Chapter three
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Sarah sat numb as she watched the news on the staff room television. Poor Kono. She was a good cop; IA was making a huge mistake by tarnishing her because of what they thought she had done. They still considered Chin Ho Kelly and his family unworthy of the badge.
It was a situation that was sad, considering everyone knew how much being a cop had meant to Kono. It was her life. She remembered this conversation she had once with her, and all she could talk about was what had motivated her to join HPD. In fact Sarah had even thought of asking her to come and speak to her students as a motivational tool. She would still love to, because she in her heart knew Kono was no thief, however she also knew that any such thing would be frowned upon by the school council.
"Apparently she is related to a cop who had previously been investigated as well" one of the teachers commented.
"He was exonerated and was even given a promotion to Lieutenant" Sarah spoke not looking away from the TV.
"This one clearly was involved. They would never have had a press conference otherwise".
He was right, they must have found something about what had happened that put Kono at the centre of this problem. Just then her phone buzzed; it was Steve.
"Hey there sailor" she greeted him with a smile, "Did you watch the news?"
"Yeah, we're just finished. Poor kid. We're all going to see her, wanna come?" he asked.
"What time? I can meet you guys there".
Steve told her the time and she reached Kono's apartment before the others.
It was clear that she had been crying, but she was hiding her pain and confusion. Sarah could also sense her fear, for the future and how she would go on with this publicised degradation of her name.
They were at her dining table drinking cups of tea when the doorbell rang.
Kono opened the door, in poured Danny, Chin, Steve and a new face. They hugged Kono and she held on tightly to Chin as he whispered something in her ear.
Steve walked toward her enveloping her in a tight hug. Then he lifted his head and kissed her softly on the mouth. "How's things?" he asked as he rubbed his big palm across her tummy.
"Same old, same old. Can't keep my food down, can't keep my eyes dry. Poor Kono thinks a mad woman is consoling her".
He laughed slightly, kissing her forehead. Then he turned to the new woman standing awkwardly, "Sarah I'd like you to meet Officer Lori Weston from Homeland Security and the newest member of Five-O. Lori this is my girlfriend Sarah Morrissey".
"Nice to meet you" Lori Weston briefly shook hands with her.
"You too. I hope you're being treated well?"
Lori smiled, she was rather beautiful making Sarah feel a little like a dishrag, and "Yes I have been Thank you".
"Just make sure you don't let these boys bully you too much" she glared at Steve.
"What?" he looked at her.
"Not at all. I think I'll manage" Lori smiled at them.
The conversation soon turned to what had happened that day.
"Look guys, I don't want to do this anymore" Kono sighed. "I appreciate you all coming here and being there for me, but I think it's for the best. Maybe being a cop just wasn't meant for me".
"You're joking right?" Steve asked incredulously.
"I have to second that" Danny chimed in, "You are one of the best damn rookies I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Don't you give up".
"You tell me to not to give up, but what the hell am I supposed to do?" Kono asked, her voice rising. "I can no longer be a cop. My knee is bum so I can no longer follow my professional surfing career. What is my future?"
But no one had an answer to that. The conversation was stilted the entire evening, and Sarah was reminded of an evening spent at her aunt's husband's wake. Other members of Kono and Chin's family came over as well, aunts, uncles and cousins bringing food. People were gathered in small groups talking quietly.
As usual Sarah was feeling queasy, the smell of all the food and the crush of people making her feel all the more sick. She walked out of the house to get a bit of fresh air. She hadn't realised that someone had followed her.
"Sarah are you okay?" it was Kono.
"I should be asking you" she turned to her.
She sighed, "You know you guys don't have to do this".
"Yes we do. That is one thing I love about all of you. You all stick together" all of a sudden she was hit by a wave of nausea and she just had to throw up. Since they were out on the balcony she panicked.
"What is it? Are you okay?" Kono looked horrified as she took in Sarah's panicked, wide-eyed expression.
All Sarah could do was shake her head, lean over the railing of the balcony and lose her lunch. She was aware of Kono rubbing her back and holding her hair back, talking but she couldn't make out what she was saying. Then she realised she was asking if she wanted Steve.
"No I'm fine. I just need a club soda if you have one, please".
"Yeah sure. I'll be right back" Kono ran back into the house.
Sarah took in gulps of air into her lungs, running her fingers through her hair. She smiled as she felt arms wrap around her middle and Steve's chin resting on top of her head.
"I just saw Kono and she thinks you have a bug" he sounded amused.
They both turned as Kono came back running and balancing a glass of bubbly club soda, "Here you go" she handed the glass to her. "Wow, you look better already".
"Thanks, I'm slowly getting used to the nausea" she took a sip and noticed Kono's puzzled expression.
Then her eyes widened and she looked from Sarah's smile to Steve's smug expression "You can't be" she breathed.
"Can't be what?" it was Steve who spoke.
"Pregnant. You guys just got back together" then she smiled, "Ahhh, so this has been going on for quite a while. None of us knew about it".
"Yeah well we wanted to wait till after we reached the three month mark" Sarah explained.
"Congratulations you guys" Kono hugged both of them. "At least some of us have some good news to share".
"Who has good news to share?" it was Danny who was followed by Chin.
"The boss and Sarah".
Danny folded his arms across his chest and smiled at them, "So let's hear it".
"We're pregnant" both Sarah and Steve spoke at the same time.
But instead of the surprised exclamations they were expecting, Chin and Danny just looked at each other, "Here you go, brah" Chin took out his wallet and handed Danny a ten dollar bill.
"What did I tell you? Never argue with me when it comes to things like this" he pocketed the money with a smile.
"What the hell's going on?" Steve asked.
"We kinda suspected something was up. I also saw what Sarah showed you when we went to visit you in prison, it looked very much like an ultrasound picture but I wasn't sure. She stopped drinking and she hardly eats meat when we all know she loves a good 'Noo York' stake" Danny looked very proud of his detective skills.
"So you guys had a bet going?" Kono asked, "And you didn't think to include me?" she sounded mock hurt.
"Congratulations by the way" Danny first hugged Sarah then Steve.
"Oh brah, that was quick" Chin teased Steve, winking at Sarah.
Sarah noticed a smug expression on Steve's face, "You have no idea brah – mmph" she jabbed her elbow in his stomach. Men could be so insensitive sometimes!
"Steven" she warned him.
Lori came forward, "Congratulations you guys" she smiled.
"Okay enough now. Our news is great and thanks for all the congratulations. But we are here for Kono" Sarah was feeling a little uncomfortable with all the attention.
-X-
Steve followed Sarah's Jeep all the way to his place. He had managed to convince her to come back home with him since the next day was the weekend. She still had not agreed to move in with him, which he was having a hard time understanding.
They were together, they were having a baby together, the next logical step was for them to move in together.
He was reminded by what Mary had said to him when he had spoken to her on the phone. According to her the next logical step was not only moving in together, but marriage.
He liked that idea, but if Sarah didn't want to move in, would she want to marry him?
And it wasn't just because they had been together for a short time, but would she really want to tie herself to a guy who's life was not settled. He was still on reserves and if need be he could still be shipped out with little notice.
He also knew being married to a cop was not easy, although his mother seemed happy. But the other example was Rachel who, even now was unable to deal with Danny's work choices.
He felt for his friend and partner; he had been doing everything he could to become a family again with his ex wife and daughter.
Although he had to admit that Sarah was a tough little thing. She had dealt with her father and him going to prison, she had initially run away from it, but that had been more to do with his stupidity than the fact that she couldn't deal with tough situations. After all she had come back as soon as Danny had called her.
They had reached the house and he went to help her get her heavy teacher gear out of the car.
"Why don't you just leave it in the car?"
"I can't leave my laptop, it's my baby. Besides I might have time to look at some essays which I was supposed to mark a couple of days ago".
"Have you told the school that you're pregnant?" he asked as they entered the house and went straight to the kitchen. He set all her stuff there and watched as she opened her leather satchel to take out her MacBook.
"Not yet. I was thinking I'll have a talk with the Assistant Principal on Monday" she went to the sink to fill up the kettle, then moved to the place where the canisters of coffee and tea were kept. "Ooooh you got my decaffeinated green tea. And the right brand".
She was so excited she came to him, put her arms around him and kissed him soundly on the lips, "I had no idea tea would do it for you" he commented between kisses.
"Oh God, I think it's the hormones, but I find I am turning into a guy. I think about sex all the freaking time" she smiled saucily at him.
"I don't know if I like the idea of you turning into a guy, but I do like the idea of you thinking about sex 'all the freaking time'" he lifted her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
He couldn't resist her mouth, so he kissed her teasingly, then slipped his tongue in to deepen the kiss. He felt her fingers sift through his hair to hold his head close to her. He loved it when she did that, as if she couldn't let him go, couldn't get enough of him.
Steve moved them toward the dining table to set her down on it. He tunnelled his hands under her cream coloured silky blouse, which he loved to watch her in. He felt her belly that still was not quite a bump but he could make out a slight roundness that had not been there before.
"You're going to be showing soon. Then you'll have to move in" he stroked her belly then ran his hands up to stroke her breasts, which had become very sensitive.
"Then you can cure my sex mania" she breathed as he touched her, arching her back to bring her body closer to him.
Just then the kettle whistled, which abruptly made her stop mid kiss. She looked sweetly at him, "Tea first" she pushed him away and jumped down from the table.
Steve groaned as he leaned on the dining room table.
"You want some?" she asked without turning.
He reached for her, "I want you" he nuzzled her neck from behind and put his arms around her waist.
"You will have to wait till after I have my tea and have a nice shower" she turned and gave him a quick kiss.
"I thought you were a sex maniac?" he was a little perplexed that she could forget about their heated make out session on the dining room table so soon.
She shrugged as she sipped her tea, "That's the thing. I can be this raging sexaholic one minute and then nothing the next" she laughed at his expression, which he knew was puzzled. "I've read that it happens".
As soon as she finished her tea, she went for a shower. Not before raiding his clothes to find an old Naval Academy t – shirt, which she usually wore when she staid over.
Steve thought he could join her in there but he wasn't sure if she would want that or not. He had heard of mood swings during pregnancy, she had warned him as well. He should get some reading done, but he knew the guys would never let him live it down if he was caught reading pregnancy books.
He went to the bedroom and waited for her. He had no idea he had dozed off until he felt soft lips nuzzling his jaw.
"Wake up sleepyhead. I want me some of my handsome sailor" Sarah kissed his mouth, deepening the kiss when he parted his lips and groaned. She had straddled him, wearing nothing but his old t – shirt. Why she bothered with clothes he never knew.
He made quick work of getting rid of her shirt, then sat up as she balanced on his lap. He quickly wrenched off his own t – shirt.
"My, you work fast" she grinned at him as she ran her hands down his shoulders and chest.
"I'm not done yet" Steve wrapped one arm around her and flipped her onto her back, where she landed with a squeak.
"Now you're talking" she commented when he stripped off his cargo pants and joined her on the bed.
"You know you've become quite verbal" he had noticed how she had opened up to him, telling him what she wanted from him.
"You taught me well sailor" she smiled at him, showing off her dimples.
She looked amazing with her black hair spread over the crisp white sheets. He could see the changes in her body; he had always loved her breasts, and he could now definitely see her belly more clearly.
He bent and kissed her stomach, "I love you" he told her as he looked up at her.
"I love you too, Steve" her eyes filled up with tears, "Oh God now look what you've done".
He laughed as he reached up for her, laying next to her he pulled her into his arms. He stroked his hand down her back and hip, soothing her.
Steve made love to Sarah that night gently and taking care to pay attention to everything she wanted from him. He showed her that he could be the man she wanted in her life, a man she could depend on to take care of her and their baby.
When she was asleep he disengaged himself from her arms. He padded into his study to the little safe that was installed in a low cabinet. He punched in the code to open the lock. He reached in to pull out the small box his father had left for him. As he opened the box, he felt cold sweat bead on his forehead.
