Warnings: Spoilers for "Legend, Part One"
A/N: I have updated the story summary to include general warnings. Herel is the next part! Enjoy!
Two months had come and gone since Kaitlin had come into his life. Tony and the baby had settled into a routine, and when that routine was broken, well Tony was finding it was not a pleasant experience. But that morning, when he got her up, he could tell something was off.
Kaitlin was sick but with no fever the doctor insisted that Tony did not need to bring Kaitlin in to be examined. So, he had stuck to their routine. He had brought the baby to the nanny and gone to work. But Monday night when Tony went to get the baby from the nanny's house he knew that he couldn't ignore what his gut was telling him to do-bring her in to see the doctor. She was screaming, one of her ears as beat red, and the moment he held her he could tell she was running a temperature. He did not need the fancy baby thermometer that Abby had bought to tell him that.
Instead of going home that night, the young father found himself seated in a cold examination room, holding Kaitlin in his arms, and just praying that nothing was seriously wrong with his baby. Kaitlin was exhausted but whatever was ailing her was preventing her from sleeping. She'd fight off her eyelids closing and then let out a sputter cry, almost as if she was asking for Tony to make it better.
Tony's heart broke that his baby was sick. He remembered what it was like to be in the hospital, dying of the plague. And with this memory firmly engrained in his mind as the door opened and the doctor stepped in, he sputtered, "I didn't give my daughter the plague did I?"
"Plague? Mr. DiNozzo, while there are some modern day cases of the plague, I can assure you, this is not what Kaitlin has," Lillian Benson said with a smile.
"No, I don't think you understood me. I've had the plague."
"You've had the plague, Mr. DiNozzo?" Benson asked, skeptically. "When?"
He was flashing back to blue lights and soft orders that he was not going to die. "Four years ago, well, almost four years ago."
She looked at him for a moment and simply nodded her head. Tony was completely beside himself. She wasn't taking him seriously. He wasn't lying. He'd been infected with the plague four years ago, nearly died from severe respiratory problems. Ducky had once told him that there was a chance that it could come back someday, a small one, but it was still there. Couldn't there be a chance that he passed the bug onto Kaitlin?
Benson looked in Kaitlin's nose, her ears, felt her throat and listened to her heart and breathing. When she was done she simply smiled at him. "Well, it isn't the plague."
Is that supposed to make me feel better? Tony thought sarcastically, even as he asked, "What's wrong with her then?"
"Ear infection. I'll write a prescription for it. She'll be fine in a few days."
"And the fever?"
"Baby Tylenol until it breaks. Start by giving her 1ml. Call me if it gets worse."
Tony gazed down at the fussy baby. When their eyes met she started to cry again. Tony rubbed her cheek with his thumb and numbly nodded his head when the doctor handed him the script to take to the pharmacy. Wrapping the baby back up into her blanket and getting her back in her carrier, exhausted, Tony trudged out of the doctor's office and made his way back to his SUV.
Kaitlin fussed and cried the whole drive to the pharmacy to get her medication. Tony tried to soothe her while he drove, tried singing, but nothing seemed to work. Thankfully, the pharmacist took pity on the sad baby—or maybe him for having to take care of her—but either way, he promised that he would fill the prescription right away. Carrier slung over his arm, Tony went to find the baby Tylenol.
"Do you like cherry or grape?" he asked the baby, in a silly voice, hoping to get her to smile a little. It was pointless. She was in pain and sick and tired. Smiling was not on her agenda.
He grabbed the grape flavored one and made his way back towards the pharmacy desk. Paying for his items, he quickly made his way back out to his car, got the baby secured, and drove off, with Kaitlin screaming in the backseat. When he got home and the baby settled as much as he possible could, he took her temperature again. 103
Tony felt his heart thunder in his chest. When they had been at the doctor's office it had been 100. Now, in the matter of an hour it had risen three degrees. Panicking he put the baby into the playpen and grabbed his cell phone. Gibbs and McGee had left that afternoon for Los Angles but they should be at the hotel by now and Tony really, really needed his advice. So, he quickly hit the first speed dial on his contact list and waited, impatiently for his boss to answer.
"Yeah, Gibbs."
"Boss? I…the baby…she…she's sick. She has a fever and I…I don't know how to give her the medicine!"
"Relax, Tony. Pain reliever for babies should come with an eyedropper to give her the medicine."
Tony fumbled about in the bag and found the Tylenol he had picked up. Ripping the box open he found a small eyedropper and instructions on how to give it to his baby. Now, he felt like an idiot for calling his boss. "Oh," he mumbled.
Gibbs chuckled. "Give her the medicine and check her temperature in an hour."
"Ok. Boss?"
"Yeah, DiNozzo?"
"Thanks."
He hung up the phone with a click and measured out the dosage that Doctor Benson wanted him to give the baby. Scooping her up into his arms, Tony sat down on the sofa and laid Kaitlin on his lap. He gently guided the oral syringe into mouth, and slowly let the medicine out. Kaitlin stopped screaming and swallowed the liquid. He did the same thing with the prescription for her ear infection. She made a face when the prescription went down, but she swallowed it—thankfully. Wiping her mouth with a cloth, Tony nestled her back into his arms and sang an Irish lullaby that his mother used to sing to him when he was little.
Kaitlin whined and fussed, rubbing the tears from her eyes. Tony rocked her gently in his arms. "I know, baby, I know." She finally gave into sleep, snuggling into her father's chest. Tony, not wanting to take a chance of waking her, decided to turn the television on and watch the news, letting the baby nap in his arms.
Tony must have dozed himself because he woke up over two hours later. Slowly he got off the sofa and went to get the thermometer and checked Kaitlin's temperature. He was happy to see that it was no longer 103 and was down to 99. At least the pain medication was working.
With a heavy sigh, Tony put the baby back into her playpen, the prescription into the refrigerator and plopped back down onto the sofa. He was exhausted. Taking care of the baby was tiring when she was not sick, but now that she was sick it was ten times more tiring. He rubbed a hand over his face. Of all the weeks to for half the team to be away, it had to be the one that Kaitlin got sick.
It wasn't her fault after all. But Tony had other problems. Like Ziva. He'd done his best to make the translations from her phone conversations in Hebrew, and what he'd uncovered so far was worrying him. Was it possible that Ziva was keeping secrets from them?
Tomorrow he was just going to have to find out.
Ziva David noticed the dark circles underneath her partner's eyes when she got off the elevator that morning. Before she had disappeared for lunch with Michael yesterday, she had heard Tony speaking on the phone to Kaitlin's nanny. Apparently the baby was not feeling well and the nanny wanted to know what to do.
She had used the distraction to sneak out. Of course, Tony had eventually noticed she was missing and called her. She had lied to him about what she was doing, but Michael was here for a mission and it was none of Tony's business.
"You look tired this morning," Ziva pointed out, dropping her backpack down near her desk.
"Kaitlin has her first ear infection. We didn't sleep last night," Tony mumbled, downing some coffee.
"Perhaps you should have stayed at home with her."
"Mrs. Bradley came to our house, she's fine."
Ziva took her coat off and glared at him. "If you are exhausted and cannot do your job today then why are you here? You are only endangering me and you."
Tony returned the glare. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize I had to check in with you now if I should be coming into work."
"How can I trust you in this state?"
"I've got your six, if that's what you worried about, Ms. David."
Ziva knew that their relationship had been strained the last two months. Even before the baby had been born he had noticed she was not entirely happy to be home. You get orders, Tony, and you follow them. She didn't lift her heated glare on him. Kaitlin coming into the world had only strained their relationship more. Ziva didn't know what to do with the baby. Everyone else seemed to love her and spent lots of time at Tony's house with her, but Ziva was uncertain. And her reluctance to be apart of Kaitlin's life was obviously upsetting Tony. He just doesn't understand.
It wouldn't be hard to make him understand but it meant having to dig up more painful memories from her past. She just didn't want to go there and she wasn't sure how much she trusted him at this point. Sure, he was a decent agent but when it came down to it, could she really open up to him about all her secrets? Even if keeping those secrets was destroying whatever type of relationship they had?
Tony sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. He opened his mouth to start to apologize but then decided against it. Why should he have to apologize? She had been the one to put up these walls, especially when it came to Kaitlin. She had not been very happy or welcoming to the baby in the first place. He stood and straightened his suit coat. "I'm going for more coffee. Let me know if you hear from Gibbs."
Boss is not going to like this, Tony thought that even as he got into the elevator after speaking with Abby.
Tony knew that he was playing fire, going behind Ziva's back and investigating her. He'd spoken to Ducky, he'd watched the new footage from the bombing over the summer, and he'd had Abby run facial recognition on the man with Ziva. He knew that something was off, and if something was off that meant she didn't have her head completely in the game. He had his suspicions that there was a new man in her life, she was accusing him of being jealous a lot recently when he asked-he was just nosy. And now, he had good reason to be nosy. Her new boyfriend was Mossad and he just couldn't bring himself to ever trust them wholly.
Not after what happened to Kate.
Sighing, when he heard his cellphone ring, he dug it out of his pocket. "DiNozzo."
"Anthony, I really hate to bother you at work, especially since Jethro is out of town-but Kaitlin really needs her daddy."
Tony could hear the baby crying, hysterically in the background. He glanced at his watch. "Okay. I'm...I'm almost done here. And then I'll be on my way." He hung up the phone, sent a quick text to Abby that he was leaving for the day and then stepped out of the elevator.
Ziva was at her desk working. Tony eyed her cautiously as he grabbed his gear and shut down his computer. She looked up, startled. "Are you leaving?"
"Nanny called. She's having trouble settling Kaitlin," Tony said, firmly. "Let's call it a day."
"Case isn't closed yet," Ziva pointed out.
Tony raised an eyebrow in her direction. "Do you have a new lead?
Ziva shook her head. "No."
"Then, let's call it a day," Tony repeated, before gathering up his stuff and leaving. He didn't wait for her. He had to get home to his baby.