McGee walked into the bullpen, sporting bags underneath his eyes and his screaming four month old daughter, Talia, in tote. He looked deprived of sleep and like he was on the brink of losing his sanity.
"Did I miss the memo? Is it bring your kid to work day, Probie?" Tony teased.
McGee shook his head as he bounced up and down, trying to soothe the wailing child. "Shut up, Tony. She's been crying for four hours straight. Ever since Ziva handed her to me, she hasn't stopped."
"Maybe she doesn't like you," Tony sneered.
He shot Tony a dirty look. "I'm her father, Tony. She has no choice." Tim ducked down as Talia's screams began to attract more attention from the other office workers.
Tony cracked his knuckled and held out his hands. "Give her to me, after all these hands have been known to work magic," he laughed proudly.
Fairly desperate, McGee handed Talia to Tony only for the red in her face to darken and the volume of her screams to increase. "Give me my kid, Tony," McGee ordered.
"Guess she doesn't like her Uncle Tony very much either," Tony said disappointedly. "Did you try feeding her?"
"Did I try? I tasted the disgusting stuff just to convince her that it was safe to drink!" McGee blurted out.
Tony raised his eyebrows and returned to work. "If Gibbs comes in here and hears all this racket—God forbid he hasn't had his coffee yet—he will head slap you so hard, Talia will feel it."
"Oh yeah, that's a lot of help Tony," McGee said sarcastically, still rocking the little one.
Tony glanced at the new text on his phone. Coming up in elevator now to get case report for Tobias-Gibbs. "Gibbs is in the elevator! Quick, get her out of here!" he shooed McGee away.
McGee looked left and right. He walked quickly towards the stairs and made a beeline for the director's office. He tapped twice on the door before letting himself in.
"God, McGee. I could hear you coming from a mile away, turn that thing off," Jenny complained, rubbing her temples.
"I wish it were that simple," McGee groaned, switching Talia from one arm to the other. "She's been doing this for four hours, I'm about to lose my mind."
Jenny got up from her chair. "Where's Ziva?"
"She's still on maternity leave and James was driving her crazy. I couldn't leave her home with two kids. She started to pace up and down the house, murmuring things in Hebrew and I honestly thought she was going to go crazy, so I—"
Jenny held up a hand to stop him. "You tried to be a good person and take Talia off of her hands for a little bit and now she's giving you hell, I understand."
McGee gave her a puzzled look. "You do?" he shouted over Talia's crying.
She nodded. "Yup, when Jasper was a baby he did the exact same thing with Jethro. It brought him to tears. Give her to me," Jenny said. McGee willingly handed a wailing Talia to Jenny.
She peeked inside her diaper and saw that it was empty. "What's got your diapers all up in a bunch?" Jenny asked Talia, who showed no signs of letting up. "Did you try singing?"
McGee looked at her in a sheepish manner. "In case you haven't noticed, Jenny, singing isn't exactly—"
Jenny began singing All Night Long by Lionel Richie. And as she rocked back and forth, McGee noticed that Talia's little eyelids began to droop and eventually her head rested against Jenny's shoulder. Soon enough, the redness left her face and her breathing evened out to a soft snore.
"Thank you, Jenny," McGee said in a hushed whisper, as she gave the baby back to Tim. "How can I ever repay you?"
Jenny thought about it for a while. "Don't tell Jethro that I told you Jasper made him cry. We never had that conversation."
Tim smiled and began to walk away. "Yes ma'am."