A Life of Hopes & Dreams: Life, Love & Happiness.

Chapter 1.

Any day now Hailey was about to give birth to her and Tony's first child and of course Gibbs first grandchild, to say that both men were on tenterhooks was a bit of an understatement! Yet again with her recovery Hailey had once again surprised them all. Especially as all the way through the pregnancy she had been told that would be facing having a hospital birth, but at her last check up she managed to get the "All clear" to say that if it was what she waned then she could have a home birth, which was what she had really wanted to happen all along, especially following meeting her midwife Wendy and them also becoming quite close friends. So she had only wanted her and of course the two most important men in her life with her as well.

In the last three/four months since they had done the big walk, she and Delilah had worked very hard with the charity work they were doing, even with Delilah's work at the DOD as well, and the charity had become a really big success. Not only that the biggest surprise they'd had was that Vance had adopted the charity as the NCIS official charity, so there were charity boxes installed around the building as well as agents and other people regularly doing events for it. Not only that due to the popularity of the walk it had also been decided that it would become a yearly event. Since the walk Hailey's health had also gone from strength to strength. After a few days rest of course after the walk, she had got back to doing her physical therapy and a couple of months later she was out of the chair completely and was just walking around using crutches. Then in the last few weeks she had gone down to using just the one crutch, mostly for support and when she got exhausted, which of course was happening quite a lot due to the size of her bump and the position the baby was in as she was approaching the end of her pregnancy.

As well as all that they were ready for the birth because they'd got everything prepared for both home and hospital birth when the time came, especially as Hailey had said that if they didn't get permission for the home birth, then they could always keep everything to use in the future if it came down to that. Her biggest surprise came a bit later, because both Tony and Gibbs had banned her from going into the room that they were going to be using as their nursery, as the both of them worked really hard in there when they could of course with cases and things. But when they were working in there they wouldn't let her in and when they were done with their session they would lock the door so that she couldn't get in there when they weren't around. The ban also included when they were having a work session and she had sorted them food and drink out, it had to be left outside the door for one of them to come out and get it, but finally the two of them had managed to get it finally finished a week before her due date. She was still working with the charity stuff, but had drastically cut down on it, even so on the day that they completed the nursery she'd had to go to a meeting with one of their big suppliers of building supplies for the charity, who wanted to put collection boxes into their DIY stores, but they had also decided that they wanted to go from just donating supplies to also supplying them with handymen for jobs as well.

As soon as she got home from the meeting and walked into the house, from the smells that hit her senses she could tell that Tony had been cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Then as she went into the kitchen she could see that she was right, as she stopped to lean against the archway at the entrance, as he was standing there doing something at the stove humming away to himself, then as she looked outside onto the patio she could see Gibbs sitting there with a cup of coffee in his hand. She then stayed there just quietly watching Tony in his own little world as he cooked, it also then made her smile when he finally turned round and jumped when he saw her because of not realizing that she was there, she then went over to him and they kissed before he asked her how the meeting had gone, which she then told him about. When she'd finished he then said as Gibbs also walked in "Ok are you ready for a surprise?" As she then nodded and said "Yes." Gibbs took her arm and they both lead her upstairs to the nursery. When they got outside the door Tony told her to close her eyes and then he also put his hands over them as well, Gibbs also took her arm again and they then both guided her inside the room. When they got to the centre of the room Tony removed his hands and then whispered in her ear "Open your eyes." As she then opened her eyes she found that the two of them had done a really amazing job on the nursery. It was a gorgeous pastel yellow on the walls, with very intricately drawn letters and numbers underneath the picture rails. As she then went round having a closer look at all the furniture and ran her fingers over it all, she knew that Gibbs had made it all. Her most favourite of all though was the rocking chair and they had also positioned it so that it was facing the open fire and even though they hadn't got into the cold weather yet, she was looking forward to the day that she could sit there with the fire going rocking their child to sleep in her arms, as well as feeding them there. She fell in love with the room so much that she actually got quite emotional over it, so she went back to where Tony and Gibbs were standing and gave them both a hug, and in between the tears that had started to leak out she said "Thank you this is just so gorgeous." Although the very happy tears soon became a chuckle because the baby decided that they had to also enjoy their moment as well and started kicking like mad, and because of the way they were standing as they hugged, both Gibbs and Tony could feel the kicking as well. After that they then went back downstairs to share the food that Tony had done and really enjoyed a family night altogether.

In the end though Hailey did end up going over due and when Tony said that because of the way they had been lucky with cases so far, he just had a feeling that things were going to end up happening when they were in the middle of a big case. Hailey had then slapped him and had told him not to go and jinx things. But of course that's just what he did end up doing.

The next day they picked up a case that seemed as though it was going to be open and shut murder, especially as what appeared to be their suspect was found hovering over the bodies of the marine husband and his wife and it turned out that he was their brother and brother-in-law. In the end though none of their evidence pointed to it being him and so he was then released. They'd all then been at it for a couple of days solid when Tony ended up stumbling across the real killer by accident. Not knowing that he had gone to talk to the best friend of the couple on his own. During their talk Tony started to get more suspicious about him being their real killer, so he ended it and took his leave thinking that he hadn't given anything away about what his suspicions were. So he'd said as he went to leave that they would be back in touch with him if there was anything that wanted to speak to him more about. The last thing he knew was that as he went to let himself out of the front door, he got hit on the head and the world around him quickly went black.

On the morning that Tony got taken, he did get the chance to pop home and have a quick shower and change of clothes. Which he was glad of because it was to find Hailey still in bed and looking very tired, some of it she admitted was because she was missing him not laying there next to her, but also the baby had decided to position itself right on her bladder, so she was also up most of the night having to use the bathroom. Then just to top it all off they had also decided to have a really active session inside her at 3am, so she'd then been up and walking around until they had settled once again. Not only that when she'd woken up a little while ago she had got a really bad backache, which they guessed could be a sign of someone's immanent arrival, but in case of it being something else Tony promised her that he would get a chance to get home and give her a good back massage later on.

Even though Hailey hadn't known about Tony going out on his own to see the best friend, later on they worked it out that the exact moment he got knocked out, she had a shiver go down her spine and then started to get a real feeling of dread come over her. Not long after that she decided that she would try calling Tony, but she wasn't getting any answer, and because of knowing their vow because of her being due, she knew that he had promised that he would always answer his phone to her. If he really couldn't talk then he'd said that he would at least text her saying he'd call her back unless it was an emergency now, then she was to text that back to him. So with that she got on the phone to Gibbs instead and he answered saying "Hey Hailey what's up?"

She replied with the sound of worry in her voice "I don't know, but I just got this really strange feeling that there's something wrong with Tony. I just tried to call him and he's not picking up."

He answers "Ok. He was out talking to our victim's best friend, but we'll go and check things, are you ok?"

She answers him "I'm fine dad." Of course it ends up being the moment that she speaks too soon because she then has a really strong contraction, which she knows is a lot different to the false alarm ones that she's had, so after breathing through it she then adds "Erm dad I think I may have just spoken too soon, I think that someone may have decided to start coming."

He then answers trying to disguise some of his worry for the both of them "Ok I'm sending Bishop to be with you and I'll also call Wendy. I promise I will find him and get him to you."

As soon as Gibbs puts the phone down he says "McGee get a trace on DiNozzo's phone we need to know where he is, Bishop get over to Hailey's as her labour may have just started. I'm going to call Wendy and get her there as well." Bishop picks her stuff up and goes running out, then just as he's got the phone in his hand to call Wendy McGee says "This is really strange boss, but according to the cell trace Tony is still in the car at the place he went to talk to the friend." Gibbs stands up picking up his gun and creds as he does so as he says "Get Balboa's team to join us and let's go and check."

When Tony woke up a little while later he found that he'd been cuffed with his own cuffs behind his back, with his mouth having been duck taped over and he also realized that he'd also been put into the trunk of his own car. When he then heard his cell ring his first thought was "Shit Hailey's gone into labour." Then as he calmed himself down he started to try and work out how he was going to get himself out of that predicament and out of there. Especially with memories coming back to him of old cases where people had been trapped in car trunks, that even though they had got to them in time for them to have survived the ordeal, they had still ended up in a coma first, and there was no way that he wanted that to happen to him, because he wanted to be there for the birth of his first child. Not only that he wanted them to find him as soon as they possibly could because he knew that due to his damaged lungs from the plague that he may not have as much time as those they had got to had.

A little while later he was very relieved when he heard cars starting to arrive and come to a screeching halt around him, he knew that they had obviously worked out where he was, but the question was did they know that he was in the car trunk. So he then started praying that either one of them might call his cell or that Hailey may try to call again, so that they would hear the cell ringing out there, because then that way he could use some of the energy he had been conserving to start kicking on the trunk to alert them to his presence. As in answer to his prayer his cell did then start ringing again, he then heard Gibbs voice telling everyone to be silent, and with that and with all of his might he started to kick out at the trunk. The next thing that he heard was Gibbs voice above him say "Alright DiNozzo we're here." So with that he stopped his kicking and waited for them to get him out of there.

To get him out of there Gibbs used his lock pickers and got the trunk open, once Tony's eyes had adjusted again to the light, Gibbs then helped him out of there slowly, which he was really glad about, especially with being in that one position for so long he had really cramped up and he was in agony in every inch of him. Once he was able to move his legs without it hurting quite as much, Gibbs turned him and got him out of the cuffs, then after turning around again Gibbs then ripped off the tape on his mouth, which of course produced a yelp from him before he finally said "Thanks boss."

Gibbs then asked "What the hell happened DiNozzo?"

Tony answered "As I was talking to him I started to get suspicious that he could actually be our suspect, I didn't think that I'd given anything away as to that suspicion, but as I went to leave the house he bashed me over the head. The next thing I knew I woke up in the trunk and my cell was ringing." With that it all of a sudden remembers his worry about Hailey and not caring about the pain that he is still in starts scrambling around trying to find his cell, Gibbs stops him from doing it and says "its ok I'll get you there, but first you do need to be checked out."

He then replies with seriousness "But I promised her that I would be there for her, plus she'll be worrying about me and that won't do her any good."

Gibbs says "I know, but Bishop is with her and just before we got here Wendy called to say she was also there with her. Yes she is worried about you, but it seems as though someone is hanging on until you can there. Balboa's team is going to help us with the rest of this one, so let's go and get you checked out and then we can get you home, we'll worry about doing your statement later. If Hailey calls again answer, but if she doesn't leave calling her until you're on the way home." So with that he pockets his cell and follows Gibbs to the car, to start off with he moves just gingerly, but once he gets used to moving again his joints soon loosen up.

At the hospital albeit for a mild concussion Tony gets the "all clear," although as soon as they say that he needs to stay in for observation he balks and tells them in panic that his fiancé has gone into labour and he needs to be with her. Thinking that he means that she's in the hospital as well, they try to reassure him by saying not to worry because they will get him to her. Before Tony can make things worse Gibbs buts in and says that she's having a home birth, but that all of his family would be around him, so they would be able to keep their eye on him. So with that they do agree to letting him go albeit reluctantly. As the two men walk out of the hospital together Tony gets his phone out to call Hailey. Although it does end up being right at the wrong moment because she is mid contraction, so his brain clicks into gear and he ends up helping her breathe through it. Although when it does finally come to an end he's not surprised when she snaps at him "Where the hell were you Tony? I've been so worried."

As he knows that it's probably a combination of her worry as well as her labour he replies "I'm sorry, it's a bit of a long story, but we're both on our way home now and I will tell you about it."

She says "You'd better be Mr.!" She then sighs and says a bit more calmly "I am glad that you're ok and I love you Tony."

He then replies with a smile "And I love you too Hailey." As he then ends the call, he lets out a long sigh and as he lays his head back against the head rest all he can think about is getting home to the woman he loves, who's about to give birth to their first child and how much their lives are about to change.

When they finally get home, Tony is in such a rush to get to Hailey's side that he throws the car door open and flies out of the car, running to the front door and getting it open as fast as he can, before he then runs up the stairs to their bedroom, he only finally stops when he reaches the door frame to lean against it. As Hailey then senses that he's there, from her position at the end of the bed bending over and clutching the bed frame, she does a weak smile at him and tells him with some authority in her voice to get in there. As he does as he's told and when he gets close enough to her, she grabs his hand and pulls up his jacket sleeve to reveal the bruise on his wrist from the cuffs, at first his brain goes to "how the hell did she know about that?" Before he then registers her saying to him "What the hell happened Tony?"

He sighed and answered as he starts to rub her back "I was talking to someone about the case; he clobbered me on the head as I was leaving the house. While I was knocked out, he used my cuffs to cuff me, taped my mouth up and then locked me into the trunk of the car."

She then straightens up, cups his cheek and looks all over his face, before then taking her hand to lightly search the back of his head, to which he hisses in pain when she hits the lump there, despite how softly she does it. She then asks him "Are you ok?"

He answers "I'm fine. They said at the hospital that it's just a mild concussion, they were trying to keep me in there, but Gibbs assured them that you would all be keeping an eye on me. I just wish that I could have a freshen up, as I'm sure that I must stink, but I really don't want to leave your side now."

She cups his cheek again and gives him a gentle kiss on the cheek as she says "You do a bit, but I'm sure that someone can hang on for a little while longer while you have a quick shower, and I'm also sure that you'd much rather be a bit more comfortable too."

Wendy then buts in saying "Go on if it's what you want you've got time to have one, and I'm sure that it would also help you as well Hailey if you want to join him."

Of course just as she says it they get interrupted by another contraction. As she breathes through it, Tony massages her back, but this time with a bit more pressure in it than what he'd been doing before, which sets her off groaning because not only is she happy that he is there now by her side, but that he is also doing the massage with just the right amount of pressure to make it feel a bit easier. When it's over he then looks at Wendy and asks "Are you sure that it will be ok?"

She answers "It'll be fine. Just make sure that you get out of there if the contractions start getting really close together." So with that the two of them go off into the bathroom together and jump in the shower.

Of course without his shirt on she gets to see the bruises on his wrists from the cuffs properly and she tells him that if she grips his hand and catches his wrists and hurts him in any way, then he is to say something. He promises her that he will say something, but she actually knows on the quiet that he won't say anything if she does hurt him, even if it is by accident. She also manages to make him laugh when she says that if at anytime he feels faint, he's to try and land somewhere soft because she doesn't want him to go and hit his head again if he hits it on something hard, because he will then end up with more of a concussion and will end up being in the hospital, which she really doesn't want to happen, because she wants her family to be together for their first night together.

In the end Hailey does find that she does love them sharing that shower together, as somehow she feels more like they are sharing her labour together and it somehow feels more intimate to her that they are doing that, especially when she does have a couple of contractions while in there. As they happen she bends and uses the wall as her support putting her hands on it, while Tony massages her back and helps her to breathe through the contraction as well. But she also realizes that Wendy was right with saying that it would help her, because she finds the warm water cascading down her really soothing. Not only that she also finds that with Tony now there a lot of her tension from both her worries coming up as she went into labour about what could happen during it and that she was going to be alone for it, plus her worrying about Tony as well and hoping that he was safe and would be getting back to her in time, leave her in the warm water as well. Plus Tony also wouldn't let her wash herself and did it for her instead, and as he soaped her he added a bit of a massage to it, which also helped her get rid of some of the tension in her to. When they returned to the bedroom afterwards and the labour progressed more, and yes it was still tough but the shower had really helped her.

After their arrival at the house and while Tony rushed inside and upstairs, Gibbs went inside to find Bishop in the kitchen and he sent her off to join the investigation into the best friend and what had happened to Tony with Balboa's team. While he got himself a coffee and went to sit out on the patio with it deep in thought as he awaited the birth of his first grandchild. In a way he was also feeling some sadness too, even if he was also excited about being a grandfather. But with having not known anything about Hailey being his daughter until recently, with having lost Kelly he had thought that there was never going to be a chance that he would ever have grandchildren. But he was also finding it hard being there and knowing what his daughter was going through up those stairs. Because yes even if he had got really worried about Shannon being ok when he'd heard about her going into labour with Kelly, in a way he had found it easier being away on deployment at the time. Although in some ways he was also envying Tony being able to be present at the birth, because in a way he would have loved to have been there for Kelly or Hailey's birth. But with Hailey's birth it was at the time when the father's weren't even allowed to be at the hospital until later on afterwards. And even for Kelly's birth if he hadn't been on deployment then he would have been allowed to be at hospital, but would have had to wait in the waiting room until he was allowed in after her birth. He also knew in his heart though that somehow Kelly would be there with Hailey for the birth of her niece or nephew. He also had a feeling that with knowing Sandra in the way that he had and of course Shannon, the two of them would have probably teamed up together and would also be with Hailey helping her along and watching over her.

Finally after having had a fairly long labour at just after 10pm that night Tony and Hailey's baby girl finally made her entrance into the world at also just over 8 pounds. As they placed her onto Hailey's chest while with directions from Wendy Tony cut the cord, Hailey burst into some happy tears. Once they'd also got everything cleared up, Wendy left the couple alone with their baby girl. Who after her birth they soon learnt that she had got a good pair of lungs on her with the fuss she made. But now she wrapped up and being quite content in her mom's arms, although she was also really fighting her tiredness because she was more intent to be watching her mom and dad cuddled up together in the bed. In the end her downfall came when Tony started to softly stroke her cheek with his finger and she couldn't fight the sleep any longer and let her eyes drift shut. As she drifted off Tony kissed the top of her head and then kissed Hailey before saying quietly into her ear "Thank you for giving me a precious little daughter."

She then moved carefully to return the kiss and said "Thank you for our daughter, I love you."

He replied with a wide smile "And I love you too." Then after a few minutes silence he added "So what are we going to call this precious little thing?"

She said "I've been thinking about it, and I would like to name her after a few people that were close to us in a way. But as I don't think that Sandra would suit our little one I would like to have Alexandra instead. To the sister and grandmother that I never knew, I think that it should also be Kelly-Ann and then Elizabeth for your mom."

He then kisses her on the cheek, before leaning down to kiss his daughter's forehead as he says "I think that is perfect. So do you think that you might be ready to allow granddad to come up and see his granddaughter?"

She replies "I think so." So with that after he get's out of the bed and comes round to her side they kiss and he then goes off to find Gibbs.

Just as Gibbs had got himself yet another coffee, as he'd by now lost count into how many he'd had since arriving there. Just as he took his first mouthful of that cup he heard the baby's first wail and could already tell just from it that they had had a baby girl, even so he was still very proud that he had got a granddaughter. When Wendy left she didn't give anything away about the sex of the baby as she said "Goodnight." But she did also tell him that everything was well and also congratulated him on being a grandfather, before saying that Hailey and Tony were going to have some time with the baby first. After Wendy had left he took his coffee back out onto the patio again, as he then looked to the dark night sky and sent up a silent prayer saying thank you for the safe arrival into the world of his granddaughter. A little while later he heard a sound behind him and turned to see Tony coming out of the patio door. As soon as Tony got to him he put the coffee down and gave him a manly hug as he said "Congratulations!"

As he had to fight with his emotions again slightly Tony said "Thank you, so do you want to come and meet your granddaughter?"

Gibbs replied with a small smile and fighting his own emotions "I would love to come and meet her."

As the two of them get upstairs Tony guesses that Alexandra may have woken up again when he hears Hailey talking quietly to her and telling her all about Gibbs, as the two of them then walked in he couldn't help the smile that came up on his face at the sight of Hailey talking to her, while she has her tiny little hand around her mom's finger. When Hailey finally turned round to see the two of them in the doorway she said "Come on granddad, come and meet your granddaughter."

Gibbs then came and sat on the edge of the bed to give her a one armed hug and he also kissed her on the temple as he said "Congratulations, she's just as gorgeous as her mom and dad."

As she then hands Alexandra over to him, he takes her carefully and kisses her on the forehead, when she starts to grizzle, he gets up off the bed and starts to rock her in his arms as he walks up and down in front of the window. With the way that she quickly settles with him walking up and down with her along with talking quietly to her, it causes Tony to say to Hailey now that he's joined her on the bed again "It looks like she's already got granddad wrapped around her little finger and she isn't even an hour old yet."

He stops and smirks back at Tony as he then says "Just wait and see how long it will be before she has her daddy wrapped around her little finger to DiNozzo, all little girls do it to their daddies and granddads. So what have you decided to call this precious little girl?"

Hailey takes a breath and then answers "We wanted to pay tribute to some very special people, but we sort of felt that Sandra didn't really suit her. So instead we've decided on Alexandra as well as Kelly-Ann and Elizabeth."

As Gibbs turns round to face to face them, they can both see the emotions on his face, but as he comes back over to join them on the bed so that Hailey is now in the middle of them, he kisses her on the temple before he kisses Alexandra on the forehead and says "That is a perfectly gorgeous name for a very gorgeous little girl, and I have a feeling that three special people were around you as you gave birth to her."

She kisses Gibbs on the temple back and says with an emotional smile on her face "And I had the feeling that they were here with me as well, I love you dad."

He replies with a smile "And I love you too Hailey and thank you for my precious granddaughter." He then carefully passes Alexandra back to Hailey again and then adds "Ok I'd better leave the two of you alone to get to know your daughter. I'll give the others a call and will let them know how things have gone, but I will also tell them that they will have to wait until you are ready for them to come and see you all. For now I know that you're now on paternity leave Tony, but allow yourself to have at least a couple of days rest, you've both been through a lot today and you both need it. I'll come over and get your statement from you Tony about today, to save you having to come in and do it."

As she yawns Hailey says "I hope that you'll also come and see us too dad?"

He chuckles and replies "Of course I will be, as I don't want to miss out on any precious moments with my daughter and granddaughter, so I promise you that I will be in to see you both, but for now you all need to rest." He then kisses both Alexandra and Hailey before he says quietly into Hailey's ear "Get some rest and thank you again for my precious granddaughter."

He then leaves and Tony follows him, when they get to the front door and before they go out he once again gives Tony a manly hug before he says "I'm very proud of you and your family Tony now go and look after them both."

Tony replies "I will do and thank you boss."

As Gibbs shakes his head no at him, as Tony looks at him with a puzzled look on his face and says "What?" Gibbs pats him on the shoulder and replies "Tony you're a family man now and the father of my granddaughter, you and Hailey will also be husband and wife soon. When we're at home only I think that we can drop the Gibbs and boss now."

Tony replies "That's going to be hard."

Gibbs says with a smile "I know it will be, as I know that I will automatically say DiNozzo a few times, but I'm sure that we will get there." The two of them then say "Goodnight" to one another as Gibbs then goes to his car and leaves the couple alone for their first night together as a family.

Later on during the early hours of the morning Hailey discovers that Alexandra has done exactly as Gibbs said she would, and she also knows that she is certainly going to be a daddies little girl. Because during the build up to her birth she and Tony had agreed that even though she was going to be breast feeding the baby, for the night feeds she was going to express some milk into the baby bottles so that Tony could have a turn at feeding them so that she didn't have to get up and do it. So before they went to bed Tony reminded her of that promise, while she was feeding Alexandra for the first time and she then did some bottles. So when she woke up and saw what the time was and that it was only a little after when her feed was next due, but was surprised that there weren't any grizzling or crying noises coming from the crib next to them. When she then looked round she realized that Tony wasn't there next to her and when she looked into the crib there was no Alexandra there either. So after getting out of bed carefully because of still being a bit achy from the birth, she then made her way down the stairs. It then made her really smile as she walked into the lounge to see Tony sitting on the sofa in just sweats on his bottom half, with no top on. There was an empty bottle in front of him on the coffee table, along with a used burp cloth and he'd got Alexandra really cuddled into his chest. He was quietly talking away to her and was lightly stroking her head with his fingers, as Hailey leaned against the doorframe watching the sight before her, she thought to herself "Yes you certainly have daddy eating out of your hand already." Despite having also put some of that years events behind her, while standing there watching her mind started to wander to how far she had come during the last year, and how much now everything was so complete, as she'd got a man that she loved very much and now they had their own family with their daughter. She then started to think that perhaps once the two of them had got married and Alexandra was a little bit older, they might just extend their family. As Tony then finally noticed her there, he smiled at her and told her to come and join them. As she did so and they got cuddled up together and joined their hands so that they were holding Alexandra together, she felt very happy indeed with their little family.