Chapter 3

Malia and Kono floated in the water peacefully. Kono's mother's house had a beach garden and Malia decided to make the most of it especially since Kono loved the water. Malia thought it might calm Kono and help her find some peace. They had been floating and bobbing about the water in a peaceful silence for the past ten minutes basking in the morning sun that warmed the water around them.

"Ow!" Malia said suddenly.

"What what's wrong?" Kono asked with concern.

"The babies are kicking like mad, they love the water." Malia said happily as she felt her bump.

Kono tentatively bobbed towards Malia as though she would hurt her if she got to close.

"Give me your hand" Malia said as she took Kono's hand and placed it on her bump.

Kono smiled real smile as she felt her nephews kicking wildly. Tears sprung to her eyes and se quickly wiped them away.

"Hey what's with the tears?" Malia asked softly.

"I miss that, Kelly used to kick all the time when I was in the water." Kono said fondly.

"It's an amazing feeling" Malia smiled.

"Has Chin checked on Kelly?" Kono asked.

"Yes sweetie Chin went to meet Adam and Kelly." Malia said.

"Why are they meeting?" Kono asked "Are they talking about me?" Kono asked nervously.

"Chin wanted to have a chat with Adam darling that's all." Malia said.

"Oh okay" Kono said.

"Would it be okay if me and you had a chat?" Malia asked quietly.

Kono looked out to the rising sun and splashed the water gently, biting her lip nervously.

"I guess." She shrugged.

"Shall we go sit on the lanai then?" Malia suggested. "We don't want to shrivel up." She laughed.

Kono giggled and followed Malia to the lanai where they let the sun dry them.

"So you want to tell me what it was Adam said that made you leave?" Malia asked getting straight to the point.

Kono looked at her nervously.

"Kono it's just me and you, I want to help you but you need to talk to me." Malia encouraged.

"He said I was choosing work over Kelly because it was the easy option." Kono said.

"Is that exactly what he said?" Malia asked knowing Kono had taken a lot to heart.

Kono fiddled with her fingers as she avoided Malia's gaze. Malia knew Kono was probably feeling confused and crappy so she moved closer and wrapped her arms round her.

"Talk to me Kono, what did he really say?" Malia pressed.

"He just brought up those few months at the beginning when I went through the rough patch and he said he was scared that I was choosing work over being a mom and he just didn't want me to be scared of being a mom" Kono mumbled.

"So Adam's not really done anything wrong, he's just expressed his concern because he loves you." Malia explained.

Kono sighed and nodded her head. "I've been an absolute bitch haven't I" Kono said. "Adam just wanted to protect me."

"Well you've maybe made some decisions I wouldn't agree with but you're not a bitch. You just let things get to you and rather than talk about it you made assumptions and avoided the situation." Malia explained gently.

"I don't think Adam trust's me" Kono admitted.

"Good" Malia began

"What!" Kono asked surprised.

"No no, good that you're admitting that you don't think Adam trusts you." Malia continued.

"How is it good that I don't think my boyfriend trust's me" Kono sobbed.

"It's good because you've admitted a problem and now you can work on fixing it." Malia pointed out.

"He might not ever speak to me again." Kono said sadly.

"He told me last night that he and Kelly will be waiting for you when you're ready." Malia said.

"Really?" Kono asked.

"Yes but don't rush back. You need a little time." Malia said.

"Adam won't let me see Kelly when he finds out that I didn't feed her her lunch yesterday." Kono said.

"You were in a bad place and you were scared that he thought you weren't a good mum because you didn't want to be with Kelly, so you took that interpretation and kept Kelly close to you. He doesn't need to know what happened in that moment because Kelly got her food and everyone was okay." Malia said reassuringly.

"Okay"

"But I do think that the way you were acting yesterday highlights something." Malia began.

"Is there something wrong with me?" Kono asked quietly.

"No, but when Kelly was first born and you went through the rough patch, I believe you suffered from post natal depression, but being the stubborn girl you are you never got professional help so you were never officially diagnosed. It doesn't mean anything is wrong with you and it is so common but the fact you got over on your own I think has meant you've fallen back into the struggle. Adam's comments although I don't think were meant to be harsh triggered something in you and had made you cast your mind back to those months so you just got to get yourself out again." Malia explained softly.

"I don't want some shrink to think I'm crazy!" Kono said sadly.

"The fact you're talking to me and being honest with me means you're already working your way back up. I would say you haven't fallen back into the depression but you're reliving those times and if you had sat here and blamed Adam completely then I would say you need professional help but because you've been honest I think you can work it out with Adam's help. But only if you trust him and let him in. It might be an idea to have a couple of chats with someone from the hospital other than me but only so you can talk to someone that wouldn't cloud our judgement." Malia suggested.

Kono nodded and smiled. "Okay, your right." Kono said.

"Take the rest of the day to have some you time, then think about going home tonight and talking to Adam. He loves you Kono." Malia said.

Kono smiled and nodded and closed her eyes enjoying the sunshine on her skin.

Adam knelt on the floor as he tried to change Kelly's diaper. She was wriggling about all over the place and whining. Adam tried to hold her in place so he could secure the diaper but she flailed her little legs about and tried to move away.

"Kelly please stay still" Adam begged as he held her legs down.

Kelly began to cry as she wriggled around, unhappy about getting her diaper changed. Adam held her in place and finally sealed the diaper. He picked a crying Kelly up and sat her on his lap as he tried to sooth her. She continued to cry in her daddy's arms. Adam sighed and lay her down as he put the dirty diaper in the bin. Kelly was still crying and her little face was red and tear streaked. Adam picked her up and bounced her about. He had already fed her and played with her and when he tried to get her to sleep she wouldn't and he didn't know what to do. He wished Kono was here. She could always settle her before bedtime so she would sleep peacefully. As Adam bounced her gently around the room Kelly began to calm but she was still fussy. He kissed her cheek then turned as he heard the front door creak open.

Kono walked into her house slowly dropping her overnight bag on the floor. She looked up and saw Adam staring at her. She felt awkward and uncomfortable as though she shouldn't be there. She noticed how Kelly stopped crying though when she saw her mommy.

"Hey" Adam whispered.

"Hey" Kono said shyly.

The two stood awkwardly for a while unsure what to say. Kelly smiled and her mom and reached out her tiny hands, babbling happily. Adam smiled and walked towards Kono handing Kelly over and into her mother's arms.

"Hey baby boo!" Kono said excitedly as she snuggled with Kelly and peppered kisses over her face. "Why the tears bubba" Kono asked her daughter.

"She wanted you." Adam said softly.

Kono smiled and stroked Kelly's hair as she began to fall asleep.

"Do you want to put her to bed; she wouldn't sleep when I put her down." Adam suggested.

Kono nodded and walked to the nursery to put Kelly to sleep.

Kono walked back out to the front room grabbing her bag on the way. She looked at Adam sitting on the couch and shuffled her feet.

"I'm erm going to put my stuff away." Kono mumbled quietly.

"Okay" Adam said.

"Erm do you err want me to sleep on the couch tonight?" Kono asked softly. Before Adam could answer she spoke again. "I mean if it's okay for me to stay…I get it if you want me to go" She said shyly.

Don't be silly Kono of course you can stay, this is our home and you'll sleep in our bed as long as you want to." Adam answered.

Kono gave a small smiled and went to the bedroom.

Adam decided to go to bed an hour after Kono went to the bedroom. He assumed she had gone straight to bed. Maybe to avoid him, he didn't know. He opened the door quietly and looked at Kono. She was lying on her side and Adam could hear her sniffling so he assumed she had been crying. He grabbed his pyjamas and headed to the bathroom to get ready. When he came out he saw that Kono was rubbing her eyes. His hear broke for her and it killed him to see her upset. He pulled back the duvet on his side and crawled into bed, shuffling over and wrapping his arms around Kono. He felt her tense before relaxing in his arms. He pulled her impossibly close and kissed her shoulder and neck as he let her cry it out.

"I'm sorry" He whispered into her ear.

Kono hiccupped before rolling over, still in Adam's arms.

"Don't be, you did nothing wrong. I'm the one that should be sorry." Kono whispered.

Adam pushed her hair out her face.

"Sweetheart let me help you please. You scared me with how you reacted and I don't want to see you like that again. It's not your fault and maybe I should have worded things differently but let me help you." Adam begged softly.

"I'm sorry I left and took Kelly away." Kono said.

Adam sighed and kissed her head. "That really scared me Kono, I thought I'd lost you both for good." Adam admitted. "You can't do that."

"I know, I..i don't know." Kono sobbed. "I thought you didn't trust me"

"Clearly if you thought that I didn't trust you that means you don't trust me." Adam said.

"I I do but…" Kono went on.

"Wait its okay. If I'm honest when you took Kelly I hate to admit it but I doubted my trust for you. For a split second but I did. So maybe we can start fixing things by working on our trust." Adam said.

"I do trust you Adam but it was just…"

"Just this argument made us question each other." Adam finished.

"Exactly" Kono said with a small giggle.

Adam smiled and held Kono's face. "Look we have a few things to work out and talk about and Malia has filled me in on your chat but I know we can deal with this. It's just small bump in the road. I need you to know that I love you so much and you are a brilliant mom just look at how you settled Kelly." Adam said.

"I missed her and you so much." Kono said.

"I missed you too baby" Adam said as he kissed her lips gently.

"Malia said I should maybe talk to someone…would you come with me, just be there to hold my hand?" Kono asked.

"Of course I will go with you darling." Adam smiled.

"I love you"

"I love you more baby, will get through this together." Adam said genuinely.