Mrs. Sykes had left the two men in charge of looking after CJ while she returned home to prepare supper for the group. Tony had tried to convince her that they didn't need to her to return home and cook them all supper. He felt that it was a lot of work for the older lady and he didn't want to make trouble for her.
"No .. no.. no.. dear… it is no trouble at all… it gives me something to keep me busy. I don't get to make dinner for anyone anymore. Michael rarely visits… You know I think he would visit more if he found himself a nice lady and had himself a family."
Tony smiled at Mrs. Sykes interpretation of her son's actions. Michael was the same age as Tony and had been living with his partner for two decades. Mrs. Sykes called David, Michael's roommate even though Michael had explained on numerous occasions including one in Tony's kitchen that David was more than a roommate.
Just as Michael could not convince his mother he would never marry, Tony was not successful in deterring Mrs. Sykes from coming back later with supper and so he was left with his daughter and former boss in a small hospital room.
Tucking CJ in for another nap Tony and Gibbs set up chairs in the hallway so that she had a quiet solitary place for a rest.
"She's a gem" Gibbs said tilting his head in the direction in which Mrs. Sykes had just left.
"She sure is that" Tony agreed. "Did you ever the story of how she 'adopted' our family?"
Gibbs shook his head and then leaned back in the chair waiting for Tony to tell the story.
"The first time we met her she brought food." Tony smiled as he recalled the memory of his original meeting with the feisty old lady. "I was carrying boxes into the living room from the truck as Ziva and I were moving into the house when I returned outside she was standing in my way to get the next load. I didn't want to be rude but it was getting late, I was hungry and tired. Ziva was in the bedroom trying to set up the bed so that we could…well go to sleep that night." Tony cleared his throat and looked away.
"Anyway she stood there at the end of the truck with a casserole dish in her oven mitted hands. 'Hello I am Mrs. Helen Sykes I live two doors down on this side' she pointed using the contents of her hands. 'I thought you might need to eat after a long day of working hard. I noticed your wife is pregnant. You need to make sure she eats it's not good for her or the baby if you don't feed them you know. ' I stood there not knowing what to say or do so I invited her into the kitchen. She turned on the oven and put the dish in. She went to work clearing the table and setting it up with the paper plates and plastic cutlery. I just watched her. Ziva joined me moments later hearing the conversation from upstairs. 'Oh Hello dear, nice to see such a young family move into the neighbourhood, there are so few young families anymore. I'm Helen Sykes. Dinner's in the oven. I'll be back later to clean it up. You make sure you don't let her doing any of the heavy lifting.' She wagged her finger at me before storming out of the door."
Gibbs smiled as he pictured the scene that Tony had described. "The food was amazing. As it always is… she came back later that evening as I finished unloading the truck and cleaned up the kitchen. The next day she brought brownies and the day after that she brought soup. Once the house was set up and cleaned the food stopped coming but she would stop in every few days to ask if Ziva was doing ok. She asked about the baby and asked about our jobs. She would wave from her front porch when we left in the morning and if we were back before dark she would wave at night."
Tony took a minute and paused. "You would think that it would be annoying or creepy having her there. Ever present… but it wasn't… she reminded me of my Nona… spoke her mind whether you wanted to hear it or not… told you what to do and expected you would follow through… but loved you unconditionally and fed you every chance she got."
"How did come to look after CJ?" Gibbs asked.
"The night CJ was born, well you know that story, was rather eventful and so it wasn't only Mrs. Sykes but the entire neighbourhood that knew CJ had been born. The next morning when we returned from the hospital we had only been in the house maybe 2 minutes when the doorbell rang. There on the front porch was Mrs. Sykes. Casserole dish full of food and a pink gift bag in her hands. She'd knit a both a blue and a pink blanket so that she would be prepared regardless of what gender the baby turned out to be. Every day for a couple of weeks she brought lunch or supper. Sometimes it was in a slow cooker, sometimes in a casserole dish, but regardless of how it arrived it was always arrived just in time."
Tony hearing something from inside the room turned and when he couldn't tell from where it came he stood and slowly approached the bed making sure CJ was alright. He didn't want to have to tell Mrs. Sykes that something had happened in her absence and he wasn't there to get details. Noting that nothing was out of place he returned to the hallway where Gibbs sat elbows on the arm rests hands folded together pointer fingers together tapping his lip.
"So where was I … right… so after several weeks it was time for Ziva to go back to work and we needed to find a nanny. We needed someone who could stay all hours of the day and night because of our jobs. We started interviewing people at the house. Mrs. Sykes must have been watching as after unproductive interview 1 billion she walked into the house took CJ into her arms and rocked her slowly. That was not unusual, we had come to expect her to have a snuggle whenever she arrived. 'You need someone to look after CJ while you're at work and looking in the newspaper just isn't going to work you know. You can't hand her over to a stranger, you won't know what they will feed her, you won't know if they will love her. You need me. I will look after her. My Henry has been gone for a couple of years now and Michael, well he doesn't have a family yet. So I have time and love to give. Ziva and I just looked at each other. We had only known Mrs. Sykes for a couple of months yet she was as much a grandmother to CJ as anyone. So we agreed. From that point on she's been part of our day to day lives. I really don't know what we would have done without her. "
The two men sat silently watching the doctors and nurses walk the halls. They watched as other visitors entered and exited the rooms. Neither spoke, occasionally Tony looked over his shoulder at his sleeping daughter. He wanted to make sure he had details to give Mrs. Sykes on her return. The elevator dinged and heavily laden woman exited and made her way towards the silent sentries. Both Gibbs and Tony scurried to help her carry her many bags. Helping unload and set up was done as quietly as possible but still caused CJ to stir. Waking to the smell of fresh pasta in marinara sauce and garlic loaf was very exciting to CJ. Unfortunately Mrs. Sykes felt that such a heavy meal was not appropriate for a person recovering from abdominal surgery. CJ began to complain when a bowl of hearty tomato soup was placed in front of her; that was until she received a glare from all three adults in the room. CJ had to be satisfied with her soup and shot back a glare of her own.
