Memories

8. Little Things.

Steve McGarrett and his memory-impaired wife Bailey were sitting outside in their wooden lounge chairs enjoying the breeze coming off the ocean on their little strip of private beach.

"Exactly how long are you planning to take off work to babysit me, Commander?" Bailey asked slightly annoyed.

"I'm not babysitting you, Vi. I'm taking some off work to help you get readjusted." Steve answered taken aback.

"I've been home from the hospital for three and a half weeks now. I'd say that's enough time to be readjusted." Bailey said wryly.

"I just want to be here in case something happens, or you need me," Steve told her.

"I need you to return to Five-0. Danny needs you to return to Five-0. With any luck, I will be joining you back at work in five weeks remember?" Bailey reminded him.

"Would it be so bad if I waited until then to go back to work too?" Steve asked.

"Yes! I'm sorry Mac, but you are starting to drive me crazy. Having you constantly hovering or underfoot is nuts. Tomorrow, you need to go back to work." Bailey informed him.

"What about your physical therapy, who's going to take you to that?" Steve asked upset.

"I know how to drive a car, Commander," Bailey replied exasperatedly.

"Huh-Uh, no. No way Vi as far as I know you haven't been cleared to drive yet." Steve vetoed the idea.

"If I can make sure I have a ride to my PT appointments, then will you go back to work?" Bailey asked with a sigh.

"I might. I mean...I know you can look after yourself, Vi. It's just that I'm worried okay." Steve replied struggling to tell his wife what he wanted to say.

"You're worried that I'm going to remember more, and you won't be here for it right?" Bailey asked understandingly.

"Yeah." Steve agreed quietly.

"You read the first entry of the memory book. And I know you check it regularly for new entries so what is it that you really think you're going to miss, Mac?" Bailey asked gently putting her hand on Steve's arm.

"The little things you remember. The stuff you don't put in the book. The things you remember every day without even knowing it." Steve said.

"Okay, like what? Give me an example." Bailey requested.

"Like the day after the party. You came downstairs and made coffee. You asked me how my run was or if I decided to go swimming instead. You handed me my coffee and it was just how you've always made it." Steve explained.

"Mac, I started making your coffee three days after I joined Five-0 as the team's assistant. That was before you and I started seeing each other. And Danny told me about you going for a run in the morning after I had been working with the team for about a month." Bailey told her husband gently.

"Okay, what about the morning swim? Anybody at Five-0 tell you about that before we got together?" Steve wanted to know grasping at straws.

Bailey tilted her head to the side and thought for a moment. Steve smiled; he had noticed that she did that when she was trying to think about a week after she had joined the team. Danny had commented that it made her look like a confused Cocker Spaniel. Steve had swatted his arm for it.

"Or how about when you started calling me Mac? You didn't start doing that until after New Orleans and we had something started while we were there." Steve continued.

"Okay, I see what you mean. I don't know how I knew about the morning swim or where calling you Mac came from." Bailey conceded.

"See? It's little things like that I'm afraid I'll miss out on. I mean what if little things lead to bigger ones and I'm not here for it?" Steve questioned.

"Bigger ones go in the book." Bailey grinned.

"Another one right there. You picked up that sense of humor from being around Danny." Steve said.

"You're still going back to work tomorrow. I'm calling to make arrangements for my twice-a-week PT and getting you out of my hair." Bailey declared.

"You really want to get rid of me that bad?" Steve asked pulling a puppy-dog face.

"Hey, fight fair. This has nothing to do with getting rid of you. You'll come home every night to me. Hawaii will be safer with you back out there doing your job and I won't be tripping over my husband every time I turn around." Bailey reprimanded.

"Well, I guess I could go back to work and annoy Danno, but only if you find a ride to PT, babe." Steve stipulated.

"Then I better get my phone and start making some phone calls huh?" Bailey replied.

"I'm not in any hurry. You take as long as you need." Steve teased with a grin.

"Where the heck did, I put my phone?" Bailey said.

Steve watched as his wife stood up and started to head back to the house to look for her phone. He noticed that as she was entering the house Danny was coming out of it. Bailey and Danny exchanged greetings and the former entered the house to presumably hunt up her phone.

"Hey," Steve called to his partner.

"Hey, everything all good with Bailey? She looked distracted when I said "Hello" just now." Danny asked.

Steve reached into the cooler by his chair and grabbed a couple of beers. He offered one to Danny and gestured to Bailey's vacated seat. Danny took the beer and sat in the chair waiting for his friend to answer his question.

"Did you know that Vi had a crush on you when she first started working at Five-0?" Steve asked conversationally.

"No, I did not know that. I'm... I'm very flattered. If you hadn't stolen her right out from under me, I probably would have found out for myself though." Danny teased.

"I didn't steal her out from under you, Danny. I saw an opportunity to be with a woman I already had feelings for, and I took it. I had no idea you might have those feelings for her too." Steve defended himself.

"Well, ya know if you had bothered to tell me you had said feelings, I wouldn't have asked you what you thought about me asking her out in the first place," Danny said.

"I wasn't sure until after New Orleans and you sayin you wanted to ask her out how deep those feelings ran," Steve explained.

"Are you staying for dinner and a Doctor Who marathon Danny?!" Bailey called from the back doorway.

"Depends on what's for dinner babe?" Danny called back.

"Anything I don't have to cook," Bailey said raising her voice and walking towards the two men.

"I can swing by Kamekona's shrimp truck before he closes if you want Vi" Steve offered once his wife was standing next to him.

"We have shrimp all the time aren't you sick of it yet?" Danny asked incredulously.

"What I like Kamekona's shrimp and so does Vi." Steve returned.

Bailey rolled her eyes and said, "How about Mexican instead? I'm suddenly feeling like tacos and nachos."

"Sounds good to me. Why don't Steve and I go get them and you can get everything ready for the Doctor Who marathon." Danny suggested.

"Works for me. Oh, and between Stan and Rene I'm covered for rides to PT." Bailey informed her husband.

"You having transportation issues?" Danny asked.

"No, but Mac was using it as an excuse not to return to work until I did," Bailey told him.

"Looks like she's got it all covered big guy." Danny grinned.

"Exactly, so if you wouldn't mind Detective. Please come pick him up tomorrow for work. Just to make sure he actually goes." Bailey requested.

"No problem, babe. C'mon Steve let's go get that food so we can have our marathon." Danny said.

Steve stood up and looked between his wife and his partner. He turned and pulled Bailey into his arms.

Steve leaned down and murmured, "You remember how to team up with Danny just fine Vi."

Bailey tilted her head to the side, giggled, and looked at her husband sideways impishly. She righted her head and then kissed him on the mouth.