I do not own NCIS...

Chapter 12

After he left Abby's, Gibbs went right to the hardware store for new lumber and sandpaper. He took it all down the basement when he got home, and immediately started working. He didn't know if he was going to get to be a dad again yet, but he sure as hell wasn't about to be ill prepared in case he was. He started to build the first piece of furniture: a rocking chair for Abby.

After a few hours and a few shots of bourbon, he heard his front door open, and soon after, Tony and Tim came down to the basement.

He sighed, and stopped sanding as they approached.

"Hey, Boss," Tony greeted him, "Just came to see if you were willing to talk about what's going on. We know something is up, you've been more growly than usual, and Abby wasn't at work today, and she NEVER misses work."

"Yeah, and she's not answering my calls either, and only texted me that we'd talk later," Tim added.

"She went on vacation," Gibbs replied.

"Vacation?" Tim asked, "Boss, Abby never said anything to me about..."

"McGee," Gibbs cut him off, but he did not say anything else. He sighed and poured out three shots of bourbon and handed them out before taking a seat on a sawhorse. "Abby is..." He sighed again and downed the bourbon in one shot. "Abby is pregnant." Before they could react, Gibbs held up a hand, "And before you say anything, I need to tell you guys what's happening. Abby doesn't know if she wants to keep the baby. She went to Luca's house and is staying with him until she knows what she wants to do."

"Luca's house?" Tim asked, "In Louisiana?"

"Yeah."

Tony had a strange look on his face, and he spoke quietly, "Boss, is there anything that you need or that we can do right now to make this easier for you? You helped me to survive losing Ziva, and I'm gonna make sure that you survive this, regardless of the outcome."

"I second that," Tim added.

"There is something that you can do," Gibbs replied, standing back up, "Pray."

"What specifically are we praying for?" Tony asked.

Gibbs took a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly before replying, "Just pray."

"You got it, Boss." they answered together.

~~~~~NCIS~~~~~

Gibbs stayed in the basement working long after Tony and Tim left. After a while, he finally sat back down on the sawhorse and finished the last of the bourbon. After he put the empty mason jar on the bench behind him, he turned around and saw Kelly sitting on the other sawhorse across from him.

"What are you afraid of, Dad?" She asked

He shook his head, "I... I'm afraid that I made a mistake. I'm afraid that I'm going to resent Abby for the decision she makes. I'm afraid of being a dad again. Hell, I'm afraid of everything," he admitted

"First of all, don't be afraid to be a dad again because you are the best dad ever. Second, um, did you even listen to what mom said the last time you saw her?" She asked, rolling her eyes and giving him that little bit of sass that he loved and missed so much.

"I listened!" he replied.

"Then you remember what she said about having faith?"

"Yeah," he whispered after a long moment.

"Just have faith, Daddy. It's gonna be ok. I promise."

~~~~~NCIS~~~~~

As the days without Abby became weeks, Gibbs tried to stay positive and have faith, but it was hard. Abby texted him every morning as promised, and he texted her back, but other than that it was radio silence. He continued to build furniture in the basement, and Tony and Tim started coming over every free weekend and helped him clean, paint, and put a nursery together. They didn't talk too much while they worked. Every now and then one of them would ask if there were any updates, but other than that they just helped and supported him, chatting about work, cold cases, and trivial things, and bickering as usual.

After a little over 3 months, the nursery was complete. It was in neutral green and beige and white, and complete with a handcrafted crib, bassinet, rocking chair, changing table, and toy box.

Gibbs sat in the basement one night and worked on making toys, thinking about Abby. He didn't think she'd be gone this long. She still texted him every morning, but he hadn't heard anything else from her. Just as he put a toy plane down and picked up his bottle of bourbon, he heard his front door open and then close. His heart skipped a beat when he recognized Abby's footsteps above him. He ran to the top of the stairs and stopped in his tracks when he saw her in the kitchen. She was noticeably pregnant now, at almost 6 months, and more beautiful than Gibbs had ever seen her before.

She smiled at him, "Hi Gibbs!"

"Oh Abbs..." He went to her and gently pulled her into his arms, and she started crying softly onto his shoulder. "I missed you," he whispered as he hugged her.

After a few minutes she calmed down, pulled away from him, wiped her eyes, squared her shoulders, and then got down to business. "Gibbs... Two things. One... I still want to work. I mean, I don't want to be a stay at home mom. I'm going to get a lab assistant and not work the insane hours, but I'm definitely still working. And two... Can we like, live together if we're going to be raising a child together?"

Gibbs smiled, sighed with relief, and pulled her back into her arms. "You can definitely still work, Abbs. I am going to retire and stay home with the baby. When it starts going to school, I might go back part time for office work... but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"Gibbs, what?! You're going to retire? But, you love NCIS!"

"But I love you and our baby more. And let's face it, I'm no spring chicken, and my job is dangerous with long hours. It'll be good to let DiNozzo take the reigns and then I can relax and enjoy my family, and you can still work and not worry. I want you to be happy, Abby, and I want the baby to know me. And as for us living together... I hope that you'd like to move in here. There's plenty of space for all of us... Come on, I want to show you something."

He took her by the hand and gently helped her up the stairs. He opened the door to the nursery, and she shrieked with delight when she saw it. "Oh my God, Gibbs, this is amazing! You made all this for our baby? Did you do this whole room all by yourself? I was so worried that I was going to have the baby early and have no place to put it!"

"No. Tony and Tim helped a lot. They did all the paint and borders and decals. Jimmy and Breena picked the colors and bedding. Ducky insisted on paying for most of it... Abby... Are you sure this is ok? I mean, you sure you want to do this?"

"I thought about this for a long time... Too long... I've known the answer for a while now, I think I was just scared to admit it because...well... I was scared." She shrugged and smiled and he smiled back at her, and she continued, "And it's been so hard with Ziva being gone... But I know that you love me and I love you... And you're willing to give up your career so I can keep mine... Yes I definitely want this. I'm actually really excited about being a mama!" She clapped her hands together and smiled brightly.

"I'm excited about being a dad again," he said, nuzzling into her neck, "Welcome home."

"It's good to be home," she replied, and that's when he looked down and noticed that she was holding something in her hand.

"Whatcha got there?" he asked curiously.

She smiled brightly at him and held it up to reveal a small, plain envelope, "This... is a magic envelope!"

Gibbs smirked, "Oh yeah? What's so magical about it?"

"It holds precious treasure, Gibbs! There are 3D ultrasound pictures of the baby, and a piece of paper that tells us if we're having a boy or a girl! I haven't looked at any of it yet, though! I mean, I saw the 3D ultrasound while they were doing it, but I told them to avoid the areas that would give away the gender. I figured we could find out together."

Gibbs smiled, took her by the hand and led her over to the rocking chair so she could sit. Then he kneeled next to her and said, "Go ahead and open it."

She smiled, took a deep breath, peeled open the envelope and then stopped suddenly. "I can't do it!" she laughed, but she took another deep breath and took all of the photos out, leaving the folded paper with the gender written on it inside the envelope. "Let's look at the pictures first!" She handed the small stack of 3D ultrasound pictures to Gibbs.

Gibbs sucked in a breath when he saw the first picture. He couldn't believe how clear the photo was. This was certainly a far cry from the grainy, smudge looking ultrasound photo that Shannon brought home of Kelly all those years ago.

"Aren't they incredible?!" Abby asked excitedly, "Isn't our baby beautiful?"

Gibbs flipped through the pictures and smiled tenderly, replying "She is beautiful, Abby. Like her mother."

"She?" Abby asked with a smirk, "We don't know the gender yet, remember, we haven't looked at the paper!"

"Don't need to look at the paper," Gibbs replied softly, never taking his eyes off of the photos, "That's my little girl."

Abby finally pulled the paper out, and opened it to read the gender. She smiled and shook her head as she read it, then exclaimed, "How do you do that, Gibbs?!"

TBC...