Everyone spent most of the next day preparing for the arrival of the rest of the Sciutos. There was much to be done and there was no time for dawdling. Several generations of the family would be under one roof.

Abigail was thankful, however, when Gloria informed her that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day would on the quiet side. Tonight would just be about easing her into things for now.

So she was shaken from her thoughts when Beau found her in a side hallway on an upper level of the house.

"Are you busy?" Beau asked her.

"No." Abigail answered honestly. "I just finished the last task that Gloria set me."

"Excellent. Get your things and meet me by the front door in five minutes."

Rather taken aback, but still intrigued, Abigail bobbed her head. "I'll meet you there."

After some time, they finally reached their destination.

A bar on Canal Street. One very particular bar.

I should have known, thought Abigail as they stood together at the entrance.

"Has Abby told you about this place before?" Beau asked.

Abigail made the sign for yes. "I've also heard stories about a local deaf man who is this bar's drinking champ. Dwayne Pride told me."

"I suppose learning how you know him will have to wait. My big brother Teddy owns this bar, and he's inside."

The French Angel was very quaint. Every inch bore a classic New Orleans bayou theme, from the decor to the furniture and the plants. Music played from speakers overhead. Some customers—locals—waved or signed hello to Beau. He returned their greetings. The jukebox from which the music was playing sat in one corner. Opposite it one the other side of the room was a small stage for live music shows. A majority of the light was even provided by a pair of wrought-iron chandeliers overhead.

Abigail followed Beau across to the bar itself. This particular feature was made of aged black oak. Equally tall bar stools were all along it, and the two centermost seats were empty. Beau took one. Abigail took the other. It felt like they did this every day.

"Abigail?" came a new voice.

The redhead turned to see a man slightly older than Beau and similar in appearance to him approaching her from the other end of the bar. One major difference was that he was dressed very casually. The way a bartender in The Big Easy would be.

"Hello!" she greeted the man in a friendly way. "I presume that you are Beau's brother? Theodore?"

"Only my parents called me that." he drew level and extended a hand to Abigail. "It's Uncle Teddy. Please."

"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Uncle Teddy."

They shook hands and then Teddy drummed his knuckles on the bar top. "What'll it be to drink? I know that my brother will be wanting a Sazerac because that's his favorite drink… and this is New Orleans."

"I usually do gin or whiskey," Abigail said as she thought about it. "But I haven't been to this town in over a year. I want to try something new."

"We've heard stories about you, but I like you even more now. Bonus points because you've been to this town before."

"She's pals with Dwayne." supplied Beau as one of the other bartenders passed him his drink.

Teddy took this in stride as he said to Abigail, "You are already full of surprises. I imagine that you and Beau turned up here for a chat, though. Am right?"

"Yes." Abigail said. "Very good."

"Then I have the perfect drink for you, my dear. Watch this."

Teddy made a performance of mixing each drink ingredient together in a tumbler before pouring everything into a pristine bar glass. His end result was a red-colored drink garnished with lemon slices. A pair of stirring sticks in the beverage made for a finishing touch.

"Here you go." Teddy set the glass on a napkin and slid it to her. "The Vieux Carré. New Orleans in a single drink."

"This is quite good." Abigail told him after she had a sip. "I like it."

"Oh, outstanding. Your drinks are on the house tonight." Teddy replied. "It isn't every day that the love of my niece's life walks into my bar for the first time."

Abigail blushed and signed her thanks.

Teddy nodded his understanding. He then made quick work of gathering up his drink materials and moved away.

Abigail turned to Beau. "Your brother is quite a character."

"That's one word for it, although I have other choice words to describe the rest of my brothers."

The corners of Abigail's mouth twitched in amusement. "Oh? Then what's the word on Gert?"

"Peculiar. The woman made her living by telling fortunes in the voodoo shop that Horace runs." Beau chuckled. "Now her hearing is almost as bad as mine and Gloria's is. The funniest part is that she lives in a state of denial."

"I can't wait to meet her." Abigail smiled at him. "What did you bring me all the way to Teddy's bar to talk about?"

"And you are straight to the crux of the matter. There's no fooling you, is there?" Beau set his drink down. "Has Gloria shown you that old photograph yet?"

"She even gave it to me to keep. I'm going to frame it and put it on my desk at work. That space needs decorating, as it is." Abigail made herself comfortable in her chair. "What's on your mind today?"

Beau felt himself become impressed by Abigail's perception, so he just went for it. "Did you know that we adopted Abby?"

Abigail signed yes again. "I just don't know anything other than that it was a car crash—and that she was there."

"The MacMillans' car was hit by a drunk driver. As for Abby, she was the only one to survive the devastation. It was a miracle." Beau paused a beat. "Did you know that she already had her name when we met her?"

Abigail shook her head. "No."

"We wouldn't have dreamed of calling her anything besides Abigail Ramona because we already loved what both names mean. Taking that away felt wrong. We don't know much about Abby's biological parents to this day because the adoption was closed. The only thing were allowed to learn was that they were called Elias and Eden MacMillan, from out of Baton Rogue."

He tapped the underside of his wedding band with his thumb.

"I saw Abby's adornment. Did you propose?"

"No, because I hadn't met you or Gloria yet. I do believe in standing on some ceremony if I can." Abigail said honestly. "The ring is a promise that there will be another one. And a wedding. I gave it to her awhile ago, after a chat with some friends of ours. Has Abby mentioned Gibbs to you before?"

Beau downed another sip of his drink before answering. "Only about a million times ever since she started working at NCIS. We have yet to meet the man, though. Is he with someone these days?"

"Yes. Her name is Hollis. She is one of the sweetest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. When I went to see them, we talked about the Van Dekkers, and about Abby."

"Where was everyone else?"

"At the house, packing—we were getting ready to go back to my hometown in Ohio. Major loose ends needed tying up for good."

Beau moved on a little when he saw that Abby wasn't to be pressed just then. "Did you find comfort in your chat with Gibbs and Hollis?"

Abigail brightened. "Yes. My friends promised me that no matter what the outcome of the trip to Ohio was, they would always be there for me. They also approve of me being in a relationship with Abby because they also also care for her. I bought the ring on the way home."

"Wow. If that's what it's like with Gibbs and Hollis, what is your relationship with your Ohio family like?"

"Really messed up. My father is dead to me. Same goes for all my brothers. Mother saved herself at the last minute. Still... the way that they treat the Van Dekkers is actually worse." Abigail said bluntly. "My parents actually told Bethel not to come home again when she came out as bisexual."

Beau felt a big stab of sympathy. "That's cold. Have your parents always been homophobic?"

"Yes. They're also also anti-war, which is not that great because I served. So did Zelda. Ask her about it." Abigail stirred her drink. "Zelda took my sister in the same afternoon she was kicked out and then they stopped talking to my parents because it just wasn't worth it. Hennie happened through IVF later."

"Hell of a rollercoaster." Beau said in surprise. "Frankly, I'm amazed that you all survived and made it out of Ohio."

"None of us would have been able to do it without Abby's help. She's shown us that there's more than one kind of family." Abigail continued to stir her drink. "I've loved Abby ever since we first met, and I know that she's loved me for as long. Neither of us told each other until recently because life got in the way."

"That's fair. What did your parents make of Abby when you brought her home?"

"They were both impressed against their will. I think they had been trying to get her to buckle."

"My daughter has always been steadfast when in the face of a crisis." Beau said proudly. "It takes a lot more than clever phrasing and fancy words to freak her out."

"Mark that down as another quality I admire in your daughter, sir."

Beau's next words were more of a request that a statement. "Tell me what else you admire about my eldest."

"I love how incredibly smart she is, her happy heart and her capacity to love others, her ability to light up a room just by walking in, and even really love the profound way that she connects to every person she speaks with." Abigail's words came effortlessly because they were all true. "Those are just some of the things I admire in Abby."

"Learning this makes me incredibly happy. Is there anything else you can think of?"

"I'd be here all day if I listed it all, but one of the biggest reasons I admire your daughter is because she's been able to survive everything thrown at her."

"She's indestructible." Beau moved a little closer to Abigail when he said a haunted look in her eyes. "Why do I have a feeling that some other trauma happened to you in the past, other than the fallout with your parents?"

"Because you're on the nose." Abigail said. "When served in Iraq, I enlisted with my fiancé. Neither of us knew that it was going to end so terribly."

"War is a gamble in every way." Beau drained what was left of his drink, turned the glass upside down on its coaster and pushed it away. "My father served in the second world war. Gloria's, too. They were best friends. After Europe, they together served in Vietnam and Korea."

"Did your mother or Gloria's do anything to serve?" Abigail said curiously.

"They did, actually and they were also friends. Both of them served in Europe as nurses." Beau answered. "Unfortunately, even though Gloria's mother made it home first, she died a few months later. It was a traffic accident."

"I'm so sorry. What about your mother?"

"She came back the second she could to raise me, my brothers, Gert, and Gloria together."

Abigail was extremely fascinated. "Where did you live? Who cared for you all when the adults were away?"

"We already lived in the schoolhouse. Gloria's family was already there. One of us will tell you the story another day." Beau remembered. "A neighbor stepped in after Gloria's mother passed, and looked after all of us until my mother made it home. She managed alone until the men came back."

"What happened when they did?"

Beau sighed. "Gloria's father died shortly after because of war wound complications. My parents raised in Gloria and Gert as their wards."

"That was good of them."

"It was. And in the long run, Gert married her high school sweetheart. Gloria married me." Beau made a motion to indicate an ending. "Like I said—war is a gamble."

Abigail was deeply awed by that story. She had completely forgotten that she had been telling her own war tale.

"Right. Our team was dispatched to check on a vessel in distress. Everything just went nightmarishly wrong." Abigail flexed her fingers to keep them from shaking as the memories came back. "An IED went off. My fiancé was dead immediately because he had been leading the charge. The rest of our team also died fast because they were just behind him. If I had been four seconds faster, I wouldn't be sitting here with you today, having a drink."

Abigail flexed her fingers as her hands gave a slight shake. Talking about this part of her life was never easy.

Beau hugged her and surveyed her with fatherly love. "Abigail, thank you for serving your country. I am so sorry that you lost your fiancé. Do your parents not know this part of the story?"

"Correct. They actually had the audacity to tell me that my grief was my fault because I'd fallen in love with a serviceman."

"Well, it wasn't your fault." Beau said firmly. "Do you understand that?"

"Yes, I do. It's a relief." Abigail said honestly. "I don't mind if you share all this with Gloria."

"Okay. I'll tell her before bed." Beau looked Abigail squarely in the eyes. "I am so proud of you for everything. You did your part for country, for glory, for patriotism, for the American Dream. And you even made it home. That's what matters the most." Beau continued to speak in a kind fatherly way. "My pride in you for all that will never change. Never ever. Gloria will say the same thing. I also know that the rest of the family will have the same attitude when they find out that you and Zelda served."

Beau's kind words were all it took for Abigail to start crying.

"I'm so sorry!" she felt a little embarrassed, even though they both knew that crying was to have been the outcome.

"You have nothing to apologize about. Crying is okay." Beau pressed a packet of tissues into her hands and pointed out a sign on the other side of the room. "Why don't you go clean yourself up in the washroom? It's over that way."

Abigail made a quick exit.

In her absence, Teddy mosied back towards Beau.

"How's it going?" he swapped out Beau's empty glass for a full one.

"It's going really well." Beau moved the new drink within his reach. "Way better than I expected."

"Then is she a keeper?"

Beau's confidence grew. "That would be an absolute yes."

"Have you told her yet…?" Teddy's words trailed off, but his brother new exactly what he was thinking.

"Not yet. Almost there."

Teddy smiled at Beau. "Okay. Give a shout if you need something."

"Will do."

Teddy departed back down the bar.

Abigail returned shortly thereafter.

"I feel better now, Beau." she said pleasantly as she resumed her seat. "Thanks."

"You are so very welcome. By the way, I already figured out back the house that Abby is pregnant—my congratulations."

Abigail squirmed in her seat. "Thanks again, but how…?"

"A long story short is that Abby rejected her mother's freshly-made oxtail soup because she thought it was spoiled." laughed Beau. "I've never seen her turn away offered by Gloria. The rate at which Abby recoiled was comical."

"Abby's sense of smell has been heightened lately, come to that…"

"And I rest my case." Beau changed lanes in his thoughts. "It's clear that you love taking care of your family, but will you keep caring for Abby the way that you have?"

"Yes." Abigail promised. "Your daughter is the love of my life. I can't imagine a day without her. Meeting Abby is the best thing that's ever happened to me. She and I complete each other."

"You most certainly do. We can all see it. That is why I'm officially giving you my blessing to marry Abby. Here." Beau pulled a small velvet box from his pocket, opened it, and held put it in Abigail's hand. "I proposed to Gloria with this."

In the box was a simple, yet very beautiful diamond ring.

"I love it." Abigail closed the box and tucked into her purse. "Thank you, yet again. I think that's all I can say just now."

"And that's quite alright." Beau held up his glass. "Then how about we stay here and talk for awhile? We can just talk."

Abigail picked up her own beverage. "Sounds good to me. I'll drink to that."

They clinked their glasses together and drank.

"Will you tell me a story about Abby? Please?" Abigail set her drink down. "I've heard a lot, but I know there are still some hidden gems."

Beau became coy almost at once. "Did she tell you about the newspaper route she had when she was a kid?"

Abigail made the sign for no. "I am all ears."

"Abby got sick of the job at some point, and didn't think we knew that she began delivering wet papers only to the people who complained. We totally knew."

Abigail accepted her second drink when it was handed to her and gave Beau all of her attention. "Tell me everything."

So Beau told her the whole story.

Amongst others.