Steve sat on the bed in the clinic with his arm in a sling. He felt frustrated that he had blacked out and scared Helen. The doctors explained that his fainting was due to his weakened state from his injuries on Maui and the high blood loss. He sat there, eager for Catherine's arrival after she promised to give him a lift. Helen's godmother would land this afternoon, and she'd surely be thrilled to hear that Helen had once again been in danger.
Finally, the door to the room opened up, but to his surprise, it wasn't Catherine who walked in, but Danny. Steve looked surprised.
"Hey Catherine, you look different."
"Ha-ha, very funny Steve. Catherine went shopping with Helen to spruce up the guest room before her aunt arrives. Hirsch cleaned up the crime scene already. I need to get you out of the way first."
Steve muttered as he reluctantly trailed behind Danny to grab some breakfast. He felt excluded, but at least Catherine was handling everything. Convincing Helens godmother that Helen was safe in Oahu wasn't going to be easy.

Danny parked the car nearby to "Pancakes & Waffles Kalihi", and they both went inside. Steve felt much better after finishing his first portion of pancakes; he and Danny laughed and told jokes, and the worries that were troubling Steve faded away momentarily. After Danny's phone rang, the friendly gathering between the guys came an end. "I need to head to you want me to drop you off somewhere?"
"No, thanks. I'll just take a cab," Steve replied.
"Okay, see you later," Danny said as he quickly left in his Camaro.
Steve paid for his coffee and walked towards the door. He wasn't sure what to do next. He wanted to hang out with Helen a bit longer, but he figured she was probably still with Catherine. He walked down the street at a leisurely pace and eventually hailed a cab to take him home.

"Anyone home? Catherine? Helen?"
Steve called out, but he didn't receive a response. He walked upstairs and checked out Helen's room. He couldn't recognize his old guest room, but that was okay because it belonged to Helen now. Steve took out his cellphone.
"Dad, are you okay?"
"Hey, yeah, everything's alright. Where are you?"
"We're at Kamekonas on the beach. Catherine wanted to surf with me," she said.
"Great, so you are just leaving me alone here?"
"Yes, because you aren't allowed to surf yet."
Steve hung up retrieved his car keys, tossed his arm sling in the corner, and left the house.
When he got to Kamekonas, Helen and Catherine were already in the water. He wanted to grab his board, but Helen was right, he should listen to the doctors advice. So he sat down near the water and watched the two of them surf.

After about half an hour, Catherine and Helen came out of the water smiling, but as soon as they saw Steve, their smiles faded.
The two approached Steve and Catherine was the first to speak.
"Steve, shouldn't you be at home resting?"
"I can rest here too, so don't be so hard on me, after all I'm not in the water."
"And why don't you at least wear your arm sling? You know what the doctor said."
"Yes, but I'm not in pain right now and I don't think I need it anyway. Besides, I'd rather face Helens godmother without it before she uses that fact against me."
"If you say so."
"Let's change the subject. I heard you two had a nice day, didn't you?"
"That's right. And I'd say Helen can surf better than you."
Catherine patted Steve on the shoulder and walked past him to take a shower.
"Is that true?" Steve asked his daughter.
"It could be, but I'm not the judge of that. I've never seen you surf. But Catherine said I was a natural, so we should make a little competition out of it, but not until the doctor gives you the green light."
"Whatever you say. I'm happy to accept the challenge."
"Good, but don't be angry if you lose."
"I'm not going to lose."
"Well, pride comes before a fall, doesn't it?"
"Tell me, how much time do you spend with Danny? You argue with me almost as much as he does."
Helen just gave him a grin and shrugged. A moment later, her face turned serious again.
"Do you think my godmother will back down?"
"Listen to me. I don't care if she gives in or not. I won't let her take you, no matter what it costs me. I've already missed too much of your life to just let you go now, okay?"
"That sounds good, because I really don't want to go... We should go now before my godmother gets to the house before us. She should be landing soon, and she told me she wanted to go to the house right away."

"Well then, let's go."

About 20 minutes later Steve, Catherine and Helen arrived at the house. Once there, Steve insisted that Helen stay in her room while he and Catherine talked to her godmother.
"Why can't I stay here?"
"Because I don't want you to be a part of this conversation. Believe me, it's better this way before you start messing with your godmother too. Let's sort this out and I promise you that I will convince her that you are safe here. But please do as I say and go upstairs."
"All right, good luck with her."
So Helen went up to her room while Catherine went over to Steve and handed him a cup of freshly made coffee with a knob of butter in it.
"Thank you."
"You're really starting to turn into a real dad. But please don't be too strict and don't start spying on her or reading her text messages like Danny."
"Would it be so bad if I became more like Danny?"
"Well, I love my Seal the way he is, and I don't want him to change."
"I love you too. Let's hope we don't change too much."
A long kiss followed until suddenly the doorbell rang.
"Cath?"
"Huh?"
"I have a bad feeling about this."
"Steve, you can watch the Star Wars movies later. Now go open the door."
"All right."
Steve put his cup of coffee on the kitchen table, walked to the door and opened it.
He faced a woman who was about a full head shorter than Steve, had very short orange-red hair, wore glasses and jeans with a blouse, and had a very serious expression on her face.
"Hello, Ms. Brown, I'm Steve McGarrett. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Mr. McGarrett, you can call me Christa, but let's not waste our time with phrases like that, let's talk about the subject I'm here to discuss."
"Christa, call me Steve. Why don't you come in first?"
Steve held the door a little wider for her and Christa entered the house where Catherine was already shaking her hand.
"Hello, I'm Catherine. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too. Where's Helen?" she asked, turning back to Steve.
"She's in her room, which means we can talk in peace."
"With all due respect, I'm not really here to talk to you. I'm here to get Helen home where she'll be safe."
"That's exactly why we need to talk. Because I'm not going to let you just take my daughter back to Coronado."
"Now listen to me. You've only known her a week. I've known her since she was born, so I know much better what's right for her. And this place is clearly far too dangerous, especially because of you, Steve. You have such a dangerous job and you've already put Helen in danger twice. I will not tolerate that."
"I can assure you that she wasn't even in danger because of me. The thing on Maui was because of Liana's job, just like the thing at my house. I couldn't help that. They even tried to kidnap Helen in Coronado, but I was able to stop that. So she's actually safer because of me. I mean, absolutely nothing happened to her, and that's because I took good care of her."
"I don't believe it. It's only since Helen has been with you that she's been in such dangerous situations!"
"Stop it!" came suddenly from the stairs and everyone immediately looked over and saw Helen. Christa went to her at once.
"Helen, darling, are you all right?"
"I'll be fine if you leave. I've never really liked you because you always try to decide everything. I only kept in touch with you because Mom wanted me to, but now it's too much! We're not even related by blood, so what do you think gives you the right to just barge in here and take me to Coronado?! I have a new home now, and it's here! Get over it and fly back alone!"
Before Christa could say anything else, Helen was out the front door. She was just incredibly mad at her godmother.
Steve didn't look at Christa again, but followed Helen through the door. Catherine, on the other hand, turned to Christa.
"Maybe you should accept Helen's opinion. Because she's actually right. You are not related by blood and so Steve, as her father, has custody. To take Helen to Coronado, they would have to start a custody battle and you don't want to do that to Helen, do you?"

"Yes, you're right. I just want her to be safe."
"I understand that, but for one thing, she's very good at taking care of herself, and believe me, Steve always takes care of those close to him and would sacrifice himself at any time. He's already done that for Helen, so she's fine."
Christa had nothing more to say. Now she wondered if she had made the wrong decision.

Helen had simply sat down on the grass next to the sidewalk in front of the front door to somehow come down. She didn't get to rest for long, though, because Steve came out of the door and sat down next to her.
"I'm sorry I got so loud."
"It's okay, I know why you did it."
"I just can't believe she really wants to go through with this. She can't just come into my life and want to decide everything."
"You're right about that. But you know what? I think she's just worried about you and wants to protect you as much as she can."
"I understand that too, but there are other ways to do it, and she's clearly going the wrong way."
"Maybe so, but she sees it differently. We'll be able to change her mind."
"I hope so."
"Come on, let's go back inside and talk to her, but quietly."
"I can try."
Just then, the front door opened again and Christa and Catherine stepped out. Christa approached Helen and stood beside her.
"Okay, I've understood that I shouldn't interfere in your life, and it looks like you're in good hands here after all. So I've changed my mind and will fly back alone. But only if you promise to keep in touch with me regularly."
"I will."
Christa hugged Helen once more, then said goodbye to Catherine and finally turned to Steve.
"Take care of the little one. If anything happens to her, I'll kill you, okay?"
"I give you my word that I will do everything I can to protect her."
"Good, that's what I wanted to hear."
So Christa left the property and drove away, while Steve, Catherine and Helen breathed a sigh of relief, because now all their problems were out of the way and Helen could relax and start to really settle in.

That night the three of them watched a movie together and they chose "The Notebook". Steve hated this movie, but Helen and Catherine overruled him. So the three of them sat relaxed on the sofa. Helen sat between Steve and Catherine and was pretty exhausted from the day, so she fell asleep leaning on Steve's shoulder.
When the movie was over, Steve carried Helen upstairs, even though his right arm hurt like hell, and put her to bed.
Shortly thereafter, Steve and Catherine went to bed and fell asleep relaxed and content.

Steve and Helen left for Maui early the next morning. The jeep was still in Hana and they had decided to finish their tour at the last minute. The next few days were filled with fishing and sightseeing, including a visit to the Nakalele Blowhole. Steve always found them a place away from the usual tourist spots, so there was always time to talk or be quiet. After five days they were back at the airport waiting for the "island taxi".

Back at home, Helen stood in her room. A tear ran down her cheek.
"Helen? Are you okay?"
Steve suddenly stood in the doorway, wanting to take her down for dinner. She quickly wiped her face, but she couldn't fool him anymore. He came over and sat down on the edge of the bed with her.
"Now tell me, what's wrong?"
Helen bit her lower lip.
"You know, Dad, I feel really comfortable here, but..."
"But what?"
"I miss my friends, and I kind of miss my old home. And what about the house in Coronado? And the Bumble Bee?"
"Bumble Bee? Oh, you mean the Camaro?"
Steve looked at her thoughtfully.
"Look, we still have some time before you start school here. We'll fly to Coronado and get everything straightened out. And you can throw your friends a goodbye and see-you-again party. We've already talked to your aunt, and she's going to check on your house in the meantime. And if you want to go back to Coronado, the house will still be there. And the Bee, we could take it to Hawaii, you'll be getting your license soon, so you'll already have a car. Or we could leave it in Coronado and you could drive it there when you visit your aunt and your friends? What do you think?"
"That sounds good."
"Good, then come and eat first and then we'll book the flight."

Two days later, Steve and Helen were on the plane again. This time not to Maui, but to Coronado. They took a taxi to Helen's house. Once there, Helen went ahead while Steve paid the cab and got their bags. When he entered the house, Helen was nowhere to be seen.
"Helen?"
Steve set the bags down in the hall and went looking for her. He finally found her in her mother's bedroom. She had tears in her eyes as she looked at the photo on the wall.

"Hey, Helen."
Steve put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"I'm not forcing you do anything. If you'd rather stay here, we can work that out. I'm sure your godmother would love it."
"No, I want to stay with you and Catherine. I feel at home with you. There are just so many memories here."
Steve wiped away a tear with his finger.
"And that's a good thing. Now let's see what memories we can pack for Hawaii."
Helen nodded. Then she took the photo from the wall and gently stroked her mother's face. They soon had a lot of boxes packed. Lots of photo albums, memorabilia, documents, and other things. By now it was getting dark. They ordered a pizza and sat on the porch.

The next day, Helen and Steve took the Camaro shopping for the party. On the way back, Steve dropped Helen off at her aunt's house, promising to get everything ready for the party. At Helen's house, Steve decorated the house and porch, marinated the steaks, chilled the drinks, and kneaded dough for his special garlic bread. He had even bought vegetables, sprinkled them with feta cheese and spices, and prepared them on barbecue trays. When Helen arrived with her aunt just before six, Steve had already fired up the grill and set the table on the porch.
"Wow!"
Even Christa was speechless for a moment. Shortly after six, Helen's friends began to arrive. Steve stood by the grill all evening, delivering food, and when it was time to dance, he retired to Liana's room, leaving the living room to the teenagers. When everyone had left one by one, they tidied up and fell into bed exhausted.

Steve woke up to the sound of a car horn outside. Damn, he looked at the clock. Nine o'clock already. He jumped out of bed and looked down at himself in amazement. He had fallen asleep on Liana's bed, fully dressed. No matter. Now he ran down the stairs. The small van that would take Helen's boxes to the airport was waiting outside the door. They would bring the rest later in the Camaro. Steve and the man had quickly filled the van when Helen appeared sleepily in the doorway. She only saw the van disappear around the next corner.
"Sorry, Dad, I must have slept too long."
She looked critically at his rumpled outfit and began to grin.
"You too, I suppose."
Steve nodded and grinned as well.
"I'm going to take a shower, then we'll pack the rest into the Camaro and set off. Ok?"
Helen nodded.

They had stuffed their bags and a few other things into the trunk of the Camaro and Helen locked the door to the house. She looked up at the facade somewhat wistfully. Steve stood leaning against the Camaro and gave her the time she needed. When she sat in the car with him, he looked at her sideways.
"Are you ready?"
"I am."
An hour later they were on a Navy transport plane that was taking them, Helen's boxes and the Camaro to Oahu.

A few weeks later:

Helen shifted restlessly from one foot to the other. Today was the first day at her new school and she was terribly nervous. She had settled in well with Steve and Catherine and the surfing competition against Steve had ended in a draw.
Danny had told her that his daughter went to the same school. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to meet Grace yet because she had been with her mother in England for the last few weeks.
Now Helen stood at the entrance with her bag and took a deep breath. Steve was still standing at the car and looked over at her. She didn't want him to accompany her in, after all she wasn't a little child anymore, but she was still glad he didn't just drive away again. As she was about to walk further, she heard a voice calling "Uncle Steve" and a girl her age with long brown hair ran to her father and hugged him.
"Hey Gracie."
Steve took the girl warmly in his arms. Then he waved Helen back again.
"Helen, may I introduce you to Grace? Danny's daughter."
The girls shook hands. Grace looked at the clock.
"Come on, we have to go. Dr. Hatsumi doesn't like it when you're late at all."
Grace pulled Helen along by the arm. Steve grinned, he had a feeling the two girls could become friends.

When Steve was back at the school at lunchtime to pick up Helen, she came down the front steps chatting excitedly with Grace and another girl. When she spotted her father, she waved happily, said goodbye to the other girl, and ran up to him with Grace.
"Hello you two. How was the first day?"
Excitedly talking over each other, the two said that there would be a school dance in a few days.
"Already? Isn't it usually only at the end of the school year?"
Grace shook her head.
"They had to postpone it last year because the location had a burst water pipe."
Then she looked around.
"Are you looking for Danny? I'll take you with me if it's okay. Danny's at a crime scene."
Grace grinned.
"Ok, then Helen and I can talk a bit more."
On the way home, Steve had two girls chattering happily in the back seat.