March 10th, chapter 4 of 4
Here's the final chapter to this story. Enjoy.
First of all,... I just learned that it's the 100th anniversary of Oreos, and that there is a 'Birthday Cake' special edition of them out in stores. I had no idea about that when I included Oreos in my story, nor am I trying to promote them. Their mention in my story is pure coincidence.
HAWAII FIVE-0
"Okay, okay, okay." Steve finally said, his hands raised in surrender at giving in at the insistance of several who wanted to hear about his last birthday party. "My mom was always the one to plan those. She gave us the best parties when Mary and I were kids. She loved to go over the top, themes and all." Steve began, pausing at the memory of his mother, "So my last party was when I turned fifteen, right before she died. Dad had turned this lanai here into barbecue central, and once my friends and I - which was pretty much the whole football team and the cheerleading squad - were full, we headed to the beach down there." He paused, nodding with his head at the beach behind his house. "There were rows and rows of beach and lawn chairs lined up in the sand. And up there, hanging from the railing was a huge screen." He added, pointing to a second lania that was off the upstairs master bedroom.
"A screen?" Chin saught to confirm. Steve nodded. "You mean, like a movie screen?"
Steve nodded again, "Like I said, my mom was into doing a theme for our parties and that party was done like a drive-in movie."
"Wow. You had a cool mom." Charlie stated.
"Well, ya gotta understand that me and most of my friends were fifteen, so getting our drivers lisence was a big deal at the time. So, mom thought the theme fit. We sat in chairs on the beach and watched Terminator 2: Judgement Day on this huge screen." Steve said.
"Terminator 2? How fitting. Even your mother knew what you'd be like as an adult." Danny teased.
Everyone laughed, including Steve before he continued. "She had a friend who's husband managed a theater, so he provided everything we needed, including all the tubs of popcorn we could eat. Terminator 2 had been released on VHS just days before the party, so we were all excited to see it."
When Steve was finished, all the guests took turns briefly telling about a favorite birthday party moment of their own.
Steve was not a materialistic person. What things he had around him were there for a puprose or evokeed a special memory. So Catherine had told everone 'no gifts, just bring a card'. As the guests had arrived earlier, it had been Mary's job to collect the cards. She had used clothes pins to hang them from one of the strands of lights, hence they had become part of the party decor.
"Here ya go, big brother." She said after retrieving the cards and handing the pile to Steve.
Steve read each card aloud before passing it around the table. "Wait a minute." He said, pausing at the name on one of the cards. "How did this one get here?"
"What is it?" Catherine asked, leaning towards him to see the name.
"It's from TIC." He informed her, tilting the envelope towards here.
"We brought that." Durbin spoke up, then all eyes were on him, "He couldn't make it, so he mailed it to us ahead of time so we could bring it with us."
"There are a few more we brought in there, too." Molly added.
Steve looked down at the next cards in the pile, "There's one from Tutu, and one from S2."
"Tutu?" Danny chimed in, an amused expression on his face.
"Careful how you say that, Williams. Tutu may be an unusual name in this country, but not where he's from." Hawkes half warned and half teased, and although he saw the man nod, he also saw him trying not to smirk. "Besides, Tutu is 6'6" and built like an oak tree. He could pound you into the ground like a tent stake without breaking a sweat." He warned.
"So, who's 'S2'?" Malia asked.
"Steve #2." He replied.
"Didn't that get confusing when you were out on missions?" Max asked.
"That's why the teams use nicknames or code names." Joe said.
"I see." Max said with a nod, "So, what was the other Steve's last name?" He asked, wondering if their last names were at least similar. But he got no answer. Then he realised that all four of the SEALs at the table were staring at him. "Oh. I see. Never mind." He added with a nervous laugh.
"S2 and Victoria are expecting another baby any day now." Molly said, both by way of explination and to help divert attention from Max, who was clearly uncomfortable at the moment.
"Another?" Steve repeated.
"Yeah, they had twin girls about four years ago." She clarified as she reached for another Oreo.
"He's hoping for a boy this time. Poor guy's outnumbered." Durbin said, causing all the men at the table to laugh.
"What kind of a nickname is 'TIC.'?" Chin wanted to know.
"T.I.C. was my '2IC'." Chin informed him. "It sort of morphed from that."
Once those cards were read and passed around, "Hey, there's one from Sam in here, too." Steve said in surprise as he looked back down at the two remaining cards.
"We didn't bring that one." Durbin said with a shrug.
"I did." Mary spoke up.
"What?" Steve asked in surprise. Wondering how on hearth his sister would meet a former SEAL buddy of his.
"There was a knock at my door yesterday, and when I answer it, there was this huge hunk of a man standing there asking if I'm your sister. I told him yes, after he finally identifies himself as Special Agent Sam Hanna as he's holding up his badge. Aparently he was planning on coming, but he said they had some big break in a case, so he gave me the card and asked me to give it to you." Mary explained.
Steve opened the cards from Sam and Mary as Catherine spoke up, "You have a Skype call with Sam tomorrow." She informed him with a hand on his arm.
Steve just smiled back at her. He couldn't believe all the work this wonderful woman had put into this party for him. He would have been happy just for them to be together, probably have dinner or go hinking, like they always did on his birthday. Like they had done the night before when she had tricked him.
"There's one more card, Uncle Steve." A sleepy grace announced from the doorway as she rubbed her eyes and headed his direction with something tucked under her arm.
"Hey, what are you doing awake, sleepy head?" He asked as she neared him.
Catherine had Grace take her seat as she collected the opened cards and hung them back up on the string of lights to display.
"I made a card for you, Uncle Steve." She said, stifling a yawn.
"That looks more like a book, Grace." Steve said as she handed it over.
"Well,... I was deciding how to make your card while Lieutenant Catherine was showing Mommy her photo album with all your birthday pictures in it." She said, gestring to the buffet where the photos had obviously been removed from said album and framed for display. "She said you hadn't had a birthday party for lots of years, so I decided to make you a card for each year you missed."
Steve smiled, "That's very thoughtful of you, Grace. Let's see what we've got here." He said, as she handed over what he discovered was a binder.
"Mommy scanned all the pictures from Lieutenant Catherine's album, so I could include a copy. I started with the first one; 2003, Montego Bay, Jamaica." Grace explained, carefully pronouncing the location, as she turned to the first page in the binder which showed the photo, with the date, and Steve's age that year, and the location marked on a map on the left side, accompanied by a hand-made card on the right side. "Jamaica is an island just like O'ahu is. So I made a map of the bay." Grace stated.
"That's wonderful, Grace." Steve gushed in praise, at seeing her artwork, then he turned the binder around to show everyone.
"2004 is next." Grace said, turning the page herself in excitement, "You turned 27 that year and were in Rio dee Janehro, Brazil."
"Rio de Janeiro." Steve repeated, correctly enunciating the words for her. "And look, there's the picture you drew of 'Lieutenant Catherine' and me on a sail boat." He added, then turned the binder around again, surprised at how eager everyone was to see another card the little girl had made.
"In 2005, you were in Frankfurt, Germany." Grace stated, again turning the page before Steve even had a chance, "I drew a picture of a castle on your card for that year."
"Those are the Ruins of Heidelberg Castle,... and you did a very good likeness in your drawing." Steve said, remembering that he was in the hospital that year and they didn't get to actually make it to the castle.
"Mommy helped me look up some stuff on the internet, so I could draw something on your card about where you were." Grace informed him.
"So what do we have for 2006?" Steve decided to ask and allow Grace to make this more of a presentation since she had relocated herself to his lap.
"You were in Dallas, Texas for your 29th birthday, so I drew the Reunion Tower on your card." Grace said.
"You put a lot of work into this, Grace." Steve said, quite impressed.
"Uh huh." She nodded in agreement. "My teacher found out what I was doing because I checked out a book on Italy at our school's library, so she told me that if I included the maps and drew something about that city that she would give me Art and Geography credit for it at school."
"So, my birthday cards turned into homework?" He asked.
"Sort of. But it was fun homework, Uncle Steve. I even got to take it for Show & Tell yesterday so my whole class got to see what I made you." She said.
"You mean everyone in your class got to see my birthday cards before I did?" He teased, causing Grace to giggle. "Let me think, 2007 was in Italy. So you probably drew the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Right?"
Grace giggled again, "Right, Uncle Steve." She said, turning the page for him.
Steve noted the photo of he and Catherine in their snow gear and on the ski slopes for his 30th birthday before turning the binder once again for everyone to see. He suddenly thought 'this is what a teacher must feel like at story time'.
"You were some place in Morocco the next year, Uncle Steve, but I don't know how to say this." Grace said, gesturing to her drawing for 2008.
"That is the Ait Ben Haddou Fortress in Melilla." Steve said, carefully sounding out the words for her. "That was a great place to sight see."
"I drew boats for the next one." She said as she turned the page.
"Those are the Long Tail boats common in Thailand." Steve said. "We also went hiking there." He added, gesturing to the photo of he and Catherine on a trail with their packs.
"I drew two things on your card for your next birthday." She said, "I couldn't decide between the Mayan Ruin and the Mexico City Cathedral."
"They're both wonderful places to visit." Steve said. "Almost as much fun as scuba diving." He added at seeing the photo of he and Catherine for that year.
"You spent last year here in Hawaii." Grace said as she turned the page. "So I drew a pineapple tree because Lieutenant Catherine said you two went to I'Lani's for ham & pineapple pizza."
"Yes, we did." Steve agreed as he turned the binder around for everyone to see. But he couldn't help but smirk at Danny as he did.
"You get two card for this year, Uncle Steve." Grace announced.
"I do? How come?" He asked.
"Well, since we all tricked you this year, you and Lieutenant Catherine went out to dinner last night." Grace said, gesturing to the photo from the previous night. They had asked a tourist take a picture of them when they went for a walk on the beach behind the restaurant where they had dined on ahi poke. "But your surprise party is tonight." She added, turning to the last page, "So I saved a place for a picture right here."
"A picture from tonight, huh." Steve said.
"That's right." Catherine said as she leaned over his shoulder from behind. "Grace saved a place on the last page for a copy."
"I'll go get the camera." Mary stated as she got up and left the table.
As Mary set up her camera on a tri-pod, Danny brushed Grace's hair to get rid of the bed head she had going on, while Kono directed everyone on where to sit. Some were sat atop of the table, others in front of them on the bench - with Steve and Catherine right in the middle - Danny and Grace stood at one end of the table, Kamekona on the other, and a few knelt down in front.
"Everyone say Steeee-ve!" Mary said as she set the timer on the camera and dashed to get in place next to her brother.
Ten minutes later Mary emerged from the house, a copy of the group photo fresh from the printer in hand, "Here you go, Grace."
"Thank you, Mary." Grace said with excitement, before adding the final touch to the binder, then turning to present it to the birthday boy.
"Thank you, Grace." He said to the little girl before turning to facae the rest of the party guests, "Thank you, everyone." This had been a wonderful birthday and he was touched deeply by their presence on his special day.
As Grace's gift made it's way through the crowd for closer inspection by everyone, the little girl was led back to the couch by her father who insisted she needed more sleep, as the hour was now very, very late.
It wasn't long before the party guests realised the hour as well and began to make their departures, and within another hour the house was nearly empty.
"You have him to thank." Mary said as Steve retuned from closing the door behind Danny who was carrying a sleeping Grace in his arms. "He helped me pay for my ticket to get here." She added at seeing the questioning look on her brother's face.
"Danny? Helped buy your ticket to get here?" He asked.
Mary nodded, "Yeah. I didn't have quite enough money and wasn't going to be able to come. But he sent me the rest of what I needed, so here I am."
Steve smiled at what his partner had done for him. The party had been extra special when he realised that his sister was there, too.
"And now, I'm taking off." Mary added as she picked up a small bag.
"What?" Steve asked, "But you just got here. Where are you going?"
"Relax, relax." She said, a calming hand to his arm. "I'm going to stay with Kono tonight, she's waiting for me out front. But I'll be back tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" He repeated, almost concerned that she wouldn't return.
"Yeah, tomorrow." She assured him, "Maybe we can have another picnic."
Steve smiled at the idea, "Yeah, okay." He said, relaxing and pulling her in for a hug, "But why aren't you staying here tonight. This is your house, too."
"Yeah, I know." She assured him again, then leaned slightly towards him, "But I think you have a birthday present to open." She whispered, then nodded her head towards the kitchen before heading toward the front door.
Steve looked over to where Catherine was busy putting away the leftovers. He smiled and headed towards the kitchen as he heard the front door close.
"Hey, birthday boy." Catherine said as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"Hey, Cath. I've, uh,... come for a present." He said in her ear as he rested his chin against her shoulder.
"A present?" She scoffed, "Wasn't two days of cooking enough?" She teased.
"Mhmm. More than enough." He said turning her in his arms. "So now, I believe I owe you a 'thank you' gift." He added before kissing her.
"Oh, you got that right, Sailor."
HAWAII FIVE-0
Steve makes reference to I'Lani's in Season 1, Episode 3, which sparked Danny's wonderful rant about pineapple on pizza.
In reference to the lanai off the master bedroom, ... that is what it looks like in the aerial shots of the McGarrett house, so work with me on that one.