A/N: Okay, so I'm going to admit that there isn't much about Ziva or the new baby in this chapter, but Chaim is just as important. This chapter is about everyone watching him and how Chaim is dealing with the whole situation. (One and a half year olds are extremely perceptive). Oh yeah, and don't forget, when we last left Chaim, Abby was going to stay the night with him in the hospital. And another thing, when Chaim is saying Abby's name, he last saying the last half of it, so it sounds like he's saying 'be' which is why I spelled it like that in the story.
Keeping Up With Chaim
Abby awoke to little hands patting her cheeks.
"Be, be," a little voice was saying. Abby opened her eyes and found Chaim sitting up in bed, patting her cheeks and calling her name. Of course, Chaim couldn't pronounce her full name yet, so he was saying 'Be'.
"Morning, sunshine," Abby said, patting Chaim's face back, causing him to giggle incessantly.
Abby began playing patty cake with Chaim as a nurse came in and check Chaim.
"He seems good to go," the nurse said. "Are you his mother?" the nurse asked Abby. Abby laughed and shook her head.
"No, I'm his aunt," Abby said.
"Do you know where his father is?" the nurse asked.
"Right here," Tony said from behind her. Chaim's eyes lit up at the sight of Tony.
"Daddy," Chaim screeched, holding his arms out to be picked up. Tony walked over to the bed and picked him up, hugging him tightly.
"I'll need you to come to the desk and sign the discharge papers and the release forms," the nurse said. Tony handed Chaim back to Abby, which made Chaim start to cry. Abby started calming Chaim while Tony took care of the papers. While Abby was trying to calm Chaim, Gibbs walked in.
"What's wrong?" Gibbs asked.
"Tony was in here and then he left to sign the release forms and Chaim started crying when he left," Abby said, still trying to calm Chaim down.
"Here," Gibbs said, holding out his arms, signaling for Abby to hand Chaim to him. Abby handed Chaim to Gibbs and Gibbs settled him into the crook of his arm and began rocking to him and talking softly to him. Abby smiled as she watched Gibbs with Chaim, she always loved seeing him work with children. Just then, Tony came back into the room, papers in hand.
"He's discharged. I'm going to take him to see Ziva for a few minutes. Abby, can you take him afterwards? I'm going to stay at the hospital," Tony said.
"Yeah, but how am I going to get him home? His car seat was in the accident," Abby said.
"I have one in my car, I'll get it when you're ready to leave," Tony said.
"Alright, I'll call McGee and tell him to stop by the house and pick up Chaim's stuff," Abby said getting up of the bed and heading out of the room. Tony walked over to Gibbs, who was still holding Chaim.
"I named her Kelly Caitlin," Tony said quietly. Gibbs didn't say anything for a moment, but then he looked up at Tony and smiled.
"That's a good name," Gibbs said.
"I named her that because I figured Kelly must have been pretty strong when you were gone and I can tell she's going to be a fighter," Tony said.
"Thank you, Tony," Gibbs said.
"You can go see her if you want," Tony said, "while I take Chaim to see Ziva."
"I will," Gibbs said.
As Tony carried Chaim into Ziva's room, Tony put his finger to his lips.
"Shhh… Mommy's sleeping," Tony said. Chaim giggled and mimicked Tony, putting his finger to his mouth. Ziva had been moved last night from recovery to the ICU. She was still hooked up to the ventilator and there were various machines running and beeping. Tony held Chaim as Chaim leaned over and patted Ziva on the cheek.
"Wuv mommy," Chaim babbled. Tony pulled Chaim back to him.
"Say bye-bye to mommy, Chaim," Tony said, smiling as he watched his son wave.
"Bye-bye," Chaim said, giggling again. Tony thanked God that Chaim was too young to understand what was going on. Tony leaned over and kissed Ziva on the forehead.
"I named her Kelly Caitlin," Tony whispered into Ziva's ear. Then, he walked out of the room.
While Tony was taking Chaim to see Ziva, Gibbs walked up to the NICU.
"Are you looking for someone?" a nurse asked when she saw Gibbs looking in the door.
"Yes, my granddaughter is here," Gibbs said.
"Name?" the nurse asked.
"Kelly DiNozzo," Gibbs said.
"Oh, you're Tony's father?" the nurse asked.
"Something like that," Gibbs said.
"I'm Dianna, I'm Kelly's nurse," Dianna said.
"Jethro," Gibbs said. Dianna smiled.
"You'll have to go wash your hands over there first, and take any jewelry off," Dianna said. Gibb walked over to the sinks and washed his hands, and he smiled at the memories this brought. Shannon had always been adamant that Gibbs washed his hands before he held Kelly after she was born, terrified that Kelly would get sick. Finally, Gibbs finished washing his hands and went and found Dianna. She led him to the back corner were Kelly was in her warmer. Gibbs just stood there and looked at her.
"Does she have a good chance?" Gibbs asked Dianna quietly.
"Yes, she's doing extremely well," Dianna said as she checked Kelly's vitals. "And girls usually have a better chance at surviving than boys. You know, you can touch her and talk to her." Gibbs smiled at Dianna and sat down in the rocking chair next to the warmer.
"Hey there, Kelly," Gibbs said, quietly. "You're a lucky little girl, you know that? You have great parents that are going to take great care of you."
After Tony took Chaim to see Ziva, he met Abby at the entrance to hospital where McGee was waiting with the car. Tony was surprised to see that there was a car seat in the back of the car already.
"We figured that you would need a new one anyway," Abby explained when she caught Tony looking at the car seat. Tony hoisted Chaim around so he was looking at him.
"You be a good boy for Aunt Abby and Uncle Tim, ok buddy?" Tony said. Chaim clapped his hands and babbled to himself. Tony handed Chaim to Abby who strapped him into the car seat. After she was done, Abby turned around and held out her arms to Tony. Tony folded himself into Abby's hug.
"Everything will be okay," Abby whispered to Tony.
"Thanks Abs, for everything," Tony said, kissing her on the cheek. Abby got into the car and Tony waved bye to Chaim in the backseat.
After McGee and Abby pulled away from the hospital, Chaim started babbling to himself in the back seat, occasionally saying 'wuv mommy'. Abby smiled as she turned to McGee.
"I hope when we have kids that they are as happy as Chaim is," Abby said.
"Me too," McGee said. Chaim continued to babble to himself until they reached McGee and Abby's house. Abby unstrapped Chaim from his seat while McGee got Chaim' things out of the trunk. Chaim babbling Abby's name.
"Be, be, be, be," Chaim babbled, and then he looked at McGee. "Tim," Chaim said very clearly.
"Timmy, did you just hear that?' Abby squealed excitedly. "Say it again, Chaim," Abby encouraged, bouncing Chaim off her hip slightly.
"Yeah," McGee said, smiling proudly.
Once they got inside, McGee set up Chaim' pack and play while Abby took him to the kitchen to feed him; he ate almost everything that Abby gave him. Then Abby took him into the family room and spread out Chaim's play mat. McGee disappeared for a moment and then returned followed by Dexter, Chaim's dog.
"Dexer!" Chaim chimed happily. Dexter ran over to Chaim and sniffed him, obviously making sure he was okay, and then Dexter licked Chaim's face, causing Chaim to giggle. Chaim clapped his hands and pulled himself to a standing position using Dexter's fur. Dexter, who was obviously used to this, stood perfectly still.
Chaim spent the afternoon playing with Abby and Dexter. Abby even walked them to the park. After dinner McGee helped Abby do the dishes in the kitchen while Chaim played with Dexter in the family room. When Abby was done with the dishes, she peeked inside the room. There, she found Chaim, curled up into a ball with Dexter wrapped around him. Abby smiled at the picture of boy and dog.
A/N: So, I know that there wasn't a lot about Kelly, Ziva or Tony, but I thought that Chaim deserved some spotlight. So, you know the drill, review, give me some love!!!!!!!!!!!!