Hiya ;) Thanks for all the incredible reviews ^^ And for all your advice and wisdom :D I've definitely said exactly that before, but what the hey :P

Gibbs yawned. He'd been sat there in that room for about two hours now. He'd only come because the Director said he had something to say to him, but Gibbs had to come listen to his lecture before it. He didn't bother even pretending to pay attention, and was getting shot black looks off various people in the room who had to listen.

"Any questions?" Thank god. It was finally over. There was a small mutter around the room, and Director Morrow nodded, as if he understood what they'd said,

"You can go, have a good weekend. What's left of it anyway." As the agents began to file out, Gibbs stood up and stretched his aching legs. He walked over to the Director and said,

"Is there a reason you made me sit through that?" The Director shrugged and answered,

"I didn't want to be the only person who's heard it before to listen to it again." Gibbs rolled his eyebrows and said,

"With all due respect Sir, this had better be important, I..."

"I'm well aware of the fact you have a baby at home Gibbs," Morrow interrupted smoothly, "But I have it on good intelligence he is perfectly capable of looking after himself." GIbbs looked up in surprise. How did Morrow know that that kid was DiNozzo? The Director smiled and said, with a twinkle in his eye,

"I wasn't born yesterday Gibbs, and we both know that Agent DiNozzo would never go home for a 'family emergency'. I've read his file as well. And talked to his friend downstairs."

"Abby." Gibbs growled, which made Morrow smile and retort,

"Yes, she let it slip when we were bowling," Gibbs raised an eyebrow but didn't comment, "At first I thought she'd gone mad, it wouldn't be that hard to make someone in your team go mad Gibbs. But then Doctor Mallard confirmed this and... well, I couldn't quite believe my ears. Then I got to thinking. I have a nephew who's married to a micro biologist. Abby told me who did this, and I've heard Melissa, my nephew's wife, mention him once or twice. I could speak to her if you like, see what she can do?"

Gibbs blinked and smiled, a genuine warm smile,

"If you could do Director, that'd be good," He paused and looked at Morrow, who was still stood there calmly, "You're not... freaked out at all? Made a few of us do double takes." Morrow smiled and said,

"Gibbs, when you've been at NCIS as long as I have, everything fails to surprise you." Gibbs nodded and turned to leave, when Morrow called him back,

"Oh and Gibbs? About the case you're working on now... the dead marine in the woods, I hear you've got a suspect?" Gibbs nodded,

"The victim's roommate, he doesn't have an alibi for the night Ducky estimated the death at and apparently the last night he saw him, they'd had a huge argument." Morrow was nodding and said,

"I did a little digging, Agent Todd mentioned his name, Arthur Lacey? If you wanted to... go under cover and see more about him, he takes his little nephew swimming on Sundays. So tomorrow, if you wanted to go for a paddle? Here's the address of the pool." He handed it to Gibbs, who knew he wasn't being given the option. He sighed and nodded. Getting a small pat on the back as he went out, Morrow called after him,

"Enjoy it while it lasts Gibbs, they're cute at that age."

--

Gibbs came back to find an extremely quiet house. He raised his eyebrows and cautiously crept down the hall, turning to where he guessed they'd all be, and found he was right. In his living room,

Ducky was sat in an armchair reading a book that Gibbs didn't recognize. Kate and Abby were both sat on the sofa, heads bobbing as they tried to stay awake in their warm, comfortable positions, and sat between them was Tony, already asleep and sucking his thumb.

"'...then he tried to find his way across the garden...', Ah, Jethro!" Ducky's greeting made Abby and Kate jump up suddenly, though not enough to wake Tony up,

"Gibbs! How was your meeting?" Abby asked, standing up so there was no danger of her falling asleep again,

"Interesting Abbs, especially since we mainly talked about how the hell he knew about Tony." Kate glanced over at Abby, who stood up straight and looked Gibbs straight in the eyes,

"I thought it would be a good idea Gibbs! Now if none of us could baby-sit, he could!"

"He could have baby-sat without knowing." Kate chipped in, slightly annoyed that Abby hadn't told any of them she'd told Director Morrow. Gibbs didn't want this to turn into a huge argument between his team, so he held up a hand and immediately both women looked at him,

"It's not a big deal, he even said he'd help get him back to normal," Gibbs said, motioning over towards the baby who had now curled up on the sofa, having gained more room, "He said his nephew is married to someone who deals with tablets and stuff like this, he's going to speak to her." They nodded and Ducky got up from his chair,

"Well Jethro, we'd better get off back, I'm sure Mr Palmer is quite possibly lost in the paperwork I gave him before coming here." Gibbs shook his head,

"Stay Duck, I'm not going to eat lunch on my own." He looked round, indicating that he wanted Kate and Abby to stay as well, which they both smiled at. There was a moment of silence before they heard Tony yawn and sit up. Immediately, Abby rushed over, cooing and stroking his hair. She softly lifted him up and gave him a cuddle,

"How was your sleep?" He gave her a sleepy smile and looked over to where Gibbs was stood,

"Boss! I thought you had a meeting?" Gibbs merely shrugged his shoulders and said,

"Have you had anything to eat?"

"Ducky made me porridge." Gibbs nodded his thanks to the ME, who inclined his head back and said to Tony,

"Well young man, you left us half way through this book, what say we return?" Tony nodded eagerly, toddling over to Gibbs (Abby had put him down at this point) and grabbing hold of his trouser leg,

"D'you want to listen? It's a good story." Gibbs chuckled and asked,

"Depends what it is DiNozzo." Ducky held up a slightly battered book and said,

"'The Tale of Peter Rabbit', by Beatrix Potter, the original, published in 1902, my mother's very fond of these stories. Why, I remember once..."

"Hey Duck, we're all waiting, how about starting?" Tony grinned as Ducky opened the book and started from the beginning again, but no one argued. Soon, he was finished and a rather sleepy Kate asked Abby if she wanted to help her start making dinner. They crept out, as did Ducky, who wanted to do the crossword in the paper he'd left in the kitchen. No one disturbed the host, who had fallen asleep on the chair he'd been sat on, with Tony sat on his lap.

--

Gibbs stirred when the lights were put on in the room he was in,

"Hey Sleeping Beauty, dinner's ready." Abby's bubbly voice bounced into the room, along with herself. She gently shook his shoulders, and he sat up slowly, but was on high alert when he realised Tony wasn't on his lap,

"Where's Tony?" He all but yelped, and jumped up, making Abby giggle and take his hand, bounding back to the kitchen,

"We didn't want him falling asleep 'cause we guessed he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, plus, he needed changing, and we didn't think you would want it on your lap until you woke up." She smiled at him, but turned round and her lips scrunched up as she thought,

"Gibbs..." She rolled out, hesitantly, "Have you said something to him about it? 'Cause he didn't blush like, at all, and it was Kate doing it! He just kept talking to me like it wasn't happening!" Gibbs shrugged, but felt he could tell Abby, even if she did tell the Director,

"He was really embarrassed, so I told him I didn't see him, all I saw was a little baby."

"You lied, huh?"

"Oh yeah." She grinned and bore him away to the kitchen.

--

Dinner had been quite enjoyable. Gibbs was mainly happy that DiNozzo hadn't decided to shove it all on his head again. He'd kept them all entertained at any rate, with some stories about what he'd done that day, mainly with Abby and behind Kate and Ducky's backs. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Everyone turned to Gibbs, wondering if he was expecting anyone. By the calm look on his face and the laid-back expression, he obviously was, and the chatter resumed, as if it had been paused for a second.

Gibbs got up and went to the door. Opening it, he gave a slight smile and said,

"Thanks McGee. Here, come on in, everyone else is." McGee looked slightly stunned but nodded, after passing Gibbs a plastic bag. He went into the kitchen and was given a warm welcome, issued with a plate, and told to sit down. He guessed it was something to do with Tony's presence. Gibbs was so relaxed and at ease, he was almost nice, which in any other circumstances Tony would moan about, but he seemed extremely happy with himself. Also, the others were being nice because Gibbs was being nice, and they were just kept in a melted state thanks to how Tony interacted with them.

He kept all his thoughts to himself, and only spoke when he was spoken to, which by this point was questions about the bag Gibbs carried through,

"Is that what Timmy brought round?" Abby asked, a sparkle in her eye. Gibbs nodded and, after a quick glance at Tony, he replied,

"Swimming trunks suitable for toddlers, also arm-bands (A/N, I think Americans call these water wings? :P)so he doesn't die," Abby flinched at this, making Gibbs snort and say, "Abbs, I'm not likely to let him die, it's too much paperwork."

Although the conversation was definitely interesting, Tony couldn't help but let out a yawn. At once everyone was looking over as Gibbs walked over and picked him up, saying,

"Least you don't need cleaning up this time, huh DiNozzo?" Tony blushed and tried to shush his boss but the damage was done. His colleagues looked up and Kate, trying to stifle her giggles but failing, asked,

"What does he mean Tony? What happened last time?" Tony didn't say anything, and Gibbs answered, chuckling,

"He stuck his bowl over his head 'cause he was angry that he couldn't feed himself." The room exploded with laughter, Kate and Abby falling against each other with tears in their eyes, McGee was hysterical and even Ducky was laughing. Tony sat in a stony silence, with his arms folded.

"I didn't do it because of that!" He sounded so adamant they just started laughing again. He fell against Gibbs and just started crying. The frustration of it all and the fact that he was tired just made him sob pathetically in Gibbs' arms. At once Gibbs left the room, glaring at everyone as if it was their fault, causing them to talk amongst themselves while he was going upstairs,

"Why is he taking Tony swimming McGee?" Kate asked, intrigued,

"He said something about going undercover, our suspect apparently takes his nephew swimming on Sundays, so I think Gibbs is going along. You know, acting the parent so he doesn't look suspicious, and so he can learn more about him." They all nodded, and Ducky took a breath before saying,

"Well, it's been a fun day my girls," He said, tipping his hat at Kate and Abby, "But I'd best be off, would I be of assistance to either of you going home?" Abby giggled and said,

"Such a gentlemen." And took his arm to go out the door,

"Tell Gibbs it was nice Kate, I might come tomorrow to see Tony." Abby called to Kate, who was putting her jacket on,

"Well actually, I was about to leave as well..." Abby's pleading look won her over and she sat back at the table with a sigh, "I suppose I could wait a few more minutes." Abby grinned,

"Thanks Kate, I owe you!" Before she was out the door with Ducky. McGee hastily followed, and Kate was left listening to the slight drip from the tap into the kitchen sink and the muffled sounds of a baby going to bed upstairs.

--

"Aw c'mon Tony, there's no need to cry about it." Gibbs tried feebly, as Tony was still crying, albeit less than he had downstairs, but it was still crying,

"You...sh-shouldn't h...have t-told them!" He wailed, and Gibbs started to pat his back and bounce him up and down. There was a slight creak as he sat down on the wicker chair in the room and rested against it, letting Tony lean against him,

"I'm sorry Tony, really. I shouldn't have said it." Hearing Gibbs, Gibbs say this was incredible, he never apologised,

"I thought saying sorry was a sign of weakness Boss?" He asked shrewdly, now not crying, but with tears still stuck to his eyelashes. Gibbs couldn't help but chuckle at this, although in different circumstances he'd have head slapped him.

"Go to sleep Tony." He ordered, in a soft voice, laying the baby down in the cot. He tucked him up and quickly kissed his forehead, before hurrying out the room. He rested against the wall and said to himself,

"You're turning soft Jethro."

"You're telling me," Kate said, from where she was stood at the bottom of the stairs, "Abby said that she might be round tomorrow to see Tony, and that she's had a good time." She added, relaying the message from the lab tech. Gibbs nodded and asked,

"You want to come swimming tomorrow Kate?" The agent thought about it for a minute before saying,

"Sure, I've got nothing else to do. And I can profile the suspect while I'm at it, right?" Gibbs inclined his head and gave her a small salute as she waved and walked out the door. Behind him, he could hear the slow, regular sounds of breathing and let out a breath himself. He was definitely turning soft.

Woah, I have such an urge to play on Spyro lol :P Review? xxx