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Steve tosses and turns in his bed for like the hundredth time but he can't seem to find a comfortable position. In the end he gives up on falling asleep altogether, staring at the ceiling instead, letting out a heavy sigh.
It feels ridiculous that he can't sleep without her next to him but this is what exactly happening and he has a hard time to remember when was the last time he spent the night alone. He doesn't even know what is he doing at home anyway when she is still at the hospital, recovering from being shot and he wants nothing more than sitting by her bed, watching over her.
But he has other responsibilities, namely Hana and JD, so Kono pretty much threw him out of her room earlier this day, ordering him to go home and spend some time with their kids because this is what they need. She is right, of course, not that he admits it aloud but that doesn't mean he can relax and catch some sleep.
Suddenly he hears noises from the hallway, footsteps then a hushed conversation and it becomes clear to him that he's not the only insomniac in the house tonight. The door creaks open slowly a few minutes later and the bed dips under the kids' weight.
"Are you sleeping?" Hana whispers, nudging his side lightly.
"No." Steve answers, lifting the covers up to let her dive under it and snuggle against his side. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"
"She misses Mom." JD offers helpfully, lying down on Kono's side of the bed, hugging her pillow to his chest.
"I miss her too." Steve admits, smoothing back his daughter's hair, tugging it behind her ear.
"JD misses her too, but he doesn't want to admit it." Hana mumbles, her little fingers fisting around his t-shirt.
"It's okay." Steve reassures them. "She misses you guys too, I'm sure of that."
"What if she is awake too?" Hana asks worriedly. "And she's all alone."
"We should go to see her." JD says, sitting up in the bed. "Can we, Dad?"
Steve stares at his kids and he has a sneaking suspicion that they are playing him but who cares really when he wished he was next to her all night anyway.
"Okay." He agrees. "Go, puts some clothes on."
The night shift nurse just shakes her head with a fond smile when she sees them.
Kono is asleep when they enter her room but the kids don't care. JD climbs on the chair next to her bed, laying his torso beside his mother and falling asleep on instant with his hand covering hers.
Hana waits for Steve to bring another chair to the other side of the bed and crawls into his lap, her eyes never leaving Kono.
"Thank you, Daddy." She whispers sleepily, pressing a soft kiss against his cheek then resting her head on his chest and she is asleep too a few minutes later.
Steve tries to find a comfortable position, hugging Hana close with one hand while touching Kono's fingers with the other.
He listens to their steady breathing, the only sounds in the room suddenly feeling bone deep tired and he hopes that Kono won't be too mad in the morning, it's not his fault really that their kids are professional manipulators.
.
.
"Uncle Chin?" JD turns towards him with a serious expression.
"Yes?" Chin shifts his gaze from the lake to his nephew.
"What's wrong with being barefoot?" JD asks, fumbling with his fishing rod.
"Barefoot?" Chin looks at him confused. "There's nothing wrong with that. Why?"
"Then why Mom gets annoyed every time Uncle Danny says that Dad likes to keep her barefoot and pregnant?"
"Oh." That's all Chin can say, standing there totally clueless about what to answer.
Until this moment Chin didn't know why Danny refused to babysit JD and Hana. He thought that taking the kids fishing with Malia was a great idea and on top of that Steve and Kono finally had some well earned alone time now that she is pregnant again.
"All Uncle Danny meant was that your Dad likes it when your Mom is pregnant because she is more careful that way." He says after thinking it through.
"Where do babies come from Uncle Chin?" Hana chimes in and he can hear Malia's quiet laugh.
"Well, the stork brings them." Chin smiles at his little niece.
"But there are no storks in Hawaii." Hana looks horrified. "What if the stork doesn't know where we live and he brings the baby to the mainland."
"Don't be a goof, Hana." JD chides his sister with a huff. "Babies are from the hospital where Auntie Malia works, right?"
"Right." Malia nods with a smile so Hana calms down a little.
Chin lets out a small, relieved breath when no other question comes. He's back at teaching JD how to use the fishing rod correctly and Malia plays with Hana a little farther in the shallow water.
"What does castration mean?" JD asks out of the blue, looking thoughtful.
"What?" Chin can't believe that this is really happening. He has a suspicion that Danny or Sid convinced the kids to play uncomfortable twenty questions with him.
"I heard Mom tell Dad, that after Ian is born she's gonna castrate him." JD blinks up at him. "Is it something painful, 'cause Dad looked a little freaked out."
"I'm sure your mother was joking." Chin reassures him.
He seriously needs to have a talk with Steve and Kono about appropriate conversations before their children.
.
.
Steve feels awful which is not a common thing for him but he's having a pretty high fever and horrible wet coughs are wrecking his body in every ten minutes.
His mood doesn't lift when Kono walks into their bedroom, placing a tray packed with food and medicines on the bedside table.
"You sure you don't want me to stay?" She asks, pressing her cool palm against his forehead.
"Nah." He croaks. "You should go with the kids and have fun, it's Halloween after all."
"I can ask Sid and Holden to take them." She offers.
"I'll be fine." He says but then he notices her costume. "What the hell are you wearing?"
Kono straightens her posture, twirling around. She's wearing skin-tight leggings and a leather vest which shows too much of her skin for his liking.
"This is a sci-fi pirate costume from Hana's favorite TV show." Kono explains, eyeballing him suspiciously. "Do you have a problem with that?"
Steve really wants to say that he fucking has at least a dozen problems with that but the kids burst into the bedroom almost vibrating with excitement.
Hana wears a smiliar but thankfully more PG rated ensemble as Kono and JD is dressed in cargo pants and Kevlar vest. Steve can't help but feels smug because most of the kids at JD's age are dressing up as their favorite superheroes. For JD it's him. He thinks he has the best kid ever.
"Mom, we're gonna be late." JD shoots his mother a disapproving look.
"I'm sorry you are sick." Hana walks up to Steve.
"Me too, sweetheart." Steve smiles at his daughter. "Have fun."
"Okay." Hana nods seriously and puts something down on his pillow.
It's her favorite toy, Danno, a stuffed cheery orange pineapple. It was a present from Sid and it never fails to rail Danny up every time he sees it. It's kind of hilarious to watch.
"Thanks." Steve says then looks at JD. "Take care of your mother and sister."
JD sweeps his eyes over her mother; his expression darkens a little before turning his gaze towards his father.
"Don't worry Dad, I'm gonna shoot anyone who looks at them funny."
Kono throws Steve a resentful look while ushering the kids out of the bedroom.
"You lucky we only bought him a nerf gun." She throws back over her shoulder. "I'm not going to apologize if he hurts someone. Again."
Steve snorts and pulls the covers higher. He's glad that even if JD looks like more a mini Kono, at least he inherited the McGarrett protectiveness.
In his book all is fair in scaring away assholes from hitting on his wife.