Notes: Thanks as always to Mari and Sammy for being their awesome selves!

Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support! It is always appreciated.

Hope you enjoy!

Blackmail (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)

"Book, Daddy!" Angie said, waving a board book in his direction.

"Hammocks are for relaxing, baby girl," he said, arms stretched behind his head and smiling lazily down at the toddler who was sitting between his legs. "You sure you don't want to nap?"

She shook her head emphatically. "No, book! Wead book!"

He smiled. "Can't really say no to that, can I?" He slid backwards to sit up a little, keeping her securely between his legs, and held out a hand. "What did you grab?" he asked, taking the library book she'd picked up from the pile before they came outside. "Animal sounds, huh? I know one animal sound you know for sure. What does a dog say?"

"Cammie!" she said, beaming.

He laughed. "Cammie is a dog, yes, but what does Cammie say?"

"Whe'e Cammie?" she asked, looking around the empty yard.

"Mommy took Cammie to the vet, remember?" he told her. "Her doctor?" He jostled her lightly with his leg. "Stop avoiding the question," he teased. "What does a dog say?"

"Woof!" she said, bouncing in place.

"That's right," he said, smiling proudly. "You think there's a dog in this book? Let's see what we got."

He opened the book, My Very First Book of Animal Sounds by Eric Carle, raising his eyebrows as the interior pages flopped around. They were cut in half length-wise so that you could flip both the top and bottom sections. The top pages had illustrations of animals and the bottom had sound words printed.

"Ah, it's like a matching game," he said. "You're gonna ace this, aren't you?" He opened the book on his abdomen and angled it toward her. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to the first picture.

"Cat!" she replied immediately, pointing.

He smiled. "Good job, And does the cat say 'squeak'?" he asked, pitching his voice a little higher and tapping the word on the page below the cat.

She paused, furrowing her brow. Finally she shook her head.

"No," he agreed and turned the bottom page. "Does the cat say 'roar'?"

A giggle escaped as Angie shook her head again, and he smiled proudly.

"Good," he said. Turning the page again he saw the correct word and asked her, "What does the cat say, Angie?"

"Me'w!"

"That's right," he said, grinning. "Here it is. The cat says 'meow.' "

Angie clapped. "Mo' Daddy!"

"Okay, next one." He turned the page. "Uh oh, do you know what this is? It's in a lot of your farm books."

She studied the page. "Duck!"

"Ah, close. This is a little tougher. This is a rooster."

"Woosta,' " she repeated.

"Do you know what he says? Let's find what he says." He turned the bottom page. "Does he say 'moo'?"

Angie giggled.

"Nope, not 'moo,' " Steve said, grinning at her reaction. "How about 'hoot'?"

She continued to giggle, reaching for the bottom set of pages and turning it.

"Here we go," Steve said. "Does he say 'cock a doodle doo'?"

She shook her head again.

"Yes, he does," Steve said. "Can you say that? Cock a doodle doo!"

"Ca'doo!" she tried.

He laughed. "Yeah, that's a tough one," he acknowledged. "What kind of animal is it again?"

She pursed her lips, trying to remember.

"A … rooster," he reminded her.

Her face brightened, recognizing the word as soon as he said it. "Woosta'."

"And he says …" When again she scrunched up her face in thought, he helped with a "Cock a doodle doo!"

"Ah-ka doo!"

He laughed. "Ah-ka doo," he repeated. "That's close enough. You ready for another animal?' He smiled, turning the page. "You know this one."

"Woof!" she said immediately when she saw the illustration of the dog.

"Yes," he said grinning. "Let's find the word." He flipped a few of the bottom pages. "Ah, they've got 'bark.' " He winked at her. "But we know we're right."

"Woof!" she said again.

Behind them, the backdoor opened. Steve craned his neck to look and Angie's eyes brightened at the sight of the visitor.

"Dannooooo!" she said, waving emphatically.

"Angiiiiiiie," he called back in their usual greeting as he headed toward them.

"Woof, Danno!" she said when he was close enough. "See dog?"

"Oh, you got a dog book?" he asked.

"Animal sounds," Steve told him.

Danny nodded approvingly. "A perennially favorite topic of toddlers everywhere." He gestured back toward the house with his head. "I put the drill back in the garage."

"Thanks," Steve said with a nod.

"Daddy wead Danno," Angie said, smacking his thigh to get his attention.

"I'm sure Danno has other things to do besides match up animal sounds," Steve said.

"Not really," Danny said, making himself comfortable in one of the nearby Adirondack chairs. "Steve McGarrett making animal sounds? I wouldn't miss this for the world." He waved a hand, grinning at his partner. "Please, continue."

"Daddy!" Angie pleaded, hitting his leg again.

With a single raised eyebrow at Danny, Steve returned his full attention to his eager daughter.

"Okay, what's this?" he asked, turning to the next animal.

"Duck!" she said.

"Yes!" he said with a proud smile. "This one is a duck." He pointed to the word below. "Does the duck say 'peep'?"

She looked at him strangely, then laughed and shook her head. "No!"

He grinned. "No." He turned to another page. "Does is say 'baa'?"

Angie laughed even more at that sound from her father. "Noooo!"

"What does the duck say?" he asked her.

"Qwack!"

"Yes!" He found the right page. "There it is. The duck says 'quack.' "

She bounced on the hammock, repeating, "Qwack qwack qwack qwack!"

He grinned. "Yeah, you like that one, huh?" He turned the page. "What's this?"

"Cow!"

"And what does the cow say? I know you know this one."

"Moooooooo," she dutifully replied, her face bright.

"Yes," he said, grinning. "Smartest toddler on Oahu right here." He flipped the bottom pages. "We've gotta go back a couple for the cow's sound." He stopped when he found it. "There it is. Moooo."

She giggled.

"What's this?" he asked, turning to the next page.

"S'eep!" she said without hesitation.

He grinned proudly. "And does the sheep go 'meow'?" he asked, pointing to a sound word.

"No! Baaaa!"

"Yes!" He flipped to find the right word. "Baaa. Now what's this?" he asked, turning to the next picture.

Her eyes widened at the sight.

"Do you remember?" he asked. "This is a … lion."

"Wion!" she repeated.

"Does a lion go 'quack'?" he asked, grinning at her.

She laughed, tipping herself backwards into the hammock with the motion and pushing herself back up so as not to miss anything.

Chuckling, he turned to another sound word. "Does a lion 'squeak'?"

She shook her head, escaped curls bouncing around her face.

"Or does a lion … ROAR?!" he said, reaching forward suddenly and grabbing her around the middle, tugging her easily onto his chest as he laid back, the hammock swaying beneath them.

She squealed with delight, the book falling harmlessly to the ground as she threw her arms around him. "Daddy woa'!" she echoed.

"Daddy roar," he agreed, laughing.

He smoothed a hand down her back as she snuggled into him, both smiling contentedly.

Glancing over at Danny, he said, "You've been surprisingly quiet."

In response, Danny held up his phone. On the screen was the video he'd recorded of Steve making animal sounds as he read with Angie. He smiled wryly.

"You know, once upon a time this would have been blackmail."

Steve quirked an eyebrow, arm secure around Angie, and Danny's expression softened into a sincere smile.

"Now … it's a memory."

Hope you enjoyed!

Book:

My Very First Book of Animal Sounds by Eric Carle (Philomel, 2007)

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