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mystizanMany weeks ago, I wrote Never Understimate a SEAL Who Routinely Breaks Rules for Sport (mystizan.livejournal.com/10309.html)in exchange for ppl supporting my team at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
leverageland . Many ppl wanted to see the back story to the piece, which was hard for me to write & ended up being two short pieces: a prequel & a sequel (which is with my beta).
Title: Prequel: Never Underestimate A SEAL's Desire for Family
Fandom: H50
Rating: G
Words: 1, 085
Ppl: Steve, Danny, Grace, Mrs. Angela Williams
Spoilers: None
Warnings: None
Beta:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
iam_space , who I am fortunate to know. :)
The first time Angela Williams had heard of “Uncle Steve” had been during her first surprise visit to Hawaii. Grace had been excited to see her, of course, but it was a school day and she needed to review her American Geography for a test.
“Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaasse, Grandma?”
“No, Gracie. I couldn’t possibly take you out today: you have your big test tomorrow and I know how hard it is for you to remember your capitals. How about I stay with you and help you study and we can go to dinner-”
“But I know them all, Grandma, please?”
“All?” Angela communicated all the scepticism she felt with just one eyebrow.
Grace nodded, pigtails bouncing. “Uncle Steve told me he could help me remember but if he told me I couldn’t tell anyone else, cross my heart and hope to die.”
“Who is Uncle Steve?”
“He works with Danno. Danno used to hate him but now they’re best friends. He’s really cool, Grandma. Sometimes he teaches me to swim.” Her brown eyes shone with obvious affection. This took Angela by surprise. Apparently she had much to learn about her son’s life here. The last time they’d spoken he was still singing his “Woe is me I work in Hawaii” spiel.
“Wow, he does sound cool. Ok, let’s see if Uncle Steve’s system works.”
Thirty minutes later, Grace had proven that she did know her stuff and was excitedly extolling all the many virtues of Uncle Steve as Angela drove her to dinner.
~~~
Grace was halfway through her Math homework but thirsty. She got up from the desk to head to the kitchen, speaking as she walked. “Danno? Can I have some juice?”
Her Dad was at the kitchen table, head down. She shook him.
“Danno?” She frowned, using both hands now. His skin felt like hers had last week when she had the flu. Her eight year old mind connected the dots: she had had the flu last week and then this week Danno had been sneezing and now he was hot. Mommy had put her to bed when she had the flu and made her soup and bought her medicine. If she cooked without an adult she would get into trouble and she was too young to buy medication.
She should call Mommy. Would Mommy get mad at Danno? Sometimes they fought and then she didn’t get to see Danno as much. No, she couldn’t call Mommy. Grandma? She went for her cell phone and was halfway through dialling when it occurred to her that Grandma would need to get on a plane to help out. She was too far.
She started to panic. She couldn’t let Danno die but if she called Mommy-wait! Uncle Steve! She got his number from Danno’s phone.
"McGarrett." His tone was brusque. What if he was too busy to help? She took a deep breath and tried to be brave.
“Uncle Steve?”
“Heeey, Gracie,” he replied. She thought it was stupid but she felt like he was smiling. How could she know that? He wasn’t even here.
“Grace?”
“Uncle Steve, I think I made Danno sick. I can’t wake him and he was sneezing and now he’s too hot and I don’t know how to make soup or what medicines grown-ups take and I can’t tell Mommy- you won’t tell Mommy will you, Uncle Steve?”
“Whoa, Gracie, slow down. You think Danno has a fever?”
“Yes because I made him sick.” Her voice was quiet with guilt.
“This isn’t your fault, Grace.”
“Yes it is! He got it from me.” Being brave was really, really hard when she felt so bad.
“Maybe he did, Grace, but you didn’t give him the flu on purpose. And Danno loves you: he would never blame you for this, ok?”
That made sense. “Ok.”
“Alright, I’m gonna get some things for him and then come to his apartment. I’m gonna knock when I get there, ok and I want you to check the peephole before you let me in, alright? You always check before you open the door, alright, Grace?”
She nodded before she remembered he couldn’t see her. “Ok.”
“Alright, sweetie. I’ll be there soon.”
~~~
Steve knocked and was pleased to see Gracie check the peephole before letting him in.
“That was perfect, Grace. Is he awake?” he asked, closing the door behind him.
“No.”
Steve checked: Danny did have a fever. He knelt before Grace.
“Listen. Danny’s sick but it’s not major. I am going to need some help taking care of him though. Are you up to it?”
Grace’s trademark pigtails went flying. He gathered her into a hug.
“He’s going to be fine, Grace, trust me.”
Over the next hour, Steve and Grace set up the sofa bed, helped Danny to lie down on it, made soup, and rubbed alcohol on Danny’s skin to keep the fever down. Every now and again he’d wake up enough to half-heartedly tease Steve about his bedside manner, or insist that he was fine and Steve should leave, or inquire if Grace felt safe with this Scruffy Single White Male. Just before he fell back to sleep the last time, he had put Grace in charge and told her to keep a strict eye on Steve. As soon as Steve turned off the stove, Grace’s phone rang.
She turned big brown eyes on Steve. “What if it’s Mommy?”
“Then you just tell her I’m hanging out with you guys today. It’ll be ok, Grace.”
“Hello?”
“How’s my grandbaby?”
“Grandma! I’m ok but Danno’s sick.” Her voice grew sadder as the sentence progressed. Then she perked up. “But Uncle Steve’s here and Danno’s not warm anymore and we’re going to give him soup and medicine.”
“Then it’s good he’s with you. Can I talk to him?”
She held out the phone to Steve.”Grandma wants to talk to you.”
“Hello?”
“Is this the famous Uncle Steve?”
He chuckled nervously. “I suppose I am.”
“What’s really going on over there?”
“Your son has the flu. Grace got scared when she couldn’t wake him so she called me and we’ve been helping him get better ever since.” He smiled encouragingly at Grace and then remembered.
“Also, now that I’ve told you, you can’t tell Rachel: Grace made me promise not to tell.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. I know things are still tense with those two. Tell Gracie I’ll call her back in an hour. “
“Will do, Mrs. Williams.”
“Oh and Steve? Thank you.”
leverageland . Many ppl wanted to see the back story to the piece, which was hard for me to write & ended up being two short pieces: a prequel & a sequel (which is with my beta).Title: Prequel: Never Underestimate A SEAL's Desire for Family
Fandom: H50
Rating: G
Words: 1, 085
Ppl: Steve, Danny, Grace, Mrs. Angela Williams
Spoilers: None
Warnings: None
Beta:
iam_space , who I am fortunate to know. :) The first time Angela Williams had heard of “Uncle Steve” had been during her first surprise visit to Hawaii. Grace had been excited to see her, of course, but it was a school day and she needed to review her American Geography for a test.
“Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaasse, Grandma?”
“No, Gracie. I couldn’t possibly take you out today: you have your big test tomorrow and I know how hard it is for you to remember your capitals. How about I stay with you and help you study and we can go to dinner-”
“But I know them all, Grandma, please?”
“All?” Angela communicated all the scepticism she felt with just one eyebrow.
Grace nodded, pigtails bouncing. “Uncle Steve told me he could help me remember but if he told me I couldn’t tell anyone else, cross my heart and hope to die.”
“Who is Uncle Steve?”
“He works with Danno. Danno used to hate him but now they’re best friends. He’s really cool, Grandma. Sometimes he teaches me to swim.” Her brown eyes shone with obvious affection. This took Angela by surprise. Apparently she had much to learn about her son’s life here. The last time they’d spoken he was still singing his “Woe is me I work in Hawaii” spiel.
“Wow, he does sound cool. Ok, let’s see if Uncle Steve’s system works.”
Thirty minutes later, Grace had proven that she did know her stuff and was excitedly extolling all the many virtues of Uncle Steve as Angela drove her to dinner.
~~~
Grace was halfway through her Math homework but thirsty. She got up from the desk to head to the kitchen, speaking as she walked. “Danno? Can I have some juice?”
Her Dad was at the kitchen table, head down. She shook him.
“Danno?” She frowned, using both hands now. His skin felt like hers had last week when she had the flu. Her eight year old mind connected the dots: she had had the flu last week and then this week Danno had been sneezing and now he was hot. Mommy had put her to bed when she had the flu and made her soup and bought her medicine. If she cooked without an adult she would get into trouble and she was too young to buy medication.
She should call Mommy. Would Mommy get mad at Danno? Sometimes they fought and then she didn’t get to see Danno as much. No, she couldn’t call Mommy. Grandma? She went for her cell phone and was halfway through dialling when it occurred to her that Grandma would need to get on a plane to help out. She was too far.
She started to panic. She couldn’t let Danno die but if she called Mommy-wait! Uncle Steve! She got his number from Danno’s phone.
"McGarrett." His tone was brusque. What if he was too busy to help? She took a deep breath and tried to be brave.
“Uncle Steve?”
“Heeey, Gracie,” he replied. She thought it was stupid but she felt like he was smiling. How could she know that? He wasn’t even here.
“Grace?”
“Uncle Steve, I think I made Danno sick. I can’t wake him and he was sneezing and now he’s too hot and I don’t know how to make soup or what medicines grown-ups take and I can’t tell Mommy- you won’t tell Mommy will you, Uncle Steve?”
“Whoa, Gracie, slow down. You think Danno has a fever?”
“Yes because I made him sick.” Her voice was quiet with guilt.
“This isn’t your fault, Grace.”
“Yes it is! He got it from me.” Being brave was really, really hard when she felt so bad.
“Maybe he did, Grace, but you didn’t give him the flu on purpose. And Danno loves you: he would never blame you for this, ok?”
That made sense. “Ok.”
“Alright, I’m gonna get some things for him and then come to his apartment. I’m gonna knock when I get there, ok and I want you to check the peephole before you let me in, alright? You always check before you open the door, alright, Grace?”
She nodded before she remembered he couldn’t see her. “Ok.”
“Alright, sweetie. I’ll be there soon.”
~~~
Steve knocked and was pleased to see Gracie check the peephole before letting him in.
“That was perfect, Grace. Is he awake?” he asked, closing the door behind him.
“No.”
Steve checked: Danny did have a fever. He knelt before Grace.
“Listen. Danny’s sick but it’s not major. I am going to need some help taking care of him though. Are you up to it?”
Grace’s trademark pigtails went flying. He gathered her into a hug.
“He’s going to be fine, Grace, trust me.”
Over the next hour, Steve and Grace set up the sofa bed, helped Danny to lie down on it, made soup, and rubbed alcohol on Danny’s skin to keep the fever down. Every now and again he’d wake up enough to half-heartedly tease Steve about his bedside manner, or insist that he was fine and Steve should leave, or inquire if Grace felt safe with this Scruffy Single White Male. Just before he fell back to sleep the last time, he had put Grace in charge and told her to keep a strict eye on Steve. As soon as Steve turned off the stove, Grace’s phone rang.
She turned big brown eyes on Steve. “What if it’s Mommy?”
“Then you just tell her I’m hanging out with you guys today. It’ll be ok, Grace.”
“Hello?”
“How’s my grandbaby?”
“Grandma! I’m ok but Danno’s sick.” Her voice grew sadder as the sentence progressed. Then she perked up. “But Uncle Steve’s here and Danno’s not warm anymore and we’re going to give him soup and medicine.”
“Then it’s good he’s with you. Can I talk to him?”
She held out the phone to Steve.”Grandma wants to talk to you.”
“Hello?”
“Is this the famous Uncle Steve?”
He chuckled nervously. “I suppose I am.”
“What’s really going on over there?”
“Your son has the flu. Grace got scared when she couldn’t wake him so she called me and we’ve been helping him get better ever since.” He smiled encouragingly at Grace and then remembered.
“Also, now that I’ve told you, you can’t tell Rachel: Grace made me promise not to tell.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. I know things are still tense with those two. Tell Gracie I’ll call her back in an hour. “
“Will do, Mrs. Williams.”
“Oh and Steve? Thank you.”
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-07-31 10:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-31 02:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-31 12:48 pm (UTC)I like that Danny's mom trusts Steve because Grace relies on him so much ti help her with her Danno--great work on this :)
no subject
Date: 2011-07-31 02:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-31 08:16 pm (UTC)Looking forward to the next installment! Um, there will be more, right, even after the one currently at your beta?
*is hopeful*
no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 01:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 04:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 12:36 pm (UTC)I miss chatting tooooo!
no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:41 pm (UTC)