Gibbs was brushing another kiss to the baby's head and talking to her softly when he became aware of a presence in the room.
"Mr. Shepard .."
He turned from the window and came face to face with the doctor. He didn't need to register the sombre look to know that his gut had been right. Something was seriously wrong.
"She's in the intensive care unit" the doctor said without preamble – not failing to notice that Gibbs' reaction was to tighten his hold on the child. "I'm trying to get to the bottom of things, but there was a complication that I hadn't anticipated. There seems to be a disruption in the blood's ability to clot. It's a serious condition, because once the clotting mechanisms of the blood have been disrupted, it is difficult to get them working again."
"Is she bleeding out, Doc?" Gibbs asked, his eyes boring into the doctor's.
"Yes" the doctor said simply. "Do you know if there's history of something known as disseminated intravascular coagulation in her family?"
Gibbs shook his head.
"I'll look into her chart. In the meantime I've started her on a plasma transfusion to replace the blood clotting factors."
"Can I see her?" Gibbs asked.
"You can. I'll have a nurse come and take the baby to the nursery. If she has family, now would be the time to call them."
When Gibbs stared blankly at him, the doctor nodded.
"I'll have the head nurse take care of it. You should go and sit with your wife."
"How bad is it?" Gibbs asked as the doctor turned on his heel.
The doctor paused in the doorway. The look he gave him said it all. Gibbs exhaled deeply against the side of the infant's head and dropped another kiss onto it. He didn't open his eyes until the nurse came back into the room.
"We don't have many babies" she said gently as she pried the child from his arms, "so I'll be able to hold her. Don't worry about her. She'll be fine with me."
Gibbs looked over her shoulder as she started to swaddle the little girl. When he'd observed her for a while and was satisfied that she'd done a good job, he nodded and headed out the door.
"That's quite a protective daddy you have there" the nurse said to the baby as she stroked her cheek. "Bet he doesn't let you out of the house till you're thirty."
______________________________________________________________
Gibbs walked down into ICU slowly - not sure what to expect, not sure what to do.
Jenny Shepard?" he asked as he approached the nurse's station.
"Mr. Shepard?" a male orderly said as he approached him from behind. "Come with me. I'm going to have to ask you to switch off your cell phone" he said as he led the way to Jenny's room.
Gibbs stared at her lying on the hospital bed. She looked so tiny, somehow. So fragile. He sat on the chair that the orderly pulled up to the side of the bed.
"In and out" the man said, understanding the look that he shot him.
"She's perfect, Jen" he said as he leaned forward. "They have her in the nursery and -"
He trailed off when he realised that there was not very much he could say to her. He didn't know enough about her to say anything meaningful, and yet it seemed wrong to sit there and do nothing. It wasn't something he knew how to do. After a while leaned forward, took one of her hands tentatively into his, and ran his index finger down its length gently. Repetitively. Somewhere in the back of his mind it occurred to him that he might be taking comfort rather than giving it. But it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was the conenction. Letting Jenny know that she wasn't alone, and convincing himself that being in her life and the baby's right now was where he needed to be. He was very aware that he'd shouldered a responsibility that wasn't his to shoulder, but what was most unsettling to him was the way he'd seamlessly assumed the role of husband and father. He told himself that someone had to look out for Jenny – especially knowing what he knew. And he'd made her a promise.
A promise that he intended to keep.
______________________________________________________________
A nurse in the Labour & Delivery ward stared expectantly at the person who placed a large package on the station.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"We'd like to see the Gibblet" Abby announced.
"Who?" the nurse asked in confusion.
"Baby Gibbs" Abby clarified, rocking on the balls of her feet as she looked around the area with keen eyes.
"We have no Baby Gibbs" the nurse said, double checking on her computer to make sure.
Abby's face fell.
"You can't not have a Baby Gibbs, because Timmy called me and said that ..."
Then her hands flew to her mouth and her eyes filled with tears.
"Did something happen to the baby?" she asked, afraid of the answer.
"Are you sure you have the right hospital?" the nurse asked, intrigued by the young woman.
"Well Timmy called and said that Jenny went into labour in the elevator and then ..."
"Oh you mean the Shepard baby" the nurse said as her face lit up with a sad smile.
"You could have waited ..." an irate voice said.
"I wanted to see the baby first" Abby said.
Tony rolled his eyes at her and then smiled at the nurse.
"We're here to see the .."
"Shepard baby" the nurse finished for him.
"Where's Gibbs?" McGee asked as he, too, arrived. With Ziva in tow.
"Anybody else?" the nurse asked, going a little wide-eyed.
"Just me" Ducky said as he tipped his hat at her.
The nurse rose from her seat and came round, her face solemn.
"Jenny's been taken to the ICU. Her husband is with her."
Tony practically choked on his own saliva at the mention of the word 'husband'.
"You mean ... Gibbs?" Ziva asked, earning herself an elbowing in the ribs.
"He's tall, silver hair .."
"That's him" McGee said.
"What's the matter with .. Jenny?" Ducky asked, responding to the gravity of the situation.
"Are you related to Jenny or her husband?" the nurse asked instead.
"I'm his .. son" Tony said quickly, knowing that they might not get any information otherwise.
"I'm his sister" Abby nodded at Di Nozzo. "Half sister" she added when the nurse's eyes widened.
The nurse's eyes travelled to McGee.
"I'm Jenny's ... brother-in-law. From a previous marriage" he added hastily, struggling to come up with something credible
"And I'm his ... fiancee" Ziva said, grabbing McGee's arm.
The nurse looked from one to the other, and then her eyes settled on Ducky.
"Yes. I'm ... "
"Ducky!"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as Gibbs appeared, and the nurse, too, was glad of his arrival.
"I'll have someone bring the baby from the nursery" she said with a smile as she turned away.
Gibbs nodded and led the way to the room that had been assigned to them.
"What's going on Jethro?" Ducky asked as soon as the door had closed behind them.
Gibbs made short work of filling him in with what he knew.
"Are they considering Heparin?" Ducky asked, his brow creasing in concern.
"I don't know. All I know is that they're giving her some kind of transfusion. Plasma something?"
Ducky nodded.
A slight tap on the door indicated that the baby had arrived, and Abby squealed the moment she set eyes on her.
"Can I hold her?" she asked, her fingers itching to run over baby skin as the nurse unswaddled her.
"Later, Abs" Gibbs said as he took over from the nurse and held her close as soon as she had been stripped.
"Awww Gibbs .. that's so sweet" she said as she watched him cuddle the baby for a long moment, and then hold her up for everyone to admire.
"Does she have a name?" Ducky asked as he placed a kiss to her tiny fingers.
"Not yet."
"Are you taking suggestions?" Abby asked excitedly.
"No" Gibbs said firmly, before turning to Ducky.
"Think you can charm the head nurse into letting you see her file?"
Ducky smiled.
"I think that can be arranged" the medical examiner said. "Looking for anything in particular?"
"Her mother's second name" Gibbs replied.
"Ah" Ducky said with a smile as he headed for the door. "Shan't be long."
Tony peered closely at the baby.
"She has your eyes, Boss" he joked.
The fact that Gibbs was holding an infant in no way prevented him from slapping him upside the head.
"Most babies have blue eyes at birth Tony" Ziva said. "She is very beautiful though, Gibbs."
"And we come bearing gifts" McGee said with a smile, as he producing an elaborately-wrapped package from a bag he was carrying, and dangled it in front of the baby.
The others held up packages of their own, and for a moment Gibbs had no idea what to say to them.
Ducky slipped back into the room just as Abby was about to tear into the wrapping on Tony's gift.
"It's perfect", Abby said when Ducky announced the name. "Big Jenny and little Genny. Now can I hold her Gibbs?"
"After you've opened the gifts" he said – and she didn't need to be a rocket scientist to tell that he wasn't going to relinquish his hold on the child anytime soon.
They were halfway through the gifts when Gibbs' cell phone went off. He refused an offer to hand the baby over before answering, and merely held her to his chest with one hand as he took the call.
"On my way" he said after a few moments.
When he snapped the phone shut his face was dark.
"Jethro?" Ducky asked warily.
"The case has blown wide open" he said irately. "I have to go back to NCIS for a while."
He looked at the child in his arms before handing her reluctantly over to Ducky. He pointed his finger at the baby and then at him – the message crystal clear.
"I'll be back as soon as I can" he said. "Ziva, you're with me. Need your language skills."
He lingered for a moment, before caressing the baby's head and stalking from the room.
Abby waited a few moments, and then she snuck up to Ducky and held out her arms.
"Not a chance" he said. "Jethro's instruction were very clear."
Abby sulked.
She was still sulking an hour and a half later when there was a knock on the door and a nurse put her head round it.
Everyone looked up as a older man entered the room. His eyes widened when his eyes fell on Ducky and the baby. He'd sat with his daughter for the better part of an hour, unable to understand why the husband everyone kept mentioning wasn't by her side. But he'd been assured that his son-in-law was with his baby, and now he was here – about to meet his grandchild – and a man this age was not what he was expecting.
"Are you Jenny's father?" Ducky asked, walking over to him slowly and holding out the baby.
The man nodded.
"I'm Jasper" he said. "Jasper Shepard."
He held out his arms and took the child from Ducky.
"What's her name?" he asked as he stared at her in awe.
"Imogen."
This time the emotion didn't remain in check. Jasper Shepard's eyes filled with tears as he looked up at Ducky.
"Jenny's mother was called Imogen" he said.