AUTHORS NOTE: I apologize in advance that this chapter is kind of long and has a lot to do with both Tony's past abuse and toilet training. Again I want to point out this isn't supposed to be for an adult baby fetish but somebody who has a real medical problem. (which if you've read this far you understand what I mean) THANKS MUCH!

Chapter 13

"That was a great job reading back there with Aystyn." Gibbs told Tony as they drove to pick up the other kids from school. Normally he would have had them take the bus but since he and Tony were already out and about he figured he would be nice and pick them up. He then thought maybe they could go to the park to help get their energy out and Tony's as well.

Tony smiled big and Gibbs could see it in the rearview mirror. "Thanks." He replied as he played absentmindedly with the toys that were on his car seat. "Daddy?" he asked after a second of silence (which was odd because Tony had been jabbering up a storm since he woke up that morning).

"Yeah Buddy?"\

"When we get to the park can you teach me how to push on the swing all by myself?" Tony asked for some reason quietly. "Mean mommy and daddy never taught me that."

'Mean Mommy & Daddy…interesting.' Gibbs thought to himself but didn't let himself get distracted. "Of course I can…and I am sure all your siblings will help you too if you ask them."

"I wish Aystyn could come home and go to the park with us." Tony pouted. "I don't think he likes being at that other place very much. Why can't he come home?"

All this talking was beginning to disorient Gibbs a little bit. He swore the boy was maturing faster and faster as the day went on. But then he would do something like poop his pants and he would remember he was still talking with a preschooler. "I wish he could come with us to the park too, Buddy." Gibbs said. "But he isn't feeling very well and needs to be with nice doctors and nurses to make him feel better."

"Oh," Tony said with a nod of his head. "I see."

Soon they were at the school all the kids still went to. If Aystyn was they would have had to go to the middle school as well but since he wasn't it was all one school.

It took a few minutes but soon the four kids saw their Daddy's car and climbed inside. "Hey Daddy." Levi said with a smile and then waved at Tony. "Hi Tony."

Tony smiled and waved back, "Hey Levi." He said shocking the boy.

"Whoa what the heck?"

"Long story but Mr. Tony here is a big guy now. How old are you Tony?" Gibbs questioned not sure what Tony was going to say because he hadn't asked him that before…for some reason.

"I'm Four." He looked at Gibbs, "What day is it?"

Gibbs stated the day of the week and the date.

Tony got a big smile on his face. "Almost my birthday."

"That's right," Gibbs said as all the kids gaped at them in the back seat. This was not how things had been for the past month.

Gibbs pulled into a parking space near the playground and turned off the car. "Now everybody keep an eye on each other, we don't need anybody getting lost."

All the kids piled out of the car and Tony automatically went for the swings. "Daddy you were going to teach me!" he called to Gibbs who was still waddling to the play equipment from the car.

"Just a second!" Gibbs called as he made his way over to Tony. Once he got there he put Tony's backpack down next to the swing set. "You want me to teach you how to pump?"

"Yeah!" Tony exclaimed excitedly as he took a seat on the swing. "How do I do it?"

Gibbs moved around the swings and sat down gingerly on the swing next to Tony. He hoped the rubber and metal would hold his pregnant frame. When he didn't automatically fall down he figured he would be okay for a second to demonstrate pumping. If for some reason it didn't work he would have Levi or one of the girls teach him. "Okay watch what I am doing…"

The two guys spent a good half an hour perfecting the art of 'pumping' on the swing but soon Tony was doing it and he was flying above Gibbs squealing in delight. "Not TOO high." Gibbs called to the boy but smiling big none the less. Of course he missed his husband but this Tony had its perks as well.

"Hey Daddy can I talk to you?" Levi questioned as he wondered up to Gibbs while his sisters and brothers were still busy playing.

Gibbs, who was still sitting on a swing, nodded his head. "Sure, but let's go sit at that picnic table, this swing is making my butt hurt." He said with a smile and chuckled when his son rolled his eyes. Once at the table he looked pointedly at Levi, waiting for him to start talking.

Levi was quiet at first but started talking after a second. "How is this possible, with Tony? What happened?"

Gibbs proceeded to tell Levi what Dr. Kronko had said earlier that day and tried to explain how Tony might continue to improve as time went on but they weren't sure. As for now they were to treat him like he was almost five years old not two like he had been just the night before.

"Okay…I get it." Levi said as he stood up from the table. "I'm going to go swing with him now." With that he took off towards the swings.

"Come on Tony I know you gotta go." Jennyfer stated in exasperation. She had been trying to get Tony to get up and use the bathroom for the past ten minutes. They had been playing 'Candyland' but he had been wiggling around like crazy, which Jennyfer saw as a need to use the bathroom. They had all been told earlier that evening that they should try and work on potty training Tony and to do so they needed to work together. So, feeling like she had to do her part she was trying to get Tony to go. "Come on…it's not that big of a deal. I will even come with you."

Tony glared at his sister for probably the tenth time. "I don't need to go potty, I am fine."

"Five year olds don't pee their pants." She told him.

"This on obviously does," Jackalyn stated joining in on the conversation as she walked into the room.

Tony pouted a little, his eyes beginning to misty. "Leave me alone." He said getting up and flopping down by the books. He picked up one of his favorite books and started actually READING it to himself. As he sat down he grabbed at his crotch and held it tightly trying to hold off what everybody knew he needed to do.

"What's going on? I thought you were playing a game." Gibbs said as he watched the girls sitting on the floor by the game but Tony was over by the books.

"I was just doing what you said to do, I was trying to get him to go to the bathroom because I KNOW he has to pee." Jennyfer stated sadly. "I think we made him mad though…which wasn't what we were trying to do."

Gibbs sighed, "It's okay girls, you were only trying to help." He then headed over to where Tony was and sat down next to him the best he could. "Hey Buddy…you okay?"

Tony was quiet as he shook his head in the negative.

"Okay, what's wrong?"

"I don't have to go potty."

Gibbs looked down at how Tony's hand was positioned and then up at his face with a raised eyebrow. "Why is your hand like that then?"

"Umm…." Tony was a big unsure how to answer this question without getting into trouble. "I don't know it just is."

"Tony if you have to go potty we can go potty. It's not a big deal." Gibbs said gently. "And only takes probably a minute."

Tony looked at Gibbs with what could only be described as an 'evil eye'. "NO!" he exclaimed and in the process removed his hand from his lap, causing himself to lose it. "Crap!" he exclaimed again shocking Gibbs. He didn't realize the young Tony knew words like that.

Tony teared up a little as he looked down at his lap as he finished up his business. "Can I play now?" he asked softly.

Gibbs shook his head, "We need to change you now…maybe you can do it yourself?"

This was an interesting concept to Tony. "Myself?"

"Sure, you just went pee pee right, nothing too messy?"

"Yeah…lots and lots of it." This caused Tony to giggle and point at his crotch. "I had been holding it inside."

Gibbs took that bit of information as a good thing. Tony was definitely ready for potty training they just needed to jump through some hoops first. BUT the first step was to get Tony cleaned up and able to have a little 'Father Son' talk. "Okay let's go upstairs to your BATHROOM and you can change your pants." He was doing to say diaper but figured that wasn't the way to go anymore. They were really going to need to buy some adult sized pull-on diapers.

Tony heard the word 'Bathroom' and shook his head. "No bathroom Daddy…you know I don't like it."

"I know you don't but we gotta work through this. I will be right with you." Gibbs said gently, reaching over and taking Tony's hand. "Sometimes we do things we don't like to do or that is scary."

"Are you scared to have the baby without a Dad around?" Tony asked as the two of them got up off the floor and headed for the stairs. "You seem sad Daddy."

This was shocking to Gibbs and he didn't know what to say but tried to smile and answer the question. "I am sad sometimes, but you know that my husband got sick and had to go away."

"Like Aystyn had to go to the hospital and stay there for a awhile?" Tony questioned.

Gibbs shook his head, "No my husband is gone for a long, long time."

"Oh." Tony said feeling bad for his daddy right then. So bad that when they got upstairs he went right for the bathroom rather than his bedroom. He stood outside the door and took a deep breath. "I don't like this." He whispered before opening the door and walking inside.

Gibbs followed behind, even leaving the door open, figuring Tony would like that more. He was thankful he had left some of Tony's diapers in the bathroom so they didn't have to make a stop at his bedroom. "Okay Bud let's do this thing."

Tony pulled down his jeans to his feet and went about taking his diaper off. "Can you help me put the new one on?" he asked holding out the wet diaper, not sure what to do with it.

Gibbs pushed the waist-basket in Tony's direction so he could toss the diaper in it. Tony did that and was waiting for Gibbs to help him put the clean diaper on but he wasn't making any move to do so. "Why don't we try and go potty while we are here." He suggested

"Daaaddy." Tony whined a pout on his face. "I just peed and I don't need to poop. I just wana get out of here."

Thinking he would pick his battles Gibbs nodded and helped Tony get dressed. Then the two of them washed their hand and headed out of the bathroom.

Tony visibly relaxed the second they were out of the bathroom and Gibbs was curious if he could get the now older boy to talk about what he had witnessed with the stuffed animals a few days earlier. "Hey Tony can we talk a little bit before you go back and play before bed?"

"Okay," Tony said with a smile as they walked to his and Levi's bedroom. He automatically went to his toy box and started to play with some action figures.

Gibbs was going to remind him that they were going to talk when he figured maybe distracting Tony would help him talk more freely. He had seen it done on TV before in child play therapy. "So Tony I want to ask you about something that could be scary and make you sad, okay?"

Tony looked up from his Spiderman and Batman toy. He had a curious look on his face, one that said he was unsure if he wanted to have this conversation. He didn't say anything though just waited for Gibbs to talk.

"Do you remember a few days ago what you did with your Spiderman and Teddy stuffies?" Gibbs asked gently.

"Yes." Tony said and sighed, "Daddy I really don't want to talk about that. It's scary and makes me feel all icky inside."

Gibbs sighed, "I know Tony but sometimes it makes you feel better when you do talk about it."

Tony went quiet for a good five minutes before he started talking and boy did he start talking when he did. "My Bad mommy used to hurt me when she changed my diapers." He began. "She would also hurt me in the bathtub or when I was using the potty." He looked up at Gibbs. "The bathroom is not safe."

"What did Bad daddy do?" Gibbs asked.

"Nothing." Tony stated. "He let bad mommy be mean to me….touch me in icky places." He continued to look at Gibbs as if gaging his reaction. When he could tell Gibbs was okay with everything he added. "You don't do bad stuff to me. You change my diaper like a good daddy."

Gibbs smiled a little. "I love you and want to keep you safe."

"I know." Tony said and sighed. "But daddy the bathroom still scares me. I don't know how I can go potty like a big boy and not use the bathroom. I don't wana wear diapers anymore. I'm not a baby."

Gibbs thought of something and got an idea. "What if we brought the potty to your bedroom…that way you can work on potty training without being scared."

"How do you do that?" Tony questioned but seemed to like the idea.

Gibbs began to describe a commode. He didn't mention that it was normally used for the elderly who couldn't get out of bed.

"Let's do that." Tony said with a smile.

Gibbs nodded, "Okay but we are also going to practice using the potty in the bathroom one time a day. It can be when you have to go or when you don't have to go but we gotta get you used to the bathroom. He wanted to tell the young Tony that he would use the toilet in the bathroom at some point in his life because the Tony he knew wasn't using diapers or a commode.

Tony agreed to these terms and also agreed to go with Gibbs the next day to pick out new pull-on diapers and a commode. Gibbs did end up telling Tony what the commode was normally used for so he didn't get scared in the medical supply store but thankfully Tony didn't seem too worried about that little fact.

The next morning Tony woke up before everybody else and tiptoed into Gibbs' room and climbed into his bed smirking he jumped lightly on his legs, knowing better than to hurt his stomach. "Daddy!"

Gibbs almost jumped out of his skin when the large body jumped onto him. When he opened his eyes it reminded him of times when Tony had jumped on him in bed for a much different reason. Shaking that thought from his head he addressed Tony. "Good morning, Tony." He said not even thinking to remind the boy he was supposed to knock before coming into his room.

"I'm ready."

Gibbs was confused, "Ready?"

"Yeah to go shopping for…stuff…"

"Oh," Gibbs chuckled and looked at the clock seeing it was seven in the morning. "Buddy it's too early to go. The stores aren't open yet and we have to make sure the other kids get off to school."

"When I go potty like a big boy can I go to school?" Tony questioned, now sitting Indian style on what was his old side of the bed.

"Maybe." Gibbs said not sure how else to answer that. "Now how about you go get your diaper and clothes ready to go while I wake up the other kids."

"I don't need a new diaper." Tony said and he wasn't trying to be deceptive.

Gibbs raised his eyebrow. "Prove it."

Tony stood up on the bed and pulled down his PJ pants to show he was indeed dry. "See."

"Okay I see." Gibbs remembered all his kids…well the girls and Levi anyway had all been dry in the morning at this age so it must be the same way for the large preschooler. "Okay then why don't you go pick out your clothes and get dressed while I get the other kids up."

"Kay." Tony said before bounding out of the room.

Gibbs met up with Tony about twenty minutes later in the kitchen. He was there at just the right time to prevent a real disaster. "Whoa Tony!" he exclaimed as he took the full milk jug from the still not fully coordinated boy. It was cute though he did have perfectly poured bowls of cereal for just the right amount of people in the family. "I know you are trying to help but that is heavy AND we need to wait for the kids to get down here so we don't get their cereal soggy." He said to the pouting preschooler.

"Oh." Tony said thinking about that a second and bit his lower lip. "Can I eat mine? I'm really hungry."

The look on Tony's face had Gibbs chuckling and he nodded. "Sure, you can eat yours but let me pour the milk."

Tony nodded and waited for his cereal and juice at the table. Once he had it he started to eat using his spoon a bit awkwardly but Gibbs recognized it as how a preschooler would do it. Actually he recognized it as how TONY would do it. The man had always held his eating AND writing utensils in a weird, unique way.

"You look nice." Gibbs said as he got some fruit cut up to give everybody to eat. "I like what you picked out."

Tony was wearing black skinny jeans a tight green t-shirt. If Gibbs would allow himself to think a certain way he would say Tony looked 'sexy' in his outfit.

"Daddy…" Tony said in a questioning tone.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Don't let me go potty in my pants…cuz I think it would look funny in these pants."

This had Gibbs busting up laughing and Tony joining in after him.

"I really don't want to." Tony whined as he stood in the living room hands on his hips.

"You said you didn't want to go potty in those jeans because it would look funny. You WILL have to go potty while we are out shopping if you don't go now." Gibbs pointed out to the defiant spiky haired boy.

Tony groaned and stomped his foot. "I will NOT go in the bathroom right now. Bad Mommy did really Bad Mommy stuff in the morning time."

"Tony…" Gibbs said feeling Tony was beginning to use his story as a crutch.

"Can I just pee now and change myself before we go…in my room." Tony questioned with a hopeful look on his face.

Gibbs looked at Tony was crazy, "Anthony Gibbs-DiNozzo!"

Tony pouted, "What am I supposed to do?"

"You can come with me to the bathroom. You said you would go potty in the bathroom at least once a day." Gibbs reminded him.

"Yeah, but not in the morning."

Gibbs threw his hands up in the air. "Fine let's just go. I will not let you just pee here in the living room. If you don't want to wet yourself while in those jeans then you will go to the bathroom before we go."

Being defiant still Tony simply picked up his ever present backpack and put it on his back. "Let's go." He said going to the door.

"Why am I so big?" Tony asked as they stood in the isle that had the adult diapers in it at Walmart.

This was NOT a question Gibbs was prepared to answer so he simply said, "You just are." And thankfully Tony seemed to accept that, which was wild for a preschooler who normally asked questions about everything. "So we've got three options…"

Tony pouted a little, "So blue…white….and what else?"

"Well if you got the white ones you could decorate them." Gibbs said with a smirk knowing how much Tony loved doing art projects. At least he had loved coloring when he had been 'two'.

Tony's pout went away and he quickly grabbed up four packages of the adult pull-on type diapers. They were similar to the ones he had, had in the beginning so Gibbs hoped that they wouldn't cause too many rashes. BUT if all went well they could get Tony in briefs of boxers in no-time.

"Shit." Tony said out of the blue as they were shopping for a few other things at the store.

Gibbs' eyes went wide, "Watch that mouth…" he said but then saw the look on Tony's face and knew what was happening. "I told you."

Tony looked completely panicked. "I don't have to pee…"

"Gotcha…Well let's get you to the bathroom, you don't mind public bathrooms."

"No…I wana go home….Daddy I really gotta go." Tony said holding onto his butt.

Gibbs again understood what was happening. Tony had, had milk in his cereal and he was sure he saw him steal three cheese sticks from the fridge before they left. Even adult Tony couldn't do that much dairy in an hour time period without having…issues. "Come on we gotta TRY and get to the bathroom." He looked around and realized they were right by the bathroom. "Actually we are almost there…come on."

Tony took Gibbs' hand and walked awkwardly in the direction of the bathroom. They were about twenty feet from it when Tony stopped let go of Gibbs' hand and stood there looking really pathetic.

"Oh Bud," Gibbs said as he again tried to take Tony's hand. "Come on…"

Tony didn't know what to do, he really wanted to be a big boy and he didn't want to make a mess of his cool jeans but he was really USING his diaper. "Daddy I can't go….let me stay here…I will look at something." He said waddling to a display of ironically toilet paper.

Gibbs had no idea what the 'looking at something' had to do with anything but he let Tony do what he needed to do because he could hear the complete and utter embarrassment in the four year olds voice. He just prayed to God that Tony's diaper held out. Normally it did so he wasn't too worried. He was just about to go check to make sure Tony was okay when his cell phone started ringing. Looking at it he saw McGee's name on the screen. "Lovely timing." He said out loud to the phone contemplating if he should even answer it or let it go to voicemail.

"What?" Tony asked turning his head to look at his Daddy. He had thought Gibbs had been talking to him.

"Sorry Bud just talking out loud." Gibbs said before answering the call. "Yeah, Gibbs."

"Hey Boss…I was curious if you could make it into the office this afternoon. There is something Abby wants you to see and Ducky is dying to see that four year old of yours."

Gibbs had almost forgotten he had called the team to tell them about Tony's change. He looked over at Tony and figured he would enjoy going to the office once he wasn't doing what he was currently doing. "Sure…I've got some errands to finish up but we can be around in about two hours I think."

"Okay we'll see you then." McGee said before hanging up the phone.

As Gibbs was putting his phone back in his pocket, Tony was making his way back over to him.

"Do I HAVE to get changed in that bathroom?" Tony questioned a pout on his face. "This is really nasty and those bathrooms can be nasty too." As he said this he got a weird contemplative look on his face. "But if *I* am nasty, maybe I should be in a nasty bathroom."

Gibbs couldn't help but chuckle at this, "Tony we DO need to clean you up right now mostly because I don't think your diaper can handle the car ride home with you sitting on it." At the disgusted look on Tony's face he guessed the boy understood. "Come on we'll be fast."

And fast they were, Tony was talking about how fast it was as they walked out of the bathroom only five minutes later. "That was awesome Daddy." He said giggling. "Can we do it again?"

"Seriously?"

Tony giggled more, "No." he then made a face. "I am never eating cheese again."

Gibbs was about to tell Tony 'of course not' but realized he wouldn't understand what he meant. As they finished their shopping Gibbs told Tony about how they were going to NCIS after the medical supply store and this had Tony so excited he was skipping up and down the isles of the store.

"Tony we don't do that!" Gibbs said mostly because his pregnant body couldn't keep up with the hyper active boy. "Slow down please."

Thankfully Tony listened and he decided to help Gibbs push the cart instead. Soon they were paying and taking their stuff out to the car. As Tony buckled himself in he asked another tough question. "Will I ever see bad mommy and daddy again?"

"I hope not." Was Gibbs' response.

Tony seemed to buy that and was quite the rest of the way to the medical supply store.

Once they got there Tony looked around at all the strange gadgets while Gibbs talked with the store clerk about what they were looking for and why they needed it. He wasn't sure why he said those things but he did. It wasn't like it was the store clerk's business who and why he was buying the commode.

"Daddy is THIS what we're getting?" Tony questioned looking at the commode that Gibbs had next to him as he was paying at the register.

Gibbs nodded his head, "Yeah…I know it looks silly but it will help us out until you are ready to use the bathroom."

"Okay," Tony said as they headed out of the store and loaded their purchase into the back of the SUV. They then got themselves situated and headed for NCIS headquarters.

"Do I get to hang out with Abby?" Tony questioned as they parked in the underground parking lot and headed for the elevator.

Gibbs shook his head, "Abby and I have to do some work, and you're going to see Ducky and Jimmy for a little bit." He used the eye scanner and they got onto the elevator going up. "First we're going to check in upstairs, see what is going on in the squad room."

"Okay." Tony said as they walked into the squad room where all there of the agents were situated at their desks. "Hi guys!"

All the faces of Ziva, Tim and Ellie looked at Tony like he had completely lost his mind. Of course Tony didn't understand this reaction and looked to Gibbs for information.

"They are just happy to see you, right guys?" Gibbs said looking at his agents who all started nodding their heads. "Good now why don't you guys fill me in on what is going on?"

Tony looked around the room not sure what he was supposed to do. "Do I go see Ducky now?"

"I can take him." Ellie said with a smile. She was the newest member of the team and quite frankly took Tony's place. When Gibbs nodded she took Tony's hand in hers. "Come on cutie."

"I'm not cute." Tony said as they went to the back elevator that would take them down to Autopsy.

Ellie giggled, "Okay Handsome."

Tony giggled too and then shivered a little when they got to the cooler floor of the building. "Why is it so cold?" he questioned.

Doctor 'Ducky' Mallard came to the door and smiled. "That is because we keep some very special stuff down here that has to stay cold." He said already amazed at the way Tony was holding himself and the way he was talking. "Welcome to my area of NCIS come let's have some tea."

"Then he showed me where the bodies went!" Tony exclaimed as he and Gibbs walked into the house. He was about to go into the living room when Gibbs held him back and turned him to look at him.

"He what?"

"He showed me the body place." Tony said again.

Gibbs groaned and mumbled something about having to talk with Ducky. "Are you ready for a nap?"

Tony made a face at that, "Nah…I will go look at books."

"How about we compromise." Gibbs said and Tony looked at him expectantly. "Why don't you take your books into your room and look at them in bed so *I* can take a nap."

"Okay," Tony agreed as he dashed into the family room and came back with an armful of books. "Ready."

Gibbs chuckled and they headed upstairs. When he was sure Tony was settled into his room, he headed into his own room and climbed into bed. He found himself drifting off to sleep much longer than he expected.

"Daddy?" came a female voice and Gibbs blinked open his eyes. He was a bit shocked to see Jackalyn looking at him. "I think you've been asleep for a long time. Tony said you went to sleep right after lunch time."

Gibbs looked at the clock on his nightstand and was surprised to see it was after three and he and Tony had come home around noon after going to McDonalds for lunch. "Gosh." He said sitting up and trying to get his baring's. "Is everybody okay?"

"Sure thing." Jackalyn said smiling. "Levi is downstairs getting everybody a snack, I said I would come wake you up."

"I will be downstairs in a few minutes." Gibbs said getting out of bed and going into the bathroom.

Jackalyn headed back downstairs to where her sister and brothers were now sitting around the kitchen table eating their afternoon snack of baby carrots and ranch. She took her own seat at the table and began to eat her portion.

Gibbs joined the kids with a smile on his face. "Great job Levi." He told the eldest of the current group. "Nice and healthy."

"Should I eat this?" Tony asked looking at the ranch dressing, wondering if it was like milk or cheese and if so he did NOT want to eat it after what happened earlier.

"You're fine Bud." Gibbs said ruffling his hair which got him the normal glare he would have gotten if he had done that to adult Tony. "So guys before homework time this afternoon we've got a project."

Zakaree pouted, "A project sounds LIKE homework."

"I guess it could, but this should be a fun project." Gibbs proceeded to tell the kids how Tony wanted to decorate his new pull-on diapers to look more fun and kid-ish.

"That does sound fun." Jennyfer said as she got up and started clearing the table so they could use the flat surface to do their art project.

"I'll get the markers." Levi said dashing out of the room.

Tony smiled big, "I will get the pull-ups." He said running out of the room even though Gibbs was yelling after him not to run inside.

'They are going to need some outside time after this' Gibbs thought to himself.

Tony and the gang colored on all the diapers that had been bought earlier that day. Gibbs had chuckled when Tony had insisted on having a whole set that was decorated in rainbows and flowers. The girls of course had a blast doing this. Gibbs was sure some My Little Pony was added into the mix some place too.

"Okay guys good job, now you've got fifteen minutes to go outside and run around before doing homework." Gibbs told the kids who squealed happily and headed out the backdoor to play on the park like play structure. Quite frankly he didn't understand why they even went to the park after Tony had bought the huge ass play structure the summer before.

Not having anything else to do, Gibbs joined the kids outside sitting on the deck drinking ice water and watching the playful banter going on between them. It was about ten minutes into things when Tony came running over to him.

"Daddy I have to go pee." He stated doing a cute little dance.

'Well that is a step in the right direction' Gibbs thought to himself as he got up from his seat. "Well then come on." He took Tony's hand and the two of them headed upstairs to Tony and Levi's bedroom. There the commode sat ready to be used.

Tony seemed skeptical at first but went through the motions like an old pro. This got him a huge amount of praise and he got to put on one of his newly decorated 'pull-ups' before dashing back outside to play for five more minutes.

Gibbs followed suit with a huge smile on his face. "We can do this." He said out loud to himself. And it was true, every day that went by he felt like things were getting just a bit easier without HIS Tony there.

To be continued…