Riding up in the elevator, Tim studied his reflection in the polished metal. Tony had done a great job picking out clothes for him as the sweater was bulky enough to skim over his changing shape. A woman in his position might have caught someone's attention, but since no one expected to see a pregnant man, he was safe for the moment. When the doors opened, Gibbs' hand on the small of his back was a comforting reminder that he wasn't alone in this.

They were expected, so Pamela waved them right in. Tim recognized the head of the legal department, Sharon Collins, sitting across from Vance, but the surprise was Jackie Vance sitting next to her.

"Mrs. Vance?"

"Hello, Tim." Jackie stood and gently hugged him. "Call me Jackie, please. After all, I could very well be the stepmother of your child."

When he stared at her in shock, Jackie touched the side of his face. "I don't know how we're going to work out all the details, but I do know one thing. No possible child of my husband's will ever feel unwanted or unloved by anyone in our family."

"Thank you, Jackie, that means a lot."

Satisfied, she picked up her purse and kissed her husband before walking out.

Leon just grinned. The threat of McGee's father had upset her, he'd seen that last night, but it wasn't until she arrived at the Yard this morning that he'd realized how determined she was to be involved.

They quickly settled down to business as the agency lawyer explained what Admiral McGee had to prove and what they needed to do to stop him. After several hours, they'd done all they could to prepare for the upcoming court date and Ms Collins stood to leave. "The preliminary hearing is tomorrow, and as I said, I'll be arguing for an immediate dismissal of your father's claims. It may not go that quickly, so be prepared to speak to a court appointed psychologist. I realize that you're still recovering for your ordeal, but I'd suggest a fresh haircut and making sure you have a suit that still fits you. It'll go a long ways towards showing your mental state."

Tim automatically reached up and touched his head. They'd cut his hair once while he was being held, but he still felt shaggy. "Yes, ma'am."

-NCIS-

Gibbs drove Tim to his usual barber, who scolded him for letting his hair go for so long, but otherwise didn't notice anything unusual about his long time customer, which gave Tim a boost of confidence, even when Gibbs stepped out to take a phone call. Once they were done, Gibbs turned the car towards his house instead of back to the Yard.

"Boss?"

"SecNav is sending his personal tailor out to take care of your clothes. He'll be discreet, Jarvis has already explained the situation to him."

Short and muscular, with a shaved head and a goatee, Trevor Wood was not what Tim was expecting, but he clucked and fussed and dove into the closet Gibbs had filled with McGee's clothes without a slightest hesitation. He quickly honed in on several suits from before Tim had lost weight and less than an hour later, they were pinned and marked with chalk.

Trevor held up a black suit along with a light gray dress shirt. "I'll have these ready before your court date tomorrow, Agent McGee, and the other two by Monday. I'm not sure how long before you and junior outgrow these, but it will give us some time to figure it out."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Tim held out his hand, but was pulled into a hug.

"No, thank you. What you're doing is wonderful. So many infertile couples will be helped by this in the future, both gay and straight. Besides, someday I can be the first designer with a full line of male maternity wear."

"That might be a long time in the future." Tim honestly didn't know what was going to happen with the research in the long run.

Trevor brushed off his worry. "However long it takes, I can keep quiet. Besides, I get to bill the CIA in the meantime. How cool is that?"

Gibbs closed the door behind him and locked it. "Maybe you should lay down for a while and rest."

"Do you want to have Abby find out that I was in the building and didn't come see her before I left for the day?"

"I'll get your coat."

-NCIS-

"McGee!" Abby squealed and ran over when he entered the lab, but again, her hug was gentle. "You were here and then you left without seeing me."

"Sorry, Abs, but I needed to get ready for Court tomorrow."

She hugged him again. "The Director told me about it, I can't believe your father's doing that. He won't get very far though, the whole team is ready to testify on your behalf."

That earned her a kiss on the cheek from both men before Gibbs asked about her progress and her face fell. "I'm trying, Gibbs, but this is some hard-core encryption. I'm almost through the first layer, but that's just the start."

"Why don't I work on it?" They both turned and stared at McGee as he made his case. "It's probably better for me to be working down here, out of sight, instead of being up at my desk."

"Tim..."

"I'm pregnant, not helpless, Gibbs, and getting those files cracked is going to help me stay that way. I can do this, Boss."

Other than his overactive need to take care of the younger man, Gibbs could come up with no reason why he shouldn't be allowed to work on cracking into the files. "You don't over-do it and take plenty of breaks, alright?" He got a nod, but he wasn't done yet. "Once you break through that last layer, you hand it over to Abby and Ducky, I don't want you stressing over anything you read in those files."

The second nod was a little slower than the first and he turned to Abby. "Make sure he doesn't push himself too hard and make sure he's not exposed to anything in the lab that could harm him or the baby. What other cases are you working right now?"

Gibbs' worry made her smile. "Nothing else, Vance had it all turned over to the FBI's lab so we could just concentrate on McGee's case." She threw her arms around him and whispered in his ear. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of them."

-NCIS-

Despite a steady stream of teammates coming down to check on him, Tim was pleased with his progress by the time Gibbs announced that the work day was done. They stopped by Autopsy for a quick check with Ducky and Dr. Hughes before driving back to Gibbs' house.

Tim sat on the couch and listened in amusement as Gibbs spent over twenty minutes on the phone ordering Chinese food, drilling the hapless waiter about MSG and other possible preservatives. Finally satisfied, he hung up and moved Tim's legs up onto the sofa. "Dr. Hughes said your feet were a little swollen."

"She also said it was very common."

"And that we need to watch it." Satisfied to have the last word, Gibbs went into the kitchen and came out with a bottle of water and a glass of juice and set them both on the coffee table in front of Tim. "Here, hydrate, do you want milk with dinner?"

Tim made a face at the thought. "Milk with Chinese food? No, I'll just have juice."

After months of being either sedated or chained up, the light activities of the day had been enough to exhaust McGee, and soon after dinner he was ready to crash for the night. Gibbs appeared at his side, carrying a mug of warm milk, just as Tim climbed into the bed. He obediently drank the milk and let Gibbs tuck him into the blankets. As sleep claimed the younger man, he was only vaguely aware of the hand that brushed across his head before pressing lovingly against his belly.


a/n - Probably no postings over the weekend as I'll be out most of the time. Maybe that will give the site time to work out the bugs they seem to have. I'm hard at work on chapter 12, which is my favorite so far (and one of two parts of the story that started the whole thing in my head), so there will be plenty to read next week. Thanks for all the wonderful comments, you guys are great.