I am so overwhelmingly grateful to all of you and your interest in this story. Because of your staggering responses, Frances has attracted the attention of television executives.

Unfortunately my muse has compelled me to end this story with another question mark. I might return to close the loop or leave you to draw your own conclusion or continuation. I realize that many of you were upset at the huge time gap between the marriage and the birth of Steve's twins, but I honestly didn't know what to write so I fast forwarded. However if any of you fans want to give it a try, just PM me with your ideas.

Again a huge thank you for embracing my OCs the way you did. I truly appreciate it. I wish all of my readers a very Merry Christmas - Mele Kalikimaka

Steve ended the call and turned to Frances who was now huffing and puffing with hands gripping the sheets, "Will you be okay while I go downstairs boil some water?

"Yes, go." When another powerful contraction hit, Steve lunged at her side to squeeze her hand while holding her by the shoulders. He winced as her vice-like grip sliced through his hand, draining his fingers of all blood. When the pain subsided, he eased her down on the pillow and tried to wrench his hand free from the clasp.

"Baby let go my hand."

"Sorry. Hurry back. I'm going to need you."

"Won't be a minute."

He hurried out of the room and dashed down the stairs to the kitchen to boil water and gather all the necessary supplies to perform his duty as a midwife. Steve gave a nervous snigger at the thought as he gathered a bunch of clean towels.

Minutes later there was a courtesy knock at the door before Danny and Karen let themselves in. "Steve?" he shouted.

"In the kitchen, Danny."

He and Karen headed toward the voice and found Steve about to pour a generous amount of hot water into a pan.

"How is she?" Karen asked in a strangled voice.

"She's in helluva lot of pain. Danny, Karen, would you help me take the supplies upstairs? Here," he said, handing the pan of hot water to Danny. "My hands are shaking, man. I'm afraid I'll drop it."

"Sure buddy."

While Danny carried the water upstairs, Karen followed with the towels. With tongs Steve removed the two pair of scissors out of boiled water and placed them in a clean towel.

He then headed toward the staircase where he paused for a moment to take one or two deep cleansing breaths to psyche himself up for what was ahead. He needed his wits about himself. This was no time to crack under pressure. His wife needed him.

He puffed up his chest, squared his shoulders and took the steps two at the time. He dropped by the bathroom to scrub up, careful not to step in the puddle on the floor when Frances's water broke, before heading to the bedroom.

"The baby is crowning, Steve," Karen informed before vacating her spot so that her brother-in-law could take over.

Danny slid a chair underneath his partner. "You okay?"

"Ask me again when this is over."

Danny smiled and gave him a friendly tap on the shoulder. "You'll do fine, Daddy."

Steve snorted with amusement, shaking his head at the reality of the moment hitting him square in the chest. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes in deep concentration to summon his memory of his training in emergency birthing.

Frances cried out as a wave of excruciating pain shot through her belly.

"Come on, chin up, Commander! Shoulders back! You can tough out the pain," Steve spoke on an authoritarian tone.

"Hey go easy on her!" Danny scolded. "You don't bark orders like that to a woman in labour or you're liable to get shot."

"I'm sure she'll clubber me once this is over." Steve said, focused on the job at hand.

"I will for sure," Frances shrieked with teeth set as another powerful contraction hit. "It's all his fault, he did this to me."

"Now where have I heard that before?" Danny mused, thinking back to Grace's birth.

She elbowed herself into a semi-sitting position, pushing with her wrists with Karen helping her. "Steve, I've got to push," she hissed as she gripped the mattress with her left hand and squeezed Karen's hand of all its blood with the other. Karen held her sister's back to release the effort while wriggling her right hand, trying to restore some blood flow.

"All right go ahead. I can see the head."

Steve positioned himself to gently take hold of the baby's head at it emerged. "Come on push, push, push," he egged his wife on with excessive beads of sweat pearling down on his brows that Danny was quick to sponge off.

Frances took a breather to suck in some energy before going for the final push with a grunt.

A baby boy made his way into the world. Steve beckoned Danny to hand him the pair of sterilised scissors to cut the umbilical cord before handing the newborn over to Karen.

"What is it?" Frances asked.

"It's a boy, baby. We have a son!" Steve said ecstatically.

The nurse-to-be Karen laid the squalling bundle down on a clean towel and proceeded to delicately dab at the mucus and blood with a damp wash cloth, while Steve rinsed off his hands in a bowl of fresh water.

"How is he?" the concerned mother asked pantingly.

"He's crying and kicking up a storm. I say he's all right," Karen laughed.

"Let me see him."

"Just a minute. I want to clean him first."

Frances nodded and closed her eyes in exhaustion.

"Hey mommy," Steve called out from the bottom of the bed. "You still have one more job to do," he teased.

"Give me a minute. Besides I don't have any contractions."

"There you go, little baby boy. Want to meet your mommy?" Karen stepped up to the bed and laid the mummified baby in the crook of his mother's arm. "Look at those big brown expressive eyes."

Frances laughed hysterically as her elation at seeing her newborn overwhelmed her. "Oh Steve. He looks like you," she cooed.

Steve stood and went to the side of the bed to take his first good look at his son. She tilted the bundle slightly to the right so that her proud hubby could see just how perfect his baby boy was.

"He has his mother's eyes," he observed with a beaming smile. He lifted his eyes off the gurgling baby long enough to gaze into his wife's eyes. He leaned in to place a tender kiss on her lips. "You did good mommy."

"You didn't do so badly either, daddy." Her smile quickly morphed into a frown as she felt a strong contraction coming on. "Steve, I think the other one is coming."

Steve cradled the baby in his arms and handed him over to Danny before washing his hands and taking a seat at the foot of the bed to deliver the second twin.

Minutes later, a baby girl emerged. Frances uttered a last cry before dropping her entire weight onto Karen's arm. She in turn eased her sister down on the pillow and then went to Steve to take the baby for a wash, while he took care of cleaning the mess on the bed and covering his wife's private parts.

Finally the paramedics showed up, ringing the bell downstairs.

"I'll go answer it," Danny offered, giving Steve his son to cradle in his arms.

Danny climbed down the stairs with a slight bounce in his steps. The thought of him becoming an uncle to Steve's twins had him all excited.

"Come on in, guys"

"We receive a report that a woman was giving birth?"

"She already did," Danny said with a smug. "She's upstairs. You guys took a while getting here?"

"Sorry about that. Traffic was jammed due to an accident involving five vehicles. Is everything all right?"

"So far so good."

They entered the room and set up their instruments to assess the mother's and babies' conditions.

"Why can't you people do normal?" Danny heaved out in exasperation, shaking his head in disbelief.

"It wouldn't be fun otherwise, Danno." Steve said with a choking breath. He was still on cloud nine, cooing over his baby boy that he proudly held in his arms, before reluctantly handing him over to the woman paramedic.

"We obviously have different definition of fun."

"A SEAL mission is a virtual walk in the park compared to this." A dizzy spell suddenly overcame him, prompting him to reach for Danny's shoulder for support.

"Woa there! I think you'd better lie down."

"No I'm okay. Just a bit light-headed," Steve assured with eyes tightly shut and heavy breathing to dispel the queasiness.

"Sweetie, come on. Take a break. Come lie next to me," Frances invited by weakly patting the bed next to her. "You did good Doctor McGarrett."

"Hey, piece of cake!"

"Really babe, you really need to lie down. You're white as a sheet."

"Sir, let us check you out," suggested the man medic who was currently taking Frances's blood pressure.

Steve waved the medic off. "No I'm fine. Just a bit queasy, that's all." He eased himself down by his wife who scooted over to cuddle next to him.

"The babies look and sound very healthy, ma'am," the woman medic announced from the table where she was performing a preliminary screening examination. She wrapped the little girl in a warm blanket and handed her over to Karen. She did the same with the baby boy before moving over to Danny to delicately place him in his arms. "Giving birth to twins at home is quite a feat. Have you had babies before?"

"Yeah one, a little girl. She died of Sudden Infant Syndrome at 3 months."

"I'm sorry to hear. Guess that's why you didn't have time to whisk off to the hospital?"

"I woke up with stomach cramps early this morning. I went to the bathroom thinking I needed to go badly and that's when I realize it was no ordinary bowel movement."

"I'll say."

"This green-about-the gill man next to me here," she said, pointing a thumb toward her dazed husband lying next to her, "rolled up his sleeves and settled to the task at hand."

"Congratulations sir. This is quite an accomplishment."

"Thanks."

"Have you found names for them yet?" Karen asked.

"Yeah we have," Steve spoke, turning to Frances who nodded her approval. "Karen, you're holding your Goddaughter Leilani Barbara McGarrett and you Danny, meet your Godson Steven," he paused as pride welled up in him, "Daniel McGarrett."

"Daniel?" Danny exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

Steve smiled and nodded. "You're the best friend I ever had. You're like a brother. I'm proud to have my son bear your name."

"I," Danny choked, hanging his head to hide the errant tear. "I don't know what to say."

"I can't believe that Danny Williams is at an actual loss for words," Steve was amazed that he had managed to strike his partner mute.

"Should have known these two would be born early in the morning. Just like their crazy parents. They do everything before seven am."

Steve shook in head in astonishment. "Well, it was fun while it lasted." All had a laugh at Danny's expense.

"Say babe, Try letting them grow up normal, especially the boy."

"What do you mean?"

"No teaching him ninja stuff or playing with grenades."

"I can't help it if he wants to take after his folks," Steve defended wittily.

"Poor kid."

"I'm sorry to break this tender moment, but we really need to take mother and babies to the hospital," said the medic.

Later that morning, Kono, Adam, Rachel, Grace, Kamekona, Karen, Danny and proud papa Steve gathered at the nursery to drool over the slumbering babies in their basinets. Sometime amidst the chorus of Ahs and Ohs, Steve retreated in a nearby chair and buried his head in his hands. Concerned, Danny went to sit beside him.

"What's matter, babe?"

Steve bit his upper lip, trying to hold it together. "I was so scared, Danny," he confessed in a quavering breath. "What if something had gone wrong?"

"But it didn't. It was a perfect birth."

"Yeah but it could have easily gone the other way." He ran a hand across his face to wipe up the tears streaming down his face.

"Frances is a stubborn cuss like you, strong and healthy. There was no doubt in mind that the delivery would be a resounding success. They're perfect."

"Yeah. Thanks for being there, man." He fell into Danny's arms and hugged him tight.

"Anytime, brother." He said with hearty pats on Steve's back. "For a home birth call on Doctor Danny." Steve laughed through a sniff. "Can you do me a favour though?"

"Name it, Godfather."

"Can you shed the trouble magnet, at least for a year or two? I think we've had enough of our share of bad luck for a while."

"I think it's a safe bet with these two. I have a family that depends on me now."

"Glad to hear. I can't believe it, SuperSEAL a daddy, twice over!"

"It hasn't completely sunken in yet. I expect it'll be your turn soon."

"Sooner than you think," Danny hinted with a smirk.

"What?" Steve enthused and addressed Karen. "Karen is this true?" Danny slapped Steve on the wrist trying to shush him.

"What?"

"You're pregnant?"

"Danny!" she scolded him. "I wanted to make the announcement later."

"Sorry, Snookums, he dragged it out of me."

"I didn't," Steve fiercely defended. "True the subject was on the table." He stood and went to hug his sister-in-law. "Congratulations! Frances will be so thrilled."

"We'll let her sleep for now and then I'll spring the news on her."

While the others took turn at congratulating Karen, Steve turned to Danny with an impish grin. "You did it!"

"Yep! I didn't think it would happen since Karen was a bit…well you know…distant. It's understandable if you take into account what McFadden did to her for five years."

"Yeah, but you succeeded in getting her to trust you. Frances says that she hardly has nightmares anymore."

"That's true and I'm glad for that."

"Congratulations, Danny. I mean it, man." The two men embraced once more.

"Thanks."

"Hey, call on me if you want a home birth. I'm getting pretty good at this!"

"No way, babe! That's too much excitement for my ticker. Take my word for it, this one will be born in a hospital."

"That's what I thought about mine."

"You, my friend, are a crazy badass freak. No wonder your children take after you." His smile turned to a frown upon noticing his friend's dismal expression. "Something else on your mind?"

"Do you still get those dreams?"

"The one in which I'm falling?" Steve nodded. "Yeah. At first I thought it was another past memory lost in the wake of the bombing that was surfacing, but now I believe it's linked to what happened to us during those missing two weeks."

"Same here, partner. When I mention it to Frances, she doesn't exactly dismiss it but she won't encourage it either."

"Don't you sometime sense that the girls know something that they don't want us to know?"

"Yeah but given the anguish they went through during their search for us, I don't insist. Guess they'll tell us when they feel the time is right."

"And you're able to just sit on it?"

"The Navy SEAL in me wants to push this further to get to the truth, but the family man is saying let it go for now. Eventually we'll get to the bottom of it."

Later that afternoon, Steve was comfortably settled on a couch in Frances's hospital private room with a baby on each arm. He would occasionally tear his gaze away from his bundles to lovingly watch his wife sleep. Chin and Malia padding into the room interrupted his reverie.

Before they could utter a word, Steve swiftly pressed a finger to his lips, jutting his head toward the bed. "She's sleeping," he whispered his warning.

"How is she?" Chin asked in a whisper, turning to the slumbering woman.

"Exhausted, as you can imagine."

"We won't stay long," Malia said in a hushed voice. "Chin and I just wanted to see the babies since we couldn't get to the hospital earlier. My mother was sick and we had to drive over to her house."

"Is she all right?" Steve murmured his concern.

"Oh yeah. False alarm. Can I hold her?" Steve nodded and invited Malia to take the baby girl from his arms.

"Chin, you're welcomed to hold my son."

"I'd be proud to."

A barely audible grunt wafted from the sleeping form, prompting the company present to move over to the bed to see two sleepy brown eyes flutter open. Steve moved to her side and gently cradled her hand in his.

"Hi baby! You okay?"

Frances instinctively stretched out her limbs but stopped short and cringed when her belly protested. "Yeah, not too bad. I'm still a bit sore," she answered sleepily.

"Understandably," Malia sympathized. "They are beautiful, Frances. You and Steve did a great job."

Frances squeezed her husband hand in agreement.

Noticing the look passing through the couple, Malia suggested to Chin to leave the new parents alone with a promise to return later. Malia placed the little girl in the crook of her mother's awaiting arm, while Chin handed the boy over to his dad.

Steve then settled into a recliner chair by the bed.

"I'm sorry they had to come on your birthday, sweetie."

"Oh yeah, that's a problem," he snorted. "Come on, Frances, this is the best gift you could have given me."

"How are they? Is everything all right?"

"They conducted a battery of tests and all came back negative. Our friendly Doctor Carson even came over to see them."

"I like him."

"So do I."

"He was a pillar of strength to everyone after the bombing and lately when you were found. He's like our family doctor."

"What's the matter?" Steve asked, concerned by the sudden change of expression.

Frances sighed. "Nothing really."

"You're thinking of Aleena, aren't you?"

"I'm...I'm still afraid it might happen again. Sure the babies are okay now but so was Aleena when she was born. Then without warning she..." she choked on the lump in her throat.

"Don't think about that," Steve admonished.

"I can't help it."

Steve gazed down at his son whose big brown eyes studied him with fascination. "Your mommy is a worrywart."

Frances was full of rapture over her daughter that unlike her brother was sleeping soundly. "They are beautiful indeed. We didn't do so badly."

"Are you kidding me? For a first try this is perfection!" Steve boasted.

"Second try," she quickly corrected. "Aleena was quite an achievement too."

"I wish you would have told me about her and I could h..."

She quickly interjected. "Let's not dwell on it. What's done is done. Let's concentrate on raising this family. I have a hunch we'll have our hands full."

A few weeks later while Steve babysat his children, Frances drove up to Diamond Head and parked the car alongside the road in a remote area. She killed the engine and waited for her appointment to show up. Minutes into the wait, a bold man dressed in a baseball cap and dark glasses opened the passenger door and slid into the seat.

"We have to stop meeting like this," Joe admonished.

"You're the one who called."

"True."

"I have something for you. Here." She handed Joe a medium envelope containing a dozen of photographs. He looked at her quizzically. "These are pictures of the babies."

"Babies?"

"Yeah. It's twins. A boy and a girl. They came in at eight pounds six ounces and seven pounds five ounces respectively. They were born at home and Steve delivered them."

"Unbelievable!" Joe melted before the photos, some with the proud papa holding his bundles of joy. "What are their names?"

"Steven Daniel and Leilani Barbara. Can you see that my father gets them?"

"He'll ask me how I got them in the first place."

"Say what you will. I'd love for him to see his first grandchildren."

"I'll see what I can do. How's the father holding up?"

"Steve is a proud daddy. He is walking around like he's on cloud nine. I've never seen him so mushy and sentimental. He's a changed man. You wouldn't recognize him."

"Yeah, your father was the same when he found out you were alive. Family will do that to a man." He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "I wish I could say give my best to the new father but..."

"It's okay. He's proud as a peacock as you can imagine. Oh and if you see dad, tell him he'll be a grandfather again in less than seven months. Karen and Danny are expecting their first child."

"I'll tell him, if I can. Take care of that family of yours, including your biggest baby. He can get into more trouble than the twins."

"Don't I know it!"

A few weeks cascaded down and on this particular Saturday morning, a neurotic father hovered over his son's crib, trying his best to appease his squalling. "I think something's wrong with him." He told Frances as she walked into their bedroom. "I've tried changing him but there was no load."

"Steve, he's just teething," she reasoned with an amused grin. "I'll rub some Oragel on his gums to numb the pain. Don't worry, Mother Hen."

"I'm sorry it's just that," he ran a hand across his face to iron out the creases, "well I'm new at this," he defended, his anguish growing with the loud distressed cries. "You on the other hand have done this before."

She moved over to the crib and rubbed a gentle hand against the baby's cheek to relieve some of the soreness. Steven's cries dwindled to soft sobbing hiccups. Thereafter she slid her arms around Steve's waist and craned her neck up to gaze into his eyes. "And you'll learn just as I did."

"I'm being silly, right?"

"Not one bit. Don't you ever think that," she scolded. "You're a caring father and I don't ever want you to change. I saw how natural you were with Gracie and with time, you will be with your children as well. I was new at this myself ten years ago. It's better to be overprotective than not at all."

Steve's lips curled up in a half smile. "Thanks baby." He leaned in to steal a kiss.

She disengaged the clench to make her way to the dresser to pick up four stuffed toys that she brought over to the cribs. She handed one to Steve to put next to Junior.

"Hey little girl, here's a gift from your auntie Grace." She placed the stuffed seal next to Leilani who stopped gurgling and playing with her feet to eye the toy curiously. "Nope, she's definitely not going to be a Navy gal," Frances jested upon noticing the child's suspicious stare at the toy.

"Give her time." Steve jutted his head toward the second crib. "My son loves his, though. It even stopped him from crying."

"Figures!" she rolled her eyes.

"Who are the other two from?"

"Those were given by their aunt Catherine." Frances placed a teddy bear in each of the cribs, making the little girl squeal in delight.

"You're amazing you know that?" Steve said, enlacing her from behind and burying his face in her neck.

"How's that?" she said, leaning into him.

"Well any wife would be mortally opposed to her kids playing with a gift given by her husband's former lover."

Frances laughed. "Catherine and I are very good friends. In fact I was thinking of inviting her to the christening. What do you say?"

"I'm okay with it if you are."

"Of course I am," she turned to face him and snaking her arms around his neck, she captured his lips in a tender kiss that quickly deepened, much to Leilani's amusement but to Junior's objection.

The parents giggled into the kiss before breaking apart. "So young and yet so different." When both babies settled down, they resumed the embrace with Steve nimbly manoeuvring his wife to the bed. He was close to his goal when the doorbell interrupted their intimate moment. Lips unlocked and arms dropped to the side in annoyance.

"Arggg, I'll get it." Steve offered grudgingly, stealing one last kiss from his wife before leaving to answer the door. "Don't go anywhere."

"I won't," she chuckled. With her frisky husband out of the room, she returned her attention to her two bundles of joy. "Your daddy is one big mother hen but mommy loves him that way. He is a good provider and a big teddy bear." She reached for a wet wipe to disinfect her hands before reaching for the Oragel tube. She squeezed a small amount onto her tiny finger and proceeded to rub Steven's gums with it. "There! Doesn't that feel better already?" The little boy responded with flailing arms and kicking legs. Soon his tiny fingers came to wrap around her finger while he suckled on it.

"Frances would you come down here for a minute?" Steve called out from the bottom of the stairs.

"Be right there." She wiped the gel off her finger and neatly tucked the blankets underneath both babies before climbing down the stairs.

"What is i…" she gaped as she took in the stranger standing by the door dressed in plain regular clothes, but there was no mistaking that face. Her heart leapt into her throat.

"Dad?"

The end