NCIS: McBaby

Chapter 8

The knock on the door made Tim jump and he instinctively pushed the bottle away from his mouth. Already afraid of how the team would react, he did not want to add fuel to the fire. Granting him the right to dignity, Gibbs pulled the bottle away and set it on the table in front of them. After shifting Tim so that he was resting comfortably against his chest he nodded at Ducky to answer the door. Gibbs gently kissed the top of Tim's head and whispered, "We will get through this together."

Taking one last look over his shoulder, Ducky smiled, watching Gibbs comfort Tim. Opening the door, he was practically bowled over by Abby.

"Ducky, where's Tim?" Abby asked slightly annoyed as she stepped into the apartment, taking off her coat and scarf along the way.

"Yeah, Probie better have a damn good excuse for scaring all of us!" Tony chimed in as he followed Ziva and Jimmy inside.

"I assure you that Timothy has a very good excuse for not showing up to work this morning." Ducky said as he subtly nodded his head toward the couch behind them.

The team, each of them consumed with their own thoughts, did not even notice Gibbs or Tim until Ducky pointed them out. In a state of shock, they slowly made their way into the family room. Gibbs was sitting on the couch and in his lap was an adorable baby boy with bright green eyes, chubby red cheeks, pouty lips and short sandy blonde hair combed off to one side. Extremely uncomfortable with the sudden attention, Tim shifted his weight so that he could bury his face in Gibbs' chest. Intent on soothing him, Gibbs gently ran his fingers through Tim's hair and whispered reassuring words to him. They both knew that the team's reaction to Tim's current state would ultimately set the bar for what was to come.

Abby squealed, "Oh my god, is that Tim? He is the cutest baby I've ever seen! Can I hold him? Please...please...please...!"

With each question, her voice would raise another octave.

"Not now, Abs." Gibbs admonished her as he continued his ministrations.

Jimmy suddenly paled and Ducky led him over to an armchair to sit down.

Figuring it was the question on each of their minds, Ziva asked "How is this possible? Tim was fine when we left the bar last night."

"Probably had an accomplice, Grey must have overheard where you three were going last night." Gibbs answered angrily.

Tony, who had been unusually quiet, suddenly burst out laughing and pointed to the bottle on the table.

"Tiny Tim is drinking out of a bottle? I've got the perfect nickname, McBaby! Holy crap! Is he wearing a diaper?"

Tony continued teasing as he took his cell phone out to take pictures.

Suddenly, Ducky smacked Tony on the back of the head, hard.

"You do realize Anthony, that Timothy understands everything you just said?"

Upset with Tony's reaction, Gibbs barked out; "DiNozzo, if you snap one photo of him, you will be seeing stars for weeks. And if you think I'm joking, go ahead, try me."

The smile on Tony's face quickly faded when he looked around and realized he was the only person who thought the situation was funny.

Tim expected Tony to joke around, but never imagined he would be cruel. Between the team's reaction and the amount of milk consumed earlier, he suddenly felt his diaper become wet. Tears started welling up in his eyes and before he knew it, he was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Aww, you made Timmy cry, Tony!" Abby reached out to rub his back.

Tim didn't want anything to do with her and cuddled closer to Gibbs in an attempt to avoid her.