I don't own NCIS or the Characters.

Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Tim pushed the double stroller while Anna sprinted towards the slide. The park was close enough for them to walk, which was good. It got him out of the house on weekends. This stage of his pregnancy all he wanted to do was strangle Jethro.

He didn't suffer from morning sickness with this one. It made him happy just that he wasn't sick all the time but it was also making him worried. With Anna and the twins he was always sick. He worried that this pregnancy wouldn't be viable. Every time he expressed his worries to Jethro would tell him it was still early. Ten weeks with the twins he couldn't walk to his car without getting sick.

He tried to focus on the beautiful day instead of his worries. Anna was hogging the slide but there were no other children there. In fact the only other person at the park was Mr. Norris. He had met Mr. Norris before his dad had him locked up. The old man just came to the park to feed the birds.

He pushed the stroller next to the bench where the withered old man was sitting. Mr. Norris smiled up and him and shifted over some. Tim sat down beside him; Mr. Norris had always been kind to him and the kids when they ran into him. If he were to make a guess the man was in his early seventies.

"How are you today?" Mr. Norris asked cheerily.

Tim sighed deeply before answering. "Honestly, I feel like I'm drowning." He didn't know why he always vented to Mr. Norris. If he were to guess it was because the man always listened to him and seemed to really be interested. He was also very sweet with the children. Anna called him Mr. Man.

"It's that husband of yours again, isn't it?" he drawled.

"We're not married," Tim corrected.

"Why not? You've given him three kids, fourth on the way. In my day marriage was something to want before the kids." The man broke off some bread and threw it off towards the birds about ten feet away.

"We're just not there yet," Tim said dumbly.

"What does that mean?" Cloudy blue eyes looked at him.

Tim really didn't know what to say. My partner doesn't want to marry a man. My partner told me the other day that he wasn't in love with me.

"It's… complicated," he said instead.

"I don't think you should be with that man," Mr. Norris said bluntly.

"We have kids together. I know what's holding him back he just needs more time. He lost the love of his life and his daughter." Tim knew that Shannon and Kelly's murders weighted heavily on him. It was why he had been married so many times. He hadn't loved any of them, it wasn't the end of the world when the marriages ended. Now he had children that he loved terribly, just the thought of losing them hurt. That was why he kept Tim at a distance. When he thought he had died before it was hard, he couldn't take that again. It had only been two and a half months since Tim's faked death.

Time. Time was what Jethro needed, and Tim would give it to him. Really, he had no choice. He wanted his family to stay together. If that made life a little hard on him, than he could take it; he had been through a lot worse.

"I was married to Millie for five years before I lost her. She was my everything, but she died leaving me with two kids to raise alone. I was sure after she died there would be no one else for me. I moved my mom into the house to take care of the kids and went on. Then three years later I met Gina. Gina was the complete opposite of Millie. Where Millie was soft spoken and gentle, Gina was loud and a ball of fire.

"The man who met and fell in love with Millie was very different from the one who fell in love with Gina. I was married to Gina for twenty-nine years, we had three more kids. Cancer took her from me three years ago. What I'm saying is, I don't believe there is one love of your life; there are different stages. The man who married Millie would never be with someone as vulgar as Gina, and the man who married Gina would think Millie was too much of a push over for him.

"This man of yours needs to get his head out of his you-know-what before it's too late."

Tim was trying hard to keep his composure, he looked over at Anna. She had moved on to the swing set. The twins had fallen asleep on the walk over.

Instead of thinking about things too upsetting for him he let his mind wander. He still needed to go shopping for the sleepover they were having that night. It was his brilliant idea to invite Anna's half-brother and sister over. It had been in the works for months. Tim had gotten to know their grandparents well. They weren't around enough to know exactly how mentally unstable their daughter was.

Anna's therapist said it would be beneficial to keep in contact. He was glad he listened because she loved playing with them. Their grandparents also said it would be good for the kids. So it was a win-win situation, the only problem was Jethro. He didn't trust anyone, especially the parents of the crazy woman who married Brandon Stacks and kidnapped Anna.

"Papa, watch me!" Anna yelled. His head snapped up just to see her launch herself off the swing. She was lucky she didn't fall face first in the sand. She was a little daredevil. Being used to her antics by now, he just told her 'good job' with her landing.

A week earlier she had scraped her knees on a tree. She had climbed well above what he was comfortable with. Still, he loved that about her, she was strong. She wouldn't have any of the problems he did when he was younger. His father would have been proud of her.

"Well, I know when to mind my own business," Mr. Norris said suddenly. Tim's head snapped up the look at the man.

"I'm sorry," he said guilty; he wasn't trying to ignore the man.

"It's okay, not the first time I've given unsolicited advice." The man's haggard face lighted up some and a smile graced his face. It made Tim feel a lot better. They spent the rest of the hours talking about the kids. Mr. Norris said he missed his own grandchildren because they all lived far away. It made Tim sad for the old man.

"Have a good day," Tim told Mr. Norris right before leaving to get the house ready for the sleepover.