Warnings: Contains Spoilers from Season 6 to Season 10. Not canon after "Deliverance".

Disclaimers: I do not own NCIS or its characters, they belong to show creators and CBS.

A/N: Totally inspired by the scene in Life Before His Eyes when Tony held the baby. If you didn't melt you're cold. J/K. . This story is LONG. It will span seasons 6 thru 10. And I know that Tony as a daddy stories are probably way over done, but I just love them and wanted to write my own. I hope you enjoy!

Safe and Sound

The rise and fall of the baby's tiny chest was strangely comforting for him. Perhaps it was because her entrance into this world had been anything but joyful. It had been full of anxious moments. However, at the current moment she was resting peacefully in her father's arms and he couldn't believe how something so small had rendered such feelings in him—for the first time in his life Anthony DiNozzo was experiencing unconditional love.

Gently using his feet to propel the rocking chair he was seated in, Tony marveled at the little girl in his arms. It was hard to believe he had helped create something so small and perfect. When the baby's mother had sent the email to him seven months ago and told him she was pregnant with his baby Tony wasn't sure what he was going to do. He was out in the middle of the ocean still, stationed on the Seahawk and there was no end in sight to his assignment. She'd given him time to think about it.

Sighing Tony watched as his daughter rubbed her face with her tiny fist. When Amanda had contacted him again, asking him what he was going to do about the baby, he'd asked what she wanted to do about the baby. He was shocked to learn that the prospect of raising a baby by herself terrified her, if he didn't step up she was going to abort the pregnancy. That had been the ultimatum. He couldn't be responsible for the death of his child. He'd told her he'd take care of her, the baby. He told her that he was going to fight even harder to get reassigned to the States.

In retrospect he should have known that this was never going to end well but he'd been too wrapped up in the sheer joy that he was going to be a dad to notice that there was a problem.

And the problem had not really presented itself until the baby had been born. Amanda's labor had been somewhat unexpected. Hell, they were supposed to have another three weeks. Tony knew he shouldn't have been surprised that his child wouldn't stick to the plan. But just a few hours after they had driven Mike Franks to the airport, the phone had rang and Tony had made some lame excuse to get out of work to rush to the hospital to be by her side.

Of course, the team probably thought he was ducking out early for a hot, Valentine's Day date. Tony was okay with them thinking that for now. And besides, his daughter was the best Valentine's day present anyone could have given him. He'd been calling her his pretty little Valentine for the last two days now. It helped him swallow the anger that he was feeling at her mother.

As soon as Amanda's forty-eight hours were up, she was gone. Tony wasn't sure where. He only had a note saying that she didn't want to be a mother yet and that she wanted to focus on her career. He was left with a newborn daughter to raise by himself. Perhaps this was karma for all his days chasing women and it was true what they say, karma is a bitch.

Tony knew that neither of them were ready to be parents and they certainly were not ready to be parents together, but the last time he checked it took two people to make a baby. What gave her the right to just up abandon that baby? Abandon him to raise her? If she didn't want to live with him and raise the baby with him that was fine, they could have worked out a custody agreement, child support. But to just up and leave, it made him sick to his stomach. It wasn't acceptable. And he may never learn to accept it. He'd always thought himself as a forgivable guy but when it came to the abandonment of his daughter it didn't seem like something to forgive. He briefly wondered if his mother would feel the same way if she had lived to see what his father had done to him.

Little eyes lazily opened to look at him and he smiled at the tiny baby.

"Yes, I'm still here," he told her. "I'm not going to leave you baby. I promise."

Someone stepped into the nursery, another mother and father, with a nurse. They gushed over their new baby boy, a nine-pound wonder, who would make the little girl in his arms look like a doll. Tony continued to rock her while the newcomers were allowed to hold and feed their baby. He listened while the nurse instructed the new mother what to do when it came to feeding her baby from behind the curtain she had put up. He had gotten a similar lesson an hour ago, although maybe it wasn't so similar since he had bottle fed his daughter and not breast fed like the hidden mother now.

"Agent DiNozzo, do you want me to put her back in the bassinet?" a kind voice asked.

Glancing up he noticed another nurse standing in front of him. Her brown eyes pitied him and maybe after everything that had happened he did deserve some kind of pity. He shook his head. "No, I'm…I'm fine."

"Just let me know if you need anything."

"Okay, thank you."

The nurse smiled at him and walked away. Tony watched as she went about the rest of her rounds, before turning back to his baby. Her eyes were settled on his face again, almost like she was trying to place him. He smiled at her and held a finger out to her. "You are named after a very special person. She was my friend. A good friend. Still miss her everyday."

Gently the baby's tiny fingers wrapped around his outstretched one. Tony just soaked in the sight of her sweet face. "We're gonna be okay, you and I. Not sure how I know that. Maybe I just feel it in my gut." He chuckled. "My gut. I haven't even told my co-workers that you exist. Wonder what they're gonna say. Actually, I think I know what they're gonna say. Nothing for your tiny ears to hear."

She made a little mewing noise. Tony continued to smile, pulling her small pink blanket tightly around her little body. "Don't worry, though. They aren't gonna say all those nasty things to you. Oh no, they'll see your pretty face and instantly fall in love. How could they not after all you're a DiNozzo, bet you've got the charm."

Her little gray eyes blinked, not leaving his face. It was almost as if she really was hanging on every word he said. Tony looked into those eyes and felt compelled to continue. "Abby is gonna wanna hold you first. And since she can kill me without leaving evidence, well, I guess I better let her. McGee will probably hold you like you're poison. He's worse with kids than I am. Not worried about Ducky. He is a doctor after all. And Gibbs, who's to say how he's gonna react. Have to admit though, he does have a way with kids. Ziva...she's the one that I cannot figure out. There are times I think she'll make a great mother but then I think about all her training and second guess myself. Does she even want kids at all?"

Tony paused when he saw her eyes start to droop shut. "I'm keeping you up. Sorry. I like to talk a lot." He felt her grip on his finger loosen and soon she was back to sleep. He ran his finger along her cheekbone, briefly glanced at his watch, and sighed. It was close to two in the morning. If he was going to get into headquarters before his boss and partners, he had to report to work by six. If he left now he might be able to get home and catch a couple of hours of sleep, and maybe come up with how he was going to break the news to the director, his team, that he needed personal leave time to care for his newborn daughter.

He'd known for three months that he was going to be a father but every time he worked up the courage to inform the people he considered his family he froze. Mainly because he knew how disappointed they were going to be in him and he hated to disappoint.

A little whimper came from the baby's lips and it caught the nurse's attention. She came over and took the little girl from him and told Tony she was going to put her down for the night. Tony looked nervous and the nurse paused for a moment. "See that band on your wrist, Agent DiNozzo?Remember we've talked about this?"

He looked at the hospital band. "Yeah."

"That has your name and the baby's name on it. Which means, legally you are the only one allowed to take the baby out of the hospital. Kaitlin will be fine, promise."

Yeah, but am I going to fine? Tony thought anxiously as he watched the nurse walk away.

He watched as she laid the baby down into her bassinet and made sure that she was properly swaddled. When the baby was settled the nurse moved on. Tony moved across the nursery and went to stand near his daughter's bassinet.

Peering down at his baby girl, now sound asleep, Tony smiled gently. If he was a disappointment to his team it didn't change anything. Kaitlin still needed her father to take care of her. Slowly he pressed his fingers to his lips, then pressed them to the baby's soft cheek. "Buona notte, my pretty little Valentine."