Can You Help Me?
"Daddy!"
Tony heard his son call out for him only seconds before he felt the weight of him on his stomach, bouncing up and down.
"Daddy, daddy up!" Josh cried, prying his eyes open with his little fingers.
"I'm up, I'm up," he groaned, lifting his son onto the floor so that he could sit up on the couch.
"You s'eep on cow?" He asked curiously, his blue blanket wrapped around his hand and his thumb in his mouth.
Tony glanced around the room quickly, and nodded. "Yeah. Daddy fell asleep watching a movie."
"I' Age?" The little boy said hopefully.
He sighed. "Sure, Buddy. But you gotta get that thumb outta your mouth first. You know Daddy doesn't like it when you suck your thumb." Groaning again as he stretched, he winced as he back popped painfully before he pushed himself to his feet. "I'm too old for this crap," he muttered, shaking his head as he made his way slowly to the DVD player. "You really wanna watch this again?"
"I' Age," Josh confirmed with a nod before he climbed onto the couch, rubbing the soft fabric of the blanket between his fingers.
It was still early and he was fairly sure that the little boy would fall back asleep in no time, allowing him to rest a little longer before getting up and facing a long day at work with his angry lover. Pulling the DVD from it's case, he slipped it into the player before he returned to the couch. "You wanna lay here with me a little longer?"
Josh nodded, his thumb making its way back to his mouth as he yawned. Waiting until his father situated himself on the couch, the little boy crawled onto his chest, tucking the blanket under his arm as he settled on top of him.
Tony had just started to drift off again when the sound of the bedroom door opening caught his attention. He could hear McGee's bare feet against the hardwood in the hallway.
"Josh?" The younger man called, frowning when he checked his son's room and found him missing. "Josh?"
"He's in here," Tony called back, wincing when Josh pushed himself up, his knees digging painfully into his stomach.
"I' Age, daddy!"
"You're watching Ice Age again?" McGee asked, feigning surprise as he made his way over to the couch, lifting his son off his partner's chest without a word. "You've seen that movie a hundred times!"
"No, free."
"You've seen it more than three times, you goof. You hungry? We need to get breakfast before you get ready to go to Grandma's."
"Pa'cakes?"
"How about some oatmeal?"
"Pa'cakes."
"Alright. Come on then."
Making his way into the kitchen, McGee barely spared a glance for the man sprawled out on the couch, though he felt a pang of guilt in his chest when he heard his lover groan pitifully as he sat up. It had been a jerky move to make him sleep on the couch, knowing how much it hurt his back, but he couldn't bring himself to apologize just yet. Not when he was still hurt over Tony's decision.
Setting the little boy on the counter, McGee grabbed the ingredients from the cabinet above the stove, grinning when Josh clapped his hands excitedly. "Never seen someone get so excited over pancakes, kiddo."
"Pa'cakes."
"Uh huh. We've gotta hurry though."
"I he'p?"
"Yeah, you can help me mix it. But we've gotta be careful. You ready?"
Despite the fact that his son hindered more than helped, it wasn't long before breakfast was ready, and they were both at the table eating. He glanced up when Tony walked into the kitchen, freshly showered and shaved. He stopped in the doorway, frowning slightly.
"You didn't want any, did you?" McGee asked coolly, not looking up from the table.
"Of course not," Tony grunted in response as he walked over, dropping a kiss to his son's head. "I'll grab something on the way into work... if you think you'll have time to stop."
"I thought we'd drive separately today."
"Of course," he muttered as he walked over to the refrigerator, grabbing a bottle of water before the slammed the door a little harder than necessary. "Then I guess I'll see you there."
::::::
"Mornin' Zee-vah," Tony greeted brightly as he rounded the corner into the bullpen, breakfast sandwich in hand. "Where's our fearless leader?"
"I have not seen him," she responded, eyeing him curiously. "Where is McGee?"
"He had to drop J off at his mom's," he said with a shrug as he dropped his bag behind his desk. "I need to run down and see Abby for a minute. Let Gibbs know I'm here?"
"Of course."
"Thanks Zee," he grinned as he hurried over to the elevator, stopping short as the doors opened up and McGee stepped out.
"Where are you going?" The younger man asked automatically.
"Down to autopsy. Gonna see if I can get the Gremlin to massage this kink out my neck. Sleeping on a couch does bad things to your back." Slipping passed him, he stepped onto the elevator, forcing himself to ignore the hurt look on his partner's face as the doors closed.
Punching the button for the lab, Tony leaned back against the wall and released a sigh, running a hand over his tired face. "Gonna be a long day," he muttered.
Stepping off the elevator in the hallway, he made his way in to Abby's lab slowly, surprised to find Gibbs there, apparently waiting for him. "Oh... hey, boss. I uh... was actually here on time today. Kind of."
Gibbs smirked in response, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the prep table. "You talk to McGee?"
"Oh.. about the uh... thing? For Abby?"
"Yeah."
"Uh huh. He's cool with it. Anything to make Abby happy, right?"
"You're sure this is somethin' you wanna go through again, DiNozzo?"
"I wanna help her."
"Not what I asked."
"I know what you're askin' Gibbs. I mean, this isn't exactly high up on my list of fun things to do, but I'm willing to do it. You don't have to worry about me changing my mind or anything like that. I wanna do this for her."
"And McGee's fine with that?"
"He doesn't care."
Releasing a sigh, Gibbs nodded and pushed himself off the table, crossing his arms over his chest. "Good. Then there's somethin' else I wanted to talk to you about."
"I'm not... being fired or anything, right? Because this whole... impromptu meeting feels very... ominous."
"No but you might get smacked if ya don't shut up and let me talk."
"Right. Sorry, boss."
"When Abby brought up the idea of you doin'... this for her, I told her there were a couple of conditions that the both of you had to agree before you went ahead with it."
"Conditions? What kind of conditions?"
"You can't fight me on light duty when the time comes, Tony. I know how much you hate being chained to a desk and I'm gonna try to keep you in the field as long as I can, but when the time comes, I don't want any arguments."
"I didn't fight you last time."
"No, you didn't but I just wanted to make sure we were clear on you not fightin' me this time either."
"Got it That all?"
"Nope."
"Of course not. That was entirely too easy."
Gibbs smirked. "You're gonna watch what you eat. *Healthy* food, DiNozzo. No pizza."
"But…Boss!" He started, stopping when the older man glared at him. "No arguing about that either. Got it."
"Good." Gibbs said, walking over to his senior agent and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you," he whispered.
"Anything for Abby, Boss. You know that." Tony said, a little taken back by Gibbs' show of gratefulness.
He nodded. "Go on. Tell Abby she got her way. I gotta go talk to Ducky."
Tony nodded, watching as his boss left the lab. The elevator doors had barely closed when the Goth ran out of her office, launching herself into Tony's arms.
"What did he say?!" She asked impatiently, her arms wrapped around his neck. "Did you talk to Timmy?"
"Whoa, easy," Tony laughed, resting his hands against her tiny hips. "You sure you wanna know what Gibbs said?"
She pulled away, frowning darkly. "Did he say no?! He told me last night that as long as--!"
He pressed his finger to her dark lips, silencing her. "Actually, he said to tell you that you've gotten your away again."
Tears filled her green eyes as she threw her arms around his neck again.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and squeezed her tight before he pulled away. "You'd better go make your phone calls."
"Tony..." she said, wiping the tears away from her cheeks. "Thank you."
"Anything for you, Abs. You know you're my best girl," he said with a wink. "I should probably head back upstairs, but you let me know when you've made all the arrangements."
"Thank you," she said again, watching as he walked out of her lab.
::::::
Later that night...
Pushing the front door open, McGee stepped into the dark apartment, frowning when he spotted Tony sprawled out on the couch again. Dropping his keys into the dish behind the door, he kicked his shoes off and made his way into the kitchen.
"Didn't think it was important to let me and Josh know you weren't coming home for dinner?"
"I told you when you left that I'd be a little late coming home."
Tony took a sip of his beer and continued to stare at the TV. "Well, where'd you go? Or do your son and I not deserve to know?"
"I was at work then I met my sister for dinner." McGee said, leaning against the counter as he watched his lover. "I should have called."
"Damn right!" The Italian hissed, pushing himself up from the couch. "You try explaining to a 2 year old where his Daddy is when he doesn't show up for his favorite meal."
"Tony..."
"You know, I realized today that I probably didn't go about this whole thing with Abby the right way, but you really think you're much better? Punishing your son because you're mad at me?"
"I'm sorry."
"Whatever. There's leftovers in the fridge. I'm going to bed," he muttered as he sank back down onto the couch, dropping his empty bottle onto the coffee table.
Running a hand over his face, McGee sighed. "At least come sleep in the bed. You're gonna hurt your back."
"I'm fine," he grunted, turning on his side so his back was to McGee.
"Please, T. I'll take the couch if you want. Just... Go to bed."
"No."
He stood there for a moment, frowning before he grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch, covering his lover's body.
"Night, T."
The older man didn't respond and with a miserable sigh, McGee headed down the hallway to kiss his son goodnight.
::::::
Pushing the bedroom door open, Gibbs grinned at the sight of his girl sprawled out on the bed.
"Hi," she greeted, offering him a shy smile.
"What are you doing up here so early?"
"Waitin' for you."
"Oh yeah?"
"Mmmhmm," she responded, patting the mattress beside her. "Come lay with me?"
"Don't even need to ask." Peeling off his shirt, he deposited it into the hamper before he climbed onto the bed beside her.
Shifting on the bed, Abby rested her head on his chest, smiling as his fingers traced slow circles on her back.
"You make an appointment today?"
"Mmmhmm. Tony and I meet with the doctor on Friday. She said we'd go over the whole procedure and then get me started on some medicine."
"What kind of medicine?"
"It's supposed to increase my egg production so they can do a retrieval. She said I'd be on it for a few weeks before they could do the procedure."
"And you're sure you wanna go through with this?"
"Absolutely. I've never been more sure about anything," she said softly. "I still can't believe this is actually going to happen."
"I meant what I said about getting back into counseling."
"I know. Doctor Reynolds recommended the same thing. I know I shouldn't get too excited about this before it even happens, but I have a good feeling about this whole thing, J. It's gonna work out this time. I can feel it."
Hugging her closer to him, Gibbs pressed a kiss to the top of her head, a slight grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Yeah, I can too, baby."
Chapter End Notes:
A/N: Hey guys! Thank you so much for everyone who sent me reviews after the last chapter! This one is a little shorter than the last and I kind of hate it, actually, but it was necessary to get the story going! So if you love me, send me lots of reviews to make me feel better about it! :)