Will You Take Care of Me?

Finding Normal?

Jack woke up early the next morning to the feeling of nausea she'd become all too familiar with in the past few weeks. Once she realized that it wasn't going to go away, she got up quietly in an attempt not to wake Gibbs and went into the bathroom. Despite her efforts not to wake him, her husband was not far behind her. He picked up the blanket they'd slept with, followed her to the bathroom and knelt beside her, holding back her hair while she got sick.

"The good thing about sleeping through a day at the hospital was missing this," she said after she'd finished.

"I know sweetie." He said sympathetically as he stood up and wet a cloth. He sat back down beside her and gently wiped her mouth for her.

"Thank you." she said weakly but appreciatively.

"Are you okay?" He asked, gently rubbing circles on her back.

"Yeah, I'm okay." she said as she laid her head on his shoulder. He kissed her forehead and wrapped her up in the blanket.

"Can I get you anything?" He asked softly. She shook her head no. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. She snuggled into him a little and he put his arms around her. "You want to try to get a little more sleep sweetheart?" he asked and she shook her head again. "What about if I make you some tea or something?"

She nodded a little. "Okay." she said and then stood up. As soon as she did, she stopped moving and put her hand to her forehead.

"Sweetheart? Are you okay?"

She swallowed and nodded. "Fine."

"Jack..."

"Just a little dizzy, I'm okay, I promise. The nurse said that would happen."

"Why don't you let me bring you into the couch?" he asked gently and almost as soon as he did, she snapped back.

"No." She said. She didn't mean to say it as harshly as it came out.

"Jack, I didn't mean to upset you, I just..."

"I told you. I'm fine." She cut him off, calmer this time but still coldly. She left the room, going upstairs and into their bedroom and shutting the door harder than she meant to.

Unsure what to make of the interaction, Gibbs just stared at the door for several seconds. Finally, he decided to go downstairs, hoping that giving her some space would help. He put on some tea for her and then went to the basement. When he got down there, he began working on a project Jack had no idea about - a cradle for the baby. Sure, they had Kelly's, but he wanted their baby to have something of his or her own. He and Jack had both had children before and he knew that both of their experiences haunted them, so he wanted to have something to remind them that this was a fresh start.

As soon as Jack had closed the door, tears started pouring down her cheeks. Why had she yelled at him? It wasn't his fault...he only wanted to help. But dang it, she didn't want help. She didn't want to need help. She wanted this all to go away. She slid down against the door until she was sitting on the floor with her knees up to her chest. It felt like ever since this pregnancy started, she'd been constantly on edge. It had gotten even worse when she'd been kidnapped. She hadn't even told Jethro everything that had happened and dang it, she needed to talk to someone. But not him...she couldn't tell him...not now. In the past few days he had been through hell and back for her and she wasn't about to put him through any more. She secretly hoped he'd come knocking, wanting her to let him in. All she really wanted now was to be in his arms, to know it was okay to breakdown and cry, to be comforted and protected by him. But she couldn't. She already felt too vulnerable; too weak. She had to be strong.

After several minutes of trying to pull herself together, she slowly got up off of the floor and went into the bathroom that was connected to their room, wiping away her tears as she did. She blew her nose a few times and brushed her teeth, then got into the shower. After she got out, she went to the bedroom to get clothes, and as she did, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She was covered in wounds and bruises from her face all the way down to her legs. As she turned to face her reflection, tears welled up in her eyes again. Not for what she'd been through, but for what she'd put their baby through. She laid her hands on her belly. It was hard to imagine that there was a baby there right now. It was a miracle the child was alive, she knew that, but she hated that she hadn't protected them better. Before she could finish her thoughts, her phone vibrated and she looked over at the nightstand where it was, thankful for a distraction. She quickly put on some comfy leggings and one of Gibbs' hoodies and went to her phone, picking it up to see who had texted. She wasn't surprised to see that it was Grace, and tried not to be too disappointed that it wasn't Ellie.