Here ya go!

4 Weeks Later

Thea's Apartment:

Thea's POV~

I rolled over as much as I could to turn my alarm off when it went off at 6:30. With my growing stomach, it wasn't as easy as it used to be. When I rolled back onto my side, I noticed a big lump under the covers laying at the opposite end of the bed. I smiled and scooted myself closer.

"Hmmm... Well since no one is in bed with me this morning," I moved closer to the lump that was now failing to hold in a giggle. "I guess I can just stretch out then." I slowly moved my hands under the covers. When my hands were close enough, I quickly wrapped them around her arms, pulling her close to me. I tickled her under her arms causing her to wiggle around and try to escape from my arms. "Gotcha!"

Nora giggled, trying to push my hands away. I knew she was trying to be careful with her movements since her feet were now curled up near my stomach. "Mama stop! It tickles!"

I smiled and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her to lay with me. "Good morning baby." I kissed the top of her head. "Did you sleep well?" I asked her. I let my hands run through her tangled hair. I tried to spend some time with her every morning since we were at work and school all day. By the time we get home, she's on her homework, I'm trying to get dinner and laundry together, and next thing I know it's time for her to go to bed. And those are the days I don't feel terrible and I'm still in bed when she joins me.

Nora nodded and snuggled into me, moving her face down to my stomach. She, along with just about everyone else, was obsessed with it. My bump was growing more every day. The doctor told me at my last appointment that since I was having twins, I could expect it to grow faster than if I was having a single birth. "Good morning babies." She mumbled. "Mama? When are we going to find out if I'm having a brother or sister?" She asked.

I continued to run my fingers through her hair. "We should know here in a couple of weeks. I'm 16 weeks right now and the doctor said I would find out at 20 weeks. Do you know how many more weeks that is?" I asked her.

I watched her think about it for a moment before she nodded, looking up at me. "That's 4 weeks!" She smiled. I smiled back and nodded.

"Good job!" I looked over to glance at the clock. "We need to get a move on so we're not late." I kissed her forehead and moved the covers off of us. "Go get dressed and brush your teeth. I'll braid your hair while you're eating." I slowly get up from the bed. Even though I wasn't as big as I was clearly going to get, it was still a struggle to move like I use to. Nora sat up in the bed and watched me. "I'm fine sweetie. Go get ready for school." I said softly and sent her on her way. She smiled at me before dashing to her bedroom down the hall. Last week she saw me almost slip and fall while walking up the steps to my apartment. I was about to catch myself on the rails, but I know it still scared her. That got me thinking again about how we needed to move before the babies got here. Not just for the trip up but also because this is only a two bedroom. I sighed thinking about how much money that was going to cost. We were just getting by as it is. If i didn't have Steve helping with the cost of the babies, I don't know what I'd do. I'm going to have to seriously consider taking Nora out of Sacred Heart if I want to move us to a better apartment or even think about trying to buy a home.

I shook my head and walked to the bathroom to get ready for the day. This was all something I could sit down and think about tonight after Nora goes to bed. I quickly brush my teeth and apply my makeup. I felt great today despite what was going to happen before I could even head into my office. There was a body of a young teenage boy that turned up late last night. Mindy thinks he's from the center so she asked me if I could come down and identify him. I was praying it wasn't one of my boys. I left my hair down and a little messy, I'll just throw it up in a bun when I get in the car.

Walking back into my room I was Nora sitting on my bed, hairbrush and ponytail holder in hand, like always. I went to pull my dress and jacket out of my closet. "Go to the kitchen and make yourself some cereal. When I get done getting dressed, I'll come do your hair." I told her. She nodded and skipped out of the room. How I was blessed that she's a morning child, I will never know.

I quickly put my black dress on. In the last few weeks, dresses have been much more comfortable than pants. I looked in my closet and went through the 2 rows of shoes that I have. I couldn't wear sandals, they'll make my feet swell by the end of the day. I refused to wear heels unless it was a special occasion. I went with my red converse; they were comfortable and would dress down the black dress just enough to where I wasn't overdressed. I grabbed my jacket and gave myself one last look in the mirror behind my bedroom door. If I felt great today, I was going to look it too. I didn't know how many more days of being ready to get up and go I am going to get so I want to make the best of it.

I quickly get Nora's hair braided and put her bowl in the dishwasher while she gets her shoes on. I really needed to go shopping, living off of cereal and quick ready-to-bake meals was getting old.

After Nora was ready to go, we went down to the car hand in hand. I knew she was walking slow just for me.

At Sacred Heart:

Luckily today the car drop off line wasn't too hectic. Nora quickly found Grace and they ran up the steps and into the building hand in hand. I saw Rachel in her car, and she pointed for me to pull into the parking lot.

"Hey. How are you feeling today?" She asked as we both got out of our cars, me taking a bit longer than she did.

"Oh, I'm feeling great today. I'm not sure how long it will last though." I laughed softly. "Are we still on for lunch today? Mindy is going to join us."

We chatted for a few minutes and updated each other on our schedules. For my entire pregnancy so far our schedules have been synced to help each other out. She picks Nora up from school most days and keeps her until I can get off work. On days that Grace and Nora have dance and music at the youth center, I pick them up and keep them until Rachel comes to get Grace at my apartment.

"Danny is still planning on taking the girls after the recital next week. His whole team is planning on attending. How are things with you and the Commander?" She asked, giving me a look.

I rolled my eyes. "Nothing is happening. He checks in on me every day and asks if me or Nora need anything. I haven't seen much of him since our last doctor's appointment. He and Danny picked Grace up from school one day, I talked to him very briefly but had to go inside to meet someone in the office. I swear, nothing is going on." I told her. She seemed to have this idea that Steve and I were going to get together because I had gotten pregnant. She and Mindy both swore we had feelings for one another. Okay, yes, I liked Steve. He was attractive, he was smart, that one night we spent together was absolute heaven, but I knew he didn't feel the same way so I wasn't going to dwell on it until I heard it from him directly.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Oh please. We all see the way he looks at you, Theodora." Now I was rolling my eyes.

"You're one to talk." I raised an eyebrow at her. I knew her and Stan were hanging on by a thread. Rachel admitted to me last week when I came by to get Nora the same time Danny was picking up Grace that her and Stan weren't doing so well, and that divorce was officially on the table for them. Stan was arguing with her all the time and was never home, and when he was, he would find ways to get out of doing things as a family.

"At least I've admitted my feelings for my ex-husband. You're still in denial." She said. She was smiling at me but then gave me a serious look. "Were you meeting with the financial advisor again? Thea, I told you if you needed help with-"

I cut her off by putting my hand on her shoulder. "Rachel, I told you, I will figure it out. I don't want to take her out of Sacred Heart, but I make too much to qualify for a full scholarship. I'm working out a plan with administration now so hopefully I'll have figured out by the end of the week what I'm going to do." I said, running my hand over my bump.

Rachel sighed and nodded. I knew she wasn't going to give up though. "Alright. Well I will see you at lunch. I'm sure you have to get going." We said goodbye and got back into our cars and waved again as we both drove our separate ways.

At the Medical Examiner's Office:

I sighed in frustration since I wouldn't find a hair tie in my car.

'Damn pregnancy brain'

I slowly got out of the car and threw my purse strap over my shoulder. I noticed Danny's Camaro parked a few cars down from me. 'I wonder what they're doing here. They probably have a case' I thought to myself. They are cops, this wouldn't be such an unusual place to find them.

I walked in and went straight for Mindy's office. I set my bag down on the chair in front of her desk and made my way towards Max's office and lab. Mindy was coming from the opposite side and met me in the hallway. She opened her mouth to say something but before she could, Steve and Danny came around the corner. They stopped their little argument they were in the middle of when they noticed me, and Mindy stopped in front of the door. Steve smiled at me. I raised my hand to stop him and Mindy before they could say anything.

"Before you ask, I'm doing fine this morning. No morning sickness, I got 8 hours of sleep, and yes, I took my vitamins."

Mindy crossed her arms. "I was going to ask how Nora was, but good to know."

I rolled my eyes. "Nora is fine, thanks for asking."

Steve looked at me. I could tell he wasn't able to keep the small smile he had off his face. "Mindy says you might be able to help us with our case."

I looked in Mindy confused, then back at Steve. "I can?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah, she said you might know our victim. We don't have any ID on the kid and Dr. Shaw thinks you might know him from the youth center you work at."

"If you know him, we were hoping you could help us find out who he hung out with, what he was doing last night." Steve said with his arms crossed. He looked very intimidating when he was in 'Five-0 Mode'.

Mindy placed her hand on my arm and gently pulled me in the direction of the lab. "Come on, I know you don't wanna be here long."

When we talked into the lab, my hand went over my mouth and nose quickly. I felt someone run into me from behind but before I could fall on my face for the second time in a week, two arms reached out to steady me.

"Woah, are you okay?" Steve asked. He had his hands on my biceps and I could feel his chest pressed up against my back.

'God that feels amazing'

I nodded. "Jesus Christ, what is that smell?" It smelt like someone had left open cleaning containers in here overnight and didn't air the place out. The smell was so strong it quickly started to make me nauseous. Mindy went over to the counter and turned the fan on. I shook my head a little and started walking closer to the table. A white sheet was covering the body. Steve stayed close behind me, I could still feel the heat from his body against my back.

Mindy walked around the table to be on the opposite side as us. "Are you ready?" She asked.

I nodded and held my breath. Mostly because the smell was even worse the closer to the table and body that I got. Mindy lifted the sheet back and I backed up slightly from the swoosh of air that the movement of the sheet caused. Steve's hand went up to my back.

"Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah. That's Ty Flinchum. He's one of the residents at the Center." I said softly. I just saw this kid yesterday morning. He came into my office to talk about how he found a small part time job at a local grocery store. He was so excited to start. "How'd he die?" I asked quietly, my eyes never leaving the younger boy's face.

"His body was found on the beach this morning. It's the 3rd one in a month. Max determined COD was drowning." Mindy said, covering Ty back up. My head shot up to her as soon as she said drowning.

"Ty couldn't swim. He wouldn't go anywhere near the water."

Steve nodded. "There were signs of a struggle. We already have a few leads." His hand went up to squeeze my arm gently. "We'll find who did this." I patted his hand and gave it a squeeze back. I nodded as I started towards the door and walked out into Max's office. Mindy followed me.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, just still feeling a little nauseous from that smell." I leaned up against the front of the desk. Mindy came and sat next to me.

"Well I guess we'll just sit here until you feel better." She said, causing us both to laugh softly. I leaned my head down on her shoulder.

"Oh no, girl bonding. We gotta get out of here Steve." We heard Danny say.

Steve grinned and looked over at me as Danny dragged him out of the office. "I'll call you later okay?"

Later at Home with Thea and Nora-

I sighed and put the last of the pantry food away. "Nora Jane!" I called down the hallway. "Last time I'm going to tell you it's time to get out of the tub!" I went back to quickly get the cold food in the refrigerator after I heard an "Okay mama" come from the hallway.

At lunch today I had a long talk with Mindy and Rachel about how I was going to balance work, Nora, and these two babies. They both had agreed to help out with Nora as much as they could since I was going to have to start working more to afford a new place, Nora's school, and just the general cost of the babies. And I'm not even thinking about the time I'm going to have to take off from work once they're actually here. They both cornered me about helping pay for Nora's school tuition. I finally caved and said I would think about it, but I wasn't comfortable accepting something like that from anyone. It's been just me and Nora her whole life. I've been her primary provider since day one. Letting someone in to help like that isn't easy for me. But at this point, I don't think I will have much of a choice.

When I was done putting the rest of the groceries away, I got to work at making an easy meal for Nora for dinner. I wasn't too hungry at the moment, so it was just going to be fast. Nora came into the kitchen, her hair wet and in her Lilo & Stitch PJs. She climbed up into one of the bar chairs and watched me put her chicken nuggets in the oven. "How does mac and cheese and green beans sound baby?"

She nodded and gave me a rundown of her day while I got her food together. "Grace told me her Uncle Steve is teaching her how to surf so maybe we can go surfing together some time!"

I nodded, putting her plate of food in front of her. "Yeah, I think that would be really fun for you girls. Maybe when we have some weekend time free, we can go." I said. I had Nora surfing with me since she could stand on the board. I thought it was really sweet that Steve was teaching Grace how to surf. I had heard from him and Rachel both that Danny hated the beach.

While I was cleaning up the dishes there was a knock at the door. I told Nora to keep eating her dinner when she started to get down from the chair to race to the door. She pouted and got back in her seat.

I was shocked to see Steve standing in my doorway. I opened the door wider. "Oh, Hey." I smiled. "Uhm, what are you doing here?"

He smiled and shifted on his feet. Again, a Navy SEAL and a cop and he still gets nervous. "I was in the neighborhood with Danny following a lead and wanted to check in with you. Wanted to see if you guys needed anything."

My heart could stop right now. "Thank you-" "Steve!" Nora screaming interrupted me. She came barreling from behind me and launched herself into Steve's arms. My arms immediately went out to catch her incase Steve didn't. He barely budged from his place when he caught her midair. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a big hug. She was very fond of the man, not that I can blame her. I'm pretty fond of him too.

He laughed and hugged her back. "Hi Nora. How are you?"

Nora leaned back to face him. "I'm good. Mama said that Grace and I can go surfing soon since you taught her how to." She said matter-of-factly. I crossed my arms and leaned up against the door frame and watched them talk about surfing. Steve told her that he will take her out soon since I wasn't able to go right now. It warmed my heart to see how he interacted with her.

'He's going to be a really good dad'

I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry Nora, but it's time to brush your teeth and get into bed." She pouted as Steve set her down. He ran his hand over her wet hair.

"I'll see you soon okay? Goodnight Nora." He smiled at her.

"Goodnight Steve!" She waved and bounced her way down the hall. I giggled at her excitement and knew she was going to be a nightmare to put down now that she was all riled up, but I wasn't mad. I turned to look at Steve.

"So, I wanted to come check on you, but I also wanted to know if you were free Friday night. The team is coming over to cookout at my place, Danny is bringing Grace, and Mindy and Max are coming so I wanted to invite you and Nora." He said, running his hand over the back of his neck like a nervous teenager, which I couldn't help but grin at. "My other team members are begging to meet you. But I understand if you're busy-"

"I would love to. We'll be there. Do I need to bring anything?"

Steve shook his head. "No, just you and Nora. Maybe a swimsuit, I have a private beach in my backyard."

My eyes widened. "Wow, if you weren't Nora's favorite person before, you definitely will be when she sees that." I laughed. That got a loud laugh out of Steve too. I could also see his cheeks getting a little red.

'You're not just Nora's favorite person'

Please let me know what you guys think! I know this seemed slow and kinda boring, but I needed to set some stuff up for the future so just bear with me. Next week is supposed to be really rough at work so I'm still hoping to stay with the weekly updates but if it's a little late I'm very sorry!