Warnings: None for this chapter.
A/N: Here is another update! Reviews are always welcome :)
At the hospital Gibbs flashed his badge and asked where he could find Jack's room. The nurse easily gave him the floor and number. He shoved his credentials back into his pocket and stormed into the elevator, wondering if the social worker knew how hard Tony and Leah had worked finding Eric Barnes a safe place to live—people who abused or neglected their kids didn't take in a complete stranger.
When he arrived on the floor, his eyes were immediately drawn to the tall, unusually thin middle aged woman in a stark business suit. On the lapel of her blazer was an identification badge—Paulette Keye, Virginia Department of Child and Family Services.
Gibbs scowled. Of course the social worker was going to lurk outside Jack's hotel room. Didn't she have other cases? Weren't there other kids out there that were in much more dangerous living conditions than Tali and Jack? He knew she was just doing her job, once the EMTs had reported the incidence and Arlington Police had been alerted…
As he walked closer to Jack's room, Leah, her sister Norah, and Tali emerged. Leah was helping Tali into her coat, putting a knit pink cap on over her curls. Tali looked anxiously between the two women. It was obvious that the little girl was aware that something was going on.
"This is ridiculous," Norah snapped loud enough for the social worker to hear.
"It was either this or strangers," Leah said. She smiled down at Tali. "You're going to sleep over with Auntie Norah, okay?"
Tali balked at the idea. It wasn't that she didn't like Norah or going over for a sleepover, she had witnessed her brother being poked and prodded by EMTs, a social worker arguing with her parents, and now her aunt showing up to take her away. It was overwhelming for the child. "No, Mama!"
Leah tried to assure Tali that she was going to have fun. Norah would paint her nails and watch movies with her, they'd have chicken nuggets for dinner—but the promise of her favorite things did not appease the child.
She stood in the middle of the hall, wailing. Her wails sent Tony into the hall to comfort her. His green eyes casting daggers at the social worker.
Gibbs came to the conclusion that this apparently had been the compromise to placing Tali in a foster home for the night, having her spend the night with Norah.
"Abba, I don't want to go!" Tali screamed, stomping her little feet.
"Tali-wog, it's only for a night," Tony said, smiling at her and wiping her tears.
"Agent DiNozzo," Keye said, with a heavy sigh, "it's getting late."
Tony hugged and kissed his crying daughter, promising her that she wasn't going to be away from home long. Norah picked her up, and carried her, sobbing towards the elevator, the social worker following behind them.
Gibbs waited until they were gone and then cleared his throat. Tony and Leah looked up, startled to see him there. The two of them had been so upset by Tali being taken away in tears that neither one of them had noticed his arrival. "How's Jack?"
Leah swallowed the lump in her throat. "Fine. Sleeping. He's not blue anymore; there's some pink in his cheeks.
"His temperature has steadily rose," Tony supplied. "Doctors think he'll be awake and ready to go by morning."
"Those are good signs then," Gibbs said with a nod. "What about the social worker?"
"She was going to put Tali in a foster home for the evening. I convinced her to let Norah take her," Leah said. "She's going with them to make sure Norah's place is adequate."
Tony reached out and rubbed her back. In a few days this hopefully was behind them. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, Keye was going to dissect their lives and probably be making more than one visit…
Leah wiped the tears from her eyes and stepped away from her husband. She looked at Gibbs. "Is Eric okay?"
Yeah, neglectful mother, Gibbs thought angrily recalling his conversation with Paulette Keye. "Eric is in great spirits. He spent the day with Jimmy, met his uncle…"
Leah looked relieved to hear that. Her blue eyes brightened a bit. "Was his uncle happy to see him?"
Gibbs nodded and offered her a soft smile. "Yes. I was at the meeting myself. It went well."
"Is Eric going to go live in Spain with him?"
"No, his uncle doesn't think he can take on the responsibility of being a single dad."
"Did his uncle approve of Jimmy and Breena adopting Eric?"
"He did."
Gibbs watched her very carefully. It was clear that she was stressed and he worried about the unborn baby. Her doctor would probably tell her to stay off her feet for a few days.
Tony appeared just as concerned about her, his green eyes following her every movement and occasionally flickering towards her small, round belly.
Leah found a nearby chair and flopped into it. "I couldn't' sleep last night thinking about what was going to happen to him, and the moment I got some downtime, some quiet, I fell asleep. That social worker thinks I'm a horrible mother and I was sleeping because I was exhausted thinking up ways for Eric to be safe."
"You are not a horrible mother, Leah. Jack inherited his tendency to get in trouble from his father…"
"Hey!"
"DiNozzo. Let me finish."
Tony scowled and leaned against the wall. "Fine."
Gibbs turned to Leah and took her hand. "As I was saying—Jack inherited his tendency to get in trouble from his father; if he was determined to go outside and play in the snow, he was going to go outside and play in the snow."
Leah glanced sheepishly at her husband and a faint smile crossed her features. "Tony does have the tendency to attract trouble…"
"Once everything settles down and the social worker wraps up her investigation, things will be back to normal," Gibbs promised her. "She's going to see that you and Tony are good parents, who love their kids."
"You need to go home and rest, Leah," Tony murmured. They'd had this argument twenty minutes ago and now seemed like a good time to bring the subject back up. "I'll stay with Jack. Tali is being taken care of by Norah—you need to take care of the baby."
Leah glared at her husband and shook her head. "I'm staying. We discussed this. Jack needs his mother."
Tony returned the glare. "Jack probably will sleep until morning and he'll be just as happy to wake up to me."
"Anthony, I'm not going."
"Leah, you're pregnant and need to rest. This stress will affect the baby."
Her hands went to her round stomach and her shoulders shagged in defeat. "How am I going to get home? I took the ambulance here."
He helped her to her feet and gave her his trench coat. She had left the house with nothing for herself but her cell phone. "I called Delilah. She's coming by to pick you up and you're going to stay with her and Tim for the evening. I didn't want you to be alone in that big house."
She nodded, grateful that she wouldn't have to spend the night at home without him or the children. "You'll call me if anything changes, right?"
Tony kissed her cheek. "Of course I will, sweetheart."
Leah fought her tears. She didn't want to leave Jack but she had another baby to think about. "He'll be okay without me?"
"Jack will be fine without you," Tony assured her. "I'm here, Gibbs is here, the doctors and nurses are here… tomorrow when you come back he'll be up and smiling at you."
"Make sure he eats something for breakfast," Leah urged Tony. "He hasn't eaten since lunch and he'll be starving!"
Tony directed her towards the elevator, promising her that Jack would get breakfast. At the elevator doors he kissed her, assured her one more time that they were going to get through this and placed her in the elevator.
Leah's anxious blue eyes quickly disappeared behind the doors. She hated leaving her son but at the same time, to take care of her unborn child, she had too. Her husband was right though—Jack would be up and smiling in the morning. Maybe in the morning she would be smiling again too.
Eric was blissfully unaware of what was happening other than the fact he had a place to call home—forever.
After having dinner with his Uncle Drew he had been informed by his only living blood relative that he was not going to Spain, rather Eric was going to be adopted. Uncle Drew said that he would write to Eric and visit and even bring him to summer in Spain, but Washington was the best place for the little boy.
He had his own bedroom in his new house. Breena had promised to take him shopping to pick out furnishing for his bedroom and Jimmy was going to take him to the toy store. For the first time in a while he fell asleep with a big grin on his face.
In the morning Breena had laid some clothes out for him. Eric quickly changed and dashed downstairs.
"No running in the house," Breena reminded him, gently. "You'll slip and crack your head open."
"Sorry," Eric mumbled, tucking his chin to his chest.
Breena smiled at him, sweetly. "Eric, it's okay. This is a new home for you and you need to learn the rules. I'm not mad, okay?"
Eric glanced up into her kind eyes; not being scolded, yelled at, or ignored completely was new to the little boy and he was still trying to get used to it. "Most adults got mad at me or just ignored me when I broke the rules."
"Yelling isn't my style," Breena said, grinning.
"Good morning," Jimmy chirped, carrying Victoria into the kitchen dressed in his scrubs. "Did you sleep well, Eric?"
"Yes sir," Eric said. "I like my new room."
"You're going to love it even more once we get you some new things," Jimmy responded, putting Victoria into her booster seat. He gave his daughter a kiss and turned to give one to Breena. "Tony called; Jack's going to be released from the hospital later today."
Breena sighed in relief and then shook her head. "How did he even manage to get outside? Those wood doors are heavy, some of them even for me."
Jimmy smiled as he poured himself some coffee. "He used a foot stool that Leah has to reach into the upper cabinets. Pushed it over to the door and managed to get out. Clever boy."
She rolled her eyes and handed Eric his breakfast of honey-nut cheerios. "Clever and a magnet for trouble—just like his daddy."
He chuckled while Eric asked, "Is Jack sick?"
"Oh, no honey," Breena assured. "Jack is fine. He just… he played out in the snow too long."
"Don't worry," Jimmy added, "Jack will be back home in no time."
Eric noticed that Jimmy and Breena changed the subject, quickly. He finished his breakfast and went off to play in an adjacent playroom with Victoria. With the children gone, the parents started to talk about what happened with Jack again, thinking that Eric wasn't listening, but the little boy had become really good over the years of hearing things he was not supposed to hear…
Breena mentioned an investigation, someone was going to be stopping by their house to interview them about Leah. Eric was puzzled. Why would anyone want to investigate Leah for… what was the word Breena had used—neglect—that was it. Why would anyone be investigating Leah for neglect?
He didn't know what that meant but Eric knew Leah did not do that. Eric knew that he had to speak to the investigator. He had to tell them that Leah and Tony were a great mom and dad, and any kid would be lucky to have them.