Tony spent the morning holding Katie as close as possible and, telling her how much he loved her. He also told her about her namesake and how much he had loved her. How Kate was the reason that he had become Jake's, God father and thus was the reason they were a family. He also told her about how Kate was supposed to be Jake's, Godmother but she was gone now. He made sure that she knew that Ziva was in their lives now and they were going to be a family. He also made sure that she knew you didn't have to have two parents to make a family. He tended to ramble when he was nervous and he was beyond nervous today. Katie had made no improvement overnight. Mercifully she had not taken another turn for the worst but she hadn't improved either. He couldn't help but wonder what would have happened to her if Gibbs had not given her an order not to die. He couldn't help but wonder what he would do without Gibbs in general.
"You'd do just fine." Gibbs assured.
"How do you do that? Is it a Marine thing?" Tony asked.
"It's a father thing. Just give it time and you will learn it too." Gibbs replied.
"You think that I will?" Tony asked.
"All fathers have it." Gibbs replied.
While Tony was at the hospital with Katie, Ziva was home with the two older Dallas children. She had the day off from the store and with Jake still in school. It was just her and little Lily. She was very excited to get to know her older daughter.
"So Lily, are you liking school?" Ziva asked.
"Yes!" Lily cried.
"What is your favorite part?" Ziva asked.
"Centers, especially when I get to play with the play tools. Sometimes I pretend that I am Gibbs and build a boat." Lily explained.
"You really like Gibbs? Don't you?" Ziva asked.
"Yes! He's my favorite! Besides Tony." Lily replied.
"He is a lot of fun and he loves kids a lot." Ziva explained.
"Did he adopt Tony?" Lily asked.
"Sort of" Ziva replied.
"Does he have other kids?" Lily asked.
"No" Ziva replied, Kelly was a story for another day.
"That's too bad." Lily replied.
"You have grown up so much. You were barely speaking in full sentences when I first met you and now you are like this." Ziva remarked.
"Gibbs says that I am learning it from Tony." Lily remarked.
"I can see that but at least you and Tony are interesting and fun." Ziva replied.
"So is Gibbs but he doesn't talk so much." Lily replied.
"He does not but when he does speak, it is really special." Ziva replied.
"It is" Lily agreed.
School let out and Jake hopped on the bus to meet Vance at the boxing gym. Halfway to the gym he had to switch to a city bus. Apparently several high school kids were riding to the boxing gym as well. Because a high school bus stopped not long after his did and ten or eleven kids got on the bus carrying gym bags and boxing gloves. Besides the high school kids, there was one other middle school student. A boy who Jake knew from his math class. He was taller than most of the other boys, already over six feet and still growing. He had a six pack abs and huge muscles on his arms and legs. His blonde hair fell on his shoulders and his eyes were blue like the ocean.
"Dude are you alright?" The high school boy who sat next to him asked.
"Yeah I am fine. Why?" Jake asked.
"You look all flustered and red faced." The boy asked.
"Oh I am just thinking of this girl. Uh from my history class." Jake lied.
"Nice" The boy replied.
Back at the hospital Tony had been forced out of the NICU. Katie was having some tests done and Tony was feeling completely helpless. Jimmy had texted him and told him that he would be visiting after work. He couldn't help but worry about Gibbs. His surrogate father had gone for a walk that morning, come back briefly, and then disappeared for hours. During the short time that Gibbs was around. He had been acting extremely mysterious and it was worrying Tony. He had no idea what he would do if he lost his father. He ended up going on Facebook to distract himself from his concerns for Gibbs and Katie. Right at the top of his time-line was a photo that McGee had posted. It was an ultrasound and from the looks of it. The baby was pretty far along in development. Was Sarah pregnant too? Delilah didn't appear to be pregnant the last time he saw her. Granted that had been several weeks ago but still.
"I finally have permission to make the announcement. Delilah and I are going to become parents on October 15th 2015, give or take a few days. Due to Delilah's paralysis we opted to use a surrogate and everything is going great. We found out a few weeks ago that we are having a son. His name will be John Michael McGee. In honor of my father and, very close friend of mine."
Gibbs hated to leave Tony but he could not let Leona go into the system. At least not forever. She was older and it was hard for an older child to get adopted. Especially one who had endured as much as poor Leona had. After checking in with Tony real quick. He had headed down to the department of child services and was in the middle of registering to be a foster father.
"Everything looks really good Mr. Gibbs. We are still running the background check but all of your references gave you glowing reviews." Chris, the social worker commented.
"So I am going to be a foster parent?" Gibbs asked.
"We won't know for a few days but so far so good." Chris replied.
"And what will happen to Leona in the meantime?" Gibbs asked.
"She will be placed in a group home until everything is sorted out." Chris replied.
"But she will be safe?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes" Chris assured.
A/N: Looks like the Gibbs family is about to get a lot bigger. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.