Getting into a new house was far easier than Jethro and Amy could have ever anticipated. Delilah's mom was a real estate agent and immediately helped the couple search for a new home. The house they ended up buying was not their first choice or their second, but it would serve the families needs. The new house had a spacious, partially finished basement. Jethro could use the unfinished half for his room and the finished half would serve as Liam's living space when he was home from college. The finished portion of the basement was complete with a bedroom and bathroom, and Amy said she could set up a kitchenette for him as well. Making it more like a small apartment. Besides the basement the house was two stories. The first story consisted of a living room, kitchen, and a half bath. Upstairs were four bedrooms. Jethro and Amy would have the master suite, Emma would get the room at the end of the hall, the twins would be getting the smaller, adjourning rooms across the hall from Jethro and Amy, and the den would be converted into a nursery for the triplets. Upstairs had three full baths, the master bath, Emma's bathroom at the end of the hall, and the bathroom that connected the twins rooms. By the time the triplets were potty trained, Emma would be down in the basement and the room assignments would be determined by gender.
Moving day was rough for everybody in the Gibbs household. While he had accepted the move, it was still rough Jethro to leave his home of so many years. Liam and Emma had spent their entire lives in this house and it was understandably hard for them to leave. It was hard for Amy because packing her childhood home up was still fresh in her mind. The twins had lived in the house the least amount of time but even they were struggling. This was the first home they had ever had, the first place they had ever experienced love.
Just as she expected Amy found Jethro down in the basement. He had long since disassembled his shelves and work bench, the tools had been loaded into the back of his truck for transport. All that remained was an old milk carton from the general store, an old rag and a few rusty nails that had rolled to unreachable spaces. Jethro had taken a seat on the carton and was holding the rag in his hands.
"Jethro they just about have the truck loaded. We are leaving in fifteen." Amy called.
"I will be right up." Jethro replied.
"Are you sure you got everything?" Amy asked.
"Yeah I just have to take care of something in the backyard." Jethro replied.
"Alright, well make it quick. The new family isn't arriving for a few more days. So we can come back tomorrow or the next day but I want to get the moving van unloaded before dinner." Amy explained.
"It will just take a minute." Jethro assured.
"Alright" Amy replied.
Liam took one last look around his childhood bedroom. The movers had taken all of his furniture early in the morning and the boxes had been coming down all afternoon. Everything had been hauled down except for one thing. It was a letter his mother had written to him when he was ten years old. It was the only time she had ever contacted him. Until now he had never bothered to open up the letter. To him there was no real point. His dad was the only parent he needed and by this point Amy had become his step-mother. "Now was as good a time as any." He thought to himself as he slowly opened the letter. He heard Amy calling him and knew that it was time to get going. Reading the letter had left him feeling raw and lost inside. His mother did not care about him at all. She had remarried and had, had more children. A boy and a girl, and Liam was just a letter for a night course she was taking. He intentionally waited until he heard the front door close and knew that Amy had left with the smaller children. Before heading down to the kitchen, the gas was still on. So he turned on the stove and placed the letter on the burner. It burned to ash, he swept the ashes into his hands, carried it to the sink and washed them down the drain.
"Liam? What's the hold up?" Amy asked.
"Sorry I was looking for something." Liam lied.
"What? Is it? Because we can come back tomorrow." Amy replied.
"This guitar pick." Liam lied.
"Alright well are you ready now?" Amy asked.
"Yes" Liam replied.
"Hang on? Is something burning?" Amy asked.
"No" Liam lied, double checking that he had turned off the stove.
For the last time Jethro Gibbs was in his backyard. He heard Amy say that she was taking the twins for their last opportunity to use the potty for a while. As the city was turning their water off in ten minutes and it would be a while before they got water turned on in the new. He saw Liam moving around the kitchen and heard Emma running around the front yard. He had grabbed the shovel from the back of the truck and after studying the map. He rediscovered the hiding spot of the time capsule. He remembered the first time he dug it up. He just wanted to see what was in there but after seeing everything and knowing that Kelly wanted to wait until she could dig it back up with Maddie. He had returned it to it's final resting place. Until he learned of the move. He had thought about letting the new owner dig it up. He knew that they had a kid about Kelly's age. However when the moving day came. He knew that he had to be the one to dig up the time capsule. It was a bond between Kelly and Maddie. Kelly would never dig it up but Maddie may want it one day. Slowly he turned up the dirt until the shovel hit metal. He knelt down and picked up the lunchbox.
"Well that's one less thing I have to do when I move in." A familiar voice called.
"I don't think you understand. This belonged to my daughter. She passed away years ago. I just wanted to dig this up and mail it to my daughter's friend." Jethro explained.
"You don't have to mail it Mr. Gibbs. I bought this house for a reason." Maddie replied.
"Maddie?" Jethro gasped.
"Yes sir" Maddie replied.
"I heard that it was a woman who had grown up in the area but..." Jethro started.
"The last names were different. Well I am Madeline Turner now." Maddie replied.
"You look different." Jethro replied.
"Well I wasn't pregnant nine years ago." Maddie laughed.
"Aw congratulations! How far along are you? Do you know what you are having?" Jethro asked.
"Twenty-two weeks today and it's a girl. I am ecstatic, after two boys and a tubal ligation two years ago a girl is a welcome surprise." Maddie explained.
"I'd say" Jethro laughed.
"We are naming her Kelly, Kelly Sabrina Turner." Maddie replied.
"That's amazing" Jethro gasped.
"Thank you, now you get to your family. I was just coming over to take a private walk around before Charles and the boys get here." Maddie explained.
"Everybody else is ready to go. We are going to get going and then you can take as long as you need. To explore." Jethro explained.
A/N: I thought it would be appropriate if Maddie bought Jethro's house. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.