I do not own Hawaii Five-0, its content belongs to CBS.
Chapter Fourteen
JJ put down her pen and closed the laptop, rubbing her forehead in agitation.
"Are you okay?" Steve asked, setting a bowl of ice cream in front of her. JJ looked at the perfect scoops sadly and pulled the bowl toward her, poking at the chocolate chips.
"...Four cribs, four mattresses, four mattress pads and two sets of good rated sheets are $1,102." She slid the notepad over and he looked at the list. "I'm not even going to look at the other stuff."
"How much do we have in our savings at the moment?"
"607.34." Steve frowned and took a bite of his ice cream, looking at the calculator and notes carefully.
"What's your next paycheck going to be like?" He asked.
"Low. Like 400 at least."
"My next one will be 900..."
"Yeah, but then you have to buy groceries, pay bills and other stuff, so we don't know what that'll leave us." Steve nodded, frowning deeply in disdain.
"Well, once you move in, you won't have to pay your house's mortgage anymore, and you'll be saving on a ton of stuff." JJ nodded, but still looked down.
"What about a yard sale? If we're going to combine our stuff, we could do some cleaning and sorting out. I know I have a ton of stuff to get rid of, what about you?" Steve thought about it before nodding, his frown turning into a smile.
"That actually might work." He replied. "How about this weekend? We'll use this weekend to clean out this house, and then we'll use the following to clean out yours." JJ smiled and reached over, taking his hand happily.
"Also, paint's gonna cost so much."
"Yeah... Having a baby is expensive."
"So... Have you made the big move in yet?" Lou asked as they relaxed one afternoon. Steve shook his head, sitting up.
"Not yet. Currently, we're trying to budget and keep it low, and so we're thinking of doing a clean out and do a yard sale."
"Do you need help?"
"It would be nice."
"When do you want us there?"
The work started at around nine in the morning. The guys worked downstairs while Abby, JJ and Kono took upstairs, cleaning out the desired room for the future nursery. Steve told JJ to sit down and not strain herself moving around, so they simply sorted through old boxes. Kono and Abby brought the boxes and JJ sorted through them. So far, nothing interesting. JJ was hoping to find some embarrassing photos of either being a baby or in these camo diapers that Aunt Deb mentioned.
JJ moved her eyes to look over her glasses, watching Kono and Abby bump each other, whispering quietly between them. Thanks to her trained ears, she could hear the conversation clearly, even over the music going downstairs.
"You ask her."
"It was your idea, so you ask her." Kono finally took a breath, lifting a box and bringing it over. JJ folded a shirt and put it in the giveaway box.
"Listen, uh... We all were talking and we were thinking of maybe throwing you a baby shower in a couple of weeks. We all want to chip in and get you the necessities. Steve... Steve has mentioned that you have been kind of tight with money, so we wanted to help out a little bit." JJ thought about it for a moment as she pulled out a few old clothes, laying them on her lap and chewing her lip.
"He said that?" Kono and Abby looked at each other worriedly, hoping they didn't say too much.
"When we asked about everything going on with you guys, he kind of let it slip that you guys are tight financially." JJ stared at her before pursing her lips and nodding slowly.
"Okay, you can throw me a baby shower." They looked at each other happily. "But you have to coordinate with my friend because she will murder me if she finds out that you're hosting a baby shower without her. You'll meet her officially next weekend." They nodded.
"We will not disappoint." JJ nodded.
"I know you won't."
"So... Four kids, huh?" Lou said as he helped Chin with a cabinet. Steve chuckled and nodded, sorting through some mail and putting some papers in the shred pile.
"Yeah, I know. We sat outside after we found out in shock for about five minutes."
"Why are Navy SEALs so goddamn efficient at everything?" Danny inquired as he opened a bill. "I mean, seriously. First, you guys are insanely good with weaponry and fighting. You all are intelligent and insanely great at like everything, except for cooking, and have weird sad pasts. And you guys are good at baby making. It's stupid."
"I think someone's jealous." Chin said as he folded a box together.
"I am not jealous of this heathen." Danny replied.
"Love you too, Danno."
The doorbell rang and everyone looked up, furrowing their eyebrows.
"Did you invite Kamekona?" Chin asked and Steve shook his head.
"I am not bringing him around JJ. Seafood makes her sick." Steve stood up and headed to the door, seeing JJ standing at the top of the stairs.
"Did you invite someone else?" JJ asked. Steve shook his head once more and opened the door to reveal a delivery guy. He perked up once seeing Steve, and greeted him with a nod.
"Steven McGarrett?" He asked and Steve nodded. "Great, please sign here." He handed him a tablet and a electronic pen, then turned around to wave at the other guys at the truck.
"May I ask what's this for?" Steve asked, quirking an eyebrow. The delivery guy looked at his clipboard.
"It says here you ordered four cribs, four crib mattresses, a dresser and then six items that aren't listed here." Steve stared at him for a really long time, watching the guys load up multiple boxes.
"I didn't order any of this though." Steve said. The delivery guy frowned and lifted a page on the clipboard.
"The order was placed by a Deborah McGarrett."
"Oh..." Steve swallowed the lump that came into his throat and signed the tablet, then handed it back to him.
"Just, uh, put it right here..." Steve said awkwardly, pointing to by the porch. "We'll bring it in." The delivery guys nodded and set the boxes against the wall, then handed him a large package.
"Have a good day, sir."
"Thanks." Steve watched the men leave and then turned around to see everyone staring at him with sympathic looks, and he frowned.
"Stop looking at me like that." JJ took his hand in hers and kissed his cheek gently.
"It's okay. Let yourself be loved for once, okay?"
"You did that this morning." She pinched his side hard and he yelped, jumping away and swatting her hand away.
"Please don't tell us about your... Intimacy." Danny said. "It's... too much information for us." JJ chuckled.
"Well, that takes care of some expenses." JJ said halfheartedly. She was clearly upset that Aunt Deb did this without telling them before she passed, and she looked ready to cry. Steve hugged her and kissed her head, and she wrapped her arms around his torso, burying her face into his clothing and letting her tears soak into his shirt. God, she knew his aunt for a day and was crying over her, and she never usually cries.
"Alright, let's get back to work."
They got about ten carloads of stuff that Steve didn't need. They dusted, vacuumed and mopped the entire house, and threw out a bunch of trash and old food. They even found old blood spatters that hadn't been cleaned thoroughly by CSU, and brought back some bad memories by Steve.
"Man, this house has been touched by so much death." JJ commented as they relaxed around a fire and food. She was cuddled up to Steve, her arms over her belly as he rubbed her side gently.
"Yeah... First my father... Then my friend that I worked with died right over there in the shallow part of the ocean." Steve pointed to the beach and JJ frowned.
"Oh, that's nice." She said.
"And then my aunt..." Steve took a breath and tilted his head back. "God, should we move into your house?" JJ laughed and shook her head.
"Yeah, but now you guys are going to bring life into this house." Abby said. "You have four new lives about to be welcomed, so that tops the deaths." They stared at her for a moment before looking at each other, smiling.
"I guess you're right." They bumped each other's noses before kissing and Danny kind of gagged, stood up and went inside. As soon as the door shut, everyone frowned.
"I'm guessing Danny hasn't been the most supportive out of all this." Kono implored. Steve sighed.
"Not exactly." Steve admitted. "Apparently he volunteers to go alone to the ME's office to rant about me."
"How do you know he goes to rant about you?" Lou asked.
"Because Max told me."
"Oh." Steve started to stand but JJ pushed him back down.
"I'll go."
"What-"
"I want to talk to him." Steve frowned, but helped her up and watched her head into the house. The others chuckled as he rubbed his neck.
"You chose good. What did she do in the Navy?" Steve set down his glass.
"She was a lieutenant and a sniper."
"So she could kill you from a very far range."
"Yup."
"Don't piss her off, please."
JJ peaked into the kitchen to see Danny leaning over the sink, washing his face in agitation.
"Hey." He lifted his head at the sound of her greet and cleared his throat, grabbing a towel and patting his face dry.
"What do you need?" He asked curtly, and JJ shrugged, leaning against the counter.
"You don't like me, do you?"
Danny didn't reply.
"I'm going to take that as a yes." JJ took a breath and sighed. "Can you tell me why?"
"I don't know you well enough for that."
"You think Steve is insane for doing something like this."
"Yes, he is insane for doing something like this. Steve puts his life in danger nearly everyday to protect this island, and I think he is insane for deciding to have a family during all that."
"Don't you have a family?"
"That's different. He's a Navy SEAL, I'm a cop. He's going to have a lot more enemies than I will." Danny sighed, shaking his head, gripping the sink tightly. "I'm just..."
"Scared." Danny shut his eyes, hanging his head in defeat. JJ laid her hands on her belly.
"I understand how you feel. It's scary when you know your loved one is trying to make a family. My friend went through the same thing when I told her I wanted to have a baby."
"I like your friend, she seems smart." JJ smiled, nodding.
"She is." JJ sighed. "I've only been with one man in my life."
"Caleb?"
"Yup. Until I met him, I never had any feelings for any guys whatsoever, not even when I was a teenager. Until I met Caleb and started to like him, I thought I was asexual." He lifted his head and looked at her surprised.
"Seriously?" JJ nodded.
"I really thought I was asexual. Throughout the academy, I was asked if I liked somebody or had somebody, asked about my past crushes, and I told I never had any. The only one who got me through life was my best friend, and she moved to New Mexico to be with her family when we were twelve. She helped me through a ton of shit, and I'm grateful to have her in my life. She's..." JJ paused. "She's like my Danny." Danny's shoulders relaxed.
"Yeah...?" JJ nodded.
"Steve is upset that you've haven't spoken to him. You're like his brother, and he needs someone to lean on." Danny stared at her for a moment and then pursed his lips.
"I've seen him hurt before. The last girl he felt like he was in love with left him and broke his heart and I don't want that to happen to him again. I don't want you to get cold feed, and I don't want him to get cold feet. I-I just don't want either of you to get cold feet." JJ frowned, standing straight and putting her hand on his arm.
"I love Steve. I love him a lot, and I know I've only know you for a little while, but I really want you to be these kid's best uncle. I love him, and I know I'm going to love you guys as I get to know you. All of you are considered his Ohana, and so I know you guys are going to be very protective of him. Just know that I will never hurt Steve and I would never do anything to harm you guys either."
JJ squeezed his arm reassuringly.
"I protect my own."