It was two weeks after her confrontation with Kayla, before Holly had the opportunity to confront Jared. School was out for the summer but home life kept her busy and her pregnancy wore her out fast. She had just entered her thirty-fifth week and the doctors had advised her that the babies could come at anytime. Ziva was thirty-three weeks and had received the same news. Eliana was at thirty-six but she was projected to make it until the fortieth week. With all three woman rapidly approaching the end of their pregnancies, Holly realized that she needed to confront Jared sooner rather than later. She wanted him to at least be aware of when the due date was. So on a Thursday afternoon she left Noah with Nate and drove out to the Vance house. Jared had moved back home after being evicted from his apartment and Kayla was staying there taking care of Leon. Who by this point could not even get out of bed and was unable to take anything by mouth. It seemed weird to Holly. Director Vance had always been such a strong guy. One of the few who could keep her dad and Gibbs in line. Now he was bed-ridden and couldn't even control himself. She could see where Jared would go off the deep end. Taking one last deep breath, she reached up, and knocked on the door. It wasn't long before Kayla answered, her hair was a mess, her clothes dirty, and it was clear she hadn't slept in days.
"Hi Holly" Kayla greeted.
"Hey" Holly replied.
"Come on in." Kayla instructed.
"How's your dad?" Kayla asked.
"Hospice says that it will be anytime now. They are with him now and care for him twenty-four hours a day now. I am just not capable of it anymore." Kayla explained.
"I am sorry to hear that." Holly replied.
"Do you want to say goodbye?" Kayla asked.
"Real fast but I am here to talk with Jared." Holly replied.
"He's in the back with dad, I will take you to them." Kayla replied.
Holly followed Kayla back to Leon's bedroom. She was glad to see that they were letting him stay in the master bedroom. It was certainly large enough to accommodate all of the equipment. Kayla opened the door and Holly was taken aback by what she saw. Leon was lying in bed, covered by a blanket but she could tell that he was practically skeletal. As she got closer she recognized that he was sleeping, not wanting to disturb him she quietly told him goodbye and that her parents said goodbye as well but Ziva could not really leave the house and Tony didn't like leaving her for too long. After saying goodbye she searched for Jared and found him sitting in the plush chair that was placed in the corner. If you didn't know better you would think that he was sick as well. He had lost a considerable amount of weight since she had last seen him and he appeared to have aged twenty years.
"Jared, Holly would like to speak with you." Kayla informed her brother.
"I can't leave him!" Jared snapped.
"It will just be for a few minutes and I can sit with him." Kayla assured.
"What if something happens?" Jared asked.
"I will call you. Just go across the hall to your bedroom. It will be fine." Kayla assured.
"Alright" Jared replied, reluctantly.
Jared said one last goodbye to his dad "just in case" and then made his way across the hall with Holly. He opened the door and ushered her inside. Holly stepped into the center of the room and took a seat on the bed. Jared followed and plopped down beside her.
"So what do you want?" Jared demanded.
"I came to talk to you." Holly explained.
"I know that much! What do you want to talk to me about?!" Jared spat.
"I know that you are hurting but Jared you cannot self destruct yourself like this. It is not what your dad would want." Holly explained.
"So what I can't be sad?" Jared questioned.
"You can be sad, in fact you need to grieve but Jared this behavior is unhealthy. You cannot spend every waking hour drinking and refuse to eat or take care of yourself." Holly explained.
"I need to drink!" Jared snapped.
"Why?" Holly questioned.
"Because I need to forget!" Jared shouted.
"Forget what?" Holly asked.
"Forget that I am about to lose my best-friend. Forget that I disappeared for two years and that was time I should have spent with him. Forget that I am going to be an orphan at twenty-six but am acting like I am six. Forget that my life is pure shit." Jared explained.
"That is exactly how I felt after Noah died. Thankfully I was saved before I was too far gone. Now I need to do the same for you." Holly explained.
"You can't there is no hope in my life." Jared explained.
"Yes there is." Holly replied.
"Oh yeah? What?" Jared demanded.
"Jared, this is your daughter." Holly replied, handing Eliana's latest ultrasound over to Jared.
"I'm having a little girl?" Jared asked.
"In two to four weeks." Holly replied.
"Oh My God." Jared gasped.
Jared took the sonogram from Holly and studied it closely. It was a 3D ultrasound and he could easily make out his daughter's features. She looked like a tiny version of his dad but she had a lot of Eliana in her too. Eliana the girl he had been in love with since he was sixteen but she was too young then at only twelve or thirteen. By the time it was acceptable Eliana was dating Bo. When they finally broke up it was supposed to be perfect. He was going to confess he love to her the day after their drunken incident. Then when he got home his dad told him of his cancer and that's when it all went to hell. He had already lost a little kid on the job and now that. He fell apart and that's when his life went to hell. If he had just told Eliana the truth right away. Maybe things would have been different. Maybe he wouldn't have self destructed. Maybe he could have been there the entire pregnancy. Maybe he could have been happy instead of broken.
"Are you alright, Jared?" Holly asked.
"I have to talk to her." Jared replied.
"I will bring her over in the morning. She wants to say goodbye to your dad too and this will be easier face to face." Holly explained.
"Thanks Holl." Jared replied gratefully.
A/N: Will Eliana accept Jared's explanation? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.