Babysitting a McGee
"Can you say Auntie Abby?" She asked Matthew sweetly.
Matthew sat on the couch in a car seat his father had gotten from the family car. Abby squatted in front of him.
"Auntie Abby?" She asked again. "How about Aunt Abby?"
He stared at her.
"How about just Abby?" She asked, "A-bby."
His green eyes continued to stare at her, not sure who this new person is.
"How about something simple? Can you say Abs?" She asked. "Abs," She said slowly.
Matthew, who was starting to get bored, began to look around the living room.
"Oh Mattie," Abby said.
"You know he's only two months old," Tony said walking into the living room, "He's not going to talk. Besides, shouldn't his first word be 'mama' or 'papa'?"
"You're one to talk," She said to him.
"What do you mean?" He asked as he took next to Mattie.
"I heard what you trying to make him say," She said to him, "'Don DiNozzo'."
Tony has a goofy look on his face.
"You are really milking this whole 'Godfather' thing," Abby said.
"Can you blame me?" Tony asked her with a sly smile.
Abby noticed a beer in his hand, "Where did you get that?"
"From the fridge, why?" Tony asked.
Abby grabbed the bottle from his hand, "I don't think Tim and Ziva want somebody, who's drunk, watching their son."
"It's just one beer," Tony said to her reaching for the bottle, "I'm not going to get drunk."
Abby kept the bottle out of his reach, "It doesn't matter, we have a job to do and I would like it if one of Mattie's memories isn't seeing his uncle Tony all buzzed."
Tony gave in, "Fine." He moved from the couch, sat on the floor next to her and began to play with Mattie.
"He is just too adorable. Don't you think Tony?" Abby asked.
"Yeah," He said as he tickled Mattie's stomach, "McGoogoo Gaga here is going to have all the ladies after him."
Abby let out a small laugh and got up from the floor, "Keep your eyes on him, I'm going to use the bathroom."
"Alright, I'm going to order the pizza. You want anything on it?" Tony asked as he dialed the number.
"Extra cheese," Abby said walking out of the room.
After calling the pizza place, Tony got up from the floor and sat next to Matthew on the couch. He grabbed the T.V. remote off the coffee table and turned the T.V. on. He looked over to Matthew who was looking back at him, "How's it going?" Tony asked.
Matthew stared at Tony.
Tony tried to make small talk, "I like your beanie. I'm going to watch a little T.V." He flipped through channels, "Hey look, 'The Odd Couple'," Tony said pointing with the remote.
Matthew looked to where Tony is point to, not sure what it is he is looking at.
Tony let out a small chuckle, "You know it's funny, every time I think of the 'Odd Couple', I now picture your parents."
He looked back to Mattie, "I can't picture two people so different from each other than them. Your mom was trained by the Mossad to be a deadly weapon and your dad; well he knows everything there is to know about computers."
Matthew sensed somebody looking at him again.
Tony pressed mute on the T.V., "I don't know why, but for some reason I believed I would end up with your mom." He continued, "There were times when it looked like something was going to happen, but nothing. We would flirt and tease each other. We confronted each other about what we felt, but things didn't change between us."
"I don't think we were ever jealous over the person the other was seeing, just concerned," He said to Matthew. "Concerned that the person wasn't being completely with us and we would end up with broken heart; like Michael did to your mom or me with Jeanne."
Tony paused for a bit, "We didn't want to see the other hurt, but sometimes we would hurt each other. We would go too far and….."
"I think your mom grew tired of people hurting her, lying to her, not being able to trust anyone," Tony said. "I guess she wanted somebody different. She wanted somebody who wasn't going to lie to her, that wasn't going to hurt her in anyway, somebody who could give her something permanent in her life."
Tony looked from Matthew and over to the pictures on the mantle over the fireplace; Ziva on Tim's back with her arms around her neck, In front of the new house they bought, Tim and Ziva's wedding, a pregnant Ziva, her in a hospital bed holding Matthew McGee. "Your dad was the answer and I waited too long," He said.
Tony shook his head, "Listen to me, I've been rambling. I must've sounded like an idiot." He looked back to Matthew, "Let's see what else is on T.V."
Unbeknown to Tony, Abby heard everything he said. She felt a sadness in her heart, a sadness she hadn't felt in while. She took a deep breath, calming herself down, "Hey, what are you guys doing?" She asked nonchalantly.
"Nothing, just a cool uncle and his cool nephew watching T.V.," Tony said.
"Really?" She asked as she sat on the opposite side of Matthew, "Where's the cool uncle?"
"That hurts Abby," He said to her, "How many uncles do you know that do impressions?"
"Well actually…" Abby started to say.
Tony got in front of Matthew, "Now you got to ask yourself one question, 'Do I feel lucky?'" He said in his best Clint Eastwood impersonation, "Well da you? Punk?"
Matthew started to cry, "Waah!"
"No, no, don't cry," Tony begged.
"Tony, you scared him," Abby said.
"I didn't mean too," Tony said.
Abby got up and picked Matthew out of his seat and held him to her chest, "Shh, don't cry," She said to him rubbing his back. "The scary man is gone now."
"I really didn't want make him cry," Tony said.
"I know you didn't," Abby said to him. She touched Matthew's diaper, "It wasn't you; he needs his diaper changed."
"Oh," Tony said, "You can handle that right?"
"Why me?" What are you going to do?" She asked.
'Ding-Dong'
"Saved by the bell," He said, "I'm going to see who's at the door." He made a quick dash to the front door.
"There you go," Abby said as she cleaned Matthew. She threw the dirty diaper into the trash bin next to the changing table, "Now let's put you in a clean diaper."
Abby reached under the table and pulled out a fresh diaper. She lifted Matthew's legs and bottom and placed the diaper underneath. Abby saw Matthew watching her, "you have such beautiful green eyes, just like your dad's."
She placed the body powder on him, "The first time I saw those eyes was when your dad walked into my lab and asked me out to lunch." She laughs gently at the memory, "You're going to hear this when you get older, but I want to be the first one to tell you; your dad and I used to date."
Matthew gurgled.
"Dating is when two people go out with each other," Abby said as if Matthew asked her. "They go out to dance, eat, and go watch a movie or talk with other people who are dating. At the end of the date, they….." Abby stopped herself before she said not meant for infant ears, "…..they…umm…say good night and shake hands."
She closed his diaper, "Some of my favorite memories are of dating your dad. I love how he made me feel; like I was the most important person in his world." She has a smile on her face as she reminisces, but it soon fades, "But it didn't last forever."
Matthew gurgled again.
"Because we broke up."
Matthew gurgled a third time.
"Because things we getting too serious between us," She said, "I told him I don't do serious." Abby buttoned his onesie, "Your dad was looking for a relationship and I just wanted to have fun."
Abby started to clean up, "I told him we could stay friends, I'm always friends with my exes. But, I never talk to them again after a while."
She picked Matthew back up, adjusting his beanie, "Your dad and me managed to stay friends because we work together and see each other every day."
Abby rocked him in her arms, "We would get jealous whenever somebody began to flirt with us. I think I got more jealous than your dad."
She walked around the nursery, "It was a huge shock when everybody found out that your mom and dad were dating." Abby looked down to Matthew, "I should have known, there signs; they spent so much time together outside of work, they had inside jokes, they were nervous around each other at work."
Abby looked out the window, "One of the biggest clue that should have let me known happened 14 months before you were born." She took a deep breath, "When your dad was shot in the chest and rushed to the hospital, your mommy didn't leave his side. For four days she stayed with him, she didn't want to lose him. On that day, we all learned what real love is."
She looked deeply into Matthew's eyes, "When I broke with your dad, I said I don't do serious, I don't worry about the future, I focus on the now." She caressed his face, "But over the last two years, I realized I was wrong. If you only focus on the now, it's like chaining yourself to ground; you won't move forward and see what is on the way."
Abby gave Matthew a big smile, "Your mommy gave your daddy everything I don't think I ever could. They love each other and you very much." A single tear ran down her face.
Matthew gurgled once more.
"I'm okay," She said, "I know your dad stills loves me, but not the same way he loves your mom. I had to let him go, because if I didn't you wouldn't have been born." Abby wiped away the tear.
"I learned something from all this; the next time a gut makes me feel the same way your dad made me feel, I'm not going to turn him away, I'm going to see where it leads."
In the living room, Tony heard Abby's conversation with Matthew via baby monitor.
"Let's go see what your uncle Tony is doing."
He darted out of the couch, trying to look busy.
Abby walked into the living room with a clean and dry Matthew, "Who was at the door Tony?"
"Pizza guy," He said, his back to her and pointing to the pizza box on the coffee table. He stood in front of the DVD shelves.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"Looking for something to watch," Tony said reading each DVD title. He pulled out 'The Sound of Music', "Between the two of them, they don't have many good choices…..hey how about 'Quantum of Solace'?"
"Pop it in," Abby said as she placed Matthew back in his seat. She opened the pizza box and grabbed a slice.
Tony sat back on the couch and began the movie. "Here we go," He said as he grabbed a slice.
Tim and Ziva returned later that night, "How was everything?" Tim asked as he and Ziva hung up their coats.
"Everything went fine," Abby said softly as she held a sleeping Matthew. She handed him to Ziva.
"How about you guys?" Everything go okay?" Tony asked as he puts on his jacket.
"It was lovely," Ziva said. Tim stood behind her as they watched Matthew sleep, his little chest rise and fall.
Tony and Abby watched the warm moment between father, mother and son.
"We have to go guys," Abby said as she puts on her jacket.
"Are you sure?" Ziva asked.
"Yeah, it's getting late," Abby said.
"Thanks again for watching him," Tim said to them, "If you guys ever need anything, let us know."
"Don't worry, we will," Tony said as he opened the front door, "Good night McGees."
"Good night you two," Abby said, giving them a kiss on the cheek.
"Good night Abby," Ziva said.
Tony and Abby walked down the pathway of the house, "Seeing them like that has been making me think lately," Tony said.
"Think about what?" Abby asked.
"What I want in my life," He said, "a home, wife and…..kids."
"How long have you been thinking like this?" She asked.
"I'm not sure, for a while now I guess," Tony said, "What about you Abby? What do you want?"
They stood in front of the house, "I've been thinking about who I am going to spend the rest of my life with."
Abby stared into Tony's eyes, a smile formed on her lips, "Do you want to go get a drink?"
"I would love to," Tony said with a smile of his own.
FIN
Author's Note: There you have it, I hope you enjoyed it. Before I go, I want to point something out, 'Dixie Dewdrop' left me a review for my story 'Pictures' and I want clear something up. When Ziva asked Abby not to wear spikes, like all mothers who have infants, she was afraid Abby might accidently poke Matthew in the eye or somewhere else. As for Tony, I had to put myself in his shoes; when was the last time Tony did anything for Tim or Ziva without wanting something in return.
Reviews keep me young and strong, but not flames.