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miss_lucy21Oh, can we say fluff? I do believe we can...
"Hey, Grace!" Steve called as Grace came down the steps of her school.
"Steve!" she called, happily, running over. "Hi!"
"Hi, kiddo," he said, accepting a hug from her. "How's it?"
"Where's Danno?" she asked, looking suddenly worried.
"Danno's fine, I promise," Steve said. "He's finishing up something at work and asked me to come and get you. We'll go back to my house and he'll meet us there by dinnertime."
"Oh," she said. She looked thoughtful for a second, then said, "What's the password?"
"Pineapple pizza," Steve said, grinning. "Good girl."
She grinned up at him. "We're going to your house?"
"Yep," Steve said, as they walked to the car.
"Can I go swimming?" she asked.
"Probably not today, sweetheart. I promised your dad we'd make sure your homework got started," Steve said, making sure she got buckled into the back seat of Danny's car.
"Oooh-kay," she sighed.
"Did you have a good day?" he asked, as he pulled out of the school parking lot.
"It was all right," she said, shrugging. "Mrs. Lee yelled at us, 'cause Matt and Casey wouldn't stop messing around."
"Well, that's no fun," Steve said.
"Yeah," Grace agreed. "She said we wouldn't get cupcakes for Amy's birthday tomorrow if they didn't behave."
"Wow, harsh," Steve said. "Did they behave?"
"Yeah, they did," she said.
"Good," Steve said. "Do you have lots of homework?"
"Sorta," she said. "I have to read a chapter of this stupid book and answer questions. And do my math book and my spelling."
"Why's the book stupid?" Steve asked.
"'Cause it's boring. It's all about hunting raccoons and dogs and stuff," she said.
Steve blinked. It sounded familiar. "Where the Red Fern Grows?" he asked.
"Yeah!" she said, surprised. "You've read it?"
"A long, long time ago," Steve said. "I think everyone reads it in fourth grade."
"Well, it's boring. And hunting is stupid and mean," Grace said.
"It's not really stupid," Steve said, glancing at her in the rear-view mirror. "Lots of people hunt so they can feed their family. Not everyone lives near a grocery store, right?"
"I guess," she said.
"And it's not mean if you're respectful and either eat what you kill or give it to people who need the food," Steve added.
"Have you gone hunting?" Grace asked.
"Once or twice, on the Mainland," he replied.
"Did you eat what you killed?" she asked.
"I didn't, personally. My friend and I had to go back to our ship. But his family did eat the deer we caught," Steve explained. "But I've gone fishing lots of times and eaten the fish I've caught."
Grace wrinkled up her nose. "I don't like fish."
"Your dad said," Steve said. "Maybe you just haven't had the right fish. Hawaii's got the best fish in the whole world, you know."
"Really?" she asked.
"Yup. Best fish I've eaten anywhere," Steve said as he pulled into his driveway.
"You've been lots of places," Grace said. "My dad said."
"I have, yeah," Steve said, getting out the car. He opened the car door for Grace, then went to the trunk to get the bag Danny had told him was in there. He handed the gym bag to Grace and said, "You want a snack?"
"Yes, please," she said, following him up the walk to the front door.
"Ok, why don't you go and get changed, and I'll find us a snack," Steve said, letting them into the house. "You remember where the bathroom is?"
"Yup!" she said, scurrying off to change.
Steve went into the kitchen and pulled some cut pineapple from the fridge. He cut up a mango and added it to the pineapple, putting it into two bowls. He found some yogurt in the fridge and added a little honey and cinnamon before spooning it over the fruit. "Here we go," he said, setting the bowls on the table as Grace came into the kitchen.
"Thanks," she said, taking her bowl. "This is good," she said, sounding surprised.
"Well, thank you," Steve said. He joined her at the table. "My mom used to make me this after school," he added.
"It's yummy," she said, nodding. They ate quietly for a moment. "My mom's gonna have a baby," Grace informed him.
"I know," Steve said. "Are you excited to be a big sister?"
Grace shrugged. "Laila says her little cousin cries a lot and wakes them all up at night."
"Babies do that, yeah," Steve said.
"But Mom said I'll probably get to stay with Danno more when the baby comes, so that's good," Grace said.
Steve hadn't heard that. He hoped it was true for Danny's sake. "You'd like that, huh?"
"Yeah," Grace said. "I like Mom and Stan's house better than the hotel, but I miss Danno, too," she confided.
"I think he misses you, too," Steve said, nodding.
They finished their fruit and Steve put the bowls in the sink. "Ok, homework time," he said. "You need any help?"
"No, thank you," she said.
"Ok," Steve said. "I'm going to do some work myself, ok? I'll be right through there," he said, pointing towards the alcove where his desk was. "You come get me if you need anything, ok?"
"I will," Grace said, nodding.
"Good," Steve said. He went into the other room and booted up the computer. He was working on his bills for the month when his cell phone rang. "Hey, Danny," he said, answering.
"Hey. You got Grace ok? Everything's fine?" he asked.
"Of course," Steve said. "We're doing great. Had a snack and she's working on her homework at the kitchen table." He got up and walked into the kitchen. "Hey, Gracie, your dad's on the phone."
"Danno!" she said, happily as she took the phone. "Yeah. It was ok. Yeah, Steve made me fruit stuff, it was yummy. Yeah, my math homework. Fractions. No, I understand it, it's easy. Yeah, ok, love you too," she said, handing the phone back to Steve.
"Fruit stuff?" Danny asked.
Steve shrugged, even though Danny couldn't see. "What?"
"Nothing. I'm just amazed you got her to think fruit was yummy," Danny said. "You'll have to tell me how you did that."
"No problem," Steve said. "Everything good there?"
"Yeah, we're good. Got the warrants for tomorrow, Chin and Lori are working with HPD to get things set up. I'm on my way over," Danny said.
"Ok, good," Steve said. "You want to eat dinner here? I think I have stuff to make spaghetti."
"That would be wonderful, but I do not know if I can trust your spaghetti making skills. You're not going to do anything weird, like put fruit in the sauce, are you?" Danny asked.
"No, Danny," Steve said, rolling his eyes. "No fruit. Just sauce and peppers and onions."
"That sounds acceptable," Danny said. "Spaghetti would be great, thank you."
"No problem," Steve said. "See you in about 30, yeah?"
"Sounds about right," Danny said. "See ya. Make sure my daughter's still in one piece when I get there, please."
Steve just rolled his eyes and hung up without dignifying that with a response. "Ok, Gracie, we've got 30 minutes before your dad gets here. How's that homework coming?" he asked.
"I got my math done," she said. "But Danno's gotta check it."
"Right, then," Steve said. "What do you have to do with your...spelling, right?"
"Just gotta practice the words for the test tomorrow," she said.
Steve nodded. "How are you at spaghetti sauce?" he asked.
Grace looked at him quizzically. "I don't know what you mean," she said.
"Do you want to help me make the spaghetti sauce?" he rephrased. "For dinner when your dad gets here."
"Sure," she said, brightly.
"Great!" Steve said. "Why don't you give me your list of words and we can practice those while you help me with dinner."
"Ok," she said. She riffled through a folder and held up a piece of paper. "Here's the words."
"Got it," Steve said. He took the list. "Ok, go to the fridge and find me a green pepper. And spell 'pledge', while you're at it." He retrieved a big pot and set the water to boil.
"P-L-E-D-G-E", Grace said, bringing him a pepper.
"Right," Steve said. "Ok, take the pepper to the sink, wash it off, and spell 'plates' for me," he said as he began peeling and chopping an onion.
"P-L-A-T-E-S", Grace said, washing the pepper. "Here," she said, handing him the pepper.
"Great, thanks," Steve said. He glanced at the list. "Ok, spell 'juice' while I catch up with the chopping, ok?"
"J-U-I-C-E," Grace spelled as she watched him chop up the pepper.
"Right again!" Steve said. "You're a good speller."
"Those are the easy ones," Grace said.
"Yeah, but you need to get the easy ones right too," Steve said. "Would you please go into that cupboard there and get me the frying pan?" he said, pointing at a lower cupboard near the stove. "And spell 'staple'"
"S-T-A-P-E-L", Grace said.
"Close," Steve said. "Try it again," he said, taking the frying pan from her. He drizzled some oil in the pan and set it on the stove to heat.
"Oh, L-E," Grace said. "S-T-A-P-L-E".
"Right!" Steve said. "Good job. You stand back a little while I fry up these onions and peppers, ok? Go get me the box of spaghetti from that drawer, ok?" he said pointing at a drawer.
"Ok," Grace went off to get the pasta. "What's the next word?"
"Hmm," Steve said, glancing at the list that he'd set well out of the way of the stove. "How about 'invite'"
"I-N-V-I-T-E", Grace said, bringing the pot over.
"Yup, that's right," Steve said. "Ok, go drag a chair over here to the stove," he said, taking the pot from her. "You can stir the sauce for me."
"Ok!" Grace said. She brought a chair over to the stove. "Ready."
"Great," Steve said. He opened the jar of sauce and carefully poured it over the onions and peppers and turned down the heat. "Climb up here and stir this," he said, handing Grace a spoon. "And spell 'type' for me."
"T-Y-P-E", Grace said, stirring slowly.
"That's right," Steve said. "Ok, let's see," he said, consulting the list. "This one is a tough one. 'Definite'"
Grace groaned. "Um, D-E-F-I-N-A-T-E?" she asked.
"Not quite," Steve said.
"E-T-E?" she asked.
"No, sorry, kiddo. Here, repeat it with me," Steve said. "D-E"
"D-E", she repeated.
"F-I-N", he said.
"F-I-N", she repeated.
"I-T-E", Steve finished.
"I-T-E", Grace repeated.
"Try it again," Steve said as he dumped the spaghetti into the boiling water.
"D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E", Grace chanted.
"Got it!" Steve said. "Good job."
"Hello!" Danny called as he came in the door.
"Danno!" Grace shouted. "We're in the kitchen!"
"Hey, Monkey," Danny said, coming into the kitchen. "What'cha doing?"
"Stirring the sauce," she said.
"I see that," Danny said. "Are you doing a good job?"
"She's doing a great job," Steve said. "She's a really good speller, too."
"Oooh, is it spelling day?" Danny asked. "Yeah, it's Thursday ,isn't it?"
"Yeah. I've been spelling for Steve while we cook," Grace said.
"Good, good," Danny said.
Steve handed him the list. "If you want to take over while I make salad," he said.
"Sure," Danny said. "I can do that. Ok, Monkey, what was the last one you did?"
"Definite," Grace said.
"Man, that one's hard," Danny said.
"I *know*" Grace sighed. "I didn't get it right."
"Yes, you did," Steve argued as he pulled salad ingredients from the fridge. "You didn't get it right on the first try, but you got it right after we spelled it together."
"Yeah," Grace agreed.
"We'll go over it again before you go to school in the morning," Danny assured her. "You'll get it."
"Ok," Grace said. "When do you know if this is done?" she asked.
"When the pasta is cooked," Steve said, shrugging. "Are you getting tired of stirring?"
"A little," she said.
"Well, give your dad the spoon and go sit down, then," Steve said. "We'll put him to work a little."
"Thanks," Danny said, rolling his eyes. "Here, Monkey, go sit at the table. Can you spell 'awhile'?"
Steve smiled to himself as he made a salad and listened to Grace spell for Danny. It felt good to be making dinner and doing spelling homework. It almost made his kitchen feel like home.
"Hey, Grace!" Steve called as Grace came down the steps of her school.
"Steve!" she called, happily, running over. "Hi!"
"Hi, kiddo," he said, accepting a hug from her. "How's it?"
"Where's Danno?" she asked, looking suddenly worried.
"Danno's fine, I promise," Steve said. "He's finishing up something at work and asked me to come and get you. We'll go back to my house and he'll meet us there by dinnertime."
"Oh," she said. She looked thoughtful for a second, then said, "What's the password?"
"Pineapple pizza," Steve said, grinning. "Good girl."
She grinned up at him. "We're going to your house?"
"Yep," Steve said, as they walked to the car.
"Can I go swimming?" she asked.
"Probably not today, sweetheart. I promised your dad we'd make sure your homework got started," Steve said, making sure she got buckled into the back seat of Danny's car.
"Oooh-kay," she sighed.
"Did you have a good day?" he asked, as he pulled out of the school parking lot.
"It was all right," she said, shrugging. "Mrs. Lee yelled at us, 'cause Matt and Casey wouldn't stop messing around."
"Well, that's no fun," Steve said.
"Yeah," Grace agreed. "She said we wouldn't get cupcakes for Amy's birthday tomorrow if they didn't behave."
"Wow, harsh," Steve said. "Did they behave?"
"Yeah, they did," she said.
"Good," Steve said. "Do you have lots of homework?"
"Sorta," she said. "I have to read a chapter of this stupid book and answer questions. And do my math book and my spelling."
"Why's the book stupid?" Steve asked.
"'Cause it's boring. It's all about hunting raccoons and dogs and stuff," she said.
Steve blinked. It sounded familiar. "Where the Red Fern Grows?" he asked.
"Yeah!" she said, surprised. "You've read it?"
"A long, long time ago," Steve said. "I think everyone reads it in fourth grade."
"Well, it's boring. And hunting is stupid and mean," Grace said.
"It's not really stupid," Steve said, glancing at her in the rear-view mirror. "Lots of people hunt so they can feed their family. Not everyone lives near a grocery store, right?"
"I guess," she said.
"And it's not mean if you're respectful and either eat what you kill or give it to people who need the food," Steve added.
"Have you gone hunting?" Grace asked.
"Once or twice, on the Mainland," he replied.
"Did you eat what you killed?" she asked.
"I didn't, personally. My friend and I had to go back to our ship. But his family did eat the deer we caught," Steve explained. "But I've gone fishing lots of times and eaten the fish I've caught."
Grace wrinkled up her nose. "I don't like fish."
"Your dad said," Steve said. "Maybe you just haven't had the right fish. Hawaii's got the best fish in the whole world, you know."
"Really?" she asked.
"Yup. Best fish I've eaten anywhere," Steve said as he pulled into his driveway.
"You've been lots of places," Grace said. "My dad said."
"I have, yeah," Steve said, getting out the car. He opened the car door for Grace, then went to the trunk to get the bag Danny had told him was in there. He handed the gym bag to Grace and said, "You want a snack?"
"Yes, please," she said, following him up the walk to the front door.
"Ok, why don't you go and get changed, and I'll find us a snack," Steve said, letting them into the house. "You remember where the bathroom is?"
"Yup!" she said, scurrying off to change.
Steve went into the kitchen and pulled some cut pineapple from the fridge. He cut up a mango and added it to the pineapple, putting it into two bowls. He found some yogurt in the fridge and added a little honey and cinnamon before spooning it over the fruit. "Here we go," he said, setting the bowls on the table as Grace came into the kitchen.
"Thanks," she said, taking her bowl. "This is good," she said, sounding surprised.
"Well, thank you," Steve said. He joined her at the table. "My mom used to make me this after school," he added.
"It's yummy," she said, nodding. They ate quietly for a moment. "My mom's gonna have a baby," Grace informed him.
"I know," Steve said. "Are you excited to be a big sister?"
Grace shrugged. "Laila says her little cousin cries a lot and wakes them all up at night."
"Babies do that, yeah," Steve said.
"But Mom said I'll probably get to stay with Danno more when the baby comes, so that's good," Grace said.
Steve hadn't heard that. He hoped it was true for Danny's sake. "You'd like that, huh?"
"Yeah," Grace said. "I like Mom and Stan's house better than the hotel, but I miss Danno, too," she confided.
"I think he misses you, too," Steve said, nodding.
They finished their fruit and Steve put the bowls in the sink. "Ok, homework time," he said. "You need any help?"
"No, thank you," she said.
"Ok," Steve said. "I'm going to do some work myself, ok? I'll be right through there," he said, pointing towards the alcove where his desk was. "You come get me if you need anything, ok?"
"I will," Grace said, nodding.
"Good," Steve said. He went into the other room and booted up the computer. He was working on his bills for the month when his cell phone rang. "Hey, Danny," he said, answering.
"Hey. You got Grace ok? Everything's fine?" he asked.
"Of course," Steve said. "We're doing great. Had a snack and she's working on her homework at the kitchen table." He got up and walked into the kitchen. "Hey, Gracie, your dad's on the phone."
"Danno!" she said, happily as she took the phone. "Yeah. It was ok. Yeah, Steve made me fruit stuff, it was yummy. Yeah, my math homework. Fractions. No, I understand it, it's easy. Yeah, ok, love you too," she said, handing the phone back to Steve.
"Fruit stuff?" Danny asked.
Steve shrugged, even though Danny couldn't see. "What?"
"Nothing. I'm just amazed you got her to think fruit was yummy," Danny said. "You'll have to tell me how you did that."
"No problem," Steve said. "Everything good there?"
"Yeah, we're good. Got the warrants for tomorrow, Chin and Lori are working with HPD to get things set up. I'm on my way over," Danny said.
"Ok, good," Steve said. "You want to eat dinner here? I think I have stuff to make spaghetti."
"That would be wonderful, but I do not know if I can trust your spaghetti making skills. You're not going to do anything weird, like put fruit in the sauce, are you?" Danny asked.
"No, Danny," Steve said, rolling his eyes. "No fruit. Just sauce and peppers and onions."
"That sounds acceptable," Danny said. "Spaghetti would be great, thank you."
"No problem," Steve said. "See you in about 30, yeah?"
"Sounds about right," Danny said. "See ya. Make sure my daughter's still in one piece when I get there, please."
Steve just rolled his eyes and hung up without dignifying that with a response. "Ok, Gracie, we've got 30 minutes before your dad gets here. How's that homework coming?" he asked.
"I got my math done," she said. "But Danno's gotta check it."
"Right, then," Steve said. "What do you have to do with your...spelling, right?"
"Just gotta practice the words for the test tomorrow," she said.
Steve nodded. "How are you at spaghetti sauce?" he asked.
Grace looked at him quizzically. "I don't know what you mean," she said.
"Do you want to help me make the spaghetti sauce?" he rephrased. "For dinner when your dad gets here."
"Sure," she said, brightly.
"Great!" Steve said. "Why don't you give me your list of words and we can practice those while you help me with dinner."
"Ok," she said. She riffled through a folder and held up a piece of paper. "Here's the words."
"Got it," Steve said. He took the list. "Ok, go to the fridge and find me a green pepper. And spell 'pledge', while you're at it." He retrieved a big pot and set the water to boil.
"P-L-E-D-G-E", Grace said, bringing him a pepper.
"Right," Steve said. "Ok, take the pepper to the sink, wash it off, and spell 'plates' for me," he said as he began peeling and chopping an onion.
"P-L-A-T-E-S", Grace said, washing the pepper. "Here," she said, handing him the pepper.
"Great, thanks," Steve said. He glanced at the list. "Ok, spell 'juice' while I catch up with the chopping, ok?"
"J-U-I-C-E," Grace spelled as she watched him chop up the pepper.
"Right again!" Steve said. "You're a good speller."
"Those are the easy ones," Grace said.
"Yeah, but you need to get the easy ones right too," Steve said. "Would you please go into that cupboard there and get me the frying pan?" he said, pointing at a lower cupboard near the stove. "And spell 'staple'"
"S-T-A-P-E-L", Grace said.
"Close," Steve said. "Try it again," he said, taking the frying pan from her. He drizzled some oil in the pan and set it on the stove to heat.
"Oh, L-E," Grace said. "S-T-A-P-L-E".
"Right!" Steve said. "Good job. You stand back a little while I fry up these onions and peppers, ok? Go get me the box of spaghetti from that drawer, ok?" he said pointing at a drawer.
"Ok," Grace went off to get the pasta. "What's the next word?"
"Hmm," Steve said, glancing at the list that he'd set well out of the way of the stove. "How about 'invite'"
"I-N-V-I-T-E", Grace said, bringing the pot over.
"Yup, that's right," Steve said. "Ok, go drag a chair over here to the stove," he said, taking the pot from her. "You can stir the sauce for me."
"Ok!" Grace said. She brought a chair over to the stove. "Ready."
"Great," Steve said. He opened the jar of sauce and carefully poured it over the onions and peppers and turned down the heat. "Climb up here and stir this," he said, handing Grace a spoon. "And spell 'type' for me."
"T-Y-P-E", Grace said, stirring slowly.
"That's right," Steve said. "Ok, let's see," he said, consulting the list. "This one is a tough one. 'Definite'"
Grace groaned. "Um, D-E-F-I-N-A-T-E?" she asked.
"Not quite," Steve said.
"E-T-E?" she asked.
"No, sorry, kiddo. Here, repeat it with me," Steve said. "D-E"
"D-E", she repeated.
"F-I-N", he said.
"F-I-N", she repeated.
"I-T-E", Steve finished.
"I-T-E", Grace repeated.
"Try it again," Steve said as he dumped the spaghetti into the boiling water.
"D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E", Grace chanted.
"Got it!" Steve said. "Good job."
"Hello!" Danny called as he came in the door.
"Danno!" Grace shouted. "We're in the kitchen!"
"Hey, Monkey," Danny said, coming into the kitchen. "What'cha doing?"
"Stirring the sauce," she said.
"I see that," Danny said. "Are you doing a good job?"
"She's doing a great job," Steve said. "She's a really good speller, too."
"Oooh, is it spelling day?" Danny asked. "Yeah, it's Thursday ,isn't it?"
"Yeah. I've been spelling for Steve while we cook," Grace said.
"Good, good," Danny said.
Steve handed him the list. "If you want to take over while I make salad," he said.
"Sure," Danny said. "I can do that. Ok, Monkey, what was the last one you did?"
"Definite," Grace said.
"Man, that one's hard," Danny said.
"I *know*" Grace sighed. "I didn't get it right."
"Yes, you did," Steve argued as he pulled salad ingredients from the fridge. "You didn't get it right on the first try, but you got it right after we spelled it together."
"Yeah," Grace agreed.
"We'll go over it again before you go to school in the morning," Danny assured her. "You'll get it."
"Ok," Grace said. "When do you know if this is done?" she asked.
"When the pasta is cooked," Steve said, shrugging. "Are you getting tired of stirring?"
"A little," she said.
"Well, give your dad the spoon and go sit down, then," Steve said. "We'll put him to work a little."
"Thanks," Danny said, rolling his eyes. "Here, Monkey, go sit at the table. Can you spell 'awhile'?"
Steve smiled to himself as he made a salad and listened to Grace spell for Danny. It felt good to be making dinner and doing spelling homework. It almost made his kitchen feel like home.
