……..At the hospital………
"I can't believe you. I only asked you to watch them and then they get shot at. What will social services say? I'll never forgive you if they take them away from me. Do you know how long it took for me to be approved as a foster parent? It wasn't easy because I was single. I can't believe I let you back in my life. Clearly you don't want the same thing as me because then we wouldn't be here!" Lauren yelled at him as soon as she came to the hospital. Isabella was fine but a bullet had gone through the flesh of Alexander's right upper arm. He had to go through a small operation and Lauren was furious and worried. They were legally her responsibility and she knew it would be matter of hours before she had to explain everything to social services.
"I'll promise I'll find them." Gibbs told her.
"Just as Ari…I'm tired of hearing about you trying to find someone who is so hard to find. Is it so hard for you to appreciate what you have? What am I going to tell Alexander and Isabella? They got so attached to you." Lauren kept going but Gibbs couldn't bear to listen anymore. He knew that from now on he would sleep in his own house.
The only thing he could be happy about was that everyone else was alright and Kate hadn't lost the baby.
………….Back home at Kate's and Tony's………
"This day had an unusual ending." Kate told him as she was getting ready for bed.
"I thought you would be more shaken up." Tony said being a bit surprise over how she had reacted over this whole ordeal.
"You were there. I feel safe around you especially since you are really good at pushing me to the ground without me falling hard to the ground." Kate explained.
"I was lucky." Tony told her happy about her being alright.
"Can't say the same about Gibbs. I feel bad about being home tomorrow." Kate told him.
"You have to rest. I have to rest too and if Gibbs gave me the day off then I'm not complaining." Tony told her.
"That's why we should go and see how things are on Saturday." Kate told him knowing Gibbs would work on that day too.
"You read my mind. Hopefully Gibbs has sorted everything out with Lauren by then." Tony told her.
………Two days later……….
It was a Saturday but Gibbs was still at work. He felt it was all he had left now.
"I talked to mom…I can't abandon my dad. I gave her the ring too. You didn't hide it so well." Alex told Gibbs as he entered the room. He had prepared himself to say these words since he came home from the hospital yesterday. Even if Lauren and Isabella said it wasn't his fault he still felt guilty and he knew he wouldn't feel better until he had talked to both of them. Now he only had his dad left if Gibbs still wanted to be his father figure.
"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be home and rest. She must be really worried…I didn't even know they let you out of the hospital. Are you ok?" Gibbs told him quite worried. He wasn't so up to date on how injured he was but he was glad Alex looked ok.
"She doesn't know I'm not home. I tried to talk to her last night. Isabella did too. It was Isabella who wanted me to show her the ring. You did your part through us. I think she will come around…I got bandage on my arm and I've been told not to use it during the next couple of days. I'll be fine." Alex told him. He wanted to be so straight forward as Gibbs always had told him to be.
"We better call her. She must be worried sick…How did you get in? You don't have a pass!" Gibbs wondered.
"I have my ways. When you call her ask her if she wants to marry you. It'll be easier for her to keep us if she is married and I don't think she wants to be married to another man than you. I've accepted that I got a new mom and I want to accept I got a new dad too. It's all up to you." Alex told him.
Then Gibbs cell phone rang.
"I got a new one. I never bothered to learn how to answer it." Gibbs told him. Alex took it up from his desk, opened it and saw it was Isabella. He pressed the button which answers the phone and gave it to his dad.
"Where is he?" Isabella asked.
"Right here with me. Tell your mom he's alright. If he can stay here today then it is ok for me too. We have a few things to talk about." Gibbs told his suddenly new daughter.
"I will…Dad…She still loves you know…Bye." Isabella told him.
"Bye. Miss you both." Gibbs said before giving the phone to Alex so he could turn it off.
"I'll teach you everything you need to know about computers and cell phones if you show me how to make a boat." Alex offered hoping that this compromise would be good enough for him to accept.
"We'll see." Gibbs told him. Alex took it as a yes and smiled.
While Gibbs had been talking on the phone Kate and Tony had come up to the office.
"Was it you two who let him in?" Gibbs asked them.
"He stood outside the base with no one besides us to call. What would you do if not come and let him in? It seemed important and urgent." Tony explained.
"How long did you stand there? It's cold!" Gibbs asked acting like a really worried and upset dad.
"A half an hour. Not so long." Alex said feeling that his dad wouldn't let this slip.
"We were already on our way when he called so it only took us ten minutes to get there. He even wore the seat belt from when we picked him up until we parked. A nice son you have there." Tony continued.
"A nice son but he's still in trouble. Going out without telling anyone… Sit in that chair until I figure out what to do." Gibbs told him. Half of him was happy but the other half just wanted to discipline Alex.
"So how is the case going? Found out who shot at us?" Alex asked while going to his seat.
"It looks like it was Corporal Blake's drug dealer who feared they were at the police to tell them about him. His boyfriend went during the night to his drug dealer and paid of Blake's debt while Corporal Blake was in jail. He did that without the police and us knowing. He got the insurance that they would leave them alone but shooting at police is a severe offence. We'll get them sooner or later." Gibbs explained.
………….Two hours later………..
Isabella and Lauren came to pick Alex up.
"He's alright." Gibbs assured them.
"He's been here long enough. Let's go home." Lauren told him.
"Not until you say yes." Alex said not wanting to leave.
"It isn't that easy." Lauren told him.
"Yes, it is. I've researched this. You can get a marriage license this week and get married the next. If you call your families I'm sure they'll understand why you have to get married in a hurry." Isabella told them.
"Listen to the smart one." Alex told them.
"That's the first I've heard you say anything nice to…" Lauren said before being cut off by Alex. She felt their effort was really touching. They proposed for Gibbs and it was they who managed to convince her not to let go of him.
"My sister…I had to do it sooner or later." Alex said hoping this would show them they were now a family.
"He's quite smart too since he got you to be in the same room." Isabella told everyone.
"That was a nice thing to hear you say about your brother." Gibbs told her.
Lauren had now made up her mind.
"So do you want to be our witnesses?" Lauren asked Kate and Tony.
"We would love to." Kate told them.
…………………..
I hope you like this chapter. I'm sorry if there are some grammar mistakes. English isn't my mother tongue so it is hard for me to find mistakes WORD can't find.
Feedback is nice.