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Thank you for coming back to another chapter of this story! The support so far has been incredible, and I wanted to say a quick thank you to all of you that have read, reviewed, favorited, followed, or private messaged. I appreciate you more than I can even express. I never expected to get more than one hundred reviews, so to know that I'm even higher than that is amazing.

Quick reminder: I only use the characters and the premise of the show. So, if something seems off – like the timeline, etc. – just know that yes, it was intended. Same goes for when characters may seem slightly OOC.

Thanks for continuing to read, and I hope that you enjoy the newest chapter!

Happy Reading!

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Chapter Seven: Picture Perfect

Allie

The woman that called my name was in her mid-sixties, smiling kindly and dressed in pale blue scrubs. I stood and left Medici's guard sitting there, staring at the TV on the wall. He wasn't interested in the medical informational channel, but it would look odd if he stared at nothing.

"Hi," the woman greeted me as I approached. "How are you today?"

"Great." Lie. "And you?"

"Wonderful, thank you. Right this way." She led me down a now-familiar hallway and we paused long enough for her to get my blood pressure, pulse, and weight.

I frowned at the numbers on the scale. I had apparently lost more weight, even though I had been able to eat better now that the morning sickness was cleared up. It wasn't a total shock – I was still as thin as I had ever been – but it still wasn't good. I should have gained back at least a couple of the pounds that I'd lost, right?

"This way." The nurse led me to a room and gestured for me to sit down on the exam table. "Still taking your prenatal vitamin and the Diclegis?"

"Yes."

She typed something into the computer. "Any problems that you need to report?"

"No."

She typed something else. "Today, Dr. Dubois is going to do an ultrasound. You're just over thirteen weeks now, so I think he'll also want to do a blood draw. He likes to head off issues like anemia as soon as he can get to it."

That made sense. "Okay."

She smiled at me as she stood. "If there's nothing else, I'll go and get him for you."

I nodded and she left the room, the door clicking softly behind her. The weight continued to haunt me until the doctor walked into the room, dressed in scrubs with a white coat over them. He smiled warmly at me as he entered.

"How are you doing today?"

"Fine. You?"

"I'm good, thank you." He sat down on the stool and opened up the computer. "Let's see… thirteen weeks now. How is everything going?"

"The Diclegis is working," I said. "I haven't thrown up since I started taking it, so I can eat now. But… I'm not gaining weight. I'm still losing."

He nodded as he scanned the notes on the screen. "I see that. From pre-pregnancy weight, you're down… fifteen pounds."

It might as well have been a hundred. "Is that bad?"

He gave me a comforting smile. "It's not bad. We don't look for a lot of weight gain in the first trimester, so you have plenty of time to catch up. Some women just don't gain a lot right at first, and with you, we have to consider the weight that you lost because of the morning sickness. The important thing is that your baby is growing okay, so that's what we're going to be checking today."

"And if it's not?"

He stood and bent down to open a drawer. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. If that's an issue, then we'll talk about it. But I don't anticipate that being the case, okay?"

"Okay."

Straightening up, he handed me a sheet. "You might want to tuck that around the waistband of your jeans. The baby is still pretty low at this point, and I don't want the gel to get them dirty."

I nodded and did as he asked, lying back on the table when I was done. The ultrasound machine was off to the side, and he wheeled it over along with the stool he'd been sitting on. Once he was raised to a comfortable level, he grabbed the gel from the cart.

"Might be a little cold," he warned me and squirted some on my exposed abdomen. It was only slightly chilly; the movies way over-dramatized it.

He moved the wand over my abdomen for a few seconds and then swiveled the screen to face me. "See that?" He was pointing to a white shape, contrasted against the black. I had looked up pictures of ultrasounds so that I would be prepared for what I would see, but my breath was still taken away.

The head was larger than the body, but that was normal, according to my pregnancy book. And the arms… they were… "Is the baby moving or does it just look like that because you're moving the wand?"

"No, watch." Dr. Dubois held the wand still and the baby continued to wave its little arms and kick its little legs. "The baby can move on its own. Quite the wiggler you have. Still a little early for you to be feeling anything, but it'll come soon."

To feel the baby move… I couldn't imagine anything better. Other than actually holding my baby, of course. "When do you think that will happen?"

"When will you feel the baby move?" he clarified. At my nod, he shrugged and handed me a towel so that I could wipe the gel off of my stomach. "Anytime between fourteen and eighteen. You don't have an anterior placenta, so I'm betting on sooner, rather than later. But a lot of first timers don't realize that's what they're feeling at first."

I sat up and pulled my shirt down, tossing the towel into the bin in the corner of the room. Perfect shot. "What's it feel like?"

He shot me a smile as he sat down at the computer and began to type in some information, likely about the ultrasound that he'd done. "I don't know from personal experience, of course, but most women say that it almost feels like butterflies in the tummy, at first, and then it becomes more distinctive as time goes on. My wife described it as more of a stirring."

Nodding, I filed that information away for later. "Does everything check out okay?"

"The baby is growing exactly like we would expect it to," he said, continuing to type. "We'll continue to keep an eye on your weight, but I would suspect that the lack of gain has a lot to do with the severe morning sickness in the beginning. As long as baby is growing fine, we won't have to do anything about it. But…" He turned to face me, clasping his hands together on his knees. "Let's talk about depression."

"Depression?" I was surprised by the topic. "Why?"

"Because you have a relatively high risk. According to the questionnaire that you filled out along with your paperwork, the father is not in the picture."

Not by choice, I wanted to say, but that wouldn't be wise.

He continued. "You had a rough start to the pregnancy, and you don't have that wonderful support system, as you're in a foreign country. Let me ask you…" He seemed to be treading carefully. "Have you thought about returning to the States?"

I fought back the wave of sobs that threatened to escape. I wanted to tell him. I wanted to tell him everything and beg him to help me. Of course, I've thought about returning to the States! It's all that I've been able to think about since I was brought here! I wish that I was home with Steve and Gideon! I want nothing more than that!

But my brother's life was at stake, so I said none of that. Instead, I nodded slowly. "I've… considered it, yes. And, hopefully, I'll get to go home soon. But I have some school stuff to finish up here first."

He looked like he wanted to say more, but he nodded. "Okay. Just keep in mind that such strenuous travel isn't advisable in the last ten weeks of your pregnancy."

"I'm hoping to make it long before then."

"Good." He nodded again and smiled. "Do you have any questions for me?"

"No, not that I can think of." I vaguely wondered if Steve would have had any questions. "Oh, wait! Were you able to tell the gender?"

Dr. Dubois shook his head and gave me a wide smile. "Not today, but we should be able to tell at your next appointment in three weeks. Are you interested in finding out, or did you want it to be a surprise?"

Part of me wanted to keep it a secret until Steve could be there to find out with me, but I knew that he wouldn't mind if I found out before him. He would understand my need to be as prepared as possible, because he was the exact same way. And if the roles were reversed, I would want him to find out, if only to give himself even more hope in such a dismal situation.

"I'll find out."

"Do you have any guesses?" he asked me. "A lot of moms say that they have a feeling about what the gender will be."

"I've looked up some of the midwives' tales," I admitted, feeling stupid for telling him. "And according to them, I'm having a girl."

"Are you hoping for a girl, or do you want a boy?"

"Either is fine with me. I'll take healthy."

He smiled at me as he stood. "I'll second that. No other questions?"

I shook my head.

"Great. Then, I'll see you in a few weeks."

I left the exam room and stopped at the front desk long enough to grab my reminder for my next appointment. I couldn't wait until I wouldn't need one anymore; until I could go home and find a doctor in Hawaii. I'd been worried, at first, that another doctor wouldn't want to take me on so late in the pregnancy, but Medici had already made some calls and had taken care of everything. There were three OBs in Hawaii that were willing to take me on when I arrived.

Medici's guard escorted me to the car and as we drove through Paris, my mind began to wander. I couldn't believe that I would be able to find out the gender at my next appointment. I wondered what Steve would think – would he want a boy or a girl?

A boy would be great for him; I could picture him teaching him to play football and working on his dad's old car with him. A girl would also be great, though; she would just have to be extremely careful about any boys that she wanted to bring home. And as for me… when I thought about my baby, I almost always thought of it as a boy. But I would just have to wait a few weeks to find out for sure.

There were still so many things to take care of… choosing a name, for one, which I would only be able to do once Steve and I were reunited. Planning a nursery, which would depend upon the gender. Creating a registry, which required a lot of research that I wasn't quite through with, yet. I still needed to finish the baby books that I was reading in my downtime to prepare for taking care of such a tiny human. So much to do… And no one to do it with.

I missed Steve, yes, but… I oftentimes found myself wishing for my mother. Before she had abandoned us for her dream life, I'd been so close to her. I'd always thought that when I had children, she would be there to guide me and offer that advice that only a mother possesses. I didn't even have a sister that I could talk to about it – I had no one. And though I hated the circumstances, I refused to let myself wallow in pity. I needed to stay strong for my baby, if for no other reason.

Back at the hotel, I went straight to my suite and locked myself in, determined to try to finish up the first part of the plan that I was trying to develop. Medici was getting impatient, but I'd told him that the plan needed to be perfect in order for him to obtain his music box. And while the man that he'd sent in to trip the alarm had helped tremendously, there was still so much that was unknown. And it would remain unknown until the last second, unfortunately.

I'd begged him time and time again to let me bring in one of my contacts to help, but he wouldn't. He was convinced that I would try to escape, even though I knew that he would kill my brother if I did. Nothing would convince him to change his mind, so I'd resigned myself to relying on the men of his choice. Men that I'd never worked with before and didn't know I could trust. What could possibly go wrong?

My pen flew across the page as I scribbled out parts of a plan. All around the floor were other parts of the plan, often with lines and scribbles and tears. I hadn't come upon the perfect plan yet.

Soon.

Steve

"You okay?" I asked Kol as I passed him on the stairs. He seemed to be deep in thought.

He snapped out of it and offered me a forced smile. "I was up all night. The techs needed to work on something else, so I offered to take over keeping an eye on the museum security. Boring stuff. I think I drank about a gallon and a half of coffee. I'm headed up to my room to get some sleep."

Yeah, he definitely looked like he could use it. "Yeah, do that."

He nodded and continued to move at a snail's pace up the stairs. I watched him for a moment longer and then finished my descent, drawn towards the kitchen by the smell of bacon.

Three women were in the kitchen, still cooking even though there was more than enough food set out on the counter. Allie's other two brothers were sitting at the table, engrossed in their breakfast and conversation in a language that I didn't speak. Turkish, perhaps?

I grabbed a plate and piled it with bacon first, and then a few over easy eggs and some toast, which I slathered with butter. I poured myself some coffee and then sat at the empty end of the long table, not even drawing a glance from the brothers.

"Why do your brothers hate me?" I had asked Kol only a few days after arriving. It didn't take an expert on human behavior to notice that they only acknowledged my existence when absolutely necessary. And I'd once heard them telling their uncle that they wished I had stayed in Hawaii and let them "handle family affairs".

Kol had rolled his eyes as he threw a dart at the board, hitting the center. "They hate everyone."

"Well, they seem to especially hate me." My dart had gone a little wider than Kol's.

He had shrugged. "I don't think they hate you. I think that they hate the idea that their sister didn't tell them anything about you. We all used to be really close, you know? Especially after Mom left. But then Allie left to go and do her thing with the CIA and everything was… different. If I had to take a guess, I'd say that they're just wishing that things could go back to the way that they used to be."

"Allie is happy," I'd told him and watched him remove the darts from the board. There was no need to tally points – he'd beaten me soundly. "Shouldn't that be all that they care about?"

"In a perfect world." Returning to his spot, he'd handed me a few darts. "They'll come around, I promise. They just take a while to warm up to people. You'll see."

But it had been several weeks, and they still hadn't seemed to be warming to me. I'd spoken to them a few times in an attempt to be friendly, but I might as well have been trying to make friends with a brick wall. Maybe we just weren't meant to be friends.

I finished up my breakfast, took the plate to the sink, and then went outside. Sitting in the garden was relaxing, and really my only good option for entertainment, since my only real friend staying at the house was asleep.

It was beautiful out there, and I felt peace as I sank down onto one of the benches that faced a beautiful garden bed of purple and red flowers. They reminded me of Allie – beautiful, vibrant… God, I missed her more than I'd ever missed anyone.

It took me a moment to register that my phone was ringing, and I answered it without even checking the display. My assumption was that it was Danny, checking in as he did almost every single day. "McGarrett."

"Steve." But the voice was not Danny's. It was Catherine's.

"Kat…" I couldn't remember the last time that I'd spoken to her… maybe when she left before I could propose to her? That had to be it. And then Allie had come along, and… I felt nothing at all for Catherine. My pulse hadn't accelerated at all upon hearing her voice, and there was no tug in my hearts t. Whatever I had felt for her before, it was gone.

"Hi," she said. "Do you have a minute?"

"This isn't really a great time for me, Cat." It wasn't even that I was busy, just that I knew I wouldn't be able to do her any favors while I was stuck in Paris.

"It's not… I'm not calling to ask anything of you," she said as if she could read my mind from however far away she was. "Danny told me about Allie. I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry and to tell you that if you need anything at all from me, I can be there in a day."

I smiled. "I appreciate that, Catherine. How have you been?"

"Good. I'm really enjoying my work." She briefly told me a little bit about all that she had been doing to help people. She sounded truly happy.

My smile widened. "I'm really glad that you've found fulfilling work. It sounds like you're living your dream."

"It feels like it." Her tone grew sad. "I just wish that I hadn't had to hurt you to get here."

"It was good for me, I think." I held absolutely no resentment. Not anymore, anyway. "Everyone needs one big heartbreak in their life, right?"

Her laugh was wry. "I guess so. And now you have Allie. She sounds amazing."

"She's…" There wasn't just one word that I could use to describe her. It would take a hundred – a thousand – words, and neither of us had that kind of time. "Yeah, I guess 'amazing' is as good a word as any to describe her. Maybe you can meet her sometime."

"I'd like that."

"I would invite you to our wedding, but I'm not sure how you'd feel about that." Would she be jealous? Sad?

"I don't mean to sound like I'm trying to invite myself, but I'd love to come. Watching a close friend marry the woman of his dreams would be nice."

"For me, too," I told her. "You know, if you end up getting married one of these days."

"You'll be the first invitation sent out, but I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon."

"I didn't think it would for me, either," I told her with a laugh. "The right person seems to come along right when you least expect it."

"Well, I can't wait to hear the story of how you and Allie came together."

"It's quite the story," I assured her. "I hated her at first."

"Of course you did." I was sure that she was rolling her eyes at me.

"We'll get together sometime soon," I told her.

"Definitely. And, Steve? I'm really excited to get to watch you be a father."

Tears welled up in my eyes and I hastily wiped them away. "Yeah, I'm really excited, too. Hopefully things will go back to normal quickly."

"I'm sure they will. And seriously, call if you need anything, okay?"

"I will. Thanks, Cat."

"Goodbye, Steve."

"Bye." I hung up the phone and before I could stop, I was crying.