Thanks to the incomparable Alix33 for beta-reading! And...
Happy Christmas!
Chapter 9
The next evening after Joselyn and Mackie were in bed, Tim and Ellie gathered Ty, Brynie, Lia and Henry. Ellie smiled at the kids, "Let's go into the playroom, your father and I have something we want to talk with you about."
"Ok, Mommy."
When they were all settled, Tim smiled at them, "We have two things to tell you. One is that the two boys named Sean and Mark, are coming to stay with us for the summer. Lia, Henry, the boys are a year older than Ty. We're going to turn one of the guestrooms into a room for them, they can share that."
2½-year-old Henry was deep in thought and Tim waited until he was ready. "How come they're coming here? They don't have a mama and a daddy?"
"They do have a mama and a daddy. You remember the sick girl that your mama and I met when we went to San Diego?"
Henry and Lia nodded and Henry added, "Jossie helped her!"
"That's right. Sean and Mark are her brothers. Tessa, that's the sick girl, must be very careful not to catch any colds or get sick. The doctors said she could be at home but only her mother, father and grandparents could be around her."
Lia frowned, "Why?"
"Because kids play with other kids and sometimes those other kids might have a cough or cold and not even know it."
"Oh." Lia and Henry looked at each other and nodded, satisfied with that answer.
"Because of that, Sean and Mark have been staying with their father in a different house. But he has to go away for work and the boys need a place to stay.
"Their grandma is sick, so they can't stay with their grandma and grandpa. So they're coming here until school starts. Ty, we asked your question about school and the answer is they might still go home if their dad isn't back yet or they might stay here for a few more weeks. Your mom, Sean and Mark's parents and I decided to worry about that later."
Ty nodded with a smile.
Tim continued, "That's the first thing. The second thing is that Sean and Mark look like us."
Brynie was surprised, "Are they our cousins?"
"No, honey but they are related to us." Tim paused for a drink of water before continuing with his simple and very basic explanation. When he finished he answered a few questions from Ty and Brynie but Lia and Henry didn't say anything. The last thing he said was that he knew of 5 children that looked like him, adding, "besides Mackie and Joselyn".
When he saw Brynie frowning, he smiled, knowing his daughter was putting the pieces together. "Brynie, are you trying to figure out who those children are, the ones that look like me?"
She nodded and he kissed the top of her head, "You, Tyler, Henry, Sean and Mark."
"Oh!" She looked at Henry, "Henry looks like Poppy too."
"Yes, and he also looks like Poppy's daddy. Here, I'll show you a photo." He pulled up a childhood photo of Jackson on his phone and showed it to them. Henry giggled, "I look like him, Daddy!"
"Yes, you do, sweet boy!"
There was a little discussion about daddies and fathers but he was satisfied when they finished. He looked at the kids, figuring Lia and Henry were good with 'they looked like them', while Tyler and Brynie understood more, at least the concept. He hoped.
Ellie smiled at them. "The important thing to remember is that you are our children, no matter what. We love you, we'll always love you. And we'll answer any more questions you have. Tonight, we wanted you to know that Sean and Mark look like some of us and why they do."
Ty had one more question, "Does Tessa look like us?"
"A little bit. She also looks like her mother and Poppy's mother, Grandma Anne."
"Wow!"
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
The kids stayed at the ranch with their grandparents on Thursday so that after work their parents could shop for room decorations for Mark and Sean. Ty, Brynie and Callum had some suggestions that Ellie and Tim liked very much. Having made a list, they eventually found everything they wanted and lugged it all home.
It helped that the Mays gave them plenty of ideas as to the boys' likes and dislikes. They loved baseball and basketball but hadn't yet developed a taste for football. Ken confessed his own ambivalence toward the sport had probably influenced that. Tim brightened up when he said that, replying, "I thought I was the only male in the U.S. who's not into football!"
The boys also liked soccer, loved to swim and during the last school term had had an archery class they really enjoyed.
Tim smiled at that, "We could set up a range and Ty and Brynie might like that too." He paused, adding, "Me, too!"
Ellie nodded, "Sounds like fun. I took a class in college and enjoyed it." Tim grinned at her, "I should have taken that instead of fencing."
Friday night, after they'd played with the kids and taken the littles through their nightly routine, the couple started work on the boys' room, with help from their two eldest. Ty and Brynie giggled at their parents' surprise when they turned the light on to find the queen bed gone, replaced by two twin beds with two wheeled pull out drawers underneath each one and two nightstands with goose neck lamps, perfect for night time reading, on them. The vertical dresser was also gone, replaced by a horizontal one with three large drawers on each side.
Ellie turned to the gigglers, "Poppy?"
The kids nodded, saying, "And we helped find everything in the storage barn, it was so much fun! There are two desks in there that Poppy said he could bring over for Sean and Mark but we didn't know the answer about school. We brought that table and two chairs instead. It's like the ones Brynie and I have, with little drawers for things."
"That's great, thank you! We bought a Spider Man lamp we can put on it too."
At the look on Ty's face, his parents grinned and Tim said, "Any chance you'd like one of those too?"
"Yes, please!"
Brynie laughed at her brother as he danced around the room. Then her laughter changed to 'oohs and ahhs' when she saw the 'Frozen' lamp for her room and she joined him in his happy dance. She grinned at her brother, "I didn't know we were getting things too!"
Ellie smiled, "Just the lamps, sweetie. Your daddy and I couldn't resist. Now, come see what else we bought the boys."
They showed them two white boards for the boys to write on and two cork boards for photos and other things. Each white board had a border of little soccer balls. Brynie helped Daddy put those on the wall, making sure they were straight and not too high up. The cork boards went on the walls next to their beds so each boy could look at his photos last thing at night and first thing in the morning. They left room on the wall facing the beds for a large framed Mays' family photo that Avery was sending with the van. They also had two throw rugs that would be placed on the laminate floors after the beds were made.
All four of them worked together to hang a shelving unit on the wall. There were three shelves and the supports for each shelf were dragons. Each was standing on its back legs, with its short front limbs reaching to the next shelf, the head tilted up with a vexed expression on its face and little tongues of fire coming from its mouth. Each dragon measured one foot apiece, including the flames. It was perfect! Tim found it on Amazon and had it shipped next day express. He'd found something else uniquely draconic for Tyler and tucked it away for his birthday.
Brynie took point on the installation, making sure the shelving unit was level and fit tight as a drum to the wall. Nothing was going to fall, be crooked or break on her watch!
Next came making the beds. While they'd been working, the new sheets, pillow covers and bedspreads went through the washer and dryer. By the time they finished with the boards and the shelves, the linens were ready to be put on the bed. The boys were bringing their own pillows.
Sheets in the colors of the San Diego Padres baseball team were put on the beds so that each boy had a mix of blue and yellow. One bed had a yellow bottom sheet and a blue top sheet and the other one reversed the order. The pillow cases had also come from Amazon and had all the Padres' colors on them, blue, white, golden yellow and brown. The bedspreads were a solid color blue. That did it for the formal bed coverings. They didn't add blankets as only the babies had blankets between May and October. The bedspreads would probably come off quickly too. Although with open windows at night and the ceiling fans on, the boys might not ditch the bedspreads.
Maisie took two pillow cases, sewed a big blue "S" to one and a big blue "M" to the other and then wrapped the cases over a couple of throw pillows from the storage barn, completing the look with tied-on twine borders. Claire found two summer weight cotton denim colored button-down shirts in the boys' sizes and put a little western stitchery on each. Just enough so the boys would wear them whether they ended up liking the western look or not. The shirts were hanging in the closet, all ready for them. The throw pillows were placed on top of the bedspreads on the beds.
With a grin, Ty and Brynie took their parents by the hand, leading them to the playroom. On their work table was a 5-foot banner, decorated by all the kids, with some help for Jossie and Mackie, welcoming Sean and Mark. They asked if they could put it up on the wall behind the kids' bed.
Footlockers for the boys' toys and sports equipment were placed at the foot of each bed, a couple of fluffy bean bags chairs were added, the throw rugs were placed on the floor, the banner was hung, photos were taken and they were done.
They'd already changed the sheets in the remaining guestroom and on the Murphy bed in the playroom where Ken's friend, the owner of the travel trailer, would sleep. Fresh towels in the bathrooms and they were ready for both of the guests and their summer residents.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Ken called a little after 9 AM Saturday morning; they were in Gallup, New Mexico. They'd stopped for a break, buying breakfast and eating it at a park, loving the warm weather. He said the fog had been thick and chilly when they left San Diego before midnight. Laughing, he said the boys were running in circles, burning off some of their energy, adding that they were excited about staying on a ranch with lots of things to do and kids to play with.
Gallup was less than two hours west of the ranch so the ranch house residents were alerted to expect an SUV pulling a travel trailer shortly before 1100. Dad planned to lead them to the cul-de-sac in the ATV.
Charlie Fielding was looking forward to seeing the boys and Ken. While he didn't know any of them well, they were a tiny part of his history and he hoped he and the boys would become better acquainted during their stay. His uncle Mac was also looking forward to the boys' visit, knowing he'd be meeting two more of his great-grandchildren.
Mac hadn't been as subtle as Jethro when told the number of Tim's donor offspring, he'd clapped his boy on the back and then laughed himself silly. He teased Tim about inviting them all to the ranch for a family party. When Shannon looked thoughtful at the suggestion, Tim shook his head in terror, trying not to hyperventilate. He had no responsibilities for, no obligations to these kids, none! He was willing to help if they needed him, like Ty, Brynie, Henry and now the Mays kids but that was it! Silently he wondered how many other sperm donors ended up raising, or financially supporting, their donor offspring. He'd read about a guy who'd fathered 150 from his donation, that made him shudder, happy with his 25, more than enough! Back when he'd made the donations, his goal was to give himself the possibility of a family, kids he could raise with love in far better circumstances than he'd faced with Sarah and Rob.
Tim was thinking about this as they waited for the SUV although he was soon distracted by his children who were almost as excited as they were Christmas mornings.
At first the kids thought they'd wait to get in the pool until Sean and Mark arrived but when they saw and heard the Palmer and Hubbard kids playing in the water, they looked pleadingly at their parents. Ellie laughed at them, "It wasn't our idea to wait! Go change and then wait for us." She and Tim decided to change later, Mackie was awake and playing but Joselyn was still out. Over the last few days she'd been teething and they decided her long nap this morning was making up for her lost sleep. At least her new tooth had broken through, that was always a relief!
The kids were in the foyer, all ready for their swim, when Poppy sent Daddy a text that an SUV with dark tinted windows and towing a trailer was here and they were on their way. Their parents laughed but the kids shrugged, knowing that sooner or later they'd be in the pool.
After tying Joselyn's baby monitor into his watch and Ellie's phone, the family remained in the house until the SUV parked in the driveway, it was too hot to wait outside! Holding Mackie, Lia and Henry's hands, the family stepped outside. Poppy was just reaching the SUV after parking the ATV in the street. He smiled proudly at his family and they returned the smile, Mackie pulling at his daddy's hand to go to Poppy.
As Ken exited the SUV, two young boys popped out of the backseat on the driver's side, Mark and Sean. The children stood staring at each other before their adults remembered their manners. Ken shook Tim and Ellie's hands, nodding to each of the Gibbs kids. And then there was a surprise as Avery climbed out of the front passenger seat of the SUV. "Surprise!"
Hurrying to the other side of the vehicle, Ellie and Tim greeted her with smiles, happy to hear that a cousin, an adult granddaughter of the great-aunt caring for Avery's mother, had volunteered to stay with Tessa for a couple of days. Tessa had urged her mother to go, she could see the ranch and have some extra time with the boys and their dad.
When the Gibbses noticed the wide grins on the faces of the adult Mays, eyebrows were raised and then they noticed two shiny new wedding bands. "We got married yesterday. Ken found an officiant who would come to the house and agreed to wear a mask and gloves. The boys suited up too so all of us were together."
"That's wonderful, congratulations!"
As Tim and Ellie met the boys, they saw that Tessa was right. Sean looked very much like Tim and anyone who saw the boy with any of his half-siblings would assume he was related to them. On some level, Tim got a kick out of that, having never thought he had memorable features. Until he saw them on his kids and thought each one of them beautiful.
Sean's twin Mark was a junior Leroy Jethro if there ever was one. His appearance made Ellie think his genes had totally ignored the Camden and Fielding contributions, utilizing only Gibbs' DNA.