A/N: Hey, sorry I meant to upload this last night, and then again this morning, but I started watching Formula 1 and got distracted ... so you get it now! Hope its alright, and that I get the whole football thing right – I do follow it, but being a Brit makes it doubly hard unless all you want to watch is Superbowl ... Anyway rant over and ENJOY (And review =D)
"Uh." Kono sank on to the couch, her leg throbbing painfully. Chin had just said his farewells, and she'd finally put her feet up. "Who thought... having people over for breakfast was... so exhausting."
"Well you were hopping round like a headless and legless chicken."
"Nice metaphor."
"Can a chicken really run around headless?" Steve asked sitting down next to her.
"I wouldn't know. But I'll run right out and find one for you to try it."
"Why thank you." Steve patted her hand.
"Are you going to hang around?" Kono asked, leaning her head against his shoulder.
"I have to go home and do some laundry otherwise I won't have anything to wear to work this week. And I can hardly go to work in underwear."
"I wouldn't complain." She glanced at him.
"You can come by if you want. Give me a hand."
"You want me to do your laundry? Me a cripple." She asked.
"If you're offering." He joked. "But I figured you could keep me company, hang out until we went to the game, you need a lift to the hospital tomorrow anyway. So you can stay over if you want."
Kono pulled back and looked at him.
"So do you wanna stay at my place?" He asked.
"Alright. I'll have to call Laula and pack a bag." She told him.
"I thought you spoke to her."
"I told her I'd call her back, and she said to be real nice to me or she'll set her Math professor husband on your ass."
"I look forward to the occasion. Besides you told your cousin about me?"
"No, I just told her that a friend was taken me to a Sharks game – which she wasn't happy about – but she automatically assumed guy. Give me half an hour?"
"Okay." He kissed her. "SO I'm your friend huh?"
"I don't honestly know what you are. Are we really wanting to put labels on this yet?
"I have no idea." Steve replied.
"That's what I thought. "
H-5-O
Kono was trying to explain to Steve the complicated family tree while they drove to his house; and failing dismally.
"So there's me and Keha. My mami Peni died when I was 8 and Keha was 9. So that left our father. HE was an arse to the umpteenth degree. So Uncle Kauka took us away from him. Now Uncle Kauka was my mami's brother, and Chin's Dad's brother in law. Chin's mum had a kid before meeting his dad. And that's Laula. We were all pretty close, grew up on the same street, but Laula moved to the mainland a few years ago with her husband." She paused. "You keeping up?"
"Umm...I plead the fifth." He said with a grin.
"I'll leave it there." She smiled, her own brain was starting to hurt just trying to wrap her head around the family.
"So do you want kids?" Steve asked her.
"Isn't it a bit early to be asking that?" Kono teased.
"I didn't mean with me, I meant generally, hypothetically sometime in the future."
"I know." She grinned. "I want kids eventually, but I'd like to be married first. But I'm only 26 so I have time." She paused. "another year closer to thirty."
"What?"
"It's my birthday the end of next month"
"What is it with women and thirty? I'm 35 it's not a problem."
"Thirty is one major step closer to forty, which is a major step closer to fifty." Kono replied.
"Right." Steve said slowly, not quite sure if that counted as a definitive answer.
"Do you want kids?" Kono asked.
"Hadn't really thought about it. I'm not against the idea."
"I think that's enough of the deep and hypothetical's."
"Just in time." He said, as he pulled into his drive.
H-5-O
Kono listened as Steve explained an obscure football rule to her as they waited for the teams to switch after the 4th down.
She didn't have the heart to tell him that she knew every rule this way and that from when Keha used to play in High School .
"So that's basically how it works."
"I think I understand." Kono replied. "I'm going to go to the bathroom."
"Do you need a hand?"
"I'll be fine, if I'm not back in an hour, send a rescue party." She joked lightly.
"Sounds like a fair deal." He smiled. He watched as she made slow progress down toward the exit and the bathrooms.
Twenty minutes later he saw Kono creeping back up the stairs with a man following very close behind her. He tensed and his hand went towards his hip.
"Steve, this is Errol. Errol this is Steve. And Steve say thank you to Errol for carrying your hotdog."
"Um...Thank you Errol." Steve said frowning, taking the hotdog tentatively from the small mans hands.
"Thanks Errol, it was sweet." Kono slid back into her seat. Her leg sticking into the aisle slightly.
"And that was?"
"Oh, I went to high-school with him." Kono shrugged; resting her hotdog on her knee.
"Right... Was he also your lapdog in high-school." He teased, taking a bite out of his own hotdog. Mustard dribbling onto his chin. Kono reached up a napkin and wiped it off, dumping the dirty napkin on his lap.
"Thanks." He replied, reaching into her bag for the sodas they packed earlier. "Diet." He frowned at the label.
"Mine." She said, taking it out of his hands.
"I've seen what you eat...why drink diet?" He asked, opening his own full fat.
"I like diet." She replied. "Besides you shouldn't drink too much of it all the carbon dioxide, makes your belly all fizzy." She glanced back at the field, and made a snap comment when she saw the next play unfold; and Steve frowned.
"What? I told you I liked Football."
"You knew that rule I was explaining to you earlier didn't you?" He asked.
"Mm." She nodded, a mouthful of dog.
"And you didn't stop me?"
"You were enjoying yourself. Why spoil a good thing." She smiled. "Besides, I know how much Chin likes to try and explain all the rules to me, so I figured its a guy thing."
"It is. It is"
"So what's the ... That's a turnover." She said her eyes flicking across the pitch; and Steve switched his focus back to the game.
H-5-O
It was a nearing the end of the third quarter when Kono decided to make the trek to the toilet again. She pulled her crutches out from under the seat in front. Steve watched with dismay as the Volcanoes went up by another touchdown.
On her way back Kono watched Roger Scott sent attempted a one-point convert the ball flying into the crowd, she watched on the large screen as it sailed towards Steve who stuck his hand up to catch it before it hit him in the face. Kono smiled, knowing he would not stop talking about it. By the time Kono had finally made it back to her seat the focus had switched back to the game.
"Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" Kono asked.
"I caught this." Steve said, proudly holding up the ball.
"I saw. Nice catch." She grinned.
"Thanks. Do you want to keep it as a souvenir." Steve inquired.
"You don't want to keep if for evidence. Or you embarrassed that we're beating you."
"I think I'll be happy to let you keep this one."
"You're giving the ball to the little lady. What a waste." The guy behind them commented.
"I'm not so little." Kono said, shifting round in her seat. "I'm also a cop." She said pulling her badge out of her pocket. "So do you really want to go there." She said briskly.
The guy held his hands up in mock surrender.
Kono turned back to watch the rest of the game, silently chuffed at her display of tough.
"I guess you told that guy." Steve smiled.
"I can look after myself.
"Being a ninja doesn't hurt." He winked at her.
H-5-O
There clean sheets." Steve said as he finished remaking the bed.
"Very impressive. Hospital corners and everything. Lemme guess you were a maid in a previous life." Kono laughed.
"I can roll out the French Maid outfit if you want." Steve countered.
"Now that's a mental image I really didn't need." Kono winced.
"Let me see if I can help you get rid of it." Steve said, lowering her gently onto the bed.
"You just made the bed."
"So help me mess it up a little." He kissed her.
"Convince me."
"With pleasure.
