Rewrite
AvalonReeseFanFics
A/N: And here we are. Another late update but a good one. This one is supposed to be both cute and bittersweet. The next chapter we're going to see a lot of our favourites. I had a lot of fun writing those chapters. I have been working on the last episode of the season. Very soon we're going to be on season eight. You guys excited?! Cause I am! As always don't forget to leave a review or drop a fav and a follow and I'll see you guys next week.
Chapter 385
Grace met Nahele at the Mall.
The plan was to wander around, go shopping and what not, and then hit the food court up to eat, or go to one of the in-mall restaurants.
He was fine with either and ultimately left the choice to her.
As they wandered, they talked about everything and nothing. It was easy, being with Grace, talking to Grace.
He didn't have to try to impress her. He didn't have to try to think of things to say, or try too hard to be some cooler version of himself. He could just be himself and she liked him just the way he was. Which was great cause he liked her for who she was too.
He didn't want to bring up the reason he wanted to hang out with her so last minute today until they were eating. Luckily for him she had chosen one of the in-mall restaurants so they could have some privacy in a booth.
"I thought you were going to have some Father-Son bonding time today," Grace said after they had ordered their food. "I'm guessing Steve went in for the case?"
Nahele nodded because it was what happened.
"It's not a big deal," he said with a shrug but Grace shook her head.
"Course it is. You were really looking forward to today. I'm sorry they caught a case."
Nahele almost scoffed, of course, she got it. She always got it and he didn't even have to tell her. It was like his parents. Rowan always knew what Steven was thinking. Steven, might not have known what Rowan was thinking, because how Rowan's brain worked was a mystery, but he knew when his wife needed him, whether it be for comfort, or back up, or to just stop her from doing something stupid.
"It's all part of being a cop's kid. I know he'd be here if he could. He can't control crime on Hawaii. And besides, I get to spend my day with you which is a pretty cool trade off."
At that Grace laughed. "Well, I'm glad I'm was a good substitute."
"So uh… how are things with Will?" he asked.
It was his segue, he'd ask about Will she'd tell them bad and he'd bring up his own feelings.
"Great actually," Grace said and Nahele's smile faded. "Yeah, we had a really deep talk about how he has to accept my friends, and how he was acting really shitty at your birthday bonfire. And he told me the most ridiculous thing!"
"Yeah?" Nahele asked breathlessly, trying to breathe through the sudden disappointment. He wasn't sure he should mention his feelings if things with her and Will had gotten better.
"He said he was jealous of you!" she cried. "Isn't that ridiculous?"
"Yeah. Ridiculous," he muttered.
"He even went as far as to say that he thought I liked you or that you liked me," she said and Nahele's heart dropped.
Really? Will had picked up on his feelings but Grace hadn't? Or maybe she had and this was why she was telling him this.
"I mean, come on, we're friends, right? Just really good friends. Just cause you're a boy and not a girl doesn't mean I'm interested in you or you in me. You see me like a little sister or a cousin and I know I see you as a big brother."
Wow not even friendzoned, brotherzoned. Yeah, this was a bad idea. He had read this whole situation wrong.
"Course. Just like a little sister," he said, trying to force a smile onto his face.
"Anyway, I told him that," she said. "And now he feels better and we're good. I just think that was such a silly thing to fight over. He could have just asked me and I would have set him straight."
His whole heart had basically shattered in his chest. He was dangerously close to crying, the only thing that saved him was their food showing up, cause he could focus entirely on that.
For the rest of the hang out it was hard. Hard because his heart hurt, because he had been wrong. He was stupid for getting his hopes up, he should have kept things the way they were, his feelings bottled up, him dating whoever he wanted.
He didn't want to but after this he was going to need some space from her. Which sucked because she was basically his best friend. But until he got over her, he was going to have to cut contact.
He couldn't tell her this though because then he'd have to admit that he had feelings for her and he didn't want her to know and feel extra awkward around him. He'd get over her, things would go back to normal, but they couldn't go back to normal until he got his emotions under control.
He wanted their hangout to end right after lunch but that would have been weird so it lasted a lot longer than he wanted it to and suddenly everything became super hard.
Suddenly he didn't know what to say, he felt awkward and though he tried to keep it to himself he could tell that she could tell too.
At the end of the day she hugged him goodbye, her mom offered him a ride that he turned down, and before she left she asked if he was okay. He simply forced his father's trademark smirk onto his face and lied.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Except he wasn't.
So he went home. He took the bus and struggled to keep himself from crying. He got home and all he wanted to do was curl up in his bed. He didn't want to see his dad because if he had just stayed home this wouldn't have happened. And he definitely didn't want to see his mom because if it weren't for her shit advice, he wouldn't have gotten his hopes up.
But he also knew that this wasn't their fault, and it wouldn't be fair to blame them. And who knows, maybe he'd pick a fight and they'd give him back. Just like he feared they would.
But he wasn't that lucky. His dad was still on his case, but his mom, she was awake and in the kitchen when he got home.
Nahele slammed the door closed and just glared at his mother who had been going about making a cup of tea for herself.
She smiled when she saw him, she was always smiling but he wasn't happy to see her.
"How did it go?"
"That is the last time. The absolute last time I ever listen to your advice."
It was a horrible thing to say to his mother. Especially since she was sick. It also wasn't her fault. But he was mad and he was lashing out.
Rowan, however, seemed to get it. She did frown but she didn't look horribly hurt by it. "Aww, it didn't go well?" she asked. "I'm sorry buddy. How about I make your favourite spaghetti tonight…"
Nahele just groaned and stormed up the stairs and away from her. He'd apologize later.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
His team was definitely surprised when Steve showed up again. But all he had to do was say the Governor called and they all understood. And no one, besides Danny, said anything about how bad a mood he had been in when he came back.
Of course he was in a bad mood, his wife was sick, he was missing out on Father-Son bonding time, of course he wanted to be home with his family not chasing some murderer.
He was practically desperate to get this case closed so he could go home, and because he was suffering Danny obviously picked up on it and just had to hassle him about it.
He went on and on about all the sacrifices and things he missed with Grace because of his cases. And that annoyed Steve, because he had always been so supportive. He understood and always fought for Danny to have more time with Grace, so this was not helping him.
So he changed the topic.
They talked about how Rowan wasn't well and Steve was worried that something was really wrong with her. He left out the part where he was worried that he had given her whatever it was she was sick with mainly because he hadn't told Danny he was sick. Danny bitched about everything he didn't want him to bitch about Steve being sick too.
This was the only part that Danny really was helpful with. He took in Rowan's symptoms, noted that she was the most often sick in the morning and then immediately asked if Steve thought she was pregnant.
He didn't before but he sure as hell did now.
He was so certain that it explained everything that had been going on with Rowan recently, not just the morning sickness, that on his way home he actually did pick up a pregnancy test.
You know once he solved the case. The brother was the murderer, upset with his sister because she wouldn't lend him anymore money. They had him dead to rights and when they got to him he pulled a gun so Steve shot him.
He didn't even stay to book him. The guy got into an ambulance and Chin and Kono went with him to the hospital.
Steve went home, after stopping at the pharmacy.
When he got home he found Nahele in the kitchen helping himself to something, which turned out to be his favourite spaghetti. Oh great, Rowan had made dinner, probably made it with him, which she knew was something Steve had planned to do with his son today.
Also if she made his favourite spaghetti she did it to cheer him up.
"Hey bud! Where's your mom?"
"She's upstairs," he said not even bothering to look at him.
"Oh, she's still sleeping?" he asked. "Did uh… did you see any of your Uncles today?"
Nahele looked up from the plate he had with a scowl on his face. Okay, so he was super pissed off, he had been okay when Steve left, had it been an act?
"I don't know, why does that matter?" Nahele snapped.
"Okay, what's going on? Are you okay?"
"What do you care?" Nahele snapped throwing the plate down and storming towards the stairs.
"Hey… wait!" he called but Nahele just walked away.
"Just leave me alone!"
Great. He had a sick wife and son who was mad at him.
Goddamn it he hated the Governor right now. And his stupid job.
Right, he'd deal with Nahele later, first he had to find Rowan, and she was going to do this test.
He went up the stairs himself, noting that Nahele had his door shut and his music playing. Not loud enough to be disturbing Rowan's sleep, but loud enough to be able to say he didn't hear a parental figure knock.
He got to the room he shared with Rowan and found that she was awake, just sitting on the bed. She was in a pair of grey velour shorts and his sweater. She had a pink hairband to keep her hair out of her face and she just looked… god she looked so sick.
"Hey," he said moving towards her and she looked up at him, those blue eyes of hers foggy but staring at him.
"Hey babe, I didn't know you…"
He had her up in his arms right away. Instinctively she snuggled into him. Just like she had been doing for him, he wanted to do for her. He just wanted to hold her and take that sickness right out of her.
He buried his nose in her hair as her own arms came around him to hold him tight. He took one deep breath and got a scent he recognized.
But not as hers, not as his and definitely not as Wo's.
"Which brother did you end up calling?" he asked.
"Honestly? Con," she said. Right the exact brother he asked her not to call. But he already knew that because she reeked of him. At least she hadn't lied.
She pulled her head out of his neck to look at him, clocked his frowned and tsked at him before dropping her head back to his shoulder and snuggling a little more closely to him
"Wo and Jian had plans today and I didn't want him to call them off because of me." And he would have, he totally would have if she had called and said she was sick and needed him. "Con was available,well that's not true, he wasn't. But I didn't feel bad about calling him away from what he was doing. Besides, he cuddles the most like you, so yeah, he was preferred."
Cuddles most like him. Wow that was new.
"Right well, I guess that's okay then," he said pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I uh… I have something for you."
Ro pulled her head out of his neck again to look up at him. "You do? It's not food is it cause I had some spaghetti and I did not keep it down."
Change in appetite. Woo, she was really ticking all the boxes. He pulled the pregnancy test out and then handed it to her. Rowan looked at it and then to him.
"Steven, I'm not pregnant. I'm sick. Not pregnant."
"Yeah, well you've had morning sickness, mood swings… changes in appetite…"
"Mood swings? You think I've been having mood swings? Name one time!"
"Rowan… would you… please? Just to make me feel better."
Rowan sighed. "I mean, alright, but it's going to be negative."
Steve just smiled.
Together they sat on their bed, Rowan drank water until she needed to pee, and then she went into the washroom with the test.
When she saw done she came back out, she joined him back on that bed. They sat together, shoulder to shoulder, hands intertwined between them, just staring at the test.
They had twenty minutes to wait and neither of them had ever been good at waiting. Steve was worse but Rowan was pretty bad too.
"What uh… what are you hoping for?" she asked him. "Positive or negative?"
What was he hoping for? He knew that, before this, he wasn't ready for a baby. He had wanted to wait, he wanted to be married to Rowan for more than a year before bringing a baby into the world. But now that they were sitting there with a pregnancy test in between them, Steve was excited.
"Positive," he said which had Rowan turning to him surprised. "Yeah, I unno, I keep thinking about a little mix of me and you. A boy or a girl, my hair, your eyes, killer combo. What about you?"
"Negative," she said right away and Steve almost felt his heart hurt. "Steve, I mean… I thought we agreed we weren't ready for kids yet."
"No, I know, but I guess… I guess I thought… well it might have been a possibility now and… you know, I've been thinking about it and… I got excited… and I guess I'm more ready than I thought."
Rowan looked back down to the test and then lurched for the instructions. "Okay, here we go, here we go… we've got… one line and that means… negative," she said and then broke out into a grin. "See, told you, told you I wasn't pregnant."
She turned to Steve and found that he was frowning. He was trying not to show it but failing. He couldn't help it, he was disappointed.
"Wow, really? You were that excited?"
Steve glanced up to her. "Yeah, baby, I know I said we weren't ready, I know you're not ready but uh… I unno… I was excited…"
"Aww that's sweet," she said and then frowned. "I'm not ready for kids Steven."
"Well, it's a little late for that, we have Nahele."
"I mean an infant," she snapped and he chuckled.
"It's okay, babe, I get it." He slung an arm over her shoulder and pulled her close so he could press a kiss to her forehead.
There came a knocking on their door and Rowan called for Nahele to come in which he did right away.
"Hey mom, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. It wasn't your fault she wasn't interested…"
"Wait, hold on a second. Girl problems? You're having girl problems? So, you're not mad about today?"
Nahele turned his eyes to Steve. "I mean I was disappointed but I get it. You're a cop and your work is going to come first," he said and when Steve opened his mouth to complain that it wasn't his fault and no work did not come first, Nahele cut him off. "I got some advice from mom and the girl wasn't interested in me. Sees me as a brother. Which is fine, she's entitled to her feelings and it is not mom's fault. So I'm sorry, I'm sorry I yelled at you mom."
"She wasn't interested? In you?" Steve asked. "This girl sounds crazy. I don't want you with a crazy girl."
"I second that," Ro said raising a hand. "And apology accepted."
"What are you two doing in here anyway?" Nahele asked. "Is that a pregnancy test?"
"Yeah, but it's negative. Food poisoning, that's what I got."
"All this week?" Steve asked.
"And what's your excuse?"
Yeah, Steve didn't have an excuse.
"What's for dinner?" Steve asked. "I know your mom made you spaghetti but is there anything that maybe you'd like to make for dinner with me? Since we missed everything else?"
Nahele shook his head, but then immediately perked up. "Did you maybe wanna heat up the pancakes and eggs and bacon I made this morning? My comfort food and moms? I feel like I can go for breakfast food and spaghetti."
"Oh! That sounds delicious, babe, but I just threw up the spaghetti, so maybe I'll just stick to tea and watching you guys eat," Rowan said jumping up. "You coming Steve?"
"Yeah!" he said quickly also getting up. "Hey, after dinner you want to play some Halo? I'll One-v-one you, see who wins!"
"Oh you are going down!" Nahele cried.
As they went downstairs together, Rowan tossed the negative test in the garbage where it belonged.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
It was happening again.
His whole body was heavy and overheating. He was dizzy, his head was pounding, and his stomach was turning.
He went to get out of bed. It was kind of important that he got out of bed cause he was pretty sure he was going to hurl, but he couldn't stand. His legs were shaky, he felt too weak to stand up, like if he did his legs would give way or he'd be to dizzy to walk straight.
But he was literally on the cusp of vomiting and he was not going to be a full adult who threw up all over his bedroom floor.
He forced himself up, grappling onto whatever he could to get him to where he needed to go. The dressed, the end of the bed, at one point he was considering just dropping to his knees and crawling. Eventually he managed to lurch into the washroom just in time.
He wasn't throwing up for more than a minute before he felt Rowan's calm energy blanketing over him, and then she was draped across his back like an actual blanket.
This had been happening frequently enough that this was common place. They had a routine to it now. She knew the best way to soothe him was to hold him, so whenever he ended up in this position, she would come to him, wrap her arms around him and the illness in him would just vanish.
Tonight, was no different. His wife wrapped her arms around him, that terrible feeling that had taken over him would go away. Slowly leeched out of him as she held him to her.
"Babe, babe please," she whispered. "Something's wrong. You have to go to the doctor."
"Ro…" he started but she cut him off.
"No Steven, you're sick. You need to go to the doctor. I know you don't want to, Steven, I know, but if something's wrong, like really wrong you need to deal with it."
Steve groaned because she was right, of course.
"You have a kid now," she reminded him. "And me, and we want you to survive, and it's easier to do that if we catch whatever this is early, so can you…"
"Stop, stop," Steve said because he didn't need the guilt trip. "Fine, I'll go. I'll call tomorrow, okay?"
Rowan nodded. "Great, that's wonderful. Move," she ordered shoving him aside and then she too threw up.
Damn maybe she didn't have food poisoning. She was either allergic to something in their diet that they would need to cut out or she had the stomach flu.
Or maybe the test had been wrong and she really was pregnant.
Maybe she needed to go to the doctor too. But thinking that his wife might be legitimately sick was terrifying to him, because while he knew she'd survive loosing him, he knew he wouldn't loose her.
But at that moment he was tired. He was still dizzy, and his wife was throwing up, so he paid more attention to comforting her, and muscling down his own symptoms so that he could get them back into bed.
This was a morning after talk. They'd talking about it tomorrow.