"What is it, dad? You haven't been this secretive since you got us a puppy!" Abby chuckled as she entered the house.

She was the last of her siblings to arrive she noticed as she glanced down the hall. Except for… "Where's Tony?"

"He's here." Gibbs told them quietly. Abby noticed then why the others looked concerned. Her dad wasn't quite himself. She suddenly wondered if he still hadn't recovered from his illness after Thanksgiving dinner two days ago. Or was it something more serious?

As her brow furrowed, Gibbs took a steadying breath.

"Ok, I want you to know that this came as a shock to us, too. And that it isn't a practical joke."

Checking to see that each of them had listened to him, and seeing the matching looks of confusion, he sighed. "In the living room. Some people I want you to meet."

They filed in; Ziva, Tim, Kate, and Abby. As he followed, he saw the polite smiles and greetings to the very nervous looking Shannon and Kelly.

Gibbs watched the expressions closely. Abby's polite and enthusiastic smile. Tim's suspicion and close examination of faces. Ziva's wide eyes. Kate's confusion.

As Kelly met Tim's eyes, he blushed, realising he'd been caught staring.

"Sorry, I'm Tim. I didn't mean to… You look like… Sorry… my brother, but with…" Tim trailed off, his own eyes wide as he stared into those familiar ice blue eyes.

Gibbs could tell that everyone but Abby had figured it out, their wide eyes flicking between him and their mom and sister with questions, hope and caution screaming from their silent mouths hanging slightly ajar.

"What's…?" Abby began as she heard the whispered exclamations of 'no' and 'what' from her sisters.

"Abby, who could look so much like Tony but with dad's eyes instead of…?" Tim forced out, a cautious gaze flicking between the two nervous women.

As Abby's hand shot up to cover her mouth, Kate found her voice.

"Mom…"

Gibbs leant against the wall, wondering if it was the only thing keeping him upright as he saw his family reunited. He knew how long his children had held out hope that one day they would wake up to find their mom cooking breakfast or Kelly watching TV on the sofa. Eventually, one by one they had given up and accepted that sometimes life didn't work out that way. He could never have imagined that he could give them this.

He wasn't surprised that Katie and Ziva had twigged first. After all, they had had more time to know their mom and sister than Abby and Tim had. When it had all happened, Kelly and Tony had only been eight, Caitlin six, Ziva five, and the twins only two.

He wasn't sure when he moved to the armchair, but he thought it could have been when Tony brought Benjamin, Grace and James in from the other room. He was content – was that the right word for this hum of nothingness that had wrapped around his head making him barely aware of anything he said or did? – as his children met their newest niece and nephews. At some point, he knew that Grace had got spooked by all the new faces, and to everyone's surprise had run to Gibbs with a whimper instead of Kelly, Shannon, or even Tony! Instinctively, he had opened his arms and allowed her to curl into his chest. With his arms around her and his chin resting on her head, he could feel the tiny hands gripping his polo shirt and just knew that he was starting to thaw from whatever state of shock he had been floating in.

As Grace felt his eyes on the top of her head, she lifted her face from his chest, glancing around the room to make sure that the attention had turned from her, she met his eyes with a shy smile.

"You ok now?" he asked quietly, so that she was the only one that heard him. Nodding, she laid her head back down, her cheek against his chest and her eyes roaming over her new extended family members.

Gibbs watched her as she assessed everyone, and he watched as more hugs were exchanged, more tears shed, and more explanations being given. He didn't bother to listen, having heard enough explanations to keep him going for a while. He didn't know if he could handle any more surprises! Abby was holding baby James and speaking quietly to Kelly. Her face was awed and kept straying between Kelly and Shannon. Gibbs' eyes strayed to Tony and Ben as they entered from the kitchen, Tony carrying a tray of tea and coffee, and Ben a plate of cookies.

Ben, after setting the plate on the table, looked nervously at the group of adults before he spotted his sister with Gibbs. At Gibbs' smile, he hesitantly joined them, sitting at the end of the sofa closest to them. Gibbs' attention was taken just then when Grace nudged him gently, her gaze flitting between Kate and Abby. She pointed at Abby and looked up to him questioningly.

Speaking just loud enough that the two children could hear him, he explained again.

"That's Abby. And that's Kate over there. And Ziva." He could see that both kids were trying to commit names and faces to memory, and remembered their wide eyes the previous evening when they had seen the last family photo with all of their cousins in it.

"Abby is a goth. That means she wears a lot of black, but she's really friendly. You don't need to worry. I know you'll love her. She's a scientist and works at NCIS with me. She uses evidence to prove that bad people did bad things. Katie is a profiler. She listens to people's descriptions of bad people and draws a really good picture, and she talks to bad people and works out why they do bad things. And Ziva…" Gibbs hesitated. The kids were hanging onto his every word! "Ziva is like a real-life ninja." He spotted looks of confusion. "You know what a ninja is? No? Well, Ziva works at NCIS and she helps me find the bad guys. She chases them down and fights them off. She's like a ninja because she knows lots of different ways to fight bad guys and sometimes it looks like she's flying!" Grace giggled at the description. "Tim is an agent too, but he loves computers. He can find out anything about anyone with his computers. And Tony and I are also agents. We like to chase the bad guys and put them away."

Both kids were looking at him in awe as he gave the silly and simple explanations. Tony smiled at the very comfortable image of Gibbs telling his grandkids stories as he handed the kids cups of juice and a cookie each.

"You want to hear more about your cousins?" Gibbs asked as they sipped their juice. Grace's eyes widened and she nodded enthusiastically, shifting slightly on his lap to allow her to drink her juice and still listen. Ben was less enthusiastic, but Gibbs could see the curiosity burning in his eyes as he nodded.

"Ok. And don't worry about remembering all their names just yet. You'll have plenty of time to get to know them! Tony's oldest is called Kelly. She's eight, so just a little older than you, Ben. Then Jack who's five. And last Matt who's two. Tony's wife, Julie, is pregnant though, so you'll get another cousin soon! Kate and her husband Derek have three year old twins, Ethan and Emily. Ziva and her husband Shay have Noah, who's five, and two year old Tali who looks just like her mom. Tim and Zoe have little Andrew who's two and baby Lily. She's only a few months old, so just a bit bigger than James. And then Abby and Tom have two sets of twins. I know, it was a surprise to all of us too! Elizabeth and Isabella are three, and Alexander and Christopher are not quite one year old yet."

Gibbs recognised Ben's look of determination to remember who was who and laughed gently. Grace looked suitably awed at the number of children.

"Honestly, Ben, don't worry if you forget. It'll be easier when you meet them all."

Gibbs hadn't noticed that Shannon had approached and listened to the end of his descriptions.

"And when do we get to meet them? I mean, I love being a grandma. I'm not sure I'm ready to be a grandma to ten more, but I want to give it a go."

Gibbs smiled, "13 more."

AN: I can only apologise for the very lengthy delay in updating. I never seem to have any time for this anymore, and when I do, other stories come to me faster than this one! I know this is short, but I hope you enjoy until I can get more written!

As always, please let me know what you think.