The onesie is tiny, a pale shade of pink with rabbits and flowers embroidered all along the front. Not that Noelani subscribes blindly to gender norms, or even cares about them, but she has to admit it’s ridiculously cute.

She also has to admit that there’s at least a dozen like it in the bottom drawer of the dresser in her and Steve’s bedroom - they haven’t even thought about organising the nursery yet.

“It’s so pretty,” she says and, beside her on the couch, Steve hears something in her tone.

“You don’t like it.”

“No, I do, I do,” she tells him quickly. “But, Steve... you can’t keep buying every cute outfit you see.” Her hand goes to the swell of her stomach, covering his where he’d placed it, as if drawn there by a magnet, the second he’d sat down. “We’ll run out of drawer space. And money.”

Steve grins at that but he looks faintly embarrassed when he shrugs one shoulder. “I just couldn’t resist it,” he says. “Besides, Danny keeps telling me about spit ups and exploding diapers; apparently we’ll need more clothes than we think.”

Having been sitting beside Steve more than once when Danny has started in on such stories, Noelani laughs. “You know he’s trying to freak you out.” Just then, the baby decides to shift a little and Steve’s gaze drops from Noelani’s eyes to her stomach, the smile on his face stealing Noelani’s breath for a second or two.

“I know that,” he says eventually, his thumb sweeping a path up and down her stomach. The baby, as if she can sense the touch, shifts towards him and Steve’s smile grows even larger. Noelani didn’t think that was possible. “He keeps upping the ante when it doesn’t work.”

“You’re not freaked out?” Noelani asks, because she wouldn’t blame him if he was. Starting as colleagues, then friends, the turn to a romantic relationship had surprised them both, the pregnancy even more so but not, as far as Noelani is concerned, in an unwelcome manner.

She just sometimes - and she knows better, blames the hormones - wonders if Steve feels the same.

Steve chuckles. “Not even a little bit.” Noelani’s doubt must show on her face because he reaches up with his free hand to touch her cheek. “Noelani... every day, I see the worst of what humanity can do. And even before that, in the SEALs...” His voice trails off, a faraway look flitting across his face. “There are things I’ve seen... things I’ve had to do... that I would never want you to know were even possible.” He’s very serious in a way he often isn’t when it’s just the two of them curled up on the couch together and she closes her fingers around his on her stomach, squeezes tightly. It seems to bring him back to himself and he smiles again, fainter this time. “I never thought I’d have this. You. Her.” He drops his hand from her cheek and she’d object if he wasn’t leaning down to place a gentle kiss on her abdomen. “I just want to enjoy every second.”

She will not cry, Noelani vows. She will not.

Except her willpower is no match for pregnancy hormones and her eyes fill with tears.

“Yeah,” she whispers as he takes her in his arms and she tucks her head into his chest. “I know what you mean.”

YES!! They would definitely do this. I ... might try to figure out the right way to write them but for now just kudos to the perfect prompt

I need to do a bit o research about whether RTÉ would have been available in the North in the 90s. I assume so but... Research is Needed