Combine

They sat in silence a couple of more minutes until finally Tony stretched his long legs out and slouched against the bench seat. "I have never known life without her in it, Dad."

"I know, Son." Jethro leaned over and pushed Tony's empty plate out of the way. "She is family."

There was no answer, and Gibbs waited a moment before he began to speak softly. "Did your abuela ever tell you about your potty training?"

"Dad!" Tony immediately ordered, "That's a family story and this is a public place. Don't tell that to anyone or you will embarrass me. It's bad enough that there is photographic evidence."

"Do you see anyone here witnessing this conversation?" Jethro raised his eyebrows and looked around the room.

"No," Tony gave him a small smile.

"Anyway, the point is that you loved yanking your diaper off to use the potty chair, because it gave you an excuse to run around the house naked."

"That's enough, Dad. Stop right there."

"No," Gibbs smirked, "So once the training was a success, the next hurdle was getting you to wear clothes. As fast as we'd get you dressed, you would undress yourself. It didn't bother you if we had visitors, or if anyone saw you." He smiled in memory, relaxing as he watched his son. "Maria finally hit upon the remedy by offering you activities you liked, like going to the park, or to the grocery store, and then when you begged to go, would say you couldn't go because you were a naked boy. That would do the trick, and you would insist that you wanted to be dressed."

Tony couldn't hide a grin at that. "What can I say?"

His father laughed, then suddenly got serious. "From the first time she ever picked you up and began to rock you, you…." Gibbs felt himself choke up and cleared his throat quickly.

Tony looked up in surprise. Rarely had he witnessed his dad fighting to control tears.

Gibbs rubbed the bridge of his nose and finished, "you reached up and started stroking and rubbing her hair. So that became your security blanket, so to speak. With Maria you would always play with her hair until you felt comforted."

"I know, Daddy." He regarded his father thoughtfully.

"Right, but the crazy thing was that with anyone else, they could pick you up and hold you- even rock you, but you would never do that to them- to me, even. It was something you practiced only with her. When you were the most upset, and she would take you, we would almost hold our breaths until you started caressing her hair, then we knew you would calm down soon."

Gibbs looked away a second and got himself back firmly in control. "So the funny thing is that I had not even realized how unbreakable- the strength, I mean, of that bond. I had underestimated. Then we visited you, at Ohio State and you were a junior. You slipped into her lap and immediately reached up to stroke her hair. I thought to myself, then, that God had known exactly what you needed when he sent your abuela to us."

Lorenzo's appearance interrupted them, and they hastily got up and cleared the table, trashing the remains on their way out the cafeteria door. The three men chatted about mundane topics as they made their way back to the ICU, where they joined Ducky and Tia.

Tony glanced his dad's way several times during the long afternoon, still not quite believing that his dad would suddenly turn loose the reins and allow him to stay at the hospital.

Jethro, however, kept his word and did not attempt to send his son home again. Privately he kept his own counsel, and his own worries to himself.

Maria and Tony were left alone around eight as Veronica, who had arrived mid afternoon, said her good byes.

Tony pulled a chair up to the bed and took Maria's hand, kissing it softly. "Su bebe se quedara con usted, your baby will stay with you."

He regarded the machines and tubes and medical equipment and sighed. Automatically he began to pray, and as he finished, realized that Maria had seen to it that he had a solid religious foundation. Actually, she had fostered two- his family's own Protestant view and her Catholic one. Tony felt as comfortable in Mass as he did in a Church service.

That fact highlighted just one more way Maria had seen to his character development.

The long, endless night seemed a carbon copy of the two nights before it. Tony dozed on and off while the medical personnel worked around him.

Maria's condition remained unchanged.

He woke as the sun began to stream through the window, and carefully got to his feet. One of the doctors tapped lightly at the door and then made his way into the room. The men exchanged greetings, and Tony headed to the bathroom while the doctor conducted his exam. When he emerged the doctor had moved to the nurse station in the center of the hall and was speaking with more medical personnel. He watched as they conversed, and as they looked towards Maria's room several times.

Tony leaned down and kissed Maria. "I love you, te amo, Abuela mia."

A few minutes later his father and Ducky appeared.

Gibbs didn't say anything, but beckoned Tony over to him. His son moved quickly, dissolving into his father as Gibbs clutched him to him with one hand, and began rubbing Tony's back soothingly with the other. Tony buried his head in Jethro's shoulder and stood quietly.

Ducky picked up the chart at the foot of the bed and read it thoughtfully. Turning finally to Gibbs, he raised his eyebrows questioningly. Gibbs shook his head slightly as a signal for Ducky to wait to speak.

"Hey," Gibbs pushed Tony away from him and then popped him on his bottom. "Look up."

"Owww…." Tony put a hand protectively over his rear and looked up in confusion. "What was that for?"

"I want you to head downstairs and get some breakfast," Gibbs improvised.

"Dad, you didn't have to smack me to tell me that."

"True, but it did get your attention." His father smirked, then pushed Tony towards the door. "Do you have some of the money left that I gave you?"

Tony grinned, alert to the fact that he could pocket more cash to add to the stash in his wallet. "You probably want to give me some more cash, my handsome parent."

Gibbs looked at him appraisingly. "No, I am certain that you still have money left. Get down and eat, and bring me a cup of coffee when you come back."

"Ok," Tony left without arguing and Gibbs sighed in relief, glad that he had gotten him out of the room.

"Duck, let's step out."

The two men walked into the hall and Dr. Mallard updated him, after first patting him sympathetically. "Jethro, it's not good. She is actually worse off than when she was brought here. You really need to get the lad prepared to say good bye."