Gibbs/Allison Series:

Choosing Between Old & New # 5

By: MChakotayParis (R. Mason)

Chapter 19

Family Cookout III (Finally All Together)

Jack ended up staying almost two weeks and during that time he got to know both Allison and Ali very well. Spending a little time with Allison each morning before she left for work, then just after she got home from work while she waited for Gibbs or Tobias to return home. But most of his time was with Ali at nights and on weekends. The only difficulty was that Auggie and the rest of the team were still a little leerily of spending time with Jack because of his initial reaction to Ali so they didn't come over as much but they tried to make it up to her by seeing her as much as they could during the day. Tony, Tim and Ziva alternated bringing her lunch and spending time with her in the park, while Abby took her bowling on their usual Wednesday nights. Either Ducky or Jimmy checked in with her every other day or so to see how her reading was going sometimes calling or video conferencing. The only one of her family that Ali didn't see at all was Auggie, but she called twice and they talked for a long time.

On Jack's last weekend Ali asked if they could have another family cookout and Gibbs and Tobias called everyone finally convincing them to come and see for themselves how Jack had accepted Ali. It turned out to be Memorial Day weekend so everyone said they would stay the whole weekend since they had Monday off as well.

Saturday turned out to be a very nice, warm day and it was a very excited Ali that was awake by eight o' clock. After fixing breakfast with Jack and Tobias, Ali helped Jack with the household chores while Tobias and Gibbs went to the store to get the meat and supplies for the cookout. By ten o' clock when everyone started showing up the house was clean and Ali was dressed in one of her favorite play sets. It was a dark blue sundress with little red and white stars all over it with matching shorts. To complete the set Ali was wearing dark blue tennis shoes with white crew socks with a row of blue and red lace around the top.

As the first two extended family arrived Ali meet them outside screaming and bouncing wildly as they emerged from their car.

"Ziva, Tony. You came...you came!"

"Hey squirt, how are you doing?" called Tony as he walked towards her then was instantly engulfed in a very excited Ali's arm.

As soon as she let go of Tony she turned to Ziva

"Hello Ktantonet, how are you?" asked Ziva as she was enfolding in Ali's arms.

"I'm good guys...but I missed you" said Ali a little sadly.

"I know sweetheart, and were sorry but we just weren't sure about Jack and wanted to give you time to work things out with him before we came in"

"Well it's all settled now, so come and see please..please" asked Ali as she started to pull the two younger people towards the house.

Inside Gibbs, Tobias and Jack were sitting in the living room and when Ali entered the living room calling "Jack...Jack...look who's here" as he stood to greet the younger agents extending his hand to both.

Both Ziva and Tony stood looking at the older man for a minute then took the offered hand

"Jack" said Tony

"Tony, Ziva" said Jack tensely then watched as the two people dismissed him and turned to Ali

"Hey squirt, how would you like to play catch with us, I can show you a new move I've discovered" said Tony as he looked at Ali

Ali looked at Jack and then at Gibbs with a confused look on her face. She wanted to go and play with Tony and Ziva but she also wanted to spend time with Jack too.

Jack looked at Ali and then with a smile said "Go ahead sweetheart, we can spend time together later"

"Okay Jack, love you!" cried Ali then ran off to follow Tony and Ziva outside.

With a heavy sigh Jack sat back down on the sofa

"Just give it some time Dad, their just very protective of Ali" said Gibbs as he looked at his father, he could tell that Tony and Ziva's reaction had upset him.

By lunchtime everyone but Auggie had arrived and were playing in the backyard when Ali heard Auggie's car pull into their driveway. As she raced through the house everyone smiled at the squeals of delight coming from the women as she ran to the front door and threw it open throwing herself at the older women.

"Auggie, Auggie. You came...you came!"

"Of course sweetheart, you didn't think I'd pass up one of your family cookouts did you?" said Auggie

"Come on...come on Auggie. There's someone I want you to meet" said Ali as she began to drag the older woman into the house and into the living room. She pulled Auggie right up to Jack and stood beside him proudly announcing. "Jack this is Auggie. Auggie this is Jackson Gibbs, Jethro's father"

"It's actually Augustina Chandler, and I'm glad to finally meet you" said Auggie as she held her hand out to the older man.

"Well call me Jack, and I'm glad to meet you too. Ali's told me a lot about you"

At that moment Tobias comes out of the kitchen announcing "Ali lunch is ready, why don't you go upstairs and get cleaned up"

"Auggie would you go with me?" asked Ali as she looked at the older women

"Of course sweetheart, lets go take care of you" said Auggie as she lead the women upstairs.

A few minutes later both Ali and Auggie returned downstairs and everyone sat down at the table to eat lunch. Lunch was a very tense event with small conversations between Ali and each of the members of Gibbs' team members. Ali tried several times to include Jack in conversations with each team member but each conversation was short and tense and finally after a sad look at the older man she just spent the rest of the lunch talking to Ziva, Tony, Tim, Abby and Jimmy.

After lunch was finished and the kitchen cleaned up Ali went upstairs with Gibbs but not before asking Abby, Ziva and Tony to try and talk to Jack while she was asleep. Each promised to try and Ali happily went upstairs thinking the problem would be taken care off.

-NCIS-

Unfortunately by the time Ali woke up at three-fifteen it was obvious to that nothing had been solved. As Ali bounced down the stairs she stopped when she saw the still obvious division between her family. All the older adults were sitting around the living room casually talking with only Gibbs talking to Jack. The younger members of Ali's extended family were all out in the backyard sitting on the patio furniture talking among themselves. With steely determination Ali took a deep breath then marched towards the backyard, sliding the door open with a little more force than she meant.

"Tony, Ziva, Tim, Abby, Jimmy. In here now!" called Ali in her most forceful Allison voice.

"Hey squirt, what's..." started Tony then stopped when she pinned him with her most fierce Allison look and said again.

"Now, inside all of you", then pointed back towards the house.

With a look of puzzlement on all their faces Tony, Ziva, Tim, Abby and Jimmy entered the house and followed Ali into the living room to see Ducky, Auggie, Gibbs, Tobias and Jack sitting on the couches and chairs.

"Sit!" said Ali after a few minutes

"Ali" started Auggie but stopped when she saw the look on Ali's face. With a small smile on her face Auggie sat back and watched as Ali in full blown Allison mode took care of the problem.

"I said sit" repeated Ali as she looked at the younger members of her family and then watched as each of them went to the dining room and got a chair then brought it back into the living room and sat down.

As she survey the faces before her she took a deep breath then began her rant trying to repair the rift in her family.

"I know each of you blame Jack for my recent breakdown and in a way he is to blame, but in a way he's not. It was partially my fault for not contacting him long before the event happened, but I'd gotten so complacent in my relationship with Jethro, Tobias and the rest of you that I didn't think about adding another person"

"Now through lots of understanding and re bonding I have been able to reconnect with each of you and while I treasure that bond I think it is time to add one more. It's time that I added Jethro's father to our little extended family. So after lots of talking and time spent together both Ali and Allison have forgiven Jack. It wasn't done maliciously or out of hate, it was simply the normal reaction of an older man who was raised in a different time and generation and not fully understanding the circumstances"

"Now it's time for all of you to forgive as well, I love you all very much but want to include Jack in our family and I'd hate to have to choose between spending time with you or him" said Ali, then with one more look at her extended family fled out of the living room headed towards the backyard.

As Ali fled Tobias stood and quickly followed her out to the backyard while Gibbs stood and looked at his family.

"Well I think Allison said all that needed to be said, so I'll leave it up to you to work things out. We'll be outside with Ali when you make your minds up" said Gibbs then left to be with his daughter and partner.

As he slid the backdoor open the saw Tobias and Ali both sitting on one of the patio chairs with Ali in Tobias' lap. Her head was on Tobias' chest with her pacifier in her mouth. As Tobias looked up and saw Gibbs he moved his legs off the chair so Gibbs could sit beside them.

"Do you think they'll work it out?" asked Tobias as he looked down at their daughter in his lap then his partner

"I hope so, I'd hate to have to make Ali choose between her extended family and Jack" said Gibbs with a sigh.

After that both men just sat, waiting for their extended family to decide what they were going to do. Tobias rocked Ali in lap with Gibbs gently rubbed her back.

Back in the living room everyone sat stunned until they heard a soft chuckle coming from Auggie.

"Auggie, did you know she was going to do that?" asked Ducky as he smiled at the older women.

"No, but I'm not surprised. Ali has obviously forgiven him so she doesn't see any reason why you guys shouldn't as well, and when you obviously haven't Allison took over and in her own way told you all off. So now as she said it's up to you, do you make Ali choose between her extended family and her new grandpa or let her have the family she's always wanted"

"I take it you have forgiven me for my part in the incident?" asked Jack as he looked at the older women

"I forgave you a long time ago Jackson when I saw how upset you were while you waited for Ali to call you. No one who thought of Ali as a freak would be that upset by what happened to her after you left"

"Thank you Auggie, that means a lot to me. I know how special you are to Ali and Allison both"

"Well since Ali has forgiven you I guess we should as well. Welcome to the family Jack" said Abby as she stood and walked over pulling the older man into a hug.

After that each of the other members of Ali's extended family walked over and either shook Jack's hand or gave him a hug.

"So now what do we do?" asked Tony as he stood looking nervously around, he hated knowing that he had been any part of causing Ali to get upset and worried that Gibbs might punish them for their part in it.

"Now I suggest we go find Ali and apologize to her and Jethro too. Ali wasn't the only one we were making choose between old & new family you know" reminded Auggie as she stood, walking over to Jack and took him by the arm leading him out to the backyard.

As the others followed Auggie and Jack out to the backyard, they all saw the small family sitting on one of the patio lounge chairs. Ali was sitting in Tobias' lap with Gibbs close beside them both rubbing her back, Ali was leaning against Tobias' chest with a pacifier in her mouth.

As Tobias heard the sliding door open he leaned down and whispered in Ali's ear "There here princess, are you ready?"

At Ali's slight nod Tobias loosen his grip on her but continued to hold her in his arms, shielding her from whatever was coming. He hoped that their extended family would except Jack into their family but if not they would deal with just like they all ways had, together as a family.

Abby, Tony, Ziva, Tim and Jimmy stopped in front of Ali, Tobias and Gibbs with the older members right behind them.

"Ali sweetheart, were really sorry for everything we've put you through. You too Gibbs, we didn't mean to have to make you choose between us and Jack. If you'd let us we'd like to make it up to you somehow, your choice you just tell us what you want and we'll do it" said Abby as she looked at the women in Tobias' lap, she looked so sad but as she looked at the extended members of her family her face broke out in a small and she was instantly off of Tobias' lap and throwing herself at the younger woman

"Really Abby, really. You all mean it..." asked Ali as she looked over Abby's shoulder at her brothers and sister. She could tell in their faces that they meant it and after that she was throwing herself at each person then going quickly to the next.

After she made her rounds, hugging all of her extended family, she stopped when she saw Auggie and Jack standing together. "Auggie I..."

"It's alright baby girl, I understand. And that's why I stayed away, not because I was mad at Jack but I knew you needed time to work out your own feelings about his reaction then bond with him. Have you and Jack worked everything out?" asked Auggie as she looked at the women

"We have Auggie, and if it's alright with Jack I'd like to start thinking of him as my second grandpa along with Ducky" said Ali as she looked at the older man.

"I'd be honored to be your grandpa sweetheart, and you can call me whatever you like" said Jack as he gently pulled the woman into his arms.

"Thank you grandpa" whispered Ali as laid her head on his chest. Ali stood in Jack's arms for a few minutes then lifted her head and looked at the others. "Can I go and play now?"

At that simple question everyone laughed and knew that the tension that had once filled Ali's house was now gone. Ali was back to her bubbly self and they could now have their normal fun filled family cookout.

"Of course sweetheart, go play and show Tony that new pitch that Leroy showed you" said Jack with a smile as he watched her run off to get her ball and glove

"Hey no fair squirt, you've been practicing again" called Tony as he and the other's followed Ali to the back part of yard.

"Well how about I make us all something cool to drink" said Auggie as she headed back into the house.

The men took a seat and spent the rest of the afternoon watching Ali, Tony and the others playing catch.

-NCIS-

At dusk Gibbs and Tobias called an end to their play time and while Tobias took Ali upstairs to change her diaper Gibbs along with the rest of the family got things ready for their cookout. Tony and Tim were in charge of the grill this time while everyone else started on the food. As Ali bounced down the stairs she ran up behind Gibbs, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Love you Daddy" said Ali against his shirt as she nuzzled the back of his shirt

"Love you to princess, and I'm very proud of the way you handled things" said Gibbs as he turned around in Ali's arms and gently kissed her on the head.

"Thank you Daddy" said Ali as she gave him one more squeeze and then moved to help Ziva and Auggie with whatever they were doing.

Gibbs watched his daughter for a few minutes then smiled, returning to getting the meat ready for the grill. After that everyone worked intently and soon the grill was ready and the meat was cooking with Tony and Tim standing watch. Thirty minutes later everyone was sitting down at the tables on the patio to eat with the chatter mostly consisting of what Jack and Ali had been doing for the past two weeks. When everyone was finished eating all the plates and dishes were carried into the house. With everyone helping the dishes and kitchen were quickly washed and put away, then everyone retreated to the living room where Ali and the younger members of her family played on her "play" comforter while they older members made themselves comfortable in the chairs.

About halfway through the evening Ali quietly got up, moving over to Gibbs and whispered something into his ear. With a smile Gibbs' nodded and together he and Ali headed upstairs. A few minutes later he and Ali returned, but instead of going back to the comforter Ali stopped in front of Ducky and Jack who were sitting on the second couch. Since their family had grown so much and when everyone was at their house there wasn't enough seating for everyone so Ali, Gibbs and Tobias had bought another couch and chairs for the living room.

So while Gibbs and Tobias were on one couch Ducky and Jack were on the second one with Auggie in one of the side chairs. As Ali stood on front of the two men she looked down at her hands and whispered "Grandpa Ducky, Grandpa Jack. Can you read this book with me?"

Both men looked at each other then smiled as Ducky answered her "Of course my sweetheart, come on up here and we'll see what we can do"

At his answer Ali looked up and smiled climbing on the couch between both men then handing Ducky the book. As Ducky started reading Ali snuggled up to his side and quietly put her pacifier in her mouth, and pulled her "Puffalump" from behind her back. By the time Ducky and Jack were halfway through the book Ali was leaning heavily against Ducky's side sound asleep. As Jack noticed Ali he stopped reading and closed the book calling softly to his son.

"Leroy, I think it's this little one was in bed" said Jack softly with a smile

Gibbs looked across at Ali and her grandpa's and sure enough she was sound asleep cuddling up against Ducky's side, pacifier in her mouth and Puffalump in her arms. As he made his way to stand Tobias put a hand on his arm and stopped him.

"I'll get her Jethro, you coral this group" said Tobias as he nodded towards the people on the comforter. Everyone was still happily playing and hadn't even noticed that Ali hadn't returned.

"Thanks" said Gibbs with a slight sarcastic note in his voice.

With a smile Tobias stood up and went over collecting Ali and then heading towards the stairs. With one more look at his partner and daughter Gibbs turned to deal with the other members of his family.

"Alright guys, I think it's time to break this up" said Gibbs with a load clap of his hands.

At the sound everyone jumped and looked up at Gibbs and the other's with startled looks on their faces having just noticed that Ali wasn't with them.

"Hey, where's the squirt?" asked Tony

"Tobias is upstairs putting Ali to bed, now if you want to stay up longer that's fine with us but just do so quietly so you don't disturb her" said Gibbs

"Great boss thanks, come on guys. Let's get this cleaned up then we can watch the movie I brought, you're going to love it, it's a..." started Tony then trailed off as he and the other's quickly started putting up Ali's toys and putting the puzzle board and comforter away.

"We'll I think I'll call it a night as well Leroy, thank you for a wonderful cookout and including me in your family" said Jack as he moved to stand up

"You're Ali's grandpa Jack, how could we not. Now come with me, there are a few things I'd like to ask you..." said Ducky as he lead the man to the stairs and then headed towards their bedrooms.

One of the things that had been done while Ali was asleep was to move the younger members of the family up to the third floor and give Auggie, Ducky and Jack rooms on the second floor. That way if they way if they spent the night in each others rooms they were farther away from Ali. Both Gibbs and Tobias knew that Ali wouldn't care one way or the other but they just wanted to keep her time as Ali as innocent as possible so they tried to keep the adult part of life as far from her as possible.

With only Auggie and Gibbs still in the living room there was an awkward silence until Auggie finally spoke. "I think you and Tobias handled the whole family situation admirably Jethro, I just wish I'd been here to help but I felt that you guys needed to handle it yourselves and then let Jack bond with Ali. I'm glad everything worked out, he'll be a wonderful addition to the Ali's family"

"Thank you Auggie" said Gibbs softly

"Well I think I will head up to bed as well, give Ali a kiss from Auntie Auggie and tell her goodnight for me" said Auggie then headed up to bed as well.

As the younger members of his team returned to the living room with popcorn and drinks in their hands they stopped with they saw Gibbs was still downstairs.

"Oh boss, we thought you'd be..." said Tim hurried

"Just going Tim, and guys I don't care what you do privately but I just don't want Ali to hear, understood?" said Gibbs then looked at each of his kids with a "You got me" look on his face

"Understood boss" said Tony quickly as he took a few steps away from Ziva

"Right boss" said Tim as he took moved a little farther from Abby.

Jimmy was the only one who didn't say anything but he understood the meaning and blushed slightly.

"Good, now don't stay up to late and remember Ali's usually up by nine or nine-thirty in the morning so you might want to get some sleep sometime tonight" said Gibbs with a smile and then headed towards the stairs only to stop and say "And tomorrow were going to my house for the household chores" then headed up the stairs and to his bedroom

That announcement earned a round of groans but soon everyone settle down and watched the movie, the two pairs eventually moving back together. Upstairs Tobias entered their bedroom to find Gibbs in the bathroom getting ready for bed. He was was standing at the sink in just his boxers brushing his teeth when Tobias came up behind him wrapping his arms around his waist. Soon Tobias found himself back against the wall getting a peppermint kiss which started out gently put soon turned passionate. As they broke apart, both men gasping for air Tobias asked.

"What brought that on?"

"Nothing really, or maybe the fact that we finally have all of our family together" replied Jethro then started to lean in again but was stopped by Tobias with a hand to his chest.

"Hold on a minute Jethro, not that I didn't enjoy that but why don't you finish brushing your teeth and then meet me in the bedroom.

"Don't you need to...?" asked Gibbs then stopped as he just noticed Tobias was wearing only his boxers as well and also tasted of toothpaste.

"Nope, spend a few extra minutes in Ali's bathroom before I heard you come upstairs. We're going to have to get her another toothbrush I'm afraid" said Tobias with a laugh

"Don't worry, I think there's an extra one in the pantry, all ways keep a spare for guests or emergencies" replied Gibbs, then moved back to the sink and quickly finished brushing his teeth.

With a smile Tobias moved out of their bathroom and quickly got their bedroom ready, turning off the lights and lighting a couple of candles that he placed on each bedside stand. When Gibbs entered the bedroom he stopped and stared at their room. It was softly light with candle light and laying on the bed in all his glory was his partner and lover Tobias C. Fornell. As Gibbs slowly slide his boxers down his thighs, stepping out of them as they pooled at his feet he carefully climbed on the bed and lay face to face with the love of his life.

"Why Tobias, I never knew you were such a romantic" whispered Gibbs as he captured his lovers lips.

When they broke apart Tobias whispered breathlessly "There's still a lot you don't know about me Jethro"

"Well I look forward to a lifetime of finding out" answered Gibbs.

After that no more words were spoken, nor were they needed as each man showed the other in the universal language of love just how they felt about the other.