This is a super long chapter. It covers a tiny amount of ground but in so much detail. There is an authors note at the bottom of the chapter and remember that I own nothing!
Christmas was a low key affair with Tim on call with Balboa's team (and having caught a case and being called in on Christmas Eve.) Gibbs and his MCRT were away, working a case too. Ducky had dropped Kelly off at Tobias' house so that Kelly could spend the evening with Tobias, Emily and Diane. Diane gushed over Emily as soon as the two women came face to face for the first time in over four years. "Look at you." She gushed, pulling Kelly in for gentle hug. "You're gonna be a mum. Still as beautiful as ever."
"She's gonna be a wife too." Tobias added, coming into the living room of his home with a mug of hot tea. "Kind of already a wife though, you and Tim have been living together for while now."
"Hush Tobias." Diane chastised him, playfully. "There's nothing wrong with that, these days. Now, Kelly go put your feet up and I'll make some tea for me, grab those cookies, the ones you always loved and we can catch up. Tobias and Emily have plenty of dishes to wash to keep them occupied."
Diane quickly returned and they began catching up with one another. "Tim's great, he's so amazing." Kelly was bragging about how wonderful Tim is. "I love him, so much."
"It isn't a piece of cake being married to a field agent, Kelly." Diane told her in all seriousness. "They're never home, they don't tell what's going on with their work, they can't tell you half of what happens in their day, they forget anniversaries, frequently miss holidays and your happiness is often a causality of their career."
"Tim isn't like that." Kelly told her, truthfully. "Tim remembers anniversary celebrations more than me. He always makes it up to me if he misses something or gets called out. As the daughter of a field agent, I've known and understood 'classified' longer than I can remember. Tim and I are extremely happy together."
"Diane," Tobias added, joining the ladies in the living room with his own coffee mug. " did you know that Kelly put me up when I was working in North Carolina, couple of months back? Tim's a wonderful partner for Kelly. I think they're going to be very happy together."
"Besides, once we have our own place again. We can resume our adventures." Kelly told Diane with a wink.
"Don't remind me." Fornell groaned and a punch in the arm from Diane had him elaborating further. "Gibbs had this great idea one night, relatively early on in their relationship, to invite Kelly and Tim to join us for a late dinner. Gibbs let us into their townhouse and we walked in on her and Tim on the sofa."
"Oh, not dressed for visitors." Dianne added with a laugh and a groan from Tobias.
"Buck naked." Kelly confirmed, always embarrassed. "Thanks for sharing that, Uncle Toby. Never tell anyone ever again!"
"Hey, I'm the one who got yelled at that night." He argued. "Tim defended you gallantly."
"How did Leroy react?" Diane asked, surprised that Kelly's guy was still alive. "I can't imagine Papa Gibbs being happy about that."
"Papa Gibbs was a functional mute. He had no words at all. At the time, it wasn't funny. I don't think Tim or Jethro will ever see the funny side of it, though." Tobias declared. "Did you tell Diane about Gibbs and the rings?"
"When Tim asked Dad for his blessing to propose, Dad gave Tim my mother's ring to propose with." Kelly repeated, showing Diane the ring.
"I didn't know Shannon, but I feel strongly enough to speak on her behalf. I'm sure she's very happy with you and the choices you've made in your life. Sounds like she would love your Tim, just as much as you and your father do." Diane told the young woman she always considered to be her stepdaughter, despite divorcing her father a very long time ago. Diane respected Shannon and the memory of her, always did. In her opinion, it wasn't Shannon that destroyed her marriage to Leroy, it was his inability to let his dead wife go, not the woman herself or her memory. Diane always knew that marrying Leroy meant, she had to share Kelly with the young girl's memories of her mother. Diane was always ok with that, but she couldn't grasp that she needed to be ok with Gibbs sharing Shannon's memory. That's where the crux of their problems laid. "I can not wait to meet Tim."
"I hope our baby has his brains." Kelly told them both. "He is so smart, but he doesn't lord it over you."
"You're smart too, Kelly." Tobias added, "but I've never come across anyone as smart as Tim, Diane. The man has four degrees and a doctorate. All by the time he was twenty-one."
"If Leroy approves of the man, that's some praise for the young man." Diane added, having first hand seen a Papa Gibbs temper tantrum over a date and having seen Papa Gibbs in overprotective mode.
Tobias' cell phone rang, disrupting the easy peaceful silence that the trio had been sharing. "Fornell!" He snapped into his cell, he wasn't on call and had been firm with his team not to call him.
"It's Tim." McGee said, identifying himself. "That case you've been working on for months, it just got messy. Former Director Shepard was murdered whilst in custody, late last night."
"Why haven't I been notified yet?" He asked Tim, he was curious why Tim was notifying him.
"You're being notified now, can you bring me a lawyer too? I'm in the holding cells at your office, I've been arrested for her murder."
"What?!" He exclaimed. "Tim, don't say anything, to anyone, don't take anything from anyone, either. I'm calling Gibbs and I'm coming!" Tobias immediately disconnected the call with Tim and speed dialled Gibbs, who promptly answered gruffly in his usual greeting. "We have a situation. Are you aware Tim has been arrested?"
"What?!" Gibbs demanded details, Tobias giving the very little details he had. Together they called Vance on a three way call, who organised for Sharon Beals, NCIS' top legal defender and IA councillor to meet the two of them at the Hoover Building and Vance would teleconference in with his FBI counterpart.
Tobias didn't tell Kelly what was wrong, not wanting to upset her or the baby. As he grabbed his wallet, his FBI credentials and his weapon, he raced out the door, to the Hoover Building. "Ms Beals, I'm Tobias Fornell." He said, shaking her hand as he introduced himself. "Thank you for coming in so quickly and on Christmas Day."
"Thank you for the call, fortunately I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Timothy McGee before." Sharon told him. "Unfortunately, I mostly deal with the agents who end up in trouble with IA or I deal with dirty agents."
"Tim's innocent, I can prove it." Tobias told her. "I advised him not to say anything to anyone until I arrived, too ….You're late, Gibbs." Tobias jibed as Gibbs arrived.
"Thought Tim might need these." Gibbs said, holding up printed, time stamped photos from late last night in the Fornell family home and from Tim's surprise birthday party, that Kelly had thrown him.
"Good idea, Jethro." Tobias told him.
The trio moved further into the building and AD Sweeney was waiting for them. "Fornell?" He was surprised to see his own agent escorting the NCIS legal representative and Agent Gibbs past security and into the interrogation area. "Why are you here?"
"Agent McGee was with me last night." Tobias said with confidence. "His fiancée, future father-in-law Agent Gibbs, Doctor Mallard and Emily were at my home. We had a traditional dinner cooked by Timothy and myself. We started cooking at 1500 hours. We played board games and then we ate our dinner. We exchanged gifts, then tidied up the paper, Emily left to head to her Mother's house. Jethro and Doctor Mallard washed the dishes while Timothy and I discussed an upcoming workshop in which we are planning on running together. We worked until it was time to leave for the church at 2000, then we all piled into Agent Gibbs' yellow challenger and attended the Christmas Eve church service at Holy Star church. We returned to my house for Bourbon and scotch afterwards, they departed for home at 0100 hours, Kelly called me when they arrived home at 0115 to confirm our meeting time for lunch today."
"Director Shepard was murdered between 1600 and 1800 hours yesterday." FBI Deputy Director Wayne Sweeney told them
"Timothy was with me." Tobias swore vehemently. "In my kitchen, helping me stuff the turkey and glaze a ham."
"He still has to explain how his DNA was found at the scene." Sweeney told them and Ms Beals held up her hand.
"I'd like to speak with my client first." Sharon Beals, demanded, letting herself into the interrogation room, where Tim was being held.
Sweeney lead them into an interrogation room, while Gibbs and Fornell were forced into the observation room. "This is a courtesy, Gibbs. Open your mouth and I'll boot you out of here so fast, your head will still be spinning on Tobias' 90th birthday." Sweeney vowed.
"Understood." Gibbs quipped and realised that Sweeney thought he was intimidating Gibbs. Gibbs wasn't buying it, though.
"Ms Beals, have you conferred with your client?" Sweeney asked, entering the room, along side Sacks. They were making it clear, whether they'd conferred or not, time was up. "Mr McGee, did you murder Jennifer Shepard?"
"No." Tim said, offering nothing else.
"Explain your DNA being found on her body." Sacks demanded.
"I haven't been in the same room as her since early September when I apprehended her in Stillwater, Pennsylvania." Tim stated, keeping his lips firmly closed.
"You visited her, here in DC." Sweeney accused. "Saturday 15th November, 9pm." He handed over the prison visitor logs showing someone had signed in, using Tim's name. "Where were you? You were in DC, weren't you?"
"I was." Tim confirmed and Sweeney smirked. "I was at a party with almost forty other people, including the Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of Defence and your own Agent Fornell."
"A party, plenty easy to sneak away from." Ron Sacks sniped at Tim.
"Huh? It was my birthday party. I hate being the centre of attention. But I was there all night." Tim supplied. "Both CCTV and all my witnesses can confirm that for you."
"What about earlier, the week before? Say the 5th November, 8pm?" He asked, showing Time having signed into the prison then too.
"I was on a military flight from Jacksonville to Joint Base AB on a C-130. Midair! Flight landed at 9pm, the flight was met by my future father in law. By 10pm, I was in an ambulance on my way to Bethesda, escorted by Doctor Mallard."
"It's convenient that you have an alibi for each visit." Sweeney smirked at Tim and Ms Beals was getting fed up with this witch hunt. They were clearly looking for a fall guy, looking to pin the former Director Shepard's murder on him. "But that's your signature!"
Sweeney produced a note, which claimed to be a letter from McGee, found at the crime scene, confessing to everything. The murder, the fire at Gibbs' house, the bombs. "Director Shepard and Miss Sciuto have claimed they were innocent all along and that letter substantiates their claims. After all, she was the Director of a federal agency and you were a disgruntled employee, an employee who had poor annual performance reviews, time and time again."
Sweeney finally handed the letter to Ms Beals, Tim refusing to touch it, refusing the water bottle he had been offered too. He knew all the tricks and knew not to take any of it, Tobias had even reminded him. "This is all very amusing, but it is not my client's handwriting." Sharon told them, flicking her long hair back from her shoulder. "I have Agent McGee's 201 file right here, I can not see one negative performance review. Where are the performance reviews you mention? Your own lab tech has analysed this, telling you it was written by a right handed person. A sample of McGee's handwriting from his file shows that he is left handed and it's definitely not his handwriting. The prison log signatures also are not his. You have presented no physical evidence, placing him at the crime scene. CCTV of my client, visiting the prison would be a good starting point. Especially since on two of the alleged occasions your own Agent Fornell, is his alibi. Unless you have nothing else to present, we'll be leaving." Ms Beals stood up and demanding, they uncuff Tim and release him into her custody.
"One more thing, Mr McGee. I don't like being made into a fool." Sweeney warned, getting into his face. "Watch your back, you wouldn't want anything to happen to that beautiful fiancée of yours or that of your unborn baby."
Gibbs was seeing red, as soon as Tim was free from that room, he pulled Tim into a hug, wisely keeping his mouth shut. "Mr Sweeney." A man called out from down the hall, surrounded by several people, including Deputy Secretary of State Anna Elliot.
"Director Thomasson!" Sweeney gulped, surprised. "How can I help you?" He asked in his greasy, slime ball voice.
"You can release Agent McGee with a full apology to start with." Thompson demanded. "Then you can explain how a phial of Agent McGee's blood was found in your personal car, a phial of blood that was reported stolen from Bethesda's Blood and Tissue storage facility six weeks ago." Gibbs exchanged a look with Sharon Beals and smirked.
"We also want an explanation for the threats made against Mr McGee's fiancée and his unborn child." Ms Beals demanded to Director Thomasson. "As well as the bruising on Mr McGee's ribs."Tobias and Gibbs raised Tim's shirt, not knowing about the bruising and saw for themselves the three fist sized bruises, two on his ribs and one over his left kidney, showing Thomasson in the process.
"I'll get to the bottom of it!" Thomasson on promised. "Ms Elliot, you're welcome to join us."
"No thank you, Director. I was simply here to make my statement. Pleasure, as always Agent McGee." She nodded to him, before leaving.
"Tobias, please have Agent McGee's injuries documented by an independent doctor unrelated to NCIS or the DoJ." He instructed Tobias. "Then get Agent McGee home to his fiancée."
"Yes sir." Tobias answered automatically, as Ms Beals stayed to watch the interrogation of Sweeney. She was under orders from their new director to brief him immediately.
Nothing was said between the trio until they arrived at GW memorial hospital and Fornell lead Tim and Gibbs into the emergency department and upto the triage desk. In addition to asking for an examination, Fornell was sure to ensure that the bill was sent to the FBI attention, Director Thomasson.
"Did what I think happen, actually happen?" Tim asked finally breaking the silence.
"We'll talk about it at home." Gibbs replied. "Now's not the time or the place."
"Agreed." Fornell added.
The doctor examined Tim and found no breaks or fractures in his ribs, to be certain of no internal bleeding or injuries, he ordered a scan, which was also happily billed to the FBI. It was found that one rib had separated away from the others, but had no breaks or fractures. He would be placed on light duties to allow sufficient time to recuperate from his injury.
"Come on, Tim." Gibbs said, helping atom back into his shirt as the doctor finished his final exam. "Let's go save Kelly from Diane and head home."
Back at Tobias' home, Kelly was anxiously waiting for Tim to arrive. "Dad?" She asked, not verbalising her question.
"He's ok, one separated rib and some bruising." Gibbs explained to his daughter, noting his ex-wife entering the room. "He's in a bit of pain getting in and out of the car. Told him I'd come in and get you."
"Congratulations, ex-husband number one." She teased him jovially. "Father of the bride." She beamed at him, proudly on his behalf.
"My future son in-law is in the car." Gibbs stated to his ex wife. "We can't chit chat!"
"What?!" She asked, shocked at his manners, that he didn't come inside. "Didn't he want to meet me?"
"He's injured, Diane." Gibbs admitted, trying to get Diane to take it easy on him.
"Where the hell is Tobias?" She asked, if NCIS were done for the day, surely he couldn't be too much longer.
"Well, last saw him at the hospital. I imagine he had to return to the Hoover building with the medical bills."
"Well I want to meet the groom." Diane declared, linking arms with Kelly and helping her out to the car.
Kelly opened the passenger door and said a quick hello to Tim, sharing a kiss with him, before she introduced him to Diane. "Tim, this is my ex-stepmother number one, Diane."
"Pleased to meet you, Ma'am." Tim said with a smile offering his hand for a handshake.
"He's polite. I'll give him that!" Diane exclaimed, ignoring his offered handshake. "You screw up, you answer to me! Got it?"she threatened and Gibbs wanted to facepalm his head into his hand.
"Geez Diane!" Gibbs exclaimed. "Manners."
"Respect works both ways." Diane told her former husband.
"Yes and Tim has been nothing but respectful. He knows nothing but respect!" Kelly reminded her former stepmother.
"Maybe I acted hastily, but now he knows where I stand. I'm sorry!" Diane stated.
"Apology accepted, Ma'am." Tim replied stiffly, partly in pain and part he felt like he was being judged, based on the actions of both Tobias and Gibbs' behaviour during each of their respective marriages to this woman.
"Diane is one woman where your good manners and respectful ways can go to hell, McGee." Gibbs told him in a dramatic manner, glaring daggers at her and the way she was treating McGee. "She's caused enough hurt to last a lifetime in this car, alone. Not to mention what she's done to poor Tobias and any other poor sucker unfortunate enough to cross her wake." He reminded Tim.
"Good to see you're still bitter, Jethro!" Diane smiled sardonically at him.
"Enough!" Kelly said. "Truce time! If you two can't play nicely, you can't come Diane."
"I'll behave Kelly, I promise." The red headed menace said more sincerely.
She bid Diane a farewell and climbed into the backseat of her Dad's challenger. Gibbs strongly resisted the urge to burn rubber when leaving Fornell's home.
"Let me help you upstairs." Kelly whispered to Tim as they walked in the front door.
"Absolutely not!" Tim refused, vehemently. Not wanting to put strain on Kelly or the baby.
"I've got him, Kell." Gibbs said, guiding Tim gently. "Come on, Timmo!" Gibbs encouraged, attempting to hoist his former agent up off the sofa where he had landed when they'd come inside. "Once you get upstairs, have a hot shower and wash away the day."
"I'm ok." Tim argued, trying to swat Gibbs' attention away from him.
"Stop!" Gibbs bellowed loudly, causing Kelly to jump. "Let me help you. In less than a week you're going to marry my daughter. We've got almost everything organised, we can't cancel everything now because you managed to damage your ribs further. Let me help you."
"Dad's right, Tim." Kelly told him sternly.
"Tim, I'm sure you want to be able to dance with your new wife for your first dance." Gibbs whispered gently to him, trying to make him see reason. "Carry her over the threshold, into that beautiful suite you booked for the two of you."
"Ok." Tim conceded, admitting to himself that Gibbs had some valid points. The glaring point that had carefully been avoided by all parties was that he wanted to be pain free, to make love to his new wife on his wedding night, too. He smirked at how cleverly Gibbs had deliberately avoided that point.
"Focus on the task at hand!" Gibbs ordered with a smirk, head slapping his future son-in-law hard. "Upstairs, shower, Tylenol, coffee, bed! In that order."
The week between Christmas and New Years Eve was chaotic with last minute details. It was found that Wayne Sweeney had been working with Abby Sciuto, Jenny Shepard and Admiral John McGee as the unnamed man who had been aiding the girls in their crimes. Personally, he hadn't held any ill will towards Tim. He was a friend of the Admirals from his days at the naval college and John had reached out to him, begging for his help. They finally solved the mystery of why Admiral John McGee was on the East Coast. He had been meeting with Wayne Sweeney to collude. They had been planning on murdering Tim and Sweeney had turned on him and stabbed his own friend in an attempt to stop him from injuring his son.
Afterwards, he panicked and confessed to his lover what had transpired between the old friends. Jenny Shepard had been his lover and had bought in Abby as her forensic expert to steer the investigation away from Wayne Sweeney. The two women had conspired to wrongly convict a man that Abby had been constantly borrowing money from, without ever planning to repay the man.
On Sweeney's orders, the two of them, along with their mutual lawyer Eric, the heavily tattooed man who had been in Abby's arms when they had arrested them the last time, had attempted to burn Gibbs' home down, attempted to kidnap Tim from his new home in North Carolina before following them to Stillwater, Pennsylvania. Eric and Sweeney had cooked up the brilliant plan to get Abby released, on compassionate grounds through a woman he was blackmailing in the clerk's office at the DoJ.
Finally Director David Thomasson, swiftly and formally terminated the former Deputy Director Wayne Sweeney from his position with the FBI, with prejudice. The FBI legal eagles were circling overhead and as soon as the termination was official, they moved in for the kill, charging Wayne Sweeney with a range of crimes, including conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of murder. It was later found out that he had killed his lover, impersonating Timothy McGee, because she had threatened to confess, exposing him in the process, in exchange for a lighter sentence.
David Thomasson had personally made it his mission to see that NCIS were briefed at each step along the way and requested that Ms Beals assist the FBI legal team with their case, which had made the new NCIS Director, Leon Vance very happy because he knew that the FBI would have to be transparent in everything to do with the case and couldn't claim it was classified, which would keep NCIS in the dark.
They had received all the RSVPs back and they had planned everything meticulously, still managing to keep it a secret. At 2pm, on New Years Eve Gibbs dropped Tim off at the hotel, so he could check in to their honeymoon suite at the Mayflower Hotel. Inside the ballroom, Tim had snuck back downstairs from his suite, slipping in to the District ballroom and found Gibbs overseeing all the remaining preparations like a control freak. On one half of the room was the beautiful arch that Gibbs had handmade and intricately hand carved celtic knots and intertwined the letters T and K with the name McGee. The florist had decorated the arch in ivory and pale pink roses with ivory tulle draped over it. Behind the arch was an ivory tulle backdrop with fairy lights twinkling in a warm glow and a pale pink lighting system from the ground. The chandeliers were switched on and white chairs were set up, forty on each side and the aisle in between. The electronic colonial style bi-fold doors with were open and they could inspect the dining room with ten tables of six, and five tables of four, including the bridal table of four. A tall gold plated candelabra in the centre of each table with a reef of ivory roses that were intertwined around the base. Beautiful, crisp white linen table cloths that covered the entire table and draped along the floor. Plush chairs, draped in matching white chair covers.
Tim spied Gibbs, standing at the unmanned bar, observing the room. "Looks magical." Gibbs observed in a whisper, as Tim approached. "I hope it's just as Kelly imagined it."
"It's perfect." Tim agreed and looked at his watch.
"After today, you're going to officially be my son-in-law." Gibbs told him, clasping the mans shoulder's in a fatherly tone. "You ready?"
"Yep!" Tim answered, confidently. "Can't wait."
"'Atta boy!" Gibbs shook his hand. "See you soon."
It was 1700 and Kelly had commandeered Gibbs' suite, sequestering herself in the bathroom with her bridesmaid. Gibbs had told Ducky, when questioned why he had a suite, it was so he and Jackson didn't have to drive home after the party and they could enjoy the celebration and some bourbon, not having to worry about a DUI or getting a cab on New Years Eve and Ducky had agreed also booking a room. The Vance's had already booked a room and various other guests were scattered throughout the city, including Tony and Ziva who were sharing a twin room at a smaller hotel across the street.
Gibbs was already showered, shaved and dressed in his newly tailored suit. He had already recruited Kayla and Jared to help him welcome the guests in the foyer of the ballroom for pre-party drinks and canapés when they were due to leave for the ballroom. When nearly all of their guests had arrived, Leon approached Gibbs, as ordered to by his wife "Hey Gibbs." Leon greeted the man, the room was now full with guests and it was almost time for Gibbs to collect the bride.
"Hey." Gibbs greeted him in return with a wink and slipped away to play his part.
A knock at the honeymoon suite door, saw Gibbs standing there, waiting for Tim to answer. "You ok?" Tim asked, seeing Gibbs standing there.
"Yeah, you ok?" Gibbs asked, as he reached out and helped Tim with the last of the cuff link he had been putting on. "Admiral stars, very nice." He commented.
"The gold ones, were my Grandfather McGee's." Tim explained, nostalgically and donned his dinner jacket. "The silver ones on the lapel of my jacket were my Grandfather Jarvis'. Kind of like them being here."
"They're here, Tim." Gibbs told him. "Just like Shanney and my Mum, your Mum and the Admiral."
"Thanks Gibbs." Tim said, eyeing the man that for many years was like a mentor to him. "How do I look?"
Gibbs looked at the man, giving him a once over. "Here." He said, unbuckling his own watch and handing it to Tim.
"Ah, I think something borrowed is more for the bride." Tim quipped, not really understanding Gibbs' thought process.
"No, it's not borrowed. It's yours. My mum gave that to Dad when they got married. Right before he shipped out. Dad gave it to me on my wedding day. I only wear it on special occasions." Gibbs explained.
"Boss, you sure there's no one else you'd rather give this to?" Tim asked, as Gibbs turned his wrist, took the watch and buckled in onto the man's wrist himself.
"No one better than you, Tim" Gibbs told him as he affectionately cupped the man's face in his palms.
Thank you" he said nodding. Gibbs patted his cheek affectionately.
"See you in there, I have a date with the bride." Gibbs waved him off, leaving Tim to gather his thoughts as he tidied the suite and headed downstairs to the private room beside ballroom to wait for his cue from the wedding co-ordinator to enter the ballroom.
"Ready Tim?" Leon asked as he met Tim in the hallway, his suit matched Tim's with the exception of the tie, which was a dusty pink to match the bridesmaid's dress. Leaving Tim in a black bow tie, tied perfectly, in honour of his relationship with Ducky and his Grandfather Jarvis, who loved a perfectly tied, bow tie.
"I'm ready, best man. Let's do this." Tim said shaking Leon's hand as they made their way into the side room to wait.
Gibbs knocked carefully on his suite door and Jackie answered it, in her floor length dusty pink gown, her hair sleek and straightened, pinned off her ears with two small crystal hair pins. "Come on in." She said, leading him into the suite. "I'll go collect the bouquets, that'll give you two a moment alone." She said as she slipped out of the room, patting Gibbs on the forearm gently in silent support.
"I'm ready Dad, come on in." Kelly called out.
Gibbs set foot into the main living area and there stood Kelly, in a beautiful gown made of romantic lace motifs cascading over tulle in an illusion, off-the-shoulder, A-line wedding dress. Lace motifs complete the illusion portrait neckline, with half-sleeves of lace, and an illusion back. The back of the gown was finished with covered buttons over zipper closure. The lace of her gown gave off a small shimmer, as the Austrian hand sewn crystals sparkles in the light of the suite. Her long, golden auburn hair was loosely curled and swept up into a low messy bun with a loose, messy braid framing the left side of her face, complete with a cathedral length veil gently pinned into her hair with ivory roses and Austrian crystal hair pins.
"Wow!" Gibbs exclaimed. He was speechless, he couldn't believe this beautiful woman in this gorgeous gown was his baby girl, the one he'd held in his arms, taught to ride a bike, taught to throw a curve ball, the one who he'd created. His flesh and blood. "I'm speechless." He said and Jackie returned with a delicate bouquet of ivory and pale pink roses. she handed Kelly the boutonniere she had especially requested for her Dad and gently pinned it on to her Dad's lapel of his suit.
"We ready? Dad?" Kelly asked, as her Dad openly stared at her, not believing his eyes. he felt completely overwhelmed, unlike Kelly who was cool, calm and collected.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome." A member of the hotel staff spoke out loud, commanding the attention of everyone in the room. "In a moment, the doors will open and Tim and Kelly request you immediately take a seat. They'll be with you shortly and apologise for the delay in their presence."
The doors to the ball room opened automatically and the seventy-five of the eighty guests, immediately took their seats. Each as clueless as the next as to what was happening. There was a low chatter around the ballroom and a man dressed in a nice grey suit came to stand at the alter. "I'm Nathan and I am your emcee for the evening. On behalf of Tim and Kelly, I apologise for their delay, again. They have been held up momentarily, but are nearby. Can everyone please stand?" Leon and Tim entered through a side door and walked up the side of their guests and took their place at the alter. The noise in the room began to increase as several people spotted Tim and Leon sneaking in as Pachelbel's Canon in D began playing over the speakers. Jackie began to graciously make her way down the makeshift aisle, smiling widely and winking at Tim and her husband Leon. The excitement in the room increased ten fold when quite a few of the guests realised they were actually getting married.
All of a sudden, Kelly appeared on Gibbs' arm, both smiling megawatt grins. He escorted her up the aisle, reaching the alter, he lifted the veil and gently kissed Kelly's cheek, replacing the veil. Tim and he shook hands, exchanging their own grins and he gently placed Kelly's hand in Tim's and took his seat that had been kept empty with a reserved sign on it, a seat right next to Jackson in the very front row.
"You may sit." Nathan instructed the congregation. "As I said before I am Nathan and in addition to being your Emcee for the evening. I am also tonight's officiant …" Nathan's voice droned on and Gibbs sat with a melancholic smile on his face. In his head, he was replaying all his favourite memories of Kelly from birth and finishing with seeing Kelly in her gown upstairs and being awwed in her beauty. "Kelly and Tim have chosen to write their own vowels." Nathan's voice dragging him back to the present.
"I, Kelly Anne Gibbs, do vow to always love you, to accept you, flaws and all, just as you are. I never thought I'd meet the love of my life, the man of my dreams in my Dad's home. The night we met, we just clicked and I'd never felt like that before. You know that old Darlene love Song? 'Today I met the boy I'm gonna marry' I had that song stuck in my head as you drove off down the street when you left. I could still feel your lips on my cheek and the warmth of your smile. We got to know one another, we fell in love and we've had our ups and downs. But as I stand before you today, I do solemnly swear to be faithful to you and only you. I love you and I'll always be by your side, in my unwavering love and support." A tear slipped down Gibbs' face and Jackson silently handed his son, a handkerchief from his breast pocket.
"I, Timothy McGee, do vow to always love you, to accept you, flaws and all, just as you are. Of all the days that changed my life two stand out above all else. One of those days would never happened, if the first one didn't happen. There's the day I joined the MCRT is the first and if that had never of happened, I'd have never met you. My first thought of you was of your beauty. My second thought was how inappropriate it would be to ask you out for a date, being my boss' daughter. But a lack of sleep and some caffeinated courage and I did. It was the smartest decision I ever made. You're right, we just clicked. It wasn't until our second date, the one the very next night, that I knew you were the one for me. What sealed it was our mutual allergy of avocado. When we kissed good night, I fell in love with you. Your love and friendship is invaluable to me. We've had our ups and downs. But as I stand before you today, I do solemnly swear to be faithful to you and only you. I love you and I'll always be by your side, in my unwavering love and support." Clare was sobbing into a tissue that her daughter Lucy had handed her, her hand tightly clasping her husband Phil's, her brother on the other side of her, trying his best to hold in his own tears, missing his sister more than he'd ever missed her before, since she passed.
"The rings please, Kelly you're first." Nathan requested and Leon stepped forward and handed Tim's ring to Kelly. Kelly handed her bouquet to Jackie.
"This ring is a symbol of our never ending love, I gift you this with all my heart, my unwavering love, friendship and support." Kelly said as she slid the gold band onto Tim's ring finger of his left hand, smiling slightly as she saw her father's watch on her husband's wrist.
"Tim?" Nathan prompted and Tim took the ring from Leon's opened hand.
"This ring is a symbol of our never ending love, I gift you this with all my heart, my unwavering love, friendship and support." Tim said as he slid the band of gold onto Kelly's delicate hand. The band of gold that once belonged her mother.
"By the power vested in me by the state of the District of Columbia, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride, Tim." Nathan declared in a triumphant voice.
Tim nervously lifted the veil off Kelly's face and kissed her tenderly, cupping her face in his large hands. The round of applause and cheering was deafening to the newlyweds, but they pulled back and shared a grin together. Tim held up her face in hands, and chastely kissed her again, before his hands found hers, running his thumb gently over the wedding band on her left hand. Before turning to face their friends and family.
Kelly and Tim left the ballroom with the crowd cheering, they had an hour for photos scheduled on the hotel rooftop garden. The crowd mingled as more drinks and canapés were served and the hotel staff discreetly removed the chairs away. "You didn't tell us, Gibbs." Tobias whined, his scotch in one hand as he shook Gibbs' hand in a congratulatory manner.
"Surprise." Gibbs said with a smile. That smile hadn't left his face so far and he didn't think it would for the entire night.
"The ceremony was beautiful," Clare sobbed, saddling up next to Gibbs. "My only regret is that I'd have liked to helped Tim get ready, to have that moment with him. I wish Nikki was here, too." She sobbed again and Clay silently escorted her away to an unoccupied corner of the room.
"I apologise, Gibbs." Phil said, shaking his nephew's new father-in-law's hand. "As soon as she realised they were getting married, the tears started."
Gibbs put a friendly arm around Phil, leading him over to where Clay and Clare were standing in the corner. "Don't apologise Phil, there's no need. Tim told me he was missing his Mum, too." Gibbs told them sadly, struggling with his own thoughts of everything his Shannon was missing too. "We had a good talk before the wedding about it. I miss Shannon, Kelly's mum too. I believe they're looking down proudly and smiling widely. Nikki didn't miss this, Clare, just as Shannon didn't either." Gibbs told her, comforting the woman in a half hug. "Clare, you haven't missed anything yet. When they get back from their photos in the rooftop garden, there's going to be family portraits planned in the foyer. Their wedding co-ordinator from the hotel will tell you when to join them. She knows the faces of everyone who's family. Tim and Kelly supplied photos so it could be handled in an unobtrusive manner."
Re-joining the crowd, Ducky and Jackson, along with the NCIS crew immediately found Gibbs. "Did you know?" Ducky accused his friend playfully. "I suspected, but no matter how much I dug, I couldn't get a definitive answer."
"Not in the beginning, they let me in on the plan when they moved back home." Gibbs admitted to them both. "I believe the only one who knew from the absolute beginning, besides our newlyweds was Jackie Vance, that's why she was on my doorstep the morning after thanksgiving, so early."
"I didn't even get told that Tim had asked me to be the best man, until I arrived at the hotel this afternoon." Leon told the group of NCIS personnel that had surrounded Gibbs. "My wife was afraid I'd let it slip to someone. Me, the Director of NCIS with a triple Alpha, Bravo Delta security clearance?" The agents laughed, seeing the irony of it it all.
"She was probably getting payback for withholding the proposal gossip from her." Gibbs supplied with a laugh, making their new Director feel better.
Discreetly, their wedding co-ordinator from the Mayflower Hotel pulled Gibbs and Jackson away for portraits with the happy couple, then the Vance family including the kids, Ducky and the NCIS DC team including Vance, SECNAV and SECDEF. With the NCIS team returning to the ballroom, the photographer continued the portraits with Clayton Jarvis and the Davenport family.
"Surprise!" Came a soft voice and standing beside Gibbs was Penny, Tim's grandmother. "I am so sorry, Tim and I'm sorry for what I said about you too, my dear. Please forgive an old stubborn fool?" She begged, hugging her grandson tightly. "I am so proud of you and the man you've become. I keep forgetting you're not a kid anymore." she confessed.
"I slipped her RSVP card in amongst the return cards." Gibbs confessed to the couple. Gibbs had noticed how hurt Tim had been my Penny's indifference to his life. Gibbs had Kasie help him track the woman down, giving her a lecture and verbal tongue lashing she would still fell on her one hundredth birthday, he sent her the invite and hinted enough, that it maybe her only chance to see them before a wedding took place. He'd implied that they were having the engagement party and planning to elope to get her to come. "Hope you're not too mad at me, Tim?" Gibbs asked sheepishly.
"We'll discuss this tomorrow, Gibbs" Tim told him, sternly. "Penny, I accept your apology. Welcome." And the photographer began snapping photos of Penny with Kelly and Tim.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your seats." Nathan spoke into his hand held microphone and the electronic bi fold colonial style, bi fold doors that the windows had been mirrored to make the ceremony portion of the room look bigger, automatically opened to reveal the gorgeously decorated intimate tables.
"Wow!" Ziva exclaimed, seeing the delicately tall gold plated candelabra and reef of ivory and pale pink roses that adorned each table, the crystal chandelier and the beautiful dome skylight. A gold curtain was pulled back and revealed a DJ on a small one step up stage and a single microphone stand for the speeches later.
As the crowd dispersed, everyone finding and taking their seats, except for the bridal party, Nathan took his place on stage, placing the microphone in its holder. "It gives me great pleasure to introduce you all to the bridal party. Introducing the bridesmaid Jacqueline Vance, escorted by the best man Leon Vance." The crowd clapped and cheered as Leon escorted his wife to their seats on the bridal table. "Ladies and Gentlemen, let's hear it for the newlyweds. Mr and Mrs Timothy McGee!" The crowd cheered and clapped louder. DiNozzo even hollered out.
Tim escorted Kelly in and straight over their table, pulling out her chair for her. Cutlery dinging against various glassware saw Tim giving Kelly a passionate kiss, before taking his own seat. The entrée was promptly served as soon as Tim took his own seat. After an alternate entrée of either Seared Georges Bank Scallops with black lentils, smoked pork belly, trumpet mushrooms, beet goat cheese or Sesame Chicken Milanese with petit greens and chili lime vinaigrette was served. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your hands together and welcome Timothy and Kelly onto the dance floor, for their first dance as husband and wife." The crowd erupted and Gibbs smiled wider as the song Tim and Kelly had chosen began to play. The soothing voice of Tim McGraw filled the ballroom as the song 'It's Your Love' began.
"We did it." Tim whispered to Kelly as he span her around the dance floor.
"Yep." Kelly smiled at Tim, her eyes sparkling as bright as his. He bent down and lowered his head, capturing her lips softly as they danced and swayed to their first dance. The DJ followed on with another love song melody as more couples joined them in the dance floor. Tim escorted Kelly from the dance floor and they began making their way around the room, starting with Kelly's former colleagues from the hospital.
At the end of the set, the alternating main courses of either a 14 oz rib eye steak, cooked to perfection with wild mushroom & charred onion, rosemary potatoes and steak butter or a pan seared Chesapeake rockfish with smashed sweet peas, summer vegetable succotash and drizzled in a lemon vinaigrette was served. Nathan stood on stage again, after the mains were consumed. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Mrs Kelly McGee and her father Jethro Gibbs are going to share a special father-daughter dance." Gibbs took Kelly by the hand and walked his daughter onto the dance floor. The acoustic guitar opened the song as Alan Jackson's baritone voice filled the room.
Gibbs took his daughter in his arms and danced with her around the floor, it had been a long time since the two of them had shared a dance together. Since his last wedding, the one to Stephanie. She was nineteen and still a wide eyed innocent young woman. "Congratulations, my darling girl." He whispered in her ear. "I wish you every happiness in the world." Gibbs told her. At the conclusion of their dance to 'You'll always be my baby' Gibbs escorted his daughter safely back into the arms of her new husband, as the next set of song began. He looked up and found Ziva dancing with Tim and Kelly in Tobias' arms. He looked over and saw Diane watching the dance floor, longing for Tobias to return so she could make him dance with her. "Come on." Gibbs urged her gently. "When was the last time I danced with you, Mrs Sterling?" Pulling Diane on to the dance floor.
"We did ok with her Leroy." Diane cooed to her ex- husband in a low voice. "You did a great job raising her."
"I had help." He retorted to her. He twirled her around and Jackson and Ducky exchanged looks with one another as they watched Gibbs dance with his former wife. "Thank you, for everything. For loving Kell and giving her that feminine stability and guidance she needed in life." Gibbs whispered, kissing his ex- wife's cheek softly as the song ended.
"You're welcome, Leroy!" She told him, truthfully. "Thank you for trusting me with her."
As the song, 'It's a wonderful world' began playing, Ducky excused himself from the table and went in search of the bride for his turn to dance with his niece. "Pardon the intrusion, Timothy. May I please have this dance with the new Mrs McGee?" Ducky asked sweetly. Tim immediately handed Kelly over to Ducky.
"Can I have a bourbon neat for my son in law and one for myself please?" Gibbs requested from the bartender as he arrived, having approached Tim, who he found at the bar from the other side of the room. As the bartender handed Tim the drink and Gibbs his own. "Cheers" Gibbs said offering his glass to clink.
"Cheers." Tim chuckled at Gibbs as he offered his own glass.
"Congratulations Tim! You've always been like a son to me." Gibbs began, choking on his words, a little. He lead Tim to sit down at the bridal table, taking Kelly's seat beside him. "I'm glad it was you at my house that day. That it was you she fell in love with. We haven't always seen eye to eye, but thank you for loving my Kelly, just the way you do." Gibbs told him.
"You're welcome, Gibbs." Tim said, swallowing his remaining bourbon. "I'm always going to love her."
"If you want, you can call me Jethro, or Dad." Gibbs offered in a low voice, "Away from the office, at least."
"Thank you, Jethro." Tim said and Gibbs ruffled his hair affectionately as Ducky returned Kelly to her seat.
A course of seasonal fruits and cheeses were served, whilst the DJ continued to play another set. Kelly and Tim slipped around the room, greeting all of their guests and smiling proudly, at their guests and smiling at each other.
Finally the newlyweds found their family's tables that Gibbs and Phil had pushed together to create one larger table. "Sit!" Gibbs ordered, ushering Kelly into his seat and Jackson immediately handed her a bottle of water and started fussing over her. With Kelly's encouragement, Tim asked his cousin Lucy to dance and they joined Tony and Ziva on the dance floor. Tony asked Lucy to dance next and Tim danced with his now heavily pregnant cousin Sam, too.
As the song ended, Nathan was back up on stage. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your seats. While dessert is a couple of minutes away from being served, the new Mrs Kelly McGee and her Grandfather Jackson, alongside Mr Timothy McGee and his Aunt, Mrs Clare Davenport are going to share a dance together now." Tim kissed Kelly softly and walked over to his Aunt, asking for her hand. He slipped her hand into the crook of his arm and escorted her onto the dance floor. Jackson approached Kelly and took her to the dance floor also. A sweet piano melody filled the room and the dulcet tones of Faith Hill's voice began.
"I'm so proud of you, Timothy." Clare told him as her nephew danced her around the dance floor. "Proud of you and the man you've become. Nikki would be beaming proud and tickled pink with tonight."
"Thanks for everything you've ever done for me Aunty Clare. I couldn't have asked for anyone better to step in and help raise me after I lost Mum."
"The honour was all mine." Clare said, hugging the man tightly at the end of the song.
Jackson was struggling to push through the pain in his right hip, but there was no way he would miss out a dance with his granddaughter on her wedding day. As soon as the song was finished, Ducky was there, along with Gibbs, giving Jackson his cane and helping him back into his chair. Tim escorted Clare, back to her seat, grabbing his wife's hand in the process and helping her back to their table, to take their seats again.
A dessert tasting platter was served to each guest with a small chocolate dacquoise dome surrounded with fresh strawberries and chopped hazelnuts, a raspberry vanilla cheesecake square with a raspberry compote' underneath and a brandy snap basket, with walnuts, strawberries and banana and a brandy custard swirl.
"I'd like to welcome the Father of the bride up here." Nathan called out from the stage and Gibbs stood proudly and took his spot, behind the microphone.
"When you're blessed to be the father of a little girl, she'll look up to you and smile at you in a way you could never imagine. You dream of the future, from those baby giggles, to pigtails and colouring books, baseball and soccer games, hiking and camping, to make up and mall hangouts. All of a sudden, in the blink of an eye, it's dresses and high heels with make up, boys and dates and even a broken heart or two. Before you know it, she's all grown up and out on her own in this great big world." Gibbs reminisced fondly. "I first met Tim, on the dock at the navy base in Norfolk. He was a case agent, a green rookie barely out of FLETC and my team and I had been called in to assist him with the investigation. Never thought that case would change my life. Definitely never thought that green rookie would become my son-in-law, that's for sure." Gibbs joked and Tony and Ducky laughed out loud, remembering the case fondly. "I got to know Tim over the years, especially as I recruited him to join my team as a probationary field agent less than a year later. When he and Kelly met, I didn't know who his new girl was, but I definitely noticed when he started seeing her. He smiled wider and laughed louder. Kelly just straight up refused to give me the name of her date one day. She claimed didn't want to jinx it. I had been watching my daughter fall in love with this new guy she was seeing, without a single clue as to his identity. I watched as Tim fell in love with his girl, too. I heard him on the phone in the office regularly, making a date, cancelling a few too, unfortunately. His phone would ping in the office and his face would grace a specific smile and I knew it was her. It was about six weeks or so later and Tim came to my house one day, asked me to meet his new girlfriend for breakfast the following morning. Didn't think my daughter would take the seat beside him. We had a rough go of it at first, but I learnt to let go and trust Tim with something so precious to me, Kelly's heart. Today, I welcome you, officially into the Gibbs' family, Tim. May your lives be filled with every happiness, congratulations you two!" Gibbs raised his glass and toasted his daughter and new son-in-law.
"Thank you for your warm welcome into the family, Jethro." Tim began, and he watched as Leon, Ducky, Tony and Ziva exchanged glances at the sudden change in title. "Thank you all for coming to celebrate with us tonight. Surprise! I bet you all weren't expecting a wedding. I'd like to thank a few people, on behalf of Kelly and myself. A special thanks to my Penny, who has travelled all the way from Belfast in Northern Ireland to be here with us today. To Leon, for being my best man, even if his wife didn't tell him until this afternoon." That got a round of giggles and laughter, especially from the NCIS personnel who still found that fact amusing. "To Jackie, you and Kelly worked your fingers to the bones, getting this together and pulling it off in such a short time and everything is perfect. To my father-in-law Jethro, your help and guidance has been invaluable to us both. That beautiful handcrafted arch we were married under was crafted from your own two, talented hands. Give him a round of applause guys, it's gorgeous and we look forward to installing in in the garden of our home in the future." Tim waited as their guests applauded Gibbs' crafted arch. "To Nathan, our emcee and officiant. Kelly and I met Nathan not long after we started dating and became friends with him through his lovely husband Andrew,. from the hospital. Thanks to Sarah, the wedding coordinator at the hotel here and DJ Steve, for the music tonight, our lovely photographer Daisy, of Daisy Hall wedding photography. Most of all, a huge thank you to my beautiful wife Kelly, thank you for falling in love with me and for marrying me. I promise you, I'll be the best husband I can be." Tim handed the microphone to Leon.
"Hi, I'm Leon and for those of you who don't know me, I'm the best man. I work at NCIS with Tim … and a lot of other people in this room." Leon joked and the crowd laughed. "I've known Tim separately and I've known Tim with Kelly. He is definitely better for having you in his life, Kelly. My wife and children have been blessed to have you both in our lives and we can't wait to see what treasures life will bring you. Congratulations!" Leon toasted the happy couple.
Phil motioned to Leon for the next speech and he and Clay, escorted Clare to the stage and the trio took their place behind the microphone, with Phil being their designated speaker for the group. "I'm Phil, Tim's Uncle, this is my wife Clare and my brother in-law Clay. We three, along with Penny," Phil pointed Penny out from where she sat, within the room "Did the bulk of raising Tim after he lost his mother at a young age and his father was away on assignment with the US Navy. We are proud of the man he become, the man he is today. We welcome Kelly and the Gibbs family with open arms in to the McGee-Jarvis-Davenport family and we look forward to everything that the future will bring them both. We wish you nothing but happiness in life. Congratulations, you two. Cheers."
"Congratulations again to Tim and Kelly again and on behalf of both the Gibbs and McGee family, we'd like to acknowledge those who were taken too soon and should be here with us that aren't. Admiral Nelson McGee, Tim's grandfather. Mrs Anne Gibbs, Kelly's grandmother. Simon and Katherine Jarvis, Tim's Nan and Pop. Nicole Jarvis-McGee, Nikki, Tim's mother. Mrs Shannon Gibbs, Kelly's mother. And finally, Admiral John McGee, Tim's father. Some notable apologies from this evening's celebrations include Mike Franks, Kelly's uncle who is stuck in Mexico. Joanne Fielding-Norton, Kelly's grandmother who's living in Florida with her new husband. Charlie Fielding, Kelly's grandfather who is currently sailing the Pacific Ocean, somewhere." With the speeches over, Nathan called all the single ladies onto the dance floor where Kelly would throw a bouquet, not the one she held today, but a smaller version she especially ordered. Kelly held her left hand over her eyes and tossed the bouquet over her right shoulder, straight into Ziva's hands.
Kelly was ushered into a seat and Tim made his way up, the underskirt of Kelly's gown to her baby blue garter and to no one's surprise Tony made a dirty comment and gesture, in which Gibbs head slapped him for and he automatically apologised on reflex. Tim flung it around his finger to the beat of the music the DJ was playing, right into Agent Fornell's hand who promptly tossed it to Gibbs, who tossed it to his father Jackson, who tossed it to Clay, who finally tossed it over to Ducky. Tim was greatly amused by the antics of the single men he knew and Kelly was beginning to flag in exhaustion.
Tim escorted Kelly out of the room discreetly and into the side room where he and Leon had waited for their turn to enter the ballroom earlier in the evening. "You ok, Sweetheart?" Tim asked as he handed her another bottle of water and they sat down together on the leather sofa.
"Fine, but tired." Kelly answered through her yawn. "It's been a big day."
"Big, but perfect." Tim agreed and kissed Kelly. Kelly kissed Tim back and soon their tongues were battling for dominance. A slamming door shook them out of their blissful world they were in and Tim looked at his new watch. "11:30. I say we go in and have some cake, we ring in the new year and leave them to party it up."
"Private party of two upstairs, afterwards?" Kelly asked and Tim winked at her. "Well come on, what are we waiting for?" Kelly said, trying to pull Tim to his feet to get a move on.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, come one let's make a huge circle on the dance floor, everyone up, it's almost midnight." As everyone got up and moved, Nathan spoke again. "10, 9, 8 …" he began to countdown until midnight. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Happy New Year!" And their guests roared with wishes of happy new year and well wishes. Tim and Kelly moved to the centre of the circle and Nathan picked up the narrative. "Can Clare, Phil, Jethro and Ducky please go and wait in the foyer?" The four of them moved off to the foyer and watched as Tim and Kelly began making their way through the crowd, in opposite directions to one another, each hugging and kissing each individual guest, thanking them for coming to celebrate their marriage and for giving up their New Year's Eve to do so. Finally, after they had greeted everyone and listened to their well wishes, Tim clasped Kelly's hand and walked her out of the ball room and into the foyer. Sarah, the hotel wedding co-ordinator closed the large doors behind them, giving the six of them privacy and they heard the DJ start up the music again as the DJ encouraged everyone to party up, for a wedding after party.
"Thanks for everything, Dad." Kelly said, flinging herself into her Dad's arms, hugging him tightly.
Phil shook Tim's hand, before pulling his nephew in for a manly hug. Clare hugged Tim and kissed his cheek before releasing him, too. Tim looked up and saw Kelly hugging Ducky tightly.
"Ducky, words can't express how grateful I am for our friendship." Tim told him offering him a handshake. Ducky pulled the man with whom he shared a close bond with in for a hug also as Ducky placed a kiss on Tim's forehead.
"It is I, whom is the lucky one, Timothy." Ducky replied as Gibbs watched Kelly hug Phil and Clare.
"I imagine my mother in law was exactly like her little sister." Kelly told Clare.
"She was." Clare confirmed. "You can call me your mother-in law, if you like?" she offered and Kelly beamed at her happily smiling.
Tim and Gibbs stood opposite one another, just taking everything in. "Thank you for everything you've done for me, for Kel and for us as a couple … Dad." Tim said, trying the name 'Dad' on for size and Gibbs smile couldn't have gotten any wider or happier if he tried.
"Anything for you two, Timothy." Gibbs replied, using his full name that he'd never really used before, except for formal situations at work. "Love you both, have a happy life."
Phil stood with his arm around his wife and Gibbs had one arm around the other side of Clare and his other arm resting on Ducky's shoulder and they stood and watched Tim scooped Kelly up into his arms, bridal style and into the elevator which would take them to their honeymoon suite, upstairs.
The four of them turned, before Phil stopped the other two gents. "Look at it this way Gibbs, he can't get her pregnant, again." And the four of them roared with laughter as they re-joined the party.
Authors Notes :
I own nothing, not NCIS, the music or anything related to the wedding. Some of you asked after my rant in chapter 10 what my side business was. In addition to working in a major metropolitan hospital full time, I run my photography side business part time also, mostly photographing portraits and major events.
Small disclaimers :
•I have attached the lyrics below, last time I did a wedding scene and mentioned specific songs, some readers complained because I asked them to you tube the songs.
•Again, I don't own the music, each song is owned by whoever wrote it.
• Want to see photos of the ballroom, it's a real ballroom just google District ballroom at the Mayflower Hotel in DC. It's not an exact match, its inspired by it and I only borrowed the name.
• Mayflower Hotel - real place. Don't think the rooftop garden is real though. I wanted them to have somewhere beautiful to have their photos and not have to travel or leave their guests for a long time.
•Wedding food - straight off the menu from a restaurant at the Mayflower hotel (except the desserts - they were from my wedding)
•To see what Kelly's wedding dress looked like you can google 'Maggie Soterro -Bree' and it comes up. The original Dress doesn't have the Austrian crystals, however a friend's mother is a Couturier and she told me that she's frequently asked to modify the dress adding hand sewn Austrian swarovski crystals. The model doesn't have a veil but if you hit google images you can see what it looks like with one.
• 19x21 episode just aired where I live and I finally found out the Deputy Director Sweeney's name from the FBI - spoiler alert it's Wayne and if you follow my story Fathers and their sons, I now need to partially re-write the next chapter. So it won't be released alongside this chapter, as originally planned.
•A few readers have commented they like my Diane in my other stories, yeah I never understood why they made her such a bitch. My Diane will show some of those bitchy qualities, but I wanted her to have a heart touching moment with Gibbs. So she's extremely out of character, which I figure is ok, because its not a canon story and is completely AU.
••••••••••••
Tim and Kelly's song - It's Your Love by Tim McGraw
Dancing in the dark
Middle of the night
Taking your heart
And holding it tight
Emotional touch
Touching my skin
And askin' you to do
What you've been doing
All over again
Oh, it's a beautiful thing
Don't think I can keep it all in
I just gotta let you know
What it is that won't let me go
It's your love
It just does something to me
It sends a shock right through me
I can't get enough
And if you wonder
About the spell I'm under
Oh it's your love
Better than I was
More than I am
And all of this happened
By taking your hand
And who I am now
Is who I wanted to be
And now that we're together
I'm stronger than ever, I'm happy and free
Oh, it's a beautiful thing
Don't think I can keep it all in (oh oh)
And if you ask me why I've changed
All I gotta do is say your sweet name
It's your love
It just does something to me
It sends a shock right through me
I can't get enough
And if you wonder
About the spell I'm under
Oh it's your love (Woah oh baby)
(Oh, oh, oh)
Oh, it's a beautiful thing
Don't think I can keep it all in
I just gotta let you know
What it is that won't let me go
It's your love
It just does something to me
It sends a shock right through me
I can't get enough
(Oh) And if you wonder
About the spell I'm under
Oh it's your love
It's your love
It's your love.
••••••••••••
Gibbs and Kelly's dance - You'll always be my baby by Alan Jackson
First steps, first words
Seems like yesterday you were just a girl
Skinned knees, climbing trees
All those memories so close to me
Now you're a woman on your own
All in love and nearly gone
But you'll always be my baby
No matter where you are
You'll always be my baby
Forever in my heart
16, first car
21 and there's a broken heart
High heels, strong will
In my eyes I see a young child still
But you're a woman on your own
All in love and nearly gone
But you'll always be my baby
No matter where you are
You'll always be my baby
Forever in my heart
So I say a prayer every day
That God will guide you as you find your way
You know that I'm near
Anytime my love is always here
'Cause you'll always be my baby
No matter where you are
You'll always be my baby
Forever in my heart
Forever in my heart
Forever in my heart
••••••••••••••••••
Tim and Clare's along with Kelly and Jackson's dance - There you'll be by Faith Hill
When I think back on these times
And the dreams we left behind
I'll be glad 'cause I was blessed to get to have you in my life
When I look back on these days
I look and see your face
You were right there for me
In my dreams, I'll always see you soar above the sky
In my heart, there'll always be a place for you for all my life
I'll keep a part of you with me
And everywhere I am, there you'll be
And everywhere I am, there you'll be
Well, you showed me how it feels
To feel the sky within my reach
And I always will remember all the strength you gave to me
Your love made me make it through
Oh, I owe so much to you
You were right there for me
In my dreams, I'll always see you soar above the sky
In my heart, there'll always be a place for you for all my life
I'll keep a part of you with me
And everywhere I am, there you'll be
'Cause I always saw you in my light, my strength
And I wanna thank you now for all the ways
You were right there for me (You were right there for me)
You were right there for me
For always
In my dreams, I'll always see you soar above the sky
In my heart, there'll always be a place for you for all my life
I'll keep a part of you with me
And everywhere I am, there you'll be
And everywhere I am, there you'll be
There you'll be