OOOO

Ch 2

As Mac walked out of the bedroom, she caught the noise of someone being violently ill in the bathroom.

"Cathy?" she enquired, "Are you alright in there?"

After the noise stopped, Mac heard the toilet being flushed, then the door was unlocked. Mac opened it to find Cathy sitting on the toilet lid, her head in her hands, looking extremely rough.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong? Are you sick?" she asked.

"I'm just not feeling very well," Cathy replied, "It's probably one of those twenty-four hour bugs."

"You didn't seem yourself at dinner last night," Mac told her, "You hardly even touched your food."

"I'll be fine," Cathy assured her, "I'll just keep myself occupied. I think I'll go over to Mikey's place and make sure the place is well stocked for him coming home, next week."

"Are you sure you're up to it?" Mac asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine now," Cathy insisted.

OOOO

As Cathy rang the doorbell, Bud opened it, telling her, "Hi Cathy. Come on in."

Cathy could see, when she walked into the living room, that Harriet was fussing about little AJ, who was seated in front of the TV.

"Now, AJ," Harriet was telling him, "no causing trouble for Catriona. When she tells you that it's time for bed, you do as you're told. No waiting up for us to get home, you hear?"

"Harriet," Cathy told her, "AJ's always good for me."

Harriet and AJ looked around and she asked AJ, giving him a conspiratorial wink, "Isn't that right, angel?"

"Cathy!" AJ exclaimed, running to her, where she scooped him into a big hug.

"We should be back by 11:30," Harriet told her, "Bud will give you a lift home, afterwards…"

"That's okay, Harriet," Cathy told her, "I brought my car."

"But it'll be late by the time you go home," Bud objected, "and you know how temperamental that little car can be. Let me give you a ride home tonight, and then I'll drive your car by tomorrow, since Harm's giving me a lift into court, in the morning. It'll save him from picking me up."

"Are you sure you don't mind doing that?" Cathy questioned, to which Harriet replied,

"Of course not, sweetie, it's no problem at all."

After they kissed AJ goodnight and said goodbye, Cathy and AJ settled down to watch AJ's '102 Dalmatians' video.

OOOO

Harriet approached Mac in the bullpen coffee room, to ask how Cathy had managed work the previous day.

"Oh, she was okay," Mac told her.

"I was just afraid that she'd be tired, after an evening with little AJ. I'm sorry I had to ask her on a weeknight, but our usual babysitter came down with the flu and cancelled on us."

"No, it's fine," Mac assured her, "It was her decision and she knows best what she can handle."

"So she was okay getting up yesterday?" Harriet asked.

"Oh yeah," Mac told her, "she was up bright and early. But, unfortunately, it's been the same for the past week. She hasn't been too well and I've found her heaving for kingdom-come in the bathroom every morning this week."

"Oh my!" Harriet exclaimed, "Is she sick?"

"She's not sure, but if you ask me, I'll bet that it's just stress. She's graduating this Friday, then Mikey's coming home on the Sunday. And the Master Chief is arriving the next Tuesday, so maybe it's just a nervous stomach that she's got."

"Let her know that I'm thinking about her," Harriet told Mac, "Tell her that everything will be fine and that I hope that she feels better soon."

"Thanks Harriet," Mac told her, "I'll let her know."

OOOO

For yet another morning in a row, Harm and Mac woke up to find Cathy throwing up in the bathroom.

"Mac," Harm told his wife, "we're going to have to have a talk with her and find out what is wrong. This has been going on all week."

After she emerged, they sat Cathy down and began to have a serious talk with her.

"Cathy, what's going on?" Harm asked her, "How come you're being sick every morning?"

"It's nothing," Cathy insisted, "At first, I thought it was a stomach bug, but now I think that it's just nerves."

"Are you sure?" Harm insisted.

"Yeah," Cathy told him, "I've just got a couple of busy weeks ahead of me, that's all."

"And you're not being sick at any other point in the day?"

"No, I feel fine by the time I get to work. From then on, I get rushed off my feet. By the time I get to bed, I'm either wired for sound or completely tired out. I guess that I don't think about it…"

Harm shot Mac a look, which signaled that this was now her domain to probe a bit further.

Mac understood this look, so stepped forward and asked again, "Are you sure that's all it is? Is it possible that this might be…something else?"

Cathy just looked at Mac, silently for a minute. As she grasped Mac's meaning, she stammered, "What? That I might be pregnant? Oh no Mac, there's no chance of that!"

"You're 100 sure?" Mac insisted, "You and Mikey are…uh… using something, aren't you?"

"Oh yeah," Cathy assured her, "and I've been as regular as clockwork since Mikey left."

"Okay," Harm breathed a sigh of relief, as he went back to getting ready for work.

OOOO

As Mikey let himself into the apartment, he noticed that Cathy was curled up, sound asleep on the sofa.

"She must have fallen asleep while she was waiting up for me," he thought, smiling to himself.

He quietly set his bags down, then went over to where Cathy was curled up. He stroked her hair back from her face and she stirred, then realized that it was him.

"Hey there, sleepyhead," he greeted her.

"I'm sorry," Cathy apologized, "I must have dozed off. I so wanted to greet you when you came through that door, too!"

"Don't worry about it," Mikey told her, "Let's just go to bed and get some sleep. I'm dog-tired and I've missed having you curled up beside me."

With that, they left all of the bags in the hallway and made their way to the bedroom to get some sleep.

OOOO