Later that night, Abby and Tim were lying in bed. Abby was snuggled up next to him, her head resting on his shoulder. She traced the fading scars on his chest, reminding her of how close she had been to losing him.
“Tim, I want to get married before the baby is born.”
“I thought you said you wanted to wait, have the wedding after.”
“We can have a wedding after, but I want to be married before the baby is here.”
“Okay, I guess we can go to the courthouse. When do you want to do it?”
“Tomorrow,”
“Tomorrow? Wow, you really mean it.”
“Yes I do Tim. Do you?”
He kissed her forehead. “Of course I do honey. I just want to make sure my parents and sister can be there, and Gibbs, Tony and Ducky too. Can we wait just a couple of days?”
“Sure. I wasn’t thinking about that.”
He put his hands on her ever growing stomach. He could feel the baby kicking. “I love you so much Abby, and I love the fact that you’re having my baby. You don’t know how happy I am Abby. I feel so lucky to have you here with me.”
He shifted and spooned up behind her, holding her tightly. He kissed her neck. “I love you Abbs.”
“I love you too Tim.” Abby fell asleep in Tim’s arms after he gently made love to her, dreaming about what was in store for them.
Several days later, they were married in the company of their closest family and friends. They had decided to have a larger wedding sometime in the spring after the baby was born. Things were hectic for them now, Christmas was less than two weeks away and Abby was now a little over four weeks from her due date of January 13th.
Ignoring Gibbs request for her to go on maternity leave, she still continued to work, telling him she would rather be there than sitting on her butt getting fatter. Her hormones were kicking in and everyone at work was getting used to her crying for no reason.
Tony and Tim continued to bond further. On more than one occasion, Tony had gone to the lab to talk to Abby when Tim had come in to his desk nearly in tears. Even Gibbs had given Tim a few pep talks on the days where Tim looked like he was at the end of his rope. He loved Abby to death, but he was having a hard time dealing with her mood swings.
One particularly bad morning, two days before Christmas, Tony came in to find Tim sitting at his desk playing with his wedding band and on the verge of crying.
“Man, do I need to go see Abby again? What happened Tim?”
“We had a fight. I slept on the couch.”
“Ouch, what did you fight about?”
“I told her I wanted her to stay home after the baby was born. She wasn’t very receptive to the idea. Things got crazy and we said some things we shouldn’t have. God Tony, we haven’t had a fight since before I got shot. I don’t want us to be mad at each other, especially at Christmas. My family is coming over tomorrow. She won’t even talk to me.”
“Who won’t talk to you?” Gibbs said as he walked into the bullpen.
“Abby.”
“What did you do to her?"
Tim looked at Tony nervously. Tony spoke to Gibbs. “He didn’t do anything to her boss. They are just having a bad day.”
“I’ll go see her,” he said as he turned back around and headed for her lab.
“Thanks Tony.” Tim said gratefully.
Tony just smiled and walked over to sit at his desk.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Pregnancy throws Abby and Tim out of balance.