Chapter Ten: On the Road

Rule #52: Never hold back.*

*Not an official rule, I borrowed it from Proseac's story entitled "Rule #52" because I was running out of applicable rules. Lol.

It was hard for Abby to say goodbye to her family. She and Gibbs had spent a little over a week in Louisiana and although the original intent had been to support her father, in the end she felt like it was more all of them supporting her. It felt like she was letting go of her entire support system.

Everyone had gathered at the Scuito family home to see the couple off. Gloria was inside packing snacks she insisted they needed to take, and Ben had disappeared on some secret errand which left Abby outside with her brother and his family.

Sami had her arms wrapped around Abby, looking like she had no plans on letting go. "I'm gonna miss you Aunt Abby," she said, looking forlorn.

"I'm gonna miss you too, munchkin," Abby told her, giving her a squeeze.

"Bye baby," Sami said, releasing her grip on Abby and patting her belly. Her eyes widened when the baby gave a well timed kick. "He kicked me!" she squealed, running over to tell Mellie excitedly.

Mellie and Luka smiled down at their daughter.

I"I want a baby brother. Or sister," Sami announced.

Gibbs was standing a few feet away, smirking at the petrified expression that came over both her parent's faces. Abby grinned at him. She had a feeling another kid wasn't in either of their immediate plans.

"We'll see," Mellie said, patting her daughter on the head.

Luka held out his hand for Gibbs to shake. "You take good care of my sister," he warned, causing Abby to roll her eyes in friendly exasperation.

"You take good care of that little girl of yours," Gibbs replied seriously. He tweaked Sami on the nose and she giggled.

Abby bit her lip, thinking of Kelly, as she found herself doing more and more these days. She already loved the baby inside her so much, it made it hard to imagine how Gibbs had dealt with such a heartbreaking loss for so long.

Abby had given Luka a brief summary of Gibbs' past, so she knew her brother understood just how important of a directive he was being given.

Luka tugged Sami a little closer and put a hand on her shoulder. "With my whole life," he promised solemnly.

"Thanks for keeping me from going completely insane on my wedding day," Abby said softly to Mellie, who let out a soft chuckle.

"It was my pleasure," she said honestly, giving Abby a tight hug. "I'm sure if Luka and I ever change out minds about getting married you'll do the same for me."

Abby beamed. "You betcha I will."

As Abby was hugging Luka she noticed Ben standing on the porch with a small box in his hands. He motioned for Gibbs to come over. Abby started to follow, but Ben shook his head. Just Gibbs, he signed, making Abby frown. A little surprised, she nonetheless nudged Gibbs toward her father.

He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and walked over to the porch where Ben was waiting patiently. Ben pressed the box into Gibbs' hands and smiled warmly.

I wanted to give you this before the wedding, but I couldn't remember where I'd put it, Ben told him.

Gibbs held the box in his hands for a moment. The small size of the box didn't leave many guesses as to what would be in it, Ben's words only narrowed the list down.

Open it, Ben urged.

Gibbs slid the top off the simple black box to expose two gold rings inside. One, a thick and fairly simple men's band, the other more delicate, with a medium sized emerald surrounded by what appeared to be real diamond chips.

They were my parents', Ben explained. Abby was only four when they died, but they adored her. She was their whole world.

Ben, Gibbs signed, feeling a little overwhelmed.

I always intended for them to be hers, Ben told him. And when you told me you were going to propose, I hoped you two might wear them.

Gibbs took a glance behind him at Abby, who was watching him curiously from where she stood with Luka and his family. He'd known Abby wasn't the kind of girl to ask, but he'd intended to buy her a ring other than the simple gold band he'd put on her finger at the wedding. He figured it could wait until they got home. But this, this was far more perfect than anything he could have purchased for her. She would love it.

Gibbs put the lid back on the box and tucked it into his pocket securely. I would be honored, he told Ben, giving him a gentle hug. And I know Abby will be thrilled as well.

I'm so thankful she has you, Ben signed. I know I don't need to worry about her with you around.

Abby couldn't seem to hold back her curiosity any longer and bounded up the steps to pull both of the men into a tight hug.

Ben winked at Gibbs when she finally let go. You can show her later.

"Show me what?" Abby frowned up at Gibbs, who gave her a crooked smile. You two keeping secrets from me? She signed furiously at her father, pouting.

Ben kissed his daughter on the cheek to appease her.

Gloria came out with two grocery bags full of snacks, just in time to distract Abby from Ben's gift. Gibbs was happy about that. He wanted to give them to her later, in private. His proposal had been kind of a disaster, surely he could scrounge up a little romance for the rings.

It didn't take much longer after that for the rest of their goodbyes to be said. Ten minutes later, Gibbs and Abby were both tucked inside their rental car, driving down the road with the entire clan waving after them.

Abby was turned around in her seat, waving exuberantly out the back window. When they were out of sight, she turned around and faced the front, heaving a giant sigh.

"You okay?" Gibbs asked, his eyes on the road.

"Yeah, I guess." Abby sighed again. "I'm just going to miss everyone, that's all."

Gibbs reached out with his right hand and gave her thigh a pat. "I'm sure everyone will be up to visit after the baby's here."

"I know." Abby sniffled. "I'm just gonna be overly emotional for a little while, okay?"

Gibbs felt her cover his hand with both of hers. "Go right ahead," he told her. "You're entitled."

xxx

Abby forgot about the box her father gave Gibbs until it was late afternoon. "Hey," she said, trying to sound casual. "You ever going to tell me what was in that box my dad gave you?"

Gibbs gave her a non-committal grunt.

Abby narrowed her eyes. That was always a sure sign he was keeping something from her. She knew how to translate Gibbs' grunts, and that one was the kind he usually directed towards Tony or Tim when he didn't want to explain something to them.

She did not like it being directed at her.

"I'm hungry," she said after a few minutes. He wouldn't tell her until he was good and ready, and she couldn't interrogate him anyway on an empty stomach.

Gibbs glanced over at her. "We're gonna stop in about a half hour. Can you make it until then?"

"Probably," Abby admitted, although that would be because she just remembered getting an accidental extra candy bar out of a vending machine one day at the hospital. It was still in the bottom of her purse and sounded really good.

Gibbs attention was back on the road. That was good because Abby didn't want them to get in an accident, but bad because she couldn't try reading his expression if he wasn't looking at her. Eighty percent of Gibbs' communication was through facial expressions so it was hard to talk to him when you couldn't see his whole face.

"I was thinking about when we should stop tonight," she said, shifting in the seat as her newly acquired weight was already making it harder to stay comfortable while sitting for long periods.

"I already got us a reservation."

She frowned. "When did you do that?"

"During one of your last pee breaks."

"Oh." Abby knew there was part of Gibbs that couldn't help being impatient at how many times she'd needed to stop already, but she couldn't help it! Baby boy was using her bladder like a bouncy castle. And when she had to walk inside the gas station to use the bathroom she'd see snacks and get hungry.

Which she always seemed to be these days.

Abby looked over at Gibbs in surprise as he sped up suddenly. He changed lanes and passed several cars. Normally she was used to his Speedy Gonzalez driving, but up until now he'd been driving more like a little old grandmother.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

A muscle in Gibb's jaw twitched.

"Don't you dare lie to me," she warned. She was pregnant, not mentally incapacitated.

"I thought someone was following us," Gibbs admitted, keeping his eyes on the road and his hands firmly on the wheel.

"Following us?" Abby frowned. "Who would be following us?"

Gibbs remained silent.

"Mikel?" she said softly. "You don't think he'd drive all the way down here to follow us, do you? How would he even know where we were?"

Gibbs shrugged. "Might just be imagining things." But he took the next exit, which signaled to Abby that he was more sure than not that they were being trailed.

Abby sat quietly and tried not to freak out. Okay, if Mikel was following them, how had he found out where they were? He was a decent hacker, maybe he'd gotten into her email account. She'd emailed Ziva a few times while they were in Louisiana. It wouldn't have been hard to trace the email if she hadn't mentioned enough details in the emails themselves.

Gibbs took several turns before pulling into a nearly empty strip mall and stopping the car around back by the cargo bays.

"It's probably nothing," he said to Abby, his eyes on the rear view mirror.

"But what if it's not?" Abby couldn't help asking.

Gibbs reached over and squeezed her hand. "Not gonna let anything happen to you, Abbs." No matter how many times he said that to her it had the same effect. It made Abby feel a wave of calming warmth come over her.

Her heart still beat faster than she was comfortable with as they waited there for several minutes. Gibbs didn't let go of her hand, but he never looked over at her. He kept his eyes on the rear view mirror, which reflected the only way to drive to the back of the building.

After what seemed like an eternity, Gibbs took a deep breath and turned towards Abby. "If it was him, we lost him."

Abby bit her lip. "You sure?"

He didn't answer her. Instead, he used his free hand to pull out his cell phone and dial McGee. She heard McGee's voice answer and Gibbs began barking instructions. "I want to know Mawher's current location asap. And from now on I want you monitoring his phone's location every time he makes a call."

Gibbs had the volume on his cell phone turned up to max, so Abby could hear McGee's answers pretty clear.

"His last credit card purchase was a gas station near Annapolis, but that was almost three days ago. I don't see any cell or credit hits after that."

"Call me the second that changes." Gibbs flipped the phone shut and tossed it onto the dashboard.

Abby squeezed his hand. "Do you think it was him?" she asked, trying not to sound as rattled as she felt.

"I don't know," Gibbs said honestly.

"What does your gut say?"

Gibbs turned to her. "My gut says to get you on a plane to DC asap."

Abby shook her head. "No way. Not a chance. You promised me a trip to meet your father and I am not letting that mouth breather ruin this trip. Tell your gut I want a second opinion."

He cracked a tiny smile, but was still serious. "In that case, we'd better pick up some maps and stay off the back roads."

"Okay." Abby nodded. "I'll keep my cell phone off too, just in case he tries to hack into my records." Just to be safe she'd pull out the battery as well.

Gibbs let go of her hand and touched her cheek. "I'm not happy about this," he said simply.

"You just wanted to get out of introducing me to your father," she teased, leaning instinctively into his touch.

Gibbs slid his hand around the back of her neck. "If I'm avoiding anything, it's introducing him to you. He's not always very open minded, and he can be a crab."

"As opposed to my husband, the little ray of sunshine?" Abby teased, grinning at him.

"You'll see." Gibbs leaned in and rested his forehead against hers for a few seconds. "We'd better get going, we'll miss our reservation."

"Mmm." Abby was too content at that second to care. She closed her eyes, which was when Gibbs decided to lean in and press his lips softly against hers. His beard tickled a little, but in a good way.

He pulled back reluctantly. "Later," he said with a wicked grin.

Abby shivered. This was the first time he had kissed her (on the lips anyways) since their wedding. They had both been exhausted after the wedding and Abby had barely gotten to the bed before she fell asleep. She'd woken up when Gibbs climbed into bed, but he'd simply shushed her and pulled her into his arms.

She still wasn't completely sure how their physical relationship was going to manifest. Abby knew it would happen, she just wasn't sure when. Part of her wanted to jump the man, part of her understood why he might be moving more slowly. They were both healing from fractured relationships, and while they had known each other for years, this was all still very new.

Going slow didn't bother Abby. Usually she jumped into things full speed, never stopping to think things over. Maybe she'd done that with this marriage too, but she desperately wanted things with Gibbs to work out. And didn't slow and steady win the race?

xxx

Gibbs had expected Abby to be wide awake and staring out the rear view mirror nervously for the rest of the ride. To his surprise, she dozed off not long after they stopped at a small convenience store so he could grab some maps (while she went to the bathroom again, and picked out more snacks. They'd decided just to snack on what Gloria had packed them instead of stopping for lunch and were down to nothing but carrot sticks).

Less than an hour later they pulled up at the restaurant McGee had told Gibbs about. He took a deep breath. Abby might be all right, but he was still very uneasy.

He knew Mawher was a threat, but he hadn't expected the threat to affect them until they got back home. And he knew McGee had gotten Ziva and Tony to help out with keeping tabs on the guy, but internally he was feeling a little panicked and out of control.

What if he couldn't keep Abby safe? What if Mawher did something crazy? The last time McGee called with an update he'd told him about interviewing a couple of Mawher's exes. They all had stories to tell, ranging from mildly weird to insanely creepy.

He turned off the car and turned towards Abby. She'd crumpled his red hoodie into a ball and was using it as a pillow, between her and the passenger side door. She had put her hair into two identical braids that morning, but they were half falling out now, little clumps of hair falling across her face.

Gibbs let his gaze move down her body to settle on her stomach. She was wearing a snug black tank top. He smiled a little, thinking that black wasn't a slimming color anymore, not with that tummy.

It seemed unbelievable now that he could have missed her pregnancy, even under baggy clothes. She was still petite enough that from behind you wouldn't even realize she was pregnant, but the second you saw her from the side or front it was instantly obvious. Gibbs was already amazed her body had stretched this far, it would be fascinating to see the rest of this pregnancy.

Gibbs was awe inspired that Abby was letting him be a part of this, that she was letting him be a father again. It was such a wonderful privilege. If Mawher wasn't such a psychopath, he'd probably be encouraging her to let him be a part of his son's life, despite their relationship problems. He couldn't rob another man of that precious gift, not without a damn good reason.

But if Mawher wasn't who he was, Gibbs wouldn't be in this situation. If Abby had met a great guy all those months ago she'd still be with him. Heck, maybe she'd even be married to that person.

Gibbs sat up straight. They had only been married for two days and he was already feeling more protective. Sure, he'd been protective of Abby before, but her being his wife only magnified those feelings a thousandfold. She was his wife, and he'd be damned if he would let anyone take her away from him.

He hadn't been able to protect Shannon, or Kelly, it had taken him years to realize that. That he couldn't have changed things. But Abby? Abby he could keep safe. Would keep safe.

No matter what.

Gibbs was about to tear his eyes away from her stomach to tell Abby that they were at the restaurant, when he saw something move.

On her stomach.

Abby had said the baby's kicks were getting stronger every day, Gibbs had even been able to feel something the day before, but it had never occurred to him that you would be able to see movement from the outside of her body.

He moved a little closer, as far as the rental car allowed, and reached out to rest his hand gently on her stomach where he'd seen a tiny movement.

A few seconds later, he had almost given up when he felt a very firm 'kick' under his palm.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" Abby murmured, her eyes sleepily blinking at him. "I felt one like that this morning, but then I think he went to sleep and I couldn't get him to do it again."

Gibbs' thumb gently stroked back and forth on her stomach as he stared into her eyes. There were a thousand things he wanted to say, most of them beginning with 'thank you', but he couldn't seem to find the words. Instead he leaned down very slowly and placed a lingering kiss on her belly. "I can't wait to meet you," he whispered.

When he looked back up at Abby, she was staring at him with a heavy lidded expression of contentment and desire. She stroked his hair back with her fingers and smiled. "I assume we're at the restaurant?"

Gibbs nodded and sat up straight. "You aren't going to make us sit here for twenty minutes while you primp are you?" he teased.

Abby was tugging the elastics out of her braids and finger combing them into soft waves. "Hardly. Although for that statement I should pull out my makeup bag."

Gibbs smirked.

"I'm ready," she told him, sliding her feet back into the shoes she'd kicked off earlier.

As they climbed out of the car, Gibbs pocketed the keys, allowing him to surreptitiously check to make sure he still had the rings in his pocket.

He reached out to grab her hand as they approached the restaurant. There was something surprisingly intimate about getting to see Abby with her hair down. He wasn't sure when she'd adopted the pigtails for her signature look, but he could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen her with her hair down, so it had probably been before they met.

A young waitress led them to their table, staring conspicuously when he pulled out Abby's chair for her. He could see by the expression on Abby's face she was holding in laughter, so quickly took their menus and shooed the waitress away.

Abby was grinning at him across the table. "I'm not sure if she thinks you're hot or she was trying to make sure I was over eighteen," she teased, picking up her menu.

"I hope you have your ID with you," he replied dryly.

She giggled. "Maybe it's the beard. Don't get any ideas though, I love the beard."

"I was considering just a mustache," Gibbs told her.

"No!" Abby exclaimed, her hand shooting across the table to slap his menu down. "Don't you dare. You'd look terrible with just a mustache."

He raised his eyebrows.

"What? It's true." Abby crossed her arms. "Seriously, don't. My great uncle Bob had a mustache and it looked like a caterpillar died on his upper lip. I had nightmares as a kid about it coming to life and and attacking me."

Gibbs was only about fifty percent sure she was kidding about the last part. He tapped his menu lightly, reminding her silently that their overly curious waitress would be returning shortly to take their drink orders.

Sure enough, she was back, beaming an overly wide smile at the couple as she brandished her order pad. "What can I get you two to drink?"

"Are we too far north for sweet tea?" Abby asked.

The waitress smiled. "Of course not! And what can I get you, sir?"

"I'll just have whatever's on draft."

She nodded, scribbling. "Okay, I'll get those drink orders in and be back for your entree orders in a few."

Gibbs wasn't sorry to see the woman go. Abby was right, she had been staring at them kind of funny. Despite Abby's ideas, he suspected something far simpler: she was trying to figure out if they were on a date or not.

He didn't blame the woman, there was quite an age difference between him and Abby. It was human nature to wonder, especially when the man was kinda scruffy looking with a gray beard and the woman was, well, Abby.

He could have just made a comment about Abby being his wife or grabbed her hand or something, but he didn't really care what other people thought. It was none of their business. If they wanted to run around spending their time wondering, let 'em. Besides, he didn't want Abby to ever feel like he was showing her affection for any other reason than he wanted to. Their relationship was far more important than one snoopy waitress.

Their drinks arrived quickly and and not long after that they both ordered their meals. Gibbs was deciding exactly when he wanted to show Abby the rings while she kept the conversation going.

"I can't believe you really called McGee to get help finding a restaurant," Abby told him, sipping on her tea. "I mean, of course I believe you, because you told me and you never lie to me, but I just can't imagine the conversation. It must have been weird, at least on his end. And how did he know what town we were going to be in at dinnertime? Did you tell him where you were and how fast you were driving and let him do the math?"

Gibbs simply raised his eyebrows, waiting to be sure she was finished with her ramble.

She wasn't. "Of course not. That's silly, McGee already knows how fast you drive. He probably wrote some kind of computer program to figure it all out, or hacked into the Zagat guide database."

He couldn't help but smile a little at her imaginings of McGee doing crazy geeky things to help him out. "Actually he said his parents ate here once."

"Oh." Abby looked a little disappointed at the less than exciting conclusion to the mystery. "Well, so far it seems like a great place. They know how to make real sweet tea anyway, which is always a bonus."

Gibbs took a sip of his beer. Abby had insisted on him having sweet tea during one meal in Louisiana and he was much happier with a beer.

Abby set her drink down and folded her hands on her stomach. "Are you ever going to show me what my dad gave you this morning?" she asked, her eyes pleading with him.

Gibbs couldn't help but laugh. "Was trying to be romantic, Abbs."

"Be romantic then. Just do it fast," she added.

"All right." He reached into his pocket, figuring this was probably as romantic as it was going to get. He pulled the ring box out out and set it on the table in front of him.

Abby's eyes watched the box closely, but she managed to stay quiet.

"Was gonna get you a ring when we got back home," Gibbs told her softly, playing with the box with his fingertips. "Could have bought one when I got your wedding band, but I wanted to wait and get a better one."

Gibbs knew Abby wasn't the kind of girl who cared more about the ring than the guy, but he knew all women wanted a ring. It wasn't just about the money spent, or the diamonds, it was the symbol. The round piece of jewelry that proclaimed someone loved you enough to vow to spend the rest of their life with you.

"You're killing me," Abby said in a soft tone, bouncing a little in her seat.

Gibbs laughed again, opening the box. "Apparently these were your grandparents," he told her, holding up the two rings.

Abby bit her lip. "I can't believe he gave you those," she said finally, looking genuinely surprised. "I thought it might be jewelry, but I never thought it would be those."

Gibbs picked up Abby's left hand and slid the smaller of the rings onto her ring finger. "I got the feeling that it meant a lot to him that we wear them."

"We?" Abby looked up from her hand, where she had been staring at the ring he'd just put on her finger.

Gibbs held the other ring up for her perusal.

She looked surprised. "I didn't think you wanted to wear a ring," she admitted, her gaze dropping to the table.

He reached over and tilted her chin back up. "I'm married too," he said simply, placing the ring on the table in front of her. The store where he'd gotten Abby's wedding band hadn't had anything in his size and he'd intended to get one when he bought her ring. It hadn't occurred to him that she would think he wasn't going to wear a ring.

Abby stared for a few seconds, before picking the band up. By the smile on her face as she slid the band onto his finger, Gibbs suspected that he had done all right in the romance department.

xxx

Abby had never been much of a jewelry girl, not the fancy stuff anyway, but she couldn't stop staring at her ring. She had hazy memories of playing with this ring while sitting on her grandmother's lap as a little girl. It was even more beautiful than she'd remembered.

And Gibbs had put it on her finger.

She was genuinely surprised that her father had given Gibbs the rings. Actually, she was surprised that he still had them. He'd never mentioned them to her and she hadn't thought much about it, assuming that somewhere along the way they'd been sold or given away to someone else in the family.

This was a huge thing in her eyes. It meant her dad really truly accepted her marrying Gibbs, and that alone made Abby's eyes feel a little misty. Add that to the look on Gibbs' face when he'd slid the ring on her finger and she was a pile of happy hormones that evening.

Gibbs booked them a room at a small but very comfortable hotel for the night. He rejected her suggestion of them switching off driving during the night with a well timed eyebrow lift and she hadn't fought very hard. She wasn't going to complain if he wanted her to have a nice comfy bed and a warm shower.

The shower was where Gibbs was right then. She was trying not to be too hopeful that he'd come into the room shirtless, but she definitely wouldn't complain if he did.

Abby stretched out across the king sized bed and admired her ring some more. Strangely enough, the ring was what made it all feel more real. Of course she knew it was real when she stood next to Gibbs and spoke her vows, but this just strengthened those feelings.

She wondered if Gibbs felt different too, or if it was just her. They had only kissed twice since that first heated kiss they'd shared when she agreed to marry him, and they hadn't kissed since he'd given her the ring. He seemed to be acting different, but she still wondered how much of that was in her head.

The most passionately Gibbs looked at her was when they talked about the baby. She wasn't stupid, she'd known he wanted the baby more than her when he proposed, but she still continued clinging to the idea that he wanted her too.

Abby rolled onto her side and heaved herself into a sitting position, something which was already getting harder to do. She'd never liked when women referred to themselves as a beached whale when they were pregnant. It seemed so negative and derogatory, but she could definitely understand the reference better now. Maybe a better example was a beetle on its back. It sounded less like a veiled insult.

The shower turned off. Abby glanced towards the bathroom and sighed. Time to stop admiring her ring and get ready for bed. It was getting late and she was already tired, despite having dozed on and off for much of the day while Gibbs drive.

She was staring at her duffel bag, trying to work up the energy to change into her pajamas when Gibbs came out of the bathroom. To her dismay, he was wearing a white undershirt with his plaid flannel sleep pants, but she could still see the outline of his arm muscles under the sleeves. She could be satisfied with that.

Gibbs dropped his laundry down beside his own bag and sat on the edge of the bed next to her. "Need help with something?"

"Just motivating myself to get ready for bed." Abby sighed, still staring at the bag.

"Sleep in what you've got on," he suggested.

Abby looked down. That was tempting. Her shirt was comfy enough, but the black maternity jeans had to go. They were comfier when they hadn't been worn for eight hours in a row.

"Sure, why not?" she said, sliding off the bed and wiggling out of her jeans. She was poking her legs under the covers when she realized Gibbs was staring at her strangely. "What?" she asked innocently.

Gibbs got up slowly, walked around to the side of the bed where she was sitting and stared at her solemnly.

Abby looked up at him and swallowed. "What?" she asked again, a little softer this time. He looked like an alligator staring at a dumb tourist taking pictures.

The kiss was firm, but unhurried, and very very deliberate.

So much for taking things slow, Abby thought, as her back was pressed against the bed. But she wasn't complaining.

Not one bit.

A/N: We just bought a house this week, so I didn't get to do my final edit until today so I hope there's no glaring errors. But hey, no more Italics! Yay! (none of the three places I post this will retain my formatting so I had to do it manually. THREE TIMES)

Only one more chapter til we get to Sweetwater...

UPDATE 9-11-15: Moving has been more work than expected. Haven't been able to edit let alone write, so we're on a temporary hiatus. I'm planning on participating in Nanowrimo in November so updates might not resume until December. I'm hoping it won't take that long, but right now this move is sucking the life out of me, sorry!