Steve, Danny, and the girls prepared for the first day of school for months and when the day finally arrived, the twins were up at the crack of dawn. "Why is this happening?" Danny asked after their screaming six years old left their bedroom and bolted to the kitchen for the breakfast.

"At least it wasn't our two year old this time?" Steve tried.

"Nice try, Steven, but that's not very helpful." Danny rolled over and checked the time on his phone. "He'll be up in about ten minutes."

"Can you believe Josie and Gen are growing up so fast? Seems like just yesterday we brought them home from the hospital." Steve was losing himself to nostalgia again, which wasn't a good thing, but he couldn't help it.

Danny wasn't about to let him fall into that trap again so he snapped his fingers right in Steve's face. "Snap the fuck out of it!" he warned.

Steve laughed then rolled his eyes at his husband. "You'll be crying in a few hours, Danno. Get off your high horse," he teased.

Danny groaned. "Let's get out of bed because I'm sure they're inciting chaos out there." After a trip to the bathroom, he made his way to the nursery. Sure enough, Liam was babbling to himself and the toddler grinned when he spotted one of his dads. He held his arms out and Danny picked him up. "Hi, buddy. You having a good morning?"

"Yes," he answered, burying his head in the crook of Danny's neck.

After taking care of him, the two made their way to the kitchen, where Steve was making eggs and toast for Josie and Gen. "Who's that, bud?" Danny asked.

"Daddy!" Liam screeched.

"Hi, little man. How are you doing?" Steve queired.

Liam didn't answer but he did run straight towards him when Danny set him down. Careful not to upset the food, Steve kneeled down and opened his arms for a hug.

"Danno, are you picking us up today?" Gen looked at him hopefully.

"No promises but I'm definitely going to try," he told her.

"Good!" Then both she and Josie squealed in delight when Danny handed them their food just a few minutes later.

"Loud!" Liam shouted at them.

Danny snorted and started choking when he tried to hold back his laughter. "You're loud too, buddy, so don't you start yelling at them."

After their nanny arrived for the day to take care of Liam shortly after they finished breakfast, Steve and Danny headed out the door with Josie and Gen. "Oh God, they're starting first grade," a somewhat shell shocked Steve whispered to Danny just as they arrived at the elementary school.

"Yeah, they are." Danny would never get over the first day of school jitters - he had gone through the same thing with Grace and Charlie, after all. His eldest children had still left him completely unprepared for this.

Steve turned back to face them. "You nervous at all?"

Both girls shook their heads. "We're ready, Daddy! Our friends are in there," a clearly excited Josie pointed out.

"We're not scared," chimed in Gen, who may have been lying because she looked a little bit nervous.

All four of them got out of the car, and Steve kneeled down so he was eye level with them. "You have a great first day. You got that, Miss Josephine Beatrix McGarrett-Williams?"

Josie giggled at the use of her full name. "I got it," she assured him.

"And what about you, Miss Genevieve Nora McGarrett-Williams?" Steve asked, directing his attention towards his other daughter.

"I got it too." Gen looked a lot less nervous now and was clearly growing more and more excited.

"We're so proud of you both, you know that, right? Daddy and I can't wait to see how your first day of school went." Danny kissed both their temples and tried to choke back a sob. Damn it, they still had one more kid - their last - at home. He didn't need to be getting this emotional.

"Love you," Steve told them.

"And we always will," Danny added.

"Love you too, Daddy and Danno," Josie responded. She and Gen linked hands and followed the other kids into the school.

Steve leaned into Danny when they disappeared from sight. "I'm not ready for this."

He kissed his husband. "We're never ready for this kind of thing, babe. You ready to go to work so we can distract ourselves?"

"Definitely." They returned to the car and headed to work.

Unfortunately, work wasn't that much of a distraction and the two of them resisted the urge to call the school to check on their girls (Lou, Junior, and Tani made fun of them all day). Fortunately, the school day went well and the five of them sat down to talk about it that night.

"I love my teacher," Josie raved.

"Mine's okay but I got to see all my friends!" Gen wasn't a huge fan of school but she did love getting to spend time with her friends.

"Can we call Grace?" Vibrating with excitement, Josie desperately wanted to talk to her big sister.

"Grace!" Liam yelled in agreement.

"She should be free so go ahead," Danny told them as Steve handed over his cell so their three children could call their sister in Los Angeles. Charlie would be over the next morning so they didn't have an urgent need to talk to him.

Grace, of course, was delighted to talk to her younger siblings. "Do you miss me?" she asked them.

"Yes!" Gen and Josie cried at the same time.

"I miss you guys too but I get some vacation time in a few weeks and will be back to see all of you then. You feeling old yet, Danno?" she teased her father.

"NIce one. Just because you're my oldest doesn't mean I won't make you pay for that next time I see you."

"We'll see about that. And are you in your terrible twos yet, Liam?" Grace questioned her youngest sibling.

"No." The toddler firmly denied it and jumped down off the couch to go play with one of his toys.

"There's my answer," Grace joked. She missed all four of her siblings and her parents so much she could barely stand it sometimes but she loved living on her own in LA too. It was great.

"We'll talk to you tomorrow. Love you." Danny blew her a kiss, Steve following suit just a few seconds before the call ended.

Their children were growing up, and although it made them emotional in so many ways, Steve and Danny loved it. It awed them to see their children's different personalities play out in various ways, especially in their interactions with each other. At least Charlie was still a little while away from starting pre-school.

It had taken them over a decade to finally admit they were in love with each other - they had been through a lot together - but Steve and Danny wouldn't change a thing since this was where they were supposed to be.