The overwhelming response to the REAL World Thanksgiving Marathon leaves us all in awe of our #REALMcRollers, readers & guests. You broke our twitter activity & review records! Your reviews are amazing, and we love you all. Thank you so very, very much!

Sammy & Ilna, you guys are the bestest of the best. I love every minute of the REAL World and all the incredible interaction with you, my REAL friends. Much love, xox Mari

Got Game

HQ
8:45 a.m.

Danny Williams entered the bullpen with his phone tucked between his ear and shoulder, while carrying a duffel bag and what looked like Grace's pink overnight case.

Steve looked up to see his partner drop the bags and run a hand through his hair. Danny was saying, "Tomorrow? That'd be great. Yeah, I know it's old, it came with the house. I don't care about me, but it's supposed to be like a hundred and fifty degrees all week and I have a twelve year old daughter and a dog. We've gotta go to a hotel. If you're positive you'll be finished in two days, it'll only be for tonight. Tomorrow afternoon is great. Okay. Okay. Thanks." He reached Steve and Catherine and said, "Hey."

"What's up?" Steve asked as Danny put the phone away with a sigh.

"Central air died this morning. It was already 80 in the house when we woke up. That was Liko Lonoeho's contractor. The compressor's shot and the new ones take different coolant now, so I'm better off replacing the whole system. He's going to give me a discount because Liko referred me, but it's still gonna be seven thousand bucks."

"Danny, if you need to borrow …" Steve began, but Danny shook his head.

"Thanks, Babe, but the previous owner knew the AC wasn't in the best shape so we took five thousand off the cost of the house." He sighed again. "I just have to find a hotel for tonight that'll let us take Scout, because it's gonna be hotter than hell, no way Grace and the dog can stay there. And Rachel's in Vegas this week, so I can't send them to her mother's."

Catherine and Steve adopted a similar posture with their arms folded, and looked at Danny

"That's ridiculous; you're not going to a hotel."
"You're staying with us."
They announced together, without even a glance at each other.

"No, c'mon, we can't … you just had five people over for all those days." Danny began to protest but his partner's hand, held up in the 'stop' position made him do exactly that.

"What did Nonna say when we were in New Jersey? You don't put family in a hotel, right?"

Danny grinned at the thought of his grandmother hijacking his friends for the days they were stranded in Jersey. "But it's both of us and the dog, and …"

"… and Cammie and Scout are buddies and Grace practically has her own room at our house." Catherine again unconsciously mirrored Steve's stance; one hand at her waist, feet shoulders' width apart. "Not taking no for an answer, Danny."

Danny looked from Catherine to Steve. "You're sure? It'd just be for tonight. The contractor said he'll have the new AC unit installed and running by tomorrow late afternoon."

"We're sure. Now, gimme the keys," Steve motioned to the keychain still in Danny's hand. "We have a witness to interview in twenty." He turned to go and Danny moved to follow him.

"Wait." Catherine took a step after them. "Danny, where's Scout?"

Danny smiled at her. Catherine had the same soft spot for animals as he did. "I called Esther. I know I'm not a regular because my neighbor, Dominic takes him out and feeds him when Grace and I aren't home, but anytime I've used Esther, she's been great and Scout loves her. She said no problem; she came over right away and was taking him to the park then after lunch she'll drop him at a doggy daycare some of her clients use when she's booked."

Catherine pulled out her phone. "Good. Then I'll call and tell her to take him to our house instead. Scout can stay with Cammie today. They're fine together and it'll even be easier for Esther. She's due at our place from noon till one thirty today. That way you won't have to go to the daycare and pick him up after work."

"No, really, I …"

"Great idea, Cath." Steve grinned at her. "C'mon, Danny, It's done."

Steve nodded to Catherine who returned his grin at Danny's heartfelt 'thanks' as she turned away with a wave and said into her phone, "Hi, Esther, it's Catherine. I heard you have Scout, just take him by our house …"

McGarrett/Rollins Residence
6:45 p.m.

Catherine and Grace took the dogs for a long walk on the beach while Steve phoned for pizzas. When they returned with two tired and happy canines, he said, "I thought we'd eat in the living room. What do you wanna do tonight, Gracie?"

"Oh, I know! Can we have a game night?" She shifted on the balls of her feet in a manner that was so much like her father, Steve and Catherine shared a smile. "Like when I stay over?" She turned to Danny. "Uncle Steve has a bunch of old board games from back in the day when you guys were kids."

"Ouch." Danny clutched his heart and grinned at his daughter. "You mean way back in the old days, when dinosaurs roamed the earth in 1990?"

The adults laughed and Grace giggled at her dad. "You know what I mean." Looking at Steve and Catherine she said, "Remember how I told you I used to play with my cousins when I was little? Danno used to play with my aunts and uncle all the time."

"And my sister would cry if she lost." Danny pointed out

"Can we have a game night?" Grace was all grins and enthusiasm.

"That's a great idea, Gracie," Steve smiled.

Catherine nodded her agreement. Grinning at how anything that made Grace happy made Steve smile.

"Can I go get a game, Uncle Steve?" Grace asked excitedly.

"Of course. Whichever one you want." Steve looked at Danny, "Dad held on to a bunch of old games. When Catherine and I cleaned out the garage, we figured we'd keep them for when Gracie's here." He held out a hand and fist-bumped his niece. "We have Clue, Monopoly, Life, Battleship …"

"Stop." Danny grinned, "I am not playing Battleship with the two of you." He pointed between his friends. Knowing Grace's favorite, he said, "How about Monopoly, Monkey?"

"Yea! 'Cause I don't wanna play Clue with three Five-0 investigators, either!" She laughed, and turned to Catherine. "Besides, I beat Danno last time we played Monopoly."

"Did you?" Catherine smiled.

"Yes, she did." Danny proudly high-fived his daughter. "She's got game. It's genetic."

"I'll go get the box." Grace skittered off toward the den laughing and Danny warmed at the ease and familiarity she felt in Steve and Catherine's home.

The pizza arrived while Grace was setting up the board, and the foursome sat around the coffee table to eat. His daughter automatically plating and handing out the appropriate slices from the two half-and-half pizzas wasn't lost on Danny.

"Pepperoni for me and Danno, the works for Uncle Steve, and Auntie Cath, here's a sausage slice." Grace passed her the paper dish containing her slice.

"You've got that down." Danny smiled.

"Of course." She nodded. Grace ate with Steve and Catherine often and knew their preferences well enough to call for a delivery when she was at their house. "Everyone gets their favorite first, and then we mix up who eats what for the rest of the slices. Except you don't eat 'the works' 'cause there's too much stuff on it."

"And because it's wrong." He grinned at her.

"Did you know Uncle Steve ate eel pizza once in Japan?"

Danny shook his head, "That's because your Uncle Steve is an animal who doesn't understand real pizza, in spite of my explaining it over and over for years…" Danny said.

Grace knew it was more to make her laugh than tease her Uncle but she said, "Dannnno …"

"Yeah, Danno, you have no idea what else is good on pizza because you won't try anything new …" Steve snarked.

"I try new things all the time. Just because I won't eat a freaking snake pizza …"

"Eel. It was eel …"

"Eels are snakes that live in the water …"

"They taste totally different, Danny." Steve said matter-of-factly.

Catherine and Grace rolled their eyes, shared a smile and stared to eat their pizza.

As soon as the pizza was gone, Catherine grabbed a couple of pillows and tossed one to Grace. They took a seat on the floor across from Steve and Danny, who'd moved to the sofa because Grace wanted to have Scout and Cammie next to her as a 'cheering section.'

"So, which piece do you want, Gracie? The top hat again?" Steve held it out, knowing she chose it the last time they'd played.

"Yes!" Grace put her piece on the board. "Auntie Cath, you should pick the dog, right, guys?" She looked at Cammie and Scout and grinned.

"Then the dog it is." Catherine placed her piece next to Grace's.

"I want the car." Danny smirked. "I'll get to actually drive with Uncle Steve next to me, even if it's around the board while I beat him."

"You wish." Steve reached for the ship and said, "What?" when Danny snorted.

"Of course you're the boat."

"Ship, Danny. I'm the ship."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Catherine's navy. Why can't she be the ship. You could be the thimble. You stitch like a pro." He smirked.

"Because Catherine picked the dog." Steve said with a head shake. "And I'm always the ship."

"I see that. But I'm saying maybe Catherine would like that piece, Mister I have to be the ship, but she's being nice."

Steve looked confidently at his partner. He held the game piece out to his smiling girlfriend and said, "Catherine, would you like the ship?"

Catherine stifled a laugh. She found his utter certainty to be nothing less than adorable. "No, thank you. I'm happy with my dog." She kneeled up with a smile and leaned over to kiss Steve's cheek, "But thanks for asking."

"He only asked because … oh never mind, I can't win with you two and your monobrain. " Danny picked up the dice and rolled to see who would go first. While Steve and Catherine shared a grin.

After Grace's twelve got her the first move, they began the game. "No letting me win, okay?" Grace reminded everyone before her first move. "I wanna play for real, promise?"

"Remember what I told you about the three C's and Annapolis?"

Grace kneeled up as she rolled the dice, "Competence, character and compassion."

"Atta girl!" Steve beamed at her. "And what did we tell you when Catherine and I promised we'd never let you win if you didn't earn it?"

"That you develop character and compassion when you learn to win and lose graciously." Grace said with absolute sincerity.

Catherine nodded her approval and Grace smiled happily as she began to move her piece around the board. "If someone let's you win, then it's not a real win, right, Uncle Steve?"

Steve's eyes lit up as he said "That's exactly right." as Catherine shared a look with Danny who was smiling at his not so little girl.

Not ten minutes into the game Steve rolled two threes and landed on Park Place. "Of course." Danny palmed his face.

Steve smirked and handed over the fee to Catherine, who was the banker. He took the deed, placed it on the table, rolled again and gave Danny a smug grin.

"Boardwalk! I can't believe … you lucky …" Danny caught 'bastard' before it slipped out, "goof."

"Not luck. Strategy." Steve moved two spaces and took the deed Catherine was handing over. "Thank you."

"Strategy. It's pure luck what you roll …"

Grace giggled. Any competition between her dad and her Uncle Steve was always a source of fun. She made her move and landed on Short Line Rail Road. "I'll buy it!" She counted out the money and handed it to Catherine. "Thanks. I'm gonna try to buy all four."

"See … strategy." Steve fist bumped his niece again.

Steve's next turn landed him in jail and the smile he turned on Catherine was persuasive. "Caaath?"

"Yessss?" Catherine's eyes widened. No matter how adorable that expression was, a competition was a competition.

"Sell me your Get Out Of Jail FREE card." He offered her a few bills and she looked at him across the coffee table and shook her head. "Nope."

"What do you mean, 'Nope'?"

"I mean, I may need it later. And that's only twenty five dollars. You'd have to pay fifty before your next roll to get out."

"Really? Your really gonna make me pay fifty bucks when you have a Get Out Of Jail FREE card?

"Yep." She grinned at him. "Or…"

"Or what? C'mon, Cath."

"Don't do it, Catherine." Danny regarded his best friend, "You're even cheap with play money." He rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, Danny. Or what, Cath?"

"Forty five bucks." She waved the card and Grace laughed. "Five dollars off the going rate."

"Ya know what? Forget it. I'll just pay the fifty." Steve's petulant look made Catherine grin. She winked at him and patted his hand. "Sorry, Commander, all's fair in Monopoly."

"Yeah, well, here." He counted out fifty dollars for the bank and handed it to her. "Wait till you land on one of my hotels, Rollins … then we'll see about all's fair."

Grace's smile was contagious and all three adults were grinning. When Danny landed on Pennsylvania Avenue and fist pumped the air with a "Ha! That's all three. My empire has begun." His daughter laughed out loud.

"Did you know the streets in Monopoly are real streets?" Grace said as Catherine bought a hotel for New York Avenue. "And they're in New Jersey! Right, Danno?"

Danny nodded and turned to Catherine, "I'm going ask why you're so excited to get the orange streets before I say, of course the most popular board game in the modern world features streets from New Jersey."

"It's not the most popular game in the world." Steve scoffed.

"Yes it is, Steven, look it up."

"No way. It's gotta be chess or checkers." Steve insisted.

"I said modern game. Chess and Checkers are ancient…"

"Anyway," Grace continued, ignoring the snarking between her two favorite men. "The streets are in Atlantic City. Danno's been there lots of times." She noted proudly before turning to look at her aunt. "And why do you always buy the orange streets, Auntie Cath?" She remembered Catherine doing the exact same thing whenever they played.

Catherine smiled at Grace, and addressed her and Danny. "Strategy. People land on orange more than any other group of properties. Even though most people try to build hotels on the green properties, and Boardwalk and Park Place," Catherine grinned at Steve as she handed the dice to Danny and continued, "orange is better for collecting income. People land on them so much because of the Go to Jail, Advance to St. Charles Place, Advance to Reading Railroad and Go Back Three Spaces cards."

"Wow." Grace was impressed. "You know everything! No wonder you won last time. What else did you figure out?"

"Thanks, Grace," Catherine winked. "So, the individual spaces for Illinois Avenue, New York Avenue, B&O Railroad, and Reading Railroad are landed on most often. Mediterranean Avenue, Baltic Avenue, Park Place, and Oriental Avenue are landed on least." She smiled at Grace, "Your idea of buying all the railroads is a great one, because there are four of them. No other properties have four, so they're good to own even though you can't build on them."

"Okay, just … remind me never to make you angry," Danny smirked, "because frankly, that was just a little scary."

Catherine held up a hand, laughed and said "I promise only to use my powers for good." as Steve looked at her with unmistakable pride. Of course Catherine had calculated and analyzed the odds of the game.

Ninety minutes later Steve and Danny were down to mostly I.O.U.s and Catherine had more money than the bank. Grace had held her own but was having so much fun watching the dynamics unfold that she'd long ceased to care if she actually won.

"You know you want another hotel, give me a hundred bucks and it's yours." Steve was saying.

"I am not saving your sorry butt. No." Danny shifted his meager money pile further out of his partner's reach. "Stop grabbing, I'm not buying your broken down hotels."

"You bought Gracie's." Steve pointed out.

"Because she's my kid! And she asked nicely." Danny smiled at his chuckling daughter.

"I'm asking nicely." Steve shot back.

"'Give me a hundred bucks, Danny.' It's asking nicely, Commander People Skills. Maybe you need Catherine to help you work on that." Danny pointed at his best friend. "And maybe if you ask her nicely, your billionaire girlfriend over there will loan you the money to pay me because you still owe three hundred bucks from your last roll."

"And you owe Catherine five hundred." Steve pointed out.

Catherine held up her small fortune. "Maybe it's time to declare bankruptcy. You both owe more than you have." She declared.

"No!" Both men stated simultaneously.

"Danno? Uncle Steve?"

"Yes, Monkey?" "What, Sweetheart?" Their voices instantly softened as they replied simultaneously.

"I think Auntie Cath's right. Beside's it's almost nine thirty. You said nine thirty, Danno."

Catherine laughed at Grace reminding the adults about the curfew. "She's right, guys. I clearly won. And Grace is in the black. What do you say, Grace? Should we put these guys out of their misery?"

Grace nodded and covered a giggle with her hand. "I think so." She turned to Steve and Danny. "It looks like Auntie Cath's the one who's got game. Besides, you can always win next time. That's what you always tell me, right, Danno?"

Danny gave Steve a look and said, "Exactly, Grace." He turned to his partner. "If you'd have bartered with me an hour ago …"

"Don't blame me. You refused to take property in exchange for rent when I offered …"

"Ahem…" Catherine cleared her throat. "Are we gonna need a time out?"

Grace laughed out loud as both men looked grouchy and sheepish at the same time as they said,

"Of course not."
"Don't be ridiculous."

Catherine stood. "Good. Danny, why don't you and Grace take the cheering section here out for a potty walk. Steve and I will clean up and put away the game.

Danny stood and went to grab Scout's leash. "Sounds good. C'mon Grace." Before he got to the lanai doors, however, he turned back and pointed at his partner. "I want a rematch."

"Bring it." Steve folded his arms. "Anytime."

Catherine sighed. When Danny and Grace exited the house, she gathered the game pieces and cards as Steve sorted the money. When the game was put together, Steve returned it to the shelf in the den. As he came back into the living room, Catherine was tossing the pillows back on the couch.

Grace came back in with Danny and both dogs in tow. "That was fun! Danno has to play with us more often."

"It was." Catherine agreed. She looked at Danny. "Do you need anything? There're towels in the guest bathroom and extra pillows in the linen closet…"

"No, Cath, we're great. Thanks again." He turned to Grace. "Let's go, Monkey. Get yourself and Scout settled and I'll be up to say goodnight."

"Okay." Grace kissed Cammie before turning to her aunt and uncle. "She peed on our walk. She's all set till morning. And Scout's a good boy; he'll sleep with me all night." She gave Steve and Catherine a hug and with "good nights" exchanged, ran up the stairs with both dogs following her.

"I'll say goodnight to Grace," Danny said as he followed his friends to the stairs "Then I'm gonna hang out down here."

"Danny, the spare room's…" Catherine began.

But Steve cut in with, "He likes the sofa. I stopped fighting him on it years ago. Come up if you change your mind, Danny; otherwise, grab whatever bedding you need from the hall closet when you come up for Gracie."

Danny gave them nod. "Thanks, guys, really. Breakfast is on me, we'll take Grace for pancakes."

"Ohh, totally not necessary, but you know I never turn down pancakes." Catherine grinned, said, "'Night, Danny," and started up stairs.

Steve and Catherine's Bedroom
thirty minutes later

"So. When did you figure it out?" Steve asked as Catherine reached across him to shut the light.

Catherine fluffed her pillow and smiled. "First time we played a no holds barred, prison rules, marathon game at the Academy, remember?"

"I do." He wrapped her in an embrace and kissed her. "You, me, Carrie, John, Rose and Freddie. You won."

"Won? I obliterated all of you." She poked him gently in the chest.

"Hmpf. I just admitted you won."

"Because I had better strategy."

He grinned. "As I've told you before, I like your strategies. They usually work to my benefit." His face was visible in the moonlight filtering in through the blue and white curtains.

"Except in Monopoly." She smirked.

"Maybe if you'd sold me the Get Out of Jail FREE card…" He teased.

"That big five dollars would have saved you from bankruptcy? Oh, please." She chuckled.

"Yeah, well …"

"Sorry, Commander, but twenty five dollars was not a good enough offer…" She kissed him lightly.

"Maybe I can make you a better … offer." He deepened the kiss.

"Danny's really gonna stay on the couch?" Catherine pressed closer.

"Absolutely." He pushed her hair back and smiled into her eyes.

"Then I'm totally … game …"

"Are you now?" He leaned in to kiss her again.

Catherine grinned into his kiss. "Because I wanna celebrate my win."

"Do you?"

"Mmmhmm. And because you, Commander, have definitely ... oh!" her breath hitched as Steve's hands wandered, "got game."

End. Thanks for reading.