Ellie stood there, her face painted expressionless and her words caught in her throat. Jake must have been feeling the same thing because he too stood there, his eyes fixated on her face before slowly moving down and landing on her stomach.
Oh crap, she thought. His eyes lingered but his expression remained hard to read. Could he tell? What would she say? What would Nick say? She glanced over at Nick, he was fumbling around with the change in his pocket and her heart fluttered ever so slightly at the sight of him. But it didn't last long, she turned back at Jake, waiting in agony for his reaction.
However, before she could be struck with the pain of his voice Nick wandered over.
"I got you a large, you gotta eat for two now." He chuckled and his eyes landed on her. He smiled before realizing her motionless expression. He quizzically looked at the man in front of her, his smile fading slightly.
"Nick, this is Jake," Ellie said, her tense voice rising to the surface and a sourness coating her mouth and throat. She felt like she was gonna be sick.
At first, Nick was met with confusion, soon evolving into deep anger and resentment for the man who had cheated on his now girlfriend.
"Ellie it's uh so good to see you." Jake smiled but his eyes remained fixated on Nick.
Ellie just stood there facing him. If looks could kill, not only would Jake be dead but the whole restaurant might actually go up in flames. She could feel the anger and disgust boiling inside of her until a woman put her hand on Jake's shoulder. She actually thought she might burst out laughing. The woman was maybe 22 years old and looked about as dumb and slutty as the mean girl in a hallmark movie.
"Oh, and who is this?" Ellie asked, her face breaking into a sly grin.
Nick must have noticed her attitude change because he unclenched his fists and slipped a hand around his girlfriend's waist. If Ellie weren't actively trying to keep from laughing, she might have pointed out the bubble of toxic masculinity that seemed to surround the group.
"Uh, this is Annie. My girlfriend." Jake didn't take his eyes off Ellie as he spoke.
Annie smiled an innocent if not slightly clueless smile and motioned at Ellie. "So when are you due?"
Wow, she really didn't know when to keep her mouth shut. Jake's face went white and Ellie could feel Nick's ribs shake, trying to stifle a laugh.
"Uh, late August," Ellie answered, her weight shifting uncomfortably.
They stood in awkward silence and Nick could tell that Ellie wanted to leave. He was thankful when the employee called their order number and he shuffled over to grab the bag of food.
"It was nice seeing you Jake," Ellie said, but she didn't look up to face him.
With a brisk movement, she turned to join Nick, and they walked hand in hand out of the restaurant.
The next morning Mcgee immediately noticed Nick's mood when he stepped off the elevator. He watched him walk, head down, to his desk, sitting down in his chair which Mcgee knew was a rarity.
"Nick, you ok?" Mcgee sent him a quizzical look from across the bullpen.
Nick shot up from his chair with a swift motion. Great, he's up again. Mcgee knew a rant was coming.
"It's Ellie, she's been acting weird since we saw Jake last night." Nick huffed.
"Wait! You saw Jake?" Mcgee now stood, gaping.
Kasie and Jimmy also gathered now, listening intently to what was bound to be an interesting conversation.
Nick ignored him and continued "She didn't say anything but I could tell when we got home that it got to her more than she let on." His accent started to peek through, indicating that he was irritated. "This Jake man is the last thing she needs, she's already going insane stuck at home."
Kasie and Jimmy stood snacking as if they were watching a movie. Mcgee sat, chin in his hands, watching Nick with the utmost attention. Almost as if a lightbulb chimed on he sat up in his chair, swiveling it slightly to face Nick.
"What if we threw her a baby shower?" Mcgee suggested with a little too much enthusiasm.
Kasie immediately perked up. "Yes Mcgee! Ooh we could get those little cupcakes that she likes and we could make it a surprise, oh she would never see it coming.." Kasie started to ramble, planning it out loud as she unconsciously made her way to her lab.
"What just happened." Nick sat down, dumbfounded.
Jimmy just snickered and put a hand on his shoulder, walking out of the room.
A week later, they had it planned down to the purple balloons and chocolate frosted cupcakes, they meaning one very hyped up Kasie. The plan was set in motion as Nick escorted Ellie out of the apartment and to an art exhibit downtown. As they made their way through the parking lot Ellie suddenly stopped, peering curiously at a light gray honda.
"Is that Kasies car?" She asked, squinting her eyes.
"Whaaat, no.." Nick scoffed, gripping her by the shoulders and moving her along.
Back at the apartment, Jimmy, Kasie, Tim, and Delilah put up decorations, with the exception of Gibbs who made some lame excuse to come after they were done setting up.
"Woah." Jimmy suddenly gasped from over by the kitchen.
They all perked their heads up looking at Jimmy. He was standing over by an opened cabinet containing Nick's million bottles of protein powder. He stuck his hand in and when he retracted it he turned around to face the team. In his hand was a round-cut sparkling diamond ring in a little velvet box.
Sorry to leave you guys hanging with this news but I promise to update soon. I just want to say how absolutely dumbfounded I am by all the positivity and feedback I am receiving on this story, it means the absolute world to me. Also if you didn't notice, I deleted the other story I was working on, I decided it was easier to focus on one story at a time and no progress was being made on the other story anyway. This story is turning out way longer than I expected but I am having fun writing it and as long as you guys keep responding to the material I will keep putting new chapters out there. Before the next chapter I want to hear what you guys want Nick and Ellie to name the baby, I will then pick out one name and use it in my story later on. Thanks again for all the support, happy reading!