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Chapter Eight
The Stick With All The Answers
Abby thought the first week of waiting was bad, but the second week was worse. She had to reschedule her OB appointment because of a court date to three days after the two week mark. The doctor told her she could take an at-home pregnancy test and would damn near as accurate. She wanted to test it in her lab with all of her equipment that she knew would churn out a completely accurate answer, but she didn't want to risk being caught. The court date was set back another three weeks and Abby went home early.
The Friday she was supposed to go to the doctors after work, Abby went to the nearby pharmacy and bought ten pregnancy tests. The cashier gave her a funny look and Abby told her it was for accuracy. From the pharmacy she rushed to her apartment and started chugging water. Since she already had to use the bathroom when she got home she took three tests with her.
Half an hour later and almost two gallons of water Abby had taken all of the tests. She laid them out in front of her on her bathroom counter, face down. She was trying to ready herself for good or bad news. She was praying it was all good.
She sealed her eyes tightly and started flipping the tests right-side-up. When she got to the last one she took in a deep breath and held it, then opened her eyes. She scanned all of the pregnancy tests and almost screamed.
They were all positive.
Every single test was positive. There was a ten-out-of-ten chance that she was pregnant.
She squealed loudly and started dancing and then she had to jump. No matter how much she jumped around, she still had to do it. "I'M PREGNANT!" She screamed.
She bounded out to her kitchen and snatched her cell phone up and started dialing Evy. She knew she was working, but she still had to tell someone. The phone rang until it got to her voicemail.
"Mommy can't answer, call back never!" Tristan's four-year-old self laughed and Abby had to smile.
After she heard the beep Abby started ranting. "EVY! They were all positive! Ten of them! I'm pregnant! Even if there was a stupid mix up with court! I'M PREGNANT!" She screamed and then hung up the phone.
Abby wanted to call everyone and tell them the good news but remembered sadly that she wasn't telling anyone other than Evy, her brother and Gibbs until she was out of her first trimester. She knew her brother was probably sleeping and since she had already left a voicemail with Evy and that only left Gibbs.
She was avoiding that however. As much as she was thankful for Gibbs she was also scared of how he might react. She wanted him to know, and he had every right to know, but she didn't want him running back to Mexico. Her mood was starting to sour just thinking about how negatively everyone in her life might react to her having a baby and she forced herself to think about anything else
"Shopping! That's it Abby. Shopping. Spending ridiculous amounts of money on cute baby things. That will make you stop thinking about depressing things that might not happen." She tried to tell herself rationally, ignoring the fact that she was talking to herself.
Abby grabbed her purse and ran out of the house. She drove to the nearest Target and rushed to the baby aisles. Her mind was still weighed down by all the thoughts of what could or couldn't happen. Being a scientist was not helping her now. She couldn't shake the thought of all the possibilities. No matter how many baby booties she looked at, or how many car seats she compared, her mind kept going back to all the good and bad probabilities.
"Abby?" A familiar Israeli accent asked confused behind her.
Abby spun in her platforms and saw Ziva standing at the end of the aisle. "Ziva!" She squealed.
"Why are you in the baby aisle?" Ziva asked, walking up to her.
"I have a pregnant friend, she's having a baby shower soon." Abby covered quickly. Ziva looked a slight bit suspicious but seemed to move past it quickly.
"Oh, what is she having?" Ziva asked curiously.
"It's a surprise." Abby said cheerfully.
"I do not like surprises." Ziva said flatly.
Abby looked at Ziva with knitted brows. "That's just you Ziva." She told her shaking her head.
"I suppose." Ziva said with nonchalant shrug. "May I help pick out the gift?" She asked with smiling excitedly.
"You're into baby stuff?" Abby asked taken back.
"What, because I am Mossad I do not think babies are cute?!" Ziva exclaimed frustrated.
Abby leaned far away from Ziva without stepping away. "No, you just don't really come off as the nurturing type." She mumbled fearfully.
"I coddle small children, not apes like Tony." Ziva said dangerously.
Abby nodded. "Sure thing, Ziva."
The two women looked around the baby aisle silently for a minute or two before Abby's nerves got the best of her. "Can I ask you something?" She asked pleadingly.
"Of course," Ziva said confidently.
"If you had something, somewhat important, to tell Gibbs, that's personal I mean, would you do it immediately or wait until Monday?" Abby asked biting her lip nervously.
"Gibbs does not like to be kept in the dark about things." Ziva noted seriously.
"True, but it's the weekend." Abby pointed out, trying to find a way out of talking to Gibbs.
"All he does is drink and work on his boat." Ziva said confused.
"Exactly." Abby said.
Ziva looked at her blankly. "You are avoiding him." She stated.
"I am not!" Abby exclaimed.
"Abby," Ziva said pointedly.
"Okay, fine I am." Abby muttered deflated.
"What is so bad that you must avoid telling Gibbs?" Ziva asked quietly, looking around suspiciously.
"It's not bad, it's just something I know he needs to know, but I don't know if I should tell him right now." Abby explained gently.
"Are you leaving?" Ziva asked sadly.
"No! I'd never leave NCIS! I love you guys too much!" Abby cried out, wrapping her arms around Ziva for a quick hugs.
Ziva hugged her awkwardly for a moment before letting her go and taking a step away. "Okay, so what is it?" She asked impatiently.
"Uh, well, it's not really a sure thing at the moment, so I don't want everyone to know until it's a certainty." Abby answered awkwardly.
"But since Gibbs needs to know everything, you are telling him now, yes?" Ziva asked almost rhetorically.
"Yeah," Abby nodded, looking at Ziva expectantly, waiting for her to pull for more information.
Ziva nodded. "I understand and I promise not to tell Tony or McGee anything." She said honestly.
Abby pulled her Israeli friend into a tight hug. "Ziva you're so awesome sometimes it almost makes me cry." She muttered against Ziva's flowing brown hair.
"Thank you Abby," Ziva chuckled, hugging Abby happily. Abby basked in the shorter woman's arms for a little while before she let go and took a small step away. "You should tell Gibbs." Ziva said seriously.
"I know," Abby sighed frowning deeply.
Ziva patted Abby's shoulder comfortingly. "Good luck with the baby shower present." She said before leaving the aisle.
"Thanks," Abby muttered to herself.
Abby continued to stare at the baby booties for ten minutes before she gave up and stalked out of the store. There was no point, she was going to have to tell Gibbs today or she wasn't going to be able to sleep until she did. And last she checked sleep was very important to helping her fetus grow. She pulled out her cell phone a she reached her car and dialed Gibbs number.
It rang four times before he answered. "Yeah Abs?" Gibbs asked slightly confused.
"Is it okay if I come over?" She asked trying to make sure her voice didn't give too much away, or give him a reason to worry. The last thing she needed was a police escort to his house.
"Sure," He said curiously.
"I'll be there in twenty minutes." She said with a sigh of relief then hung up the phone, probably at the same time Gibbs did.
Abby knew how to get to Gibbs house in her sleep and could probably drive there with her eyes closed. Gibbs car was the only one in the driveway and he was sitting on his stoop with a glass jar of bourbon. Abby was relieved he was alone, it was bad enough that she was taking away from his weekend, interrupt him when he might actually be socializing.
Abby climbed out of her car and walked up to Gibbs slowly. "Hi Gibbs," She sighed, sitting down next to him, stretching her legs out in front of him.
"Hey Abby," He said with his boyish grin before taking a swig of his bourbon.
"Can we talk?" She asked hopefully, smoothing her skirt over the tops of her thighs.
"We already are." He pointed out smugly.
Abby sighed exasperated and looked at Gibbs with narrowed eyes.
Gibbs chuckled. "What's up Abby?" He asked earnestly.
"I'm not going back to the doctor until Monday, but I took some pregnancy tests." She said staring at the end of her skirt instead of Gibbs.
"Some?" He asked confused.
"Okay, well, ten, but I needed a high ratio-" She stopped when she looked to Gibbs and saw he was giving her his 'stop speaking lab-geek' look. "Right, well, like I said I took ten pregnancy tests and they all came out positive." She added cautiously.
The look that crossed Gibbs' face was one that could only be described as a mixture between conflicted and confused. "Congratulations." He said flatly.
Needless to say Abby wasn't thrilled with his reaction but he was still sitting next to her and his glass wasn't empty. He was, however, raising the jar to his lips. "Well, it's not entirely sure, but it's pretty definitive." She said surely. Gibbs downed the remainder of what he had in his jar and nodded. "I don't want to make the big announcement until I'm out of my first trimester." She told him.
"So why'd you tell me?" He asked with a raised brow.
"Because you're you, Gibbs. I can't hide anything from you." She answered honestly.
Gibbs looked straight ahead with a stony face. She only ever saw him like this when he was really confused, like a big case without any leads. Abby was pretty sure he wasn't mad, but then again no one could ever be entirely sure with Gibbs.
"I know it's weird for you, it should probably be weird for me too, but it's really not. Well, anyway, I just wanted to let you know." She blurted suddenly.
While waiting for Gibbs to say or do anything her foot started to tap impulsively. Minutes dragged on and Gibbs stayed quiet. Abby stood and started walking to her car, feeling a little dejected.
"Abby," Gibbs said roughly. Abby spun quickly to look at him, her green eyes filled with hope. "It'll be okay." He told her firmly.
She smiled smally. "I know Gibbs." She said surely. "See you at work." She said feeling a little more relieved.
Gibbs nodded and stood, turning his back to Abby without another word and walking into his house. Abby got back into her car and drove home, feeling a little more relieved about Gibbs. She knew he was resilient and he'd be okay no matter what. Or at least that's what she hoped. When she got back to her apartment Evy's truck was close by and she quickly parked and ran up to her apartment.
She didn't have to open the door because Evy was already waiting for her in the open doorway.
"Positive?" She asked impatiently.
"All of them!" Abby cried happily.
"Holy crap!" Evy yelled bouncing.
"I KNOW!" Abby squealed, running at Evy and hugging her instantly.
They hugged their way into the apartment, barely shutting the door, and were still squealing. Evy finally detached herself from Abby and was smiling brilliantly.
"How do you feel?" Evy asked buzzing.
"I feel excited. I can't wait until I actually feel pregnant." Abby answered beaming.
"Bite your tongue, trust me." Evy groaned.
"I know it's gonna suck but I knew that before I started all of this." Abby said surely. She wasn't so twisted that she wanted morning sickness, but she was willing to take whatever pregnancy through at her for her baby.
"And you'll know it intimately soon." Evy said sympathetically, patting her shoulder.
"You'll still be my friend when I'm crazy, right?" Abby asked hopefully, looking at Evy seriously.
"You make it sound like you aren't already." Evy laughed.
"True," Abby said smiling deviously.
"You never know, you might actually get saner." Evy teased.
"Don't say such things!" Abby yelled, smacking Evy.
"I'm just saying, it can happen." Evy chuckled. Abby looked at her pointedly. "Did you tell the father?" She asked carefully.
Abby lost most of her cheer and nodded. "Yeah," She said with a slight frown.
"Everything okay?" Evy asked rubbing Abby's shoulders comfortingly.
A knowing and sly grin covered Abby's dark lips as she remembered what Gibbs told her not so long before. "Everything is fine." She said surely.
Evy looked at her strangely but Abby kept smiling only because she knew Gibbs had said everything would be okay and really, how many documented cases were there of Gibbs being wrong? Not enough to convince her that Gibbs was wrong this time, that's for sure.
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