Care, Caution and Confessions

Kate was on her knees at the front of the church; eyes shut, hands clasped in front of her, she'd thought about everything. She'd tried to predict Jethro's reaction, she'd tried to decide what her reaction would be to his reaction, she'd tried to decide what it should be. Then she'd decided there was no point second guessing every possible feeling the two of them might have, so she'd stopped thinking about him and started thinking about how she felt, what she wanted. Once she realised how excited and terrified and happy it made her, she'd just knelt there praying he'd feel the same. It was odd; she hadn't planned to come here, she hadn't really planned to go anywhere, she'd just sort of found herself outside.

Looking down she glanced at her watch and was shocked to find she'd been there nearly two hours. She should probably head back to the naval yard; she'd left without any explanation and the team might start to worry. Gibbs wouldn't have been at all impressed, especially after their little episode that morning, but she figured a few hours spent AWOL would pale into insignificance when she told him about the baby.

She sighed and got to her feet, picking up her bag. As she turned to walk back down the aisle she caught sight of him sitting at the back by the door. He was watching her expressionlessly. He must have had McGee track her cell.

Kate walked towards him slowly, smiling teasingly as she got closer.

"You here to watch my six, Gibbs?"

He chuckled but she could see the concern in his eyes.

"How long have you been here?"

"An hour and a half, give or take." He scanned her face for any hint of what she was thinking.

Thinking about how he'd been sitting there silently all that time, watching over her, the warm feeling that Jethro always teased her about flowed through her. Gibbs took her hand gently in his.

"What's going on with you?" he asked softly.

She sat next to him and leant against his chest.

"I'm ok," she whispered.

"That's not what I asked."

"I know." she couldn't look at him. They sat in silence for what seemed like hours to Gibbs but only seconds to Kate. She could feel him becoming agitated.

"You're scaring me, Katie, what's so bad that you can't tell me?"

He put his arm around her shoulders and she looked up into his worried face.

"Its not bad, its just, I..." She struggled to find the words.

"Kate, are we, I mean are you..." His tone had changed completely he sounded hopeful but a little unsure.

"Yes," Kate cut in. She watched as a smile spread across his face, his eyes sparkling and suddenly she found herself smiling back at him, her worries dissolving into nothing.

His smile faltered slightly.

"You were worried about telling me?" He sounded hurt.

"Yes," she said honestly. "I didn't know how you'd react; I couldn't bear the thought of losing you." She looked up into his eyes hoping he would understand.

"You could never lose me," He told her earnestly.

"Good." she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. "Can you believe it? We're going to be parents!"

He laughed softly at her excitement. "Mmm, and that means you have to let me take care of you for the next how many months?"

"Seven and a half."

"Exactly, and I don't want to hear any arguments, Agent Todd." he said commandingly.

"Jethro, I don't need..."

"I mean it Kate; I'm not going to let anything happen to you or our baby."

Kate knew he was thinking about Shannon and Kelly.

"We'll be fine, Jethro, we all will." she said reassuringly.

"I love you." The look he gave her made her heart melt.

"I love you too." They gazed at each other for a moment. "We should probably get back and I should really call my mother." She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"We don't have to tell anyone until you're ready..." He offered as they stepped out onto the street.

"I know, but I think we should tell them when we get back, they know something's going on." She smiled as he held her car door open for her, scanning the street protectively as she got in.

"I'll see you soon. Drive carefully." He shut the door and walked back to his car smiling to himself; if he drove fast he could make a quick stop on the way.

A/N: Thank you for reading this, thank you also to my reviewers (especially shawdoo!), it was lovely to have an inbox full of reviews and story alerts the morning after I posted the first chapter. I will be trying to update weekly but I don't know how long that will last! Good news is I have the next chapter, and it even has a title. And the title always seems to be what slows me down. Anyway thanks again and please review!