A/N: I was having a bit trouble keeping up with Tony's age, but according to my thought process, Tony is about seven weeks old in this chapter and I'm sticking with that.
For the next week Tim and Gibbs both kept a close eye on the little boy that meant so much to both of them. Tim really didn't know what to make of Marco and not knowing what he was planning was driving him up the wall, it didn't help things either that he had a weird feeling of being watched and sometimes he thought that he caught Gibbs discreetly looking around, as if sensing the same thing, but neither men said anything.
The day after the men told Abby about their relationship, Gibbs told Ducky and his reaction was one of support and acceptance and to be honest, neither man had expected anything less. After all, the good old doctor had always been a good friend of Jethro's and was known for his compassionate nature so it was really no wonder that he took the news well.
Abby had told Kate about the two mens relationship and hadn't really shown other reaction than disbelief, but her actions spoke loudly. She demanded to talk to the two men and see them interact at home, she didn't know what to think, but the profiler in her wanted to profile the relationship and draw the conclusions based on that, rather than make hasty judgments she might end up regretting later on.
So Tim invited Kate, Abby and Ducky to a dinner with him, Gibbs and little Tony so they could ask questions if they so choose and generally just see that this really was happening and that they weren't ashamed of their newfound relationship.
Tim felt nervous as he puttered around in the kitchen. He'd ushered Jethro to the living room after he had tried to help, but the older man had just raised his hands in surrender, given his lover a peck on the cheek and retired to the living room with Tony.
McGee stirred the pasta sauce as he thought about the upcoming dinner. He wasn't really sure what to expect. They'd only been with Gibbs for little over a month, but it somehow felt right and neither man had any desire to have to justify their feelings to their friends, and it seemed that in Abby's and Ducky's case that wouldn't be necessary, but Kate was a different subject.
From Gibbs account, Tim had gathered that Kate had trouble coming to terms with their relationship, but there hadn't been any outright signs of disgust or hate, which is always a positive thing. Tim sighed as he prayed that tonight would help settle everyones mind, because the two men really didn't need the added stress on top of the one caused by Antonia's heritage and her husbands reaction to it.
He left the sauce to simmer and decided to put the pasta on after the guests arrived, so it wouldn't go soggy or sticky.
Tim went into the hall just as the doorbell rang and Abby bounced inside from the door that Tim had left unlocked so he wouldn't have to go and let the three people in individually but they could step right in.
The Goth smiled as she spotted her friend and ran to give him an hug.
"Timmy! How are you, I've missed you so much! Where's Tony and The Bossman?"
Tim laughed at her exuberance and returned the hug before leading her to the living room.
"You just saw us yesterday when you dropped by"
"But that was like 20 hours and 45 minutes ago!" she said with a pout on her lips that soon disappeared as she caught sight of Gibbs on the couch with Tony sitting in his lap.
"Tony!" She ran to the boy and lifted him in her arms and brought him close to her in a hug. She then leaned down and gave Gibbs a one armed hug while keeping Tony close before plopping down to sit next to him.
Tim came to sit next to her and held out his hands for the baby.
"C'mon Tony, you wanna show Auntie Abby the new trick you learned?"
Abby practically vibrated in excitement as she handed the boy over.
"A trick? What trick?"
"Well you'll just have to wait and see if he shows it to you" Tim said teasingly as he placed the baby on his front on the floor.
They watched in silence as the boy looked a bit lost, lying on his front on the floor after being in someones lap. He took a moment to contemplate this new situation before he started little rocking motions that looked like he was trying to do push-ups and lifted his head up slightly from the floor to look at the people on the couch. He made a cute little face that had Abby making awww noises and the two men smiling. Then he pushed himself so that he was able to turn on his back, which had the Goth squealing in delight and Tony himself looking a bit amazed.
"Oh God, he can turn over! Why didn't you tell me?" She punched both Gibbs and Tim on the arm, before going to tickle the boy's tummy.
"He just did it this morning for the first time" Gibbs heard himself defend their silence, and to be honest they'd been a bit surprised by the whole thing. Jethro thought how lucky he was that he had stayed the night so he hadn't missed one of the first milestones of the boy's development. Tim and Gibbs had both been amazed by the feat Tony had done, but the look of surprise on the little boys face as he took in the new position he had maneuvered himself in, it still made Gibbs smile as he remembered it.
He was brought out of his musings by the sound of the door opening and Kate's and Ducky's voices coming from the hall.
Tim went to greet the two and directed them to the living room as he went to put the pasta on.
"Good evening Jethro And Abigail, and of course our little lad. I trust everything is fine with the lot of you?"
"Every thing's fine Duck. We appreciate you coming." The latter part of Gibbs' greeting was directed at all of the three people. He looked at Kate who was still standing by the doorway, a bit uncomfortable with the new situation.
"Kate! You have to see what Tony can do!" Abby broke the silence that had descended and motioned for the other woman to come over as Ducky took a seat on the couch next to Gibbs and the men watched the proceedings.
Once Kate was crouching next to Abby and smiling down at the little boy, the Goth turned him on his belly and they watched as Tony scrunched his face up in frustration at being back in the position he didn't like at all after his new found ability to escape it, so they watched as he started the push-up motions and with less difficulty than at the beginning, flipped himself over and onto his back.
"That's wonderful, seems that young Antony is developing at a normal rate, though maybe a tad early if you look at the average numbers, why I remember a baby who didn't get enough strength in his neck to make turning possible until he was over six months."
"Well, Tony is too eager to wait, I doubt he'll stay much on his front now he can turn over." Gibbs smiled down at the baby who was now being made turn over again by the two women on the floor.
Tim smiled at his lover as he entered the room and cleared his throat.
"Dinner is ready." He said as he came and picked up his son and led the way to the dining table, and motioned for everyone to take a seat and himself took Tony's bottle he'd warmed up and sat down next to Gibbs, who just plucked the boy from his arms as well as the bottle and told him to eat, as he Tim hadn't been able to eat all they from his nervousness.
"This looks splendid Timothy" Ducky complimented as he took some pasta and salad on his plate.
"Thanks, it's one of Antonia's recipes she thought me when we were dating. I though that it would be appropriate to make it tonight as we might not be sitting here without her influence." Tim smiled and looked at the boy, happily drinking from his bottle In Jethro's arms.
Gibbs finished feeding Tony and burped him before putting him to his seat on the floor with his blankie and a toy to keep him entertained while they ate dinner and made smalltalk. None of them breached the subject of the two men's relationship as if in silent agreement to enjoy the meal before that.
Once everyone had eaten their fill, the guest gave their compliments to the cook before they moved form the table to the living room and seated themselves around the room while Gibbs went and put coffee to brew and the tea kettle on. In the mean time Tim had gone to change Tony and put his down to sleep, as it was the boy's bedtime.
Gibbs returned with the drinks just as Tim came back for upstairs and together they dispensed the drinks before settling down to sit side by side on the love seat, facing the other people.
"Shoot" Gibbs said in his his usual brusque way and startled everyone in the room. He looked around at the faces of their friends and continued
"I know it came as a surprise to you all to hear that me and Tim are together, but now you've had some time to think about it and I'm sure you have things you want to know so just ask."
"I have no problem with the two of you and I have a weird feeling that you won't answer the questions I'd like to ask anyway" Abby said with a small leer that was directed at the two men and brought a blush to Tim's cheeks
"And as for me, there really isn't anything I need to know other than whether or not you two are sure about this and since I'd like to think I know both of you well, I'd be willing to wager that you have thought this through and are certain of your decision. I also wouldn't think that either young Timothy or you Jethro would step into this lightly when there is little Anthony to think about as well."
Jethro nodded gratefully at his friend who tipped his head in acknowledgment of the gratitude. When no one else said anything for a while Kate shifted nervously and cleared her throat.
"I know I haven't been too supportive since Abby told me about your relationship, but I have to say that it came as quite of a shock to be honest. I've always been thought that homosexuality isn't right and I never really could see why and seeing you three together as a family makes me question that even more. I still am not sure what to make of all of this, but I guess that it really comes down to are you two happy with your relationship?"
"We are happy Kate and I understand your need to adjust to this new situation, but I need to know if you'll be able to work with me and McGee after this?" Gibbs squeezed Tim's hand as he made his statement.
"This won't change anything at work, I still trust you both and respect your lead so that won't be a problem." Kate said with conviction, whatever doubts she may have of the two mens relationship would not affect her professional opinion of them.
Abby listened silently to the conversation but upon hearing the certainty in he friend's voice she threw her arms around Kate in a tight hug after making sure the other woman wouldn't spill hot liquid on herself.
"This is so great! I knew you'd be okay with it eventually!" Kate smiled at her friend and the rest of the evening passed with everyone being more relaxed after the issue had been dealt with. They had all decided it would be best to not parade Gibbs' and McGee's relationship around since all wouldn't be as understanding and accepting as their friends had been.
"Oh my, It's getting late now isn't it? Thank you so much for the wonderful dinner and company, but I need to get going."
Everyone seemed to just notice the time and after some goodnight wishes and hugs from Abby, the two men were sitting alone it the living room.
"That went better than I thought" Tim said as he snuggled next to his lover on the couch.
"Yeah, could have been a lot worse. I think it's time to get some shut eye, the dishes can wait till tomorrow" With that Gibbs got up and pulled his lover with him and continued to pull until he had the other man in his arms and their lips pressed together.
"Or on second thought I'm not sure I'm that tired after all" Gibbs said after the kiss and smiled at the sly look on his lover's face.
"Why, Jethro. Are you propositioning me?" Tim asked with a bat of his eyes. They may have been dating for a month and slept together in a strict sleeping sense, they hadn't really gone further than a bit of heavy petting and both men were thinking that they were ready to take their relationship to the next level.
"What if I am? What you gonna do about it?"
"I was thinking I'd take you up on your offer" With one last kiss the two men headed upstairs and closed the door after entering their bedroom.
The next morning after breakfast Gibbs left Tim's house to go back to his place for the day. On the drive to his house he thought about his and Tim's relationship and the fact that it felt so right to have a family once again.
When he got home he went straight to the kitchen and made some coffee. After the pot was ready he took a cup of the strong brew and drank a cup before gong upstairs. He bypassed the master bedroom door and went for the door down the hall, he paused just outside of it and took a deep breath. He pushed the down unwanted emotions that rose as he carefully opened the door.
He stepped into the room that once had been a vibrant pink and so full of life, but now was dulled by the layers of dust over the furniture. Other than the dust, everything was still in the places where his daughter had left them before her untimely death. Gibbs squeezed his eyes shut to hold back the tears that burned his eyes and turned to go out of the room to get boxes and cleaning supplies.
Kelly's room had maybe stayed the same on the surface but the memories it evoked were tainted, the room was a constant reminder to Gibbs of his failure to protect his girls and every time he saw the things still in the little girl's room, he was overwhelmed with sadness that hadn't been dulled by time.
He started methodically cleaning the room and organizing the things to the boxes, his relationships with Tim and the chance of being daddy again had made Gibbs realize that he needed to move on and making Kelly's room Tony's would be a good place to start. And really Jethro had come to the realization that he wasn't betraying Shannon and Kelly by making room for his new family, the room in it's current state represented failure and pain, neither was a feeling he wanted to associate with his girls, but he wanted to remember the good things that were in his heart and soul.
The memory of his first chance of happiness wasn't being forgotten or pushed away, but it would be cherished in his heart and he maybe he could share some of the good times with Tim and hopefully he'd get the younger man and his son to move in with him and then they'd be able to give the whole house a new life.
Gibbs worked methodically for hours, taking little breaks when he felt the guilt and pain get too much before continuing, but finally he was looking at the room that now had only a few furniture out and all other things packed into boxes. He loaded the boxes into his car, all but one little box that had the things he'd keep, and looked around the room one last time before going down and out to his car and driving off, he had some things to drop off and some painting an redecorating to do.
After Gibbs had left, Tim decided to take Tony out for a walk in his baby carriage so he put some warm clothes on the little boy and took him and the carriage to the porch and laid the boy in side. He was just about to close the door and get going when he remembered that he'd almost forgot his cellphone.
"Okay Tony, you wait here and Daddy will be right back" He put the brakes on and ran into the house and got his phone, but when he came back and came outside, he froze in shock.
The carriage and the boy in it, were both gone.
TBC...
A/N: yay! That was the longest chapter yet. Thank you for the reviews and special thank you to those who gave me a few pointers.
I'm not happy with some parts of this chapter, one of the things is Ducky's lines, i just can't seem to make them work. I don't know if it's the British mindset that i can't quite grasp, but i find him really really hard to write.
I probably won't have the next chapter up before the end of next week because I'm helping my friends move during the weekend and the beginning of next week (can't believe how much junk can two people gather...), but I'll update as soon as I get the next chapter written.