AN- After getting this back out I had always planned on a second chapter so here it is. As always thanks to BonesBird for the help and making me get this back out.
It had been just over two months since she threw her house party and things were going great from Meredith Brody. She had finally found her place somewhere, and had been accepted into the weird family that was the NCIS NOLA team. Her partner Chris LaSalle was like a brother who she could torment and annoy, and who gave as good as he got. They played tricks on each other and bugged each other but the trust they had built was unbreakable. As for her boss he was a little more complicated. She had no idea what they were, he was her boss and friend and like LaSalle she trusted him with her life but there was something between them. It was a chemistry, a spark when they were close. Neither would admit it but neither tried to deny it.
They would go out as a group and end up sitting on her couch drinking wine together till they fell asleep. They always woke in each other's arms but they never took it further. They would end up either at the office with him cooking for them both or he would pop over and they would go out for a meal. It always ended up with them asleep on either her couch or on his bed as they sat talking. Neither wanted to spoil what they had but both to afraid to take that little step and make it more permanent.
As Brody walked in to the office that morning she looked round and finding the desks empty she made her way to the kitchen. Finding LaSalle eating at the table she went to pour herself a coffee but never made it to the coffee machine as she bolted for the sink and threw up.
"King what the hell you cooking? It stinks" She wiped her mouth and got a glass of water.
"Bacon and eggs, same as I normally do." He looked at Brody as she rinsed her mouth and washed the glass out.
"So why does it smell so bad then?" She felt her stomach churn again at the smell.
"It doesn't, you feeling okay? You look a bit pale." Pride placed breakfast out for all three of them.
She finally made coffee and sat down at the table when Pride placed the plate in front of her causing her to bolt for the sick again. After standing heaving the content of her stomach up she rinsed her mouth again and looked across at the table. LaSalle was in the process of eating his breakfast and seemed obvious to the fact his partner had just threw up. Pride on the other hand was staring at her with a look of concern on his face.
"Maybe you should get some fresh air, might help settle your stomach down." He looked at LaSalle and shook his head.
"Worth a try." She made her way to sit in the courtyard.
Pride sat and ate some of his breakfast but after what he had just witnessed he was put off a little. Picking up his plate he dumped the waste in the bin and put the plate in the sink.
"King is she eating this? Would be a shame to waste it" as LaSalle looked between the plate with Brody's breakfast on and Pride.
Pride just shrugged and made his way outside. LaSalle took that as an open invitation and proceeded to eat Brody's breakfast. Pride walked up behind Brody who had her head resting in her hands as she took in deep breaths. He had no idea what possessed him to do it but he pulled a chair over and placed his hand on Brody's back as he started to make circular movements with his hand. Even with her eyes shut she knew whose hand was on her back, only King would do that and live to tell the tale.
"How you feeling now?" He kept up the slow circle pattern he was making on her back.
"Okay I think. I have no idea what brought that on, I was fine till I got here." rubbing a hand across her stomach as if that would make it settle.
"Probably something you ate fighting back" he stopped moving his hand but didn't remove it.
"Well your cooking is crap then. Last thing I had was your Gumbo yesterday dinner time." They both laughed at the suggestion it was his cooking making her ill.
"I will not be offended if it was, let's hope it clears up soon." He watched her lift her head from her hand and smile at him.
"Thanks, it seems to have stopped and I am starving now." Which caused them both to laugh again.
"Well LaSalle ate your breakfast, so how about we go for some simple toast and take it from there." He finally moved his hand and stood up to head back into the kitchen.
Brody stood and followed him back in and they were both surprise to see LaSalle washing the dishes. Pride set about making a couple of slices of toast as Brody made them all coffee. As she sat down at the table with the coffee she watched a plate appear in front of her with two slices of toast on. Looking at the toast and then the sink she picked a piece up and took a bite. Pride watched to see if she was going to make a dash for it but when he saw her take another bite he smiled. After eating the two slices he had done she looked over at him and smiled. Taking the hint he stuck another two slices in the toaster and waited. When they were ready he placed them on the table and Brody quickly demolished them.
Pride stood laughing at the site of the woman who had just threw up in the sink all but inhale four slices of toast. At least she was feeling better now so it was a start. When she was finished she drank her coffee before washing her dishes and thanking Pride for the second breakfast. They both went to work and everything was fine for the rest of the day. Even though Brody did feel a little a queasy a couple of times she wasn't actually sick so it probably was something she ate.
By the end of the day Pride was pleased to see she was back sitting at the table with LaSalle eating rice and beans, so she was feeling much better. When LaSalle left after eating they both cleared up together and made their way up to his room to watch a movie she had been hounding him to watch. As they settled on his bed with all the cushions piled behind them Brody found herself leaning against Prides side as he found her head on his shoulder and his arm resting around her shoulders. Yet again they never saw the end of the movie as they fell asleep wrapped up together and woke next morning the same way.
As they stretched out Pride felt brave and instead of getting up and going on as if nothing had happened he placed his arm back around Brody's waist and gently tugged her back to him. He was surprised and pleased when he felt her move back against him as she made the next move and wove her fingers through his as she took his hand. Well this was definitely new territory for them both, and they both seemed to be liking it. They lay smiling at the fact they hadn't just got up and went about their day as Brody shut her eyes and settled back against Prides chest. Pride was currently resting his face just above Brody's head and enjoying the feel of her in his arms when she shot forward and ran to the bathroom.
Following behind her he stood watching as she dropped to her knees at the toilet and threw up. Well it couldn't be the food today as they had all had the same the night before. He watched as she heaved and gagged as she continued to be sick. Reaching over he grabbed a glass and filled it with water and picked a towel off the rack. All he could do was stand and wait for her stop as he placed the towel and glass on the floor next to her. When she finally stopped she wiped her mouth and rinsed with the water before passing the glass back to him and going to stand up.
The glass was dumped on the side as he reached down to help up. As he got her to her feet he yet again surprised himself as he pulled her to him and held her as he rubbed her back. Either she was to sick to care or she was happy to be there as he felt her drop her head forward and lean against him. It was when she slid her arms round his waist and held him back he knew it was the latter.
"Well it isn't the food this time as your the only one sick" He continued to rub her back.
"Feels like a stomach bug, hopefully it's only a mild one" She turned her head letting her hear his heartbeat under her right ear.
"Hopefully," He again pushed the boundaries and placed a kiss to her hair.
She felt his lips rested on her head and she closed her eyes. He had never kissed her before even on the head and she had to admit this new found pushing of the boundaries was starting to feel good.
As he kissed her head he closed his eyes as the onslaught of memories came back to him. The one night he got to hold her and kiss and make love to her. She had no memory of it even if she said at the time she knew he was there. Now here they were two months on and she was throwing up and he was finally holding her and she was holding him back.
Two months, two whole months since they had sex and now she was throwing up. No it couldn't be that, could it? It had never entered his head at the time to even think about protection as he was too lost in the moment. He was sure Daniel had used protection as he saw the empty condom wrapper as he left. This had to be a coincidence, surely the one time he had sex with Brody hadn't lead to this. Now was the time he should ask if there was any way she could be pregnant but he chickened out. He just held her and continued to rub her back till he felt her step back a little and his hand dropped back down to his waist.
"Thanks for this" She looked at him and smiled.
"Any time, I don't like seeing you sick" He bent and placed a kiss to her forehead.
She smiled up at him when he kissed her head and took his hand squeezing it as a gesture of thanks. They left the bathroom and she went and grabbed some of her clean clothes that had some how managed to make there way to his wardrobe after her late nights here. When they were both washed and dressed they went down for breakfast which lead to another round of throwing up in the sink. After throwing up again Brody was happy to attack a huge pile of toast that Pride and made and two cups of coffee.
The problem was the more she threw up the more he panicked. He would give it a few days and see how she was and take things as they came but it didn't make it any easier. He knew if she didn't improve then he would have to ask, he would have to tell her the truth about that night and possibly ruin everything they had been working towards. He prayed he was wrong but somewhere in the back of his mind he knew, he knew he was going to have to sit her down and explain that there was a very real possibility that if she was indeed pregnant like he though the child she was carrying was his.
As the week progressed so did Brody's sickness. Now it was whenever she smelt coffee which should have screamed alarm bells to her but she brushed it off. Most food made her sick and that was just with the smell. How could she still brush it off as as an upset stomach when it was obviously something a whole lot bigger. How many women did she know that were sick at the smell of food? How many were sick at the smell of coffee when they had drank it by the boat load daily? How many were sick two months after their housing warming party where they had sex? She was either being very naive or very dumb. What was he supposed to do?, he couldn't push or just blurt it out. He would wait and see what she would do and go with the flow.
AN2- And there will be more as you may have guessed.