Steve tried to focus. His ears were ringing from the explosion. He slowly tried to open his eyes. He looked around to find the others. He got up and made his way over to the others.
"Danny, are you okay?" Steve asked once he reached his partner.
"Yeah, I think so."
Steve helped his partner up and they looked at the others. Slowly everyone got up. Nobody was seriously hurt, just some cuts and bruises. There was no more gunfire coming from inside so Steve grabbed his gun and went inside, followed by Danny. They checked the entire house but there was no one.
"Damn it," Steve cursed.
They searched the entire area but there was no sign of them. They put an APB out on them and went back to the office.
"Are you okay?" Catherine asked concerned as Steve walked in with some cuts and dirt on his face.
"Yeah I'm fine."
"What happened?"
"Just another day at the office."
"Someone threw a grenade at us," Danny added.
"A grenade? Are you serious?"
"We're fine Cath, I'm fine. It's okay. It's fine honey. Just relax okay."
"Relax?! My husband almost got blown up by a grenade and you want me to relax?!"
"Catherine, it's fine. I'm fine. Okay, I'm here, I'm fine," Steve told her, trying to get her to relax.
"You promised me you would be careful."
"I know Cath, and I am. I didn't know they had a grenade. I'm fine Cath. Cath, look at me." Steve put his hands on his cheeks and turned her to him. "I'm fine Cath and I promise that I'll be careful okay."
"Okay."
An hour later they had a location on the guys that escaped.
"Please be careful Steve," Catherine spoke before they left.
Steve walked up to her and kissed her. "I promise Cath. I love you."
"I love you too."
This time it went without grenades. After a bit of gunfire they were able to capture them. They brought to HQ and interrogated them. After a while of interrogating they finally gave up the location of the weapons. HPD went to retrieve the weapons and the case was closed.
"I'm sorry I reacted like that earlier," Catherine spoke once they were home.
"It's okay Cath. I understand it must be difficult for you to see me go out into the field. But I promise you I will be very careful. I'm not about to make you a single mom okay."
"Okay."
"Come here."
Steve pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head.
…
Catherine was now 22 weeks pregnant and she just had another doctor's appointment. Everything was still going very well with her and the baby. It was after work so after the appointment Steve and Catherine went back home.
"Hey Lauren," Catherine greeted as they walked in.
"Hey guys, how was the appointment?"
"Very well. The baby is doing very well."
"That's good."
"Dada," Kye squealed and he walked over to Steve.
It was still a bit wobbly but he was walking better every day.
"Hey buddy," Steve replied and he got down on his knees to catch Kye. Once Kye reached Steve, Steve picked him up and gave him kisses. "Have you been a good boy today?"
"Yes a very good boy. They both have been very good today."
"That's good."
"I'll see you guys next week."
"Yes, thank you."
Catherine showed her out. When she turned around Kailani had walked up to her.
"Hey little girl," Catherine spoke to her as she picked her up. "Why don't you spend some time with daddy while mommy's gonna go make dinner."
She put Kailani on the couch with Steve and Steve watched TV with the kids. Catherine disappeared into the kitchen and started on dinner.
During dinner the kids thought it was more fun to throw the food around.
"Kye, Kailani, no throwing food," Steve told them in a firm voice.
The kids just laughed and continued throwing food.
"Alright that's enough. If you can't eat properly daddy is gonna take the food away."
Steve grabbed the plates off of their chair and placed them out of their reach causing Kye and Kailani to start crying and screaming.
"No, if you can't eat properly you can't have it."
After a while the kids calmed down and Steve gave them their plates back.
"No throwing food, otherwise daddy will take it away again."
This time Kye and Kailani ate properly. After dinner Catherine took them upstairs to get them cleaned up for bed while Steve cleaned up downstairs.
When Steve came upstairs Catherine was just getting the kids out of the tub. Steve took Kye and dried him off. They changed them into their pajamas and Catherine read them a book before putting them in their cribs.
Once the kids were in bed Steve went for a swim. Catherine sat outside near the beach waiting for Steve.
30 minutes later Steve came walking out of the water.
"Hey Cath," Steve greeted her and kissed her as he leaned over to get a towel.
"Hey Steve, good swim?"
"Yes, good swim. I'm just gonna go take a shower. Wanna join me?"
"Sure."
As soon as they were under the shower they started kissing each other. Steve moved his hand over her stomach and smiled against her lips as he felt their little girl move underneath his hand.
"I love feeling the baby move underneath my hand," Steve told her once he had realized her lips.
"I know you do. And I love it too. It feels nice."
Steve turned her around in his arms so he could wash her back. Steve's hands felt so good on her body. Once Steve was done washing her he moved his lips down to her neck and kissed her.
"Hmm Steve," Catherine moaned as Steve found her spot.
Catherine knew where this would lead to if she didn't stop it. But she didn't want to stop it. It felt too damn good. Steve used his hands on her too and Catherine turned to jelly. If it wasn't for Steve holding her, her legs would have given out from underneath her. They made love under the shower.
They dried off and continued their love making in their bedroom. They were about to finish when they heard a cry coming over the monitor.
"Argh," Catherine grunted.
"How close are you?"
"Very close. You?"
"Same."
Steve sped up so they would reach their peaks soon. Steve quickly put some boxers on once they were finished and went to the twins' room.
"Hey sweetie, what's wrong?" Steve asked once he saw it was Kailani who was crying.
Steve picked her up and tried her to calm down. He noticed that she had a wet diaper so he went to change it. Steve rocked her in his arms until she had fallen asleep again before putting her back in her crib. Steve went back to bed and crawled in next to Catherine. Catherine had already fallen asleep. Steve gathered Catherine in his arms and held her close.
The next morning when Catherine woke up she felt she was in Steve's arms. She stretched herself.
"Good morning honey," Steve spoke once he realized Catherine was awake.
"Good morning honey," Catherine replied and she opened her eyes.
Steve leaned closer and kissed her.
"Thanks you for last night Steve."
"You're welcome Cath. How about a short repeat of last night?" Steve asked with a grin.
"They kids will wake up soon."
"So we'll just have to be quick. I know for you that it's no problem now that you're pregnant."
Catherine knew that Steve was right and just thinking about it made her turned on. She kissed Steve and turned them over so she was on top. She was still naked after last night so she made fast work of getting Steve's boxers off. Before Steve realized it Catherine had already sank down on him. Steve grabbed her hips and helped her move. It was fast but still very good. Once she was done Catherine collapsed against Steve's chest.
"You're amazing when you do that," Steve uttered.
"You too."
Catherine kissed Steve again and went out to go to the bathroom. Steve went to get the kids ready for the day. Steve took the kids downstairs and put them in their chairs and made breakfast for them. When Catherine came downstairs Steve went upstairs to get dressed.
He was just done dressing when his phone rang. He had a new case.
"Sorry honey, I've gotta go. Work called."
"That's fine. Have a good day, be careful."
"I will honey." Steve gave her a kiss and kissed the kids goodbye and left for work.
After the kids had eaten Catherine took them outside. She put them in the shade on their play mats. The kids loved being outside.
"Kye, don't eat the grass," Catherine told him and took it out of his hand before he could eat it. "We don't eat grass Kye, it's not good." Catherine cleaned his hand.
….
That Saturday Steve and Catherine took the kids over to the pool. Catherine took Kailani with her and Steve took Kye with him. Steve and Kye were both wearing light blue swim shorts. Steve came out of the dressing room at the same time as Catherine. Kailani was wearing a mint green dotted swimsuit with pink ruffles. Catherine looked so beautiful in her swim suit, Steve thought. She was wearing a black, white dotted tankini.
They found a place to put their towels down. Steve blew up the floaties for the kids and put them on their arms. Once that was done they took the kids over to the kids' pool. Kye wanted to go on the bouncy chairs that were in the water so Steve took him there while Catherine took Kailani to the slide.
The kids loved being in the pool. They were two little water bugs. After they had something to eat Steve and Catherine put them in their floating chairs and took them to the big pool. They swam them around in their floaties. They kids loved it. The kids tried to swim by wiggling their little legs. It looked so cute.
"Where's daddy?" Catherine asked after Steve dove under.
Kye and Kailani looked around trying to find Steve. A little later Steve came up in front of them.
"Dada!" Kailani squealed.
"Hey you two. Did you lose daddy huh?"
They stayed at the pool for the rest of the afternoon. The kids fell asleep in the car on the way home. Steve carried them inside and put them in their play pens.
"They had fun today," Catherine whispered to him.
"Yes they did," Steve whispered back. "And you looked really beautiful in your swim suit."
"Thank you."
Steve kissed her and then kissed her stomach.
Steve woke the kids up when it was time for dinner. After dinner they went into the bath before going to sleep. The kids were fast asleep as soon as they were put in their cribs. Steve and Catherine sat out on the porch and enjoyed the last bit of sun.
"Steve, I was thinking about some names for our little girl and I think it would be nice if we had another name that started with a K."
"I think that's nice. Did you have some names in mind already?"
"A couple."
Steve and Catherine talked names for a while and they had narrowed it down to 2 names.
"We can decide the name once the baby is here," Catherine told him.
"That's fine. Both names are very nice."
They sat outside until the sun went down.
The next day Steve continued working on the nursery. He had painted the walls and had added a white strip with pink butterflies. He was now working on hanging up the things like lamps and decorations. The furniture should be here in a week or 2. Catherine was dying to see the nursery but she had kept her promise not to go in there.
Steve was really happy with the result so far. He could totally picture his little girl in here.
Catherine was sitting downstairs on the couch while the kids were watching TV when she heard a loud thump.
"Are you okay Steve?" Catherine called upstairs.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just dropped the hammer. No biggie."
"Okay."
Just before dinner Steve back downstairs.
"Everything is done, just have to wait for the furniture so I can put that together."
"Thank you for doing this Steve."
"You're welcome Cath." Steve sat down on the couch next to Catherine and gave her and her stomach a kiss. "I can't wait to meet our little girl."
"Me neither."
Steve put the kids in their chairs as Catherine put dinner on the table.
….
The furniture for the nursery had just arrived. As soon as everything was upstairs Steve started with the crib. Steve took everything out of the box and took the manual. It wasn't so hard to put the crib up. The frame was standing in an hour. He then proceeded by putting in the bottom and the matrass. He would put the bedding in later so it wouldn't get dirty.
Catherine was dying to see the nursery. She hoped that now the furniture was here Steve would be done today.
"Steve, dinner is ready," Catherine called upstairs.
"I'll be right there," Steve called back.
2 minutes later Steve walked down the stairs and sat at the table.
"How's it going?" Catherine asked.
"Good. I think it'll be done tomorrow."
"That's good. I can't wait to see it."
"It's really beautiful."
"I bet it is."
After dinner Steve took the kids upstairs for bath. The kids screamed when Steve took them out. At that moment Catherine came upstairs too and she helped with getting the kids ready for bed. Steve picked their favorite book and read it to them.
"Where's the dog Kailani?" Steve asked and Kailani pointed to the dog. "How does the dog sound?"
"Woof," Kailani replied, it was so cute to hear that.
"Very good." Steve read further in the book. "Where's the cow Kye?" Kye pointed to the cow. "Yes. And how does the cow sound?"
"Boooo," Kye responded.
When the book had ended Steve and Catherine kissed them goodnight and put them in bed. Steve went back downstairs with Catherine instead of working on the nursery. He didn't want to the wake the twins up.
…
The twins were down for their afternoon nap the next day when Steve took Catherine upstairs.
"You finished it?" Catherine asked with a smile as they stood in front of the nursery.
"Yes I did. You ready?"
"Yes I am."
Steve opened the door and Catherine stepped in. She was blown away.
"Oh my god Steve, this is beautiful."
The walls were painted pink with a strip of white wallpaper with pink butterflies in the middle. The middle of the big wall to the left stood the crib. In the corner near the window stood the rocking chair. Against the other big wall stood the closet and changing table. On the big wall on the left side of the crib hung a photo of Steve and Catherine with the twins. Underneath it was an empty frame. Here would come a picture of Steve and Catherine with their new little girl.
"This is really beautiful," Catherine spoke with tears in her eyes. "Our little girl will love it her."
"Yes she will. And look." Steve opened the closet. "All of her clothes are already in the closet."
"Thank you Steve. It's really beautiful."
"You're welcome Cath," Steve responded as he placed his arms around her waist.
"I love you Steve."
"I love you too Cath." Steve kissed Catherine.
…
It was time for another doctor's appointment for Catherine. She was now 25 weeks pregnant. It was on Catherine's day off so they took the kids with them.
"Mommy sick?" Kailani asked as Catherine lay down on the bed.
"No, mommy's not sick sweetie," Steve told her. "We're just gonna check on your little sister. To make sure everything is going fine."
"We little sister?"
"You're little sister is inside mommy's tummy, just like you and Kye were."
"Mommy tummy."
"Yes right here in mommy's tummy," Steve replied as he moved his hand over Catherine's stomach.
Kailani held her hand out too so Steve brought her closer. Kailani put her hand on Catherine's stomach and the baby kicked against her hand causing Kailani to laugh.
"Shall we go see what the little baby is up to?" The doctor asked.
A minute later they saw their baby on the monitor and the heartbeat sounded throughout the room. It was such a beautiful sound to hear, their little baby's heartbeat. Steve was always amazed by how fast it was beating but the doctor told him it was perfectly normal.
The baby was doing very well. The doctor gave them another picture and they made an appointment on their way home. Steve dropped them off at home and went to work.
Catherine pulled out the baby book and added the new ultrasound picture. It was nice to see the growth of the baby throughout the ultrasound pictures. She was so happy to have another baby with Steve. She just hoped that everything would go fine this time. She didn't want to lose another baby. But she had a good feeling about this one. She wondered how the twins would be with another baby around the house. It would be hard work in the beginning with the new baby and with the twins wanting attention too.
Catherine had just put the twins down for their afternoon nap. She stood on top of the stairs and felt herself getting dizzy. She grabbed the railing to steady herself but she blacked out and fell down the stairs.