The morning after the wedding was a glorious sunrise. The sun shone so brightly in the bedroom that it woke me. I reached out to find my husband. He wasn't there. I looked out at the bench in the yard: empty. The car sat there so he didn't go anywhere. Maybe he'd gone for a run. As I went to go downstairs I noticed the door to Gretchen's room, slightly ajar. Callen sat in the rocker with something in his hand. I quietly slipped into the room. I didn't want to disturb his thoughts.

He sensed my presence. "I found this."

I walked up to stand at his shoulder and look at what he had. He held the Kewpie Doll he had won for me on our first date.

He gave a small chuckle as he turned the doll in his hands. "You kept it? I thought it was the world's ugliest doll."

I laughed at the remembrance. "I said she is so ugly she is cute, and since Gretchen's daddy won it for her mommy, it's special." I quietly added, "It kept me sane all these months. What's going on in here?"

He looked at the doll and tried to find a way to describe what he felt. He had the look of a lost child. He finally met my eye. "I'm trying to get use to the idea of being a father. I'd never really thought about it before and haven't had time since I got here to think it over. I'm, kind of, to be honest, afraid of the responsibility."

I walked around in front of him, crouched down in front of him as best I could and took his hands in mine. "G, it's Ok to be scared. I'm scared too. We want a life together and this is part of it. We've gotten through so much worse. The Comescu, being apart, those were horrid and yet we made it through. We can do this."

He still had an uncomfortable look about him. "I'm still a little nervous."

He helped me up and we walked out of Gretchen's room. "Well Nervous Daddy, how about we get dressed and go out to breakfast? I know an awesome little diner in Newport."

He smiled and hugged me. "Let's go eat breakfast, Mrs. Callen."

We packed up the wine glasses and put them on the porch for the caterers. We then went to have breakfast. This was a trip to see how long it would take Callen to get to work the following morning. After breakfast we drove over to Sachuset Beach and took a long walk. We played with the seagulls and waded a little. The water was beginning to get icy. There was coolness to the air and a little wind was kicking up. Well it was the beginning of autumn in New England. We cuddled our way down the beach to the car and headed into downtown Newport. Callen wanted to walk on the piers and see the boats. There were some beauties in port at this time of year. They were all getting ready to be put up for the winter or shipped out to southern climes. I could hardly wait for him to see the Christmas Boat Parade in the harbor. It was getting colder and breezier so we opted to head for home. It is nice sharing New England with him like he did California with me.

Monday, Callen started working at the War College. I think that he actually enjoyed it. He came home that night and told me about his students. They seemed eager enough. He had some that he might have concerns with but it was still early. This was a whole different side of Callen. He loved teaching. The Commander on the base appreciated the fact that he had been a team leader in the field and could run an ops center if needed. As Callen became more confident in his teaching he became more confident in life. He became more at ease with life in non-crisis mode. Callen also became comfortable with life in a family and I expected that he would come around to being a dad soon. He spent time in Gretchen's room. He had a good time figuring out how to take care of a baby.

It was the middle of November when I called Callen at work. I needed to hear his voice. We talked for a few minutes and then he said he was bringing dinner home. I wasn't to worry about it. I was feeling a slight case of cramps but there was another week until Gretchen is due so I wasn't concerned. I lay down on the couch while waiting for him to arrive. We'd already put together my suitcase for the hospital and we'd left it by the door.

I saw worry in Callen's eyes when he came home. "Is it that time?"

"Maybe, let's wait a little while." We were both excited by the idea so we ate little. Around nine o'clock Gretchen decided that it was time to come. We drove to the hospital and checked in at the nurse's station.

The nursing supervisor asked to speak to Callen privately. She then proceeded to tell him he couldn't bring his weapon into the hospital.

Callen was annoyed but remained calm. "I am an NCIS agent and we carry portal to portal. That is the rule for NCIS. My wife was a kidnapping victim one month ago. I am protecting her and my daughter."

The nurse's tone was that she was someone whose authority would not be questioned. "I am sorry that happened sir. Our rule is that hospital security shall protect our patients."

Callen kept his cool but again reiterated, "My wife and daughter are a kidnapping waiting to happen. I will protect them with or without the gun."

The nurse called security. When the security guard arrived he just happened to be a student of Callen's. He allowed G to keep his weapon. When Callen walked away, the security guard told the uppity nurse that the people, who might come for us, were way above what the hospital security could handle.

Callen rejoined us in the delivery area and the labor process moved right along. He held my hand, fed me ice chips, and helped me with breathing and focusing. He was a rock through it all. It took about four hours for Gretchen to make her appearance. Callen clamped and cut the cord and measured and weighed "his" little girl. He's a thoroughly smitten man and I fell in love with him all over again. I noticed that he wasn't nervous any more. He became the doting daddy and his sole mission was to hold her all the time.

Two days later Callen took us home. It was a partly cloudy, cold day at November's midpoint and there were no leaves on the trees. When we arrived at home G drove up to the front porch and helped me out. Callen then took Gretchen out and turned toward the door when he saw a flash on the hill across the way. He hustled us into the house and came back out to look again. He didn't see any more flashes but thought that he would check it out later. He went back into the house.

Up on the hill, sat a solitary figure with a pair of binoculars. This person had spent the day waiting patiently for the Callen family to arrive home. They realized that Callen had seen the flash from the binoculars and decided to leave, for now, but said to themselves, "Don't worry Mikael, I'll be back for you, soon."