Happy Veterans' Day and a heartfelt thank you for your service!

Chapter Six

Uncles Dave and Jim were manning the grill that night. However, first someone needed to prepare the chicken. After a brief swim, Tim climbed out, shaking his head at Ty and Brynie who offered to help. "Thanks anyway, you two keep swimming."

Charlie stood up, "I'll help, Tim. It will give us time to catch up."

Ellie and Mac offered to watch Eleni and the two cooks took the ATV to the ranch house. Charlie chuckled as they reached the kitchen, "I don't know how much help I'll be, I don't know where anything is!"

Tim smiled, "That's all right, I'll get everything out and then you hand it to me while we talk." He paused, "I'll make a marinade in a big bowl and then bathe the chicken in that, we'll cover it and put in the refrigerator. Then I'll prep potatoes in foil for baking on the coals. And probably make a salad. Let's see, we have 43 at home, I think Pete is still on the road."

"Is that the mover?"

"Yes."

"Mac mentioned he's on the road this week. And Shannon and her husband aren't here."

Tim smiles. "I'm pretty sure they'll be here this evening. Mom doesn't like tent camping and Dad will know something's happening here."

"Shannon's your mother?"

"Yes, nobody told you?"

"Well yes, Mac mentioned you several times; I just didn't connect everything until now. You're the baby that was kidnapped?"

"Yes. I grew up believing my name was Tim McGee and that I was the son of the late Dan and Lily McGee. Do you know how Ty and Brynie came to me?"

"Not the usual way?"

Tim shook his head. "No. When I was in college…" While he worked, he told Charlie the story of his cancer scare and subsequent sperm donation. "Five years ago, two Navy lieutenants were murdered and…" Sue and Deeny's story came next followed by the children coming home with Tim, staying with Gibbs and reviewing the kids' DNA test results.

Charlie listened, his mouth dropping open. "Gibbs, your boss, the guy who sat with you at the hospital, he's your father?" Then he realized that's why the name Gibbs had sounded familiar!

"Yes. And if it weren't for the kids we might never have found out."

"Incredible."

Tim huffed, "One word for it. Ellie adopted Ty and Brynie before we were married; we adopted Lia as an infant, had Mackie, Henry arrived 6 weeks ago from an orphanage in Bacia. He's an American citizen and was evacuated with the other citizens. And we are expecting number 6 in January."

"Wow!"

"Yes. Ellie wanted 6 but said this is her last pregnancy. Henry's a perfect fit. Biologically he's my grandson. His birth parents are both morons. The birth father is biologically my son and about as obnoxious a kid as I've ever encountered. The mother is nearly as bad. Neil, the father, never told his family about Tiffany being pregnant. They had twins and took them to Bacia to adopt them out. Henry's twin sister was adopted by a European couple but poor Henry was abandoned and taken to an orphanage. He's doing very well, ranks at the top of his age group for development. It's evident he was loved and given plenty of attention at the home. We've been in touch with the Catholic nuns who cared for him and with the parents of his twin sister. We've had one Skype call with his twin and her dads, so at least the kids have been introduced, although they were pretty confused about having a sister or brother with different parents. They're planning on visiting here next year; we believe by that time the kids will be a little older and understand better."

"Poor kid! What a way to start, not unlike your story. And you'll have six kids, that's hard to imagine!"

"We're lucky so far, everyone's even tempered and they get along pretty well. Ty and Brynie are best friends, they argue sometimes, might sulk a little but unless they get loud, we let them sort it out. Our friends the Palmers brought baby Ricky home to foster shortly after we brought Lia home. Thankfully, they're best friends and they made instant friends with Henry. And we hope Mackie will be besties with his new brother or sister."

"You still write?"

Tim smiled, "I didn't know you knew that! Yes, Gemcity still publishes, the next book will be out in November. I'm also working on a children's series under a different pseudonym."

"How long have you been here, I mean all of you? Did you evacuate from DC or were you here before?"

"We owned the ranch before but all of us except Pete the mover and Ellie's folks lived in Metro DC. Yes, we evacuated. We had a pre-made shelter installed here and our older folks and those of us with kids flew out and the rest came via caravan with four moving trucks."

"That big caravan? I remember seeing that on the news!"

"Yes, the lead moving van was driven by our friend Pete."

Charlie shook his head and then watched Tim as he put the chicken in the marinade. He'd already cleared space in the refrigerator so the bowl slid right in. Next were the potatoes and salad.

As they worked, the two men talked about Delilah and her escalating problems. Tim had some insights into Delilah's behavior that he shared with Charlie, insights that Ducky had originally theorized. They made Charlie feel both better and worse, sorry he and Carol hadn't tried to be more understanding, had their own counseling or pushed their daughter to get more help. He was also hopeful that if Delilah would agree to more counseling, that she find some peace, all might not be lost.

While Tim hadn't thought about Delilah in years, it still felt good to be able to talk to someone else who understood. And for Charlie, it was a huge help, unburdening his soul to someone who'd known his daughter before and after and who had also suffered from her actions.

When Tim said that his own counselor told him that through Delilah's actions, he too had been a victim of Benham Parsa, Charlie gave into the tears that had been threatening since he drove onto the property, finally acknowledging the truth of that for himself, his wife and his little daughter along with the joy of being part of a family again, of knowing he wasn't alone. Remembering that awful feeling from his childhood, that he had no one in the world to love him, Tim wrapped his arms around him, holding on tightly.

When Ellie and the kids entered the house, with Mackie and Eleni sharing a double stroller and Uncle Jim pushing Lia and Henry in the triple, they found the two men quietly working together on their dinner. While their faces were clean, Ellie could see that they'd both been crying and thought the two were more at ease with each other.

Claire followed Jim into the house and they helped get the littles upstairs to change into dry clothes. Claire carried Eleni while Jim helped Henry, Tyler and Brynie helped Lia and Ellie carried Mackie. Charlie smiled as he watched Tim watch them until they reached the second floor.