Work Text:
You know that moment in a car when you hit the top of a hill, and you can’t quite see the bottom but the car already starts going downwards? That moment your stomach falls out from under you? That’s all Stan could compare it to.
“...your blood work isn’t going to match,” Rachel had said. “You won’t be able to do the transplant.”
“How do you know?” he argued. “We need to stay optimistic.”
“I know,” she said softly.
“How?”
There was a moment, like the car was cresting the top of the hill. The doctor adjusted uncomfortably behind his desk. Stan watched him with confusion, then turned back to Rachel. She let out a breath, then took a steadying one, and there he was on top of the hill, waiting.
“He’s Danny’s.”
And his stomach dropped.
He looked away from her, anger rising behind his dropped stomach. Of course he was Danny’s. He turned to look out the window of the doctor’s office to a play area. Charlie was playing with his shark toy, running it alongside the aquarium, pretending to eat the fish. His blond hair, his deep dimples that matched Grace’s. Now that he knew he was Danny’s, there was no question.
He wiped at a tear before he knew he was crying.
“What do we do now, then?” he asked, eyes on Charlie, purposely avoiding Rachel.
“Are you in contact with his biological father?” the doctor asked. Stan’s stomach dropped again.
“Yes,” Rachel answered, like she hadn’t just blown a hole in his life the size of Alaska.
“Then you better make sure he’s on board,” Stan said, voice lower and angrier than he wanted it to be.
“He will be,” Rachel replied.
~~~
He’s ashamed of what happened next. A storming out of the doctor’s office and worse - ignoring Charlie’s calls for him. He couldn’t… It was too fresh, too new. He knew a moment of ignoring him was better than the tears Charlie would have to watch.
Then he went straight to the airport. He didn’t even stop to pack a bag. A one way flight to Portland. Usually he’d be on the phone with his dad who would calm him down long enough to get him to at least look at Charlie again. But his dad was gone, passed away suddenly the spring before.
It was that same sensation of his stomach dropping when he heard the news. He and Charlie had just facetimed with him the night before. He was healthy and joking and looked forward to his visit to the island for Stan’s birthday. One truck trying to outrun a red light later and he was gone. Stomach falling at the words “you’re father was in an accident. He didn’t make it. You need to come home.”
At least he still had his moms.
Rebecca was a high school principal, strict and loving. Thea was a mentor at a women’s crisis center, acceptant and kind. Together they made a pretty steady couple. Stan couldn’t picture his life without them, or imagine his life any other way. His mom and dad divorced when he was still very young, and Thea found Rebecca shortly after and opened her heart to the thought that she wasn’t as straight as she once thought. Stan mainly grew up with both of them, and couldn’t remember a time when Rebecca wasn’t his mom. He missed his father terribly, but thankful he still had the two of them.
He showed up on their front steps late in the night, without luggage, wearing airplane wrinkled clothes and a distraught expression on his face. His mothers hugged him and fed him and let him sleep in his childhood bedroom and woke him up with the smell of bacon and a couple smacks on the back of the head. Charlie was his son. Paternity didn’t decide that, they taught him better than that.
They were right, of course. Didn’t mean he didn’t spend a couple extra nights crying on their couch while they fed him comfort foods and he wore too tight clothes left over from high school and they let every little thing they didn’t like about Rachel fly.
“She was always so flippant about class issues.”
“She never liked my cooking, I could tell.”
“She always had the time and funds to visit her family, but only encouraged you to visit during holidays.”
“She was always commenting on Grace’s eating habits. Always so critical of that girl.”
“One thing, though. She never seemed homophobic.”
“That’s true. One good thing.”
“Moms!”
“What?” they spoke at the same time.
“Are you going to stay with her?” Rebecca asked gently.
“I don’t know if I can even look at her.”
“Mmm,” Thea mused. “That’s a pretty good sign you should at least think about it.”
“What about Charlie?”
He shrugged, sitting between them. “He’s Danny’s. I don’t know what he’ll do. I mean, the man cheated with Rachel.”
“He was a man trying to put a family back together.”
“He was tearing mine apart! It only took about four years to take.”
His moms shared a concerned look over his head. The flashbacks to middle school when Ted Mayberry was making fun of his family were visceral. He felt like it was the end of the world then, defensive and angry and not knowing how to fight back.
“Sounds like you need to talk to the man. Put your intentions out there.”
He rolled his eyes at the suggestion. “The man’s a cop. I mean, he’s been nothing but a great dad to Grace, and we’ve been civil the last few years, but I don’t know much else about him! Rachel never talked about Danny unless it was,” he slipped into a British accent, “‘Oh he’s being his stubborn arse again.’”
“You said he’s a good dad, at least.”
“Protective.”
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Rebecca said.
“Territorial.”
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing either,” Thea said. “Just don’t give up without a fight. Charlie’s our one and only grandbaby.”
Rebecca nodded, agreeing with her wife. Then she made a face, “other than Grace.”
He smiled at that. Charlie being someone else’s biological son didn’t change their feelings about him and they adored Grace despite being step-grandmothers. It seemed “love” was their suggestion, like it was in middle school, like it’s always been.
Stan decided to try to take their lead.
~~~
Stan:
I know Rachel has talked to you. I know it’s all fresh but please think about Charlie. He’s a baby and he needs help.
Danny:
No matter what happens next im going to do the procedure id do it even if he wasnt my son
Stan:
Good. I just love him so much.
Danny:
Hopefully I can too someday
~~~
He and Danny walked on eggshells all during the couple weeks of preparation for the bone marrow transplant, and for the few weeks of recovery afterward, but they never really talked beyond that short text conversation. Stan stayed in the house with Rachel, to make it easier on Charlie… even if he stayed in one of the guest rooms. Grace noticed early on. She was already living with Danny at the time, but one visit home and she had him figured out.
“So,” she said, leaning against his doorframe. “New bedroom, huh?”
“For now,” he replied. Nothing about plans to reconnect with Rachel, nothing about plans to move out once Charlie was out of the woods. His relationship with Rachel was in a limbo until Charlie’s results started looking better.
A few months later, after everything was starting to settle a bit, he’d realize he was putting something off that could hurt Charlie. Charlie was his priority. It wasn’t about Rachel, or his feelings about her, but everything to do with Charlie. He had already made up his mind, even if he hadn’t realized it then.
“Sure,” Grace said, arms crossed. “Danno lived in the den for months once. Months.”
“Oh?”
She nodded. “After that he took me to the zoo and told me he was moving out for awhile.” She shrugged before, “he just never moved back in.”
Stan didn’t say anything back, too ashamed to defend himself.
“Charlie’s noticed you’re in a different room. Wondering why.”
His heart fell. “You understand.” It wasn’t a question, but an explanation.
“Why do you think I’m living at Danno’s? I’m the lucky one.” With that she pushed off the doorframe and started down the hall.
He rushed after her and leaned out his door, “Grace?”
She turned, ponytail following her. She waited.
“You know I… All this doesn’t… I want you to know… Just because...” He struggled to find the words. “You’ve always got me, no matter what happens.”
Her face fell shocked for a moment. Then she blinked and it grew into a sad smile.
“Thanks Stan.” Her sad smile turned into a happy one, the one with a bit of glint in her eyes that he’s come to learn meant she was about to tease someone. “Good to know.” She turned back, going down the hall towards her room. “You do have a nice boat,” she threw over her shoulder and Stan let out a small chuckle.
He and Charlie visited the aquarium the next day, just the two of them. He moved out shortly after that.
~~~
“Are you Stan Edwards?”
He was in the lobby of his firm a few weeks later, handing off some envelopes to be put in the mail, when a short Asian woman in a business suit walked right up to him with a clipboard notebook. She looked official enough, and it wasn’t unusual for his office to have walk-ins looking for architectural business.
“Yes, how can I help you?” He said, not even thinking about it.
She smiled a curt smile and held out a thick manila envelope. “You’ve been served.”
His stomach dropped out from under him again. Rachel had sent over divorce papers. She actually beat him to the punch.
“Sign here.”
He sighed and rolled his eyes and signed her clipboard. He took the envelope with another sigh.
“Have a better day,” she said, with a sympathetic smile before she walked off towards the elevator bank.
The temp at the front desk gave him wide eyes and he didn’t want a bigger audience than that. He beelined for his office, closing the door with a steady <i> click .</i> He made quick work of the metal fastener that held the envelope closed and expected divorce papers.
What he got was way worse.
Notice of change in birth certificate of minor Charles William Edwards.
Rachel had Charlie’s birth certificate changed to read Danny as his father. Yet another blow to his inevitable custody case. His stomach dropped and was left far behind him.
He was on the phone with his lawyer immediately. More bad news; he could contest the paperwork, but that meant going against birth parents, and a simple DNA test would prove Danny as Charlie’s father. Plus, Danny was an active father ever since he learned the truth with a history of winning custody with Grace. It would be expensive and worthless.
Stan:
Why are you doing this?
Rachel:
Doing what?
Stan:
You know what. The birth certificate.
Rachel:
Danny is his father, no matter how much you and I want that to be different. This way Danny has access and you and I can keep him happy.
Rachel:
Come home and we can talk about it. I have Charlie tonight.
Stan couldn’t answer her after that. She was doing this to keep him around. Force him to move back in if he wanted to see Charlie. He threw a folder on his desk against his wall, knocking off a frame clanking loudly onto metal filing cabinets and glass shattering as it hit the ground. Everyone in the cubicle bullpen looked up at the noise.
So much for not having an audience.
~~~
Stan:
Can we talk?
Danny:
Can this wait? We’ve had a death in the family.
Stan didn’t want to pile on. Rachel’s words ‘ keep him happy’ flashed before his eyes.
Stan:
Sorry for your loss. Sure. Get back to you after the holiday?
Danny:
Sounds good.
~~~
Of course he lost his nerve to talk to Danny about everything. A month passed and they were well into December before his nerve grew again.
Stan:
Are you free again tonight?
Almost too soon he got a text from Danny.
Danny:
Would you mind watching Charlie tonight? Weve got the rest of the kids covered but thought id offer a night with u
Danny:
No case is looking like an all nighter
Stan:
I’d love to have him!
Any chance to see Charlie, honestly, even if he had a lot of work to catch up on. Even if he was a back up babysitter on one of Danny’s busy weekends. Especially if it meant he didn’t have to share Charlie’s time with Rachel.
Stan:
Is Daisy not free?
Danny:
Yeah sorry shes got finals this week and is stressed out so we gave her the week off
Stan:
Cool. Where is he?
Danny:
At our house with babysitter can u pick him up soon?
Stan:
Already out the door.</i>
If Stan was honest, he was expecting Grace or Nahele to answer the door. They were both old enough to be home alone for a few hours, and old enough to babysit Charlie. If not them, then Eric - who dropped Charlie off with Daisy a few times.
Instead he got a grown man he had never met.
“Hey, I’m Adam, a friend of Steve and Danny’s.” He held out a hand after he opened the door. Stan took it, adjusting to the news. “Their break in the case meant they were scrambling for babysitters.”
Stan made his way through the door to find the place set up with card tables, left haphazardly with cards and poker chips.
“Danny left after you said you were on your way,” Adam said.
“Daddy!” Charlie called from the top landing. “Danno was teaching me Texas Hold ‘em!”
“Oh he was, was he?” Stan had no problem with that - he was a terrible card player - but that didn’t mean Charlie had to be.
Charlie bounded his way down the stairs, a joy to see after he was so sickly and so lethargic only a few months ago. The bone marrow transplant did wonders and they all had high hopes for his final test results in a few months.
“Mr. Adam has never been to Maui Mike’s and he’s lived here his whole life!” Charlie told him.
Adam held his hands up and shrugged towards Stan in an obvious ‘you got me’ motion.
“Well, we’ll just have to take him, won’t we?”
“No, that’s okay,” Adam said with a grin.
“No offence, but if you’re going to be a babysitter for my son, I’d like to know you a little bit. You could be a convicted felon for all I know.”
Adam chewed on his bottom lip for only a moment before, “you have a point.” Then he held up his hands, “not a felon.”
Stan grinned.
“So Mr. Adam’s coming and we’re going to Maui Mike’s?”
Stan shrugged, looking to Adam. Then he motioned to the room, “looks like your evening is a bust.”
Adam chuckled. “You have another point. Sure, why not?”
That’s how Stan learned that Adam was Kono’s husband, and had a long history with Five-0 and Danny. The case was something that involved a lot of CSI work, or it would have been Eric that stayed behind. Apparently Five-0 had a poker night every few months and Adam had only been invited after he had married Kono.
“They a hard group to break into?” Stan asked, sitting at a nearby park picnic table, Mike’s chicken in front him.
“Not really,” Adam mused. “My history with them is… rocky. My family isn’t exactly… respectable. Lots of felons in my family. I was going that direction, myself. Kono truly made an honest man of me. I settled down once she came into my life.”
Stan looked out to Charlie, who had left his chicken and taken advantage of the last bits of daylight to play on the swingset only a few yards away. He leaned his head out towards him, “I know how that is.”
“Oh? You have a questionable past?”
He laughed. “Not really.”
Adam laughed with him.
“So what do you do for a living, Adam?”
“Well, it used to be business, but all my contacts are… questionable people. I don’t want anything to do with any of them anymore. I don’t really know how to do anything else.” He shrugged. “Kono is so patient.”
They sat in silence for a bit. Adam turned a bit to watch Charlie too. The way Adam talked about his past made Stan believe it was behind him and he was obviously head over heels in love with his wife. And if Danny, a cop of all professions, could give him a shot - enough of a shot he trusted him with Charlie - then Stan could too. Adam seemed like a laid back kind of guy. He wondered what he was like before he met his wife.
“I’ve been redoing our house though.”
“Oh? Like remodeling?”
“Yeah,” Adam shrugged again. “It’s something to do, but I’ve found I really like it.”
“Well, I don’t plan to stay in the house I’m in long, but I was thinking about doing some upgrades to help it sell for a bit of a profit. I might be able to swing you some work.”
And like that, he had a friend.
~~~
After working on his house with Adam, Stan began to realize how lonely he was since he moved to the islands. Sure, he had his work friends, and the circle Rachel insisted they run in, but when it came to true friends?
He felt embarrassed to admit that Adam was his first friend in a long, long time. Thing was, the more they hung out together, the more they worked on the house, the more beers they shared over basketball games and soccer matches, the more he realized maybe it was the same for Adam. After all Five-0 were his wife’s friends, and he had no professional life to speak of.
Adam would drop hints about his past life from time to time, and even Kono mentioned something about mob relations once, but Stan didn’t think anything of it. He seemed like a decent guy who had changed, and was consistently focusing on that change.
Of course, Stan had no real idea the depth of Adam’s past until one day in late January when his house was shot up with about six dozen rounds of bullets and the two of them escaped in Adam’s truck only to be followed by two sudans who kept firing at them.
“Who are these people?”
“Probably Yakuza.” Stan’s stomach dropped again, and it wasn’t from the truck running over a speed bump going too fast.
“Yakuza?!”
“You knew I had a past!”
“Yeah, I figured your brother was troubled! Or, you got in too deep with a business deal! Hell, I’ve been there! But why are they shooting at you?”
“They think I’m trying to take over the family business.”
“Are you?!”
“Of course not!”
Adam turned the corner then, taking an on ramp up towards the highway.
“Do you have your phone on you?” he asked.
“No, I left it charging at the house!”
“Me too.”
Stan looked behind them from the passenger seat, to see if the sedans had followed them on the on ramp. Of course they did.
They were on the highway for about twenty minutes, speeding, hoping to either lose them or catch the attention of some speed trap patrol cars, hoping for the attention. It ended up being the latter. A patrol car found its way to even up with them, and after some dangerous moves that included some vehicular damage (they lost the door in that move, and would have lost Stan if not for Adam pulling him back into the cab) and an impressive evasion of bullets while in the bed of the truck (if Stan did say so himself) the officer had thrown them a cell phone.
Kono was on the other end of the line.
They had set up a police blockade a few miles off the highway. They were to turn around, get off the highway, and to speed up at last second, speed past the blockade, and they’d do what they could to stop the sedans after that. It was risky, and Stan was not an action star by any means. He designed office buildings for christ’s sake! He was a normal guy with a normal past and nothing this crazy had ever happened to him.
Except that time his step-daughter was kidnapped and her father shot him in the shoulder to get her back. But that was different. Grace was practically his daughter. Adam was just this guy that he knew, and apparently not that very well.
Adam, however, seemed in his element. He wasn’t the picture of calm, by any means, but he was certainly taking things better than Stan. Like he expected the spray of bullets and the high speed chase to happen to him. (Stan would learn that this was the truth later that day.)
The blockade worked out like it was a movie. They had a police escort the whole way; the sedans were apparently on a suicide mission. They slowed to a stop about a hundred yards from the cars blocking the road and Stan and Adam watched through the back window as Kono and Danny and a few other members of Five-0 stood bravely, pointing their guns at the sedans, and holding their ground. Like that, they had four members of the Yakuza charged with attempted murder.
Mark that off his bucket list. ‘Be involved in a high speed chase.’ Check. Wouldn’t his father love to hear this story?
Later, after Adam revealed that the Yakuza had wanted him dead for months, and how he probably had a contract out on his head; Stan had to sit down. He sat down on the tailgate of Adam’s truck and let out a huge sigh. He’d been his friend for barely a month and in that whole time this could have happened. He thought back to that first day, when they were with Charlie… what if this had happened when he had Charlie?
“Is it over? Are you safe now?”
“Not yet,” Adam shrugged. Then he sat down next to him. “But Kono and Five-0 are working on it. It’s only a matter of time. Or they’ll get tired of trying. It’s not the first time someone’s come after me, but it probably won’t be the last.”
“Shit,” Stan said.
“Agreed,” Adam said.
“And you’re really out of it? The Yakuza? You’re former organized crime?”
Adam nodded. “Now you know the extent of it.”
Stan stayed quiet for a bit. “Can I have minute to process this?”
“Sure.”
~~~
It took Kono, three days later, to make Stan start to understand what had happened to him.
She met him in his office, looking professional, badge out and prominent. Everyone in his office sat up and paid attention. His audience was back.
“Adam’s miserable.”
“He was in the mob.”
She shrugged. “He’s not anymore.”
“So I should just trust him? My life is in danger just being around him. My son’s life.”
“So is mine.”
“You’re a cop.”
She sat down in the chair across from him after that, looking a little sad. “I trust him with my life, with my teammate’s lives. More than once he’s had a connection or information that helps with a case. He’s a good man. He just had a bad upbringing. These men are after him because they are sore he left the life, not because he’s active in it.”
Stan stayed silent.
“And if you think he’d let anything happen to Charlie, you’re mistaken.”
He licked his lips, considering.
She sighed. “Besides me, he doesn’t really have anyone. He’s got Five-0, and I have no doubt they’d go to bat for him, but they aren’t really friends. Not like you two became lately.”
Stan still didn’t say anything.
“He needs a friend.” She waited a moment. “From what Danny tells me, so do you. You could be that for each other.”
Stan was silent again.
“I like you, Stan, and I think you’d be good for him. A good influence to keep him on the right path. I’m getting tired pulling all the weight.”
“No you’re not.”
“No, I’d do it for the rest of my life if I have to, but looking at you, I don’t have to.”
~~~
It was clear Adam was a friendship that would impact his life in ways more impressive than high speed chase therapy fodder. He’d only been around him a month, but patching up bullet holes alone he found himself missing the man’s company. He was fresh off another meeting with his lawyer about custody. His case didn’t look better now than it did a few months ago, but Stan wasn’t giving up. They were getting things ready, and they were just waiting on Stan’s word to go ahead, serve some divorce and custody papers. He was stalling; it would mean everything would be final and done and he could lose Charlie for good. He found himself needing someone to talk to, and turning to Adam while they were working would be so easy.
He thought about calling his moms; but they were ready to fly out to the island as it was after his brush with death. He didn’t want to worry them more than he already had. Any sign of distress and they’d be on a plane before he could say “wait, I’m fine!” The last thing he needed was two worried moms and nowhere to house them. His house was in no shape to house visitors. He was already staying in a hotel as it was.
He thought about calling Rachel; she was off somewhere in England, running away from confrontation, like she was good at. He figured that conversation would just turn into a fight and a fight that spanned half a day’s worth of time zones was not something he wanted to do.
He thought about calling Danny; that conversation would just lead to custody talk and Stan wasn’t ready for that at all.
He thought about calling a couple guys from work; all they’d want to talk about was work. His messy life distracted him from his work lately and he knew it was showing. Those people would just try to ease him back into focusing on building codes and orchestrating contractors and he just didn’t have the energy to deal with them.
He thought about his dad; he fought tears of grief, frustration, and loneliness. He had never felt so lonely.
His dad would tell him to call Adam.
Stan:
You owe me spackle for all these bullet holes. And new windows.
Adam:
I owe you more than that.
Stan:
Well come over and start paying up by helping me fix these holes. Bring beer.
Adam came over with extra supplies, a pack of beers, and a sheepish attitude; they spent more time drinking and talking than they did working. Adam shared more about his past, who is father was, about losing his brother, how he lost his brother, how Kono saved his life in more ways than one.
Stan’s problems felt silly in comparison, but he shared his own problems. Ranted about Rachel, moaned that he’d never find something like Adam had with Kono, worried about Charlie, talked a little about the kind of guy Danny was.
He was a little shocked to learn that all of Five-0 was just waiting for Steve and Danny to pull their heads out of their asses and start their relationship already. How heteronormative of him to expect their situation to be purely platonic. Suddenly a dozen comments from Grace about the two of them, about living with them, made sense. His mothers would smack him over the head again.
They laughed about it.
“Have you talked to Danny about Charlie at all?”
“No,” Stan said, trying to balance the beer can on it’s bottom ridge. “Everytime I get up the courage something’s up.”
“You should. Danny’s a good guy. He and Kono are really close.”
“Well, if Kono likes him…” he joked.
“It’s a pretty good sign you’re a good egg if Kono likes you. She tends to expect more out of you than you were expecting to give.”
Stan smiled. “‘A good egg?’”
“Shut up,” Adam responded, embarrassed.
“Nerd.”
“Shut up!”
They laughed again.
“You should. Danny’s the kind of guy that wants the best outcome for everyone. And he loves his kids. I hope I’m half the dad he is. I don’t have the best role model, if you remember.”
“I do.” Stan did. ‘My father was a Yakuza boss’ was still a fresh revelation. “You and Kono thinking about kids?”
“Yeah,” Adam smiled, playing with the tab of his can. Then his face fell. “But we aren’t going to start trying until I’m safe.”
“Probably a good idea.” Stan bit his lip. “No offense, just me is one thing, but if Charlie’s around…”
“I get it, I get it,” Adam said. “Better safe than sorry.”
Stan was glad that didn’t seem to hurt his feelings too badly.
“That might be awhile,” he said sadly, dropping his head.
The guy needed a friend. Stan could be that friend.
Stan laughed. “What’s it say about the state of my life that I’m willing to be friends with a guy with a contract out on his head?”
“Well,” Adam said, raising his beer. “Your life will never be boring!”
Stan laughed again.
Five beers in each, they called it a night, content that a one sided firefight hadn’t destroyed their friendship. Adam called a cab and dropped him off at his hotel first.
“Talk to Danny,” Adam called out from the cab window. “Trust me. Friend to friend?” He asked that like he was hopeful. Stan smiled.
“Friend to friend.”
Adam smiled and signaled to the cab driver he was ready to go. “Call Danny!” he yelled as they pulled away.
Stan sighed, walking into the hotel. He stood in the lobby for a moment, looking down at his phone.
Stan:
We need to talk about Charlie please call me we have to talk</i>
But he hadn’t sent it. It would lead to conversations that led to important decisions and he wasn’t sober enough for that.
Looking up he saw an opening to the hotel bar. He was just buzzed enough to decide he wasn’t drunk enough. He deserved some alcohol. A car chase, a friendship saved, a couple of moms too worked up for their own good, a wife gone awol, his fatherhood at stake, seven months to the day without his father… he deserved a drink. He could call Danny tomorrow.
Three shots of bourbon and two long island ice teas later, he had his phone to his ear calling Danny.
“Stan?”
“Hi Danny. Danny we need to talk. And I don’t know if I want to talk but we need to talk and man is bourbon a strong drink it was always my dad’s drink, did you know that Danny? He took me out when I turned twenty one and said I shouldn’t drink if I didn’t drink bourbon and we need to talk about Charlie because I love him and it’s clear you love him so we love the same kid and I don’t know what to do.”
'Whoa, whoa, whoa,” D anny said back to him. “Stan? Where are you?”</i>
“I’m at a bar Danny. I probably shouldn’t have told you that.”
“Do I need to call you a cab?” What a good man, this Danny. Stan really didn’t want to fight him. But he’d fight him if he had to. Put ‘em up, Danno. Wait. No. Civil. He wanted to keep Charlie. No fighting. None. No. No. No.
“No. No no no. No. I have a room here. I need to talk to you. Can we talk? I’d like to talk to you. Can you come here? Let’s talk here. It’s nice here.”
“Sure, Stan. Where are you?”
“The Hilton.”
“Good, but I’ll only come if you order water as your next drink.”
“Deal.”
~~~
Things with Danny went smoothly after that. Maybe Adam talked to him too. Or Kono, or some combination of the two. Maybe Danny was just that good of a guy. Stan didn’t know, but he was thankful for whatever the universe did to make Danny work with him after he was<i> that drunk </i>and crying over their four year old.
Much later, when Rachel came home they worked out a temporary arrangement with a mediator that Danny’s lawyer suggested. Danny threatened court and Rachel wised up for the time being and agreed to it. Danny fought for Stan to have his own solo visitation days, much to both Stan and Rachel’s surprise.
Between Danny’s support and a growing friendship with Adam, things were going pretty smoothly on the Charlie front. Charlie was even cleared of the worst of his disease. He was officially in remission. So it was only a matter of time before something went tits up in the worst year of Stan’s life.
He barely heard his boss speak after he was summoned to his office one March morning. Eight words and his stomach dropped again.
“What?”
“I said, we’re going to have to let you go.”
“Why? I’ve been part of this firm for eight years! I moved here to help grow this firm!”
“You’ve had outbursts, you’ve been distracted, some personal things have come up in the workplace, you’ve let some work slide, and you were involved in a shootout a few months ago.”
“I was cleared of that! That was not my fault.”
“You had to take two weeks to recover from the trauma from it.
“It was a traumatic event!”
“You’ve still let a lot of work slide.”
“My son has been sick, I’ve been dealing with a custody issue-”
“There has been a lot of that done on company time. Phone calls to lawyers from the company line, taking priority over meetings, not to mention the embarrassing serving of court papers in the front lobby.”
“I really can’t help where they find me.”
“The temp was Simmon’s daughter. He heard about it.”
Stan scoffed. “Sir, you- I’m about to go to court and fight for custody of my son, who’s not even biologically mine! I can’t not have a job!”
“You’ll have the three month severance package. We’re just going in a different direction. I’ll give you a good recommendation for wherever you go next.”
Stan scoffed again. ‘Going in a different direction’ more like ‘you’re embarrassing us’ but they weren’t going to say that.
He packed his office and was gone by noon.
His first call was to Danny. Short, sweet, straight to the point. Danny told him he was sorry, that they’d work it out, that he’d give his own character recommendation wherever he ended up applying, and then he had a crime scene to investigate.
His second call was to his lawyer. His lawyer wanted to look into wrongful termination, but Stan knew they weren’t going to get anywhere with that, even if he was interested in it. He just wanted them to know in case Rachel sprung a custody case before he and Danny could spring one on her if they decided to.
His third call was to Adam. Adam who apparently dropped a lunch with someone to drive over and demolish a kitchen counter with him.
“Who were you supposed to have lunch with?” Stan asked during their first water break.
“Oh, Kamekona. He wanted to talk about a business idea of his. Wanted a second opinion on some things. Nothing that can’t keep. He’ll understand.”
“Cool,” Stan said, sipping his water. He had met Kamekona a handful of times. His food truck was usually where Danny and Charlie would wait for him to pick up Charlie on his nights. Or where Stan would wait for Danny to get off work and let him go with Charlie. Rachel always insisted on doing drop offs at her condo. Kamekona’s truck was a good mid-point between Danny’s office and Stan’s.
Well. It used to be.
They took out upper cabinets, opening up the room into the dining room, and took doors off bottom cabinets, ready for new doors to freshen the room up.
“Any ideas of where to go for a new job?” Adam asked during their second water break.
“A few, but I don’t know anywhere that needs a guy doing what I was doing, ya know?”
“Ahh.”
“And I really don’t want to leave the island, so my options are narrow.”
They put in the new plumbing to get ready for the new sink. This house needed to be perfect, get him some equity facing unemployment. He had two moms that were going to be counting on him soon. It’s not like he was going to struggle anytime soon, but he did have closing costs on his other home (the one he used to share with Rachel) and a small yacht he was still had a few payments on. Push come to shove, he could live on the boat, he supposed.
'Moan, rich boy, moan. Bitch bitch bitch,’ his father’s voice in his head. He laughed at the thought.
“What’s so funny?” Adam asked, holding the pipe in place as he manned the wrench.
“Just something my dad used to say when I complained about money.”
“What?”
Stan finished screwing the nut on with a grunt and sat up from under the cabinet. “Just… I’m pretty well off, that’s not a secret. But it’s not family money. I had a good job that paid exceptionally well. My dad was a teacher and struggled with the poverty line most of his life. He was the kind of proud that wouldn’t take some help from his rich son.”
Adam reached for their water bottles and sat down next to him, ready to listen.
“Every time I complained about money, he’d say ‘moan, rich boy, moan,’” he laughed again. “It always knocked me out of it.”
“I have to admit, going from what I was to a single cop’s salary is hard,” Adam admitted. “But I don’t want to go back. Being clean is such a better life.”
Stan chuckled. “Rachel always talked about how she was so glad we didn’t have to worry about money like she did when she was married to Danny. It’s not like her job pays awful.”
“No offense man, but Rachel sounds like a snob.”
“Oh, she is. She’s old money too. Her father owns like, six houses in England.”
“Damn,” Adam mused. “She’s English?”
“Did you not know that? That explains like, fifty percent of her personality.”
Adam laughed. “I could say the same thing about my father. All tradition and propriety and acceptable behavior. Very Japanese.”
Stan laughed with him. “So it's universal that money makes people awful.”
“Pretty much.”
They laughed again.
“I mean, I was just thinking about living on my yacht to save some money, so yeah. Money makes you awful.”
“You have a yacht?”
“It’s a small yacht, but yeah.”
They laughed again, this time laughing deep in their bellies, one of those laughs that’s good and deep and hits the spot you didn’t know you needed.
Once they sobered Stan let out a sigh.
“I don’t want that life anymore," he admitted.
“What?”
“Don’t get me wrong, the yacht is close to bought and paid for, so…” Adam let out a chuckle and Stan grinned. “But the smoozing and the drivers and the valets and Country Club clubhouse galas and thousand dollar plates just to sit next to a guy that can get you to talk to another guy that can get you the contract you want.”
Adam nodded the whole time. “The cost of being rich. It’s not living. Everything with Kono has taught me that.”
“It’s pretend and it’s inauthentic. My dad was a teacher, my mom is a principal, and my other mom is a crisis counselor. This isn’t the life I was raised to have. I want something different. You know I wanted to be an architect to build people houses? Not corporations.”
“So why’d you go after that kind of life?”
He shrugged and frowned. “It’s what Rachel wanted. I was so wrapped up in her I thought I wanted it too. I forgot.”
“Any news on when she’ll be back?”
Stan shook his head. “She may never come back. For Charlie’s sake, I hope she does.”
They closed up the house after that, done with work for the day.
“Thanks man,” Stan said. “Losing my job was a shock I was not prepared for.”
“You’ll figure something out,” Adam told him, patting him on the back. “So… about this yacht…”
~~~
Danny and Kono went missing on a Wednesday. Stan found out while he was visiting his mother for her birthday. Ask him eight years ago if he’d feel his stomach drop at the thought of his wife’s ex-husband dead. Awful, sure, but not the end of the world.
Except now it would be. Not only was he his son’s father, he had become a friend, an ally, a brother in arms.
He was on the next flight home, and had Grace and Charlie by noon the next day. Adam had come over, Chin had sent him home from headquarters, he was just pacing and itching for something to do, some way to help. Chin had nothing for him and he was frustrated.
Who knew Stan’s life would lead him to talking down a former mob boss from running back to crime in order to save his wife from pirates? But man, Adam was adamant. Turn himself into the Yakuza for Kono’s life, for Danny’s life. Using himself as leverage. It took everything he had to talk Adam off that ledge.
“No, man, Kono wouldn’t want it. No matter what.”
“You don’t understand.” He licked his lips, moved closer, and quieted down so Grace and Charlie, who were chowing down on pizza, couldn’t hear. “Kono’s pregnant.”
Another swoop of the stomach falling.
“They’ll find them. They stand in front of speeding cars with pistols expecting criminals to stop. They’ll find them.”
They found them on a Friday morning, and they were home before it was dark.
Adam was with Kono, and Chin and Lou had been in and out - busy with the fallout he was sure - but for the most part it was just him, the kids, and Steve’s sister Mary. He had met Mary once or twice, but only in passing. They all arrived at the same time, meeting in the elevator on the way to the ICU. Joan and Charlie immediately hugged each other.
“Stan,” Mary said solemnly, adjusting Jack in her arms, and then grabbing her daughter’s hand. “Do you know anything?”
He shook his head, arm around Grace. “Just that they made it home.”
“How you doing, Grace?”
“I’m glad he’s home,” is all she said.
The walk to the ICU was interrupted by Grace breaking away to a waiting room off to the side, “Steve!” she called out.
They followed quickly, Steve’s arms already around Grace in a tight hug, and then he dropped to his knees to give another one to Charlie. Both children went happily and without complaint. They had a rough couple of days and were happy to see the man.
It hit Stan in that moment that if Steve and Danny ever got their act together, Steve would be a dad to his son. Looking at him hugging Charlie, and the relief on his face, he probably already was. He watched as Jack and Steve reached for each other desperately. He was probably a good parent, he assumed. Grace wouldn’t be clinging to him like that if he wasn’t.
“I’m so sorry, Steve,” Mary said first.
“He’s in surgery now; we’ll know more when he comes out of it.”
“That’s no-”
“Where’s Nahele?” he asked.
There was a short conversation about Nahele being taken by CPS and where he was. Grace had been torn up because of it since he picked her up at school. Grief was written all over Steve’s face and he demanded a cell phone.
Grace, Stan, and Mary all dug out their phones instantly, but Stan had his out first. Steve took it from him without muchado. He handed Jack to Grace and the baby started to get a bit fussy. After a bit on the phone, and some pacing on his part, he waited, and he waited, and they all waited.
“Danny Williams?” A doctor stuck his head in the door. All their heads turned at the name.
Steve pushed the phone towards Stan, “Don’t let her hang up.” Then Steve was out in the hall, talking to the doctor. Grace and Charlie took a few steps towards him anyway. They were all waiting for news, Stan had a cell phone to his ear, waiting for a connection.
Steve talked to the doctor for several moments, but relief was written all over his posture. Stan took the moment to relax. A part of him was expecting the worst news and inconsolable children. Then Steve turned back to the room, wiping his face.
He came into the room. “He’s okay. He’s got a pretty bad fever, and lots of bruises, a few broken ribs, but he’s okay.”
“Can we see him?”
“I can, soon. We might have to wait for him to be moved to a regular room before you can see him, okay Gracie?”
'Gracie.’ this guy was her father, even if Danny hadn’t admitted it yet. Only he and Danny called her Gracie, even her mother refused to succumb to a nickname, and yet here was this third guy…
“Hello?” came a voice from the cell phone.
“Hold on,” Stan held out the phone to Steve, “She’s waiting.”
Steve took the phone with haste. “Leia, hey. What’s going on, where is he? … I know, just where is he and what do I have to do to get him back? … Well get it started, I still want to know where he is. … I can make sure he knows he’s not alone! … I’m sorry. … He’ll be okay. I need to know where my son is, Leia.”
In that moment Stan knew Steve would do the same for Grace, and for Charlie.
“Leia, please. …” He groaned. “Thank you Leia.”
He hung up after that and something in his demeanor switched. Suddenly he looked like he fit in the camis he was wearing. He gave out orders to Grace and Mary, who both nodded and went to work on their phones. Stan was impressed.
“My orders ‘Mander?” Charlie asked.
Stan was taken aback. Steve’s face fell from serious to soft. He lowered himself to Charlie’s leve. “Your orders are to make Danno a get better card, yeah?”
Charlie smiled, then he nodded.
Steve was a good man.
Then, “Stan.” Steve stood back up, “I need you to do something too,” He pulled them aside from the others. Mary was already on the phone, and Grace was intently staring down at her’s. Stan went with him, ready to act. It was an all hands on deck situation, after all.
“Name it,” Stan answered.
“I need you to try to get a hold of Rachel,” he said. He looked pained as he said it, but his eyes darted to Grace, then to Charlie, and back to Stan, just as serious as before.
He nodded, “go to Danny.” \
~~~
She didn’t answer the first time, or the second time, but she answered on the third.
“Honestly, Stanly, why are you calling so early?”
“You’re the one that went to a ridiculous time zone, not me.”
“Now we can still be civil. Why have you called?”
“Danny’s hurt.”
There was a silence on Rachel’s end, and a rustling that sounded like sheets. She was probably still in bed. “How bad?”
“He’s in the ICU. Grace has been calling you.”
“I know, I’ve been missing her calls in the middle of the night.”
“It’s your daughter.”
“I know-”
“You need to come home.”
“Danny won’t want to see me. He has his partner there after all.”
“This isn’t just about Danny!”
“Grace and Charlie are fine. Unless you aren’t telling me something? Were they involved?”
“No, they were perfectly safe. But they aren’t fine! They are scared! Their mother’s presence would help!”
There was another silence. “...I’m not sure I’m wanted there.”
“Of course you are.”
And with a strength he didn’t know he had.
“Come home now. Not everything is about you, Rachel. Stop throwing yourself a pity party and come home and be a fucking mother.”
Another silence. “...are you still there?”
“Yes. I’m waiting for you to tell me you’re on your way.”
“I’m on my way.”
Danny called too, later, catharsis and all that. He also had some not so nice words and the nurse about tore his cell phone away from him, but Stan was glad to see they were sharing the corner in this ring.
~~~
“You should come to the adoption!” Danny invited him, grabbing Charlie’s backpack from him.
Charlie was climbing into the car. “Yeah Daddy you should come!”
“You sure you guys want me there?”
Jack was being adopted in a week. It seemed like such a private affair. He felt weird.
“Yeah,” Danny shrugged. “Jack’s going to be Charlie’s brother. You should be there.”
“Isn’t that a bit… weird?”
“Maybe,” Danny shrugged again. “But-” he sighed. “We’ve got to start being friends, Stan. It’ll stop being weird eventually.”
They really did. They were allies, sure. A united front against Rachel, friendly to each other but… they weren’t friends? They didn’t invite each other over to each other’s houses. They didn’t talk outside of the topic of Charlie, but everything with Danny’s hospitalization made Stan think…
“I thought we were friends?”
“Well sure,” he said, pushing his seat back to a sitting position, “we can say we’re friends all we want, but we gotta start actin’ like it.”
“And ‘coming to Jack’s adoption’ is acting like it? Danny, your parents are going to be there.”
“So?”
“I’m-” he grunted. “-your ex-wife’s husband.”
“Soon to be ex-husband,” Danny offered, then he sighed again. “They aren’t going to judge you. I’ll make sure of that.”
“It’s not inappropriate?”
Danny sat back and thought for a moment. Stan took the moment too. This was one of those moments. Those moments Adam had told him to watch out for. When it was Rachel’s voice in his head and not his dad’s. Rachel was telling him this was inappropriate. His father was telling him it sounded like fun.
“You want me and Steve to come to some of your family stuff? Because we can. We can totally feel the awkwardness if we need to make this even.
Stan chuckled, “It’s not about being even. I don’t even have family stuff for you guys to come to.” He was all alone on this island, minus Charlie, minus Adam, he didn’t even have work friends, at the moment. He was a lonely dude. Maybe an adoption party was what the doctor ordered.
Danny grinned, “Yes you do. Me and Steve are adopting Jack next week.”
That was it. That was all he needed. Danny admitted they were family. Sometimes family was hard and awkward and weird and damn it he wanted to give Charlie a happy and stable family.
He rolled his eyes at how simple things had become, with those easy words out of Danny’s mouth and smiled. “Alright, I’ll come.”
“Did you hear that Hammerhead?” Stan chuckled at the nick-name. It was appropriate for Charlie, and Stan had to admit he was sad he hadn’t come up with it earlier. He had fought Rachel to call him ‘Charlie’ and not ‘Charles’ after all.
“Yay!” Charlie celebrated, leaning forward over the back of the seat. “There’s going to be cake!”
“Well, if there’s going to be cake, I definitely have to be there,” Stan told him with a grin. Charlie giggled and Stan’s heart soared.
Danny got in the car and Stan leaned down to wave at Charlie in the back seat.
“Bye Daddy!”
“Bye buddy.”
Danny leaned out the car window, “Hey, you may think we have nothing in common, but we do.”
Stan was too busy smiling at Charlie, “Yeah I know, we’ve got Charlie.”
“Well, yeah, but that’s not what I was talking about.”
Stan was at a loss. Stan was an unemployed soon to be divorcee only living on the island to be close to his only child. Their lives looked nothing alike.
“You’re not the only one she lied to.”
Stan’s stomach dropped at the memory of learning the truth. Of finding out that lie. He looked down at his feet for a moment, before looking back up to Danny. He wanted to be so mad at the man for ruining his life, but… he glanced at Charlie… he gave him Charlie. Didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. Didn’t mean it wasn’t awful.
“It’s a horrible thing she did but- I’ve been there, trust me, I have been there, but it doesn’t have to be that way. That- That-” Danny took a deep breath. “That bad place. I don’t know how else to say it.”
Stan was quiet for a moment. Danny had changed. “You’re not the same guy I met all those years ago.” Back when Stan was in love with Rachel and Danny was her ex and angry and rough and causing Rachel problems. This side of things now maybe he saw things clearer, maybe it wasn’t all Danny. Maybe some of it was Rachel causing problems for Danny.
“No,” he said with a soft grin. “No I’m not.”
They sat for a moment, taking in everything that had changed in the better part of a decade.
“I’m not saying you’re not allowed to be angry or whatever, but… these people? These kids?” He gestured to the world, then to back seat where Charlie was patiently waiting. “They… they were there for me and they’d do that for you too.”
Stan took a step or two towards the car. “Why would you- Why would you offer me this? Me?”
Danny shrugged. “It’s what I needed. I’m sorry for what I did to you. I’m not innocent in this. You are, though. And you’ve stepped up in this big way… You’re a good man.”
“Thanks Danny.” He fought a catch in his throat. “I think I needed to hear that.”
~~~
He served Rachel divorce papers the next day.
~~~
He sold his house a few days after that. It went for way more than he paid for it, and it was enough to stretch out his unemployment if needed.
“Congratulations!” Adam greeted him on his yacht docked at the marina with a bottle of champagne.
Stan laughed and smiled. “Thank you! But you did a lot of the work too. Some of this celebration is yours.”
“Why do you think I brought champagne?” Adam said. “This is my first official job since I went clean. I think it deserves some proper celebration.”
“And the yacht helps, right?”
“Yes.”
They laughed again.
A couple beers later and the whole bottle of champagne, Stan felt good. “I gotta find a real house, man. I got a kid.”
“I’m going to have a kid.”
“Shit man, you’re going to be a dad.”
“Holy shit.”
They laughed again.
“It’s terrible. Being a dad. Everything is about your kid. It’s great.”
“You just contradicted yourself within one sentence.”
“I know. Parenting is nothing but confusing and scary and wonderful. Constant contradictions.”
They laughed again.
“You’ll be okay. You’ve got Kono.”
“I’m unemployed.”
“So am I!”
Adam gave him a face, “Whatsit you said your dad said? ‘Moan, rich boy, moan?’”
“Didn’t you come from money?”
“Mob stole it all.”
“Ahh. Right. That.”
“We did a good job with that house.”
“Yes we did.”
“We should keep doing it.”
“Doing what?”
“Flipping houses! It’s Hawaii! Real estate is like… a thing here.”
“An expensive thing.”
“Come on, two houses and we could be living on that money.”
“You’ve done research.” It wasn’t a question.
“Of course I have. Plus you’re rich. And my friend. We get along great. You said you wanted to design houses! It’s just… re-designing them. And I’m good with business and money! It’s perfect.”
“You’re an excitable drunk.”
“Yes, yes I am. It makes for a terrible mob boss, let me tell you.”
Stan laughed. “Does this mean I’m getting into business with the mafia?”
“Is that a perk to you?” They laughed again. “Kono’s on board. We’ve got Kono’s approval. We can’t go wrong.”
Stan sighed, he didn’t know… flipping houses was a big risk…
“We need someone that knows real estate,” Stan finally said.
“I do! That’s part of what I did! I mean, it’s not businesses, its houses, but it's basically the same thing.”
“Unnnnnn,” Stan groaned. “Do you have a house in mind?”
“Yes!” Adam celebrated, already knowing he won.
“Alright, alright, I’ll give it a shot.”
“If it fails, you can go back to one of the dozens of firms on the island. It’s not like I can walk into anywhere and say ‘I used to run an organized crime family, hire me.’”
“True.”
“Yes!”
“Calm down, let’s celebrate when we’re in the green.”
“Let’s celebrate now! I’ll call Kono.”
~~~
It seemed like everyone that Steve and Danny knew showed up to Jack’s adoption party. Every few minutes Stan was introduced to someone new. The city coroner and his girlfriend. Another city coroner, and then a third, who both laughed and admitted they were assistants. Several police officers, a few he remembered from the day of the high speed chase. A man that claimed he worked with Five-0, (but by the roll of Kono and Lou’s eyes told him there was a story there.) Kono’s parents. A nice couple named the Whittakers that Stan had only heard stories about. Danny’s parents, his sisters, his brother in law. Charlie introduced him to some of his cousins - a couple boys a few years older than him - before they ran off to play on the beach with Mary’s daughter Joan. He met an interesting man named Sang Min, and was promptly warned by both Adam and Kono that he was a former human trafficker.
He excused himself to the side of the house for a moment of fresh air. Everyone was welcoming, and conversation had been easy, but he needed a moment. It wasn’t like he wasn’t charismatic. This was the circle Danny ran in and it felt nothing like the events that Rachel or his firm dragged him to. No high noses, no high society; swimsuits and flip flops were common attire. A large, friendly man making jokes over the grill. Children running freely through outdoor showers and throwing balls around. Inside jokes that made half the party laugh. Stan witnessed what was obviously a private hug between Steve and Mary.
It felt authentic. It felt real.
It felt overwhelming.
Of course the side gate opened up and his private time was interrupted by one, single drop of his stomach. She was gorgeous. A woman, mid thirties maybe, walked through the gate, her long, slightly curly blonde hair falling around her shoulders. She had a professional skirt on, but her work blouse had been pulled free, and she was in flip flops, obviously fresh from work, but ready to party.
“Oh darn,” She said with an Australian accent. “I was hoping to sneak in without being noticed. I’m very, very late.”
Stan smiled.
‘Please, Stan, please don’t do this. We can work on things, I’m home for good now, I see what I did… please…’ Rachel’s voice was in his head.
‘What are you waiting for?’ His father’s voice in his head. ‘Don’t let her get away without giving it a shot.’
“You’re fine,” Stan said. “This lot won’t mind.”
“Oh, I’ll be teased without mercy.”
“Stan Edwards,” Stan held out his hand.
“Oh! You’re Stan!” She had heard of him, then. Great, she had one up on him. “I’m Ellie.” She said, shaking his hand. “Ellie Clayton. It’s good to finally meet you. I’m a fan of your son.”
Stan made a friendly face and shrugged. “I like him.”
“I think what you’re doing for him is spectacular. Not many men would.”
He shrugged again. “What wouldn’t I do for my kid?”
She paused, taking him in. There was a moment when her eyes flitted down to his chest, obviously checking him out.
‘See? You’re totally in,’ h is father celebrated in his head.
“So why are you hiding?” she asked.
“I’m new.” He looked back toward the yard where someone had pulled out a ukulele. “Everyone’s great, but it’s... “
“A lot to take in?”
Stan nodded.
“I felt the same way, at first.”
“How do you know Steve and Danny?”
“Well,” she adjusted her purse on her shoulder. “That’s… complicated?”
“Hi,” Stan held his hand out again. “I’m Stan Edwards, President of complicated relationships around here.”
She laughed lightly. Her smile was amazing. She took his hand again. “Hello Stan. I’m Ellie. The CEO.”
It was his turn to laugh.
They eventually found their way to the party. Charlie screamed with joy when Grace and Nahele came out with water guns. Danny patted him on the back at the way Charlie played. Steve and Ellie greeted each other with a hug and Stan briefly wondered if she was an ex of Steve’s.
“Foster sister,” was not what he was expecting. It was also made clear that wasn’t the whole story. He got hints about a Five-0 case and daddy-issues. She was CEO, that’s for sure. Danny just smiled and changed the small talk to Ellie’s latest case and that’s how he learned she was an assistant DA. Stan was interested in a lawyer, of all things. Adam interrupted and pulled them all into a game of pickup football.
He would soon be single, his son was healthy and alive and a joy, his son’s father was welcoming and friendly, he and his best friend were embarking on an exciting new chapter in their professional lives, and he just met a girl that had an amazing smile. Maybe these people could be his family. He finally felt like he was over that great big hill. His stomach had finally caught up with him.
Things were definitely looking up.