A/N: Heya! Apologies for the long wait once again, but to make up for it, this final chapter of the story is almost at 8k words. Double apologies for the lack of replies to your reviews (I seriously appreciate each and every one of them, from the short single worded ones to the long essays which probably require more effort than writing the chapter did) but time has been running away from me! It is almost midnight here and I am away on vacation from tomorrow so I wanted this up before that. Also, its sort of a V-day present too :P Please enjoy!
As always, a MASSIVE MAHALO to fiveohlove and quisinart4 - without you guys, this story wouldn't have been what it is right now. Dedicated to you both!
Month 9 (part 2)
A knock on the door made her freeze at the foot of the bed and turn to face the two men that entered without waiting for her permission. She had gotten Steve to inform the other two members of their ohana after they had reached the hospital with strict instructions that they could only visit once before the baby was born, and preferably soon.
"Its great you get your own room. How did you swing that?" Danny commented with a wave of the hand and letting out a low whistle, eyeing the small, private room that she had all to herself. As usual, the polite greetings were forgotten.
"My husband's in charge of the Governor's special task force," Kono replied dryly with a small shrug, carrying on with her pacing to the other side of the bed of where they stood.
"Besides, with the amount of times one of us needs medical attention, Five-0 deserves their own room," Chin commented, humour lacing his ever calm tone and a smile tugging at his mouth as he faced Danny, who looked back with a grin. Although she would never admit it, she usually enjoyed the banter they occasionally shared much more than she should.
"Especially the McGarretts," Danny remarked with a mix of delight and exasperation. The pleasant distraction of the new company had caused her to lose her time keeping and predict the next contraction until the sharp pain hit her just as Chin's contagious chuckle had transformed her smirk into a small fit of laughter.
Gripping onto the railing on the side of the bed, she breathed slowly through it like she had practised, and was glad that it actually helped. "Ow. Don't make me laugh," she told them after it had passed, shooting them a glare that probably wasn't as hard as she wanted it to be. "Dammit, I need those drugs."
The looks of concern that had shone on Chin and Danny's faces had been replaced with one of amusement that she brushed off with a roll of the eyes. Sighing, she climbed back onto the bed and sat up against the pillows with her legs crossed, picking up her phone from the table next to her to see that there were three more messages from Mary Ann, all asking her how it was going. Kono had assured her that there was nothing she could do by being there, sending her off to work with the promise of keeping her updated.
"Where's Steve?" Chin suddenly asked from the seat he had taken in the chair nearer to the bed. Danny looked around with raised eyebrows, as if he had only just noticed his missing partner. She knew it wasn't true, but the pretence was rather cute to see.
"I sent him to call my mom," Kono answered, dropping her phone back onto the side after replying to the texts. The incredulous look on Chin's face, and the confused one on Danny's, made her sigh and run a hand through her hair before blowing out a breath in annoyance so hard, it made her fringe fly. "What? He was getting restless and fussy. It was annoying. I didn't know what else to do without shooting him with his own gun," she defended herself with a huff, crossing her arms above her bump almost petulantly when the two men were more entertained by her story than sympathetic.
Chin cleared his throat before leaning on his elbows and laying a gentle hand on her knee. "How you doing?" he asked softly, looking up at her with the same kind eyes that she had known for as long as she could remember. Swallowing away the ball of emotions that the nostalgia had raised to her throat, she smiled back tightly.
"I'll be better when this is over," she said honestly, referring to the pain, waiting and the crazy levels of hormones currently ruling over her body. He rubbed her knee with an understanding smile, and Kono couldn't help the pang of envy that ran through her at Malia for having such a calm and relaxed husband at almost all times, as opposed to her hyperactive one who was only calm and relaxed in conflict or sleep.
The man in question entered before anyone else could speak up. He didn't seem to be too fazed by the appearance of the two men, taking them in before standing at the end of the bed on the other side of Danny. "She said she'd be here as soon as she can. Next flight she can get to is in a couple of hours," Steve informed her, regarding her mom who was currently visiting a cousin on Molokai. Kono hadn't been sure whether to be pleased or slightly hurt that her mother had decided to go away a week before her due date, but she had reasoned that it was better before than after. Now that she was in labour, she was glad she didn't have the added stress of her mom fussing over her either.
"Ok. That's good. I can get this baby out by then," she reasoned with a small shrug and a nod. Steve returned the nod half-heartedly, jaw clenching as if he didn't agree and had a very strong opposing view on her statement but was choosing not to voice it. Kono ignored it and snapped her eyes towards Danny when she heard him chuckle under his breath. "What?" she asked exasperatedly.
Danny cleared his throat and tried to look serious before settling on a more relaxed smile than a laughing one. "Nothing. I should go. Tell Gracie the exciting news; she'll be excited to hear. Do you guys need anything?" he told them, practically bouncing on his feet, no doubt at the thought of his daughter. Kono shook her head as Steve did the same. "Ok. Let me know if she arrives. The baby, I mean. Not your mom. Otherwise I'll be back in a few hours," he added, patting Steve on the shoulder before coming around to her tentatively. At her reassuring smile that she wouldn't bite his head off if he stepped into her personal space, he pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek and whispered luck before backing away.
"Me, too. I'll go pick Aunty up, too, yeah?" Chin announced, standing up and leaning over to kiss her on the temple. She closed her eyes in an elongated blink and smiled gently at the gestures from the two men.
"Thanks, cuz," she replied, watching as her cousin patted Steve's shoulder in the same way that Danny had just before they both left the room.
Silence stretched between them as Kono leaned back into the pillows and tried to get comfortable, whilst Steve took the seat that Chin had vacated. When nothing seemed to work, and the signs of an oncoming contraction hit her, she pressed the button on the control lying next to her on the bed numerously.
"What are you doing?" he asked her suddenly, looking at her with a raised brow in confusion.
Sighing, she ran her hand through her hair, pulling out the elastic band that held it in a ponytail to re-do it once again. "I need a nurse to give me the painkillers. I can't take this anymore. It's been," she paused to look at her cell phone, bypassing the texts that she had received in the past couple of minutes, to see the time. "Almost 7 hours and my feet hurt from 'trying to walk the baby out'," Kono said snappily and with a roll of the eyes, more agitated and tired than anything else. Patience had never been her strong suit, and after 9 months, she was more ready than ever to meet her child.
Softly smiling lopsidedly, Steve leaned his elbows on the side of the bed and reached out to gently hold her hand between both of his. When he looked up at her, she took back what she had thought about how lucky Malia was because she had to admit; she was pretty lucky to have him there with her. A man who could barely handle not being in control of anything without getting agitated and restless was sitting calmly next to her, holding her hand and gazing at her in a mix of excitement and justifiable concern just because that was what she needed from him right then. If it hadn't been for the contraction that hit her at that moment, Kono was sure that she would have been tearing up from her emotional thoughts.
"Son of a-" she cursed, cutting herself off when the pain took the forefront over everything else, including speaking. It was a miracle that she could remember to breathe through them and not embarrass herself by screaming.
To his benefit, Steve chose not to comment on her colourful choice of words and instead, clasped at her hand sympathetically to help her squeeze through it. "Getting stronger?" he asked once she was through the worst of it, loosening her growing grip on his hand. Thankfully, she had cut her nails a few days earlier, because she was fairly certain she could have drawn blood with that contraction.
"Like you have no idea," she grumbled after letting out a deep breath and settling back against the pillows just when the door to the room opened. A nurse entered in response to her call, finally allowing herself to relax with the knowledge that painkillers were on its way.
…
It took a total of 10 and half hours until the baby was born. Thankfully, the final few hours had gone quicker than the rest of the day after the administration of drugs. After a relatively short birth of 15 minutes, something Kono would swear was much, much, longer, the room was filled with a silence that was broken by the sweet sound of a crying baby. The breath she hadn't known she had been holding in that short space of time shuddered from her lips in what she wasn't sure was a laugh or a sob, but she knew it was definitely in happiness.
She was exhausted and drained, collapsed back against the pillows and had only just let go of clutching onto Steve's hand when a nurse placed the newborn in her waiting arms. The baby, their daughter, quieted down within a few moments of Kono hushing her, cuddling her as close as possible with her weakened arms. Her eyes opened at the touch of Steve's finger caressing over her chubby, redden cheek, revealing mesmerising deep brown pools that gazed up unknowingly at them. After 9 months of anticipation, and many thoughts about what she would look like when she finally arrived, Kono had to admit that nothing matched the actual sight that she held. Fair skinned, a head full of black hair and a beautiful pink mouth that opened and closed on instinct.
Glancing over at Steve, she smiled at the familiar look of awe and ecstasy, just like he had had at their first scan. A soft smile graced his face as he kept his eyes trained on the baby girl, hand skimming over her tiny body until reaching one of her flailing arms, where he naturally managed to coerce his finger into her hand before five tiny fingers curled back around it.
"What do you think?" Kono asked, eventually finding her voice, even if it was a bit croaky and her throat was more sore than she remembered it being.
Steve blinked at her, snapping out of whatever he was thinking about to meet her eyes. "Huh?" he asked in confusion. Laughing lightly at the sight of her speechless and completely enthralled husband, she nodded towards their little bundle of joy, waiting until she saw realization hit him. "Oh. Perfect."
Kono swallowed at the one worded answer that seemed to sum it all up completely. When the nurse came over to take the baby away for the initial checks, she finally allowed herself to rest and close her eyes, turning her face into Steve's palm when he brushed back the hair that had fallen out of her ponytail and smiling into the kiss that he quickly brushed over her lips. Perfect.
…
Six pounds and six ounces, and 20 inches long. Ten fingers and ten toes that he had counted himself. According to the nurses, his daughter was perfectly healthy and completely average. And when he looked at her now, he couldn't help the overwhelming pride building up inside of him that no doubt shone vividly for everyone to see.
Danny had once commented that he barely ever smiled, but at that moment, even his partner couldn't jibe him on it. Mostly because he was the same, as were Grace and Mary Ann, all of who stood with him and peered into the nursery.
"She looks like Auntie Kono," Grace piped up from next to him, looking up with a wide and excited grin. Before Steve could agree that yes, she did indeed look like her mother, Danny interrupted him, as per usual.
"Thankfully," he muttered teasingly, his smirk clear in his voice even as he kept his eyes trained in front of him instead of glancing over. Uncharacteristically for him, his hands were lying still on his daughter's shoulders, and Steve had to admit that he liked the sense of tranquillity that staring at babies gave them. Especially when one of them was his own.
"I don't know," Mary Ann mumbled in a thoughtful tone from his other side, head tilting slightly as she gazed into the nursery and studied the new addition to their family. "The hair is more Steve; he had a lot when he was born. Have you not seen his baby pictures?" she asked Danny, leaning forward to look at the man in question around her brother.
Danny chuckled and shook his head. "No, I can't say I have."
"And you won't. Ever," Steve said strictly, eyeing both of them for a moment before turning his eyes back to what was in front of him. He purposely ignored his sister's reassurance to his partner that she would show them to him one day soon when he spotted two more people arrive to join them from the corners of his eyes.
"Hey, guys," Chin greeted them, coming to a stop with Kono's mother next to the row they already formed. "Steve. Ho'omaika'i 'ana, brah," he congratulated with a smile to match the others and a friendly slap on the back.
Kono's mother simply squeezed his arm after taking in the sight of her new granddaughter; glassy eyed and sincerely happy when she turned to speak to him. "Congratulations, keiki kane. She's beautiful."
He smiled in both acknowledgement and never-ending pride at the compliment. "Mahalo," he replied to them both.
"How's Kono?" his mother-in-law enquired softly, concern etched on her features which were similar to her daughter's. They both had the same curve of the jaw and the subtleness of the cheekbones, the same dimpled smile that he only recently got more aimed at him from the older Kalakaua, and the same warm eyes that his own daughter had inherited.
Steve nodded and tucked his hands into his jeans pockets as he spoke. "Yeah, she's good. Finally got her to sleep for a bit after the nurses took the baby away," he smirked, remembering her insistence for him not to leave their baby alone when he had stayed behind with her for a moment. All he had wanted was to make sure she was ok whilst the nurses checked over the newborn and took her to the nursery so the mother could rest after giving birth and bonding with the baby for near to an hour.
It had taken almost 15 minutes to assure her that he wasn't needed at that moment, sitting on the edge of the bed and gently stroking her hand with a thumb and her hair with his other hand to lull her to sleep that she so desperately tried to fight. Thankfully, the events of the day had led to exhaustion, and the drugs had prevented her stubborn side from winning.
Chin chuckled at his words, rolling his eyes lightly in a way that Steve suspected he wasn't surprised at his cousin's stubbornness. "I'll go check on her."
Watching him head in the direction of the room where Kono slept, he smiled softly when he heard his best friend excuse himself and his daughter, probably to give them all some space. "Hey, how about we go grab dinner, Monkey? We can get some snacks for the new parents, too," he asked Grace, who agreed readily.
The words reminded Steve that he hadn't ate since he had shared a small lunch with his wife earlier that afternoon. "Thanks," he replied, flicking Grace's braid affectionately before they left in the opposite direction.
A comfortable silence fell upon the three of them, broken only with questions about the birth and the baby from Kono's mother which he answered in turn. Surprisingly, Mary Ann kept quiet through it all, instead focusing on taking photo after photo of her sleeping niece, currently swaddled in a pink blanket. Steve made a mental note to get a copy of every picture that had been taken for the 'Baby Book' that they had been given as a gift at the luau and Kono had started on in the last month whilst on leave.
Smiling at a nurse who approached them, he couldn't help the small ball of apprehension that formed in his stomach when she took in the baby they all were observing with a professional eye, worried that she might see something that the others hadn't. He pushed back the thought about whether this was what he was in for, for the rest of his life; worrying constantly about his daughter without any reason why.
"Baby looks like she's doing great. Would you like me to get her, Commander?" the nurse finally asked him once she turned to face them with a gentle smile.
Letting out a breath of relief, he nodded. "Sure, if that's ok."
"Of course," the nurse replied before leaving them to enter the nursery. She picked up the sleeping baby with practiced ease, cradling her as she brought her out. Steve nodded politely towards his mother-in-law once the nurse returned, indicating who to hand the baby over to first. The unadulterated surprise and joy at his actions was clear on the woman's face as she readily accepted the baby in her waiting arms. "Here we go."
Steve grinned and watched her run a hand over the small body, rocking her very softly to ensure the baby slept on. "Oh, keiki, look at you," she whispered in adoration, emotions clear in everything she did as she held and cuddled her only grandchild for the first time.
A huff from next to him claimed his attention, causing him to raise an eyebrow at his sister's clear sound of annoyance. "That's not fair. I've been here for hours!" she exclaimed in a hushed tone, keeping one eye on the older lady who was speaking softly and much too quietly for them to hear anymore.
Rolling his eyes, Steve leant back against the window ledge of the nursery and crossed his arms before shrugging. "It's her granddaughter, Mare, and you've only been here for 45 minutes. Relax; you'll get a turn," he assured her softly.
She huffed once again, settling next to him on the ledge and leaning her head on his shoulder as she gave in for the moment. "And since when does Kono's mom call you 'keiki kane'? I thought she hated you," she asked him moodily, referring to the Hawaiian term of endearment for 'son-in-law'.
Furrowing his brows, he looked down at his sister in disbelief. "She never hated me," he replied a bit too defensively. Pursing his lips in thought at Mary Ann's scoff, he exhaled before relenting a little. "Ok, maybe slightly disapproved. But then I gave her her first grandchild; she's been my biggest fan since Kono told her she was pregnant," he added with a smug grin, recalling the day that they had visited Kono's childhood home to announce the news of her pregnancy like it was yesterday. There had been tears and hugs, and they had both been shocked by her mother's sudden acknowledgment of Steve's place in their family. Like Steve had argued, it wasn't that the woman had hated him; it was just that she thought Kono could do better than an older, tattooed Navy SEAL with a daily penchant for getting into situations people usually see on their game consoles and TV. He couldn't deny that he was more than happy with the change in attitude, and if he had known that all it took was to get Kono pregnant, he would have done it sooner.
They had fallen into a silence, both watching the proud grandmother, when Chin returned. Though he looked as calm and stoic as always, there was a sense of urgency in the way he approached them, sending panic through Steve's body. He had read about too many things going wrong during and after the pregnancy and birth to be naïve enough to think that they were in the clear just because everything had gone well so far.
"Hey, Kono's awake and would really like to see her baby again," Chin announced with a raised brow at Steve, who merely shook his head and willed himself to push back the dark thoughts that marred his mind. He was meant to be happy and on top of the world, and yet, he was simply waiting for something to go wrong. Thankfully, he was slowly starting to believe that it wouldn't, because in the recent years, since he had met Kono and the rest of the team, he had learnt that not every good thing that happened to him had to be followed by a bad thing to balance it out.
Clearing his throat, he pushed off the window ledge when Mary Ann left them to go towards where Kono's mother sat with the baby in one of the chairs opposite them. "She needs to rest; the drugs still haven't worn off," he told Chin wearily, but the other man merely smirked.
"You can go tell her that yourself, brah. She was ready to get up and make her way here herself," Chin replied matter-of-factly, and somehow, neither one are surprised by her immediate reaction. If he was completely honest, Steve was more surprised at the fact that Kono hadn't already made her way there, but he's pretty sure the man standing with him is probably the reason why she had stayed put for the moment.
"Alright, I'll get the nurse to bring her over," Steve finally conceded and headed towards the nurses' station to find someone who could help him with his request. As he waited, he peered over his shoulder at where his family in one way or another all were, and realized that how lucky him and Kono were. There was no way they were going to raise their baby without the input of them all, and truthfully, he knew there was no other way that he would want it.
…
Leaning against the windowpane, Steve stifled a yawn behind a fist as he watched his wife sleep in the hospital bed. He glanced at the chair next to him and smiled when he saw that Grace was still in the land of nod, too. It was nearing midnight and the only reason they were all still allowed to be there was thanks to Malia's professional influence on the nurses who politely turned a blind eye for the Five-0 team to let them visit for a couple more hours.
The doctor herself had popped in whilst Kono's mother had been there, and no one else had been able to pry the newborn away from either one of them until they had left; Malia back to her job and his mother-in-law back home once her daughter had fallen asleep, tired from her abrupt journey from Molokai that afternoon and the excitement of the day. She had assured them that she would be back the following day and left the 'young ones' to it.
Now, Steve watched as his sister finally held her niece and, for almost the past 30 minutes, refused to give her up. He couldn't blame her; she had had to wait her turn, something she did not do quietly, and he himself was already feeling the loss.
"She's really quiet," Mary Ann stated softly as she gently swayed the baby, making sure not to move her too much as she laid peacefully awake in her aunt's arms on the small couch in the corner of the room that she shared with Chin. Steve himself had wrapped the pink blanket around his daughter, swaddling her snuggly and much to the nurses' amazement. He still wasn't quite sure why they had been surprised until Kono had assured him that it was only because he was a Navy SEAL with an unprecedented gentle touch. He had been rather smug about that.
"Probably already plotting a few coups," Danny commented dryly from his slouched place in the chair that the blonde had pulled up next to Grace's. Steve hadn't understood why his partner was still there when he looked so dishevelled and tired until he had asked him that specific question. The answer he got, that Danny hadn't wanted Chin to sneak in extra time to get a head start on being her favorite uncle, had made him chuckle and grin.
Steve's musings were broken into by Mary Ann's laugh in response to Danny's previous words. "Maybe she just likes me. After all, I am going to be her favorite aunt," she said matter-of-factly, cuddling the newborn closer as she raised a challenging eyebrow at the other three with a smirk.
Though the other two simply rolled their eyes in amusement, Steve returned the arched eyebrow to his little sister. "That's worrying," he muttered.
She scowled at his reply and ignored them to look down at the baby girl. "Just for that, we're going to do everything that will give your daddy a heart attack," she told her sweetly and stroked her hair gently when she began to fuss. Steve watched her actions with a pang of envy and wondered silently if there was a polite way of getting everyone to leave just so he could hold his daughter once again. The fact he was thinking about being polite went to show how tired he was and how much had transpired in the past 15 hours. Or was it simply because he was a father now?
"Take her to the mainland with you; that'll do it," Danny joked at Steve's expense, and all thoughts of politeness went out of the proverbial window when Chin grinned and Mary Ann's face lit up as if it was a viable possibility.
"Don't you guys have homes to go to?" he all but growled, hands balling into fists under his crossed arms to physically keep himself from snatching his daughter back, or throwing them out by their collars. He wasn't sure which one it was, if he was quite honest.
Mary Ann chuckled and tilted her head to the side as she gazed up towards him. "Someone's grouchy," she somewhat teased.
Danny snorted in amusement, clicking the fingers of his flailing hand as he spoke. "Get use to it; having a daughter does that to you," he warned wisely with the tone of a man who had first hand experience and knowledge, exchanging looks with both of the McGarrett siblings.
Ignoring him, Steve stood up straighter and uncrossed his arms. "Ok, seriously Mary, I think you've had her for long enough now," he began in the most diplomatic way that he could think of as he eased his way into the subject of wanting his daughter back.
"No," she simply replied nonchalantly and carried on with cooing over the baby.
"What do you mean 'no'? That wasn't a question!" he exclaimed through gritted teeth. He made sure to keep his voice low, not wanting to wake Kono from her much needed rest. If he was completely honest, he was surprised that she was still sleeping on through their conversations, but he guessed childbirth had to be fairly exhausting.
"There was one coming," Mary Ann retorted with a roll of her eyes when Steve glared at her wordlessly. "No, I'm not handing her back yet," she clarified, correctly guessing his intentions. Sighing, he settled back against the windowpane and petulantly tucked his hands into his jeans' pockets to keep them still.
A small bout of silence fell between the four awake adults, and one baby, with a thin layer of tension surrounding them. "Did you guys decide on a name?" Chin eventually asked him, in his ever-soothing tone that dispersed any and all awkwardness.
Inhaling deeply, Steve released the breath before shaking his head. "Not ultimately. We thought we had another week or so," he shrugged, knowing that it wasn't much of a defence, because even if the baby had been born on the due date, they still would have been leaving it late. Glancing over at his wife briefly, he smiled tenderly and turned back to the older man. "Once Kono's awake, we'll talk about it."
Chin nodded to his reply. Opening his mouth to say more, he was cut off before he could get a single word out. "I have a few ideas," Mary Ann stated.
"No," Steve immediately said in a repeat of her own response, before gazing around to see that not only did it look like Chin had something to add on that statement, but Danny looked a bit more alert and had a finger up to include his part. "To all of you," he quickly added to shut them up before they could even get started. He had heard enough of their suggestions over the last few months, and with time running up, he doubted they would give up.
Though the men smirked at his familiar response, there was always one person he could rely on trying to get the last word in, even if it was simply to wind him up. "Fucking dictatorship," she indignantly muttered without looking up.
"Mary!" Steve scolded in both anger and shock, not watching the volume of his voice this time. Glaring at her pointedly, he averted his eyes momentarily to the baby in her arms and hoped she got the message he was trying to convey. It wasn't the choice of words that he was opposing to, but the actual situation and atmosphere they were currently in.
"What? It's not like she'll remember. I covered her ears, anyway," she replied exasperatedly, making a show of flapping the hand that was indeed covering the newborn's ear. A light-hearted smile played on her lips as she finally passed the baby, who had began to whimper and fuss, over to Chin. "Geez, I thought you were meant to be in a good mood."
"This is what dictators look like in a good mood," Chin teased as he gently bounced the bundle in his arms with obvious years of practice. Steve watched, prepared to step in if she didn't quieten down, but knew that the other man was probably the most wisest of them all when it came to babies, regardless of not being a father himself.
Before anyone could offer a witty comment or comeback to the teasing, Steve caught the smallest of stirring on the bed from the corners of his eyes. "What's going on?" Kono murmured sleepily, speaking to no one in particular as she remained curled up on her side with her eyes closed.
"The siblings are bickering again," Danny offered in answer, jokingly. She smiled at the words, blinking her eyes open and stretched subtly. Well, subtly to the others who hadn't seen the woman in front of them stretch first thing in the morning on one of their lazy days.
"Hmm," she hummed noncommittally, pushing herself up to a sitting position. Steve caught her gaze quickly glancing around room, as if the memory and reasoning as to why she was in the hospital bed and why there were all there had only just came back to her. After the drugs they had given her, and the tests they had ran, it probably had. It took only a second for her to find their daughter, and he could see her visibly relax and smile when she did. "How is she?"
It was only when everyone else remained quiet that Steve realised that that was a question that he had to answer, because it was his opinion that she was looking for. Smiling softly, he pushed away from where he leant and went to stand next to her bed. "She's good. Content," he assured her with a squeeze of the hand that he had carefully taken into his own.
Kono grinned back and looked over again to where her cousin still held the baby girl. "Babies are always calm and content around Chin," she added lightly, with a hint of teasing.
"You were the only exception," the older man rebuked in the same tone, causing them all to laugh at the insight into Baby Kono's life. With the way things were going at that moment, Steve was happy to see that they weren't going to have the same issue with their little girl.
"Shut up," she scowled playfully before rolling her eyes and changing the subject. "What time is it?"
Joining her on the bed, Steve forwent looking at his watch to answer her question. "Late," he vaguely replied, slouching down in his fatigue as he stretched his legs out next to Kono's.
"I guess that's our cue to leave," Chin chuckled even though Steve observed that the man made no move to follow through on his words. He knew Malia was still on shift for another hour or so, and as much as he loved his makeshift family, he really couldn't wait for them to leave and have his girls to himself for a little while. Hopefully, soon.
"You don't have to," Kono insisted earnestly, still watching her cousin and baby attentively. Steve sat silently and allowed his eyes to drift to where his hand laid on his wife's knee that was resting up against his leg from under the thin hospital sheets, not trusting himself to be able to portray the same level of sincerity whilst lying.
Danny suddenly stood up with more energy than Steve believe the man held at that moment considering how dishevelled he had looked. "I should take Grace home, anyway. I'll see you guys soon," he announced, pausing to gently awaken his daughter before guiding her semi-asleep form across the room with a hand on her shoulder.
"Here, she's probably missing her mommy by now," Chin said, having gotten up and brought their daughter to the bed. He gently passed her to her mother, and Steve couldn't help the smile that unintentionally broke out at the beautiful sight of the two of them together again.
"I'd hope so. Hi, sweetheart," Kono cooed, holding the tiny bundle with an ease and simplicity that Steve put down to mere maternal instinct. He watched over her arm as the baby settled from being jostled and moved around, silently accepting whatever happened to her before yawning and closing her big, brown eyes. "Oh, that's great. Looks like she got all the attention she wanted," she laughed affectionately and cuddled her closer.
"Congratulations again, cuz. You did good," Chin smiled, pressing a soft kiss to both Kono's cheek and his niece's forehead. Steve watched the warm gesture before looking over at where his sister still sat comfortably on the couch, watching the same scene as he was with a smile playing on his lips.
When Mary Ann met his eyes, he raised an eyebrow discreetly but pointedly. "What?" she asked dryly, breaking their short soundless communication to claim the attention of the other two, to which he rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll be back first thing, though," she declared, standing up with a very heavy sigh and joining Chin at the bed to say her goodbyes as well.
"That's fine," Kono assured her as she returned the hug as well as she could with a baby in her arms.
"You better have a name by then, too," Mary Ann added whilst forcibly pulling Steve to his feet to hug him as well. He dramatically groaned at her actions, though he would be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy the close bond that he and his sister now shared, strengthened over the past few weeks thanks to the common factor of a new member of their small, but growing, family.
"We will," he told her, slinging an arm around her shoulders as he led her towards the door behind Chin. "Bye, guys."
Closing the door of their small private room behind them, he crossed his arms and turned around with a relieved sigh. All the exhaustion that he had been feeling came back to him, but years of practice and requirement allowed him to blink it back in favour of utilizing the alone time they currently had. Steve observed as Kono murmured softly to the sleepy baby, delicately rearranging the blanket that wrapped around her to enclose the arm that had gotten free. He kept watching until she was happy with the result and looked up to catch his eyes.
"Come back here," she nodded towards the space next to her that he had just vacated, and not one to disobey her; he climbed back onto the bed. She nudged him gently with her shoulder before handing him their daughter without another word. Not being a natural at it as she was, it took a moment for him to settle her once again, hushing her throughout her fussing as he safely nestled between the crook of his arm and his chest. He shot Kono a questioning look when she curled up into him, threading an arm through his free one. "My arms still feel a bit funny. Besides, I'm sure the others have all been keeping her to themselves, and I've had her for the last 9 months," she explained, resting her head on his shoulder tiredly.
Steve wasn't sure what to say in response to that. The selflessness in letting him hold the baby when she hadn't been conscious for the past few hours whereas he had been, having read him and his urge to actually feel her rather than to simply watch, was beyond words and one of many reasons why he loved the woman who had given him the most precious gift he had ever gotten. He settled on turning his head to press a kiss to the top of her head, feeling the curve of a smile on her lips against his jaw as he did so.
Sitting in silence, they watched their baby girl as she succumbed to sleep peacefully. Steve traced the tiny features of her face with a featherlike touch before resting the hand lightly on her chest to feel it move ever so slightly with every breath she took.
"She does look just like you, you know," he mused in a low voice, breaking their quiet. The small delay and the little hum that Kono let out before speaking told him that she must have unintentionally dozed off; the painkillers and long, momentous day still taking a toll on her.
"That's not true," she shook her head, modestly pushing away the compliments as she had done with her own mother and Malia earlier that day.
Chuckling, he took in the sleeping baby in his arms and was blown away once again by how beautiful she was. Despite months of wondering and dreaming, not that he'd ever admit to the latter, the real deal was nowhere as close to what his imagination could conjure up. All he saw were miniature features that mirrored his wife's, and he was glad of it. "Its a good thing, Kono."
"Ok, that might be true," she replied playfully and he had no doubt that she was thinking the same thing that he had been; their daughter would not look as precious as she did primarily with his features. "She's got your mouth, though."
"You think?" he asked in a mix of scepticism, surprise and pride, trying to see it from her point of view but failing when he couldn't see past the rest of it that was ultimately all Kono, all Kalakaua. It was only fair considering she was going to bare his name, he guessed. The thought about names brought back the conversation he had had with the others not that long ago, and clearing his throat, he tried to think of the best way to bring up what he had been contemplating. "So I've been thinking..." he began slowly, trailing off whilst keeping his eyes focused solely on the girl in his arms.
The motion of her sliding her long and slender fingers over the tiny feet closest to her caught his eyes and his attention to the depth that he had forgotten what he had just said until Kono broke into his somewhat trance. "Hmm?" she murmured after a beat.
Blinking his way back to reality, he gathered his thoughts and recalled what it was that he had been thinking through for the past few hours as he had watched their unnamed newborn being passed around and coddled over. "You should name her. You were right; she gets my last name and I'm happy with that," he told her confidently and happily.
Lifting her head up off his shoulder, Kono looked at him in shock when he turned his head to face her. The hand that had been looped through his arm now gripped his bicep in a weakened version of her usual attention grabbing one. "Are you sure? What if I pick a name you really hate?" she asked him seriously, the fingers of her other hand smoothing delicately over the pink blanket that wrapped the baby in question.
"I didn't say I wouldn't have an input on it," Steve quickly corrected in an act to reassure her and to point out that although he was technically handing her all of the power, he wasn't going to let her go crazy with it. Not that he thought she would, but the drugs that they had given her were known to make people a little loopy.
Kono nodded in understanding before cuddling back up to him, laying her head on his shoulder before splaying the hand that held onto the feet up towards his own hand, feeling her fingers brush softly against the underside of his wrist."''Nai'a'. It fits well," she eventually said.
Not sure that he had heard right, Steve raised an eyebrow and looked down at her. The innocently blasé look that she returned was all that he needed to know that he had indeed heard correctly. "Is that so?" he asked rhetorically, already having believed that 'Nai'a', the word for dolphin, would be perfect for their daughter since the moment he had read and suggested it to Kono a few months before.
She shoved him gently, careful not to jar awake the baby as she did so. "Hmm. I kinda began liking it a few weeks ago, when you went away. But I didn't want to say anything because, you know…" she trailed off with a small shrug that he felt rather than saw.
"What?" he asked in reply, not actually knowing what it was that she was trying to tell him.
Letting out a heavy sigh that Steve knew was more for the dramatics than anything else, she pulled away and rolled her eyes after taking a quick look at him. "You'd get all egotistical and probably grin nonstop, just like now."
Steve laughed at her words. If he was honest, he hadn't known that he had been smiling at all; figuring that after doing so all day with the others, his facial muscles would have been tired of it. Instead, it just seemed as if they have memorised the action to the point where he couldn't tell anymore.
"'Egotistical'? This is a happy smile! I'm a happy person right now," he insisted in argument, hugging his daughter closer to him and kissing her forehead lightly; simply taking in everything that attacked his senses and emotions at that moment to remind and emphasize on what it was that was making him the happy person he was telling Kono he was right then.
"You better be. I didn't go through all that for you not to be," she groaned excessively as she collapsed back against his side. Steve laughed at the ridiculous notion that she was posing, as if it was possible for him not to be happy.
"So we're agreed. Nai'a?" he asked to make sure, wanting to have decided on a name not only so he could tell the others, but because he wanted to start referring to her by a proper name after so long of just knowing her as his unborn child.
Kono peered over his shoulder to look at the baby, pushing away the blanket from her face and smiled. "Yeah, we're agreed. Nai'a McGarrett," she announced, dropping her hand as Nai'a began to move. Steve bounced her gently until the fear of her awakening already had passed. "But hey, let's leave the birth certificate until tomorrow. Just in case."
"Of course," Steve agreed readily, knowing that by tomorrow morning, their daughter will forever be known as 'Nai'a', especially in his mind and would not let it be changed without a fight, even if Kono changed her mind.
Opening his mouth to mention it, he stopped when he saw that she had fallen asleep once again, giving in to her body's pleading for much needed rest. However, he had no doubt that he would be awake throughout the night, watching over his family, especially with the small crib that the nurses had left in the room for their convenience. It was a good thing that he had been trained to survive on minimal sleep; he had a feeling that he would be spending many nights in the foreseeable future simply watching and attending to the newborn. And if he was this captivated a few hours after her arrival, Steve didn't want to think about how the rest of his life was going to be. He already knew it'd be worth it though; something told him that being a father for the little girl in his arms was going to be the best thing he had ever done.
A/N: So there we have it. Baby Nai'a McGarrett, birth and all! What did you guys think? It would be awesome if you'd let me know. Also, you may or may not have realized that I haven't set this story as 'complete' yet - that's because I'm toying with the idea of an epilogue. If I can gather enough ideas for it, it will happen! Otherwise, look out for the series of oneshots based on the McGarrett family. Thanks for reading =)