Abby left the main party for the daycare room, to check on Rubyjane, mostly for her own peace of mind. Thankfully, the little girl was having a blast. This assuaged Abby's first-time mother woes about leaving her be, although that made way for new fears, altogether, such as finding an odd scene when she rounded one corner: both of the elder McGees glaring at Sarah, and Sarah standing dazed, a puddle of sick at her feet.

"What the hell?" Abby squawked.

Sarah looked like she was going to cry as she attempted to clean herself up. "Abby, my parents just found out about the baby, and my ex was here, but he literally ran away!"

"Because he recognized your parents?"

"Yes."

Abby began to steer her friend away from the sick. "Why were you ill?"

"Mom hit me."

The older woman was immediately both horrorstruck, and at a loss for words.

But then three voices joined the conversation, unified, and they voiced Abby's anger.

"She did what?"

McGee, Clementine, and Ziva had arrived, each seeking out Abby or Sarah. Scout stood beside her mistress, pressed close, because she could already sense the tension. Abby passed Sarah to the newcomers.

"Take care of her," she said. "And send for a custodian, or something. She vomited."

Each going into 'protective sister' mode, Ziva and Clementine both prepared to guide Sarah away.

"We will clean her up, Abby." Ziva said seriously. "Do not rush things on our account."

"Thank you."

When they left, McGee was livid. He, Abby, John, and Ellis had barely filed into a side room. The door was barely closed behind them before he went off.

"Why the hell would you hurt Sarah?" he demanded of his mother. "Never mind that she's pregnant, but you've never laid a hand to her or me before, so why start now?"

Ellis tried very hard not to stomp a foot. "Your sister has gone and embarrassed us in a number of ways, including sleeping around, not talking about it, and even changing her last name altogether!"

"What she does on her own time in the bedroom is hardly our concern, and what does it matter that she changed her name? I changed mine!"

"But legally, you still go by the last name that you were born with!" Ellis protested.

John added, "Sarah changing her last name is a slap in the face because already didn't go into Navy or philanthropy, like we wanted her to. She didn't even get a degree in something that will take her places. How could someone so brilliant just throw it all away?"

Abby stepped in before the rest of the McGees could kill each other.

"Look: Tim and I are supporting Sarah through these hard times, and not just because she's family, or because my parents basically rehabilitated her while she was in Louisiana. We support Sarah because we love her, and she is genuinely our friend! Every choice she's made has been hers, and she's an adult, so it's not our lives, or yours because it's hers."

Ellis tried to speak. "Abby—"

"No!" she cried. "It's up to Sarah ultimately, but you can forget about being in my life, or the kids' lives, and I don't want you to come around to the house or work, either—family doesn't do this to family! I'm going to look after Sarah since you really fell down on that job, and I'm going to marry Tim, and we're all going to be happy!"

Abby turned to McGee, expectant. She had always been able to read him like a book, and he had always backed her up when she needed it. This was one of those times, but he'd never spoken against his parents before.

Still, he didn't hesitate.

"Abby's right—we are done. Family doesn't treat each other like this, and we've already been through enough drama in the past few months." he said. "Unless a miracle occurs, or Sarah says otherwise, neither of you are welcome in our lives, or to the wedding. We have to go."

Unashamed that his parents were gobsmacked, McGee took by the hand and them into the hallway, well away from where they'd just been. They stood together for a few moments, working on coming down from the high that their anger against the others had given them.

Finally, Abby hugged McGee.

"I love you," she told him. "And I'm proud of you for standing up to your parents. I know it couldn't have been easy to do."

"You're correct, but I'm glad that I did." McMcGee kissed Abby. "I'm also glad that you were by my side while I did."

"I always will be—for better, or for worse." she kissed him in return. "What's the plan? You get RJ, and I check on Sarah?"

"Sounds about right. See you soon."

They parted ways, and Abby already knew that they'd be spending the rest of the night waiting on Sarah, and comforting her until she went to sleep. But she didn't mind because Sarah was her kid now, since she'd been disowned by the parents who had created her. Never, in a million years, when Abby had pictured having a family of her own, had she imagine that it would have had as many different kinds of people—or even animals—as it did now. She loved it, and she wouldn't change a single thing.

When she reached the part of the hallway where the bathroom was, she was quite surprised to see Gibbs, Tony, Ducky, and Palmer all standing together in an awkward gaggle. The entrance to the ladies' room was a few feet to the right.

"What the hell?" Abby asked in mild amusement, hands on her hips.

"We," Gibbs indicated himself and his family. "Don't quite know what's happening, but I followed Jenny here when she got an SOS text from Ziva. I'm waiting to see if anybody needs a lift, or something. DiNozzo, Ducky, and Palmer followed me… as they do."

"Well, it's good to know that one part of my family is ready to ask if someone says jump." Abby sighed sadly. "We just had a major falling-out with Tim's parents, and Sarah is at the epicenter. Her mother also hit her because she was just so upset, and the whole thing made Sarah vomit."

Gibbs, Tony, Ducky, and Palmer all stared in incredulity, so Abby explained the situation as she knew it so far.

"Well, we won't stand in your way, Abigail," Ducky said when she had finished. "But at some point, please relay the message to Sarah that we are on her side."

"I will, Ducky. Thank you."

He bobbed his head in acknowledgement, so Abby made for the bathroom door. When she was inside, she found everyone in a lounge area. The actual toilets were in an area just beyond that. Sarah was on a couch island in the middle of a wraparound sofa, accompanied by Scout. The little dog was resting her head on Sarah's lap, wagging her whole as her friend began to pet her. Sarah had since cleaned herself up, and had stopped crying, but she stilled seemed pale.

Clementine, Ziva, and Jenny were all gathered around her, making light conversation with her to cheer her up. When Sarah saw Abby, she apologized.

"I'm sorry, Abby." she said.

"For what?"

"I ruined everyone's night."

"You did nothing of the sort—that was your parents' fault. All you did was tell them the truth."

"It is their fault that they could not accept it." Ziva added.

"We've got your back." Jenny chimed in. "Are you feeling any better, Sarah?"

The young woman nodded. "I just want to go to bed."

Clementine looked to Abby. "Can we go home?"

"Yep. I came to see if that was what everyone wanted, and Tim is off collecting RJ."

"Are the guys all camped out in the hallway, waiting to see what's up?"

"They are."

Sarah groaned, so Jenny rubbed her shoulder.

"Take care of yourself. You've always got family at NCIS." she turned to Ziva. "Come on. Let's go clear everyone out."

Ziva agreed that this was a good idea and said goodbye to Sarah before following the director away. When they were gone, Sarah moved Scout off her lap and stood.

"I'm hungry, though." Sarah said.

"One thing at a time." Clementine caught Sarah as she stumbled. "Let's just focus on getting out of the bathroom fist."

Abby brought up the rear as Clementine gently guided Sarah along, with Scout trailing beside them. "If you still want to sleep when we get home, that's okay, but if you want to eat, that's totally okay, too. Clementine and I will make you whatever you want."

"But I just have to focus on getting out of here first…"

"Yep, and that's all you have to do."

On the quiet ride home, Sarah found that she felt heartbroken from being rejected by her parents, and then having Ian turn tail on her, like a coward. Ever since she'd found out about the baby and chosen to keep it, she'd been anticipating some form of a falling out. Now that it was happening, she found that it was just about killing her spirit.

But she had a new family, with Tim and Abby at the helm, and even Tyler and Gloria as new, surrogate parents. Her own baby, and the rest of the ones on the way were definitely going to keep her on her toes. Jenny, Gibbs, and the of the NCIS team would fill in the rest of the branches on the family tree. Sarah was thankful for that.

She had been thrown aside by one family, but found by another.

All she really wanted, though, was for no more drama to come from tonight.