Summary: Being pregnant, means adjustments not only for Romy but for Steve as well.
Warnings: Reference to Sex but no Smut
Episode: Season 9 - 14, 15, 16
Pregnancy: Week 15 - 19
Songs: Where we are - The Lumineers

Hello, lovelies,
How are you all?
I don't even know what to say…I'm so sorry for the long delay. I took a page out of Romy's book and packed up my life and moved countries. Back home…even if it doesn't feel like home after 12 years away. But while I am typing this, I'm sipping my prosecco and my toes are tucked under someone's leg on a sofa we finally share, I feel at peace.
Unfortunately, I am not as organised as Romy and so my life took a little bit more sorting, but I'm getting there. Thank you for your patience and the love you have shown this fic. I can never express how much they mean to me.
Your reviews, comments, follows and kudos make my day - keep them coming!
Enjoy xx

—xx—xx—

A grin stretched over both Romy and Steve's faces, as they left the doctor's office. Their little pear was happy and healthy, and so was Romy. Dr Kekoa had even given them the green light to resume their sex life. Romy had almost pushed Steve into the small broom closet on the way out. Steve grinned as he pulled her out of the office into the elevator. "I'm not breaking our 4 months dry spell in a broom cupboard in your doctor's office."

"Spoilsport," Romy pouted. Steve's lips tickled over the back of her neck morphing her pout into a giggle.

"Believe me it's not that I don't want to," he groaned and pressed his growing bulge against Romy's hip. She arched up against him, her lips brushing over his. "Then take me home, Commander."

"Oh, believe me, I will with sirens on," Steve promised.

—xx—xx—

"I'm going to eat everything on the menu!" Romy announced as she shuffled in the booth. Steve grinned at her, happy to see her so at ease. They had overcome the rift his Montana trip caused and then the complications left them both in a constant state of worry and fear.

"Someone worked up an appetite," Steve teased with a big smile. Smiling came much easier now that the stone of dread had finally started to lift off his chest.

"Absolutely," Romy nosed his cheek. She was still feeling boneless, they had definitely made up for the lost time in the last two hours. She drummed her fingers along the menu, but now she and the Pear were starving. After what felt like an eternity their waitress approached their table. "You guys know what you want?"

"I think it's easier if I tell you what I don't want." Romy folded her hands seriously on the table and began to rattle off her order.

Romy was just devouring her final Polenta Chip and her mind contemplating the choice of a milkshake or a cheesecake for dessert when Steve's phone almost vibrated off the table. She threw him a reproachful look when he hastily picked it up. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I had told everyone I'm unreachable today."

"Danny's separation anxiety must be reaching new levels then."

"Flippa? Calm down, buddy what is it?" Steve's jaw clenched and unclenched several times throughout the 30-second phone call. Romy sighed heavily as she fingered for her purse and kissed her dessert goodbye. There would be no cheesecake for her tonight. She sighed as steve slid out of the booth and held out his hand. "Come on gorgeous!" He wiggled his fingers with a knowing grin. "I'll buy you shaved ice on the way back."

Oh, boy did her husband know her. "I want at least three flavours!" She bargained, knowing Steve usually cut her off at two fretting about the sugar content and the baby.

"Tonight you can have as many flavours as you want."

—xx—xx—

"Duke." Steve greeted the HPD sergeant with a pained smile.

"Commander."

Steve nodded at the crime scene behind them. "What are we looking at?"

Romy squeezed his hand and let go of it. She really did not need to be there for that. She did not want to hear what happened from Duke. Her gaze wandered over the police scene, and her heart ached when she saw Flippa sitting dejectedly in the back of an ambulance.

"Mate," she sighs and squeezes his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

They sat together, ignoring the hustle and bustle of police lights and paramedics trying to check out Flippa. Romy's hand stayed on his shoulder until Steve appeared. He pulled his friend into a big hug.

"Could you give us a minute, please?" He looked up at the paramedic and police officer who stood next to him. He waited for them to leave before he continued. "We're gonna do everything we can to find out who did this, you understand?"

Flippa nodded and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. "All I heard was a thud, and a crack when his phone hit the deck." He swallowed before he let out a choked sob. "I thought he'd flaked on the gig, so I was annoyed. That was the last time I ever talked to him."

Romy raised her eyes to Steve's, her lips curled emotionally and he could see the tears well in her eyes. He couldn't tell if it was purely out of compassion for their friend or if the pear made her hormones go loopy. "Hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Don't do that." He rushed to say addressing both Romy and Flippa, then he turned to his friend. "Don't beat yourself up. Not now, okay? You got it?"

Flippa nodded, and shook his head, almost like he tried to shake off his sadness. "Steve, something ain't right about this, killed over his wheels and an old drum kit?" Flippa grabbed Steve's hand. "No. Luka would have handed over the keys like that. Dude loved life too much to risk it all over some stuff."

"All right, listen to me, I promise you, as soon as I know something, you're my first call. All right? In the meantime, I need you to do something for me. I need you to hang in there." There was a tense moment of silence while Flippa contemplated Steve's words.

"Okay."

"All right." Steve nodded at Romy, who smiled back.

"Come on, mate. I'll drive you home." She held a hand out to help Flippa up. But he batted it away, heaving himself off the ambulance bumper. "You're not supposed to lift anything heavy. You're carrying a Keiki."

Romy could practically feel the breath Steve let out behind her and she rolled her eyes at both of them.

"I'll see you later." He quickly pressed his lips to Romy's cheek.

Romy nodded against his lips, before pressing a kiss to his mouth. "You owe me shaved ice."

Steve grinned at her, leaving it to his wife to make him smile on a bleak evening.

"I got you."

—xx—xx—

The penetrant ringing off his alarm clock made Steve groan pathetically. He had only come home at 4am and now two hours later he was supposed to meet them at the airport. One hand reached over to his offending phone and the other curled around Romy. He kissed the back of her neck. Breathing her in. Trying to relax his back, he was getting too old for all-nighters spent bending over their computer table.

"You leaving early." Her voice croaked in the silence of their bedroom.

"Yeah, we got a lead and she's been flown in this morning."

"Her?" Romy turned around and snuggled into his chest.

"Yeah, we found hair in the van." His chest rumbled against Romy's cheek.

Her hands reached up stroking his face before making their way into his hair. "You gonna get them."

—xx—xx—

Romy's You gonna get them stayed with Steve.

It calmed him when he listened to Annie tell her story. It fuelled him when he met her parents who did not accept their daughter for who she was.

When they waxed on, how they were just trying to do the best for their daughter.

"We love our daughter very much. We just hate the sin." Mrs Kehr stated.

"There's nothing sinful about the little girl sitting in my office right now. It's a good thing she knows that about herself, too" he felt the anger in him rise as they kept looking at him superior.

"It's not torture, it's healing. Whether you understand this or not, this is spiritual warfare, and we are battling for the soul of our little girl." Mr Kehr said with conviction. "All she needs is guidance onto a better path to making the right choice."

"Choice?" Did they really think being gay was a choice?

"Mr Kehr, I don't know how to break this to you, but Annie's not the one with the wires crossed."

"Do you have children?" Always that question. He hated that every time children were involved you only got to have an opinion if you had them yourself.

"Yes, I do." He saw their faces fall at his response, but they rallied quickly.

"Then you must understa…"

"No!" Steve interrupted Mr Kehr. "I don't understand." Steve shook his head. He thought of Nahele, the boy…no man, who made them a family, who taught him so much. He thought of the pear, currently growing like a weed, who was responsible for at least 5 of his new grey hairs. "I love them both. Unconditionally for who they are and who they are going to be." Steve narrowed his eyes at them, hoping it would think in. He was glad when the team called him out of his office, unsure for how long he could keep his tone civil.

—xx—xx—

You gonna get them, kept him going when the case morphed from a dead social worker to a racist terror attack.

"Take the shot!" Steve shouted at Junior while his hand desperately tried to get a hold of the trigger to the bomb.

"I can't!" Junior shouted. His weapon weaved back and forth in rhythm with Steve and their suspect on the ground. He could shoot Steve if they moved at the last second. He couldn't take the risk.

Suddenly two shots were fired.

"Suspect is down." Lou's voice rang over the grass. Steve could feel Connor Russell going slack beneath him as the life drained out of him. "Approach," Lou shouted and moved closer.

"Repeat, suspect is down. Request bomb squad and immediate evac." Junior's voice slid into the background over his heartbeat.

"Careful." Lou's quiet voice cut right through the mayhem surrounding them. "Careful." Lou directed Steve's movements around the dead suspect. "Keep moving! Keep moving!" Finally, his hand clenched around the trigger.

"All right." His forehead sank to the ground in relief, when he felt nothing react within the trigger.

"Well, it should only take 'em, I don't know, about 20 minutes to defuse the bomb." Lou checked the progress of the bomb squad around him "So you can relax." He grinned at the, what must be a fucking uncomfortable, position that Steve was pretzeled in. "Well, don't relax." He quickly added as he realised that Steve relaxing meant also a released hold on the trigger. "Look, I've seen you play football, so, uh, don't go all butterfingers on us now." Lou couldn't help himself. "I really don't want to get in trouble with our wives, should I return you as confetti." He shuddered. "Those two are scary."

—xx—xx—

Romy stood in front of their full-length mirror in the bedroom. She twisted back and forth, trying to get every angle. She sucked in her belly and let it back out. Was this really happening? Or was she just imagining things?

"What do you think, Eddie?" She turned to their pup, who was currently lounging on his blanket and kept staring at the bowl of mango Romy had standing on the bureau. She shook her head fondly at him. He was no help at all. Eddie's turning his head, announced Steve way before Romy heard his key in the lock.

"Romy?" His voice muffled slightly.

"Come up here now!"

She couldn't wait to ask him. Her question was stuck in her throat when she saw his face in the mirror. "What happened to you?" she blurted out.

Steve sat down heavily on the little armchair next to the mirror. Romy furrowed her brow, something was really bothering him, and he didn't even notice the massive heap of clothes he sat on top of.

"We'll love our kid right?"

Romy cocked her head, unsure where it came from. What had happened today? She sunk onto her knees in front of her husband. Grasping his folded hands in hers. "It's our kid," she said with emphasis. "Of course, we are going to love them."

"Gay. Straight. Hating to surf. Wanting to be a circus clown."

Romy unwound one of her hands and grasped the back of Steve's head. "Well, maybe not if circus clown will be the chosen career path."

Steve could feel and hear the smile against his forehead. "You wanna tell me, what happened today?"

Did he want to tell her what happened today? That a 'simple' murder case, morphed into a domestic terror attack fuelled by a racist behind bars? Did he want to recall how Lou kept his jaw clenched the whole day? Or how he threw Roger Barton over a table in Halawa, being called a big disappointment by this Neo Nazi. Or how the weight of Lou's watch and shield felt in his hand when his friend got ready to beat Barton up. "Today was a cluster fuck of racism, antisemitism, anti-women and anti-LGBTQ. I just needed to hear you say something positive, something that doesn't want me to …." He broke off and snaked his arm around Romy's body, pulling her close.

"You want to help me figure out something positive?" She mumbled against his cheek.

Steve pulled back and looked at her questioningly. With a groan, Romy stood up and turned to her side in front of him. She pulled down her linen trousers and lifted her collared blouse.

"Help me out here. Is this my normal belly fat or is this a bump?" She pressed her lips together and looked over at Steve. He stared at her for a moment, his eyes flitting from her face to her exposed middle and back.

Steve got up and stood behind her, both of them looking in the mirror, while his hands folded over Romy's belly.

"Is this one of those 'do I look fat' questions?" He pressed a kiss right underneath her ear.

Romy nudged him softly in reprehension. Steve rubbed his hands over her belly and sides gently. Trying to get a feel for the changes in her body. Romy had been upset when her belly had not firmed up when the website said it was gonna happen. Instead, her hips, legs and breasts had gained a few more inches than she was comfortable with. It bothered her so much that she seriously contemplated starting to run with Steve. Something that he put the stop to the moment the sentence left her mouth. She was not running anywhere during the pregnancy.

"I think you got yourself a bump," he spread his fingers so that the tips touched her belly.

"I still can't believe that there's a baby in there." Romy intertwined her fingers with his.

"Me neither, gorgeous." Steve turned her around and kissed her thoroughly.

"I think that deserves some Shaved Ice?" He asked once oxygen became absolutely necessary and they broke apart.

"I think so too, and you promised me several flavours."

Steve recounted his day on the drive to Kamekona's shaved ice place. He was so deep in his thoughts, that he didn't notice when Romy got a text and when she turned left instead of going right. He blinked when she parked the truck in front of an old school neighbour's bar.

"Romy, what…?" He was confused.

"Renee texted," she squeezed his knee.

"Your friend needs you, and you need your friend." She pressed a kiss to his cheek. "We wait for you at home." She patted her belly and nodded to Eddie who lounged in the backseat.

—xx—xx—

The next evening the whole 5-0 O'hana met up at the park for Luka Palakiko's memorial service.

The team greeted them with hugs while Romy tried very hard to protect three flavoured Shaved Ice Steve had finally bought her.

"Girl, you popped!" Lou exclaimed with a big jovial grin on his face. Romy had handed over her shave ice to Steve to be able to embrace Renee and her blouse pulled tight while giving her friend a huge hug.

"Lou!" His wife exclaimed and stabbed his tummy with her elbow. "Never ever comment on a woman's weight, especially a pregnant one."

"I ain't commenting on Romy's weight. I'm just delighted that my niece or nephew keeps growing and we can finally see that."

"Thank you, Lou." Romy hugged her friend tightly. "I'm really glad to."

"Commander McGarrett?" A quiet voice appeared next to them.

Steve turned around and smiled when he saw Annie. She looked better than the lost girl who sat in his office two days ago.

"Hey, Annie." He nodded to Romy, who disentangled herself from Lou's arms and stood next to him. "This is my wife Romy."

Romy smiled at the young girl, who had dominated their conversations for the past 24 hours. "How are you doing?" Steve asked.

"I just wanted to say thank you." She clasped her hands in front of her. "For everything. My parents signed the papers."

"That's great news." Steve quickly wrapped an arm around her and pulled Annie to him.

Romy squeezed her arm with a big smile. "Congratulations."

"They may never change, but..." Annie shrugged with a small smile "…now my life will. So thank you."

Steve turned around slightly, gesturing to his whole team behind him. "It's our pleasure."

"Your baby is really lucky," Annie said bashfully.

"What?" Steve asked, "Why?"

"To have a Dad like you." The girl looked from Steve to Romy with a smile. "My father told me what you said to them earlier. I just wish he could have …" Annie trailed off and swallowed hard.

"I…I…" Steve wasn't sure what to say. To him, he did not say anything special. Their baby and Nahele were lucky to have Romy. She knew what to do and how to parent. He just hoped that he wasn't messing them up.

Romy's fingers threading through his brought him back.

"We're incredibly lucky to have him." Romy smiled up at him and made Steve chocked up again. Her face was full of love, trust and adoration.

The music stopped playing, interrupting their little moment.

"Well, that's my cue." Annie excused herself.

Steve patted her shoulder, "You better get up there."

They watched Annie making her way to the front and up on the stage.

"Okay. Don't cry, Annie." They heard her mumble to herself as she made her way through the crowds to the stage.

Steve wound his arms around her, their folded hands resting on Romy's small bump.

Annie's voice rang around them. "Look to your left. Now look to your right. I guarantee in both directions you're seeing people who are here today because of what Luka did for them. Now I want us to do something for him. If you knew Luka in any way and he touched your life, I want you to take out your phone..." Romy let go of his hand and pulled out her phone from her handbag. "...and turn on the flashlight and hold it up like this. Higher." Steve took it from her and held it over their heads. "I want him to see us down here and see us saying, 'Thank you, and we love you.'"

—xx—xx—

"I cannot believe you made me come here!" Romy huffed as she sat down on Steve's sofa. "This fucking sofa is still the most uncomfortable thing." She grumbled as she tried to punch the pillows she brought into form.

"Romy!" Steve sighed exasperatedly. "This is not a little storm! This is a hurricane." He rolled his eyes when he saw her mouthing along with him. A pregnant Romy turned into a teenager when not getting her way. In moments like this, he prayed that their cucumber was going to be a boy. "Our house and the hotel are in the storm path. You are staying here and you are staying put." He crossed his arms the same moment Romy crossed hers. "And no…you cannot hang out with Jerry in the basement and no you cannot go and find Pua."

He needed to hold in a chuckle, Romy's arms crossed over her 18-week baby bump and her bottom lip jutted out in a pout.

"You're taking all the fun of being stuck here away."

"I'm sorry," Steve sat down next to her and kissed her pout away. His arm slung around her shoulder and he pulled her into his side. "What can I do to make this more bearable?"

Romy turned in his arms, her chin resting against his arm. He knew he was in trouble when her eyes got big and the bottom lip came out again. "Hawaiian sweet rolls. The baby and I fancy sweet rolls."

Steve groaned as he shifted, "Let me see what I can dig up in the cafe."

"You are a prince among men, Schnuffi." Romy teased and patted him on the shoulder to get him moving.

She had finally gotten comfortable, devoured her sweet rolls, and entertained Steve with all the things their cucumber was doing this week - his mind was still blown that the bump was making fingerprints this week and that they would feel it move soon. Romy needed to swat his hands away, to stop him from trying to find a kick. "Believe me, I will let you know when that kid starts to jump on my bladder."

Only her diaphragm breathing exercises stopped her from laughing out loud when Tani and Junior accused each other of being the worse driver. After 5 years she should have known, that the moment she got comfortable shit would hit the fan.

And the shit was this time one of the Worlds Most Wanted drug dealers Alejandro Vega. The DEA and FBI had finally caught him and due to the storm, the only facility to hold him was the Palace. Steve had almost a conniption on the phone, they were currently not only housing his wife and unborn child, but also numerous civilians who sheltered from the storm in the palace.

And because when it rains it pours, someone within the Palace walls was trying to kill Vega and had already shot one of the sheriffs. This was why Romy found herself with the direction of not leaving Lou's sight, while Steve strapped her in a bulletproof vest before he donned one on himself.

Jerry, Lou and herself tried to work on the deputy, with the help of Jerry's first aid kit and WebMD. Haku got worse with every second, and they could not manage to stem the blood from his stab wound. "Keep your focus on me," Lou tried to distract Huka from the pain. "I got something for you to focus on: that son of a bitch that did this to you." He squeezed the man's head, watching as the young man in front of them struggled to breathe, "…did you see him? Did you get a good look at him?"

"Yeah?" Romy asked, Huka had not uttered a word but she could swear his head moved in her lap.

"Come on, son." Lou encouraged. "Hang in there, kid."

"You can do this, Huka," Romy chimed in.

Huka sputtered a bit, trying to force the words out. "Five ten."

Lou nodded, concentrating with Jerry to press onto the bleeder.

Which left Romy to coax more details out of Huka. "You're doing good. Good."

"A-A slight build. A b-blue windbreaker."

"Blue windbreaker, okay. You're doing... all right. You're doing good." Romy had started to thread her fingers through his hair, trying to keep him calm.

Suddenly Jerry's head jerked up, "Did this guy wear glasses?" Huka nodded softly. "Holy crap, I think I saw him."

"Jerry, we got to get a description of this guy to McGarrett right now, before this guy drops another body." Lou looked up and the eyes of the three of them met.

"I can go?" Romy suggested.

"No way." Jerry shook his head vehemently. "He'd take away my badge."

"And rat me out to Renee," Lou added. "You, Fraulein are staying put."

"You know Fraulein isn't used in the german language anymore," Romy said trying to distract both of them.

"What?"

"No German Frauleins anymore?" Lou almost sounded disappointed.

"Nope." She shook her head. "Discriminatory against unmarried women. Why should they be singled out and unmarried men aren't?"

"Sweetheart, don't think I don't know what you are trying to do," Lou pinned her down with a stare. "You got a husband, my boss and brother, plus you are pregnant. You are staying put, Mrs McGarrett." Lou nodded at Jerry to leave. Luckily, he had picked up on it quickly and scurried out of the basement they were hiding in.

"I'm not an invalid, you know." Romy could not help herself and say.

"No…nope." Lou shook his head. "Not having that conversation with you. It's just going to end with me being in the doghouse with my wife and my boss. Nope, not doing it."

Romy was exhausted, a bone-deep exhaustion settled in her body. The sun had finally started to rise, the storm had passed and Romy was ready to sleep for the next two days.

Alejandro Vega was transported out of the palace into a cell from which he hoped would never be able to escape, but his final capture had come at a cost of 3 FBI Agents and the discovery of an FBI mole. The only good thing was that the Hula would make a full recovery.

"You wanna explain to me again how much safer the palace was today, Schnuffi?" Romy intertwined his fingers with him, as they watched the ambulance drive Huka to the nearest hospital.

Steve let out a big breath and his head fell forward so much, that his chin almost touched his chest. "I…I…"

"We need to talk about this, Steve." Romy felt bad for bringing it up, but she needed to say it. "You cannot wrap me into bubble wrap and then jump head first into a dangerous situation. There were several moments today when I did not know if you were alive. We're having a baby." Their foreheads rested against each other now. "I never made any demands on how you conduct your work, so hear me out. You have a dangerous job, and I know that and I know what possibilities that brings. But just for the next couple of months, I'd really like to worry a bit less. So if you can step back from certain situations and let the other take the lead…" She swallowed hard, she had promised herself she would not cry.

"Hey" Steve cradled Romy's face in his hands, his thumbs stroking her cheeks. "Hey. It's ok. If you need me to take a step back. I will." He needed to suppress a smile at Romy's sceptical look. "I promise. I'll speak to the guys. I take a step back."

"Thank you," Romy whispered. A huge stone lifted off her chest with Steve's easy acceptance of her request. Steve pulled Romy in his arms, she was warm and soft, her bump settling against him. He had always loved how she felt in his arms, even in the very beginning when they could not yet accept what they were to each other. He had never experienced trust like this, until Romy melted the first into his arms, how she let go because she knew he would catch her and vice versa. When he was with her he was able to just be, not have to think and second guess his every move. She had always noticed when he put up a front, had seen right through him from the start. She had only ever wanted him, not Commander McGarrett, not a hot shot Navy SEAL. Romy had only ever wanted Steve.

So, he could give her this without hesitation.

—xx—xx—

Steve turned to Romy, who mirrored his facial expression. What was Rachel doing at Danny's?

"What are you, uh, what are you doing here?" Danny asked, bordering on impolite with his tone. "What are we doing here?" Romy turned to Steve as she repeated Danny's question. "We just wanted to come and check on you guys, say hey."

"Also, I want to make sure there was no, you know, disasters" Steve added, "…last night, natural or otherwise."

Danny rolled his eyes at the two of them and waved them. The goodbye from Rachel was awkward enough to confirm Romy's and Steve's suspicion that something did happen last night. "Was it that awkward all night, or…?" Steve could not help himself and asked.

Romy could practically see Danny's hackles rise. "No, it was fine, 'cause we're adults. Okay?"

"Want to talk about it?" She tried to defuse the situation that was building between the two friends.

"No, I don't want to talk about it." Danny shook his head empathically. "I don't want to talk about it." Steve was about to say something but Danny cut him off. "I mean, certainly not if you're gonna give your stupid opinions." That made Steve's mouth snap shut audibly. "You want to be quiet, I'll tell you what happened."

"You know what would help with that? Hmm?" Steve grinned and Romy was groaning inside. This was going to end badly. "If I was eating. So, see, if I'm eating, there's food in my mouth, I can't really talk, right?"

"Oh, oh, so I got to, I got to bribe you to keep quiet?"

"I don't call it a bribe. I call it pancakes."

Danny knew when he was beaten. "Fine."

"With bananas," Steve added, his smile growing. "And some chocolate chips."

"What are you, five?" Danny asked as he stalked into the kitchen.

"Ugh!" Romy gagged.

"You ok?" Steve's hand went straight away to the small of her back.

"Here smell this." She pushed the offending item underneath his nose, making him recoil as well.

"What do you call this?" Romy set down the can of deodorant next to Danny, who poured pancake batter into a sizzling pan.

"It's a deodorant, Romy," Danny stated the obvious. "I used to wear it when I met Rachel."

"And she still married you?" Romy couldn't help but ask and hopped up on the counter next to him with the help of Steve.

"Please do not tell me you guys 'bonded' last night over old deodorant." Steve piled on the teasing.

"Keep this up and there won't be pancakes." Danny threatened with the spatula.

"Are you really going to withhold food from a pregnant woman?" Romy's eyes were big and pleading, her hand patting her small bump to draw attention to it.

"Ugh!" Danny groaned. "You can be so glad your wife is pregnant, Neanderthal." He kicked out at Steve, shaking his head in the process. Romy and Steve shared a grin and she even managed to press a sweet kiss onto her husband's lips.

"Stop that PDA this instant or no pancakes." Danny slapped the back of Steve's head.

"Get flippin', Danny!"

—xx—xx—

Steve embraced Adam when his friend opened the door to his new flat and let him in. He quickly scanned the room, so far only the team had arrived. "Is Romy here yet?"

"Nah, not yet." Adam handed him a beer. "She texted earlier and said she was leaving work right now."

Good, that was good, that would guarantee him at least another 20 minutes. "Ok. I got a talk to you all before she gets here." He rubbed his hand on his trousers, why was he nervous all of a sudden. They would understand. They were family.

"Is everything ok, brother?" Now Adam eyed him curiously.

"Yeah," Steve nodded and then raised his voice, "Guys, can you…can you listen up for a second?"

A chorus of yeahs sounded around him, with Danny asking "What's up, babe?"

"You might have noticed that I took a step back during the case this week." Tani and Junior nodded, while Danny and Lou shared a grin. "This had a specific reason and it's…it's…" He looked in the open and questioning faces of his team, of his family, of his Ohana. "Romy and I had a talk after the hurricane, after Vega and we both decided it would be better if I take a step back."

"A step back…" Junior inched forward a bit. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing bad, only that I'm handing the reigns over with active duty things for a little bit. Neither of you," he looked at Tani, Junior and Adam, "are green anymore. Romy needs me to be out of the imminent range of getting shot for the remainder of her pregnancy," he held his breath a little bit, letting the information sink in, "and I agree with her. It's time for me to take a step ba,ck and concentrate on keeping Romy's blood pressure and stress levels down."

The room was silent, but he saw recognition and understanding in Danny and Lou's faces. They both remembered Romy's day in the hospital too well.

"We got you." Danny was the first to speak. "We got you and Romy."

"The young ones will step up, and we will support you both." Lou chewed on his cigar thoughtfully. "You are doing the right thing for your wife, man."

"Thanks!" Steve embraced them in a hug. "You guys have no idea what this means."

"We're Ohana," Adam joined the group hug as the last one. "We got your back."

"What is going on here?"

The heads of the 5-O team shot up at the sound of Romy's voice behind them. She almost got toppled over by Kamekona and Flippa, who had arrived at the same time she did.

"What does it look like, Romy," Danny's head popped up from the sea of arms. "It's called a group hug. Come on, join in."

With a laugh, Romy dropped her handbag at the door and wiggled her way into the hug. She could feel them all making space, being careful not to squish her and the bump. Their thoughtfulness brought tears to her eyes. She felt Steve's arms wrapping around her, his lips right next to her ear. "I love you, gorgeous."