As they entered the room, both men tried not to think about the fact that Stephanie was lying in the adjoining room. There were a couple of nurses and a middle aged woman in a white lab coat gathered around a clear acrylic bassinet that held a very unhappy baby who was shrilly vocalizing his displeasure at being poked and prodded.
Gibbs looked at his son in awe, his feet frozen to the floor. There was a little thatch of reddish brown hair and he wondered if his son was going to be a carrot top like his mother. Tony gave him a little nudge from behind making him step closer.
The doctor looked up and smiled gently, "You're the father?"
He simply nodded in response and the doctor introduced herself, "I'm Doctor Anderson the on-call pediatrician. Your son is doing very well. He's not very happy with us at the moment, but he's doing just fine. He was monitored carefully, and though his oxygen saturation level was a little low at delivery it was well within the safe zone and right now it's perfect. He's got all his fingers and all his toes, and as you can hear, a good healthy set of lungs. I want to keep him here for a couple of days just to monitor him." She paused sadly, and continued with a compassionate tone, "And I know you've probably got some arrangements to make at home. I'm very sorry for your loss."
She efficiently wrapped the baby up in the soft blanket he was lying on and asked gently, "Would you like to hold him?"
Gibbs stared at the baby in her hands, half afraid to touch him, as if somehow he would also be ripped away from Gibbs like so many others had been.
Tony could see the hesitancy in Gibbs and he was well versed enough in reading Gibbs' emotions to know where it was coming from, so he took action. He grabbed the hard plastic chair from the corner and set it down behind Gibbs and with a little squeeze to Gibbs shoulder he ordered lightly, "Sit."
And surprisingly, Gibbs did just that. And with sure hands that were in complete opposite to the nervousness he felt to his core, Gibbs took his squalling son from the doctor. He couldn't help but smirk a little at the baby's irritated expression, it was pure Stephanie, and as he gently ran a calloused finger over the baby's cheek he chided, "Shush, what's all this racket about, huh?"
And when that didn't work, he expertly tucked the baby up near his neck and gently patted him, and to the relief of everyone's ears in the room, the baby quieted down almost instantly.
Gibbs felt Tony standing behind him, his hand still on Gibbs' shoulder, it was comforting and reassuring. And he heard Tony say, "Since I'm pretty sure he'll get beaten up a lot in school if we keep calling him "the baby", what did you two decide to name him?"
Gibbs swallowed hard, trying not to picture Stephanie's luminescent smile as they had bickered over names, it had been fun and playful and had reminded him of why he had fallen for her all those years ago. But in the end they had actually agreed on a pair of names, one for a girl, one for a boy, since they still didn't know the sex of the baby. And they had kept the names a secret just between the two of them, not even telling Tony.
He looked up at Tony with a wane little smile and replied, "Donald Jethro Gibbs."
Tony smiled widely, "After Ducky?"
Gibbs nodded, "Yeah, he introduced us you know."
"Yeah, I had heard that, he's gonna be thrilled."
Gibbs gently kissed the baby's temple and smiled again, "But you know, knowing your mom, I bet she would have ended up calling you DJ."
He settled the baby back down in the crook of his arm and just looked at him, his mind spinning as he tried to think about all the things he needed to do all at once.
Tony stepped around to the front of him and crouched down to get an up close view of the littlest Gibbs. He smiled and reached out hesitantly to touch the baby's little hand that he had snuck out of his blanket, marveling at how small his little fingers actually were. Tony's experience with babies in general was limited, and he had absolutely none with newborns, and he was just amazed.
Gibbs took in the awed expression on Tony's face and smiled, he'd almost forgotten how new all of this actually was to Tony and he said, "Your turn. Sit," as he stood up.
Tony's eyes flashed in panic, "What? Oh, no, really, I'm good just doing the whole watching thing, Gibbs, really I am."
Gibbs couldn't help but chuckle and said again, "Sit."
And with a playful grimace, Tony did just that, and Gibbs carefully placed the baby in Tony's arms.
Gibbs' protective and possessive streak about the baby had been apparent about thirty seconds after Stephanie had told him it was his baby. And Gibbs could almost see it flare up in Tony right before his eyes as the baby settled into Tony's arms without a peep. Little DJ had no way of knowing, but even though he might have lost his mother, he still had two people that would love and cherish him, and two people that would protect him, no matter what the cost.
Doctor Anderson took in the interaction between the two and realized that their relationship was a lot more than met the eye. And she could see that there was genuine affection between them, it was evident in all of their actions, and seeing that lessened the sting of the loss of the baby's mother just a little in her eyes.
A few minutes later, she interrupted them so that they could bring DJ up and get him settled in the pediatric ward. Gibbs nodded and he took the baby from Tony and placed him safely in the bassinet for his trip up in the elevator. He turned to Tony, "Can you go with him? I need to call Stephanie's sister."
Tony let out a sigh, "Yeah. Probably should call Ducky, too."
"Yeah," Gibbs replied sadly. Tony gave his bicep a quick squeeze before he left to follow Dr. Anderson and crew upstairs.
Gibbs went outside, wanting to be in the fresh air while he made the calls. He took a deep breath and flipped his phone open. He hit a speed dial and when the line picked up he said, "Shelly? It's Jethro..."
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tbc...
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