Ch. 2-Steffie
Steve sat in the nursery, hands across his seven-month pregnant body, humming a lullaby to the baby in his belly. Everything he read said babies could sense the music while in-vitro, but Steve knew it was more than that. He could feel his child—his daughter—and feel her react to his singing. She was content now, sleepy, dozing in her daddy's stomach. Steve could go back to sleep now that she had, but he stayed where he was, rocking slowly in the rocking chair, and started talking to his unborn child.
"You're going to be quite the heartbreaker," Steve said, "with Danno's blue eyes and blonde curls and my height. You're going to drive Danno—and me, too—crazy with all the boys you bring home. You're going to bring home some doozies, too, like the one whose brother we arrested in a drug bust." Steve knew this wasn't just a hypothetical—knew this would actually be the case—could see the boy's face now. "You'll find your soulmate, though, just like your daddies did. I can't tell you about him—or her, for that matter"—the details were hazy, Steve just knew Steffie's soulmate was out there, somewhere, and it'd be a long road, but they'd find each other—"but there's someone out there for you."
"You and your brother are going to have a special bond. He'll do anything for you, and you'll do anything for him. You're going to drive him crazy with your overprotectiveness, and he'll do the same for you. I can just see you staring down anybody who tries to bully him." Steve chuckled. She would, too, he knew—more than once. Matt wouldn't like having a girl fight his battles for him, but he'd be proud of her fierce loyalty.
"You're going to be a hothead, like Danno, but you won't be vocal like him and your brother. You'll certainly have your opinions. You'll take after Danno in that, you just won't tell the world"—unlike Danny, Steve thought. "You'll get your point across, though. Danno'll say you have 'faces', like me," and won't that drive him crazy, Steve thought with another chuckle. "
"You won't be as energetic as Danno and your brother," Steve continued. "You'll be calmer, more contained, like me. In fact, except for Danno's coloring, you'll take after me a lot more than Danno, just like Matt takes after Danno more."
"You'll be stubborn, though," Steve added. "Maybe the most stubborn of us all. You'll definitely convince us that two kids—three with Grace—is enough. More than enough, sometimes." More chuckles. "We'll love you though, more than life itself, just like your brother and sister."
Steffie was dead to the world now, Steve's thoughts just background noise. It was time for him to sleep, too. He patted his belly and gave her a mental kiss, feeling his love for her reflected back at him. "Good night, little one. See you soon." With that, Steve padded back to bed, settling in next to his husband, letting his, Danny's, and the baby's heartbeats send him off to dreamland.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A/N: I haven't forgotten the pet verse! Just haven't had any ideas solidify. Working on it, though!
