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After their night together, Nick and Ellie decided to give a relationship a try. They both knew that they loved each other, though neither had said it yet, and that this relationship would be it for both of them. They also knew that, while their friends would be happy for them, they both wanted to keep their relationship a secret for a while. Something that was much harder to do than either of them thought.
“Really. Yes dear?” Ellie rolled her eyes as they walked in her door that evening. Trying to play it off, Nick sat down on the couch, pulling her down with him.
“What, you love it when I call you that.” Rolling her eyes, she nudged him gently with her elbow and turned around in his embrace.
“Well yeah but not when McGee’s around to hear you.” Nick winced, knowing she was worried about that. If he was being honest he was worried about the senior agent’s reaction too but it seemed like he just ignored the comment.
“Okay so, maybe that wasn’t my finest moment. But McGee’s used to comments between us like that. He didn’t even flinch when I said it.”
“I guess you’re right.” He started to say something when she spoke up again. “Just, we need to be more careful in the future. I really like this between us and I don’t want the pressure of the others to potentially ruin it.”
“Hey, hey.” He grasped her hands in his, holding them close to his chest. “I’ll be more careful. I promise.”
“Thank you.” With a soft smile she leaned forward, kissing him gently. Laying there curled up on the couch together it didn’t take long for Ellie to fall asleep. Feeling her breath even out against his chest Nick smiled and picked her up, carrying her to bed and snuggling up behind her.
Two weeks later
Walking into his apartment, Ellie cringed as she heard the door slam behind her. Nick had been in a bad mood since his father showed up in their case and she didn’t know what to do to make things better. She wasn’t surprised when instead of going straight for the couch he went into his bedroom, closing the door. With a sigh she made her way into the kitchen, puting last night’s leftovers in the stove to heat up while she waited on him to come out. Twenty minutes later she was ready to go check on him when the door slowly opened and Nick walked out, his eyes clearly red from crying. Her heart broke for the man in front of her and she wiped her hands on a towel before making her way over to him.
“Oh Nick, honey.” Immediately she wrapped him in a tight hug and a tear fell from her own eyes as his arms tightened around her and he let out her name in a breathy sob. She held him until he dropped his arms but she didn’t move far, keeping a hand on his arm in support. Turning the oven off she led him to the couch, forcing him to sit down and face her. “Talk to me babe.”
With a shaky breath Nick told her all about his childhood. From his father leaving to the effect it had on his family to finally coming to terms with the fact that he was never coming back and eventually presuming he was dead, he spilled everything as she held his hands in hers. When he looked up at her his eyes were shining again and she reached up to wipe a tear from his face.
“My father’s leaving hurt Ellie. But the worst part? The worst part is thinking there was something wrong about you, about what you did, that made them leave. And then wondering if you could do the same thing to your child. I think that’s why I never wanted kids.” Ellie’s breath hitched and for a moment she panicked, thinking about the kids that she wanted in the future and if she would get to have those with Nick.
“Hey, hey, you did nothing wrong. And you’re nothing like your father you know. If you decide to have kids You’ll be a great dad someday, I just know it.”
“Thank you Ellie that uh, that means a lot.” He ran his thumb over her hand and took a deep breath, knowing that his next words would be huge in their relationship. “And uh, I decided a couple years ago that I do want kids. But only if I can have them with you.” At his confession her head whipped up, eyes going wide as she stared at him.
“Y-you, wait what?”
“Ever since we watched baby Cody I realized that the thought of kids didn’t scare me like it used to. And that the thought of having kids with you was something that I wanted.”
“You… you want kids with me?” He nodded, pulling her hands up to place a kiss to the back of them.
“I do. Because I love you Ellie.” She was crying now, feeling her heart swell.
“I love you too Nick.” They were both smiling as they leaned forward, sealing their declaration with a kiss.
The next few days with Nick’s dad around were hard but with Ellie stayed by his side, thankful McGee never asked about how she knew so much about Miguel. When McGee practically sent her to check on Nick she panicked, thinking maybe he had caught on, but quickly realized that he was still as oblivious as the rest of the team.
They were able to stay under the radar until a month later when Ellie was staring down at a line of positive pregnancy tests. Their secret was definitely going to be out now.