Chapter 12
After story time and tucking in, Tim headed back downstairs to find his father sitting at the table with two fresh cups of coffee. "Thanks. Don't suppose you have your flask on you?"
Dad chuckled, "Not the first thing I think of bringing to dinner with my son and grandchildren." He paused, "Didn't know you knew about it."
"Fornell mentioned it."
"Figures. So what did she say that pissed you off?"
"Annoyed, not quite pissed off. She was mocking my domesticity. Not the worst thing she's ever said or done."
"No, guess not. Tell the truth, I was afraid she was going to argue about the whole angel thing, why I changed the subject."
"Yeah, thank you for that. And thanks for all your help, don't know what I would do without you."
"It's a joy, Timothy and get used to it."
They smiled at each other. Gibbs finished his coffee, rinsed his cup and put it in the dishwasher. "See you after the estate guy?"
"Yes, have an 8:30 appointment; I hope to be in by 10:00. You want the Porsche?"
"Nah, I'll drive the truck. Don't worry about what time you get in; you should already be on family leave."
"It's working out all right. As long as Lara doesn't mind!"
"Extra paycheck for her."
"Yep and the kids love her. Reminds me, I need to get them enrolled at the daycare aboard the Yard."
"I'll remind you."
"Thanks! I'm used to reminders on my phone but I've been too busy to even set them up."
"Keep telling you, get used to it! Although now that you've moved, getting the legal stuff taken care of, kids into daycare, you'll get into more of a routine. Then DiNozzo will come back to work, you'll change jobs and you're off and running again."
They chuckled at the truth of that. After a goodnight hug for his son, Gibbs walked down the street to his house.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Tim and the kids were fed, dressed and ready for their day when Lara arrived Monday morning. With a grin, Tim backed the Porsche out of the garage, enjoying the purr of the powerful engine as he drove to his attorney's office. There he updated his trust with the kids' and his father's names and set up a separate form listing the children's guardians. Next, they started the process of setting up a separate trust for the children. Right now, there was a nominal amount of funds in there but once the Nichols-Mays' estate was settled, more money would come in and Tim wanted that for their education.
He was surprised when his attorney asked him why he was seeing a family law attorney. "I need to find out how to make sure I'm the children's legal guardian."
"We can do that right now, Tim. You had DNA run, right?"
"Yes."
"Get me a copy and we'll attach it to the form you're about to fill out. I'll file it with the state and you're good to go."
"Seriously, it's a form?"
"Who's listed as the father on their birth certificates?"
Tim had everything together in a briefcase, including the DNA results. He pulled it all out and handed over the birth certificates given him by Ms. McKinna.
"That's interesting. I've never seen the birth certificate of a child conceived with a sperm donor. They have you listed with what I assume is the donor number you were assigned at the sperm bank. We'll file an amendment to change it to your name, along with the paternity claim form and a copy of the DNA test…just that first page please."
Tim handed him the page and the attorney handed him a form. "Here, fill this out while I have copies made of these."
He nodded a little numbly; relieved this part was apparently going to be easy. The attorney popped his head back in the room, "Do you have a copy of the women's marriage license? We should keep one with your file here."
"Uh, I don't think so."
"That's all right, we'll get it. Where and when did they get married?"
"Connecticut in 2010; in Coventry I believe."
"We'll have them fax us a copy."
Tim filled out the paternity claim form and then realized he might have to do it over. When the attorney returned he asked, "I'm going to be changing our surname in the next month. I told you about my dad, we're also going to use Gibbs as our surname."
"That's fine, go ahead and sign it now, we'll file an amendment when that's done. We can help you with the name change too."
"Great because I haven't had a chance to research."
"You file a petition to change your name with the courts. Then you get a court date, could be anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks out. Go to court and once they approve your request you're given a court decree changing your name. Then the fun starts, letting everyone you've ever done business with know about it. We have a form letter we'll put together for you and you can either give us a list of who needs to get it or we'll give you the letters and you can customize and mail them."
Tim chuckled, "Right, so I'll start getting that list together for you."
"It's not just the credit card companies. It's the credit reporting companies, any professional groups you belong to, landlords or mortgage holders, insurance companies, doctors, dentist, car dealer, etc. Knowing you as long as I have, you've probably got records of all of those."
Tim smiled, "Not just records, electronic records so I can pull them into a list."
"Of course, I would expect nothing less!"
He left a few minutes later, happy to have so much taken care of, especially the whole paternity thing. His attorney explained that sperm donors were considered to have waived paternal rights although they weren't prohibited from making a paternal claim. The fact the kids' mothers listed his donor number on the birth certificates gave them enough wiggle room to use the paternity claim form. His attorney was also going to have his birth certificate reissued with Shannon Fielding and Leroy Jethro Gibbs listed as his parents and the real date of his birth, November 13, 1977.
Before he started the car, he contacted the family law attorney and canceled the appointment, apologizing for his ignorance. The woman who'd answered laughed, "It's actually nice to hear that something is less complicated than expected. It's usually the other way around, believe me! "
Tim snorted, "I do believe you; I work for the government!"
