Abby sits on Kate's couch. Addy is with Tony. Kate looks over at Abby, and instantly notices her facial expression.
"Abby what's wrong?"
"Nothing," she fibs.
"You are being unusually quiet. What's bothering you?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course," she nods in agreement.
"How did you get enough courage to tell Tony about Addy?"
"It wasn't easy. I was afraid to tell him. I was scared that he would flake. I was supposed to be dead, and I didn't think that it would go well at all. I didn't know if he would want to be a part of her life. I didn't think that he was going to have any interest whatsoever. When I got to his place I stood outside his door forever. I thought that I had made a huge mistake."
"What made you decide to go in?"
She grins, "He had ordered pizza. I paid the pizza guy, and knocked on the door. I knew that he was expecting a pizza. He grabbed the pizza, and as he was fishing his wallet out he realized that I was standing there."
March 18th, 2006
He opens the door, and grabs the pizza box as his stomach growls, it is nearly ten o'clock. He reaches into his pocket, and fishes for his wallet. His mind catches up with him. Before he can look up he hears a familiar face.
"I paid for your pizza."
He looks up, and finds Kate standing in his doorway. She stands in front of him holding a baby swaddled in a pink thermal blanket. She expects him to react poorly, to scream, and yell at her. He doesn't. He smiles.
"You should come in," he insists.
She enters the apartment, and he places the pizza on his table.
"Are you hungry?"
"No, I already ate."
He closes the door behind her. He motions for her to take a seat. She takes a seat on the couch. He hovers over her, staring at the baby in her arms.
"What's her name?"
"Addy," she smiles.
"She's beautiful," he admits.
"Do you want to hold her?"
"Yeah," he takes a seat next to her. She puts the sleeping baby in his arms. He scrutinizes the little girl's facial features.
"How old is she?"
"She was born on February 16th," she reveals.
"I thought you were dead," he says calmly.
"I needed a way out. The CIA…"
He nods, "Of course. It seemed so real, every bit of it. I was there."
"It's complicated."
"It always is."
"I don't know how to say this, so I am just going to come out with it…"
He cuts her off, "She's mine. I can see that, Kate. The poor girl has my ears."
"Why are you asking about this?"
"What if he hadn't been a good father? What would you have done?"
She shrugs, "I guess I would have raised her on my own."
"How are things going with your Navy Seal?"
Kate falls silent.
"Kate?"
"I received word a few weeks ago," she admits.
"Received word?" Abby responds.
"He was killed in action," she answers.
"I am so sorry."
"It is okay, I don't really want to talk about it, right now. Can we talk about you, instead? What is new, and exciting with you?"
"McGee has been rather anxious lately," she replies.
"What did you do to him?"
"It isn't what I did to him. It is really more about what we did together."
"Which is what?"
"I'm pregnant."
"What?!"
He holds a brand new baby girl in his arms. He stands over the basinet in the corner of the master bedroom. He grins at the two day old girl. He turns, and finds his wife staring at him.
"I've got it, you can go back to sleep."
"I don't mind."
"Neither do I," he watches the baby as she works on draining the bottle in her mouth.
"Why don't you take a seat?" Hollis suggests.
"You are going to pry her away from me, aren't you?"
"Joely thinks that you might be tired."
He rolls his eyes, and takes a seat next to Hollis on the bed, "I think she is more focused on her bottle."
"I want her."
He gives in, and passes the sheepish baby over to his wife.
He tiptoes into the bedroom from his bathroom. He finds the TV on from the movie his family was watching before he crawled into the shower. His daughter is sound asleep on his side of the bed, lying upside down. Malachi lays next to her, with the back of his hand laying against her. His wife lays on her side of the bed, with a drooling baby sleeping on her chest. Gabriel's ear is pressed against her chest. He grabs his phone off the bedside stand and snaps a picture. He sends it in a message to Kate.
She has just pulled on her pajamas when she hears her phone vibrate. She is the bathroom applying moisturized, and her hair is wet. She brushes her teeth, and heads for the exit. She flips off the light, and heads into the bedroom. Her lamp illuminates the room. She grabs her phone off the bedside stand, and reads the message from Tony. The picture message says, Can you believe this motley crew is asleep by nine o'clock? She responds to him, That will be you in five minutes. He doesn't respond to her text message. She assumes he is already sawing logs. She pulls back her covers, and crawls into bed. She leans against the headboard, thinking of the events of the past few weeks. She thinks about the phone call weeks ago informing her that her current beau, Joseph was killed in action. They had met at a conference nearly a year before. Things were starting to get serious. She was about to introduce him to her daughter. They had talked about the future, and at the funeral his mother told her he had bought her a ring. She reaches over, and opens the drawer of the bedside stand. She pulls out a box. She opens the box and an engagement ring stares up at her. The tears start to roll down her cheeks as he places the box on the top of the nightstand. She reaches inside, and pulls out a different object. Her warm, silent tears quickly morph in to violent sobs.