It was well past midnight, the day after the birth of Salvatore Jackson DiNozzo. The DiNozzo family would be in the hospital for another day and night, and Gibbs had stayed with them. Meanwhile Jimmy and Maddie were back in Stillwater. Maddie was home with her mom and little Kelly, and Jimmy was alone as usual. Even after two years he hated being alone but tonight was different. Seeing the newborn DiNozzo had awakened something inside of him. He wanted a family again and he wanted it now but Maddie and him had only been together for a few months. That was much too soon to propose marriage. She would think that he was insane and it would be over. Breena and him had been together for a year before he proposed marriage. Of course if he waited too long she may think that he was afraid to commit again. What kind of single mom would want to risk being strung along? It wasn't fair to her and it certainly wasn't fair to Kelly. He made a mental note to speak with Gibbs once everybody was back in town.


A feeling of panic washed over Tony when he first woke up. When his brain was still foggy from sleep, he had forgotten that Christina had given birth the day before, and waking up in the hospital startled him. It wasn't until he sat up and looked around that he remembered what had happened. He pulled himself off the couch and walked over to the hospital bed. His wife was still fast asleep but Salvatore was wide awake in his crib. Tony picked up his son and carried him over to the couch. Tory was a pretty calm baby so far but Gibbs had warned that things would not always be so easy. As long as there were moments like this he would not mind the hard times. That was another thing that Gibbs had promised. Tony took another look at his son and wondered what he would be like. He was going to be athletic, Tony knew that much. Maybe not the quarterback or captain of the basketball team but those powerful kicks had given Christina had to account for something.

"Is he, hungry?" Christina asked, sitting up.

"I don't think so. He just needed a little love." Tony replied.

"Well hand him over here and I will see if he is ready to eat." Christina replied.

"Do you want to see the lactation consultant again or do you think you can handle it alone?" Tony asked.

"I think I got it." Christina replied.

"Alright" Tony replied, placing Tory in his wife's arms.


Christina got Salvatore fed and then put him back in his crib. Her breakfast was due to arrive any time now and Tony had gone down to the cafeteria in search of food. The doctors had told her that as long as everyone kept doing well, they could go home the next morning. She could not wait to get out of the hospital and back home. She missed her bed and looking out the window at the tree that Gibbs had planted with his mom when he was a little boy. Gibbs had already promised to build a tree-house for Salvatore and any other children they may have. It was ironic Christina thought to herself. She had despised the small town she grew up in and vowed that any children she had would grow up in a "real place". Somewhere, where more than the Waffle House and Walmart were open past eight and everybody wasn't in everybody's business all the time. Now she was going to raise her son in the tiny town of Stillwater. A place that made her hometown look huge and exciting. Everything had changed when Tony moved to Stillwater though. She loved him and wanted to be with him, and it really was a charming place and best of all her Tony was happy there. She was sure that Salvatore would hate the town in his teen years too. Most kids raised in a small-town went through that stage. Some eventually outgrew it, while others never returned.

"What are you thinking about?" Tony asked, reentering the room carrying a half-eaten bagel.

"Just how lucky our son is." Christina replied.

"Do you think we will do a good job?" Tony asked.

"I think we will." Christina replied.

"Well I know that you will be a great mother but I am not so sure about myself." Tony remarked.

"You will be a great father Tony. You have the best teacher." Christina assured.

"And our son has the best grandfather a kid could ask for." Tony added.

"He sure does." Christina agreed.

"He has an amazing uncle too, who I bet will give him a bunch of fun cousins to run around with and one who is always watching out for him." Tony explained.

"Salvatore is a lucky boy and I know that Victoria sent him to us." Christina added.

"I bet she did." Tony replied.


It was late at night again and Jimmy had just gotten back into town. He had run by the hospital to visit his nephew and god-son after work. He could not wait until they were home by the next afternoon. Kelly was dying to meet her new cousin and Jimmy was looking forward to him joining the family on their activities. It would be nice to have a baby in the family again. He even still had a few of Victoria's more gender neutral clothes and toys. These days it didn't really matter but somehow he doubted Tony would appreciate his son being given a hot pink onesie with a tutu attached that said "Daddy's Little Princess" in gold sparkles. Even though he was still conflicted by his new feelings, regarding families and moving on. He had a huge smile on his face until he turned onto his street. Until he got to his house. Maddie's car was parked in the driveway. He looked down at the clock and saw that it was ten-o'clock at night. She would never just pop by this late, something had to be wrong. He parked beside Maddie, jumped out of the car, and ran towards the house. He found Maddie sitting on the porch holding a small limp body in her arms.

"Oh Jimmy! Thank God!" Maddie cried.

"I don't know she wasn't feeling well all day. That's why I didn't come to the hospital. Then I went to check on her and she was like this." Maddie explained.

"How long has it been?" Jimmy asked.

"Just five minutes or so." Maddie replied.

"What are her symptoms?" Jimmy asked.

"High fever, lethargic, and she's been throwing up all day." Maddie explained.

"I'm going to call in an ambulance." Jimmy replied.

"What do you think it is?" Maddie asked.

"Probably just that bug coming back but it could be appendicitis and there is a small possibility of meningitis." Jimmy explained.

"Meningitis?" Maddie gasped.

"I don't think it's that but I won't know anything tell she gets tested at the hospital." Jimmy replied.


A/N: Will Kelly be OK? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.