"Kelly had been home for two weeks now. Jethro was still in denial about her being deaf. It was actually hard to remember with a baby. She couldn't talk or communicate yet. That was the thing he could teach her sign language and brush up on his own skills. Abby and him had both been taught sign when they were younger since Jack was still close to the Scuito's back then. Abby was barely learning baby level sign back then but Jethro took it upon himself to teach her the more sophisticated signs as she grew. Holding on to hope that Jackson would patch things up with the Scuito's he knew now that they had helped his mom commit suicide and even knowing that he wished that Jack would forgive them. Sure he was vowed to never forgive Linda but that was different. His mom would have died anyway only at a much slower and more painful pace but Jenny had a whole lifetime ahead of her. Jethro looked down at Kelly who was fast asleep in her infant carrier. Today was going to be his first day back at the hardware store since the day before graduation. Since Earl didn't feel comfortable having a baby in the hardware store with all the paint and hazardous things to babies. So he would be leaving Kelly in the playpen at the store with Olivia. Under the watchful eyes of Jack and Darla. He was actually glad to be going back to work. He had missed it in the weeks that Kelly was in the hospital but Earl wanted him to take some down time before coming back to the stress of work. He grabbed hold of Kelly's carrier and slowly made his way up the stairs. After her second hospitalization he had become extra paranoid and over protective of her.

"Hi Jethro you headed to work?" Tony greeted.

"Yeah" Jethro replied.

"Well good luck." Tony replied.

"Thanks I'm going to need it. This is the first time I will leave her since we came home." Jethro replied.

"What are you going to do with her because I am not changing any diapers?" Tony questioned.

"Well relax I am taking her down to the general store Darla and Jack are going to babysit her while I am gone." Jethro explained.

"Good" Tony replied.

"Yeah well the store has a truck coming in tomorrow and dad doesn't want the babies there. So you will be watching both of them. Which means two sets of diapers." Jethro explained.

"Are you sure Earl won't make an exception?!" Tony whined.

"I know for a fact he will not." Jethro replied.

"OK but you and Jack both owe me!" Tony warned.

"Jack and I saved you from the streets! It's gonna take a while to settle that!" Jethro called back.

Jethro placed Kelly in the playpen beside Olivia. Even being premature as well and two weeks younger than Kelly. Olivia was still significantly larger than Kelly. So much larger that Jack and Darla had already given her a couple of pieces of newborn clothing that Olivia had outgrown. At her last check-up Olivia had weighed ten pounds eleven ounces while Kelly only weighed just over six when she left the hospital the last time. Olivia had weighed five seven at birth while Kelly only weighed three nine. Jethro didn't need a doctor or specialist to tell him. That Olivia would reach every milestone first. She would crawl first, walk first, talk first if Kelly learned to talk at all. Jethro just hoped that Kelly would be able to catch up eventually. Olivia was asleep when Jethro put Kelly into the pen but when she sensed her aunt. She reached over and wrapped her arm around Kelly. Jethro hadn't been home at all during that time but Jack, Darla, Tony, Tim, Abby, and even a few people from town had said that Olivia didn't act right when Kelly was hospitalized. Jack and Darla had even rushed her to the clinic one night fearing she had caught meningitis from Kelly. Doctor James had immediately run a blood test which came back negative for everything he checked her for. She had no fever or sign of physical pain. She just missed Kelly. They had barely been apart since they were brought home. Jethro was relieved Kelly had an ally in life. If she was as small and slow as the doctors feared she would need a protector.

"Look at that." Jack commented.

"I know." Jethro replied.

"Do you think Olivia knows that Kelly is different?" Jethro questioned.

"Hard telling they're so young after all." Jack replied.

"Do you think they will stay like this or will they grow apart as they get older?" Jethro asked.

"Hopefully they will stay close they are both Gibbs's and Gibbs's are loyal." Jack explained.

"I know but Kelly is deaf and she may be slower than the other kids. What if Olivia starts to feel like she is holding her back?" Jethro asked.

"Then I will have a serious talk with her." Jack replied.

"Hey dad what if something happens to you and Darla?" Jethro asked.

"What brings this up all of a sudden?" Jack asked.

"I don't know I guess Jen and everything." Jethro replied.

"Darla and I never discussed that but we really should. Shouldn't we?" Jack questioned.

"I suppose." Jethro replied.

Jethro caught a glimpse of the wall clock in the store. He was going to be late if he didn't hurry. He bent down and gave Kelly one last kiss before rushing out of the general store and down the road to the hardware store. Earl was sitting on the porch smoking his pipe.

"Just in time, Jethro." Earl commented.

"Sorry I got distracted with Kelly." Jethro apologized.

Relax you were on time I am not as strict as your old man. How is Kelly doing by the way? We have all been praying for her." Earl explained.

"She is doing much better." Jethro assured.

"Excellent oh yeah I got something for you." Earl replied.

"You didn't have to do that." Jethro replied.

"Here this is from my nephew in the city." Earl replied handing Jethro a book.

"Oh wow thanks. This will really help me a lot. I could not find any real hep locally." Jethro replied looking down at the book in his hands. "The Parenting Journey, Raising Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children"

A/N: Got the book title from Amazon but will get most information from the internet so it may be wrong. I am probably going to end this story soon but I have a sequel in mind that will start immediately after. I got a job that I will likely start sometime next week. So updates may not be as frequent but I will try to update at least one story a day. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.