C S I (UNDER EDITING)

Chapter 19 - Not so secret origins

Lauren's POV
It was a bad idea. I shouldn't have come. Stacey continues to cry as she flails her arms around. "I know, I know." I sigh. I have to find somewhere to stay the night. I can't be out on the streets with a baby. Stacey's wailings don't help either. I find a secluded enough spot behind a restaurant and finally let my tired body sit down. I've been to hell and back to try and get here. I scrapped enough to fly from Vegas to Hawaii for one reason only, apparently I have a cousin here. I call the number he gave me. "McGarrett." Someone answers. "Is this Steve?" I ask. "Yes, who is this?" He inquires. "It's me Lauren. We talked yesterday?" I remind him. "Oh Lauren! Hi." He greets. "I just got here, I was wandering if you could help." I ask. "Sure, where are you?" He agrees. "I'm behind a restaurant called...Brown's beach house." I tell him. "What do you mean behind a restaurant?" He asks. "Um, long story but I'll explain." I state. We exchange a few more details before I hand up. Stacey's grown quiet now. Her eyes follow the blinking of the sign hanging above the restaurant. "I'm sorry." I mutter. "I know, that whoever gets you, will take good care of you. I just can't do that right now." I sigh as if she can understand. A truck pulls up at the restaurant and a man with a badge hanging from his pockets heads towards me. "Lauren?" He calls out. "Are you Steve?" I ask. "Yeah, what are you doing here? You shouldn't be out here." He states. "Um, money's kind of tight so I don't really have a place to stay." I mumble, head bent low in shame. "Come on, you can stay at my place." He offers. "That's nice of you but I'd rather get the transaction done so I can go." I mutter. "You're staying with me tonight, at least. You look like you haven't eaten in weeks and Stacey looks like she could use some food too. I can ask my partner detective Williams to get something for her on his way. He's staying with me till he finds his own place." Steve insists. I finally give in, realising how hungry both of us are. "What happened?" He questions. "Um...I'd rather not talk about it. I went through a rough patch and I can't take care of a baby right now." I state. "Is that why you got in touch?" He asks. "Forgive me but aunt Debbie didn't give me much to go on. It was all very rushed. All I know is that you're my cousin and you used to live in Vegas." He states. "Well, Okay." I finally agree. "His name's Jack. We had a thing, Stacey's the result and neither of us can really take care of a baby right now." I mutter. "I can help you." He offers. "How?" I ask, the tiredness clear in my voice. "I can get you a job." He reveals. "Thanks but I just want to get things with her sorted out and be on my way." I decline adamantly. "In the meantime, you can stay with me." He states as we pull up to a beautiful beach house. "Hay Danny." He greets the other man waiting by the porch. "Hay, who's this?" He greets before asking, pointing at me. "That's my cousin Lauren. She'll be staying with us for a while till she can get back on her feet." Steve explains to him. "Welcome." Danny flashes me a friendly smile as they show me in. "What's her name?" He asks, smiling at Stacey. "Stacey." I answer. "I assume my cousin explained?" I question. "Yeah, I'm sorry it didn't work out." He comforts. "Thanks." I smile sadly as we watch Stacey play with her hands. "I can set you up in the guest bedroom." Steve states as he leads me up the stairs. "Everything's there, and I made sure Danny put all the baby stuff in your room. I'll let you know when food's here." He assures me before disappearing downstairs. I place Stacey on the bed to crawl around while I change and find something for her to change into. Once she's fed and changed, her eyes begin to drop and it's clear she's tired. Not long after I fed her, she's fast asleep in my arms. "I'm sorry..." I quiver. "You deserve a a better life, one I can't give you." I place her on the bed, putting pillows around her in case she rolls before heading downstairs. "Thanks for all you're help. I'll be on my way now." I let Steve know. "Where are you going? You know you can stay here, why do you want to leave?" He stops me. "Because I don't want this to hurt more than it has to." I choke. "Lauren, you know you don't have to give her away. And I have every reason to believe you'd be great mother." He comforts. "No, no I won't. I can't be a mother. You don't know me." I grit angrily as I wipe off my tears. "I may not but know you as you claim but from what I see, I can tell you'd be a great mother." He continues. "Let me help you." He offers again. "Okay..." I finally give in. He leads me into the living room where Danny sits, perusing some files. "You didn't tell me you're a cop." I comment. "I'm not. The governor has asked me to run a specialised task force to cut through all the red tape and keep this island safe." He explains. "What like full immunity?" I joke. "Yeah actually." He nods. "Got any cases?" I ask, letting my curiosity get the best of me. "We do. Danny's a cop for HPD and I asked for his help." Steve nods. "Can I have a look?" I ask. "Sure." He nods. I take the top most file on the bundle and begin reading. To my surprise, I think I may have solved a case. "Um, I...I think I know who did this." I state, pointing to the file in my hand. "How?" Steve questions with surprise. "The ex-hubby. He clearly wasn't happy about his wife moving on and in a jealous rage kills the boyfriend." I explain. "Have you thought about becoming a cop?" He chuckles. "I did a little work in San Fran." I reveal. "How about some work on my task force?" He offers. "I dunno..." I shrug uncertainly. "I have a friend who lives in London and she thinks she's found a job for me. I was hoping to leave by tomorrow to go see her." I explain. "Who's this friend?" Steve inquires. "Emily, Emily Prentiss." I answer. "She used to work for the FBI and before that MI6 and now she's gone back to it." I recount. "She says the London crime lab is taking techs and I thought I'd see what it's like." I state. "Well the adoption is set for tomorrow morning. You're always welcome here Lauren. Remember that." He reminds me. "Thanks." I let myself smile.

Next morning...

I'm woken up quite early by Stacey's crying. "Shhh..." I try to lull her back to sleep. "Hay, you're up early." Steve stands at the door in his PJs. "I think she's hungry." I state as I pick her bottle up to feed her. "The foster home says we can take her in whenever we're ready." He lets me know. "I'll wait till she's asleep." I mutter as I rock her back and forth. "You know you don't have to do this." Steve repeats. "Yes, yes I do. This little girl deserve better than what I can give her." I disagree strongly. "Why?" He asks again. "Because! Because I'm not a mother...I can't be." I snap. "I can't force you, it's your choice but from what I see, I don't think you need to do this." He states before leaving. "Well it's not up to you." I mutter. The rest of the day is uneventful and is filled with Steve taking small trips to work while I looked after Stacey. The hours to the adoption grows closer and every hour is a tightening knot in my stomach. "Lauren, it's time." Steve finally lets me know. It's short and silence drive to the house and with every turn, I feel a tugging at my heart. "Ms Callgate, Commander. Good to finally meet you." The guardian greets us at the door. "There's some final paperwork that need to be done and then you're all set." She explains to us. "Sign here, and here." She puts the paper in front of me. Steve holds Stacey while I sign the paperwork. "All done." I mutter, pushing the papers towards her. "I'm sorry..." I whisper as I hold her once last time. I can't hold back my tears any longer, as they stream down my face. Steve wraps his arms around me as he guides me outside. "I'm okay..." I sniffle. "You can stay as long as you want." He offers generously. "Thank you but I have a plane to catch." I decline. "Thanks for all your help Steve." I thank him. "Hay, we're family and I always look out for family." He smiles. He's kind enough to drive me to the airport and see me off. "London, here I come." I whisper, letting a hopeful smile colour my lips.

Hay ya'll so this is more of a filler but I have more coming so stay tuned! That's all. You know the drill, like comment and all that Jazz and I'll see you in the next chapter.❤️❤️😜😜👋🏼😘

"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness." Desmond Tutu

"Scars remind us where we've been. They don't have to dictate where we're going." David Rossi

Hope ur feeling inspired!☺️❤️😘