High hopes, it takes me back to when we started
High hopes, when you let it go, go out and start again

Amelia knocked on Brooke Davis' door twice with her fingers, holding a large file in her other hand. Brooke called her for her to come in just a few seconds later and Amelia pushed the door open with her shoulder. Brooke stood up the minute she saw her, laughing to herself a little.

“well, if it isn’t Agent Wesley back from heaven.” Amelia scoffed at the warm welcome as Brooke walked around the desk to hug her “when did you get back?”
“it’s been a week" she said, stepping away from her hug “with the wedding and work. I haven’t had time to come and see you”
“that’s alright. I’m just glad to see you back, place was shit without you.” Brooke looked at the files she was holding “these are new briefs?”
“yes, I just fished them today.”
The brunette took the files and walked over to the small library in her face, putting them there in order “so are you guys ready for tomorrow?”
“I think so.” She looked around the office, it looked very different from the last time it was here and made her feel like she was gone for years “Kono is the one that took care of the planning while we were away so I’m pretty sure the priest will show up.”
“only you would come at work one day before your wedding day!”
“hey!” she complained “I was away for three months, you gotta give me that.” She smiled “I missed it."

Brooke turned to her as soon as she was done organizing the files and put her hands on her hips smiling “so are you here looking for a passport to ran away?”
“not really but thanks for the offer I might take you up on that-" she chuckled and sat down in one of the chairs “I’m actually here for one of my students. Her name is Tani Rey, she hasn’t been in class for the entire week and when I asked, the kids just said she was kicked it out.”
“yeah, I probably should have called you.”
“what happened?”
“she punched Officer Lyman!”
“what?”

Brooke sat on the edge of her desk and crossed her arms “it was all very sudden but the minute it happened the kicked her out. I heard Lyman was being a sexist son of a bitch but she broke his nose Amelia. He's even higher than you are, you really think they were gonna let her walk around? If anything she’s lucky she wasn’t charged!”
“why didn’t anyone tell me?” she asked, throwing her hands in the air and standing up.
“I believe they tried to contact you but couldn’t reach you. Perhaps your phone was lost in the Greek ocean-"
“they should have tried harder!”
“hey don’t yell at me, I’m only the messenger!”
“you don’t understand, she had talent, wit-"
“and a ton of arrogance!”

Amelia took a second before answering “she knew what she was doing Brooke!”
“and HPD knew what they were doing too. I don’t support the choice they made but let’s be realistic here. She was too risky, she had no sense of danger, no sense if order-"
“she was getting things done!”
“I’m with you on that! But you and I both know that if HPD could pick between her and someone that plays by the rules, they’d go with the second choice anytime, any day.”
Amelia huffed. Brooke went back to her library and reached for a file again, handing it to Amelia. “I know exactly what you’re thinking right now and if you gonna contact her, you’ll need this.”
“what is it?”
“her file.”
Amelia smiled “thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?”
“is there gonna be alcohol?”
“I got extra red wine just for you!”
“I can't wait”

♤
DANNY'S CAR

“WHO WOULDN’T WANT A STRIPPER ON THEIR BACHELOR PARTY?”
“ME! DANNY! ME! I JUST SAID IT-"
“this is insane!” he huffed, waving his hand in dismissal. Steve cracked his neck a little trying to calm hid nerves.
“for the 100th time I just want to be with my friends, drink some beer, have fun, laugh and call it a night. I don’t need fancy strippers or bars- I don’t care about that.”
“yes, but you’re the groom-"
“am I? Because for a second I wasn’t sure.” He mumbled ironically.
“yes, you are! And I am the best man!”
“second worst choice in my life-"
“HEY-" he paused “wait what was the first?”
“watching The Notebook!” he admitted
“when did you watch the notebook?”
“Greece.”
“so, you had fun these past months.” He grinned, teasing his friend.
“not that specific night, I didn’t.”
“well anyway as I was saying! You’re the groom, I am the best man. So, I choose what happens on the bachelor party!”

Steve rolled his eyes and held tighter on the steering wheel “that is false information and I do not stand by it!”
“Steve-"
“hold that thought. Ams is calling!”
Steve answered the phone and put it on speaker, giving to Danny to hold “hey babe! Are you done with class?”
“yes, but something came up so I’ll go straight to Kono, instead of coming by the house?”
“everything ok Amy?” asked Danny
“yes! Everything’s fine I promise. Nothing to worry about.”
“ok then...” Steve couldn’t help but smiling as he said the next words “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“why? Have we planned anything?”

Danny laughed.

“that’s very funny Ams!” he said ironically.
“hey Amy before you go, can you please tell him he needs strippers for his bachelor party?”
“you’re not gonna have strippers on your bachelor party?” she asked in shock “are you insane?”
“ok, that’s enough-"
“not nearly but I’m gonna let you go because by tomorrow I’ll have an eternity to push your buttons. So, I’ll give you a break.”
“ah, yes marriage.” Murmured Danny “my favorite thing in the world” he followed his eyes.
“I love you.”
“love you too commander.”

♤
HILTON HOTEL

“TANI REY!” Tani turned in the sound of her name, half annoyed and half relieved that someone was taking her out of her misery. She had spent the last half hour trying to convince the kids to stop jumping in the pool but the they didn’t seem to grasp the concept of listening to the Lifeguard. So this was her life for the last few months, yelling at kids, kids throwing water at her and laughing at her and her losing her mind. She was ready to yell at whoever called her too until she recognized the woman under the black sunglasses. She gulped, standing straighter in front of her. Amelia took of f her sunglasses, smiling at her old student. “having fun, I see?”

“it’s better than it looks" she said, wiping off the water drops from her swimsuit.
“walk with me, would you?”
“I can't, I’m on a post.” She answered quickly.
“no you are not. I spoke with your boss, you're free for the day.”
She took a deep breath, making a step forward “Ma’am if this us about the academy-"
Amelia raised her finger, stopping her “alright, first don’t call me Ma'am. It makes me feel old and serious and I’m neither of those things. Now please walk with me.”
It seemed to Tani that she didn’t really have a choice to get out of the conversation that was about to follow so she followed Amelia as she walked away from the pool, in Hilton's garden. “how was your vacation?” she asked, scratching her right arm.
“vacation was good. Although the place seems like it fell apart while I was away.” Tani didn’t answer, she glanced back at the pool, for ones wishing that she was back at getting yelled at by the kids. “why didn’t you come to me Tani?”
“because I knew you’d try to fix it and to be honest I wasn’t sure if I wanted it fixed.”
“you got a talent for this job, you cant just throw it all away.”
“I didn’t really have a choice. I was failing my exams and after what happened HPD was done with me.”
“you were never training for HPD Tani! You were training to be part of a team, but you must know you it was a higher team than HPD”
“I don’t work well with teams anyway. No matter what they are called.”

Amelia laughed at her answer “God you sound just like me!”
Tani halted her pace, ditching Amelia to stop too by stepping in front of her “listen I messed up. I am the last person HPD wants to see wearing a badge now and I don’t want to give them the satisfaction of trying.”

“how about giving yourself the satisfaction of proving them wrong?” Amelia walked passed her and sat on a bench near them. Tani turned at her and crossed her arms while she gazed at the view in front of her. “I had ,y eye on you ever since I met you and before you bring up your grades I don’t really care about them Tani. I never did. You know why?” Tani shook her head and walked closer. “because you were the best I had in the training room. You could bring down men talker and stronger than you, you knew it wasn’t about strength, it was about staying focused- that's strategy. In team workouts? You’d nail it every time! Putting your team mates before yourself every time, sometimes breaking the rules, following your plan but you knew exactly what you were doing and you weren’t leaving anyone behind. That’s loyalty.” She turned her body at her direction, Tani was looking at the floor “you had the best shot in class. That’s talent, Tani and practice, you practiced like no one else. You wanted to be the best, it wasn’t luck. That’s determination. But my favorite was your first mission. Most students fail the first one, you didn’t-"
“I got yelled at pretty bad for that one.”
“who cares? You broke their rules but you got out-"
“they called it reckless.”
“I call it efficiency!” she shit back, smiling. “so I have an agent that had strategy, loyalty, talent and efficiency and I’m supposed to throw her away?”

Tani sat down next to her, her body melting on the bench “that’s exactly what they did.”
“listen I’m not here to throw you a pity party. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t actually believe in you. You’ve probably heard of Five-O so I’ll skip the introductions but we got a thing for hiring people the academy has thrown away and turns out the do very well every time.” She reached in her jacket and gave Tani a card.
“what’s this?”
“invitation for my wedding tomorrow. It will be right here at the Hilton. Come at the reception, you can meet the boss and the rest of the team. Give us a chance.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Amelia put on her sunglasses and stood up “I’m not a fan of food ideas and if Five-O stands for anything is for very bad ideas. But look at, we're still alive, right?” she smiled, Tani stood up to, staring at the card “I was just like you Tani. Cold, alone, convinced that I didn't belong anywhere. Five-O has a way of making you feel like home.” Tani looked in her eyes, playing nervously with the card in her fingers. “come tomorrow. You wont regret it, I promise.”

♤
NEXT DAY
HILTON HOTEL, AMELIA'S ROOM

Amelia was looking at herself in the mirror, admiring the simplicity of her white long dress.  Her cheeks got a little as she realized what this means for her. Every time she would imagine herself like this, the idea would disappear as quick as a falling star and now there she was, all her high hopes finally paying off. Amelia saw Kono entering the room through the mirror. She had two glasses of wine in her hand and Adam followed behind her holding two cups of coffee. All that a bride should need on her wedding day.
“look at you!” admired Adam, leaving the cups in the table in the middle of the room. Amelia turned around and he held her hand spinning her a few times around herself so he could see the dress clearly. “You look beautiful.”
“thank you Adam.”
“we brought you wine and coffee, you can choose whichever you want.” Said Kono
“or you can spill the wine in the coffee and have both at ones.” Added Adam.
“that sounds intriguing.” She admitted, reaching for the wine and taking a light sip “is Danny still trying to convince Steve to run away?”
“he says he has the keys in the car and is ready to drive away.”
“so everything is going according to plan?”
“if you're lucky by the time you walk the aisle he and Steve will be already on their way to London.”

A light knock interrupted their ironic exchange and Chin came in, dressed in his expensive suit. They all  turned and looked at him. He seemed anxious and terrified and happy at the same time.

“God, you look amazing Ams.” He walked closer to her, Amelia could feel his eyes watching her proudly. She couldn’t help herself and threw her body on his arms just like she did the night her parents died. The moment that everything started, the moment that changed everything. For the first time in her life thinking about that night didn’t bring her any pain, if she was asked to describe what she was feeling right now it would be relief. She had kicked through the most horrendous story because of that night but today it was all coming to end and what a wonderful ending it was.

“we're gonna leave you two alone.” Kono reached forward, kissing Amelia’s cheek “see you in the aisle.”
“hold on Kono!” Amelia broke away from chin's arms and moved closer to Kono. She opened her phone, showing her a picture “her name is Tani Rey. If you see her in the crowd keep her some company. I doubt she knows anyone else here.”
“what do you want me to say?”
“nothing specific. Just introduce yourself and make sure she stays here until I get the chance to talk to her. Alright?”
“sure thing."

After Kono and Adam left and Amelia and chin were left alone in the room, he sat on a couch in the corner. Amelia sat next to him, placing her hand on his back.
“you excited?”
“not sure that's the word I would use.”
“terrified?”
“yeah that’s better.” She smiled. Chin reached for her hand, holding it tight in his.
“it will be alright.”
“I’ve never thanked you Chin.”
“Yes you have many times.”
“not in the way I should.” She paused, then moved closer to him “if it wasn’t for you that night, I don’t know what would have happened to me. Somehow whenever I felt lost, you were always there. That night, then when I tried to join the force and was rejected time after time, then when I got in Five-O and felt alone you were there too. In a magic, you are always there.”
“I promised you that night that I would never leave you alone. I meant it.”
“even when I tried to push you away, you’d always stay, you’d always come back.” Her voice cracked.

Chin smiled and reached in his jacket. He pulled out a envelope, a small one and gave it to her. Amelia opened it slowly, she had no idea what was in there but whatever it was she wanted to be careful with it. There was pictures in there, Polaroids of her and “…mum. Dad.” Her eyes began to stink like someone was piercing them needles. “what is this?”
“when we searched the house that night, we found your mother's old diary. She was always speaking in riddles, none of us could really understand what she was saying but she had these pictures in there and I thought HPD shouldn’t have them. So I kept them for you. And I wanted to give them to you but I was always they would cause you more pain and so I waited until I knew that they would bring more joy than sadness.”
Amelia stared at them, her tears staining them. There was one picture of her laughing while her dad has her up on his shoulders. God, she missed him terribly. Looking deeper in the folder she found a letter. She unfolded it and started reading.

June 16, 1980

      I don’t have much strength to write. My little darling took it all from me today. But she was worth it, she was so tiny and her eyes were filled with light and wonder. I'll never forget that picture, the moment a first laid eyes on her. Paul is with her, right now, you should see the way he looks at her. He's never gonna let anything bad happen to her, neither am I. We are not sure about the name yet, we may call Shana or Caroline or Maya, Paul wants to call her Amelia. He says it comes from the Germanic word Amal which means ‘work’ and connoting Industriousness. He says he has a feeling it will suit her in the future. Well, baby girl, whatever your name ends up being, please know that I will love you from now to forever no matter what happens…

“…you will never be alone.” She finished the letter, unable to steady her breathing. She was crying but it was a different sort of crying, she was happy not sad. Chin held her close, stroking her back.
“you are more loved than you think Amelia.”
“thank you for everything chin.”

♤

Steve was shaking hands and cracking jokes with the guest while they all waited for the bride to arrive. Danny was always behind him whispering things and annoying him like always. Of all the people that had come and gone, somehow he was always there to drive him crazy.

“we can still run away just you and me darling.”
Steve Turned around as the got at the end of aisle “how do I look?”
“you look like you are about to make the biggest mistake of your life.”
Steve huffed “Danny! For the love of God it's my wedding day!”
“yes I know! But it’s not too late, I got the keys in the truck, the engine is ready to go, we can run away"
“Amelia is one of your favorite people in the world! You're really gonna do this to her?”
“I’m trying to save you both!” he answered as if it was obvious.
“Lou was right! I should have picked him!”
“oh is that right? Don’t let me bother you then, I’ll just walk out of here and you can continue with this madness-"
Steve raised his finger “ones! Just ones! Can you not make everything about you?”

“you two fighting already?” said Lou, standing behind Danny.
“I thought you were marrying Amelia Boss!” said junior “not Danny!”
“look at the new kid making jokes!” laughed Danny, hitting junior playfully on the back of his neck.
“you all look like you’re having fun!” said Adam, walking up to them. “How you doing commander?”
“losing my mind.” He admitted
“I know the feeling" he reassured him, referring back to his wedding with Kono. “it'll be ok, you picked the right girl.”
“That’s what they all say!”
“Danny-"
“you still trying to kidnap him?”
“I’m trying to save his ass!”
“right now you’re just being a pain in my ass!”

Danny raised his hands in the air, defeated. Adam turned to Steve again, patting his shoulder “anything you wanna talk about before it’s too late?”
He smiled “how is it?”
“best choice I ever made in my life. You two love each other to death, you’ll be fine.”
“I do love her Adam. She's the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“second” corrected him Danny but before Steve could argue the music started playing.

Everyone got in their place. Danny, Lou and junior stood next to Steve. Kono showed up a few seconds later, taking her place across from him and then he saw her. Prettier than anything he could have ever imagined, he started sweating like he was about to go into a mission. He gulped, his feet trembling and leaned closer to Danny.
“you still have those keys bud?”
“yes I do! Let’s go!” Danny turned around to leave but Grover stood in front of him like a wall.
“stay were you are shorty.” Danny gulped and turned back to his place. Amelia was now right in front of Steve. Steve kept smiling like a kid as he took off her veil. She grinned at him.
“don’t tell me you are scared commander”
He shrugged his shoulders, whispering “just a little”
“just a little? You are about to pee your pants-"
“you know what Danny?”
“no! No! I don’t, what is it?” he asked provoking him
“you know of you two need some time, I could just go and come back later or you can do this without me-"
“no, no no! Don’t go, just ignore him, please.” He smiled
“shall we begin?” asked the priest.
“yes we shall! Please let’s get over with this thing!” said Lou, patting Danny on the shoulder so he wouldn’t say anything else.

♤
AN HOUR LATER
BALLROOM

She had her head on his chest, they were on their usual position, dancing to the tunes the DJ would play on and on. He had hidden his nose in her hair, smelling what the rest of his life would smell like. Their hand were intertwined together, as they were always meant to be and his other hand rested on her lower back. Sometimes he’d squeezed it just to make sure she was real. They were married now, for better and for worst. In sickness and in health.

Suddenly Amelia’s head shot up and she looked at the crowd. Steve watched her confused “you ok?”
“yeah.” She said smiling, spotting Tani in the crowd talking with Kono. “listen. Maybe I forgot to mention something-" He groaned “no! I promise it’s not a big deal" she looked in his eyes, while they danced slowly “I just need you to meet somebody.”
“who?”
“her name is Tani Rey and she was one of my students but she got kicked and considering the circumstances I thought she would be a nice addition to the team.”
He raised his eyebrows, almost laughing “you want me to interview someone for a job, on our wedding day?”
“no! Don’t be ridiculous” He scoffed, feeling a little relieved “I want you to meet her and hire her.”
“oh! Is that right?” he laughed “do I have any say?”
“you didn’t have any say when I was added on the team, I think you should keep up with the tradition.”
“how do you even know she belongs with us?”
“because she’s just like me Steve. I see myself in her. You and the team are exactly whet she needs. She's lost and broken, misunderstood but skilled and strong-minded. Efficient and tough. She’s exactly what you need.”

Steve licked his lips, leaning his forehead on hers “did I tell you how beautiful you look today?”
“might have mentioned it a couple of times"
He left a kiss on her lips and then one on her neck “I’m the luckiest man alive.”
“give it a few months, I’m sure you’ll change your mind.”
He raised his eyes at her again and smiled “I don’t think so"
“so are you gonna talk to her prince charming?”
“do I even have a choice?”
“nope.”
“then why are you asking me?”
“because you know, this is what marriage is about. Telling someone else what to do in a form of a question so it seems kinder.”
He leaned back his head laughing and spun her around. She crashed back in his chest and he put both arms around her waist, kissing her deeper this time. “I guess I gotta go then.”
“I swear you'll love her. Now go!”

Steve let go of her and made his way to Tani Rey. He reached for her hand and shook it gently “you must be Tani Rey!”
“yes! Congratulations for today!”
“thank you! Listen I’ve heard a lot about you and I wanna cut right to the chase. According to Amelia you have talent for this job and she believes you, frankly more than I’ve seen her believe in anybody else. So I want to give you a chance, but you only get one and you only got until tomorrow to figure out.”
“that is all very sudden don’t you think?”
“if you are smart as she says, you don’t need more time than that. We only have one rule five-o, which is to take care of each other. We are family and I don’t expect you to step in front of a bullet for us within your first week but I need to know you’re willing to go all in. Amelia trusts you, so I trust you but I need to know If you trust yourself.”
She gulped and took a deep breath in “I do.”
“Great. Than think about the offer and we will talk again tomorrow. In the meantime since you are here- Junior!” junior was just a few steps away from them and walked up to them as soon as he heard his name “this guy is new too. He can tell you all about the experience.”
“hi! Nice to meet you.” Junior shook her hand, looking in her eyes the whole time. Steve left them to get acquainted with each other and walked over to the bar. He ordered a glass of wind from himself and Danny joined him while he waited.

“what’s this I hear about a new team member?”
“she’s someone Amelia has her eye on. She says she's exactly what we need.”
“she and junior seem to get along.” He shrugged, smiling. The bar man gave Steve his drink “which reminds me you owe me a hundred bucks.”
Steve choices on the wine, coughing while he tried to swallow it. He left the glass on the counter and turned to Danny “what the hell are you on about?”
“well about 6 or 5 years ago. We were in your house looking at Amelia’s file and I said , 100 bucks you'll end up marrying each other-"
“are you kidding me?”
“no, I am not! And I want my money please.”
“you’re gonna-" he scoffed “you’re gonna make me give you a hundred bucks on my wedding day?”
“a bet is a bet, babe.”
“you are evil!”
“and you are a loser-“ he held his hand out waiting for Steve leave the dollars in hands “come on babe.” Steve shook his head but eventually reached in his pocket and gave the money to Danny. He chuckled while he put them in his wallet “you wanna bet for Tani and Junior too?”
“No!” he said determinedly and left.

A little farther away from them was Brook Davis and Amelia, talking and laughing together. Brooke had turned out to be the only friend of Amelia’s outside of Five-O and they were a pretty loud duo.
“you never told me how he proposed.”
“really?”
“no! You kept the best part for yourself.”
She smiled “it’s a funny story actually. It was during am argument.”
“why am I not surprised?”
“I know, it’s pretty predictable right?”
“so how did it happen?”

7 MONTHS AGO
FIVE-O HEADQUARTERS

Steve walked in with Danny. All the while he couldn’t stop thinking about Amelia’s pregnancy and the chance of keeping the baby. It had been a week since he found out, a week with lots of arguing and fighting and tension. Which is why he surprised when he saw her waiting in his office. He knew that the news would either be really bad or really good. He told Danny to wait here, meanwhile junior and Lou entered the scene too.
“hey!” he said, opening his door and closing it again.
“hi.”
“is everything ok?”
“yes it is. I just…” she blew air from his nose. He walked closer, placing his hands on her shoulders.
“what is it?”
“I keep thinking about the future and it terrifies me.”
“Amelia I told you, you don’t have to do this!”
“Let me finish!” she demanded and he motioned for her to go on “it terrifies me because I cant control and I am a control freak by nature and I realized that maybe that’s exactly. I’ve always tried to control this, us, my life as if I can but it’s impossible. I always made plans and they would always get ruined and I would try to fight against it but you were Steve…”

“right about what?”
“when your mother died and we were in the hotel room, you said, none of this is on our terms. Life, we never really get to choose how it’s going to look only what we do with the information when we get it and I’m exhausted of trying.” She paused “life kept bringing me you and I kept running away because I was scared. Life kept giving me chances and I kept playing by my rules and now… now it’s giving me this and I wanna stop it because I’m scared again but I keep feeling I shouldn’t.”
“what are you saying?”
“I’m saying I can see now that I only have myself to blame for things I kept missing and I accept it now and I'm saying that I want this. I know it’s crazy to believe in silly things but I actually believe that maybe if we try doing this together it may even work out just fine.”

Steve let out a breath in a laugh or relief, his heart could fly out of his chest. He shook his head smiling like a silky boy and then suddenly just pulled her in the toughest hug and picked her up, spinning her around and they laughed together until Danny came in, holding the door open.

“what is going on here?”
“we are keeping the baby!” said Steve proudly. Danny was shocked he could barely make up any words
“wha- are you serious?”
“yeah" answered Amelia, nodding her head.

Lou who was standing behind Danny, started clapping his hands. “well be a good a man and put a ring on it Steve before she changes her mind!”
Everyone felt silent. Amelia looked at Steve and started shaking her head “no!”
“what do you mean, no? You just said you're all in?”
“I don’t want you to propose just because I’m pregnant and that way you can make sure I stay here-"
“well what are we supposed to do have the kid and not get married?”
“we live in the 20th century- I think we will survive just fine!” she said in a high pitched voice. Danny and Lou gazed at each other, smirking a little. Junior was behind them, laughing at the scene and Kono and chin were just coming in, confused by the yelling.
“now you are just being stubborn!”
“you don’t even have a ring!”

He raised his finger “actually I do- “he walked on his desk and took out a small blue box and walked back to her.
“where the hell did you get that?”
“Amelia Wesley-"
“no!” she cut him off “it’s not happening!”
“would you get down on one knee at least?” asked Kono, joining the fun.
“oh yeah right-"
“No!” she repeated, grabbing his arm and forcing him to stand up “we are not getting married because you wanna make sure I stay in Hawaii-"
“Amelia I’ve had that ring for a week-“
“bullshit!”
“it has nothing to do with pregnancy or you staying in Hawaii!”
“wait- why did you have a ring in your office?”
“because I was planning on proposing!”
“to who?”
Steve stared at her and narrowed his eyes “Danny!”

“HEY! Don’t bring me onto this"
“you’re hilarious-"
“who do you think I was gonna propose to Amelia?” he asked louder, losing his patience.
“why didn’t you say anything then-"
“that’s not usually how proposals work!”
Danny laughed “I think that should be the least of your problems considering how your proposal is working out right now"

“SHUT UP DANNO!” They yelled at the same time
“now will you marry me?” asked Steve
“no!”
“Amelia-"
“that’s a horrible proposal”
“Amelia what do you want me to do? I love you, I wanna spend the rest of my life with you and it has nothing to do with the pregnancy. It has everything to do with the fact that I cannot live without you.”
She looked at her feet, moving it back and forth “now you’re just overreacting.”
“you are killing me.”
“fine-"
“fine?”
She looked up at him “fine, I’ll marry you."
He tilted his head “well, you don't have to be so excited about this-"

“OF FOR GODS SHAKE! WOULD YOU TWO JUST KISS ALREADY AND GET IT OVER WITH?” yelled Grover. “here I’ll do it for you.” He took the tiny box from Steve’s hands and took out the ring, then he forced Steve to get down one knee and when Amelia tried to stop them, he raised his finger and gave her the ‘look’. He cleared his throat “Amelia Wesley. I love you with every fiver if my being, you are the most perfect woman I’ve ever met in my life and I wanna marry you because you’ve changed my life for the better and blah blah blah blah-" he moved to Amelia’s side and made his voice sound a little higher “Steve I love you too. And I will marry you and I’m excited but I have trouble admitting my feelings-"
“HEY!”
“and now you kiss.”

Steve and Amelia looked in each other’s eyes. He smiled and slipped the ring on her finger, then he stood up and leaned in to kiss her. She kissed him back, placing her socks around his neck and laughing at how silly they were.

7 MONTHS LATER
HILTON GARDEN

Amelia was admiring the stars in the night, smiling at the beauty of it and the memory of the proposal. It did seem that was the only way it could have gone down really, they met in argument and married in argument. She had come out to get a little rest from the crowds and the loud noises. Steve walked up behind her, handing her a glass of wine, her twentieth or maybe more. He sat beside her on the steps near the pool.

“thanks commander.” He left a kiss on her cheek and started drinking his wine “as some point we should go back in.”
“we will eventually."
“so apparently, we are married now, ha?”
“really?” he asked in shock “I didn’t realize it.” She reached for his hand, intertwining their fingers together. “what are you thinking about? Come on- I know that look. You are thinking about something what is it?”

She hummed, and looked at her glass of wine, clicking her fingers on it “how it all started, how it all came together like a big puzzle. I remember it all so clearly, the mistakes, the good times, the fights. The people we lost, the ones that came and left. My parents, hunter, Matilda, David, your mother, our kid- they are stuck in my head like ghosts but not like they used to.”

He played a little with her curls and leaned in stroking his nose on her red cheeks “how then?”
“high Hopes.”
“hm?”
“I used to think about them and hide in pain and anger but now thinking about them gives me hope. I’m ready to let go of the anger Steve and build in their memories things that matter, a future with you. I know that’s what they would want, for us to start again.”
“I think we are doing pretty good at that today."
Amelia turned her face so she could kiss him and smiled “we are doing fine.”

“did he tell you he gave me a hundred bucks?” asked Danny, joining them with Grover.
“you gave him a hundred bucks?”
Steve rolled his eyes and drank his wine in one go “I need another glass.”
“that’s what I call a sore loser.”
“what are you two lovebirds doing out here alone? There’s a party for you inside, you know, that right?”
“we just needed sometime.”
“trust me you'll have plenty of that now" mumbled Danny, sitting next to Steve.
“would you take the 100 dollars and put them in your freaking mouth?”
“that’s not a very kind thing to say.”
“so, this is where y'all are hiding?” yelled Kono, running up to them. Chin and Adam were behind her. They were each holding a glass of wine and chin-

“I got extra wine for all of you!” he said, raising a full bottle he got from the barman. He poured a little to all of his friend’s glasses and left it on the grass.
“I think we should toast to these two finally tying the note.” Said Grover.
“remember the time you guys almost killed each other over a donut?” asked Kono, sitting next to Amelia.

“you guys are not toasting without me, are you?” that was junior running to them. Tani was a few steps behind, Amelia saw her when she turned to greet junior and she stood up immediately.

“Tani! Hey! Are you having fun?”
“a lot! But I think I’ll head home for now.”
“did you think about tomorrow?”

Tani looked at all of them until her fell on junior. He gave her a smile and she nodded “I think we should try out. See how it goes.”
“I’m sure you'll be fine.”
“welcome to the family kid!” said Lou, patting her in the shoulder.
“let’s toast to that" said junior raising his glass “to family.”

Chin raised his glass “ohana"

And they all toasted and laughed and joked without a worry in the world and full of high Hopes for the future.