Chapter 4 – Mutual Decisions

"I know you're sick," Jimmy had already told Nicole, several days before the results of the tests had come in.

"How… how did you know?" Jimmy took her hand and led her to the nearest chair. "Jasmine and Ziva know because they're women, and they just seem to know these things. Anyway, Ziva is also an investigator, so she would've figured it out one way or another. Abby I think would have known anyway, but you told her. Dr. Mallard knows, because, well – he's a doctor. Gibbs and Tim and Tony know because observation is their job."

"How do you know?" Nicole had hoped to postpone this moment for as long as possible, but clearly her grace period had expired.

Jimmy cleared his throat. "I work in autopsy. I'm an assistant medical examiner, observation is also my job. And I have medical training." He paused, and sighed, reaching down to take her hands in his. "And I'm not stupid, or blind. Nicki… how long do you have?"

Nicole looked around, almost reflexively, as if to make sure that Christopher wasn't within earshot. She swallowed, and then looked up and into Jimmy's eyes. "The doctor tells me a year, 18 months at the very most. Whether those last months will be… quality…" Her voice broke, and Jimmy's heart sank. Now that she had confirmed his suspicions, he suddenly he felt as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"I see," he said, his voice becoming thick. "Well… I suppose this whole thing wasn't just a sudden impulsive decision, then." It sounded more like a statement than a question, but Nicole chose to answer it as a question anyway.

"No, it wasn't. Look Jims, I know it seemed random at first, but I've thought for a long time now that you should know about Chris. Then Nathaniel was killed… and Chris needs a father, and you deserve to know the truth. The fact that I'm dying was almost secondary. I had to see if you'd accept each other."

"Nicki," Jimmy said, releasing one of her hands and reaching over to gently touch her face. "He's so incredible I can hardly believe he's half mine. I mean, of course I wish I'd known about him and had the chance to be his dad from the start, but I'm just so overwhelmed by all of this, I can't even be angry that you made that decision for me back then, and didn't even give me a choice in the matter. I guess," he admitted with a small ironic grin, "things just work out the way they're supposed to. I mean, now I've got my career on track, so I'll have time to be what he needs me to be. I can be there for him now. He deserves nothing less than that."

Nicole looked up at him again, a single tear trailing down her cheek, and smiled. "Jasmine will be such a wonderful mother," she said, before taking a deep breath that seemed to take every ounce of her strength to draw.

Jimmy smiled and nodded, reaching over and gently pulling her towards him, and wrapping her in his strong, supportive embrace. "I know. You want him to be with us after… after you're gone, right?" Nicole nodded, and Jimmy sensed that her strength had just been used up, so he gently helped her to her feet, and guided her to a quiet room for some rest.

……………………………………………………………………………

Jasmine watched her fiancé leave the lab with Nicole, and couldn't decide if she should go with them or not. She knew what Jimmy wanted to talk to her about, and she wanted Nicole to know that the decision had been made mutually between her and Jimmy.

In the end, she opted to take Christopher up to the squad room, to spend time with Gibbs, who seemed to have an odd, inexplicable paternal knack, Tony, who understood what it was like to be a kid, but not necessarily how to interact with them as an adult, and Tim, who was going to become an instant Uncle very shortly, and had rather taken a shine to the notion.

Jimmy, in the meantime, had found a quiet room to lead Nicole to. When he saw Jasmine approach with Christopher in tow, he motioned them both over.

"Good," he said, smiling. "This involves all of us, so we might as well all be here." Nicole looked at him, perplexed, and then glanced at Jasmine, who had an enigmatic little Mona Lisa smile gracing her face and reaching her warm green eyes. Christopher had a bit of an idea – he was, after all, his father's son, and he had spent enough time with the NCIS crew in the past week that their skills of observation had begun to rub off on him. He grinned a charming grin at his parents, something that Jimmy, in retrospect, was sure he'd picked up from spending time with Tony. Or Gibbs… he couldn't quite decide at the moment.

Jimmy took a deep breath, and cleared his throat. Jasmine gazed at him warmly, encouraging him. Finally, he said, "Jaz and I have discussed this, Nicki… if you're agreeable to it, we'd like you and Christopher to move in with us."

Jimmy chuckled softly, almost inaudibly, as Christopher gave him an unmistakable, "I knew you were going to say that" look. He glanced back at Nicole, an expectant expression on his boyish face. She seemed to think about it, shocked at the suggestion.

"Oh, come on Mom. Can we? Please?"

Nicole looked down at her bright eyed boy. "Of course. I mean, that seems like a good idea. I think we'd like that very much. That really would seem to be for the best, anyway."

Nothing could prepare Jimmy for what Christopher was about to say next. He gasped, and blinked rapidly, then let his held breath out in a shocked rush of air, when his son said, in a rather casual 'it's about time' tone, "Can I please call you Dad, now?"