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One week. It had taken one week of maternity leave for Danny to go completely crazy sitting at home. So, when she was standing in front of Steve during breakfast, sipping on her tea and putting pieces of pineapple into her mouth (yeah, the craving had hit her hard during the fourth month of the pregnancy and the babies obviously came after their father regarding pineapples) she swallowed and looked her husband in the eyes.
“I’m coming with you to HQ today.” No question, a fact.
Immediately his eyes went wide, and Danny was able to see the panic behind them. “But you’re on maternity leave and not supposed to get stressed.” So he was going to play that card, huh.
But being up for hours because the little devils wouldn’t let her sleep since 3 am, she had planned for what felt like every possible way out she could think of. “I’m not going to work, I just want the company.”
Steve had forgotten his breakfast and was chewing on his bottom lip (which was actually kind of distracting since she was pregnant and horny most of the time these days), trying to think. “I can take the day off or the others can come over.”
“I still have my office there and if I’m there no one has to take the day off or drive all the way over here.” She stared at him unwaveringly, daring him to come up with more excuses.
“Maybe seeing crime scene photos during a pregnancy isn’t the best thing, we wouldn’t want to induce labor with any of those, wouldn’t we?” He was slowly getting up and moved towards the front door, his breakfast and coffee untouched since she had started this conversation.
“Really Steven?” Danny’s eyebrows lifted as an expression to her thoughts about that idea. “I have been doing this job for most of my life and there isn’t much that could shock me in that regard, and you are seriously suggesting that such content could induce labor?” She stalked after him, feeling her temper rise, something which happened even quicker than usual since she was pregnant. “I’m coming with you.”
He threw up his hands. “I will not allow my seven months pregnant wife to come to headquarters with me!”
And even as the words left his lips, he was already aware that he had used the wrong arguments. Within a second, all the tiptoeing around her over the past months to prevent her from being stressed and handling her like a porcelain doll came bubbling up and her quick temper ignited. “You will not allow me?” Danny’s voice was silent though you could probably cut paper with the edge to it. “Maybe I should inform you, Lieutenant Commander McGarrett, that I have a free will and will not be confined to this house if I don’t want to.” She grabbed the next thing she could reach – only a pillow from the couch – and threw it towards him. “So, if I should wish to visit my friends at work,” the next object went flying, “I will very well get into my car and drive there myself if I have to.” She started pacing, pointing a sharp finger at him. “The only way you could prevent me from doing any of the above would be by chaining me to something in this house, because I would find a way otherwise, and you do not want to go there.”
“Would you please calm down?” Steve lifted his hands towards her like he was trying to calm down a panicked animal and started taking careful steps towards her. “We can talk about this but please calm down.”
Somehow, seeing him acting like this, even avoiding fighting with her made everything worse and she went for the next thing and threw it in his direction. Only when the letter opener was vibrating in the wall next to his head did Danny stop pacing and only watched Steve’s panicked eyes as they went from the letter opener in the wall to her and back again. Danny gasped and went towards him immediately. “I’m so sorry, babe.” Her heart was racing and the thought of what could have happened in her carelessness and temper made her sick to the stomach.
Seeing her distress, he put his arms around her and rubbed her back to sooth her racing heart. “Everything is fine, nothing happened.” For a few minutes they stood there, Danny’s quiet “I’m so sorry” the only thing to be heard, before he relented. “Fine. I will take you to HQ with me. On one condition.” He pulled away and looked into her eyes. “You will immediately tell me if you’re tired or stressed or anything else.”
At first Danny bristled at the constraint but reminded herself that Steve only cared for her and the babies’ safety and bringing her there probably went against all of his protective instincts. “Okay.” She pressed a sweet kiss to his lips and smiled.
As they went to the car, he smiled at her with that devilish glint in his eyes which was usually reserved for the craziest of his ideas. “You know, you can be thankful for my reflexes back there but you are very good at throwing knives.”
Pacing was a good idea. Or so she thought. While sitting her feet started to hurt, while standing her back started to hurt. Long story short: No matter what she tried, everything hurt.
“Are you sure you want to be running around?”, Kono asked cautiously, moving in Danny’s direction like she was getting ready to catch her. Or try to herd her towards a chair.
But Danny just shot her an evil glare, well aware of the other woman’s good intentions but angry nevertheless. “I’m not an invalid, I’m pregnant.” Lou looked like he was hiding a laugh, probably keeping his thoughts to himself since he knew about pregnant women from personal experience. “And only because Commander Super SEAL over there had to get me super pregnant, with not one very active baby but two, doesn’t mean I can’t be standing or even walking around.” She winced as she felt another kick to her liver and glared at Steve in his office where he was currently talking to the Governor on the phone.
She wasn’t actually angry at Steve – or Kono for that matter – she loved her husband beyond reason but being 7 months pregnant with twins had left her tired, hurting and stressed. He tried his best to accommodate her, making runs when she was hit by a bad case of the cravings and massages whenever she needed them and he wasn’t out in the field. By all accounts from the team, he even ceased most of his manic ideas and seemed to have developed a sense of self-preservation because of his impending fatherhood.
“I’m sorry, Kono, I know you only mean good but I’m so ready for this pregnancy to be over. They,” Danny gestured at her enormous belly, “even made me crave pineapple. Pineapple, for god’s sake!”
“When Renee was pregnant with Samantha,” Lou chimed in with a placating smile, “she got a craving for sardines. And believe me when I tell you: You do not want to eat sardines straight for almost seven months. Or have sardines eaten for so long in your house.”
Danny laughed at the story and felt the urge to dry-heave at the same time but appreciated his attempt of making her feel better. “And do you have any advice on how to get those two to go to sleep when I want to sleep? I feel like they never sleep at all and my insides should be nothing more than random pieces of what used to be organs.”
Chin smiled at her kindly, though mischief sparkled in his eyes. “What did you expect when you put the genes of the McGarrett and the Williams family into one, or rather two babies, brah?”
“Grace was a dream when I was pregnant with her. No morning sickness, almost no sleepless nights.” She sighed in mock sadness. “They will be little hellions, won’t they?”
“You started with the mistake of marrying this crazy person,” Lou gestured to Steve as he walked towards them after seemingly finishing up with the Governor.
“What are you talking about?”, Steve wanted to know, not even rising to the fact that he just had been called crazy.
Danny put her hand on his chest and smiled up, as his arm came around her for a one-sided embrace and kissed her hair. “We were talking about how our children will keep us on our toes night and day and you and your genes are the reason for it.”