A/N: For all of you that have been patiently waiting for the sequel to "If You Ever Need Me, I'll Be There," here it is! So, with that said, you will want to read that story first or else you won't have much of an idea about what's going on here. If you are knew to this little world I've created I would love to hear your comments about the first story as well as this one! Everyone, please review and let me know what you think of this story, where you'd like to see it go, and if you have any constructive criticism to help me improve this story and my writing! This story is all outlined, but I'm open to changing some things around if I get some suggestions I really like! I'm hoping to be able to update this once a week or once every two weeks. I'm a grad student who barely has enough time to feed herself so finding time to write can be difficult, but have no fear I will finish this story, but I won't be updating as often as I did for the first story! Reviews will get new chapters up faster, however :)

Like always, I want to thank my awesome beta jerseybelle for not only reading and editing this chapter within hours of me sending it, but for helping me with the planning and outlining process of this story as well!

Chapter 1: This Right Here, Is Perfect

*Family ties are precious threads, no matter where we roam. They draw us close to those we love and pull our hearts towards home.*

The alarm clock went off at 4:30 am and Danny grumbled as he hit the machine senseless trying to shut it up. Steve smiled; even after ten years of waking up next to him Danny was still not a morning person.

"Your daughter is out of her freaking mind if she thinks voluntarily getting up at this hour is normal," Danny grumbled to his partner beside him.

"Our daughter," Steve sighed as he rolled out of the bed towards the dresser, "She is our daughter."

"No, at 4:30 in the morning she is your daughter, Steven," Danny started as he reluctantly followed Steve towards the dresser, "Only your offspring would be up at this godforsaken hour."

"You know if you agreed to our getting Avery a car when she turns sixteen you won't have to wake up at this godforsaken hour."

"How many times do we have to have this discussion Steven? Avery doesn't need a car; my blood pressure can't handle her driving!"

"What are you talking about? Avery's a good driver, at least that's what you keep telling me after you guys go out and practice, which by the way, I would love to do with her."

"I already told you that you aren't allowed to teach her how to drive."

"She's my daughter too."

"She shares your DNA and I do not want another McGarrett behind the wheel of a car unsupervised."

"But she's had ten years of Danno nurturing so I'm sure some of my bad genetic tendencies have been muted by your influence."

"Don't try to suck up."

"Grace got a car last month on her birthday. So Grace can have a car but Avery can't?"

"Step-Stan got Grace a car; I didn't have any say in the matter." Danny stomped off towards the bathroom, "And just for bringing it up, you can drive Avery to practice and wait till after you drop her off to go swimming."

Steve rolled his eyes; this conversation was going nowhere fast and after ten years he knew not to attempt to have any sort of rational conversation with Danny before he's had his coffee. But that didn't mean he was above taking advantage of Danny's vulnerable state.

"Okay, Danno, but she's driving," Steve replied as he heard the familiar moan of pleasure that escaped Danny's mouth every morning when he first entered the warm shower. That moan meant Danny was a little blissed out and his mind would not be working properly.

"Okay," was all Steve needed to hear before throwing a fist in the air and throwing on his swim trunks. Yeah, after ten years Steve knew the best time to slip in details Danny might not be too happy about. He made his way downstairs to start the coffee pot because he wasn't completely heartless or stupid. He knew that Danny would register what he had said at some point soon, and it was best to be prepared with a little piece of bribery.

As the coffee pot began to gurgle and slurp its way into life, Steve popped a few pieces of bread into the toaster, cut some fresh pineapple into chunks, and scrambled up some eggs. After distributing the food between the plates of their respective owners, he grabbed his glass of orange juice and made his way over to the glass door leading to the lanai. He stood and watched the sun as it began to peek its pink rays out from behind the vast ocean, barely skimming the calm surface with the beginnings of morning. To him, this was paradise. If you had asked him ten years ago what he would have felt moving back to Hawaii, contentment, happiness, and a sense of belonging would not be on his list. But here he was, still living in the same house he grew up in, surrounded by people he loved, doing a job he's good at, and finally having found the family he'd always wanted.

Steve's life wasn't looking half-bad at the moment. Not half-bad at all.

"Danno's not going to be too happy when he sees that you cut up pineapple."

Steve turned around to see Avery, wearing a pair of low-slung board shorts over her bright green one piece, grab a piece of pineapple off her plate and toss it in her mouth.

"Well, it's your favorite and since you need to have your strength up to drive to practice I thought the best way to make sure of that was to tempt you with pineapple."

"I get to drive to practice?"

Steve nodded as Avery's face broke into a smile and she wiggled her hips around in her own form of a happy dance, "Finally, I get to drive in the morning! What made Danno finally give in? He's been going on and on for weeks about it being too early in the morning, I would be too tired, blah blah blah."

"Well, I can be very convincing."

Avery's hands flew up to cover her ears, "I don't want to know, Dad. There are certain things my sensitive ears and impressionable mind cannot handle."

"Your sensitive mind went there; I just meant that I knew the perfect moment to let him know that I was going to let you drive to practice with me this morning."

"You told him just after he got in the shower."

Steve grinned and patted himself on the back.

"Told me what after I got in the shower?"

Steve looked up to see Danny come down the last step, his hair still damp and wild around his face, not yet having been tamed by copious amounts of styling gel.

"That I get to drive to practice this morning," Avery beamed at Danny, humor playing behind her green eyes because she knew that telling Danny something right after he got in the shower ensured that he wouldn't actually register what you were saying. Her dad was in trouble and she needed the entertainment this early in the morning.

Danny's eyes slowly moved from Avery towards Steve, who for his part was standing nonchalantly by the coffee machine, holding out a mug of the steaming liquid as a peace offering. "Want some coffee?"

Danny grabbed the mug from his hands, took two big gulps without registering the scalding liquid burning its path down his throat. Steve watched as the jolt of caffeine began to wake up Danny's system and jumpstart his brain, "You are not letting Avery drive to practice, but nice try hitting me up in my one and only moment of weakness in my entire day."

"You said okay and I think it's only fair. We need to make sure she can drive safely in the mornings or else we are both going to have to continue to wake up this early to drive her there."

"Well then we are going to continue to wake up this early and drive her there."

"But that means that you still have to wake up at 4:30 every morning," Steve returned, knowing that this would be his way of winning the disagreement.

"I don't care."

"Yes, you do."

Danny's eyes narrowed in Steve's direction and he stepped a few feet closer to Steve, officially entering his personal space bubble. He placed the coffee mug on the counter behind Steve's hip, looked upwards into his face, "Fine, she can drive, but if you two get into an accident don't think for a moment that I'm going to be the one to show up and save your ass."

"Asses, technically," Avery said from her seat at the island.

"Language," Steve said as he looked towards Avery over Danny's head.

"Danno said it first."

"Fine, I'm not going to be the one to show up and save your rear ends when this decision ends up in a heap of trouble."

"I thought you really liked my rear end," Steve whispered into Danny's ear, seeing the involuntary shiver that rolled down his partner's back.

Danny leaned up and placed a kiss on Steve's lips, "Good morning, I think I forgot that earlier."

"Mmm, you did," Steve smiled as he pulled Danny back in again, "But that's okay."

"Ugh, get a room or give me the keys, either way, stop what you're doing. Impressionable minds, remember."

Both men turned towards their daughter, who was already way too grown up in their opinion, and laughed as Steve threw the keys to the Camaro, "Be out in a second."

Avery mumbled something about parents being nauseating as she walked towards the front door. Steve ignored her and captured Danny's lips again, pulling him closer.

"Good morning to you too," Steve smiled against Danny's lips.

"I can't believe you are letting her take my new car," Danny reached behind Steve to grab his coffee mug and take a sip of the desperately needed, caffeine-laden liquid.

"Danno, it's not that new," Steve rolled his eyes as he grabbed a t-shirt from the stack of laundry in the hallway.

"Two years old is new; it's young, infantile. Do you remember when Avery was two? Did you say she was old?"

"She's a human being and I would prefer if you didn't compare her to your car."

"Fine, take my car. If you total it than you're buying me a new one."

"We share our money, Danny," Steve was going to win this argument; he was determined.

"Whatever, you big goof, just bring that precious girl back in one piece."

Yup, Steve was certainly glad he made the decision to move back to Hawaii.

He finally had his family.

*H50*

In Steve's opinion, the best thing about getting up early was the amount of things you could get done before you had to be at work. You could get in your morning exercise routine, clean the house, do the laundry, or enjoy the privacy one had when your fifteen (almost sixteen as Avery liked to remind them constantly) year old daughter was out of the house for swim practice.

Danny, in general, did not agree with Steve's opinion about the great aspects of waking up early. But, over the years Steve had enjoyed proving to Danny just how much they could enjoy during those early morning hours of uninterrupted privacy they had while Avery was swimming.

"You aren't as sly as you seem to think you are, you know," Danny said as he turned towards Steve, who was lying on his side rubbing circles up and down Danny's stomach.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I know you shower me with your undivided sexual attention every morning I grumble about the time to prove to me just how great it is to wake up early."

"I don't do that."

"Your shifty eyes are not agreeing with your statement."

Steve laughed and rolled off the bed, "Okay, you may have caught me. How long have you known?"

Danny propped himself up by his elbows as he watched Steve head towards the bathroom to wash off the last vestiges of their morning love-making, "When did Avery start having morning swim practices?"

"When she was ten I think."

"Okay, so almost six years now."

"Six years! And you never said anything," Steve walked back out into the bedroom, arms crossed in front of him.

"Well you were always so attentive in the mornings. I didn't want to ruin that."

Steve couldn't help the grin that broke its way through his face. He moved towards Danny who was sprawled on the bed in all his glory, and placed his arms on either side of Danny's body, his face inches from Danny's, "So it was for purely selfish reasons."

Danny swallowed, "Purely."

Danny pushed himself forward, towards Steve's mouth, but Steve pulled away just in time for Danny to miss and hit his shoulder instead, "No fair, Steve."

"Well, I just found out you've been lying to me for six years just so you could get my undivided attention and not have to do any of the work yourself."

"You seemed pretty satisfied this morning."

"Not the point. Aren't you the one that's always going on and on about that equal partnership business," Steve was behind the half-opened bathroom door now, turning the knobs on the shower to get the perfect temperature.

Danny's head appeared through the crack in the door, "You know, you're right. Would you like some company?"

"Do I get to be selfish? I mean, you've already had a shower this morning."

Danny laughed and pushed Steve into the warm spray, "You get to be selfish for the next ten minutes, no longer."

"Ten minutes. I can work with that."

*H50*

"Hey, Boss." Kono stuck her head into Steve's office where he was thankful for the distraction from his paperwork, "We got a case. We're meeting in the conference room."

"Thanks, Kono."

He threw his pen onto the stack of papers on his desk and followed her out into the main area of the office. 5-0 hadn't changed much over the years. With the installment of a new governor following the death of Jameson and the subsequent apprehension of Wo Fat, they were on a slightly tighter leash, something Danny was particularly happy about. 'Now I don't have to be the only one to burst your explosion-happy bubble,' he had said after the new governor briefed them on the new rules and regulations he was placing on the task force. Steve tried very hard to smile and nod as the new governor talked, but he was not happy to have to rein it in; Steve didn't talk to Danny for a week, not that that stopped Danny from talking to him, of course.

"We have a murder case," Danny informed Steve as he began to scan the crime scene photos that were on the computer screen.

"Why is the victim wearing a Navy issued uniform?"

"Because the victim is in the Navy." Danny was giving Steve his 'why are you so dense look.'

"Don't look at me as if that's the obvious answer. Military crimes aren't investigated by us, they are kept in house, and you know that. And, you know that I know that."

"It seems your reputation precedes you, babe," Danny said, "Rear Admiral Jensen requested your help specifically."

Steve hadn't heard that name in a long time. Rear Admiral Jensen was Steve's old training officer in the SEALs. At the time Jensen had taken Steve under his wing and molded him into an outstanding officer and SEAL, but since he transferred to the reserves, they had lost touch.

"Alright then, tell me about the case."

The team spent the next few hours running through case details, chasing leads, and talking to Navy personnel on base.

"How do you know Admiral Jensen," Danny asked as the two partners stood side by side hunched over the computer table.

"He was my training officer in the SEALs."

"That's it, that's all you're going to tell me."

Steve sighed, not wanting to get into any of this with Danny right now. "That's it."

"He doesn't seem like the type of guy who would usually go outside the Navy for police help."

"He's not." He knew he was being short but he really didn't want to have to tell Danny the real reason he thinks that Admiral Jensen requested their assistance on the case. The reason was definitely not because the Admiral thought Steve was a better detective than any of the NCIS officers on base.

"So, any theories on why he asked us in then?"

"Drop it, Danny," Steve said, his voice sharper than he planned. He turned toward Danny and was greeted with a look of determination; clearly he wasn't going to budge. "Please."

Apparently Steve was not above begging Danny to drop it. The slight quiver that found its way into Steve's voice, a quiver he will swear was not there, relaxed Danny's tense shoulders and placed a look of concern on his face.

"Consider it dropped, for now, because I have a feeling whatever it is that's bothering you is going to be something I need to know."

"When I have more solid evidence to back up my suspicions I promise you that you'll be the first to know." Steve was grateful for the instinctual, unspoken level at which they knew each other. He pulled Danny into his arms, a public display of affection that they tried to keep out of the office, but right now Steve needed the reassurance and Danny was happy to oblige apparently because he sighed into the embrace.

Chin cleared his throat behind the two men entangled in a private embrace, "I thought we had a seminar about public displays of affection in the office after the unfortunate incident with a busted office door lock two years ago?"

Steve and Danny blushed in sync. "Sorry guys, won't happen again."

"We're just giving you a hard time, Boss," Kono said as she grasped both men by the shoulders, "We came to see if you guys were ready to go."

"Go where?" Danny questioned as he shifted a few feet away from Steve; he was the one who had put the kibosh on sex in the office, much to Steve's chagrin, after Chin walked in on them in the midst of their passionate love-making on Steve's desk after hours one evening.

"Um, Avery's swim meet. Please don't tell me you forgot. That's bad, brahs, she's your daughter and I'm the one that has to make sure you remember her schedule."

"Of course we remember," Steve quickly responded as he grabbed the keys to the Camaro from Danny's pocket, despite his protests, "We were just testing you! First meet of the summer season!"

All three members of 5-0 followed behind their boss. Avery's first meet of any season meant only one thing in these hallowed halls of crime-fighting: time-off.

*H50*

The 5-0 team members entered the aquatic center just as the competitors were beginning their warm-up laps.

"Remember that I take thank-yous in the form of edible gifts and days off," Kono grinned as she led the three men towards the best seats in the house.

"Okay, okay," Danny relented with his hands in the air, "We owe you dinner, Kono. Thank you for making sure we didn't miss Avery's first swim meet of the season."

"You're welcome, and I love pasta and shellfish."

"Avery is making me buy scallops at the fish market tomorrow morning so come over for dinner tomorrow night. I think she's making some sort of vegetable, scallop, spaghetti dish," Steve said as he waved towards Avery who had just appeared on the pool deck.

"I always forget that she's actually a good cook," Chin said as he waved to Avery as well, "She clearly didn't get that from your gene pool."

"Hey, I will have you know that I am a fine cook," Steve joked, mocking outrage.

"You can cook steak babe and the list ends there," Danny bumped his shoulder into Steve's as Kono and Chin laughed along with him.

"Well, it's good steak."

Danny kissed Steve on the cheek, "You're right, your steak is delicious."

Avery grinned back and waved at her ohana. Kono gave her the thumbs up sign and mimed what Steve guessed was supposed to be an impression of her cheering loudly. Avery understood whatever it was supposed to be and laughed before she dove into the pool to begin warming-up. Steve may give Kono a hard time every now and then, but he was very thankful for her presence in Avery's life. As satisfied as Steve was with his life and his family, Avery still didn't have a female role model in her family. Kono had graciously accepted that role in Avery's life and filled it beautifully, most of the time. Kono's lessons on winning the attention of cute boys had not gone over well with Avery's fathers; Kono was banned from the beach house for two weeks after that stunt.

The announcer came on the PA system and called the swimmers to order as he read off the list of the events for the afternoon. First up was the 200 yd. medley relay and Avery was on the top medley relay for her team because she was the strongest breaststroker, by far. And Steve was not being biased in that regard, Avery's exceptional times spoke for themselves.

Danny squeezed Steve's hand as the buzzer sounded and the first swimmers hit the water. There was a good chance that both Steve and Danny were more nervous before one of Avery's races than she ever was. The two proud fathers cheered on their little girl as she brought her team into the lead during her leg of the race. Yes, she was awesome, if Steve said so himself. He would have cheered her on, supported her, and been just as proud of her if she wasn't as gifted a swimmer, but he was secretly really happy she was so awesome. He loved to brag, just a little; it made up for the number of times him and Danny were given odd looks or snide remarks about them raising Avery together. After all these years it still baffled Steve how cold and heartless some people could be.

Avery's team had won the first event and the four 5-0 members cheered the loudest. Avery went to sit with the rest of her team while she waited for her next event. Steve sat and watched the interim races with some interest, especially the races that held Avery's close friends Evelyn, Jessica, and Ian. Steve was so busy watching Evie barely edge out her opponent in the 100 yard butterfly that he hadn't noticed the man sit down next to him and outstretch his hand.

The man cleared his throat and Steve turned towards him, noticing the proffered hand and grasped it, "My name is Owen Michaels. I'm the Assistant Coach for the swim team at UCLA. It's nice to meet you Mr. McGarrett."

"It's nice to meet you too," Steve released the man's hand, confused as to why a swim coach from California knew his name.

"I wanted to talk to you about Avery's plans for college."

Oh, now Steve understood why the man seemed to know his name. "What about her plans for college?"

"I wanted to know if she's given any thought to where she wanted to attend college and if she planned on continuing to swim after high school."

Steve gave the man a look, stumbling over the one coherent thought in his head. He was so busy worrying about Avery starting to drive and turning sixteen, which to him seemed like such a pivotal year in the life of a teenage girl, he hadn't even thought to ask Avery what she wanted to do after high school. Some father you are, McGarrett, he chastised himself in his head.

"She wants to attend college after high school, of course," Danny interjected and outstretched his hand towards Mr. Michaels, "I'm Danny Williams."

The coach raised an eyebrow at Danny as he accepted the shake, "Nice to meet you Mr. Williams. If you don't mind me asking, how do you know about her post-high school plans?"

Danny smiled and grasped Steve's shoulder and leaned across his body towards the coach, "Because her father hasn't been handling her impending driving capabilities very well and so it has fallen on my shoulders to make sure her future is still well taken care of."

Coach Michaels was clearly confused by the whole situation. Steve felt bad for the poor man, really, because he knew that they didn't fit the typical gay couple stereotype and people generally didn't follow that line of thinking initially. It bugged him that people still held those stereotypes at all, but he had resigned to handling them as best he could because he was just one man and couldn't change the entire world all on his own.

It was always awkward to explain their family to strangers, mainly because you never quite knew what their reaction would be, but Steve and Danny had figured out rather quickly into their relationship that it was easier to be upfront about who they were instead of hiding it, "Coach Michaels, Danny is my partner and Avery's father."

Realization quickly dawned on the coach as he squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. "I see. Well, I wanted to let you know that we would love to have Avery come and visit us up at UCLA during her senior year when she's looking more seriously into her swimming and academic future."

"Thanks for the information, Coach Michaels," Danny said as he shook the man's hand and nudged Steve to do the same before Owen got up and walked away.

Steve's shoulders slumped; he felt like a terrible dad at this point. Danny rubbed his hand along Steve's thigh, "Don't worry, babe, that's why we're a team. We pick up the slack for each other. Avery and I have talked quite a bit about college already. She's already way ahead of the game."

"What does she want to do?"

"She's not entirely sure, but she's leaning towards a big university that has a swimming program, like UCLA, USC, or University of Texas. She knows for sure that she wants to swim, she's a little unsure about what major she wants to choose or what school she wants to go to."

Steve nodded his head. Danny's hand remained reassuringly on his thigh as Kono signaled for them to pay more attention because Avery was up. Avery won both of the breaststroke events, won the 50 yard freestyle, and came in second in the 100 yard freestyle. It was clearly a bit of an understatement to say that Steve and Danny were beaming with pride.

Kono and Chin slapped Avery high-fives as she came over to them after the meet, "Thanks for coming you two. I love it when you guys are all here cheering me on."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, kiddo," Kono winked.

"I just have to change, so I'll meet you guys in the lobby," she directed towards her parents, a little suspicious of the large grins they were sporting.

"Okay munchkin," Danny managed. Avery rolled her eyes at the childhood nickname. Danny laughed, "A father's prerogative."

Kono and Chin said goodbye a few minutes later and left Steve and Danny waiting on their own. Steve knew they were both thinking about the UCLA coach, so he decided to be the man of the day and broach the subject, "So, should we tell her about UCLA?"

Danny looked back at him, his eyes crinkling around the corners in concern, "I don't know. UCLA is one of the schools she really likes, but she's only just finishing her sophomore year of high school. I know that junior year is like the big year for touring colleges, keeping your grades up, and making sure you stand out in your chosen sport if you are aiming for an athletic scholarship, but I don't want to put too much pressure on her. She's still two years away from that decision."

"Maybe we should ask her coach," Steve suggested, "He'll know what to do about college recruiting and stuff; they've had other swimmers on this team go on to swim in college."

"Good idea."

Steve captured Danny's lips in a quick kiss before Avery bounded towards them, swinging her swim bag behind her, "Let's get a move on, I've got homework."

"Lead the way, superstar," Steve bowed Avery past him towards the door.

"Can the superstar drive home?"

Steve looked over at Danny for verification. Danny nodded his head and Avery jumped and held out her hand for the keys, "Thanks, Danno." She kissed him on the cheek when he placed the keys in her hand.

"Don't forget we have to swing by Rachel's first; Grace is spending the weekend with us."

Steve didn't miss the slight eye-roll Avery sported as she turned away from them and walked towards the car. He looked over at his partner, who hadn't seemed to notice, so Steve just shrugged it off as a coincidence.