"Hey, look at Karina! Better watch out Tony and Jimmy. It looks like we may have another engagement here!" Tim laughed. Tony looked alarmed and went and scooped up his daughter.

"Oh no. We are not going anywhere near that any time soon, are we Daddy's little Angel?" Tony held her close to his chest.

"Daddy." Karina said. Everyone looked at her in surprise. Tony just beamed. "Hey, did you hear that? She said 'Daddy', didn't you punkin?" Tony was slightly embarrassed that he had tears in his eyes.

Ziva was quickly at his side, smiling wide at him, her hand on his arm.
"Well, you are her 'Daddy' aren't you?"

Chapter Thirty-Seven: "Making Many Plans"

After much debate, Gibbs and Mimi decided to get married on December 31st. Tim thought it was a great idea for the tax break, but that was not the reasoning behind it.

Tony and Ziva offered them their New York Apartment to stay in for their honeymoon. "You can celebrate the New Year in Times Square!" Tony said.

Gibbs cocked his head and gave him his "are you nuts?" look. "Oh, I plan in ringing in the New Year, but it won't be in Times Square, I can guarantee you that." Mimi blushed, and Tony grinned.

They agreed that the wedding would be early in the day, around one p.m., with a short civil ceremony. Ziva and Abby both declined being bridesmaids in their present condition. Abby was already bigger than Ziva, but not by as much as she imagined.

As much as Gibbs wanted to include Tony and Tim, since he had taken part in their weddings, they convinced him that they were cool with sitting with their wives.

Much to their surprise, both of Mimi's sisters decided to fly up for the wedding. The rest of the family was a little disappointed it would not be a bigger affair down in Florida, but they understood.

Lily would give her mom away and act as Maid of Honor. Jackson was coming down for Christmas, so he would be Gibbs Best Man. He was thrilled that he and Mimi were getting married and he was getting a new granddaughter.

The next discussion would be where to hold the wedding. Tony and Ziva had the biggest house of the three, but Karina's birthday party would also be there on the 26th.

They didn't want to overburden them with two large gatherings almost back to back, but they insisted that they host the wedding.

Gibbs and Mimi would host the Christmas Party and Tim and Abby would host the New Year's Eve party, sans the newlyweds.

Gibbs' biggest concern was where to house everyone. He had two spare bedrooms, but he didn't want three defenseless females and his father in their home while they were in New York, not with this unknown guy out there playing tricks on them.

He hadn't told Mimi about the incident at the house, as he didn't want her to worry. Finally it was decided that Mimi's sisters and Jackson would stay with Tim and Abby and Lily would stay with Tony and Ziva.

All three of them installed pressure plate alarms on all of the entrances to their homes, which sent out an ear-piercing siren if anyone over one hundred pounds stood on it.

It could be deactivated by remote control, so Tony or Tim could turn it off when they went over daily to check on the house while they would be gone.

NCIS

The whole building was abuzz with the news that Special Agent Gibbs was getting married again. Other than his team, no one else had met Mimi and she had not come to visit him at work. Today however, he decided they would have lunch together and she would meet him at the Navy Yard.

Tony and Ziva were working at their computers when Gibbs' phone rang. "Send her right up." He smiled.

Tony and Ziva looked up. "Mimi's here, I take it?" Tony asked.

Gibbs just smiled and said "Ya' think, DiNozzo?" He went and stood by the elevator, waiting. Soon the doors opened and Mimi stepped for the first time into the bullpen.

She was immediately put off by the orange walls, but she had already been warned about them and how Director Vance insisted everything go back to the way it was before the bomb blast.

He took her around and introduced her to the other Agents in the room. By the time he got to his desk, Tim had come back upstairs from seeing Abby. "Hi, Mimi. Welcome to our little slice of heaven." She smiled.

Not more than once did Mimi think that Tim had really dreamy eyes when he smiled liked that with his eyes slightly closed. He had that look right now, which she took to mean he had just seen Abby.

"So this is where we save the world." Tony quipped. Mimi chuckled.

"I see you and Ziva are seated across from each other. Has it always been that way, or just since you've been together?"

"Mimi, that's how we got together. I mean, how could Ziva not look at me every day, seeing me work and be the manly man that I am and not fall in love with me?" Tony grinned widely. Ziva held up a paperclip.

"Well in that case, I guess if you and McGee had been seated across each other all these years, you two would have gotten together?" Ziva asked nonchalantly.

"What? No! What's wrong with you? She's just kidding, Boss." He gave Ziva a look that said "wait until I get you home."

Her look back said "I can't wait" and he smiled and relaxed.

"See what I put up with every day? It's amazing we get any work done. Come on, Leon said to bring you up when you got here." Gibbs guided her up the stairs.

They were sent right in. Leon rose from his chair and gave Mimi a kiss on the cheek. He looked at Gibbs and smiled. "I am allowed to kiss the bride-to-be, aren't I.?"

"As long as I am standing right beside her, you are." Gibbs smiled. Vance chuckled. "Well, Jackie and I are very happy for the both of you. I understand you will be spending your honeymoon in New York City?"

Mimi nodded. "I've never been there, so I'm really looking forward to seeing at least one site." Vance chuckled at that as well, knowing what she probably meant by that.

He looked at Gibbs and winked. "Try to take in a least one Broadway show or go to the World Trade Center Memorial. Jackie and I went there this summer. It is very moving."

Gibbs nodded. "Tony and Ziva went there too, when they were on their honeymoon. I didn't know it until then, but Tony had a college friend killed in one of the towers."

Vance looked at Gibbs. "I didn't know that. Makes the memorial all the more poignant. Anyway, I don't want to keep you. I just wanted to give you our personal congratulations."

"You and Jackie will be coming, right?" Mimi asked.

"Oh, we wouldn't miss this for the world." He replied.

"I'll just bet you wouldn't, Leon. Thanks, see you later." Gibbs looked at Vance, who was laughing at him.

"That was nice." Mimi said. She turned to Gibbs. "I would really like to see Abby's lab. It will give me a better idea of what she's dealing with."

"Ok, do you want me to let her know we're coming down? I'm sure one of them has already called her to let her know you are here." Mimi thought about and shook her head.

"I hate to say this, but I'd like to see how she really works without me knowing it, so I can see if she is doing something she shouldn't."

"You should have been a spook." Gibbs shook his head.

"I didn't need to be. I'm a mother." Mimi replied.

The elevator opened and the first thing Gibbs noticed is that there was no blaring music. Instead, classical music was playing. They peered around the corner so Mimi could get a look inside.

Abby was at her computer, but she was on a rolling chair that was high enough that she was almost standing. Mimi was pleased to see that Abby had neoprene gloves and plenty of facemasks around.

"Ok, I've seen enough." Mimi whispered.

"Hey, Abbs!" Gibbs called out.

"Gibbs! Gibbs! Oh, Mimi! You're here!" She gave her a big hug. "Welcome to 'Labby', the place where the strange and wonderful are explained."

"What's with the music, Abby? Not that I don't prefer it, but this isn't your usual noise."

"Not nice, Gibbs!" She looked sheepish. "The babies didn't like listening to my usual playlist. I keep experimenting, and classical seems to be a winner for the moment."

"How did you know the babies didn't like your…usual music?" Mimi asked, interested.

Abby made a face. "Oh, mean kicks and indigestion. It's like they were playing jump rope with my esophagus." Mimi tried to visualize that, but was glad she couldn't.

"How are things going for you down here? I see you've made some shoe adjustments." Mimi looked at Abby's non-skid slippers.

Abby looked down at her feet. "My normal shoes were throwing me off balance, so I've reluctantly retired my favorites to the closet until post babies."

Mimi smiled. "Good idea. I see you Friday, I believe. We can talk more then. Remember to keep your feet up as often as you can. I'm sure Jethro won't have any problems with you taking ten minutes here and there to sit with your legs elevated. Will you, Jethro?" Mimi turned to him.

He knew the answer to that question, since Mimi had already answered for him. "Do what your Nurse says, Abby."

He turned to Mimi. "Let's go eat, unless you want to go to Autopsy to see Ducky and Jimmy first."

"Oh, why not? I'm here. I would hate for them to know I was here and visited everyone but them."

"Ok, but I don't know if he is in the middle of anything or not." Gibbs warned.

Mimi took his hand in hers. "Jethro, please. I am a Nurse." She shook her head.

They got back on the elevator and headed down to autopsy. Gibbs peered in first and saw a body, but they weren't doing anything major with it yet.

"Why, hello Jethro. Mimi! My dear, what a pleasant surprise! To what do we owe the honor of your visit?" Ducky kissed her hand.

Mimi wondered once again how this charming, charismatic, brilliant man never married. "Jethro asked me to lunch and suggested I finally come down here and see where, as Tony puts it, the world gets saved."

Ducky smiled at that. "Jimmy and I were just beginning our initial examination of this poor fellow. But I don't suppose you want to hear his sad tale, not while you have lunch waiting."

"How's Jamie, Jimmy?" Mimi asked.

Jimmy broke out in a big grin. "He's great. Babbling and always happy. Breena and I are very lucky."

"Well, I think Jamie is the lucky one. Happy babies usually come from very caring and happy parents."

Jimmy beamed at that. Ducky beamed himself. "Yes, do you know that my Grandson tried to eat one of my bow ties? I'm sure it was quite distasteful, but he was very determined."

Mimi stifled a giggle. "It was almost impossible to get it out of his little hands, very strong he is. Fortunately, it was not one of my favorites." Ducky continued.

"Well, thank God for that. Ok, well, nice chatting, we're going to lunch. Later Duck, Palmer." Gibbs guided Mimi out of Autopsy and back into the elevator.

Once inside, Mimi broke down in giggles. "Actually, that could have been bad if Jamie had swallowed the damn tie. Jethro, why hasn't Ducky ever married?"

Gibbs looked at her in surprise, and then frowned. "Beats me. He speaks often of several women that sound like they were the loves of his life. I personally think he gave up his private life to care for his mother. And she lived to be almost 100 years."

"I guess that would put a damper on bringing a date home." Mimi murmured.

"Yep. Let's go eat, I'm starving." Gibbs said.

Tony and Ziva's Home- Dec 18th

Tony was downstairs, trying to put together the rocking horse he had bought for Karina for Christmas. It was plush, with a big mane and tail; a little saddle and bridle, and looked as real as a fake horse could look.

If he had his way, she would be getting a real pony, and he had not ruled it out one day, but Ziva told him he was being absurd.

"Where would we keep a pony? In the back yard? I am pretty sure there are zoning laws against that sort of thing." Ziva argued.

The only thing Tony got out of that argument was the surprise that Ziva knew about zoning laws.

Ziva was playing the piano. She liked to play daily, to keep in practice, but didn't always have time with their schedule. Karina was in the family room with her, having pulled herself up by the sofa.

Ziva chuckled as Karina "danced" to Ziva's music. Suddenly, she let go of the sofa and took a step away from it. She had started standing on her own about two and half weeks ago, but as yet had not made any attempts at walking.

Ziva continued to play as she watched her daughter. Karina looked perplexed, as she took another step, and then plopped down on her bottom.

Ziva stopped and scooped her up. "What a big girl you are!" She covered her in kisses. "Tony, come up here." Ziva called down the stairs.

"Right now? I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"Yes, right now if you would like to see if your daughter will walk again for you." Ziva could hear the tools being thrown down and winced, hoping he didn't just ding up their hardwood flooring.

He ran up the stairs, and was breathing heavy by the time he got to them.

"Do you mean she just walked and you didn't call me up?" Tony sounded hurt.

Ziva went to him immediately to soothe his feeling. "I was playing and I saw her take a step. I didn't want to startle her by yelling. She took two steps than sat down."

"Who's the big girl?" Tony took Karina and swung her around. Karina squealed in delight. "Daddy!" she cried out happily.

He looked at Ziva. "Ok, let's see if she'll do it again. Uh, I'll go sit over here and you sit in the chair"

Ziva did as Tony instructed and watched. Tony sat on the floor with Karina, standing her up and dancing with her. He then turned her around and said, "Ok, punkin, go to Mommy. Go on, you can do it."

Karina stood by herself in the family room, looking at her Mommy who was holding her hands out to her. Karina giggled and started to lift a foot. This time she took three steps before she sat down.

Tony and Ziva clapped and cheered, so Karina did too. She was very excited because Mommy and Daddy were excited…and now, Bridget was involved. Ziva had the dog come sit by her.

"Ok, let's try again. I'll move a little closer, maybe it's too far."

Tony stood her up again and told her she was Daddy's princess. "Go see Mommy. Mommy loves Karina."

"Yes, my Karina. Mommy loves her princess too. Can you come to Mommy?" Ziva encouraged her daughter again holding her arms out.

It was only five steps, but Karina DiNozzo walked into her mother's arms. Again they all clapped. Ziva wiped her eyes. "Mommy boo-boo?" Karina asked. Ziva looked up in surprise and joy. Tony had to wipe some tears away as well.

"She called me Mommy." Ziva marveled at her daughter. She smothered her in kisses. "No boo-boos, sweetness. Tony, go get your phone."

Tony pulled it out of his pocket. "Got it right here." He said.

"Well, then put that thing on 'video' and let's see if we can get Karina to walk back to you." Ziva said,

Tony hit his forehead. "We should have been filming this all along. This is an important milestone."

"Ready?" Ziva asked. Tony nodded.

Ziva put Karina down, facing Tony. "Go see Daddy, Karina. Go give Daddy a big kiss!"

Karina laughed at that and toddled her way over to her Daddy. She looked like a drunken sailor, but that didn't matter. When she reached her Daddy, she squealed and gave him a big kiss. Tony rolled on the carpet with her, tickling her and getting her even more excited than she was.

"Do you think we should call everyone over?" Tony asked, breathless.

Ziva looked at the clock. "It is late, and Abby should not walk this far in the night. Let's look at the video."

Tony and Karina went over to Ziva, placing Karina in her lap. Tony turned on the video and they laughed at Karina's expression as she was walking to Tony.

"Send it out to everyone, if they feel up to coming over, they can. I am sure Gibbs will run right over here."

Sure enough, they no sooner sent it out when they got a text from Mimi. "Can we come over?"

They got there five minutes later, Gibbs surprising them by driving.

"What, too far to walk?" Tony poked fun at Gibbs.

Gibbs ignored him. He went to his granddaughter, who was thrilled to see everyone. "What's this about you walking and not telling me about it first?" He asked, giving her a big kiss.

Karina giggled. She was sitting on the carpet but got up into a standing position. They all watched her to see what she would do. She looked at everyone, grinning with her two lower teeth showing.

Suddenly she took off and stumbled around until she ran into Gibbs legs. Everyone clapped. "That was so cute!" Lily exclaimed. "I can't wait to have a baby.'

The room became eerily silent at that. Lily looked scared then looked at her mom. "You know, after I finish school and get married." Mimi stared at her daughter.

Gibbs cleared his throat. "You're right. She does walk like a drunken sailor, but most babies do until they get their balance better."

He picked up Karina. "What a big girl you are! I am so proud of you!"

"She also called me Mommy." Ziva said happily.

"She's really doing quite well with her speaking skills. Which reminds me: with all of the 'grandfathers' in her life, you may want to come up with different variations so Karina will know who is who."

"What do you mean?" Tony asked.

"Well, right now she calls Jethro 'Papa'. Does she have a name for your father Tony, or yours Ziva? And then there is Jethro's dad. They can't all be 'Papa'. It will be to confusing, not just for Karina, but for your newest one and the twins."

"Well, what would you prefer to be called, Gibbs?" Ziva asked, her eyes happy.

Gibbs thought about it for a while. "Well, I think once she's able to say it, I would prefer 'Grandpa'. 'Papa' really means father, but I get that it's easy for her to say right now."

"Well, my dad can be 'Granddad'. I never liked the 'Grandpa Gibbs', 'Grandpa DiNozzo', and 'Grandpa David' concept." Tony contributed.

Ziva nodded approvingly. "My father can be 'Grandpapa' as I called him Papa as a child, and I think he will like that."

"What about your dad, Gibbs?" Tony asked.

"Gramps, Grampy, Grumpy…he won't care." Gibbs was laughing with Karina.

"I like Grampy. I always wanted a Grampy, instead I had a Grandfather. Way too formal for me." Tony said.

"What about you Mimi?" Ziva asked softly.

Mimi looked startled. "Me?"

Tony smiled. "Well yeah. I know Karina calls you Momo because that is how she says Mimi. But would you prefer her calling you Mimi or Grandma." Tony shook his head. "You're younger than me and here I am asking you if you want to be called Grandma."

Mimi looked at Gibbs, who grinned at her. "Well, I guess once we are married, I am the grandma by marriage. So, yeah, ok. I would love to be called Grandma. If Tim and Abby prefer their kids call me Mimi that's ok too."

"Why would they do that?" Ziva asked.

"Probably because she's too young to be a grandma." Tony answered.

"Well, that's not true, but I am thankful it's not true in the genetic sense, if you get my drift, Lily."

"Speaking of which," Lily began, ignoring her mom. "Since Daddy is adopting me, does that mean I am Aunt Lily?"

Tony and Ziva both looked at Gibbs. "Oops. Was I not supposed to say that?" Lily covered her mouth.

"Are you really?" Ziva asked. She turned to Mimi.

Gibbs nodded. "Yeah, she wouldn't let me marry her mom unless I adopted her."

"Daddy! Jethro!" They both said at once.

"Sorry. Yes, it's true. Lily is my daughter and she wants to be a Gibbs and I want her to be a Gibbs too. So once we get back from our honeymoon, we'll file the paperwork."

"That's great, Lily-pad!" Tony got up and gave her a big hug. Ziva had tears in her eyes.

"I am so happy for you. Lily Gibbs. It sounds nice. Although I have a feeling it will be changing again soon." She smiled.

"Not too soon." Mimi said with finality.

"Boy, are you a grump!" Lily complained.

"Sorry, just…one of those days." Mimi said. She got up and went into the kitchen.

Ziva looked after her, worried. She got up and followed her into the kitchen. "Would you like something to drink, Mimi?"

"Just some water, thanks." She said quietly. "I'm sorry if I'm acting bitchy. It's that time of the month, and I never know what I am going to get. I was sure I was in full blown menopause, and then everything came back with a vengeance."

She took a sip of water. "Last month was pretty mild, but this month is a doozy. The good news is at least I shouldn't have my period on my honeymoon. That would suck big time."

Thanks as always for the great reviews. So let's see, we have Christmas, Karina's 1st BD and the wedding all in the next two weeks (story time). How fun is that?