Title: Misconceptions 23/?
Author: Ceindreadh
Email: Ceindreadh@eircom.net
Website: n/a
Permission to archive: Yes to WWOMB, anybody else, please ask first.
Fandom(s): NCIS
Genre (general, hetero or slash) : Slash, M-PREG, Angst/hurt-comfort
Pairing/Characters: Gibbs/DiNozzo, McGee/Jimmy
Rating: T
Warnings: THIS IS AN M-PREG FIC. If you don't like M-Preg then don't read it. If you read it anyway, then don't go complaining to me that you don't like it *because* it's M-Preg
Later chapters *will* feature minor character death, just so you know.
Disclaimer. I don't own the NCIS characters, I'm only borrowing them, and I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished.
Notes: Thanks to FatCat for her Beta'ing
I was going to go into this whole pseudo-scientific explanation as to how M-Preg works in this universe, but then I thought, Feck it. It works, and that's it.
Previously on NCIS. Gibbs and McGee returned to work. Gibbs proposed, Tony accepted, and they got married a week later. Ducky's wedding present to them was a night in the hotel where they consummated their marriage.
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[23]
"What? What are you talking about? You can't retire, you can't leave N.C.I.S...Gibbs, we can't do without you...we need you, *I* need you!" Tony got up and started pacing around the room. "Dammit Gibbs, what's wrong with you? We finally get things back on track and you just have go and mess them up again. I thought we were going to be a team...get things back to the way they used to be."
Gibbs caught up with Tony and wrapped his arms around him. "Things change Tony...we can't go back to the way things were." He let his hands rest on Tony's belly. "And I for one wouldn't want to."
Tony leaned back against Gibbs and sighed, "Me neither...I mean, I want this baby so much...and I know *some* things have to change...I just wish *everything* didn't have to change..."
"Change isn't bad, Tony." Gibbs kissed him on a shoulder, "So long as we're both happy with it. I haven't made any decisions yet, nothing's set in stone. I just want to see what our options are first." He sighed, his breath hot against Tony's neck, "Like I said, we don't have to make a decision yet...but we *do* have to start thinking about it."
"But who'll be in charge when you retire?" asked Tony.
"Who do you think?" said Gibbs. He could feel Tony tense in his arms, "You've been doing a great job these past few weeks."
"Yeah, but I was just waiting for you and..." Tony's voice trailed off as he remembered the past week, and how even though Gibbs had been nominally back at work, he had taken a back seat for much of the time. Tony had figured that Gibbs was just easing himself into things, not wanting to put too much of a strain on his healing body. Now he kicked himself for not noticing it sooner. "All this week, you've just been watching me...seeing how I'm doing with my own team?"
"You've done me proud, Tony," said Gibbs, "This Cold Case squad...after you come back from parental leave, it's yours. Whether or not I take early retirement...you'll still be the Boss."
Tony wriggled around until he was facing Gibbs. "You mean I'd get to order you around?" he teased gently. "Send you out to get coffee for me the way *I* like it?"
"Of course." Gibbs leaned in and kissed Tony on the lips, "But if you try making me call you Sir..." He growled in mock annoyance.
And that was the last coherent utterance from either of them for the next few hours as they gently consummated their marriage all over again.
Several hours later as they lay entwined, Tony was the first one to speak. "I guess...maybe we should start thinking about things...like names...you got any suggestions?"
Gibbs grunted contentedly as he tried to drag his brain back from the heights of pleasure that Tony had brought him to. "Not at the moment...no wait...call me picky...but I don't want to name our kid after any of your exes..."
"Well that'll narrow the field considerably," teased Tony, as he stroked Gibbs's chest. "But I *do* have one suggestion..." His voice was suddenly serious as he told Gibbs his idea.
Gibbs smiled, "That's top of the list for me as well, my love."
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Tony stretched as far as he could, but he couldn't reach his objective. "Dammit," he swore to himself as he let his whole body relax. "Okay, DiNozzo," he told himself, "Just one more try..." He grunted and groaned as he reached...but to no avail. Finally he gave up and flopped back on the bed. He waited a few seconds to catch his breath before calling, "Gibbs!" For good measure, he thumped on the floor with the baseball bat that had been leaning against the wall.
There was the sound of running footsteps coming up the stairs and down the hallway. A wide-eyed Gibbs appeared in the doorway, "Tony, are you okay?"
"No," said Tony, gloomily. He held his foot out to Gibbs for inspection. "I can't reach to tie my laces!"
"You can't tie your laces...Tony, remind me again why I left the baseball bat beside the bed?"
"Um...so I could knock on the floor and get your attention?"
"Yes...and under what circumstances were you to use it?"
"If I had a contraction...ah..."
"Yeah..."
Gibbs sighed in mock exasperation, but he ruffled Tony's hair affectionately as he knelt before him to tie his shoelaces. "You know, Velcro straps would be a lot easier now that you can barely reach your feet."
"Gucci shoes don't have Velcro straps," sniffed Tony disdainfully. "And they're about the only designer item I own that I can still fit into."
At thirty-eight weeks, Tony's choice of apparel was severely limited. Most of his designer clothes were still in the boxes they'd been packed into for his move into Gibbs's house. The move was only a temporary measure; neither Tony's apartment nor Gibbs's house was really an ideal place for the family, but Gibbs refused to even consider house hunting until after the baby was born. As a compromise, and since Gibbs had more storage space, they'd packed up everything Tony would need for the next few months and moved it lock stock and DVD collection into Gibbs's house.
The move had been completed in the nick of time, because a few days later, Tony had shaken Gibbs awake in the middle of the night and told him he thought he was having contractions.
One quick trip to the hospital, was followed an hour later by the pair heading home, with Tony complaining about how was he expected to know the difference between Braxton-Hick's and the real thing.
He'd managed to avoid any more false alarms, but now Tony couldn't wait for the real thing...if only so he could wear something other than the baggy sweatpants and t-shirts he felt like he'd been living in since he'd started his parental leave.
"There, all done," said Gibbs as he finished tying a double knot in the laces. Standing, he pulled Tony to his feet. "Come on, we'll be late."
"You mean *you'll* be late..." Tony grinned, "Ducky doesn't mind what time I show up at his place."
"Yeah, but I still have to drop you there *and* get to the office on time. Just because I'm the temporary boss, doesn't mean I can be setting a bad example."
"To who?" shrugged Tony. "Zeeeeva will have been there hours ago like usual, and McGee can't get there until you pick him up. Besides, if you really want to be there on time, I can drive myself to Ducky's."
Gibbs had 'suggested' that Tony spend his free days at Ducky's place with Jimmy, rather than being stuck at home on his own. Gibbs being Gibbs, it hadn't really been a suggestion.
"Nice try, DiNozzo, but you're not getting back behind the wheel until after the birth."
Tony grumbled good-naturedly about over protective parents to be as he followed Gibbs down the stairs, but he wasn't really complaining. Sometimes being wrapped in cotton wool...felt kind of good.
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To be continued
Author's Chapter Notes:
Is Gibbs really going to retire?
Chapter End Notes:
I wrote a fic called Reality Check, which featured an M-Preg dream. Feedback was so positive that I decided to do the real thing.