Not Beta'd; Standard disclaimer applies.

The italics is a flashback (Basically the entire chapter, except the first line), Abby thinking about the night Tim told her about the kids.

When Tim told Abby (S2)

As she walked towards the conference room, Abby thought about the night McGee told her about the twins.

Abby paused outside the door of McGee's new apartment. She was surprised when he asked her to come over, and not just because she hadn't known that he had moved. Tim had been absent from work for the last several weeks, making her even more curious about why he wanted to see her. It also made her more nervous. Her Timmy had been acting differently this last year, especially the last several months. Now that she thought about it, he wasn't the only one, but right now, he was the one she was concerned about. Yet whenever she asked him what was going on or what he was thinking about, he would simply say that he was thinking about his life and what he wanted.

When they had dated years ago, after they first met, Tim had not hidden the fact that he hoped to be married with at least one child by this point in his life. He hadn't had a good romantic relationship with anyone in the last few years. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised to learn that she was his most successful relationship ever. They had been good together, their current friendship proved that, and if it wasn't for the fact that she didn't want to settle down, things could've been so very different.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door, hoping, praying that she was wrong and that Timmy wasn't going to ask her if they could date and try a relationship again.

"One minute," she heard him call. Deciding to save him the walk, she tried the door only to find it locked. No problem, she thought as she dug out her tools to pick the lock. Before she could start she heard the deadbolt turn and surprisingly, the chain released as well.

"Chains?" she questioned as she quickly put her tools away, as he opened the door.

"Lots to protect," he vaguely replied.

"Uh-huh," she snorted as she looked around. It might be a new apartment, but it didn't look like he had any new furniture in it yet, in fact, he barely had any furniture. "Um, McGee, you don't have any chairs, did they get stolen? Is that why you used the chain?" No chairs, no couch or sofa, not even an ottoman was in the living room.

"Ha, ha. There are bar stools at the counter," he directed, looking down the hall to make sure the bedroom doors were closed.

"So, why the new place anyway?" She asked as she took a look around. It definitely seemed bigger than his other place, but that could just be because there wasn't any furniture in it yet. Why would he need a bigger place? He had resisted moving ever since he first moved up from Norfolk. She briefly wondered if he had met someone, that they had moved in together before dismissing that thought. First of all, he wouldn't be able to hide a relationship from her, especially since he spent most of his time at work. Second, Timmy wouldn't take a step like that without introducing his girlfriend to the team. And lastly, none of that would explain why Timmy wanted her to come to his apartment tonight, before he returned to work. Did she mention that Timmy made sure to tell her to come alone? He insisted that she didn't tell anyone where she was going or that she was meeting him.

"You'll find out soon," he replied. "And I bought furniture, the living room set just hadn't been delivered yet."

"Okay," she nodded in understanding, staring at him, wondering why he called her over.

"Not sure where to start," he finally commented.

'Uh oh,' Abby thought to herself. "We're friends," she emphasized, hoping he would pick up on the hint, that that is all they should be. "Just tell me. No need to act like you're giving a presentation in front of the director or a reporting your findings to Gibbs."

"Really wish Gibbs was here tonight," Tim muttered. "Was easier to talk to him about this," he mumbled, almost inaudibly. "Right," he said, taking a deep breath.

Before he could start talking explaining a squawk loudly penetrated the silence of the room.

"What was that?" Abby asked as she jumped in surprise.

"That is what I want to tell you about," Tim stated with a slight laugh. "Maybe it would be best to show you," he added, as he stood and walked towards one of the bedrooms, motioning for Abby to follow him.

"Did Jethro have puppies?" She squealed, hearing Tim's dog that she named after his boss on the other side of the door along with some soft noises that she couldn't place.

"No, not quite," he responded, hoping she would be as excited about his news as she was about the idea of Jethro's nonexistent puppies. Once he reached the door, he carefully opened it, making sure not to bang the door into the wall, Abby right behind him.

Tim stayed silent, letting her eyes and mind figure out what was going without him having to tell her.

Her mouth dropped open at the finished room. It was painted in sage green, the furniture a light maple stain. There seemed to be duplicates of many things in the room, except for a rocking chair. Two dressers, two cribs, two babies.

"I…human puppies," she said in awe. "I mean, babies," she corrected. "Where did they come from?" she asked, quickly adding, "I know where babies come from, but whose are they? Why are they here? Are they Sarah's? Why didn't you tell me that you're an uncle? Are you babysitting? Oh my god, is Sarah okay? Is that why you wanted to talk to me? Do you need some help babysitting? They look really young. And small."

As she spoke, Tim walked over to the crying baby and expertly picked him up and checked his diaper.

"Wow, you've gotten good at that. I remember that case with the baby. Tony mentioned how uncomfortable you were."

"Necessity," Tim supplied. "Sit down and I'll introduce you and explain," he said, indicating the rocking chair in the corner.

"This chair is awesome," she said, as she inspected what looked to be a handmade chair. After taking a seat, she noticed that her feet didn't quite touch the floor. "I didn't know they made these so big," she muttered, feeling dwarfish in comparison to the large chair.

"It was custom made," Tim replied.

"Nice job. I don't think Gibbs could do a better job," she said, leaning back against the chair, wondering why Tim smiled at that. "So, do I get to hold one?"

"This is Shane Murphy," he said, as he placed the bundle in her arms, confirming her hold was secure before he walked away to pick up the other baby.

"Very Irish sounding," she commented approvingly.

"This is Kiva Maureen."

"Unusual name, but pretty," she said looking at the baby in her arms.

"I wanted their names to reflect their family and heritage," Tim commented, not expanding on that explanation.

"That doesn't tell me who they are."

Keeping an eye on Abby and moving in front of her to make sure nothing happened, his next words were, "They are mine. My son and daughter."

"What? But you don't have any children," Abby protested.

Tim just looked at her and smiled, knowing that was an instinctive reaction. She really couldn't argue with the evidence in her arms.

"You adopted them?" she finally asked.

"No, they are my biological children," he corrected, rushing to add, "Born three months ago and that is all you need to know right now, everything else is too personal."

"Bu-"

"No, buts, Abby," he interrupted. "I'm telling you because you are one of my best friends and I want to be sure that you know and understand, especially since I won't be able to go to clubs or parties or concerts with you anymore. My children will come first."

"Bu-"

"Abby," he warned, looking directly at her, "You need to understand that. Yes, it means our relationship might change a bit, but if you cannot accept it then that means we don't, won't have a relationship anymore."

"Okay," she agreed softly. "Your kids come first," she repeated, though that didn't mean she wouldn't try to find out more.

"Do they have your eyes?"

"Shane might, his eye color has changed; Kiva's are still blue."

"Oh, such a shame she doesn't have your green eyes, your best feature. They are so pretty, almost too pretty to be wasted on a boy."

"Thanks," Tim muttered, rolling his eyes. He then began his next point, "Abby, I told you this as a friend, not a coworker."

"I know and I appreciate it," she said, continuing to look at Tim expectantly.

"Abs, what I'm saying is that I haven't told my, our other coworkers."

"I…you…but…" she paused and looked at him, "Really?"

"Really."

"Not even Tony?"

"No. And I don't have any plans right now to tell them either. I mean, they will know. I'll tell them," he promised her, "but not yet, so I'm asking, no, I'm trusting you to keep this confidence and not to say anything until I do. Until I'm ready for them to know."

"But why?"

"I…it's just too new," Tim finally said. "I need some time to get used to this with just my family and close friends around me before I share it with others. There might be other reasons," he admitted, "but you don't need to know those."

"But they're your team; you can trust them with this."

"Abby, this is how I want it right now. Please respect that, respect me and my decisions on what is best for my family."

"Family," Abby repeated softly, still finding it hard to believe that Timmy had a family, had known for a while, but hadn't said anything to her.

"You should show this chair to Gibbs, it would be something he would love," she commented, looking down at the baby in her arms, assuming that the smile that appeared on Tim's face at her words meant that he agreed with her.

The two went silent after that, Abby rocking Shane from the chair, Tim on the matching footstool with Kiva.

A few minutes later, Abby called out, "Ah, Timmy, I think Shane needs to be changed."

Tim smiled and placed Kiva on a blanket on the floor before taking his son from Abby's arms and walking over to the changing table where he proceeded to change his diaper.

Abby looked around the room trying to think of something else they could talk about. "So, this is why you moved, huh?"

"Yep," Tim confirmed. "Really couldn't fit all this stuff into my small apartment."

She snorted, "You and your computer stuff didn't really fit in that apartment."

"I know. I should've moved a long time ago," he agreed, "It's just such a pain, packing, renting a truck, loading, unloading, setting everything up."

She frowned, "Why didn't you tell us you were moving? We would've helped. You could've done it without mentioning the kids," she pointed out.

"I know, and I did have some help," he admitted. Gibbs, Fornell, and Emily had been a big help, he didn't know what he was thinking trying to do it on his own. "But you know Tony would've kept asking, especially since the place has three rooms."

"It does?" Abby asked, after all, all the doors were closed so she wasn't sure if behind them were bedrooms, baths, or closets.

"Yeah," he said, picking up Shane. "If you want to take Kiva, I'll give you a tour."

"Sounds good."

About fifteen minutes later they were back in the kid's room. "So this is what you have been doing while you were off work," Abby stated.

"Kinda. Most of the apartment had been set up by then, these last two weeks was just making sure everything was set up, especially since the twins were just released from the hospita-"

"Hospital! Are they okay?" a worried Abby asked, eyes studying the children on the floor in front of her.

"They're doing great," Tim smiled fondly, looking at his children. "They were premature and needed to stay in the hospital until we could be sure that their lungs were developed and functioning properly. Well, that and their immune system." Tim went on to explain some health concerns that the doctors had, as well as the treatments and testing that the twins had been subjected to.

"This has been going on for three months?" Abby asked in wonder. "Why didn't you tell us? No wonder you seemed so distracted and distant at work. You know I would've helped."

"I know," he smiled at her, "But there was nothing you could've done. It was in the doctor's hands."

"Still, I could've supported you. You shouldn't have gone through this alone," Abby replied. Tim had already mentioned that he hadn't told his family about his kids until they were released from the hospital, so she knew that he had been alone during this trying time.

"I wasn't alone," Tim confessed, not wanting her to get upset. "And it all turned out fine."

Abby nodded, unable to speak since Maureen picked that moment to start crying, drowning out any words she might've said. Yet she couldn't figure out who was there for Tim. Logically, one would think it would be the mother, but Timmy hadn't mentioned anything about her, and from what she saw during her tour, it didn't look like a woman was in residence at the apartment. She really hoped Timmy was alright and that he knew what he was doing. Of course, that wouldn't prevent her from confirming what she was told, Rule 3, at least one of them. Her opportunity came when Tim left her with the kids while he prepared their bottles.

7-12-19

Wasn't planning on posting another chapter so soon, planned on about 1 a week, (Maybe 2 if I had a lot of time to write/edit), but my laptop (Which is about 10 years old) is acting up, even more so than usual. The screen is constantly flicking and it's crashed twice this week so far. I figure better update while I have the opportunity.

And on that note, anyone have any suggestions for a new laptop? I've been looking for the last 3 years, since this one has slowly been dying (better life is less than 2 hours when fully charged and I had to move task bar to top of screen since bottom is all pink/blue lines and has been for a while. The connection to internet also is unreliable (not the internet provider, but the connection in the computer, making me restart it every few hours to regain the connection (can't just disconnect/connect, actually have to shut down computer and restart...Yeah, it's time for a new one, but I love this one :(

Any way, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.

Thank you so much for reading, and a special thank you for those that reviewed. I appreciated hearing from you. I liked some of the name suggestions, as you saw, I went with Irish names, which is what I wanted the most, but I wasn't sure how Irish...Looked at Siobhan, Aislinn, Kathleen, and Maura for girls; Patrick, Liam, and Sean for boys. Chose the ones I did 'cuz I liked them and because they fit elsewhere (you'll find out later)

Next chapter: The conference room Hoedown...I mean showdown. Okay, so it's not really a showdown, just a private conversation.