The next six weeks passed in a blur. They all headed down to Stillwater for Easter and there was also, of course, Father's Day and Shannon's birthday. That all meant that on the personal front, they'd been rather busy. Shannon and Kelly also decided to get rid of both of their protective details as nothing had happened.

Work on the other hand had been quite slow for the last couple of weeks, a more than welcome reprieve after catching a rather nasty case. Then there was today; Michael's six-month hitch downrange in Afghanistan was finally up and the younger Marine was already well on his way home.

Kelly was, understandably, absolutely elated at the prospect of her husband was finally coming home after being overseas for so long. The jump from one kid to two had been harder than she'd anticipated. Just one of several reasons why she was so happy to have Michael home again.

He and Shannon slept in slightly and leisurely went about their usual morning routine. His wife made them both some scrapple, over-easy eggs, hash browns, toast, as well as a healthy dose of black caffeine for breakfast which was always nice.

His wife slapped him on the shoulder playfully. "Ass, you know what I was asking."

"Maybe," he replied with a smirk. She was fun to rile up a tad. But hey, it's your rule." Shannon's Rule #8: Banish the word 'perfection.'

The redhead raised an eyebrow playfully. "Real nice, using my rules against me."

He shot his wife a matching look. "Well, I learned from the best."

She rolled her eyes in fond exasperation. "Why do I love you?"

"I'm charming," he quipped without missing a beat.

Shannon barked out a laugh. "Yes, Babe, that's clearly it."

After they'd both eaten their fill, they quickly did the dishes and took Bailey for a walk around the neighbourhood and got a bit of housework done.

He'd just finished folding their latest load of laundry and putting it away when his wife got his attention from downstairs. "Jethro, are you done up there? It's time to go."

Jethro glanced down at his watch and realized she was right. They had to leave now if they wanted to make it to the airfield on time.

"Glad that's done," he muttered as he joined Shannon downstairs.

She gave a little snort. "Laundry, the gift that keeps on giving."

He raised an eyebrow. "I'd prefer a much different gift."

The redhead rolled her eyes playfully. "Oh, I'm sure." She indicated the front door with her left hand. "Shall we?"

He chuckled softly and walked over to the entranceway to grab his shoes.

Throwing his shoes on, he followed Shannon out to her car. They then made their way with Kelly to pick up Michael. Jethro had enough lost time saved up still that he didn't feel remotely bad about taking the day off.

They'd all been standing around for roughly fifteen minutes, Kelly glancing around the place frantically to see if she could spot her husband. Several other military personnel had already come through and she was, understandably, getting quite antsy.

Trudy tapped his daughter's shoulder. "I see him."

Bryan nodded, his lips curling upwards into a smile. "I do too."

He glanced to his left. Sure enough, still dawning his Service Charlies, the clearly tired staff sergeant had just come around the corner. Michael readjusted his grip on his seabag slightly before walking briskly towards them.

He couldn't help but smile as he watched his granddaughter tug pointedly at his wife's sleeve in an attempt to get away. "Go," the little girl insisted.

Easily understanding what it was that Paisley wanted, Shannon let go of the little girl's hand. Jethro then watched as she ran straight at Michael and proceeded to throw both of her arms around the younger man's right leg. "Dada."

Michael smiled. "Hey, Miss P. I missed you. So much."

Kelly gave the pair a moment and then stepped forward and pulled her husband into a no doubt much-needed bear hug. "I missed you."

The younger Marine eyed Kelly affectionately. "I missed you too, Smiley."

The pair kissed and once they separated it was Kelly we spoke. "How was the flight?"

Michael's reply was more or less what Jethro had expected. "Eh, it was fine."

His daughter nodded and grinned. "So, you ready to meet Mason?"

The younger Marine swallowed and nodded eagerly. "Yes. Very ready."

Kelly dipped her head a touch in acknowledgment and then started to turn around. "I'll go grab him from the stroller."

Michael nodded avidly, several emotions playing on the younger man's face.

He stepped forward and clasped the man's shoulder. "Welcome home, Marine."

His son-in-law's smile widened slightly. "Thank you."

"It's good to see you," Shannon added.

"It's good to be back," the staff sergeant replied.

Trudy and Bryan both proceeded to pull the younger Marine in for bear hugs, one after the other. Michael's father then took a small step back and gave the man an assessing look. "You look a little sleepy."

The younger Marine shook his head slightly. "I'm not tired at all."

Jethro raised an eyebrow. Like any of us believe that.

Kelly walked up to her husband with Mason and the younger man's face instantly lit up as he took in his infant son for the first time. Yes, Kelly had sent pictures but that in all honestly wasn't the same. "Oh, my god."

Jethro watched as his son-in-law eagerly held out both of his arms, Kelly then gently taking the Marine's cover from his hand and placing the baby boy in the young father of two's arms. Mike glanced down at Mason, eyes brimming with love, before leaning down and gently kissing the newborn on the forehead. "Hey there, Slugger."

The little boy fidgeted contentedly in Michael's arms for a moment and the young man said something softly that caused Kelly to break out laughing. "You're not."

Michael grinned, not taking his eyes off the newborn. The young man crinkled his eyes and nose. "You're so cute."

"The little guy looks exactly like you did at this age," Trudy happily remarked. "Except for his eyes. Those are definitely Kelly's."

Michael a little hum before turning to Paisley. "How d'ya like being a big sister, Pais?"

Paisley took her thumb out of her mouth and smiled. "Bubba."

The younger Marine chuckled. "I'll take that as a positive."

His wife shook her head in amusement. "Good call."

Bryan gave a little snort. "Yeah, I'll second that."

His daughter and son-in-law continued to chat contently for another couple of minutes before placing Mason back in the stroller so that their family could make their way off of the airfield. Could make their way to Alexandria.

Pulling up to Kelly and Michael's place a while later, the group quickly gravitated to the young family's backyard and let Michael go have a quick shower and change out of his uniform and into some - much more comfortable - civvies.

They didn't plan anything excessive because they'd all expected Michael to need a bit of time to regroup, as adjusting to being home could be a challenge: Still, it was nice to just be together as a family again.

As his son-in-law joined them all in the backyard and they all sat around chatting and playing with the grandchildren, Jethro couldn't help but smile. Michael was so good with Paisley and Mason and his daughter seemed so much lighter, happier, like a weight had been lifted. He was so glad that his son-in-law had made it home safe.