Hi everyone. Once again, sorry this took so long. But I promise promise promise that I'll update this week, because I know exactly what's going to happen in the next chaptter (um, I mean, of course I know what's going to happen in all the chapters before I write them...)

I wrote a chapter to go between the last one and this, but I can't find it, so please excuse the jump in time. If I find it, I'll just change it around and put it in a later chapter. If not... well, I guess it will live happily ever after in fanfic heaven.

Also, I checked over this but I was in a rush to post it so if it's got any spelling mistakes or lines that don't make sense, just let me know and I'll fix it. It's quite short, too, but the next one will be longer. Oh, and there will probably be some more Jibbs pretty soon.

Anyway. Here goes.

Kate stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. It had been ten days since she and Tony had taken that walk on the bridge. Ten days since he'd kissed her. Ten days since they had lain under the covers together, hands clasped and hearts pounding, and Tony had covered her body with little kisses for no reason other than she was there and he felt like it. For ten days, her bed hadn't been slept in, her showers had been frequently interrupted by Tony walking into the bathroom – the lock for which he had still not fixed, despite Kate's firm protests that, dating or not, she wanted it done – and she had walked round the streets of Paris hand-in-hand with Tony and not felt awkward or shy or uncomfortable. Even their meetings with Stefan didn't seem so bad, now that she didn't need to worry about convincing him they were a couple. Tony was less annoying now – he had started putting effort into being nice to her, instead of winding her up, and he was a surprisingly sweet and attentive boyfriend. He didn't always get it right – he had tried to cook a romantic meal for the two of them the night before, and had wound up setting fire to the oven and ordering in a pizza – but that was fine, because it meant that she was special enough for him to try something he'd never done before.

It was as if she and Tony were existing in a fairytale bubble, where everything was perfect and they lived happily ever after. Arguments were stopped before they even began, with both of them being too afraid to ruin this new-found romance with petty bickering, and anything that tried to encroach on their happiness, like work or Gibbs' endless video conferences, was given cursory attention and then dismissed. Kate knew it wouldn't – couldn't – last forever, she was perfectly aware that at some point, they would have a fight or something more important would come up, but for now, it was nice for everything to be so… easy. Kate thought she could remember every moment since that first kiss – every look, every touch, every whisper of 'you're beautiful' that had been pressed against her skin in the past ten days.

The rescheduled golf match with Stefan and co had taken place a few days ago. Before they left, Tony had wondered out loud whether anybody would notice a change between him and Kate – would their hands touch more often? Would they stand closer together? Or would they carry on as they had before, just with a new, more natural, atmosphere to it? But nobody noticed. At least, nobody commented. It had been, Tony announced upon their return to the apartment, the most fun he'd ever had on a golf course. For the first time in her life, Kate had played the bimbo for all she was worth, holding the golf club wrong and deliberately whacking the ball into shrubbery and sand traps, so Tony had an excuse to stand over her, his hips pressed against her ass, with his arms around her waist and his hands over hers, guiding her into hitting the ball in a semi-straight line. Of course, they lost pitifully, but that wasn't the point.

They had gone to the fair, with Gerard and Sophia and their daughter, and had successfully escaped the clutches of the screaming toddler under the guise of queuing for the big wheel. They had linked fingers over the picnic tables, feeding one another candyfloss and kissing the sugar off each other's lips, and Tony's perfect score on the shooting range won Kate a giant, slightly deranged-looking, purple and green zebra. They'd ridden the rickety old roller coaster, which had looked like it ought to be on a scrap heap and had prompted hours of 'Tony screams like a gi-irl, Tony screams like a gi-girl' chants from Kate. The fact that she had hidden her face in Tony's arm and broken the skin on his hand from holding on so tight was seemingly irrelevant.

There had been the day when Tony had gotten up before dawn, to put fresh strawberries and pink lemonade (it was too early for champagne, he said) out on the balcony so he and Kate could sit under a blanket and watch the sun rise. They'd made up for their early start the next day, by not budging from the bed until it was gone midday – and even then they only moved because Tony needed the bathroom.

It was as close to perfect as Kate could imagine any romance that didn't come straight from the pages of a children's fairytale – minus the terrorists, of course. There was only one thing that was hanging over it, and she'd managed to convince herself that it didn't matter, until now. Every time she thought of it, she felt sick to her stomach with an overwhelming sense of dread. She'd tried ignoring it, she'd tried reasoning with herself, she'd tried to forget about it. But she hadn't been able to. On the third day of her and Tony's sparkling new romance, she'd sworn to herself that she'd give it a week. Until the tenth day. Then she'd talk to Tony. She hadn't expected to actually have to have the conversation – a week had seemed like a lifetime, after all. She'd put if off as long as she could, but now it was eight o' clock at night on the tenth day and it couldn't be put off any longer.

Peering at the tiny medicine bottle in her hand, Kate swallowed. The glass, which had been cool to touch when she had dug it out of her handbag earlier, was now warm from contact with her skin, and if she made a fist, she couldn't see it. Kate ran her fingers through her hair – as if looking nice would make things easier – and went into the kitchen, her fingers curled around the bottle tightly. It was slick with sweat from her palms, and it was hard to grip. Kate knew she wouldn't be able to open it now, but that hadn't been her intention in the first place.

"Um, Tony?" Kate said, twisting the fabric of her sweater between her hands and looking at the floor. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure," Tony said, taking a large bite of his sandwich and dusting crumbs from his chest. "What?"

"It's important," Kate said softly.

Tony looked at for a moment, chewing on his mouthful, then realised what she meant. "Oh," he said, swallowing hard and putting the sandwich down on the plate, pushing it away and giving Kate his undivided attention. "What's up?"

"Um…" Kate took a deep breath. "Here."

Tony held his hand out, taking the bottle from Kate, feeling her clammy hands shake as he did so. He peered at the bottle in his hands. It was only about the height of his thumb, made of dark brown glass. It was about half full of pills – tiny white ones, the size of skittles. He knew they were pills that Kate had gotten from the doctor for headaches, when stress and not enough sleep meant that everyday aspirin didn't work. Her name was printed on the front, slightly off centre on the sticky white label, with the prescription printed underneath. Why Kate was giving them to him was beyond him.

"Can you read the back of it?" Kate asked, as if reading his mind.

Giving her a slightly confused glance, Tony turned the bottle over and squinted. The writing was tiny, smaller than it was on the front, and slightly smudged, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to decipher it without moving into the light.

"No," Tony said, hesitantly. "Why, what does it say? These are your tablets, right?"

"Yes," Kate said, holding her hand out for the pills. Tony handed them back to her. "It's just… I forgot…"

"Forgot what?" Tony asked.

"You can't take them if you're on the Pill," Kate whispered, leaning heavily against the door frame and hanging her head. "It stops it working. I took one the day before we…" she trailed off, then closed her eyes. "I took one. And now I'm late."

Tony glanced at his watch, frowning slightly.

"No," Kate said, shaking her head slightly as she saw him. "Not like that." Kate dragged herself over to the table and sat down, propping her chin in her hands and scratching the table with her fingernail. "Late."

"Oh…" Tony said, understanding flooding his features.

"Yeah," Kate murmured, sighing.

"Well… how late are you?" Tony asked, squirming. "A couple of days?"

"A week."

"And that doesn't normally… happen?"

"It never happens."

Tony squirmed uncomfortably. "It might be nothing," he said, hopefully. "You might have just gone on the skitz for some reason."

"I'm not a car, DiNozzo," Kate muttered, snapping her fingernail against the table and grimacing.

"You should tell Gibbs," Tony said, anxiously.

"No!" Kate looked up, her eyes wide. "No, Tony!"

"Well you can't work if you're pregnant!" Tony pointed out.

"I might not be!"

"But you think you are, don't you?"

"No," Kate mumbled, staring at the floor.

"Kate," Tony said gently. "Look at me." Kate dragged her eyes up towards Tony's and blinked. "You wouldn't be telling me if you didn't think you were, would you?"

Kate didn't have an answer to that. No, she wouldn't be telling him. She'd put off telling him for ten days, just in case. She'd given herself a long list of reasons as to why she couldn't be pregnant, but she hadn't been able to convince herself.

"I'll get you a pregnancy test," Tony said softly. "And then we'll tell Gibbs."

"I don't want to be pregnant," Kate whispered, burying her face in her arms.

"You could get an a-"

"Don't say it," Kate said, looking at Tony again and shaking her head. "I'm not doing that."

"Good," Tony whispered, taking Kate's hand and stroking his finger along the tiny trail of blood that was left from when she broke her nail. "I wouldn't want you to."

Kate squeezed Tony's hand. It was only a tiny little movement, a teeny gesture to acknowledge what he'd said. It couldn't show him how grateful she was that he'd said he didn't want her to get an abortion. She wouldn't have, even if he had asked her to, but the fact that he said he wanted to keep the baby had made the whole thing seem less of a tragedy and more of an… inconvenience. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, Kate staring at the table, Tony staring through Kate at the wall behind her.

Tony stood up.

"I'll go see if there's anywhere I can get a pregnancy test," he said gently, prising his hand away from Kate's and stroking her. "I'll be back in a bit." Kate nodded, following him into the living room and sitting on the sofa to wait.

---

Tony shoved his hands deeper into his pockets in an attempt to keep them warm. His breath was rising up in front of him in smoke-like clouds, and the biting wind was making his cheeks sting. He had considered taking the car, but decided against it. The walk would clear his head, he had thought, and besides, he wanted to be as quick as possible. The roads were packed – it would be quicker to walk.

Ducking into the pharmacy, Tony rubbed his hands together to get some extra warmth in them and glanced around. He wasn't sure where he'd find the pregnancy tests. It wasn't something he bought on a regular basis. There was a woman sitting behind the counter, her hair scraped back into a tight bun, with a formidable scowl on her face. She didn't look very approachable, so asking was going to be a last resort. Deciding that standing in the doorway was doing nothing but making him look suspicious, Tony ran grabbed a basket from the stack in the entrance and strolled towards the far side of the shop as casually as he could manage. Walking past a row of toothbrushes, Tony paused. Hanging next to the various brands in the standard red, green and blue colours, there was a tiny little one, meant for a baby, in the shape of a giraffe. An image flashed into his head, of him standing in his bathroom with that toothbrush in one hand and a laughing baby in the other, while Kate looked on and smiled.

It was a nice image, full of happiness and love, and it almost made Tony drop the toothbrush into his basket there and then, but he decided against it. Instead, he grabbed two normal toothbrushes off the stand, in case the woman behind the desk thought he was crazy for staring at them for so long, and carried on in his vague little meander around the store. He could see now, out of the corner of his eye, a little sign indicating that the pregnancy tests were at the end of the aisle. He walked down as slowly as he could, examining all the other items for sale before he got there. He felt like he had the first time he'd gone into a pharmacy and bought a packet of condoms. He couldn't help thinking that he'd get to the counter, pregnancy test in hand, and he'd be ordered by that dragon-like woman to put it back because he wasn't old enough or something.

Taking a deep breath, Tony decided that the best way to deal with it was to get it over with. He made a beeline for the pregnancy tests and stopped in front of them. His heart sank. This wasn't going to be as simple as he had hoped. There were about seven different brands. There were blue boxes and pink boxes and white boxes and yellow boxes, lined up neatly, with claims of accuracy and ease of use scrawled over them in a mind-numbing mixture of percentages and pictures. Shaking his head, Tony grabbed the nearest four brands and threw them into the basket with the toothbrushes. Kate would probably know more about which brand than he would, and she couldn't complain if he gave her a choice. Heading to the counter before he chickened out, he paid for his goods and slung the carrier bag over his shoulder.

It was even colder outside than it had been when he had gone into the pharmacy, and Tony shivered. It seemed strange to think that the little sticks in his bag could change his life forever. He had always imagined that, if he got someone pregnant by accident, it would be somewhat reminiscent of the time he and Kate went to the DNA clinic. He had never, in his wildest imaginings, thought it would be Kate herself. He wondered if he should get her an engagement ring or something. It was a bit early to get married, but it was a bit early to have a kid, too, and he didn't want to be one of those fathers who paid alimony and saw their kid every second weekend. And Kate's family would hate him if they didn't get married. They'd hate him anyway, probably, but if he had to be the subject of their derogatory remarks at family get-togethers, he would prefer it to be for having sex before marriage than for being a no-good absentee father.

Though, maybe it would be better if he was an absentee father. Kate could look after a baby fine – she wouldn't need him. He'd be the problem. He'd be the one who dropped the baby, or gave it a dummy that had been on the floor, or slipped it gummy bears to shut it up. If he was entirely honest, Tony couldn't remember whether he'd ever even held a baby or not. He'd certainly never held a baby properly. When he was a little boy, he had killed his pet goldfish within a week. And all he had to do was feed it. A baby would need to be fed, to be clothed and washed, to be watched every minute of every day lest it swallow a pebble or put its fingers in a socket. And then there was Kate – he wasn't sure he could be faithful. He wanted to be, he really did, but he didn't know how well he'd manage it. At least if Kate had no expectations that he would be there for her and the baby, she wouldn't be let down when he screwed up, and he wouldn't be responsible for breaking her heart. Kate and her baby deserved someone who would love them and, to be honest, he wasn't sure he could. He may be 'in love' with several girls a month, but when it came to it, Tony wasn't sure there was anybody alive who he actually, truly, loved. Not like Kate. She could rattle off dozens of people she loved – family and friends and sometimes boyfriends. And she still had the capacity to love a baby. Tony wasn't sure he had that in him.

A large splash of cold water landed on Tony's head, making him rub his hand over his hair and look up to the sky. It was beginning to rain. Another drop fell, and then another, and another, and within the space of a few seconds it had started to pour. Sheltering in the doorway of the nearest building, Tony realised he was in the doorway of the bar he and Kate had come to the other night.

Seating himself at the bar, rattling off excuses even as he did so that it was raining, and Kate wouldn't expect him back just yet, and he was only going to have one drink, Tony took off his coat and caught the attention of the bartender.

After two hours of nursing the same beer and staring miserably at the stains on the bar, Tony decided to go and face Kate. He'd thought about it from every angle, but all he could come up with was that the best thing to do would be to go back and tell Kate the truth. He'd just go to the apartment, explain to Kate that, although he cared about her very much, he would be a terrible father, so the best thing to do would be to call Gibbs, go home, take maternity leave, he'd see her in two and a half months and if she talked to a lawyer about child support and custody, he'd sign on the dotted line for whatever she wanted to make up for his lack of a backbone.

Tony paid his tab and headed back to the apartment, not bothered about the rain any more. It was in his shoes and trickling down his back, but even if he had noticed, he wouldn't have cared. He squelched through the lobby and into the elevator, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind him as he walked down the hall to the apartment. As he went through the door, he saw Kate, still curled up where he had left her, fast asleep. Quietly, so as not to wake her, he closed the door and took his shoes off. As he reached up to hang up his coat, the shift of weight caused the floor to creak loudly, and Kate lifted her head. She blinked blearily for a second, before focusing on Tony and smiling.

As he saw her wake up, and look so happy to see him, Tony realised that the last thing in the world that he wanted was to put her on a plane home and reduce his involvement in her life and the life of their child to monthly cheques and birthday cards that Kate signed his name on. He wanted to stay with her – he never wanted to give up that look she just gave him.

"Hey," she said softly, her voice still a little husky from sleep.

"Hi," Tony smiled.

"You're all wet," Kate pointed out, sounding worried.

"It's raining. I'm okay. Are you alright?"

Kate nodded, stretching her legs out and reaching for Tony.

"I was worried about you," she said, pulling him onto the sofa as he went to her and resting her head on his shoulder.

"I, uh, I went to a bar," Tony admitted, hanging his head. He felt ashamed, now. He wished he had just come back to see Kate, instead of moping about in a bar. He'd got more benefit out of the minute he'd been here than he had in the whole two hours he'd spent in that bar.

"Oh," Kate whispered, pulling away and looking up at him. "Because of…?" she trailed off, tracing her finger over the pattern on the sofa.

"Kinda," Tony admitted, unable to meet Kate's eye.

"I'm sorry, Tony," Kate said, "I really am."

"I'm not," Tony said, transferring his gaze from the floor to Kate's face. "I'm not at all. I'm glad."

"Glad?" Kate whispered, staring at Tony.

"Yes," Tony said. "I wasn't, I admit. I was scared. I went out, and I didn't know what to do, and I got the test and I just wanted to run away, and I went to the bar and I came back here ready to tell you that I can't do it. That I'm not up to it, and I'm not capable of loving you or the baby enough to make it worth your while to deal with me, and that the best thing would be for you to do it without me. But then I came through the door and saw you asleep on the sofa, and then you woke up and smiled at me, and… I was glad."

"You got the test then?" Kate asked hesitantly, turning round to look at the plastic bag that Tony had deserted by the front door.

"You want to take it now?" Tony asked, squeezing Kate's hand.

Kate nodded.

"Take your pick," Tony said, fetching the bag and emptying the toothbrushes and the pregnancy tests onto the sofa.

Kate gazed at the wide selection for a moment, giving Tony a quizzical glance.

"Don't ask," he muttered. "Just pick one."

Kate reached for the nearest box, and glanced nervously towards the bathroom. "Well," she said, getting to her feet. "I guess I'll go do it then."

Tony nodded. He could see Kate's hands trembling as she clutched the box containing the pregnancy test, and wished he could do it for her.

"Um, I'll come with you to the door, if you want," he offered, and Kate nodded gratefully. She wasn't sure her legs would still work by themselves. Tony took her hand and they made their way to the bathroom. It only took a couple of seconds to get there, but it felt like miles.

Giving Tony a final wide-eyed glance, Kate squeezed his hand tightly and then let go, entering the bathroom and closing the door. Tony leant on the doorframe, biting his nails. He didn't normally bite his nails, but the thought of Kate taking a pregnancy test – a test for his baby – was the most nerve-wracking experience he had ever gone through. It was much, much worse than anything he'd ever done at NCIS or in Baltimore or Philly. Time passed – Tony wouldn't be able to stand up in court and say whether it was a minute or two or twenty – and the silence of the apartment, only broken by the ticking of the clock and the faint humming of the laptop and television, was shattered by Kate's voice.

"Tony?" she called, and he jerked upright immediately.

"Yes?" he replied. Surely it wasn't soon enough to have the result yet? Maybe it was.

"Erm, would you please not stand right outside the door? I, um, I can't do it with you hovering right there."

"Oh," Tony said. "Okay. Well… I'll just pace around for a bit, is that alright?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

Tony nodded, though he wasn't sure why, as Kate couldn't see him, and began pacing. He didn't stray too far from the bathroom – just in case Kate wanted him – but he made it about halfway to the bedrooms before he turned and headed towards the kitchen again. The time seemed to drag on endlessly, and Tony was seriously worried that he might go insane, so he started counting the times he passed the bathroom door. If he reached twenty, he'd go in there and see what the hell was taking Kate so long.

As he passed the door for the nineteenth time, it swung open and Kate appeared, pregnancy test in hand. She was pale, and looked like she might collapse, so Tony rushed to her side. It was a fight not to look at the test, but he thought it was Kate's right to tell him herself. When she didn't speak, he gave up trying to be honourable and peered at the test. Kate's hand was clasped around the screen, and he couldn't see a thing, so he hopped from foot to foot and stared anxiously at Kate's face, hoping to find some kind of sign there.

"Well?" he demanded, when he could bear it no longer.

"I can't do it," Kate admitted, handing Tony the blank test and going to the sofa.

"You can," Tony soothed, hovering behind her and stroking her hair. "It's better to get it over with, isn't it?"

"No, I can't… take the test."

"Oh," Tony said, glancing at the test in his hand and sighing. "Well… you could drink some water."

Kate nodded, and followed Tony into the kitchen. He fetched her a glass of water, and she sipped it.

"Don't sip it!" Tony protested. "Chuck it down!"

Kate glared, but swallowed the rest of the water as quickly as she could.

"More," Tony ordered, passing Kate another glass.

Eight glasses of water later, Tony was hopping around like a hyperactive child trying to play Musical Statues, and Kate was looking decidedly worse for wear.

"Another," Tony said, reaching for the glass.

"No," Kate protested, taking the glass away from him and putting it on the counter. "Enough. You've probably drowned the baby by now. I'm not drinking anymore."

Sighing, Tony went into the living room and dropped onto the sofa. Kate lay down next to him, her head nestled into his neck, and closed her eyes.

"I'm tired," she yawned, and Tony sat up quickly, jolting Kate out of the restful trance she was already drifting into.

"No," he said. "No. You are not going to sleep until you've taken that pregnancy test. I cannot wait until tomorrow for that information."

"I'm not going to sleep," Kate moaned, pulling him back down beside her and curling up against him. "I'm just resting."

"And I'm just putting the TV on really, really loud to keep you awake," Tony grinned, reaching for the remote and turning the TV on.

Twenty minutes later, Kate was squirming on the sofa.

"Tony," she pleaded. "I really, really need to go to the bathroom."

"No," Tony replied, holding her down. "Wait."

"Tony, I can't," Kate begged.

"Well I can't go through that stress again, just to be told that you didn't take the test. You're not moving until I can be sure you're going to pee on that stick."

"DiNozzo! I'm going to die in a minute!" Kate squealed, kicking as hard as she could.

"Don't exaggerate."

"Tony, please. It hurts."

Tony leapt off her immediately, and Kate shot into the bathroom, grabbing the pregnancy test from the coffee table as she went. Tony followed her, almost getting hit in the face by the door as he did so, and knelt down to peer through the tiny gap beneath the door. All he could see were the tiles, but it made him feel like he was doing more than waiting, somehow, so he stayed there. There was a pause, and he could hear Kate moving around in the bathroom, then quiet. Then, there was a soft tap at the door and Kate's voice, quiet and tense, trailed through.

"Four minutes," she said, and Tony set the countdown on his watch and got to his feet.

Kate sat down on the floor, her back to the door so Tony couldn't come in, and buried her face in her knees. She felt like she was in pieces, somehow split. Part of her wanted Tony to come in and hold her hand so they could wait together, and part of her wanted to be alone until she found out. Part of her wanted to fetch Tony in as soon as the four minutes were up, part of her wanted to find out first, and part of her wanted Tony to tell her. Mostly, though, she felt split because there were two halves of her that wanted very different results from the pregnancy test that was sitting beside the sink, just far back enough that she couldn't see the screen from where she was sitting, and they both wanted those results equally desperately.