Tony entered the delivery room and found Angie tired, aching, but radiant. A wrinkly little pink face peeked out from the bundle of blankets in her arms. Tony hadn't wanted to stay around for the delivery and was glad Angie took the medicine because she did not look as bad as most TV mothers do.
"Hey," he whispered.
"Hey back." Her voice creaked a little, but couldn't hide any of the pride in this thing she had brought forth. "Here she is, Tony. My daughter and yours."
"She doesn't look like much," he said as the nurse watching the proceedings snorted. "But I guess she'll grow into the Dinozzo good looks eventually." He took her from Angie's arms and held very still to not wake her. He found it all too difficult to tear his eyes away from his daughter to look at his friend.
"We need a name, you know," she whispered.
He cleared his throat. "I would like to suggest a middle name, if I may. We can compromise on the first name." When she heard his suggestion for the middle name she smiled, remembering hearing of its importance to him. As for the first name, she read a list she had prepared in her head over the last few months. Tony commented on each in turn: "Alexandra—overused. Charlotte—too old fashioned or too 'Sex and the City', whatever. Fiona I rather like. In fact, I think Fiona would be a great name for her."
The two friends and parents smiled at each other and then down at their progeny.
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0600 found Gibbs awake, doing an exercise routine and wincing at the pain in his lower back from an earlier pulled muscle. He hadn't slept much anyway, wondering what was going on with Tony. At 0617, as Gibbs was nursing a cup of coffee, the phone rang and he reached over the pickup.
"Gibbs."
"Hey." Tony's voice was hushed, elated, and reverent. "At exactly 0324, my daughter was born. Seven pounds, four ounces. Angie and I decided to name her Fiona."
"Congratulations, Tony," Gibbs said quietly. "What are you doing now?"
"Oh, I'm just standing outside the nursery. She'll be in for a few days and then I can bring her home."
"How's Angie?"
"She's good. Exhausted and a little sore, but good. Happy. Thank God for modern medicine, eh? I'll be staying at her place, charming her mother, for the rest of my time here."
"The team misses you," Gibbs said, suddenly sounding professional. In this case, however, Tony saw right through it and replied, "I miss the team too."
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A few days later, Gibbs found a message on his phone during work and listened to it during a lull in the work.
"Hey Jethro, it's me. We're—ah—home, so if you want to come over and meet her after work, I'll have dinner waiting."
Gibbs smiled; he was actually looking forward to meeting the little Dinozzo. If he wrapped up work a little earlier than usual, no one said anything and he sped over to Tony's apartment. Once there he knocked softly on the door, chuckling as he heard wailing coming from inside. Poor, poor Tony.
Tony opened the door, looking a little hassled. "Hey Jeth, um…she won't stop crying. What do I do?" After giving Tony a quick kiss he picked up the little red-faced baby in Tony's arms. He began to jiggle her and the cries softened as she looked up at this new person curiously.
"Well, she seems to like you. Leroy Jethro Gibbs, meet Fiona Kate Dinozzo." Gibbs' eyes swung from Fiona to Tony as he heard her name. "Yeah, I figured there wasn't a better person to be named for." The baby still between them, Gibbs leaned over and gave Tony a slightly longer kiss.
"You know she'll be waking up every three hours or so in the night. Probably more often when her diaper gets soiled or just because. You're gonna go crazy being the only person to get up and help her, so I'll stay with you." Tony looked very gratefully at Gibbs, who was currently tickling Fiona, earning a gurgling laugh from her. Tony wondered, what would he do without Jethro?
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Two weeks later Tony wondered again, what he would he do without Jethro. He spent most nights of the week in Tony's bed, getting up in the middle of the night to change or feed Fiona, letting Tony get some more hours of rest. He was wonderful to watch, Tony thought, as he leaned against the doorway to Fiona's room. Gibbs was holding her, eyes closed as he rubbed her back to put her to sleep. Every now and then he would whisper something to hear in a soothing tone and before long she fell asleep. Gibbs laid her in her crib and Tony thought about the two of them. Gibbs had a way with children, there was no doubting that. If Fiona was crying, just a few minutes with Gibbs would have her gurgling and laughing and pulling happily on his hair with her pudgy little fist. Gibbs would simply smile at her, not getting annoyed at all, and remove her grip from his hair. Tony knew now why Gibbs knew so much about childcare. He also knew that sometimes Gibbs would freeze, staring at Fiona or a piece of baby furniture, thinking of Kelly. In times like those, Tony would sidle up and put his arms around his boyfriend and ask how his daughter was, to interrupt the thoughts.
Tony wrinkled his nose at the term "his boyfriend". It made them sound like they were still in high school. He wouldn't say "his lover" either, since they never got around to actually making love. The one night he had wanted to go ahead, he got the call from Angie that had him rushing out the door. Now, he didn't know when they'd have the chance since life was TonyandFiona, not just Tony anymore. And he wouldn't pretend that he wasn't frustrated. His showers, when not cleaning baby spit-up, often left him collapsed against a tiled wall, thinking of Jethro.
But Tony would wait. His thoughts were the same as Gibbs, though neither one knew since they didn't discuss it: when the time was right, they would both know and be ready.