A/N: I know its been a very long time, so to those still with me, thank you for waiting! I had an extremely busy & emotionally draining beginning to 2018 & to add to that I've had my first case of writers block, which I'm trying to work through. This is a short chapter, but I wanted to get something up and get myself going again.

So enjoy this short filler chapter..

"Buster! Come 'ere boy" Nix beckoned his beloved dog, he patted him when he arrived "Buster, this is Mike. Mike this Buster, you met over Skype"

Mike crouched down & smiled "Hello Buster, nice to finally meet you in person"

"Whoof!" Buster barked happily

Mike patted him but looked at Kelly "how'd he go after his cold? His coat looks pretty good & I'm not feeling any straining with his breathing" he finished as he held his hand over the pup's chest.

Kelly smiled "I think he recovered pretty well" she saw some odd looks from her parents & Myles "he caught a cold not long after getting here, had to give him some slightly different feed that gave him extra nutrients, and did some breathing inhalation with him"

"We did that together" Nix added for good measure.

Shannon shared a look with her husband, they did breathing inhalation together? "You did inhalation with Buster?"

"I had gotten a cold too, made sense" Nix answered

Kelly felt her both her parents looking at her "what? He had a slight cold, and when you see the photos, you'll agree it was pretty cute & funny" she shared a smile with her brother "I'm hungry, let's eat"

"What is for lunch?" Nix queried

"Pizza" Myles answered

"2 meat lovers, a vegetarian, a spicy chicken, a bacon club special & a breakfast supreme, more than enough for all of us" Mike added

Gibbs eyes widened, they'd bought 6 pizzas? Really? That would feed them twice over at least!

"And tell me Michael, what did you & Myles have for breakfast?" Shannon queried, an order that size meant the boys were hungry.. very hungry!

"Ahh…" Mike swallowed "coffee and a biscuit"

"When will you boys learn to actually eat a meal before you get to the stage where you are beyond hungry?" Shannon asked with a raised eyebrow but a smile.

"Not sure, we've tried learning that for a while" Myles chuckled

"And Keeps hadn't had the chance to go shopping before we ended up on his couches" Mike added for good measure and a smile.

"You boys are all alike!" Shannon smiled "we better eat then, all of your go wash your hands whilst we get the plates and drinks"

Gibbs watched as the quartet headed for the bathroom before he followed his wife into the kitchen, he used the moment of alone time to pull her into his hold "guess that was too good to last"

Shannon sighed as she rested back against his chest, she raised a hand & caressed his check with her left hand as her right rubbed his hand that was around her waist "it was a lovely morning darling & we'll have many more of those to come, a great many that I can't wait for! But we're still in for a nice afternoon, I know that even though I'm nervous about going home, I really cannot wait." she turned in his hold to look him in the eye "I used to lie awake at night and imagine walking in the front door, the TV would be on but no one was watching it, I'd follow the trail of toys, books, basic destruction all the way through the dining & kitchen, open the door to the basement & find all three of you down there building not a boat, but a catapult & crossbow for water balloons!"

Gibbs was looking right into soul, to hear she was looking forward to going home, was beyond wonderful & to have her call it home was just so special! As he listened though, his smile grew & grew and he couldn't help to let out a laugh at what she'd said she would find, sounded awesome to him! "I really think that's it a great idea! I mean summer is coming" he finished with a grin.

Shannon couldn't help but chuckle as she rested her hand on his chest before she lifted her head and looked at him "ok, but only if you make good on that project you promised me" she finished with a smile, she hoped he remembered.

Gibbs gave her a smile, he definitely remembered "I'll have that made in no time" he leaned in & continued in nothing more than whisper into her ear "and then we'll be in there & enjoying it together Mrs Gibbs"

"I look forward to it Mr Gibbs" Shannon replied just as quietly. She shifted her gaze and saw the kids all heading back in, it was time for lunch and then, well then, they'd be headed home and she knew her excitement and nerves would probably go toe to toe with each other and she'd be a wreak, but she did want to do it.

Gibbs had to admit to himself that lunch had been an interesting experience, aside from the fact that there was barely anything left of the 6 pizzas from lunch, he knew he could put food away when he was hungry, but apparently, these Bond boys could too & then some! He'd paid special attention to the two boys and how they interacted with not only his children, but his wife too. They seemed to be extremely relaxed in their interactions with them, they only really tensed if he directed questions towards them, especially Mike, and not that he wanted to admit it, but they weren't all that bad. But he would NOT be telling anyone that! This boy was going to have proof himself if he was to remain in Kelly's life, he'd make sure he was good enough for his girl, if it was the last thing he did!

Gibbs had decided that it would be best if they didn't drive right up to his place, he wanted them to walk up, he wanted them to take their time. He hadn't wanted them to park at Ted's place either, he didn't want them seeing it before their own home, that's why he'd made the decision to have them park a block away, they were now walking towards their home. He knew that his family was nervous, his girls more so than his boy, he wondered if that's why they'd gravitated towards him on this walk, whilst his boy was behind him walking with both Mike & Myles.

Gibbs had given a glance back to his boy & he could see that both Mike & Myles were walking right with his son, Mike even had a hand on his son's back. He wished he could split himself into three, but he couldn't and he knew he was even pushing it by not having his arm in the sling right now. He had wanted to make sure he had both arms free to use for this, he had a feeling both of his girls would be needing a lot of comfort & only having one arm free wouldn't work. He'd assured his wife that he would be careful & not make any sudden movements with that arm. It was why he was tightly holding his wife's hand in his own with his injured arm, but had his other arm around his angel. He gave her a peak to her head "It'll be ok my angel" he whispered into her ear.

Gibbs shifted and gazed into his wife's eyes, he could almost feel their souls meeting, he just smiled knowing no words would be needed, he was so happy to finally be going home with his family in tow, so happy that his smile turned into a grin.

Shannon could not only see, but feel her husband's joy at them heading home, it was helping to calm her nerves which were building by every step she took. She had to admit to herself that nothing was looking familiar yet, there were a number of new houses that they were walking past, she knew that soon they'd be getting close to their place.

Mike had to admit, he hadn't been able to relax at all! While Kells, Squirt & even Mrs G had interacted like he was used to, Gibbs had been a whole other matter, the guy hadn't relaxed one bit, sure he smiled & shared in some laughs with his family, but the moment it turned towards him or his brother, he became totally serious & well, he was certainly channelling every bit the Gunnery Sargent he imagined the man to be.

Mike had certainly felt nervous driving the whole family, especially to their real home, and with Gibbs in the front seat directing & not letting him use the Satnav it was even worse! It felt like he was doing his driving test again, except this time the instructor was a Marine DI & it felt a thousand times worse! And in a silent car, barring his direction orders, it was decidedly awkward.

Kelly was really nervous, whilst she was interested to see the place she was really apprehensive about it all. She had a lot of mixed feelings, she was scared to see the insides in case it had it confirmed her worry that her dad had moved on without them. She was also eerily looking forward to seeing if it was like how she remembered, the lounge? the basement? Were they how she remembered? And what about… her room? She'd always had this one image as to how it was, would this confirm she was right or would it totally ruin her memory? She heard her mum give an intake of breath & looked up from the pavement, it was their house! Their home!

Nix was nervous, though he'd never been in the place, he felt weird coming here, he heard about the entire place through stories from both his mum & sister, so he did feel like he knew the place. In the last few moments he'd moved to walk with his family, he was now next to his mum & she had put her arm around him, he was glad for the support. He then heard his mum take a deep breath.

Mike had sensed they were close to the house when he saw Shannon shift ever so slightly closer to Gibbs, he then saw Nix move forward to join the rest of his family. Then he heard it, the intake of breath, he then saw the family shift their line of sight before they veered of the footpath ever so slightly as they headed for the house. He looked at it, it was a 2 storey weatherboard house, it looked fairly worn down, but nothing a coat of paint wouldn't cure. It had a small veranda where the front door was & he could see a garage in the same style next to the main house, but he wasn't sure if it was interconnecting or not. He held himself & his brother back as the family approached, knowing they needed to do this alone as a family.

Shannon couldn't believe it, the place looked exactly the same, well the paint job wasn't fresh, but it was still the same colour. She felt like she was gliding towards the front door, her husband seemed to be pulling them all towards the front door.

Gibbs couldn't help himself, he let his grin grow as wide as he could, he was so happy. He was finally coming home, coming home with his family! Something he hadn't done in over 13 years, it was the first time he'd come home in 13 years and he was truly happy to enter this house, enter his home, his family's home. It was the first time he'd come home and was smiling for it.

A/N: I know you were hoping to see the family enter the home, but I'm not quite there yet, the next chapter will of course have them entering the house.

Reviews are food for my writing soul, so please review away & let me know that you're still with me on this journey. I will be updating DK next and then I'll be updating both as I go, so please bare with me as I work through the final stages of unblocking this writers block.

More coming soon!