Chapter Text
They had only been dating for about five months, on and off. Olyvia was a crazy ex-girlfriend in the making and Tony knew it which was why he made it perfectly clear that they were not exclusive every time he got the chance. She was great in bed, though and damn if she wasn't fun when the crazy wore off.
When she shows up on his doorstep at three in the morning, soaking wet from the rain and shivering, Tony just rolls his eyes and steps aside.
"I'm pregnant."
At first he can only stare at her, door still hanging open, as she drips on his floor.
"We used protection."
"...the condom broke once. I didn't...I didn't think it would really happen," she shivers, "I mean...what are the chances?"
"Pretty fucking good apparently!"
Tony slams the door and stomps over to the hall closet for towels.
"Tony..."
"Just stay there," he barks.
When he comes back she's crying and he takes a deep breath to calm himself.
"I'm sorry," she sobs.
"It's...it's ok. I shouldn't have yelled at you, I'm sorry. Just...here."
He wraps a towel around her and tries to rub some warmth back into her thin body. He's amazed that she doesn't look pregnant at all.
"Are you sure you're pregnant?" he smiles, placing a hand on her stomach.
"Yes. I did the test three times today. I was throwing up."
She bites her lip and looks away.
"Hey..."
"I can't believe I was so stupid. I...I'm not mommy material."
"I'm not daddy material. We'll figure it out."
She looks up at him with adoring eyes.
"You...you don't want me to...?"
"...get an abortion?"
"Yes."
Tony takes a deep breath, "I uh...I'm going to support you...whatever you decide."
Olyvia nods and lays her damp head on his shoulder, sniffling.
"I think I'm going to keep it."
"Ok."
Tony frowns and puts a hand on her head, trying to seem comforting when all he really wants to do is run away.
X X X
He should've known then what it would be like. Olyvia on any normal day was slightly unhinged. Olyvia with raging hormones and weird cravings was a nightmare. She moves in, she takes over his life. He tries not to let it show at work but it's wearing him thin.
Abby pulls him aside one day when he's feeling particularly irritable and hugs him hard.
"Are you alright?"
Generally he doesn't unload like this. He tells her everything and pretty much instantly regrets it because the rumor mill at work already runs on overdrive.
"Tony! You're gonna be a daddy!"
"Abby, please don't tell anyone."
"You have to tell them eventually, Tony."
"I know, I just...Olyvia isn't the kind of person you let your coworkers meet. Not unless you're trying to scare them."
"She can't be that bad."
Tony sits down hard, "She is, Abbs. I'm not exaggerating, I think she's bipolar or something."
Abby frowns.
"You're not happy about this at all, are you?"
"I didn't really want kids. I'm sort of notoriously terrible with anyone under the age of twenty."
"Oh, Tony..."
"Look, it's...not so much the kid as it is Olyvia. I can't spend the rest of my life with this woman."
Abby's lip curls up a little and she shrugs, "You're not married, Tony. I figure as long as you take care of the baby you don't really owe her anything. Right?"
Tony nods, "I guess not."
"Does she want to get married?"
"She's dropped the hint a few times. I've dodged it pretty well so far."
"What are you going to do?" Abby asks softly.
"Nothing. Not until the baby is born."
He makes a face and shakes his head.
"It feels so weird to talk about it. I still can't believe I'm having a kid."
Abby pats his shoulder.
"Better get used to the idea soon, Tony. I don't think the baby's going to wait until you're ready."
X X X
Tony's phone rings and he snatches it up off of his desk, eyes never leaving his computer screen.
"DiNozzo."
His face goes blank and McGee glances over, fingers stopping their rapid-fire tapping across his keyboard which makes Gibbs glance up to see why the hell people aren't working.
"I'll be there soon," Tony says, voice dead of emotion.
"You going somewhere, DiNozzo?"
"The baby's coming."
Tony stands up, somewhat dazed.
"What baby?"
For a second Tony doesn't seem to realize the question was directed at him and then he grabs his keys.
"I'm having a baby."
"You don't look pregnant," McGee teases with a smirk.
Tony suddenly comes back into himself, looking around at his teammates with his mouth hanging open slightly. Gibbs frowns at him, brow furrowing.
"What's her name?"
"Olyvia. We're...uh...not together but...it was an accident and I'm..."
"Doing the right thing?"
Tony shrugs, "I guess."
"How far apart are her contractions?"
"Uh..." Tony stares blankly at Gibbs, who rolls his eyes.
"I'll drive you."
"Oh, Jesus."
They make it to the hospital in one piece, miraculously, and Tony walks into the ER in a daze. The nurse directs them to the maternity ward without sparing them a glance and Gibbs gently guides Tony to the elevator.
Olyvia is fairly calm when he gets there, giving them both a somewhat pained smile as they enter the room.
"Tony! Who's this?"
"Um...this is my boss, he drove me."
“Gibbs. Tony's in shock," Gibbs smiles, holding out a hand.
"Hi...I'm Olyvia."
"Tony's mentioned you."
"Really?"
"Yeah...just...in passing. Mostly talking about the baby," Tony lies easily.
"Still hasn't told me if it's a boy or a girl yet."
"Boy," Olyvia gasps, breathing through a contraction.
"I'll leave you two alone..."
"It's ok," Olyvia says quickly, "I need someone here to keep Tony from fainting."
Gibbs looks pretty uncomfortable for a second and Tony feels bad for him.
"I'll be fine, really, boss. I just...it's not every day you have a kid, right?"
Olyvia's face twists in pain and she curls up, putting one hand on her large belly.
Tony's eyes widen as he sees blood on the sheets.
"It's coming," Olyvia squeaks, eyes wide.
"Ok, ok," Tony moves to her side.
Gibbs moves into the hall and calls for a doctor, but he spins back around seconds later as Olyvia screams. Tony looks like he might very well faint, but he's pulled the sheets back and with a face that's drained of blood he catches the baby as Olyvia squeezes him out. He stands there for a moment, eyes huge, as he stares at his son all covered in blood and afterbirth. The baby is a strange bluish grey color and Gibbs remembers that from when Kelly was born. Olyvia lays back, heaving breath and with baby still connected to her body.
A midwife finally rushes in, out of breath from running.
"Well...that was fast," she pants.
"What took you so long?" Gibbs growls.
"Two doctors sick with the flu and one in Europe. It's a full moon tonight. Do you know what that means? Abnormally high instance of women going into labor. I've got five other women I'm helping right now, so don't give me any lip."
Gibbs glares at her and she all but shoves him out of the way.
"Oh, hello beautiful boy," she coos.
Tony hesitantly hands the baby over to her as she looks him over, casting glances at Olyvia to make certain she's alright as well.
"Wanna help mommy clean up the baby, daddy?"
"Um...I uh...ok."
She looks at Gibbs pointedly, "And who are you, the grandfather?"
"I'm a friend."
"Do you need to be here?"
"Yes," Olyvia snaps.
The midwife raises an eyebrow but says nothing else on the subject, instead helping them to clean up the baby.
"Don't we need to cut the cord?" Tony asks nervously.
"When it stops pulsing," the midwife smiles reassuringly, "Right now mommy is still providing oxygen and nutrition to baby through the cord. A nurse will be by in a minute to do the certificate, take his weight, draw blood, so on. Honey, is this your first child?"
Olyvia nods as the midwife checks her pulse and looks her over.
"When did you start having contractions?" the midwife asks gently.
"Um...last night?"
Tony's eyes go wide and Olyvia bites her lip.
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
"You had work today - I figured it was just false labor, it didn't seem that bad until about three hours ago."
The midwife sighs and pats Olyvia's hand, "You should've been here about eight hours ago, at least. But no harm done. Baby's fine, you're fine, right?"
"Right," Tony sighs, obviously still upset but not wanting to push it.
"Right," Olyvia says softly.
The midwife shakes her head in a way that says she's thinks they're both a little stupid, "My name is Marina, if you need me just scream my name down the hallway, I'll come running."
She finishes looking him over, handing him back to Olyvia.
"Have you picked a name?"
"Jaime Addison," Olyvia smiles.
They both seem to realize at the same time that this is their son they're holding and they go quiet.
Tony gently touches Jaime's cheek, awe struck. He looks up at Gibbs with that look of joy mixed with fear and grins.
"Look at him. He's so tiny."
"They usually are at that age," Gibbs smiles back, voice a little thick.
"Come here," Olyvia gestures.
Hesitantly, Gibbs steps up to the bedside, eyes never leaving Jaime. Olyvia holds him up a little, obviously proud and happy. Gibbs touches Jaime's foot.
"He's beautiful," he manages to say, "Congratulations."
"Thanks, Gibbs," Tony whispers, eyes telling Gibbs that Tony means thank you for more than the well wishes.
Gibbs nods.
"I have to get back. I'll have someone bring your car over."
With that he strides quickly out of the room, not giving them a chance to say anything more.
X X X
Gibbs can see the wear and tear of new parenthood on Tony over the next couple of months but there's a contentment there too, which seems to surprise Tony as much as anyone else. He brings in pictures and talks about the baby almost constantly, though oddly he doesn't mention Olyvia much.
He's also unusually reticent to talk about Jaime in front of Gibbs at first, casting him worried glances every now and again when someone is fussing over a new picture or laughing about some new thing the baby did. Finally Gibbs stalks over, snatches up a picture and smiles.
"Well, he's definitely yours," Gibbs smirks. Jaime looks very much like his father.
Tony looks unreasonably pleased by this and blushes just a little. After that Gibbs is the first person he shows pictures, though Tony always seems a little nervous about it, whether because of Kelly or because Gibbs is notoriously grumpy about people bringing anything not work related to him while on the clock...well, Gibbs isn't sure. Either way, Tony has nothing to worry about. Gibbs thinks he'll take the crumbs he's thrown when they scatter his way.
As the holiday season approaches Tony finds more and more people leaving presents for Jaime on his desk. He grins every time, turning them over in his hand and tossing thanks around. He talks a little less about Jaime now and Gibbs figures reality must have set in a little. If the circles under Tony's eyes are a little darker than before, or if he seems a little quieter in general, no one says anything.
Christmas comes and goes, but the usual post-holiday joy doesn't seem to sweep Tony up in its' wake. Ziva and McGee try to pull him out of it with jokes and teasing but, even though he smiles and jokes back, they can tell his heart isn't in it.
Then one morning Tony shows up with Jaime in tow, drawing strange looks and starting a wild-fire of whispers.
He drops the baby bag and the car seat next to his desk, shifts Jaime onto his lap, and sets to work without a word. In a matter of minutes his desk is surrounded by half the women and a handful of the men in the room.
"That's your kid, DiNozzo?"
"No, Mark, I just found him on the front step this morning."
Everyone shifts uncomfortably but no one leaves.
"How old is he now?"
"Five months."
"He's beautiful," Emily grins, touching Jaime's hand. Tony wants nothing more than to slap her.
"You throwing a party over there, DiNozzo?" Gibbs barks as he strides into the room.
"Wasn't trying to, Boss. They invited themselves over," he snaps back with a pointed look at the people surrounding him.
"Don't you people..." Gibbs’ sentence fades as Jaime comes into view.
"Um..."
"This isn't bring your kid to work day, DiNozzo."
Tony stands up suddenly, pushing his way through the crowd and moving towards the break room. Gibbs follows without hesitation, glaring daggers as he passes the on-lookers.
When he catches up he steers Tony towards a conference room and shuts the door behind them.
It's the first time Gibbs has seen the baby face to face since he was born. He's gotten big and Gibbs wants to ask to hold him but he doesn't think this is a good time for it.
"What's going on?"
"My usual sitter is in Toledo visiting family. Somebody's coming to pick Jaime up but she hit some traffic. She said she'd be here in fifteen...twenty minutes. I couldn't...I didn't know what else to do."
"Where's his mother?" Gibbs grinds out.
Tony's silent for a moment, looking down at his son with a frown.
"DiNozzo!"
"She left!" Tony shouts, startling the baby.
In one swift move Gibbs takes Jaime and gently starts to walk him, stopping the tears before they can start.
"Ok. What happened?"
Tony shakes his head, "I don't know. Christmas morning our heater broke, so I went to get some space heaters. I come back with them and some breakfast and she's gone. Jaime's in his crib, in the fucking freezing cold house by himself and she's gone. The room is a wreck...her suitcase, the cash I kept in the Ocean's Eleven DVD, all gone!"
He throws his arms wide and for a second Gibbs thinks the man might cry.
"I don't know what to do," Tony says brokenly.
"You're gonna take care of your kid," Gibbs smiles, reaching out to lay a hand on Tony's shoulder.
Tony shrugs him off and turns away.
"I..."
"You've been doing a hell of a job so far, Tony."
"I was just helping. Olyvia took care of him most of the time."
"You'll be fine," Gibbs says sternly. He's never had patience for hysterics and self-pity in the past, damn if he's going to find some in him now.
It brings Tony up sharp and he reaches out for Jaime, taking him back.
"I'm not..." he pauses, "I'm not saying I'm going to...get rid of him or something."
"I didn't think you were."
Tony nods and presses an absent-minded kiss to Jaime's head.
"I just don't know what to do," Tony all but whispers.
Something shifts then, Gibbs can feel it. It's them. It's the space around them, the conversation.
Tony really is at a loss and it's a little sad to see. For all his goofing off and pretending he's an idiot, Tony is a smart guy. He usually has no trouble figuring things out on his own with little or no help but this has him stumped. It makes Gibbs wonder about Tony's family life and not for the first time. Anybody whose parents gave even half a damn about them can at least guess at what to do with their own kids.
"You need to find a couple of different sitters so you always have back-up."
Tony's eyes flicker up, finally settling on Gibbs' face as if he's just realized the man is in the room.
"It's hard to find somebody to look after them when they're so young," Gibbs continues, "so if you need to they've got paternity leave now. If anything you could do some work from home until he's a little older."
"Ok," Tony breathes, looking for all the world as if he wants nothing more than to hug the life out of Gibbs.
With a soft sniffle, Jaime starts to cry. Tony shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath.
"I don't want to go back out there with him. My kid's not a fucking side-show attraction."
"What's he need?"
"It's um..." Tony glances at the clock on the wall, "It's about time for his bottle I think. He's probably hungry."
Gibbs stalks out of the conference room and over to Tony's desk, grabbing the baby bag and the carrier.
"Move it, people!" he bellows at the few stupid enough to still be lingering.
He comes back to Tony with a warm bottle and annoyance radiating off him in waves. Tony takes the bottle gently; like Gibbs is a rabid dog and he might bite.
"Thanks, boss. I really appreciate it."
That seems to soften Gibbs up a little bit so Tony throws in a smile. He props himself in one of the conference room chairs and tests the bottle before giving it to Jaime. Jaime is fussy at first, refusing the nipple, but Tony keeps cajoling him, keeps whispering things and persisting.
"You're doing pretty good for somebody who doesn't know what he's doing."
Tony's ears get a little pink and Gibbs tweaks one of them.
"Hey," Tony protests with a grin.
Gibbs smirks.
"Can't smack you when you're holding the kid."
X X X
It's been four days since Tony's been to the office and he's going a little stir crazy. Gibbs has called him no less than twenty-two times looking for status reports and Tony's trying, he really is, but who can get anything done when the kid is screaming all day long?
He answers the door with a death scowl that would send lesser men running in fear but Gibbs has the nerve to choke back a laugh, snorting a little with the effort.
"I sent you all the information I found," Tony grumbles, not really caring enough to ask why Gibbs is here.
"I saw. McGee has what he needs to track them down."
With that, Gibbs tosses a duffel bag into the hall, takes Jaime and pushes none-too-gently past Tony into the apartment.
"Come right in," Tony mutters under his breath.
"Thanks," Gibbs grins dryly.
Tony starts picking up scattered toys and bottles, dumping most of them right in the sink. As he makes a second sweep he gets a foot right in his left ass cheek.
"Hey!"
"Go take a shower, your hair is standing up on its own. And you smell."
"Yeah. I noticed."
Gibbs stares at him expectantly and Tony holds his hands up in surrender. He's not sure if he should be annoyed or thankful that Gibbs has managed to get Jaime settled and into bed by the time Tony comes out, clean and wearing fresh clothes. He settles on grateful.
"Thanks."
Gibbs waves him off and moves to answer the door where, Tony realizes, someone is knocking.
It's pizza, which tastes better than anything, ever (especially since everything he's eaten the last week has been from a can - occasionally he even had time to heat it up first).
"Thank you."
Gibbs shakes his head and smirks.
X X X
Gibbs groans, stretching and wincing. He clicks off the TV before getting up to piss and realizes he's not in his own house.
DiNozzo's, he thinks, as he spies the massive wall of DVDs.
Then he smells something coming from the kitchen and it actually smells...good. After relieving himself - the sink top full of product gets a suspicious glance - Gibbs finds his way into the kitchen and sits at the table. Tony's aware of him, he can tell by the way his shoulders tense up slightly, but he doesn't say anything. Gibbs can't say he blames him; it's got to be at least a little weird having your boss fall asleep on your couch after he helped you watch your kid for ten hours straight.
Without fanfare or flourish Tony sets the plate in front of Gibbs, whose eyebrows shoot up.
"It looks awful but just taste it," Tony pleads.
Gibbs' face says that he doubts the taste can be any better than the appearance but he picks up his fork and takes a bite.
"Hm."
"I'll never win points for presentation but it won't make you throw up or give you food poisoning," Tony shrugs.
Gibbs huffs out a breathy laugh and takes another bite.
"Beats shit on a shingle any day."
It's eggs and bacon (all on top of each other) and some mightily abused toast (the butter needed to soften a little more). Tony sets a cup of coffee in front of him and it's the way Gibbs likes it so he smiles which seems to fluster Tony a little, though Gibbs isn't entirely sure why.
When Jaime starts to cry Tony presses a hand on Gibbs' shoulder as he passes, saying without words that Gibbs should sit and enjoy his breakfast.
Of course, Gibbs is terrible at taking orders. He inhales the last bit of egg and downs his coffee in one gulp, following Tony into Jaime's room. The bed against the far wall is mussed but Gibbs doesn't comment. He just watches Tony carefully lift Jaime out of the crib and kiss his cheek.
"Morning, kid."
Tony seems in awe of Jaime sometimes, like he can't believe this tiny thing really exists. He changes Jaime's diaper and picks him up with the care only first time parents have, that overly aware handling as if the slightest wrong move will cause their baby to break. It's sweet and tugs at something in Gibbs' gut, a part of him he'd beaten down a long time ago.
"Where'd you learn to cook?"
Tony startles a little, rolling his eyes.
"The maid."
The look on Gibbs' face tells him he'd better elaborate, so Tony nudges past, heading for the kitchen again to warm up a bottle.
"My father hired one of his escorts to be our maid. She couldn't cook, clean, or...do anything, really. But she looked hot in the uniform. She taught me how to cook and how to ride a bike and how to match my shoes to my outfit."
When Gibbs doesn't say anything, Tony continues, focusing on the process of feeding Jaime as he speaks.
"Latanya. She used to tuck me in every night. My dad didn't fire her, even after he got a new mistress. She kept me out of his hair and she was good eye-candy when she was pretending to clean, so he kept her around."
Jaime squirms in his arms and Tony chuckles a little, shifting nervously as he tries to maintain his grip.
"She was more of a mother to me than my own mom. My mom was usually passed out drunk by three pm. I still send her a card on Christmas...call her once in a while to see how she is. She invites me over sometimes but...I don't know. She's got a husband and her own kids now, you know? It would be weird,” Tony glances up at Gibbs, “don't you think?"
With a sigh, Gibbs reaches out and gently swats Tony upside the head.
"I think family is what you make it. If she's inviting you over I doubt it's to be polite."
With a lopsided smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes, Tony nods.
"Sometimes I think it's funny that my dad gets so angry that I didn't turn out the way he wanted. He let everybody else in that house take a crack at raising me but he didn't do any of it himself."
He looks at Jaime with worried eyes and then glances up at Gibbs again.
"I don't want to be that kind of father."
Gibbs gives his shoulder a squeeze, because he doesn't know what to say and for once that seems to be ok. Tony smiles and Gibbs smiles back, tickling the kid's chin. Jaime spits up and they laugh.
The whole thing smacks of domesticity and that alone is enough to bring Gibbs out of the moment.
"I better get out of here."
Tony looks a little bereft for a second before nodding.
"OK. Thanks...you know..."
"Yeah," Gibbs interrupts, "I know."