Chapter 8

Returning to the house, they found Pat's brother, sister and their spouses deep in discussion. Tim looked up, "Pat, we realized this is more than you bargained for. You came to reclaim me and Sarah and found yourself in the midst of people you've believed didn't want you since you were Andy's age."

Bob nodded to the Blairs with a small smile, "As I'm an in-law, I can ask questions and nose around without anyone suspecting too much. I'm also an investigator, trained in asking innocent sounding questions or misleading questions. What none of the four of us knew was if Penny and Maisie were even at the ranch today. Usually they'd be at the play center by now as they love to spend time with their great-grands. So I snooped around and figured out that both of them, as well as Maisie's husband Ducky, are not on the ranch. Dave and Liz's adopted son Matt says they went to Taos to see some art collection they've been wanting to see and another of the older gentlemen went with them."

When Tim raised an eyebrow, Bob smiled, "Grandpa."

"Ah, that's interesting."

Ellie chuckled, "Does Shannon know and approve?"

"Don't know about the trip to Taos but in general, yes. Neither wants to marry again but as long as both Penny and Grandpa are happy, she's fine."

Patrick waited patiently until Bob turned to him again, "Sorry! They'll be gone all weekend, the family has a friend from Maryland who evac'd to Taos and Ellie has a cousin who sheltered with us and now lives there so they'll spend some time with them. I was told they won't be home until Monday."

Tim tilted his head, "That makes sense, we don't have a family dinner for another week."

Laurel looked at him, "Just how big is this family?"

The four adults laughed and Bob said, "For the immediate family, that's the Gibbses, one couple, 7 grown kids, including the Palmers and Abby, oops, forgot Ana, 8 grown kids, 6 spouses, 1 boyfriend and I believe 16 grandchildren. Then there are the grandparents, great-grandparents and a grand-uncle, that's 4, oh and one more child, although she's not a grandchild, she's the adopted daughter of the grand-uncle. That's 37. The Hubbard-Langston-Crane clan has about 13, although the Cranes' 2 grown kids haven't met any of us, so I guess 11 is better for them. That's 48."

Tim grinned, "Then we have the cross-parenting of Jimmy Palmer. Shannon adopted him so he's a Gibbs and Dad counts him as a son; however, Jimmy has always had a parental relationship with Ducky, so he has two dads and one mother and I don't know how he counts Grammie, who is now married to Ducky. Anyway, Jimmy and his wife Breena have 3 kids who call my parents Poppy and Nonnie and Ducky is Granducky but then he is that to every child who sheltered with us."

Sarah was also grinning, "The Gibbses adopted us, including our brothers Robbie and Geordie, plus Tony and Jimmy. Tim, Tony, Jimmy, Dad and Ducky have a former co-worker, Abby, whom Dad regards as an 'unofficial' daughter. She's also an orphan but doesn't want to be adopted. Ana is also an unadopted unofficial daughter.

"Along with our official siblings, Tim and I also have 5 other people we regard as family. Eight of us grew up together, well, Bill is older but he was in our lives, at the homeless camp in Baltimore and the 9th is Lu, the former manager of the shelter where Tim, Rob and I stayed our first three years on the street. She helped us as much as she could and up until we met Shannon, was the closest thing any of us had had to a mother. She evac'd and sheltered with us and is now involved with the great-uncle Bob mentioned. As I said we consider those 5 as family, too. None of them are married, although Bill is dating Ana, so he might evolve from boyfriend to son-in-law of Jethro and Shannon Gibbs."

Ellie nodded, "That's pretty much the family. There are others, my parents, siblings and their families sheltered with us but live in Oklahoma. Jimmy's in-laws also evac'd and sheltered with us. We had 84 people!"

Sarah and Tim had been exchanging glances and now Tim sighed, "Pat, there's more and I'll ask you to hang on because, well because. Six years ago, my DNA was run and I discovered that I'm not a McGee. Dan and Lily were not my birth parents nor did they adopt me, although I believe they would have if they'd understood what was happening."

Briefly he told them of his kidnapping and sale to the McGees. "However, although I'm not your blood brother, we have discovered a DNA connection between the Gibbses and Stirlings, Grammie's family. You, Sarah and I are cousins, 2nd or 3rd, we think, along with my DNA sister Kelly. The fact that we share DNA at all has brought both Sarah and I a lot of joy and I hope will to you, too. And, as much as I question their thought process when they bought me from my kidnapper, I know that Lily and Dan McGee loved me. There are also the years you and I spent together as brothers, to me that means even more than a blood connection. As far as I'm concerned you are and always will be my brother.

"When our brother Geordie turned 18, he became legal guardian to Sarah, Rob and me. Then when I turned 18, I adopted Sarah and Rob. So, although we are technically father and daughter, after my DNA discovery, Sarah and I reminded each other that we are brother and sister by heart and the letter of the law. And when our dad was preparing to adopt Sarah, Rob and Geordie, I had to choose between being Sarah and Rob's dad or brother. I chose brother."

Patrick's eyes were fixed on him and he finally shook his head. "Wow. So we're related but not as closely as we believed but you and Sarah have worked it out. That's enough for me, too, I'm not giving you up again!"

Bob looked at Tim, noticing that Sara Hope had disappeared. Laurel saw his look and smiled, "She's in the other room with her phone. I think this was more intense than she thought it would be."

Tim gave his brother-in-law a look while Ellie quietly got up and closed the doors to the kitchen. "So, the reason my DNA was run 6 years ago is that two Navy Lieutenants were murdered, our team landed the case and in the process discovered the officers had two young children. They were a same sex couple and purchased genetic material from a sperm bank for the kids' father. We found the kids who were 2 ½ and 18 months at the time.

"Dad, who was Boss, not Dad at the time, says he knew as soon as he saw them that they were at least related to me. When I was in college…" he briefly told his brother and sister-in-law of his cancer scare and subsequent sperm donation. "I'm Tyler and Byrnie's biological father. I'm Henry's biological grandfather but we're raising him as our son. His pond scum biological father, the one who abandoned him at 3 months, is one of my progeny. Ellie's adopted the three of them, we adopted Lia together and Mackie and Jossey are ours together."

"Wow! Are there more, do you know?"

Ellie nodded, "Henry has a twin sister, Tim's biological granddaughter, who was adopted by an Italian couple. We've been in close touch with them since Henry found his way to us and Tim was able to meet them in person when he was in Greece last month.

"Last year, Tim had a book signing in San Diego and I went with him. We met a girl and her mother and as soon as we saw the girl, we knew she was Tim's. She looks like Tim's grandmother, who is the connection between the Stirling-Hubbards, including you and Sarah, and the Gibbses. The girl also has twin brothers, one of whom looks very much like Tim and the other one looks very much like Jethro, Tim's dad. The girl was very ill and at the time Jossey was an infant. We'd saved her umbilical cord and donated it to the girl, who's now been in remission for slightly over a year. We haven't met any others."

Laurel grinned, "That's a wonderful story! And Tim, we love your books!"

"Thanks! Is that how you found me?"

Patrick told them about the magazine in the dentist's office and the photo and Tim huffed with a smile, "That's a great end to a nasty situation, thanks, Pat!"

"Yeah, I read about the lawsuit."

By that time, everyone was hungry and Patrick said he thought he was ready to meet the Hubbards, Cranes and Tim's parents. Removing packages of his homemade New Mexican style Red Chile enchiladas from the refrigerator, Tim grinned, "Hope you like these! I made one pan very mild for me and the littles and the other is spicier, although still not as spicy as the recipe calls for. I moved everything else for our lunch down to the shelter early this morning, with our names on them. I froze them raw, so I'll need to add the cheese and a few other bits and bake them for an hour. That will give you time to meet everyone. And in the meantime, we have tapas for appetizers."

When Laurel told them of her Spanish heritage and the kids' annual trip to Spain coming up in July, his eyes grew big, "Ooh, authentic recipes, do you share? I was in Rota, Spain, for about 14 hours last month, on a business trip. We had local food catered for our business lunch, that was delicious, and on our way back to the airfield, I had a quick driving tour of the city, so I saw a bit of the architecture."

Patrick's eyes were wide again and he finally said, "You flew to Europe for a stay of 14 hours?"

Tim shook his head, explaining their trip. When Laurel asked what his responsibilities were, Ellie and Bob grinned. Tim explained that although he'd worked for over a decade as a field agent, as a single parent he'd moved over to the Cyber Crimes division and that he currently was in charge of the agency's Cyber Crime units and an Assistant Director of the agency.

The 6 of them exchanged career information, Tim shaking his head when his brother talked about Wicket. "Hang on. My dad's got to hear this, too."

The children joined them and the 6 adults and 10 children split into the Gibbs' van and the Blairs' SUV for the short drive to the shelter, dropping the Chalmer family at home so they could change out of their bathing attire.

Once inside the shelter Ellie showed them around while Tim got busy with lunch. They'd already invited their parents, the Hubbards and Cranes. The power had been on for a few hours so it was pleasantly cool inside. The Gibbs kids had fun showing their new cousins the rooms that were still intact, where they'd slept, attended class, watched movies, exercised and ate.

While most of the bedrooms had been dismantled, many of the rooms were still intact. Some of the exercise equipment, a few of the bookcases, a television and DVD player were still in the media room as well as a few stray books in the library.

The garden room hadn't been touched, except when harvesting or planting food crops. And there were still a few tables, chairs, two sofas and a couple of comfy chairs in the common area. They'd found that the place made a nice retreat and the kids had overnights in it last summer, which the Mays boys had really enjoyed, and would likely do so again this summer.

The wall outside the garden room and the school room was covered with photos of their lives, at home in Virginia, Maryland, DC and Oklahoma, pictures of the warehouse as it filled up, then at the airfield as they were loading, back at the warehouse as the truckers frantically loaded the contents of the warehouse. From somewhere, someone had procured an overhead photo of the caravan as they outran the nuclear strike, with an additional photo showing Mover #4 and the trail of cars behind them.

The next group of photos were taken here, the shelter the first time they saw it, then in stages as the bedrooms were added, two of Tim and Ellie sleeping on a sofa while the others worked, Tim and his electrician apprentices as he installed the electrical panel, in the pet shelters, the early morning as the caravan arrived, the next morning when the trucks were unpacked and the furniture moved in. There were photos of Uncle John and Aunt Cissy Bishop and their hair salon, of group meals, several photos of people listening to the news after the attack, of the group celebration of life, with the Bishops playing guitar and Jimmy, Jim and the others singing.

Somehow they'd managed a group photo, with all 84 of them, after the Attack but before Pete's wife had her breakdown. They'd also taken photos by families and by age group. They'd captured many of the activities, playing cards, learning how to box, paint, sew, taking language lessons, groups walking on the cork path, photos of the kids in class, of Tim and Bec's aunt Mel delivering the good news about the house being clean, of Maisie and Ducky's wedding, and the last one, of Elaine and Jacob the day before they left.

They were back now, they'd flown home the previous autumn while Pete moved all their belongings, towing their car and RV. They'd stayed in the ranch house while they decided where they wanted to live, ultimately moving into one of the cottages, where they happily settled into afternoon cocktails and card games on the porch, daily swims, finally beginning to really enjoy their retirement.

They still liked to cook for whoever was around, in the shelter with the commercial appliances. Both of their grown children had visited, twice each, enjoying their visits and relieved their parents were happier with their friends.

Sarah, Bob and the twins raced in, glad they'd hadn't missed anything and feeling much better in street clothes. The twins greeted their new uncle, aunt and cousins with kisses and then toddled off to find their cousins. The children were playing in the shelter proper, within sight of their parents.

Tim was thankful his parents were the first to arrive. While his mother was shocked and happy to meet a living, breathing Patrick, his dad was happy and only a little surprised. When Tim narrowed his eyes at him, he confessed. "Did you tell your brother about trying to see the mural?"

Tim shook his head, "We haven't got that far yet. Pat, it was the day the office closed early."

Patrick's eyes widened, "You were there, in Monterey? You were at Wicket the Friday we closed early? That was just weeks ago!"

"Yes. Dad went with me for a book signing, although we went to San Francisco first to officially open a new office and new team for Cyber Crimes. Anyway, a lady in line, a name that was something with 2 c's, was wearing a lanyard from Wicket. Of course I had to ask and when Dad and I finally had time on Friday, we went to see the mural. However, you were closing early and your employees were streaming out and Security explained why we couldn't go in. The guard gave us brochures but other than geeking over the name and the tongue sticking out, I didn't look at the rest. I thought Ellie and I would see it sometime."

"You were there, I still can't believe it!" Patrick opened his mouth to say something about the painting but Laurel gave him a look and he shook his head instead.

Dad chuckled, "We weren't only there, I heard you as you exited the building. I couldn't see you but I have what my sons call 'superhearing' and I heard you refer to your son as Timothy Andres and his first game of the season. Tim had already explained who 'Wicket' was to the two of you, how much Natalie hated it and I'd looked at the building photo, saw the tongue sticking out and couldn't quite wrap my head around the coincidence of someone else taunting someone with the name. I didn't say anything to Tim. I planned to do some investigating but remembering what happened last time he and I tried to investigate something in your childhoods, I decided to run it by my boss first. Or my former boss, I'm pretty much retired now. He asked me not to do anything, afraid of the same thing I was."

Patrick nodded, "We had to shut down for 2 ½ days to fix something and I decided it would be better to give everyone a short Friday. That isn't as odd these days as a company opening late on a Monday."

He shook his head, "Maybe that's why I was so compelled. Did you drive or fly from San Francisco to Monterey?"

"We drove, first making a stop at Golden Gate National Cemetery."

"What day was that? And do you remember what time it was?"

They told him and he lost all color in his face. "I missed you by an hour. ONE HOUR! I'd never been to the cemetery before but I fly up to the City for business meetings every month or so. Usually I take Uber in from the airport, but that day I rented a car at the airport. After the meeting and lunch, I left, skipping a half day of work. I drove to the cemetery and found the family gravesite. It was very strange, there were flowers and the soil was damp, there were footprints but I told myself that was probably maintenance and I know there are cemeteries where volunteers bring flowers around. There was a grave for me and our parents but none for you or Sarah. And the inscription on mine seemed genuinely sorrowful that I'd died. That was when I started wondering. And then I drove home instead of turning the car in and flying home. I was so shaken I needed the quiet time to think. I can't believe we were there on the same day!"

"And in Monterey."

Shannon smiled, "The universe was finally bringing you two together."

Tim chuckled, "Except we were both a little too preoccupied to see it."

Hearing voices as the Hubbards and Cranes walked in, Patrick's shoulders tightened up but Tim, Sarah and their parents surrounded him and Laurel. Jim came in first, "Hey, Gibbses, thanks for the invite! Ooh, sorry, didn't realize there was company!" He blinked, walking closer. Claire was glad she already knew as she saw her husband start to lose his balance and moved quickly to catch him.

Caught off guard, Dave and Liz watched worriedly as Tim and Jethro helped Claire move Jim to a chair. Liz was the first to look up and her sharp inhalation caught Dave's attention. Frowning, he followed her glance and then his mouth dropped open and, like Tim, he blinked several times, then squeezed his eyes shut.

Patrick stood hopelessly until Jim sat up. Then Sarah spoke, "Aunty Liz, Uncle Dave, Uncle Jim, Aunt Claire, you're not seeing things."

Clearing his throat, he was crying again, Tim continued, "This is your nephew and godson, Patrick, alive and well. She lied about everyone but Dan."

Jim reached him first, wrapping his arms around him, crying and trying to talk. "Pat, oh my God, Pat! Thank God! How? Will you tell us?"

Dave and Liz were next and the three of them wrapped Pat in a warm cocoon of love, gratitude and astonishment. Laurel thought she could hear the ice dropping off his heart as he melted into their embrace.

As she'd never known him as a child, Claire waited until her husband and friends finally let him go. Then she went forward, "I knew who you were the minute I saw you in the garage, Patrick. But I also knew from what Ellie said that it wasn't the right time to tell your uncle and godparents."

Turning around, she beckoned to Ainsley and Callum, "Kids, I'd like to you to meet your cousin Patrick, Sarah's brother and Tim's…" she hesitated, not knowing if he'd been told about Tim's background.

Sniffling, Patrick said, "Adopted brother, please." He looked at Shannon, "I know they didn't adopt him but I'm not giving him up."

Shannon smiled, leaning over to kiss him. "Good! Welcome home, Patrick, Laurel and kids and welcome to your new family!"

Sara Hope was happy to meet the cousins her age while Andy was having a blast hanging out with Tyler and Brynie and was impressed when Callum joined them.

When the others heard why neither Patrick nor his adoptive mother had ever contacted any of them, they cried again, shaking their heads.

While the group sat around one of the tables, Shannon helped Tim with the tapas, making sure her son was doing all right with all this. They'd just set the plates of tapas on the table when Bob turned to Sarah, "This is why! Both you and Tim!"

Sarah, Tim and Ellie immediately understood. Tim shook his head, "How would we know, Bob? And if this is why, why didn't I feel like that when we were in Monterey? There were two occasions while Dad and I were in California when we barely missed running into each other."

With a smile, Laurel said, "Actually, there were three, Tim. I was the last of your fans on Saturday, the woman who ran in late."

His eyes widened and he looked relieved, "Thank you, I've been trying to figure out why you look familiar!"

Bob continued his questioning, "How do you feel now?"

Tim opened his mouth to reply but instead closed his eyes while tears rolled down his face, covering his huge smile. Sarah nodded in agreement as she and Patrick joined him, the three of them wrapped together.

After more than 30 years the three siblings, the original three siblings, were together again.

Just the epilogue to go...coming up later this week.