Chapter Twenty One: The Least I Can Do

Ziva's eyelids rose with the sun. She was surprised to realised that she'd slept later; usually without an alarm she was still out of bed and on her morning run by the time the sun was rising, but felt more rested than she had done in weeks. A nagging thought of uncertainty was gone from her mind, and the only thing she was aware of in the first few moments of waking was not what she needed to do before leaving for work, but rather that she was comfortable. With a gentle sigh, she opened her eyes, which almost bounded from their sockets when she realised what 'comfortable' also coincided with.

Three inches from her face, was Tony DiNozzo.

She froze, not that she was barely moving to start with. Worry flooded over her, replacing the warmth that had previously washed over her when her eyes had opened. Had they slept together? She moved her eyes down her body, realising that even though she was beneath the blankets she was still fully clothed, as was he. She was still wearing the clothes she'd worn to work, however. Tony didn't look much more comfortable in the jeans and shirt he'd changed into once they'd arrived back at his apartment. She remembered him offering her some sweat pants and a t-shirt to change into, but she hadn't really planned on staying much longer than after Penny had gone to sleep.

But she had stayed. And she had told him the truth about Adam's betrayal. And she had acted completely beyond her usual behaviour by breaking down. Worse still, she had broken down in front of her partner, who was only ever supposed to see her in moments of strength. She knew how hard it was to be a woman in the world they lived in, especially in their choice of career, and sobbing into her partners chest about her boyfriend cheating on her probably wouldn't help the respect level much.

He had to respect her though, she realised, otherwise he'd have taken advantage of her need for comfort last night.

Instead of luring her into bed for nothing more than a night of meaningless sex, he had climbed in beside her and let her sleep curled in his embrace. She was willing to bet it was the first time a woman had slept in this bed without just sleeping, but she ignored this thought. Tony had been there for her, and even in sleep it looked as if he still were. Above the blankets, filling the minute gap between their bodies, their hands were sprawled on the bed clothes, beside each other in perfect symmetry but not touching. She smiled, despite herself. He really had been there for her last night. He took care of her, even though whenever any advancement in their friendship seemed to beg for more than a kiss on the cheek and a friendly hug she always seemed to find a reason to step back. Maybe they really were just too good friends…or maybe…

She shook herself before the voice in her head began to sound like Abby's conspiracy theory. No, she told herself. She was recovering from Adam's betrayal and Tony's comfort was nice. She could hardly have rejected his offer of help when she had scolded him for doing the same thing only days before.

She moved slowly, rolling out of the bed and sneaking from the bedroom. Thankfully Tony was still fast asleep, and she'd remained in the doorway for a moment, watching him. He looked peaceful, and she was glad to realise that he was sleeping properly once again. On the bedroom floor was her jacket, which had been thrown on the bed when she arrived and since moved onto the floor sometime since. She looked in the pocket, retrieving her cell phone. There were a dozen missed calls - none from Gibbs, which meant that they didn't need to arrive at work any earlier than usual - but plenty from Adam. Without reading or listening to any of them she deleted them, slipping her cell phone into her pocket. Both her and Tony must have slept deeply as neither of them had heard her phone ringing. She wouldn't have answered it, but she imagined that Tony would have had a choice few words to direct at Adam.

A noise from down the hall distracted her, and she realised what was wrong with the sleeping image of Tony…once she had left the bed, he had been alone. She looked over her shoulder, immediately noticing the half-open door that led into Penny's room. From what she had learned, Penny always ended up in Tony's bed during the night, so she was confused to realise that there hadn't been a three-year-old snug between them that morning.

She went down the hall, standing now in another doorway as she found the source of the noise. There, in the middle of the bedroom, was Penny. Of course, she was hidden by a sweater, which seemed to have become entangled in her limbs and wrapped itself around her head, only a small portion of her dark hair poking out of the top. She'd already tried to put her own jeans on, even if they were on backwards and haphazardly done up. After a moment, Penny managed to get half of her face visible through the opening of the sweater, and Ziva smiled at her, giving her a tiny wave.

"Ziva!" Penny said, excitement in her tone.

"Hush, Penny," she whispered back, placing a finger to her lips. "Your father is still sleeping."

"Look!" she continued, flailing her arms so that the sweater flapped around. "I can do it nearly by my self!"

Ziva crouched before her, helping her to put the clothes on properly. Once the jeans were on the right way round and the sweater was now being worn rather than looking like some form of entrapment, she smiled at her. "That is not the only thing you have done this morning. Did you stay in your own bed all night?" Penny nodded proudly, and Ziva broke out in a grin, hugging the small child. "Oh, Penny, your father will be so pleased!"

"And then he won't get sad anymore?" she asked hopefully.

Ziva pulled back, smiling still. "When people are sad it helps when somebody does something to help them," she explained.

Penny frowned. "Does this help Daddy?"

Ziva nodded. "Yes, for when he finds out what a big girl you have been, he will be so proud of you."

Penny smiled at the thought, and then begun her usual train of morning thought. "I'm hungry."

"When your father wakes up we can have some breakfast," Ziva told her.

"I'm already up."

Both Penny and Ziva looked to the doorway to see Tony leaning against the doorframe, a fond smile on his lips. He was wearing a robe now, so he must have woken almost immediately after Ziva had left the room. She wondered how long he had been watching them, but didn't question it as Penny jumped and ran towards him, jumping up and down excitedly before him.

"Daddy! Daddy! I slept in my bed all night! By myself! All night!" she told him.

Tony developed an over-exaggerated look of shock and amazement that he knew now that Penny loved. "Oh my God, did you really?"

"Yeah, all night!" she told him.

He jumped down quickly, lifting her up and holding her above his head. "Oh, Penny, well done!" Penny giggled as he lifted her up and down in the hair, her hair shaking around her shoulders. "I am so, so, so proud of you!"

"I'm a big girl."

"Yeah, any bigger and I won't be able to pick you up anymore," he told her, bringing her down and settling her on his hip. He looked at Ziva. "Did you hear that, Ziva? We've got a big girl sleeping in her own bed now."

"I did hear," Ziva said, as she stood and went over to the doorway with them. "She certainly is grown up."

"Right, I need to shower," Tony announced. "Why don't you two find yourself some breakfast and then we'll make sure we celebrate having a big girl in the house!"

"Yeah!" Penny said, dropping from Tony's side and scurrying away into the kitchen.

Of course, this left Tony and Ziva alone in the hall. She looked at him for a moment, before realising that something needed to be said. Only she didn't know what. "Um…Tony…"

He looked shocked. "Wow."

"What?" she asked.

"I don't think I've ever seen you nervous before."

She gaped a little. "I am not nervous!"

"You're stumbling over your words," he pointed out. "Very unlike you."

"I just wanted to thank you for last night," she told him.

He shrugged. "It's the least I can do."

"Tony…"

"Look, if you're going to keep telling me not to thank you, then you're not allowed to thank me either," he told her, a touch of amusement in his eyes even though they both knew how serious he was about the situation. "We look out for each other, okay?"

She nodded, a gentle smile filling her face. "Okay."

"Now, if you don't mind keeping Penny occupied for a few minutes, I've gotta make some phone calls as well," he told her.

"To whom?"

"The rest of the team," he said simply. "We have ourselves a big girl to congratulate now, and I want everyone to make a big deal out of it for her."

She smiled. No matter how much Tony thought he was doing a terrible job as a father, he knew exactly what to do in his heart. "That will be nice for her."

He nodded gently, smiling as he saw into the living room, where Penny was now sitting on the couch humming to herself as she waited for Ziva. "This is the first milestone I've been around for in her life," he said quietly.

Ziva put a hand on his arm, bringing his eyes back to her. "There will be many more, Tony," she assured him. "Now," she scrunched up her noise. "Go shower, you stink!"

--

When they arrived at NCIS, there was an added bounce to Penny's usual habit of skipping ahead of Tony. They'd left a little earlier so that Ziva could go back to her apartment and change before work. Penny, however, skipped right past Gibbs, who was walking down the edge of the bullpen when she passed him, and went straight over to his desk. Disappointment and confusion filled her face when she saw that he was not there, as he was every morning. When she turned to question his absence, she was pleased to find that he was standing right behind her.

"Were you playing Hide and Seek, Uncle Gibbs?" she asked him.

"All the time," he told her. "You're very happy today."

"Yeah, really happy," she grinned.

Tony came to stand beside Penny, lifting her up onto his hip so that she was the same level as Gibbs. "Did you tell him what you did last night?" he asked her.

Penny looked at Gibbs, puffing out her chest proudly. "I stayed in my own bed all night by myself," she told him.

"Well done, Penny. I bet your Dad was real proud of you."

"You bet he was," Tony grinned.

"I'm a big girl now," Penny continued.

Gibbs smiled. "Then how about we go down to the coffee shop on the corner and celebrate by getting you a big hot chocolate with lots of chocolate sprinkles while your Dad does his work?" he asked her, as if it were some conspiracy.

Penny grinned. "Really?"

"Absolutely."

She nodded and smiled, before spotting McGee. She wriggled out of Tony's hold and ran over to him, tugging on the side of his jacket as he struggled to balance his coffee and Abby's caff-pow along with his bag. "Guess what, Uncle Probie, guess what!" she told him.

Tony turned back to Gibbs. "Great, you did get the message!"

Gibbs looked blankly at him. "What message?"

"I left a message on your cell phone about Penny…" he said. "I wanted everyone to make a big deal out of it for her. You know, to encourage her."

Gibbs shrugged. "Never got any message."

--

In between calling witnesses, Tony often looked around him. He'd looked up once and seen McGee researching baby name websites. The next time he'd seen Gibbs glare at McGee and tell him to get on with his work. After that he'd looked at Ziva, who'd been given the same job he had. She looked at him, raising her eyebrows in a shared expression of sympathy for the task at hand, and then he dialled another number. The next time he looked up, however, he found his view blocked. Cynthia was frowning down at him, almost impatiently as Penny stood beside her, holding Cynthia's hand while her other arm swung backwards and forwards.

"She escape again?" Tony asked, almost hesitatingly.

"Twice," Cynthia confirmed.

Penny's escaping from Jenny's office had become almost ritual. She'd decide that she wanted her pigtails redone, or that she wanted Ducky to tell her a story, or that she wanted to see Daddy and Ziva just because, and when she realised that Cynthia was on the phone she'd leave by her own will. Penny started jumping up and down on the spot, giggling.

Tony frowned, and beckoned her round to him. "Hey, come here." She went behind his desk, standing before his chair as he turned and leaned down close to her. "You can't keep running off, Penny, or I won't be able to leave you with Cynthia while I work."

"But-"

"No buts," he told her. "You stay where Cynthia tells you, okay? Otherwise we'll have to look at day care centres for you."

Penny pouted, jumping to emphasis her discomfort with this topic. "No day care!" she protested.

"Then you have to do what Cynthia tells you. Listen to her."

"Okay," she said grumpily.

Tony noticed something on her cheek, and touched it. "What have you been eating?" he asked her, when he realised that what was covering half her face was in fact food remains.

"Nothing."

"Is this cake frosting?" he asked her.

"No," Penny said, shaking her head.

"Yes," Cynthia corrected her.

"Just a little bit," Penny excused herself.

Tony looked at Cynthia. "Where did she get cake from?"

"The girls in administration had a whip around for a birthday and got a cake. A certain little girl got hold of it and ate a quarter of it to herself," Cynthia told him. "And it was hardly a small cake, either."

Tony groaned into his hands. "Penny…"

"The cake was lovely, Daddy, you should eat some," she told him brightly.

"That wasn't yours," he explained slowly.

"I asked first," she assured him. "I said 'please'too."

Tony didn't know what to say to this, especially since the past few days had been a haze of introducing the word 'please' to her. Instead, he watched as she started skipping around in a circle, singing to herself. "Penny…" she didn't listen, and continued to sing. Gibbs came in and stared at her strangely. "I hate sugar highs," Tony mumbled.

"You ever seen a real sugar high, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

He looked almost worried. "This isn't a real one?"

"It could be a lot worse," his boss told him, putting an evidence bag on his desk. "Take this down to Abby."

"On it, boss," he said, eager to escape the sugar induced high that could apparently get 'a lot worse'.

--

Down in the lab, Tony found Abby standing before her computers with an odd expression on her face, her hand gently rubbing at her stomach. He eyed her carefully, wondering whether he should turn around in case he was attacked by hormones or whether something was genuinely wrong. Realising that facing Gibbs's wrath was arguably worse than pregnant Goth wrath, he entered the lab, coming to stand beside her. "Hey, the boss wants you to do your magic with our dead guy's wallet," he said simply.

"Okay," she said. Nothing else. Just 'okay'.

He noticed that expression, the 'somethings wrong I just don't know what' expression, and frowned. "You okay, Abs?"

"I'm hot, sticky, tired, sore, nauseous…pretty much pregnant," she summed up for him tiredly.

"No, seriously, you don't look so good," he told her, mentally adding 'pale' to the list she'd just given him.

"I'm fine," she brushed him off, forcing herself to perk up as she turned to him. "I heard you and Ziva shacked up last night."

Horrified, he forgot about his worry. "What? No. She just stayed over."

"Interesting…" she trailed off.

"Nothing happened, Abs," he stressed. "Adam turned up here yesterday and pissed her off, so I took her back home with me and Penny for dinner. She told me what happened with Adam and then I let her stay. Nothing happened."

"She told me what happened as well," she nodded. "She was down here this morning."

"Yeah," Tony said, sitting on a nearby stool. "The bastard."

Abby nodded simply. "I see you have some negative emotions towards Adam as well," she noted casually.

"Many of them," he confirmed.

"And how are you planning on working through these negative emotions?" she asked him.

"The next time I see Adam I'm going to kill him with my bare hands," he said, rather lightly considering his words.

"Clearly we're going to have to keep you away from him until this phase passes, because there are only so many times I can get you off a murder charge. I couldn't help you if you actually did do it…especially if you didn't let me help," she added conspiratorially.

He nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I think we can pull it off between us. Are you free this weekend?"

"Why wait?" she grinned. However, suddenly, her face turned into a painful wince. She leaned over, doubling down and holding her stomach with one hand while the other gripped the table beside her.

"Abby?" Tony asked, on his feet and at her side instantly.

"That's three times today…" she murmured to herself.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's nothing," she tried to assure him. Her attempt to stand up and prove this was thwarted, though, when the pain caused her to bend down again.

"It doesn't look like nothing," Tony pointed out.

"It's nothing, Tony."

"Abby, if it's nothing, why are you crying?"

She was silently for a moment, raising a hand to touch her cheeks. Black water covered her fingertips when she pulled her fingers back, showing that not only was she crying, but her carefully applied make up was also running rather hideously. "Oh my god. I am crying," she realised.

"Abs, talk to me. What's going on?" Tony asked her.

She bit her lip and then surrendered. "Can you do something for me without telling McGee?" she tested him.

"Of course, what do you need?"

"I need you to take me to the hospital," she told him, her voice shaking.

"Why, are you okay?"

She shook her head. "I think I might be losing the baby."

--

Tony and McGee sat side by side in the empty corridor. A cup of coffee was held by each of the agents, but neither of them did anything to stare at the dark liquid in the plastic cup. Abby had been whisked away for examination and hadn't been heard from since, much to their disappointment. Sure, she had asked him not to tell McGee, but no sooner had the examination room doors closed, Tony had been on the phone to the younger agent, because he couldn't bare to leave him in the dark about the fate of his child.

"She's been an hour," McGee observed. "How long does this take?"

"I don't know," Tony murmured, still looking down.

"Do you think she's okay?"

He wanted more than anything to be able to answer with a 'yes', but found that he simply shrugged. "I don't know," he repeated.

"Gibbs is going to kill us when he finds out we've both gone," McGee pointed out, if only to make conversation.

"Ziva's going to kill us when she has to take the rap for it because she's the only one there," Tony countered.

"Down two agents and a forensic specialise in the middle of a case…"

"Some things are more important," Tony cut him off softly.

"Why did you call me?" Tony was silent, not answering his question. "You said that Abby asked you not to, so why did you?"

"Because a father has every right to know what's happening to his child and it's mother," Tony told him, the coffee still captivating his attention as he remembered everything that had happened with Alicia.

So maybe he hadn't exactly called McGee because he was McGee. Usually, he'd have respected Abby's wishes and kept this whole ordeal a secret from McGee, but Penny, as much as he hadn't thought it until now, had changed him. The reason he'd called McGee was because he'd realised that it was his chance to make sure that Abby's child didn't grow up like Penny had done: without a father. For Penny, there had been no middle ground; she'd gone from having a mother but no father, to a father with no mother. She'd never gain the balance, but Abby and McGee's baby was going to be different. Abby and McGee's baby would not have a father who was 'on holiday' when in reality he didn't know that his child existed. Abby and McGee's baby wouldn't lose it's mother through unforeseen circumstances that were just too unfair to consider. Abby and McGee's child wouldn't be abused by grandparents who didn't even want the child around. Abby and McGee's baby would have a family, through not through blood, who would be there whenever they were needed, and even when they weren't.

And McGee, most importantly to Tony, was going to be there. He couldn't bare to see Abby, more like his little sister than his friend, have to raise a baby alone when there was a perfectly good father around. Perfectly good? Did he really think that? Yes, he realised, as he stared down at the coffee with a fascination worthy of Gibbs. McGee was going to be the sensible sort of father, he realised, but a brilliant father nonetheless. He'd be there, sitting at his child's side as they did their homework. Tony could see him struggling with a little girl's hair just as he did. He could see him struggling to keep up with a little boy who was running circles around him. Yes, he could see them struggling, but what parent didn't?

He could see this baby changing McGee; giving him confidence. He could see McGee growing up even more, but at the same time, growing down. He knew that McGee would learn the importance of playing camping using only the table and a bed sheet. He'd learn that the best stories weren't novels based on co-workers, but stories about dragons and heroes and winning the princess's heart. He'd learn that you could spend the best morning at the end of the summer walking through a park just to feed the last loaf of bread to a group of ducks. He'd understand that to raise a child you still had to have a child in your heart.

Tony knew he'd understand, and that he'd learn, because he already had.

McGee nodded gently, realising that, for Tony at least, this stemmed beyond Abby, but the fact that he was there waiting with him was enough for him. "Thanks, Tony."

"No problem."

There was another silence, which soon became unbearable again. "While we're waiting, can I ask your advice on something?" McGee asked.

"Is it something I can give advice about?" Tony checked.

"I think so."

"Then yeah, go ahead."

McGee cleared his throat. "I was thinking I'd ask Abby to marry me."

Tony let out a breath, sitting up properly and leaning back against the seat he was in. "Wow. That's very….huge."

"I thought it'd be the right thing to do," he explained.

"You 'think'?" Tony asked.

"She's having my baby, the least I can do is marry her."

"I guess so," Tony nodded.

"Besides, statistically, married men live longer than single men do," he continued.

"Yeah, but married men are a lot more willing to die," Tony shot back. "Besides, how do you know that for sure? Maybe it just seems like longer. And I'd love to see Abby's face when you tell her that your proposal is backed up by statistics. I know that she has weird ways of justifying things, but not that weird."

"You don't think I should do it?" he asked hesitantly.

"I don't think you should do it because you feel obligated," Tony corrected.

"Would you have married Penny's mother if you knew?"

Now, there was a question. "Maybe," he said sadly, remembering being young and foolish and wanting nothing more than him and Alicia forever. "I was a different guy back then." He snapped out of it, remembering who he was talking to. "Don't ask her to marry you because you feel like you should. If you want her to marry you, then you should do it because you love her, not just the baby."

"Right," McGee nodded.

"Do you love her?" Tony checked.

"Of course, I do," he replied - no hesitation. Only truth.

"Does she know that?"

"Yes," he nodded firmly.

"Then those are the right reasons to ask her," Tony contributed.

The two men looked at each other, and then a doctor came out. "Is there someone for Abigail Scuito out here?"

"Yes," McGee said, standing up instantly. "I'm her….I'm the baby's father. Is she okay?"

"Tim, I presume?"

"Yes."

"She's asked to see you," the doctor smiled. "This way."

Tony hung back in the doorway as McGee went to Abby's bedside. He wasn't in view, but he could still hear every word they were exchanging.

"Hey, how did you know I was here?" McGee asked her.

"I knew Tony would call you."

"I'm glad he did….are you okay?"

"Yeah, it was a false alarm."

"So, the baby's…?"

"Staying put exactly where it is until it's ready to come out."

Tony heard McGee's sigh match the relief in his own heart when he heard that. "Thank God for that."

"You were worried?"

"Terrified."

"Me too."

The pair started talking about a scan picture that Abby had been given, and Tony couldn't help but be happy. He'd missed this with Penny…

…and speaking of the little rascal.

"Auntie Jenny, why does the coffee go cold so fast?"

"Because, Penny, they secretly don't you want you be able to enjoy it for any length of time."

"Bastards."

Tony frowned, realising more the fact that removing the word 'bastard' should have come before introducing the world 'please' into her vocabulary than the fact that she was there. However, the small girl spotted Tony and ran to him.

"Daddy!"

He picked her up, lifting her onto his hip as Jenny followed after her. "Penny, what are you doing here, Princess?" he asked her.

"I'm sorry to bring her here, Tony, but it was an emergency," Jenny told him.

"Everything okay?"

"Gibbs and Ziva are following a lead, Cynthia went home sick, Ducky's busy with autopsy and I have to go meet the Director of the CIA and do some damage control," she explained.

"Does the boss want me back?" he asked.

"He wants you to stay and make sure McGee doesn't lose his head," she told him.

Tony smiled back in the direction of the room. "I don't think he will," he said confidently.

"Has there been any news?"

He nodded. "Probie's in with Abs now. Her and the baby are fine. It was a false alarm."

"Thank God."

"Things are getting dramatic around here, aren't they?" he commented lightly.

"Life would be boring if it weren't dramatic," Jenny pointed out. "It would be nice if the dramatic things were kinder to our hearts than they have been lately."

"Yeah."

He looked in at McGee and Abby, the latter of which was tracing an outline on a scanned picture to an amazed Probie. Penny also looked at them. "Is Auntie Abby okay, Daddy?"

Tony smiled. "Yeah, Princess, she's all better now."

But he wasn't. He tightened his hold on Penny. Abby had almost lost her child that day, to circumstances that were beyond her control, showing him the very real discovery that God worked in ways that were more devastating than mysterious sometimes. Kate died. Paula died. Alicia died. Abby nearly lost her child.

What if something happened to make him lose his?

You didn't seriously think I'd kill off Baby McAbby, did you? Oh, yee of little faith!!