Disclaimer: Same as Ch. 2
Ch. 3
Gabriella wakes up to see her Daddy sitting on the end of her bed. She had heard him call her name. She realizes that it is still nighttime due to the fact that the room is still really dark. She is unsure as to why her Daddy would wake her up in the middle of the night. This scares Gabriella a bit.
"What's going on?" she asks her father.
"I have something to tell you, sweetie. I think maybe we should go into the family room though," Tony says to his daughter. He gave his daughter his hand to help her out of bed. He notices that Gabriella looks puzzled. He can't blame her one bit.
Gabriella gets out of bed and follows Tony out of her bedroom. Her confusion seems to multiply when she seen Jethro, Ziva and Tim. She knows this can't be good if they're there as well as it being the middle of the night. She has a feeling that her life is about to change forever. She just doesn't know how true that really is.
Tony leads his daughter over to the leather couch. They both sit daown. He pulls her in his arms, knowing that as soon as he tells her, she will need his comfort. "Gabriella, I got a call a little while ago. I have some really bad news for you. Your Mom was in a car accident. She was killed pretty much instantaneously," Tony tells her figuring the direct approach would probably be the best way to do this.
Gabriella immediately burst into tears. She hadn't been expectting this at all. She'd just seen her mother a few hours before and now Jeanne was dead. Gabriella doesn't know what will happen to her. Jeanne had never told her that she had made Tony her guardian in case something should happen to her. After all, Jeanne had never really expected anything to happen. Putting it in her will had just been a precaution in case something should happen.
Jethro heads over to the couch and sits on the other side of Gabriella and puts his arms around her as well. Tony throws him a grateful look over Gabriella's head. Tony is glad that the two of them have such a great support system. Tim and Ziva are kneeling in front of them trying to help. Gabriella is feeling as though her entire world has come crashing down around her. She'd spent most of her life not even knowing her father. Having met him was the best thing that had ever happened to her in spite of the way it had happened.
Abby soon arrives. She had had to arrange a sitter for Fiona and Natalie before she could come. Gabriella barely notices her arrival in her state. She's not quite at hysteria level, but it is pretty close. Ziva quietly goes into the bathroom and grabs some Kleenex. Tony gives her a grateful nod. He hadn't even managed to consider that as of yet.
After what seems like hours, Gabriella finally calms down. In all actuality, it had only been about fifteen minutes. Everyone else had just been doing their best to comfort the young girl. Losing you Mum at such a young age couldn't be easy. Ziva could empathize with the young girl. Her mother had died when she was nine. That had been really hard for her to deal with. She knows that at least Tony wouldn't be like her dad. Having cut off contact with Eli several years ago, Ziva is glad that as far as anyone can see, there is no reason for Gabriella and her Dad to end up like that.
"How ya doin' Kiddo?" Jethro asked her. He's glad that she is no longer sobbing quite as hard as she had been. It reminded him too much of Kelly.
"Not so good Uncle Gibbs," Gabriella said honestly. Under ordinary circumstances, Jethro would have been thrilled to hear her call him that. She had been doing it practically since the day he had rescued her from her kidnappers. They had become close. He is now like a surrogate grandfather to the girl.
Gibbs simply continues soothing the young girl. He wouldn't wish this sort of pain on anyone, especially a child.
After an hour, Gabriella is willing to go back to bed as long as her bedroom door will be left open and the hallway light left on. Tony is more than willing to do that. He knows that he'll be checking on her several times in the next few hours. He will now become a full time dad. That is a heady responsibility. In addition to that, he will have to help her through her grief at the death of her mother.
Finally, Tony realizes that he needs to call Jeanne's mother, which he does. She is as devastated as Gabriella. Tony informs the woman that he will handle the arrangements from here if that is what she wants. Jeanne had a life insurance policy that would pay for the funeral and the rest along with whatever money Jeanne had left would go into a trust for Gabriella. She would get the money when she turned 26.
TBC