A/N: Here's a new chapter folks, to my latest followers/favourites, welcome aboard! I know its been a while since my last update, but I've been concentrating on my other story for the last while.

I can understand the Guest reviewer's feelings that this story has been moving slowly recently, but there's been a lot of information to get through & I've tried to do it as quickly as possible. I do plan to start moving forward at a faster pace.

I don't want to delay your reading any more, so here we go.

Gibbs was walking with his son along the path in their local park, after a quick stop at a grocery store Ted had dropped them off and he & his boy had set off with Buster for the promised walk. He really couldn't wait until his shoulder was good enough to enable him to drive, not being able to drive his own family & having to rely on other people to drive them was really frustrating, he hoped that within a week or two, he could manage it.

Right now he was smiling, Buster was clearly leading this walk, his son was doing his best to lead but the dog was having other ideas, he was wanting to go in a separate direction "what's that way bud?"

"The playground, there's normally other dogs in the area & Buster loves playing with them" Nix answered, he though wanted to go elsewhere.

"We can go there bud, mum & Kells have just started dinner, we've got time" Gibbs remarked, whilst this was the first time he had been away from his girls & that brought him some angst, he was relishing this time with his son, the first of many father son only times.

"I want to go this way" Nix remarked pointing in the opposite direction.

"What's that way bud?" Gibbs asked, all he could see was parklands.

"A maze, they change it up every few weeks, thought we could do it maybe?" Nix asked a little hesitantly.

Gibbs saw the hesitation, he needed to make sure his son realised he didn't have worry about asking for things from him, nor that it wasn't welcomed "a maze sounds just perfect, I'd love to do it with you son so let's go" he put a hand on his son's far shoulder and started walking, Buster though was having none of the new direction.. hmm.. "Buster! Heel!" he called hoping it would get him on the same page as they were going.

Nix smiled as Buster obeyed his dad and came back to walking right next to them "good boy" he commended patting him. He saw the area of the maze "there it is!"

"Looks great pal" Gibbs smiled, the maze didn't look too small, not that it was big, but it was good size "let's go"

Nix led the trio into the maze and about 10 feet in they came to their first decision "which way?"

"You choose bud" Gibbs remarked, he couldn't actually see above the trees that made up the maze, and they were quite dense from top to toe so that you could barely see underneath them.

"Ahh" Nix considered "this way" he guessed, pointing left.

"Left it is" Gibbs smiled, he followed his son deeper into the maze, coming to another intersection "which way now?" he asked

"Ahh, you choose" Nix asked.

Gibbs got an idea, he grabbed a coin from his pocket "let's try this, heads we go left, tails we go right, how about that?"

"Yea!" Nix grinned, he'd never done the maze like this before, this would be fun!

Gibbs grinned back, "ok, here goes…and its tails, right we go" looking at the tossed coin in his palm.

Nix nodded & headed right, more than 6 turns later and he was having an absolute blast!

"Which way now bud?" Gibbs asked, he was really enjoying himself, but the best thing was that his son was having fun & happy, he wouldn't trade that for anything! They'd even let Buster chose a direction once, that had been fun to watch!

Nix flipped the coin "left" he answered, he led the way & came to a dead end, again! "That's 3 dead ends, we'll never get out"

"Nah" Gibbs smiled as he shook his head & crouched down "I know a secret, you can never actually get lost in a maze"

"I have" Nix admitted, he felt a little silly, you could never get lost? Then how'd he gotten lost?

"And that's all a learning experience, but I'll show a trick to make sure you always find your way out from now on" Gibbs soothed, he stood up & using his good arm, he took hold of his son's right arm "right, we keep our hand on the wall & we don't take it off, we just follow the path without removing our hand from the wall & not breaking for any gaps, follow it along and eventually we will get to the exit"

"Really?" Nix asked, did that really work?

"Sure does" Gibbs nodded "should we try it?"

"Ok" Nix remarked with a small shrug, why not?

Gibbs nodded "here goes" he said as they started to walk.

Nix let his dad guide him, and they moved their way through the maze, never letting their hands leave the side, and in only a few minutes his eyes widened "it worked!"

"Certainly did" Gibbs smiled as they exited the maze "works every time, so remember this trick, yea?" He could tell his son had had fun, and that was the best feeling in the world!

"I will" Nix nodded, that had been awesome! And his dad's trick had worked, part of him wished the maze was bigger so they could have stayed in the maze longer "can we come back in a few weeks when they change it up?"

"Absolutely" Gibbs nodded "we can come regularly or as many times as you want ok?"

Nix smiled as he nodded, this was going to be fun!

Gibbs smiled as he nodded in reply to his son's "so, where to now?"

Shannon smiled, whilst she was anxious that her husband & son were out she was really enjoying being here with her girl, and cooking together was always something they enjoyed and the added bonus of no Mac wanting them to leave it to the cook was wonderful, she opened the pantry & turned "Kelly darling, what kind of pasta should we do?"

"The big shells" Kelly answered with a smile, they were her brother's as well as her favourites, which was why they had ample supply of it in the cupboard.

Shannon smiled "of course" she pulled the packet out and put it next to the pot that was already starting to warm with the water. She turned & opened the fridge, she was on a cream & cheese hunt, moving things around she found the cheese, then the cream, and then "what's this?" she asked as she pulled a container out of the fridge, it was lumps of coloured stuff, but she wasn't sure what it was.

"Ahh" Kelly "we tried making play dough for a bit of fun, but it didn't really turn out" she finished a little sheepishly.

Shannon had to smile "well, I think we can throw this lot out, do you have any Kool-Aid left?"

"Ah no" Kelly answered, was her mum suggesting they make more?

"Message your brother & ask him & dad to get some on their way home, say 3 flavours?" Shannon suggested "we can make some after dinner, I have no doubt they'll like that idea"

Kelly smiled as she grabbed her phone "ok" she quickly texted her brother & getting a reply of 'yes!' was all the answer she needed, she knew they'd get it from the corner shop "they'll get it"

Shannon nodded "good, now how's the chicken looking?"

"About to cut, cubes or strips?" Kelly asked, she'd really missed cooking with her mum, she didn't mind cooking but doing it on her own, just wasn't the same.

"How about short strips" Shannon suggested

Kelly was busy cutting up the chicken & could see her mum was getting the cheese & cream mix ready, hers always tasted better, she took a breath & decided to ask her something "why can't Mikey come over?" he'd always been welcomed by her mum at least, so her request to not push him coming over was odd.

Shannon turned to her girl, she deserved her full attention for this "darling it's not that Mikey can't come over, he & his family will always, always be welcome in our homes" she took a moment, the Bond family would always be welcome where ever she lived "its just.. well, a lot is going on, we're all still coming to terms with what's happened not just in the past week, but years & it will take a lot of adjustment for all of us. One of the adjustments being that you father needs time to come to terms with the fact that you are no longer a little girl & do in fact have a boyfriend" she finished with a smile, part of her heart ached for the lost years her husband had experienced, part of her heart couldn't believe her little girl was 21! "I know you want to spend with him, to have him around, and I have no doubt your brother feels the same way about Mikey, as well as Myles & we will, but we also need to spend some time as a family of four, we need some time to reconnect darling, I hope you can understand that"

Kelly considered everything her mum said & she understood it, she did, she knew they needed time to reconnect and be together as a family, but a part of her thought about something else "Mikey's family though, shouldn't we spend time with him, so he & dad can get to know each other?"

"Yes angel, we will spend time with him, because you're right they need to get to know each other" Shannon said in agreement. "So how's this, tomorrow morning is just us, then later in the day we get Mikey & Myles to join us? How's that sound?" That would give them a good deal of the day alone, but some time with the boys as well.

Kelly nodded "yea" she liked the sound of that.

Shannon decided to tackle something else whilst they were alone "I think tomorrow dad wants to take us…" she left the sentence open but by the look on her daughter's face she knew the place meant their old home "how do you feel about that?"

Kelly chewed her bottom lip & shrugged "not sure, kinda scared, don't know what to expect, not sure I can" she said after a few moments

Shannon knew how her girl felt, she was feeling scared too "I'm feeling the same way angel, I have no idea what to expect & that does scare me too. So how about we make a deal, we do it together, step by step, room by room. We take it as slow or fast as we want, how does that sound?"

"I can do that I think, but could we do it in the afternoon?" Kelly asked, hoping her mum would get her meaning.

Shannon knew that mean to do it once Mike was with them, she obviously wanted the support. She knew her husband would probably have wanted to do it as just them, but this one he'd have to deal with. Kelly obviously needed the extra support & if she was honest with herself having Mike there would probably been helpful for more than just Kelly, her husband would have to suck this one up. "We can do it in the afternoon, sure darling"

"Thanks" Kelly smiled.

Gibbs stared at the ceiling & smiled, he knew it was early but he didn't want to get up, he was far too happy where he was, he was nestled amongst his family. He really couldn't believe what they'd done, the previous night Ted had come in upon dropping them off & helped manoeuvre both of Kelly & Nix's mattresses into the living area & push the sofa's apart, it meant they could all sleep together. He had finally been able to sleep on the same mattress as his wife & it had been amazing! & having both his kids with him too, that was pretty good as well.

Gibbs felt his wife shift against his chest as she continued to sleep under his arm, he just smiled & pressed a kiss against her head. Looking down he saw that his son had somehow managed to nestle himself between him & his wife, he was a little further down but was also sleeping against his chest, he just couldn't help but smile at the sight, he moved his hand down & carded his fingers through his son's hair, he again smiled as his boy slightly shifted under the gentle caress. The slight shift had shown Gibbs that his son had wrapped his mother's arm around himself while he was wrapped against his own chest. Shifting his gaze he looked down at his girl, she was nestled into his chest & under his arm on his other side, she was lying there so peaceful, so content that it was just magical. He was in bed, ok he was lying on a mattress, make that 2 in the living room of a house his kids had lived in for the last 5 months, it wasn't the most ideal thing. But it still felt completely & utterly heavenly! To have slept all night with his wife, son & daughter all nestled into him was the best feeling in the world, it was this blissful thought that sent him back to sleep.

The next thing Gibbs knew was that he was being stirred from sleep by the sounds of quiet giggling, whispers and even some slight presses to his chest that he couldn't quite understand. Opening his eyes slightly he looked downwards & had to grin to himself, his kids seemed to be having a quiet game of thumb war on his chest, what they were playing for he had no idea. Watching through his hooded eyes as to not let his kids know that he was indeed awake & watching was a glimpse into something special, they were both lying there snuggled close into his chest and were quietly giggling as they played the game using his chest as their deck, they didn't even appear to stop when one of them won, they just kept going, it truly made his heart sore with so much love. It had been so ever long since he'd felt this kind of love around him that he knew he would treasure ever second of the rest of his life, because he knew what life was like without them.

Gibbs thought he'd been watching them for a good 5-6 minutes, and as the time went on the pair got a little louder by the minute, then all of a sudden he let out a laugh. His dear kids had gone from quietly having a thumb war to ganging up on him & apparently try to tickle him awake, even though he already was! He couldn't help himself he let out a laugh & instantly set about terrorising them back "I wasn't asleep you two" he laughed as he continued to try to tickle the pair, he heard nothing but laughter coming from his son & daughter.

"I was" came a muffled voice.

Gibbs looked at his wife & smiled "guess you're not anymore" he grinned

Shannon had been asleep but the sudden noise & shifting bodies had woken her up, now she was looking at her husband & her kids who had been trying to tickle the other, but were now frozen looking at her & got a wicked idea "attach dad!" she laughed as she started to get into the tickle action.

Kelly & Nix both grinned & instantly got back to business of trying to tickle their dad.

"No fair!" Gibbs laughed, he couldn't believe they were now all ganging up on him. He was trying to give as good as he got, but with his injured shoulder it wasn't all that easy. Why was he getting ganged up on? "what about mum?" he laughed

Nix considered it for a moment, he'd rarely seen the current grin that was plastered not just over his sister's face, but his mum's right now & had a feeling his grin was just as big, so he didn't like the idea of doing anything different. "This is too much fun!" he giggled as he dove back on the attack on his dad.

Shannon grinned, so typical of her boy! But she was glad for the comment, because she was enjoying herself far too much! "Good boy!" she laughed

Gibbs just shook his head in amazement, the cheek of his son! He saw an opening to maybe get his boy subdued & grabbed him around the waist, only to have his girl start tickling his opposite side, he was laughing & heard nothing but laughter coming from his family, there was just one problem, his shoulder & ribs were starting to hurt & had a mild concern that the stiches might come loose. He knew there was only one way he was getting out of this "I surrender!" he finally called out.

Nix grinned in triumph "Woohooo!" he high fived his sister who was grinning just as much.

Kelly high fived her brother, that was totally awesome! They'd finally beaten her dad in a tickle war! "We win!" she exclaimed "we win!" she repeated with absolute joy.

Shannon was surprised, he'd never given in to such a fight in the past, why was he doing it now? But then she saw it, the slight wince, oh no! his ribs! His shoulder! His stiches! Whoops! "We certainly did win, but let dad breath now, hop off him"

Kelly sat back on her legs as she grinned at her dad, that had been the funnest wake up she's had in such a very long time "Morning dad" she grinned.

Gibbs couldn't help but smile at the grins on the faces of his family though he had to admit relief at the breathing space he now had. He laid back down, but used his good arm to prop himself up as his smile grew "good morning my dear family"

"Morning dad" Nix grinned, he too had sat back on his own legs but was still bouncing, that was so much fun!

Shannon lay herself down behind her son & next to her husband, she too was propped up on her elbow, and she gazed down at her husband "good morning darling" she smiled, she too had enjoyed their morning activities.

Gibbs shifted his eyes upwards towards his wife & gave her a kiss good morning, though they'd had their kids with them & between them during the night, being in the same bed as her had been heaven! He came out of the kiss & smiled at his wife before speaking again to the room "so, did everyone have a good night & morning?"

"uh huh" Nix nodded "the morning was especially fun!"

Gibbs pulled himself further up & backwards enough to lean against the couch, once he'd done that he reached his hand out to ruffle his son's hair "it was indeed" he smiled as he brought him into his chest. Reaching for his girl he pulled her closer too "this battle you may have won, but the war is far from over" he finished in a smirk as he smiled at his gorgeous wife.

"Yes well, for now we'll bask in this battle win" Shannon smirked back, she saw that both her kids were grinning at her & grinned in unison.

"Enjoy it now" Gibbs chuckled, he knew the next battle he'd win, that was certain!

Shannon just smiled, she was already looking forward to the next one, but knew it would have to wait until his shoulder was better. "right, breakfast is in order I think, what does everyone want?"

"Choc chip pancakes with maple syrup" Nix called

"Cheese & bacon omelette" Kelly called.

"What about…" Gibbs considered it… hmm.. "plain pancakes with scrambled eggs & candied bacon rashers" he finished with a grin towards his wife, he managed to get both his kids requests into the same dish, kind of.

"Only if I get extra candied bacon rashers" Shannon smirked, while her husband was not good in the kitchen, she had to admit his bacon rashers were amazing! Though he usually made them at the fireplace.

"We've got 3 packs of the stuff" Gibbs replied, he knew what Shannon was getting at & was looking forward to it.

"Awesome!" Nix grinned

"Sounds good to me" Kelly added

"Ok" Shannon nodded "dad & I will make breakfast, why don't you two go see Buster & get his breakfast sorted, I think breakfast in PJ's & a movie is in order" she finished with a smile. She knew they could go out & do something, but staying in & relaxing as a family was probably more up the alley for reconnecting as a family.

Kelly smiled, this meant a lazy morning in & that was such a blissful idea "sounds good"

Gibbs watched as their kids headed for the backdoor as he followed his wife, he used to do the bacon rashers in a pan & on the fireplace, for now the stove top will have to do. As he pulled out the required pans for himself & his wife he saw her getting all the ingredients out of the fridge. "Your gonna have to share the stove, you realise that"

Shannon eyed him "yes well, for now I will have to compromise I suppose, but do not get comfortable. The stove top is mine!" she finished with a smirk.

"Would never take the thing off you babe, I hardly know what to do with it" Gibbs finished in a laugh.

"That's for sure!" Shannon muttered to herself as she measured out the flour for the pancakes, until.. "Jethro!" she exclaimed with a laugh, he'd grabbed her around the waist & turned them away from the bench she had been facing, resulting in the flour being released all across the kitchen.

Gibbs chuckled as he spun her around the entire way, cooking side by side with his wife was amazing! He'd have to forgo some of his fireplace cooking in future, because this was going to be far too enjoyable to give up, he'd definitely be doing this more often!

Kelly laughed "you already asked that dad!"

"No, I asked if the lady had black hair, what I asked before is if the lady had dark hair, that includes browns" Gibbs countered.

"What a waste of question" Kelly remarked, why would you waste a question on that?

"It separated the brown & black haired ones from the blonde, white & red haired ones" Gibbs answered "who's playing this round anyway?" his kids just weren't letting up on their running commentary.

Nix shared a look with his sister before answering "you & mum, but neither are doing very well" he finished with a grin.

"Phoenix!" Shannon exclaimed with a laugh

Gibbs leaned over & wrapping his arm around his son's waist which was ever present as he was lying on his stomach to his right hand side at a 45deg angle "come 'ere you!" he laughed. Pulling him into his lap he looked down at his boy "you think it's funny do you?" he asked doing his best to keep a straight face but not succeeding entirely.

Nix looked up at his dad & grinned "uh huh"

Gibbs flashed a look up to his wife who was smiling as she watched the interaction, he then got an idea & looking back down at his boy he smiled "then I guess you don't need to watch anymore"

Kelly wasn't sure what her dad was getting at until… she burst out laughing, her dad had flung him over his good shoulder, so typical of him she thought, her brother was yet again dangling on her dad, only this time he was literarily over his shoulder.

"Dad!" Nix yelped, he just felt himself get swung up & over his dad's shoulder & he wasn't coming off..

"You seem to have trouble keeping your mouth in check, so maybe not being able to see what's going will help you with that" Gibbs finished in a chuckle, as he made sure to have a good hold of his boy.

Shannon did her best to hold in her laugh, but a small one got out none the less "that's a good idea Jethro, it might help" she'd often dreamed & wondered about the interactions the pair of them would have with each other & to see it was just too special.

Gibbs grinned at his wife's remark loving that she was clearly loving what he had done.

Nix laughed but then he realised his dad wasn't letting him down "let me down dad!"

Gibbs playfully & very gently swatted the bottom that was ever present on his shoulder "shush young man, you're staying put until mum & I done with our game" he then shifted his gaze to his girl "and I'd keep that trap shut too unless you want a similar fate missy!"

Kelly was confused "how's that possible? You can't exactly get me over your other shoulder" she finished in a smirk.

Shannon saw her husband was going to say something, but she had an even better idea, she grabbed her girl around her waist, much like her husband did with her boy but instead of putting her over her shoulder she brought her across her lap facing downwards.

"Mum!" Kelly yelped in utter surprise, since when did her mum do this?

"Dad may not be able to have you over his shoulder, but I think this will suffice" Shannon chuckled and finished with a grin up to her husband.

Nix could only wonder his mum had done to his sister, he tried wriggling but it was no use his dad him well & truly secured. He couldn't say he wasn't enjoying this, because he was, the day so far had been heaps of fun, this included! "I'm just going to start playing my drum set" he giggled as he started using his hands to gently taps a beat on his dad's back.

Kelly knew instantly what her brother was doing & she had perfect aim on her mum's feet, she too began tapping the feet to a beat "drums are cool" she playfully added

Gibbs shared a smile with his wife, he knew they could both feel the taps their kids were making & knew exactly how to reply, they both started tapping their own beats on their kids bottoms, gently of course "you're right, drums are fun" he chuckled.

"Absolutely fun" Shannon chuckled as well as she heard both of the kids emanate yelps of surprise.

Kelly tried to get away from her mum & ended up rolling off her lap, she landed smack bang in the middle of the game & in front of her dad, she saw that her dad was now struggling to keep a hold of her brother & the next thing she knew she had a pile of Nix lying on top of her! "omphf!" she groaned

"Omphf!" Nix groaned he finally managed to get out of his dad's grasp only to end up lying on top of his sister.

Shannon looked down at her kids who were now on top of each other, as well as the game "was this how the pair you wanted our game to go?" she asked with a smile & a small chuckle, she saw that her husband was also chuckling at how they all had ended up at this point.

"At least neither of you lost" Nix laughed

Gibbs & Shannon shared a look of amazement, the cheek! They didn't waste a moment though, they dove straight back in & started tickling the pair of them as they laughed. Gibbs was absolutely loving their day off!

"Thank you for bringing lunch Mikey" Shannon remarked as she led the boys into the living room.

"No problem Mrs G, it was on the way" Mike replied, the sight of the living room was something else entirely. There were 2 mattresses on the floor, the couches had to have been moved further apart & though the beds? seem to have been made, they weren't very neat & there was, wait, was that a game, was it Guess Who? that was strewn over the top of the blankets, it looked like it had been, well he wasn't sure but the pieces were all out of place & all over the blankets. What the? He flashed a look at his brother in a silent question, the reply he got was a mere shrug.

Kelly came out of the bathroom & lit up "hi" she greeted the pair as she moved closer to them.

"Hey KAGy" Myles greeted

"Hey" Mike smiled, as he closed the distance, he was surprised when she came in for a kiss, but he returned it none the less.

Kelly came out of the kiss & leaned her forehead against his "hey"

"Hey" Mike smiled again, it was so good to see her again.

"Let's get the table set, Kelly why don't you get your dad & Nix from the yard" Shannon suggested

Before Kelly could make a move the door opened & in they walked, with Buster in tow.

"Mike! Myles!" Nix greeted excitedly, the day had been totally awesome & now with the boys here it would just get better!

"Hey squirt" Mike & Myles both greeted with a smile.

Gibbs watched as these two boys each high fived his son, as he did he couldn't help but let out an internal sigh, he knew to expect them, he knew they were coming over but he had been loving the day, just him & his family having fun around the house, was it too much to hope that it would have lasted a little longer? He also knew that they were heading over to his place, their home as far as he was concerned. He really wanted it to have been just him & his family, but his wife had requested that they do it with the boys too, he tried to say he just wanted it as them, but she had that look that said her request wasn't quite one, it was how she always worded her 'do this or else mister' requests, she really wanted them with them. He wasn't sure why she had been so insistent, but he could never say no to her, he'd just have to suck it up. He would take solace in the fact that he was finally taking them home, and he couldn't wait!

A/N: I believe they've all had a fun day so far! But a trip back home is up next & that's certain to be filled with much angst, laughter, pain & love.

I have a lot to go with this story/timeline & I will continue writing but with Discovering Kin at a crucial juncture I am also concentrating on that, so please bare with me. Also your reviews, not only keeps me inspired & brings a smile to my face, but they let me know that you're enjoying this story, so pleas review & let me know you want more! reviews = chapters folks!

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