Jethro actually ended up really enjoying his forced vacation. It was a quite nice in part because the rest of November ended up being very hectic. Emily, Ziva, and Jethro all had birthdays that month, as did Mike Franks but that was handled simply enough by shipping a package and giving him a call the day off.
Then there was Thanksgiving. Ducky had hosted a big dinner for the team and Jethro's father had come down for the weekend to visit and attended Joan's dinner with Jethro, Shannon, Kelly, and Mac as well. Thankfully, those two were making more of an effort to get along nowadays, although most of the bickering had frankly come from Joan.
DiNozzo also had a very stressful daddy drop-in that Jethro ended up resolving for the younger agent by letting Senior stay with him and then telling the man off. Jethro had actually managed to get through to the other man.
Senior turned to him and heaved a sigh. "I know you and I haven't been, uh, the best of friends for the past couple of years, but, uh... why'd you stick your neck out for me? Let me stay here?"
"I didn't do it for you," Jethro replied curtly. The microwave finally beeped. "I did it for your son." He took the glass of warm milk out of the microwave and held the drink out for Senior, hoping to drive the point home. "He deserves better."
"You're right, Gibbs." The man took the glass from him. "He does." Senior gave Jethro a look. "I thought that when this deal went through, I'd be set. I could retire. No more hustling. I'd be able to be the person I always pretended to be. Leave some money for Junior." The man paused briefly. "Real money."
"You don't get it," Jethro chastised. That was, frankly, the least of the younger agent's concerns. "Tony never wanted your money. He wants a father."
With December though, came Michael's homecoming from Afghanistan which Kelly was completely over the moon about and a move to new two-story house in Alexandria for his daughter and son-in-law. The newlywed couple had decided against living on base because of the commute to work for Kelly and Alexandria was a good compromise.
Just in time too, because the Gibbs-Walsh clan got a rather early Christmas surprise. Just after lunch on Tuesday the 20th, Jethro was sitting at his desk doing paperwork and he got a call at work letting him know that Kelly was at the hospital. In labour.
Distractedly, he finished his shift and then headed to the hospital with Shannon to wait for news on their daughter and soon-to-be-born grandchild.
After grabbing the phone from the pocket of his black overcoat, which had been rather unceremoniously thrown over the back of his chair earlier, Jethro noted that he had a missed call from his father and mother-in-law along with several unread texts.
He opened the conversation with Maddie. 'Any news yet?'
He tapped out a reply. 'Nope. Doc said it likely won't be much longer though.' She had already been in labour for just under nine hours.
The response was almost immediate. 'How's Kelly holding up?'
Jethro chuckled softly. 'She had some choice words for Mike earlier.' That was a rather large understatement. She'd said things like "Look at what you did!" and "Get up and stop being comfortable!" Michael was taking all of it on the chin though and Kelly had been trying to get a little bit of rest.
His Kelly was going to be a mother. His baby girl. The child whose diapers he changed, who Jethro taught to horseback ride and swim, who he packed school lunches for, and who he drove to numerous piano lessons and recitals. That felt both like a lifetime ago and yet like it was just yesterday.
Jethro shoved his cellphone back in his pocket before rising to his feet. He placed his arms over head and muffled a groan as he stretched and caused his body to release a symphony of cracking joints. Jesus, I'm getting old. Shoving that thought to the side, he turned to his wife. "Wanna grab something from the cafeteria?"
"Yeah," she said. "Let's ask Michael if he wants us to grab something as well."
Jethro nodded, walking with purpose towards Kelly's hospital room.
A half-an-hour later though, things really started to pick up Doctors had encouraged Kelly to use a peanut ball and other positioning aid during side-lying positions as well as squatting during contractions which seemed to help.
Michael's parents had also joined them at the hospital. The couple had calmly made their way down from Philadelphia once they'd gotten a call from Michael and booked a hotel, intending to stay near-by for a few days but to give Michael and Kelly some space. It also give all of the soon-to-be grandparents a chance to talk, as Jethro'd not had much contact with Trudy or Bryan except for at the wedding.
And eventually it was go-time and Jethro and Shannon were back sitting in the waiting room, giving their daughter and son-in-law a bit of privacy. Not that Kelly was going to get much from the hospital staff given the situation.
After forty-five more minutes of waiting, Michael walked through the door. Before he managed to cross the room, Jethro had got up from his seat and met him halfway.
Michael flashed the four of them the biggest, happiest, adoring smile at the room and shouted, "It's a girl!"
Jethro couldn't help but grin. Born at thirty-eight weeks and four days, Kelly had given birth to a, hopefully, healthy baby girl.
Bryan threw his arms around his son and for a moment both men squeezed each other impossibly tight, laughing at the same time.
After a moment, Michael addressed them again. The new father had basically turned incandescent with happiness. The man's large frame almost shaking with adrenaline, joy and a thousand other emotions. "She is seven pounds, eight ounces, twent-one inches long. Perfectly healthy and Kelly's doing wonderful."
They chatted with him for another minute and then the group made their way back to the hospital room to meet their granddaughter.
Kelly, who was clearly very tired but doing well, carefully handed the newborn baby to Shannon who was beaming as she eyed their grandchild. "Oh, she's perfect."
"Absolutely beautiful," Trudy commented.
"A chip off the old block," Bryan said with a huge grin.
"I'll agree with that," he added happily. He could already tell that their granddaughter was going to seriously take after Kelly in the looks department. And glancing over at Michael, Jethro could tell that the baby girl had already stolen the new father's heart. "Congratulations. To the both of you."
"Have you two settled on a name?" Shannon asked.
Michael was reeling but was clearly ecstatic. "We have actually."
"And?" Trudy questioned excitedly.
"Well," Kelly stated happily, "we decided to keep grandma's name in the family."
"Is that so?" Shannon asked, still grinning from ear to ear.
Kelly nodded. "Yep." She gestured vaguely to her husband.
Michael was still vibrating with excitement and looking over at the newborn baby like she was pure gold. "Everyone, say hello to Paisley Anne Walsh."
He glanced between his daughter and son-in-law, smiling. They'd given his grandchild his mother's name, Ann, as a middle name. Jethro was rather touched. "That sounds perfect." Shannon carefully passed him their grandchild. He looked down at the baby's face, enamored when she shifted slightly in his arms, curling instinctively into Jethro. "Absolutely perfect."
