Baby Jilson Arrives

The following morning as far as work went was a bit slower than normal. For the first time in the thirty-seven years as a federal agent, Jethro was late. Now we all knew why he was late although we also knew that Tony was thinking along a different line of thought. Jethro was being the ever doting grandfather. When Tony found out, his thoughts of an early morning stolen moment between Jen and Jethro were instantly dashed.
After being in labor for nearly twenty-four hours, Kelly gave birth to her and Jason’s daughter; Shannon Elizabeth Beckett. When we first saw Shannon, those of us who were mothers desperately tried to fight back tears of happiness. Of course with all major family events there was a debate on if baby Shannon was going to have her maternal grandmother as her namesake or her paternal grandmother as her namesake. Mrs. Beckett didn’t like the fact that her granddaughter was being named after a woman who had been dead for nearly four decades. This nearly sent Kelly to tears. Those of us that were clued for longer than Jason’s parents had been knew why it was so important to Kelly that her daughter was named after her mother. When JD was born I faced a similar predicament that Kelly was facing and so had Ziva when Hannah first arrived eighteen years ago.
Along with Jethro, Ziva and I fought inch by inch with Jason’s mom for baby Shannon to be named after Shannon. If there was anyone who was backing Kelly the most it was Jethro. The endgame, Kelly and Jason’s daughter was to be named after her maternal grandmother so that when she was old enough to inquire about her grandmother that she would understand the significance. There wasn’t a doubt that on some level baby Shannon would call Jen, Grandma; once she was able to talk. On a subconscious level Jen looked forward to being Grandma Jenny, but she knew that she couldn’t replace a blood relative.
While Jethro and Jen took their time coming into work, the rest of us followed suit. At my house while the girls took turns in the shower and got ready for another day of school, Nick and I spent some time together in bed. Thankfully JD had her license now and we had brought her first car, so she was able to drive her sisters into school when she went in. Nick and I had waited eighteen years for the day JD would get her license. I needed these little morning moments with my husband. It was our chance to reconnect with each other. So Nick and I laid in bed, under the covers.
The bedding barely reached Nick’s perfectly sculpted and well maintained abs as they sat just at his waist, which made me quiet happy. Nick and I had fallen into our routine quiet easily, Nick would go to bed in just his lounge pants as I would end up yanking my lounge pants off the second I was in bed and I had Nick’s warm body next to mine. But with all that aside, the moment we were in was absolutely perfect. I laid in bed looking at my ever increasingly handsome husband of almost eighteen years wondering what I did in life to be given the reward of being married to the greatest guy ever. The chorus “Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good,” which was the song title from the classic Sound of Music; kept playing in my mind as I fell in love with Nick all over again. After the lyrics stopped playing in my mind, I couldn’t help but think that at times I was the female/younger version of Tony with all of the random pop culture trivia I had stored in my mind.
Kate and Drew were getting their kids together for school as Abby and McGee got their kids together so that Sarah could watch them for the day. Tony and Ziva sat down together to have breakfast together as Hannah and Leah grabbed breakfast as they walked out the door for school.
Later on after everyone got to work, Nick had come over to the squad room before Jethro had left for coffee. Tony had brought up the time that Ziva had pointed her gun at him while they were undercover as married assassin, which from what I had seen had put a smile on Jethro’s face. Of course Tony couldn’t help but remind everyone that Kate also slept with her gun under her pillow like he had years ago. This in turn prompted Nick to share some information about me.
“Kate and Ziva aren’t the only ones that sleep with their guns, Tony. Jay does the same thing.”
I just rolled my eyes. Jethro had that look in his eyes like he was about to say that Jen did the same as me, Kate and Ziva; but thought better of it. Tony, on the other hand picked up on Jethro’s not so subtle look as I had.
“Ha! The Director does the same too, doesn’t she boss?” Tony said.
“Smack him for me, Ziva.”
It was easy to tell that Jethro was quite pleased that the women he worked with and saw outside of the office took such precautions. Seeing Jethro thrilled with the fact that Jen, Ziva, Kate and I slept with our sigs and Jethro knowing that Abby was able to kick some butt in order to defend herself gave Jethro some peace. It also seemed to give him the reassurance that once he, Jen and Ducky retired next month that we were able to protect ourselves.
A little while later we were all back on the labor and delivery floor of Bethesda Naval hospital. Needless to say it was a packed house on the labor and delivery floor. Palmer’s parents had flown into DC for the birth of their grandchild just as AJ’s parents had. Leyla had stayed behind with Amira, Franks and Jackson back at Jen and Jethro’s. As we waited in the waiting room I let my mind wonder off, which most of the time was okay.
Even though they had been living together for years now, it was still hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that it was Jen and Jethro’s home and not just Jethro’s. It didn’t seem to affect the others as much as it did me, probably because I was the one out of me and my teammates that has known Jen and Jethro the longest. As I drifted back to reality I had realized that Nick had put his arms my waist and was behind me as we waited. I also noticed Kelly waiting with us with baby Shannon in her arms. It was safe to say that we all would agree, whether we were a parent or not; there was something sentimental about a new mom holding her baby.
When Kelly had shifted baby Shannon to her arm that had been supporting the baby’s butt it was easy to tell by the expression on my face that I missed the days when mine and Nick’s daughters were that small. Eventually the waiting progressed, the kids had returned home from school while we remained at home. The older kids knew what to do and where to reach us in case of an emergency. At one point I had texted JD to tell her that Leyla, Franks, Jackson and Amira were only a phone call away if she or the others need anything.
Slowly the hours vexed on as we waited. We had grown accustomed to the late nights due to cases and our respective kids waking up in the wee hours of the morning. Palmer’s mom and AJ’s mom went down to the hospital caferteria to get coffee for themselves and their respective husbands. When they returned they were taken aback a bit. Mrs. Palmer and Mrs. Wilson had found all of us sleeping in the waiting room just outside AJ’s delivery suite.
All the men from Ducky to Nick had propped themselves up against a chair on the waiting room floor as my four best friends, myself and Jordan rested our heads on our respective significant others’ laps. Nick and I were right next to Jen and Jethro; Mrs. Palmer and Mrs. Wilson smiled when they saw us. They knew Jen and Jethro’s story, they knew my fairytale. Within a few minutes they zoned in on Jen and I. Later on I would learn why they had zoned in on us.
Before long Palmer and AJ’s son, Ryan James was born. AJ and Palmer shortly settled into their new roles as mom and dad as we all returned home. We were all beyond tired and our beds were more than welcoming. JD had put her sisters to bed after they had finished their homework. JD had fallen asleep on the couch with her copy of Pride and Prejudice while she tried to stay up until Nick and I got home.
“Baby girl, time to go bed.” I said softly as I tried to wake JD up.
JD was like me when she was woken up, cranky as all hell. After JD was in her bed, Nick and I collapsed in our bed. While we all slept, something was going on with Jen and Jethro that come morning we would all find out.