Disclaimer: not mine

Previously:

"Gibbs! I didn't think you were coming." McGee blurted.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow "said I'd come. What is going on here?" He asked taking in the red eyes of his agent, the ice cream container with two spoons DiNozzo brought with him to the door and the German shepherd who looked unreasonably happy to see him.

"It's a long story Boss, come in." DiNozzo pulled McGee out of the doorway and grinned at him. "Where you been?"

"MTAC, don't make me ask again."

"Well…"

Part 7

McGee let in his boss gesturing to the kitchen where the food was still out.

Gibbs took a moment to observe his surroundings. Half of his agent's shelves were emptied and the contents arranged in piles on the floor. Dinner looked to be relatively untouched and a quick glance at the table showed only two places had been touched. His gut clenched as he picked up a plate and served himself. Start talking boys, now.

"Abby and Ziva both skipped out on dinner and haven't answered their phones." DiNozzo spoke up quickly. "We should probably try them again, now that I think about it."

Gibbs plucked the cell from McGee and set it on the table. "And the rest of it?"

"Ahh… Boss, honestly we should probably deal with the one before the other. It's kind of…well… distracting." DiNozzo cut in again and McGee looked away.

Gibbs sat at the table and took a bite of the roast as he pulled out his own phone and dialed Abby.

"Gibbs!" was the cheerful answer.

"Abby are you okay?" he cut her off bluntly.

"I'm fine. Is there some reason I shouldn't be fine? Because-" she sounded cheerful and wasn't using her duress word.

"I will talk to you later Abby." He hung up the phone and dialed Ziva, not caring if he sounded angry.

"David" his female agent sounded agitated.

"You okay David?"

"I am fine Boss, are you at McGee's dinner?"

"I am, why aren't you?"

"Something came up. Will you give Tim my apologies?"

"You can tell him yourself. You didn't call" he made it a question.

"I have been dealing with an unexpected problem. I will make calls tomorrow. I need to go now."

Gibbs didn't answer but hung up. He was less than pleased with the women on his team and was only mildly appeased by Ziva's apologies. "They are both safe."

XXXxxx

Tony felt himself relax slightly at the confirmation. The job made them all slightly paranoid and he knew Tim was relaxing slightly as well. With a grin he pulled out a chair and made himself comfortable offering Tim back his spoon. He scooped a bite of chocolate ice cream.

"How's the food Boss. Can Probie cook or what?"

"It's good." Gibbs took a large bite to demonstrate. "You boys want to tell me why you look half dead?"

Tony winced, there was really no stopping Gibbs when he wanted answers. He shot a look in McGee's direction and caught the 'deer in the headlights' look from his Probie.

"Aww no way boss." Tony jumped in "Probie made me eat all of my vegetables before he told me. It's only fair that you do the same before you get to interrogate him."

"Is that so Dinozzo?" Gibbs shot him a hard look, stabbing at the pot roast with unnecessary roughness.

"I really did make him wait boss." McGee found his voice. "Well, kind of, we were mostly waiting for the team to show; which they…didn't…" his voice trailed off slowly.

Tony caught the distress in Tim's voice and panicked slightly. One melt down he could handle, he didn't think he could cover for his partner if the boss actually witnessed the hysterical crying like what happened earlier. For that matter, he wasn't sure if Tim would want him to cover. Before he could say anything else Gibbs leaned forward in his chair.

"The girls are not coming tonight. Just spit it out McGee. I'm here for what ever you have to show me, and I can see Tony already has your six."

Tony straightened at the undertone of approval. Of course I have his six. We're a team. And besides, I'm going to be a Godfather. The thought made him grin before he could stop himself and he nudged the chocolate ice cream towards McGee as a show of support.

XXXxxx

"Well, Gibbs, you see, ah…" McGee stuttered slightly, looking everywhere but across the table.

Gibbs bit his tongue and forced himself to take a bite of the potatoes. He had a gut feeling this was about the odd behavior of the last few months, and judging by the puffy red eyes, his youngest agent had already been on one crying jag tonight. He didn't need to push just yet. Talk to me McGee.

"I- there's a picture. This was easier with…" McGee gestured wildly with his spoon.

"On it, Probie." Tony slid out of his chair before McGee was done speaking.

Gibbs took another bite and watched his Senior Field Agent carefully carry back a framed picture, passing it to McGee. There was a moment where McGee – softened- as he looked at the picture, and then the young man was nervous again.

"Don't be mad."

I'm going to be mad in a minute if you don't tell me what's going on. "I'm not going to be mad."

"Promise?" McGee's voice went small.

Gibbs took in Tony's excitement and the way the older agent rested a supporting hand on the younger. "I promise."

McGee passed him the picture. The fuzzy black and white image was unmistakable. Gibbs froze, eyebrows going up, as he took in the implications. For a moment images of his past crept in, overlaying the present.

"It's just-" the voice broke him out of his reminiscing. "I wanted to tell the team, I just couldn't find, and then…"

"Breathe."

"It's a girl" McGee blurted. "My girl. Due in October."

"I'm going to be a Godfather." Tony interjected with a proud smile. "McDaddy will be getting full custody."

Gibbs couldn't say anything for a moment looking between the picture and his youngest agent. Suddenly McGee's face fell and he realized he'd been silent for too long.

"She's beautiful" his voice was hoarse. "You doing okay McGee?"

"Yeah, yeah." McGee relaxed back into his chair, tension draining away. "I'm good Boss."

"I'm coming by this weekend to help McGee see if he can keep this place. He's trying to stay not move. You want to come help?" Tony took up the conversation.

"Of course I'll be here DiNozzo." Gibbs waved a hand to stop more chatter from that direction. "Talk to me McGee. You said you're getting full custody."

"Yeah. Yeah. I just… It wasn't planned obviously, and my ex came out of nowhere. She doesn't want to be a mom, so it was either full custody or adoption. I think she expected me to go with adoption, but I just… I couldn't Boss."

"I see that McGee." Gibbs looked over the picture again running a thumb over the little head.

"I did all the math, and I worked out how to pay for doctor bills and the extra expenses for having a newborn. I have been doing my research. I can do this on my own." McGee explained defensively.

"Never said you couldn't. You aren't on your own though Tim. What do you need from me?" Gibbs met Tim's eyes squarely.

"I don't know." Tim admitted, but the bright smile on his face told Gibbs he'd said the right thing.

"Those three am calls weren't telemarketers were they?" Gibbs realized.

"Ah…no Boss. Apparently McDonalds French fries are a current favorite. You do not want to know the kinds of things they get mixed with. Seriously" McGee shuddered, and he barked a laugh.

Gibbs swiped the ice cream from across the table where it was melting and took a bite. He listened to the babbled explanation of some computer watsit that McGee designed to help him sort through baby books and nanny services. It sounded like his computer genus had been working on his research. He leaned back in his chair as he listened, a soft smile spreading.

"…And there's just so much-"

"There is," Gibbs cut in "but you're going to make a good father McGee."

"You think so?"

"You've done good this far. You've done real good." His eyes fell to the picture again.

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A/N: so so sorry for the two year wait. I lost all my data in a double computer fail and got into a writing funk. I am back and ready with more. Review. I have an Abby chapter in the works, but let me know if you need more from Gibbs here…