Despite their best efforts, Danny ultimately had no choice but to return to New Jersey to testify at the trial of a mob boss he'd investigated in his time with the Newark Police Department. He and Steve had explained to the court in New Jersey that it was an incredible imposition to expect Danny to leave their six year old son and four year old daughter when Steve couldn't take the time off to be with them. Five-0 was in the middle of their own huge investigation and Danny leaving could potentially ruin a year's worth of work.

The prosecuting attorney was willing to allow Danny's testimony to be via computer. The defense attorney, trying everything possible to get his client off, refused the compromise. If Danny didn't appear in the courthouse in Newark, the charges could be dropped and the mobster released.

Danny didn't believe the consequences would be quite so dire if he didn't go to Newark. By the same token, the man was a horrible example of humanity and deserved to be put under the prison for the rest of his natural life.

"It should only be a week," Danny told Steve the night before he was leaving. They were laying in their bed, staring at their ceiling when they should have been asleep.

"I know," Steve sighed. "And I've left you for longer."

"You have," Danny agreed, trying to make light of the situation. He could feel the tension in Steve's body. Neither of them could manage to relax, one more reason neither of them were sleeping.

"Chin and Malia are on stand-by," Steve reminded Danny. "Kono said Charlie would help as much as he could."

"Chin's not going to have time either," Danny said. "The kids will be fine. Emma loves her day care. Even if she is going every day instead of twice a week."

"She'll probably be there all day," Steve said in some regret. "This couldn't have come at a worse time."

"With Five-0, there is never a good time," Danny said, scooting closer to kiss Steve. "Go to sleep. I have an early flight and you have two children to chase after all day."

"Yeah," Steve said, taking a deep breath. "I'm going to check on them."

"All right," Danny agreed, remaining in bed as Steve crept down the hall. It didn't take long for him to return, crawling back into bed.

"Sound asleep," Steve said, turning on his side to wrap an arm around Danny's waist.

"Just like we should be," Danny pointed out, kissing Steve's head before closing his eyes, determined to fall asleep.

~0~

"Emma," Steve called again. He was about to burn John's second helping of pancakes which would make them even later. It was inching ever closer to 7:25 when they all had to be out of the house. And Emma still hadn't come downstairs.

He'd gotten her up at the usual time, making sure she brushed her teeth. After he'd braided her hair, she informed Steve that she would get dressed all by herself. That had been twenty minutes earlier.

"Emma, what are you doing?" Steve called. When he got no answer, he went up to her room to find her sitting on her floor still in her pajamas. She was having a tea party with three of her Barbies and two of John's GI Joes.

"We need to put your toys away so we can get you ready for school," Steve said.

"Play Barbies with me, Daddy," she said with a bright smile up at him.

"I can't. We have to get you ready for school," Steve told her.

"Daddy plays Barbies with me," she told him, sounding like this Daddy was a major disappointment.

"Daddy isn't here which is why you have to go to school today. We need to put your toys up so we can get you dressed," Steve repeated. She frowned as he collected the Barbies to put them in their carrying case.

"I want to play Barbies," she protested, her bottom lip quivering.

"I know you do. But I really need you to get dressed," Steve said, putting the Barbie case on the shelf where it belong. "Now, we can get you dressed and ready to go."

"I can do it by myself," Emma told him.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help, Em? It's getting late and we need to leave soon," Steve asked, looking down at her determined expression. At four, she was very much her own person with her own mind. Much like her fathers, once she made a decision, very little would change it.

"I'm a big girl, Daddy. I can do it," Emma informed him, her arms crossed much like her father's.

"Daddy," John called from downstairs. "I'm still hungry."

"I'm coming, John. And please stop yelling," Steve called back.

"Can I make my own more pancakes?" John yelled up.

"No. Eat some granola until I get back down."

"I don't want granola. I want pancakes," John protested, the pitch of his voice rising in his indignation.

"Do you want to be in a time out with no dinner when you get home from school?" Steve asked, resorting to leaning over the banister and frowning down at his son. Steve's expression made John back away, returning silently to the dining room.

"Let's put on your shorts and shirt," Steve said after taking a deep breath. He was kneeling before Emma who was standing stubbornly in the exact same place. Refusal was radiating off her in waves.

"I can do it," Emma told him again, firmly.

Steve knew from the look on her face, a look that was all too familiar to him, and one on which he would always blame Danny, that this was a battle of wills he was destined to lose. "All right, little miss. Come down when you're dressed so you can have breakfast."

"Okay Daddy," she said, watching him leave.

Ten minutes and four pancakes later, she still wasn't downstairs. John was silently eating the pancakes Steve was giving him, devouring them like he'd been denied food for all the days that Danny had been gone. Steve decided if John was going to give him the silent treatment, he'd wait him out. Ultimately, Daddy would win. Daddy always won.

Steve put three more pancakes on John's plate and poured him more milk before once again heading for the bottom of the stairs. "Emma," he called sharply. His exasperation was loud and clear. "We have to leave in a few minutes."

When he got no answer, he went back upstairs and directly to Emma's room. She was looking at herself in her mirror, twirling to see all of her outfit. She looked very pleased with herself.

Steve was rendered speechless. She was wearing her pink and purple tulle princess skirt that reached past her knees. Under the skirt was a pair of bright orange tights that ended just above her ankles. On top of that was a neon green shirt that had blue diagonal strips. While all of that was…interesting, the yellow feathered Belle tiara she had placed on top of her head was the proverbial icing on the cake.

"Emma," Steve said, trying for patient. But he was beginning to seriously run short. "You can't wear that to day care."

"Uh huh," Emma said with a nod. "I'm a princess."

"You are my princess but you can't wear your princess clothes to school," Steve told her.

"I can," she said, her face going from bright and sunny to unhappy and dangerous. "I'm a princess."

"You are a princess inside our house. At school, you are Emma. You need to wear Emma clothes to school."

"These are my clothes," she told him firmly.

"Yes they are. They are not school clothes. We don't allow John to wear boardies to school. This is the same thing. There are school clothes and not school clothes. These are not school clothes," Steve said.

"I'll wear 'em to school. That'll make 'em school clothes," she said, being far too logical for Steve's peace of mind.

"Em," Steve said, squatting down to try to get to her eye level. "You need to put on these shorts and shirt." He reached over onto her chair, picking up the pink shorts and matching shirt he'd laid out for her. "These are appropriate school clothes."

"I'm wearin' this," she informed him with a streak of determination that was in no way a surprise. It wasn't as reassuring as it would have been under other circumstances. They had raised both kids to be independent but this was a step too far.

"No you are not," Steve countered. "You need to take off your princess clothes and put on your school clothes."

"I'm a princess," Emma repeated firmly.

"Emma," Steve said, standing to loom over her. "You know it's against the rules to wear princess clothes to pre-school. You need to put on your school clothes right now."

"No," she said, staring up at him. He detected some tears in her eyes but he was not going to give in. Princess clothes were for home not school.

Rather than continue to argue, he reached for her tiara, removing it from her head. He felt bad when she started crying but it could not deter him. He looked down at her when she collapsed onto her floor, crying and yelling 'I'm a princess.'

"Stop this," Steve said sternly, sitting next to her. "We have to get to school. You can't wear your princess clothes to school."

"Daddy lets me," she cried. "Daddy loves me. Why'd he leave me?"

"Em," Steve said, pulling her into his lap. She beat her tiny fists against his chest, still crying and repeating 'I'm a princess.' "Is that what this is about? Danno being gone?"

"Daddy loves me," she wailed.

"I love you. Why do you think I don't?" Steve asked, trying very hard to keep his calm and restore hers.

"I'm a princess," she said, sobbing into this tee shirt.

"You are my princess, Emma," Steve agreed, holding tight to her.

"I want to stay home. Today is a home day," she said, sniffling and rubbing her nose on his shirt.

"I know it's supposed to be a home day, baby. But with Danno in New Jersey, you need to go to school so I can go to work," Steve said gently.

"I want to stay home," she said, her sobs getting quieter. Now that he'd gotten to the root of the problem, he was better able to understand her unusual behavior.

"Okay, Em. What if we compromise?"

"What's cprmise?" she asked, her tears matting her eyelashes together as she looked up at him.

"What if you wear your princess skirt over your shorts? Then when you go outside to play, you can take it off and it won't get dirty."

"Daddy," John yelled from downstairs. "I'm going to be late for school."

"I'm working on it, John. Please stop yelling," Steve requested again. "We'll be down in five minutes."

"You said that ten minutes ago," John informed him.

"John," Steve said in warning. John had no response to that tone of voice. Satisfied by the returning silence from downstairs, Steve smoothed Emma's hair where the tiara had been. "You'll put on your shirt and shorts and wear your princess skirt over them, right?"

"Okay," Emma whispered, sounding like she was being forced to agree to never watch her Disney movies again.

"Okay," Steve said, kneeling to help her out of her mismatched clothes. It didn't take long for her to put on her matching pink shirt and shorts, her princess skirt billowing out over it. "There. That's better. Let's wash your face and we'll be ready to go."

She nodded, sadly following him into the bathroom. He helped her rinse her face with cool water, drying it and deciding that she didn't look too much like she'd been hysterical.

"I'm hungry," she said quietly as she followed him into his bedroom so he could put on a clean shirt. Blood he could take. His daughter's tears and accompanying snot, not so much.

"You'll have to make do with a granola bar," he said, picking her up to carry her downstairs. He got two of the chewy ones out of the pantry to give to her.

"Where's John?" she asked as she started on the first bar he'd opened for her.

"He better be in the truck," Steve said, Emma not really listening as she concentrated on her granola.

Once the front door was closed and locked, Steve carried Emma to the truck to put her in her seat. John was already buckled in the backseat, steadfastly ignoring his father.

"Why are you wearing that?" John asked Emma with a frown.

"I'm a princess," she told him like he should have known when it was so very obvious.

"No you aren't," John retorted. "You're just a regular little girl."

"John," Steve said, staring at him in the rearview mirror.

"She's not," John said, turning to stare out his window.

Steve glanced at Emma who was not bothered by what her brother had said. She was happily eating her granola bar, careful not to get any of the fruit filling on her skirt.

He drove to John's school first, John maintaining his stony silence the entire way. Steve found a fairly convenient place to park, not too far from the front door. The first bell had already rung so there were almost no students or teachers to be seen.

"Hold up, Bud," Steve said as John prepared to leave the truck. "We'll go in with you so I can get your tardy excused."

John shrugged but waited patiently by the truck as Steve unbuckled Emma and put her down at her request. Holding tightly to her hand, he walked with her behind John who led them into the school. They all went directly to the front office, John standing back as Steve approached the front desk.

"How can we help you?" the school secretary asked, looking up at Steve with no recognition in her eyes.

"I'm Steve Williams-McGarrett. John's tardiness is not his fault," Steve explained patiently. When Emma tugged on his pants' leg, he reached down to pick her up.

"I see, Commander. Hello Emma," the woman said kindly. "What a pretty outfit you have on."

"I'm a princess," Emma told her happily, the woman nodding as though it was truly obvious.

"We'll inform his teacher," she assured Steve who nodded.

"Thank you," Steve said, turning to look down at John. He used a finger under his chin so John would meet his eyes. "I'll pick you up at 3:00."

"Unless something more important happens," John muttered.

"John," Steve sighed. "We're going to talk about this attitude of yours after school."

"Bye John," Emma chirped, leaning over in Steve's arms to hug him. That seemed to cheer him up slightly, finally smiling up at Steve.

"I'm sorry," John said quietly.

"Okay," Steve said, kissing his head. "You have your lunch money?"

"Uh huh. I'll see you at 3:00," John said, leaving the office with Steve. John turned to go to his classroom, Steve leaving the building to return to his truck.

Once Emma was safely strapped in, Steve drove to her preschool, getting her out and taking her inside.

"Hello Emma," Lally, the director, said happily. "It's wonderful to see you again today."

"Today is a home day," Emma said seriously, the director nodding.

"Yes, usually it is. But sometimes we have to change our plans, don't we?"

"Yeah," Emma said, wandering away to join her friends at the pretend kitchen. They were busy making pretend food, Emma quickly organizing them and assigning them specific jobs.

"We had a minor crisis over what to wear," Steve said quietly to the director.

"I can see that," Lally agreed. "She's very self-determined."

"Gets that from her other father," Steve said with a smile.

"Both fathers is more like it," Lally said, laughing in sympathy.

"I told her she needed to take her skirt off when she went outside to play."

"Of course," Lally agreed. "And she has clean clothes here if she needs them."

"Right," Steve said. "I'll be by to get her at 3:15."

"Yes, of course," Lally said, walking him to the door. "We'll see you then."

Steve glanced over at Emma one last time before leaving the building, taking out his phone to call Chin.

"Boss," Kono said cheerfully as always.

"Didn't I call Chin?" Steve asked with a smile.

"Ahhh…who's counting? You're late," she said, laughing.

"I noticed," he said with a sigh.

"What was the crisis today?" she asked.

"What crisis?"

"Don't try that on me," Kono laughed. "You wouldn't be late if the kids had been the perfect angels you always claim them to be."

"That's Danny, not me."

"So what happened?"

"Emma decided to wear her princess clothes to school. Turns out she knows what day of the week it is and it's a stay home day. After a brief bout of hysteria, we compromised. John ate 100 pancakes and wanted more. I told him what I thought of him treating me like the local diner."

"A full morning," Kono said with a distinct lack of sympathy.

"Yeah. I'll be there in five minutes."

"Roger that," Kono said before hanging up.

Precisely five minutes later, Steve entered the office, gratefully accepting the giant cup of coffee Chin was holding out for him.

"Kids decided to be their own people, I hear," Chin said.

"Something like that," Steve said, standing over the tech table. "What do we know?"

They spent the day chasing down clues and one suspect who turned out to be both stupid and clueless. It didn't matter how many times Steve questioned him about the location of the warehouse, he claimed to have no idea what Steve meant.

Steve turned to the door of the interrogation room when it buzzed to let Chin enter. "Chin," Steve said in acknowledgment.

"It's 2:45," Chin told him.

"Oh great," Steve said, looking from Chin to the suspect and back to Chin. "Take over here. He may actually be as stupid as he pretends."

"Roger," Chin agreed, waiting as Steve left.

"Where's he going in such a hurry?" the suspect asked.

"None of your business, that's where," Chin replied.

It was exactly 3:00 when Steve arrived at the school. Two minutes later, John was entering the truck, smiling up at Steve.

"Hey," John said cheerfully. "How was your day chasing bad guys?"

"Tiring," Steve admitted. "How was school?"

"You know," John said in dismissal.

"Did you get your math test back?" Steve asked as they waited to leave the parking lot, the line snaking slowly out onto the street.

"Yep. Got a 98," John was glad to report.

"Excellent," Steve agreed. "Good for you."

"What are we having for dinner?" John asked.

"I haven't had the time to give it any thought," Steve admitted. "Is there something you want?"

"Your chicken and shrimp stir fry," John said as Steve pulled into the street.

"We can do that. Here's some dried pineapple," Steve said as he passed the package back to John.

"Yay," John cheered, stuffing several pieces in his mouth at once. "When's Daddy coming home?"

"He's supposed to fly back day after tomorrow," Steve said.

"Did you talk to him today?"

"I didn't have time. We'll Skype with him when we get home," Steve promised.

"'Kay," John agreed, eating more pineapple.

"Are you going to have room for stir fry after all those pineapples?" Steve asked as he drove toward Emma's daycare.

"Yep."

"All right," Steve said, shaking his head. Well, Danny was right when he said John was a growing boy. Eating as though it would soon be banned was normal if somewhat… disgusting. 'But,' Danny's voice inside his head reminded him, 'we aren't allowed to be disgusted by anything they do that's natural.' Steve wanted to argue with that but it was hard to do when Danny was thousands of miles away.

They got out of the truck at Emma's daycare, entering together to look over the room filled with Emma-sized children.

"Where's she?" John asked, standing up on his toes to get a better view of the room.

"I don't hear her," Steve said, going to the tiny office off to the side of the entrance. "Lally?"

"Ahh…Commander," she said as she left her office. "Hi John."

"Hi," John said, looking up at her. "Where's Emma?"

"In the bathroom. We had a little bit of mishap with some paint," Lally said.

"Is she okay?" Steve asked, all tense alertness.

"She's fine. It spilled on her shirt and shorts. Melissa is helping her change if you want to go and check on them," Lally said, pointing over at the bathroom.

"Stay here. I'll be right back," Steve said to John as he went around and stepped over several children between him and the bathroom. "Em?" he said as soon as he was in the bathroom.

"Daddy," she squealed from around the corner. She came running toward him wearing nothing but her bright pink panties.

"Where are your clothes?" Steve asked, scooping her up.

"We were in the process of getting them on," Melissa said, holding the blue shorts and shirt. "Did you want to take over, sir?"

"Sure," Steve agreed, accepting the clean clothes. "Where are the ones you were wearing this morning?"

"I have them right here," Melissa said, giving Steve an oversized Ziploc bag with Emma's formerly pink clothes. Now they were a bright orange. "One of the children got a little too excited with the paint and knocked it over. Emma caught most of it."

"So I see," Steve agreed. "Well, as long as only clothes were harmed, we aren't going to worry about it."

"No other harm, sir," Melissa said. "I'll leave you to it."

Steve nodded, kneeling to put Emma on the floor and checking her over. "You're okay, baby?"

"I was orange, Daddy. Orange," she laughed.

"I can see that," Steve agreed, looking again at the plastic bag of clothes. "We may not be able to get all the paint out of these shorts."

"You'll do it, Daddy. You can do anything," Emma told him in certainty. She took the clean blue shirt from his hand, pulling it on over her head.

"Good job," Steve said. "Except you have it on backwards."

"Oh," she said, looking down at herself. "How'd I know?"

"The flowers go in the front, where you can see them," Steve explained, helping her take it off to turn it around.

"Daddy?" John's voice said as the bathroom door opened.

"John-John," Emma squealed in delight. She would have jumped into his arms if Steve hadn't been holding her as still as he could while she pulled her shirt back on.

"Hey," Steve said, looking over his shoulder at John. "Emma had paint spilled on her. We're getting her fresh clothes on."

"The teacher gave me her princess skirt," John said, showing it to Steve. It was neatly folded and stuffed into another Ziploc bag.

"Did you get paint on your princess dress?" Steve asked Emma, helping her step into her shorts.

"Nuh hun," she said, shaking her head. "It was in my cubby."

"Good," Steve said. "Where are your shoes?"

"Sink," she said, pointing to it. Her slippahs were soaking in orange colored water, looking lost and ruined.

"All right. We'll do without them for now," Steve decided, taking them out of the orange water and stuffing them into the bag with her shirt and shorts. "John, you carry these too."

John accepted the ruined clothes as Steve picked up Emma to carry her out.

"Do you need anything else from your cubby?" Steve asked Emma as they crossed the main room.

"No," she said. "Tomorrow's stay home day, right?"

"I have to work, Em. You'll have stay home days when Daddy's back," Steve reminded her.

"I want to be home. It's home day," she said firmly, her bottom lip quivering in a prelude to tears.

Steve bid a hasty good-bye to Melissa who made sure John had all of Emma's ruined clothes as well as her princess skirt. Emma was starting to cry as Steve carried her out, John running over to the truck.

"You love being here, Em. You get to play with your friends and cook in the pretend kitchen," Steve told her as he put her into her seat.

"I ptend at home. Daddy lets me ptend," she said, tears falling in her unhappiness.

Steve sighed and glanced over at John who was wisely staying out of it. He, unlike his shorter father, knew when it was best not to say anything. "I have to work, baby."

"It's home day," she sobbed, her heels kicking against the seat.

"Not tomorrow," Steve said, getting into the driver's seat. He tried very hard to ignore her sobs, glad John was talking to her and trying to cheer her up.

"I don't wanna go. It's home day," she sobbed, swatting at John. John scooted further away from her, glancing at Steve in a silent plea for help.

"Emma," Steve said sharply. "I know you're upset but that's no excuse for hitting your brother."

"It's home day," she repeated through her sobs.

Steve valiantly tried to ignore her nearly hysterical sobs, feeling sorry for John who was too close to be able to block out any of it. Fortunately, it didn't take long for them to get home, Steve pulling a sobbing Emma out of the truck as John escaped the noise by running up to the house. He got the door open and kept going, flopping down on the sand. Steve followed more slowly, sitting in one of the Adirondack chairs with a sobbing Emma on his lap. Well, he'd started the day with her in tears. Ending this part of the day the same way seemed appropriate.

"Emma," Steve said, wiping the streaks of tears from her cheeks. "I have to work. You have to go to daycare. John has to go to school."

"No 'care. Home day," she wailed.

"Baby," Steve sighed, holding her tight. He looked down at John who had jumped up with a shout of Daddy. "What, John-John? What's wrong?" Steve asked, on highest Daddy-alert, ready to run down to find out what had happened to John.

"Daddy," John repeated, running up past Steve. Steve twisted around to watch him, speechless when he saw Danny hugging John on the edge of the grass.

"Danno?" Steve said, standing up and turning to face them. Emma was wiggling in his arms so he carefully put her down so she could run as fast as possible to be scooped up by Danny.

"Hey babies," Danny said, squeezing Emma with the arm that held her, hugging John with the other. "I missed you too."

They were both telling Danny everything he'd missed, and he was trying to keep up. But all he could really do was stare at Steve like he hadn't seen him in years.

"Hey," Steve said quietly as he crossed the yard to where Danny was standing with the kids. "You aren't due back yet."

Danny smiled at that, hugging Emma tighter. "Case got done earlier than expected."

"You should have called," Steve said.

"It was the middle of the night here when I found out I was free. Then I was on a plane for three years. Once I landed, I didn't see any point in calling when I would be here by now."

"Right," Steve said with a smile. He leaned over Emma enough to kiss Danny, taking Emma back. He dug out his handkerchief and mopped up some of the tears and snot before more of it got on this shirt.

"What's with the tears?" Danny asked.

"Home day versus day care," Steve said. "She knows what day of the week it is."

"Oh dear. We thought she was still too young," Danny said in sympathy.

"Not any longer. This morning it was about princess clothes versus school clothes," Steve said, holding his handkerchief to her nose. "Blow."

"Emma got orange at day care," John piped up.

"Orange?" Danny asked in confusion.

"Paint spill. No harm done except to her clothes," Steve explained. "Which is also why she's barefoot."

"I see," Danny said, tickling Emma's foot and making her squeal.

"Daddy said he wouldn't feed me," John said, making Danny frown.

"What?"

"That's a little out of context," Steve protested. "What were you doing right before I said that?"

"Yelling," John admitted.

"About pancakes?" Danny guessed.

"Uh huh," John said.

"What'd you bring me?" Emma asked Danny all wide-eyed innocence.

"I'm home. Isn't that enough?" Danny teased.

"Presents. You bring presents all the time," Emma insisted.

"All right. Let's go inside and I'll get your presents," Danny conceded.

"Did you get a conviction?" Steve asked, putting Emma down so she could run into the house with John.

"We did. One of the reasons I could come home early," Danny said, putting a hand on Steve's arm to stop him. Steve turned to face him, a questioning look on his face. "I missed you."

"Not nearly as much as we missed you," Steve assured him, leaning down to kiss him. "And you are never leaving us again."

"I see," Danny laughed. "Full time Daddy duty wore you slap out, didn't it?"

"Being a SEAL is a cake-walk compared to an hysterical four year old."

"How well I know," Danny said. "How well I know." Danny gave into Emma's insistence and the tugging she was doing on his hand. They all knelt by his suitcase as he opened it, taking out a new Barbie for Emma. She was wearing a Jersey Girl tee shirt and seemed to be holding a Born to Run CD. Steve wondered why she was so old school with her CD but Emma squealed in delight and that was all that mattered.

John was the excited recipient of a replica Jets jersey, #50 proudly on display. The white 5 on the front had something scrawled on it. "What's this?" John asked, pointing to it when he had the way-too-big jersey pulled on.

"Joe Murphy's signature," Danny said like it was an everyday occurrence to bring home a Jets jersey that had been signed by their star quarterback.

"Joe Murphy?" John said. "Really, really, Daddy?"

"Really, really," Danny confirmed. "Turns out his brother is one of the prosecuting attorneys. He felt so bad dragging me away from home, he said he'd do me a favor. This is it."

"Wicked cool," John said in excitement. "Wait until the guys see this."

"What'd you bring Daddy?" Emma asked Danny, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Me," Danny laughed.

"That's more than enough," Steve assured them all, reaching over to kiss Danny. "As long as you promise not to leave us again."

"Not any time soon," Danny promised, kissing Steve and making the kids squeal in delight.