Epilogue

The week leading up to Katie's first birthday had been filled with rain. Sheets of it had poured from the sky and Tim had been near frantic as to the possibility that he'd have to move her party inside. His parents had reminded him countless times that Caitlyn wouldn't remember the day; the first birthday was mostly for the parents. Tim had shrugged off the statements in hopes of giving his daughter a fantastic birthday. The cake had been ordered a full two weeks in advance and he kept sending a revised menu to Ziva- Sarah was now vegan, Grace was allergic to melon and Palmer couldn't have too much sugar.

Seven-thirty on the dot a voice rang out over the baby monitor. "Dada, dada."

Such a simple phrase brought a smile to McGee's face. Katie had few words and she was starting to match the correct name to the correct person. Jethro ran into the room and jumped onto Tim's bed, licking his master's face and barked once. A morning ritual that never got old. He couldn't believe that he'd worried about the canine's acceptance of another person coming into the house. Just as the dog had done with Bubba, Jethro slept just inside the nursery door and followed Katie everywhere.

"I'm up, I'm up." Tim smiled. "Make ya a deal; how about you get Katie out of her crib and I'll run around like a crazy dog?"

Jethro sneezed lightly, head shaking and he gave another guttural bark. Tim sighed and pushed the blankets down the bed and climbed to his feet. Stretching briefly, he went to the next room to greet the birthday girl. She was standing in the crib with her mouth on the rail; Katie smiled at the sight of her father and squealed loudly.

"Shh, Caitlyn, inside voice." Tim said as he picked her up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "What do you say: oatmeal for breakfast? Get the messy out of the way before guests start arriving. Is that good?"

"Uh-uh."

"No?" Tim smiled as Katie started shaking her head. "What do you want then?"

"Oooooo!"

Tim laughed and started tickling her belly. "That's what I said, silly girl."

Katie squirmed in attempt to get away from the fingers that made her laugh while Tim held tight to the toddler. Once had he come close to dropping her and it had quickly taught him to make sure he held extra tight when tickling her round belly. The pair made their way downstairs and into the kitchen where the coffee pot was already dispensing fresh morning coffee. Tim deposited Katie into her high chair and peeled a banana for her before going to prepare the bowl of oatmeal.

Katie picked up the banana and started smashing it against her lips. Tim opened the packet of oatmeal and mixed it with some milk in a bowl. By the time he'd turned with her breakfast in hand, half of the banana perched on the edge of the highchair tray and Jethro eagerly accepted the treat.

"No," McGee said sternly causing Jethro to run outside. "Caitlyn, we don't feed the doggie our food."

The little girl let out another ear-splitting squeal and started bouncing in her seat, swinging her spoon over her head. He sighed as a glob fell from her spoon and landed in her hair. It appeared that a bath would be needed before dressing in her new sundress.

"You're lucky you're so cute, you know that?" McGee asked. Katie giggled and held out her spoon to her father. "Oh, thank you."

McGee took the small bite of oatmeal and then went back to preparing his own breakfast.

He looked around the backyard. The grill was on and Gibbs would be here any minute to take over his favorite job. He'd tied all the pink and yellow balloons at various locations around the yard and had moved Katie's high chair outside under the awning so she wouldn't be in the direct sun. His patio table had a fresh pink tablecloth with yellow plates and cups stacked in neat piles.

"Ok, what's left?" McGee asked out loud.

"Hello?" Abby's voice rang out from inside.

Tim went back inside in just enough time to see Caitlyn speed crawling across the kitchen floor. Abby bend down and picked up the little girl, pressing a kiss to her temple. "There's my favorite little niece."

By one o'clock in the afternoon Tim's backyard was filled with people. His parents and Sarah had arrived just after Abby and the four had playfully fought over the birthday girl. Tony, Ziva, Ducky and Palmer arrived carrying half a dozen wrapped gifts. The last to walk through the door was Steve, carrying her own wrapped gift and tickling Katie under her chin.

"Happy birthday, cutie." She said causing another fit of giggles.

Tim was introducing his parents to Steve when Dani and Jill walked out of the kitchen, Hazel in Dani's arms. "Tim, you have a final party-goer."

The gang turned toward the door to see the newest arrival as another squeal threatened to burst their eardrums.

"Mmmmm," Katie said, taking tentative steps away from Ziva and walking toward Grace.

Grace knelt down and held out her hands, "Come on, sweetie."

The little girl with blonde ringlets stumbled across the patio and fell into Grace's arms with a laugh. The image brought a smile to Tim's face as he stepped forward and pressed a small kiss to Grace's left cheek.

"Glad you made it," Tim said, giving her a one-armed hug. "Where are your folks?"

Grace shifted Katie, who was currently pawing at the woman's face and babbling incoherently. "They couldn't make it but told me to thank you for the birthday photos. I can't believe a year has gone by so fast."

Tim scoffed, "You and me both. Seems like just last week I was checking on her every ten minutes while she was in her playpen. No one told me about the obsessive need to check if she's breathing while sleeping."

Grace smiled as Gibbs spoke from behind the grill. "You wouldn't believe how many times he called me in the middle of the night. You picked a good one, Grace."

Grace smiled and wrapped her empty arm around Tim's waist. "I did, didn't I?"

The other party attendants each made their way around to give Grace a hug. Tim's parents wrapped both arms around her and kissed her temple; Grace, to them, was part of the family and an honorary McGee. Sarah, also, hugged her and the two spoke briefly about a band they'd made plans to see together that night with Abby.

It wasn't much longer before Tim and Jill were fixing plates for their daughters. Once the girls were both pushing food into their mouths, sans utensils, the adults began to piles their own plates with the barbequed meal. Ziva's seasoned potatoes had been a hit and the first empty bowl, unfortunately for Tony who'd gone back for a third helping. Steve had brought a large covered platter of roasted veggies complete with an avocado ranch dip. However, the big surprise was Tony's homemade Manicotti Italian Casserole.

"Who knew Tony knew how to cook anything besides microwave meals." McGee mumbled to Palmer as they gathered plates to take to the dishwasher.

"I heard that, McPapa!" Tony called from the patio.

Jimmy dutifully offered to hand wash the dinnerware while Tim carefully stacked everyone's bake ware and platters into the dishwasher, poured the appropriate amount of soap into the door container, closed the door and started the high-powered wash.

As the two returned back outside, McGee smiled as he found Gibbs slinging Jethro's Frisbee across the yard while Sarah and Grace were praising Caitlyn as she walked back and forth between them as the group casually talked. Grace jumped to her feet as she saw Tim's return.

"Gift time yet, Tim?" She asked enthusiastically.

Dani and Jill chuckled. "Seems like Grace is a little antsy, Tim." Steve joked.

She smirked to the older woman. "I just… have a very special gift. That's all."

Tim chortled and picked up Caitlyn from between Sarah's knees. "Ok, ladybug, gift time."

Tim sat down in one of the rocking chairs belonging to his outdoor set with Katie in his lap. He picked up the envelope that topped Grace's gift and found a savings bond certificate. "That's from my parents; tradition in our family. Grandparents get a savings bond that matures on the child's twentieth birthday. I'm hoping to use mine to help buy my own car."

"This is great," McGee said. "Thank your parents for me."

Tim passed the envelope to Abby while Ziva wrote down the gift for Tim to transfer to Katie's baby book later. He pulled the box awkwardly in his lap, his arm protectively around his daughter's belly. The pale pink bow which topped the box was transferred to her tiny head. The group laughed as Dani snapped a photo.

Inside the box, Tim lifted out a tiny cheerleader outfit and a sweatshirt which read My Mommy is a Wolverine! He looked at Grace with confusion.

"University of Michigan," Grace smiled.

"You're kidding?" McGee said as a slow smile formed on his face.

Ziva climbed to her feet and circled her arms around the young girl. Gibbs, also, gave the girl a congratulatory hug.

"What's the plan, Gracie?" He asked.

"Social work," She told them. "I wanna be able to help other girls debating adoption."

Gibbs nodded his head. "I think you'd be great at that."

Grace smiled as she looked around her second family. She would have never believed that getting pregnant would have changed her life in this way. It hadn't been the worst thing after all; she'd gained an amazing extended family who celebrated her triumphs right along with her. She'd also found her calling in the process: helping scared girls and their unborn children. Could she actually be grateful of Austin and his absurd idea of conquering the seemingly unattainable? As she watched Tim pull the sweatshirt over Katie's head as the rest of the group took turns giving her congratulations she realized that she could. She no longer hated Austin; he'd given her more than he could have imagined. He'd given her a life she'd never considered. For that, and only that, she was grateful.

THE END