"Abigail Mcgee!" Tim called into Abby's lab angrily.
Abby quickly got up out of her desk chair. "Tim." She said quietly waiting for a reprimanding.
"I just thought you might want to know that our daughters are fine. If you want you can let me know your new address so I can bring them over to see you sometime." Tim said fuming.
Abby looked at him with pain in her eyes. "What exactly is it that makes you think I have a new address?"
"You didn't come home and you don't seem to care." Tim retorted. "You know how important it is for me to always know where you are."
"JUST BECAUSE I DIDN'T COME HOME LAST NIGHT DOESN'T MEAN I'M CHEATING ON YOU!" She screamed, reaching the end of her temper.
"Well then maybe you'd like to tell me whose bed you spent last night in?"
"If you really care so much then you should know that I spent last night alone." Abby replied avoiding the actual question.
"Fine don't tell me!" Tim said turning to the door.
"It was Tony's." Abby breathed.
"Excuse me?" Tim asked in disbelief.
"Before you get mad at them you should know I told Ziva not to tell you that I stayed there." Abby said quietly. "I'm just dealing with something right now Tim and I need you to let me deal with it."
"Abby did the 'for better or worse' in our wedding vows mean nothing to you?" Tim asked obviously frustrated.
"Do they mean anything to you? Because based on what you have to say one mistake and we might as well be separated!" Abby argued.
"Is that what you want?" Tim asked exasperatedly.
The hurt was immediately present in her eyes. "Is that what you want?" she asked as the elevator dinged to signal it's arrival.
"We can't talk about this right now." Tim said as Tony came into the lab.
"Why?" Abby asked angrily. "It's fine for you to go around telling Ziva you think I'm having an affair, but you don't want Tony to know that you're considering a divorce?"
"YOU WHAT?" Tony asked angrily. "Just because you're fighting doesn't mean you should just separate!"
"Not that it's any of your business, but I know Abby's hiding something important from me. She has been for a few weeks now and I'm starting to get sick and tired of it." Tim said, really directing his comment at Abby.
Abby looked at Tim uncomfortably before quietly leaving her lab.
"WHAT THE HECK MCGEE!" Tony asked angrily as soon as he knew Abby was out of earshot. "You don't even know what's going on with her and you're just throwing out the idea of a divorce?"
Tim looked at him blankly. "Nothing's been the same."
"Since what?" Tony asked, still prepared to argue.
"SINCE I LEFT HER ALONE IN THE VAN OKAY!" He yelled in anger, more at himself than anyone else.
"Tim she doesn't care about that…" Tony started.
"BUT I DO!" Tim exclaimed. "It's my fault she was in so much pain."
"So you think that leaving her alone again is somehow going to fix the damage?"Tony retorted. "She'll be in even more pain, trust me."
"Tony… Shut Up." Tim said before heading toward the elevator.
Moments later Abby came back into the lab. "He's gone isn't he?"
"He's just upstairs Abs." Tony replied with a small smile. "What happened?"
"Morning Sickness… Which really should be called all day sickness considering it's not really morning anymore." Abby said looking frustrated.
"Are you okay?" Tony asked carefully.
Abby sighed and the tears began to fall. "How could he think so little of me? I've been nothing but faithful to him for 14 years now, and he thinks that because of one night, I want out?"
Tony looked at his surrogate sister helplessly. "Abby you have to tell him."
She shook her head as she grabbed her jacket off her desk chair. "I'm leaving… And I never told you that. If Tim asks… tell him I won't be back anytime soon."
"Excuse me?"
"Tony… I need you to let me leave. I can't stay here and deal with this…" She said pointing at her stomach. "And… everything else."
"So you're just going to leave Stace and Katie?" Tony asked in disbelief.
"Tony… I'm leaving. Tell my girls that I love them, but I can't stay in DC right now." Abby said pulling her purse out from under her desk.
"Well where are you going?" Tony asked anxiously.
"That… is need to know information. You… don't need to know."
Tim sighed and put his face into his hands when he heard the elevator arrived.
"Ma-gee." Gibbs said simply, holding in the anger he was feeling toward his agent.
"Yes boss?" Tim asked pulling his head up.
Gibbs looked at him with a nearly accusing eye. "Have you spoke to Abby this morning?"
"If I did, why do you want to know?" Tim asked tiredly.
"She's not here."
Tim immediately looked at his boss. "Excuse me?"
"I brought her into work this morning, and now she's not here. What did you have to do with that?" Gibbs replied.
"I didn't… She wouldn't…" He said quietly before pulling his phone out of his pocket and dialing Abby's number.
"This is Abby! You know what to do at the beep!" Came back at him.
"Abby it's Tim… We're worried about you. Call us back." He said sadly before closing his phone.
"Mcgee…" Gibbs warned.
"We had a fight this morning." Tim admitted. "Gibbs, she's hiding something from me."
"So you think just because she won't tell you something she's with someone else?" Gibbs asked, the information he knew leaking through.
"How do you know…"
"She told me Mcgee." Gibbs cut him off. "I'm telling you right now, I've made every mistake in the book. And if you even mention the idea that she was cheating on you, and she isn't, she won't take it well."
"Why wouldn't she tell me? She tells me everything!" Tim protested.
Gibbs shook his head. "No one, tells anyone everything."
"Then what isn't she telling me?" Tim asked curiously.
"You think I know?" Gibbs asked with a smirk to cover up the lie. "You should find her and ask if you want to know."
Tim was about to reply when Gibbs' phone rang. "Gibbs."
"If Tim's with you don't say my name." He heard Abby's voice ring through his ears.
"What can I do for you?" Gibbs replied, giving her the answer to her question.
"Is he okay?" Abby asked anxiously.
"That would be fine." Gibbs started before continuing. "But if he can't find what he's looking for I don't know how fine it will be."
"Since someone has to know where I'm at…" Abby began.
"No." Gibbs replied immediately. "You do what you need to do."
"You don't want to know?" Abby asked surprised.
"I'll call you back." Gibbs replied.
"Thank You." Abby said before hanging up the phone.
"Who was that?" Tim asked as Gibbs closed his phone.
"Ducky." Gibbs lied immediately before sitting down at his computer.
"Gibbs… I have to find Abby." Tim said quietly. "It's my fault she left."
"You have to do your job Mcgee." Gibbs retorted. "Abby will come back to you when she's ready."
"Tony is that you?" Ziva called when she heard the front door to the apartment open.
"Yeah Ziva! I brought take out." He replied setting the bag down on the table. He was surprised when he saw her quickly waddling into the kitchen. "What's the rush?"
"Food." Ziva replied immediately as she opened a carton of Dim Sum.
"Hey Gibbs said you were having contractions this morning." Tony said changing the subject.
"Yeah." Ziva said as she chewed. "But I'm fine. It's really nothing to worry about."
"Well at least one of the NCIS ladies is okay." Tony said taking a mouthful of orange chicken.
Ziva looked up surprised. "What's wrong with Abby… I mean other than the obvious."
"She… kinda ran away today." Tony cringed.
"No." Ziva said in disbelief. "I need Abby… I'm due to have this… thing in the next few weeks and if Abby's not here…" She said as tears came to her eyes.
"Whoa… Ninja!" Tony tried to comfort her as he awkwardly put his arm around her shoulders. "You know that Abby will be there for you."
"Normally… but think of what she's going through right now!" Ziva exclaimed. "She's not normal Abby!"
Tony sighed not knowing if he should say what he knew. "Ziva there's… a few other problems between Abby and Tim right now…"
"What happened?" Ziva asked as she pressed her palm to her stomach.
"Tim… mentioned the idea of a separation." Tony winced.
"HE WHAT?" Ziva asked angrily. "Just because Abby stayed here last night he wants a divorce?"
"Did Abby tell you how far along she is?" Tony asked.
"No… why?" Ziva replied, caught off guard by the question.
"Tim says she's been hiding something for weeks. He thinks that our house is just a cover for something bigger. Which in a sense it is… but he's got it wrong."
"We have to tell Tim… If something goes wrong with her or the baby…" Ziva said quietly. "She needs Tim…"
Tony shook his head. "Ziva you know we can't do that."
Ziva swallowed trying to keep her tears inside. "I need Abby here."
"Oh Ziva…" Tony said quietly as he pulled her into his arms. "She'll come back. She can't stay away from her girls for very long."
Ziva was about to reply when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it…" Tony tried.
"No… I can get it." Ziva said determinedly as she wiped her eyes. Ziva quickly opened the door to be confronted by a very upset Caitlin. "Katie are you alright?"
Caitlin shook her head as she wiped her eyes causing mascara to streak her face. "Where's my mom?" She asked, her voice shaking.
Ziva shook her head as she spoke. "I don't know Katie. She and your dad had a fight today and she left."
"No… Ziva I need her…" Caitlin said angrily. "Why did she leave?"
Ziva sighed as she led Caitlin to the couch. "Katie… Your parents need to work this out."
"Ziva… you don't understand…I need my mom…" Caitlin said nervously. "I did something… I really shouldn't have … and she told me not to…"
Ziva eyed the girl. "What did you do?"
"Natalie's brother, David… He took me to get a bellybutton tattoo like… almost a year ago." Caitlin admitted.
"I hate to tell you this, but she already knows about that." Ziva said with a smirk.
Caitlin's eyes widened, but she continued. "That's not exactly the problem… Natalie and I kind of had him sign for us on bellybutton piercings."
"Caitlin Kelly Mcgee!" Ziva admonished. "You have got to stop behaving this way!"
"Ziva… That's not the problem." Caitlin said sheepishly as she fiddled with the edge of her shirt.
Ziva sighed. "Show me the damage." She said gently.
Caitlin carefully pulled up the edge of her tee shirt to uncover a very infected piercing. "I forgot to clean it." She admitted.
"We're going to have to get a professional to look at this." Ziva said sadly. "Tony!" She called into the kitchen.
"Who was at the door?" Tony asked as he wandered into the living room. He stopped as soon as he saw Caitlin's stomach. "What… did you do?"
That was the final straw for her, Caitlin burst into tears. "Oh honey." Ziva said gently as she carefully pulled Caitlin's shirt back over her stomach. "Tony, we need to take Katie to see a doctor."
"Can't Tim do it?" Tony whined.
Ziva slapped his arm. "I'm pretty sure Caitlin doesn't want him to know about this."
Caitlin sniffed before interjecting. "He would kill me if he found out I'd been hanging out with David without adult supervision."
"Tony… I can't drive; you're going to have to take us." Ziva insisted.
Tony shook his head. "I can't do that without Tim or Abby knowing."
Caitlin wiped away tears as Ziva spoke. "Tony, Caitlin needs to go to the doctor. You can take us there or I'll get Gibbs to."
"Tony, please!" Caitlin begged as tears continued to fall. "It's starting to burn and I need it to get taken care of."
Tony looked at her sympathetically. "All right, but I want you to try and call your mom before we go." He replied sticking to his guns.
Caitlin nodded as she took the phone from Tony's outstretched hand. It was several moments after she dialed her mom's number when she was greeted by a very annoyed Abby.
"What do you want Tony?" Abby asked sounding frustrated.
Caitlin gulped before speaking up. "Mom?"
"Caitlin? What's wrong?" Abby immediately sounded concerned.
"I have to ask you something." Caitlin admitted nervously.
"What's wrong Katie?" Abby pressed.
Caitlin sat there still for at least two minutes before she choked out a sob. "Katie?" Abby asked anxiously. "Katie what's wrong? Are you hurt? Where's Tim?"
Ziva carefully took the phone from Caitlin. "Abby we need to take Katie to the doctor." She said calmly.
"Why? What happened?"
Ziva decided it would be best to cut right to the point. "Caitlin got a bellybutton ring and now it's infected."
Abby sighed. "Don't tell Tim." She replied immediately.
"I wasn't planning on it. But Tony wanted your permission before we took her." Ziva explained.
"Thank you Ziva, for helping Katie. She doesn't really talk to Tim about things." Abby admitted.
"Don't worry about it." Ziva said before continuing. "I am worried about you though. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine Ziva. I just needed some time to think about things." Abby admitted. "You don't need to worry."
"Abby I don't want you to make any irrational decisions because you're upset and alone." Ziva insisted.
"I'm not alone Zi." Abby said quietly. "Don't tell anyone else, but I'm with the nuns."
Ziva smiled. "Abby you can't believe how happy I am to hear that." She paused for a moment in thought before the pain etched on Caitlin's face reminded her of what was going on. "All right Abby, we're going to take care of Katie."
"Thanks Ziva." Abby said before hanging up the phone.
"Come on Katie." Ziva said gently as she hoisted herself off the couch. "We've got to get you taken care of."
Tim walked in the front door and was confronted by a sight he wasn't expecting. Anastasia was laying on her stomach reading a book and eating ice cream from the carton. Tim walked over and tapped her on the shoulder. Where's Katie? He signed quickly.
I don't know. She never came home from school. Anastasia replied before taking another scoop of ice cream.
Give me that! Tim signed as he took the ice cream away from her. You should have called when she didn't come home!
Anastasia grunted in disapproval. Give it back!
Not happening. Tim replied. Did your mother call today?
She looked at him curiously. No… Was she supposed to?
Tim sighed. I need to call your mother. He signed before pulling out his phone. He sighed in defeat when he heard her voicemail for the twelfth time that day. "Abby it's Tim. I'm worried about you. Please call me back so we can talk about this. I love you." He said quietly before hanging up.
Dad, where's mom? Anastasia signed carefully.
I don't know Stacey, but I need your help with something. Tim requested.
What's up dad?
Tim sighed. We've got to find Katie before your mom decides to come back home.
Anastasia's eyes widened. Wait so Mom's gone… Like she left?
Stacey that's not important right now… We need to find your sister.
Anastasia simply nodded before following him out the front door.
Caitlin sat down carefully on the examination room table.
"Are you doing alright honey?" Ziva asked gently as she rubbed her hand.
"It burns." Caitlin admitted. "I wish I never did this… It was a stupid decision…Dad's gonna kill me if he finds out!"
"Shhhh." Ziva hushed her. "Don't worry about it Katie, try to focus on something else."
"Like what? It hurts!" Caitlin whined.
Ziva took in a deep breath as she too felt a pain shoot across her abdomen. "Anything but the pain." She said through gritted teeth.
Caitlin looked at her concerned. "Ziva are you alright?"
"I'm fine honey." Ziva lied. "The baby's just kicking my ribs."
Just then the doctor came in. "Caitlin Mcgee?" He asked.
"Guilty as charged." Caitlin said as she raised her hand
"So you got an infected piercing is what I hear." The doctor said with a smile. "Should we check it out?"
Caitlin nodded nervously as she pulled up the edge of her shirt. "I forgot to clean it." She admitted.
"We're going to have to give it a good cleaning, and the ring is going to have to stay in so the bacteria doesn't get into the hole." The doctor began. "But it's really nothing too serious." She assured her.
Caitlin sighed in relief. "So is there anything I can do to make the pain…" she began but was interrupted by Ziva's outburst.
"DON'T TALK ABOUT PAIN!" She demanded fiercely.
Caitlin gasped in realization. "Ziva you're in labor aren't you?"
"I don't…. I don't know!" She admitted sounding frustrated.
"You've got to call my mom…" Caitlin insisted. "And someone should go get Tony… Ziva you have to go to the hospital!"
Ziva took in a deep breath. "I'm not ready to do this." She admitted quietly.
"Ziva." Caitlin said gently as she grabbed her hand. "You're going to be a great mom. Look how well you took care of me even though I did something I shouldn't have."
"Alright honey… I know you're trying to help. But right now I really need Tony." Ziva said anxiously.
"I'll go find your husband." The doctor said calmly.
Ziva shook her head. "He's not my husband… He's… He's my…" She was trying to come up with what exactly he was when another contraction hit. "DI-NOZZOO!" She screamed out as she held onto Caitlin's hand. "Oh please let this be over fast." She whimpered under her breath.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for the few of you who reviewed! I know lots of you are reading and I'd love to get some feedback on what's going on so I can improve my stories! PLEASE REVIEW!