Steve pulled in to pick Gracie up from school and found her standing by the sidewalk talking to a boy. Thinking that this must be the kid Danny told him about, Steve gave him a 'once over'. Apparently, Gracie was full on into her first crush with a boy named "Tyler" and Danno was not happy about it. Steve had heard about it ad nauseum. He always tried to be the voice of reason during Danny's ramblings. It was part of growing up….he said. They're only 12…..he said. They were just kids, so how much trouble could they get into….he said.
Now sitting in the car watching Grace talking to "the kid", Steve realized he didn't like it either. Not one bit. So maybe Danny had a point and this boy was bad news. Steve quickly got out of the car and made his way to Grace….trying not to scowl.
She turned towards Steve and a big smile crossed her face. It surprised him how Grace's sweet smile could melt him down to a pile of mush. He loved this little girl. He smiled back at her. "Hey Gracie. Ready to go?"
"Hey, Uncle Steve. Where's Danno?" she asked.
"Danno got delayed at the doctor's office, so he asked me to pick you up and bring you back to the office, okay?"
Grace shook her head. It wasn't unusual for someone in her Five-0 ohana to pick her up if Danno couldn't be there. She loved her Uncle Chin and Auntie Kono, but she had a special bond with her Uncle Steve and was always happiest when he was there to pick her up.
Remembering her manners, Grace turned to Tyler. "Uncle Steve, this is my friend Tyler. Tyler, this is Steve." Tyler looked up at Steve and reached out his hand as if to shake it. Feeling a bit awkward shaking hands with a twelve year old, Steve shook it anyway. Tyler's smile was genuine, "It's nice to meet you, sir. Aren't you with Five-0? Wow! That must be an awesome job!"
Okay, so maybe the kids not all that bad, Steve though. At least he's polite. For some reason, he was having trouble finding his voice, though. Seeing Grace looking at the kid as if the sun revolved around him made Steve want to punch something. He cleared his throat, "Uh, yeah. I'm with Five-0. It's a pretty cool job, I guess."
"Grace talks about you guys a lot." Then seeing his own ride pull up, he grabbed his backpack off of the ground, "Well, there's my Mom, so guess I should go. It was nice to meet you, sir." Tyler said before turning towards Grace again. "See you tomorrow Grace." He looked at her and she smiled shyly back. Steve's defenses went up again. Definitely need to watch this guy, his inner voice said.
After Tyler walked away, Steve put his arm on Grace's shoulder to lead her to his truck.
After getting her settled and maneuvering his way out of the carpool line, Grace started telling him about her day. It was nice hearing her talk about school, but it seemed every conversation led back to Tyler in one way or another. Then, she got unusually quiet.
"Uncle Steve, can I ask you a question?" Grace turned to look at him tentatively.
Uh oh, the inner voice said.
"Sure, Gracie. You know you can ask me anything."
He tried to sound nonchalant and confident even though he didn't feel either at the moment. He was learning quickly that you never knew what might come out of a pre-teen girl's mouth.
"What does it mean that guys only think with their pants?"
Steve involuntarily swerved in the road and had to make a concentrated effort to get them back into the right lane. His inner voice spoke again,How the hell are you supposed to answer that? And where did she even HEAR that, was a better question?
Steve squirmed in his seat a little but kept his eyes on the road. "Uh…..Where did you hear that?"
"Well, Lucy's sister, Maggie, said that guys only think with their pants. So I was just wondering what that means….and if it's true."
Steve's mind was whirling. Sweet little Lucy was in Grace's Aloha Girls troupe and she apparently had a crush on him. So, she had a sister, Maggie, giving them advice on guys? What the heck?
"How old is Maggie?" Steve asked….trying to stall so he could come up with an answer to her original question.
"She's 16. She's a cheerleader at the high school and she knows a lot about boys."
Uh huh…..Steve thought back to his days as a quarterback with the high school. AND his various 'experiences' with cheerleaders. No, he didn't like where this was going at all. Grace was too young for this! He stole a glance in her direction. All he could see was innocent little Gracie sitting there asking uncomfortable questions.
He wasn't ready for this.
"Wouldn't you rather talk to Danno about this?" Steve asked uncomfortably even though he knew the answer.
Grace looked at him and scoffed, "Seriously, Uncle Steve? Danno would flip if I asked him a question about boys. He would lecture me for twenty minutes on how 'evil' they are and how I need to stay away."
Steve had to chuckle. She was right. Danno would "flip". SO, here he was being pressed for information on boys from his sweet Gracie. Ready or not, he might as well dive in. He would worry about what Danny thought about it later.
Steve contemplated what to tell her before finally taking a deep breath. "Look, Gracie. You're getting older now and you're starting to change…"
Grace rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Uncle Steve. We've already had the sex talk."
Steve's eyebrows shot up. "You have? With who?"
"We had a Sex Ed class this year and they told us all about it." Steve said a silent prayer of thanks while Grace continued, "Then I talked to Mom about it some. It sounds pretty gross." She paused. "I just wanna know what it means that guys only 'think with their pants'."
Steve looked over at Grace. How could she look older and innocent at the same time?
"Gracie, listen. Now that you're getting older, you're going to have to be really careful with boys. Okay?" He squirmed in his seat again. How the hell did he find himself in this situation? He had no idea but he tried to forge on.
"When someone says that a guy 'only thinks with his pants', it means boys who are teenagers have a hard time controlling their hormones. Okay? They might like you, but they're going to pressure you to do things you aren't comfortable with. That doesn't mean you have to do what they want, though. If a guy really likes you, he's not going to pressure you in to doing something that uncomfortable. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Steve said a silent prayer that she understood so he wouldn't have to elaborate anymore.
Grace looked contemplative. "I think so. But it's okay to kiss a boy, right?"
Dear God, could this get any worse?
"Let me put it this way, sweetie. You shouldn't kiss a guy…..or do anything with him…..unless you really, really like him. Okay?"
Grace looked over at him and smiled. "Okay Uncle Steve."
"Otherwise….." Steve continued….."Danno and I might have to rough him up. And I really don't want to have to do that. Got it?"
Grace turned to him and gave him her best smile. "I love you, Uncle Steve."
"Same to you, kiddo." He pulled into the HQ parking lot and thanked his lucky stars this conversation was over. Seeing Gracie grow up was hard, BUT, she was a good kid. Steve was proud of her and proud of Danny for raising such a good one.
He was a little worried about what the future held, though. Gracie was nearly a teenager…Dear God, he didn't even want to think about it!
