Title: Misconceptions 24/?
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.
Tony and Gibbs got married. Gibbs considered taking early retirement so as to look after the baby when the time came. Ducky invited Jimmy and McGee to stay at his house for as long as they wanted to.
-----------------------
[24]
McGee slowly pushed the door open a crack, just enough so that he could see into the room beyond. It looked unoccupied, but he wasn't taking any chances.
Finally, he pulled back and said to his partner, "Looks like it's all clear. You keep watch, I'll be in and out in a minute."
Taking a deep breath, McGee pushed the door open just wide enough to sneak through it as quietly as he could. The noise of his cane touching the tiled floor sound louder than a jackhammer to his nervous mind. He knew that the consequences of being caught doing what he was doing could be serious. But he'd agreed to this mission and he wasn't about to turn back now.
It could have been worse thought McGee. At least now that the cast had been removed from his ankle, he was able to manage with just a cane for balance instead of the crutches he'd had to use before. But the crutches had come in useful occasionally. For one thing, he never had to go and get coffee for the team. And then there had been another occasion as well where they'd proven to be a useful piece of equipment.
McGee and Gibbs had been conducting interviews on a re-opened case. One of their interviewees - a witness in the original case - had obviously had a guilty conscience and had tried to run. Gibbs had reacted just a fraction too slowly - it being his first day off desk duty since returning from sick leave - and had been knocked off his feet as the guy tried to escape. But McGee had been able to trip him up with his crutch, and had promptly sat on him until Gibbs was back on his feet. "Trust me," McGee had said to the guy, "With Gibbs as pissed off as you've made him, you're safer like this."
Of course, however pissed off Gibbs had been, that had been nothing to Tony's reaction when they'd finally reported in. He'd read Gibbs the riot act for being so careless and had even looked as if he was about to swat him. Then he'd noticed the rest of the team watching him and had taken Gibbs for a private meeting in Gibbs's favorite elevator car. Nobody knew what happened in the 'meeting', but Tony was a lot more relaxed when he returned...although he still restricted Gibbs to desk duty for another two days, saying that he was obviously in need of more time to recover if a deadbeat like that had managed to take him down.
But that was neither here nor there thought McGee as he quickly searched for his objective. Ah, there it was, the container he'd been told to locate. All he had to do was grab the contents...his hand was on the lid when he heard a voice behind him.
"Just what do you think you're doing!"
McGee whirled around to see Ducky standing there, apron tied around him, and a large wooden spoon in his hand. Hands resting on hips, he said, "Replace the lid and step away from the cookie jar, this instant Timothy!"
"I was only going to take a few," protested McGee. "Jimmy couldn't wait until dinner's ready..."
"Do not blame Jimmy for this, young man," said Ducky, sternly. "I am not spending all day cooking a full course Thanksgiving dinner only to have half my family turn up their noses because they've been eating cookies all day!"
"But Ducky!"
"Out!" said Ducky, waving the spoon in a threatening manner. "If either of you is hungry, there's a well filled fruit bowl in the dining room. You can help yourself to that."
McGee grumbled to himself as Ducky shooed him from the kitchen. Once safely in the hallway, he looked around for his partner in crime, and so-called lookout.
"Hey," said McGee, catching sight of Jimmy, lounging in one of the chairs in the hall. "I thought you were supposed to stall Ducky so he wouldn't catch me with my hand in the cookie jar!"
Jimmy quickly sat up straight, "Sorry Tim," he said, his eyes wide and innocent. "I didn't see him in time."
"Ah well, no harm done," said McGee, "But I'm afraid he caught me before I could get anything. You'll have to wait until dinnertime!" He pulled Jimmy to his feet. Leaning in to kiss him, McGee stopped inches away from Jimmy's waiting lips. "Jimmy..." he said, an accusing tone in his voice. "Why does your breath taste of chocolate?"
There was a rustling noise as Jimmy guiltily produced a candy wrapper.
"You! You sent me sneaking into Ducky's kitchen for something sweet, and all the while you had a hidden stash!"
"It was just the one," protested Jimmy. "Not enough to share..." He blushed.
"You sure it's just the one? Because maybe I ought to frisk you," McGee almost growled the word 'frisk'. "Just to make sure you haven't anything else hidden away..." He wrapped his arms around Jimmy.
Jimmy traced a line down the side of McGee's face, "Make it a strip search...and you've got a deal!"
-------------------------
"You're insatiable!" grinned McGee, as he helped Jimmy get dressed a few hours later.
"I'm nearly forty weeks pregnant, and horny as hell," grumbled Jimmy good naturedly as McGee fastened the hard to reach buttons on his shirt. "Besides, make the most of it...once Junior shows up, we'll probably never have sex again!"
"Because we won't want to be doing it with a baby's cot in the corner of the room?"
"Yeah...that and the fact that after going through the birth, I probably won't want you touching me ever again..." Jimmy bit his lip before he could say anything else. He didn't dare look Tim in the eyes. The gentle touch of McGee's hand on his cheek made him look up.
"You're worried about the delivery." It was a statement, not a question.
Jimmy nodded, "I...I don't know if I'll be able to handle it...the pain...what if I can't do it, Tim? What if it's too much for me? Even with the drugs and stuff...I just...what if I'm not strong enough? It's different for Tony, he's been bench pressing and working out most of his adult life. But the most I've done has been moving bodies around...what if I'm not fit enough and...and..." He felt Tim's arms around him, pulling him close and whispering reassuringly into his ear.
"It'll be all right," said McGee softly. "You're fit and healthy, you're going to be able to do this...and do you know how I know that?"
Jimmy shook his head.
"Because I'm going to be there with you every step of the way. I know I can't do this for you...and I wish it was going to be me rather than you going through all this, but I am going to be there, holding your hand, mopping your brow...whatever you need. We're in this together...all three of us." He kissed Jimmy gently as he hugged him. A sudden kick made him smile. "See, Junior agrees with me! Just think Jimmy, another week, two at most...and it'll be you and me...baby makes three." He hugged Jimmy for a little while longer. "Come on...let's see if the others are here yet."
The 'others' consisted of the usual suspects, Abby, Ziva, Tony and Gibbs. Ducky had insisted on preparing most of the meal himself, only allowing the simplest of tasks such as potato peeling and the like to be handled by his house guests. And by the time the rest of the 'family' had arrived, the smells from the kitchen were making everybody's mouths water.
---------------------------------
To be continued
Author's Chapter Notes:
McGee is a man on a mission as the time for the births draws closer.
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.