"McGee, Dinozzo! Grab your gear!" Gibbs orders as he marches through the bullpen, his coffee in his hand. "We have a dead Gunnery Sergeant."
"What about me?" I call,
"Go see Abby and find out if she needs any help. Keep your phone on you so we can email you anything important about the case." Gibbs says, just before the elevator doors shut.
With a smile, because I love spending time with Abby, I hop out of my chair and start towards the back elevator.
Ducky stops me before I make it there.
"Caitlin, may I see you down in my office?" he says, calmly.
I force a smile "Sure Ducky."
I follow him down to autopsy, and when we get there, he locks the doors.
"Caitlin, my dear, you're well into our second trimester. You wont be able to keep your secret much longer, I'm afraid. I can see you've done quite well hiding your bump so far but it will soon be impossible."
"I am going to wait until the last possible second, Ducky. I just don't know how to tell them and we both know Gibbs will force me to resign from field work and I don't want to stop unless absolutely necessary. There's also rule 12…" I worry aloud
"Calm down, my dear, I'm sure Gibbs will understand and don't forget about rule 18."
"18?" I ask, unable to recall it. Lately my memory has been foggy, another side effect of the pregnancy.
"It is better to seek forgiveness than ask permission." Grins Ducky, and I smile back.
"Thanks Ducky."
Then, recalling his earlier statement about how my stomach will soon grow too much to conceal, I gently touch my hand to my stomach. As I do, I smooth down the blouse to reveal my bump, which has swollen a couple inches past my hips.
"Am I really that big?" I ask, studying my profile in a reflection.
"Not in the least my dear, but you started out quite tiny, so anything more should feel quite big" Ducky chuckles. "and to be fair, unless you know what you're looking at, you simply look like you've been a bit heavy on the carbs."
"Thanks Ducky." I say, half gratefully and half sarcastically.
"Now go and get back to work." He chuckles. "I'll set up an appointment for an ultrasound for next week, which I'll accompany you on if you want."
I give him a hug, and say "Yes please. Thanks Ducky. Really, for everything."
He pats me on the back and says "You're very, very welcome my dear."
