Chapter Eight: Calm Before the Storm

Gibbs walked into his house, dropped his keys on the table by the door then walked through the living room and dining room without saying a word to his father who was sitting at the dining room table.

"Well good morning to you too," Jack said lightly.

Gibbs grumbled something under his breath as he plopped down next to the man after filling his cup with coffee.

"You look like hell."

"Thanks, Dad," Gibbs replied sarcastically.

"How often do you get called out on cases in the middle of the night?"

"Wasn't a case," Gibbs said. He sighed heavily as he rubbed his face in his hands. Driving around for over an hour had only brought more questions and worries. "Lisa called, the kids' mom. I've been with her."

"Ahh." No wonder his son looked liked crap. "Did you get the answers you were after?"

"I guess." Gibbs took a drink of his coffee as he stared distantly out the window. "Why do I feel like crap, Dad?"

"I don't know," Jack said. "Why do you?"

"How could I not know I had kids out there?"

"They didn't come out of your body, son," Jack replied.

Gibbs knew that his father knew that wasn't the answer he was looking for but he also knew, even in is tired state, that there wasn't an answer that would satisfy him. "Do you think I have any more kids I don't know about?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know," Jack answered. "Were you always safe in the bedroom?"

"Yes," Gibbs answered with a roll of his eyes, "but Lisa and I were always safe too."

"How did she end up pregnant?"

"She stopped taking her birth control pills, started fertility treatments and poked holes in my condoms."

"Few women are that calculating," Jack said.

"Lisa wasn't calculating. She was desperate. Her mom died when we were dating, suicide. Lisa was cooking dinner when she heard a loud noise upstairs. Her mom had hanged herself, broke her neck. Lisa was never the same after that."

Jack flashed back to his wife's suicide and felt sympathy for his son's ex-girlfriend but his son and his grandkids were his top priority. "It's a sad story but does it excuse what she did?" He was trying to subtly pry into his son's psyche and help him get his head on straight.

"Excuse it? No. But it explains how she ended up desperate enough to do what she did. I liked her, Dad. I don't want her back but I still care."

"I'm sure you'll do what you can to help her but just remember you have three little ones to take care of now."

"They're my first priority."

"Is there any chance their mother could take them back?" Jack asked hesitantly. He was afraid of the answer but had to ask the question.

"She can try," Gibbs said, "and she probably will but she gave up her rights when she abandoned them. That'll make it hard for her and I have the best lawyer in DC. I'm not gonna let her get 'em back."

"Well, I hate to say it because I believe children should be raised by two parents whenever possible, but I hope you're right, son. I feel sorry for Lisa and what she's gone through but the kids need someone they can depend on."

"I know, Dad."

Jack smiled as he covered his son up with the fleece blanket that proudly bore the United States Marine Corps logo. After their talk he'd used his persuasive powers to get him to lie down on the couch 'just for a little while' knowing his boy would fall asleep. He'd tried to get him to go upstairs so the kids wouldn't wake him when they got up but Gibbs had insisted that he was just going to rest and not sleep.

Once Gibbs was settled, Jack went through his morning routine of showering, shaving and dressing for the day. As he was tucking his shirt into his pants, he heard cooing over the baby monitor and knew the kids were starting to wake.

"I'm comin', babies," he said, even though he knew they couldn't hear him. He made his way down the hall and opened their bedroom door to find Mason sitting up in bed, rubbing his eyes.

"Gampa!" the boy squealed.

"Good morning, Mason," Jack said, lifting the boy up and kissing his cheek. "Did you sleep well?"

Mason rambled while Jack got the diapers and wipes out and Jack nodded offered a few 'mm-hmms' and 'uh-huhs' so the boy knew he was listening. The talking woke both Sadie and LJ, neither of whom were as thrilled as Mason was to be awake at the early hour.

"Good morning, Sadie. Good morning, LJ," Jack said with a smile and a wink as he secured Mason's diaper.

"Where Daddy?" LJ asked with a big yawn.

"Don't you worry about your daddy," Jack said. "He's downstairs taking a nap."

Mason watched his grandpa change his siblings' diapers; his loose, light brown curls bouncing with excitement as he continued his very animated tale. After everybody was clean, dry and redressed, Jack took the group downstairs for some breakfast. He held his finger to his lips and they moved as stealthily as 22 month olds could through the living room, past their sleeping dad, into the kitchen.

"Daddy," LJ said, pointing tiredly towards the living room.

"Yep, we're gonna let Daddy sleep for a little while," Jack said. "How about some chocolate milk while I get started on breakfast." He filled three sippy cups with milk and passed them out then got to work on some scrambled eggs. Mason stayed at Jack's side, paying close attention to everything he was doing and nearly tripping Grandpa on a couple occasions. Sadie sat down with Dash to drink her milk and watch from a distance and LJ wandered into the living room.

The little boy pulled himself up onto the couch and stretched himself out on top of his daddy. Gibbs may have drifted back to sleep if it hadn't been for the elbow in his gut. He rearranged his son so they were both comfortable but as soon as LJ realized Daddy was awake, he had no interest in going back to sleep.

"Mornin', buddy," Gibbs said with a tired smile.

"More, Daddy," LJ replied.

Gibbs was pretty sure his boy was trying to mimic his 'mornin' but he liked the way it came out.

"I'm sorry, Son," Jack said, coming in from the kitchen in search of LJ. "I was hoping you could get some sleep."

"'s okay, Dad," Gibbs said. "I don't have time to sleep right now anyways. I need to head into the city this morning and I was thinking this afternoon we could get the boys moved into their new room." He'd decided to leave Sadie in Kelly's old room, even though it would mean a little more work.

"What business do you have in the city?" Jack asked.

"Just need to meet with the prosecutor to make a recommendation about you know who," Gibbs answered. "I won't be long."

"Maybe after this you can spend a little time at home," Jack suggested, almost phrasing it as a question.

"Dad, there're things I have to do," Gibbs said.

"I know," Jack said. "I just wish you could slow down some. The kids miss you when you're not here and I'd like to spend some time with you as well."

Gibbs looked at the three forlorn little faces staring back at him and couldn't help but feel bad. He wanted to spend more time with his family too but there were a few things he had to do that they couldn't be a part of.

"Hey," Jack said when he saw his son's eyes darken, "I know some things are unavoidable. This conversation wasn't meant to make you feel guilty."

Gibbs sat up on the couch, shifting LJ to one knee and pulling Sadie up on his opposite knee. He grabbed Mason and tugged him closer so he could hug all three kids and kiss their heads. "I have some vacation time saved up. I'll call my boss later and see about using some of it. Tony can handle the team."

"That'd be nice," Jack said with a smile. "Now, how's tomorrow night for the get together with the team? It's Saturday so they could be here at a decent hour, unless they have to work?"

"No, they won't have to work. We were on call last weekend," Gibbs said. "Tomorrow night'll be fine."

"I'll set everything up," Jack said. "Is everybody ready for some breakfast?"

"I wasn't aware NCIS was involved in the Keenan case," Commonwealth's Attorney Katie McDowell said as he led Gibbs back to her office.

"We're not," Gibbs said. "I'm not here as an investigator. I'm here as a…" he hesitated, not wanting to label himself as a victim. "I'm the kids' father."

"That would make you Jethro Gibbs."

Gibbs nodded.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Gibbs?"

"I met with Lisa earlier this morning," Gibbs said. "I told her I'd talk to you."

"Either you're here so you can say you spoke with me and fulfill your obligation or you want me to let her off easy," McDowell guessed.

"No," Gibbs said. "No, Lisa needs help. I want you to put her somewhere she can get the psychiatric care she needs."

The prosecutor took a moment to study Gibbs' body language, judging his motives and doing her best to get a read on him. "I do like to take the victim's wishes into consideration," she said, not missing the cringe when she referred to the man as a victim, "but I can't send her off to a psychiatric care facility based solely on your recommendation."

"I understand," Gibbs said.

"I'll schedule a psych eval and go from there," McDowell said. "Do you think she'd be open to getting help if I presented it to her as a plea deal?"

"I don't know," Gibbs answered, "but if you do a psych eval on her, it'll show she needs help and I'd rather see her get the help that she needs instead of just being punished."

McDowell stood from her desk and extended her arm to Gibbs. "I appreciate you stopping by. I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you," Gibbs said, shaking the woman's hand before leaving.

After clearing downtown traffic, Gibbs pulled out his cell phone and called Vance. The man was almost as bad as Jenny had been about pushing him to take time off so Gibbs knew his request would be granted. After approving his vacation with the director, Gibbs called Tony and put him in charge until he returned. He had a feeling the battle with Lisa had only begun but he was satisfied with everything he'd accomplished so far and looking forward to some downtime with his dad and his kids.

By the time he pulled into his driveway, the snow that had been predicted was starting to come down in fat, heavy flakes. "Damn weather," he grumbled as he got out of his car. It was only the end of January but DC had already had quite a bit of snow that year, starting with the storm that had dropped over a foot of snow on them the week before Halloween.

He made his way into the house and was greeted by the sounds of the kids giggling and his dad teasing them. He smiled to himself as he brushed the snow out of his hair. Dash raced to the front door to greet him and licked Gibbs' hand after he'd received a pat on the head.

"Anybody home?" Gibbs called as he hung his coat in the closet.

Sadie made it to him first, her shirt and hands covered in marker.

"DADDY!" LJ yelled as he plowed right into Gibbs, throwing his arms around the man.

Mason was right behind him, jumping up and down to try to get his daddy's attention.

"Hi guys," Gibbs said, kneeling so he could hug and kiss his little ones.

"No!" Mason yelled, looking right past Gibbs.

"No what, buddy?" Gibbs asked.

"No! Ook!"

Gibbs turned in the direction Mason was pointing and could see the snow through the window in the front door. Snow. "Yeah, it's snowing. Maybe later we can go outside and play. Would you guys like that?"

Mason raced to the closet and grabbed his shoes. He didn't want to wait until later. He wanted to play in the snow immediately.

"Slow down, kiddo," Gibbs said, taking Mason's shoes from him. "Let's wait until the snow has a chance to pile up. It'll be more fun. How about we go finish coloring our pictures?"

An hour later there wasn't a cabinet in the kitchen that didn't have at least one picture on it. Jack took the last grilled cheese sandwich out of the iron skillet and tested the temperature of the tomato soup that was cooling on the counter with his pinky.

"Perfect," he said. "Are you guys ready to eat?"

"We're coming," Gibbs called from the downstairs bathroom where he was just finishing up washing marker off the kids. He definitely needed to get some crayons the next time he was at the store. "Alright, guys, let's go see what Grandpa made for lunch."

The kids hurried back to the dining room where bowls of soup and sandwiches were waiting for them. Gibbs and Jack secured them in their booster seats then grabbed some soup and sandwiches for themselves. The boys quickly went to work on their meals but Sadie decided she didn't like the soup and only wanted her sandwich.

Jack watched with a smile on his face as his family enjoyed the meal. "Are you not feeling well, Leroy?" he asked when he realized Gibbs had barely touched his lunch. "You're not eating."

"Huh?" LJ asked, with a half a sandwich hanging out of his mouth.

"Wrong Leroy," Jack said, winking at his grandson.

"I'm fine," Gibbs answered. "Just not used to being able to sit down and eat lunch like this."

"You've got to make time to nourish your body, son."

"Dad, please." Gibbs was tired and not in the mood for a lecture about his eating habits.

Sadie poked Gibbs' arm and offered him a bite of her sandwich.

He smiled down at her and took a small bite. "Thanks, sweet pea."

The little girl reached over and rested her hand on Gibbs' arm while she continued eating.

"I've got someone coming over shortly to give me a ride to the grocery store," Jack said. "I need some things for tomorrow's dinner. I figure after being up all night you might want to take a nap with the kids."

"Who's coming over?" Gibbs asked curiously.

"Abby," Jack answered. "She assured me that she wasn't working on anything pressing and I assured her that you wouldn't mind if she took a long lunch."

"Oh. You two have fun and if you think about it, maybe you can get a box of crayons," Gibbs said. He was looking forward to some time alone with the kids. There was nothing work related or related to Lisa that needed his attention so he could focus all his attention on them. Too bad it was naptime.

"Try to get some sleep while I'm gone, Leroy. You look exhausted."

Once his dad had gone and the kids' diapers had been changed, Gibbs tucked them into their beds. Sadie, still fighting off the remnants of the flu, fell asleep quickly. After a story and backrubs the boys were asleep too.

Gibbs used the quiet time to work in what would be the boys' new room. With the exception of a dresser left in there for Mason and LJ to share, all the furniture had been moved out. Gibbs had decided to go ahead and let Sadie use the furniture he'd built for Kelly. Kelly had always loved to help people in any way she could and Gibbs was pretty sure she'd be thrilled to share her furniture with Sadie.

He was in the middle of moving the dresser when he backed up and almost tripped over Sadie. "What're you doing out of bed, baby? I thought you were sleeping," he said as he picked her up.

Sadie nestled into her daddy's chest, happy to have him home with her. She didn't want him to leave again while she was sleeping. Gibbs carried her back across the hall and sat down in the rocking chair he'd rocked Kelly to sleep in countless times. The slow rhythm of the rocking and the peaceful sounds of the boys' deep breathing quickly lulled Sadie back to sleep and not long after that Gibbs was sleeping too.