 'Guess Aunt Shelly agreed so the baby'd be related to them both. And me.' The thought makes Grace happy. She's wanted to be a big sister for a long time and Rachel and Stan aren't showing any signs of ever giving her a sibling. But Danny and Steve are obviously very intent on making that one wish come true for her.

"When can we try again?" Steve asks, pulling Grace's attention back to the conversation below. "Or do you just want to adopt?"

"Shelly said couple of months."

"So you want to try again?"

"Heaven help me, but yes, I want a rugrat that looks like you."

"It could favor your side, ya know."

"Yeah, but something tells me your genes are dominant and will overpower mine. Er, Shelly's. You know what I mean!"

"Yeah, I do." There's a long moment of silence and Grace begins to think they've gone outside or are kissing. Just as she's about to get up and head back to bed, she hears Steve say, "I just hate lying to Grace. I'm sure she can keep it a secret."

"I know, Babe. After the past several years, I think we've used up our share of secrets to keep from her. But this isn't just out secret. Shelly has her reasons and we need to respect them."

"Yeah, okay," Steve grumbles but Grace knows he doesn't agree with keeping her in the dark and it makes her love him all the more.

"Shelly's going to go back to Jersey for a couple of months, then come back. Hopefully the next time will go to term." Until those words left Danny's mouth, Grace hadn't truly grasped that the blood on Steve's wrist was Aunt Shelly's or that there was no suspect; that the reason they ran out of the house before dinner was even over was because Aunt Shelly was miscarrying the baby - her brother or sister.

She clamps both hands over her mouth to stifle the sobs that are climbing the back of her throat and walks on her knees as fast as she can back to her room. Shutting the door, she leans back against it, buries her face in her knees and gives over to the grief that she won't be allowed to share with her dads. She cries for the sibling she'll never know, for Aunt Shelly having to go through this and for Steve and Danny for not being able to seek comfort from their ohana.

But Danny said Aunt Shelly wants to try again. Surely she wouldn't if the doctors didn't think that the next time would go to term. She has a few friends whose moms have had miscarriages, not that she knew what that was at the time, and so she knows that sometimes these things just happen.

The thought that Aunt Shelly wants to try again should thrill her, but it doesn't. Because trying again means that the first time failed and that is just not acceptable in her book. She starts crying harder and ends up crying herself to sleep right where she's sitting.

"Grace?" Danny's voice and his firm knock on her door wake Grace from a sound sleep.

It takes her a moment to figure out where she is and once she does, the grief comes flooding back, bringing with it fresh tears. Her body protests the fact that she spent the night on the floor, having cried herself to sleep and at first it refuses to cooperate when she tries to stand.

"Grace? You're going to be late," Danny calls again.

"Coming, Danno." She steadies herself against the door for several seconds before opening it and stepping around him to the bathroom.

"If you didn't have a test today, I'd let you skip." He reaches out to caress her hair but she dodges it.

"I'm fine." Keeping her face stubbornly averted, she closes the bathroom door in his face. 'Let him think I'm just tired,' she thinks, bracing her hands on the edge of the pedestal sink.

As she gazes at her reflection, tears well in her eyes again. "God, Grace!" She whispers harshly. "Get it together. You can't let them know!" She allows herself to cry for about a minute, then splashes cold water on her face before taking care of her morning needs and exiting the bathroom.

With a deep breath, she walks down the stairs and into the kitchen where she finds Steve and Danny standing near the mostly set table embracing. It's not clear which one is doing the comforting or if the two of them just felt like hugging but Grace doesn't care. She backs out as far as the stairs to give them some more privacy. Then, making as much noise as she can, she enters the kitchen again. This time Danny's finishing setting the table and Steve's finishing cooking breakfast.

"Morning, Monkey," Danny greets. And if his tone isn't as chipper as usual, then who is Grace to say anything? Especially in light of the faint tear tracks on his cheeks.

"Hey, Baby Girl." Steve drops a kiss to the air above her head as she passes him on her way to give Danny a hug.

"Hey, now." Danny chuckles and hugs her back. "What brought this on?"

Grace shrugs and tightens her hold on Danny's shoulders. "Just felt like it."

"Where's my hug?" Never one to be left out, Steve pouts at the embracing father and daughter.

"Right here, Papa." Grace lets go of Danny so she can go wrap her arms around Steve's waist and squeeze.

"Mm. You give the best hugs." He presses a kiss to the top of her head. "Sit. Breakfast's almost done."

Breakfast is a more somber affair than usual but none of them is willing to discuss it. As soon as she finishes her last bite, Grace gets up and puts her dishes in the sink.

"Papa?" she says, stopping next to his chair.

"Yes, Baby Girl?' He runs one hand down her back and twitches the ends of her hair. Something that usually makes her smile, but not today.

"Will you take me to school?"

Danny and Steve share a look. Danny usually takes her, it's their own special alone time. "You sure you don't want Danno to take you?"

She shakes her head. "I need to talk to you." Ever since she was little, Steve has been one of her biggest confidants.

"Okay." He pats her backside. "Go finish getting ready.

She brushes a kiss to his check before turning and leaving the room. But she doesn't go far. She has learned the fine art of eavesdropping and since it worked so well last night…

"I don't think this is a good idea, Steve."

"Relax, D. I have built up quite a resistance to her interrogation tactics, ya know."

"You mean, unlike me?"

"Exactly. So, if she was going to press for what really happened last night, she'd have let you take her."

'Great. Now his guard'll be up.' But she can't let that discourage her. If she's ever going to get them to treat her like an adult, she has to make Steve tell her the truth.

She hurries upstairs and throws on the first clean uniform she can find, brushes her teeth for not quite three minutes but figures once won't hurt, quickly applies what little make-up (mascara and colored lip gloss) she's allowed to wear and braids her hair while jogging back down the stairs.

"I'm ready, Papa!" she calls in the direction of the kitchen. "I'll be in the truck." Picking his keys up from the side table, she exits the house and skips over to the truck while rehearsing what she's gonna say.

Danny, Rachel, Steve and Stan have all said that she can get her permit next year and her license the year after and so she sits behind the wheel as often as possible. Climbing up into the cab she's reminded of just a few weeks ago when Steve took her out to the rainforest and let her drive. It was fun and she's been pressing him to do it again. She thinks she did well, but judging by how he's been hesitant to do so, he doesn't agree.

Steve begins shaking his head the instant he rounds the corner and can see her sitting behind the wheel. She grins at him and bounces in her seat. Despite what he told Danny, Grace has him wrapped just as tightly around her finger as she has Danny. He finds it just as difficult to say no to her, especially after he 'died' four years ago.

"Not today, Baby Girl," he says, opening the door. The look on his face says 'and not any time soon, either' but Grace knows that the adults in her life will have to let her practice driving once she gets her permit. She also knows that they don't want her to grow up too fast and they see her having the ability to drive as a sign that soon she'll be gone, off to college and then married with children.

"I know, Papa." She scoots over and buckles her seat belt, waiting patiently for the right moment to ask her questions. Steve's not the talker her father is so having a silent drive with him isn't unusual. Even if she wishes he'd volunteer the information.

"What period is your test?" Steve actually manages to startle her with his question.

"Uh, second. French."

"Ah. Oral or written?"

"Both."

He nods. "If you're still tired after, call and one of us will come get you."

"Danno agree to that?"

Steve chuckles. "Let's say he did, okay?"

"Papa!" She laughs with him.

Ever since Steve came into their lives, things have been so much more fun. Grace would love Steve just as much even if he and Danny had never gotten together. But of course they did and she loves having three fathers. Stan has finally relaxed around her, having been reassured of her love for him when she began calling him 'Pop', and now treats her more like Steve does.

"Papa?" Grace finally works up the courage when they're about ten minutes from the school.

"Yes, Baby Girl?"

"I know."

Steve takes his eyes off the road for a second to frown at her. "You know what, Keiki?"

"About Aunt Shelly and the baby."

He slams on the brakes, throwing one arm out to stop her from being thrown too hard against her seat belt. "You what!?" he roars amid the blaring horns of the cars behind them.

"Papa, please!" She indicates that he should get out of the way of traffic.

Grinding his teeth so hard that she can hear it, he jerkily pulls the truck into a nearby parking lot; puts it in park and gets out to angrily stalk around the front to yank open her door and drag her out.

"Start. Talking." She can feel the effort it's taking for him to not shake her until the words come tumbling from her lips.

She stares into his anger filled eyes, scared of him for the first time since she met him, and is momentarily rendered speechless. His frown deepens and his lip begins to curl and the words fall from her mouth so fast she's afraid he won't be able to understand what she's saying.

"Danno's right. You have a face for everything. I knew you weren't telling the truth about the blood. And I knew you wouldn't tell me if I asked. You and Danno don't tell me anything so when you sent me to bed, I hid around the corner, knowing you two would talk about it. I deserve to know. Everything you two do effects me, you know. And yet you hardly ever let me know things." When she runs out of words, she holds her breath, wondering what he'll do; trying to not imagine the worst but hoping for the best.

"We tell you plenty! I didn't want to tell you about my PTSD but Danny insisted with my doctor's urging." He releases her arms with a slight push and paces away, running both hands through his hair. "We hadn't told anyone. We were just a week away from telling you that she was going to have our baby."

"Would you have told me about the miscarriage?"

"Probably not. And not because we don't think you should know but because Shelly doesn't want anyone to know."

"But, Papa!" She takes a step forward but halts at the look on his face, convinced that should she touch him now it would be rejected. "I'm not just anyone! I'm your daughter!"

He nods. "I know. I tried to get Shelly to let us at least tell you but she didn't want you to grieve for a sibling you were never going to meet."

"Why not tell me about the baby before?"

"Because about twenty-two percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage before the end of the first trimester and seventy-five percent never even implant. Once we knew for a fact that she was pregnant, we began waiting for the end of the trimester." He sags back against the side of the truck and presses the heels of his hands against his eyes. "We had it all planned; how we were going to tell you. We were going to pick you up early from school and take you to a prenatal appointment. Then we were going to let you tell people."

"You should have told me! I deserved to know!"

"Why? Because you're fourteen now? Because you don't like being kept out of the loop?" She's never seen him this angry before. "Guess what, Sweetheart?" He doesn't say the endearment the way he usually does, the tone is all wrong and it's in English and she knows she's crossed some line that should never have been crossed. "You don't get to decide that. Your other parents and I do! It's why human children stay with their parents until they're eighteen. We're not here to be your friends. We're here to guide you and teach you right from wrong. And the fact that you can't seem to see that what you did was wrong, wrong so very wrong, tells me you're nowhere near ready to be on your own." He takes several deep breaths and Grace worries that she may have pushed him close to a panic attack. He hasn't had one in months and even then it was small but she remembers when he used to have big ones; big enough to cause him to have to take medication and be hospitalized. "Get in the damn truck." He walks back around to the driver's side and climbs behind the wheel.

Grace hesitates for a second, actually thinks about grabbing her backpack and just hoofing it the rest of the way, before following suit. The second her door is closed, but before she can buckle up, Steve puts the truck in gear and continues on to the school, acting as if nothing happened.

The tension in the cab is thick and it presses in on Grace's chest, leaving her short of breath while she fights her tears. While Steve has taken a more active role in her raising since Danny won primary custody when Rachel and Stan moved back to the mainland last year, he has never yelled at her like that. Nor has he ever said anything as hurtful as when he said he wasn't her friend.

'That's not exactly what he said,' a small voice deep inside her whispers but she ignores it in favor of sulking over what feels like is the end of her special relationship with her Papa.

At the school, he pulls smoothly up to the curb and puts the truck in park. "Grace…" He starts but seems to be as at a loss for what to say as she is. "Good luck on your test," he finally says, chewing his bottom lip.

She can tell he wants a hug but she's punishing him for being so harsh and so she just nods and slides down from the cab, grabs her bag from the backseat and heads up the stairs and inside.

She makes it through most of first period English, she's always thought it funny that both her language classes were back-to-back, before she asks to go to the bathroom where she pulls out her phone and calls Danny.

It rings five times before he answers with, "I don't have time to talk right now."

"But-" She begins but he talks over her. "Not. Now. We'll discuss this later." The line goes dead in her ear.

Tears well in her eyes as what the brief conversation with Danny means becomes clear: Steve told Danny first chance he got. He didn't even wait to see if she might confess her wrong doing without any urging.

And just like that, Steve crosses over from parental figure who has her back to totalitarian who delights in her misery. Never mind that deep down where it counts, she knows he's not like that - could never be like that - but right now the rebuke from Danny hurts too much and throws her into a typical teen meltdown.

She slowly makes her way back to class and tries to pay attention because mid-terms are coming up and she prides herself on being on the honor roll. But she finds it difficult as her mind supplies what she can expect to happen when she gets out of school and can finally sit down and talk to Danny with each scenario worse than the one before.

Finally the bell rings and she files out into the hall with all the other students, making her way to her next class: French. She really wanted to take American Sign Language but her mother suggested French, letting it slip that they might take a trip to Paris for her sixteenth birthday.

Luckily for Grace, her teacher, Madame Haag, is the type to call the class up alphabetically starting with 'A' and today is no different.

The written portion of the test is fairly easy but Grace is distracted just enough to falter on some of the questions. She answers the final question a second or two before Madame calls her name. She carries her test with her and hands it to the parent entrusted with keeping the class from cheating while Madame is out of the room giving the oral part of the test.

"Read this. French first, then English," Madame says in French. She's one of those teachers that think the best (only) way to learn another language is immersion and so she teaches class in French. She even speaks to her students in French when she sees them in the hall.

The list Grace is to read is their most recent vocabulary list. She knows all the words on it but her brain is still on the confrontation with Steve and the coming one with Danny and so she draws a total blank on pronunciation and English translation.

"I…" Grace begins to say only to have Madame interrupt with, "En Français". Grace clears her throat and tries again. "Je…" She gives up with a shake of her head. "I'm sorry, Madame. I can't."

"What's wrong?" Madame asks, this time in English.

"I had an argument with one of my dads."

Madame nods in understanding. "Since you're such a good student, I'm going to let you try again at the end of class."

"Thank you." Grace hands the list back and returns to her seat.

One of her good friends, Mary, leans over to whisper, "What happened?" but Grace just shakes her head and pulls out her text book. She's not sure if Madame wants it known that she's giving Grace a second chance so Grace decides to not tell anyone.

When the bell rings, she waves her friends off, saying she needs to speak with Madame and she'll catch up with them later.

The list she's given this time is different from the one before. The words are ones she should know very well by now and so it tests not only her ability to retain what was recently taught, but what she's been learning all along. She only hesitates a moment before reciting the words.

"Très bon," Madame says with a tiny smile.

"Merci," Grace replies, with a small curtsey.

"Your accent still needs work but other than that…" Madame is back to speaking in French and ends her sentence with a one shouldered shrug.

"Sorry. I am working on it," Grace replies in French.

"Go on to class now." Madame hands her a tardy slip and shoos her from the room.

Grace really wants to call Steve and let him know how she did on her test but she's still punishing him for this morning so she texts Danny instead. She fully expects a 'Good job, Monkey' or something similar back but she gets nothing. It doesn't compute that Danny could be punishing her as well, so she decides to imagine that he's off chasing a bad guy, or comforting Aunt Shelly. Doesn't make his snub hurt any less, though.

The rest of her day is spent so totally distracted that she nearly gets hit by a wayward soccer ball during gym, gets detention for failing to show proper respect to her math teacher (she snapped 'What!?' when he asked her a question) and walking into, and knocking over, the bronze bust of the school's founder. Luckily for her that last one doesn't have any lasting consequences. Doesn't mean she's not still thoroughly embarrassed by it (it would have to happen right in front of Tommy Martin who is only the cutest boy in the whole wide world!).

Finally, the final bell rings and Grace makes her way to her math room for her fifteen minutes of detention which is spent solving equations on the board (showing all her work, of course). She manages to solve two correctly and four so totally wrong she's afraid they're going to have to invent a new term for just how wrong she is before the time is up. Mr. Drake releases her with a resigned sigh and an extra ten pages of homework.

She makes her way outside, cautiously scanning the remaining crowd for a familiar adult, hoping for Danny or even Steve. But she only sees Kono. Exactly what this means has her shoulders slumping in defeat. She knows she screwed up but how can she make amends if they shun her so completely?

"Hey, Cuz," Kono greets when Grace stops next to where Kono's standing next to her car. "I don't know what you did, but it must have been a doosey. They're both in a tear right now. Never seen 'em like this. Not gonna lie: I'm kinda scared."

Grace glances up at Kono from under her lashes. "How bad is it?"

"Bad." Kono nods, her eyes sad.

Grace closes her eyes against threatening tears and releases a shaky breath. "I'm guessing you're my jailer until they get home?"

"Oh, no, Cousin. You-" Kono points her finger at Grace. "-are going to be a guest of The Five-oh Task Force for the foreseeable future."

Grace's gaze slides from Kono's to the left and back down to the ground. "Completely justified." Her head snaps up as a thought occurs to her. "Did either one of them speak to my mom?"

Kono shrugs. "Don't know. Why?"

Grace chews her lower lip. "Huh?" she asks when Kono pokes her. "Oh, uh, no reason." But an idea is forming. If she can get to Rachel before Steve and Danny, maybe, just maybe, she stands a chance of seeing daylight again before she's thirty.

Grace goes to step around Kono and get in the car when Kono stops her with a hand to her arm. "I'm supposed to take your phone." Kono holds out her free hand. "Since you're under arrest and all."

Grace knows she should have seen that coming, and wonders why Steve didn't take it earlier, and so she surrenders her phone with only a frustrated sigh. "Can I make one phone call, first?" She asks before placing the phone in Kono's hand. "I am allowed one call, right?"

"If you're calling Rachel, I've been told to say not until your dads are present."

'Well, fuck!' Grace grits her teeth and slaps her phone into Kono's outstretched palm. They've thought of everything, it seems. "I hate them!" she growls and flops down into the passenger seat, slamming the door behind her.

"Hey, you mind not taking your aggression out on my car?" Kono slides behind the wheel and frowns in Grace's direction.

"Sorry." Grace crosses her arms over her chest and settles in for a good old pouting.

"Care to enlighten me as to why I'm acting as your prisoner transport?" Kono starts the engine, puts it in drive and eases out of the congestion of the carpool area and into the congestion of Honolulu traffic.

"I screwed up. Bad."

"Yeah, got that, thanks. Now tell me something I don't know."

"Not allowed to."

"Oh?" Now Kono's really intrigued. And once her curiosity has been pricked, there's nothing she won't do to get the truth. "I'm taking that to mean you overheard something you shouldn't have? And maybe used that knowledge in a way you shouldn't have?"

"Really, Auntie, I can't tell you. You'll have to ask them."

"Oooo. Whenever you call your dads 'him' or 'them' I know you're really pissed. But it seems to me that you don't have a right to be angry right now. You obviously know you did wrong so why not just accept your punishment quietly?"

"Because they're going overboard with it! I get a phone call! And they're not giving it to me!"

"But they are. Just not without one of them present for it. I've booked many perps and they are never allowed to make that phone call without the booking officer present."

"But you're here!" Grace twists in her seat to turn beseeching eyes on Kono. "Please, Auntie! Just let me call my mom." She laces her fingers together and tucks them under her chin and whispers, "Please, please, please!"

"Oh, no, you don't!" Kono chuckles, glancing in the driver's side mirror before merging with traffic waiting to turn left onto the street in front of Five-oh headquarters. "I am not risking my job by helping you get one up on your dads. You're just gonna have to accept their punishment."

Grace flops back against the seat, thumping her head against the headrest a few times and growls softly low in her throat. "Figures you'd take their side. All adults are alike and I hate you all!"

Kono swallows a chuckle at how much Grace is acting like a typical teenager, something that doesn't happen often since she is usually such a sweet natured girl that the adults in her life don't have to come down hard on her much, if at all. If fact, in the six years that Kono's known her this is the first time she's seen Danny ever have to truly punish her. Time outs don't really count in Kono's book because most kids get that punishment a time or two since testing the limits of the rules is part of being a kid. But going so far as to have Danny order a complete and utter lock-down of his daughter's freedom? Well, that has never happened as far as Kono knows.

"Relax, Cuz. You know your dads. They just might give you time off for good behavior." Kono glances over to find Grace sitting stiffly in her seat with her arms crossed tightly over her chest and glaring out the window. Pulling into a parking space and putting the car in park, Kono sighs. She's been where Grace is now, only when she was much younger because when she was Grace's age she was already a champion surfer. "You know they only punish you because they love you, right?"

"Yeah, right. They love me so effing much they're taking away my freedoms for however long they feel is justified."

Kono scratches her chin. "Back at the school you said they were justified in punishing you. What changed?"

"They have me on lock-down! They took my phone and won't let me call my mom! How is that even remotely fair?"

Kono turns in her seat and leans back against her door. "Since I don't know what you did I can't really answer that one. I can only say that they're punishing you in a way they feel fits the crime. But really, Grace, whatever you did has them really angry. I think you're getting off lightly with just having your phone taken away and having to come here right after school every day."

"Why do you say that?" Grace unbends enough to begin picking at the skin around her right thumb nail.

"Because Steve wanted to send you to live with Rachel."

"What!?" Grace turns horrified eyes on Kono who just shrugs.

"They were yelling and everyone could hear. Steve suggested making you finish the school year in Vegas and maybe not even coming back for next year. Danny talked him down to putting you under lock and key with no phone. And no call to Rachel without one of them present."

Her Papa wanted to send her away? Just the very thought makes her heart hurt. She knew she had disappointed him by eavesdropping but for him to even think about sending her away? She can't wrap her brain around it. Surely he just spoke in anger and didn't really mean it? Her eyes slide closed as two tears slowly roll down her cheeks. "Please tell me you didn't hear him right. He'd never so much as think about sending me away."

"Wish I could, Cuz. But the fact remains that he said those words. Danny got right in his face for it, if that makes you feel better." And it does, a little bit. "Told him he was crazy if he thought Danny would even entertain the notion of sending you to Rachel after the fight he went through to get primary custody last year."

As more tears roll down her face, Grace just whispers, "He wouldn't. Not my Papa."

"Grace?" Kono leans over to put one hand on her knee. "You know they both love you to bits. You've just disappointed them, is all. Steve is really taking this hard. You've never really given him any trouble. Be patient with him. He's still learning how to be a dad." Grace nods. "We should get this part over with, then. C'mon." Kono gets out of the car and Grace follows, walking as if going to her execution.

Grace's luck holds and the bullpen is crowded when she and Kono enter the Five-oh offices. Steve and Danny are busy coordinating a search for a missing suspect and don't even seem to notice her entrance. Chin does, however, and has a silent conversation with Kono over her head as Kono leads her to Danny's office where she's to stay until such time as her dads are ready to leave for the day.

The instant the door closes, and locks, behind Kono, Grace goes to Danny's desk and picks up the handset of his phone. She quickly dials Rachel's number and gets a tone in her ear telling her that that number has been blocked unless a passcode is entered. She slams the receiver back into its cradle while muttering Hawaiian curses under her breath. Next she tries Danny's computer, thinking she can email her mother just as easily, but encounters a similar issue: Danny has changed the password on his computer and after three tries she's locked herself, and Danny, out of it. She knows he's going to be even angrier that he has to call IT to come reset his password when he gets ready to use his computer later but decides to think of it as divine retribution.

With no way of getting assistance, she settles herself into a corner of the couch and builds up a defensive wall of books. She actually manages to concentrate on her homework and is about half way through the extra assignment from her math teacher when Danny unlocks the door and enters his office.

"Grace?" Danny says her name in that soft voice that tells her that she's disappointed him in a big way. It's a tone she hates. She'd much rather he yell at her than speak in this soft low voice.

"I'm doing my homework." Her throat is tight with the need to cry. She hates disappointing him.

"Grace." He sits on the coffee table in front of where she's sitting cross-legged on the couch.

"What?" She snaps, throwing her pencil into her math book and slamming it closed.

"I beg your pardon?" His voice is still low but it has now taken on a hint of steel; a hint she'd be wise to heed, except she wants the hard edged tone.

Keeping her head turned where he can't see, she rolls her eyes, then turns to face him. "Yes, Sir?" Her voice is still clipped. She'll make him yell if it's the last thing she does.

"You need to check your attitude, young lady." Danny's frowning at her but it's not his 'angry Dad' frown, it's his 'disappointed Dad' frown and that makes the lump in her throat grow even bigger.

"Sorry," she mumbles, dropping her gaze to where she's picking at a toenail.

"You have to know that what you did-" He begins and she finishes for him, "Was so very wrong" hoping it'll make him less disappointed and maybe lighten up on the punishment.

He nods. "Good. You know you were wrong."

"But I'm not sorry."

His eyebrows climb his forehead and she knows she may have just crossed a line that should never have been crossed. "Oh? And why not?"

"Because." She puts her nose in the air. "You wouldn't have told me."

"Only because Shelly doesn't want anyone to know." He stands from the coffee table and paces the office. "We weren't purposely keeping it from just you, Grace. No one knew. Yet. You would have been the first."

"For the first time ever!"

"Not true."

"I was last to know Papa was 'dead' and last to know he wasn't."

"Oh, no, you weren't. Cath and Denning were."

She rolls her eyes again. "Whatever."

"But regardless, there will be times when Steve and I keep things from you. Just like my parents keep things from me and I'm an adult."

As much as Grace hates not knowing everything, she does have to concede the point. There's no way she can, or even should, know everything that happens between Steve and Danny. "Alright!" She huffs a breath and leans back in her corner of the couch. "I get it. I need to learn to not be so nosey." Danny smiles at her and her heart mends a little. "Did Papa really mean it?" she asks, her voice small in a way it hasn't been since Steve first came home four years ago.

"Did he mean what, Monkey?" Danny retakes his seat on the coffee table.

"That I should go live with Mom."

Danny sighs and lowers his head. "I'm gonna kill Kono for telling you that."

"So he didn't mean it? He doesn't want to send me away?"

"No, Monkey, he doesn't want to send you away. He spoke in anger and instantly regretted it. You know he loves you as if you were his own."

"Would you ever send me away like Grandpa John did Papa and Auntie Mary?"

"Absolutely not." Danny reaches out and runs one hand down her hair. "In fact, I'm thinking of insisting you attend one of the universities here in Honolulu."

"Not just Hawai'i, but actually here on O'ahu?" Grace's eyes sparkle with amusement, something that seemed impossible just a few minutes ago.

"Exactly. And you know Steve will probably insist, too."

"Yeah." Despite Danny's assurances that Steve doesn't want to get rid of her, it still stings; that he'd say it even in anger. "Is it time to go?" Grace asks when she finally notices how dark the outer office area is.

"Not quite. Came to get you for dinner. We ordered in because Steve and I need to stay a bit longer."

"Can I call Mom?" Grace unfolds herself from the couch and stretches out all the kinks.

"Not tonight."

Anger sparks deep inside her. How dare he not let her call her mom!? "Why not?"

"Time difference."

Her anger deflates like a popped balloon. "Of course. How sill of me to forget that." She skips ahead of Danny a little bit. "First thing tomorrow, though, right?"

"You bet."

The instant Grace turns the corner to the hall leading to the break room, the smell of pizza hits her nose. Her mood immediately darkens when she sees Steve standing at the counter and serving slices of pizza onto the plates. She decides to not speak to him unless he speaks to her first and makes her way to the table.

Steve sends Danny a questioning look at her behavior and gets a shrug in return. "Hey, Baby Girl."

"Papa." She keeps her tone neutral but polite.

"How'd you do on that test?" Steve asks, carrying the plates to the table and setting one in front of Grace.

"Danno didn't tell you?" She picks up a slice with her favorite toppings: ham and pineapple and takes a big bite.

"You never told me." Danny grimaces at her choice of toppings. Ever since coming to Hawai'i, she's forgotten just exactly what should be on pizza. And what should never be anywhere near a slice.

"I texted you."

"I never got a text." Danny pulls his phone out of his pocket and scrolls through his texts.

"I sent it around 11. Right after class."

"Let's see…" Danny rubs his chin. "At 11 I was… nowhere near my phone. I had left it on the smart table." He turns to look at Steve. "Only person near it was you." Steve's face is blank which means he's feeling guilty. "Why'd you delete a text from my daughter, Steve?"

"I, uh, I thought she might be texting about what I did."

"Is that why you told me about her confession?" Steve drops his gaze to where he's picking at his pizza. "What did you do that you don't want me to know about, Steven?"

"I…" Steve flicks his eyes to Grace but she's studiously keeping her face averted. "I dragged her from the truck, almost shook her and then when I released her I gave her a slight push."

"Uh-huh." Danny nods. "Grace?"

She looks up at him and shrugs. "What?" She turns to Steve for a second. "He was angry but he didn't hurt me. Physically at any rate."

"Okay." All three of them start eating in silence for a few minutes. "So, you thought I'd get angry that you laid hands on our daughter?"

Steve shrugs. "I'm never really sure how much I'm allowed to do since she's not actually mine."

Grace can't quite keep the gasp of shock from escaping. "Grace?" Danny frowns at the top of her head. She just shakes her head while blinking back tears. "Monkey?" Danny reaches out to put his hand over hers. She jerks her hand back and jumps up from the table, running back to Danny's office.

But she changes her mind at the last minute and enters Steve's office instead. She doesn't care that it's after midnight in Vegas. She needs her mother. She steps up behind Steve's desk, picks up the receiver and quickly dials her mother's number. Steve enters just as she presses the last button.

"Hang up the phone, Grace." His voice is devoid of all emotion.

She turns her back and counts the rings, tapping her foot while muttering, "Pick up. Pick up. Pick up!"

"Grace." Steve is a warm presence at her back. "Hang up."

"Do you have any idea what time it is, Commander?" Rachel was obviously asleep and Grace feels bad about waking her but she needs her.

"Mommy?" Grace's voice cracks.

"Grace, Honey? What's wrong?" Rachel is instantly more awake. "And why are you calling me from Steve's office?"

"Steve…" A sob escapes and Grace has to pause to regain her composure. "He said he wants to send me to live with you."

"What? Grace you're not making any sense."

"Hang up." Steve leans over Grace's shoulder and speaks directly into her ear. She continues to ignore his order and swats at his head.

"Is that him? Put him on." Rachel is in 'Mother Bear Mode' now and Grace knows he's in for it. Rachel still doesn't like his influence over Grace and seems to relish any opportunity to give him what for.

With a self satisfied smirk, Grace hands him the handset. "She wants a word." She plops down in Steve's chair and crosses one knee over the other.

"Now, Rachel, before you say anything, here's what happened." Steve begins speaking before he even has the phone anywhere near his ear. "She broke a rule and when she confessed, I overreacted. I grabbed her arm to drag her from the truck and when I released her, I gave her a slight push. And then I was feeling guilty about it so I thought of something that would punish both her and me and that was sending her to you. Not that Danny would ever allow it. He'd divorce me first. Then just now when I was telling Danny, I said that I'm not real sure just how far I should go since she'd not really mine. Biologically speaking."

Once he's done talking he listens for a long moment. He tips his head back so that he's more or less looking at the ceiling and the corners of his mouth are tipped down in a frown. Every so often he goes, "Mmhm" as if he's agreeing with whatever Rachel's saying. Steve has such a good poker face that Grace isn't feeling so smug anymore. Then he says, "Okay. Night, Rachel" and returns the receiver to its cradle.

"Hey! I wasn't done talking to her!"

"Well, now you are." He takes her by the upper arm, being careful to keep his grip light and pulls her up from the chair and over to the couch where he pushes her into a sitting position. "And now you and I are going to have a talk."

"Steve," Grace tries to cut him off at the pass.

"Uh-uh." He shakes his head and sits next to her on the couch. "I talk, you listen. And my name's not Steve." She gives him a haughty look that he knows she got from her mother because he's been on the receiving end of it many times. "Don't look at me in that tone of voice." She snorts and rolls her eyes, the corners of her mouth twitching with the effort to hold back a smile.

Steve takes a deep breath and releases it slowly. "You should know that before you my experience with kids was absolute zero. After the disaster that was my childhood, I had decided to not have kids. But then I met your dad and you and…" He stops and rubs his face with both hands. When he lowers them, Grace is surprised at how old he looks. "I love you more than I can ever express." He stops talking again and Grace knows he's trying to find the words to tell her what's in his heart. Steve isn't so good with words, that's Danny, but Steve's been learning how to express himself in the tried and true Williams Family way. "You both were a surprise to me; how quickly you fit into my life."

"Uncle Steve…" Grace can't bring herself to say 'Papa' right now because if she did, she knows they'd both break down in tears.

Steve leans forward and rests his arms on his knees. "I truly am sorry for putting my hands on you. I overreacted and wasn't thinking. It doesn't excuse what I did, but-" He shrugs. "You're such a good kid I never know how Danny would react in a situation like that. I don't want to overstep my bounds. You don't share my DNA so I'm constantly afraid that I'll get in trouble with CPS. Do you understand?" She nods. "Good. Now about the other thing."

Grace jumps up from the couch and paces away from him. "You can't tell me you didn't mean it."

"But I didn't. You heard what I told your mother. I said it to punish myself more than you."

Grace turns her back and settles her weight on one foot. "Maybe you should be the one to go away. Danno and I were just fine without you." She sniffs, puts her nose in the air and crosses her arms over her chest.

"What a hurtful thing to say." Steve's voice is devoid of emotion.

"See!?" She spins to face him and finds his face wet with tears and the saddest look on his face. "Oh." Now she feels guilty.

"I didn't mean it, Grace. I don't ever want you to leave. I don't remember my life before you but I do know it wasn't a happy place. I need you and Danny like I need oxygen."

Grace wants to still be angry with him for even thinking about it but she finds she can't; not when he's looking at her like he'll never see her again. "Oh, Papa!" She rushes where he's sitting and he crushes her to him, burying his face in her hair.

"Hush now. Hush," Steve murmurs against her hair and she's not sure if he's talking to her or himself because he's crying just as hard as she is.

"I am so sorry for disappointing you." She knows it's a bit passive aggressive but who cares? She is sorry for disappointing her dads, even if she's not sorry for eavesdropping.

"Is all forgiven?" His breath hitches and she knows he's trying to stop crying and that makes her cry all the more which in turn makes him cry more too. It just becomes a vicious cycle.

"Yes." She shifts her grip to his waist and tucks her face in the side of his neck like she used to when she was little.

"Hey," Danny says softly from the door. "Are we good?"

Grace nods against Steve's shoulder and Steve says, "Not really, but we are better."

"Good." Danny rocks back on his heels. This is the most emotional the three of them have been in a while and he knows they're going to discuss it in therapy next week. "So, Grace. You done with your homework?"

"Not quite."

"Then don't you think you should get back to it?"

She pouts even though he can't see it and snuggles closer to Steve. "Do I hafta?"

Steve kisses her head. "Have to keep those grades up." Grace sighs dramatically but obediently slips from Steve's lap.

She presses a kiss to his cheek. "Love you."

Steve pats her backside. "Love you, too, Baby Girl."

She pauses next to where Danny's standing in the door to Steve's office. "I'm sorry for disappointing you."

Danny nods; his eyes sad. "I know." He jerks his head in the direction of his office. "Go on, now."

"Love you, Danno." She kisses his cheek.

"Danno loves you, too." He grabs her in a tight hug. When he releases her, he pushes her toward his office. "If it gets too much later, someone will take you home."

"Okay." She walks slowly across the hall, not wanting to finish her homework.

Danny turns to face Steve, leaning against the doorframe. "So, why was our daughter crying in your arms, Steven?"

"I told her."

"Told her, what?"

"Just how much you two mean to me." Steve gets up and goes to stand in front of Danny. "How I need you like oxygen."

"Steve…" Danny cups Steve's right cheek in his left hand; at a complete loss for words.

"I love you so much." Steve wraps his fingers around Danny's wrist. "Thank you for saving me."

Danny slides his hand around the back of Steve's head and pulls him down into a chaste, yet still passionate, kiss. When they break the kiss they both point at where Grace is standing in the door to Danny's office without looking at her and say in unison, "Stop eavesdropping."

"Not eavesdropping when the conversation happens in front of me." She sticks her tongue out at them.

Danny sighs. "Homework. Now."

With a humph and a flounce, Grace spins on her heel and stomps over to the couch where she curls back up in her corner and resumes her homework while muttering under her breath about how mean her dads are.

She's not sure when she falls asleep but suddenly, or so it seems, Kono's shaking her awake. "Hey, Gracie. Wake up."

"Auntie Kono?" Grace sits up, wipes drool off her chin and blinks at Kono.

"I'm here to take you home."

"Where are Papa and Danno?"

"In interrogation."

With a moan, she stretches the kinks out of her back. "What time's it?"

"Nearly 11. C'mon." Kono makes a 'come here' motion with her hand. Grace still isn't fully awake but she throws her books and papers into her backpack and slowly follows Kono from the office and out to her car.

The ride home is a study in staying awake for Grace. She wants to call her dads but if they're with a suspect, she doesn't want to disturb them. "Will you stay until they get home?"

"That was the instruction, yes." And so it begins. Grace shakes her head and blinks back sleep some more.

Once home she blearily makes her way upstairs where she takes a quick shower before collapsing face first on her bed.

The next morning she makes her way downstairs and encounters Steve and Danny heading up, still wearing yesterday's clothes. "Did you just now get home?"

"Yeah. This one's a tough nut to crack. Chin and Kono are going to give it a whirl later today," Danny says, reaching out to run his hand down Grace's hair.

"So who's taking me to school since you both look like you're about to fall over?"

"Kono's still here. She slept in the guest room last night."

"Okay." Grace kisses both their cheeks. "Sleep good." She continues on down the stairs but spins back when she's about half way across the living room. "About my punishment-" She begins but Danny talks over her. "Still stands."

"But-" She tries again. "No buts!" Danny talks over her again. Grace growls, "But I don't know what it is!"

"Oh." Danny blinks at a spot on the wall over her head. "Sorry. You're grounded for a week. No phone, internet, going out, TV and you'll come to Five-oh every day after school."

"No phone!?"

"Want to make it two?"

"What if there's an emergency?"

"Other people have phones you can use."

A week with no contact with the outside world? She's not sure she can do that but she respects her dads and no contact with her friends outside of school hours is much preferable to being sent to Vegas. With a sigh she gives in. "Okay."

Danny sighs at her retreating back. "It'll be okay, D," Steve says softly. "You know she'll get over this."

"Yeah but it's still hard knowing she's not happy with me. I just hate punishing her so much."

"She brought this on herself. C'mon. Let's get some sleep."

Neither man sees Grace pause just outside their line of sight, waiting until they continue up the stairs, and they also don't see her tip-toe back around the corner to watch them walk up the stairs hand in hand.

A year later, Grace is awakened by Danny roughly shaking her. "Wake up, Monkey. It's time."

"Time?" She knuckles the sleep from her eyes and blinks at the clock, trying to see what time it is.

"Yeah. Shelly's water broke. Let's go. C'mon." He pulls back her covers and grabs her hand to help her out of bed. "Don't bother putting anything on right now. Just bring it along," He says when she reaches for her jeans.

"I don't have time to get dressed?"

"No. Steve took her to the hospital about an hour ago and just called saying that she's close."

It bothers her that they didn't wake her when Shelly first went to the hospital but is glad that they want her there for the birth. "Okay." She balls her jeans and a shirt up and follows Danny out to the car.

At the hospital, a nurse urges Danny into a room where she can hear Aunt Shelly grunting in pain. "Grace?" Danny turns to her. "You want to be present?"

She thinks about it but decides she'd rather not know that much about where her brother or sister comes from. "I'll pass, thanks." Pointing off to her right she asks the nurse, "The waiting room that way?" The nurse nods. "I'll wait in there. Come get me when it's time to meet my sibling."

"Alright. Keep an eye out for Chin, Kono and Malia."

"Will do."

The rest of her ohana shows up about twenty minutes later and catch her fighting to not fall back asleep. Sleep is pushed from her mind by the arrival of her play cousins, Alexandria and Scott Kelly. Playing with them in the waiting room reminds her of when she sat in this very same waiting room waiting for them to be born.

Kamekona keeps everyone supplied with food and Auntie Cath keeps everyone entertained with stories of Steve from before he met Danny.

After what feels like an eternity, but is really just two hours, Danny enters the room and motions to Grace. "There's someone who'd like to meet you."

Grace follows Danny through the hall to a room full of machines that each hold a tiny baby. "I know the baby is early. Is it okay?"

"Just fine. The incubator is just a precaution." Danny stops next to a sink. "You need to wash first and wear this smock." He then proceeds to show her how to wash her hands and then helps her into the smock.

Once inside the room, he leads her over to where Steve is standing between two of the machines. Inside each is a small baby and while it's obvious they were born early, they're not nearly as small as some of the others. "Grace," Steve whispers, holding out one hand for her to take. "I'd like you to meet your brother and sister." He points at the machine on his left first. "John David McGarrett-Williams." Then the one on his right. "Olivia Katrina McGarrett-Williams."

"Twins!?" She gives a tiny squeal and coos over her brother first and then, for longer, her sister. "They are so cute!" She looks up at Steve. "How on earth did you keep this a secret?"

"None of us knew. John David here was hiding his sister."

"Protecting her, even in the womb," Grace says, turning back to gaze lovingly down at where John David is sleeping sweetly.

"Since they're twins the doctors consider them full term. But because they're small, they have to stay here, in the NICU for a few days. Then we can take them home."

"Our family is now complete, right, Papa?" Grace turns to wrap her arms around Steve's waist and give him a hug.

"Our family was complete with just the three of us. It's even more complete now, though."

"Love and family. That's what it's all about." Danny wraps his arms around Steve and Grace. Grace's heart swells with love for her dads and her new siblings. Her family is now complete and Danny's right: love and family is what it's all about.