in which hope comes clean about her baby fever.
with Tim McGee + Hope Gibbs.

IT'S BEEN FESTERING FOR some time. It started when a friend posted her pregnancy announcement over social media and Hope had congratulated her. Every few days, Hope found herself going back to her friend's page to see the ultrasound photos. Then Hope finally admitted to herself that she wanted a baby, but she doubted that she and Tim were even ready for the discussion of kids. It festered more, after that. Hope watched baby videos, too, whenever she was alone and had free time. She refused to admit to her boyfriend or uncle that her baby fever was getting worse, let alone that it even existed.

It got to a point that it was getting out of control. She no longer cared if her boyfriend had caught her watching videos, and when asked about it, Hope only said that it was friend's baby. Tim would nod, and say nothing else.

But now, Tim knew something was up. Hope hadn't been paying attention to movie she had practically begged him to watch. He glanced over and had caught a peek of her phone screen, where she had been scrolling through a page full of babies and infants.

Tim paused the movie and threw his arm over the back of the couch as he looked towards her. "Babe," he sighed.

Hope glanced up, with a small guilty smile. "Hm?"

"Why are you looking at pictures of babies?" Tim questioned. Hope sighed, and bit down on her bottom lip. "Are you having baby fever?"

She wanted to lie, but he had figured her out. So, Hope nodded.

"Yeah," she murmured.

Tim chuckled softly, and his hand came up to rest on the back of her head, his fingers curling slightly into her dark hair. He couldn't help the soft smile, and he leaned forward to press a kiss to her forehead before he leaned in for a real kiss.

"Honey, why didn't you tell me?" Tim was far from mad, but he wasn't quite sure she kept it from him. They hadn't had a conversation about their future, if either one of them wanted kids, what they wanted from their futures.

Hope shrugged, "Not sure. Just kinda doubted that we were ready for that discussion. I mean, we basically live together, but could you imagine how Jethro would react if I said I wanted a baby."

He tipped his head back, and laughed lightly. Granted, Tim was terrified what would happen if he and Hope had decided anything about their future because of Gibbs. He tended to be that scary father type when it came to his niece, not that Tim would ever blame him.

Tim nodded before he leaned in for one more kiss. "We can have that conversation whenever, but let's give it time before we say anything about children in front of your uncle. I'm sure he was ready to kill me when I kissed in the office for the first time."

Hope rolled her eyes, and when she was ready to change the subject, she lifted her phone to show Tim the photos of adorable babies. Tim laughed, and leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers.

"They're cute."

Tim confirmed, "They are. You really want one?"

She giggled softly and nodded, "Yeah. One day."

"One day."

a/n → did I rewrite this three times? yes, I did. also, I want to write a part two. thoughts on that?