Sunday night Jethro was feeling rather restless, and he knew full well that he was probably driving Shannon a bit nuts, but she took it in good stride.

She tried to reassure him and definitely understood where he was coming from, but he just simply did not like the idea of his daughter being several hours away if something went wrong, especially so soon after having her back in his life. So yeah, Jethro was a little... well, high strung was a nice way to put it.

He did manage to get some sleep, though, and they had more enough to get on with that day to keep him preoccupied.

Carrie Clark, a rather good lawyer and former FBI Agent that Jethro knew from having worked with her in the past, had agreed to take on their case and deal with the more complicated legal aspects of their unique situation.

As it turned out, the Mac and Joann conversation had ended up going in a direction that Jethro could relate to in quite a few respects... what had happened in 1991 was rough on everybody. Nothing had ever been the same. He had felt bad for Shannon though as he knew she was blaming herself.

"Still drinking the same old swill, I see?" Joann quipped, clearly not thrilled to be face to face with Jethro but willing to play nice. He'd always suspected she blamed him for not being there to protect his family in '91 and Jethro had never bothered to push the issue, mainly due to the fact he'd blamed himself as well for a long time.

"Keeps my engine running," he replied, deciding to play nice as well.

"How is your father, Jethro?" His mother-in-law questioned.

"He's stubborn," he stated. "I guess that's a good thing."

Joann nodded. "You said you needed to talk?"

"Yeah," he said, "I do. But -" He gestured vaguely for his mother-in-law to hold on and then proceeded to turn around and open the woman's front door, letting his wife inside so that they could talk.

Needless to say, Joann was more than a little stunned, but, by the end of it, she was absolutely elated her daughter and granddaughter were alive and well.

After explaining the entire situation to her mother, Shannon then brought up the one person that was clearly not there. "How's Dad?"

Joann sighed. "Honey, your father and I divorced about two years after it happened."

"Oh," Shannon said, a bit shocked by the news.

"Rough," he said. "On everybody."

His mother-in-law gave a curt nod. That was something that everyone could agree on. "It was never ever the same after the accident."

They chatted for a while longer before getting Mac's contact information from Joann and going to meet the man at a small café near his apartment.

In any case, Joann and Mac's divorce had meant that he and Shannon had to go and rehash everything one more time than they would've liked to have done. Not that it was either of their faults. It simply was what it was. Jethro had yet to talk to his team, but he and Shannon had discussed it and decided that Jethro would invite them all over for dinner the following week and they'd handle that then.

Tuesday morning, he and Shannon drove down to Philly and, with the help of the Ericksons, who'd been eager to help, they managed to pack up more or less everything. Shannon had also provided her landlord with her thirty days' written notice to end her month-to-month tenancy.

The move had taken the better part of the day. That evening and a good chunk of the following day had then been spent unpacking and reorganizing the house in Arlington.

There were a few of Jethro's items that were obviously going, such as the television and the old couch. They swapped out both of the beds as well, and then everything else ended up being a nice balance between Jethro's things and hers, some of which was simply able to be added to.

He did end up having to do several dump runs, which came as little surprise to either his wife or himself, but in the end, the house definitely looked more up to date. And it definitely looked homier. While he was doing that, Shannon was at the house getting the internet and cable set up that he'd promised his daughter.

It was quite a lot of work, but the couple had wanted to get it all over and done with as quickly as possible so that they could just move on and put the entire mess behind them. Too much time had been lost as it was.

The rest of the workweek, he and Shannon just relaxed and tried to focus on them. On Friday evening though, Jethro was over the moon when he finally heard Kelly walk through the front door of the house.

He'd talked to her on the phone multiple times that week, which he was happy about, but it wasn't the same as her physical being in the same room. Still, after so many years without her Jethro would take what he could get.

"Mom! Dad!" Kelly said.

"We're out back!" Shannon immediately called out.

A moment later Kelly walked out, immediately giving them both a hug.

"House is looking good!" his daughter commented in approval.

He couldn't argue with that. The place really did look quite different now, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing although it was going to take Jethro some getting used to. He was a man of habit.

"It needed a face lift," Shannon quipped, "but I think your poor father's glad that it's over. He and Wayne Erickson did most of the heavy lifting."

"While the ladies gave us a hard time," he deadpanned, not at all upset by Shannon and Stacy's antics. Some things never change. "Anyway, how was the drive?"

"Eh," Kelly said with a small shrug, "the traffic wasn't too bad." She then grabbed one of the outdoor lounge chairs and sat down beside them. "So, I'm trying to settle on a new tattoo." She took out her cellphone and pulled up several pictures to show them. Jethro had been a little caught off guard when he learned she had a small tattoo on her ankle but honestly didn't mind, much to Shannon's surprise. Then again, with the likes of Abby Sciuto in his life, it was rather hard to be remotely judgemental about them. "I can't decide between this one-" It was of a butterfly. "- or this one." This time Kelly showed them a floral design. "Thoughts?"

"Hmmm," he said, feeling a bit unsure of how to answer. He was still very much trying to get to know his daughter again and he didn't know what answer if any the girl was hoping to get. "Where are you planning on putting it?"

"My back," Kelly informed them, which admittedly helped Jethro relax some as he'd been half-expecting something a little less appropriate.

"Well," Shannon said, "then I'd personally go with the flower tattoo."

"Maybe," Kelly replied. "So what's the plan this weekend?"

He eyed his daughter. "Was there anything in particular that you wanted to do?" Just then he remembered something he needed to tell her. "Oh, Kellz, if you want I have Maddie Tyler's number." Both Kelly and Shannon looked at him, clearly more than a little surprised. "She needed my help a while back with something which is how we ended up in contact, and I'm sure she'd love to hear from you."

"She remembers me?" Kelly said. "I thought she would've forgotten. Moved on."

Jethro gave his daughter a knowing look. "She hasn't."

His mind immediately flickered to the day that Maddie had come to NCIS in order to ask for his help. They'd been at her apartment, talking.

"Can't remember who took that photo," Maddie said, showing him a photo of a then eight-year-old Maddie and Kelly playing in his backyard.

"I did," he told the young woman seated across from him. "I never did find out what was so funny."

"She never told you?" Maddie inquired. A pained look immediately crossed Jethro's face at the comment. "Sorry."

"I shipped out to the Gulf that month," he proceeded to explain. "They followed me all the way to Pendleton. Last time I saw them."

"It was a time capsule," Maddie then explained to him. "We'd filled this toy suitcase with all of our... treasures. Kelly's mostly, and... buried it in your backyard. We were sitting on it." He gave a weak laugh. "I never stopped crying. Still think about her, after all these years. Wonder what she'd be like."

Jethro swallowed the lump in his throat and forced himself to keep his voice level when he finally spoke. "Like you."

He had no idea how Kelly could think she'd just be forgotten. Impossible.

Kelly immediately broke out into a wide grin. "I'll definitely get that from you later. I'd love to get in touch with Mads again."

He nodded. "Alright then. So, anything in particular that you wanted to do?"

"Nah," Kelly replied. "Mom?"

As they sat around chatting and making plans for the weekend, Jethro could help but think it was bittersweet. He was beyond glad that his girls were back in his life, but it was still hard to think of all the years that they'd missed together.

On the other hand, at least the three of then were together again. He needed to focus on that. He had to. Jethro didn't want to waste one more second with them.