A/N: Yay, a release from the writer's block!

As much as I hate to say it, I'm going to have to let you all know that my posting is going to get oven more erratic than it has been; I'm transferring stores at my job, which means moving almost 1400km away (that's around 870 miles for my non-metric friends). So I have a lot to plan and do before leaving Toowoomba.

Anyway, thanks for reading! F.

Troy McGee drove slowly back to the hotel, pondering what he'd seen that day. Abby wasn't the type of woman he'd expected his son to marry. Tim had a penchant for strong, smart women, and while Abby definitely fit those criteria, Troy was surprised by the Goth clothing. At first he'd been worried that Tim had gotten himself into a bad situation, but he'd quickly realised that Abby wasn't your stereotypical Goth. Behind the unconventional clothes and the pallid makeup was a warm and caring person. She was a lot less reserved than Tim, as well as being energetic to the point of hyperactivity. How much she cared for his son was evident every time she looked at him- a look that was matched by Tim's quietly proud smile. No, Abby definitely wasn't what he'd expected- but he had to admit that he liked her.

Now he just had to figure out how to talk Maria around.

...

When he got back to their hotel room, Maria had returned from visiting one of her old college friends and was waiting for him.

"What did you get up to today?" she asked after filling him in on her morning.

"I went and had lunch with Tim...and Abby."

"Oh?" Her tone was one of disinterest, but over thirty years of marriage had enabled him to tell when she was trying to hide something.

He waited a few moments to see if she would say anything else before replying. "They seem very happy."

"That's good."

He got up and went over to her, making her look at him.

"What is it about this marriage that you don't like, Maria?"

"She's all wrong for him, Troy!"

He shook his head. "I disagree. Abby is...unconventional, I'll admit. But she's smart, and funny, and caring, and she loves our boy. And I've never seen Tim so happy. I thought that's what you wanted. So what bothers you really?" When he got no reply, he continued "Tim loves Abby, Maria, and he's angry about how you-we- treated her. He's not going to give her up, and it'd be foolish to try to make him. So if you don't want to fight with our son, you'd better figure out the real reason why you don't like his marriage."

...

Abby moved around her lab later that evening, shutting down her equipment for the night. Some of her seemingly inexhaustible store of energy had deserted her; it had been a strange day, full of explanations and in-laws. She was more than ready to go home and relax with her husband. She couldn't stop herself from smiling at that. Tim was her husband.

Shutting down the computer at her desk, she picked up her coat and lunchbox and turned to leave the lab for the night. She was stopped in her tracks by the sight of Maria McGee waiting in the outer lab, looking around her in interest.

"Mrs McGee?"

"This is where you work? Tim said you were a forensic scientist."

Abby nodded, a little confused. "How did you get down here?"

""Tim's boss, Agent...Gibbs? He brought me down."

"Why?" Abby knew she sounded rude, but she couldn't help herself. Besides, this woman hadn't exactly been welcoming.

"I wanted to talk to you, without Tim or Troy around. To explain..."

Intrigued in spite of herself, Abby sat down on Tim's usual stool and gestured for Maria to take the other one. Maria sat in silence for a moment before beginning.

"When Troy and I were married, we wanted to start a family straight away. We tried for two years without any luck... When I fell pregnant with Tim, it was like a gift. But it was a difficult pregnancy from the beginning. I spotted for the first three months. I was terrified I was going to lose him. The first time I felt him kick, I cried..." She smiled reminiscently. "The doctors put me in hospital two months before he was due -complete bed rest. For two months, I lay in bed and thought about all the things I wanted to do with my child as he or she grew up. Little things, like teaching him to ride a bike, and bigger things, like being there for his college graduation. I've done almost all of them, Abby." She fell quiet again. Abby waited as the silence stretched uncomfortably, fairly certain she knew the answer as to why Maria McGee didn't like her.

"I just wanted to be there at his wedding."