A/N: Well, another chapter up. I know that I'm terrible for updating, but being in full time college during the year, and full time work during the summer, I really never have the time to write, anymore. This story won't leave me alone, though. I wish I could skip faster over the earlier years, as I have so many ideas for Kaye as she gets older, but if I ever do manage to get this up and running the way I'd like, I want to do it right. So, thank you to anyone taking the time to read this, even though I'm terrible at updating. My hope is that even if it's a long time between updates, you'll keep Kaye in the back of your mind, so that when I do manage to get more of this story up, you'll still be excited to read about her.

*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*

After an entertaining lunch, Gibbs and Jenny sent the rest of the team home to sleep and took Kaye shopping on their own, much to Abby's dismay. Gibbs could see that the team was exhausted. The only consolation Gibbs would give her was that she could come straight over to his place as soon as she had slept for at least a good four to six hours.

Jenny had written out a list of places she wanted to take Kaye on their little shopping trip. Gibbs had taken one look at it and rolled his eyes. He immediately made Jenny cut the list in half, going from six separate stores to three.

For the first hour or so of the trip, Kaye had remained rather quiet, not wanting to ask for too much. Her mother hadn't been a wasteful person, always wanting to save as much money as she could for Kaye's future, and Roxy just hadn't had the money to spend. As they walked past the seventh bedroom furniture set, Gibbs finally stopped them.

"Kaye, have you seen anything you've liked so far?" He asked as he crouched down to her level.

"Uhm, I guess so, yeah…" she trailed off.

Jenny became worried, as well, and spoke. "Kaye, sweetheart, we want you to choose whatever you'd like. This is going to be your bedroom. We want you to make it your own."

Kaye still looked a little nervous. She looked at the ground and mumbled, "I just don't want to pick something too expensive."

Gibbs quickly reached across and tipped the girl's chin up. "It's never your job to worry about money. Got it? That's my job. Your job is to pick out whatever you think would look good in your bedroom."

Kaye smiled in return and nodded. As Gibbs straightened up, she grabbed not only his hand, but Jenny's, as well, skipping along between them.

*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*

Four hours, three stores, and a painful credit card bill later, Gibbs pulled in with a truckload of furniture, linens, electronics, and toys, all suited for an eight year old girl. Jenny and Kaye ran to the house, giggling like little children, both of them, along the way. As Jenny swung the unlocked door open, he smiled on, thrilled at how well they were getting along, and made a mental note that it was time to start locking that door, again. With the exception of the nights that Abby slept over, he hadn't had a good reason to lock that door in years, but he sure did, now.

Throughout the shopping trip, he had begun to take in little bits of information about Kaye. She wasn't just smart for her age; she had a noticeable maturity about her, as well. She was outgoing toward himself, Jenny, and obviously, the team, but she knew not to be so friendly to strangers. She seemed, so far, a generally happy child, and loved things that one would expect an eight year old girl to love, but she hated things that were too girly, especially pink. She had energy - that was for sure. He would have to get used to that again.

Kaye took after her mother in more ways than he had originally thought. She was artsy, begging for an easel and paints. He just couldn't say no to that face. Another thing she had in common with her mother. On the job, Kate was part of the team, and he treated her as such, but in the few times that the team had spent together outside of work in the two years that Kate had been with them, he found himself unable to deny her. She was a sweet woman, and though he was sure Abby wondered, he could never and would never be able to put his finger on how he saw her.

Abby was his daughter, Tony his son. Tim was still rather distant, but he saw him stepping into a role similar to Tony's one day. Kate, however, Kate wasn't romantic, but she wasn't quite a daughter or sister, either. Watching her daughter, now, he didn't feel the need to try and define how he had seen Kate.

"Gibbs, can we paint my room, now? Pleeeeeeease?" Kaye begged.

"Sorry, kiddo. We can set your bed up, but I think you'll have to wait until the weekend for the painting to happen. The team can come over and help, but I don't want you in there with all of the fumes."

"But," Kaye turned and looked at Jenny. "Aren't you his boss? Can't you give them all the day off? Please? Please, please please!"

Gibbs rolled his eyes.

"Actually, Jethro. I think she's right. Your team doesn't need to stick around for the rest of the week. I already have you all off rotation, except Abby, of course. But if she can find someone that she won't complain about to replace her for the rest of the week, I think I can spring you all. I can even come in in the evenings."

"Yay! Awesome!" Kay screeched, causing both adults to wince. She ran over to hug Jenny.

Gibbs smirked. "You sure, Jen?"

Catching the girl in a hug, she smiled genuinely. "Yes, of course. Call your team, let them know that the big bad Madame Director is setting them loose."

As Kaye let go of Jenny, she started skipping around the room, searching through all of the bags excitedly.

"Naw, you can be the hero. You let them all know. Tell DiNozzo, McGee, and Ziva that they can go home and change, and then I want them here to get painting. We might as well get this done tonight, if possible."

"Alright. I'll head back to the office and let them know. I'll stop by tonight?" she asked, unsure.

"Yeah. Can you tell Abby to pick up our steak night usuals? She'll know what you mean. Tell her to get enough for 9 or 10."

"Sure. See you later. Bye Kaye!"

"Bye, Jenny! See you at dinnertime!"

Jenny smiled as she closed the front door behind her.

Gibbs turned to Kaye.

"Well, little girl, I guess it's just you and I now. What would you like to do?"

Kaye hummed and hawed for a moment. "Can we set up my bed and dresser and stuff? I know it has to go in the middle of the room until it's all painted, but then it will be all ready to go when it's done! Then can we watch a movie?"

Gibbs smiled. He was glad that Jenny had talked him into getting one of those DVD players. And he still had that big TV down in the basement that Abby and Tony had gotten him last Christmas. He let them pull it up when they were over, but it was otherwise unused. His usual TV was so old it didn't even have a hookup for one of those contraptions, but he figured it was about time he pulled the newer one up for good. He now had an eight year old girl who loved movies almost as much as Tony did. They had picked up a few discs while they were out, but he figured that he'd let Tony take her shopping for more. As it was, he was now the ever so proud owner of some fish film about finding a Nemo, whatever the hell that was, The Parent Trap, and not even the one that Kelly had once liked – it was some new thing with a couple of redheaded kids, and something called Toy Story.

"Alright, we can do that. Let's go up to your new room. You can figure out where you want to put everything. Then we'll move the good TV up and I'll set you up with a movie while I start building your furniture. The team should be over not too long from now, and we'll all have dinner together. Sound good?"

"Yep!"

As Gibbs lead the way up the stairs, his stomach began to knot just the smallest bit. He realized that this was going to be the first time since Kelly had been killed that a child would be in that room. He was sure that the pink hue of the walls had probably raised questions from the team, but he also knew they were smart enough to keep their traps shut. Now another little girl was going to make memories in the room at the end of the hall. While he wished Kelly had been the one to call it hers all of these years, he was happy that Kaye would make it all her own, now.

He snapped out of his thoughts as they reached the door.

"Is that it, Gibbs?" Kaye asked, looking at the door he had stopped in front of.

"Sure is. Go ahead, check out your new space."

Kaye grinned. She had had a nice room with her mom, but Roxy's house was tiny, and her room had been Roxy's old office. It was a simple tan color, and there was only one very small window. It barely fit her bed and a few toys, too.

Kaye opened the door, in awe at what her eyes were taking in. It was beautiful! And so big! There would be plenty of room for her princess bed, her dresser, her brand new desk, a couple of bookshelves, and all the toys she could imagine! She stepped into the room. Okay, the pink had to go, but other than that it really was awesome! The door was on the left side of the room, right in the middle. That wall and the one parallel were quite long, much longer than the other two, forming a nice, rectangular room. Directly across from the door was a large window seat set right into the wall. It had a faded cream and pink patterned pillow on it, and cream lace curtains hung from all of the windows. Looking to her left, she saw the second window, a smaller one this time. To her right was a blank wall. As she went farther into the room toward the smaller window, she found a small walk in closet, painted a faded purple inside. She ran out of the closet screeching at Gibbs seconds later.

"Gibbs! Gibbs! What's that little door in there?!"

Gibbs thought for a second. Little door…in the closet? Oh RIGHT!

"Sorry, I forgot about that. That used to be…" he paused. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell her all about Kelly, yet. "That's a secret room. You can use it, but I need to clean it out first. I'll do it when I set up your bed. It's all yours, though. It can be a clubhouse, or secret hideout, if you'd like."

"That's so cool! I have a treehouse in my room!"

Gibbs laughed at that. All of the things that he thought he'd never do again, such as building a treehouse in the backyard, hanging a tire swing, buying Cinderella dolls…here he was, all these years later, right back where he had been before. While he knew that he was probably still in a state of shock, he was truly happy to have the chance to be a father, again.