I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE NCIS:LA CHARACTERS, ONLY MY OWN.
Callen was up early; made a pot of coffee, grabbed the paper and sat out back while Lilly played and lounged in the sun. With the sports section spread across the table, he picked up his coffee mug realizing it was empty. After reading the last sentence in the paragraph, he got up and headed into the house. As he poured another cup of coffee, he looked up at the digital clock on the microwave and realized it was after ten and Amanda wasn't up yet. Had it been any other day, he really wouldn't have been worried, but they needed to head to her parent's house in a few hours for Father's Day dinner.
Even more than their need to head to Tustin, Amanda had been complaining about being overly tired lately and even went to bed with a headache the night before. After dropping a spoonful of sugar in the mug and adding a little cream, he gave it a quick stir and headed in to check on Amanda. Lying on her side, with an arm and leg out of the covers, he set his mug on the nightstand and gave her a good look. She was pale and had a slight scowl on her face. Softly he sat on the bed next to her and brushed her hair off her face.
"Hey Mandy, it's after ten do you want me to call your parent's and let them know we're not going to make it to dinner?" He asked watching her roll to her back and stretch.
"No, I'll be okay. Just give me a few to get moving." She moaned.
"How are you feeling? Do you still have the headache?" He asked as Amanda pulled her arm out of the tangle of blankets and stretched again.
"It's still there and I can't tell if I'm hungry or needing to be sick." She laughed.
"Maybe it would be best if we begged off on dinner and I took you to the ER." He said and immediately she began shaking her head.
"No, this is David's first Father's day, we can't miss it." She told him and struggled to sit up, waves of nausea turned her pale complexion positively green.
She sat motionless for a moment waiting willing it to pass. When it did, she tossed the covers back and pulled herself out of bed. Callen helped her to her feet and kissed her before he headed back out to the back yard knowing the paper had probably blown all over the yard by now. Amanda slowly stepped to the bathroom and as soon as Callen was gone, she hung her head over the toilet praying to throw up. As she stood there, she tried to figure out what she'd eaten that upset her stomach so badly. When she decided that she'd eaten nothing that could've possibly made her sick, she began thinking about anything else that could involve a head splitting headache and nausea.
With a smile, she remembered her dream and quickly began to calculate when her last period was. She stopped dead in her tracks when she realized she honestly couldn't remember. Carefully, she crept back into the bedroom and snatched her phone off the nightstand. She scrolled through the screens on her phone and found the period tracker app, opened it and nearly dropped the phone when it said she was twenty-one days late. Could she really have lost track of that much time? Since going back to work and the operation they'd been working on, she'd lost all concept of time. But twenty-one days; that was utterly inexcusable.
She shot off the bed and looked up the hall then yelled that she as going to take a shower. Amanda bolted into the bathroom and pulled open the cabinet under the sink. Pulling rolls of toilet paper out, boxes of tampons and pads she finally found and old pregnancy test and frowned when she read the expiration date; over a year ago. She threw everything back in the cabinet and sat back against the tub. She had to confirm whether or not she was pregnant before she said anything to Callen. She didn't want to get his hopes up and with this being Father's Day it would be perfect. Amanda reached over and turned the water on it the tub and struggled to get up.
After showering quickly, she got dressed and went to find Callen. "Hey hon, I'm going to run to the drug store to see if I can't find something to take care of this headache."
He got up and walked to the back door, kissing her softly. "Do you want me to drive you over there?"
"No I'm feeling better, I'll be right back." She told him, patting his chest.
Amanda ran through the house and out the front door, locking it behind her. She ran down the steps and to the Nissan, not noticing Martha sitting on the porch next door. "Amanda?" She yelled and headed to the sidewalk. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think so. I'm just running to the drug store to find something for this headache." She said and unlocked the car door.
"Oh, okay." She said and turned towards her house until Amanda was gone, then headed over to Amanda and Callen's.
Amanda grinned like mad when she pulled into the parking lot of the drug store around the corner. She threw open the car door, hopped out and regretted it as a wave of nausea washed over her. Doubled over waiting for whatever to happen, she slowly stood upright and walked to the automatic doors. Like she always did when she stopped by the drug store, she looked over at the register and said hello to whomever was working, then made a beeline to the feminine product aisle. She stood there for a second mind reeling and grabbed one with a digital display that said pregnant or not pregnant in the result window.
With the pregnancy test in hand, she walked a few aisles over and stood looking at the pain relievers, choosing a migraine medication. She wasn't paying any attention to anyone around her as she headed back up to the register. She smiled at the woman behind the register.
"Hey Amanda, what are you doing here, I thought you were headed up to Tustin?" The woman asked.
"We are Carol, I just had to grab a few things." Amanda told her.
The woman looked down at the counter and beamed. "Are you serious?"
Amanda nodded. "According to the app on my phone, I'm twenty-one days late. I've got a horrible migraine and nearly tossed my cookies in the parking lot when I jumped out of the car."
Quickly she rang up Amanda's purchases and picked up the receiver on the phone next to the register. "Bill can you cover the front register for a few minutes, I need a break." She said and listened for a moment before hanging up. "Bill's on his way up, take it here then we can pick out a Father's Day card for your husband."
"I was thinking the very same thing." Amanda laughed as an older man walked behind the register.
"Hey Amanda, how are you today?" He asked.
"Probably pregnant." Carol giggled, waving the pregnancy test at him.
The grey-haired grandfatherly-looking man smiled warmly. "Oh, honey I hope so. You two have been through so much."
Amanda followed Carol back to the employee area of the store. "Here use the employee's restroom, you're not as likely to be interrupted." She said leaning against the wall next to the door. "You know you're really supposed to take those things first thing in the morning when you get up."
"I think I've only been up for about a half-hour, forty-five minutes." Amanda shouted and sat the stick on a paper towel she'd put on the counter.
Amanda stood there for no more than a minute before the test gave its result. Her heart soared as she stared down at the positive results. Like a flash, she washed her hands and grabbed the test, wrapping it in yet another wad of paper towels. Carol was pacing when she opened the door and looked at her expectantly.
"Well?" She asked as if she'd die if she didn't know right then and there.
"Let's go find G a Father's Day card." Amanda squealed as the two women bounced up and down together.
Amanda turned green and ran for the bathroom. Bill yelled back from the front saying something about pickle juice, so Carol made a run for the refrigerator section and stopped off at the baby aisle remembering they had in the past carried pregnancy drops for morning sickness. When she ran back to the employee's bathroom, Amanda wasn't there. Carol called for her as she walked the center aisle and found her staring at the picked over selection of Father's Day cards.
Carol opened the car and held it out to Amanda. She laughed and shook her head. "No, I'm not drinking pickle juice."
"Bill, help me here." Carol yelled. "How many kids did you and Millie have?"
"Six." He said walked over to them. "And she always made sure we had pickles in the house. Just a sip should do it for now."
Amanda looked between the two of them and hesitantly reached for the jar. At that moment, she'd give anything to have the horrible blah feeling go away. "If I keel over, my phone is in my purse, call G." She laughed and took a sip.
With a raised eyebrow and small smirk, Bill watched waiting for the look of relief to wash over her. Within seconds, Amanda smiled and commented on how good it tasted. "Yep, you're definitely pregnant."
"I need a box." Amanda laughed and turned to look at the gift bags.
"You're giving him the pregnancy test?" Carol laughed.
"You're damn right. This will be the best Father's day present. He'll think it's from the dog." She laughed.
An hour later, Amanda pulled up in front of the house. With a deep breath, she grabbed the gift bag, shopping bag and her purse before opening the car door and climbed out. Martha was nowhere to be seen, so Amanda headed to the door and let herself in. Callen was sitting on the couch looking at the paper, dressed and ready to go. Lilly hopped off the couch and met her. Amanda walked over to the coffee table and dropped the gift bag on it.
"What's this?" He asked looking at her with a smile.
"You're Father's day present." She told him while scratching Lilly's head.
"You didn't have to do that, Amanda." He said sitting forward. "Did you have something to do with this?" He asked the dog.
"Just open it G." Amanda growled eagerly.
Callen chuckled and grabbed the bag. He grunted when Amanda told him to open the car first. He eyed her as he opened the envelope and pulled out the card. She watched his face as he read the car. A small from formed on his lips as he looked up at her.
"Thank you Amanda." He said softly. "Someday, when we have kids it would be the perfect card."
"Open the package." She urged.
He sat there for a moment looking at the bag and looked up at Amanda. He could see the excitement in her eyes and grabbed the bag. One by one, he pulled the sheets of tissue paper out and tossed them on the couch next to him. Callen gave her an off look when he got to the bottom of the bag and there sat a narrow box. Amanda animatedly rolled her hands and told him to hurry up. Picking up the box he gave it a shake.
"You got me a pen set?" He laughed seeing her frustration.
She shook her head and again told him to hurry up and open it. With a sigh, he opened the box and stared at the stick. His eyes were unreadable for a moment until he looked up at her, tears welling in the corners.
"Are you?" He asked with excitement bubbling so close to the surface she thought he'd explode.
"I am." She said softly.
In an instant, the bag and test were on the coffee table and she was on her feet wrapped in his arms. The two stood there for fifteen minutes crying. It was a relief, two years after the accident, they were beginning to think Amanda couldn't get pregnant. "I love you so much." She told his, sobbing into his neck.
"Oh God Mandy. You have no idea, after everything we've been through it's finally happened." He sighed wrapping his arms even tighter around her.
"I got an uncle card for David and two grandpa cards for Dad and George." She told him.
"We should probably head out. I can't wait to tell them." He said taking her hand, leading her towards the door.