Situation

As Sam pulled the car to a stop Callen peered up through the windshield at the very nondescript building they had arrived at.

"This is it?" He checked and Sam glanced at him.

"Expecting more?" Sam smiled as they climbed out of the car.

"Yeah, maybe." Callen replied and Sam chuckled, they closed their doors and made their way over to the building. As they approached the door they both noticed it was slightly ajar, they both unholstered their guns and cautiously headed inside. They were both on high alert as they began to clear the building, moving methodically from room to room. They reached a fork in the hallway and Sam signalled with this hand for Callen to go one way and he'd go the other, Callen nodded and they split up. Sam went left and continued clearing each room he came to, all were empty, finally he reached the last room. As Sam's hand touched the door handle the building was rattled by loud explosion at the other end of the hallway. Sam threw open the door and cleared the last room at lightening speed before taking off running toward the sound. As the smoke began to clear at the far end of the hallway Sam saw Callen slumped against the wall opposite the room in which the bomb had exploded, he was covered in bits of shattered doorframe.

"G!" Sam called out, his heart sank at the sight of his unconscious partner. Sam reached Callen and put his finger to his neck to find a pulse, as he felt a very weak one he told Eric over coms that he needed a bus. Sam stabilised Callen's head and neck with hands and laid him down on his back, when he removed his hands he saw they had blood on them. Sam tried to assess how badly Callen was injured as he waited for the ambulance, he could see various lacerations and an obviously broken arm but he could only guess as to how bad the internal injuries were.

The ambulance was there within minutes as were Kensi and Deeks, Sam followed the ambulance to the hospital while Kensi and Deeks stayed and worked the scene. Sam got to the hospital not long after the ambulance, and watched as a team of ER doctors and nurses worked on Callen. The team took his vitals, put in IV lines and cataloged his injuries, Sam saw one of the doctors use a portable ultrasound on Callen's abdomen.

"He has fluid in the abdomen, we need to get him up to surgery now." The doctor informed the team, after looking at the screen for only a couple of seconds. The nurses got him ready for transport and Sam continued to watch as they put the sides of the bed up and wheeled him away. After seeing Callen disappear through a set of double doors Sam headed to the waiting room and settled in for a long wait. It took all of Sam's willpower not to mentally list all the possible injuries someone could sustain from a blast wave as he waited for news of Callen's condition. He was briefly distracted by an update from Deeks, though the news was not good. The bomb had so completely destroyed the room it had been in there was no useable evidence with which to track the bomb maker, the trail had gone cold. Shortly after the update Hetty arrived, she shared a look of grave concern with Sam then took a seat next to him. Her arrival was followed not long after by Nell and Eric who looked to Sam and Hetty for news. Sam and Hetty shook their heads and Nell and Eric went and a took a seat together. As soon as they had finished up at the scene Kensi and Deeks went straight to hospital and received the same head shaking on their arrival. The hours passed agonisingly slowly as the team waited together in somber silence, only interrupted by Nell and Kensi offering to get any one who wanted one a coffee. Five hours after Callen's arrival at the hospital a tired looking surgeon walked out of the double doors towards the waiting team.

"Mr Callen?" The surgeon looked to see who would respond. Sam immediately got to his feet as Nell lifted her head from Eric's shoulder and Kensi lifted hers from Deeks'.

"I'm his next of kin." Hetty replied as she stood and walked a couple of steps over to the doctor.

"We've managed to stabilise him but it's very touch and go. He sustained a severe head injury and there was massive internal bleeding. We had to replace his entire blood volume twice but we managed to repair all the internal lacerations and perforations. We have set his broken bones and relieved the pressure in his brain. A machine is breathing for him and we're monitoring his brain very closely. He's critical but stable for now, if there's any other family you should probably let them know to come and see him." The surgeon laid out Callen's condition very matter of factly. Hetty simply nodded her understating as the rest team struggled with the realisation that he might not come out of this.

"Once the nurses have him set up in the ICU you can go in and see him." The doctor added then returned the way she had come. The team stayed standing as they waited to see him, they remained silent all at loss for words as they processed what the surgeon had told them. Fifteen minutes later a nurse came and lead the team to Callen's room, one by one they filed in and stood around his bed. They stared, all struggling with the sight of their strong team leader looking so weak and broken. Nell, struggling with her emotions at seeing Callen like that looked away burying her face in Eric's chest, feeling it Eric wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on top of hers. Deeks saw them and glanced at Kensi, seeing her expression he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. The team hadn't been in the room for much more the ten minutes when Sam suddenly turned and went to leave.

"Sam?" Deeks called after him stunned to see him leaving, Sam ignored him and continued out the door.

"Let him go." Hetty advised him. Sam didn't hear Hetty's advice as he continued down the corridor, into the elevator and out of the hospital. He did his best to keep his emotions in check as he climbed into his car and pulled out of the carpark. Images of Callen lying in the rubble and in the hospital covered in tubes and wires a machine breathing for him plagued Sam his entire drive to NCIS.

He parked in his spot and got out of the car, he then made his way inside keeping his head down focused only on what he was there to do. He walked straight to his desk and took a seat, he looked across at Callen's empty desk, took a deep breath then unlocked his bottom drawer. He reached in pulled out a sealed envelope with his name on it in Callen's handwriting. As he brought it out he immediately noticed it was new, not the same old, slightly battered envelope he had had in his bottom desk drawer for the eighteen years they'd been partners. As he stared at Callen's handwriting he wondered when Callen had updated it and why he hadn't just given him the new version. After a few more seconds Sam turned over the envelope, took a deep breath then broke the seal on a letter he hoped never to have to read. He slid out the letter and was again surprised to find it was one small paragraph on a single sheet of paper. Sam took one more deep breath, lifted the letter to eye level and began to read.

Sam,

If you're reading this I'm dead, dying or barely hanging on. First, I have no doubt you did everything you could and there was nothing you could have done to prevent whatever happened to me. Second, there's only one thing I need you to do in the event that something happens to me: go to my house. That's it, that's all I need you to do, just go to my house. I promise when you get there everything will become clear and you'll know what to do. And Sam, if you're reading this letter then I never told you myself and for that I'm sorry.

Thank you for being the best partner and friend a guy could ask for.

Yours,

Callen

Sam reread the letter several times trying to glean something he had missed the first time. He stared at the piece of paper stunned, he looked it over again then flipped it over feeling like he must have missed something. As he reread the last line one final time he felt a tightness in his chest and his eyes began to get misty. He shook his head and pushed his feelings back down, then stood, stuck the letter in his pocket as he pushed in his chair and walked back out of the office.

Sam spent the entire ride to Callen's house racking his brain, trying to think of what he was going to find when he got there. He was so in his head as he turned into Callen's street he didn't immediately notice the lights were on in Callen's house. He slowed when he reached the house and parked across the street, he turned off the car and sat for a moment staring up at the house. As he stared at the glowing light coming from the windows he somehow knew that life would irrevocably change the moment he knocked on the door. He gave himself a few more seconds before exiting the car, he crossed the street and walked slowly up the path to the front door. Sam raised his hand and wrapped his knuckles on the door, it took several seconds before he heard the sound of the door being unlocked. Once it was, the door opened inward to reveal a very pregnant Izzy, Sam's mouth dropped opened and his eyes widened as he caught sight of a woman he hadn't seen in a little over six years. Sam and Izzy stood frozen on opposite sides of the doorway stunned to find themselves face to face with each other. Sam eyes travelled down to Izzy's very rounded stomach and the thin gold band on the ring finger of her left hand that was resting on it. As his eyes moved back up he saw Izzy eyes well with tears as it occurred to her there was only one reason for Sam to be standing at her door without Callen.

"Oh god, no!" She gasped as her right hand moved from the door handle to her mouth.

"No, he's not...but it's bad. The doctors, they don't, they don't know if he's gonna..." Sam quickly tried to clarify but found it hard to get the words out. Izzy nodded her understanding while wiping the tears from her eyes, as she did a little three year old boy wrapped in a light blue towel appeared from behind her. Sam watched as the boy, the spitting image of Callen, wrapped himself around her leg.

"Sammy, didn't I tell you to wait in your room?" She looked down at her son, the boy just grinned up at her.

"We just finished bath time." She told Sam to explain the little boy only wearing a towel.

"Sammy?" Sam repeated stunned.

"Callen named him after his best friend." Izzy confirmed the connection smiling. Sam stood there his head spinning with everything he just learnt and all the feelings it was stirring up in him.

"I'll take you to the hospital." Sam managed when his mind finally stopping whirring.

"Okay, thanks. I'll just go and get him dressed." Izzy replied grateful as she and Sammy stood aside to allow Sam to enter.

"Does he need a car seat?" Sam asked wanting to busy himself with something.

"Oh, yes, it's in my car, in the garage." Izzy remembered, gesturing down the hall as Sam followed her inside.

"I'll transfer it to my car while you get the little man ready." Sam offered as Izzy ushered Sammy towards the stairs.

"That would be great, thank you." Izzy smiled as Sammy started dragging her by the hand up the stairs.

Fifteen minutes later Sam stood leaning against his car watching Izzy and Sammy making their way over to him. He opened the door and helped Izzy get Sammy in his car seat before getting in the car himself. The car was quiet as Sam started driving a different route than he had come back to the hospital. Izzy noticed Sam's eyes repeatedly moving between the road, her and staring in the rear view mirror at the little boy happily playing with a toy robot in the back.

"Callen never wanted to keep it from you." She started and Sam momentarily glanced at her again.

"At first he didn't tell you because he thought you'd talk him out of seeing me, you being one of the few people he really listens to it probably would have worked. After that it just snowballed, the longer he waited to tell you about me the harder it got because, the more time that passed the bigger of a secret it became." She tried to explain Callen's actions.

"It's okay, keeping you a secret kept you safe, he did what he had to do to protect you...and protect himself from Hetty." At this Izzy looked at Sam and they shared a smile.

"He was right, I would have advised him against it." Sam admitted glancing again at the little boy who might not exist if he had.

"Only because you care about him." Izzy came to his defence.

"You mean the world to him Sam." She felt compelled to add and Sam nodded.

"I know, though I think I've dropped a few places, and soon to drop one more." He smiled as he glanced as Izzy's stomach, she smiled too.

"How far along are you?" He asked.

"Eight months; got eight weeks to go." She answered as she gently ran her hand over her stomach. They fell into a mostly companionable silence both occasionally looking in the rear view mirror to check on the littlest passenger. Sam tried to just focus on where they were going but his head was filled with questions, it didn't take long for his curiosity to get the better of him.

"So nobody knows about you two?" He asked wondering.

"Actually my family knows. When we were dating Callen broke his own rule and met them, then promptly swore them to secrecy." Izzy revealed.

"But Hetty doesn't know?" He checked, trying to understand the unique situation.

"No." Izzy confirmed.

"What did you tell her when you got pregnant with Sammy, about who the father was?" Sam continued his questioning though wondered if he were prying too much.

"I told her I'd been seeing a guy, not very seriously and when I told him I was pregnant he bailed." She answered his question willingly, seemingly quite happy to talk about it.

"And with the second pregnancy?" He followed up.

"Sammy's father had reappeared on the scene and I, in hopes that maybe Sammy could have his mum and dad together, foolishly agreed to give it another go. When I told I him was pregnant again he bailed, again. This time permanently." She recounted her lie.

"You let her think..." Sam started but then stopped thinking better of commenting.

"That I was one of those woman who got accidentally pregnant to a deadbeat, didn't learn my lesson and got pregnant again to the same deadbeat." Izzy filled in the blank for him.

"Wasn't that hard?" He kept up with the questions.

"Seeing my aunt so disappointed in me? Yeah, it was tough. Callen needed me to keep it a secret, I love Callen, so I did it." Izzy told him.

"It could have been worse, I could have told her I got pregnant to two different deadbeats." She joked with a small smile and Sam chuckled. Though he had more questions Sam went quiet as they arrived at the hospital, his focus shifting to finding parking. It didn't take him long and once he had parked he helped get Sammy out of his car seat then led mother and son to Callen's room.

It had only been a little a more than an hour and a half when Sam arrived back at Callen's room and team was pretty much where he had left them. He stood aside to let Izzy and Sammy in first, as they entered Eric, Nell, Kensi and Deeks eyes widened and their mouths fell open as they watched a very pregnant Izzy and a little boy who looked just like Callen stop just inside the room. Izzy nodded in greeting as her eyes met those of each member of the team. After nodding back their eyes all moved back to Sammy, they watched the little boy cling to his mother as she walked over to Callen.

"Oh, Callen." The words escaped Izzy's lips as she tried her hardest not to cry as she saw how seriously injured he was.

"Daddy?" Sammy reached up and placed his little hand on Callen's in an effort to get his father's attention, when he realised he couldn't he looked to his mother confused and upset.

"It's okay Sammy." She fought back tears and plastered on a smile to reassure her son as she lifted him up and put him on her hip.

"Of course." Deeks whispered under his breath upon hearing the boy's name.

"Daddy had an accident, he got really hurt." She began to explain.

"Ouchie?" Sammy questioned her.

"Yes, Daddy has lots of ouchies and he's resting." She finished, Sammy wrapped his arms around her neck and rested his head on her shoulder. With a hand, on which the team noticed she was wearing a wedding band, she began to rub his back. As she did she squeezed her eyes shut and the tears that had been threatening to fall since she entered the room finally did.

"Aunt Hetty." Sammy cheered up a bit as he caught sight of his great aunt over his mother's shoulder. Izzy turned around to see Hetty sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the room from the rest of team, not easily visible on entry to the room. Sammy wriggled in a way Izzy knew meant he wanted to get down so she placed him back on the ground. As soon as his feet touched the floor he ran over and hugged his great aunt, she smiled and hugged him back before looking back up at Izzy.

"Aunty Hetty, I..." She began to try to explain as she quickly wiped away her tears before Sammy could see, Hetty raised a hand to quiet her.

"When he's well." She stated firmly. Izzy nodded and turned her attention back to Callen, touching his hand carefully avoiding the IV.

"I'm here." She told him then very carefully leaned over him and placed a soft kiss on the only clear patch of skin she could find; his temple, between the bandage around his head and the ventilator. She straightened up then reached behind her head and undid the clasp on the gold chain she was wearing, from the chain she removed a gold wedding band.

"You said you'd come back for it." She reminded Callen as slid the ring on his left hand ring finger.

As she looked up and pocketed the chain it was obvious to everyone she was struggling to hold it together.

"Hey Sammy, how would like to go with me to the vending machine and get a treat?" Kensi asked Sammy, then turned to Izzy.

"Is that okay?" She checked, Sammy looked at his mother for permission and she nodded.

"Yes, he can have a treat." Izzy agreed and Kensi held out her hand to Sammy. As he took it Izzy mouthed thank you to Kensi, she nodded, smiled and began walking Sammy out of the room.

"I think I'll join them." Nell said and began to follow Kensi.

"Me too." Added Deeks.

"Me three." Eric followed suit. Izzy watched as the five of them walked off down the hallway before turning back to Callen, she watched his chest rise and fall for a moment before looking at Sam and Hetty.

"Before Sammy was born Callen told me if we had kids I'd have to be okay be the main parent a good amount of the time. I said I was, then he said I also had to know that if something happened to him I'd have to be the sole parent all the time. He needed to know that if worse came to worse I could do it on my own. I told him I could." She told them.

"I lied." She admitted as her eyes once again filled with tears.

"Do you hear that Callen?" She turned back to him.

"I lied, I can't do it on my own. I need you. Sammy needs you. Our daughter needs you. Our family needs you." She told him placing her hands on her stomach as she broke down and cried. Sam quickly walked over and pulled her against him, enveloping her in a hug.

"I need him." She cried into his chest. Sam struggled to hold it together as he reassured her Callen would pull through this. They stayed this way for awhile, the only sounds in the room the ventilator, the heart monitor and Izzy's muffled sobs.

"Oh my god." Nell exclaimed once they got out of earshot of Callen's room.

"I can't believe it." Eric seconded her shock as they all wandered slowly down the corridor.

"Hetty's niece, that's ballsy." Deeks commented garnering a look from Kensi.

"I'm just saying." He added defensively.

"Did Sam know?" Eric wondered aloud.

"I don't think so, he seems to be processing this like he rest of us." Kensi pointed out.

"Then how did he know to bring them here?" Deeks challenged Kensi's belief that Sam hadn't know.

"The letter." Nell suddenly realised and the others looked at her blankly.

"We've all written letters to be opened in case something ever happens to us. That's where Sam went, he opened Callen's letter." She elaborated.

"Poor Sam." Deeks frowned as he imagined himself having to read one of those letters.

"How did we not see it?" Eric wondered aloud as they they reached the end of the corridor and turned a corner into the waiting room Nell, Kensi and Deeks all looked at him.

"Think about it, one day three years ago Callen came to work having just the day before become a father and we didn't see it." He expounded on the thought as they crossed the room to a bank of two vending machines one containing snacks and confectionery the other drinks.

"He didn't want us to." Nell pointed out as they all watched Sammy examining the contents of the vending machine so closely his face was almost touching the glass. Kensi noticed him craning his neck to see what was on the top row so she put her hands out in an offer to lift him up. He noticed, and understanding the gesture, lifted up his arms allowing her. Kensi put him on her hip and as he studied the top row she studied him.

"He looks so much like him." She remarked. Nell, Eric and Deeks nodded in strong agreement, all of them had been thinking the same thing.

"So Sammy, which one would you like?" Kensi asked.

"That one." He answered as stuck his finger on the glass.

"The M&M's?" She checked and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Please." He added giving her a smile that looked just like his father's causing her to grin.

"Sure." She held hand her hand out to Deeks expectantly, he just stared at her.

"I don't carry cash." She reminded him and he gave her a look before pulling out his wallet and giving her a note. She helped Sammy feed the note into the machine then told him which two buttons to press. Once he'd pressed them, he watched the packet of M&M's fall into the receptacle at the bottom, Kensi put him down and he retrieved the packet from the machine. They then all walked over to some empty seats against the wall and sat down, Kensi helping Sammy onto his.

"Open? Please." Sammy requested holding out the packet to Kensi. She took it, opened it for him and handed it back and for a while the team just watched Sammy happily munching on his chocolate.

"Well, we know what we have to do." Kensi stated and received unsure looks from the other three.

"Everything we can to help, anything Izzy and Sammy need. They're family." She elaborated and Nell, Eric And Deeks nodded in silent agreement.

Due to a case it was three days before any of the team could visit Callen again, though Hetty called Izzy regularly for updates. Nell and Kensi took the opportunity in a quiet moment at work to head to the hospital to see how he was doing. When they arrived Izzy was sitting beside his bed with Sammy on her lap reading him a story. They waited patiently in the doorway until she finished the story, at which point she closed the book, looked up and noticed them standing there.

"Hi." She smiled at the two women as they entered the room.

"Hey." Kensi greeted her as Sammy looked up and smiled when he saw them.

"We would have come sooner but we had a case come up at work." She explained as she and Nell approached Callen's bed.

"How's he doing?" Nell asked glancing at the monitors but not fully understanding the readings.

"Still stable, no real change. The doctors tell me that's good given how concerned they were about his condition after surgery." Izzy informed them and they nodded slightly encouraged by that news.

"Oh, we come bearing gifts." Nell told her as she remembered the bags she was holding.

"That's very sweet of you." Izzy smiled.

"We figured you'd be doing a lot of sitting and waiting so we thought entertainment would be the best present." She continued.

"Magazines for Mum." Nell held out the larger of the two plastic bags to Izzy. She took it and briefly looked through the assorted magazines Nell had chosen.

"These are great, thanks."

"And something for Sammy." Nell smiled and handed the smaller bag to Sammy.

"What do you say Sammy?" Izzy reminded him to be polite.

"Thank you." He smiled then immediately stuck his hand in the bag eager to see the contents. When his hand came back out he was holding a book and a small box.

"A colouring book and crayons." Izzy identified the gift and smiled gratefully at Nell and Kensi.

"Thank you."

"You look like you could use a break. Why don't we all head to the cafeteria and have a coffee?" Kensi suggested as Sammy looked through his new colouring book, she saw Izzy hesitate and glance at Callen.

"He's not going anywhere." She reassured her.
"Okay, that sounds good." Izzy agreed as she lifted Sammy off her lap.

The three women and Sammy went to the elevator and rode to the ground floor of the hospital, once there they made their way to the cafeteria. Kensi asked Izzy what she and Sammy wanted then suggested she go and find them somewhere to sit. Izzy gave Kensi her order and walked off with Sammy to find a table with four seats. A few minutes later Nell and Kensi joined Izzy at the table and found Sammy already earnestly colouring in his new book.

"What do I owe you?" Izzy asked as Kensi and Nell took their seats.

"It's on me." Kensi told her.

"Thanks." Izzy smiled.

"He even has he same concentration face as Callen." Nell remarked as she watched Sammy drawing, Izzy and Kensi looked at him and smiled.

"I call him Callen's mini me. I sometimes wonder if he got any of my DNA at all." Izzy joked.

"So…" Nell started but stopped herself.

"You have questions, about me and Callen." Izzy guessed.

"So many questions." Nell confirmed.

"Go ahead, ask away." Izzy smiled and Nell exhaled, relieved to be told it was okay to ask.

"So how did the two of you get together?" Kensi got in with the first question.

"Remember when I got shot? Well, the night after Aunt Hetty told me the case was closed Callen turned up at my door. I let him in and he told me the man who tried to kill me and all of his hired guns were dead." Izzy recounted and Nell and Kensi's eyes widened.

"He told you that?" Nell asked incredulous.

"I know, it was all highly classified, he shouldn't have but he said he'd been shot and he knew what it was like. He thought it would help me to know it really was over and I was safe. That night was a rare night that both of my roommates were out, given what had happened I didn't really want to be alone so I asked him if he would stay and offered him a beer. He agreed to stay for one drink but one drink turned into two, then three and then we kissed, at which point he freaked out and ran off. About four days later he came back, he stood at my door confirming it was a bad idea but he just stood there making no attempt to leave, so I let him in. Basically, after that he just kept coming back, I just kept letting him in and the rest, as they say, is history." Izzy finished her story and Nell and Kensi took it in.

"How did he propose?" Nell asked excitedly.

"We'd been together about a year and nine months, one night he came home late, I think it was around midnight. I was up getting a glass of water and as soon as he saw me he just came over and pulled me into a tight hug, that's when I knew he'd had a really tough case. When he finally let me go he told me he'd had probably the closest call of his career that day, for a little while he had really thought he wouldn't be coming home to me. So I asked him if he wanted to talk about it."

"He talks to you about work?" Kensi interrupted very surprised.

"No, well, sort of. We have this deal, he can't tell me about his day because his job is classified but his feelings aren't. So he doesn't tell me what happened at work but he tells me how he feels about it. Anyway, he said he didn't want to talk about it but that he had realised something, he had realised how much I mean to him. He knew that if he got out of it, whatever it was, the first thing he'd want to do was see me. He told me he'd promised himself that if he lived he would make sure I knew exactly how much he loves me and ask me to spend the rest of my life with him. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, I of course said yes." She smiled as she remembered that night.

"Oh my god, that is so romantic." Nell gushed upon hearing that story.

"What was your wedding like?" Kensi asked still smiling about the proposal story.

"It was three months later, we just got married at the courthouse. It was nice though, my Dad, brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew were there, oh and so was my best friend Mia. She was one of my roommates when Callen and I started dating so she was on the very short list of people who knew about us. It was a fairly simple and straight forward ceremony but the best part was the reception, we had it at my Dad's place, out on the patio overlooking the ocean. We had a barbecue dinner and cake for dessert, there was drinking and dancing, it was a great night."

"And no honeymoon?" Kensi guessed, aware of the impossibility of getting more than a days leave at their job.

"Actually we did have one, it's was only a short one though. Aunty Hetty told Callen he had to take some mandatory vacation days a few weeks before the wedding, so he promised to take them in a few weeks time and she agreed. He took four days off, we got married on the first day and drove up the coast to a little B&B late that night and spent the next three days there. It was wonderful, it was the first time since he was recovering from a punctured lung early in our relationship that we'd spent four uninterrupted days together." Izzy explained and both Nell and Kensi remembered their mission in Mexico.

"So you guys have been married five years right?" Nell did the math.

"Yup, we had our fifth anniversary three weeks ago." Izzy confirmed.

"Huh, right in between." Kensi commented and Izzy looked to her.

"Deeks and I have been married six years and Nell and Eric have been married four, you and Callen got married right in the middle." She explained her comment and Izzy smiled at the pattern, right then the waiter arrived with their coffees and a drink for Sammy.

"Decaf?" He asked and Izzy raised her hand. He put one cup in front of her then handed out the rest of the drinks, the table remained quiet as the women enjoyed their first few sips.

"I would never have guessed it." Nell started breaking the silence.

"Guessed what?" Kensi asked.

"That the next one of the team to have kids would be Callen." Nell answered.

"I wouldn't have thought so either." Kensi replied.
"Are you both planning on having kids?" Izzy inquired.

"Yeah, of course." Nell answered straight away.
"It's just with work being so time consuming, they just kept being put off." Kensi sighed.

"You just keep telling yourself, someday." Nell agreed also sighing.

"How did you and Callen decide the time was right to start a family?" Kensi asked as she mixed her foam into her coffee.

"He had another close call. He came home talking about how life was short, you never know how much time you have left. He didn't want to put anything off anymore and we should start trying for a baby right now. Nearly dying is a very good motivator." Izzy joked and the women chuckled.

"I guess it's not enough for some of us." Kensi sighed again.
"It's different for you." Izzy countered.

"How so?" Nell asked.

"Well, nothing changed for Callen when we had Sammy. I got pregnant, I gave birth and do the majority of the childrearing. When you two get pregnant you'll have to give up your jobs, at least temporarily." She explained and the women fell into a contemplative silence.

Nell had Eric hold down the fort so she could visit Callen and Izzy the very next day. As she headed down the corridor she passed the bathroom, as a woman opened the door and walked out she heard Izzy's voice.

"Okay, time to wash your hands." She told Sammy and groaned as she struggled to lift him up to the sink.

"Can I help?" Nell offered as she quickly walked in, Izzy saw her and put Sammy back down.

"Oh hey Nell, that would be great, thanks." Izzy smiled as Nell made her way over.

"With both him and I getting bigger things are become more difficult." Izzy commented as Nell held Sammy up to the sink. Once he had washed and rinsed his hands Nell led him over to the paper towel dispenser and gave him a couple to dry his hands.

"Anything we can do to help, you just let us know." Nell told her as she binned Sammy's towels.

"Um…how?" Izzy asked unsure as Sammy and the two women left the bathroom.

"No one gave you our number." As the realisation hit her she stopped in her tracks, Izzy shook her head.

"Oh my god, I'm am so sorry. I guess with everything going on the day Callen got hurt we all just forgot." Nell blushed, embarrassed by the misstep.

"It's okay, there was a lot going on." Izzy reassured her.

"I'll give you a number where you reach me and Eric, we'll pass anything on to the team. Oh and with the number…" Nell began to tell her as they entered Callen's room.

"I know the drill, save it under a made up name in my phone, don't share it with anyone, no one can no I have it." Izzy smiled.

"Right, of course, you're used to all of this." Nell returned her smiled and Izzy nodded.

"It's actually good you're here. I saw the doctor today, they're happy that Callen's remained stable so tomorrow they're going to turn off the ventilator and see if he can breathe on his own. I thought the team might like to be here, it's kind of a big step." Izzy informed her as she and Sammy retook their seats.

"Oh, yeah, I'll let the team know, we'll do our best to be here." Nell assured her.

As Nell promised the whole team managed to get to the hospital in time to see Callen be taken off the ventilator. Izzy and Hetty sat beside Callen's bed and the rest of the team stood around making small talk as they waited for Callen's doctor. Everyone looked up as ten minutes before the doctor was expected an older man knocked gently on the door to Callen's room, the team's eyes widened at his clear resemblance to Hetty.

"Hey Dad. Where's Sammy?" Izzy smiled and stood as Ed made his way over to her.

"I fobbed him off on your sister-in-law." Ed told her as he shared a hug with his daughter.

"I thought you should have someone with you for this but I see you're not lacking in support." He continued as he looked around the room.

"Hello Hetty." He added smiling at his sister.

"Hello Ed." Hetty replied smiling but she was unhappy at the way her two worlds were colliding.

"Dad this is Callen's team, Aunty Hetty's team. This is his partner Sam, who Sammy's named after. That's Kensi, Deeks, Nell and Eric." She introduced them pointing at each one.

"This is my father Ed." She finished as Ed smiled at the team in greeting, they all just stared back.

"Why are they staring at me?" Ed whispered to his daughter and Izzy chuckled.

"Before I got shot and turned to them for help, they didn't know Aunt Hetty had any biological family, so meeting you is kind of a big deal. That and you and Aunt Hetty do look a lot a like." She explained and Ed nodded, it was just after this that the doctor entered.

"Wow, looks like you've got the whole gang here." He commented smiling at Izzy as he made his way over to Callen's bed followed by a nurse. He picked up the chart from the end of the bed, opened it and checked Callen's vitals taken earlier that morning.

"His vitals still look good so we're going to go ahead and turn off the ventilator." He told Izzy, she nodded as the nurse went over, turned off the machine and disconnected the tubing. Everyone's eyes were glued to Callen's chest as they watched to see that it would continue to rise and fall, after a couple of quiet minutes the doctor nodded happy with the results and turned to Izzy.

"Well his vitals haven't changed and his oxygen saturation has remained at a good level so I'm going to have the nurse extubate him. This is good progress." He advised her.

"Thank you." Izzy smiled and the doctor smiled and left. Izzy, Ed and the team watched the nurse perform the extubation process and saw her take out the breathing tube, once she had placed an oxygen mask on Callen the nurse left as well.

As Izzy sat at Callen's beside everyday, different configurations of team members would visit whenever they could, keeping Izzy company and helping to entertain Sammy to give her a break. Several days after Callen was taken off the ventilator, just Izzy and Sammy were sitting in Callen's room. The room was quiet except for the sound of Izzy periodically flipping the pages of the magazine she was reading and Sammy colouring with crayons.

"Hey." Callen croaked weakly, finally awake.

"Hey." Izzy quickly got to her feet and discarded the magazine.

"You're awake." Her eyes filled with tears as she stroked his forehead.

"You're here." He looked up at her.

"Where else would I be?" She joked and they shared a smile.

"How?" He asked.

"You were very badly hurt, the doctors didn't know if you were going to make it so Sam opened your letter then came and found us." She explained and it all fell into place for Callen.

"Everyone knows." He realised.

"Everyone knows." She confirmed.

"Hetty?" He followed up.

"Yep, she says she's going to wait until you're well to deal with it. So take as long as you like." Izzy grinned.

"Ow." Callen groaned as he chuckled.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have made you laugh. Sammy look, Daddy's awake." She called over to their son. He immediately looked up from his colouring, leaving his book and crayons on the table next to him he scrambled over to Callen's bed.

"Careful, he's still very sore." Izzy warned him gently.

"Daddy." His little face lit up as he held on to the side of the bed.

"Hey buddy." Callen smiled at him and stroked his head as Izzy pushed the call button to alert the nurse to Callen's improved condition.

"How are you doing?" Callen asked as his hand moved from his son's head to his wife's heavily pregnant stomach.

"We're both good, she facing the right way and ready to come out. Just six weeks to go." Izzy told him and he looked at her a bit confused.

"You've been in a coma for nearly two weeks." She informed him as the nurse entered the room, followed by the doctor who had only been a couple of rooms away doing his rounds.

"Well Mr Callen, I'm very impressed to see you awake and talking already." The doctor commented as he approached Callen's bed.

"I had three very good reasons to wake up." Callen replied looking at Izzy and Sammy.

"So you did. I'm just going to do a simply neurological exam to see how you're doing." The doctor advised him.

"I'm just going to make a phone call." Izzy told Callen as the doctor got out his penlight.

"Don't go anywhere." Callen looked at her as he took her hand.

"I won't, I'll just be over there." She smiled as she gestured to the far corner of the room. Izzy took out her phone as she walked to the corner. She scrolled down to the made up contact and selected it, she observed the doctors exam as she put the phone to her ear.

"Hey Izzy, is everything okay?" Nell answered on the second ring.

"Hi Nell, everything's great, he's awake." Izzy couldn't keep the smile off her face as she gave Nell the news.

"Oh that's fantastic, I'll let the rest of the team know." Nell assured her.

"Great, I should get back to him." Izzy replied.

"Of course, we'll visit as soon as we can, give Callen our best."

"Okay, will do, bye Nell."

"Bye Izzy." Izzy ended the call and turned to find the doctor finishing his exam.

"I'm very happy with all your responses but I'm going to order you a full neurological work up just to be sure." The doctor informed him, making notes in Callen's chart as Izzy retook her position by Callen's bed.

"Okay, thank you Doctor." Callen complied.

Less than thirty minutes later Sam arrived stopping in the doorway and smiled as he took in the Callen family.

"Sam." Callen smiled when he noticed him.

"Hey G." Sam smiled back.

"Sam!" Sammy exclaimed then clambered off of his mother's lap and ran full tilt at Sam.

"Hey kid." Sam chuckled as he picked Sammy up and put the boy over his shoulder making Sammy giggle.

"Looks like you made a friend." Callen grinned at Sam.

"Yup." Sam agreed.

"Look, about Izzy and Sammy, I'm sorry." Callen apologised suddenly getting serious.

"It's okay." Sam assured him.

"No, it's not." Callen argued.

"Okay, it's not, but I forgive you." Sam countered and the two men shared a smile. After that Callen yawned and Izzy and Sam shared a look.

"Okay, we're going to go, you need to rest." Sam decided.

"I'm fine." Callen told him.

"You need to take it easy." Izzy agreed with Sam.

"You have a sleep, I'm going to take your lovely wife and son to lunch." Sam insisted and Callen gave up with a sigh, followed by another yawn.

"Hey." Callen tugged on Izzy's hand as she made a move to leave.

"I love you." He told her and she smiled.

"I love you too, we'll be here when you wake up." She replied, gave him a kiss then followed Sam and Sammy out of the room.

"What are you thinking?" Izzy asked as she and Sam took their seats in the cafeteria, Sam just looked at her.

"I can see your mind working." She told him as Sammy began climbing all over him.

"Sammy." Izzy gently chided him.

"He's okay." Sam assured her.

"It's just, seeing Callen with his wife..." Sam trailed off not sure how to describe how it felt to see them together.

"Still getting used to it?" Izzy supposed and he nodded.

"You're good for him." Sam commented and Izzy smiled.

"Not sure what you get out of it though." He added smirking.

"The sex is great." Izzy joked and they shared a laugh.

"You're good for him too, I mean he named his kid after so you must have done something right." Izzy returned the compliment.

"I guess you were okay with it too." Sam mentioned and Izzy nodded.

"It was the day Sammy was born, they placed him on my chest first but after the nurse had cleaned him up she handed him to Callen. He just stared down at him for ages, completely entranced by him. Eventually he looked up and just said can we name him Sam? I couldn't say no." She recounted and Sam smiled.

"That's when it got really hard for him, he came home after his first day at work after Sammy was born and he wasn't in the best mood. I asked him what was wrong and he asked if I could imagine how hard it was to sit across from your best friend, sit next to him in a car all day and not tell him you'd just become a father and named your son after him." She recalled.

"What did you say?" Sam wondered.

"I empathised, I told him it must be hard, perhaps now might be a good time to finally tell you. He said he didn't know how, how could he tell his best friend he was married with a kid. Around then Sammy woke up, Callen got to have a cuddle and he cheered right up. Seeing Sammy always cheers him up." She smiled, Sam looked up at the little boy climbing on his shoulders and smiled

"I can imagine."

When Izzy and Sammy returned to Callen's room after lunch they found Hetty sitting beside a still sleeping Callen. She and Sammy quietly stepped inside, exchanged silent greetings with her aunt then Izzy took the seat closest to Callen and Sammy returned to the seat beside the table and resumed colouring. The room remained quiet for an hour and a half until Callen woke up.

"Hi." He smiled at Izzy then glanced at Sammy engrossed in his colouring.

"Hey." Izzy smiled back then nodded over at Hetty.

"Hetty." Callen greeted her unsure where things stood.

"Mr Callen." Hetty replied giving nothing away.

"I'm glad to see you're doing better." She added with a small smile, Callen nodded then took a deep breath.

"Hetty, about Izzy..." He began but when Hetty gave him a look he stopped.

"Save your energy, there's nothing to discuss." She told him firmly and his eyes widened and Izzy turned to her.

"There's not? Does this mean you're okay with this?" Callen asked trying to understand Hetty's response.

"Not in the least but given where things are at, there's little I can do about it." Hetty explained glancing first at Sammy then at Izzy's stomach. Izzy and Callen shared a look as it dawned on them the only reason they were going to get away with it is because of how long they'd managed to keep everything a secret and how far things had gotten in that time.

"Aunt Hetty, you have to know, we never wanted to hurt you, we just..." Izzy started, feeling the need to explain but stopped not being able to find the right words.

"Found each other irresistible apparently." Hetty finished for her.

"We just had a connection, unlike anything I'd felt before." Callen took over trying to explain.

"At first I just kept telling myself what's seeing her one more time going to hurt. Then Mexico happened and she didn't hear from me for weeks and when she did she wasn't mad. She just took it all in stride, accepted that situations like that come with being in my life. That's when I knew she was different and that I couldn't let go of whatever it was we had at that point, I was all in and I've never looked back. Izzy's right, we never meant to hurt you but I found someone special and despite how I knew you'd feel about it I just couldn't let her go. I'm sorry." Callen finished genuinely apologetic.

"Apology accepted." Hetty told him, surprising both Izzy and him.

"Really?" Izzy checked almost unable to believe it could be that easy.

"Yes, given how happy you obviously make each other, the gorgeous nephew you've given me and soon a niece as well, I can't stay mad at you." Hetty finally smiled, Callen and Izzy relaxed.

"But Mr Callen, if something ever happens to Izzy or the children." Hetty began a warning but knew she didn't need to finish it as she saw the understanding in Callen's eyes.

"I will never let that happen."

Callen's condition improved slowly over the following weeks, Izzy continued to visit him almost everyday and varying combinations of the team managed to visit him nearly every other day. A little less than four weeks after he woke from his coma, the whole team except for Hetty turned up for lunch having unexpectedly closed a case early. When Izzy arrived after an obstetrician's appointment she found Callen and the team laughing and joking as they shared around some Chinese food they'd managed to sneak in to him.

"Well it looks like this is the place to be." She smiled as she entered. Everyone greeted her as she made her way over to Callen.

"Hi." He said after quickly swallowing a mouthful of food.

"Hi." She greeted him then kissed him.

"Here." Sam placed an empty chair behind her.

"Thanks." She smiled gratefully as she slowly lowered herself onto it.

"How are you doing?" Kensi inquired noticing how big Izzy was now.

"Hanging in there, everything is just so tiring now." Izzy told her grumbling but still happy.

"What did the doctor say?" Callen wanted to know.

"Everything's is as it should be, she has a good strong heartbeat." She reported then made a face.

"Are you okay?" Nell asked when she saw it.

"Yeah, she's just kicking, she always seems to get really active after the doctor listens to her heartbeat, Sammy was the same way." She explained.

"May I?" Deeks asked lifted his hand.

"Sure, here, feel that?" She asked as she placed his hand on her stomach where she felt the baby kick.

"Yes, wow." His face lit up as he felt a kick and soon four more hands joined his on her stomach, Izzy just chuckled.

"Did the doctor come by this morning, what did he say?" Izzy turned to Callen.

"He said he's happy with my progress and they're going to take the casts off my arm and my leg this afternoon. Tomorrow I'm going to start with a physical therapist." He recounted his conversation from earlier.

"There's no chance you're not going to overdo it, is there?" She looked at him pointedly.

"You're having the baby in two weeks." He argued defensively and she shook her head.

"If you overdo it and re-injure yourself, what good will you be to me then?" She argued and he didn't reply.

"Please just do exactly what your physical therapist tells you to do and nothing more, okay? Promise me." She insisted.

"I promise." He relented.

"Thank you." She smiled.

Within a week of starting physical therapy Callen's sessions had moved down from his room to the physical therapy department, which is where Izzy found him on one of her visits a week later. When she entered Callen was slowly making his way along a set of parallel bars with his physical therapist right behind him.

"Hey, your nurse said I would find you here." She smiled as she made her way over.

"Hi." Callen paused where he was, a little over a third of the way along the bars.

"Hi James, how's he doing? Not pushing himself too hard?" She greeted his physical therapist, immediately starting in with questions.

"Hey Izzy, he's doing great. He's pushing himself but no harder than any of my more determined patients." James reassured her with a warm smile and Izzy nodded.

"How are you doing?" Callen asked glancing at her stomach before continuing his slow walk along the bars.

"Doc says we're both good, she's in the right position, all ready to come out." Izzy told him as she watched his progress.

"I'm sure you're ready too." James commented, Izzy smiled and nodded.

"Oh I was ready two months ago."

Just six days later Callen doctor's decided he was ready to go home, on hearing this Callen immediately phoned Izzy who agreed to pick him up that afternoon. For Callen the hours dragged by slowly as he impatiently waited for his discharge papers to be ready. When the nurse finally brought them in he practically jumped out of the bed, as she finished going over his outpatient recovery plan Sam appeared at the door with a wheelchair.

"Hey Sam. I'm ready to go but Izzy said she was coming to pick me up." Callen told him as he added the papers to his already packed bag and zipped it up.

"There's been a change of plans. Izzy's water broke about half an hour ago, she's up in labour and delivery, I'm here to take you to her." Sam informed him and Callen went to take off running.

"Ah." Sam put his hand on Callen's shoulder.

"Sit." He commanded, gesturing at the wheelchair.

"But Sam..." Callen started to argue.

"No, get in. I'm driving." Sam smirked, Callen smiled then relented and took a seat in the wheelchair. Sam very quickly navigated them through the hospital and delivered Callen to Izzy's room. As they entered Izzy was recovering from a contraction and a doctor was getting ready to examine her.

"Hey." Callen smiled as Sam parked him beside Izzy's bed.

"Hi. Thanks Sam." Izzy smiled gratefully at him, he returned her smiled then left the room.

"Can you believe the timing?" Izzy chuckled.

"You saved me a trip home." Callen joked.

"Oh, you're welcome...argh." Izzy barely managed to finish her retort before another contraction hit, Callen immediately took her hand. Once it had passed the doctor examine Izzy internally, Callen watched her wince as he did so.

"Okay Izzy, you're five centimetres dilated, you still have a little ways to go before you start pushing."

As Sam took a seat in the waiting room he saw Ed arrive with Sammy in tow. As soon as Sammy saw him the little boy made made a beeline for his new friend and Sam chuckled, he greeted Ed and they sat together to wait. Over the next half an hour the rest of team arrived in drips and drabs and all took turns keeping Sammy occupied for what would turn out to be a very long wait. An hour later around one o'clock Deeks and Kensi volunteered to go and get lunch for the group, they took everyone's orders and headed down to the cafeteria. It took them over half an hour to get back with the food, on their return they were told that there had been no update. At quarter to four Max, Jen, Ethan and Amelia arrived having come straight from picking up Ethan and Amelia from school. Finally, at four thirty in the afternoon, a nurse came out of Izzy's room and came over to the group.

"She's here. Mum and baby are both doing great, you can go in and see them now." The nurse informed them and everyone broke out smiling. They all stood and followed the nurse into Izzy's room, when they entered they saw a tired Izzy smiling as she watched Callen cuddling with his daughter for the first time.

"Congratulations." Ed smiled warmly at his daughter and everyone quickly echoed his sentiment, Kensi put Sammy down and he made his way over to his dad.

"Hey buddy, meet your little sister." Callen smiled, crouched down and tilted the baby a little so Sammy could see.

"So little." Sammy commented on his first look at his sister. Once Sammy had had a good look Callen stood back up and turned to Ed.

"Would you like to hold her?" He offered.

"Yes please." Ed accepted and Callen carefully transferred his daughter to her grandfather, as soon as Ed had her everyone crowded around him to get a peek.

"She's beautiful, you guys." Nell gushed, Callen and Izzy beamed proudly.

"Have you had any thoughts on a name?" Jen inquired.

"Actually yeah, we decided on one a couple of days ago." Izzy confirmed then looked to Callen.

"Her name is Amy Henrietta Callen." He introduced their daughter.

"After your sister." Sam smiled and Callen nodded.

"And after the women that means a lot to both of us." Izzy added, smiling at Hetty.

"I'm honoured." Hetty smiled back.

"Wait, you named your son after your best friend and your daughter after your sister, that's not fair what about Izzy?" Deeks commented looking over at Callen.

"Izzy can name the next one." Callen replied casually and everyone looked at him, all with eyebrows raised.

"The next one?" Kensi questioned him.

"Yeah, the next one?" Izzy repeated Kensi's question giving him a look.

"You know...if we...decide to...never mind." Callen tried to backpedal but quickly gave up.

"Very smooth." Sam teased him and everyone laughed. As Ed gently handed Amy to Kensi, Callen felt Sammy tugging at him. He looked down and knowing what he wanted picked up his son and placed him on the bed beside Izzy, as soon as he had Sammy crawled onto his mother's lap.

"Hey sweetheart." Izzy pulled him into a hug as Callen perched on the bed beside them. As they watched everyone talking, laughing and cooing over Amy, Callen felt Izzy rest her head on his arm.

"Callen, look." She started and he glanced down at her before looking back at everyone.

"For the first time it's all in one room." She continued.

"What is?" He asked not quite following and she smiled.

"Our whole family."