Surprise

AN: Dedicated to CharleyMom & Kenikia67 for their ideas. =)

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage or Eliot.

Eliot was happy to finally be home. Their three day job in Cairo had turned into a week and now all he wanted to do was see Sarah and Cam before getting some much needed rest. He was also anxious to see how his wife was doing, because prior to the job it seemed that she had been coming down with a form of the flu. Exhausted was the excuse she gave them for not going on the job like she was supposed to. And when he had woken up the morning they were leaving to find her bent over the toilet, he had tried to convince her that he should stay home with her as he held her hair back from her face. But assuring him that it would pass and that she would get plenty of fluids and rest, she convinced him to go.

The wonderful aroma of some form of Italian food wafted past his nose as he opened the door, and he smiled as he closed it when he saw Sarah looking much better as she stirred a pot on the stove. Quietly setting down his keys, he silently crept up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning down to trail kisses along her neck.

"Hmmm…I'd know those lips anywhere," she murmured with an appreciative sigh.

"I missed you," he growled out huskily.

"Same here, handsome," she replied, turning in his arms to lean up and kiss him soundly on the lips. He responded in kind, his hands lowering to cup her ass as he pulled her closer, her arms reaching up to bury into his hair. "As much as I'd like to continue this," she murmured against his lips, "Cam is upstairs changin' and dinner's almost ready," she explained.

With a groan he reluctantly pulled back. "Fine…but why is Cam changin' clothes just for dinner?"

"He wanted to wear somethin' special since he knew you were comin' home today," she told him, reaching over to grab something off a nearby plate and dip it in some kind of sauce before taking a bite.

"What is that?" he asked in confusion.

"Mozzarella sticks," she answered as she dipped another and ate it.

"And what are you dippin' them in?"

"Honey mustard," she answered easily, reaching over to grab a glass of what looked to be grapefruit juice.

"Did you go to the doctor?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him with a smile.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. Cam! It's time for dinner!" she yelled out.

"What are we havin'?"

"Chicken Alfredo…wanna taste?" she offered, holding up a spoonful of sauce for his inspection.

"Damn that's good sweetheart. I'm surprised you didn't put shrimp or scallops in it."

She visibly cringed. "Ugh, no seafood tonight," she told him, and he worried at the almost green expression on her face. This confused him because he knew she loved seafood.

Cam came bounding down the stairs moments later with a large grin on his face as he launched himself at Eliot. "Daddy! I missed you so much…you were gone way too long and mama's been actin' all funny," he rushed out.

In growing concern he sat down at the table as Sarah brought their plates over and then filled their glasses before grabbing something out of the cabinet and returning to the table. Soft smile in place as if she knew something no one else did, he watched in mild disgust as she drowned her plate with tobasco sauce and then dug into it with gusto.

"Okay what's goin' on?"

"Daddy…do you like my new shirt mama got me?" Cam asked, tugging on Eliot's sleeve.

Not even looking he replied distractedly, "It looks nice Cam," before turning a mild glare on his wife. "Sweetheart, you're worryin' me. You're eatin' weird things, the idea of seafood made you look like you were gonna be sick, you were throwin' up before I left and now you're ruinin' the Alfredo."

"Mama…he's not lookin' at my shirt. You said he had to see it," Cam exclaimed.

"El…why don't you take a look at Cam's new shirt," she requested softly with that damn smile.

"Fine," he growled, turning to look at the blue, short sleeve tshirt his son wore. "It looks good Cam. Now what's goin'…" but before he could turn back toward Sarah, Cam pulled the hem of the shirt straight, allowing him to see the words more clearly. And as his mind processed the brightly colored letters that spelled out 'Big Brother', he felt Sarah take his hand. "We've been tryin' to tell you…daddy," she finished softly as she placed his hand on her stomach.

The connection between the words on Cam's shirt and what she had just said finally clicked and his eyes widened as his gaze traveled from his hand on her stomach, up to her smiling face. "You still with us?" she teased.

"I'm…you're…we're gonna…really?" he muttered incoherently.

She nodded. "The doc says I'm about ten weeks. I suspected before you left but I wanted to make sure before I…" Anything else she might have said was put to a halt as he engulfed her in a hug, then immediately pulled back.

"Shit sweetheart…sorry," he said, looking down at her stomach with a large grin.

"You can still hug me El," she chuckled, amused at his actions. "So I take it you're happy about this?"

"Happy?" he asked in disbelief before taking her back in his arms. "You have no idea how much this… that you're carryin' our child," he said softly, lowering his hand to caress her stomach. "There are no words for how happy this makes me sweetheart," he murmured leaning in to kiss her.

"When will the baby get here?" Cam asked eagerly.

"Well…the doctor gave me a due date of December twenty ninth," Sarah told him, pulling away from Eliot and kneeling down. "Are you okay with havin' a little brother or sister?"

"I won't be the baby anymore will I?" he asked a little sadly.

"No, but you will always be my first baby," Sarah assured him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Besides," Eliot added. "You get to be the big brother. That's a big thing," he said, ruffling Cam's hair, before turning back to Sarah. "We need to get you some vitamins right? And then there's a class we take and we need to choose a hospital…do you want to have the baby in a hospital? Or do you want a…what do they call 'em…a midwife? Or do you want a water birth? And we have to get stuff for the nursery, and…"

"El!" Sarah exclaimed, raising her voice a little to stop his rambling. "We have seven months," she explained with a chuckle. "The doctor gave me some prenatal vitamins, we can go to Lamaze class if you want and I figured we could go check out the hospital my doctor does deliveries at in a couple of months. And I think we should wait until my sonogram in a two months till we decorate the nursery so we'll know what we're havin'. That is if you wanna know…or do you want it to be a surprise?" she asked unsure.

"Whatever you want sweetheart…what about you little man…you wanna know what your mama's havin'?"

"I definitely wanna know!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Are we gonna tell Grandpa and Uncle Alec? Or is it a secret?"

"Grandpa?" Eliot asked in confusion.

"Grandpa Nate," Cam explained. "He's like your daddy and you're my daddy so that makes him my grandpa," he finished as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"When did this happen?" Eliot asked Sarah.

"Three days ago."

"You think he'll be okay with it?" Cam asked nervously. "I don't wanna make him mad or anything."

"Nah, I think he'll be happy about it," Eliot told him, pulling him in for a brief hug.

"Let's invite them over tomorrow night for dinner," Sarah suggested. "But at the moment, I want brownies," she told him with a big grin. "What do you say Cam? You want some of your dad's brownies?"

"Yes please!" he exclaimed with a wide grin.

"This is one of those cravings isn't it?" Eliot asked her with a smirk, already heading into the kitchen. "I'm gonna have to cater to them if I don't wanna incur your wrath aren't I?"

"I guess it's a good thing that you're such an amazing cook," she retorted.

"Sit," he ordered, before lifting Cam to sit on the island.

"Yes sir!" she mock saluted, taking a seat on a bar stool.

"Extra chocolate I take it?"

"Mmmmm…double the chocolate chips," she added.

"Can I stir the batter daddy?" Cam asked eagerly.

"I suppose so," he replied, causing Cam to clap excitedly.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

By the time the team had arrived the next evening for dinner, their level of curiosity was so high that Sarah and Eliot was finding it hard not to be amused at how many different ways they had tried to discover what was going on.

Earlier that day Sarah had called Hailey and Eliot called David to give them the news, receiving congratulations and squeals of excitement in response, Hailey adding that she and Emma would be down in the next two weeks to visit. They made a joint call to Anne, who immediately burst into tears and started giving Sarah advice on ways to help with some of the symptoms she would be encountering.

After having bribed a promise from Cam not to tell anyone with a trip to the aquarium, she and Eliot decided to see if they would figure it out before telling them outright.

"Grandpa!" Cam greeted enthusiastically, launching himself at the older man; Nate's slightly widened, water filled eyes confirming Eliot's guess at how he would take it.

Everyone kept staring at Eliot and Sarah as they finished preparing dinner and getting it set on the table. The older two noticing the small grins on their faces and the way Eliot kept reaching around her to get to the plates in the cabinets. Sophie's eyes narrowing as she watched Eliot take some of the loaded casseroles and plates of food from Sarah and the irritated scowl she gave him in return.

It wasn't until their plates were filled with spinach stuffed chicken breasts and roasted vegetables that Parker's patience wore off. "You're leavin aren't you? Moving away from us?" she whispered, in a tone reminiscent of a frightened child.

"What? No Parker, we're not leavin'," Eliot assured her, confusion written on his face.

"Then what's up with this important news you have to tell us?" Hardison inquired as he took a bite of his food. "Not that we mind comin' over for your food Eliot, cause damn man, this is amazing, but it sounded important and Parker's been drivin' me up the wall thinkin' you guys are leavin' her," he mumbled in between bites of food.

"We're not leavin' Parker, I promise," Sarah told her with a smile before getting up to go over to a cabinet, pulling out the tobasco, then the fridge, grabbing a can of cheese wiz and returning to the table.

As she squirted the cheese and poured the Tabasco over her entire plate, Nate chuckled, Sophie smiled and Parker and Hardison looked at her in disgust.

"What are you doin?" Hardison asked in disbelief. "That's just nasty girl."

"Congratulations guys," Nate murmured with a smile.

"How far along are you?" Sophie asked.

"Congrats for what? And who's coming along?" Parker asked in confusion.

Hardison's head jerked up from his plate and his eyes began switching from Sarah and Eliot's face to her stomach. Their smiles confirmed his guess. "You guys are…really? That's great!"

"What's going on?" Parker asked again. "Why's everyone so happy?"

"Mama's gonna have a baby Aunt Parker! I'm gonna be a big brother!" Cam announced proudly.

"So you're not leavin'?" she confirmed.

"No Parker," Eliot repeated, a little irritably.

"I'm ten weeks along," Sarah said, answering Sophie. "I'm due December twenty ninth."

"Is that why you're eating like that?" Parker wanted to know, looking at Sarah's plate dubiously.

"It's called cravings Parker, and most pregnant women have them," Sophie explained.

Sarah's face paled as her hand suddenly covered her mouth, and in seconds she jumped up from her chair and rushed to the nearest bathroom. Eliot looked after her worriedly as Sophie silently stood and walked over to the kitchen sink.

"And so it begins," Nate chuckled. "Hope you're ready for it," he threw the hitter's way as Sophie made her way over to him and pressed a cool, wet cloth into his hand, nodding toward the bathroom.

Eliot immediately stood and made his way to Sarah, with the feeling that he was in for a wild ride he would never forget.

Okay so, while I love my son dearly, I did NOT find pregnancy an enjoyable thing. (Except maybe feelin' him doin' acrobatics every night…lol) I LOVE seafood & I couldn't even be in the same room with it without getting' sick. And mornin' sickness? "Snort" Try 24hr a day sickness...lol. The only thing I wanted that didn't make me nauseous was watermelon & Sunny D…which by the way I hate…lol. I told my hubby we could have had a watermelon farm & I woulda been ecstatic. =D