Bringing Home Baby
A/N: I seem to be on a McAbby kick lately and here is the latest installment. I guess you could consider this a prequel to 'The Subtleties of Love' but you don't need to read them together to understand.
"Careful, careful."
"I know Abs." McGee entered the apartment and carefully set the car seat on the coffee table.
"Don't put him up there. What if he falls?"
McGee rolled his eyes for the millionth time that day. Overprotective was one thing but Abby was driving him absolutely crazy. He drove 5 mph under the speed limit and she still said he was driving too fast. Cars were speeding past him at Ziva-like speeds but he remained calm. "Abby you need to calm down," he said. "We made it home in one piece. Cody is perfectly safe and sound, still asleep in the car seat."
Abby dropped her bags next to the couch and took a seat on the cushions. She gingerly pulled the car seat over to the edge of the coffee table and peered inside. Cody was still asleep, only his chubby face visible through the layers of blue and black fleece. "Do you think he's too warm in there?"
"If you can undress him without waking him go ahead," McGee laughed.
"I'll just take the blankets off for now." She felt a wet nose against her leg and looked down to see Jethro staring at her with sleepy eyes. "Hey boy," she leaned over and scratched his head, "we brought you a gift home." She placed the car seat on the ground, tossing the extra blankets aside. Jethro's long snout reached into the car seat, sniffing the strange creature found there.
"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Tim asked reappearing from the kitchen with a bottle of water in each hand. He handed one to Abby who accepted it gratefully.
"Jethro is harmless, Timmy. Aren't you boy?" she scratched his head again.
"Tell that to my neck," he said. "There's still a scar."
Abby smiled at him. "I think it's sexy. Makes you look tough."
Tim smiled, reaching down to pet Jethro who now sat at his feet. "Did you miss us bud?" he kneeled down and rubbed his ears playfully earning a barking response from the dog. The barking was quickly followed by an angry cry from the car seat. Jethro looked up at Tim while Abby rushed to pick up a crying Cody. "He does that a lot," Tim explained to the dog as the crying intensified.
"I'm going to try to feed him," Abby explained disappearing into the bedroom.
McGee dropped onto the couch and rubbed his hands over his face. Jethro climbed up next to him and lay with his head on Tim's thigh. He reached over and scratched the dog's ears as he recalled the last few days.
They weren't supposed to work this weekend but they'd had a lead on a case and Gibbs wanted them in. Abby's maternity leave had started two weeks ago and she was going stir crazy. When she'd called him he assumed it was just her way of staving off the boredom. She told him she was having contractions but assumed it was false labor pains. Abby wasn't worried so he tried not to be; "tried" being the operative word. When she called back an hour later saying that she was bleeding McGee had broken several laws and perhaps the land speed record getting home and then to Bethesda. She'd been taken into a restricted area immediately, which McGee was not allowed to follow. It was absolute torture sitting in a hard plastic chair wondering what the hell was happening behind those doors. Finally a doctor had come out, explaining that they were prepping her for an emergency C-section and took McGee back with him. Almost an hour later he was holding his son Cody James, 7lbs 2 oz and 18 inches long. His eyes were a pale gray/green, a trait inherited from his mother, while his wispy brown hair came from Tim's genes.
"He's sleeping," Abby announced pulling Tim from his reverie. She pushed Jethro off the couch and took his place curling her body against McGee's. Tim wrapped his arm around her shoulders pulling her even closer. They'd been through a lot together; the last 48 hours alone had been trying to say the least.
"How you feeling?"
"Like someone cut me down the middle and stitched me back up," she mumbled. "I feel like one of Jethro's toys." Hearing his name, the German shepherd raised his head and looked at his masters before curling up in his favorite spot next to Tim's writing desk.
McGee rubbed Abby's shoulder and placed a kiss to the crown of her head. "I love you Abs," he whispered.
"I love you too, Timmy."
"I never did thank you," McGee said, his hand continuing to slide up and down Abby's arm.
"For what?"
"For Cody. You were so strong and….just amazing. I don't know how you did it."
Abby laughed. "Well I was pretty numb for most of it."
"You know what I mean."
"I know," she relented. "But I didn't do it alone. You were right there the whole time. I couldn't have done it without you."
"I just can't believe how tiny and perfect he is," McGee said. "He gets it from you."
Abby laughed. "I'm glad you think so highly of me, but I can't take all the credit. He's half you, you know. All of our best qualities combined into a single human being."
McGee smiled. "Your amazing spirit and brains."
"Your charm and super human, MIT intellect," Abby added. She leaned her head up, silently asking for a kiss which McGee was all too happy to oblige.
"He's going to be one lucky kid to get both of our brains," Tim laughed.
Abby smiled and nodded in agreement. Silence settled over them like a blanket. Abby continued to lean against McGee, his arm wrapped around her waist protectively. Subconsciously his fingers found the skin just above the waistband of her sweatpants and began tracing idly patterns there. "This is really happening isn't it?" she asked softly. "He's finally here?"
McGee nodded, his eyes focusing on something across the room but not really seeing anything. "This is real," he assured her.
"We did good," she whispered.
Against Tim laid a kiss to the crown of her head. "We did good."