AUTHOR'S NOTES: Just a reminder that this is the AU version of my story 'What Should Have Been' and starts at Chapter 13 on the original story.

In this chapter, Mike Franks make a surprise appearance, Tony acts like Gibbs, and Ziva has an unexpected passion.

Chapter 2


All We Are

"And in the end the words won't matter
'Cause in the end nothing stays the same
And in the end dreams just scatter and fall like rain"

--Matt Nathanson 'All We Are'


Once she'd gone to the Walter Reed Army Rehab Hospital, Kelly had actually been glad she had the engagement ring on her finger. The number of soldiers and Marines that had been hitting on her was staggering… Even considering she was 6 months pregnant.

Shooting wheelchair hoops with a few of the other Marines, Kelly suppressed an eye roll when she heard one of the guys let out a wolf whistle.

"Nice shot, Mama!" PFC Miles Oliver said, walking over. Four weeks ago he'd lost his right arm in a bomb blast and since arriving he'd been flirting with Kelly, even after finding out she was engaged.

"Is that any way to talk to a lady?" Kelly said, giving Miles a look.

"So when is this mystery fiancé of yours going to seal the deal?" Miles asked with a smirk.

"You're seriously hitting on a pregnant woman?" Kelly said, wheeling away from the game.

"I like kids," Miles said, shrugging.

"I'm having twins," Kelly went on.

Miles laughed. "I really like kids," he said with a smile when Kelly laughed as well. "Hey, I'm… I'm just kidding around with you."

"Hey," Tony said as he walked up. Looking at Kelly then at Miles, he asked, "Who's your friend?"

"Tony, this is PFC Miles Oliver," Kelly said, smirking. "The one who's been hitting on me."

"Hey, the other guys started it," Miles protested.

"Really?" Tony asked, giving Miles a patented 'Gibbs stare'. Walking near the middle of the room, Tony pulled out his badge and held it up, speaking in a loud voice so as to be heard by everyone in the room. "May I have your attention, please? Thank you." Turning on the spot so everyone saw the badge, he went on. "I am NCIS Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. I am the senior agent of one Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs and have been instructed by him on everything from how to shoot to how to fight."

Kelly buried her head in her hands, a flashback to her first date in high school running through her mind. An image of her father laying down the law to an innocent young man who just wanted to take her out on a date…

Pointing to Kelly, Tony went on. "This is the daughter of said Special Agent Gibbs and my fiancée. I realize that she's one of very few women here but I would greatly appreciate you guys not hitting on her. Thank you."

When Tony walked back over to Kelly, a small part of him felt a bit afraid at the smile on her face. "Did Dad tell you to say that?" Kelly asked, eyeing Tony shrewdly.

"Actually it was Abby," Tony replied. After a few moments, he said, "We miss you at NCIS. Palmer was wondering when you get to go home."

Kelly sighed. "Not for about another 6 months."

"Why so long?" Tony asked as he and Kelly went out into the hallway to talk in private.

"Well… Because of…" Kelly put a hand on her swollen stomach. "The doctors and physical therapists want me to stay here until the babies are born. Then I'll have a more rigorous physical therapy regimen. They've been pretty easy on me while I'm pregnant."

"Kelly, I meant what I said before," Tony said, honestly. "I'm going to be here for you. For anything."

Kelly nodded but as she looked down at her legs, she felt a surge of anger. Looking away from Tony as she started crying, she said, "It's not fair."

Tony went to put a hand on Kelly's shoulder, but she backed away from him and headed back into the room. Standing by the door, Tony sighed as he watched Kelly go over to Miles.

"Agent DiNozzo?"

Turning, Tony saw one of the therapists coming down the hall. "Darcy," he said with a nod before looking at Kelly again.

"How's she doing?" Darcy Lansky asked, looking at Kelly as well. Seeing Tony's 'What do you think?' look, she nodded. "Being in this kind of situation is hard enough. But with pregnancy hormones messing with your moods…"

"You've got kids?" Tony asked, looking at her.

"4," Darcy replied with a smile. Putting a hand on Tony's shoulder, she said, "It's going to be hard for a long time, Agent DiNozzo. And it's probably not going to get any easier when your kids are born."

Tony nodded as he watched Kelly talking with a few other Marines.

----------

A few days later, Kelly was surprised when she saw Mike Franks coming into her room at Walter Reed. "What're you doing here?" Kelly asked, sitting up in bed.

"Thought I'd check and see how you're doing, kid," Mike said, with a warm smile. Looking out the window at the brilliantly sunny day, he said, "I could use some air."

Kelly laughed and with some help, she was able to get into the wheelchair by the bed and once outside, she smiled and shook her head when she saw Mike light up a cigarette. Thinking for a few minutes, she said, "You remember the first time I ever got shot?"

"Oh, hell, kid!" Mike grumbled. "You and your old man are never going to let that go, are ya?"

"Not likely," Kelly replied. "You said 'It's just a standard surveillance mission, Probie. The kid and I can handle it'."

"Yeah, and do you remember why I asked you along?" Mike retorted.

"Dad and I were fighting… again," Kelly replied, sadly.

"I figured the two of you needed a time out," Mike said, taking a drag on his cigarette.

"And then a bunch of gangbangers started shooting," Kelly went on. Laughing, she said, "I thought Dad was going to kill you when he saw me in the emergency room." With a long sigh, she looked dejectedly at her lower body and put a hand on her enlarged belly.

Before Mike could ask if she was okay, he saw Kelly's eyes light up with delight and she quickly grabbed his hand and pressed it to the bulge. There was a flutter followed by a few small jabs. "They're going to be active little ones," Mike said with a grin. "You thought of names yet?"

Kelly paused for a moment and then nodded, a serene smile on her face. "They're both going to be girls, but… I don't know. There's just so many thoughts I've had…"

"Ahh, you still got time to figure it out," Mike said with a smile.

"I just… don't know if I'm ready to be a mother," Kelly admitted. "You know, I…"

"You're going to be a great mother," Mike assured her as he continued smoking, making sure to blow his smoke away from Kelly. He knew he shouldn't be smoking around her anyway, but after two days without a cigarette, he just couldn't stand it anymore. After a few moments, however, he stubbed out the cigarette when he saw one of the doctors coming over.

"Ms. Gibbs?" Dr. Samuel Grant said as he came over.

"Dr. Grant," Kelly said as the twins started kicking furiously.

"You've got visitors looking for you," Grant said, eying Mike.

"Okay," Kelly said, heading for the door, Mike following behind.

The visitors in question turned out to be Gibbs, Ducky, and Ziva who immediately pulled Kelly back to her room for a private conversation.

"How are you doing?" Ziva asked, sitting on the bed.

"I don't know," Kelly admitted. "Every day I thing… I'm starting to get used to this. And them…" Wheeling over to the window, she said, "After I got out of the hospital after the car accident… I had my leg in a cast for another two months. Afterwards I was fitted for a leg brace… It was about 3 years before I could walk without crutches."

Ziva knew about the car accident, had seen the scars on Kelly's right leg. But neither Kelly nor Gibbs ever really talked about what had happened. "I know this must be hard for you," Ziva said, trying to sympathize. "I-I cannot imagine what it must be like."

"I just…" Kelly's voice cracked slightly as she said, "I just keep hoping I'll wake up… and I be able to… to feel my legs… move my foot…" Sniffling loudly, Kelly looked out the window and didn't go on.

All Ziva could do was sit and watch her friend.

--

"How're you holding up, Probie?" Mike asked when Ducky left to talk with Kelly's doctors.

Gibbs shook his head as a wry smile crossed his face. "When Kelly was… God, she must have been about… 7… It was after Christmas, and… I had to ship out three weeks early. Kelly overheard me telling Shannon. The next morning I went to get Kelly up… and she was missing."

"You thought she ran away," Mike deduced.

"She did," Gibbs went on. "About… half a mile from the house… there was this clump of trees Maddie and Kelly liked to climb. Kelly was all the way at the top of the tallest tree and she refused to come down." Looking at his old boss and mentor, Gibbs said, "She doesn't want to talk to me. I look at her now… and I see the little girl she used to be… Sitting on a tree branch, not wanting to talk to me… or come down."

"It's not like after the accident, Probie," Mike replied.

"I know that!" Gibbs snapped, anger, frustration, and sadness in his voice.

"It's going to take Kelly a while to learn how to deal with all this," Mike went on. "And she's going to need your help."

"I know," Gibbs said, the emotion starting to drain the energy out of him.

Mike didn't say anything else. He could only imagine how Gibbs felt. Mike loved Kelly like she was his own child. And seeing her in the hospital, unable to walk made him hurt.

--------------------------------

2 ½ Months Later

Tony had been in shootouts before… He'd been stabbed, kidnapped, poisoned, held hostage, and had survived the pneumonic plague.

But the sight of his newborn daughters in the post-delivery room made him feel the happiest and most terrified he'd ever been in his entire life. Both infants had Kelly's hair and eyes but they had Tony's nose and ears.

Leaning over the hospital bassinets and looking at the two little girls, Tony couldn't believe that these… these beautiful little miracles were his own daughters. Unable to go through a normal delivery, Kelly had needed a cesarean section and once the babies were out, Tony had left the room to keep an eye on his daughters.

"You okay, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked as he walked up behind Tony and looked at Kelly's daughters.

"Does the terrified feeling ever go away?" Tony asked, hopefully.

But Gibbs shook his head. "No," he replied, honestly. "As they get older… it gets worse."

"Thanks," Tony replied, sarcastically. "Thanks a lot, boss."

Gibbs laughed and put a fatherly hand on Tony's shoulder. "Right now… you're just scared you'll screw up. But when they grow up… you start worrying about what they'll do to screw up. You worry when they start driving… when they start dating… When they go away to college. Then when they're on their own, you wonder… 'Did I teach them enough?' It never stops, DiNozzo."

----------------

While Tony and Gibbs were at the hospital with Kelly, Ziva, Abby, McGee, Palmer, and Ducky worked on moving Kelly and Tony's things into their new apartment.

It had taken Jenny a few months to find a wheelchair accessible apartment close to NCIS and she'd had to wait an additional two months as the current occupants were moving.

McGee and Abby worked on wiring the house so that most of the lights, fans, and air conditioning could be operated by a central remote. In the bedroom, Kelly's dresser was lower and longer, while Tony's was taller and skinnier.

Ziva had—to the surprise of the others—volunteered to take care of the new nursery and had done a splendid job, decorating the walls with posters of Care Bears and My Little Pony and a mural of a princess riding a horse. There were two fold-down changing tables, one lower than the other so that Kelly would be able to easily reach.

Palmer and Ducky had opted to take care of the kitchen which already had a lower counter section built in along one wall. After doing some moving things around—cleaning supplies and the like were put in the upper cupboards, while food staples when in the cabinets below the counters—the kitchen looked as ready as possible.

Once everything was ready, they all sat in the living room while Ziva and Ducky made dinner. "Has Kelly decided on names yet?" Ducky asked, as Ziva cooked. "Ziva?"

"What?" Ziva asked, getting lost in the smells of cooking. It was something her father had never approved of—her love of cooking. Eli David always told Ziva that she was raised to be a warrior, not a housewife. Yet in the kitchen, Ziva loved to create… and according to Gibbs, watching her cook was like watching a painter create a masterpiece.

Ducky smiled at Ziva's distraction. "I asked if you knew what Kelly is naming her children."

"No," Ziva replied as she thinly sliced cloves of garlic and added them to the sautéing onions which were nearly caramelized.

Realizing that Ziva was absorbed in her cooking, Ducky changed the subject. "You don't add the garlic and onions together?"

"If you add them at the same time, the garlic burns before the onions are ready," Ziva explained. Smiling coyly as she looked at Ducky, she said, "A lesson I learned myself early on."

"You should have been a chef, my dear," Ducky said with a smile as he watched Ziva build her risotto.

----------------

A few days later, Kelly lay in her bed at Walter Reed Hospital, looking at the two absolutely most beautiful little girls she'd ever seen. Kelly's abdomen was still sore from the c-section and the therapists had wanted her to rest for another week before starting the physical therapy again.

"They need names," Tony reminded Kelly as she held one of the twins. Looking at the baby in his arms, he asked, "Unless… you want me to…?"

Kelly sighed as she looked at the tiny baby in her arms. The little girl already seemed to know her and as Kelly ran through names in her mind, she said one aloud. "Kate…"

Tony looked at Baby Kate and smiled before looking at the child he held. She had a knowing look and sparkle in her eyes that reminded him of Jenny. "What's the director's middle name?" Tony asked Kelly.

"What's wrong with calling her Jenny?" Kelly asked with a smile.

"What?" Tony said with a smile. "Little Jenny and Grandma Jenny?"

"What was your mother's name?" Kelly asked, curiously.

"Michaela," Tony said, quietly.

Kelly considered that for a while, but it didn't sound right. "Cassidy," Kelly said, with a smile. "Cassidy Paula."

Tony looked at Kelly and the two shared a moment of since for their friend and fellow NCIS agent who had given her life to save the lives of others. "I don't think Paula would mind," Tony replied with a sad smile.

"Caitlin Shannon… and Cassidy Paula," Kelly said with a smile as she looked at the twins. "Welcome to the world."

"'Cause all we are we are
All we are we are
And every day is a start of something beautiful"