Chapitre Cinq: Papa Gibbs
At 5h00, Gibbs woke up and took a shower. When he got out, he heard moving around in Izzy's room and decided to check on her.
When he opened the door, he saw that she was sitting on the floor, playing with a couple of the dolls he brought for her.
"What are you doing up already?" He asked her.
"I couldn't sleep no more." She told him honestly.
"Did you sleep at all?" Gibbs asked her, she looked exhausted.
Izzy shrugged.
"Are you hungry sweetie?" He asked her, "I could make you some pancakes if you want."
She grinned. "Ok! I love pancakes!"
Gibbs laughed and went into the kitchen. He found half a box of buttermilk pancake mix and cooked some up.
"Mmm what's that smell?" Abby asked, coming into the kitchen.
"I'm making pancakes." Gibbs told her, turning around and kissing her. "Mornin' Babe"
"What a nice thing to wake up to in the morning." Abby smiled. "I'm going to go get ready, ok? I'll be fast."
He nodded. "Be very fast, these will be ready in a few minutes."
"Ok," she said, and ran off.
By the time they had everyone dressed and fed, it was almost 07h00.
"I told everyone to be at work at 06h00." Gibbs laughed.
"Ah so what? You're the boss; you're allowed to be late." She smiled as she buckled Izzy into the back seat.
They had packed the diaper bag with everything they would need for the day, including some toys for Isabelle. Abby suggesting borrowing Tony's portable DVD player and renting a movie, but Gibbs pointed out that they didn't have time to rent a movie. Plus, Tony is way to overprotective of his DVD player.
Abby had to go down to her lab, so Gibbs put the diaper bag over his shoulder and in one hand carried Liam (in his car seat) while the other hand was holding Izzy's hand.
"Gibbs, you look just like a home wrecker." Ziva told Gibbs with a smile.
"You mean homemaker, Ziva." McGee corrected.
Gibbs glared at all of them. He set Liam down on his desk. Liam's eyes were open wide and he was looking all around the room. Izzy was looking down at her shoes. She was still shy around a big group of people.
"Ok boss, I have some good news, and some really bad news." Tony told him, hanging up his phone. "Which do you want first?"
"DiNozzo." Gibbs said warningly.
"Good news it is. We found Darren Kaelak. He's on his way here now."
"Are you serious DiNozzo? Who caught him? How?"
"He was in a car crash last night. We're pretty sure he did it on purpose though… The people in the other car... They died. Both the mother and the father. The six year old boy is living with his aunt now, who is willing to take him on full time."
"This is the bad news I take it?" Gibb asked.
"Yes, but there's more." Tony looked down.
"Well? What is it?"
"The people in the car, the ones that died, they were Mark and his wife, Susan." He said this really quietly, and Izzy, who was trying to get her toys out of the diaper bag, didn't notice.
"Mark. Mark…?" He gestured at Izzy behind her back.
Tony nodded slowly.
"Oh." Gibbs looked sad.
Ziva and McGee, catching on to what Tony was talking about, looked down at the ground solemnly.
"Next of kin?" Gibbs asked Tony.
He just shook his head. "No one. No Aunts or Uncles, grandparents all dead."
Gibbs looked over at Izzy who was sitting at his desk colouring a picture. 'What are we going to do?' He thought to himself.
Just then Izzy feel to the ground. She began to convulsive and Gibbs tried not to panic.
"Get her head Jethro!" Ducky yelled, coming through the elevator at a perfect time.
Gibbs did as he was told.
Ducky ran over to them. Izzy continued to convulsive violently.
In less then a minute it was all over. Ducky helped Izzy sit up.
"Sweetie, are you ok?" Gibbs asked her, concerned.
"I-I think so." Izzy said slowly. "W-where am I?"
"You're at NCIS, do you remember coming here?" Gibbs asked her.
She nodded. "Yes, I remember now."
"Jethro, we really need that tox screen to come back. Has Abigail run it yet?"
"I don't know. But I'm going to go check right now."
"Take Isabelle with you. Carry her, Jethro. And make her rest on Abigail's futon she keeps in her lab. Make sure she stays on her side. Does your head hurt Isabelle?"
She shook her head.
"If it starts to hurt, you tell Abigail to call me. I think I have some children's aspirin somewhere."
Gibbs carried Izzy down to Abby's lab.
"Hey Jethro." Abby greeted, "Hey Izzy."
"Abbs, Izzy just had a seizure." Gibbs told her, straight out.
Abby looked shocked.
"Can she rest in here on your futon?"
"Of course she can, it's right over here." Abby pulled it out and Gibbs laid Izzy down on it.
"Here, Izzy." Abby handed her Bert. "This is Bert. He always makes me feel better."
Izzy took him and said, "Thank you." She then squeezed him and was shocked by the noise he made.
Abby laughed. "He farts when you squeeze him. Isn't that awesome?"
Izzy laughed.
"Abbs, have you ran the tox screen yet?"
"It's running Jethro." She told him. "But it's probably going to take a while yet."
"Call me as soon as it's done." He told her.
He left and went back to work.
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"Hey Boss, what's going to happen to Izzy and Liam?" McGee asked.
"Child Services will come and place them in a foster home." Tony said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I'd hate to see those poor children put into foster care." McGee said sadly.
"What else can we do though?" Tony asked him.
Gibbs said nothing.
"I don't know. Nothing I guess." McGee responded to Tony's question.
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Jenny was sitting at her desk, talking on the phone, when her door burst open. "I'll have to call you back, Mr. Didel. Goodbye." She hung up the phone. "Jethro, what are you doing here?"
"We have a problem." He told her.
"I know," She sighed, "You're here about Mark aren't you?"
Gibbs nodded.
"No next of kin?"
Gibbs shook his head.
"Ok. I'll call up a foster home and get them placed immediately." Jen told him.
"No. Jen, you can't."
"Why not?"
"You can't do that to them. They've been through enough. They need a family, a real family."
"What are you suggesting Jethro?"
He took a deep breath. "I want to adopt them."
"Jethro, you're kidding."
"No, I'm not. I can't let them live like that. I'm prepared to take them in."
"Jethro…"
"Jen, I'm serious. Abby and I are getting married in a few months. I have a spare bedroom. We can be their family. I love them both, and I'm sure Abby does to. Please Jen, let us adopt them."
"Have you talked to your finance about this Jethro?"
"No. Not yet."
"Why don't you go talk to her, and I'll see what I can do. Ok?"
"Thank you." He left without another word.
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"Abbs, we need to talk." Gibbs yelled, running down into her lab.
"Jethro! Shh, I just got Liam to sleep!" Abby whispered-yelled at him.
"Sorry, but I need to talk to you."
"What about?"
"About the kids."
"What's wrong with them?"
"Izzy's father died in a car crash last night."
"No. You're not serious."
He nodded.
"That's horrible!"
He nodded again. "But that's not the worst part. Neither of them have any next of kin."
"Jethro, I know what you're thinking, but we can't!"
"Why not Abbs? I can't let them go to a foster home; they've been through to much already."
"But Jethro, we don't have the money, or the time, or the room for two kids! Do you have any idea how much of a responsibility two children are?"
"Abbs, I was a father you know."
"I know, I'm sorry, Jethro. But still…"
"Still what? I have money saved away. We don't need a big wedding, do we? I have the spare bedroom. Liam can sleep in our room with us until he is sleeping through the night, then we can put him in with Izzy. I'm sure we'll be able to take the kids' stuff from their house."
"Jethro, you really thought this out didn't you?" She said quietly.
"Abbs, ever since… Ever since Kelly died, I've always wanted children. Please, let's take these kids in."
She smiled and shook her head. "Ok. Ok Jethro, let's adopt them."
"Thank you so much." He pulled her in for a kiss. "I love you, baby"
"I know you do." She laughed. "Wow, I'm going to be a mother."
He smiled and kissed her again. "I have to go make the final arrangements with Jen, and I also want to talk to Izzy about it."
"Are you going to tell her about her father?"
"I guess I'm going to have to, aren't I?"
She nodded.
"Where is Izzy?" Gibbs asked.
"She woke up about twenty minutes ago, and Tony took her upstairs with him."
Gibbs nodded and left.
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In the bullpen, Izzy was sitting on Tony's lap, wearing his NCIS cap.
"Izzy, I need to talk to you." Gibbs said, coming into the bullpen.
"What is it boss? Are you… are you going to tell her?" Tony asked.
"Yes." Is all Gibbs told him, lifting Izzy off Tony's lap and sitting down at his chair. "Izzy, I have something I need to tell you. It's very sad."
"What happened?" Izzy asked him concerned.
"Your daddy was in a car crash, sweetie. He didn't make it. He went off to the same place your mommy did." He explained slowly
Her eyes started to tear, but she didn't say anything, just looked at Gibbs with those 'make it better' eyes. Gibbs felt horrible.
"But I'm sure he's in a better place now; Up in heaven with your mom."
Still nothing from Izzy, but the tears started to fall down her cheeks.
"But sweetie, me and Abby want you and Liam to come live with us. We want to adopt you; do you know what that means?"
She nodded. "I-it means you're going to be my-my new daddy, right?"
Tony, McGee and Ziva just started at him in shock.
Gibbs nodded. "And Abby is going to be your new mommy. We could never replace your old mommy and daddy, but we love you, and we're going to take really good care of you. Does that sound ok to you?"
Izzy smiled a little bit and nodded.
"Good," Gibbs said, kissing the top of her head.
"Well, Jethro, it looks like you're going to make a great daddy." Jenny said from the MTAC stairs. "I'll get the paperwork immediately."
Gibbs smiled, "Thank you Jenny."
"You are going to adopt Isabelle and Liam?" Tony asked in shock.
"Yes, do you have a problem with that, DiNozzo?"
Tony shook his head, "Of course not, I just can't see you, or Abby for that matter, as parents."
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