The nausea and "morning sickness" continued.
It continued until Steve thought he couldn't take any more of seeing his wife so sick.
Would she ever be able keep food down again?
He also wondered why it was called "morning sickness" when Shauni seemed to be sick all day. But every time he sounded worried, she assured him that everything was fine; And when he talked to his mother-in-law, she would tell him it was a normal part of pregnancy and Shauni should be fine within a few weeks. Steve was hoping it would be much sooner.
Shauni, however, never complained; Even when Steve knew she felt terrible, she would smile at him and say, "Please don't worry, sweetie. Our babies are growing. That's a good thing!"
Steve still didn't like to see her so sick. Whenever he would comment about it, she would say, "I would be sick every day for the next few months if I could still have your babies."
Steve loved her for saying so, but he was never convinced the sickness was a 'good thing'. He wanted the doctor to do more and wished he could do more for her, but all he could do was be there for her and say silent prayers that everything would be okay. He was very excited about the babies she was carrying but it hurt him to see her so sick.
For the first several days after their doctor's appointment, Steve would come home to find Cappy curled up beside her on the couch or lying beside her in bed if she was napping. They had always had a strict "no dog on the bed" policy, but Steve was willing to make an exception for the time being. He knew Cappy was worried about Shauni as well and was comforting her any way he could. It actually gave Steve some comfort knowing she had someone….even if that someone was their dog…..to keep her company when he wasn't around.
Within a week of breaking the news to their family, Olivia and Derek called to say they would be coming to the island for an "extended visit". Steve wasn't at all surprised. In fact, he was relieved. With the long, unpredictable hours he worked, he didn't like leaving her alone. It took a tremendous amount of stress off of him knowing that Derek and Olivia would be there to help look after Shauni. The Steele's were a very close knit family, after all. Having them close-by would insure that he could continue to do his job and there would be someone there to look after her when he was gone.
Upon arrival, Derek and Olivia settled in the same home owned by their friends when Steve and Shauni had been dating. Having her parents stay at that house offered the McGarrett's the privacy they needed in their own home while also insuring that her parents were close-by if they were needed.
Not long after they arrived, Five-0 was tasked with a case that was on the "dangerous" side; Not at all unusual for Five-0, but something which Shauni was still growing accustomed. She tried to stay calm since she knew this was part of Steve's job, but all of her senses and emotions had been heightened since finding out she was pregnant with their children. She could move from ecstatically happy to inconsolably crying within seconds. Since she had always prided herself on her ability to keep it together, this new lack of control was not fun.
Steve made it the norm to not inform her about every case they worked on because he didn't want her to be worried all the time. After all, this was his job….and he was damn good at it. However, in some of the more dangerous cases, he would let her know ahead of time that he might be late getting home. Shauni had learned quickly that that was his way of saying things had gotten hairy.
On one particular day after a case had taken a turn for the worst, Steve's first call wasn't to Shauni. Instead, it was Derek he called.
"Hey, son. How's it going? Calling to check on our girl?" Derek asked with a smile in his voice.
"Uh no….Actually, I wanted to let you know that we have a case that's gotten complicated. I may not be home until pretty late tonight, so I wanted to see if you can talk Shauni into staying there with you for a while. I don't know how late I'll have to work here and she's been really sick the last few days."
Derek chuckled softly, "First, I want to let you know she's feeling much better today. Thanks to Olivia, she's been drinking ginger or peppermint tea…..and drinking homemade chicken broth. Believe it or not, she's only been sick once today. I don't know what it is about the tea, but it seems to help."
"Yeah, Olivia told me the same thing." Steve answered.
"I guess women know these things. And it has seemed to work today," Derek assured him again. "She's doing much better, son. As for keeping her here with us, that's no problem…..But are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah….I'm fine. We've just brought in a couple of suspects that we need to question. Depending on how that goes, it may be awhile before I get home. I'll call you as soon as I can." He took a breath, "I just wanted to talk to you first because she's not going to be happy when I tell her I'm going to be late….She has a tendency to worry about me."
Derek's voice was resolute, "I know she does….and so do Olivia and I…..but I also know you: You are great at your job. You know what you're doing, so I'm sure things will be okay. In the meantime, don't worry about Shauni or the babies. We'll take care of them."
Steve talked to Shauni next and assured her things were fine. "I just need for you to stay there tonight, babe. I'll be over there as soon as I finish up here."
He could hear a pout in Shauni's voice, "I just want to go home. I'll take Cappy back home with me and we'll wait for you there."
When Steve didn't say anything, she continued, "I'm fine, sweetie. I'm actually feeling a lot better today."
Steve didn't like it…but he also knew he couldn't smother her. She had already made it very apparent on several occasions that she didn't want to be coddled. "I'm pregnant….not helpless!" she had told him several times already.
He reluctantly gave in and agreed to meet her at their house later instead of picking her up at her parent's.
********h50***************h50******************h50
Several hours later, Steve pulled in to the driveway and came into the house as quietly as he could. Cappy heard him coming inside and came downstairs to investigate. Steve was exhausted but reached down to pet the dog and scratch his ears affectionately.
"Hey, buddy. Did you take care of our girl?" he asked.
Cappy waived his tail happily in response.
"Good boy." Steve responded.
He quietly made his way upstairs with Cappy at his heels. He peered into their bedroom and found Shauni sleeping soundly wearing one of his shirts. He felt his heart squeeze inside his chest just like it did every time he saw her in one of his shirts. She said she wore them so she could feel closer to him when he wasn't there. Whatever the reason, Steve didn't mind; He just loved seeing her in them.
He looked down at Cappy who was standing dutifully by his side, "Shhhh…..I'm gonna take a quick shower. You stay with her until I'm out. Okay, boy?"
Cappy made his way over to the bed as if he understood everything Steve had said. He jumped gently onto the bed and settled down beside her with a sigh.
Steve showered in just 3 minutes; It was a trick he'd learned in the Navy. He put on a pair of sleeping shorts and went out into their bedroom. He nudged a reluctant Cappy off the bed so he could crawl in beside his wife. Steve almost laughed at the "pout" he got from their dog at having to get off the bed, but there simply wasn't room for all three of them. Then he settled in behind his wife to 'spoon'. He kissed the top of her head and put his arm around to touch her tummy….Where their babies were growing. He heard her give a sleepy sigh as she wiggled her bottom a little closer to him.
In that moment, Steve realized he had never been happier in his life.
He wanted it to stay this way forever.
*************h50**************h50**************h50
Several weeks later…
There was no more hiding. Since Shauni was carrying twins, her little tummy had popped out pretty quickly for her "first time pregnancy". They knew it was inevitable that they would need to make a public statement before the paparazzi drove them crazy. They could only keep it a secret so long…..and that time was even shorter with twins.
Shauni's publicist put together a statement with Shauni's help that was released to the news media. As expected, the entertainment news media went crazy since it was some of the biggest news they'd had in a while. Even major news networks reported on the story causing the official "Baby Watch" to begin.
The extra media attention was crazy for a couple of weeks before it all thankfully started to die down. The McGarrett's knew it wouldn't last, however. As the due date grew closer over the coming months, the media attention would ramp up once again. The Steele's had warned Steve as much and it was already giving him heartburn thinking about ways he was going to protect his wife and babies as things went on.
However, he was also so excited when Shauni's firm little tummy started rounding and making room to accommodate their babies. He came home every day and kissed her belly…..after kissing his wife…..to say "hello" to his babies. (Shauni told him how important it was for the babies to hear both of their voices before they were born, and it was advice Steve had taken to heart.) He made a habit of talking to their babies and would sometimes even read to them before he and Shauni fell asleep at night.
***********************h50******************h50********************h50
Their previous ultrasounds had shown that everything was fine. However, the "big day" had come when they were going to find out the gender of their babies…..or possibly "genders" since they could be having one of each. Neither one of them had slept much the night before.
Tossing and turning, Steve had finally turned over to see Shauni with her eyes wide open and hands on her belly. Steve put one of his hands over her two smaller ones.
"You can't sleep either?" he asked softly as he propped himself up on one elbow.
She shook her head. "No. I just keep thinking about our babies. Do you think we're going to have girls or boys?"
Steve smiled, "I don't care. I just want them to be healthy. I know that sounds like a cliché, but it's true."
Shauni smiled at him in understanding. She was very grateful they had scheduled the appointment early in the morning so they wouldn't have to wait much longer.
Shauni's doctor had made exceptions where Shauni was concerned because of the possible media attention and had scheduled their appointment before the office was officially "open" for the day. Steve and Shauni made their way inside to meet Dr. _ and his nurse, Lailani.
"So I'm sure the first thing we need to do is find out the gender of these babies, right?"
"That would be great!" Shauni exclaimed.
The foursome made their way to the exam room where an ultrasound machine had already been set up. Shauni followed instructions and laid down on the table with her tummy exposed. Dr. Barrett poured some gel onto her tummy and began moving the transducer probe across to begin the ultrasound.
"Okay…..Here we go. Let's hope these little ones cooperate."
It wasn't long before Steve and Shauni were both transfixed on the black and white screen in front of them. The babies had grown a lot in the last few weeks and it was easy to see little heads, feet, and hands instead of "blobs". It was an amazing thing to see life moving inside of her.
"So this one here," Dr. Barrett began as he pointed to the screen, "Is a little boy."
Steve felt his heart thumping hard inside his chest. He glanced over at Shauni and saw tears in her eyes.
"A boy…" she whispered.
"And this little one," the doctor continued, "Is a little girl."
Shauni gasped, "We're having one of each?" She looked over at her husband, "Oh my gosh, babe….One of each!"
Steve was too emotional to speak over the lump in his throat. Shauni saw his own eyes get conspicuously moist as he leaned forward to kiss her. "I love you," he whispered.
"I love you too."
"So let's see if we can get some pictures of these babies for you to take home and then we'll finish the exam."
About thirty minutes later, Steve and Shauni walked out of the office hand in hand. They could hardly wait to get to HQ to share the good news with everyone.
