"So tell me, Nick," Ellie said, watching John run past, an action figured tucked underneath his arm. "Do you have a favourite twin?"
"I'm not allowed to have a favourite twin," he protested. "That would be against the rules!"
"What? Does Gibbs have a rule we don't know about?" Delilah asked as she rolled in, followed by Tim, who was carrying Morgan. "Rule 67 is you can't have a favourite kid?"
"Very funny, Delilah," Nick retorted.
"Because we all know you care so much about rules," Tim said with a grin.
"Well rule 12 was a stupid rule anyway," he said as he took Morgan from Tim. "Hey princesita."
"Unca Nick," she said, smiling up at him. "Wanna play?"
"Sure sweetie, what are we playin'?"
"Lobster!" she told him.
He smoothed a hand over her hair. "How 'bout I take ya down to the pool tomorrow mornin' and we can play lobster okay? We're gonna eat now."
She shook her head. "No. Lobster first! Then food."
McGee and Delilah exchanged a look. "She gets that from you," McGee told her, but he was grinning.
"No way, Tim. That stubbornness is pure McGee," she told him back. Ellie bit back a smile, watching the marital stalemate play out.
He smirked at her. "Are you saying you're not a McGee?"
"I said no such thing, honey."
"Guys, is it okay if I take princess Mo here down to the pool quickly?" Nick asked, as Morgan sent puppy dog eyes in his direction. Having inherited an ability to look like an angel from her mother and a certain ability of puppy dog eyes from both her parents, she was very convincing, and Nick was definitely a pushover when it came to his young niece. Only four and she already had him wrapped around her little finger.
"Go ahead, we have about a half hour until the pizzas get here," Tim said, checking his watch. "Want company?"
Nick grinned. "Sure thing, Timmy. Let's go keep this princesita happy."
"Take John with you!" Delilah said sternly. "I want them nice and exhausted for bed tonight."
"Oh I'm sure you do," Nick said, winking at her.
"Gross, Nick, in front of the kids?" Ellie asked, stifling a laugh as he walked past, carrying Morgan, who waved at her aunt.
"Sure thing Dee," Tim told her, kissing her on his way by, before scooping up his son and tucking him under his arm like a football, John giggling all the while.
Nick kissed the top of Ellie's head. "See ya later, Bish."
"Have fun," she told him absentmindedly, watching Delilah, but smiling at Nick as he left.
Delilah grinned, sitting back in her chair, seeming to truly relax once Nick, Tim and the kids had disappeared. "Don't have twins," she warned Ellie with a grin. "They're exhausting."
"You seem to be managing okay," Ellie told her.
"Yeah, we... we are okay."
"As long as you're happy," Ellie told her.
"We are. It's just hard to believe that Tim and I actually... created two living breathing people... it's so weird how sometimes Morgan will turn around and I just see Tim in miniature. Creating the two of them was… strange to say the least." She grinned, staring at the messy room.
"It's only one of the oldest hobbies in existence," Ellie told her dryly.
"So when are you and Nick gonna create a few of your own?" Delilah asked, giving her a mischievous grin, cementing her reputation as a trickster. No wonder she and Nick got on like a house on fire.
Ellie made a face. "What?"
"Don't tell me you haven't thought of it," Delilah told her, laughing. "You have a glass face. You stare at the twins and your eyes go wide," she demonstrated. "And then you get all thoughtful… and then shortly after you and Nick disappear."
"We should probably get married first," Ellie told her tentatively.
"That's not really a requirement, is it?" Delilah asked, eyebrows raised, giving her friend a sly grin.
"Or at least engaged," Ellie said, amending her statement.
"Well you two have actually been together for what... three? three and a half years? Haven't you wanted anything more?"
"Of course I've thought about it, but-,"
"And besides if you're not ready you can always just babysit the twins for us."
"I spend enough time with one McGee," Ellie told her. "Babysitting some mini ones might truly test my patience."
Dee smiled. "Hold that thought."
XNCISX
"That was a good pizza," Ellie sighed, sitting back in her chair. "I wish they had this in DC." John and Morgan were both looking at the leftover slices on Nick's plate, and Ellie reached over, swiping it before they could. "I don't think so," she told them, before taking a bite.
"Auntie Ellie," John whined.
"John," Delilah warned.
"Is there anythin' for dessert?" Nick asked.
Delilah stared at him. "Nick, you just had six slices of pizza."
He shrugged. "What can I say, Delilah? I'm a growin' boy."
"Loosening your belt does not make you a growing boy," Ellie teased him.
The other three rolled their eyes collectively, and then Delilah smiled. "Okay, now that we've tortured you, the good news is that there is dessert. Forgetting it would have meant certain death."
Tim, who had stood up to collect plates, started making his way towards the kitchen. "Okay, then I'll-,"
"Tim, honey. Sit down. You've done enough. I can get dessert," she told him.
"You sure?"
She squeezed his hand quickly, almost as a warning, and then grabbed the plates from him, setting them on her lap as she rolled into the kitchen. "Not helpless!"
Tim smiled after her, before noticing the twins fidgeting in their seats. "You two okay?"
"Wanna play lobster again," Mo said, giving her puppy dog eyes. Usually he was susceptible, but he simply smiled at her.
"Mo, honey, mommy wants us to stay and have dessert, okay? It's important to her."
"Okay," she said with a nod. "Did mommy make dessert?"
"No, but a friend of hers did and she wants us to like it, okay?"
"Daddy, 'm bored," John told him.
"John, not much longer, okay?" he said.
"Is it ice cream?" he asked.
"Nope, not ice cream."
"Delilah?" Ellie called, standing up. "Do you need help in the kitchen?"
"Delilah?" Mo asked. "Who's that?"
Nick poked her. "Whaddaya mean who's that? Don't you know your mama's name?"
"Mommy's name is honey," Morgan said, confused.
"What?" Tim and Nick asked at the same time, as Ellie slipped into the kitchen to help Delilah with dessert.
"When you talk to mommy, you say honey a lot," Mo told him.
"Yeah," John agreed.
Nick started laughing. "Maybe it's time to cut back on the pet names, huh McSmitten?"
Tim glared at him, and Nick stuck his tongue out back. The twins, being natural mimics, starting sticking their tongues out at each other, just as Delilah and Ellie came back in.
Ellie had a tray covered in cupcakes, their icing done up in a mix of pink and blue icing. Delilah had her phone, and a thin box in her lap.
"What's the occasion there, Delilah?" Nick asked, eyeing the cupcakes. "Is this a coming out…?"
"No, Nick, that was at least a decade ago," she told him.
He grinned, doing a fist pump. "Called it!"
"Oh relax, Nick, we all knew," Ellie told him, setting the cupcakes down on the table. The twins both grabbed one, eyes comically wide as they stared at the feast of sugar laid out in front of them.
"So what is the occasion, Dee?" he asked.
She gave him a smile, and then handed him the box. "Merry Christmas."
"Bit late for a Christmas present," he told her with a smile.
"Then consider it a New Year's present…" she said, trailing off.
"What are you not telling me?" he asked, noticing that she was giving him a smirk, and managed to hide his concern for a few seconds, until it broke loose. "Is everything okay, Dee?"
"You worry too much," she told him, before passing her phone to Ellie. "Can you get a picture of us, El?"
"My pleasure," Ellie told her. Her eyes went wide when she stared at the phone, and then grinned as she took a picture of the two of them. "Now c'mon Tim, we don't want to wait all day to eat these."
"Nothing says New Year's like stuffing ourselves," Delilah said with a smile.
Tim bit his look, looking down at the box in confusion. "Dee… is it a new watch?"
"Do you need a new watch?" she asked in return.
"So this gift… is something I need…?" he asked, trying to read her face.
"Not necessarily… but it's also not something you don't need… I hope."
"Stop talkin'!" Nick ordered. "And open the damn – oops – dang box already."
Tim, realizing that all eyes were on him, took the lid off the box and setting it on the table, and staring at the box's contents. His eyes went wide, and his mouth dropped open, a mixture of hope, fear and elation passing across his face in a matter of seconds.
And then he looked up at Delilah in amazement. "Dee…" he said, his voice cracking. "Is it true?"
She nodded, smiling. "Yes, Tim, it's true."
He turned back to the box, looking faint, and then lifted out what looked like- "Is that-?" Nick started.
"Congratulations, Tim," Delilah told him. "We're gonna be parents again."
He set the pregnancy test back on the table and then in a single fluid movement he had his arms around his wife, kissing her thoroughly. Nick and Ellie both took a twin, covering their eyes.
And Tim finally pulled away. "That's… Dee… wow."
"You're not mad?" she asked him.
"No, no, honey, I'm… terrified. And thrilled," he said, reassuringly, stroking her cheek. "I love you, Dee."
Seeing that it was safe to uncover the twins' eyes, Nick and Ellie realized they were staring. "Quick question," Nick said. "Are the two of ya ever gonna have a kid that you planned?"
"Nick!" Ellie hissed, jabbing him with her elbow. "Seriously?"
"Well actually…" Tim and Delilah exchanged a sheepish look, before grinning back at them.
"You planned this?" Ellie asked.
"No. Yes. Kind of…" Delilah trailed off.
"Congratulations!" Ellie said with a smile.
"I second that," Nick said, wrapping an arm around Ellie's waist.
"What's going on?" Morgan demanded, and the adults seemed to remember that they were not the only people in the room.
"Uh, well, sweetie…" Tim started, becoming flustered.
Delilah took his hand as she turned back to the twins. "Well, you guys are going to have a new baby brother or sister."
John frowned. "But I wanted a puppy, mommy."
"Puppies are a lot of work honey," Dee started.
"So are kids," Nick muttered. "And you keep havin' 'em."
"Hilarious, Nick. You have a few kids and then feel free to do what you want," she told him.
"Should get started on that, huh Bish?" he teased his girlfriend. "Or we'll never catch up to them."
Delilah grinned and kissed Tim on the cheek. "You ready for this?"
"It's another new beginning," he told her. "It's fitting for a new year."
"Hear hear," Torres agreed, kissing Ellie.