AN: Thanks so much for all your great comments to the last chapter. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the support :) I realize this is a little slow moving right now, but I will try to have them heading back to the U.S. with the next update. Thanks so much for reading :)

xxxxx

By the time they returned to the nursery, it was obvious that word had already gotten out. Whereas Tony had previously been given numerous suspicious looks or was ignored altogether, now he was greeted by friendly smiles and hellos. One of the nurses led them to a room where they would be allowed some privacy and a few minutes later she brought Nathaniel in to them. "If there is anything at all you need, Senor DiNozzo, please just ask me," she said, smiling as she gently placed Nathaniel into Tony's waiting arms.

"Hey little guy," Tony said softly as he looked down at his son. "Remember me? I'm your daddy. Sorry I haven't been around as much as I should have been, but that's all going to change now."

Gibbs was looking on, a myriad of emotions evident running through him. He was truly happy for Tony now that he no longer had to worry about the issue of paternity, but he was sad for him at the same time, knowing it was not going to be easy to raise the boy as a single father. Seeing the baby in Tony's arms also brought back memories of when he had first held Kelly and how special that moment had been. "You want to hold him?" Tony's voice broke into his thoughts, almost as if he had been reading his mind.

"Yes...yes I'd like that very much."

Very carefully, Tony handed off the infant to Gibbs. "This is your grandpa Jethro, Nathaniel," He then gave Gibbs an apologetic look. "Sorry, boss...I hope that's okay...I mean if you don't want him to call you that. its perfectly alright. I just thought it was fitting, but of course if you want him to call you something else, whatever you want is fine."

"Hey Nathaniel...your daddy tends to ramble a bit at times." Gibbs told the baby with a smile on his face as Nathaniel settled comfortably in his arms. It just felt so natural holding Tony and Ziva's child. "Don't worry about it though. Its something you'll get used to." He then turned his gaze towards Tony. "I'd be honored for him to call me grandpa." He couldn't think of anything he would like better than being thought of as this child's grandfather. He already felt a bond with him.

"Thank you." Tony returned Gibbs' smile. He knew that his son had two blood grandfathers, but it wasn't something he was planning on dealing with any time soon. He and Ziva had deliberately kept the news of her pregnancy from Eli. Of course, things had a way of getting out, but Tony planned to do everything in his power to keep the boy off of Eli's radar. As for his own father, he hadn't spoken with him in months. Neither man had any idea of what was going on in the other man's life. He wasn't deliberately trying to keep Nathaniel a secret from Senior, but it just wasn't a priority to give him the news right now either.

"Tony, I think your son is making you a special package," Gibbs said, smirking.

"What?" Tony looked at Gibbs and then Nathaniel in confusion before he understood just what Gibbs was referring to. "Oh...uh, what should I do? Should I call a nurse?"

"No, Tony. You're not going to call a nurse. You can do this." He pointed to the baby supplies the nurse had left with them. "See? Everything you need is right there."

Tony stared at the supplies for a few moments then back at Gibbs. "What? No...no, I can't, boss. I...I've never done it before. I don't know how. I'll mess it up."

Gibbs watched in amazement as the man who had been his agent for years, who had been unflappable in the most horrible and stressful situations, seemed on the verge of panic over a dirty diaper. "Come on, DiNozzo. Get a grip. You're going to be changing countless diapers before this kid is toilet trained. No time like the present to learn how to do it."

Tony nodded. "Okay, so I'll call a nurse to show me how."

"Relax. I will show you how," Gibbs said as he placed Nathaniel on a towel on the bed and began to undress him.

"You?" Tony gave Gibbs a skeptical look. "No offense, boss, but when's the last time you've changed a diaper? Do you even remember how?"

"Its like riding a bike. You don't forget," Gibbs said, gently unfastening the diaper tape as Tony looked on.

"Oh my God, what the hell is that?"

Gibbs couldn't help but laugh at Tony's reaction to the contents of the diaper.

"It...its not funny, boss," Tony said. "That doesn't look normal to me. It looks like tar or something. Maybe I should get a doctor."

"Relax. I know it doesn't look it, but it is normal. Its meconium, Tony. It will only be like this for another day or so."

"Are you sure?" Tony still looked doubtful as he watched Gibbs cleaning the sticky substance from Nathaniel's bottom.

"I'm positive. Kelly had the same thing when she was born."

"Yeah?"

"Yep. Nothing to worry about." Gibbs said. He expertly finished rediapering Nathaniel and then turned to the infant's father. "I hope you were paying attention because you'll be changing the next one."

Tony nodded, but didn't say anything and Gibbs could see the emotional look on the younger man's face as he gazed down at his son. He decided a little bit of one-on-one bonding time might be in order. "I have to go and make a couple of calls," he said. "Are you going to be okay by yourself for a bit?"

"Of course," Tony said, nodding. "Go do what you have to do."

"I won't be long."

Tony watched as Gibbs left the room, then turned his attention toward Nathaniel. "Your Grandpa Jethro's a really great guy," he said softly as he cuddled the infant against his chest. "He came a really long way to be with us because of what happened to your mommy...I can't tell you how sorry I am about that...that you won't have your mommy with you. She loved you so much though She would have wanted to be with you more than anything in the world if she could have been..." He smiled sadly, his eyes beginning to overflow with tears.

"I've got to be honest with you...I..I don't know what the hell I'm doing right now. You're kind of getting the short end of the stick in the father department, Nathaniel. I don't know very much at all about babies. In fact, about the only thing I can promise you is that I'll always look out for you. I never want you to feel that I don't care about you, because you're more important to me than anything in my life. I don't ever want you to doubt just how much I love you." He knew what that was like. He'd often felt unloved and uncared for as a child. He was going to do everything in his power to make sure his boy never felt like that.

xxxxx

Gibbs decided to call Abby first. He knew how much she took things to heart and was worried about her. She answered the phone on the very first ring.

"Gibbs! I miss you so much. I've wanted to call you like a thousand times, but I didn't want to bother you because I know how much Tony needs you right now. How is he? I can't believe how awful all this must be for him. I wish I was there so I could give him the world's biggest hug and never let go."

"Hey, Abs," Gibbs finally managed to get a word in when she paused to take a breath. "Tony is hanging in there and Nathaniel is doing just fine."

"Nathaniel? Who...Gibbs! Is Nathaniel Tony's son?" she asked, the excitement evident in her voice.

"Yes. I was wrong about the baby not surviving."

"Oh my God! That's wonderful news. What's he like? I bet he's the cutest baby in the world."

"Yeah, I'd say he's pretty cute, Abs," Gibbs replied, chuckling at Abby's enthusiasm.

"I always knew Tony and Ziva would make beautiful babies together."

"Yeah, he got the best of both of them for sure. Listen though, I don't mean to cut you off, but I want to get back to Tony and I need to talk to McGee. He's not with you, is he?"

"No, I think he's upstairs."

"Okay, I'll give him a call. It was good to talk to you, Abby. I'll call you again soon."

"Give Tony my love and tell him to send us a picture of the baby."

"Will do."

Gibbs clicked off from Abby's call and dialed McGee right away. The young agent, like Abby, answered quickly. "Hey, boss."

"Hi, Tim, I'm just calling to check in with you. How's everything going?"

"Everything's fine. We've been finalizing all the evidence for the Rinaldi case and working on some older cases. Nothing really pressing. How's Tony?"

"Its tough, but he's doing okay. There is a bit of good news in this whole sorry mess though. I was wrong about the baby. He's healthy and very much alive."

"Really? Oh wow, that's great news...it will give Tony something to focus on."

"Yeah..." McGee's words struck a chord with Gibbs and he found himself wondering if focusing on the baby was going to be enough to get Tony through the days ahead. Okay, I'm going to get going. Call me if you need me. You're doing a good job, McGee."

"Thanks, boss. Tell Tony we're all thinking of him"

"I will. Talk soon."

Before heading back, Gibbs tried Ducky as well, but there was no answer. He left him a brief message explaining things and told him he'd call again. He then headed back to Tony. When he returned to the room, he found Tony holding a very unhappy, crying baby and Tony looked as miserable as the infant sounded. "I think he's hungry," Tony explained. "The nurse went to get him some formula."

"Babies cry, Tony..." Gibbs said gently. "A lot."

"I know that, boss," Tony said, on the verge of tears himself once again. "I know they cry, but somehow, when I hear him crying, its like he knows what happened to his mother and he wants her and I can't do anything to help him. Why couldn't it have been me who died in that crash? Why couldn't Ziva have survived and I have been the one to die..."

Gibbs could feel his heart break with each word that Tony spoke. He understood just what he was feeling because he'd thought the same thing countless times himself after Shannon and Kelly had been taken from him.

"Listen Tony." Gibbs said softly as he took a seat beside Tony on the bed. "I know you're feeling pretty awful right now, and I'm not going to lie to you. What you're feeling isn't just going to miraculously go away, but bit by bit it will get better, and this little one needs you, Tony. You're his daddy. You're all he's got."

"Here we are," a smiling nurse entered the room with a bottle which she handed to Tony, She kept her tone light and pretended not to notice Tony's tears, full knowing of the tragedy that had occurred in his life. "Let me know if you need anything else."

"Thank you." Tony inserted the nipple of the bottle into Nathaniel's mouth. The baby immediately calmed and began to gulp the nourishing liquid. This had a calming effect on Tony as well. He wiped his tears away with the back of his hand and looked at Gibbs sheepishly. "Sorry you have to keep listening to me going on like that, boss."

"Don't apologize. You have every right to be feeling what you're feeling. Its normal."

"I don't feel very normal right now, boss...I feel like my whole life's been turned upside down and I know I have to be strong for my son, but..." He shook his head despairingly. "I'm not feeling real strong right now..."

"You don't have to worry about being strong right now, Tony." Gibbs put his arm around Tony and soothingly rubbed his shoulder. "You just need to give yourself permission to grieve and do what you need to do to get through this. I'm not going anywhere. You just lean on me when you need to. I've got more than enough strength for the two of us."

"I appreciate that," Tony said softly. He managed a wan smile for Gibbs' benefit, then turned his attention back to the baby. Nathaniel finished the bottle and Tony was in the process of burping him when a man in a doctor's coat entered the room.

"Hello, I am Dr. Romano. I see you and your son are finally getting acquainted. I am very sorry for what you have been going through."

"Thank you," Tony replied quietly. "I'm just glad the issue has finally been resolved."

"Yes. I would imagine it is quite a relief."

Tony nodded and resumed his gentle patting of Nathaniel's back then began to feel slightly uneasy as the doctor just continued to stand there, watching them, but not saying anything else. "Is there something wrong with my boy?" Tony finally asked.

"No, no...He is fine. I am sorry for staring. I just wanted to discuss your child's discharge."

"He's ready to leave?" Tony asked with a delighted smile. "Can I take him home with me today?"

The doctor chuckled. "Well, I would like to keep him for one more night. How does tomorrow morning sound?"

"Tomorrow morning sounds good," Tony said as he looked at the infant. "You hear that, Nathaniel? You get to come home with me and grandpa tomorrow." He then glanced back at the doctor. "Dr. Romano? I'm planning to return to the United States. Do I need to wait for Nathaniel to be able to fly?"

Dr. Romano hesitated. "I would not permit him to fly until he is at least seven days old. "

"But then it would be okay?" Tony asked. He wanted Nathaniel to be safe, but he was also anxious to go home. There were some things he still needed to take care of, but then they would be free to leave.

"Yes, he is healthy. It should be fine," Dr. Romano said, nodding. "I would like to check him over the day before you plan to leave, but I do not see any problem with him flying if it is necessary."

"Thank you, Doc," Tony said.

"You are very welcome. I will see you tomorrow morning then." With that, the doctor left the room. Tony shifted Nathaniel from his shoulder and lowered him down to hold him in his arms again.

"He's sleeping," he whispered to Gibbs.

Gibbs nodded, but his attention was more on Tony than the baby right then. He looked drained and utterly exhausted. It had been a long, stressful day. He wondered if he could get him to agree to go home. "Abby asked if you could send her a picture of Nathaniel," he said. "Everyone sends you their best."

"I can send her a picture," Tony said. Moving very careful so as not to disturb the sleeping infant, Tony reached into his pocket for his cell phone and pulled it out then snapped a picture of Nathaniel. "He looks pretty cute, doesn't he, boss?" he asked as he handed the phone off to Gibbs so he could see it.

"Yes, he looks perfect," Gibbs smiled and gave the phone back to Tony who sent the picture off to Abby. He then couldn't stop himself from yawning.

"I don't think Nathaniel's the only one who needs his sleep," Gibbs observed.

"I'm fine, boss," Tony shook his head and forced his eyes a little bit more widely open.

"You're exhausted, Tony. I know you don't want to admit it, but you are. You also promised you would eat dinner tonight and I'm talking a real dinner, not a bite of a sandwich. Then, after you eat, you're going to try to get some sleep."

"Is that an order, boss?" Tony asked. Part of him wanted to go back at Gibbs and deny being tired, deny needing to eat, but he knew the older man was right and honestly, he was just too wiped out to even think about trying to fight Gibbs at the moment.

"Yeah, its an order, DiNozzo," Gibbs said quietly.

"Okay...I just want to stay with him for a little while longer, then we can head out."

"That's fine." Gibbs smiled faintly. That had been much easier than he had anticipated, which told him how truly exhausted the younger man was. Now that the question of Nathaniel's paternity had been answered, he hoped that Tony would be able to get a good night's sleep before bringing the baby home in the morning. He had a feeling it might be the last opportunity for a night of uninterrupted sleep Tony would have for quite some time.