It was almost forty-eight hours later and Gibbs hadn't seen or heard from Tim. He was beginning to worry, but he remembered that Tim had assured him if he needed to talk that he would stop by the basement. Gibbs internally hailed it as a step in the right direction.
They were supposed to meet Ethan, Jen's lawyer last Monday, but he had postponed the Will reading due to having a court case. Gibbs had informed him he found the long lost son, but they were still sorting through the emotions because her son actually knew her. "Ethan, it's complicated." Gibbs explained to Jen's lawyer on the phone. "The son worked for her at NCIS, it's painful for him. We tracked the adoption records and confirmed it with DNA samples."
"All he needs to do is accept what he has been bequeathed and sign on the dotted line." Ethan told Gibbs. "Did the DNA results find a father? Because he's the other person that I have been tasked with finding."
"That DNA test, found out who the father of the son is too." Gibbs confirmed to Ethan.
"Well, come on, I'm waiting…Gibbs?" Ethan let out, frustrated that his search hadn't revealed any clues, but Gibbs' had been successful.
"It's me." Gibbs admitted in a small voice. "I don't recall the meeting but the DNA test doesn't lie. Apparently I was at the same party, just as inebriated."
"This is such an interesting turn of events." Ethan laughed at Gibbs and the situation he'd found himself in. "Please tell me, you have a better relationship than Jenny did with the son."
"Worse, I'm afraid." Gibbs realised in a whisper.
"What a shit show!" Ethan exclaimed. "Let's reschedule for a month's time. It'll give everyone some breathing space and time to help sort out emotions."
"I was looking forward to getting rid of the responsibility." Gibbs confessed.
"You've found her son, that's the biggest battle. Come by the office, tomorrow at 1300. I'll pass on Ms Shepard's letter to the boy's father to you, let you ride out that emotional rollercoaster, so you help your son deal with his emotions." Ethan told Gibbs and Gibbs grunted in agreement and disconnected the call.
"Gibbs?" Tim called out, knocking on the basement door as he descended the stairs into Gibbs' domain. Gibbs had been toying with the unread letter he'd picked up from Ethan at the office earlier in the day. "Got a minute?" He asked, as he let himself in.
"Always, come on in." He told his son, tossing the envelope onto the work bench. "Want to talk about the last letter?" Gibbs asked.
"A bit, mostly I wanted to see if you were ok." Tim said. "Langer cornered me at the coffee cart this afternoon and told me you were acting strange and suspicious."
"He told you because…?" Gibbs asked, curious as to why one of his new agents would seek a Tim out.
"He thought you might have confided in me, having worked together for so long. He wasn't happy to hear, that not only would you not confide in me, if you had, I wouldn't have told him. Anyways, he said his next call would be to see if you had told Tony anything."
"Haven't seen or heard from DiNozzo since he was reassigned. He doesn't know anything!" Gibbs snapped and Tim flinched, taking a step back at the hostility and tone of voice Gibbs had used.
"Tim, relax. It's not you I'm angry at." Gibbs told him. "I've done something, possibly foolish. I've invited my father to stay with me. I wanted the two of you to see each other again. Now I am regretting my actions. I didn't want you think I was manipulating you."
"But you were going to manipulate me." Tim accused him directly and he was surprised at Tim's lack of judgement in his voice. "I expected you to call Jackson in. If for nothing else, then to tell him he has a living and breathing grandchild. He's been mourning Kelly a long time now. You might be a bastard Gibbs, but you love your father and would do anything to help him ease his pain."
"Hold onto that thought, Tim. Being a bastard is a family trait, this new attitude of yours is all to familiar there." Gibbs told Tim, his honest words dripping with condescension. "You're about one bad turn away from becoming as bad as me." Gibbs told his son.
"In that case, thanks for the attitude, Father dearest." Tim snapped at Gibbs. "Look, I actually didn't come here to fight with you, believe it or not?! I came here to talk to you."
"So talk!" Gibbs snapped in retaliation at Tim's hostility.
"You're an asshole, you know that?" Tim snapped at Gibbs, frustrated. He was surprised by Tim's attitude shift again. Just when it seemed like Tim was going to change, he reverted back to the snarky, angry man he'd become.
Tim took the bourbon Gibbs had offered him and after a sip, he began talking in a low, small voice. "She loved me." He whispered, sadly. "She didn't want to give me up." He let a small tear loose, then another and another and Tim hastily wiped his tears away from his eyes. "Do you think she had any clue I was her son?"
"I don't know." Gibbs answered him in a sad, resigned tone, as he pulled Tim into a hug and held on tight to Tim, as his tears fell too.
"Ok now, son?" Gibbs asked, as he noticed Tim's breathing become relaxed. He felt Tim nod his head against Gibbs' shoulder. Gibbs had enjoyed comforting his son, when they'd discovered the DNA link, he never thought Tim would ever let him hold him and Gibbs had been grateful for the turn of events. "Clean yourself up." Gibbs told him. "Jackson is due soon and your Grandfather has an uncanny ability to know when something isn't sitting right with someone."
Tim allowed Gibbs to pull himself up and he dutifully followed Gibbs upstairs and into the guest bathroom on the lower level of the house to clean himself up.
Jackson's shuttle bus from the airport promptly dropped him to his son's front door and the older man let himself into his sons home. "Leroy?" He asked, surprised to find his son sitting on the sofa, with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"Hey Dad." He greeted him, not looking up at his father.
"My god, Leroy!" Jackson exclaimed, taking in his son's body language. "Is everyone ok? The team? Did someone die? Tim? Tony? Ziva?"
"Dad." Gibbs whispered, not really knowing how to tell him what had been happening, or even where to begin.
"Agent McGee?" The senior Gibbs asked surprised to see him in his son's private domain. "This is a surprise, how are you?" He asked, being polite to the young man who was always polite to others, to a fault.
"I've been better." Tim answered truthfully. "But more importantly, how are you?"
"I'm fine," he huffed out. "But I'm not gonna be, if someone doesn't explain why I'm here. And soon!"
"Jack?" Tim asked, surprised the older man's change in tone.
"Told ya being a bastard is a family trait, son." Gibbs stated, finally looking up at his father and son. "Right there, that's where it comes from." He told Tim, pointing at Jackson.
"Family trait?" Jackson asked incredulously. "Leroy? What the hell is going on?"
"Tim's my son, Dad." Gibbs finally told him, ripping it off like a Band-Aid. "His biological mother and I ..."
"Rewind!" Jack snapped. "Start at the damn beginning."
Gibbs and Tim explained to the elder Gibbs gentleman everything that had happened. How Jethro had been tasked, as executor of her estate and he'd been tasked with finding her son. How he'd recruited Tim to assist and what their search had found. How they'd done the DNA test and it'd also come back as a match to him. That once the shock had worn off Gibbs had made calls to find out what exactly had happened.
"I thought I taught you to wear a damn condom." The senior Gibbs snapped at his son and Tim flinched suddenly. "Of all the careless, reckless things you could have done."
Tim stood up and wordlessly excused himself. He headed to the kitchen and the coffee pot. He poured three decent splashes of coffee across three mugs and reached up into the top cupboard where he knew Gibbs kept his good bourbon and poured a decent swig into each coffee.
"Here." Tim offered, handing each man a mug, keeping one for himself. "Jackson, I get I'm not the ideal grandson, the one you want. Especially if you had your pick of the team. I don't expect nothing from you."
"Tim? ..." his father tried to stop him.
"No Gibbs, I know I'm not Tony. I'm me and that's ok. You've made your feelings on the the issue, perfectly clear." Tim told him. "You, yourself have said that you prefer Tony over me."
"That's not what I meant when I said that and you know that." He snapped in reply.
"Tim, please!" Jackson pleaded with the young man. "I didn't mean to disrespect you, when I was chastising my son. There's nothing wrong with you. I guess Tony just reminds me of a young Leroy more. I can't see how you and he could be related. Or even you and me. We're all very different people."
"We are." Tim confirmed, agreeing with the old man. "Very different."
"That's not a bad thing, Tim." Jethro threw in. "But we both like to potter and tinker, me with my wood and you with your electronics. We're both quiet and reserved. We both are good with math and physics. Both love a good book, but you've got Jen's looks. You drink coffee like me, too."
"Yet, you have always treated me like shit." Tim argued. "Everyday reminding me that I'm not Tony."
"Hey," Gibbs' rebuttal, loud and clear. "By the same regards Tony's not you."
Two resounding head slaps were issued, one to Jethro's head and the other to Tim's by the elder Gibbs man. "Knock it off!" He chastised the father and son. "Both of you seem to be carrying a lot of anger and hostility at each other. I won't tolerate it! Rein yourselves in or I'll do it for you."
"Dad!" Jethro exclaimed and Tim rolled his eyes at Gibbs' antics.
"I mean it Leroy, you're not too old to be turned over my knee." Jackson threatened. "You Timothy, we can work on it. You're a gentle soul, like my Anne, Leroy's Momma. Now you two listen up, here's what's going to happen ..."
Four hours later, found Tim, Jack and Jethro seated around two empty pizza boxes and three equally empty coffee mugs. Conversation had been flowing through with ease. Jackson had put his foot down and read both men the riot act.
"Now you two listen up, here's what's going to happen. Jethro, go and order the pizza, Timothy another pot of coffee is in order. I'll get everything organised in here. The three of us are going to sit down and enjoy a calm, pleasant meal together. Then Timothy is going to share about his life, Leroy, you're going to tell us what you remember about his mother and how you met. We're going to cut through this hostility together." Jackson dictated to the younger two men.
"Dad, Tim might not to share." Jethro warned his father.
"Well you won't want to share either, but if we're to move forward we all need to lay our cards on the table."
"Gibbs and I started this ourselves." Tim began.
"Good, we'll start at the beginning and you two shouldn't have any problemssharing." Jackson said with finality in his tone. "Honestly, both of you are adults and you've both reverted to petulant teenagers."
"On that note, Sam's probably home from her conference in New York and waiting up for me. I should go." Tim told the older two Gibbs men. He had calmed down a bit and he was happy that the older man had accepted him as his grandson.
"Who's Sam?" Jack asked in a stage whisper.
"Roommate." Tim answered and waved off, heading for his car.
"Roommate he is sleeping with." Gibbs told his father. "Her name is Sam and they've known each other for years. Fellow navy brat."
"At least one of us has someone." Jackson resigned sadly. "I'm going to bed, try to stay out of trouble Leroy!"
As Jackson headed to his usual room on the ground floor, Gibbs headed to his basement. He'd tossed the letter he picked up from Ethan, Jen's lawyer there earlier, when Tim had come in. Picking it up he began to read ...
To the father of our child,
I am sure you don't even recall my name, let alone what I look like. It's been twenty five years today, since that fateful night at a rave party in Oceanside, California. I remember that you were tall, brown hair, beautiful crystal blue eyes and you were military. Did you give me your name? I don't recall either.
That night was special to me for a magnitude of reasons. You took my virginity, although I was a wild child, that had been the one line I had not yet crossed. I don't regret a moment of our time together. After all, our coupling resulted in us conceiving a child, too. He was beautiful, he had your eyes and your hairline, his hair was a few shades lighter than yours. A mix between my red hair and your brown hair. I named him Jasper, but when he was adopted his new parents chose not to keep his name. That broke me inside. Broke my heart. I promise if I could of, I would have kept him.
I wish I'd have known your name, too. I'd have tracked you down and told you sooner, instead of in a letter and waiting twenty-five years. I'd have begged for your help, help to not to let my father send our son away. I have lead an interesting and fulfilled life, my only regret is giving up our son. My arms have longed for him and twenty-five years later it still fells as if it happened yesterday. The pain is that raw.
Recently, I met a young man who works where I work. His eyes are a beautiful mix of blue, like yours and green like mine. He is tall, like you and his hair the same colour as day our Jasper had been born. Secretly, I wondered if he was Jasper. I have kept him at arm's length and sometimes I ignore him because the pain inside me is too great. I never found out anything about him, I couldn't bring myself to learn about him because I was afraid of what I'd find. I couldn't imagine what would have been worse, finding out he was, or wasn't our lost son.
I received a life sentence in the form of a degenerating and debilitating disease. I've now got all my ducks in a row, so to speak. I have made sure to provide for our son, but I need something from you. I need you to get to know him. He needs to know at least one of his birth parents. I am not going to let this disease win. I am going out guns blazing, I have chosen not to have that particular person close to me, on the slim chance that he is our Jasper, I can not bare to hurt him, like that. It's a risk I won't take.
I have tasked my friend, the executor of my estate Jethro Gibbs, with finding you and our son. Please listen to him, he is a kind, courageous man, he is truthful and trustworthy. He has saved my life before. Trust his judgement about our son. He will help you, if you wish to meet him. I sincerely hope you do. I fear our Jasper has had a horrible time in his life and you need to make it right, for both our sakes.
Thank you, for blessing me with our son. I am sorry you had to find out this way and for not telling you myself of our son.
Jennifer Shepard, Jen.