Chapter 23 - Tony Wants to Know

After they had both paid a trip to the bathroom, Trisha and Gibbs made their way into the kitchen. Trisha was about to pour some Cocoa Puffs into a bowl when Gibbs stopped her.

"Tell you what," he said. "Let me make you something for breakfast."

Trisha smiled and wrinkled up her nose. "You can cook? Are you sure that's such a good idea?" She climbed up and sat down on a stool, then leaned her elbows on the granite top of the island.

Gibbs made a face at her, "Why doesn't anyone think I can cook?" He turned to the cupboards and started to look through the food.

She thought for a moment before answering him. "I dunno. You just seem more like a nuke it kind of guy."

Gibbs stopped searching the cabinets and looked over his shoulder at Trisha. "A what kind of guy?"

"Nuke it. You know, the kind of guy who sticks frozen food in the microwave and then nukes it on high for a minute. It doesn't matter if it's still frozen; after a minute's up you eat it. It's mainly seen in guys who don't have any patience," Trisha said.

Gibbs turned around and leaned on the island. "And how do you know that I don't have any patience?" He brought his head down to Trisha's level and gave her his best interrogation face. Much to Gibbs' surprise, his cold stare was returned. They both leaned closer to each other until their foreheads were touching.

Finally, Trisha spoke. "Does your tough-and-scary face always work, Special Agent Gibbs?" She leaned back and folded her arms across her chest.

Gibbs smirked, "Well, yea, now that you mention it. Except on Kate. It did at first, but now she just laughs at me when I try to pull it on her. I guess I'm losing my edge," he said as he pouted. He hung his head and dejectedly sighed as he turned back towards the cabinets.

Trisha got off the stool and made her way to Gibbs. She tugged on his pants until he looked at her. She gave him the 'come here' motion with her index finger.

He knelt in front of her on one knee. "What?" Gibbs asked as sadly as he could make it.

She put a hand on each of his shoulders and smiled at him. "You're still my big tough agent, you know." Trisha leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.

In turn, Gibbs kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her.

"By the way," Trisha said as her chin rested on his shoulder, "there's nothing wrong with your ability to make people take a massive guilt trip!"

Gibbs laughed quietly, "I have plenty of other good qualities like that." He patted her back and then stood up. "Now, what do you want for breakfast? I can make you eggs, pancakes, waffles…"

Trisha's eyes lit up. "Pancakes!"

Gibbs nodded, "Pancakes it is. Come on, you can help me make them." He searched around the kitchen until he found all the ingredients, then dumped them into a bowl.

Trisha climbed up on a stool as Gibbs handed her the bowl to mix the pancake batter. "Make sure you mix it up real good so there aren't any chunks in there," Gibbs told her.

She really went to town and mixed the batter for about five minutes. Gibbs went to the stove and turned it on, then got a pan and put butter in it so the batter wouldn't stick to the Teflon.

"Is this good, Gibbs? Because I think my arm is gonna fall off if I don't stop soon," she told him as she tilted the bowl towards him.

Gibbs smiled, "That's perfect." He took the bowl from her and walked back to the stove. "Bring the stool over here so you can help," he instructed Trish.

Trisha and Gibbs were so engrossed in what they were doing that neither had noticed Tony and Kate watching them from the kitchen doorway. They simply stood there and watched the domestic scene taking place. Kate had a big grin across her face, but as Tony watched the interaction between his boss and the little girl, he got to thinking.

"Kate," he whispered. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" He pulled her into the living room. "Ok, I know that Rochelle and Trisha saved Gibbs' life, but why did he take such a liking to Trisha and not Chelle? And another thing, this is where Trisha lives, right? Well, why aren't there any adults around? Doesn't this seem a little weird to you?"

"Tony, slow down. I uh, I…" Kate stammered as she tried to think of something to tell him. She was sure Gibbs would tell everyone when the time was right; she didn't want to be the one to blurt out the news that their normally bastard-of-a-boss was about to adopt a twelve year old girl. Besides, it wasn't her place to do so. "I don't know what you're talking about, Tony," she stated.

"Come on, Kate!" he exclaimed a little too loudly, which drew unwanted attention from the others who were watching the morning news. "You know, you were never good at lying to people," he declared as he put his hands on his hips. "I know when something's up!"

Rochelle, who had been leaning against McGee on the sofa, went over and stood between the fuming Tony and Kate. "Whoa, guys, take it easy! What's goin' on?" she asked as she looked between the two.

"I'll tell you what's wrong!" Kate exclaimed. "Tony doesn't know how to keep his nose out of other people's business!"

Tony was pissed off beyond belief. "Partners are supposed to tell each other everything, Kate! I want to know what the hell is going on with Gibbs, and don't tell me you don't know!"

Just then Gibbs came storming out of the kitchen. "What the hell's the matter with you, DiNozzo?"

"Boss, I uh, I was just wondering…" he stammered as Gibbs drew closer.

"You wanna know something about me, then you ask me! You don't go behind my back and try to get it out of other people, you got it? If you do something like this again, I'll put my boot so far up your a--" He censored himself when, out of the corner of his eye, Gibbs saw Trisha standing in the kitchen doorway.

He looked at her for a moment, then gave her a reassuring smile. "Come here, kiddo." When Trisha reached Gibbs, he took her hand and led her to the couch. Kate sat on the other side of him. Gibbs turned to Trisha, "Tony here wants to know what's up, and I'm pretty sure the rest of my team wants to know, too." He put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "You wanna tell them?" he asked Trisha with a smile.

Trisha smiled back at him and took a deep breath. She looked at the people before her and said, "Gibbs is gonna be my new dad."