H50 fic: 'Hail Mary, full of Grace', 3/3
FYI: I have started updating my bookstore AU again. It's now up to chapter 23, and I've finally got Steve & Danny into bed! I'll revise and repost the full story once I'm done, but here's the WIP version: Mamo's Books and Music, est'd 1968.
Title: Hail Mary, full of Grace - chapter 3 of 3.
Fandom: Hawaii Five-0.
Pairing: in this chapter, Steve / Danny and Mary / OMC.
Spoilers: minor ones, up to 1x18. Otherwise, this is an AU where Rachel never existed.
Rating & Warnings: PG-13 for mild violence and sexual references.
Words: 2,900 words for this chapter; 8,300 words in total.
Summary: Imagine if Jack McGarrett had sent Mary to live with her aunt in New Jersey. Then imagine Mary growing up and falling in love with a local cop, Danny Williams.
Now add to the mix a daughter named Grace, an amicable divorce, a move to Hawaii, and an invitation for Danny to join Steve's taskforce...and stand well back, because sparks are gonna fly.
Author's notes: thanks to everyone who's offered feedback so far - I'm glad my strange, late-night idea struck a chord with people! I didn't have a beta for this story, so please tell me if you notice any errors.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
***
Chapter 3
Mary sees little visible change to Danny and Steve's relationship; they respect her wishes, and never kiss or act in any sexual way when she's around. Privately, it amuses her that the guys still touch - and unconsciously mirror each other's body language - almost as much as they did back in the bad old days of denial. They just can't help being magnetically drawn to each other, it seems.
But a deep, radiating contentment has now replaced that suppressed anxiety and sadness it had taken Mary so long to recognize. Anyone meeting them for the first time would assume they've been together for years.
...anyone who hasn't heard the gossip, that is, because there's a minor scandal once Danny and Steve's relationship becomes public knowledge. It was to be expected, since it's a pretty weird situation and they're high-profile people. But Steve ignores it stoically, Danny clenches his fists and scowls at people, Mary corrects anyone who condemns their "terrible betrayal" of her, and they all try to shield Grace as best they can.
Some teasing does occur at school, of course, because kids are like that. Grace is a Williams and a McGarrett, though, so she quells most of it with withering glares and sharp words.
Only the worst offender, Tommy, gets punched in the face when he just won't quit harassing her. But none of the spectators rat Grace out for it - they're all too impressed, or intimidated, by her ability to make a habitual bully cry.
"My auntie Kono taught me that one...it's called a right cross," Grace tells the watching kids once Tommy has fled in shock. She then offers to show the other girls how to land a decent punch.
When Grace relates the story that evening, Mary gives her the mandatory "Violence must be a last resort" speech. Inwardly, though, she's damn proud of her daughter. Mary then makes sure she's present when Grace tells the guys about her altercation with Tommy, so they're obliged to tone down their effusive praise (Danny) and limit their advice regarding future engagements with the enemy (Steve).
The only enemies Steve himself will face in future are the criminal kind. The Pentagon's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy has already been repealed, but Steve decides to resign his commission anyway. "I've been in the Navy half my life, now," Steve tells Mary, "and my future lies here in Hawaii."
She's delighted by the news. As a reservist, he could have been called to active duty at any time. And given his skills and experience, any mission requiring his participation would have been highly dangerous. The next time they're all together, Mary notices that Danny also seems more relaxed. The prospect of Steve being mobilized must have been weighing on his mind too. They can both be thankful that Steve got out of the military alive, and relatively unscathed.
***
Mary keeps the McGarrett family house, because it's Grace's home and she's already endured enough upheaval in her short life. The guys buy a nice two-bedroom place nearby, but Friday night dinners at Mary's remain a tradition.
She remains their daughter's primary caregiver, too, since Danny and Steve have to work long and unpredictable hours. Mary's daytime shift at the pub means she can take Grace to her after-school activities, supervise her homework, and fix her dinner.
Still, the guys do their damnedest to make it to Grace's special events, such as class plays (she's inherited Danny's theatricality) and martial arts competitions (she's short, like both her parents, but strong and fast). And Danny has custody every Saturday, as well as one or two nights during the week.
It gives Mary a chance to have a social life, though she doesn't date all that much. She often gets propositioned by bar patrons, of course, but few of them are as appealing as they seem to think. There are other men willing to date a single mom, even one with such a weird family situation. But she judges hardly any of them as worthy of being introduced to Grace.
So Mary mostly has short-term fun here and there, staving off the occasional bout of loneliness or just scratching an itch. She does hope to fall in love again, someday. In the meantime, she's pretty happy with her life.
The other members of Five-0 - who are becoming more like 'ohana than friends - pitch in to help Mary out. Kono takes Grace surfing, and spars with her to hone her martial arts skills, while Chin's the person Mary calls when she has computer problems or engine trouble.
When Steve lived at the house, he'd always insist on trying to fix Mary's car. But for all his good intentions, he's no mechanic...their dad's Mercury Marquis remains a permanent work in progress. At least it's now kept at Danny and Steve's place, so Mary can finally use her garage.
Chin's partner Malia is a doctor, and she provides excellent advice when it's time to tell Grace about puberty and sex. Mary remembers her mom having real trouble talking about that stuff; Aunt Annie had to fill in some critical gaps when Mary arrived in Jersey as a teenager. So she's determined that Grace will never suffer from that kind of potentially dangerous ignorance.
Meka's wife Amy has become Mary's closest girlfriend, and she minds Grace one afternoon a week while Mary runs errands. Her son Billy is slightly younger than Grace, but they get along great. The two of them often play at being cops, either chasing each other around or convincing some neighborhood kid to act as the bad guy and endure an enthusiastic arrest.
Hilariously, or disturbingly, Grace has the Miranda warning memorized before Steve does. Mary can't say she'd be pleased if her daughter became the third generation of their family to work in law enforcement. But she won't stand in the way.
***
It takes another half-decade, but Hawaii's politicians finally legalize same-sex marriage. Mary doesn't ask whether Steve - as the openly queer head of the Governor's highly popular taskforce - helped make it happen, though she suspects he was lobbying behind the scenes.
But she does know that Steve proposed to Danny within seconds of the late-night state legislature vote, even before the law change was publicly announced. And soon everyone knows that, because they make the news as the first gay couple to get engaged in Hawaii. Steve was always so competitive, Mary thinks wryly, but she congratulates them both with genuine joy.
So, six years after getting together, Danny and Steve are getting hitched.
Mary owns the Irish pub now, having taken it over when her boss retired, and she lets the guys use it for their bachelor night the weekend before the wedding. Chin and Meka organize the party; Mary helps them set everything up, then runs like hell. She really doesn't want to be there when Danny and Steve are confronted with male strippers in police uniforms.
Instead, Mary spends the evening with Grace, Kono, Malia and Amy, eating pizza and watching trashy '80s movies. It's a nostalgia trip for Mary and her friends, and a sometimes cringe-inducing education for her 15-year-old daughter.
Grace is to be the bridesmaid, of course, wearing a blue dress she chose herself. She dismays the wedding planner by deciding, on a whim, to cut off her beautiful long hair a few days before the ceremony. But Mary shapes Grace's hack job into a cute pixie cut, and the florist designs a wreath of fresh tropical blooms to be held in place by bobby pins.
Though she used to be small for her age, Grace is now several inches taller than her mom...and has recently edged past her dad too, which is perturbing to Danny but at least some consolation to Mary. Grace must have inherited the height genes enjoyed by her six-foot uncles, Steve and Matt.
But in personality terms Grace is clearly a mix of Mary and Danny, with a strong dash of Steve's influence plus some traits all of her own. She can be exhausting company sometimes, with such energy, determination, and intelligence - and so much to say for herself. It's fascinating for Mary to watch her grow up, though, and to wonder what she'll do with her life.
Having Grace as part of the wedding party was a no-brainer. And following some heated discussion, the guys came to a compromise about the rest of the ceremony.
Steve managed to beat Danny to proposing, thanks to what Danny calls his "unfair home advantage": one of the state senators, an old friend from Kukui High, texted Steve the moment the 'aye' votes got the required majority. So Danny claimed the right to occupy the traditional groom's position, standing beside the celebrant and waiting for the music to swell.
To Mary's surprise, Steve then asked her to walk him down the aisle - as his closest living relative, and as a public gesture of her goodwill. It's an amusing role reversal, too, because Steve escorted Mary to the altar when she married Danny.
Sure, it's unorthodox, but what about their family isn't?
***
So on the day, Mary gives her brother away to her ex-husband with a wink and a smile. Danny gives her a slight bow, hand over his heart. Then his gaze shifts to Steve, and Mary and all the other onlookers seem to fade into insignificance for him.
Once the celebrant declares Danny and Steve married, the kiss that ensues is the most intimacy Mary has ever witnessed between the two of them. But by then, it doesn't hurt her to see it at all. In fact, the only person who claps and hollers louder than Mary is Grace.
They hold the reception at Mary's house, since Danny and Steve's place is too small. Kamekona, friend and sometime C.I. to the Five-0 team, does the catering and serves up a fabulous buffet. Mary, who provided the alcohol at wholesale rates, mixes drinks for the adults and invents colorful mocktails for the underage guests.
It's a beautiful day, so people spill out onto the lanai, lawns, and beach. A bunch of kids are splashing around in the water, under Kono's watchful eye. Meka turns out to have a real talent for magic tricks, so he and his lovely assistant Amy entertain the children on shore.
Patient, respectful Chin puts himself in charge of looking after and listening to the older folks. Mary takes a break from the bar and sits down next to Mamo for a while, hearing stories about the good old days of Waikiki Beach and how he and his friends used to surf with Duke Kahanamoku.
Danny's parents turned down their wedding invitations - they're not exactly thrilled about him marrying a man, let alone his ex-wife's brother - and Matt is in jail. But Danny's two sisters flew in from Jersey, and brought their kids too. Grace is having a great time with the cousins she hasn't seen in so long, and Mary's glad; they're a little short of relatives on the McGarrett side of the family.
Because the guys are apparently masochists, they ask Mary to make a speech after dinner. She keeps it pretty tame, what with all the children around, but can't resist closing with a couple of helpful suggestions.
"You know, Danny's full legal name should now be Daniel Joseph Williams-McGarrett-McGarrett," she says. "And I figure the McGarrett family motto should now be: 'We're so nice, he married us twice!'"
This makes Steve choke with laughter, along with Grace and most of the guests, but doesn't amuse Danny quite so much. Mary just smiles sweetly at him, and proposes a toast to the groom and groom.
Later in the evening, Danny comes inside to find her. Mary's practiced eye tells her he's tipsy but not too drunk; his eyes are bright, and she suspects his face hurts from grinning so much.
They lean against the living room wall, side by side, and watch Steve valiantly attempting to dance with their rather more coordinated daughter. Then Danny tells Mary, "I know how much you hated me saying it, back when you were pregnant, but you really are full of grace."
Mary blinks at him, puzzled, and he explains, "If you hadn't been so kind and generous, Steve and I probably would've gone crazy trying to fight how we felt. We could never have got here without your help, Mary."
She smiles, and rests her head on his tuxedo-clad shoulder for a while. Then she gently elbows him in the ribs and says, "Go rescue your husband, babe...I think Gracie is wearing him out. And get going on your honeymoon already, while the night is still young."
***
To Mary's delight, Annie and her wife Theresa traveled from Boston for the wedding. It's the first time Mary's seen her aunt in years, though they've remained in close contact. They make a pilgrimage to Linda's grave, which Annie has never seen, and toast their beloved sister and mother with top-shelf Scotch.
The two older women had another motive for visiting Hawaii at last, since Theresa's son Sean has recently moved here. A week after the wedding, Annie and Theresa take Mary out to lunch and invite Sean along too.
And although there's no thunderbolt from a clear sky, Sean and Mary hit it off really well. That first lunch turns into mid-week coffees, then dinners, and eventually more.
Sean is quite different to Danny...less loud and more serious, but with a wonderfully dry sense of humor. He's a physiotherapist, working at the Army hospital in Honolulu. They talk about the ways in which they act as a counselor, Mary to her patrons and Sean to his patients. Though they each have to deal with sad and damaged people, there are funny stories to tell as well.
They've both been through tough times - Sean's long-term girlfriend died suddenly of an undiagnosed heart condition, four years ago - and have come out the other side wiser and more cautious. So Mary and Sean take things very gradually, and they date for several months before she introduces him to her family.
Grace is polite and friendly, but guarded. What with Danny and Steve getting together and Mary not having had any serious partners since the divorce, Grace has never had to cope with an outsider being added to the family. And she's over-supplied with father figures already, Christ knows.
Sean doesn't have much experience with teenagers, but he's smart enough not to expect immediate acceptance from Grace. He treats her with respect and doesn't react when she acts out - as even the best-behaved kids do, occasionally. Sean tells Mary he's developed a thick skin from having angry, hurting patients fling personal insults (and sometimes projectiles) at him during physio sessions.
Danny and Steve are another tough audience, and meeting them can be a nerve-wracking experience for the men Mary dates. The two most important adults in her life are infamous, and quite intimidating: even when unarmed, Steve can exude a sense of menace and Danny's personality can fill a room. And they're both inclined to be needlessly protective of her.
But things turn out well when Mary and Sean go out to dinner with them. For a start, Steve greatly respects Sean's dedication to rehabbing injured personnel. They soon get talking about the Army's Wounded Warrior Program, and how well it functions compared to the Navy equivalent.
After a while it gets too technical for Danny and Mary, who have a quiet side-conversation about Grace having asked Billy Hanamoa to their high school's formal. Mary and Amy have been wondering for years if that childhood friendship would blossom into something more, and now it seems it just might.
The dance is on a Saturday, Grace's usual night at Danny's place. He agrees that Mary should come over to help her get ready, and take an embarrassing number of photos before the young couple escape.
Billy has grown up with Danny and Steve as honorary uncles, so he's not scared of them. Mary imagines that anyone else their daughter ever dates will find that initial encounter far more daunting. But to be honest, any potential suitor would need to be pretty strong and confident to keep up with Grace in the first place.
To Mary's surprise, Danny and Sean also take to each other. It helps that they had a similar upbringing, as East Coast working-class Catholics. Get enough free drinks into the two of them, Mary discovers later that night at her pub, and they'll start singing traditional Irish songs at full volume. She joins in on the chorus of 'Danny Boy'; Steve sits back in the booth and watches them with a grin.
Danny and Steve's easy rapport with Sean helps Grace adjust to the new presence in her life. The ultimate sign of her acceptance comes a year into Mary and Sean's relationship, when Grace offers to teach him how to surf.
Maybe it's not the wild crazy passion Mary once felt for Danny, but with Sean she has love, respect, laughter, shared values...and a measure of well-earned peace and quiet. And in the end, Mary's happy.
***
END.
Title: Hail Mary, full of Grace - chapter 3 of 3.
Fandom: Hawaii Five-0.
Pairing: in this chapter, Steve / Danny and Mary / OMC.
Spoilers: minor ones, up to 1x18. Otherwise, this is an AU where Rachel never existed.
Rating & Warnings: PG-13 for mild violence and sexual references.
Words: 2,900 words for this chapter; 8,300 words in total.
Summary: Imagine if Jack McGarrett had sent Mary to live with her aunt in New Jersey. Then imagine Mary growing up and falling in love with a local cop, Danny Williams.
Now add to the mix a daughter named Grace, an amicable divorce, a move to Hawaii, and an invitation for Danny to join Steve's taskforce...and stand well back, because sparks are gonna fly.
Author's notes: thanks to everyone who's offered feedback so far - I'm glad my strange, late-night idea struck a chord with people! I didn't have a beta for this story, so please tell me if you notice any errors.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
***
Chapter 3
Mary sees little visible change to Danny and Steve's relationship; they respect her wishes, and never kiss or act in any sexual way when she's around. Privately, it amuses her that the guys still touch - and unconsciously mirror each other's body language - almost as much as they did back in the bad old days of denial. They just can't help being magnetically drawn to each other, it seems.
But a deep, radiating contentment has now replaced that suppressed anxiety and sadness it had taken Mary so long to recognize. Anyone meeting them for the first time would assume they've been together for years.
...anyone who hasn't heard the gossip, that is, because there's a minor scandal once Danny and Steve's relationship becomes public knowledge. It was to be expected, since it's a pretty weird situation and they're high-profile people. But Steve ignores it stoically, Danny clenches his fists and scowls at people, Mary corrects anyone who condemns their "terrible betrayal" of her, and they all try to shield Grace as best they can.
Some teasing does occur at school, of course, because kids are like that. Grace is a Williams and a McGarrett, though, so she quells most of it with withering glares and sharp words.
Only the worst offender, Tommy, gets punched in the face when he just won't quit harassing her. But none of the spectators rat Grace out for it - they're all too impressed, or intimidated, by her ability to make a habitual bully cry.
"My auntie Kono taught me that one...it's called a right cross," Grace tells the watching kids once Tommy has fled in shock. She then offers to show the other girls how to land a decent punch.
When Grace relates the story that evening, Mary gives her the mandatory "Violence must be a last resort" speech. Inwardly, though, she's damn proud of her daughter. Mary then makes sure she's present when Grace tells the guys about her altercation with Tommy, so they're obliged to tone down their effusive praise (Danny) and limit their advice regarding future engagements with the enemy (Steve).
The only enemies Steve himself will face in future are the criminal kind. The Pentagon's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy has already been repealed, but Steve decides to resign his commission anyway. "I've been in the Navy half my life, now," Steve tells Mary, "and my future lies here in Hawaii."
She's delighted by the news. As a reservist, he could have been called to active duty at any time. And given his skills and experience, any mission requiring his participation would have been highly dangerous. The next time they're all together, Mary notices that Danny also seems more relaxed. The prospect of Steve being mobilized must have been weighing on his mind too. They can both be thankful that Steve got out of the military alive, and relatively unscathed.
***
Mary keeps the McGarrett family house, because it's Grace's home and she's already endured enough upheaval in her short life. The guys buy a nice two-bedroom place nearby, but Friday night dinners at Mary's remain a tradition.
She remains their daughter's primary caregiver, too, since Danny and Steve have to work long and unpredictable hours. Mary's daytime shift at the pub means she can take Grace to her after-school activities, supervise her homework, and fix her dinner.
Still, the guys do their damnedest to make it to Grace's special events, such as class plays (she's inherited Danny's theatricality) and martial arts competitions (she's short, like both her parents, but strong and fast). And Danny has custody every Saturday, as well as one or two nights during the week.
It gives Mary a chance to have a social life, though she doesn't date all that much. She often gets propositioned by bar patrons, of course, but few of them are as appealing as they seem to think. There are other men willing to date a single mom, even one with such a weird family situation. But she judges hardly any of them as worthy of being introduced to Grace.
So Mary mostly has short-term fun here and there, staving off the occasional bout of loneliness or just scratching an itch. She does hope to fall in love again, someday. In the meantime, she's pretty happy with her life.
The other members of Five-0 - who are becoming more like 'ohana than friends - pitch in to help Mary out. Kono takes Grace surfing, and spars with her to hone her martial arts skills, while Chin's the person Mary calls when she has computer problems or engine trouble.
When Steve lived at the house, he'd always insist on trying to fix Mary's car. But for all his good intentions, he's no mechanic...their dad's Mercury Marquis remains a permanent work in progress. At least it's now kept at Danny and Steve's place, so Mary can finally use her garage.
Chin's partner Malia is a doctor, and she provides excellent advice when it's time to tell Grace about puberty and sex. Mary remembers her mom having real trouble talking about that stuff; Aunt Annie had to fill in some critical gaps when Mary arrived in Jersey as a teenager. So she's determined that Grace will never suffer from that kind of potentially dangerous ignorance.
Meka's wife Amy has become Mary's closest girlfriend, and she minds Grace one afternoon a week while Mary runs errands. Her son Billy is slightly younger than Grace, but they get along great. The two of them often play at being cops, either chasing each other around or convincing some neighborhood kid to act as the bad guy and endure an enthusiastic arrest.
Hilariously, or disturbingly, Grace has the Miranda warning memorized before Steve does. Mary can't say she'd be pleased if her daughter became the third generation of their family to work in law enforcement. But she won't stand in the way.
***
It takes another half-decade, but Hawaii's politicians finally legalize same-sex marriage. Mary doesn't ask whether Steve - as the openly queer head of the Governor's highly popular taskforce - helped make it happen, though she suspects he was lobbying behind the scenes.
But she does know that Steve proposed to Danny within seconds of the late-night state legislature vote, even before the law change was publicly announced. And soon everyone knows that, because they make the news as the first gay couple to get engaged in Hawaii. Steve was always so competitive, Mary thinks wryly, but she congratulates them both with genuine joy.
So, six years after getting together, Danny and Steve are getting hitched.
Mary owns the Irish pub now, having taken it over when her boss retired, and she lets the guys use it for their bachelor night the weekend before the wedding. Chin and Meka organize the party; Mary helps them set everything up, then runs like hell. She really doesn't want to be there when Danny and Steve are confronted with male strippers in police uniforms.
Instead, Mary spends the evening with Grace, Kono, Malia and Amy, eating pizza and watching trashy '80s movies. It's a nostalgia trip for Mary and her friends, and a sometimes cringe-inducing education for her 15-year-old daughter.
Grace is to be the bridesmaid, of course, wearing a blue dress she chose herself. She dismays the wedding planner by deciding, on a whim, to cut off her beautiful long hair a few days before the ceremony. But Mary shapes Grace's hack job into a cute pixie cut, and the florist designs a wreath of fresh tropical blooms to be held in place by bobby pins.
Though she used to be small for her age, Grace is now several inches taller than her mom...and has recently edged past her dad too, which is perturbing to Danny but at least some consolation to Mary. Grace must have inherited the height genes enjoyed by her six-foot uncles, Steve and Matt.
But in personality terms Grace is clearly a mix of Mary and Danny, with a strong dash of Steve's influence plus some traits all of her own. She can be exhausting company sometimes, with such energy, determination, and intelligence - and so much to say for herself. It's fascinating for Mary to watch her grow up, though, and to wonder what she'll do with her life.
Having Grace as part of the wedding party was a no-brainer. And following some heated discussion, the guys came to a compromise about the rest of the ceremony.
Steve managed to beat Danny to proposing, thanks to what Danny calls his "unfair home advantage": one of the state senators, an old friend from Kukui High, texted Steve the moment the 'aye' votes got the required majority. So Danny claimed the right to occupy the traditional groom's position, standing beside the celebrant and waiting for the music to swell.
To Mary's surprise, Steve then asked her to walk him down the aisle - as his closest living relative, and as a public gesture of her goodwill. It's an amusing role reversal, too, because Steve escorted Mary to the altar when she married Danny.
Sure, it's unorthodox, but what about their family isn't?
***
So on the day, Mary gives her brother away to her ex-husband with a wink and a smile. Danny gives her a slight bow, hand over his heart. Then his gaze shifts to Steve, and Mary and all the other onlookers seem to fade into insignificance for him.
Once the celebrant declares Danny and Steve married, the kiss that ensues is the most intimacy Mary has ever witnessed between the two of them. But by then, it doesn't hurt her to see it at all. In fact, the only person who claps and hollers louder than Mary is Grace.
They hold the reception at Mary's house, since Danny and Steve's place is too small. Kamekona, friend and sometime C.I. to the Five-0 team, does the catering and serves up a fabulous buffet. Mary, who provided the alcohol at wholesale rates, mixes drinks for the adults and invents colorful mocktails for the underage guests.
It's a beautiful day, so people spill out onto the lanai, lawns, and beach. A bunch of kids are splashing around in the water, under Kono's watchful eye. Meka turns out to have a real talent for magic tricks, so he and his lovely assistant Amy entertain the children on shore.
Patient, respectful Chin puts himself in charge of looking after and listening to the older folks. Mary takes a break from the bar and sits down next to Mamo for a while, hearing stories about the good old days of Waikiki Beach and how he and his friends used to surf with Duke Kahanamoku.
Danny's parents turned down their wedding invitations - they're not exactly thrilled about him marrying a man, let alone his ex-wife's brother - and Matt is in jail. But Danny's two sisters flew in from Jersey, and brought their kids too. Grace is having a great time with the cousins she hasn't seen in so long, and Mary's glad; they're a little short of relatives on the McGarrett side of the family.
Because the guys are apparently masochists, they ask Mary to make a speech after dinner. She keeps it pretty tame, what with all the children around, but can't resist closing with a couple of helpful suggestions.
"You know, Danny's full legal name should now be Daniel Joseph Williams-McGarrett-McGarrett," she says. "And I figure the McGarrett family motto should now be: 'We're so nice, he married us twice!'"
This makes Steve choke with laughter, along with Grace and most of the guests, but doesn't amuse Danny quite so much. Mary just smiles sweetly at him, and proposes a toast to the groom and groom.
Later in the evening, Danny comes inside to find her. Mary's practiced eye tells her he's tipsy but not too drunk; his eyes are bright, and she suspects his face hurts from grinning so much.
They lean against the living room wall, side by side, and watch Steve valiantly attempting to dance with their rather more coordinated daughter. Then Danny tells Mary, "I know how much you hated me saying it, back when you were pregnant, but you really are full of grace."
Mary blinks at him, puzzled, and he explains, "If you hadn't been so kind and generous, Steve and I probably would've gone crazy trying to fight how we felt. We could never have got here without your help, Mary."
She smiles, and rests her head on his tuxedo-clad shoulder for a while. Then she gently elbows him in the ribs and says, "Go rescue your husband, babe...I think Gracie is wearing him out. And get going on your honeymoon already, while the night is still young."
***
To Mary's delight, Annie and her wife Theresa traveled from Boston for the wedding. It's the first time Mary's seen her aunt in years, though they've remained in close contact. They make a pilgrimage to Linda's grave, which Annie has never seen, and toast their beloved sister and mother with top-shelf Scotch.
The two older women had another motive for visiting Hawaii at last, since Theresa's son Sean has recently moved here. A week after the wedding, Annie and Theresa take Mary out to lunch and invite Sean along too.
And although there's no thunderbolt from a clear sky, Sean and Mary hit it off really well. That first lunch turns into mid-week coffees, then dinners, and eventually more.
Sean is quite different to Danny...less loud and more serious, but with a wonderfully dry sense of humor. He's a physiotherapist, working at the Army hospital in Honolulu. They talk about the ways in which they act as a counselor, Mary to her patrons and Sean to his patients. Though they each have to deal with sad and damaged people, there are funny stories to tell as well.
They've both been through tough times - Sean's long-term girlfriend died suddenly of an undiagnosed heart condition, four years ago - and have come out the other side wiser and more cautious. So Mary and Sean take things very gradually, and they date for several months before she introduces him to her family.
Grace is polite and friendly, but guarded. What with Danny and Steve getting together and Mary not having had any serious partners since the divorce, Grace has never had to cope with an outsider being added to the family. And she's over-supplied with father figures already, Christ knows.
Sean doesn't have much experience with teenagers, but he's smart enough not to expect immediate acceptance from Grace. He treats her with respect and doesn't react when she acts out - as even the best-behaved kids do, occasionally. Sean tells Mary he's developed a thick skin from having angry, hurting patients fling personal insults (and sometimes projectiles) at him during physio sessions.
Danny and Steve are another tough audience, and meeting them can be a nerve-wracking experience for the men Mary dates. The two most important adults in her life are infamous, and quite intimidating: even when unarmed, Steve can exude a sense of menace and Danny's personality can fill a room. And they're both inclined to be needlessly protective of her.
But things turn out well when Mary and Sean go out to dinner with them. For a start, Steve greatly respects Sean's dedication to rehabbing injured personnel. They soon get talking about the Army's Wounded Warrior Program, and how well it functions compared to the Navy equivalent.
After a while it gets too technical for Danny and Mary, who have a quiet side-conversation about Grace having asked Billy Hanamoa to their high school's formal. Mary and Amy have been wondering for years if that childhood friendship would blossom into something more, and now it seems it just might.
The dance is on a Saturday, Grace's usual night at Danny's place. He agrees that Mary should come over to help her get ready, and take an embarrassing number of photos before the young couple escape.
Billy has grown up with Danny and Steve as honorary uncles, so he's not scared of them. Mary imagines that anyone else their daughter ever dates will find that initial encounter far more daunting. But to be honest, any potential suitor would need to be pretty strong and confident to keep up with Grace in the first place.
To Mary's surprise, Danny and Sean also take to each other. It helps that they had a similar upbringing, as East Coast working-class Catholics. Get enough free drinks into the two of them, Mary discovers later that night at her pub, and they'll start singing traditional Irish songs at full volume. She joins in on the chorus of 'Danny Boy'; Steve sits back in the booth and watches them with a grin.
Danny and Steve's easy rapport with Sean helps Grace adjust to the new presence in her life. The ultimate sign of her acceptance comes a year into Mary and Sean's relationship, when Grace offers to teach him how to surf.
Maybe it's not the wild crazy passion Mary once felt for Danny, but with Sean she has love, respect, laughter, shared values...and a measure of well-earned peace and quiet. And in the end, Mary's happy.
***
END.