Two weeks Abby and McGee were getting married in two weeks. Everybody wished they coulf get excited about it they really did but it had been the same length of time since Tony had died. Gibbs was lost in thought as he held JL in his arms. They were sitting in Dr. Andrews's office. Again. They had been going there every day in the week since Tony's funreal. It was all in a last ditch effort to save JL from having to be placed in a home for troubled children. The thought of that terrified Gibbs. He had seen places like that before. It was mainly teens pregnat girls and kids with prison tattoos. Though there were some smaller children. Kids that rammed their heads into wallths, lashed out and were huddled up in corners. JL didn't deserve that life. That was where kids with severe mental illnesses and whose parents simply didn't care went. He loved JL and the only thing that would stop him from doing everythng he could to save him was death. JL wasn't mentally ill either. Was he? What if he was? What if they found that everything was his fault? He felt the sting of tears in his eyes. He wanted to stop them he really did but he knew there was no use. It's like his streangth had died along with Tony. So he just broke down right there in the waiting room.
"Jethro. It's okay Jethro." Jane assured.
"What if all this is my fault? What if I did this to him?" Gibbs asked.
"You didn't Jethro. JL has been through a lot in his life most before you got him." Jane replied.
"Why can't I help him?" Gibbs asked dejectedly.
"I don't know honey I really don't." Jane replied.
"He's five years old! He shouldn't be this broken!" Gibbs cried.
"Hey I'm here for both of you Lizzie too." Jane replied.
"Why Gibbs sad?" JL asked waking upf after falling asleep in Gibbs's arms.
"I'm just worried." Gibbs replied.
"My fault?" JL asked.
"No sweetie it's just life." Gibbs replied sadly.
Since he had spent so much time dealing with JL's issues the past couple weeks. Gibbs aranged for Jane to watch him for a couple of hours so he could spend some quality time just him and Liz.
"Why does JL have to go to the doctor so much?" Liz asked.
"He's just having a really hard time since Tony died and needs a little extra help." Gibbs explained.
"Is he going to be okay?" Liz asked.
"Hopefully but it may take a while and he is going to need you to be sensitve to him." Gibbs replied.
"I will. I promise." Liz replied.
"That's my girl." Gibbs replied.
"Are you and Jane really getting married?" Liz asked.
"Yeah we are." Gibbs replied.
"When?" Liz asked.
"We aren't sure yet." Gibbs replied.
"Why not?" Liz asked.
"Because it takes a while to plan a wedding and we haven't really long time to plan." Gibbs replied.
"Will I get to be in the wedding?" Liz asked.
"Of course you will. This is actually one of the few things me and Jane had time to talk about. You will be the flower girl and Sydney and Maddie will be the bridesmaids well a couple of them anyway.
"What about JL?" Liz asked.
"JL will be the ring bearer and Robby, Jesse, McGee, and Jimmy will be my groomsmen." Gibbs replied.
"What about Ducky?" Liz asked.
"He is going to be my best man." Gibbs replied.
"He told me he'd make a terrible best man." A voice said from behind Gibbs.
"Playing hookie Palmer?" Gibbs asked.
"No Breena had a doctors appointment and Ben's sitter woke up sick so we had to take him with us and since he was good we decided to treat him to ice cream." Jimmy replied.
"How'd everything go Palmer?" Gibbs asked.
"Good they said we can determine the gender at the next appointment in two weeks." Jimmy replied.
"Well I promised this time to Liz." Gibbs replied.
"I'll go as soon as you tell me why Ducky agreeyd to be your best man but not mine?' Jimmy asked.
"Because you are a young kid who needed one last crazy night before you became a family man and I am an anti social man in his fifities on his fifth marriage with two adopted kids." Gibbs replied.
"Alright well I have to get back to my family. Oh yeah can I borrow some napkins?" Jimmy asked.
"Here you go Palmer." Gibbs replied handing him a couple napkins.
"So Lizzie how has everything been going for you?" Gibbs asked turning his attention back to Liz.
"Good Robby is going to drive me, Maddie, and Sydney to the library." Liz replied.
"Sounds like fun." Gibbs replied.
"Yeah except sometimes my head feels bad when I read." Liz replied.
"Really do you need to hold the book close to your face too?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes" Liz replied.
"Why didn't you tell me? Did you think I wouldn't care because I have been spending so much time with JL lately?" Gibbs asked.
"No because you read like that and rub your head so I thougt it was normal." Liz replied.
"I am going to make an appointment for you and JL with an Optomotrist." Gibbs replied.
"Okay" Liz replied.
Gibbs made a mental note to make an appointment for himself as well. He had noticed his current perscription for glasses didn't seem to cut it anymore. He knew that he was getting older but for Liz and JL (if he had trouble with his vision too) it was probably genetic. Emerson hadn't been much older than them when he got his first pair of glasses.
"So all done with pre-k huh?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes!" Liz cried.
"Excited about starting kindergarten in the fall?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes!" Liz replied.
"So you have any idea what you want to do when you grow up?" Gibbs asked.
"I want to join NCIS." Liz replied.
"Really what do you want to be there?" Gibbs asked.
"I want to be an agent and stop the bad guys just like you used to." Liz replied.
"Well you know that's a lot of hard work right?" Gibbs asked.
"I know but I really really want to do it." Liz replied.
Well if you are serious about it then maybe you will have your own team one day." Gibbs replied.
"You really think I could?" Liz asked.
"If you are serious and dedicated to it then yes you can." Gibbs replied.
"Cool" Liz replied.
Gibbs and Liz finished their ice cream. Gibbs left a tip on the table, paid at the register, and then walked with Liz out to the car. He looked into the sunset and smiled. For the first time since Tony got sick he felt like maybe just maybe everything was going to be okay.
That night Gibbs was down in his basement working on a crib for baby Palmer. He was using the same blueprints he had used for Kelly's crib. He planned to paint it once the Jimmy and Breena learned the sex of the baby.
"Boss! Hey Boss!" A voice called.
"What do want DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.
"I guess me dying really screwed everything up." Tony replied.
"Ya think?" Gibbs asked.
"Sorry" Tony replied.
"It's not your fault. I know how hard you fought to stay with us." Gibbs replied.
"Too bad it wasn't meant to be." Tony replied.
"Why are you here DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.
"You have to promise me that you won't let JL go to one of that place." Tony replied.
"Well I may have to if it is the best thing for him." Gibbs replied.
"Really Boss when have you given up on anyone?" Tony asked.
"I don't know he's just so broken." Gibbs replied.
"So was I when I first joined your team and did you give up on me?" Tony asked.
"No but..." Gibbs replied.
"But what?" Tony asked.
"Well you were an adult." Gibbs replied.
"Which means that I was even worse off and even less likely to be fixed but you never gave up on me so give JL the same respect." Tony replied.
"Alright DiNozzo I will I promise." Gibbs replied.
"Take care of Ziva too she is really lost." Tony replied.
"I will DiNozzo I promise." Gibbs replied.
"I hope McGee and Abby have a good wedding and happy marriage. I also hope Dorneget can pull off a good bachelor party." Tony said.
"I'd have thought McGee would have picked Palmer as his best man but I'm sure Dorneget will make a great best man." Gibbs replied.
"One more thing I hope you and Jane have a great life together you deserve it more than anyone else except maybe Ziva." Tony replied.
"Thanks DiNozzo." Gibbs replied.
"Oh yeah I hear you bought a hardware store. Me and Kate had a bet like that once." Tony replied.
"Really?" Gibbs asked.
"Well for us the hardware store was an illegal underground shop in your basement." Tony replied.
"You're lucky you're dead or I'd headslap you." Gibbs replied.
"Surprised youd didn't still try." Tony replied.
"I love you DiNozzo." Gibbs replied.
"It's time for me to go Boss." Tony replied.
Gibbs looked up and he was alone in the basement once again. If he hadn't encountered so many ghosts in his life he would think he was just losing it. At this point he knew that Tony was just checking in on him to make sure he was okay.
"Gibbs?" JL called from the top of the stairs.
"What is it JL?" Gibbs asked.
"Can I come down?" JL asked.
"Sure just be very careful it's dark and there's lots of stuff to trip on." Gibbs replied.
"Okay" JL replied coming down the stairs. When he got closer he noticed that he was holding Tony's badge.
"Are you okay did you have a bad dream?" Gibbs asked.
"No I just couldn't sleep." JL replied.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Gibbs asked concerned for the young boy.
"I was thinking about Tony." JL replied.
"Oh yeah what about him?" Gibbs asked.
"I'm going to get to see him again but not for a long time." JL replied.
"That's right but you will see him again. Just promise me it won't be for a long long time because I would miss you way too much if you left too soon. We all would" Gibbs replied.
"Okay" JL replied.
"I see you have Tony's badge." Gibbs said.
"Yeah I've kept it under my pillow since you gave it to me after Tony's funeral." JL replied.
"That's nice." Gibbs replied.
"Yeah it makes me feel like Tony is with me." JL replied.
"He will always be with you. Tony always looked after the people he cared about when he was still alive and it's not his nature to stop just because he's dead." Gibbs replied.
"Promise?" JL asked.
"Of course I do." Gibbs replied.
"Lizzie too?" JL asked.
"Of course." Gibbs replied.
"Why do I need to stay here besides you and everybody else would miss me?" JL asked.
"Well for one you are going to be the ring bearer in me and Jane's wedding and for another thing kindergarten is really fun." Gibbs replied.
"Okay" JL replied yawning.
"Well I think somebody needs to get back to bed." Gibbs replied.
Gibbs carried JL up the stairs and back to his room. He placed him on the bottom bunk and tucked him in between the "Mighty Mouse" sheets Tony had bought for him at a thrift shop. After making sure CoCo was tucked under his arm and Tony's badge was placed under his pillow. He turned to leave the room. As he did he got a flash of Tony laying on the bed with JL. He felt a feeling of relief and knew that Tony had seen to it that everything was going to be okay.
A/N: Now you know that JL is going to be okay. New chapter should be Wednesday but it may not be since tomorrow is my birthday and I may not have time to write. The next chapter also should be about McGee and Abby's wedding. I have a new poll for this story so please vote in it. It is for the baby names. I have three choices for each couple and will narrow it down if need be. Please review and thanks for reading.
