Hawaii Five-0 1. Prologue

_**A/N: Hey again! So this is my new fic, and it's going to be my first multi-chaptered fic. I'm planning 10 chapters. I've been working on it for months, like since before Xmas, and had hoped to have written it all before posting it but RL got in the way, then writer's block struck and so on, so I haven't even written half of it yet. But I am hoping that you will all enjoy it and motivate me to write more quickly so I can update quickly too. So please do let me know what you think. Thank you as always for all the reviews, adds and alerts for my other fics =) **_

_**This is dedicated to cm757, for beta'ing and pushing me to write. Doubt I would have even started this fic if it wasn't for her. And Sidalee for also beta'ing, motivating me to write and being my sounding board when I threw out some crazy ideas, took them back, couldn't decide on this or that, and everything in between! I wouldn't be posting this right now if it wasn't for her =D So thank you guys.**_

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_Prologue_

Kono could always tell when he was nearby. It had more to do with the way his eyes usually always found her when he stepped into the same area where she was than the fact that currently, they were the only two people in the house. Though the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway could only have been his.

In her rush, she had failed to shut the door behind her in her short journey from the bedroom to the bathroom. The nauseous feeling had came over her so suddenly whilst changing after her shower that she had only just managed to pull on her top and shorts before hurrying to the bathroom.

His eyes burned into the side of her neck as she stood in front of the sink, brushing her teeth. She didn't have to look over at him to know that he was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his sweaty wifebeater after his morning run, with worry etched into his otherwise perfect features. Kono kept quiet as she ran the water, waiting for him to speak first.

"You've thrown up 3 times in the last week," Steve stated, not that she had forgotten. Concern lined his words as he carried on. "Are you sure you're ok?"

Patting her face dry from where she had splashed it with water after rinsing out her mouth, she kept her eyes on herself via the mirror whilst speaking. "I'm fine," she told him, just as she had done the other two times.

He sighed, probably at her repetitive answer. "Kono," he began in that voice of his that told her that he was about to say something serious. "You thought about the fact that, _maybe_, you're pregnant?"

"Throwing up 3 times doesn't make you pregnant," Kono felt the need to inform him because, bless him, he was just a guy and she assumed that they jumped to the pregnancy conclusion anytime a woman was sick on multiple occasions. She, however, refused to think about it until there was more conclusive evidence.

"No, but it is a sign," Steve countered, shifting on his feet to push himself off the doorjamb and she finally turned to look at him, happy at her reflection.

"Well, unless we get more _signs_, I think I'll be ok," she said calmly, gradually lowering her voice with the last 5 words with a smile.

He seemed to contemplate her words before nodding once. "Alright," he finally accepted. "You wanna take the day off and rest or-?"

Kono cut him off with a hand, blinking at him incredulously. "Really, Steve?" She was happy to see that he had the graciousness to look sheepish at his own suggestion. Rolling her eyes, she passed him to walk out of the bathroom, careful not to touch him. "I'm going to go have some breakfast. _You_ take a shower 'cause you stink."

The sound of dry laughter followed her. "Thanks, sweetheart."

...

Work had been boring that day so far. Although she would never wish for a case, for that would mean someone losing a life or being in danger, Kono still hoped that there was something else to do in their downtime other than paperwork. Unfortunately, she had learnt the hard way that even if she did find something else to do, such as coercing the others into watching something in the break room or go chat and/or bother one of the other 3 men, her paperwork would still remain there at the end of the day. Which only meant that the next day would be twice as trying.

So, after taking a quick glance around into the other offices to see all of her teammates focused on doing something either on their laptops or writing something on their desks, she went back to work. Their past week hadn't been too busy; just one case which had lasted 4 days, meaning that it took a while for her to recall exactly what had happened and in which order. Also, which parts needed to be left out of the official records because they weren't exactly authorized.

At about 1pm, Kono got the break that she had been asking for when Danny and Steve arrived back at HQ after a lunch run. Although she had only had breakfast and an apple whilst downing a whole bottle of water so far, the normally tantalising scent of Thai food from one of their favourite places didn't elicit the normal hunger pangs. Instead, the now-familiar turning of her stomach feeling from that morning returned.

She tried to push it down, steadying her breathing as she left her office to head towards the kitchen area. Luckily for her, it was on the way to where the locker rooms and bathrooms were located, meaning that she didn't have to rush and draw attention to herself when she took a diversion and headed to the woman's bathroom instead.

Being the only female on the team had its perks. Such as having the bathroom to herself so no-one would embarrassingly overhear her being sick.

It hadn't occurred to her that she might have been pregnant before Steve had mentioned it. Sure, the throwing up was unusual, but it could have been put down to a stomach bug or something. It's not like she hadn't been sick before. She was fine otherwise. Maybe a bit tired, but that was common when you worked for the Governor's Special Task Force which was incidentally run by your husband. Said husband had other ways to tire her out as well. If she had missed her period, _then_ she would have suspected something. But she vividly remembered the cramps that she had suffered not 2 weeks earlier and-

Actually, now that she thought about it, those cramps had been slightly more on the painful side than normal. And more than that, her period had only lasted a couple of days. Individually; not too much to worry about. Altogether; oh, crap.

Pushing open the door of the stall that she was in, Kono paused when she caught sight of Steve waiting for her by the sink counter. Being the only female on the team also had its downsides. Such as others walking in because they _knew_ she would have the place to herself.

He handed her a bottle of water, thoughtfully uncapped, when she reached him. "You ok?" he asked her softly after she was done getting rid of the acrid taste in her mouth, running a hand through her hair before tucking it behind her ear.

Kono nodded, handing back the half-empty bottle. "Uh huh," she muttered, turning away to dampen a paper towel before dabbing it to her neck and face to help cool her down. "So listen; I think I might be pregnant after all."

Steve smirked at her nonchalant statement, shaking his head in clear amusement at the ground as he did so and she was prepared for him to tell her '_I told you so'_. To his credit, he didn't.

...

The _click_ of the bathroom door unlocking was his sign to enter. At least, that's what he took it for as he turned the doorknob and opened the door. He didn't bother shutting it behind him when he entered and took a seat next to Kono on the tiled floor, leaning back against the bathtub.

After her announcement in the Five-0 HQ bathroom, Steve didn't even have to try to get her to take the rest of the day off. It had been Kono herself who had said that they should make the pitstop at the local pharmacy near their house so that they could get their answer without any delay. Neither one of them had the patience or the will to leave it for longer than necessary.

Kono let out a sigh as he pulled up his right leg to get as comfortable as he could on the cold floor. "3 minutes," she told him, leaning her head back against the edge of the tub. Steve spotted the white stick in her right hand as she tapped it against her left palm anxiously.

He slid his left hand down her thigh to rest on her crooked knee. "Gonna be a long 3 minutes," he replied and she smirked up at him before dropping the pregnancy test upside down onto the floor in front of her.

Her right hand covered his and she snaked her fingers underneath to clasp at it. Steve kept his eyes on her though she watched their joined hands, paying particular attention to where she caressed her thumb repeatedly over the smooth platinum metal of his wedding ring.

Silence spread between them and he could see Kono's lips twitch as she began to say something, before stopping herself. It took a couple more tries before she worded her thoughts. "Should we talk about this?" she asked him quietly, glancing up at him out of the corner of her eyes.

Steve shrugged noncommittally. "What's there to talk about? Let's just see what happens," he told her, offering her a small smile when she turned her head to look at him.

"We said we'd talk before we decided to have kids," she reminded him. It had been a small, fleeting conversation a while ago, just after they had gotten married. They had agreed that children would be great, just not so soon. Ideally, they wanted to enjoy a few years of married life, to learn how to balance it with work, and Kono wanted to make detective before they began a family.

Now that he thought about it, the timing itself wasn't too bad. Their second wedding anniversary was soon approaching and the once Five-0 rookie had become a fully fledged detective not 7 months earlier.

"And we agreed that if it were to happen before that, we'd just go along with it," Steve added finally, to which he was glad to see her nod even as her hand tightened around his.

"Yeah, I- Yeah," Kono faltered, resting her head back against the bathtub once again and letting her eyes slide shut.

Bringing his other hand over, he rubbed her leg in what he hoped was a soothing way. "What's wrong?" he asked, because if there was one thing that he had learnt after being with the woman next to him for over 4 years, it was that faltering meant that she had a lot of things running through her mind at that moment. It might not have been hard to guess what it would be right then, but he still asked.

"This is scary," she admitted with a dry laugh, because Kono Kalakaua didn't admit nor give in to fear easily. "I was _not_ prepared for this when I woke up. It's only been an hour since I actually thought I might be pregnant. I need time to digest this."

Steve repressed the urge to smirk, not at her, but in understanding. It was true that they hadn't been expecting any of this that day, but spontaneity was usually a welcomed part of their lives. Out of the four on the team, he and Kono were always the first to jump into action. Sometimes without a carefully thought out plan at all. And yes, regardless of the fact that it was reckless and she could get injured or even killed, it was usually a massive turn on.

"How about we see what the test says first, ok? Then you can digest it, or freak out, or whatever," he told her, amusement that he couldn't hide lining his words.

Kono sat up straight and let out a scoff before he even finished his sentence. "I'm _not_ freaking out," she countered abruptly, eyeing him as he raised an eyebrow at her to challenge her statement. There was a pause before she tugged her hand out of his and ran both of them over her face and through her hair, turning to look straight ahead at the counter once again. "Ok, maybe I'm freaking out a _little_ bit, but I think I'm allowed to be, right?"

Chuckling lightly, Steve reached out and placed a hand on her back, rubbing it gently before tugging her far shoulder to pull her back towards him. "Would it help if I told you that I'm slightly freaking out too?" he asked her once she settled next to him, his arm still around her shoulders as he allowed his fingers to idly skim over the bare skin of her arm.

"It actually would, thank you," she replied sincerely, though he could hear the humor behind it. Tightening his hold on her, he pressed his lips to the top of her head when she dropped her head to rest on his shoulder. "I'm so glad you're here." The words were whispered into his neck as she shifted to stretch out her legs so he wasn't sure whether he had heard her correctly or not.

"Where else would I be?" he questioned her nonetheless with the first thing that had come to his mind.

"No, I mean-" Kono broke off with a sigh as she settled against him, threading an arm through his and grasping at his hand once again. He looked down at her when she failed to carry on immediately, only to see her watching their hands like before. "When you were away, I was so stressed out for the first few weeks that I missed my period and I thought I was pregnant. _That_ did not help my stress levels," she added sarcastically and Steve could hear the smirk in her voice but he was more focused on what she had told him.

In their time together, he had only been called upon by the Navy twice. Once had been within a few months of when they had first started their relationship, and luckily for them both it had only been for a fortnight, stationed in Coronado. They had also been able to keep in contact almost daily one way or another.

The second time he was called for active duty however, it had been for a top priority and classified mission in the Middle East. It had lasted for over a month, but he had been away from home for more than 8 weeks after including training and debriefing. Communication this time had been to the utmost minimum, and when out of the country, they had spoken once. Via email, encrypted to the highest degree to keep his location a secret. He had returned 4 months ago.

"You never told me that," Steve murmured, pursing his lips as he pushed back the guilt and worry that seemed to arise despite the time that had passed. Life carried on whilst he was away, he knew that, but nothing had seemed to have changed when he came back so he had never questioned it. Now he realised just how naive he had been to simply assume as much.

He felt her shrug against him, literally waving off his concern with her free hand. "It was nothing. It wasn't even a scare; it was just stress. After the case that we had been working on was over, I came home and-" Kono broke off to shrug again and let out a deep breath. "I dunno, my body seemed to decide it had had enough fun with messing with me. Didn't even have to take a test."

"I'm sorry," he apologized after a pause where he wasn't really sure what to say. Those two simple words seemed like the best way for him to portray how bad he felt for having put her through it all.

Lifting her head up off his shoulder, he felt her lips brush against his jaw softly. "It's not your fault, babe," she muttered and pulled away from him, crossing her legs to look at the pregnancy test that still laid on the floor. "Has it been 3 minutes yet?"

Steve nodded, a feeling oddly like nerves rushing through him as he did so. "More than."

"Plus mean pregnant, and minus means not," Kono informed him as she reached out to pick up the stick. Without any preamble, she turned it around to look at the results. "Plus," she stated, holding it out towards him to see with his own eyes.

"Pregnant." Steve took the test out of her hand, staring at it momentarily until it sunk in. "Um, ok. So I guess we're going to have a baby." The nonchalance was a surprise even to him.

Kono dropped her face into her hands. "Uh-huh," she muttered before turning to look over at him, resting her head upon a fisted hand. "Wow, a baby." For some reason, hearing the words from someone else made it all that much more real. "We can do this, right?"

Smiling softly, he leant his head back against the side of the bathtub "Yeah, of course we can," he assured her with confidence that he wasn't too sure he felt himself. Finding out he was going to be a father in less than 9 months? Not something that the Navy prepared him for. "I mean, we apprehend criminals, resolve hostage situations and solve crimes on a daily basis. What's a baby compared to that?" he joked to lighten the mood, and to his relief, it worked.

"True," Kono remarked with a smirk before raising an eyebrow in his direction. "At least I won't have to have that awkward conversation with my boss explaining my new situation and how to accommodate it."

Steve scoffed at her faux cringe and turned serious. Well, as serious as he could be in such a situation. "We're still gonna have to talk about that, Kono. But it can wait for now," he told her whilst getting to his feet. Placing the pregnancy test that he had still been holding onto the bathroom counter, he stood in front of his wife and held out his hands. "At least until we get you off these cold tiles. No place for a woman in your condition. C'mon."

She groaned at his words, glaring at him in a way that he was sure wasn't as playful as it normally was when he teased her, but took his hands nonetheless to allow him to pull her up. Steve smiled innocently, bringing her closer to him by dropping his hands to her waist and urging her forward.

"We're gonna have to have a talk about what you _can_ and _cannot_ do and say as well, before I end up throwing you out for the next 9 months," Kono told him threateningly in reply to his words, shaking her head lightly when he rolled his eyes.

"Out of my own house? You wouldn't." She smiled in reply to his mocking, but it wasn't as clear or heartfelt as he normally expected it to be. He knew that the majority of her thoughts were still caught up in their recent discovery, not that he could blame her. He already had a feeling that he wouldn't be getting any sleep that night; the perfect time for when his mind would usually decide to go into overdrive and think everything through. Until then, however, he was able to compartmentalise into what took priority over what, and right then, like most times, looking after the woman in his arms came first.

Kono argued before he could comment on his thoughts. "Ours, and I really would." The teasing lilt made him smile, pressing his lips to hers for a chaste kiss. Her hands gripped securely at his sides when he reached one up to her neck, brushing his thumb over her jaw. She broke away before they got the chance to get carried away, and the glassy look in her eyes as she dropped them to his chest, hiding the normal twinkling and what was no doubt happiness, betrayed the tiny upward tugs at the corner of her lips.

Letting out a sigh, Steve brushed back her hair behind her ear and tilted her head up to look at him. "Hey, I love you. We'll figure this out as we go, ok?" he whispered, ghosting his lips against hers just the once before backing away to put the tiniest of spaces between them.

Nodding, she took a step back and retracted her hands from him, making him do the same. "Ok. Ok, yeah. We'll figure this out. It'll be fine," Kono repeated, and he could see her taking steadying breaths as she ran her hands through her hair once again.

He kept quiet, watching her eyes close for a moment and covering her face with her hands, before dropping them to her sides. When her eyes opened, he saw them seek his own and then behind him, most probably to the mirror before finally focusing on the stick that he had placed on the counter.

"We're having a baby." The sentence was quiet and spoken almost to herself, and Steve had the feeling that she had only just fully realized what the plus sign had actually meant. Her eyes snapped to him, looking for a confirmation that he wasn't too sure how to give. Somehow, though, he did because the next thing he knew, she's nodding and smiling, genuinely albeit hesitant, even as she spoke. "I think I need to lie down."

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_**A/N: Hope you enjoyed the prologue. The next chapter will be up soon =)**_


	2. Month 2

**_A/N: Hello again! Can I just say how freaking awesome you guys all are? I can't believe I got so many reviews, alerts, adds and fav's for the prologue alone! The response was amazing =D I was literally bouncing off the walls and grinning like a mad person for days! Thank you all so much. I think I replied to you all, so apologies if I missed you. Thanks to all the anon reviewers too [USWAT IS BEAST, Lily, renji, Sritia, rebecca list, Nicas, Mli and Lydia]._**

**_Big big thanks to cm757 and Sidalee once again! You guys keep me writing, updating, beta my chapters and generally keep me going when I even confuse myself with my own ideas =P You're both really 6 different kinds of awesome! Also to MyMelo for being lovely and sweet =D  
_**

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_Month 2_

The cold gel caused her to unconsciously squeeze Steve's hand tightly, loosening her grip only when his other hand came to cover hers and trapping it between his own. Kono shot him a small sheepish smile, which he reciprocated with a hint of amusement from where he stood next to the hospital examination bed. She resisted the urge to snidely ask him what was so funny because this was only the second time that they were seeing their doctor and she didn't want her to write them off already.

Also, Dr Sasha Lang was speaking again, apologizing for the coldness of the gel and moving the wand over Kono's bare stomach, pushing away any other thoughts as their attention was drawn by the screen on ultrasound machine. The image was black, white and grey, and she was more than thankful that the nice doctor explained it all without any assumptions that the two of them would know what they were looking for.

"This right here is your baby," Dr Lang informed them when she froze the image on the screen and pointed to what it was they were looking at. Kono had to admit that without her help, she would have had no idea what to look for. But now she had seen it, it was rather easy to tell that it was indeed a baby. In a small, tiny, bean-shaped blob kind of way.

Neither one of them had anything to say in reply, but from the gentle smile that curved Steve's mouth and the way he pressed his lips to her knuckles once he felt her eyes on him, she knew that he was feeling the same as she was. Indescribable elation.

"And from this, I would estimate that you are about 6 weeks along," the doctor told them with a polite smile, removing the wand and clearing away the excess gel on Kono's stomach with a tissue.

"6 weeks," Steve repeated quietly, and Kono could tell from the way his brow furrowed that he was thinking back to try pinpoint the most likely day. A smirk pulled at her lips as she sat up, hitting him lightly in the chest with the back of the hand she had freed to allow her to move. She was glad that the doctor had already turned away with the equipment so that she missed the boyish look on his face, indicating that he had already come to his conclusion.

Kono sat at the edge of the bed once Dr Lang had gathered up her file and a printout of the ultrasound. "Baby Kalakaua, or...?" she trailed off, pen poised over the blank side of the image as she looked at the two of them in question.

"McGarrett," Kono quickly corrected her. She spotted the surprise on Steve's face out of the corner of her eyes. They hadn't spoken or even thought about names in the last week since they had initially found out about the pregnancy, but she had always known that if they had children, they would take his name. Regardless of the fact that she hadn't. "Baby McGarrett. Until we think of something better."

Dr Lang laughed as she scribbled down the temporary name onto the ultrasound and dating it before handing it over to them. She went over a few details, gave them an estimated due date, reassured them that everything was looking fine and when they next needed to see her before asking if they had any questions. Much to Kono's disappointment, Steve, who had been his usual quiet self throughout the appointment, beat her to it.

"There was something we wanted to ask you. Can she still surf?" he said, crossing his arms whilst shifting on his feet to stand up straighter in a way which Kono realised was his serious, and slightly intimidating, posture. She rolled her eyes at him and turned to the doctor.

"We've been arguing about it since we last saw you," she added, to which he glared at her subtly. "_Disagreeing_," Kono amended. It wasn't that important to her how it was classified; that was Steve's pet peeve. To her, all she wanted to know was whether she could get back up onto her board, because after a week, she was missing it like crazy.

Dr Lang smiled, and Kono realised that working in Hawaii, it must be a question she heard often. "Ah, of course. Do you surf regularly?"

"Everyday, if I can. I use to be on the pro circuit so it's like second nature to me," she answered with a nod.

"Then I see no reason not to," the doctor told them, much to Kono's joy. Although she had researched it on the internet, Steve had insisted on waiting until their appointment to get the word from the doctor's mouth instead. She was sure he was hoping that the answer would have been no, and the thin lipped frown on his face showed it. "Look, I know how it can be for first time parents, especially for the fathers. It's hard to understand and reason how something like surfing could be safe, but the baby is protected. As long as you don't take any direct hits to the abdominal area, everything will be fine."

The doctor's reassurance was enough for her, but a quick glance over at her husband and she knew that the sentiment was not mutual. If it was up to him, Kono had no doubt that she would be spending the next 8 odd months in the vicinity of their home. Or even restricted to the bed. It was a good thing that she was just as stubborn as him. It was the only way to survive a relationship with a SEAL who's use to being in charge.

Though his tone was stiff and his body language was clearly not happy, a look of concern had passed over his face with after exhaling deeply. "And if she falls, hitting the board on the way down?" Steve asked, shrugging.

Kono jumped in quickly, knowing that if she allowed Dr Lang to reply to his question, it would only start them on a downward slope. "I know how to fall into the water, Steve," she told him pointedly, and he stared at her momentarily before nodding tightly, uncrossing his arms and shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"We recommend mothers to carry on with their normal exercises and routines. Surfing, swimming, biking, jogging; it's all alright until you yourself start to feel uncomfortable. As long as it's nothing extraneous, and no contact sports or sparring," Dr Lang added, no doubt for their benefit after considering what their professions were. Neither one of them could hold back a smirk at that. Unlike normal couples, they tended to enjoy their violent sparring sessions. So it had immediately been cancelled from Kono's to do list. "Just go along with what your body tells you. And if you do have doubts, then it's always better to be safe than sorry."

When Steve didn't pick an argument about anything that she had said, Kono knew that the conversation was over and she had won. At least for then. There was no way she was going to escape the conversation when she next decided to head into the ocean, and they both knew it.

...

With the rain pattering against the windows, not allowing Kono to get up on her board as soon as they had arrived home, the two of them had settled on the couch later that evening. After a quiet week at work, with all their paperwork completed and sorted, they had had the last 2 days free to do what they want. To normal people, having the weekend off was a standard feature of their week. For Five-0, it was a luxury. Throw in the Monday too, and they were in heaven.

And sitting on the couch crossed legged with Steve next to her, stretched out lazily to prop his feet upon the edge of the coffee table, they were the perfect picture of relaxation.

"This is one long list," Kono muttered, flipping the piece of paper that the doctor had given them about the dietary needs of a pregnant woman and skimming it warily. The list was split into sections for the 5 main food groups, with one side stating what she could eat, and the other what she should avoid. A small detailed explanation accompanied each item, but she was more interested in finding her favourite foods and seeing where they were placed. "Most of the stuff I eat is still allowed. Shark, however, is off the menu," she added with amusement.

"There go our dinner plans," Steve retorted dryly without taking his eyes off of the TV where he was watching an old football match he had come across, making her smirk.

A fleeting thought about what their dinner plans actually were, considering it was already 7pm and she knew that neither one of them were up for cooking that evening, passed her mind but she pushed it away for later when hunger became an issue. With all the food names that she was reading, it would be soon, she was sure.

Carrying on with the list, she paused at the bottom of the back page where there was a small note. "You don't have any allergies, do you? Asthma, eczema, food?" Kono asked, reading the details that came with the item _peanuts_. One thing was for sure; she was glad for this guide. There was no way she would have guessed peanuts as perhaps being on the restricted list.

Steve's incredulous look as he tore his eyes away from the screen and tilted his head up towards her only made her arch an eyebrow at him, telling him silently to answer her question. "You've known me for _how_ many years?" he asked before turning back to the TV and taking a swig of the beer that he was currently halfway through. Kono made a sound of exasperation in the back of her throat.

"You know, normal couples usually attempt at this pregnancy eating thing together. When the mother can't eat or drink something, the father usually doesn't either," she told him pointedly, eyeing his beer bottle when he glanced at her once again.

He pursed his lips, rubbing her knee with the hand that rested over it a few times before he finally spoke up. "Tell you what; if you can name me _one_ normal couple thing that we have done, I will do it," he told her, dropping a kiss against her shoulder and returning to the match once again. "And sex doesn't count."

"Does getting married and having a baby count?" Kono remarked in a faux intrigued tone, to which he scoffed around the bottle he was then sipping out of.

"We eloped, and the baby wasn't planned," he pointed out and she cursed him internally for always having an answer. "Besides, a lot of couples don't get married or have children."

Kono paused. "Fine, never mind then," she said, turning back to the paper in her hands. She heard him sigh heavily next to her, his hand squeezing her leg gently as he pushed himself up as far as he could without having to retract his legs off the table.

"Do you want me to do it?" he asked her seriously.

"Do _you_ want to do it?" she threw back at him, watching him from the corner of her eyes.

Steve shook his head. "No, I don't. But if you ask me to, I will," he replied truthfully, and Kono could tell simply by the tone of his voice, the one he used only for her when he reminded her that he was always there for her and would do anything for her, that he really would despite his own wishes.

"Then, no, I don't want you to do it," she told him, offering him a soft smile before going back to what she had been reading.

"Alright, then," Steve nodded, clearly glad that it had worked out in his favour. He had gone back to the game when Kono realised something and uncrossed her legs, pushing away his hand to lean across the couch to grab a pen off the end table. "What are you doing?" he finally asked her as she began writing on the sheet of paper.

"Revising the list," she informed him matter-of-factly, though with his great investigative skills, she was surprised that he hadn't noticed it already.

"You can't revise a list that the doctor gave you, Kono," Steve said, humour underlying the chiding words.

Kono merely shrugged at him and carried on with her task. "Well, they missed out a couple of things. Ice cream is a dairy product, and shave ice is _basically_ water." she informed him, because seriously, how had they managed to leave these things off?

She could see Steve open his mouth to rebuke, probably to point out the fact that shave ice is more sugar than water, so she shot him a look that told him to pick his next argument with her wisely. Being pregnant wasn't something she dreaded; in fact, she couldn't be happier, despite all the downsides such as extreme tiredness and morning sickness. But in the last week, they have already had many _disagreements_, that it took a lot of personal reminding that it was his baby too and that he had the right to become slightly over-overprotective to keep herself from wanting to punch him. Hard.

When he turned back to his game, utilising his mouth to drink more of his beer instead, Kono smiled to herself. She knew he'd come to the right conclusion in the end. The Navy had taught him well when it came to survival tactics.

Capping the pen, she placed it back onto the table and began to stand up. "I'm gonna put this on the fridge or something," she murmured, eyes still scanning the paper in case she missed something.

Before she could even shift her weight onto her feet, Steve caught her with an arm around her waist, pulling her back into the couch and towards him. "Do it later. Come here and relax for now," he practically demanded her, his arm coming around her shoulders as she gave in without a fight, bringing her legs up to curl next to her and leaned into his side after laying the list onto the table next to the pen.

The silence they had fallen into lasted only a few minutes before the familiar feeling of hunger swept through Kono's stomach. "Can we order in for dinner?" she asked him, sliding an arm over his waist as she drew herself closer. He was warm and comforting, a place she felt completely at home and safe. It was enough to bring about sleep.

"Chinese?" he asked, pressing his lips to the top of her head when she laid it on his chest.

"Pizza," she replied, because for some reason, the craving for an unhealthy dose of cheese, meat and pineapple on dough and tomato sauce sounded really great right then. And she couldn't put it down to her pregnancy because not only had the cravings not started yet, it was something she always loved to indulge in after a long day.

There was a pause before she felt Steve nod once. "Sure."

...

Working with two great detectives meant that keeping the pregnancy a secret was harder than it should be. Their jobs entailed a lot of violence, danger and general things that pregnant women should not be near. Luckily for them, it was almost exactly 2 weeks since they had taken the test for them to catch a case where Kono staying out of the field was deemed suspicious. The other cases they had caught, Steve had managed to keep her in the office under the guise of running searches on the computer and following their suspect via GPS to allow them to catch him, or allowed her to simply go interview friends and family.

The crime scenes themselves hadn't been too gruesome, and by the time she had made it there, Max had usually covered up the body. If he hadn't, she diverted her attention to the non-bloody parts of the scene. Or burnt, because the sight and smells seemed to unsettle her stomach. Yeah, morning sickness was really kicking her ass.

That morning, they had gotten the call for a shooting downtown, killing 3 people. Five-0 jurisdiction. The call had come from the Governor at a quarter to 7 which wasn't that early considering some of the times that they had been called in at. However, Kono usually maintained her perkiness and basically managed to stay awake and drive due to coffee. Something she hadn't tasted in far too long. So Steve had dropped her off at HQ first to get a head start on their background search on the victims and gather up the footage from the local surveillance cameras. Or that was what he told Danny and Chin when he met them at the crime scene.

And she had been sure they had believed him, because neither said anything about it once they returned to the office. Which was why it was a surprise when Chin brought it up during their drive to HPD to pick up some files later that afternoon.

"You ok, Kono?" he asked her in his usual to the point style without any preamble.

Kono lifted her head up from where she was resting it upon her fist, elbow propped up by the arm rest on the door. "Me? Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Well, for starters, you insisted I drive," her cousin teased, a small smile playing on his lips as she shot him a dry look.

"You complain when I drive, and now you're complaining when I let you? Who are you; Danny?" she scoffed, reaching for the bottle of water she now kept near her to help fight off the nausea that seemed to pop up every now and again. "What?" she asked in irritation when she saw Chin eyeing her briefly.

"You're drinking a lot of water lately. And you haven't asked for a detour to the local coffee house in over a week," he told her matter-of-factly. A sarcastic remark about how creepy it was that he had noticed such things died on her tongue when she noticed the look on his always-calm features.

It wasn't one she could put into words but she knew it well; from childhood to her teens and into her adult life. It told her that he knew her secret, be it where she hid the stolen cookies from their aunty's kitchen, or that she had snuck out the night before for a party or that it had been her who had crashed his motorbike.

Kono sighed, letting her head drop back against the headrest of her seat and momentarily closing her eyes. She hated it when he did this. _Hated_ it. For once, she would like to pull one over on her older cousin. Just for the fun of it. "How long have you known?" she almost groaned, to which he chuckled.

"I _suspected_ something last week when you paled and turned down the malasadas that I brought in, but it was obvious this morning when you actually cringed at the crime scene photos," Chin pointed out, laughing openly as she cringed once again at the earlier memory.

"Yeah, I can't seem to keep down anything sweet early in the morning, and I have no idea what this reaction to blood is, but it's not fun," she admitted with a shrug. Opening her eyes once again, she turned her head in his direction and inhaled deeply as Chin simply watched the road ahead in his normal serene manner. Guilt began to eat at her. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. We were going to. Soon. Both of you. We just couldn't decide on when or how. Like, I wanted to tell you first, 'cause it's you and you're my cousin, but Steve said that that wasn't fair on Danny and he would be hurt, probably very loudly, so-"

"Kono, it's ok! It's alright, I don't mind," Chin cut off her babbling with a hand upon hers to stop her constant tapping against the bottle she still held. They were both nervous habits of hers. She murmured a sheepish apology when he returned his hand back to the wheel and replaced the water into the cup holder. "I was just wondering how long it was going to take until you broke. You were never really good at keeping things like these a secret."

She huffed childishly at the accusation. "We found out 2 weeks ago, so I like to think that I was actually good at it, thank you very much. And I didn't tell you; _you_ _guessed_."

"I'm happy for you, cuz. For both of you," Chin replied earnestly after a short laugh. Kono glanced over with a small smile because though she liked to claim that she was an independent woman, her cousin's approval was the only one that meant the world to her. "So how long until we have mini you or Steve running around?"

"Just over 7 months," she answered, a short bust of fresh new excitement passing through her at the thought. "Plus a year or so if you're being serious about the running."

...

Danny found out 4 days later by being the nosey person he was with no respect for personal space even after so many years; barging into their house on the odd morning and going through the papers and pamphlets on the table which they hadn't put away from the night before.

They had been enjoying breakfast out on the lanai when he claimed their attention by a loud exclamation, demanding what was going when he found the ultrasound under the top booklet, and there was no way for them to deny it after that.

He hadn't been impressed that Chin had found out before him either, but Kono had let Steve deal with that after feigning heatstroke and tiredness, and retreating to their bedroom.

...

After taking longer than it should have to snap Danny out of his rant about how he couldn't believe they hadn't told him, that he was the last to know, and finally, how happy he was for them, Steve had to endure a lecture about how his current set ways were not apt for a baby, or even a pregnant woman. He had rolled his eyes and muttered sarcastic comments all the way through because he was pretty sure his partner hadn't even meant half of the things. Somehow, he didn't find the fact that he got up at 5am on days off to work out as a bad thing for when the baby came, or that he rarely ever ate anything that should come with a neon sign reading 'Warning: Early Death'. Kids had to eat healthy, right?

Voicing the latter had only earned him a glare and a quip about how it was _him_ who should come with that warning. Steve had then thrown him out with the promise of drinks that evening as they had previously planned as a team.

They had met up at a bar near the beach, sitting around a table in the open cool, salty air, and basically hanging out in a less tense atmosphere than work. And as the whole team now knew about Kono being pregnant, it was the main focus of their conversation. Or rather, of their teasing.

"Cravings," Danny began the list of things that they were now going to have to deal with, much to Steve's amusement because so far, he had been under the impression that it was his and his wife's baby. Though he couldn't fault it; their team was a family in its own right, and there was no way they were going to be able to raise a child without them.

"Mood swings," Chin added with a smirk, to which Kono threw a bottle cap at him before sipping at her lemonade. After the waitress had taken their orders, she had immediately told them to keep their jokes about anything alcohol related and her to themselves that night as she was not ready to hear whatever it was they might have. They had complied because they knew better than to piss off Kono when she gave such a strict command.

"Morning sickness," Danny said with a frown, which could have passed for sympathy if Steve didn't know him so well.

Kono scoffed at that, finally inputting into the conversation that she had given up on after realising that there was no way to make them shut up after already using _that_power on prohibiting the alcohol jokes. "Not so much restricted to the mornings." This time, both Chin and Danny did genuinely look sympathetic.

"Being tired," Steve added with a pointed tone which he knew she got if the way she rolled her eyes discreetly from the seat next to him was anything to go by.

"And needy. Rachel was really clingy and needy when she was pregnant with Grace," Danny informed them, a smile curving on his mouth as he recalled the time, with hand gestures to match. "You know, I remember her doing all these crazy things, like leaving the TV control in the fridge, or the car keys in the laundry basket. And then there was this time for about a week or two where she couldn't watch anything on TV without crying."

Turning her head in his direction, Kono dropped her voice and gripped his hand tightly. "If I start doing any of that, shoot me. Please." Steve hid a smirk and nodded sympathetically.

* * *

_**A/N: And that's chapter/month 2. Hope you enjoyed it! Please lemme know what you thought =) I'll update again asap!**_


	3. Month 3

**_A/N: So sorry for the delayed update! This chapter was a bit of a hassle; I couldn't get the middle 2 scenes out in the way I wanted to and then I came down with the flu, mix that with RL and finding time to write was hard. But it's done and dusted now and I hope you guys enjoy it! Thank you all for the reviews [omg, so freaking many!], alerts and faves [seriously, how many?]. Pretty sure you guys are the best fandom out there =) They really got me through the minor writer's block. I made sure to reply to all the comments before posting this, but if I missed you, I apologise again. And thank you to the anons [somejerseycopsmarrynavyseals, anon, Rebecca List, anon and Lydia] once again!_**

* * *

_Month 3_

It should be illegal how sexy she looked as she seamlessly rode the waves with every confidence of a pro. Which, Steve mused, she was. He just wished she didn't have to act like it, because with every ounce of pride he felt for having such a talented wife, there was an equal amount of fear building up when he remembered that she wasn't only his talented wife anymore, but his talented _pregnant_ wife.

Sighing, he took a sip of his water bottle, keeping his eyes trained on the surfer who was finally returning back to the shore. After 35 minutes. And that was just the time since she had last decided to take a quick break. All in all, she had been on the water for over an hour and a half; the exact same time as he had been out there.

It was part of their deal, one that they had come to after another one of their discussions about her surfing. Both being as stubborn as each other, the only answer had been to compromise. He'd allow her to surf without any argument, but she wasn't allowed to without him there. Kono had readily agreed, and Steve suspected it was because she knew it would be torture for him, whilst she got to do what she wanted.

Like usual, he had tried to keep his mind off of it by using the time to work out, keeping an eye out on her with every other glance. It had done its job for a while before he had seen her going for a wave larger than any other she had tried in the last two months. He had paused; standing with hands on his hips and watched her with what he was told was called his 'laser-focused glare'. Once she had completed the ride flawlessly, she had shot him a cheeky lopsided grin and ignored his frown to head back out again. He had been perched on the edge of the sun lounger ever since.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked her when she approached him after digging her board into the sand halfway on her way towards him.

Kono shook her head before coming to a stop in front of him. "Nothing," she smiled, taking the water bottle that he offered her. "I feel good. Like, actually, _good_. No nausea, no headaches, no tiredness. Just good."

Her smile was contagious as she shrugged with her words before handing back the bottle which he replaced next to him. Her voice carried a light lilt that he couldn't remember hearing for a while recently. Fatigue was at the forefront of that, along with her being adamant that she was able to work all their cases in every way she possibly could.

Morning sickness had toned down only a week earlier, going from 'any-time-of-the-day sickness' to actually cropping up in the mornings. And luckily for them both, though Steve suspected she was happier about it than him, it only struck the once _after_ she had woken up meaning there was no need to dash to the bathroom urgently straight out of bed.

Put together, there was no surprise that she looked less weighed down and simply happier than he had seen her lately. That _glow_ that people often talked about pregnant women having? He could definitely see it now.

"Yeah? That's great," he replied, skimming his hands over the outsides of her thighs and pulling her to stand between his legs as he tilted his head up to look at her momentarily. "Does this mean you're going to be surfing like a maniac everyday now?"

She actually laughed at that, and he assumed it was due to his blithe choice of words, even if he meant them wholeheartedly. "Please, brah. That wave in the middle? That was _nothing_. I was riding them when I was 13." There was no doubt in his mind that Kono was telling the truth, but it didn't help him in the slightest.

Steve shook his head and groaned low in his throat when she shot him a smirk. "You're gonna be the death of me, Kono, if you keep doing this," he informed her whilst laying his forehead tenderly against the smooth, wet skin of her upper stomach. She hadn't begun to show yet. At the middle of her third month, it had worried him until their doctor had assured them that it was normal at their last appointment a few days earlier.

The soft flow of laughter bubbled throughout her body and he could feel it against his own before she ran a hand through his hair and tugged at his head gently away. "Ok, ok, I'll tone it down a bit. Happy?" Kono asked teasingly, resting her hands on his shoulders. He rolled his eyes at her but chose not to comment, knowing that it was the best that he was going to get out of her. "Now c'mon, I'm hungry," she said, tapping her hands on his bare skin impatiently and he knew he had no choice but to follow.

...

Speaking to eyewitnesses or whoever called in one of their crimes was something Kono had not yet been banned from doing. The element of risk was fairly low during these procedures in comparison to, say, interviewing suspects which could lead into a gunfight, or any type of fight for that matter, or interrogation. It was the argument that she had put to Steve when they had had the conversation about what she was and wasn't allowed to do at work anymore.

And she was glad of it as she walked down the hallway of an apartment building to go speak to a couple of University of Hawaii students who had found the body outside of their building earlier that morning. According to the landlord she had already spoken to, they were a couple of recluses; only leaving for college and food. Not seeming harmful in the least, she had volunteered to go see if they had anything more to add to their already minimal statement about what had happened when they had come across the deceased.

Of course, Chin had come along because she was no longer allowed to go anywhere without one of them whilst on a case. If she was really lucky, she got an HPD chaperone. Usually a rookie who had heard all about Five-0 and the not-so-exaggerated rumours about the leader who no-one really wanted to get on the wrong side of. So when Steve asked, or rather demanded, them to accompany her wherever she needed to go, they did as they were told. Kono gritted her teeth and accepted it because it was part of their deal.

Chin knocked on the door of the place that they had been searching for, receiving a reply before they could even announce themselves. "It's open!" They swapped sceptical looks as they entered the small apartment, straight into the living room.

"Five-0. We need to ask you some questions about the body you found," Chin told the two teenagers who were sat on the couch to their left. Kono was standing closer to the TV and games console that they were paying more attention to but she could still tell that they weren't that bothered about their presence. She wasn't sure what the game they were playing was, only that the _whoosh_ing sounds were somehow related to the little flying , sword-possessing elf-like people on the screen as they attacked some evil enemy. Well, she assumed they were evil and the enemy.

"Ok," the blonde haired, fair skinned boy who sat further along the sofa said with a hint of distraction. "We spoke to HPD about this already."

"We're not HPD," she informed them, biting back at the irritation that started to build inside because they had yet to even glance at them. When her words garnered them no response, she raised an eyebrow at her cousin who only shrugged back. With a roll of her eyes at his ever-serenity, she tried again. "Could you maybe, uh, put the controls down or something?"

Another moment of silence stretched between the four of them, barring the sound effects from the game, until the other boy, the obvious Hawaiian native though undoubtedly not from Oahu, spoke up. "Can we just finish this first? It's a hard level. It took us days-"

Kono didn't allow him to get the rest of his words out. "Let's try this again. Pause the game, put down the controls and let's talk. Please," she added at the end because politeness had always gone a long way to help her get what she wanted in the past. Especially when she wasn't forcing it through gritted teeth, unlike right then.

Chin, who suddenly moved to the far wall where there was a chest of drawers, caught her attention from the corner of her eyes. They were haphazardly shut with edges of items sticking out from the top in a manner that only college students would deem as tidy.

"What are you doing?" the native Hawaiian boy asked in a hint of worry when he finally noticed something other than the game they were playing, but she was still amazed to see that they hadn't paused it.

"Pakalolo," Chin stated, nearing the boys once again and holding up a clear bag containing the very distinguishable leaves in them. "Marijuana's illegal."

Having grown up around a lot of arrogant people, and working with stubborn ones, she was pretty sure her ability to remain calm was much stronger than it was right then. For some reason, though there was a inkling in the back of her head telling her what she didn't want to hear, everything was rubbing her the wrong way and it wasn't going to take much for her to snap.

"Seriously, guys? Drugs in your apartment and you're still not going to pay us any attention?" she asked exasperatedly, stepping a bit closer to the TV in order to get into their field of sight more. When they failed to acknowledge her in any way or form, she took matters into her own hands and before she knew it, her gun was in her hand and there was a bullet in the games console. "Now you ready to talk?" Kono was met by three astonished looks, though only her cousin's was on her. "What?"

Chin seemed to pause before shaking his head and clearing his throat with a wry smile. "Nothing. Just- Nothing."

…

"Why are you arresting me for? Aren't you listening to me; crazy bitch shot my XBox!" Kono rolled her eyes at the teen that was currently being led out by a member of HPD with Danny trailing behind them, exclaiming pretty loudly in a stark contrast to his behaviour from before.

"Somehow, I think being in possession of a _load_ of marijuana beats- Wait, can you arrest someone over shooting an XBox?" Danny retorted to no-one in particular but she smirked anyway because it was funny when he put it like that. However, seeing Steve exit the building with Chin and the other teen wiped it off her face.

She stood next to her car after being sent outside by Steve when him and Danny had rushed into the room as fast as they could from where they had been, probably having heard the gunshot. The body had already been zipped up and transported back to the morgue and HPD were dwindling in numbers as they finished up with gathering any information that they could need.

Sighing, she shifted on her feet and stood up straighter as her boss-slash-husband, because she wasn't sure which one she was going to have to deal with now or which one she _wanted_ to deal with, approached her. He rounded the car towards the driver's side, holding out a hand silently for the keys as he passed her. Kono eyed him carefully before reluctantly giving them to him and getting into the passenger's seat.

They were on the main road towards the highway to take them back towards to HQ when she finally had enough of the silence and decided to break it. His knuckles were white from where he gripped the wheel and gear stick tightly, face set into a fixed mask of pursed lips and a set jaw, and it was clear that although he hadn't said anything yet, he wanted to. So she started it because as much as she didn't want to have this conversation, she knew it was coming and it would be better to get it out of the way in the privacy of the car rather than at the office.

"He deserved it," she stated, hoping to sound more matter-of-fact than petulant. Unfortunately, her choice of words didn't help.

Steve glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, but she spotted the movement. "I don't care if he deserved it. You can't go around shooting things when you feel like it. It's dangerous, Kono," he told her in a low and steady voice, though the way his fingers clenched and tapped at the gear stick told another story.

"But it wasn't! Chin was _right there_ and the boys were just sitting there," she informed him, shifting slightly in her seat towards him to see him better and get her point across. If she didn't try and argue it, he'd use it against her for the rest of her pregnancy.

He shook his head at her words. "They could have pulled out a gun. You don't know what they had with them. You didn't even have a vest on," he reminded her, voice rising a little in clear frustration that made a feel a bit guilty. Just a bit. And not enough for her to back down.

"Because they were just witnesses," Kono replied with a shrug. "You allowed me to go in the first place."

"'_Allowed you'_?" Steve repeated with an incredulous and dry laugh. "Kono, if I tried to stop you, you'd tell me I'm going against our agreement and overreacting."

"Being overprotective," she corrected him flippantly and he sighed heavily in annoyance at her words.

"If you pull out a gun and attack someone, you're more likely to be attacked back. You know that. We had a deal, Kono. You don't take any more risks," he told her in a much calmer tone than before though she didn't appreciate the simplicity behind his words, as if he was talking to a child.

"It wasn't a risk." They had stopped at a red light when she replied so Steve turned to look at her and she stared him down until he shook his head almost imperceptibly, running a hand over his face as he turned back to the road. He didn't speak up again until they were on the final stretch back to their destination, and it was only then did Kono realise that he was driving at a near-legal speed.

"It was a risk, and I swear, if you pull _anything_ like that again, I will bench you until you're back from maternity leave. Alright?" he asked her rhetorically with a tone of finality. Kono nodded mutely and settled back into her seat. Seeming to relax at her acquiescent, they settled into a brief silence until he spoke up in casual question. "You go near the drugs?"

"No, Steve, I did not go near the drugs," she retorted dryly, rolling her eyes at the utter absurdity of the question. At least, it was in her opinion. "Ask me stupid questions and I'll shoot you too," she muttered whilst staring out of the front window and pretending not to see his smirk. Now he was amused? There were times when even _she_ couldn't understand him.

...

Pancakes. _Chocolate chip_ pancakes, if she wasn't wrong. The smell was all that was needed to entice her out of bed at 10am on their day off. She had been up for 30 minutes already, simply laying in bed and enjoying the feeling of having nothing to worry about. No work, no morning sickness, no excessive tiredness. Just time to herself to be lazy.

Arms wrapped around the free pillow next to her in a substitute to the man who usually occupied it, Kono was sure that sleep was about to pull her back under when the delicious scent reached her. There was no other option but to get up and have some. Well, there were no other options to _her_.

A new colourful feature on the middle counter stopped her in her tracks when she padded into the kitchen. Her eyes jumped towards where Steve was flipping a pancake at the stove next to her, smirking no doubt at her reaction. Once the surprise left her, she slowly copied the action.

"Flowers? Oh, honey, you shouldn't have," Kono teased, eyeing the vase of a dozen multi-coloured roses before turning towards him and taking a step closer. He reached out an arm to wrap around her waist to pull her to him.

"I didn't," he murmured against her lips and there wasn't enough time to feel confused as she smiled into the kiss that followed. It was short, sweet and loving, and yet, still breathtaking. Or maybe that was just her hormones getting to her. "Hmm, happy anniversary."

"Right back at you," Kono replied, pressing another quick kiss to his mouth before pushing him away with a gentle shove to his chest. He had pulled on a wife beater on top of his sweat pants when he had gotten up, much to her disappointment.

Steve merely grinned and went back to making breakfast when she went over to where she spotted a small white envelope on the island next to the flowers. Opening it, she extracted the card and read it with amusement.

_In case you forgot.x_

Biting her bottom lip to keep back the laughter that threatened to break through, she tucked the message back into the envelope and laid it onto the counter. She presumed it hadn't been Mary Ann's intention for her to see it, because really, who else would order flowers to be delivered on the morning of their second wedding anniversary as a backup in case Steve had forgotten? She really did live up to her self-awarded title of the world's best sister.

"Did she do this last year too? Because I don't remember any flowers," Kono asked, hopping up onto a stool and swivelling it to face Steve. Well, his back at the moment.

He shook his head before turning and leaning back against the counter next to the stove with crossed arms. With a spatula in his hand, he didn't look as tough as he usually did, but she couldn't deny that it was still very hot. Or maybe that was the hormones talking once again. "No, last year, she called and bugged me a week beforehand," he told her with a roll of the eyes, but she could detect the adoration he held for his little sister loud and clear in his tone.

Nodding, she pushed the glass vase to the other end of the counter as Steve pulled out a couple of plates from the cupboard. "Ah, I see." Shifting in her seat, she waited until he turned to grab the orange juice carton from the kitchen to shoot him a sweet smile. "So?"

He placed her plate of pancakes in front of her, loaded with syrup and whipped cream just how she liked it, with a fork and a knife. "What?" Steve asked, brow furrowed in bewilderment when she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Where's my present?" Kono watched as he returned with a glass of orange juice for her, still stirring the spoon to dissolve the iron supplement which the doctor had prescribed her into it. He gestured to the roses with a hand once he had slid the drink over to her. "Really? Last year I get a car; this year, _flowers_? Don't you understand how gift giving goes? You have to _one-up_ the previous year's."

Steve smirked and reminded her that he had only bought her the car as a replacement for her old one after he had totalled it by crashing it into the side of a truck during a case. It was merely a coincidence that it happened to occur a week and a half before their anniversary, and so, by the time he had gotten down to the dealership to buy her a new one, the day had come around.

For his present, she hadn't served him with divorce papers after taking her car on a chase up and down the highways and streets of Oahu after Danny refused to give him his and almost killing himself.

Then they had gone hiking and enjoyed a picnic with a view like no other; their real celebration ending with a dinner out at a beautiful ocean front restaurant and a night in bed. It was a great day for them both in the end.

Kono pursed her lips at the story, opening them only to take a bite out of her food. Steve had joined her with his own plate and sat opposite her. "Besides, where's mine?" he questioned before digging into his own breakfast.

"I'm giving you a _child_," she huffed, jabbing a fork in his direction to emphasise her point.

He scoffed at her reasoning. "In 6 months. I want a present _now_." Kono had to sip her drink, almost choking on the horrid taste that the orange juice did nothing to cover up, to hide her grin at his words. They were almost childish, petulant even, but he had said them with such seriousness that she almost believed him.

It was a good thing they didn't do presents except for on birthdays, or when they found something that the other would really, really, _really_ like, because she for one was hopeless when it came to shopping for her husband. What did you get a Navy SEAL, exactly, when they already have an armoury filled to the brink with enough guns and explosives, and every other little gadget they might need to help take down a small nation?

"We could always do what we did last year," she suggested slyly, acting the perfect picture of innocence when he sat back and drank his own juice before replying.

"Don't we have to top what we did last year?" Steve asked dryly.

"Well, we could do another trail. Something harder," she shrugged, trying to act as nonchalant as she could even though she already knew what his response would be. Taken the fact that he _only just_ let her go surfing, there was no way he was going to give in to hiking anytime soon. The glare that he shot her told her precisely that. "Yeah, exactly. At least I'm trying. You think of something."

He nodded thoughtfully until a smile smoothed out on his lips. "Leave it to me."

Somehow, she shouldn't have been surprised to find herself at work later that afternoon.

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**_A/N: Hope you enjoyed month/chapter 3! Please lemme know you opinions and what you think so far. I shall update asap once again =D_**


	4. Month 4

_**A/N: Hey all! I'm back with a new chapter. I think it's the longest so far! A million and one thank you's you all of you guys reading this fic, commenting on it, and adding it to alerts and favs. They really do motivate me to find the time to write more. Once again, I should have replied to all your reviews, but apologies if I missed you out. And thank you to all the anons [alex, Rebecca List, harisa, Lydia and anon].**_

_**Big big thanks to cm757 and Sidalee for being there for me to sound off my ideas, beta'ing, and generally keeping me sane. And thank you to MyMelo and teenycee for their encouraging words =)**_

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_Month 4_

The annual grudge match between the Kapui Kings and the P-Boy's school had become a tradition for the team since their first match a few weeks after their establishment. It was fun, exciting and it was football, so everyone was happy. And usually, Steve was right up there, sharing laughs with Danny, teasing Chin about his beaten records, and joining in with Kono yelling at the referee or taunting the other team. Like everything else she was interested in, she gave the game all of her passion and never held back.

Which was exactly what she was doing right then, using her replenished energy by leaping up from her seat and objecting to something that he had no clue about because he only had about half a mind on the game. Less, actually, if he was being honest. Because watching Kono enthusiastically jump, hop and generally do things that could result in her falling from the bleachers worried him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it except to hold her down. He had enough sense to know not to even try it.

Also, she looked hot; wearing her dark denim shorts that showed off her slim toned legs and a deep red tank top to match their team, and he bitterly knew he wasn't the only one there who appreciated it.

Such as Danny, who, luckily for him, was sitting on the other side of the woman.

Steve managed to catch his look of shock out of the corner of his eyes when Kono threw her arms in the air in frustration, forcing her top up and revealing a quick glance of her lower stomach. The part that had recently rounded ever so slightly with the first signs of pregnancy. It was small; so much so that it was virtually invisible behind her clothes and to anyone who didn't know she was pregnant.

"Whoa, Kono, you're-" Danny began with a grin, stopping halfway through his sentence when his eyes met Steve's, who shot him a warning look to keep quiet.

She wouldn't say it, but he knew that she was self-conscious about the changes to her body. He had read about how it could take a few weeks before first-time mothers became more confident with the difference, and all he could do was to support and help her through it. An example was to shut Danny up before he stuck his foot into it.

"I'm, what?" Kono asked, twirling around to face him, and Steve could see the blonde's eyes jumping from him before going back to his wife's.

"Nothing. You're nothing," Steve supplied for him, throwing her a soft smile when she faced him. Her raised brows told him that she was clearly not impressed, turning back to Danny.

He cleared his throat and nodded. "Yeah, nothing. I thought you were about to fall."

It was obvious that she still didn't believe them, but let it go when a whistle blow caught her attention. Steve caught the questioning look that Danny threw him but he merely shook his head at him. Apparently, Chin had found the whole thing amusing; smirking not so subtly at them behind the drink in his hand.

Just before halftime, Kono announced that she needed some food, and Steve was only too happy to get away from the crowds for small while. Along with the newly-found energy levels that the second trimester had brought with it, morning sickness had been banished for once and for all, much to his relief. It was a great sight to watch her eat her three meals a day, and snacks, like before.

"So what was that with Danny?" she asked him conversationally whilst standing in line at the refreshment bar. "And don't you dare say 'nothing'."

Steve inhaled deeply and tightened the arm he had wrapped around her shoulder, keeping his gaze fixated on the board behind the counter to seem as casual as possible. "His eyes were somewhere where they shouldn't be. That's all." It wasn't a lie. It just wasn't the whole truth.

Kono laughed, looking over at him with a teasing glint in her eyes when he finally glanced back at her. "Aw, Steve, that's _so_ _sweet_, trying to protect my modesty. But you do know I've given him endless surfing lessons, all the while only wearing a bikini, right?" she asked in an overly sweet tone; one that did the job of annoying him at the thought of his scantily clad wife around any other male on this planet.

"I know," he said through gritted teeth and averting his eyes back to board before changing the subject. "What do you want to eat?"

She laughed again, but he reckoned she took pity on him by choosing to let it go and ordered a puka dog and nachos with orange soda to go with it. Her appetite was definitely back.

...

"Hey!" Kono turned at the sound of the familiar voice, smiling brightly at the man who joined her at the window of Kamekona's Shave Ice shop. It was another beautiful late summer day, one which she had off from work, and the heat demanded her to get the cool treat before she went over to the beach to meet up with some of her friends.

"Hey, Charlie," she greeted the lab technician, who promptly placed an order with the waitress behind the till before turning back to face her.

"How are you? I haven't seen you around lately. Which is strange considering we practically work together," he laughed. Kono's smile faltered a little as she bit her lower lip and nodded at his observations.

"Yeah, it's been a while," she replied lightly. Not knowingly going anywhere near a place that might have harsh chemicals had been part of the agreement she had with Steve to allow her to keep on working, ruling out the lab and the morgue. "I'm good though, thanks. You?"

Charlie shrugged at her question and smiled. "Can't complain," he told her in his typical sunny way. "So what's been keeping you away? Commander McGarrett usually sends you so I'd put a rush on the work."

Kono smirked at his words. Though light-hearted, they held more than a glimmer of truth to them. It had been the tactic at the beginning, she knew, that sending her to see her good friend at the HPD lab would get their results quicker. Then had come the part where Steve became slightly jealous, though he would never admit it, at the fact that they had this old friendship and Charlie flirting with her, however innocent. But he wouldn't stop sending her; rather going with her at times. Which is why after so many years, she still found it equally funny and awkward when Charlie referred to him as 'Commander McGarrett'.

"I'll let him know you've got him sussed. But no, I'm not allowed in the lab anymore," she admitted, much to the man's confusion which only made her smile. "I'm pregnant."

Shock was clearly portrayed on Charlie's face even before he spoke. "Oh, wow. You don't look it," he said, eyes travelling down and then snapping back up to her face, not quite reaching her eyes, with a hint of a blush.

Kono laughed and shoved him gently on his arm before skimming a hand over her stomach in a subconscious manner. "Mahalo. Always nice to hear." It really was because it had taken her almost 20 minutes to simply decide what to wear that morning. But she guessed the pale green sundress she had eventually chosen was doing its trick and successfully hiding her growing bump from prying eyes.

"What I _meant_ to say was congratulations. To both of you," Charlie rectified sincerely after the red tint had resided and he had found the humour in his words too.

"Thank you," she replied in the same tone just as the waitress came back to the window with the order of 5 shave ices. Charlie grabbed the tray they came in and Kono pick up her lime and cherry flavoured one; her newest craving. It was the best craving she could have, compared to some of the stories she had read. "Anyway, I was just heading down to the beach to see Kelly and the rest of the guys. You coming?"

He arched an eyebrow at her in amusement while they walked in the general direction of the beach. "Of course! Who do you think these were for?"

...

The dress was gorgeous. She wouldn't have bought it otherwise. It was midnight blue, falling straight down to her ankles and held up by the thinnest of straps which crisscrossed over her back to meet with the rest of the dress two-thirds of the way down. The material swished gently and flowed with her body; successfully hiding her small baby bump with a waterfall of chiffon.

It wasn't that she was ashamed of it. Over the last two weeks, she had become used to the additional feature, smiling whenever she saw herself in the mirror and pulling her top tight around the abdomen area to see if there was any difference from the day before. Plus, the way Steve grinned unabashedly in that boyish way of his at the same sight or whenever he slid his hand over her stomach was enough to put any insecure issues to rest.

It was, however, merely a way to avoid the constant attention, gushing and questioning she was sure would ensue. Being in the limelight wasn't something Kono sought after. She handled it with grace whilst on the pro circuit because she had to. But there was no way she was going to put herself out there during the Governor's annual charity ball to be fawned over by people she'd have to make nice with for the sake of Five-0's reputation.

A frown still played on her lips when she came to stand in front of the floor length mirror in their bedroom that she had gotten him to install after they had gotten married. She had gotten use to the one at HQ, where she would need a full view of herself to ensure no wires, weapons or bugs were visible from her clothing.

This mirror now came into use as she tugged at the modest neckline that did nothing to lessen her cleavage. Along with her stomach, her breasts had had a small change in size too. However, this change was slightly less than the bump but much more obvious. At least to her it was. And she knew Steve had noticed too, not that he would ever mention it because he was a gentlemen like that.

Kono heard his footsteps halt when he entered the room. She could see in his reflection that he was ready, dressed in his sleek black tux with just the tie he was currently working on left to do. He hated the suffocating feel of it and always left it until last. Sometime it was even in the car on their way. But those were the really bad days where he was one raindrop away from flying into a homicidal rage and the last thing he, heck any of them, wanted was to mingle with the higher ups with the pretence of actually wanting to be there. Especially when it wasn't a charity event.

Not like today, where she could see a lopsided grin curve his mouth as his eyes follow the length of her body whilst she shimmied the dress higher a tiny bit to put her mind at ease.

"I knew I should have gone for the strapless one," she muttered, finally glad with the end result even if it wasn't as great as it had been when she had tried it initially on a shopping trip before getting pregnant. Kono knew she should be grateful that it simply _fit_, and she was, but flying hormones and getting annoyed did not mix well. "This one makes me look like I had a boob job."

She saw him roll his eyes at her and chuckle lightly. "You look beautiful, sweetheart," he told her earnestly, but the irritation still hadn't left her enough for her to take the compliment for what it was.

"So help me God, if you tell me it's because I'm carrying your child, I will _castrate _you," Kono warned him tersely, running a final hand over her dress before turning away to head to the dresser. Clearly it was her turn to be the homicidal one tonight.

"Ok..." Steve trailed off in amusement; not fooling her when he cleared his throat to hide the laugh and went back to working on his tie. "C'mon, Kono. You usually love these things."

Scoffing, she fought the urge to shake her head so not to ruin her hair, half of which was currently pulled back into a messy bun with bobby pins in her hand ready to keep it there. "Yeah, because there's free and unlimited alcohol and food, with guys constantly hitting on me the minute I'm by myself. Which gets you all jealous and possessive, shooting that laser-focused glare of yours," Kono informed him, pushing in the last pin and letting her hands fall, glad to find that it stayed.

"I do _not _get possessive," he immediately retorted, hands freezing momentarily. His predictable response lightened her mood and she turned to face him with a smirk.

"You really do, Steve. But it's ok; it's why I let them flirt with me in the first place," she said with a simple shrug, turning back to retrieve the earrings that she was planning on wearing. They were a simple diamond drop on a string of silver that Steve had given her for her birthday a couple of years before. "You get all possessive, say you wanna go home, and we come back and have crazy sex. Fun."

There was silence in which Kono glanced over to see a small frown still playing out on his pursed lips. He met her eyes once he was finally done with the tie, straightening out his collar with quick glimpses into the mirror opposite him as he spoke. "Well, I promise to get possessive tonight, and I will _personally _get you out of that dress later, ok?" he vowed in a rough voice, staring straight into her eyes at the end and suddenly the hormones wanted something else altogether.

Done with the earrings, she sighed. "Can't we just skip the ball and get to the sex now?" The teasing smile that shone on his face at her words made her turn away, knowing that there was a part of her that was not above begging right then and things could get a bit awkward if she went there. How would they explain their absence to the Governor and the rest of the team? Blaming it on the baby just seemed too immoral.

"Unfortunately not," Steve replied with a shake of the head and a shrug. "It'll be fine. You don't need alcohol or guys to hit on you to have a good time."

Kono laughed dryly at his words, picking up her clutch from the bed and stepping closer to him. "Who said I'm not gonna let guys hit on me tonight?" she asked him tantalisingly, patting his chest lightly before passing him to collect her heels from where she had placed them by the door. The exasperated groan he let out made her smirk.

...

The night so far hadn't been as bad as she had thought it would go. Of course, having the rest of the team and Malia there helped her pass the time, even if Kono had had to put up with some teasing about how they would survive the night thanks to the alcohol which they pointed out numerous times she could not have, or how they should keep her away from the food so there would be plenty for everyone else.

Kono had taken it easily with 3 months of experience, laughing it off and quipping right back at them. On the inside however, the truth behind the words hit her hard because her appetite was sky high and the food smelt and looked delicious, and if she couldn't drink, she sure as hell wanted to eat. But she held off if only for the sake of her dignity and perhaps out of spite to prove them wrong.

She had managed to sneak away to the bar a couple of hours into the ball, extracting herself from Steve's side before she was forced into another conversation with someone she did not want to talk to. She hated the fact that during these galas and such, the only choices she had were to either put up with having to talk to the Governor's guests just to spend time with her husband, or to get away from both. Even then she wasn't guaranteed a free night.

Like right then, waiting for one of the barkeeps to come over, Kono was approached by a man dressed in what was obviously a designer suit that probably cost more than every piece of clothing she owned put together.

"Can I get you a drink?" he asked her politely with a smile that stretched wider than she thought was possible. His pearly white teeth only made his appearance seem more upper class, but she smiled back because he was nice and not that bad looking either.

"I- Just an orange juice, thanks," she faltered, hesitating only to wonder whether it would be better to turn him down point blank. But she reasoned that it was just a drink in the middle of a social event, and her wedding ring was in clear view, so she had nothing to feel guilty about.

If Kono was really honest with herself, she was actually borderlining onto smug rather than guilt. Being hit on whilst 4 and a half months pregnant was no easy task but she had somehow managed it and was glad for small boost of confidence.

"Of course," the sleek looking man smiled again and turned to the bar to place the order. Taking a moment to glance around, she was glad to find that Chin and Malia were dancing on the floor, and that Steve was caught up with someone or another. Danny was nowhere in sight but before she could search for him, the person next to her was talking again. "I'm Josh Takanaeya, by the way. My friends call me Tak."

She shook his proffered hand briefly. "Kono Kalakaua. My friends stick to my name."

The bartender produced their drinks as Tak laughed at her remark. She nodded her thanks to the man behind the bar; appreciating the fact that even the juice was served in a champagne flute. It'd be easier to believe it was a mimosa than simply juice to those looking. "Kalakaua... As in _Detective_ Kalakaua? With Five-0?" he asked her in surprise, eyebrows raising high on his forehead.

"The one and only," Kono confirmed lightly, sipping her juice. He chuckled with a small shake of his head and she was fairly sure he was done trying to flirt with her now.

"Wow, that's amazing," he told her, impressed and she wasn't sure whether to take offence about how shocked he was to find out that she was part of the task force, or gratitude about how it meant she could portray more than just a kick ass cop in a room full of people who should know them all thoroughly. "Five-0 has a great reputation. Though I'm sure some of the things we hear from HPD are slightly exaggerated," he laughed, taking a swig of his own hard drink of a whiskey, straight up.

Kono pursed her lips and shrugged. "I wouldn't be too sure about that," she told him with a air of mystery that she was saved from having to explain when music stopped and people began to take their seats, no doubt for the host to give his speech.

Tak pushed away from the bar and nodded towards the main stage. "I guess that's our cue to leave. It was nice meeting you, detective."

"Thank you for the drink," Kono replied, picking up the glass as he did the same with his. He chuckled again and threw her a cheeky wink.

"No problem. It's an open bar, anyway." She rolled her eyes in amusement when he turned and walked away without another look. Oh yeah, he had been done flirting.

Making her way back to the table that was reserved for them, she finally spotted Danny already sat there; lounging in his seat with a plate in front of him and his eyes fixated on her. It was funny; she could usually tell when someone had their sights on her. Pregnancy was really throwing her radar off kilter.

"What?" Kono asked at his incredulous look when she took a seat next to him. "It's just juice," she told him, placing down her glass before reaching out for one of the delectable looking shrimps on his plate. He slapped her hand away instantly, glaring at her through squinted eyes.

"Cold shellfish are bad for pregnant women," he told her strictly, pushing the plate out of her reach in case she tried again. She wouldn't. She had learnt when and when not to try to go against Danny when he tried to dictate her food intake. And as great as the shrimp looked, it wasn't enough to argue about.

"Fine," she agreed with a smile, going back to her juice instead.

Danny eyed it carefully before clearing his throat and leaning in towards her slightly. "I saw that, at the bar. Playing with fire a little, aren't you?" he asked, sounding more amused than concerned.

"It was just a bit of fun," she shrugged in a blasé manner, trying to arrange her features into a mask that matched her tone but she was pretty sure she failed when Danny rolled his eyes at her.

"Tell him that," he said pointedly, nodding towards Steve as he approached their table with Chin and Malia. The couple sat on the other side of Danny, and Steve took the empty seat next to her. He looked calm and collected, stoic even, but Kono knew better than to judge him based on what he was showing.

Laying his arm on her back of her chair, she waited for him to close the distance between them. She wasn't disappointed when he did so. "Who was that?" he murmured into her ear to keep his words from anyone else who might be able to overhear in the near-silence room as the Governor took the stage.

"Just a friend. His name is Tak," she whispered back nonchalantly, turning her head to face him and smirking. "No need to get jealous, babe," she teased, but he simply raised an eyebrow and then smiled tightly before turning his attention back to the stage. Kono bit her lip to keep from grinning to herself.

...

"I told you we should have stayed at home," Kono said smugly, and a bit breathlessly, as they basked in the afterglow of their passions.

The gentle breeze floating in through the window with the moonlight that dimly lit up the otherwise darkened room helped her come back to her senses. She pulled the sheets up to cover her body completely, though she was sure the shiver that had gone down her spine had more to do with the primal pleasure in hearing the heavy breathing from the man beside her more than the temperature.

There was a small groan of agreement from Steve, who was sprawled out on his back on the other side of the bed with an arm thrown over his eyes. "Oh, yeah. I'll listen next time," he told her and when she turned her head to the side to look at him, she was happy to see a lopsided smile playing on his lips.

"Though I doubt it would have been this much fun if we hadn't gone," she added slyly, making him chuckle. "Jealous sex is always great, but _pregnant_ jealous sex is just..." Kono trailed off when the right word failed to come to mind, instead settling back into her pillow and smirking to herself.

The sound of rustling sheets was mildly disguised by Steve's groan as he shifted onto his side to face her. "Yeah," he added, obviously not being able to find the right word for it either. With a small sigh, he carefully reached for her left hand that she had held out in front of her, rubbing her palm and fingers gently with her other thumb. She allowed him to take over; the warmth of his touch soothing the mild ache from having gripped the wooden slats of the headboard a bit too tightly. "You alright?"

Kono had to scoff at that. "_Me_? Brah, you sound more worn out than I do," she teased, causing him to roll his eyes and stop with his ministrations to drop their joined hands down into the space between them.

"Probably 'cause I am," he replied, letting go of her hand to slide it across her stomach tenderly before resting flat on the other side of her body. She inhaled sharply at the touch; barely feeling the light skim yet still leaving a path of heat in its wake. "You have way too much energy," Steve muttered against her lips as he pushed himself up onto his other elbow to hover over her.

"What can I say? My needs have been intensified." She smiled into the kiss that followed her answer, willingly allowing him to deepen it with a light brush of the tip of his tongue and giving back as much as she got until she was forced to break away in need of air. It left them both a bit out of breath, and Steve rested his forehead lightly against hers as she heard him try to catch his breath once again. Another shiver ran down her spine.

Steve brushed his lips over hers once more. "Trust me, I know," he said huskily and she wondered if he could sense the arousal that had passed through her at the sound of it. Probably not because the next thing she knew, he rolled away back to his side of the bed and swung his legs over the side to sit at the edge.

"Where you going?" Kono asked in confusion, curling up on her side to face his back.

"I need some water," he told her, standing up to pull on a pair of pants. "Or maybe a Red Bull. Something tells me I'm gonna need it," he added dryly whilst leaving the room. Kono laughed into her pillow after him. Perhaps he had sensed it after all.

* * *

_**A/N: So that was chapter/month 4! Please don't forget to lemme know what you thought. I'll be back to update asap =)**_


	5. Month 5

_**A/N: Apologies for the delay in this update. I've been busy over the past week, and this chapter got a bit hard to write in the middle. I don't know what it was, because it was one of my favorite scenes of this story, but now it just frustrates me. I hope it came out well, however. Thank you guys for all the reviews, adds, favs and alerts! Honestly, they pushed me through the short writer's block =) Sorry if I didn't manage to get back to your review. Additional thanks to the anons [Rebecca List, H50 Lady, Michelle, Lily, renii, Sara and Lydia] who I couldn't reply to.**_

* * *

_Month 5_

It was the middle of the afternoon and the three of them were sat around the table near the windows, allowing the sun to spill into the space between the offices and try to make the task at hand seem less draining than it was. In theory, they were meant to be doing paperwork. In reality, they were sat chatting, bantering and stealing popcorn from the bowl that Kono had made for herself to snack on.

Steve turned his head to look at the main doors when they were pushed open by their missing member. "Wow, Five-0; hard at action," Chin drawled dryly with his trademark zen-like look, making his way over to them.

"Downtime is a blessing. Appreciate it while you can," Danny remarked, affronted, but the older man brushed it off with a shake of the head and instead smiled softly at his cousin who looked at him over her shoulder. He placed the small gift bag that Steve had noticed him carrying on the table in front of her.

"What's this?" Kono asked in a mix of confusion and excitement, sitting up straight and reaching for the bag. Steve eyed both the bag and Chin carefully, wondering if he had forgotten something important.

Chin smiled and squeezed her shoulder as she pulled out a familiar looking bakery box. "Just a small way to say well done on your first year as a detective."

"Aw, you remembered? That's so sweet!" She opened the box to reveal three chocolate frosted cupcakes, shining with what he assumed was edible glitter and some silver candy pearls.

Steve pulled out his phone, taking a glance at the date even as he spoke. "Wait, that was a year ago, _today_?"

"Yes," she replied with a roll of the eyes before getting up and hugging her cousin. Guilt welled up inside Steve as she embraced the other man close. There were only three dates that he made a note to remember; her birthday, their wedding anniversary and the baby's due date. They both knew that, too. But still, there had been no mention of today or the anniversary that it held by anyone, not even Kono herself. All day, she had sat with them happily, never once chastising them for forgetting it the way she usually would when it came to one of them. "Thank you, Chin."

"You're welcome," he replied when they broke away before rounding the table to take the free seat next to Danny, who had watched on with amusement. Steve had no doubt that teasing would ensue.

"Are those _tears_ I see there, rookie?" Danny asked in faux-surprise, the word 'rookie' used as a term of endearment as he leaned over the table to take a closer look with a smirk playing on his lips. The statement proved Steve right; he had been hanging out with his partner far too long to guess otherwise.

He glanced over at his wife anyway. Sure, her eyes were a bit more moist than normal, but he knew commenting on it would only cause her to rebuke. So he left that for Danny and instead inputted the date into his phone's calendar as one to remember, though he wasn't sure it would be important in the coming years.

"No," Kono quickly snapped back, blinking rapidly as she grabbed one of the cupcakes and focused all her attention onto peeling it. "Stupid hormones," she muttered under her breath loud enough for them all to hear and smile at. Finally peeling it completely, she placed it on the table and plastered on a smile that looked genuine enough. "I'm fine."

"Well, I say this calls for a celebration. Drinks?" Danny suggested, leaning back in his chair, rubbing his hands together with a grin. Steve bit back his own, knowing he was only suggesting it to rile her up. They were all sadists some times; using Kono's hormones against her for their own entertainment. The only reason he allowed it is because they knew where the line was and stayed clear behind it, even if he himself toed it at times.

As expected, she glared at him hard around the piece of the chocolate treat she had broken off and popped in her mouth. "Great idea, Danny," she replied sarcastically, and Steve opened his mouth to reply that he in fact did think it was a great idea, even if it would only be the three men able to actually celebrate with said drinks. However, before he could even form the words, she held up a finger to stop him. "Don't, Steve."

Danny shrugged and nodded. "Dinner, then. Hey, isn't there a game on tonight?" he amended, adding the question on rather quickly and eagerly, clearly projecting his idea without even saying it.

"If you're even _thinking_ about a cookout at our place to watch the game, you best think again," Kono warned him exasperatedly before referring to the mess they had left last time, but all Steve could focus on was the way her hand moved to her stomach to rub the side of the baby bump where he presumed their child had kicked her.

It had began only a couple of weeks earlier, coming few and in between, but they had grown in strength so much that even he had been able to feel it a couple of times. The sensation against his palm had been amazing, making him speechless and basically throwing him deep into ecstasy that he was pretty sure he had been smiling all day.

She caught his eyes, smiling at him softly whilst shaking her head almost imperceptibly to tell him it was nothing he would be able to feel, as conversation carried around them about their plans that evening. Danny had asked them a question about something when his phone began to ring.

Steve groaned mentally at the sight of HPD's caller ID on the screen. "Hold that thought, guys."

...

Kono smiled innocently at the mild glare Steve threw her when they both left their respectful cars. She had pulled up right behind him, having kept a tail on Danny's Camaro easily despite the driver's insistent speeding. Considering she liked fast cars too, it hadn't bothered her. Until she noticed the needle on her speedometer dropping to an average closer to the legal speed. She knew it had been for her benefit, and as irritating as it was to be controlled by him from a whole other car, seeing his annoyance about it balanced it out.

They were drawn to the other side of the road by the crowds of people currently surrounding the tape. HPD guided them further into the crime scene, far beyond the trail and speckles of blood which Kono spotted immediately in the dry dirt, and right up to the edge of the land.

"Down there? What, leaving the body on the side of the road like normal people isn't good enough anymore?" Danny asked in outrage as they all peered over the side of the cliff to see a pair of bodies on the ledge about 15 feet down.

"Normal people don't leave bodies _anywhere_, brah," Chin retorted with a laugh and a pat on the shoulder before heading back towards where Duke was, probably to gather more information on the situation, she guessed.

She backed away from the edge a moment before the other two. Say what they might about her carrying small, but even the smaller baby bump was throwing off her centre of gravity. She had already had to give up on surfing, much to her dismay and Steve's joy.

"Alright, let's go, Danno," Steve stated in all seriousness when they both joined her, gesturing with a hand towards where their victims laid.

Danny spluttered at his words, to her amusement. "Wait, what? _Me_? Why me? I _hate_ these kinds of things. You _know_ I hate these kinds of things," he grumbled with matching agitated hand movements.

"I thought you might enjoy some rappelling. Kono usually goes with me, but you know, she can't now," Steve shrugged in reply and Danny merely glared at him, unimpressed.

Chin re-joined them, throwing her a bemused look in regard of the two whilst shoving an electronic tablet into her hands without another word. There wasn't any need for them; they all knew that it was now exclusively her job to follow up with any statements that had been taken if they needed to.

"Well, I _could_. It's not that far down," she muttered with another innocent smile when she glanced back up from the tablet towards Steve. He gave her an exasperated look that only made her want to smile more. Chocolate always helped even out her mood swings, and the dose she had had not an hour earlier from the cupcake was still working it's magic.

"You even try- You even _move _from this general area, and I will have your badge," he told her tightly, words leaving no room for arguments or jokes because they all knew that he would indeed follow up on it if she dared to go against him.

Kono put on a mask of professionalism in seconds after years of practice. "Yes, sir," she said in mock obedience. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Danny roll his eyes and Chin shake his head, ultimately deciding against commenting on it.

The blonde detective cleared his throat before turning their conversation back onto the job at hand. "Chin will go, won't you?" It was posed as a question but the tone of suggestion was heavy in the words when Danny looked at the other man.

"Yeah, sure," Chin agreed, shrugging lighting to which Steve nodded before heading to pick up the supplied they'd need. Kono could hear Danny rant as he followed his partner for a reason she didn't want to know. She glanced over at her cousin when she felt his eyes on her. "You weren't actually serious, were you? About going down there with Steve?" he asked with a nod towards the side of the cliff.

Scoffing, she shook her head with a smirk. "No, of course not. It's just fun to tease him sometimes."

"That's cold, cuz," Chin replied after a pause in a tone of disbelief.

"What? I'm not allowed to have fun at the expense of the baby? You guys do it all the time," she reminded him with a half-hearted glare and a smug smile before going over to join Danny where he was following the blood trails she had spotted earlier to get on with the job they were there to do.

...

"How's it going?" Steve greeted her when he entered their bedroom, pulling off his top as he went. He picked up the clothes that she had dumped on the chair in the corner earlier to place them all into the washing hamper before finding a new top to wear.

Kono unashamedly titled her head back against the headboard to watch, quickly hiding the almost empty packet of Twizzlers that she had been eating under the pillow next to her as she did so. She grimaced in reply to his words. "I'm not sure if I want a complete natural birth anymore," she told him with a small internal shudder at the images she had seen and people's experiences she had read during her research on her laptop. "If anything, I want every drug they can give me."

He laughed at her words but nodded nonetheless. "Make sure you write that down in your plan."

"Ah yes, my plan, which I have not started yet," she replied with a lopsided grin. The doctor had suggested making a birthing plan to help with everything to go smoothly when the time came. However, she had also given Kono a deadline a couple of months off and she had always been that type of person who did their homework the night before, something that had barely changed. "How's the clean up going?" she asked him to change the subject.

"Almost done," Steve informed her after pulling a new shirt over his head, ruining her view. He had been working on clearing out the room next to theirs for the past two days in preparation for the nursery.

When it had come to choosing which room to convert into a nursery, it hadn't taken much thinking except for the process of elimination. They had four bedrooms in their house; theirs, Mary Ann's, the guest room and the master bedroom that use to be his dad's. Theirs was theirs; Mary Ann's had been ruled out on the basis that Steve hadn't wanted to clean it out from what she guessed was sentimental value; their guest room was on the other side of the house, which had left only the master bedroom precisely next to theirs. In fact, it was actually _connected _to their bedroom via a small ensuite with a bathtub, sink and toilet in between the two bedrooms. An ensuite that she had never known to have existed and had chastised him about because it would have been very helpful when she had been suffering from morning sickness. But a huge closet, one he had vowed to move before the baby was born, blocked the door that led into their room.

The room itself, let alone the ensuite, hadn't really been touched in all the time that she had been living there; used more as a room to store stuff that she had brought with her from her place that they couldn't find a room for in the rest of the house, but she hadn't wanted to throw away. On top of everything else that had belonged to his father that was still in there, it had been a mess.

However, Steve had assured her that he would take care of it and she had let him because it was clear that it was something that he wanted to do for the baby. And when he put his mind to something, there would be no changing it. He had shunned Kono from the room, claiming dust and too many obstacles made it a dangerous place for her to be in. She had rolled her eyes and complied, merely because there wasn't anything she could have done to help him anyway.

"A few more boxes left but I've got to shift some things around to find space for them in the basement," he told her with a soft groan whilst climbing up onto the bed next to her.

"You know, people usually put boxes they want to store in the _garage_," Kono told him pointedly, closing her laptop and placing it next to her. Steve scoffed lightly at her words, curling a hand around one of her jean-clad knees as she shuffled down a bit in the bed and he shifted towards her slightly. They were his jeans because all of hers were becoming a bit uncomfortable around the waist to simply lounge around in and she knew he had recognised them immediately, if that specific ignition of heat in his eyes usually achieved by his possessive trait was anything to go by.

"I already have something I want to store in the garage," he replied a moment later, fingers skimming up and down her thigh teasingly. "I'll figure something out, don't worry," he murmured before twisting to bury his face into her neck, nuzzling it gently with his nose with the softest brush of his lips following.

"Oh, I wasn't. You know better than to leave this until the last minute," Kono answered amusingly, tilting her head in the other direction until his lips worked their way up to hers and his hand began to travel from her leg to the bed on the other side of her body. She pulled away when he pushed himself up onto his other elbow to hover over her with clear intentions to take things further. "Hmm, no, Steve. You're all dusty and sweaty."

He stared at her incredulously, probably more to do with the fact that she was denying him sex when it was usually the other way around these days than anything else. "I am not. I changed my shirt like _5_ _minutes_ ago. You saw me," he reminded her indignantly to which she rolled her eyes. Nonetheless, he acquiesced, sinking back onto the bed next to her.

"Your shirt isn't, but _you_ are," Kono told him with a laugh, scrunching up her nose in faux-disgust before grabbing the wrist of his hand that was on the other side of her body and pressing it to the side of her stomach where she could feel their baby start to kick. "Here, feel. Your son-slash-daughter agrees."

His touch was still as tentative as it had been the first time she had pressed his hand to her stomach to try and feel the baby kick, but she could feel a now-familiar warmth of it on her skin even through her top. "Getting stronger every day." The smile that adorned his features was clear in his words, turning into a smirk before speaking again. "My _son-slash-daughter_ better behave at the next scan so I know what colour I can paint the nursery."

With his eyes fixated on where he soothingly rubbed the tips of his fingers over the same spot after the kicking had stopped, she had no doubt that Steve was speaking more to the baby than her. Not that she minded because it was rather cute; a word she could barely ever use to describe her husband.

Laughing at his words, she rolled her eyes. Their next scan was in two weeks, a special re-scheduling after her 18 week scan had failed to show them the sex because the baby hadn't co-operated with them. Finding out had been one of the easiest things for them to agree on as neither one of them had much patience, and they had justified knowing whether they would be having a boy or a girl by convincing themselves it was so they could be prepared.

"Well, we both know stubbornness runs in the McGarrett genes," Kono teased, shrugging her shoulder lightly to jostle him when he laid his head upon it. She hadn't realised how much she had missed his heavy weight against her since getting pregnant, usually in the middle of the night or early mornings when he use to be sprawled out over her, until right then.

Steve's scoff broke into her train of thoughts, bringing her back to reality. "Like yours are any better," he retorted tauntingly. She smirked; ready to tell him that they sure weren't as bad as his when a proud smile crossed his features as the kicking started up once again. It didn't last long; a couple of light movements to which Steve rubbed comforting circles with his palm once he couldn't feel them any more. "What, no witty comeback?" he asked bemusedly, glancing up at her when she remained silent.

Shaking her head lightly to clear her mind, she brushed her lips against his forehead. "I love you."

Despite his momentary confusion at her sudden exclamation, he smiled softly at her when he replied. "I love you, too."

"You're going to be a great father," Kono told him, covering his hand with her own when he casted his eyes down back to it in response to her statement. Becoming a first time parent was scary enough, she should know, but she had spent a majority of her life with babies and kids around her in her huge family. Steve, however, had not, and it was no secret his family life had been less than ideal after his mother had died. And even though he would never admit it to her, probably so not to make her think about anything she didn't need to in her 'delicate condition', she knew he worried. "You _are_," she reiterated with emphasis and squeezing his hand. "There's a lot of good in those McGarrett genes of yours, too."

He laughed lightly at that, but still didn't meet her eyes. "You're not so bad yourself, I guess," he teased in a dramatic put-upon tone. "Just stop eating all the candy all the time, though. It's bad for you; you'll get diabetes."

"What candy?" she asked in as much incredulity as she could muster up. It couldn't have been as much as she needed because she could practically hear him roll his eyes when he pulled his hand out from under hers and dig out the Twizzlers packet from under the pillow next to her. Opening her mouth to protest, she quickly shut it when she realised that there was no point in even trying. There was no hiding anything from this man.

Steve sighed and threw the packet onto the table next to the bed with ease. "I think I'm finally realising where you're getting all this energy from."

...

The shifting of the bed and loss of warmth woke her up. With the sun already up, making her squint, she let her eyes fall close again before she could take anything in, and buried herself back into the covers. "Hmm, what time is it?" she managed to murmur.

"It's early. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep," came the reply in a voice much too alert for her liking but soothing enough to start to lull her back into sleep.

A hand brushed her hair back from where it had been tickling her cheek, replaced by the skimming of soft lips, and she groaned in annoyance as her body reacted and kept her from falling back into deep sleep. "Stay. We slept late."

Kono heard him chuckle quietly and the bed sheets rustle as he did what she asked, sliding back under the covers next to her, half-propped up by the headboard. She sighed in comfort when she immediately shuffled over to him, wrapping an arm tightly around his waist and laying her head on his bare chest.

"Whose fault was that?" Steve questioned dryly, his own arms coming around her to hold her to him, a hand brushing down her back in what should have been relaxing way.

"You weren't complaining," she informed him with a sigh, closing her eyes to try and coerce herself back to sleep.

"Because you never gave me the chance to," he muttered into her hair but she could hear the smirk in it. Kono hummed a sound of agreement, well on her way back to dreamland, when she felt him press a kiss to the top of her head before resting his cheek against it; his morning stubble covered jaw faintly grazing her temple and sending a tingle down her spine in a way she was sure such a small thing shouldn't.

Twisting into him as much as she could without putting any weight onto the baby, she exhaled deeply and tucked her face into his neck. "I can't sleep."

"You haven't _tried_," Steve replied amusedly after laying his head back against the wooden board.

"You know what'll help?" Kono asked suggestively, a smile gracing her features and resting her chin on his shoulder to look up at him. He stared back, arching an eyebrow at her in disbelief.

"You're insatiable, you know that, right?" She merely shrugged at his rhetorical question but he shook his head at her. "C'mon, you need to rest," he said half-heartedly, like he knew she was going to get her way no matter what he said but felt as if he should at least _try_ to convince her otherwise. It was actually rather sweet, and if she wasn't currently a slave to her hormones, it might have had some sort of effect.

"You can't say you're not enjoying it," she told him matter-of-factly, trailing a finger across his abdomen and watching his muscles dance under her touch. "Just once, I promise," she whispered against his lips after pushing herself up onto her elbow.

"That's what you said last night, remember?" Steve reminded her, a smile curving on his mouth when she didn't back down. Kono felt his resolve break and finally give in wholly, pushing her down onto her back and hovering above her in one smooth move. "And at 4am," he added before she pulled him back into deeper kiss.

"Shhh," she hushed him in between kisses, arms finding their way around his neck and a hand into his hair to keep him in place. She could feel his body heat from the tips of her toes to the ends of her hair, despite the fact he was barely touching her, keeping all of his weight off of her with an arm by her side. It was exactly what she needed, chasing every ounce of sleep away and finally keeping her mind single-tracked, when the shrill ringing of a cell phone broke the passionate atmosphere. "No, dammit," she groaned when Steve pulled away with a sheepish look.

"Two seconds, babe," he assured her, rolling away to grab his phone from the bedside table and letting out a deep breath when he saw who it was. Kono turned back onto her side when Steve answered the call and swung his legs over the edge of the bed to perch on the side.

The one-sided conversation was muffled by the covers she had pulled up over her head in frustration. It didn't last too long; a few minutes of short answers and pauses but she heard the phone being replaced on the table.

"A case?" she asked cautiously, pulling down the covers and staring at his back.

"No. The Governor just wants to see me later," Steve informed her, rubbing his face with his hands in a way that worried Kono. Pushing herself up, she frowned.

"Why? Nothing's wrong, is it?" she questioned, trying to think back to the past few cases that they had but nothing out of the ordinary came to mind. They had done everything according to the book, mostly because the cases themselves hadn't been that hard to get to the bottom of with suspects not being that hard to find or crack.

He lifted his head up and smiled at her over his shoulder. "No, no. It's probably another review about the last case or something," he assured her, turning to rest a hand on her leg and rubbing it gently.

"Oh, ok," Kono nodded acceptingly before breaking into a sly smile. "Hey, _later_, right?" she asked, grabbing his arm and tugging him back towards her.

"Kono!" Steve laughed, following her directions nonetheless until her hand snuck around his neck to pull him into another kiss.

She giggled breathily when they broke apart, his lips working their way across her jaw immediately. "Ah, stop complaining. You love it really," she told him, to which he scoffed before carefully pushing her down to lay back down onto the bed and stealing her ability to talk anymore in a way only he knew how.

* * *

**_A/N: That's Month 5, over and out. Hope you all enjoyed it! Lemme know what you thought and I'll be back to update soon =)_**


	6. Month 6

**_A/N: I am so sorry for the 2 weeks it took for me to update! RL, once again, got in the way. But I've finally gotten this finished today, and I hope the treat of finding out the sex of the baby will make it up to you guys? Thank you all so much for the reviews, adds and favorites. I know I say it all the time, but they do truly get me writing and make my day when I see them in my inbox =D Thanks to the anons [Rebecca List, Lily, harisa, Lydia, anon, .x, Michelle and anon] who I couldn't reply personally to as well!_**

**_Many thank yous to my wonderful support system of cm757, teenycee, MyMelo and Sidalee! Whether we talk about fics, McKono, H50, life or other stuff, you guys always get me in the mood to write despite my lack of motivation. Don't think this chapter would be up this soon without you!_**

* * *

_Month 6_

Steve rolled his eyes for what must have been the 10th time since getting into the car with his partner after going to interview a possible suspect. Danny had begun criticising his actions as soon as the engine had been started and unfortunately for Steve, the journey back to HQ was over 20 minutes.

"All I'm saying is that you need to learn to have _patience_," Danny told him in a tone that was clearly forced to be calm and it took everything Steve had to not point out the irony in the blonde almost losing his patience with him.

"I have patience-" Steve began in defence when he finally decided to try and add something to the currently one-sided conversation, but he was cut off before he could get any further.

"You _kicked down_ the man's door!" Danny exclaimed with hands beginning to wave around once again, and Steve pursed his lips, knowing that this was the beginning of a rant and interrupting would only cause more harm than good. Running a hand over his face, he listened with half a mind to the rest of his partner's words, the other half reminding himself on how having Danny as a partner helped him survive the mood swings of a pregnant wife and so he owed him enough to not throw him out of the car right then. "He was only using a blender in the kitchen on the other side of the house! It's not his fault he didn't hear us the first two times. Now you, or rather the State of Hawaii, owe him a new door. That's taxpayer's money, you know? All which could have been avoided by exercising a small amount of patience and another ring of the doorbell or knock of the door."

Waiting a beat to make sure that he was well and truly done, Steve inhaled deeply before speaking. "You don't think I have patience? I just listened to you rant for the past 10 minutes without shooting you. I have _been_ listening to you rant for over _5 years_ and I've never shot you. That's patience, Danny," he told him matter-of-factly. There was another spot of silence in which Steve chanced a glance over at his partner because a silent Danny was never a good sign. He wasn't sure if he was happy or not when he broke the quiet though.

"I am going to ignore that," he began, voice matching one that he's heard him use with Grace when she did something he wanted to argue against before catching himself and realising that as a kid, she wouldn't understand and simply argue back. Steve wasn't impressed that he was getting the same treatment but once again, decided against commenting on it. "I'm taking the higher road and ignoring that to tell you that you are not patient at all, my friend. And that must change because you are going to have a child in less than 4 months. You need to learn to be patient with babies. It won't respond and comply to your orders, _Commander_."

"'Her', not 'it'," Steve corrected whilst rolling his eyes at Danny's condescending tone. "And contrary to what you might think, I do know what babies are like."

"Wha-? Wait, what?" Danny faltered in reply, eyes wide in shock. "'Her'? It's a girl?"

"Yeah. Didn't I mention that?" Steve asked in genuine confusion. They had had their belated scan that morning to determine the sex of the baby, and after enjoying a few minutes of delight at both the image of the scan and the new knowledge that they were having a girl, his phone had rang and redirected their homebound journey towards HQ. Steve had met Danny at the crime scene after, and the whole subject of the scan was dropped after his initial question if everything was ok.

"No, Steven, you didn't," Danny scoffed in exasperation.

Steve nodded acceptingly towards the road that he was keeping an eye on. "Right. Must have slipped my mind." It was a lie. The memory was anything but not constantly at the front of his mind, but it wasn't really appropriate for him to be smiling non-stop at the scene of a double homicide. However, he had forgotten that he hadn't gotten around to telling Danny.

"I'm sure," the other man deadpanned before letting out a low chuckle. "Wow, a girl. _Ha! _Good luck."

"Thanks," he muttered in reply because yes, he had thought about the ramifications of having a daughter that will no doubt look like her mother. Even if she doesn't entirely, he's pretty sure with his and Kono's attitudes to match, he's already in for a tough ride.

"Guess it's good though. The last thing this tiny island needs is another you," Danny carried on in another monologue, breaking into Steve's thoughts. "Hopefully your daughter will take after Kono, and the rest of younger generation will be safe from flying cars and stair climbing motorbikes. And grenades. _Cannot_ forget the grenades."

…

Kono hummed and swayed to the music playing from the radio in the kitchen to cover up the sounds of handiwork going on upstairs. It was the best thing she could think of to keep herself from breaking her promise to Steve and sneaking a peek before he allowed her to, because judging from the loud bangs and clangs, she was slightly worried about the damage her husband and his reinforcements might leave her house in.

"Hey, cuz. You cooking?" She glanced up at Chin with a roll of her eyes when he entered the kitchen and leaned against the counter in the middle.

"No need to sound so surprised," she told him with a huff, stirring the pot of pasta a final time before turning off the stove and radio. "I've become quite the domestic housewife since being forced to work a 9-to-5 job."

Her statement brought a chuckle out of her cousin. "_Really_?" he asked, raising his eyebrows dryly.

"Yup. I cook, clean, wash up and even tidy," Kono told him smugly. It wasn't that surprising, actually. Since hitting the end of her second trimester, she had began working limited hours which meant that when they had a case, she would be home alone and bored out of her mind if she didn't do some housework to keep herself busy and active.

"Too much unspent energy after a day of not being able to chase people down or shoot them, huh?" Chin said sympathetically, having experienced Kono's anxiousness during a case first hand whilst confined to the office.

"Something like that," she smirked as she plated her lunch and dumping the pot into the sink. Pulling out a fork from a drawer, she dug into the pasta before pulling a face. "_Urgh_. Why does food always taste better when someone else makes it?"

Chin laughed as she placed her plate on the middle island and headed to the fridge. "Ah, so you cook but not well," he teased, to which she scowled at. She wasn't sure where this presumption that she couldn't cook had came from, but it wasn't true; she just chose not to the majority of the time because there were better things she could think to do with her time. And Steve never minded picking up her slack.

"I _was_ going to offer you some but now you can go fend for yourself," Kono told him petulantly, perusing the inside of the fridge for that extra something that Steve must use to make it taste how she likes it. Finally, her eyes landed on the small green fruit sitting on the bottom shelf. Grabbing it, she retrieved a grater and went back to where she had left her dish. Chin's confused look made her pause in her actions to explain. "I get citrus fruit zest cravings sometimes."

"That's pretty disgusting," he stated after a moment and Kono rolled her eyes again, going back to her food.

"I know. The way I see it though, it's better than pickles and peanut butter," she admitted with a shrug, sliding onto one of the stools opposite her cousin as he turned to face her. Finally taking the time to eye him as she speared the pasta into her mouth, this time finding it much more pleasant, a smirk pulled at her lips at the random smears of paint she could spot. Purple on his arm and shirt, and white spots on his neck. Glancing at his hands, she wasn't too surprised to see even more colour caking it. "So how's the nursery coming along?" she asked, changing the subject.

Sighing heavily, he pursed his lips before answering. "It's getting there," he said, smiling wryly and shaking his head. "Probably have more done if the other two didn't quarrel so much. And I'm not sure if plumbing is one of Steve's strong points either."

Kono scoffed at the statement. "I told him to get someone else to sort it out but he wouldn't listen. Until he floods the place, I can't argue," she joked, causing Chin to chuckle. "Besides, the nursery project keeps him busy and away from fussing over me."

A sudden loud metallic sound ricocheted through the house, snapping her head up towards the ceiling in an automatic reaction. She saw Chin do the same, catching his eyes when they both looked back down and laughing at the sounds of Danny clearly cursing at his partner for either breaking or ruining something. Kono couldn't hear his words perfectly through the walls and distance but the exasperated tone was there.

Chin cleared his throat and claimed her attention back away from the men upstairs. "Speaking of arguing, I got an interesting call from your mother the other day," he said with an air of amusement that made her groan.

"Yeah, I got it too," she told him, stabbing the pasta with a bit more effort than was necessary at the memory and gritting out the rest of her words in fond-annoyance. Even though her mother hadn't approved of her relationship with her boss at first, much like the rest of her family including the man opposite her, she had warmed up to the idea slowly before welcoming him with open arms when Kono had announced they were finally giving her a grandchild. "I told her I didn't want a baby shower, so she decides to have a luau instead. And I have no say in the matter or any choice except to show up."

"Have fun," Chin said with a semi-sympathetic smile. Semi-sympathetic because she could see the smirk that wanted to come out from underneath it, but she had the boys of Five-0 well trained since becoming pregnant on how far to push her. It amused her how sensitive they thought she was because her hormones had settled a little while ago and she was sure she never really did have mood swings. But she wasn't going to tell them that.

"You're coming too," Kono announced brightly, wiping the smile off of her cousin's face instantly and replacing it with a look of disbelief; a hard feat to accomplish when it came to this man. "If I have to go, you can be sure I'll drag as many people as I can with me," she informed him with a smile. He exhaled deeply and nodded once before turning and exiting the room without another word; leaving her to her food and a baby furniture catalogue to look through.

…

She wasn't sure whether it was the footsteps, the door or the light barely reaching into the bedroom from the corridor that woke her up. But it had. Glancing at the glowing numbers of the alarm clock, Kono frowned at what it showed; 2.12am. It wasn't the first time that Steve had come home late from work since she had been put on desk duty, but usually, he came into the bedroom first to check up on her, waking her up in the process no matter how careful he tried not to.

When he failed to follow his normal routine, a small pang of anxiety flowed through her and despite how comfortable she was, something hard to achieve with her ever growing stomach, Kono threw back the covers and slid out of bed. Padding out of the room, she furrowed her brow when she spotted the light coming from the bathroom down the hall.

The door was open by only a margin and she could hear the water from the sink gushing loudly in the silence of the night. She pushed it the rest of the way open, revealing to her Steve half bent over the sink, washing his face. He spotted her immediately, turning to look at her as he straightened and turned off the tap, grabbing a nearby towel to dry his face.

He looked fine, but there was something in his movements that seemed off to her. Kono prided herself in knowing this man in a way that no-one else did or ever would, but his stiffness and the clenching of the jaw was a dead giveaway that something was wrong.

Nonetheless, he smiled at her. "Hey, did I wake you?" he asked softly to match the quietness that surrounded them.

Kono's eyes shot up to his from where they had been roaming his body for any evidence of something being wrong. "No. I mean- It's alright," she faltered, running a hand through her hair and shaking her head dismissively at him,

"Go back to bed. I'll be there in a bit. I just need a shower first," Steve told her with a soft smile but she wasn't convinced, and when he turned back to the sink, she didn't miss the wince that passed over his features despite his best efforts to hide it.

Unfortunately, the team got injured far more often than they should, especially Steve and herself, that she had learnt how to read where people were hurt from their body language. Judging from the way that he held himself, Kono assumed that he had hurt himself somewhere on his upper body.

Letting out a breath, she stepped further into the bathroom and nearer to where he stood, coming to a stop just behind him on his left side. "Let me see," she murmured, already tugging at his shirt before he could protest.

She pulled up the hem from the front, seeing the blue, green and black that already marred his reddened skin in the reflection from the mirror in front of them. It was only a small patch by his left hip, but it looked awful. Kono slid her hand over the untouched skin, pushing up his t-shirt to reveal his back too. The bruises were more spaced out and darker, but were still restricted to the waist area. She exhaled deeply at the sight, glancing up to catch his eyes in the mirror only to find them on a spot on the counter.

"Steve-" she murmured, breaking off when she didn't know what else to say. Other women's husbands came home late from work with lipstick on their collar. Hers came home with bruises. Right then, she wasn't sure which one she'd prefer.

"It looks worse than it is," he told her gently, adding an unsure smile as he finally met her eyes, and she knew he was testing the waters to see her reaction.

Pursing her lips, Kono glared hard at him, unimpressed "I highly doubt that," she muttered before letting his shirt drop and taking a step back. "What did the EMTs say?" There was no point in asking if he had seen them; Danny and Chin, especially the former, would never send him home to her without being checked out. They tried to do their best to keep her from worrying, not that it helped when she was married to a _SuperSEAL _who sometimes thought he was invincible.

"It's fine. A few scrapes and bruises," he shrugged and faced her, reaching out a hand to brush against her cheek when she frowned before tucking her wayward hair behind her ear. "They gave me painkillers but it's not that bad."

"Ok," she replied acceptingly when he dropped his hand and swept her eyes over his body one last time. "Take a shower. The heat will help, but not too hot," she advised him, adding the last part in a warning tone to which Steve rolled his eyes.

"I know, Kono," he chuckled, stepping past her to hold the door open before gripping her elbow to forcefully guide her out. "Sleep; go!"

…

Sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed, Kono's head snapped up from where she had been rubbing her stomach to sooth the now-stopped kicking when Steve entered the room. "Didn't I tell you to go to sleep?" he asked with a hint of incredulity and a raised brow.

"_Please_. I'm not 5," she scoffed, rolling her eyes as she watched him head over to the dresser to pull out a pair of sweat pants to sleep in.

Wearing just his boxers, she could see his injuries much better from the distance that they were at, and they looked no less painful than before. He struggled briefly to pull on his pants though the shower had seemed to have loosened up his muscles and made his movements a bit more fluid, and Kono had to admire the way he managed the feat without any hesitation or a single expression of pain.

"No shirt," she told him when he went to reach for one. He blinked at her before nodding and shutting the drawer.

"Front or back?" Steve asked, rounding the bed to his side and having seen the packs of cold compressors that she had gone and fetched from downstairs. She was surprised that he hadn't argued against needing it but chose not to comment on it.

"Whichever's better for you," Kono replied after pulling away the covers to make space for him and rotating towards that direction. Wrapping one of the icepacks in a towel to keep the bed from getting wet, she slid it under him to help with the bruising when he laid down on his front. "What happened?" she questioned as she ran her fingers over the markings on his back.

"Suspect tried to run and attacked back," he informed her, laying his head onto his crossed arms on the pillow to face her. "You know, the usual," he joked before his breath hitched when she placed the other icepack carefully onto his back.

"Sorry," she apologized before moving the compressor to cover as much of the injury as she could. The area of bruising was far more spread out than the size of the compressor, but the middle seemed to be the worst of it.

"S'okay." His arms muffled his voice as he shifted slowly to pull out his left hand from under his head and place it on her knee. She smiled at the gesture, knowing it was his way of trying to comfort her even though she was doing her best to keep her worrying in check because it was _him_ who was hurt.

"Must have been a big guy," she commented lightly, squeezing his hand with her own and watching him roll his eyes in response. Glancing back at his injuries, Kono was grateful for the Kevlar vest he must have been wearing otherwise she was sure there would have been more blotches decorating his body.

"Nah. Just had the element of surprise," Steve retorted wearily, a smile tugging at his lips even as his eyes began to slide shut for longer intervals, the adrenaline obviously starting to ebb away into a much need for rest.

"Of course," Kono whispered so not to jerk him out of his tiredness, running a hand over his upper back and into his damp hair, stroking it tenderly. "Are you going to be able to sleep, or should I get the painkillers?"

"I'll be fine," he told her, opening his heavy eyes to look at her once again. The hand that had been slowly sliding off her knee gripped it suddenly and she clutched it back. "C'mon, get in; I'm cold."

Letting out a low laugh, Kono complied, knowing that there wasn't much else she could do for him. Removing the icepacks, she enclosed them both into the towel before getting up and laying it onto the dresser top. She turned off the lights before climbing into bed, curling up next to him as comfortably and as close as she could.

"Better?" she asked, tucking an arm under her pillow and pressing a kiss to his bare shoulder not an inch away from her. His hand found its way around her waist and to her back, splaying open in how he normally would to help ease the tension of it as she slept considering she could no longer sleep on her back.

"Much," Steve muttered, leaning forwards to rest his forehead against hers and brushing his lips against hers. Threading her hand through his hair once again, she softly caressed his hairline with her thumb, glad to see him fall asleep almost instantly and for the first time in a very long while, before her.

…

Steve kept his eyes shut when he woke up, not ready to face the day yet; not with the stiffness he knew his body would be in. "Quit staring at me," he muttered, feeling the eyes on him with that eerie sixth sense he seemed to have when it came to Kono.

She sighed at his words, her warm breath just reaching his bare skin from where she was currently laying a good foot away from him and sending pleasant tingles down his spine. "You're meant to be sleeping," she chided him quietly. Finally opening his eyes, he raised a brow at her in amusement.

"So are you," he told her, noticing the first few rays of sunlight entering their bedroom, signalling that it was still fairly early in the morning. Letting his eyes slide shut again, he blinked them open after a short moment only to see hers sweeping his body before meeting his. "Seriously, stop staring. It's creepy."

Kono laughed lightly at his words; the same words she use to throw at him when they had first started dating and he would simply watch her sleep when he woke up before her. It wasn't that he had stopped doing that but rather that she had just stopped complaining. "Sorry. How are you feeling?" she asked, running a hand over the untouched parts of his back as she shuffled closer to him.

"Better," he lied, feeling the muscles in his upper body protesting as he shifted slightly onto his side so he could wrap an arm around her waist with more comfort than the night before. His shoulder ached from the position he had left it in when sleeping, but he wouldn't have been able to sleep without being able to reach and touch her. Kono called it possessive; he called it love.

"Do you want some painkillers?" she asked him when he finally settled, making him wonder if his mask had slipped or whether she had simply seen right through him and his attempt to seem alright. Though he had to admit, if it was the other way around, he wouldn't believe her when she said she feeling better even if he liked to think he had a higher pain threshold than her. Considering what he had learnt about childbirth in the last few months, however, he might have to rethink that belief soon.

Steve shook his head as much as he could whilst it was resting on the pillow. "No, I'm good," he assured her, pulling her closer until he could feel the baby bump against his side, right above where he was injured. Her timid smile at his action made him frown. "Are _you _ok?"

There was a pause whilst he watched her eyes avert to where her hand had landed on his shoulder, fingers gently tracing his tattoo just below it. He felt her chest expand when she took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly and meeting his gaze. "You scared me yesterday. But I'll be ok." The smile had vanished from her features but it hadn't stopped her from trying to sound confident and reassuring. '_Trying_' being the key word.

"I'm sorry," Steve apologized, guilt overtaking him when he realised just how much pressure this must have put on her when all he wanted to do was to make her life easier, especially so far in their pregnancy.

This time her smile was more genuine, even if it was wry. "I know. It's a hazard of the job, I guess. I've just never had to wake up to you coming home injured before. Not knowing what happened or how bad it is. It's not easy on this side. 'A cop's wife'," she told him quietly, rubbing distractedly at his shoulder and over his back as she did. He racked his brains to think of something to say or do to help, anything to make things better but nothing came to him. Comforting someone had never been his strong point outside of simply enveloping them in a hug and saying reassuring nonsense, and yet, even that seemed out of place right then. Instead, he settled for tightening his hold on her. Kono must have noticed his pensive state because she suddenly plastered on a bright smile and brought her hand to his face, fingers brushing against his jawline tenderly. "But hey, don't worry about it. It's done and you're going to be fine. That's all that matters. Let's just sleep now, yeah?" she whispered.

Despite everything he wanted to do to settle her mind and make sure she never worried about him again, he still drew blank on _how_ to do it so all he Steve could do was nod and offer her a smile before closing his eyes. "Yeah, ok."

* * *

**_A/N: So it's a girl! How about that? Hehe. Month 6; a mix of pairings, and a splash of drama at the end. Let me know what you guys thought, please! =) Until next time!_**


	7. Month 7 pt 1

_**A/N: Firstly, I am so sorry for the long delay in this chapter. RL is getting in the way as per usual. Secondly, I've done things a little different for month 7. I'm going to split it into 2 parts, simply because it was getting too long and I hadn't even finished it yet. This way, I can update sooner, and then post part 2 soon. As in a week or so. Not almost a month. It does ruin my plans of having 10 chapters and matching chapter numbers with months, but I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer, nor to have an extra long chapter that might get boring by the time you've finished it.**_

_**Thank you all for the favs, alerts and reviews again! I am beyond astonished for the response I'm getting. Please keep them coming =D Apologies if I have accidentally missed out on replying to your review! I do appreciate them all. Also, thanks to the anons [H50Lady, Lily, renji, sritia, Annie, kabagirl, Lydia, Michelle, purplenexus, and Guest] I could't reply to!**_

_**Mahalo to my own awesome foursome of [in alphabetical oder] cm757, MyMelo, teenycee and Sidalee for their support, encouragement, beta'in, listening to my constant babbles about changing my mind about this or another and a whole lot more! **_

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_Month 7 (part 1)_

Steve wandered away from the music, bonfire and people to walk along the sand towards where he had thought he had spotted a couple of people sitting against the tree up by a dune. The sun had set over an hour earlier, but the moon was bright enough to light his way, as well as the party lights strewn around from where he had came from casting shadows in front of him.

They were at the luau thrown by Kono's family in celebration of the baby, and true to her word, she had managed to drag as many people as she could with her. Although she had been disappointed not to have gotten Malia to attend because of her hospital shift, or Grace to come along for the fun evening because Rachel and Stan had taken her out of the country for the week, she had settled for the team. But it had still taken a lot of convincing from Steve for her to actually attend herself, even if all he wanted to do was give in to her grumblings and stay at home. However, her family had only just started warming up to him and he felt it was his duty to try and keep it at least at that level for as long as possible.

The sound of rich and warm laughter led his way to where he found Kono and Chin leaning back against the tree trunk he had been spying, sharing a joke about something he had missed.

"I was wondering where you two had disappeared to," he said as he approached them, catching them both off guard when their heads snapped up to him.

"Sorry, but you seemed to be having much more fun with the family than me so I left you there," Kono shrugged with a carefree smile, making her cousin chuckle lightly. Steve shook his head in amusement and passed the older man to sit on the other side of his wife. She had her legs stretched out in front of her and a flower from the lei they had all long taken off tucked behind her ear, looking much more relaxed than she had all night.

"Thanks," he replied dryly, laying a hand on hers as it came to rest on his jean-clad thigh, before smirking. "I've, uh, I've done the same with Danny."

"I thought he didn't like luaus?" she asked, grinning nonetheless.

"He doesn't," Chin confirmed for her with humour lacing his tone. "But I overheard him practically worshiping Auntie Misa and her many foods."

"Of course. Danny and food. A match made in heaven," Kono said whilst rolling her eyes though Steve couldn't blame the man. The Kalakauas did have a mean hand when it came to cooking.

Conversation flowed as he sat there with them, talking about random things from their still incomplete nursery and what was left to buy for it, to rumours they had recently overheard about various subjects floating around HPD. Not that Steve was one to gossip, but Kono and Chin did have their own insights which entertained him far more. He wasn't sure how long it had been since he had left the party, or how long it had been since the other two had, but it must have been a significant amount of time when Danny finally found them.

The blonde man trudged through the sand, not having taken their advice to wear flip-flops so he could go barefoot like the rest of them, before coming to a stop in front of where they sat. Much to Steve's shock, he still had on his colourful lei, lying perfectly over the collar of his shirt. "Hey, looky here. Guest of honour hiding away from her own party, huh?" he quipped as they all craned their heads up to look at him.

Kono made a disgruntled sound in the back of her throat at his comment. "If I had to listen to _one more_ story or have people touch me like I'm some sort of public monument, I was going to shoot someone," she informed him, narrowing her eyes in annoyance to the mere thought of it and curling her free arm around her gradually expanding stomach in a protective manner. Steve stifled a laugh and squeezed her hand instead, hiding his smirk by pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

Danny looked at her in alarm, taking a seat crossed legged opposite them. "You're not actually armed, right?" he asked wearily and Steve backed away enough to catch the sly smile spreading on Kono's lips. "Right. I don't even want to know," he muttered.

"You looked like you were having fun, Danny," Chin changed the subject and Steve caught him nodding towards the area where he had came from to indicate what he meant.

"Yeah," Danny nodded, sounding mildly surprised before turning to Kono. "Hey, why haven't I met your family before? I like them. They're cool, and not once was I called a 'haole'."

"That's because they call you it behind your back," Steve told him jokingly, though by the frown marring his partner's face, it hadn't seemed to have translated well, even if the other two did find it funny.

"He's kidding," Kono assured him, nudging him lightly with her foot. When Danny sighed heavily, frown still clear by the crease on his forehead, she turned to him and dug her fingers into his leg with a bit more pressure than required. "Tell him you're kidding, Steve." He did as he was told if only to stay on her good side, trying his best not to wince at her grip until she let go.

"Oh, hey, before I forget, I think I found something of yours earlier on," Danny suddenly announced, his mood brightening at a disturbing rate which told Steve that this wasn't going to end all that well. True to his thoughts, the corner of his lips began to tug upwards as he pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Kono.

"What is it?" Chin asked before he got the chance to. She didn't reply as she opened up the small rectangle to form a regular A4 sized paper with writing on it that Steve only recognised because he had jotted down a few things onto it himself.

Kono glared sceptically at the man opposite her, but it did nothing to damper his amusement. "You '_found'_ this, huh? Did it happen to be on my desk?"

"It _may_ or _may not_ have been in the _vicinity_ of the case file I was looking for in your office," Danny replied after much deliberation, speaking slowly with the smile disappearing as if choosing each word carefully, and using his hands for emphasis whilst waving them around at certain points.

There was a pause in which Steve shared a smirk with Chin over the head of the woman in between them. "So you basically snooped and read it?" she summarised dryly, making the two of them shake with laughter that they tried to keep to themselves.

"Seems to be the running theme with Danny and this pregnancy," Steve commented, recalling his partner initially finding out about the baby in the same way. If he was completely honest, it didn't surprise him much. Danny was a naturally curious person, something that came from both being a great detective and his partner. Not that Steve would ever admit to the latter, but being curious had probably saved their lives a few times in the past years working together.

"You're not funny," Danny retorted sharply at him and then turned back to Kono with a calmer attitude. "I, uh, I took the liberty of adding a few more names that you might have not thought of yet."

Steve immediately removed his hand off of hers and grabbed the other one gently to turn it so that he could see the paper clearer. Surely enough, the list of baby names that they had started compiling not a week earlier had grown significantly in size since he had last seen it the previous day.

"Oh, check that out. They're all alternatives of 'Daniel'," Kono said, rolling her eyes. Steve had had the urge to do the same once he had managed to make them all out in the dim light. "Sorry, not happening."

"Because you're naming her after me, right, cuz?" Chin asked with a hopeful tone that Steve was sure he had never heard before, and a smile that he has noticed was reserved for only her.

Danny scoffed and replied to the question that wasn't meant for him before anyone else could. "I'm sorry, what? Your name cannot be modified for a girl-"

"'Kelly'," Chin cut him off, informing him of what he had meant with an air that dared Danny to argue. Of course, Danny being Danny, he did at least try.

"Well, but-" he faltered before looking at the two of them, and Steve was suddenly reminded about how he was no longer surprised when either him or Kono, or the both of them, were left out of discussions regarding _their _unborn child. Especially if it was something important, such as names. "You're not, are you?"

Steve glanced over at his wife as she did the same at him, eyes twinkling in the enjoyment of teasing the others for a small moment. "No," she finally said, folding up the paper in her hands and passing it to him to stow away from prying people. "_We_ will decide between us and she won't be named after anyone."

Silence followed her announcement, the disappointment almost tangible though he knew they would get over it fairly quickly. They weren't upset about the names, they were upset that they both lost. But as always, Chin was the first to push it away and move on. "What's the most likely choice?" he asked, curious.

"I like 'Mei," Kono said after a small hesitation from them both as they thought it over.

"Nai'a," Steve said a split second later, catching them both by surprise because they hadn't discussed their favourite names or how they were going to choose what to name their daughter yet. The only reason they had started a list was because they were hopelessly behind on getting the nursery ready and making the house baby proof that they hadn't wanted to have left this until the last minute either.

Leaning away, she raised an eyebrow at him in incredulity, and a hint of amusement if he wasn't wrong, as he merely shrugged and smiled back somewhat bashfully. She rolled her eyes at his actions and sat back again; resting against his side a bit more heavily than before, a sign he knew meant that she was trying to get back into a comfortable position.

"This is going to end well," Danny stated wryly with a laugh, breaking the quietness they had fallen in to. Steve glared at his partner, not taking his eyes off of him even as he began to speak.

"We have time, right?" he asked Kono, looking at her when he turned the sentence into a question, not wanting to get into the argument about baby names right then when it wasn't entirely necessary.

"Yeah, a few months. I'm sure we'll come to an agreement by then," she agreed flippantly just as someone began shouting out her name from near the party they had left behind. All four of them turned to see Kono's mother standing midway between them and the luau, gesturing for them to come back before turning away on her heel when she was sure they had seen her and returning to the festivities.

Steve carefully stood up before Kono leant back into him, brushing the sand off his jeans before turning to the woman who was the only one still sitting. He rolled his eyes and held out a hand to help her up.

"Urgh, no. I can't move," she groaned, resting her head back against the tree to look up at him with a small pout that he assumed was supposed to make him feel bad for her, what with being pregnant and all. If she actually looked like she was 7 months pregnant, he might have given her some leeway and stayed with her, but she didn't and Kono was still pretty active on her feet these days with small intervals, so he knew she wasn't truly tired. "Seriously, I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it back for the rest of the night."

Sharing a look with the other two, all of whom knew about her hatred of being the centre of attention in large gatherings, he sighed and turned back to her. "Yeah, no, you're not getting out of it that easily," he told her with a smirk, holding out both his hands for her this time. "Up."

Sighing loudly, she grabbed one of his hands and pulled herself to her feet without much preamble. It didn't hurt that she spent a lot of time on the beach that was their back yard either. "I hate you," she muttered when he wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her back towards where the people were waiting for her.

"I know," Steve grinned, kissing her temple and letting his lips linger for as long as he could. "I hate you, too."

…

Kono sat with her feet swinging ever so slowly on the edge of the examination table as Dr Lang secured the blood pressure cuff around her upper arm before switching it on and tightening almost painfully. They were at their routine antenatal appointment, the first since she had entered the third trimester, and she could tell by the way Steve stood just a foot away on her other side, feet planted and arms crossed in an observant stance, that despite their numerous appointments since the initial one, he was still as anxious and excited as he had been back then. In her opinion, it would have been cute if he lost the protective persona that she was sure he didn't even know he was portraying.

"What's wrong?" Steve's voice was lined with worry that she could now see upon his face, marred with the beginnings of a frown, breaking Kono out of her thoughts. It took her a moment to realise that he hadn't been talking to her, but rather to the doctor who didn't look to be too happy with what she was seeing on the little device she held.

Dr Lang looked at them both before undoing the cuff from Kono's arm, much to her relief. "It's nothing to be concerned about just yet, but your blood pressure is _slightly_ higher than what would be acceptable," she said diplomatically, directing her words to her patient though she alternated her glances between them.

"What does that mean?" Steve questioned before Kono could get a word out. Her thoughts hadn't really gone past the fact that what had become the boring part of the appointment, the observations before the scan, had suddenly turned into something much more serious.

"Nothing at the moment," the doctor replied with a soft smile that she seemed to always have on hand. Kono reckoned it must be a key skill for her to help with calming down the hormonal women she had to constantly deal with, but right then it did nothing to lessen her panic about what she had been told. "But if it rises then you'll have to go on bedrest."

That last few words got Kono's brain working once again. "_Bedrest_? But I'm only in the middle of my seventh month," she reminded her in shock, swapping a look with Steve that she was sure was less cool and collected than she had wanted it to be when he stepped closer and slid a hand into hers.

"How do we lower it?" he asked after letting out a deep and slow breath, the same concern and hint of fear that she felt inside clear in his words.

"Well, the most common cause of high blood pressure is stress," Dr Lang explained, turning back to Kono after answering his question. "Has anything changed lately? Work? At home? Family?"

Furrowing her brow, she thought it through carefully even though she was sure of what her reply would be. "No, nothing. I'm barely out of the office anymore, home's fine, and family's normal as they can be."

"And you're eating properly?" she prompted, eyeing her almost knowingly. Due to the fact that Kono hadn't experienced that much of an appetite change, rarely having to use the excuse of 'eating for two', and that she had carried small up until recently, the topic and discussion about what she ate and didn't eat had been brought up in almost all of their meetings. Of course, the majority of the time it had been Steve and his apprehension about it that had led to it being brought up.

"I'm eating perfectly," Kono told her. She didn't miss the subtle averting of eyes from her to her husband and back again within a quick second as if to check what she was saying was true. It should have bothered that her doctor trusted Steve more than her own patient, but right then, there were more important things for her to focus on. "I have three people who practically watch everything that goes into my mouth. Danny's even my new nutritionist," she joked with a roll of the eyes. Dr Lang quirked a smile at her response, having heard many stories over the months about her patients' teammates and their reactions to the pregnancy.

"Ok. Look, all I can recommend you to do is to simply relax a bit more. Put your feet up for a while longer, do some calming exercises, let your husband wait on you. Simple things," she instructed them, a light tone conveying the last few words in a way that actually managed to relax Kono and smirk as she nudged Steve, who merely raised an eyebrow in amusement. She knew what he meant; it was everything he had been wishing she would do since the moment they had found out she was pregnant. Rest, relax and let him take care of her.

"That's it?" Kono asked a bit sceptically as the doctor moved away to set up the ultrasound machine.

"That's it," she assured her, but they must not have looked convinced whatsoever when she pursed her lips with a sympathetic smile before carrying on. "Look, this is all just a precaution. To keep in mind. If you worry about it, it'll only be counterproductive."

It made sense but Kono knew it would be easier said than done. However, when she was urged to lie down for the scan, the subject was dropped and left well alone for the time being for happier things.

* * *

_**A/N: That's part 1 over; part 2 will be up soon. In the meantime, please let me know what you thought =) Thank you for reading!**_


	8. Month 7 pt 2

_**A/N: Hello! I'm back with the second part to the 7th month. Sorry once again for splitting this month up, but it had to be done. I honestly hope it doesn't ruin things for the fic and the flow of it, or your enjoyment. Thank you all for sticking with me despite my delayed updates. Massive thanks to all the adds, favs and reviews. I should have replied too all the ones I could; if I missed you out accidentally, I apologize again. Thank you to the anons [Guest and Michelle] too.**_

_**Big big thanks to the wonderful cm757 for beta'ing and encouraging me to write more, quicker, by writing so much awesomeness herself, and to teenycee for the beta'ing, putting up with my ideas, emails/messages at random times of the day and night, and trying [and failing] to teach me how to use a semicolon =P Not her fault though, I'm just an awful student.**_

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_Month 7 (part 2)_

The journey home from the hospital was silent and Kono made use of the self-calming techniques she had learnt from various sources for helping with birth to keep herself from snapping at Steve to say something. It had only been 5 minutes since they had gotten into the car, but it felt much longer with the quietness. He had barely said anything throughout the rest of the appointment, only commenting when necessary. More than that, the stoic mask he had put on had slipped only a couple of times during the scan before returning quickly after.

Sighing, Kono rested her head against her fist, propped up by an elbow by the window, and turned to look at him. If he noticed, he didn't show any sign of it. "If you fix your jaw anymore, your blood pressure's gonna top mine," she retorted, eyes carefully taking in his tense posture.

"Kono, this isn't a joke," he snapped exasperatedly, voice low and steady, even if he refused to look at her. There was a pause before he exhaled deeply and carried on in the same tone. "Why didn't you tell me you were stressed?"

She shrugged, knowing he would be able to see the movement from his peripheral view. "Because I'm not."

"I beg to differ," Steve replied dryly with a shake of his head; knuckles whitening as she suspected he tightened his hold on the steering wheel. "Is it work?"

"It's not work," she answered immediately, almost sounding tired because she was fairly certain she had been asked that question not so long beforehand and he had been there to hear her reply.

Of course, she had known that despite the doctor's instructions not to overthink about the _slight_ elevation in her blood pressure, Steve would not let it go so easily and _would_ overthink it in a way that only he could. He would run down every possibility, work out every strategy available to help her relax, and spend far too much time concerned about her as opposed to himself. She understood why. It was how he functioned. A mix of control issues and having to make sure that the people he loved were safe and happy. Add that to the overprotectiveness and what she was sure were paternal instincts kicking into gear, SEAL version, and Kono didn't envy their daughter one bit.

"Is it home, then?" he asked her, carrying on without missing a beat.

Casting her eyes upwards and then out of the windshield, she repeated the same answer. "No, and it's not family either, before you get there,' Kono added quickly.

"Then what is it?" Steve finally glanced at her but this time, she refused to look back at him and react to the sudden exclamation, especially when she was able to identify the undertone of desperation to his voice. "What _is it_ that you're stressing about so much that it's causing your blood pressure to rise? Which, I have to say, must be something extraordinary considering if our work hasn't shot up your blood pressure already."

"It's you, alright? I worry about you, and I guess that translates into stress," she told him, not able to hold back with what she guessed was the reason anymore after hearing the undoubted torture of not knowing in his words, and being sure that it would only intensify until he found out the truth.

Astonishment was on his face when she turned to look at him and meet his gaze as he twisted to face her, eyes jumping back and forth from the road. "Me? What-? What am I doing that makes you worry?" he asked, brow furrowed in confusion that made Kono raise an eyebrow in incredulity, because it had just reached 4 weeks since he had come home injured and it couldn't have left his mind already how it had affected her.

Unless she had successfully been able to hide it, or he had been too dense to see through her reluctance to leave work, her new found love for paperwork as an excuse to keep her there and her ever increasing texts asking how their case was going after she had left as a way to try and keep an eye on him.

Rolling her eyes at the revelation that he hadn't picked up on her actions, she elaborated on her previous answer. "You go out into the field, reckless as always and doing stupid things. And yeah, ok, it's nothing new, but usually, _I'm_ out there too, being justas reckless and having just as much fun. I can see everything that's going on and the job keeps me busy. But being stuck in the office? I don't have anything to focus on half the time except what's going on out there or what might be happening. And it's even worse when I'm at home and you're still at work. _That's_ what makes me worry. I dunno if it's because I have the time to think about it now, or because of all these _stupid hormones_ and maternal feelings and _nesting_, but it is what it is," she ended her unintentional rant by pursing her lips and rubbing her hands over her stomach before laying her temple against the headrest of her seat so she could watch him and his reaction to her words. The blank look hadn't returned, but there was nothing else playing on his face from the side that she could see as he kept his eyes locked on the road. She followed them and sighed softly into the silence. "I'm sorry."

"I- What are you apologizing for?" Steve questioned disbelievingly, and she allowed her sight to drop enough to see the lessened grip he had on the steering wheel.

Shrugging, she attentively reached out a hand to cover the one on the gear stick. "I don't want you to feel guilty. This is who you are. It's who you've always been," she told him honestly, even if she didn't say the words that they both knew she was hinting at. That though this was the person that he had always been, and though he had toned it down a little bit when their relationship had turned serious enough for him to realize that there was someone who loved him and would fall apart if he died, there was now another factor, another person, who he had to remember would feel his absence dearly.

"What can I do? To stop you from worrying?" he asked her, thumb strumming lightly over her little finger as he spaced his out to let hers slide in between.

"I guess asking you to stop doing stupid things would be asking too much, huh?" Kono replied light-heartedly with a soft smile. He glanced at her with pursed lips and the beginnings of a pensive frown.

"How about I try to be more careful? Be less reckless and try not to get myself hurt or, you know..." he trailed off without finishing the sentence, leaving the ending up in the air even though they both knew what he meant. She wasn't sure why, they talked about death all the time. They had to with their jobs. But somehow, she could predict that the mention of it in relation to Steve would bring about some tension given their current circumstances.

Scoffing instead, she rolled her eyes and joked. "Yeah, ok. You do that."

"I will," Steve said seriously, nodding, before squeezing her hand as best as he could from under. "If you promise not to worry anymore."

Kono paused, staring at the way he held her fingers captive between his own whilst thinking over his words. Like the doctor's instructions to not worry, this was also easier said than done. "I can't promise but I'll try my best," she finally relented with the best reply she could give without lying.

"Alright," Steve replied after a moment before clearing his throat. "'Nesting'?" he asked amusedly, to which she merely rolled her eyes once again and turned her head away to stare out of the window.

"Shut up," she muttered, childishly pulling her hand away from his when he chuckled, but hiding her own tug of a smile behind the curtain of her hair, glad they were back on course again.

…

A loud and sudden metallic clang woke Kono up from her afternoon nap. She groaned in frustration as she took in her surroundings of their bedroom balcony where she had wandered out earlier to for a peaceful rest before having dozed off on the lounger.

The sun warmed her feet from where the parasol had failed to keep the rays at bay as it travelled across the sky. Judging from the position of the sun currently, she'd say she had been asleep for at least an hour, maybe even closing in on two. Swinging her legs over the edge of the seat, Kono stood up and stretched gently to ease out her slightly curved back before smoothing down her clothes.

Rolling her eyes, she re-entered the house and made her way over to the en suite that connected their room to the nursery. The cupboard that had been blocking the door on their side had been moved to the wall on the other side of the bed. The door had been thrown wide open and she could see Steve trying to work on the pipes that connected the sink to the rest of the water supply, or at least that was what he had told her he had been doing when she had asked when she had first spotted him. Considering he was still in the same position on the floor with a spanner in hand, and that the floorboard before him was still open, she concluded that he really hadn't moved since. The only thing that _had _changed was the water that dampened the bottom of his old Navy t-shirt and his jeans.

"What was that?" she asked without any preamble when she came to the threshold of the two rooms, leaning heavily against the doorjamb and eyeing him suspiciously.

"Nothing," he replied to the floor, sounding a bit grouchy as he continued to work on a certain part of the pipe before growling lowly in annoyance when the tool slipped off the metal, causing a sound very similar to the one she had woken up to to ricochet around the small bathroom. She opened her mouth to comment on it but Steve glanced up at her before she could. "Don't, Kono. It's almost done."

Arching an eyebrow, she stood up straighter and away from the wall. "It's been '_almost done'_ for nearly two months now," she reminded him, skeptical at his words. The frown that marred his face at her response as he picked up the spanner again to get back to work made her soften her tone in guilt. She knew how much it meant to him to get the place ready by himself, but there had to be something that wouldn't go according to his plan. And she certainly wouldn't hold it against him if he admitted it. "Please, just call someone. Let _me_ call someone. They could probably do it in a day."

Silence filled the room, broken only by the sound of metal-on-metal as he carried on with his job without a reply. Sighing, Kono stepped into the room and around him to perch on the rim of the 80's style bath that was most likely from the 80's itself. It had a handheld shower attached to it that he had managed to get to work not too long ago with fresh hot and cold water, perfect for baths for their baby and as she grew up. The thought reminded her to add buying a baby bath to the list of things they still needed to go shopping for.

"How was your nap? Has she stopped kicking?" Steve asked monotonously, changing the subject with all the subtlety of a raging bull in a china shop and without sparing her a glance.

Kono shook her head lightly, resting her hands on the rim of the bathtub on either side of her to help her keep her balance as she leant back to straighten out her aching spine. "It was fine and yes, obviously, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to sleep," she informed him dryly, watching him nod in what she guessed was a distracted way because he didn't offer her a sarcastic quip in return.

She caught her reflection on the mirror opposite her as she turned her head away, scrunching up her nose at how long her hair had gotten, reaching halfway down towards her elbow. It needed a cut but she had had enough of fussing over and attention for the moment by her own family that she wasn't sure how she would handle it with preppy hairdressers. Also, Steve seemed to like her hair long, and _she_ liked that he liked it and always found a way to play with it when he could.

Averting her eyes away, she caught a quick glimpse of something that she knew she shouldn't have. The other door was cracked open. It wasn't enough to notice from any other place except for where she sat and could see the bright light gleaming through the opening. The diamond hue of it blinded her from being able to see anything else through the small gap, so she reached out without another thought to widen the space to a few more inches so she could now clearly see the opposite wall.

Although she had helped with picking out the colors and had an input with the theme of the room, it looked so much more different on the wall. It was mainly a soft shade of purple, complimented beautifully with a border of powder blue and white. Giving in to the urge to see it from closer, to actually feel it and see it blend in with the rest of the room, she stood up and pulled open the door, immediately stepping through.

"Kono, wait-" She heard Steve try to stop her once he had noticed what she had done, but it had been too late.

Ignoring him, she walked further into the room, treading carefully with her bare feet on the wooden floorboards that still had a lot of DIY tools and other stuff lying around on. "Oh, my god," she murmured when she finally took in the whole room. Every wall was the same as the first that she had seen; soft and simple, whether it was in the sun or the shade.

When Steve entered the room behind her, sighing exasperatedly, she turned to look at him from the middle of the empty room. Empty apart from the tools and the huge pile of gifts they had received at the luau, sitting in the corner of the nursery. Kono had been glad her mother hadn't made her open them all in front of everyone, not only because that would put her in the center of attention which she could do without, but because she hadn't had a clue what half of the stuff was and that would have been embarrassing enough. A neon sign advertising how unprepared they were on that front. But they were getting there, and the boxes of diapers, baby clothes, a bassinet, some bottles and other necessities were proof of that.

"You're not supposed to see it yet. We had a deal, remember?" he chided her with what suspiciously looked like the beginnings of a pout on his lips. Kono shrugged impishly.

"You left the door open," she told him matter-of-factly, to which he sighed again before nodding once and tossing the spanner he still had in his hand back into the bathroom. He stepped further into the room, running a hand through his hair as his eyes darted around the room before landing back on her.

"So what do you think?" he asked her finally, hands tucked into his jeans pockets and a nervous looking smile that was rarely ever seen on this man accompanying the words. "It's not entirely done yet, but after we get the furniture and put up the shelves, it should look better. We can change the colors if we need to, too," he added hurriedly before she could get her thoughts across.

She shook her head at him, skimming a hand lightly over her stomach as she looked around the room once again. "No, I like it. I _love_ it. It looks great, Steve," she said sincerely, smiling brightly and feeling more than just a bit overwhelmed with all the effort that must have gone into the decorating, especially having to fit it around their jobs. When he visibly relaxed at her comment, she turned away to keep herself from either jumping into his arms and kissing him like crazy, shoving him to the floor to have her wicked way with him (which would be highly inappropriate in more than one way), or crying. Like always, she blamed it on the hormones.

"Yeah?" he asked her, relief clear in his voice though he questioned her for a final, definite answer. But honestly, how could she not like it when it was clear how much thought, effort and love had gone into it?

"Yeah," she confirmed, tossing a soft smile over her shoulder as she traveled around the circumference of the room before coming to a stop by the huge ceiling to floor windows that led to the balcony. "You locked the doors?" she asked him in confusion when she tried to open them. Looking at the handles, she wasn't that entirely surprised to see that the door handles had been zip locked together, too.

Steve nodded nonchalantly at her observations. "I'll find something to block it too. Maybe a chest of drawers or something," he told her in thought, and Kono fought to roll her eyes again because it was obvious that this was part of the action plan of Navy SEAL Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett to eliminate every possible danger to their daughter in the most strategic way. Be it internal or external, real dangers or not. She had a feeling she'd be facing a lot of these in the near future.

"You don't need to block it, or even lock it. It's not like she'll escape," she teased him, but all she got was a glare in return. Holding up her hands in surrender, she backed away and closer to him. "Fine, we'll keep it your way."

Pulling his hands out of his pockets, he opened his mouth to add something else to the matter, she was sure, but he was cut off before he could even form the first word by a familiar female voice calling out greetings from downstairs.

They both paused, staring at each other in confusion, as if they couldn't believe what they were hearing. "Is that-?" Kono began to ask until she, too, was disrupted.

"The door's wide open so I really hope there's someone home!" she called out again, and judging from the way the voice began to fade towards the end of the sentence, she guessed that their visitor had began searching for them.

Steve was the first to head for the door and Kono followed straight after, albeit slower with the added weight of having to carry an almost full term baby. She could hear rather than see him hurriedly walk down the stairs, and by the time she had reached the upper landing, he was already greeting their guest.

"Mary, what are you doing here?" he asked in his typical abrupt manner, surprise lining his words, making her smirk in amusement.

"Hello to you, too," his sister replied just as she descended down the flight of stairs to see the two siblings share a hug before catching the eye of the blonde woman who rather quickly shoved Steve away to step past him and towards her. "Kono! Wow, look at you."

"Hey, Mary," Kono greeted, allowing herself to be pulled into a gentle embrace after being eyed up and down for the first time by Mary Ann. "This is a surprise?" She turned the statement into a question whilst shooting an inquiring look at her husband who merely nodded back to tell her that yes, this was indeed a surprise for them both and not just her because he had forgotten to tell her. Again.

"Which brings us back to my question of what are you doing here?" Steve asked once again when Mary Ann had backed away from her, turning to face her brother with a scoff.

"God, Steven, can't I just come to visit without getting asked like a million questions?" she asked, one hand on her hip in a very defensive manner.

Kono smothered her grin by biting her bottom lip, impressed by how quick it had taken for them to start bickering already. Usually, they managed to get past the initial few hours before the first argument. It never failed to amuse her, either, seeing this side of Steve - a big brother getting riled up by his sister just by asking a simple question or two.

"It's _one_ question. A valid one too, I reckon," Steve retorted, arguing his point rather smugly as he stood with crossed arms opposite them. Kono heard Mary Ann sigh loudly before dropping her arm and leaning against the lounger that stood practically halfway between them both so that she could talk to them together.

"I decided to take some time off flying around and stay here in Hawaii for a few months, so I can spend time with you guys and I dunno, help out if you need it," she explained with a small, almost shy, shrug, eyes darting between the two of them. Kono looked at her in a mix of shock and gratitude, something similar she could see starting to show on Steve's face too, as a small smile started to curve at his lips.

Looking back to the other woman, she shook her head lightly as she spoke. "Mary, you don't need to do that," She hoped that she wasn't doing it out of a feeling of familial obligation from when she was sure Steve would have told her about her recent health issues, because as much as she would love to spend more time with her sister-in-law, she would feel guilty if it was forced.

"I know, but I _want_ to. For my niece, by the way, before you guys get the wrong idea. So you can't really say 'no'," Mary Ann insisted teasingly, with a laugh that eased all of Kono's worries about the situation. "And I'll still be working, just based here on the ground," she added, aiming the line towards Steve as she turned her head to face him.

"Sounds great, sis," he replied with a genuine smile and elated tone, relaxing his body language to allow his arms to drop by his side. "It'll be nice to have you around again."

"Of course it will!" Mary Ann announced with a roll of the eyes as if it should have been common knowledge, pushing herself away from the couch she had been leaning against and rounding it to pick up a bag that she must have dropped there earlier. "Also, I brought presents. Once again, for my niece, but if you're nice, I'll let you open them," she told them, and Kono swapped a bemused smile with Steve, who wasn't even trying to hide the look of happiness at what had just happened over the last 10 minutes. After all the worrying and stressing he had been doing over her recently, she was glad to see him let it go for the moment, and for that, couldn't thank Mary Ann for her impromptu visit enough.

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_**A/N: Thank you for reading. I do hope you enjoyed it and thought it was worth the wait. Please lemme know what you think and I'll be back with chapter/month 8 asap!**_


	9. Month 8 pt 1

_**A/N: Firstly, I am so, so sorry for the very long wait for this chapter. Too many things have occurred since the last update which have left me next to no time to write. Saying that, I have decided to also split this month into two, just so I could get at least something up now. Also, it was starting to get too long. I promise the second part won't take long! I've already gotten started on it. Massive thanks to everyone who commented. It honestly got me writing quicker. I do hope this delay hasn't put anyone off =) Apologies again if I have missed out on replying to your reviews, and thank you to all the guest/anon reviewers too!**_

**_Very big thanks to teenycee for the beta'ing, motivating me to write, allowing me to bounce ideas off her night and day and basically helping me get this chapter done and dusted. Also, thank you to Sidalee for her reassurances and beta'ing too =)_**

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_Month 8 (part 1)_

"What was that?" Danny asked him in confusion as they began to head out of the building where they had just confronted their latest suspect. The blonde jabbed a thumb over his shoulder in indication to the man who Steve had just left gasping for a breath against the wall in his office after a short but thorough interrogation.

"What was what?" he replied offhandedly, glancing over at his partner to see him watching him almost curiously as if there was something highly wrong with him.

"_That_!" Danny emphasised the exclamation with a sweeping hand in the direction they had came from, almost hitting him in the chest as he did so.

Merely raising an eyebrow, Steve pushed open the front door of the block of offices and stepped into the beautiful Hawaiian sun that had managed to shine through after hours of rain that morning. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Danny."

"Seriously?" he asked incredulously, somehow managing to keep up with him even as Steve walked with slight hurried steps towards the Camaro parked on the other side of the road. Unfortunately for him, traffic flowed steadily along the road, meaning he couldn't escape his talkative and always observant partner. Instead, he stood by the side of the road and listened with half a mind, eyes on the lookout for a break in the vehicles to give them space to cross over. "You have done so much worse than shoving a gun into someone's face when they know so much less. What happened to the explosives, the hanging from the roof, the throwing stars?"

Steve suddenly turned to face the other man. "Wait, so now you're _complaining_ that I'm playing by the rules?" he asked to clarify.

Danny pursed his lips for a moment before answering. "I wouldn't say that you're '_playing by the rules_', but it's a great improvement," he told him, to which Steve subtly rolled his eyes and finally managed to head over to the car. He had a few seconds head start, which meant that he was in the driver's seat before Danny had even reached the other side of the car. However, he was sadly disappointed when he carried on with what he had been saying as soon as the latter's door was shut. "And no, I'm not complaining. I'm just wondering what the hell happened to you that's making you act this way. Did you get hurt? Are you injured or something? Do we need to take you to the hospital?"

"No, Danny, everything's fine," Steve said a bit snappishly, turning on the engine and putting it in gear. He pulled out into the traffic as quickly as he could as soon as he saw an opening, stepping down on the gas pedal to help him create the space he needed before the black car behind them crashed into them.

It took a moment for him to realize that Danny had uncharacteristically become quiet, sitting with hands folded in his lap and eyes focused out of the window in front of him. Sighing, Steve rolled his eyes upwards; silently asking God above for patience, and simply '_why him?'_, because his partner had more mood swings than a pregnant woman. He should know.

There was only one way to bring Danny out of the sulky shell he climbed into when he got a bit sensitive in response to something he did; tell him what it was that he wanted to hear in the first place. "Kono's got high blood pressure."

It took a minute before he replied, although Steve could see his body tense up and head swivel in his direction as soon as he had said it. "High blood pressure?" Danny repeated in shock.

"Yeah, which is bad for the baby," he added with a nod, and he was fairly sure he was gritting his teeth, or at least fixing his jaw, like he did every time he spoke or thought about the recent diagnosis. It annoyed him to beyond reasoning that there were some things that he simply could not protect not only his wife but also their child from.

"Of course it's bad for the baby!" Danny suddenly exclaimed exasperatedly, bringing Steve out of his own thoughts. "But what's this got to do with what just happened?"

Steve ran a hand over his face before answering. "Well the doc said that the main cause of high blood pressure is stress. Which Kono claims is because I make her worry about me and what I might do in the field," he admitted for the first time to anyone outside of two of them and his sister since they had found out a couple of weeks beforehand.

"Such as treating suspects wrongly?" Danny asked, somewhat rhetorically. Steve ignored it and nodded hesitantly.

"That," he conceded slowly before carrying on. "And getting into situations where I might get killed."

"Yeah, I can see how that would stress her out," Danny remarked dryly, gesticulating to emphasise his opinion on the topic. Not that Steve was arguing or anything, but his partner always felt the need to drill the message into his head repeatedly.

Letting out a breath, Steve shrugged with a single shoulder and found it somewhat lighter all of a sudden, as if an unknown weight had been lifted off of it. "So yeah. I promised her I'd be more careful, and here we are. Being more careful."

"That's really sweet of you, Steven. A bit overdue, but better late than never." A smile began to pull at Steve's lips at Danny's typical response of sneaking in some chastising into his compliments. "Wanna work on the driving too? I hear speed can kill," he said with what Steve thought was a hint of hope when he settled back into his seat, gripping onto the car door when they swerved around a corner.

Smirking, Steve shook his head. "One thing at a time, Danno."

…

Despite the fact she could no longer spend as much time as she would like on her feet anymore, Kono had jumped at the chance to get out of the house and go shopping for the final things that were still needed for the baby such as towels and toiletries. Mary Ann had gladly offered to go with her, seeing as Steve quite literally lost a few years from the stress of her going anywhere alone anymore. Kono was glad to have an ally in Mary Ann; the two of them could win an argument in less than half the time it usually took.

"What about this?" Kono looked up to where her sister-in-law was holding up a pair of red shorts from the rail opposite her. Naturally, they had wandered into the maternity section after spotting a beautiful purple sundress on sale, figuring she could wear it at the dinner they were holding at their house for Steve's birthday the following week.

Shaking her head, she turned back to the tops she was skimming through. "Nah."

"Oh, this?" Mary Ann asked again in her preppy voice, showing her a shorter pair of denim cut offs that she was surely too old and currently out of shape for.

"No," Kono scoffed and shook her head. "It's not my style."

There was a huff from the blonde before a momentary silence that she broke by snatching another pair of black shorts, this time longer, off the racks. "These totally are," she exclaimed.

Raising an eyebrow, Kono left what she was looking at and walked over to stand next to the other woman. "I'm wearing a pair just like those right now," she pointed out in amusement. Spending time with Mary Ann never failed to lighten her up or relax her, whether they were hanging out on the beach, being lazy on the couch or simply grabbing coffee. Having her back on the island had been good for both Steve and herself. Mary Ann herself seemed to be having fun; spending most of her free time with them, teasing, and subsequently getting chided by, her big brother.

"So? It never hurts to have two," she shrugged and threw the pair over the dress Kono was carrying on her arm.

"It does when they're maternity clothes and I've only got about 6 weeks left," Kono retorted, holding up the shorts and frowning at them before hooking them back onto the railing.

"Well, you can just keep them for next time," Mary Ann announced, draping the shorts back over the other woman's arm. Kono couldn't do anything but look at her incredulously at her offhanded words. "What?" she asked when she noticed both the silence and the look.

Kono blinked before arching a brow at her and replacing the shorts back one last time. "'_Next time_'? I haven't given birth to _this_ one yet, Mary!" she reminded her, subconsciously skimming a hand over her stomach as she began to walk away towards the baby section.

"Yeah, but it'll happen, right?" she heard Mary Ann ask as she caught up with her. It wasn't hard considering, according to her loving elder cousin, she had started to waddle a bit. She didn't even want to think about how Chin knew what waddling was. In her own opinion, it wasn't waddling but simply a slower pace that came with the carrying around of added weight.

"I dunno. I haven't thought that far ahead yet. I'm still trying to get my head about having _a_ baby and trying not to mess it up," Kono admitted with a small shrug and a light-hearted tone. She had hoped the smile she had put on would mask the underlying truth in her words; that she was actually terrified of failing miserably at motherhood. Judging by the reply she got, she hadn't succeeded.

"You won't mess it up," Mary Ann assured her, to which she answered with an affirmative hum. It wasn't enough to satisfy the blonde, however. "Kono, you _won't_ mess it up. You're totally ready for this."

Letting out a sigh, Kono put all of her efforts into going through the different types of baby towels so to stop herself from breaking down and admitting it all in a public store of all places. "I am? How do you even know that? You've only been here for 2 weeks," she asked her nonetheless with a short glance from the corner of her eyes at where the other woman stood next to her.

"I've known you for longer," she reminded her matter-of-factly, carrying on in the same tone to get her point across. "You're great with the kids you teach surfing, and with Grace and your own cousins." By the time Mary Ann had finished with her short list, Kono was shaking her head and had turned towards her, worry etched clearly on her features, as she no longer even bothered to try to hide it. She had spent far too long trying to reassure herself; it was time to allow someone else to help her.

"That's different though, isn't it? They're not my children to bring up and I can just hand them back over to their parents when the fun's over," she said, words getting louder and more abrupt towards the end. Taking in a breath to calm herself down, she averted her eyes as she ran her fingers over the softness of one of the cloths she had picked up and was currently clutching in her other hand with more force than she was aware of. "With our baby, I have to do it all; the good and the bad. Discipline, guide, punish. I can't do that! I'm always the fun one," she stated, looking back up at Mary Ann with apprehension in her eyes.

"It's a good thing you have Steve then, 'cause he can," the blonde retorted instantly with a smirk, helping to break the tension growing between the two of them due to the seriousness of the conversation. Kono laughed at her very truthful remark; having experienced it a lot in the last few weeks between the siblings. "Look, I know you think you couldn't do it, but you can. Everyone can when they need to," Mary Ann added earnestly, and Kono began to wonder why she hadn't turned to her sister-in-law when her doubts had first arisen. "And honestly, you've disciplined Steve enough to turn into a decent husband."

"I don't think it's possible to discipline your brother," Kono scoffed with a smile, turning back to the shelves to choose two more baby towels that she was sure she wouldn't ever use because they were far too soft to ever dampen. "But he'll be a great father, too."

"Yeah, because he has you there as well," Mary Ann informed her, lightly bumping her shoulder with her own as they headed towards the counter before they were tempted to buy more things that they didn't really need. They still had another few stores to hit before their list could be checked off as it was. "You know he's as terrified of this parenthood stuff as you are. Thing is, he knows it'll be ok 'cause you're in it together."

Of course she had known about him being worried about it too. They had spoken about it a handful of times, here and there. It was the reason why she hadn't opened up about her own fears; Steve had reason to doubt his parental skills after the family life he had had. She had had a more balanced and relevantly normal life in comparison.

After allowing her words to sink in, Kono turned towards the other woman as they waited in line. Opening her mouth to ask how she knew that too, she shook her head and offered her a wry smile before asking another question altogether. "When did you get so wise, huh?" she teased.

"His words, not mine," Mary Ann told her in a light, singsong tone, surprising Kono. Sort of. It was just typical that the most reassuring and comforting words that anyone had offered her about parenthood had come from Steve, however indirect. "Between the two of you, though, I'm sure you can handle this. It'll come to you naturally. Just wait and see," she added with a wink and a bright smile that was enough to convince Kono for the time being as she felt the uneasy feeling that had settled deep in her lighten up.

She was grateful for the familiar ringing of Mary Ann's cell phone to break the sudden silence. If it hadn't, she was sure it would have gotten horribly emotional; her hormones were still all over the place at times.

"That's like the forth time you've rejected a call, Mary. Am I keeping you from something? Or _someone_?" Kono asked with a sly grin, approaching the counter and placing the dress and 3 towels, along with 4 other items that the other woman had picked up, down for the gentleman behind the till to ring up for them.

Mary Ann scoffed. "It's Steve," she informed with a hint of irritation as she typed away on her phone. The smile on Kono's face died own on instant, shock setting in instead as she paid for their shopping and thanked the man before grabbing the bag.

"You're kidding, right?" she asked disbelievingly; eyebrows rising up when Mary Ann showed her the call list. Kono dug out her own phone from her pocket, slightly bemused by the lack of notifications on the home screen. "Wow, and not a single call to me. I'm actually surprised HPD aren't raiding the mall yet."

A laugh from the person next to her as they began to leave the shop made Kono shrug and tuck away her phone again. "I texted him to leave us alone and to focus on his own shopping. It's almost like he doesn't trust me," Mary Ann said petulantly as she threw her cell back into her bag.

Kono shook her head in both disagreement and amusement. "It's not you. He doesn't trust _me_ not to go into labour or be completely safe," she told her offhandedly, somehow not too bothered by the ridiculousness of it.

It wasn't an entirely unfeasible scenario, going into an early labour, and being the super-prepared and wary man that he was, Steve was probably still thinking about it at the back of his mind even as he and Chin were currently picking up the crib they had ordered and some more furniture for the nursery.

"How you haven't shot him yet is beyond me," Mary Ann retorted dryly, making Kono grin before sighing dramatically.

"Guess our kid will need her father," she replied in a teasing nonchalant tone to which they both laughed whilst making their way to the next store that they needed to go to.

"Seriously, though. I expect more kids from you guys down the line somewhere," the blonde reiterated when they entered the baby store, bringing up the conversation that Kono had thought, and had hoped, had been long forgotten. "Besides, it wouldn't be fair to make my niece an only child. She'd get lonely," she added in an upset tone.

"_I'm_ an only child, Mary," Kono reminded her and turning to face her, narrowing her eyes challengingly.

"Weren't you lonely?" she asked sincerely whilst flicking through a pile of multi-coloured baby all-in-one suits.

"_No!_ I had friends and family!" The answer came out a bit too hurriedly to sound entirely truthful. At Mary Ann's silent and brief dubious look thrown her way, Kono sighed and relented. "Yeah, fine, it sucked at times. _But_ that doesn't mean I'm planning on more kids. One is fine for the time being."

"If you say so," Mary Ann grinned slyly, glancing shortly at her through her eyelashes before letting out an exaggerated sigh. "Too bad it's not what Steve wants. And we all know; what Steve wants, Steve gets."

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_**A/N: Part 2 will be up shortly. For updates and more information, visit my tumblr; tiana-p =) The link is on my profile. Please lemme know what you thought of this chapter!**_


	10. Month 8 pt 2

_**A/N: Hey again. Once again, I'm sorry for the long wait between the last chapter and this. I hope the fact that it's rather long makes up for it. RL just got in the way. Thank you all for the reviews, adds and favs, and the comments on tumblr. They all helped motivate me to write and update quicker =D**_

_**Big thanks to teenycee for the beta'ing, motivating, pushing and brainstorming my ideas, night or day!**_

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_Month 8 (part 2)_

Spending his birthday with his sister as well as finishing up the nursery seemed like the perfect day for Steve. In theory. In reality, however, the mix of both was grating on his last nerve. "All you have to do is hold it, Mare. That's all. Got it?" he instructed pointedly to the woman currently sitting on the floor next to the pieces of the crib that they were currently attempting to put together.

"I think I can handle it," she replied dryly, holding the final side to the otherwise completed item of furniture. With a nod, Steve turned away to lean over the crib and begin with twisting in the final two screws. "You're doing it wrong."

Scoffing at her retort, he carried on with what he was doing. "There aren't many ways to put a screw in," he informed her with a roll of the eyes that he knew she could, and would, see.

"So it's kinda surprising that you're doing it wrong then!" Mary Ann rebuked, making him jump slightly when she kicked him in the shin. Scowling in her direction, he took a step away from her before continuing with the task at hand. "Steve, it's not going in!"

"Just hold it still, Mary," he muttered with a sigh, silently wondering why he had agreed to allow her to help him with the crib. The elation he had felt that morning with the breakfast that Kono had surprised him with must have temporarily altered his sense of judgement when his sister had offered a hand.

"I _am_ holding it still," she replied pointedly with a tone that Steve noted as exasperation. He wasn't too sure why _she_ was the one exasperated, though. "_You're_ the one causing it to tilt."

Choosing not to comment on either her words or his thoughts, Steve waited until the screw would turn no further before standing up straight once again and brushing his hands down his jeans. "There, done. You can let go now."

Mary Ann hurriedly jumped to her feet and joined him a foot away from the crib where he was eyeing the wooden masterpiece. A small frown marred his features when he finally spotted what she had been talking about; the left side of the crib tilted ever so slightly under the rest of it and was, therefore, unbalanced and unsafe.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to look like that," she commented, clearly amused. Steve was anything but. "Why didn't you just follow the instructions?"

"I did," he grumbled, hand tightening around the screwdriver he still held as he picked up the sheet of instructions that came in the box with the crib from the floor. Skimming through both the pictograms and captions explaining each one, Steve couldn't see where he had gone wrong. If anything, he was proud of the fact that he had followed it so accurately. Yet, when he lowered the paper, the proof was not sitting in front of him.

"_Men_," Mary Ann huffed, breaking him out of his thoughts and snatching the screwdriver out of his hand before he could even react. "Move. I'll do it," she said with a small shove and approaching the crib once again.

"No, it's fine," he replied almost immediately, if not a bit too urgently, stepping up next to her to block her access to the side she wanted to get at and turning to face her.

"I wasn't asking, Steven," she told him, pointing the screwdriver at him menacingly as she uttered his given name. The sad part was that he was sure she would use it on him if he pushed her too far.

"I wasn't _either_," he countered. He tried to grab the tool out of her hand, but she stretched her arm out in the other direction so that if he did go to try and forcefully take it off her, he would have to move.

"We only have one try at this, and if you break it, not only will Kono be mad, your daughter won't have anywhere to sleep," Mary Ann pointed out matter-of-factly, still holding her arm out of reach though Steve had given up on trying to retain it, crossing his arms instead as he held her current glare.

Her words held more than a glimmer of truth to them, and he took a moment to consider it. There was no doubt in his mind that if he did break the crib, Kono would hurt him severely, even in her heavily pregnant state. Or maim him. The crib was her favourite piece of furniture that she had picked out, and the only reason she wasn't there helping to put it together was because she physically couldn't. They had both learnt that the hard way a few days earlier, when her growing baby bump had restricted a lot of movements necessary for doing DIY.

Subtly shaking his head, he cleared his mind and held out a hand towards her. "I'm not going to break it. Give me the screwdriver back," he said in what he considered was a rather civil manner. When she refused to comply, he dropped his hands to rest on his hips. "Mary!" he growled out, irritation building up. If it was anyone else, he would have dropped kicked them by now and taken it from their limp hand afterwards. Too bad he actually cared for his little sister.

"Just let me have a go!" she insisted, grabbing onto his forearm to try and move him. At least he had his strength and a height advantage over her that kept him rooted in his spot. Mary Ann glowered after letting go, and he had to bite back a smirk at her reaction. "What's the worst that can happen?"

Steve narrowed his eyes at her. "The last time you said that in this room, you jumped off that balcony and you broke your foot," he reminded her, lifting a hand off his waist to point towards the doors that he had already secured. "And_ I_ was grounded until it healed," he added with a hint of irritation; something he could recall feeling 25 years previously when he had been chastised by his parents for not looking after his baby sister. He had tried to argue that he had tried to stop her, but the girl had been a force unto her own for as long as he could remember, only learning from her mistakes and consequences.

"Jeez, bro, forgot you had a freakishly good memory," Mary Ann exclaimed in awe after a beat of silence in which she blinked at him as if the memory was suddenly all coming back to her. With all the complaining, moaning and crying she had done over the 6 weeks her foot had been in a cast, Steve didn't believe for a second that she had forgotten about that moment in their lives. "Is that why you've locked and guarded the doors? To stop the next generation from doing something similar?" she asked with a smirk and genuine curiosity.

Raising an eyebrow at her incredulously, he dropped his hands to his sides. "A mix of me and Kono? She's bound to do something crazy like that," he admitted with a deep sigh. When his sister merely laughed in agreement at his words, he rolled his eyes and stepped closer to her, changing the subject back to what they had initially been talking about. "Here, give me the screwdriver and let's try again," he said, holding out a hand for the tool.

"No, I want to try," she reiterated, knuckles whitening around the hold she had on it as she held it by her side, stepping away from him and going around to the other side of the crib.

Giving up on trying to be gentle, Steve practically lunged across the wooden furniture between them to try and get a hold of at least her if not the screwdriver. "Mary-" he began when he missed and whacked his arm on the opposite railing of the crib, sending painful vibrations all the way up to his elbow.

"Why don't you go try and fix the bathroom some more?" Mary Ann asked him sarcastically, nodding towards the ensuite doorway as she tapped the screwdriver against the palm of her hand almost teasingly.

"It's _fixed_. I finished it last night," he told her, words coming out stiff and curt when he clenched his jaw to try his best not to yell or raise his voice. It worked for the moment.

"Really? By yourself?" she asked in an astonished tone. A smirk crossed her features when he glared at her, unimpressed by her surprise. "After, what was it, 3 months? You don't have that kind of time with this crib."

Steve decided not to reply to her matter-of-fact statement, he kept up with the glare before trying to snatch the tool away from her once again. "Just give me-" he began, cutting himself off as he failed to catch her flailing arm that she now held aloft and out of his reach. It wasn't helping his patience or his frustration levels that he, a Navy SEAL, was being outmaneuvered by his sister.

"No!" Mary Ann huffed, hiding her arm behind her back and retreating away from him as he began to stalk around the crib towards her.

"_Hey!_ Seriously, you two do not make having siblings sound like fun!" The exclamation froze them both in their places momentarily before turning to face Kono in the doorway of the bedroom. Though her tone had been annoyed, there was a clear look of amusement on her features as she stood eyeing them as if they were complete idiots.

"It's not when your sibling is a control freak who can't accept any help!" Mary Ann retorted, looking over at her brother even though her words were in reply to Kono's. Steve rolled his eyes and turned back to face her once again.

"I've let you help with the nursery since you've gotten here, haven't I?" he reminded her pointedly. Seeing his wife move out of the corner of his eye, he heard her laugh as she took a seat on the couch in the corner of the room.

"You made me open up the presents and organize it into the drawers. Kono did half of it!" Mary Ann reminded him, pointing towards the other woman with the screwdriver that she still held onto. Taking his chance, he tried to grab it, only missing it when she pulled it out of his fist just as he was about to tighten his grip on the cold metal.

"Don't involve me in your little tiff," Kono warned them, words slightly flat and distracted, but claiming their attention once again. Her eyes were glued to the piece of furniture behind them. "What happened to the crib?" she asked with an icy tone and a raised brow that was aimed solely at him.

Clearing his throat, he glanced back at the crib before shrugging and looking over at Kono. "Nothing. I'm fixing it," he assured her, not waiting to see if it had worked before turning to his sister when another example popped into his head. "You painted the bathroom door too."

Mary Ann narrowed her eyes at him, and he knew that he hadn't won that argument either. "_Outside_," she exclaimed.

"Time out, guys. I think Danny and Chin just got here," Kono interrupted them, stopping Steve from arguing that it hadn't been a decent job anyway, and he had had to repaint it himself because he could see the brush strokes in the dried paint. In hindsight, it was probably a good thing that Kono had spoken up and stopped him from saying anything. His sister had a temper and as much self-control towards people who pissed them off to match his. "I'll go greet them, then," she added, pushing herself up from the couch and heading out of the room whilst muttering something under her breath that Steve couldn't hear but was pretty sure was about their sibling rivalry.

By the time Kono left and Steve turned back to the crib, Mary Ann was already working on taking out the screws that he had put in last, having taken advantage of his distraction to get started on it. Exhaling deeply, he kept his mouth shut and held onto the side that was about to detach and fall off. He figured that he could take over once she was done because she was bound to drop the screwdriver by then.

They work in silence for a couple of minutes before the familiar Jersey accent rang out from the hallway. "Why do you have a baby gate on the stairs already?" Danny asked, though Steve wasn't sure whether it was meant for Kono, him, or the world in general. By Kono's roll of the eyes when she entered the room a few seconds before the other two men, it was obvious that she was passing his partner's question on to him.

"What do you mean 'why'? We're having a baby. Therefore, it's needed," he answered factually, still holding onto the crib. He reached out with a hand to take over from where Mary Ann was struggling with one tightened screw, only to have his hand slapped away by the blonde and hiss that she can handle it.

"He also secured all the sockets, covered all the sharp corners and put a lock on all balcony doors. Some don't even open anymore," Mary Ann spoke up without taking her eyes off the job she was doing. Although he stood not more than two feet away, he could hear the smirk in her voice rather than see it on her face; something the others heard too, if their chuckling was anything to go by.

"You _baby proofed_ the house?" Chin asked, both amused and incredulous, peering around the room to take it in. It hadn't changed much since the last time they had been there, but with the new information, Steve knew he was trying to see if they could find any of the baby proofing.

"It has to be done," he said, shrugging nonchalantly. He didn't know why they were making such a big deal out of it. If anything, Steve expected them to be impressed that he was taking such 'normal' precautions.

Danny chortled at that, glancing into the en suite bathroom before turning towards him. "Sure. When she's like a toddler or something. Or hey, when she can actually move by herself," he remarked with a grin. Kono was the only one to respectfully turn her laugh into a cough when Steve shot them an irked look.

"Better safe than sorry," she commented. If the sheepish look she threw him was anything to go by, the smile on her face was completely out of her control as she tried, and failed, to sound as earnest as she could.

"I hate to think how you're going to react when you take her out and about," Danny quipped, leaning against the chest of drawers with one arm as the other hand flailed around in the air. Steve watched him intermittently over his shoulder as he held on to the crib and prayed that his sister wouldn't break the thing in front of Kono. "This world, my friend, is _not_ baby proofed. The minute she leaves the hospital in the no doubt top of the range, probably equipped with special SEAL protection stuff baby car seat, she's going to be open to _all_ kinds of danger."

Steve froze at his words, not only because they were true and upsetting to think about his child in a world that was as dangerous as it was, but because of the same reason that Kono now stood with widened eyes. "We don't have a car seat," she announced in shock, eyes meeting his.

There's a moment of quiet in the room, broken only by Mary Ann's handywork and occasional grunt of hard work, before Chin spoke up. "Cuz, you do know they won't let you go home without one, right?" he said in the soft mannered way of his.

Steve cleared his throat before speaking up. "We know. It must have slipped our minds," he said, shaking his head and wondering how something so obvious had been missed off their list.

"Oh, so you can remember to baby proof the whole house for the upcoming years, but you forget to buy the most essential thing needed to actually bring your daughter home?" Danny chortled in sarcastic glee, looking around at everyone before returning back to Steve, who merely stared back. There was no way he was going to be able to escape the teasing that this was going to ensure from his partner for the next year or ten.

"We'll get one tomorrow," Steve nodded at Kono's reassurance, ignoring Mary Ann's mutter about how she hoped it was already assembled. Clapping her hands, Kono turned to the other two men and smiled brightly. "Right now, we have a meal to prepare, so get moving!"

"_Yes_, _ma'am!_" Danny said with a mock salute and a quick turn on his heels to leave the room before she could catch up with him.

…

Kono heard the creak of a loose floorboard a few seconds before he appeared in the doorway. Having recognised the light footsteps, she glanced over without the small shot of panic that usually flowed through her in the middle of the night when she heard something out of place.

Steve's half naked form appeared on the lanai a moment later, glancing to his right first and then towards her. There was clear relief on his face and in his greeting when he finally spotted her. "Hey."

She smiled back at him from the far side of the comfy loveseat that sat outside. "Hey, I didn't wake you, did I?" she asked worriedly, having had tried her best to be as quiet and slow as she could when she left their bed. It had been a surprise that he hadn't woken up there and then like he did on most occasions when she left his embrace, but after a long and tiresome case, he had been quick to fall into a deep sleep.

Shaking his head, he sat on the other end of the seat and leaned his elbows onto his knees. "It's fine. You should have woken me up when you got up," he muttered into his hands as he rubbed them over his face and into his hair. The pillow has mussed it up already, giving him that sleepy look that Kono had always found quite attractive.

"It hasn't been long. She kept kicking me in the ribs so I thought a change in position and some food might help," she told him, keeping her voice low to match his in the darkness of the night. Rubbing her stomach gently, she smiled when he reached across and placed a hand of his own upon the bump. "I think she's sleeping now."

"That's good," Steve smiled, leaving his hand on her nonetheless. Covering it with one of her own, she thumbed the cool metal of his wedding ring as they fell into a short silence with only the sounds of the waves lapping at the far shore and the nocturnal animals that roamed the area turning it into a sense of tranquillity.

Kono had never truly appreciated where they lived until she had become pregnant and spent time here and there outside on that very bench. It was more than just a beach front house with a piece of the ocean to herself. It was simply beautiful and relaxing; a paradise in its own right because it was where everything she loved met home. And in the depths of the night, be it raining or clear skies, there was no other view that could match the one she saw from where she sat because it was right there, not too long ago, that she had realized that somewhere along the line her life had become relatively something she had never thought it could be; perfect.

"We can't keep calling her 'she', you know. We need to decide soon what we're going to name her," Steve spoke up to break the silence, fingers strumming lightly against her stomach causing her to stop with her own ministrations.

"I already gave you my suggestion," Kono reminded him, making him exhale loudly and sit back, retracting his hand back to his side. There was something akin to a pout on his lips, but it could have just been the dimness of the moonlight fooling her.

"I don't see why you get to choose her name. Isn't this supposed to be agreed upon?" he asked her with a hint of petulance that made her reconsider her stance about the pout.

"We've tried that, remember? It's why she's still nameless," she stated, arching a brow at him and twisting in her seat to lean back against the cushioned armrest with her feet resting on Steve's lap. "Besides, why are you complaining? She gets your last name."

He raised his eyebrows at her statement, hands landing on her legs. "She can have yours if we can call her 'Nai'a'," he told her flippantly. She glared at him half-heartedly at the suggestion. "Exactly."

"Hey, you should be happy that she's getting your last name," Kono exclaimed, pointing a finger in his direction. "Do you know what the name 'Kalakaua' was worth back in the days? We were _royalty._ But I am willing to let that go for you."

Steve rolled his eyes and draped an arm along the back of the seat to face her as he spoke. "You _hate_ it when anyone brings that up. You threatened to shoot Danny just last week because of it," he reminded her, making her grimace at the memory of their teammate teasing her when she asked him to pick up a pen that she had dropped. With her pregnant stomach, she couldn't reach it, and though Danny had been more than happy to help her out, he couldn't do so without a quip about her heritage and calling her 'Your Majesty' along with it.

"That's 'cause Danny's a jerk," she huffed with a small scowl at the memory before shaking her head to rid herself of the residual irritation it had brought up again. Her emotions were not entirely in her control at the best of times, let alone when she was tired. Rubbing her temple with her fingers, she tilted her head back to look up at the wooden slats of the roof and dropped her hands to rest upon her stomach. "Can we discuss this another time? It's too late to have this conversation right now," she asked in reference to the original topic of baby names and took Steve's lack of reply as an affirmation.

"I got a call the other day. From the Navy," he announced suddenly, causing Kono to snap her head back down again. The last time he had randomly told her he had gotten a call from the Navy, he had been deployed to places she still didn't know about for over two months. Her face must have portrayed her thoughts because Steve hurriedly carried on. "Not that. I would have told you that straight away."

Exhaling, she relaxed once again and quirked an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, after last time, I'd hope so." Steve cleared his throat at her retort, choosing not to comment or defend himself for the umpteenth time about how it had taken him over a week last time to tell her about the orders and having only told her a few days before he had to go. "So what then?"

"I need to do my final training drill for the reserves before I take my leave. I've been putting it off for," he paused with a noncommittal shrug and a furrowed brow as he thought about it. "Well, about 7 months now."

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes at his impeccable timing for choosing that moment to bring it up and ignoring the fact he hadn't told her sooner, she nodded at his sheepish admittance. "When?"

"Probably in a couple of weeks. It'll just be for a weekend and it'll be most likely be at the navy base here," Steve explained, not giving her the chance to even think of the questions as he hurriedly dove into answering them.

A pang of guilt ran through Kono at the realization that he had put this off to avoid leaving her alone during her pregnancy and as time went on, more things had cropped up that stopped him from going. She was sure that if it hadn't been compulsory, he wouldn't go at all.

"Just for a weekend?" she asked him softly, to which he nodded. "And you'll be right here?" she made sure, and when he nodded again, Kono let out a breath and smiled at him. "What's the problem, then?"

"Apart from the fact you'll be a few weeks away from the due date?" Steve asked incredulously, fingers unconsciously tightening their grip where they laid on her calf as if the mere thought of it stressed him out. It probably did.

Ignoring his words and his grip, she tilted her head a bit and narrowed her eyes in thought. "Wait, is this why you've been hammering away with the nursery and all the baby proofing and wanting to decide on a name?"

There was a beat of silence before he answered. "We have to get it done anyway," he told her with a sharp edge of defensiveness to the words, eyes drifting downwards as he did so. Kono licked her lips to hide the smile that threatened to break out at his sudden embarrassment.

"Steve, I assure you, if I am to go into labour whilst you're away, the _last_ thing I'll care about is if all the sharp covers have been protected," she said matter-of-factly, laying a hand on the arm he had stretched along the back of the bench and squeezing it gently. "Plus, we get a few weeks before having to submit the birth certificate, and that's without the strings you could pull for us."

"I don't want to go and leave you in the lurch, that's all," he said, eyes jumping back to hers with all sense of embarrassment gone and a serious glaze taking its place. "It'd be less stressful if everything was ready, and I'd worry less about leaving you by yourself."

"Contrary to popular belief, pregnant women don't require constant supervision," Kono retorted dryly, earning herself a mild glare that somehow seemed less than threatening in his dishevelled state. Shaking her head gently with a sigh, she smiled and slid her hand down from his arm to his hand to squeeze it. "I'll be fine, babe. I have Chin, Danny and Mary nearby if I need them. Not that I will. The nursery is practically done, we now have a car seat so she can actually come home, and we _will_ decide on a name," she listed to assure him, though from the frown marring his features, she wasn't sure if her words had had the intended effect.

"Are you sure? Because I can pull some strings with the Navy too and push it back for another few months or so," he informed her steadily, hand gripping back at hers as his gaze held steady with hers.

"And what, leave me alone with a newborn?" she replied, smirking and raising a brow, to which he acquiesced with a nod and finally averting his eyes from hers. "It's fine, Steve," she assured him once again, lowering her voice in hope that it would sooth him and his worries better than before. When he seemed to relax in his seat, slumping against the back more than he already had been, Kono figured she had managed it right this time.

"I'll be nearby, too, so in case anything _does_ happen, I can get home or even to the hospital rapidly," Steve added, rubbing his hand up and down her leg reassuringly as he did. The sensations made her skin tingle in the middle of the night, and she jerked her foot gently to make him stop.

"You don't need to convince me; I already said ok," Kono reminded him teasingly, sitting up straighter and dropping his hand as she crossed her legs to get them away from her husband.

"Sure?" he asked her, eyeing her carefully when she nodded. He must have decided that she was being truthful when he let out a breath and carried on in a strict but soft manner. "If you change your mind, tell me, alright? I won't go if you don't want me to."

Kono blinked at him momentarily at the amount of control that he had handed her regarding his career. His Navy career that had been his life for so long before Five-0 had came about. "I-" she began to say to tell him that she understood and that she wouldn't change her mind regardless because it wasn't something she felt like she should control. But instead, she put on a smile and nodded once again. "Ok."

"Good," Steve simply replied, returning the smile with his boyish charm that came about from the residual sleep still lingering in his features. The mere look of it made her body crave for sleep again.

"Can we go back to bed now? My back is killing me and I think she's got her feet up against my ribs, ready to kick them again," she asked him, who stood up and chuckled at her words. Ever since she had described to the best of her abilities how their baby kicking her ribs felt, he had found it amusing how much it irritated her when she was sort of use to her ribs being less than fine on most occasions.

Holding out his hands for her, she took them gratefully to help ease her up from the loveseat. Time and the baby bump had slowly made it harder for her to do it by herself. "Thanks," Kono murmured when he pulled her closer to him in his arms.

"Sure," he replied in the same tone, watching as his eyes flittered from hers to her mouth and back again like they use to when they had first started dating; when close touches and kissing were still part of a learning curve for their relationship. The learning might have been left behind, but the butterflies in her stomach, the light-headedness and the tingling sensations still remained whenever he kissed her.

Such as right then. With everything disappearing but the sound of the waves and the feel of his body against hers, hands holding her to him whilst hers rested on his chest, she could almost make herself believe it was four years ago. Until she felt the familiar kicking once again.

Breaking the kiss somewhat reluctantly, Kono could tell from the look on Steve's face that he had felt it too; the mix of amusement and the always-present pride underlying it. When he leant in to press his lips to hers again, she pulled away with tiny step back and created a space between them.

"Bed," she said in answer to his questioning look. "I want to sleep. We can make out another time,' she added before turning around to walk back into the house.

He groaned even as he followed her, closing the lanai door behind them. "Such a romantic," she heard him mumble sarcastically under his breath not a second later. Kono couldn't do anything by laugh to herself at the irony of his words.

* * *

_**A/N: Only one more month to go! Thank you for reading. Lemme know what you thought =)**_


	11. Month 9 pt 1

_**A/N: So I guess I owe you guys a HUGE apology! Firstly, I'm so sorry that its been ages since the last update. Finding time to write, and the motivation, was hard unfortunately. Secondly, I'm sorry that this isn't the whole chapter (yet again) but it really was getting too long - past 9,000 with two more scenes to go. So I thought the best thing to do would be to split it because I didn't want to make you all wait any longer and I didn't want the end result to be one mega long chapter and leaves you drained and bored by the end of it! I should hopefully have the next part up soon!**_

_**Massive, massive, massive thank yous to teenycee and quisinart4! Honestly, without these two, this chapter wouldn't even have been written or posted for a long, long time! You guys really do rock =)**_

* * *

_Month 9 (part 1)_

Kono groaned at the knock on the door. She was enjoying her weekend so far; currently spending the afternoon lying on the sofa whilst watching trashy TV, eating ice cream out of the tub and just generally being lazy. Yes, she'd admit that she was being lazy. But she was almost 3 weeks from her due date and she felt fat and tired. The baby had grown quite rapidly recently to the point that she almost felt she couldn't keep up. Or stand up, for that matter.

As the person knocked again, she yelled out that she was coming and managed to manoeuvre herself to a sitting position and push herself off the couch. She was all for being independent, but at times like these, she really needed Steve. It wasn't until he had left that she had realised how much she had taken his waiting at her beck and call for granted.

Peering through the peephole like she had promised her husband she would, she sighed at the sight of the blonde on the other side. Undoing the door chain and unlocking the door, she yanked it open but only enough for her to stand in the doorway and stare at the visitor in question.

"Hi," Danny merely greeted, eyes traveling the length of her body before meeting her eyes again when she cleared her throat. Wearing just a pair of shorts and one of Steve's t-shirt, because it was the only thing she could fit over her stomach anymore, with her hair tied up in a messy ponytail, she knew she must look a sight. And not a good one, either. "Where's Steve?" he asked, trying to peer over her shoulder, as if looking for the man in question.

Kono raised an incredulous eyebrow at his words. "He didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Danny replied, scrunching his eyebrows together in confusion that suddenly made her feel guilty. Had Steve forgotten to tell his best friend that he was away for the next couple of days? It wasn't likely, but she never knew with Steve. If they weren't living together, she wouldn't put it past him to forget to tell her.

"He's got his reserve training this weekend," she informed him, letting go of the door and resting her weight against the doorjamb, settling herself in for a rant. "Over at Pearl Harbor."

Eyebrows rising up to meet his hairline, he opened his mouth to say something before stopping and nodding. "Oh," he simply muttered, much to Kono's astonishment. She had been preparing for a response much more meaningful than that. Louder, too. And longer.

Huffing, she rolled her eyes and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You're _such_ a horrible liar. What's he got on you to make sure you check up on me, huh?"

"Kono, babe, I'm hurt. You think I wouldn't care about you enough to come and see you? I'm here out of my own will," Danny insisted in his typical dramatic fashion, hand waving and theatrics included. Dropping the hand he had placed on his heart to show his 'hurt' at her theory, he carried on a bit more sheepishly. "Of course, Steven _might_ have suggested, heavily, that we should see if you needed anything whilst he was away, but we would have done it anyway."

None of it was really surprising, she had to admit. She knew what she was getting into with Steve's overprotectiveness when she married him. "_'We'_?" she repeated, suspiciously.

"You don't think Chin would let you spend the weekend alone, did you?" he said rhetorically, grinning widely at her clear look of annoyance. "I volunteered today so that he can come over tomorrow whilst Malia's at work."

Standing up straight, she ran a hand over her face before crossing her arms in front of her. "I'm fine. Baby's fine. Everything's fine. Happy?" she told him, matter-of-factly, because the last thing she needed was Danny's constant eye on her. At least Steve, and Chin, knew how to be stealthy about it. Danny, not so much.

"Can I stay?" he asked her eventually, a bit hesitant before throwing his hand up in the universal sign of submission when Kono shot him a dark glare. "Hey, Gracie's on her camping trip this weekend and I need something to take my mind off of all the horrible things we have seen occur in the jungles of this god forsaken island."

Taking in his words, and recalling all the times that the man in front of her had cursed the beautiful jungles on their homeland, she pondered and weighed out the pros and cons of letting him stay. Overall, having some company, someone to fetch her stuff and keeping Steve from most probably coming home, because she had no doubt that he would keep tabs on her through the boys too, made her give in. "As long as you don't hover or lecture me on what I eat or do. Otherwise I'm throwing you out," she warned him before stepping back and leaving the door over for him to follow.

"I fully understand," he assured her as she settled back onto the couch, this time sitting, with her ice cream. Shutting the door behind him, he stood behind the lounger to her right. "Now, on an entirely unrelated subject, have you had lunch?"

…

Being in her final month of pregnancy meant that it was almost impossible for Kono to find a comfortable position most of the times, let alone whilst trying to sleep. If she ever did, something would always wake her. A phone call, Steve getting up, the baby moving or kicking, or other noises. She had also slowly realised that she had become more alert to random sounds whilst asleep. Steve had informed her that it was her body and senses getting ready for hearing the cries of the baby once she arrived, something she had easily accepted because out of the two of them, he had been the more knowledgeable one about the pregnancy.

So when she woke up to the sound of low, heavy footsteps downstairs and that feeling that there was someone else in the house with her, Kono cursed under her breath because not only had she had to get up, but there was the off chance that there was a stranger in her house with questionable intentions.

Grabbing her gun and phone from the bedside table, she slowly made her way to the bedroom door; locked because she had promised her overprotective husband she would. Unlocking and opening it as quietly as she could, she was somewhat surprised to not only see the faint glow of light illuminatingly the landing from the other end, but to also hear the low buzzing of what she assumed was the TV. That didn't seem like any criminal she had ever known.

Still keeping her weapon up just in case, because she had seen far too much to be fooled by her own naivety, Kono made her way to the end of the landing and turned onto the small balcony that overlooked the living room. Though the light was dim, the TV lit up the room enough for her to see the intruder, or rather, 'intruder'.

"_Chin_?" she asked, both relief and disbelief rushing through her as she lowered her weapon to her side and rested her free hand on the railing. The man in question looked up at her from his seat on the couch, sitting up straight and taking her in as well as he could from his position.

"Cuz, what's wrong? Is the baby coming?" he asked immediately, worry flashing over his otherwise always calm features as he stood up. Kono shook her head to deter him before he took another step closer. It didn't matter that it was Chin, her favourite cousin and occasionally her favourite person in the world, but she was one misunderstanding away from shooting someone out of irritation.

"No," she told him indignantly, staring at him as she gripped the railing a bit tighter. "What the _hell_? I thought you had gone home." The last time she had spoken to him was when she had bid him goodnight before heading to bed only a couple of hours before hand. Just like Danny had promised the day before, Chin had turned up at midday to keep her company.

Chin had sat down again after her declaration of not being in labour, seemingly being enough to reassure him that she was ok. "I was going to but then I came across this game," he said happily, pointing the control he had picked up at the TV.

Kono blinked incredulously at his nonchalance reply and casual manner, as if being in someone else's house to watch a football game at near 1 a.m. wasn't anything to be reckoned with. Or waking up a heavily pregnant woman whilst doing do. "You're kidding, right?"

"Its a good game. Classic. You'd enjoy it, too," he shrugged with a small smile, turning the volume down a notch for her benefit, or so she assumed.

"I enjoy _sleeping_ more," she retorted pointedly through gritted teeth, letting go of the railing to run her free hand over her face and through her hair. "Don't you have a wife to go home to?"

"Malia's got the night shift." His tone was for too sincere to be a lie, but Kono knew better.

"Again?" she questioned, not believing that her cousin's wife would be working another night shift that week, nor after working a shift earlier that day. Trouble was, she was no longer sure which had been a lie, which only frustrated her more. She hated being left out and not knowing the whole truth. Something she knew that was only going to carry on when she went on maternity leave the following week.

"You know how dedicated she is," Chin added with a shrug, attention mainly focused on the game.

"_Uh huh_," Kono muttered dryly before deciding to let the matter go. It was far too late to argue something she knew wasn't worth it. "Fine. I'm going back to bed," she announced and pushed away from the balcony after a final glance downstairs.

"Night," he said with a brief wave that she had managed to catch before turning away. She had also seen him look over as if to make sure she was indeed going back to bed as well as picking up his phone from the arm of the sofa.

"Night. Tell Steve I'm fine," Kono called over her shoulder, not having to see the surprised look on Chin's face to know that her assumption about him updating Steve was correct. She wasn't a detective for no reason.

Climbing back into bed after safely tucking away her gun, she curled up again onto her side and shuffled to get herself into a comfortable position. Wrapping the cool sheets around her, she pulled one of Steve's pillows down to hook her leg around in a substitute to a body. It wasn't as great as the real thing, but it helped elevate the pressure on her hip enough to allow her to relax. She had finally managed to close her eyes and urge herself to sleep before the baby woke up after being still for so long when the familiar ringing of her cell phone brought her back to the real world.

Groaning at the fact that she would have to move, Kono froze before she reached out an arm behind her to grope for where she usually kept her phone on the bedside table. Instead, she could feel the vibrations against her thigh, and it took only a second more to remember that she had slipped her cell into the pocket of the sleep pants she wore when she had gotten up. Silently thanking the gods above for her 'baby brain' making her forget such a thing, she dug it out with ease and without having to adjust her position.

Squinting at the bright screen in the middle of the darkened room, she rolled her eyes before answering. "Your spies suck," she greeted without missing a beat.

Steve chuckled deeply at her words, causing her to smile unintentionally. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied matter-of-factly, but she could hear the amusement flowing through the words. "You're up late."

"You're the one who called," she reminded him indifferently as she shuffled slightly in the bed, moving subconsciously more over to his empty side.

"That is true," he said with another laugh before pausing and inhaling deeply in a way that Kono knew was a sign that he was going to change the subject. "Everything ok?" he eventually asked, softly and as casually as he had been talking beforehand, but she could tell that there was something more to follow.

"Everything's fine," she replied slowly, skimming her other hand over her stomach when she felt the baby begin to stir. If she didn't know any better, Kono would have thought that she had sensed her father's presence. "How about you?"

There was another pause before he answered. "Yeah, yeah, its good," Steve hurriedly said, almost brushing away the question. Kono released the breath that she hadn't known she had been holding; worried that the answered would have been something completely opposite. "You don't feel like, you know, the baby's coming or anything?" he questioned her in hesitance, as if he was choosing each word carefully to be as subtle as he could. Unfortunately, it was Steve, and he had never been one for subtle, whether he tried to or not.

Raising an eyebrow that he couldn't see, she shook her head gently to herself before replying. "That's random. Why would you ask that?"

"Just an inkling," he said innocently, an urgency pushing against the words that she knew was the result of a certain person. After all, hardworking SEALs on their intense training weekend didn't find the time to call home at 1 in the morning unless they had a reason to.

"Is that what we're calling Chin now?" she teased with a grin, not even bothering to beat around the bush.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Steve repeated in the same tone as before; hidden humour masked as sincerity laced in his words.

Kono scoffed and heard her husband chuckle lowly in her ear in reply. "Hmm. _Sure_."

"I'll let you get back to sleep," he said after a sigh, one that almost sounded like relief. "Call if you need anything?" Though the line was structured as a question, she knew it was more of a demand.

"I will," she insisted, because honestly, even without his prompting, she would have called him regardless. Snuggling into her pillow before she said 'goodbye', she felt the previously gentle movements from their unborn daughter turn into full kicks aimed, thankfully, away from her ribs and bladder. "Baby says hi," she groaned half-heartedly, rubbing the area where the kicks had already started to fade.

There was a beat of silence in which Kono would have thought Steve had hung up already if it wasn't for the breathing she could make out over the line before he exhaled deeply. "Miss you," he murmured quietly, and she wondered suddenly whether he was still in his bunker or if he had left and gone outside. Because she was sure that he had a bit of a reputation to uphold and telling someone he missed them over the phone in the middle of the night probably didn't fit it. After all, he wasn't called 'Smooth Dog' for no reason, or so she assumed.

"You do?" Kono asked in faux shock, trying to lighten the mood. "Here I was, thinking you're having the time of your life with your Navy buddies and away from the old ball and chain."

He laughed openly at that, bringing a curve of a smile to her face at the sound of it. "Well, I wasn't going to mention it _but_-" he began before she cut him off.

"_Hey!_" she exclaimed indignantly, still smiling at his amusement. "Miss you, too. See you soon?" she added when they both fell quiet again.

"Yeah, I'll see you soon, babe," Steve replied before hanging up and leaving the dial tone ringing momentarily in her ear before Kono ended the call on her end. Not bothering to move again now that the baby was still and she was relatively comfortable, she dropped the phone onto the bed in the space in front of her and finally closed her eyes to sleep again.

…

She had never appreciated the elevator in the building before right then, when the sight of climbing up the stairs to the Five-0 HQ seemed far too daunting in her current state. As much as she hated to admit it, Kono knew that she wasn't in the same shape as she had been a year earlier. Or even a month.

Stepping out onto the upper landing, she pushed open the glass doors with ease and entered the office where she spotted Chin standing solely by the hi-tech table in the middle of the room. He glanced up before she could say a word or even try to scare him. Then again, with her current _'additional package'_, as her mother once put it, she wasn't really stealthy anymore.

"Hey, cuz. What are you doing here?" he asked with a genuine smile, eyes naturally taking her in to most probably see if she was ok.

Stopping on the other side of the table, Kono took a quick survey of the area to find that there was no one else around that she could see. "Got bored at home so I thought I'd come and see how it's going," she shrugged with a bright smile, resting her hands flat down against the table's edge to read the information that her cousin had been pulling up.

Chin laughed quietly at her words. "Wow. After the last two times, I thought Steve would have you locked up," he teased. Kono looked up and smirked slyly at him, remembering the two previous times in the past week that she had come to HQ for a visit whilst supposedly being on leave, and being driven back home within the hour by the team leader himself. Once after a quick lunch, and once after a lecture about how she needed to relax.

"He did," she informed, coolly. Although he hadn't _physically _locked her up, he called to check up on her every hour on the house phone, and taken all the car keys. Not that she was up for much driving with her huge baby bump, but if she had gotten desperate enough, Kono had no doubt that she might at least try. "Thankfully, I have Mary Ann on my side," she added, forever grateful for her sister-in-law in helping her escape the house on her way to work.

"You know, from behind, you wouldn't even think you're pregnant," Danny's voice suddenly rang out, entering from the same glass doors that she had, not 5 minutes earlier.

Twirling around, she quirked an eyebrow as she contemplated his words. "That's… sweet?" she tried with a questioning lilt to her words because she wasn't really sure whether it was a compliment or Danny's way of reminding her that she wasn't meant to be there.

"What are you doing here anyway?" he finally asked as he came to a stop next to her, giving Kono her answer.

Turning to face him, she simply smiled and tapped a finger against the folder he had placed onto the table. "I'm here to help. You guys seem hopeless without me," she sighed in dramatic exasperation.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the sight of Danny exchanging a quick amused look with Chin, knowing full well that they must talk about her, and her inability to stay at home, during her absence. They probably had some bets going on too. Surprisingly, the terms were still a secret from her, for the time being.

"Oh, babe. We're totally _lost_ without you. But, uh, you really need to rest and take it easy these last few weeks," Danny insisted with a gentle smile and serious, if not slightly chiding, tone. This time, Kono did roll her eyes and lightly reached out to squeeze the blonde's forearm.

"Relax, I'm kidding. We have a scan in an hour, so I came to meet up with Steve," she admitted, to which he nodded. Glancing around again, focusing more on the man in question's office to which the doors were currently shut with a few of the blinds lowered, she looked at the others in query. "Where is he, anyway?"

"He's in there, on the phone to the governor," Chin informed her in a quieter tone, indicating that it wasn't a friendly chat. Kono didn't know the more intricate details of the case they were presently working on, but she knew enough to know that there were several lines that Five-0 were currently toeing, and probably one or two that they had jumped right over by now that she didn't know about.

Nodding, she pushed away from the table to head over to where Steve was when she spotted someone else, a young man she didn't recognise, enter through the main entrance. He was talking quietly on his phone and didn't spare them a single glance as he went straight to the first office on the right. She twirled back at her teammates, both of who seemed rather blasé about the fact that there was a stranger walking about their HQ. "Who's that and why he is in _my_ office?" she questioned harshly, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder towards the glass walled room she had called her office for the past 5 years.

"Steve didn't tell you?" Danny replied incredulously, to which she glared in what she guessed was a pretty good and forceful way when he hurriedly carried on with a wave of the hand in the direction that she had been heading towards. "He can explain."

She nodded again before leaving them behind to slowly enter Steve's office, being as quiet as she could so not to disturb the conversation he was carrying out on the phone. It seemed to be a one-sided conversation, however, if the way he was sat quietly with the phone to his ear was anything to go by. Kono reasoned it must have been important if he hadn't hung up already or demanded for an answer.

Head resting against his other hand that was propped up by the armrest of his chair, she caught his eyes when he looked up as she settled into on of the chairs on the other side of his desk. Exasperation took over his features as he fixed his jaw and shook his head faintly at her, giving her a milder version of the famous 'McGarrett laser-focus glare'. She merely brushed it aside with a quick arch of an eyebrow and remained silent when he finally spoke into the phone for less than a minute before hanging up.

"The governor?" she asked him coolly when she heard the phone handset being replaced onto the desk.

"Yes," he replied to the point before leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "What are you doing here? How did you even _get_ here?" he questioned forcefully with a hint of tiredness, as if he wasn't sure why he was even bothering with trying to get her to do as she should anymore. A hint of guilt flowed through her before she remembered that she was actually feeling pretty fine and that considering he wasn't the one carrying around a baby in his body, he had no rhyme or reason to try and discipline her.

"Mary Ann dropped me off, and I'm just here so you wouldn't have to come all the way home to pick me up for the scan," she informed him with a gentle smile, not missing the way his eyes jumped from hers to her hands that were resting gently on her stomach and back again. He sighed and dropped his arms onto his desk.

"It's like 10 minutes away," Steve pointed out, hands clasping together in front of him before exhaling deeply once again. "What part of '_leave'_ do you not get?" Kono was sure that if they were having this conversation at home, and not in the middle of an active case, he would have groaned and maybe even pouted with those words.

"I needed a change of scene," she shrugged, fingers drumming lightly in a steady rhythm when she felt the telltale signs of fluttering in her stomach that indicated that the baby was getting bored and ready to stretch and move around. At least, that's what she assumed she was doing in there. "So, you never told me about the new guy."

"Oh, right," he replied after some deliberating, settling back in his chair and clearing his throat before carrying on. "Yeah, the governor assigned him to the team following your leave."

Titling her head to a side a bit, Kono digested his words before voicing her thoughts on what he had just said. "So technically, he's my replacement?"

"Well, no. He'll be here for a case, then we'll get someone else," he explained, much to her confusion. It must have shown on her face because, uncharacteristically for Steve, she hadn't needed to say anything to prompt him to carry on. "Apparently, we did _such_ a great job on training you that Five-0 will be interning rookies from HPD for the next year, until you come back."

"_Really_?" she asked in a mix of incredulity and amusement. Steve's easy smile and almost-proud affirmation made her nod silently in reply, biting her bottom lip as she ran her hands over her stomach. "Do me a favour and try not to sleep with any of these, yeah?"

Her teasing words wiped the smile off of her husband's face, replacing it with a scowl and clear look of annoyance. "You're not funny," he told her stiffly, to which she grinned.

"No, I think I am," she said matter-of-factly, seeing a small twitch at the corners of his mouth as he tried to hide his laughter. He crossed his arms once again and looked away quickly, out towards the main area of the office.

Kono followed his line of sight and saw the three other men standing around the table, going over something that the new rookie had found. Taking in how well the others seemed to work without her, or Steve, a pang of hurt hit sharp in her stomach at the thought of not being needed on the team anymore. After all, Five-0 had been practically her life ever since graduating from the academy. She had found a job, home and family within the team, in more than one way. To think she had been replaced so easily with another rookie was upsetting. Change was not something she dealt with easily, and despite the 8 months of preparing and building up to it, she still couldn't handle not being at work and feeling like she was missing out on something crucial.

Shaking her head, she turned back at look at Steve, who had gone back to the file that was open on his desk. "What's gonna happen when you're on paternity leave?"

"Chin will be in charge; he has seniority," he muttered nonchalantly and without sparing her a second look. "It'll only be for a few weeks so there's no point in finding someone else for the team. I'm sure they can cope."

Kono smirked to herself at his statement. "So what you're saying is that you guys can't cope without _me_, but without _you_, it's fine?" she reiterated bemusedly, all previous thoughts about leaving the team forgotten.

Steve's head snapped up at that, eyebrows furrowed together as he thought for a second. "Wait, no-" he began before she cut him off.

"No, no. I think that's about right," she laughed smugly, and when he opened his mouth to speak again, she raised an eyebrow to challenge him to rebuke. He chose wisely to not, probably having learnt over the past few months when to and when not to argue with a pregnant woman.

Closing his file and placing it into one of his drawers, he stood up and eyed her, hands planted firmly on his waist like he did when he was trying to take back some control over the situation. Usually during a case. "You ready to head to the hospital?" he asked instead.

Still smiling, she slowly pushed herself out of the chair with as much dignity as she could muster in her state. "Ready when you are, _boss_."

…

Wandering towards the only sound she could hear in the house, Kono padded barefoot slowly through the bathroom that connected their bedroom to the nursery where the noise originated from. She was more focused on her breathing to keep herself from panicking at the fact that it was only 10 in the morning and Steve wasn't there.

Entering the nursery, she paused a couple of steps into the room when she spotted a blonde woman sorting out some toys and teddies from a pile on the couch, and no one else. "Mary? Where's Steve?" Kono asked, hearing her voice quiver slightly without her permission.

The other woman twirled around instantly, eyes wide as she took her in. Kono guessed she must have made a sight; just woken up with her awfully long bed-head hair, a simply button up shirt with a hand clutching at her side and the other placed tentatively on her stomach. There was no doubt that her sister-in-law had come to the right conclusion as to what was happening by the look of shock and excitement on her face.

"He went grocery shopping," she answered hurriedly and brushed off that subject with a question of her own. "Is the baby coming?"

"I, uh- I think so," Kono hesitated; swallowing when her mouth turned dry because it had suddenly all became too real. Despite it being over a week early, she was in labour. "I've never done this before, but I'm fairly certain nothing else is supposed to hurt this much."

Mary Ann smiled widely and approached her, biting onto her bottom lip when Kono shot her a nervous look. "Ok. How far apart are the contractions?" she asked, stopping in front of her. Kono could see her hands twitch and curl up into fists; the unbridled energy that Mary Ann usually showed finally harboured for her sake, for which she was glad.

Thinking back, she recalled the past hour she had lain in bed and watched the clocked, trying to figure out if the aches she was feeling were indeed contractions or just really well aimed kicks. She knew she was kidding herself with the latter when the aches turned into sharper pains at even intervals.

"A fair bit; about 12 minutes or so," Kono told her confidently, rubbing her stomach again in anticipation for another contraction within another few minutes.

Mary Ann nodded at her words and smiled at her reassuringly. "That's good. That means we have time."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right," Kono replied, exhaling in relief that she had time to prepare. She knew that the time to head to the hospital was when the contractions were under 5 minutes apart, and that could take a while to reach. In all of her anxiety, she had forgotten the simplest facts that she, and Steve, had made sure she knew and was prepared for. Thankfully, she had Mary Ann to keep her level headed, especially as another contraction hit. It didn't last long, but it made her inhale sharply and accept the other woman's hand to help her through it. "I just- Wow. This is weird," she gasped, trying to regain her even breathing again.

Laughing, Mary Ann squeezed the hand she still held gently. "Yeah, I bet it is. Listen, why don't you go a take a shower and stuff, and I'll call Steve, yeah?" Kono raised an eyebrow in silent question at her suggestion of a shower. "You should be ok until your waters break and the contractions are really close together. I read it in a book." Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, she merely nodded at the words and the fact that even Mary Ann had been reading pregnancy books. Though, now that she thought about it, of course she had. Steve probably made sure they all had been trained with the basic knowledge of labor and childbirth before he had gone on his reserve training weekend.

"Ok. Tell him not to worry, yeah?" she requested, even though she knew it was a useless piece of advice to give to someone like Steve, who would go into SEAL-mode the moment he heard because he had suddenly lost control of the situation. Somehow, she had the feeling that the baby chose the one moment he had left her alone without telling her to begin its grand entrance. If she didn't know any better, she'd think it had inherited its aunt's flair for trouble.

"I will try my best," Mary Ann replied with a soft smirk and a short laugh that Kono smiled back at, slightly more relaxed than she had been a couple of minutes earlier. "You'll be ok, right? It's not that painful, is it?"

Shaking her head, Kono inhaled deeply before breathing out slowly and speaking. "Not yet. I'll be quick," she told her, not really keen on spending much time standing up by herself in the shower.

"Keep the door unlocked. Just in case," Mary Ann called after her when Kono headed towards the door of the nursery to make her way to the main bathroom. She pushed back the thoughts of what the 'just in case' scenarios could be that would require assistance. One thing that she hated was not knowing what to expect, and as unlikely as it may be, the last thing she wanted was to have the baby at home with only her sister-in-law for company. As much as she loved the other woman, she needed Steve right then.

…

Steve frowned when he saw Mary Ann's name pop up on his phone next to him. He was halfway on his journey back home after going to three different grocery stores to find all the items on the shopping list as per Kono's request. He had left her sleeping under the watchful eye, or so he hoped, of his little sister to run the few errands that needed to be done. It had taken less than an hour, and yet worry and anxiety balled in his stomach at the sight of her name on his caller ID.

"Yeah, sis?" he greeted after accepting the call and put it on loudspeaker as he drove down the highway.

When Mary Ann didn't bother with a greeting, a smartass reply about his abruptness or yelling, his initial fears trebled. "Where are you?" she asked instead, calm and controlled in a way that told him everything that she wasn't saying.

"On my way back from Waikiki," he told her quickly before hurrying onto the question that was at the tip of his tongue. "Mary, what's going on?"

"Don't freak out," she began, ensuring that the first thing that Steve did was start to freak out silently in his mind. "_But_ your wife's in labor."

He had known it the moment he had seen Mary Ann's name on the caller ID, yet actually hearing it winded him to the point where he was inhaling deeply and gripping the steering wheel tightly until his knuckles turned white. It was just typical that he could leave Kono alone for a whole weekend and she'd be fine, leave her alone for most of the day for weeks when he went to work and nothing would happen, but when he left her for an hour, she went into labour.

"Are you _serious_?" Steve asked, half incredulous and half concerned, pressing his foot a little harder onto the gas pedal to get him home quickly.

A dry scoff filled the car. "Would I joke about something like this, Steven?" Mary Ann remarked sharply, to which he rolled his eyes. If anything, he was glad she wasn't there with him to see his reaction, because he knew she would simply hit him for it.

Sighing, he ran a hand down his face before returning it back to the wheel. "Damn. Ok, where is she? Is she ok? Let me talk to her," he fired off in rapid succession.

"She's fine; she told me to tell you not to worry. And you can't talk to her because she's in the shower," she replied, answering both of his questions and the demand to talk to his wife. Her reason to the latter made him frown again because it was certainly not something he had been expecting. Then again, he hadn't been expecting to have this conversation that morning either, and that hadn't turned out so right.

"She's in the _shower_?" Steve repeated just to make sure that he had heard her right.

"Yes, that is what normal people do in the morning," Mary Ann retorted slowly, sarcasm dripping from her words. Clenching his jaw, he pressed his foot a little harder on the accelerometer. "Her contractions are like, 12 minutes apart. You know what that means," she casually informed him after a pause on both their ends.

He did know what that meant; they had a while until they should head to the hospital and the best thing to do would be for Kono to take her time and prepare herself. Shower included. "Fine. Keep an eye on her and make sure she's alright, yeah? I'll be back in 5."

"Will do. Don't speed," Mary Ann advised before hanging up. Letting the needle on the accelerometer hit almost 15 above the limit, he reckoned that what his sister didn't know couldn't hurt her. Besides, she should just be happy that he wasn't turning on the sirens like he was tempted to.

* * *

_**A/N: So that's part 1. Exciting, huh? Part 2 will bring the moment everyone's been waiting for - the birth of baby McGarrett! And of course, if it really is a girl and what they'll be named =P Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Lemme know what you think? **_


	12. Month 9 pt 2

_**A/N: Heya! Apologies for the long wait once again, but to make up for it, this final chapter of the story is almost at 8k words. Double apologies for the lack of replies to your reviews (I seriously appreciate each and every one of them, from the short single worded ones to the long essays which probably require more effort than writing the chapter did) but time has been running away from me! It is almost midnight here and I am away on vacation from tomorrow so I wanted this up before that. Also, its sort of a V-day present too :P Please enjoy!**_

_**As always, a MASSIVE MAHALO to fiveohlove and quisinart4 - without you guys, this story wouldn't have been what it is right now. Dedicated to you both!**_

* * *

_Month 9 (part 2)_

A knock on the door made her freeze at the foot of the bed and turn to face the two men that entered without waiting for her permission. She had gotten Steve to inform the other two members of their _ohana_ after they had reached the hospital with strict instructions that they could only visit once before the baby was born, and preferably soon.

"Its great you get your own room. How did you swing that?" Danny commented with a wave of the hand and letting out a low whistle, eyeing the small, private room that she had all to herself. As usual, the polite greetings were forgotten.

"My husband's in charge of the Governor's special task force," Kono replied dryly with a small shrug, carrying on with her pacing to the other side of the bed of where they stood.

"Besides, with the amount of times one of us needs medical attention, Five-0 deserves their own room," Chin commented, humour lacing his ever calm tone and a smile tugging at his mouth as he faced Danny, who looked back with a grin. Although she would never admit it, she usually enjoyed the banter they occasionally shared much more than she should.

"_Especially_ the McGarretts," Danny remarked with a mix of delight and exasperation. The pleasant distraction of the new company had caused her to lose her time keeping and predict the next contraction until the sharp pain hit her just as Chin's contagious chuckle had transformed her smirk into a small fit of laughter.

Gripping onto the railing on the side of the bed, she breathed slowly through it like she had practised, and was glad that it actually helped. "_Ow_. Don't make me laugh," she told them after it had passed, shooting them a glare that probably wasn't as hard as she wanted it to be. "Dammit, I need those drugs."

The looks of concern that had shone on Chin and Danny's faces had been replaced with one of amusement that she brushed off with a roll of the eyes. Sighing, she climbed back onto the bed and sat up against the pillows with her legs crossed, picking up her phone from the table next to her to see that there were three more messages from Mary Ann, all asking her how it was going. Kono had assured her that there was nothing she could do by being there, sending her off to work with the promise of keeping her updated.

"Where's Steve?" Chin suddenly asked from the seat he had taken in the chair nearer to the bed. Danny looked around with raised eyebrows, as if he had only just noticed his missing partner. She knew it wasn't true, but the pretence was rather cute to see.

"I sent him to call my mom," Kono answered, dropping her phone back onto the side after replying to the texts. The incredulous look on Chin's face, and the confused one on Danny's, made her sigh and run a hand through her hair before blowing out a breath in annoyance so hard, it made her fringe fly. "What? He was getting restless and fussy. It was annoying. I didn't know what else to do without shooting him with his own gun," she defended herself with a huff, crossing her arms above her bump almost petulantly when the two men were more entertained by her story than sympathetic.

Chin cleared his throat before leaning on his elbows and laying a gentle hand on her knee. "How you doing?" he asked softly, looking up at her with the same kind eyes that she had known for as long as she could remember. Swallowing away the ball of emotions that the nostalgia had raised to her throat, she smiled back tightly.

"I'll be better when this is over," she said honestly, referring to the pain, waiting and the crazy levels of hormones currently ruling over her body. He rubbed her knee with an understanding smile, and Kono couldn't help the pang of envy that ran through her at Malia for having such a calm and relaxed husband at almost all times, as opposed to her hyperactive one who was only calm and relaxed in conflict or sleep.

The man in question entered before anyone else could speak up. He didn't seem to be too fazed by the appearance of the two men, taking them in before standing at the end of the bed on the other side of Danny. "She said she'd be here as soon as she can. Next flight she can get to is in a couple of hours," Steve informed her, regarding her mom who was currently visiting a cousin on Molokai. Kono hadn't been sure whether to be pleased or slightly hurt that her mother had decided to go away a week before her due date, but she had reasoned that it was better before than after. Now that she was in labour, she was glad she didn't have the added stress of her mom fussing over her either.

"Ok. That's good. I can get this baby out by then," she reasoned with a small shrug and a nod. Steve returned the nod half-heartedly, jaw clenching as if he didn't agree and had a very strong opposing view on her statement but was choosing not to voice it. Kono ignored it and snapped her eyes towards Danny when she heard him chuckle under his breath. "_What_?" she asked exasperatedly.

Danny cleared his throat and tried to look serious before settling on a more relaxed smile than a laughing one. "Nothing. I should go. Tell Gracie the exciting news; she'll be excited to hear. Do you guys need anything?" he told them, practically bouncing on his feet, no doubt at the thought of his daughter. Kono shook her head as Steve did the same. "Ok. Let me know if she arrives. The baby, I mean. Not your mom. Otherwise I'll be back in a few hours," he added, patting Steve on the shoulder before coming around to her tentatively. At her reassuring smile that she wouldn't bite his head off if he stepped into her personal space, he pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek and whispered luck before backing away.

"Me, too. I'll go pick Aunty up, too, yeah?" Chin announced, standing up and leaning over to kiss her on the temple. She closed her eyes in an elongated blink and smiled gently at the gestures from the two men.

"Thanks, cuz," she replied, watching as her cousin patted Steve's shoulder in the same way that Danny had just before they both left the room.

Silence stretched between them as Kono leaned back into the pillows and tried to get comfortable, whilst Steve took the seat that Chin had vacated. When nothing seemed to work, and the signs of an oncoming contraction hit her, she pressed the button on the control lying next to her on the bed numerously.

"What are you doing?" he asked her suddenly, looking at her with a raised brow in confusion.

Sighing, she ran her hand through her hair, pulling out the elastic band that held it in a ponytail to re-do it once again. "I need a nurse to give me the painkillers. I can't take this anymore. It's been," she paused to look at her cell phone, bypassing the texts that she had received in the past couple of minutes, to see the time. "Almost _7 hours_ and my feet hurt from 'trying to walk the baby out'," Kono said snappily and with a roll of the eyes, more agitated and tired than anything else. Patience had never been her strong suit, and after 9 months, she was more ready than ever to meet her child.

Softly smiling lopsidedly, Steve leaned his elbows on the side of the bed and reached out to gently hold her hand between both of his. When he looked up at her, she took back what she had thought about how lucky Malia was because she had to admit; _she_ was pretty lucky to have _him_ there with her. A man who could barely handle not being in control of anything without getting agitated and restless was sitting calmly next to her, holding her hand and gazing at her in a mix of excitement and justifiable concern just because that was what she needed from him right then. If it hadn't been for the contraction that hit her at that moment, Kono was sure that she would have been tearing up from her emotional thoughts.

"_Son of a_-" she cursed, cutting herself off when the pain took the forefront over everything else, including speaking. It was a miracle that she could remember to breathe through them and not embarrass herself by screaming.

To his benefit, Steve chose not to comment on her colourful choice of words and instead, clasped at her hand sympathetically to help her squeeze through it. "Getting stronger?" he asked once she was through the worst of it, loosening her growing grip on his hand. Thankfully, she had cut her nails a few days earlier, because she was fairly certain she could have drawn blood with that contraction.

"Like you have no idea," she grumbled after letting out a deep breath and settling back against the pillows just when the door to the room opened. A nurse entered in response to her call, finally allowing herself to relax with the knowledge that painkillers were on its way.

…

It took a total of 10 and half hours until the baby was born. Thankfully, the final few hours had gone quicker than the rest of the day after the administration of drugs. After a relatively short birth of 15 minutes, something Kono would swear was much, _much_, longer, the room was filled with a silence that was broken by the sweet sound of a crying baby. The breath she hadn't known she had been holding in that short space of time shuddered from her lips in what she wasn't sure was a laugh or a sob, but she knew it was definitely in happiness.

She was exhausted and drained, collapsed back against the pillows and had only just let go of clutching onto Steve's hand when a nurse placed the newborn in her waiting arms. The baby, their daughter, quieted down within a few moments of Kono hushing her, cuddling her as close as possible with her weakened arms. Her eyes opened at the touch of Steve's finger caressing over her chubby, redden cheek, revealing mesmerising deep brown pools that gazed up unknowingly at them. After 9 months of anticipation, and many thoughts about what she would look like when she finally arrived, Kono had to admit that nothing matched the actual sight that she held. Fair skinned, a head full of black hair and a beautiful pink mouth that opened and closed on instinct.

Glancing over at Steve, she smiled at the familiar look of awe and ecstasy, just like he had had at their first scan. A soft smile graced his face as he kept his eyes trained on the baby girl, hand skimming over her tiny body until reaching one of her flailing arms, where he naturally managed to coerce his finger into her hand before five tiny fingers curled back around it.

"What do you think?" Kono asked, eventually finding her voice, even if it was a bit croaky and her throat was more sore than she remembered it being.

Steve blinked at her, snapping out of whatever he was thinking about to meet her eyes. "Huh?" he asked in confusion. Laughing lightly at the sight of her speechless and completely enthralled husband, she nodded towards their little bundle of joy, waiting until she saw realization hit him. "Oh. Perfect."

Kono swallowed at the one worded answer that seemed to sum it all up completely. When the nurse came over to take the baby away for the initial checks, she finally allowed herself to rest and close her eyes, turning her face into Steve's palm when he brushed back the hair that had fallen out of her ponytail and smiling into the kiss that he quickly brushed over her lips. _Perfect_.

…

Six pounds and six ounces, and 20 inches long. Ten fingers and ten toes that he had counted himself. According to the nurses, his daughter was perfectly healthy and completely average. And when he looked at her now, he couldn't help the overwhelming pride building up inside of him that no doubt shone vividly for everyone to see.

Danny had once commented that he barely ever smiled, but at that moment, even his partner couldn't jibe him on it. Mostly because he was the same, as were Grace and Mary Ann, all of who stood with him and peered into the nursery.

"She looks like Auntie Kono," Grace piped up from next to him, looking up with a wide and excited grin. Before Steve could agree that yes, she did indeed look like her mother, Danny interrupted him, as per usual.

"Thankfully," he muttered teasingly, his smirk clear in his voice even as he kept his eyes trained in front of him instead of glancing over. Uncharacteristically for him, his hands were lying still on his daughter's shoulders, and Steve had to admit that he liked the sense of tranquillity that staring at babies gave them. Especially when one of them was his own.

"I don't know," Mary Ann mumbled in a thoughtful tone from his other side, head tilting slightly as she gazed into the nursery and studied the new addition to their family. "The hair is more Steve; he had a lot when he was born. Have you not seen his baby pictures?" she asked Danny, leaning forward to look at the man in question around her brother.

Danny chuckled and shook his head. "No, I can't say I have."

"And you won't. _Ever_," Steve said strictly, eyeing both of them for a moment before turning his eyes back to what was in front of him. He purposely ignored his sister's reassurance to his partner that she would show them to him one day soon when he spotted two more people arrive to join them from the corners of his eyes.

"Hey, guys," Chin greeted them, coming to a stop with Kono's mother next to the row they already formed. "Steve. _Ho'omaika'i 'ana_, brah," he congratulated with a smile to match the others and a friendly slap on the back.

Kono's mother simply squeezed his arm after taking in the sight of her new granddaughter; glassy eyed and sincerely happy when she turned to speak to him. "Congratulations, keiki kane. She's beautiful."

He smiled in both acknowledgement and never-ending pride at the compliment. "Mahalo," he replied to them both.

"How's Kono?" his mother-in-law enquired softly, concern etched on her features which were similar to her daughter's. They both had the same curve of the jaw and the subtleness of the cheekbones, the same dimpled smile that he only recently got more aimed at him from the older Kalakaua, and the same warm eyes that his own daughter had inherited.

Steve nodded and tucked his hands into his jeans pockets as he spoke. "Yeah, she's good. _Finally_ got her to sleep for a bit after the nurses took the baby away," he smirked, remembering her insistence for him not to leave their baby alone when he had stayed behind with her for a moment. All he had wanted was to make sure she was ok whilst the nurses checked over the newborn and took her to the nursery so the mother could rest after giving birth and bonding with the baby for near to an hour.

It had taken almost 15 minutes to assure her that he wasn't needed at that moment, sitting on the edge of the bed and gently stroking her hand with a thumb and her hair with his other hand to lull her to sleep that she so desperately tried to fight. Thankfully, the events of the day had led to exhaustion, and the drugs had prevented her stubborn side from winning.

Chin chuckled at his words, rolling his eyes lightly in a way that Steve suspected he wasn't surprised at his cousin's stubbornness. "I'll go check on her."

Watching him head in the direction of the room where Kono slept, he smiled softly when he heard his best friend excuse himself and his daughter, probably to give them all some space. "Hey, how about we go grab dinner, Monkey? We can get some snacks for the new parents, too," he asked Grace, who agreed readily.

The words reminded Steve that he hadn't ate since he had shared a small lunch with his wife earlier that afternoon. "Thanks," he replied, flicking Grace's braid affectionately before they left in the opposite direction.

A comfortable silence fell upon the three of them, broken only with questions about the birth and the baby from Kono's mother which he answered in turn. Surprisingly, Mary Ann kept quiet through it all, instead focusing on taking photo after photo of her sleeping niece, currently swaddled in a pink blanket. Steve made a mental note to get a copy of every picture that had been taken for the 'Baby Book' that they had been given as a gift at the luau and Kono had started on in the last month whilst on leave.

Smiling at a nurse who approached them, he couldn't help the small ball of apprehension that formed in his stomach when she took in the baby they all were observing with a professional eye, worried that she might see something that the others hadn't. He pushed back the thought about whether this was what he was in for, for the rest of his life; worrying constantly about his daughter without any reason why.

"Baby looks like she's doing great. Would you like me to get her, Commander?" the nurse finally asked him once she turned to face them with a gentle smile.

Letting out a breath of relief, he nodded. "Sure, if that's ok."

"Of course," the nurse replied before leaving them to enter the nursery. She picked up the sleeping baby with practiced ease, cradling her as she brought her out. Steve nodded politely towards his mother-in-law once the nurse returned, indicating who to hand the baby over to first. The unadulterated surprise and joy at his actions was clear on the woman's face as she readily accepted the baby in her waiting arms. "Here we go."

Steve grinned and watched her run a hand over the small body, rocking her very softly to ensure the baby slept on. "Oh, keiki, look at you," she whispered in adoration, emotions clear in everything she did as she held and cuddled her only grandchild for the first time.

A huff from next to him claimed his attention, causing him to raise an eyebrow at his sister's clear sound of annoyance. "That's not fair. I've been here for hours!" she exclaimed in a hushed tone, keeping one eye on the older lady who was speaking softly and much too quietly for them to hear anymore.

Rolling his eyes, Steve leant back against the window ledge of the nursery and crossed his arms before shrugging. "It's her granddaughter, Mare, and you've only been here for 45 minutes. Relax; you'll get a turn," he assured her softly.

She huffed once again, settling next to him on the ledge and leaning her head on his shoulder as she gave in for the moment. "And since when does Kono's mom call you 'keiki kane'? I thought she hated you," she asked him moodily, referring to the Hawaiian term of endearment for 'son-in-law'.

Furrowing his brows, he looked down at his sister in disbelief. "She never _hated_ me," he replied a bit too defensively. Pursing his lips in thought at Mary Ann's scoff, he exhaled before relenting a little. "Ok, _maybe_ slightly disapproved. But then I gave her her first grandchild; she's been my biggest fan since Kono told her she was pregnant," he added with a smug grin, recalling the day that they had visited Kono's childhood home to announce the news of her pregnancy like it was yesterday. There had been tears and hugs, and they had both been shocked by her mother's sudden acknowledgment of Steve's place in their family. Like Steve had argued, it wasn't that the woman had hated him; it was just that she thought Kono could do better than an older, tattooed Navy SEAL with a daily penchant for getting into situations people usually see on their game consoles and TV. He couldn't deny that he was more than happy with the change in attitude, and if he had known that all it took was to get Kono pregnant, he would have done it sooner.

They had fallen into a silence, both watching the proud grandmother, when Chin returned. Though he looked as calm and stoic as always, there was a sense of urgency in the way he approached them, sending panic through Steve's body. He had read about too many things going wrong during and after the pregnancy and birth to be naïve enough to think that they were in the clear just because everything had gone well so far.

"Hey, Kono's awake and would really like to see her baby again," Chin announced with a raised brow at Steve, who merely shook his head and willed himself to push back the dark thoughts that marred his mind. He was meant to be happy and on top of the world, and yet, he was simply waiting for something to go wrong. Thankfully, he was slowly starting to believe that it wouldn't, because in the recent years, since he had met Kono and the rest of the team, he had learnt that not every good thing that happened to him had to be followed by a bad thing to balance it out.

Clearing his throat, he pushed off the window ledge when Mary Ann left them to go towards where Kono's mother sat with the baby in one of the chairs opposite them. "She needs to rest; the drugs still haven't worn off," he told Chin wearily, but the other man merely smirked.

"You can go tell her that yourself, brah. She was ready to get up and make her way here herself," Chin replied matter-of-factly, and somehow, neither one are surprised by her immediate reaction. If he was completely honest, Steve was more surprised at the fact that Kono hadn't _already_ made her way there, but he's pretty sure the man standing with him is probably the reason why she had stayed put for the moment.

"Alright, I'll get the nurse to bring her over," Steve finally conceded and headed towards the nurses' station to find someone who could help him with his request. As he waited, he peered over his shoulder at where his family in one way or another all were, and realized that how lucky him and Kono were. There was no way they were going to raise their baby without the input of them all, and truthfully, he knew there was no other way that he would want it.

…

Leaning against the windowpane, Steve stifled a yawn behind a fist as he watched his wife sleep in the hospital bed. He glanced at the chair next to him and smiled when he saw that Grace was still in the land of nod, too. It was nearing midnight and the only reason they were all still allowed to be there was thanks to Malia's professional influence on the nurses who politely turned a blind eye for the Five-0 team to let them visit for a couple more hours.

The doctor herself had popped in whilst Kono's mother had been there, and no one else had been able to pry the newborn away from either one of them until they had left; Malia back to her job and his mother-in-law back home once her daughter had fallen asleep, tired from her abrupt journey from Molokai that afternoon and the excitement of the day. She had assured them that she would be back the following day and left the 'young ones' to it.

Now, Steve watched as his sister finally held her niece and, for almost the past 30 minutes, refused to give her up. He couldn't blame her; she had had to wait her turn, something she did not do quietly, and he himself was already feeling the loss.

"She's really quiet," Mary Ann stated softly as she gently swayed the baby, making sure not to move her too much as she laid peacefully awake in her aunt's arms on the small couch in the corner of the room that she shared with Chin. Steve himself had wrapped the pink blanket around his daughter, swaddling her snuggly and much to the nurses' amazement. He still wasn't quite sure why they had been surprised until Kono had assured him that it was only because he was a Navy SEAL with an unprecedented gentle touch. He had been rather smug about that.

"Probably already plotting a few coups," Danny commented dryly from his slouched place in the chair that the blonde had pulled up next to Grace's. Steve hadn't understood why his partner was still there when he looked so dishevelled and tired until he had asked him that specific question. The answer he got, that Danny hadn't wanted Chin to sneak in extra time to get a head start on being her favorite uncle, had made him chuckle and grin.

Steve's musings were broken into by Mary Ann's laugh in response to Danny's previous words. "Maybe she just likes me. After all, I _am_ going to be her favorite aunt," she said matter-of-factly, cuddling the newborn closer as she raised a challenging eyebrow at the other three with a smirk.

Though the other two simply rolled their eyes in amusement, Steve returned the arched eyebrow to his little sister. "That's worrying," he muttered.

She scowled at his reply and ignored them to look down at the baby girl. "Just for that, we're going to do everything that will give your daddy a heart attack," she told her sweetly and stroked her hair gently when she began to fuss. Steve watched her actions with a pang of envy and wondered silently if there was a polite way of getting everyone to leave just so he could hold his daughter once again. The fact he was thinking about being polite went to show how tired he was and how much had transpired in the past 15 hours. Or was it simply because he was a father now?

"Take her to the mainland with you; that'll do it," Danny joked at Steve's expense, and all thoughts of politeness went out of the proverbial window when Chin grinned and Mary Ann's face lit up as if it was a viable possibility.

"Don't you guys have homes to go to?" he all but growled, hands balling into fists under his crossed arms to physically keep himself from snatching his daughter back, or throwing them out by their collars. He wasn't sure which one it was, if he was quite honest.

Mary Ann chuckled and tilted her head to the side as she gazed up towards him. "Someone's grouchy," she somewhat teased.

Danny snorted in amusement, clicking the fingers of his flailing hand as he spoke. "Get use to it; having a daughter does that to you," he warned wisely with the tone of a man who had first hand experience and knowledge, exchanging looks with both of the McGarrett siblings.

Ignoring him, Steve stood up straighter and uncrossed his arms. "Ok, seriously Mary, I think you've had her for long enough now," he began in the most diplomatic way that he could think of as he eased his way into the subject of wanting his daughter back.

"No," she simply replied nonchalantly and carried on with cooing over the baby.

"What do you mean _'no'_? That wasn't a question!" he exclaimed through gritted teeth. He made sure to keep his voice low, not wanting to wake Kono from her much needed rest. If he was completely honest, he was surprised that she was still sleeping on through their conversations, but he guessed childbirth had to be fairly exhausting.

"There was one coming," Mary Ann retorted with a roll of her eyes when Steve glared at her wordlessly. "No, I'm not handing her back yet," she clarified, correctly guessing his intentions. Sighing, he settled back against the windowpane and petulantly tucked his hands into his jeans' pockets to keep them still.

A small bout of silence fell between the four awake adults, and one baby, with a thin layer of tension surrounding them. "Did you guys decide on a name?" Chin eventually asked him, in his ever-soothing tone that dispersed any and all awkwardness.

Inhaling deeply, Steve released the breath before shaking his head. "Not ultimately. We thought we had another week or so," he shrugged, knowing that it wasn't much of a defence, because even if the baby had been born on the due date, they still would have been leaving it late. Glancing over at his wife briefly, he smiled tenderly and turned back to the older man. "Once Kono's awake, we'll talk about it."

Chin nodded to his reply. Opening his mouth to say more, he was cut off before he could get a single word out. "I have a few ideas," Mary Ann stated.

"No," Steve immediately said in a repeat of her own response, before gazing around to see that not only did it look like Chin had something to add on that statement, but Danny looked a bit more alert and had a finger up to include his part. "To _all_ of you," he quickly added to shut them up before they could even get started. He had heard enough of their suggestions over the last few months, and with time running up, he doubted they would give up.

Though the men smirked at his familiar response, there was always one person he could rely on trying to get the last word in, even if it was simply to wind him up. "Fucking dictatorship," she indignantly muttered without looking up.

"_Mary!_" Steve scolded in both anger and shock, not watching the volume of his voice this time. Glaring at her pointedly, he averted his eyes momentarily to the baby in her arms and hoped she got the message he was trying to convey. It wasn't the choice of words that he was opposing to, but the actual situation and atmosphere they were currently in.

"What? It's not like she'll remember. I covered her ears, anyway," she replied exasperatedly, making a show of flapping the hand that was indeed covering the newborn's ear. A light-hearted smile played on her lips as she finally passed the baby, who had began to whimper and fuss, over to Chin. "Geez, I thought you were meant to be in a good mood."

"This is what dictators look like in a good mood," Chin teased as he gently bounced the bundle in his arms with obvious years of practice. Steve watched, prepared to step in if she didn't quieten down, but knew that the other man was probably the most wisest of them all when it came to babies, regardless of not being a father himself.

Before anyone could offer a witty comment or comeback to the teasing, Steve caught the smallest of stirring on the bed from the corners of his eyes. "What's going on?" Kono murmured sleepily, speaking to no one in particular as she remained curled up on her side with her eyes closed.

"The siblings are bickering again," Danny offered in answer, jokingly. She smiled at the words, blinking her eyes open and stretched subtly. Well, subtly to the others who hadn't seen the woman in front of them stretch first thing in the morning on one of their lazy days.

"Hmm," she hummed noncommittally, pushing herself up to a sitting position. Steve caught her gaze quickly glancing around room, as if the memory and reasoning as to why she was in the hospital bed and why there were all there had only just came back to her. After the drugs they had given her, and the tests they had ran, it probably had. It took only a second for her to find their daughter, and he could see her visibly relax and smile when she did. "How is she?"

It was only when everyone else remained quiet that Steve realised that that was a question that he had to answer, because it was _his_ opinion that she was looking for. Smiling softly, he pushed away from where he leant and went to stand next to her bed. "She's good. Content," he assured her with a squeeze of the hand that he had carefully taken into his own.

Kono grinned back and looked over again to where her cousin still held the baby girl. "Babies are always calm and content around Chin," she added lightly, with a hint of teasing.

"_You_ were the only exception," the older man rebuked in the same tone, causing them all to laugh at the insight into Baby Kono's life. With the way things were going at that moment, Steve was happy to see that they weren't going to have the same issue with _their_ little girl.

"Shut up," she scowled playfully before rolling her eyes and changing the subject. "What time is it?"

Joining her on the bed, Steve forwent looking at his watch to answer her question. "Late," he vaguely replied, slouching down in his fatigue as he stretched his legs out next to Kono's.

"I guess that's our cue to leave," Chin chuckled even though Steve observed that the man made no move to follow through on his words. He knew Malia was still on shift for another hour or so, and as much as he loved his makeshift family, he really couldn't wait for them to leave and have his girls to himself for a little while. Hopefully, soon.

"You don't have to," Kono insisted earnestly, still watching her cousin and baby attentively. Steve sat silently and allowed his eyes to drift to where his hand laid on his wife's knee that was resting up against his leg from under the thin hospital sheets, not trusting himself to be able to portray the same level of sincerity whilst lying.

Danny suddenly stood up with more energy than Steve believe the man held at that moment considering how dishevelled he had looked. "I should take Grace home, anyway. I'll see you guys soon," he announced, pausing to gently awaken his daughter before guiding her semi-asleep form across the room with a hand on her shoulder.

"Here, she's probably missing her mommy by now," Chin said, having gotten up and brought their daughter to the bed. He gently passed her to her mother, and Steve couldn't help the smile that unintentionally broke out at the beautiful sight of the two of them together again.

"I'd hope so. Hi, sweetheart," Kono cooed, holding the tiny bundle with an ease and simplicity that Steve put down to mere maternal instinct. He watched over her arm as the baby settled from being jostled and moved around, silently accepting whatever happened to her before yawning and closing her big, brown eyes. "Oh, that's great. Looks like she got all the attention she wanted," she laughed affectionately and cuddled her closer.

"Congratulations again, cuz. You did good," Chin smiled, pressing a soft kiss to both Kono's cheek and his niece's forehead. Steve watched the warm gesture before looking over at where his sister still sat comfortably on the couch, watching the same scene as he was with a smile playing on his lips.

When Mary Ann met his eyes, he raised an eyebrow discreetly but pointedly. "What?" she asked dryly, breaking their short soundless communication to claim the attention of the other two, to which he rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll be back first thing, though," she declared, standing up with a very heavy sigh and joining Chin at the bed to say her goodbyes as well.

"That's fine," Kono assured her as she returned the hug as well as she could with a baby in her arms.

"You better have a name by then, too," Mary Ann added whilst forcibly pulling Steve to his feet to hug him as well. He dramatically groaned at her actions, though he would be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy the close bond that he and his sister now shared, strengthened over the past few weeks thanks to the common factor of a new member of their small, but growing, family.

"We will," he told her, slinging an arm around her shoulders as he led her towards the door behind Chin. "Bye, guys."

Closing the door of their small private room behind them, he crossed his arms and turned around with a relieved sigh. All the exhaustion that he had been feeling came back to him, but years of practice and requirement allowed him to blink it back in favour of utilizing the alone time they currently had. Steve observed as Kono murmured softly to the sleepy baby, delicately rearranging the blanket that wrapped around her to enclose the arm that had gotten free. He kept watching until she was happy with the result and looked up to catch his eyes.

"Come back here," she nodded towards the space next to her that he had just vacated, and not one to disobey her; he climbed back onto the bed. She nudged him gently with her shoulder before handing him their daughter without another word. Not being a natural at it as she was, it took a moment for him to settle her once again, hushing her throughout her fussing as he safely nestled between the crook of his arm and his chest. He shot Kono a questioning look when she curled up into him, threading an arm through his free one. "My arms still feel a bit funny. Besides, I'm sure the others have all been keeping her to themselves, and I've had her for the last 9 months," she explained, resting her head on his shoulder tiredly.

Steve wasn't sure what to say in response to that. The selflessness in letting him hold the baby when she hadn't been conscious for the past few hours whereas he had been, having read him and his urge to actually _feel_ her rather than to simply watch, was beyond words and one of many reasons why he loved the woman who had given him the most precious gift he had ever gotten. He settled on turning his head to press a kiss to the top of her head, feeling the curve of a smile on her lips against his jaw as he did so.

Sitting in silence, they watched their baby girl as she succumbed to sleep peacefully. Steve traced the tiny features of her face with a featherlike touch before resting the hand lightly on her chest to feel it move ever so slightly with every breath she took.

"She _does_ look just like you, you know," he mused in a low voice, breaking their quiet. The small delay and the little hum that Kono let out before speaking told him that she must have unintentionally dozed off; the painkillers and long, momentous day still taking a toll on her.

"That's not true," she shook her head, modestly pushing away the compliments as she had done with her own mother and Malia earlier that day.

Chuckling, he took in the sleeping baby in his arms and was blown away once again by how beautiful she was. Despite months of wondering and dreaming, not that he'd ever admit to the latter, the real deal was nowhere as close to what his imagination could conjure up. All he saw were miniature features that mirrored his wife's, and he was glad of it. "Its a good thing, Kono."

"Ok, _that_ might be true," she replied playfully and he had no doubt that she was thinking the same thing that he had been; their daughter would not look as precious as she did primarily with his features. "She's got your mouth, though."

"You think?" he asked in a mix of scepticism, surprise and pride, trying to see it from her point of view but failing when he couldn't see past the rest of it that was ultimately all Kono, all _Kalakaua._ It was only fair considering she was going to bare his name, he guessed. The thought about names brought back the conversation he had had with the others not that long ago, and clearing his throat, he tried to think of the best way to bring up what he had been contemplating. "So I've been thinking..." he began slowly, trailing off whilst keeping his eyes focused solely on the girl in his arms.

The motion of her sliding her long and slender fingers over the tiny feet closest to her caught his eyes and his attention to the depth that he had forgotten what he had just said until Kono broke into his somewhat trance. "Hmm?" she murmured after a beat.

Blinking his way back to reality, he gathered his thoughts and recalled what it was that he had been thinking through for the past few hours as he had watched their unnamed newborn being passed around and coddled over. "You should name her. You were right; she gets my last name and I'm happy with that," he told her confidently and happily.

Lifting her head up off his shoulder, Kono looked at him in shock when he turned his head to face her. The hand that had been looped through his arm now gripped his bicep in a weakened version of her usual attention grabbing one. "Are you sure? What if I pick a name you _really_ hate?" she asked him seriously, the fingers of her other hand smoothing delicately over the pink blanket that wrapped the baby in question.

"I didn't say I wouldn't have an _input_ on it," Steve quickly corrected in an act to reassure her and to point out that although he was technically handing her all of the power, he wasn't going to let her go crazy with it. Not that he thought she would, but the drugs that they had given her were known to make people a little loopy.

Kono nodded in understanding before cuddling back up to him, laying her head on his shoulder before splaying the hand that held onto the feet up towards his own hand, feeling her fingers brush softly against the underside of his wrist."''Nai'a'. It fits well," she eventually said.

Not sure that he had heard right, Steve raised an eyebrow and looked down at her. The innocently blasé look that she returned was all that he needed to know that he had indeed heard correctly. "Is that so?" he asked rhetorically, already having believed that 'Nai'a', the word for dolphin, would be perfect for their daughter since the moment he had read and suggested it to Kono a few months before.

She shoved him gently, careful not to jar awake the baby as she did so. "Hmm. I kinda began liking it a few weeks ago, when you went away. But I didn't want to say anything because, you know…" she trailed off with a small shrug that he felt rather than saw.

"What?" he asked in reply, not actually knowing what it was that she was trying to tell him.

Letting out a heavy sigh that Steve knew was more for the dramatics than anything else, she pulled away and rolled her eyes after taking a quick look at him. "You'd get all egotistical and probably grin nonstop, _just_ like now."

Steve laughed at her words. If he was honest, he hadn't known that he had been smiling at all; figuring that after doing so all day with the others, his facial muscles would have been tired of it. Instead, it just seemed as if they have memorised the action to the point where he couldn't tell anymore.

"_'Egotistical'_? This is a happy smile! I'm a happy person right now," he insisted in argument, hugging his daughter closer to him and kissing her forehead lightly; simply taking in everything that attacked his senses and emotions at that moment to remind and emphasize on what it was that was making him the happy person he was telling Kono he was right then.

"You better be. I didn't go through all that for you not to be," she groaned excessively as she collapsed back against his side. Steve laughed at the ridiculous notion that she was posing, as if it was possible for him_ not_ to be happy.

"So we're agreed. Nai'a?" he asked to make sure, wanting to have decided on a name not only so he could tell the others, but because he wanted to start referring to her by a proper name after so long of just knowing her as his unborn child.

Kono peered over his shoulder to look at the baby, pushing away the blanket from her face and smiled. "Yeah, we're agreed. Nai'a McGarrett," she announced, dropping her hand as Nai'a began to move. Steve bounced her gently until the fear of her awakening already had passed. "But hey, let's leave the birth certificate until tomorrow. Just in case."

"Of course," Steve agreed readily, knowing that by tomorrow morning, their daughter will forever be known as 'Nai'a', especially in his mind and would not let it be changed without a fight, even if Kono changed her mind.

Opening his mouth to mention it, he stopped when he saw that she had fallen asleep once again, giving in to her body's pleading for much needed rest. However, he had no doubt that he would be awake throughout the night, watching over his family, especially with the small crib that the nurses had left in the room for their convenience. It was a good thing that he had been trained to survive on minimal sleep; he had a feeling that he would be spending many nights in the foreseeable future simply watching and attending to the newborn. And if he was this captivated a few hours after her arrival, Steve didn't want to think about how the rest of his life was going to be. He already knew it'd be worth it though; something told him that being a father for the little girl in his arms was going to be the best thing he had ever done.

* * *

_**A/N: So there we have it. Baby Nai'a McGarrett, birth and all! What did you guys think? It would be awesome if you'd let me know. Also, you may or may not have realized that I haven't set this story as 'complete' yet - that's because I'm toying with the idea of an epilogue. If I can gather enough ideas for it, it will happen! Otherwise, look out for the series of oneshots based on the McGarrett family. Thanks for reading =)**_


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