A/N: So I guess I owe you guys a HUGE apology! Firstly, I'm so sorry that its been ages since the last update. Finding time to write, and the motivation, was hard unfortunately. Secondly, I'm sorry that this isn't the whole chapter (yet again) but it really was getting too long - past 9,000 with two more scenes to go. So I thought the best thing to do would be to split it because I didn't want to make you all wait any longer and I didn't want the end result to be one mega long chapter and leaves you drained and bored by the end of it! I should hopefully have the next part up soon!
Massive, massive, massive thank yous to teenycee and quisinart4! Honestly, without these two, this chapter wouldn't even have been written or posted for a long, long time! You guys really do rock =)
Month 9 (part 1)
Kono groaned at the knock on the door. She was enjoying her weekend so far; currently spending the afternoon lying on the sofa whilst watching trashy TV, eating ice cream out of the tub and just generally being lazy. Yes, she'd admit that she was being lazy. But she was almost 3 weeks from her due date and she felt fat and tired. The baby had grown quite rapidly recently to the point that she almost felt she couldn't keep up. Or stand up, for that matter.
As the person knocked again, she yelled out that she was coming and managed to manoeuvre herself to a sitting position and push herself off the couch. She was all for being independent, but at times like these, she really needed Steve. It wasn't until he had left that she had realised how much she had taken his waiting at her beck and call for granted.
Peering through the peephole like she had promised her husband she would, she sighed at the sight of the blonde on the other side. Undoing the door chain and unlocking the door, she yanked it open but only enough for her to stand in the doorway and stare at the visitor in question.
"Hi," Danny merely greeted, eyes traveling the length of her body before meeting her eyes again when she cleared her throat. Wearing just a pair of shorts and one of Steve's t-shirt, because it was the only thing she could fit over her stomach anymore, with her hair tied up in a messy ponytail, she knew she must look a sight. And not a good one, either. "Where's Steve?" he asked, trying to peer over her shoulder, as if looking for the man in question.
Kono raised an incredulous eyebrow at his words. "He didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?" Danny replied, scrunching his eyebrows together in confusion that suddenly made her feel guilty. Had Steve forgotten to tell his best friend that he was away for the next couple of days? It wasn't likely, but she never knew with Steve. If they weren't living together, she wouldn't put it past him to forget to tell her.
"He's got his reserve training this weekend," she informed him, letting go of the door and resting her weight against the doorjamb, settling herself in for a rant. "Over at Pearl Harbor."
Eyebrows rising up to meet his hairline, he opened his mouth to say something before stopping and nodding. "Oh," he simply muttered, much to Kono's astonishment. She had been preparing for a response much more meaningful than that. Louder, too. And longer.
Huffing, she rolled her eyes and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You're such a horrible liar. What's he got on you to make sure you check up on me, huh?"
"Kono, babe, I'm hurt. You think I wouldn't care about you enough to come and see you? I'm here out of my own will," Danny insisted in his typical dramatic fashion, hand waving and theatrics included. Dropping the hand he had placed on his heart to show his 'hurt' at her theory, he carried on a bit more sheepishly. "Of course, Steven might have suggested, heavily, that we should see if you needed anything whilst he was away, but we would have done it anyway."
None of it was really surprising, she had to admit. She knew what she was getting into with Steve's overprotectiveness when she married him. "'We'?" she repeated, suspiciously.
"You don't think Chin would let you spend the weekend alone, did you?" he said rhetorically, grinning widely at her clear look of annoyance. "I volunteered today so that he can come over tomorrow whilst Malia's at work."
Standing up straight, she ran a hand over her face before crossing her arms in front of her. "I'm fine. Baby's fine. Everything's fine. Happy?" she told him, matter-of-factly, because the last thing she needed was Danny's constant eye on her. At least Steve, and Chin, knew how to be stealthy about it. Danny, not so much.
"Can I stay?" he asked her eventually, a bit hesitant before throwing his hand up in the universal sign of submission when Kono shot him a dark glare. "Hey, Gracie's on her camping trip this weekend and I need something to take my mind off of all the horrible things we have seen occur in the jungles of this god forsaken island."
Taking in his words, and recalling all the times that the man in front of her had cursed the beautiful jungles on their homeland, she pondered and weighed out the pros and cons of letting him stay. Overall, having some company, someone to fetch her stuff and keeping Steve from most probably coming home, because she had no doubt that he would keep tabs on her through the boys too, made her give in. "As long as you don't hover or lecture me on what I eat or do. Otherwise I'm throwing you out," she warned him before stepping back and leaving the door over for him to follow.
"I fully understand," he assured her as she settled back onto the couch, this time sitting, with her ice cream. Shutting the door behind him, he stood behind the lounger to her right. "Now, on an entirely unrelated subject, have you had lunch?"
…
Being in her final month of pregnancy meant that it was almost impossible for Kono to find a comfortable position most of the times, let alone whilst trying to sleep. If she ever did, something would always wake her. A phone call, Steve getting up, the baby moving or kicking, or other noises. She had also slowly realised that she had become more alert to random sounds whilst asleep. Steve had informed her that it was her body and senses getting ready for hearing the cries of the baby once she arrived, something she had easily accepted because out of the two of them, he had been the more knowledgeable one about the pregnancy.
So when she woke up to the sound of low, heavy footsteps downstairs and that feeling that there was someone else in the house with her, Kono cursed under her breath because not only had she had to get up, but there was the off chance that there was a stranger in her house with questionable intentions.
Grabbing her gun and phone from the bedside table, she slowly made her way to the bedroom door; locked because she had promised her overprotective husband she would. Unlocking and opening it as quietly as she could, she was somewhat surprised to not only see the faint glow of light illuminatingly the landing from the other end, but to also hear the low buzzing of what she assumed was the TV. That didn't seem like any criminal she had ever known.
Still keeping her weapon up just in case, because she had seen far too much to be fooled by her own naivety, Kono made her way to the end of the landing and turned onto the small balcony that overlooked the living room. Though the light was dim, the TV lit up the room enough for her to see the intruder, or rather, 'intruder'.
"Chin?" she asked, both relief and disbelief rushing through her as she lowered her weapon to her side and rested her free hand on the railing. The man in question looked up at her from his seat on the couch, sitting up straight and taking her in as well as he could from his position.
"Cuz, what's wrong? Is the baby coming?" he asked immediately, worry flashing over his otherwise always calm features as he stood up. Kono shook her head to deter him before he took another step closer. It didn't matter that it was Chin, her favourite cousin and occasionally her favourite person in the world, but she was one misunderstanding away from shooting someone out of irritation.
"No," she told him indignantly, staring at him as she gripped the railing a bit tighter. "What the hell? I thought you had gone home." The last time she had spoken to him was when she had bid him goodnight before heading to bed only a couple of hours before hand. Just like Danny had promised the day before, Chin had turned up at midday to keep her company.
Chin had sat down again after her declaration of not being in labour, seemingly being enough to reassure him that she was ok. "I was going to but then I came across this game," he said happily, pointing the control he had picked up at the TV.
Kono blinked incredulously at his nonchalance reply and casual manner, as if being in someone else's house to watch a football game at near 1 a.m. wasn't anything to be reckoned with. Or waking up a heavily pregnant woman whilst doing do. "You're kidding, right?"
"Its a good game. Classic. You'd enjoy it, too," he shrugged with a small smile, turning the volume down a notch for her benefit, or so she assumed.
"I enjoy sleeping more," she retorted pointedly through gritted teeth, letting go of the railing to run her free hand over her face and through her hair. "Don't you have a wife to go home to?"
"Malia's got the night shift." His tone was for too sincere to be a lie, but Kono knew better.
"Again?" she questioned, not believing that her cousin's wife would be working another night shift that week, nor after working a shift earlier that day. Trouble was, she was no longer sure which had been a lie, which only frustrated her more. She hated being left out and not knowing the whole truth. Something she knew that was only going to carry on when she went on maternity leave the following week.
"You know how dedicated she is," Chin added with a shrug, attention mainly focused on the game.
"Uh huh," Kono muttered dryly before deciding to let the matter go. It was far too late to argue something she knew wasn't worth it. "Fine. I'm going back to bed," she announced and pushed away from the balcony after a final glance downstairs.
"Night," he said with a brief wave that she had managed to catch before turning away. She had also seen him look over as if to make sure she was indeed going back to bed as well as picking up his phone from the arm of the sofa.
"Night. Tell Steve I'm fine," Kono called over her shoulder, not having to see the surprised look on Chin's face to know that her assumption about him updating Steve was correct. She wasn't a detective for no reason.
Climbing back into bed after safely tucking away her gun, she curled up again onto her side and shuffled to get herself into a comfortable position. Wrapping the cool sheets around her, she pulled one of Steve's pillows down to hook her leg around in a substitute to a body. It wasn't as great as the real thing, but it helped elevate the pressure on her hip enough to allow her to relax. She had finally managed to close her eyes and urge herself to sleep before the baby woke up after being still for so long when the familiar ringing of her cell phone brought her back to the real world.
Groaning at the fact that she would have to move, Kono froze before she reached out an arm behind her to grope for where she usually kept her phone on the bedside table. Instead, she could feel the vibrations against her thigh, and it took only a second more to remember that she had slipped her cell into the pocket of the sleep pants she wore when she had gotten up. Silently thanking the gods above for her 'baby brain' making her forget such a thing, she dug it out with ease and without having to adjust her position.
Squinting at the bright screen in the middle of the darkened room, she rolled her eyes before answering. "Your spies suck," she greeted without missing a beat.
Steve chuckled deeply at her words, causing her to smile unintentionally. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied matter-of-factly, but she could hear the amusement flowing through the words. "You're up late."
"You're the one who called," she reminded him indifferently as she shuffled slightly in the bed, moving subconsciously more over to his empty side.
"That is true," he said with another laugh before pausing and inhaling deeply in a way that Kono knew was a sign that he was going to change the subject. "Everything ok?" he eventually asked, softly and as casually as he had been talking beforehand, but she could tell that there was something more to follow.
"Everything's fine," she replied slowly, skimming her other hand over her stomach when she felt the baby begin to stir. If she didn't know any better, Kono would have thought that she had sensed her father's presence. "How about you?"
There was another pause before he answered. "Yeah, yeah, its good," Steve hurriedly said, almost brushing away the question. Kono released the breath that she hadn't known she had been holding; worried that the answered would have been something completely opposite. "You don't feel like, you know, the baby's coming or anything?" he questioned her in hesitance, as if he was choosing each word carefully to be as subtle as he could. Unfortunately, it was Steve, and he had never been one for subtle, whether he tried to or not.
Raising an eyebrow that he couldn't see, she shook her head gently to herself before replying. "That's random. Why would you ask that?"
"Just an inkling," he said innocently, an urgency pushing against the words that she knew was the result of a certain person. After all, hardworking SEALs on their intense training weekend didn't find the time to call home at 1 in the morning unless they had a reason to.
"Is that what we're calling Chin now?" she teased with a grin, not even bothering to beat around the bush.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Steve repeated in the same tone as before; hidden humour masked as sincerity laced in his words.
Kono scoffed and heard her husband chuckle lowly in her ear in reply. "Hmm. Sure."
"I'll let you get back to sleep," he said after a sigh, one that almost sounded like relief. "Call if you need anything?" Though the line was structured as a question, she knew it was more of a demand.
"I will," she insisted, because honestly, even without his prompting, she would have called him regardless. Snuggling into her pillow before she said 'goodbye', she felt the previously gentle movements from their unborn daughter turn into full kicks aimed, thankfully, away from her ribs and bladder. "Baby says hi," she groaned half-heartedly, rubbing the area where the kicks had already started to fade.
There was a beat of silence in which Kono would have thought Steve had hung up already if it wasn't for the breathing she could make out over the line before he exhaled deeply. "Miss you," he murmured quietly, and she wondered suddenly whether he was still in his bunker or if he had left and gone outside. Because she was sure that he had a bit of a reputation to uphold and telling someone he missed them over the phone in the middle of the night probably didn't fit it. After all, he wasn't called 'Smooth Dog' for no reason, or so she assumed.
"You do?" Kono asked in faux shock, trying to lighten the mood. "Here I was, thinking you're having the time of your life with your Navy buddies and away from the old ball and chain."
He laughed openly at that, bringing a curve of a smile to her face at the sound of it. "Well, I wasn't going to mention it but-" he began before she cut him off.
"Hey!" she exclaimed indignantly, still smiling at his amusement. "Miss you, too. See you soon?" she added when they both fell quiet again.
"Yeah, I'll see you soon, babe," Steve replied before hanging up and leaving the dial tone ringing momentarily in her ear before Kono ended the call on her end. Not bothering to move again now that the baby was still and she was relatively comfortable, she dropped the phone onto the bed in the space in front of her and finally closed her eyes to sleep again.
…
She had never appreciated the elevator in the building before right then, when the sight of climbing up the stairs to the Five-0 HQ seemed far too daunting in her current state. As much as she hated to admit it, Kono knew that she wasn't in the same shape as she had been a year earlier. Or even a month.
Stepping out onto the upper landing, she pushed open the glass doors with ease and entered the office where she spotted Chin standing solely by the hi-tech table in the middle of the room. He glanced up before she could say a word or even try to scare him. Then again, with her current 'additional package', as her mother once put it, she wasn't really stealthy anymore.
"Hey, cuz. What are you doing here?" he asked with a genuine smile, eyes naturally taking her in to most probably see if she was ok.
Stopping on the other side of the table, Kono took a quick survey of the area to find that there was no one else around that she could see. "Got bored at home so I thought I'd come and see how it's going," she shrugged with a bright smile, resting her hands flat down against the table's edge to read the information that her cousin had been pulling up.
Chin laughed quietly at her words. "Wow. After the last two times, I thought Steve would have you locked up," he teased. Kono looked up and smirked slyly at him, remembering the two previous times in the past week that she had come to HQ for a visit whilst supposedly being on leave, and being driven back home within the hour by the team leader himself. Once after a quick lunch, and once after a lecture about how she needed to relax.
"He did," she informed, coolly. Although he hadn't physically locked her up, he called to check up on her every hour on the house phone, and taken all the car keys. Not that she was up for much driving with her huge baby bump, but if she had gotten desperate enough, Kono had no doubt that she might at least try. "Thankfully, I have Mary Ann on my side," she added, forever grateful for her sister-in-law in helping her escape the house on her way to work.
"You know, from behind, you wouldn't even think you're pregnant," Danny's voice suddenly rang out, entering from the same glass doors that she had, not 5 minutes earlier.
Twirling around, she quirked an eyebrow as she contemplated his words. "That's… sweet?" she tried with a questioning lilt to her words because she wasn't really sure whether it was a compliment or Danny's way of reminding her that she wasn't meant to be there.
"What are you doing here anyway?" he finally asked as he came to a stop next to her, giving Kono her answer.
Turning to face him, she simply smiled and tapped a finger against the folder he had placed onto the table. "I'm here to help. You guys seem hopeless without me," she sighed in dramatic exasperation.
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the sight of Danny exchanging a quick amused look with Chin, knowing full well that they must talk about her, and her inability to stay at home, during her absence. They probably had some bets going on too. Surprisingly, the terms were still a secret from her, for the time being.
"Oh, babe. We're totally lost without you. But, uh, you really need to rest and take it easy these last few weeks," Danny insisted with a gentle smile and serious, if not slightly chiding, tone. This time, Kono did roll her eyes and lightly reached out to squeeze the blonde's forearm.
"Relax, I'm kidding. We have a scan in an hour, so I came to meet up with Steve," she admitted, to which he nodded. Glancing around again, focusing more on the man in question's office to which the doors were currently shut with a few of the blinds lowered, she looked at the others in query. "Where is he, anyway?"
"He's in there, on the phone to the governor," Chin informed her in a quieter tone, indicating that it wasn't a friendly chat. Kono didn't know the more intricate details of the case they were presently working on, but she knew enough to know that there were several lines that Five-0 were currently toeing, and probably one or two that they had jumped right over by now that she didn't know about.
Nodding, she pushed away from the table to head over to where Steve was when she spotted someone else, a young man she didn't recognise, enter through the main entrance. He was talking quietly on his phone and didn't spare them a single glance as he went straight to the first office on the right. She twirled back at her teammates, both of who seemed rather blasé about the fact that there was a stranger walking about their HQ. "Who's that and why he is in my office?" she questioned harshly, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder towards the glass walled room she had called her office for the past 5 years.
"Steve didn't tell you?" Danny replied incredulously, to which she glared in what she guessed was a pretty good and forceful way when he hurriedly carried on with a wave of the hand in the direction that she had been heading towards. "He can explain."
She nodded again before leaving them behind to slowly enter Steve's office, being as quiet as she could so not to disturb the conversation he was carrying out on the phone. It seemed to be a one-sided conversation, however, if the way he was sat quietly with the phone to his ear was anything to go by. Kono reasoned it must have been important if he hadn't hung up already or demanded for an answer.
Head resting against his other hand that was propped up by the armrest of his chair, she caught his eyes when he looked up as she settled into on of the chairs on the other side of his desk. Exasperation took over his features as he fixed his jaw and shook his head faintly at her, giving her a milder version of the famous 'McGarrett laser-focus glare'. She merely brushed it aside with a quick arch of an eyebrow and remained silent when he finally spoke into the phone for less than a minute before hanging up.
"The governor?" she asked him coolly when she heard the phone handset being replaced onto the desk.
"Yes," he replied to the point before leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "What are you doing here? How did you even get here?" he questioned forcefully with a hint of tiredness, as if he wasn't sure why he was even bothering with trying to get her to do as she should anymore. A hint of guilt flowed through her before she remembered that she was actually feeling pretty fine and that considering he wasn't the one carrying around a baby in his body, he had no rhyme or reason to try and discipline her.
"Mary Ann dropped me off, and I'm just here so you wouldn't have to come all the way home to pick me up for the scan," she informed him with a gentle smile, not missing the way his eyes jumped from hers to her hands that were resting gently on her stomach and back again. He sighed and dropped his arms onto his desk.
"It's like 10 minutes away," Steve pointed out, hands clasping together in front of him before exhaling deeply once again. "What part of 'leave' do you not get?" Kono was sure that if they were having this conversation at home, and not in the middle of an active case, he would have groaned and maybe even pouted with those words.
"I needed a change of scene," she shrugged, fingers drumming lightly in a steady rhythm when she felt the telltale signs of fluttering in her stomach that indicated that the baby was getting bored and ready to stretch and move around. At least, that's what she assumed she was doing in there. "So, you never told me about the new guy."
"Oh, right," he replied after some deliberating, settling back in his chair and clearing his throat before carrying on. "Yeah, the governor assigned him to the team following your leave."
Titling her head to a side a bit, Kono digested his words before voicing her thoughts on what he had just said. "So technically, he's my replacement?"
"Well, no. He'll be here for a case, then we'll get someone else," he explained, much to her confusion. It must have shown on her face because, uncharacteristically for Steve, she hadn't needed to say anything to prompt him to carry on. "Apparently, we did such a great job on training you that Five-0 will be interning rookies from HPD for the next year, until you come back."
"Really?" she asked in a mix of incredulity and amusement. Steve's easy smile and almost-proud affirmation made her nod silently in reply, biting her bottom lip as she ran her hands over her stomach. "Do me a favour and try not to sleep with any of these, yeah?"
Her teasing words wiped the smile off of her husband's face, replacing it with a scowl and clear look of annoyance. "You're not funny," he told her stiffly, to which she grinned.
"No, I think I am," she said matter-of-factly, seeing a small twitch at the corners of his mouth as he tried to hide his laughter. He crossed his arms once again and looked away quickly, out towards the main area of the office.
Kono followed his line of sight and saw the three other men standing around the table, going over something that the new rookie had found. Taking in how well the others seemed to work without her, or Steve, a pang of hurt hit sharp in her stomach at the thought of not being needed on the team anymore. After all, Five-0 had been practically her life ever since graduating from the academy. She had found a job, home and family within the team, in more than one way. To think she had been replaced so easily with another rookie was upsetting. Change was not something she dealt with easily, and despite the 8 months of preparing and building up to it, she still couldn't handle not being at work and feeling like she was missing out on something crucial.
Shaking her head, she turned back at look at Steve, who had gone back to the file that was open on his desk. "What's gonna happen when you're on paternity leave?"
"Chin will be in charge; he has seniority," he muttered nonchalantly and without sparing her a second look. "It'll only be for a few weeks so there's no point in finding someone else for the team. I'm sure they can cope."
Kono smirked to herself at his statement. "So what you're saying is that you guys can't cope without me, but without you, it's fine?" she reiterated bemusedly, all previous thoughts about leaving the team forgotten.
Steve's head snapped up at that, eyebrows furrowed together as he thought for a second. "Wait, no-" he began before she cut him off.
"No, no. I think that's about right," she laughed smugly, and when he opened his mouth to speak again, she raised an eyebrow to challenge him to rebuke. He chose wisely to not, probably having learnt over the past few months when to and when not to argue with a pregnant woman.
Closing his file and placing it into one of his drawers, he stood up and eyed her, hands planted firmly on his waist like he did when he was trying to take back some control over the situation. Usually during a case. "You ready to head to the hospital?" he asked instead.
Still smiling, she slowly pushed herself out of the chair with as much dignity as she could muster in her state. "Ready when you are, boss."
…
Wandering towards the only sound she could hear in the house, Kono padded barefoot slowly through the bathroom that connected their bedroom to the nursery where the noise originated from. She was more focused on her breathing to keep herself from panicking at the fact that it was only 10 in the morning and Steve wasn't there.
Entering the nursery, she paused a couple of steps into the room when she spotted a blonde woman sorting out some toys and teddies from a pile on the couch, and no one else. "Mary? Where's Steve?" Kono asked, hearing her voice quiver slightly without her permission.
The other woman twirled around instantly, eyes wide as she took her in. Kono guessed she must have made a sight; just woken up with her awfully long bed-head hair, a simply button up shirt with a hand clutching at her side and the other placed tentatively on her stomach. There was no doubt that her sister-in-law had come to the right conclusion as to what was happening by the look of shock and excitement on her face.
"He went grocery shopping," she answered hurriedly and brushed off that subject with a question of her own. "Is the baby coming?"
"I, uh- I think so," Kono hesitated; swallowing when her mouth turned dry because it had suddenly all became too real. Despite it being over a week early, she was in labour. "I've never done this before, but I'm fairly certain nothing else is supposed to hurt this much."
Mary Ann smiled widely and approached her, biting onto her bottom lip when Kono shot her a nervous look. "Ok. How far apart are the contractions?" she asked, stopping in front of her. Kono could see her hands twitch and curl up into fists; the unbridled energy that Mary Ann usually showed finally harboured for her sake, for which she was glad.
Thinking back, she recalled the past hour she had lain in bed and watched the clocked, trying to figure out if the aches she was feeling were indeed contractions or just really well aimed kicks. She knew she was kidding herself with the latter when the aches turned into sharper pains at even intervals.
"A fair bit; about 12 minutes or so," Kono told her confidently, rubbing her stomach again in anticipation for another contraction within another few minutes.
Mary Ann nodded at her words and smiled at her reassuringly. "That's good. That means we have time."
"Yeah, yeah, you're right," Kono replied, exhaling in relief that she had time to prepare. She knew that the time to head to the hospital was when the contractions were under 5 minutes apart, and that could take a while to reach. In all of her anxiety, she had forgotten the simplest facts that she, and Steve, had made sure she knew and was prepared for. Thankfully, she had Mary Ann to keep her level headed, especially as another contraction hit. It didn't last long, but it made her inhale sharply and accept the other woman's hand to help her through it. "I just- Wow. This is weird," she gasped, trying to regain her even breathing again.
Laughing, Mary Ann squeezed the hand she still held gently. "Yeah, I bet it is. Listen, why don't you go a take a shower and stuff, and I'll call Steve, yeah?" Kono raised an eyebrow in silent question at her suggestion of a shower. "You should be ok until your waters break and the contractions are really close together. I read it in a book." Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, she merely nodded at the words and the fact that even Mary Ann had been reading pregnancy books. Though, now that she thought about it, of course she had. Steve probably made sure they all had been trained with the basic knowledge of labor and childbirth before he had gone on his reserve training weekend.
"Ok. Tell him not to worry, yeah?" she requested, even though she knew it was a useless piece of advice to give to someone like Steve, who would go into SEAL-mode the moment he heard because he had suddenly lost control of the situation. Somehow, she had the feeling that the baby chose the one moment he had left her alone without telling her to begin its grand entrance. If she didn't know any better, she'd think it had inherited its aunt's flair for trouble.
"I will try my best," Mary Ann replied with a soft smirk and a short laugh that Kono smiled back at, slightly more relaxed than she had been a couple of minutes earlier. "You'll be ok, right? It's not that painful, is it?"
Shaking her head, Kono inhaled deeply before breathing out slowly and speaking. "Not yet. I'll be quick," she told her, not really keen on spending much time standing up by herself in the shower.
"Keep the door unlocked. Just in case," Mary Ann called after her when Kono headed towards the door of the nursery to make her way to the main bathroom. She pushed back the thoughts of what the 'just in case' scenarios could be that would require assistance. One thing that she hated was not knowing what to expect, and as unlikely as it may be, the last thing she wanted was to have the baby at home with only her sister-in-law for company. As much as she loved the other woman, she needed Steve right then.
…
Steve frowned when he saw Mary Ann's name pop up on his phone next to him. He was halfway on his journey back home after going to three different grocery stores to find all the items on the shopping list as per Kono's request. He had left her sleeping under the watchful eye, or so he hoped, of his little sister to run the few errands that needed to be done. It had taken less than an hour, and yet worry and anxiety balled in his stomach at the sight of her name on his caller ID.
"Yeah, sis?" he greeted after accepting the call and put it on loudspeaker as he drove down the highway.
When Mary Ann didn't bother with a greeting, a smartass reply about his abruptness or yelling, his initial fears trebled. "Where are you?" she asked instead, calm and controlled in a way that told him everything that she wasn't saying.
"On my way back from Waikiki," he told her quickly before hurrying onto the question that was at the tip of his tongue. "Mary, what's going on?"
"Don't freak out," she began, ensuring that the first thing that Steve did was start to freak out silently in his mind. "But your wife's in labor."
He had known it the moment he had seen Mary Ann's name on the caller ID, yet actually hearing it winded him to the point where he was inhaling deeply and gripping the steering wheel tightly until his knuckles turned white. It was just typical that he could leave Kono alone for a whole weekend and she'd be fine, leave her alone for most of the day for weeks when he went to work and nothing would happen, but when he left her for an hour, she went into labour.
"Are you serious?" Steve asked, half incredulous and half concerned, pressing his foot a little harder onto the gas pedal to get him home quickly.
A dry scoff filled the car. "Would I joke about something like this, Steven?" Mary Ann remarked sharply, to which he rolled his eyes. If anything, he was glad she wasn't there with him to see his reaction, because he knew she would simply hit him for it.
Sighing, he ran a hand down his face before returning it back to the wheel. "Damn. Ok, where is she? Is she ok? Let me talk to her," he fired off in rapid succession.
"She's fine; she told me to tell you not to worry. And you can't talk to her because she's in the shower," she replied, answering both of his questions and the demand to talk to his wife. Her reason to the latter made him frown again because it was certainly not something he had been expecting. Then again, he hadn't been expecting to have this conversation that morning either, and that hadn't turned out so right.
"She's in the shower?" Steve repeated just to make sure that he had heard her right.
"Yes, that is what normal people do in the morning," Mary Ann retorted slowly, sarcasm dripping from her words. Clenching his jaw, he pressed his foot a little harder on the accelerometer. "Her contractions are like, 12 minutes apart. You know what that means," she casually informed him after a pause on both their ends.
He did know what that meant; they had a while until they should head to the hospital and the best thing to do would be for Kono to take her time and prepare herself. Shower included. "Fine. Keep an eye on her and make sure she's alright, yeah? I'll be back in 5."
"Will do. Don't speed," Mary Ann advised before hanging up. Letting the needle on the accelerometer hit almost 15 above the limit, he reckoned that what his sister didn't know couldn't hurt her. Besides, she should just be happy that he wasn't turning on the sirens like he was tempted to.
A/N: So that's part 1. Exciting, huh? Part 2 will bring the moment everyone's been waiting for - the birth of baby McGarrett! And of course, if it really is a girl and what they'll be named =P Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Lemme know what you think?