Notes: Thank you to Mari and Sammy for the help and feedback on this and every story.

Thank you, readers and REAL McRollers, for your heartwarming and constant support.

I hope you enjoy the story.

Gratitude (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)

Friday evening

Steve glanced at Catherine's ringing phone on her night table and, seeing the caller ID, picked it up to answer.

"Jenna, hey," he said.

"Steve," Jenna replied, surprised. "I'm sorry, I thought I called Catherine's phone."

"No, you did. She's uh, she's in the shower." He glanced at the dress that hung on the back of the open bathroom door. "We've got a fundraiser we're leaving for in a bit. I can have her call you when she gets out."

"Oh, it's okay, I can ask you."

He put a hand on his hip and asked, "What's up?"

"So . . . and please feel free to say no, I totally understand if you guys just want to hole up for the weekend after everything that happened this week . . . God, I can't even imagine . . . I wouldn't blame you one bit. But Dylan's teacher was telling him about the Waianae Veterans Day parade tomorrow morning, and he wants to go . . . all the kids do . . . and they wanted to ask you and Catherine to come as well."

Steve blinked at the request. "I . . ."

"Again, I totally understand if you'd rather stay home, and I know it's short notice . . ."

"No, no, it's not that . . ." He shook himself. "Of course," he said. "We'd love to do that."

"Oh, good. I thought maybe we could bring lunch and eat in the park after. And the kids want to invite Danny, Grace, Chin, and Kono, too."

"Definitely. That's . . . yeah. Excellent." Distracted, his eyes drifted to the minion family portrait lying on the dresser waiting for a frame.

"It starts early, and it'll be a bit of a drive up to Waianae Park," Jenna continued, recalling Steve to the conversation.

"Right. That's not a problem." His brow knitted slightly, and he swallowed. "Listen, Jenna, I'm glad you called. I wanted to talk to you. After the situation with Sinclair . . ."

He paused, and when he didn't immediately continue, Jenna said, "Steve?"

"They took us at the house, and that should be a safe place. It's a place where you and your family have spent time and . . . we know what happened and we're taking extra precautions, I'm just . . ." His voice trailed off, and he cleared his throat. "I'm glad you still want to . . . I mean, bringing the kids over to clean . . . and now the parade . . . I . . ." He shook his head and sighed. "Look, I'd understand if you wanted to keep your distance. Your first priority is your kids' safety."

There was a short pause, and when Jenna spoke, her voice was firm.

"It is. But so is their well-being. And their well-being is connected to you now."

Steve inhaled, looking up.

"You and Catherine and Danny and Kono and Chin," Jenna continued. "And I'm happy and grateful that that's the case. I really am." She sighed. "I'd be lying if I said I've never thought about how dangerous your jobs are."

She paused again, and he stayed quiet, digesting her words.

"But I also know that you, none of you, would ever intentionally put my children in danger. And while you can't control everything that happens, I know that you would do everything to protect them."

"That's absolutely true," Steve said immediately, his voice rough. "We'd die to protect them."

"Because that's the kind of people you are. And the kind of role models I want my kids to have."

Steve exhaled slowly.

"So, no," Jenna reiterated. "I don't want us to keep our distance."

Steve swallowed, nodding slowly. "Thank you," he said quietly. "I'm . . . really glad to hear that."

After another pause, Jenna continued, her voice lighter but still full of meaning. "So we'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." He heard the water from the shower shut off in the bathroom. "Yeah, I'll talk to Cath, and we'll get in touch on the details."

"Okay. Have a good night, Steve," she said, her voice sincere.

"Thanks, Jenna," he said, his tone matching hers. "You, too."

He ended the call and stood for a moment with the phone in his hand.

Catherine appeared in the doorway between the bedroom and bathroom, tying a light robe on. She raised her eyebrows in question.

"That was Jenna," he said. "She called your phone so I answered it."

She nodded, and he set her phone back on her night table.

"She asked if we wanted to go with them to the Veteran's Day Parade tomorrow morning up in Waianae."

Catherine smiled. "That sounds like a great idea."

"Yeah," he said quietly.

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "Do you not want to go?"

"No, it's not that . . ."

He paused, and she tilted her head, waiting for him to continue.

Licking his lips, he said, "I guess there was a little part of me that thought . . . she'd want to keep her distance. That maybe she should keep her distance. For the kids' safety, you know?"

Catherine exhaled, stepping closer. "Hey . . ."

"Then I think about how hard it would be. To disconnect from them. After how close we've all gotten."

She gave him a soft smile and took his hand.

He nodded once. "So we keep doing what we do. Whatever we have to keep the people we care about safe."

"That's right," she said, squeezing his fingers. She brought her hand up to his face and cupped his cheek, kissing him lightly. "That's exactly right."

Saturday morning

"Aunt Catherine! Uncle Steve!" Jacob's excited voice carried across the park. "You're here!"

Steve and Catherine waved as they approached Jacob, Cody, and Jenna who were waiting for them near the parking lot.

Jacob ran across the grass to meet them, flinging his arms around Catherine as soon as he was close enough.

"You're okay!" he cried, hugging her tightly despite the cast on one arm.

"We're okay," Catherine echoed with a smile. "We told you that on the phone on Thursday."

"But now I can see you, not just talk to you."

Touched, Catherine hugged him tighter as Jenna and Cody reached them.

Jenna looked on, smiling fondly, but Cody's face was more inscrutable. He looked down, pushing his hands in his pockets and casting sidelong glances at Steve and Catherine.

Jacob looked up at the pair. "The bad guys tried to get you, but you got away, and we cleaned your house."

Steve smiled. "You did. Thank you again for that."

"Was the bed good, Uncle Steve?" Jacob asked. "Did you bounce the quarter?"

"The bed was perfect, buddy," Steve said as Jacob hugged his waist. "You did a great job."

"Cody said you had quarters, but I said we should leave one . . . just in case you didn't." He looked up at Steve. "Did you?"

"We did," Steve said. "But I'm glad you left the quarter. Aunt Catherine put it in her butterfly box where she keeps special things." He flashed Catherine a quick smile. "So we'll always have it."

"And you still got my picture, right?" Jacob asked.

"We do," Catherine assured him. "We're going to keep that forever. Every time we see it we'll remember how much you guys care."

Jacob beamed, hugging her again.

Steve looked over at Cody who was still silent, glancing at them surreptitiously.

"We're really glad you could come," Jenna said.

Catherine smiled. "So are we."

"We're going to the ceremony at the Punchbowl on Wednesday, so this worked out just right," Steve added with a nod.

"Everyone else is here," Jenna said, motioning toward the crowd near where the parade was due to start soon. "They're holding our spot."

"We're right in the front so we can see everything," Jacob said. "Even the marching instruments. Dylan said there's gonna be marching instruments."

"The instruments aren't marching," Jenna said, ruffling his hair. "The people playing the instruments are."

Jacob's shoulders slumped. "Oh. I wanted to see a drum marching. Like with robot legs."

Jenna and Catherine chuckled at that.

"Should we go?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah!" Jacob cried and reached for her hand.

"You guys go on, we'll catch up," Steve said, indicating himself and Cody.

Jacob looked between them, concerned. "But you'll miss the parade."

Steve glanced at his watch. "We still have a little while before it starts. You go ahead with your mom and Aunt Catherine, okay? Cody and I will be there in a few minutes."

Jenna gave a little nod, and Catherine caught Steve's eyes and smiled in understanding.

"Okay," Jacob said. "Come soon."

He kept a tight hold on Catherine's hand as they walked toward the crowd.

Steve looked at Cody and nodded in the other direction.

"Let's take a walk."

Cody fell in step beside Steve, and the two walked across the park in silence.

From his periphery, Steve could see Cody taking quick looks at him, but never for long.

"I wanted to talk a bit," Steve said finally. He glanced at Cody. "Just you and me. We haven't gotten a chance in person since everything happened."

Cody paused, looking down.

"Yeah," he said quietly.

"How're you doing?" Steve asked.

Cody looked up, surprised. "Me?"

"You," Steve said with a nod. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Cody said quickly, looking away.

Steve raised his eyebrows and stopped walking.

Cody stopped as well. "What?" he asked, his eyes not quite meeting Steve's.

"I can wait," Steve said, shrugging. "We got all day."

Cody glanced at him, then looked back in the direction they'd come.

"Come on," Steve said and nodded toward an empty bench. "Let's sit down."

Cody followed him to the bench and sat. His gaze stayed focused on the ground, toeing the dirt as Steve sat beside him.

When the teen didn't speak, Steve asked, "What's on your mind, Cody?"

There was a long pause.

"I keep thinking about . . ." Cody started in a low voice and stopped. "What happened?" he asked, finally looking at Steve. "I mean, I know what they said on the news . . . that that Sinclair guy had people take you and Catherine, so she couldn't testify. And they kept you in that old factory. I keep thinking different things and I just . . ." He paused again, his face pained. "What'd they do to you?"

This time it was Steve who paused. He ran a hand over his mouth as he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, deciding what to say.

"You ever heard the term 'gaslight'?" he asked.

Cody shook his head.

"It's when someone feeds you false information . . . to try to make you doubt your own memory, or your sanity."

Cody's brow furrowed. "That's what they did? Why?"

"To keep us from questioning . . . from fighting back." He caught Cody's eyes and shook his head. "It didn't work."

Cody bit his lip, then asked, "What'd they tell you?"

Steve paused again, flashes of the fake newspaper articles and pictures filling his mind.

"They told Catherine that I was dead," he said quietly, a shadow crossing his eyes. "Along with the rest of our team. That there had been an attack at the Palace. They used fake news articles as 'proof.' "

Cody looked stricken, and there was a long pause as he processed Steve's words.

"That's . . . that's . . . horrible."

"Yeah," Steve agreed simply.

"But . . . she knew it was fake . . . right?"

Steve paused, then said quietly, "Yeah . . . but it was still hard to see."

His brow knitted, and Cody asked, "So you weren't together?"

"Not initially. No."

"And they told you that . . . that Catherine and Danny and . . ." He glanced back in the direction of their group. "That they were all . . ." He swallowed. "Dead?"

"Yeah. And that I was under arrest for the attack."

Cody looked aghast. "What?"

"They needed a reason to have me restrained . . . that's what they went with."

Cody shook his head incredulously. "But that's . . . you would never . . ."

"They wanted us off-balance, to make us easier to handle," Steve explained. "They had the place set up to look like a hospital and tried to keep us sedated . . . incapacitated. But, like I said, it didn't work. We both escaped and found each other in the factory. Right about the same time that our team was moving in with SWAT."

Cody looked at the ground, his forehead creased as he took in everything Steve had told him.

Steve leaned forward to catch his eyes and put a hand on Cody's shoulder.

"I'm fine, Cody," he said firmly. "And Catherine's fine."

Cody nodded, but didn't meet his eyes. "I know."

Steve paused, studying the teen.

"What about you? I know Danny and your mom told you what was going on when we were taken." He kept his eyes on Cody even as the teen continued to look down. "I know that wasn't easy to deal with."

Cody looked over at him finally. "Knowing you were . . . in danger . . . you and Catherine . . . and there wasn't . . ." He shook his head in frustration. "I couldn't do anything . . . but wait."

Steve nodded slowly, but stayed quiet, sensing Cody had more to say.

"It was different than any other time . . . when you've been working and . . . you know, something happens. It was more than just . . . not knowing. It was . . ." He paused, searching for the words. "I mean, Danny and Chin and Kono, they were helping, but I–"

"You were helping, Cody," Steve insisted. "You were taking care of your family. Never underestimate how important that is."

Cody swallowed hard, giving a little nod. Quietly, he said, "I didn't want them to feel . . . what I was feeling."

Steve nodded his understanding.

"And then you called to say you were okay," Cody went on. "And I was . . . you know, relieved . . . but then I thought, what if . . . I mean, I know you have lots of training and experience . . . and you're like . . . the best at this . . . but, what if . . ." He looked at Steve, agitated. "What if someone else . . ."

Steve exhaled slowly.

Squeezing Cody's shoulder and holding his gaze, he said, "I can't promise that nothing will ever happen, Cody. That's not a promise anyone can make."

Cody swallowed roughly, looking down and nodding.

"But you're right," Steve continued. "I've had a lot of experience. I've had a lot of training. So has Catherine and the rest of the team."

Cody continued nodding, but didn't look up.

Steve paused, and after a moment said, "You remember what I told you . . . in the spring, after the hostage situation at the docks?"

Cody looked over at him. "You said . . . you don't go looking for those situations . . . but when they happen, you make a plan and . . . and you have each others' backs."

"That's right. We have each others' backs," Steve repeated. "And there's no one that's more true for than Catherine and me. Okay?"

Cody held his gaze and nodded once. "Okay."

"You feel better?"

"A little."

Steve nodded. "It's hard, I know."

Cody sighed. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be thinking about it anymore. Like you said, you're fine, Catherine's fine . . . I just–"

"Hey, no," Steve cut him off. "Listen to me. Don't apologize for that. Okay?" He waited until Cody met his eyes. "I'm . . . I'm not glad you were worried, I wish you didn't have to . . . but I know you worry because . . . you care. And for that, I am glad."

Cody searched his face and, seeing the sincerity in Steve's expression, finally gave a small smile.

"Come here," Steve said, and pulled him into a strong hug.

After a moment, he leaned back to look at Cody.

"Okay?" he asked.

Cody's smile was stronger now, and he nodded. "Okay."

The parade had just started as Steve and Cody joined the group. Along with the rest of the Allens and Catherine were Danny, Gabby, Grace, Chin, Leilani, Kono, and Adam. The kids all held small American flags.

"You're here!" Jacob announced. He was standing in front of Catherine and holding both of her arms around him, his flag in one hand. "You missed the beginning. But only a little."

Catherine looked between Steve and Cody and smiled at the more relaxed look on the teen's face.

Grace and Kaitlyn bounced over to greet Steve with hugs, which he accepted while waving a quick greeting to the others.

Cody stepped beside Catherine and cleared his throat. She gently released herself from Jacob's hold and turned to the teen.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said quietly.

Catherine smiled warmly. "Come here," she said and hugged him tightly.

Surprised, Cody froze momentarily, then relaxed and hugged her back.

Steve and Jenna smiled happily at the scene.

Stepping back, Catherine smiled again and put a hand to Cody's cheek. He looked down, but was smiling. She squeezed his arm once and let him go.

"Cody, there's lots of people with flags," Jacob said, holding his up.

"Yeah, they brought them to honor all the veterans," Cody said with a glance at Steve and Catherine. "Like we did. To say 'thank you.' "

"You're a veteran, right, Aunt Catherine?" Jacob asked, standing between Catherine and Steve. "And you, too, Uncle Steve?"

"That's right," Catherine said.

Jacob looked between them with wide eyes and reached for both their hands, managing to keep hold of his flag as well.

"I know veterans," he said, his voice hushed and full of awe.

They smiled at him, and Catherine nodded toward the parade.

With a happy sigh, he turned to look just as members of one of the local VFWs walked by.

"Thank you!" Jacob called out.

One of the men closest to them smiled at Jacob and touched the brim of his hat in response.

Excited, Jacob released Steve's hand and waved his flag vigorously.

"You actually know a few veterans, Jacob," Jenna said.

"I do?" he asked, looking over at her.

"Your friend Jeremy in your class? His dad is in the Air Force. You've met him."

"And Jadon, Andre, and Reggie's uncle was in the Army," Cody said.

"My friend Sarah's mom is, too," Casey put in.

"And your grandfather was in the Army," Jenna said.

"My grandfather?" Jacob asked.

Jenna smiled. "Yeah, my dad."

"Ohhh," Jacob said, interested.

"He was in Vietnam, right, Mom?" Casey asked.

"That's right."

"I do know veterans," Jacob said, smiling proudly. "Know what? When I see Jeremy's dad, I'm going to say 'thank you' to him. And Reggie's uncle."

"I think that's a great idea," Jenna said.

Jacob looked up at Steve and Catherine.

"Aunt Catherine, Uncle Steve, I see you a lot. I can say 'thank you' every time . . . or . . ." He twisted his lips, thinking. "How about when I do this . . ." He turned to face them and put his cast-covered arm up in a salute. "That means 'thank you.' "

Catherine smiled and fixed the angle of his arm.

"There you go," she said.

Steve smiled.

Jacob lowered his arm. "And you know what else?" He dove towards them and wrapped his arms around both their waists as far as he could reach. "So does this."

Before they could respond, Kaitlyn and Grace joined the hug, putting their arms around Steve and Catherine. Dylan, Casey, and Cody followed, and then the adults circled the group in one large gesture that was filled with both gratitude for their service and relief that they had survived their ordeal and could be thanked in person.

Thank you to the men and women who have served and sacrificed so much for our country.

Thank you to them and to their families on Veterans Day and every day.