"Bag!" Catherine exhaled "Upstairs! Now!" she said between breaths.
Steve's face was white as a ghost and Catherine could see that he was barely holding it together.
"Hey!" she yelled as he made his way to the stairs to grab the bag, as she had ordered.
Catherine made her way over to him and placed both her hands on his shoulders "Breathe with me" she smiled as they both inhaled four seconds and exhaled another four seconds.
"You gotta hold it together, Sailor - okay?" she pleaded and he nodded.
"Listen to me" Catherine had never seen Steve so scared and nervous at the same time. If he was before, he knew damn well how to hide it. But this right here was something she had never seen before and didn't quite know how to handle. All she knew was that these contractions were only about to get worse and if she was gonna lose it at one point today, he needed to know that he couldn't.
They stood like that for a few minutes before Catherine could continue "I need you... to be calm, okay? Today is gonna be so exciting" she smiled calmy "but first it's gonna be really shitty, okay?" she laughed and could immediately feel Steve's shoulders relax.
"So... there's quite a big chance I'm gonna lose my shit... so you can't! Not today, Sailor. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am" he agreed as he kissed her lips, just when another contraction hit her.
Steve hurried up the stairs and grabbed the bags Catherine had pecked. When he came back downstairs he could see Eddie snuggled up to Catherine, as she sat on the sofa.
"Alright buddy" Steve said as he made his way down to them "we'll be back, okay? You watch the house for us." he gave Eddie a kiss on his head and helped Catherine get up and in to the truck.
About thirty minutes and way too many contractions later, Steve pulled up to the parking lot at the hospital.
Steve hurried inside like his life depended on it and Catherine couldn't help but smile at how worried he was about her.
He quickly came back with a wheelchair and two nurses by his side.
"Mrs. McGarrett?" one of the nurses asked, as she reached out a hand to help Catherine out of the truck.
"Uhm..., no." she answered awkwardly, looking at Steve.
"Not yet" he chimed in with a smile on his face that made both the nurses chuckle.
"Let's get you inside then not-yet-Mrs.-McGarrett" the nurse winked and proceeded to wheel Catherine in.
When the doctor came in and checked Catherine's cervix, they were informed that she was dilated to a eight and theoretically shouldn't be able to be in a good mood right now.
"I gotta say Lieutenant Rollins, I've been doing this job for about twenty-eight years now and I've never quite seen a woman like you" the doctor chuckled "we usually have women come in hear barely able to handle the pain at one centimeter dilated... and you're here acting like you just have a few cramps here and there" he continued, clearly impressed by Catherine's ability to handle pain.
After being shot a few times and passing out from pain in a mine field in Afghanistan does that to you. Catherine was hurting and the pain was barely able to handle, but it was also nothing she hadn't experienced before.
"You're marrying wonder woman here, Commander" the doctor stated, looking over at Steve who was standing by Catherine's head, holding her hand through every contraction.
"Oh trust me, I know" he chuckled as he placed a kiss on top of Catherine's head.
"Alright then Lieutenant, if you want an epidural we gotta do it now?" he asked, for the first time in his career unsure if a woman would deny it.
As another contraction hit her just then "yes, please" was all she could choke out.
Steve had been unable to feel his hand for the better part of two hours now and he didn't mind one bit.
Catherine was a badass and if he didn't already know it by then, he was sure he would never forget it from now on.
After a few practice pushes, the nurses gave her a go to push as hard as she could and Catherine didn't need to be told twice. She wanted this baby out and she wanted to do it quick.
"Alright Catherine" the nurses cheered "one more push and you're gone, come on now! I can see Baby's head"
Catherine was exhausted from the pain and the effort she had put in from the very first push and wasn't sure she had another one in her.
"Come on, baby. You got this" Steve encouraged as he saw Catherine struggling.
Hearing his voice was all she needed to use that last ounce of strength she had in her and before they both knew it, they heard a loud cry that immediately warmed both their hearts like they had never experienced before.
"It's a boy!" the nurse yelled in excitement.
"A boy?" Catherine asked in disbelief, tears now streaming down her face as their baby was placed on top of her chest. "Oh my God" she cried out "It's a boy!" she stated as she looked in to Steve's eyes that were now filled with happy tears as well.
"Oh my God Cath" he breathed out as he cupped his mouth "you're a freaking badass, holy shit" he chuckled, unsure if what he had just experience the last couple of hours had really happened.
"He's beautiful" he cried.
They stayed like that for what felt like hours, snuggled close together with their baby in Catherine's arms.
The nurses came in and out, took the baby in for a few check ups and brought him back before Catherine had a chance to freak out about him being gone too long. Her motherly instincts were already kicking in and she loved every range of emotion she was feeling but most of all she was grateful... grateful for her and Steve finally making it to the finish line of their rollercoaster of a relationship.
Here they were now, after all these years, with a tiny humans in their arms that was going to call them mommy and daddy sooner or later.
Catherine felt tears creeping in once more at the thought of Steve being a dad to the human that they had created.
"You okay?" he whispered as he felt her chest rising and lowering quicker than before "You're... you're a dad" she whispered in disbelief with nothing but love in her eyes.
Steve chuckled and kissed her, "you're a mom" he smiled from ear to ear.
Just then, the nurse came in with a piece of paper in her hand "So, mom and dad," she smiled "what's baby's name?"
"Oh uhm,..." they both looked at each other "we haven't really decided yet." Catherine admitted.
"Okay" the nurse nodded "let's start with a last name then" she smiled, not wanting to push them in their decision making.
"McGarrett" Catherine stated matter-of-factly.
They hadn't talked about that either, but Catherine was sure of it since the moment she found out they were pregnant. She wanted the baby to have Steve's last name - whether it was a boy or a girl. She had always loved the sound of McGarrett
Steve couldn't help but smile from ear to ear, feeling his heart burst.
He wasn't able to say anything so he decided on kissing her, letting her know just how much appreciated her decision.
Steve would have been fine either way. They had never talked about it, but Steve always silently thought that if they were to get married one day Catherine would keep her last name. He didn't know why, but that was just always what he thought.
He couldn't gasp the feeling but he was humbled that she chose so effortlessly that their sons last name would be McGarrett.
They had talked about baby names here and there but hadn't gotten in too much depth.
"Alright, Sailor" Catherine snapped him out of his daydream.
"We gotta find a name for this one" she chuckled.
"Whatever you decide, Cath. I'm already more than okay with the last name" he winked.
"Well..." she thought for a moment "I thought it'd be nice for all of us to have the same last name sooner than later" she smiled as she reached out a hand to him.
"Wait, what?" he asked, unsure if he heard correctly, a smirk on his face nonetheless.
When Catherine shrugged he felt the need to know for sure "You'd really take my last name?"
"Not yours as much as his" she winked, pointing to the baby that was now sleeping soundly in her arms.
Steve couldn't help but laugh "very funny, Lieutenant"
"Of course I'd take your lastname, Steve. I would love to" she smiled sincerely and pulled him in a for a long kiss, before the baby started to move.
"Shhhhh" Cath soothed, and continued to whisper "so, any name ideas?"
"well if I can make a suggestion..."
Catherine nodded and waited for him to continue "I would love for John to be his middle name. Since, you know..."
"I would love that" Catherine interrupted him, smiling at the fact that he wanted to pass along his middle name. She had always dreamed of doing the same to a little girl one day.
"Okay" he smiled, "Now... first name"
"Well," Catherine started "I think want something that ends with -en. It has a nice ring to it, like your name." she smiled "How about Steven John McGarrett Junior?"
"No" Steve chuckled, "that kid would have a hell of a hard time around O'ahu with that name. And I already pissed off too many people" he chuckled.
"True" she chuckled.
"Okay, well, you know how I love A Walk To Remember?" Catherine asked as she blushed a little.
"Yea, of course, Cath. You made me watch that movie a hundred times" he chuckled.
"I have always loved the name Landon. So I googled it a while back 'cause, you know, I was wondering what it means. And I guess, uhm, Landon is a name of English origin that means "long hill" and I just... I don't know, I feel like we're at the end of a very long hill here, don't you think?" she chuckled, thinking back at just how many damn long hills they had to overcome to be here.
"I love it" he answered honestly.
"Landon John McGarrett" she smiled brightly, like it was music to her ears.
"Landon John McGarrett" he repeated, smiling from ear to ear.