Gibbs was beginning to get worried. Very worried, although he knew most of that worry was unfounded. The feeling was strange and unusual for him as the marine was usually stoic and unused to feeling such strong emotions, or at leastl he used to be, until 1.5 years ago when the object of the large majority of his worry was born. His son. That was now one of the main emotions Jethro felt, when thinking of his son. Although of course the very main emotion he felt towads his baby was love, overwhelming unconditional love that often threatened to burst his heart at any moment whenever he looked into the sparkling glee filled eyes of his son, but worry was right up there too. After all his boy did get in more than a few situations that caused worry to spike through his heart. First it had been worry over whether his boy would even survive, as he clung perilously to life. Then he worried constantly if his son was safe when they brought him home. Terrified that he would turn his back and Tony would be gone. And then it had been the unexpectadley high fever Tony had spiked at 6 months – when he and Shannon had been on their first date night since he had been born of course. It had turned out to be nothing more than a cold, but it still left both the young parents with more than a little fear for their childs health. And, now the father was worried about Tony's development, due to the fact he still hadn't started walking yet and he was almost 18 months old. He knew the boy was way past the normal start age (per the many parenting and child development books he had read) and no matter how many times the man was reassured by his sons Dr that slightly slow development was a side effect of his prematurity he was still terrified that his sons late walking would mean he may have more serious developmental delays. In his mind Tony had already suffered enough and he couldn't stand the thought of his son having even more difficulties in his life although he knew nothing could ever change the way he felt about the boy. It wouldn't be the only complication of his little boys dramatic early arrival either , as Tony suffered with what looked like athsma ( although it was too early for a conclusive diagnosis) as a result along with both nut and egg allergies. He was just beginning to run all the worst case scenarios of Tony's health in his mind ( a pessimistic habit he had always had and that Shannon had always hated as it contradicted her more sunny optimistic nature), when a soft cry from his boys nursery startled him from his increasingly darkening thoughts.

He smiled softly before making his way from the cosy living room couch to the room were the sound was coming from- his sons room. He knew exactly what this specific cry meant, having become very used to Tonys various sobs, easily being able to differenterate his tired, hungry and needing a diaper change crys, and this one was definitely a cry demanding feeding. That was the one both him and Shannon were most used to as it seemed the baby was constantly hungry, wanting feeding even in the night still even though it was a habit most babies his age had long since grown out of. Neither of the couple was complaining however at the late night awakenings (well not too much) as his constant eating meant tony was gradually beginning to creep up on his peers in size. Although the boy was still in 9-12 month clothing and by far the smallest in the mother and tot group he and Shannon (and sometimes even Gibbs) went to, the difference was becoming less and less obvious. He only hoped the boy would grow out of the habit by the time he was a teenager or he would eat his parents out of house and home. Gibbs entered the Childs room pausing to look at the pitiful frown on his sons face, greeting it with a happy smile before reaching into the crib and lifting his son out. His heart warming at the smile that appeared on his sons face as he saw his daddy. "Da, Da" the baby cooed, the sweet words filling the marine with love as it always did since the day 2 months ago when tony had firstr uttered them. His mind immediately jumping back to that day.

2 months earlier

Gibbs smiled as he felt Shannons hand tighten around his as they sat in the mopvie theatre together, on a date for only the second time since Tony's birth, the first ending in tony being rushed to the hospital as his fever spiked to 104 degrees. He shook the unwelcome memories from his mind and focused back on the film playing out in front of them. They were watching; paranormal activity per Shannons request, although he had no idea why she always chose horrors as she always ended up scared stiff and swearing she would never watch another scary film again (a vow that never lasted as she could never resist the newest and scariest film on the market). Maybe the terrified state she was in was a good thing though this time he mused as it certainly took their child who that they had left at home that night of her mind. And although he was in the safe care of his granddaddy (and second favourite man on the planet) he knew Shan was more than a little worried about leaving him with him having to practically drag her away from the child a couple of hours before. Not without good reason though as although gibbs worked and had therefore been away from the boy many times already, Shannon left him much less frequently and thus she was very anxious. Though she had now finally begun to relax and enjoy the film. Before he realised it his daydreaming meant that he missed most of the film only becoming aware of his surroung again when the films credits began to roll and the crowd of people in the cinema began to disperse to the cold night outside. He nodded eagerly at his wifes suggestion of dinner at the local pizza parlour (which was his favourite place to eat) and linked hands with hers inside the booth, thoughts of anything other than each other the furthest thing from either of their minds.

When they arrived home 2 hours later after a delicious meal (pasta carbonara for him and a sausage onion and extra cheese pizza for Shan) they were greeted at the door by his old man and a giggly smiley baby. "What are you still doing up baby" the mother asked the baby taking him from his granddads arms. "Well the little tyke has something to show you don't you" the elder man said smiling at Tony. Who then laughed as if he understood what was going on before reaching out towards Gibbs and shouting the words he had been waiting to hear nice his son started saying mama 3 weeks prior. "Dada" the baby giggled before being scooped into Gibbs arms and hugged mercilessly. "Yeah that's right, "Gibbs whispered, "I am your daddy".

Present

The happy thoughts of that day cheered the marine up significantly and as he fed the baby in his arms he realised that worrying over what might happen to Tony in the future was a stupid waste of his energy. Instead he should be focusing on what his baby could do and not what he couldn't. With that on his mind he grabbed the young boy and began making his way down the steps that led to his basement – and his latest project. The basement housed the bare bones of the boat he had just begun to build and he laughed at the babies excitement at seeing what was basically just a piece of wood at the moment. He placed the baby on his workbench a careful distance from any dangers and housed safely in his bouncy seat and smiled as he began to sand the wood with careful deliberate strokes. He was certain he would spend many more days down here with nothing but the boat and his son for company ( and hopefully in the future a couple more children too) and he grinned at the thought. He knew the boat, his son and hopefully his family would grow together throughout the next few months and years and he again criticized himself for his earlier dark thoughts. He should have known by now his son never did anything by the normal or usual schedule – his early birth the prime example- and wasting time dwelling on this was a waste of the time he could spend making memories with tony and Shannon. He was sure the boy would get there in the end anyway and if he didn't Jethro would still love him with all of his heart anyway.

TBC

AN I am so sorry for such a long gap between updates ( a combination of writers block and a lot of GCSE exams) but I am now on a six week holiday from school and so should have a large amount of time to right.. please read and review and feel free to leave any suggestions of future chapters ( this would be greatly appreciated). Hope you enjoy!