Sequel to the Detective's Unexpected Pregnancy, loosely based on 3.06/07.


When Gregorio entered the office, she saw with the corner of the eye Christopher hiding something as soon as he had spotted her; she grunted, feeling like slapping him on that thick skull of his; with just two steps, she had reached his desk, and once there, she crossed her arms, looking at him in a way that would have made felt guilty even a saint. And that left no doubt to what she meant and how disappointed she was in him in that instant.

Chris didn't even bother to try to defend himself- he simply pouted like he was some adorable kid, knowing all too well that his partner had just gotten him with his hand in the cookies jar and there was nothing he could say to defend himself; Gregorio, thanks to a chance meeting with Melody herself, was now aware of the whole situation/potential disaster, and for the last week she had tried to get him to do the right thing -or even just anything- and yet he had done almost anything at all.

"And here I thought you were a family man enjoying the family life, and instead, it looks like everything's peachy…"

Chris groaned, sighing dramatically as he hid his head between his crossed arms, his forehead hitting the hard wood of his desk. "Last week there was me, my girlfriend and a toddler that barely allowed us to sleep two hours straight each night. Now, on top of that, I'm spending most of my time at my old place, with a two years old with a silver spoon in his mouth and a mama I barely know, and I have to find all kind of excuses with Georgie…"

Gregorio groaned. "C'mon, LaSalle, you knew her well enough to make a baby with the woman!"

Chris sent death glares in her direction, not even bothering answering her accusations; instead, he groaned, and ranted some more. "Plus she either texts or calls me every five minutes… Pick up the clothes at the laundry. Buy the formula. Pick up diapers. Pick up sippy cups, pick up this, pick up that… I don't even know what a sippy cup actually is or where I could find one!"

Gregorio groaned, looking in disbelief around herself- like to check if there was someone else, other than them, in the room. "Is that you… asking me for advice? Me? Because normally, LaSalle, I'd love to help, I really would, but I'm back in DC in about a minute and a half."

Chris pouted, and looked at her like asking her for help wasn't his choice- just what life had thrown at him to begin with. He was starting to like Gregorio- he really did- but his "family" was a whole other matter…

"Only problem is, Gregorio, you are the only one to know." He sighed.

Gregorio groaned, and took a seat at his desk, right before Chris; her hands joined over the table, she looked at him like she was a disappointed parent, and then, chuckling, she finally started talking again. "You know, I thought you would have told Country Mouse by now…."

"I am Country Mouse. Percy is City Mouse, all right?" He pouted, like she had just insulted him, and not done a reasonable mistake over something that was, frankly, very childish in her opinion.

Gregorio rolled her eyes and groaned, exasperated that Chris was getting only what he wanted out of their "discussion", if what they were having could be called like that. "Or you could have told Pride- as he has more homespun advice than Doctor Phil and has a grown-up who turned up all right. But you haven't done any of that. And you know why?"

"Why do I feel like you'll tell me anyway?"

Gregorio chuckled, as he was right and she indeed was going to tell him- wheatear he wanted her to or not. "You are not telling them because they'll tell you the same thing I'm about to tell you. You've got a fiancé, LaSalle, she deserves to know what the hell is going on- and Percy too. Because right now your head isn't in the game, and if you don't keep your mind in the game, you put us in danger, all right?"

Gregorio paused, sighed, and, biting her lips, looked around; with the corner of her eyes, she could see said fiancé outside, talking with Pride- about the Giovanelli case, she guessed from the look of things- but there was something else; Gregorio had been around Newman quite a lot lately, also because the former FBI had been the only one to actually want her around when she had joined the team. Also, she wasn't just FBI- she was also a quite decent profiler, and she could see that there was something off about the forensic investigator.

"You have to tell her," She whispered, and yet, it seemed awfully a lot like she was screaming at the idiot right before her. "She isn't an idiot. She's a good cop who doesn't deserve any of this, all right? If you don't tell her she'll get suspicious, if she's not already, and if she finds out before you tell her, you'll not have to worry about dividing yourself between your two families, but she'll have you out of her door the minute you try to explain why you thought it was a good idea hiding something like that!"

Chris groaned as his head fell back, his eyes fixed on the white ceiling, feeling suddenly as empty as the same wall he was staring at. "Is that your version of "the more I know, the more I can help, the more we can keep each other safe" from Pride's rulebook?"

Gregorio smiled, and was ready to answer something, when his phone rang yet again, and as he went to answer it, she left her seat at his desk and checked on her own phone, hoping that Chris would follow her advice and ask Pride to help him sort his feelings out.

Because the longer he didn't do anything, he kept things from his loved ones, the higher was the chance that that someone would get hurt- and if maybe an adult's heart could be repaid, she had seen way too many times how a child could never fully heal when betrayed by an adult.

Especially if the adult in question was her own father…


"Georgie! Here for a case?" Georgie looked at Chris and Gregorio plotting something, her eyes as big as saucers; as soon as she heard Pride's voice, she shook her head, clearing her mind as she offered him some sheets of paper filled with graphics, calculations and all kind of scientific data and reconstructions and the likes.

"Yeah," She managed to say, feeling a little at loos, like she had suddenly forgot what she was doing there or wasn't sure of it any longer. "It's about the Giovanelli case? The pattern of the blood spatters doesn't add up with the crime scene we found, like, at all. We were right in our first assumption that the whole thing had been staged. Loretta isn't even sure about the cause of death yet…"

Georgie took a big breath, and, lowering her eyes, she bit her lips, staying in silence; more than once, it seemed that she would have said something to her superior and friend, and yet, not word would escape her sealed lips.

"Something's on your mind, Georgie?" Pride inquired, sounding- and feeling- worried for the younger forensic investigator; he followed her gaze, from the garden all the way to the inside of the building, to Christopher and Gregorio whispering at each other, like they were some kind of conspirators.

"I'm worried, King." She finally admitted, taking her gaze away from her fiancée, shaking her head slightly as she put her hands in her pockets. "Chris hasn't been home for days, and even when he is with me, his mind is somewhere else, and he keeps doing his best to avoid me… he is jumpy, he looks like a zombie, he keeps getting calls and texts and he won't tell me what's wrong with him…"

Pride shook his head, looking at Christopher inside; he sighed, mentally lecturing the kid for his behaviour. "He does seem a little distracted lately.."

Georgie looked at Pride, trying to cold-read him, to understand if he too was worried, if he was going to do something about it or not; she knew how he worked, that he preferred to have people going to talk with him when they felt ready, but she wasn't sure she could wait any longer. Had it only been her, maybe, but her daughter was worth too much…

"Listen, I know that you do the Pride talking to only when we are ready and we come to you, but…" she took another breath, and turning to face him, she plead the older man with her eyes. "But I'm desperate, King. You really need to talk with Chris… he and Gregorio are up to something, and it can't be anything good because otherwise he would be telling me… instead, from the look of things, she is the only one to know, other than him."

Pride chuckled, and Georgie rolled her eyes, grunting, recognizing that the man was trying to divert her focus away from the main discussion, and her problems. "Now, what?"

"Nothing, just considering that you are the only member of my team who refers to Gregorio with her given name when she isn't around." His words proved her right- Pride was half-joking, half-serious, he was trying to lower the tension to at least given her the impression of feeling any better.

"She is FBI. There's nothing wrong with being FBI. I used to be FBI myself and I'm quite sure I turned out pretty well." She sighed, quite loudly and dramatically. "Will you talk with him? Please?"

Pride groaned, shaking his head; he opened his mouth as to speak, but before he could one single word pout, his phone rang, cutting the conversation short. "Pride." He simply said; his mind on the call, his eyes went to Georgie, and he saw her standing there, staring at Christopher in the distance. She was tired, she looked exhausted, but more than that, what got to him was how defeated she looked like, too worried for her own good. It was like she was just a shadow of her usual self, like she was desperately trying to put on a show that wasn't fooling anyone; whatever she was thinking- it wasn't any good that she was doing any of that. Not for her, not for Cait, and neither for her relationship with Christopher.

The first time she had been living in Nola Georgie hadn't been like that, but Gibb's words were still fresh in his mind, how deep the young woman had fallen when losing her beloved husband; even if Christopher was alive and well, Pride could see in her eyes how hunted Georgie was; falling for the younger NCIS agent had been a risk for her- one she had been more than willing to take- but now she was scared. He could see it clearly. She was asking herself if maybe she hadn't been right when doubting Chris- if maybe, just maybe, he wasn't just like any other man in her life.

Pride covered the speaker of his phone with his big, warm hand, and put the other on her shoulder, holding her like he was the only thing keeping her afloat. "I will." He said, and for a second he saw the doubt in her eyes, the fear that he too, like too many other men in her life, would take a promise back. "As soon as I'll find the right moment, I will talk with Christopher. I promise."

Her eyes red with lack of sleep, worry and unshed tears, Georgie simply nodded, grabbing Pride's hand on her shoulder for a fraction of second.