Today was not supposed to go like this Nick thought as he sat next to Ellie in the hospital room at Walter Reed. They still had six weeks until they were to become parents but apparently there son had other thoughts.
Nick will NEVER forget the panic in Kasie's voice when she popped up on the screen in the squad room telling Nick to get down to her lab because Ellie's water had just broken. He had never run down those stairs so fast in his life and had never been more terrified either.
As soon as he got into the lab he ran to Ellie who he could tell was on the verge of crying and freaking out.
"Nick, this is supposed to be happening yet." Ellie said as she grabbed onto his hand and looked at him with tears in her eyes.
"Well babe, I don't think we really have a choice. Looks like he wants to join us a little early and that's ok, we are gonna be fine." He told her as he helped her stand up and start to walk to the elevator.
Ellie doubled over as her contractions started and that's when Nick picked her up and gave Kasie a look to get the elevator.
The elevator stopped at the squadroom and as soon as the doors opened Nick barely missed running into Gibbs & McGee as they were getting on.
"Torres, what are you waiting for we have to get her to the hospital now." Gibbs said as he showed Nick the keys and pushed the button that would take them to the ground floor.
"Ahhh!" Ellie moaned from Nicks arms as the doors opened and the foursome headed for one of the sedans.
30 minutes later they were pulling into the emergency room of the hospital with Nick carrying a sobbing Ellie in his arms and McGee letting the desk staff know what was going on. He also might have showed them his badge because of how much of a hurry he was in to help his friends.
By the time Gibbs walked into the emergency room Elle and Nick had been taken back and McGee was on the phone with Delilah letting her know what was going on.
Upstairs, Ellie and Nick had finally gotten into a room and Ellie was being hooked up to an IV as well as the contraction monitor but had refused to let go of Nicks hand and still had a terrified look in her eyes because she knew that while six weeks wasn't terribly early, it was too early for her. Nick was also panicking but he was trying to keep his panic in check as to not stress his wife out any more than she already was.
"Nick, what are we going to do? We aren't ready for him yet, this isn't how it was supposed to go." Ellie cried as she gripped Nicks hand as another contraction overcame her.
"Babe, look at me." Nick said as Ellie looked over at him. "We are gonna be fine, yes he is going to early but he is going to get the best care he can & look at who his parents are, he is part Torres and part Bishop & you know that combination of stubbornness is only going to be good for him. You both are going to be just fine." He reassured her as he put a kiss on her forehead as he felt her grip on his hand tighten.
Just then Ellie's doctor arrived in the room to check on her and see how far dilated she is.
"Alright guys, looks like this little boy is ready to join the world. Ellie your already 5cm dilated so things are definitely progressing quickly but I don't want either of you to worry. He is going to get the best treatment while as soon as he is born. I am not going to lie to either of you, he is going to be tiny and need to go to the NICU right away, but depending on how he does with his breathing that is going to tell us a lot." Dr. Geller informed the anxious parents with a comforting smile.
"How…how…how long will he have to be in the NICU?" Ellie asked between another set of contractions.
"Ellie that really all depends on him. If he can regulate his body temperature and does good feeding and breathing, then maybe a few weeks before he can be bumped up to the nursery, but it's all up to him." The doctor told her politely.
"She wanted to breastfeed him, is that plan not going to be able to happen since he is coming so early?" Nick asked as he saw the crestfallen look on his wife's face once she realized she probably wouldn't get to breastfeed her firstborn.
"I'm sorry but probably not right away, if he planned to stay in there for at least another two to three weeks, I would say it wouldn't be a problem but since he is coming rather earlier than expected he is probably going to have to be on a feeding tube, but that's not to say you won't eventually be able to breastfeed him. What we can do is have you pump and just keep saving what you pump and if when he is ready you can always try to breastfeed him. I have had quite a number of parent's to premature babies be rather successful with breastfeeding." Dr. Geller informed the anxious parents.
"See babe, you might be able to after all, but let's just worry about getting him here first and getting him strong." Nick told her as he wiped the sweat from her forehead and kissed her to try to reassure her that everything would be ok.
Four hours later and it was finally time for Ellie to start pushing and to say she was nervous was an understatement.
"Nick, we don't even have anything for him here." She said as she grabbed Nicks hand to start pushing.
"Ellie, don't worry about that right now, everything will be fine. I will have someone go get everything." He said as he helped her get into position.
"Alright, Ellie on the next contraction I need you to push for ten seconds." Her doctor told her as everyone in the room got ready for the birth of the newest Torres.
"AHHHHHHHHH" Ellie screamed as she started pushing with all her might and squeezing Nick's hand.
"Ellie you got this! You're the strongest person I know." Nick said as she pushed to bring their son into the world
"Ellie stop pushing and take some deep breaths and then the next contraction we are going to go again." One of the nurses in the room told her
"I can't…Nick it hurts too much." Ellie cried as she looked at her husband with pain written all over his face.
"Yes you can. You are the strongest person I know. You have faced down terrorists, being shot at, almost getting blown up and so much more. You are so much stronger than you think." Nick reassured her as he kissed her again and helped her to start pushing again.
"Omg…is this almost over, it hurts so badly." Ellie moaned as she pushed with all her might to bring her son into this world.
"Ellie, you're doing great, his head is almost out, I can see the top of it and he has a head full of dark hair. Two or three more pushes and he will be here." Dr. Geller told her as Ellie got ready to push again.
After what felt like forever and so much pain Nick and Ellie heard the most beautiful sound in the world, their baby's cry.
"It's a boy!" Dr. Geller exclaimed as he held the newest Torres up to show his parents and then passed the newborn right to the nurse to get him cleaned up and hooked up to all the various machines that would help him.
"Ellie, you did it! He's beautiful! Thank you so much for doing for us." Nick cried as he hugged and kissed Ellie who was also crying.
"Nick, I need you to go with him please don't let him out of your sight." Ellie told her husband once they pulled apart.
Several hours later once things had calmed down Nick wheeled Ellie into the NICU and they both got scrubbed up before going to see their son. Once they got to his incubator they saw that Delilah, Gibbs, Tim, Ducky, Kasie, Breena, Jimmy, Jack and Vance where all standing on the other side of the window trying to get a look at the youngest member of the NCIS team.
"Nick, look what we did, he's absolutely beautiful but he's so tiny." Ellie said as she held Nicks hand in one hand and ran her other hand down her son's tiny back.
"He's perfect Ellie. He is 4lbs 10oz and 15in long. Dr. Geller said he is bigger than most preemies but he is also doing well with his breathing & the doctor said if he keeps this up maybe in two weeks he will graduate to the nursery." Nick told his wife with a smile on his face.
"Do we still agree on his name? I have a feeling there are some people out there that are getting really antsy to know about him." Ellie asked with a laugh as she looked at the group gathered by the window.
"Yes, I think the name we choice is perfect and extremely fitting for him." He told her with a smile on his face before kissing her and then running his hand down the baby's head before leaving the room to formally introduce the newest Torres.
"Guys, I would like you to meet Maverick Luis Torres born at 6:35PM on December 31st he is 4lbs 10oz and 15in long. He and Ellie are both doing great but he will be here for a while." Nick told them as they all hugged and smiled and gave thumbs up to Ellie who was still with the baby.
"You guys did good Nick." Gibbs told him as he pulled him into a hug.
"Thanks, Gibbs." He whispered as he hugged the older man who he saw as a father figure back.