"Thank you, God, for giving me such a gift: two healthy little girls...and my healthy little boy. Thank you for this second chance."

Jethro felt blessed. He realized his blessings. Two years ago, he asked a very shy girl about her perfume. He fell in love and envisioned a life with the girl from his dreams, Suzanne. He courted and married, even learned a few months into their young marriage she was pregnant. Finally, Jethro had a family. There were four individuals who cared for his well-being, who depended on him. Most of all, those three new individuals brought additional comfort to a conflicted soul. Suzanne was responsible for believing, for keeping faith.

In quietness, with his three children, he counted his blessings, praising the Heavens above in soft whisper. The staff had the bassinets in the room with Mommy. Suzanne was napping, with Jack cradled in her bosom. She remained attached to monitors. His focus was on the daughters.

"You know, I'm your daddy, the first man in your life that loves you." A tear formed in his eye. "I named you two after some women I loved and admired—Shannon, Kelly, Jackie, and Anne—well, Susan—after your grandmas Susan and my mother Ann."

A moment passed. He was simply speechless, watching Suzanne. The monitors beeped steadily.

"That's your mommy, girls, with your brother Jack. Isn't she pretty?" The girls yawned, Jethro smiled, chuckled. "She's smart too. Right now, the doctor wants to make sure she's okay. She had a rough time carrying you, delivering you." All seemed perfectly fine during doctor visits. The last exam the doctor indicated the girls were positioned. Suzanne needed a cesarean section.

Jethro continued with his talk in a low whisper. "I'm hoping she'll stay home with you three, but…" He watched Suzanne lovingly. "But your mommy's a free spirit. Her work is important, too. She works for the President. That's right! That doesn't mean work will become more important than you kids. She wants you two to see an example of a working mother. Don't you ever, ever, forget that she loves you and wants only the best for you three."

Jackson entered the room quietly, standing and observing the moment. Jethro placed the girls in the bassinets, kissed them gently on their foreheads and held Jack. Suzanne mumbled a bit, thinking it was the nurse checking on Jack. She drifted off to sleep.

Little Jack's eyes opened and seemed to be focused on his new dad.

"Jack, my man...you were a complete surprise to us all! We're going to have to get another crib, another car seat…" Jethro sat in the chair and continued his first man-to-man talk. "As a man, you're required to learn the rules, the rules to protect Jenny and Kelly from men like your uncle Tony DiNozzo."

Jackson chuckled in the background. The elder Gibbs continued watching from the sideline.

"The only rule you need to know right now is I'm going to be tough on you, just like your Grandpa Jackson was on me. He taught me how to become a man. I'm going to be tough on you when you need it, and say I love you, I'm proud of you when you need it. Right now, I want you to know I love you very, very much, son." He tenderly kissed the baby's forehead.

Jackson the elder smiled at Jethro.

"Ducky bought a blue car seat for Jack." He announced. "We put it into the car…correctly. Leon double-checked us old men."

"Can you believe Suzanne had another baby?" Jethro's voice lowered to a silent whisper. "They couldn't see him in the sonograms. Dad, I have three children." Jethro chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief.

"It looks like we have work to do, Son, for Jack." Jack informed Jethro. "He can't share a room with two girls forever. It looks like we need to add another room onto the house. I figure we can make another room in the attic, use that as a guest room until the kids are old enough."

"You're gonna help me?"

"Of course!" Jackson replied. "I'm sticking around—you're gonna need all the help you can get." Jackson was cradled in his grandfather's arms. His hands were moving.

"Hello, Jack." Jackson chuckled, which made Jethro chuckle.

The younger placed his arm around his dad's shoulder. They absorbed it all—Kelly, Jenny and Jack. Jethro was a happily married father of three; Jack was a grandfather once again.

"Thank you for naming him Jackson."

"That was Suzanne's idea before we knew we had twins, even had girls." Jethro replied. "She has a nephew named after her father—Solomon. She figured we need another Jackson Gibbs in the world." Jack passed his grandson back to Jethro.

"Are you happy now?" Jackson cupped his hands around Jethro's face, bringing it closer to his. "We have another man to raise…together. This time, we're older and wiser. He'll learn from our examples."

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Dad."


Jethro managed to catch a few hours of sleep. He showered, changed and returned to the medical center the following morning. Suzanne pulled night duty, meaning she fed and changed the children on shift rotation with help from the nurses. Her blood pressure spiked during and after delivery, prompting doctors to keep an eye on her physical well-being.

"You're going to have your hands full, Special Agent Gibbs." The nurse shared as Jethro glanced into the window. "Three newborns?!"

"I know." Jethro replied. "My father and my mother in law have volunteered."

"She will need the extra set of hands for a while—first time mother and all…Well, your wife seems to be holding her own right now." The nurse continued as the two walked to her suite, glancing at the charts.

"Mrs. Gibbs was feeding the children at 3 o'clock. She talked the entire time, engaging them all."

"You know she deals with babies all the time, working for the White House…" Jethro muttered. "It doesn't surprise me."

The suite was filled with flowers and balloons. Suzanne was sleeping. The monitoring devices remained on.

"Good morning, Mommy."

Suzanne reached for her glasses, chuckled when she saw Jethro holding a cup of coffee.

"Good Morning, Honey."

"You can drink much as you want now." Jethro passed the coffee to Suzanne.

"How are the kids?"

"Good." Suzanne sipped slowly, enjoying the warm beverage. "Jenny and Jackson had low birth weight, which is typical for trips. Jackson is jaundiced, typical for newborns. Jenny is on cortisone to develop her lungs. They want to continue monitoring the two in NICU."

She sat upward slowly. "Miss Jacqueline on the other hand, weighed a little more. She is coming home with us in a few days."

"And how are you?"

"Not bad for a mother of three." Suzanne yawned. The monitors beeped steadily. Jethro's facial expression showed concern, fear. Suzanne touched his hand, squeezed for reassurance, and smiled.

"The blood pressure is lowering, meaning it was pregnancy-related."

Jethro reached into his pocket, passed along a package to Suzanne. With surprise, she opened and saw a charm bracelet with four distinctive charms. The first was a heart with small engraving—10/15. The second was also a heart with baby feet. The third was a small "Marine Wife" charm.

"Your first mother's day present." Jethro fastened the bracelet onto Suzanne's right wrist.

"I was thinking…" Suzanne finished her coffee. "Kelly is the big sister. Jacqueline is the little sister. What about "Linn" for Jacqueline?"

"Sounds good to me…" Jethro gently kissed Suzanne's forehead. She remembered the tremendous love Jethro carried for his oldest daughter. No one could ever replace that father-daughter bond. "Linn is a great name."