Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and whatnot, I love you all :P Oh yeah, apparently I confused a few of you with my British terms :S Sorry about that, it just comes naturally when I'm typing, though it mingles with American idioms (That's the right word isn't it?). If you don't understand anything I say, don't hesitate to tell me :D
Tony rolled over, groaning slightly as he realized he was completely awake, there'd be no hope of him dozing. He decided to just stand up, which he managed much better than yesterday, but still gripped the sides of the crib for support. Doing this, he flushed a bright red colour that could have rivalled his dad's when he'd been angry. It was only when he stood up, that he realized something that made him want to throw up. Sometime during the night, he'd used his diaper again. Of course, he knew he'd have used it again before all this was over, but the worst thing was, he'd completely forgot about the different kinds of using diapers. He shuddered as a horrible smell wafted by his nostrils. It made him whimper in disgust, self-pity and a bit of self-loathing.
There was no way he'd sit down now, and just wait patiently for Gibbs to come. Whatever he felt about being changed by his boss, he desperately wanted this one off. Now. The only problem was, his voice was quite quiet now, so he'd have to rely on the awesome power of his lungs. Taking a breath, he was pleased to find that it wasn't hard to suddenly start wailing, letting out a piercing shriek and starting to sob as loudly as possible.
It didn't take Gibbs long to come into the room, already dressed and Tony was sure he could smell coffee on him already. It mustn't be as early as he thought it was. As soon as Gibbs came into the room, he knew what was wrong. He didn't want to say it outwardly and embarrass DiNozzo more than he already was, so he just walked over to the crib to pick him up. Tony had already held his arms up in anticipation, waiting to be taken away from the crib, which he hated being in, it was so restricting, he felt like he was in a prison.
"Come on you, I assume you want this off?" Tony nodded mournfully, still red and crying loudly. Gibbs walked over to a small changing table in the corner of the room, that had been previously unnoticed by Tony. He was laid down and immediately got the sleeping suit off him, as well as the diaper, and Gibbs just got on with it, like before, not showing any sign of being embarrassed. Even though he felt like he'd never be able to speak in front of his boss again, he had to ask,
"Hey Boss? Why don't you... you know, care? About the whole... changing thing?" Gibbs shrugged slightly, still focused on what he was doing,
"When I look at you right now DiNozzo, I don't see my Senior field agent, I see baby Tony," He paused to enjoy Tony's squirming, "So there's nothing to embarrassed about, it's just another baby, like any other." He finished both his speech and changing Tony, and sat him up, asking,
"Do you want to pick out what to wear today?" Tony nodded with hesitation, and was put on the floor while Gibbs pulled the curtains across so there was light in the room,
"What time is it?" Tony asked, crawling over to a small pile of clothes that Gibbs had yet to put away,
"It's about half 7. I'm impressed DiNozzo, I've never come across a baby at this age who sleeps through the night."
"It's all to do with routine Boss, like I said, my mother liked routine." Gibbs nodded and waited for Tony to finally pull something out the pile. He examined it for a moment before looking up at Gibbs shyly and asking,
"Will you help me put it on?" Gibbs nodded and crouched down, helping Tony to put the top on, which he soon saw was white with a bright picture of Elmo on it. He'd chosen some jeans that could pass as adults if they hadn't been so small, that Gibbs also stuck on him.
"You ready?" Tony looked up at him suspiciously and asked,
"What for?" Gibbs grinned in an almost evil way and answered,
"'Cause the Director called me in and insisted I bring him up to speed with our case. He said he didn't care if I was looking after my 'nephew', he wants me in."
"Oh," Was all that Tony answered, deflating slightly, before asking, "Can I come?" Gibbs shook his head before he replied,
"No can do Tony, I'm leaving you here. But, you're in the care of good ol' uncle Ducky, and your favourite aunts Kate and Abby." Tony closed his eyes and whispered,
"Please don't tell me there's an Uncle McGee in there somewhere." Gibbs chuckled and smiled,
"You won't see until you get your diapered but downstairs." Tony nodded and started to crawl towards the door, before being swept up by Gibbs,
"I didn't mean for you yourself to go down there DiNozzo." He said, and started to walk down the stairs.
--
"Hi Tony!" Abby yelled, and scuttled over to where her boss was stood, holding a baby who looked like he'd been taken care of, so she stopped narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Gibbs and started to make funny faces at Tony, completely forgetting he still had his adult mind. Sometimes. Right now he was completely in love with her faces, and started gurgling happily at them, giggling and waving his small fists about. Gibbs rolled his eyes and stuck Tony in Kate's arms, saying,
"I'm going to go now, don't know what time I'll be back, there's a list of things I've got for him on the counter, if for some reason I'm not back by then, put him to bed at 7, and down for naps at 10 and 2." No-one questioned his orders and they watched as he went to walk out, stopping briefly by Ducky to mutter,
"Look after him." Then he was gone, and they all looked around for a moment, before Tony sobered up from Abby's faces and exhaled in relief,
"Thank God there isn't an Uncle McGee." He hadn't realised that everyone had no idea what he was talking about, so ignored their confused faces and said,
"Is there any food Duck? I haven't eaten anything yet." Ducky looked for the list on the counter and quickly swiped it up, reading it, his eyes darting across the small note and said,
"Well, how does porridge sound?" (A/N, that's oatmeal in American terms right? Or is that a completely different thing?) Tony's eyes lit up and he nodded eagerly. Usually, he never ate porridge, but today he was really in the mood for it.
While Ducky was making it, Tony looked up at Kate, who was gazing around Gibbs' kitchen with interested eyes, she'd never seen this much of his house before,
"Hey Kate?" She looked down to the baby, who was giving her his best puppy dog eyes, "Do you want to see what Gibbs gave me last night?" She shrugged and agreed. It was weird having Tony as... well, innocent as he was right now,
"It was all in the front room." He said, pointing towards a wall in an attempt to navigate,
"Tony I have no idea where that is." She said, tutting as if putting him down as she had before all this,
"Let him show us," Abby volunteered, "Let us see how strong his legs are." He grinned at her as he was set down on the floor and said,
"Baby, my legs are the strongest in the West." Abby giggled and challenged him to a race, at which he started to go before she'd said 'Go'. They both shrieked and giggled as he started to run, suddenly becoming extremely confident on his feet. Abby walked after him, letting him win.
"So what are we looking at my little whippet?" She asked, back on the dog nicknames. He rolled his eyes at her but pointed at a toy he hadn't used last night and asked,
"What's this?" Abby examined it and her eyes lit up,
"Oh wow, cool! It's one of those mats that when you step on the footprints, it makes a noise!" Tony giggled and said to her,
"I could so annoy Gibbs with this." With that he stood on it, at small note flowing out of it, the lower he was down on the mat the lower the pitch of the note. Abby couldn't resist his giggling and joined in, taking off her platforms so she didn't break it. Kate stood by the door, watching, smiling as Tony fell over once or twice but always got back up, smiling happily,
"It's quite a nice sight isn't it?" Duck had appeared behind her, and smiled as she nodded,
"I never thought I'd ever admit that I thought Tony was cute, but I just can't help it. Look at him." Ducky smiled softly, and replied,
"The porridge is getting cold." She nodded and shouted over,
"Tony, Abby, the food's getting cold." They both got up from where they had been sitting on the floor and came towards her, some more slowly than others. Kate just rolled her eyes ans Tony stumbled and fell against her leg, trying to regain his balance. She picked him up and bore him to the kitchen, sitting him in the high chair. She had put the porridge in front of him and looked at him, waiting for him to start.
"What?" She asked, when he just stared back. He immediately blushed and shook his head,
"I thought... doesn't matter, I just..." He tailed off and Abby bounded in front of Kate and asked softly, so the other didn't really hear,
"Bet Gibbs feeds you, huh?" He nodded, and looked down, hoping he didn't seem needy and rude, but for some reason it felt important to him that someone fed him. Abby smiled a dazzling smile, she was so excited. She picked up the spoon and slid it in his mouth, making occasional train and aeroplane noises and 'Yum yum's. Tony giggled at these, but was soon engrossed, only opening his mouth when she did it. He was soon finished, and Kate lifted him out, after a quick wipe of his face,
"Some things never change, do they DiNozzo? Still a sloppy eater." He stuck his tongue out at her but became absorbed in the sparkly thing she had around her neck. He kept reaching out, trying to grab it. She didn't really understand what he wanted, and looked at Abby for help. She was smiling so much Kate thought her face would crack in half,
"Let him play with your necklace." She whispered, and Kate, still looking bemused, unhooked it from her neck and handed it to him, scared that he would try and swallow it. However, he was extremely careful with it, much more careful than a normal child, and Abby was sure he wasn't exactly in control at the moment. He fingered it carefully, and tried to open the clutch. It was a silver locket, the sparkling as it hit the light had caught Tony's attention. He simply kept moving it, trying to make it sparkle again. When that failed, he started to whine slightly, fidgeting and losing his interest in it,
"I think we should get his attention back," Abby murmured, "Gibbs would kill us if he did something that hurt him while he was bored." Kate shrugged and took him back to the front room, carefully taking her locket back and putting it in her pocket.
Abby went and sat next to Ducky, who was sat at the table reading the newspaper,
"Hey Duck?" Ducky looked up to see Abby with a rather distressed face,
"Whatever's the matter Abigail?" She looked into his eyes and said,
"What if I can't find an antidote Ducky? What if Tony's stuck like that for the rest of his life? Or what if I can't even find someone who can make the antidote? He loves his job too much for that, and he's a really good agent, so what if..."
"Take a deep breath my dear, and relax," Ducky interrupted, "I have no doubts that you'll find someone who can make it, or make it yourself. Even if you can't I know of at least two people who wouldn't care." Abby's eyebrows flew up,
"Jethro and Anthony wouldn't mind that much, I think," Ducky said, in answer to her un-asked question, "The childless father, and the fatherless child. They need each other in a way, and I think this would do them both good." Abby looked at him with wide eyes and he hastily added,
"Don't tell Jethro how sentimental I'm being about this please, he would deny it, but he forgets I know him inside out." Abby nodded, and after thinking about it for a while, she knew he was right. Gibbs and Tony needed each other. Gibbs needed someone to love, and to be loved back, unconditionally, and Tony needed some love, without the horrors of his last childhood. No sudden mood swings from being drunk, a hug one second, a slap the next. She decided there and then to both double her efforts in finding an antidote, and to make Gibbs understand just how much love and support Tony needed. Not wanted, but needed.
Review? Oh yeah, I've got a poll on my profile about a new story, so if you wouldn't mind... ;) Cheers m'dears, and OMG, did anyone watch dancing on ice? Ok, I know it was last week, but how cute is Ray? He so deserved to win bless him :P Anywho, review? Again? Lol xx