A/N Sorry this took so long real life kept me pretty busy and I found this chapter really tough to write. This chapter covers the baby's mother and conception. I discuss some mature topics here. I tried to be tactful, but if this is not your thing please skip down past the line breaks marked NCIS. I kept the paragraphs containing the more mature information between the two NCIS's. You should be fine to read the rest of the chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 4
Tony opened his eyes and looked blearily around the room, slightly disoriented and unsure of where he was at. Looking around the room he realized he was in Gibbs spare bedroom. He knew this room well. He had stayed here enough times when he had been sick or injured. He had spent a month in this room after he had contracted the plague. For a moment he couldn't remember why he was here, then it suddenly hit him. Oh yeah, he was a dad and Gibbs had brought him home from the hospital last night. He looked at the clock and groaned. It was only 6:30 in the morning. He had to be at the hospital in three hours. What had awoken him? It was only then that he smelled bacon and coffee. Leave it to a Marine to be up that early on Saturday. He had a feeling Gibbs was expecting to have a talk before they headed to the hospital this morning. Gibbs had left his clothes from his go bag laying on the dresser. Everything in his bag had been dirty because he had lived out of his bag all week, somehow while he slept all of it had been washed. He was feeling rather humbled by all that Gibbs had done for him already, but he had no doubt he would be depending on him for a lot of things for a while. He dressed quickly and hurried to the kitchen and stopped in the doorway in surprise. Ducky and Gibbs were both leaning against the counter drinking their preferred morning beverages. Ducky had a cup of hot tea and Gibbs had his cup of marine grade coffee. The dining table was set for three with scrambled eggs, bacon and toast ready and waiting. Ducky handed him a cup of coffee and patted him soundly on his back. "Good Morning Anthony I believe congratulations are in order. Do you have pictures?" Tony took his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Ducky. He had already changed the screensaver to his favorite picture of him kissing Esther's cheek. "She's beautiful Anthony."
~NCIS~
"Tony I called Ducky this morning and invited him over for breakfast. I think we need to have a serious talk about Esther's mother. You promised last night we would talk about this later and later is right now. I want to know everything you even have guessed about her. Now talk."
Tony took a deep breath. Last night he knew this conversation was coming and he had not been looking forward to it. He readily acknowledged he was something of a ladies man. There had been many times he would be with a new woman every week, but they had never been ones he picked up in a bar and knew nothing about. He grimaced and decided to just come clean. "Boss do you remember last March when you put me on desk duty for a week?"
"How could I forget? I was furious with you for showing up at a crime scene for some missing kids with one of the worst hangovers I had ever seen you have. We were on call that weekend and you know better than to drink on the weekends we are on call."
"That's right, you threatened to fire me if I ever came to work hung over again. That Friday was the 25th of March, my mother's birthday. Did you know that I am now the same age as my mom when she died? I was ten and we were so close. You know most people have a midlife crisis at 40, but not me. I had mine at 43. I didn't tell anybody but as her birthday got closer, I got more and more panicked. Here I was 43 years old , had a different girlfriend every week and lived like a college age frat boy. That night I went to a little club that Abby and I go to sometimes. She had something she was doing with Sister Rosita so I went there alone to get flat wasted. I wanted to drink until I forgot that night and hoped we didn't get a case. I knew you would ring my neck if you caught me, but I did it anyway. Looking back it was a cry for help. I remember sitting at the club drinking pretty hard by myself having a what Abby would call a pity party, then the next thing I know I woke up in this trashy motel room I would never have went to even halfway sober. I don't know how I got there, and it was pretty obvious that I had female company that night. The pillow smelled like perfume, the bed was a mess, my wallet was open and had been gone through but nothing was missing. My ID was still there, all my credit cards, even the cash I had taken with me for a taxi since I planned on getting drunk was still there. She must have taken that business card then. I don't even remember even chatting up a lady that night . Boss I checked and the room was paid for by me about two AM with my credit card. I was a little spooked because I couldn't remember leaving the club, let alone going to a motel with anyone so I called Charlie, he owns that club I went to. That place is loud and super busy boss, but they have good video surveillance. There is some video of me leaving the club with a tall brunette woman, but nothing with a name to track her down with. I ran her picture though AFIS, but came up with nothing. "
"Oh Tony why didn't you come to me before you got to that point and did something stupid like that? You could have been hurt or killed."
"I don't know why but I wish I had Boss. That incident really scared me. "
"Anthony did you go see a doctor after this happened?"
"Yeah Duck, I made a appointment the next week with the doctor I used to go to when I was a cop in Baltimore and had him follow-up. It never even crossed my mind that I might have a baby on the way. It was a wake-up call. I guess you could say I hit my rock bottom and I didn't like it. Through my years as a cop and agent I liked to think my mom would have been proud of me and what I do, but she wouldn't have been proud of me that morning . You weren't proud of me that day either. I couldn't risk losing you or the team. You have taken more time to help me be a better man than my Dad ever did. I want to be more like you, a man who is respected for his ethics and actions. Not like my dad whose life revolves around chasing the next dollar or the expensive, high maintenance woman on his arm. It got me to thinking if I didn't make some changes I was going to end up like him or dead."
~NCIS~
Gibbs took Tony's chin in his hand and made Tony look him directly in his eyes. "Tony I want you to know you can always come to me or Ducky about anything. No more keeping this kind of thing to yourself. Promise me this won't happen again." There was no mistaking Gibbs concern for him. "Tony, you have your bone headed moments, we all do, but I would have been proud to have you as my son."
"It won't happen again, thanks boss," came out at a whisper.
Gibbs continued "I talked to Ms. Thurman before we left last night. I wanted Abby to start the paternity test. The sooner it's done, the sooner we can petition for you to get custody of Esther. She said no to Abby because of the possibility someone could later claim conflict of interest, which makes sense. We want to do this right. I talked to Fornell this morning, and called in some favors he owes me. His lab tech is going do the paternity testing for you. She will meet us at the hospital this morning to collect the samples so she can start the test running today. Ms. Thurman was fine with that."
"Thanks Boss I appreciate that. By the way, how do you know Ms. Thurman? You seem to know her pretty well. She a former lady friend we don't know about? She is a red head, with your attitude to match." Tony wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Gibbs and never saw the head slap coming, but it definitely got his attention."Sorry Boss"
"No, she was the civilian social worker on a case we had while you were in hospital after opening that letter from Hanna Lowell." Tony grimaced at that memory, it was another one he preferred to not think about. "You know one of my hobbies is making toys to give away. Some of them go her, and she gives them to the kids that she works with that have nothing of their own." Tony wished he hadn't made that comment now, he felt like a heel. "I also called McGee. He and the rest of the team will meet us for lunch in the hospital cafeteria. They don't know why. He was pretty concerned about why we needed to meet at a hospital. We can have one of your so called campfires over lunch and bring them up to speed"
"I have already spoken to Esther's doctor this morning. She did fine last night. No need to worry right now they are taking good care of her. Now I believe it is time for us to go. I am looking forward to meeting her in person and will meet you and Jethro at the hospital." Ducky told them as he grabbed his hat and keys to go.
When they arrived at the hospital they found Fornell, his lab tech, and Ms Thurman waiting on them. It didn't take long to obtain the cheek swab from both him and Esther. Fornell bid them goodbye and left. Ducky had stayed back out of the way while the samples were obtained and was now eager to see baby. He took his turn stroking her soft cheek. "You are a blessed man Tony. I never had the opportunity to have any children of my own. As I get older it is something I deeply regret. Treasure this my boy"
"Duck I was hoping you would be Grandpa Ducky to her."
"I would be most honored Anthony" was Duck's heartfelt reply. Esther however had had enough sentiment and interrupted the conversation. She had decided she was tired and there had been to much noise and company. She began to whimper and quietly fuss. They were joined by a nurse and doctor they hadn't met yet. "Hello, I'm Dr. Stanley, I believe you met one of our other physicians, Dr. Hill, last night. I will be here during the day today."
"Nice to meet you Dr. Stanley, just call me Tony. How is she doing? " he replied.
"Tony, lets talk a minute about Esther. Infants born at 36 weeks vary greatly on how healthy they are. She is what we call a late preterm infant. Some have no problems at all, are healthy and able to go home immediately. Others are less developed and need more care. Your daughter falls into the later category. She's not nursing very well. For now most of her calories are coming from the nasogastric tube. The more she takes from the bottle the less we will put through that tube. She should be just on a bottle by the time she goes home. Right now she is getting a special formula for preterm babies that gives them extra calories and is fortified with vitamins and minerals she needs grow well. Also I'm sure you noticed she looks a little yellow .That is called jaundice. Her liver isn't quite mature and is a little slow therefore isn't quite clearing the bilirubin fast enough. The light that is inside the back of her onesie is called a BiliBlanket and helps her liver break down the bilirubin. After she goes home you can lay her in sunshine for the same effect. We will be pricking her heel every 12 hours and checking the level of bilirubin and will discontinue the BiliBlanket when he numbers get down where we wants them. Those numbers should be down in a few days. She hasn't had anymore episodes of apnea, but her oxygen saturation drops when she is just on room air. She needs the extra help the nasal cannula provides. She won't be discharged until she is gaining weight. She should gain about a quarter of an ounce per day per pound of body weight. So while she does need some help, things could be a lot worse. She should be OK with time and a little TLC."
Having heard the medical report, Ms. Thurman thought now was a good time to speak to him about things he needed to do to be ready to take Esther home. "Tony if you will give me just a moment of your time, I will leave you to have some family time with your daughter. I wanted to talk briefly about some of what Judge Bowers will be expecting from you to gain full custody. My office, the Department of Family Services, offers parenting classes. Judge Bowers requires any parent that goes through his court to take those classes. Because of Esther's age, you will need to take the infant and toddler class. We start a new class rotation this Monday night. I already have you enrolled. It's from 7-9PM on Monday evenings and lasts for six weeks. I know you haven't even started getting your home ready for her when she gets out of here. That will come more quickly than you think. He will want a home inspection done by the time you see him. When you are ready to do that let me know. I have scheduled a meeting with him on Wednesday morning. Hopefully we have the paternity results by then. Enjoy your daughter. "
After Ms Thurman left, all three men pulIed a rocking chair over next to Esthers bed and sat down with Tony in the middle. "Nurse may I hold her now?" Marie, Esther's nurse, gently wrapped her in a soft pink blanket and gently laid her in his arms. Tony loosened the blanket and carefully looked her over in the way that all new parents do. Esther was looking up at him, soaking in the attention." I'm your Daddy sweetheart and this is your Grandpa Gibbs and Your Grandpa Ducky."
Tony began rocking again and humming the same tune Gibbs had heard him hum before. "What is that you're singing to her Tony?"
"It's called I Love You A Bushel and a Peck. Doris Day sang it way back when. My mom would sing me the first couple of verses when she would tuck me in at night. It's one of my favorite memories of her. I really hadn't noticed I was singing it. I guess I know what her lullaby will be. She seems to like it." When he looked up Marie was holding a bottle for him to give to her. "While we would love for her to drink all of this, she normally drinks a little less than half. She just falls asleep and won't wake up to take the rest. She seems to have the suck, swallow breathe down so it may be the lethargy from the jaundice." Marie showed him how to hold her while Esther took a couple of swallows off the bottle and promptly fell back asleep. Tony lifted her up to his shoulder, patted her back and resumed rocking.
For my readers outside the US- a onesie is basically a undershirt that snaps between the legs for infants, TLC stand for Tender Loving Care