Leroy Jethro Gibbs tried not to lose his patience as his favourite lab techs five year old son appeared in his living room for the twelfth in half an hour. Ryatt Scuito-Garcia was not about to settle and go to sleep, Gibbs was not often a patient man and wouldn't usually put up with such behaviour from a child in his care, had it been his late daughter Kelly or even his Goddaughter Amira he would have put an end to this kind of thing with a stern tone and firm swat to the rear. But Ryatt was a different story, the little boy wasn't acting up just for the sake of it, he wasn't trying to prolong his going to bed just to spend some extra time watching television or just one more story; no this little boy was in an unfamiliar bed, his mothers weren't there to tuck him in and he was stressed by the sudden changes in his very important routine. You see Ryatt was not a naughty little boy acting up, he was a little boy with a big difference to most children Gibbs was use to dealing with. The realm of children with Autism was all very new to the NCIS Special Agent, but he was doing his best to remember everything Abby had told him about managing her special needs sons.
Getting up from his seat on the couch where he bunked down most nights, Gibbs made sure to get Ryatt's attention.
"Its bedtime now" Gibbs signed to the five year old, who was not only Autistic, but also completely deaf due to congenital condition.
"You need to stay in bed" the silver haired man signed to the little boy who didn't look like he was paying much mind to what the man was telling him.
The former Marine put a gentle hand on each of the boy's shoulders and directed him back up the stairs to the master bedroom where Abby's sons were sleeping that night. Sawyer was curled up on the end of the queen sized bed, no covers on despite the chill of the January night, his feet propped up on a pillow and a teddy bear under his head. Gibbs shook his head, a small smile gracing his lips; he picked Ryatt up and placed him onto the bed, laid his head on a pillow and pulled a blanket over him.
"Its bedtime, stay in bed" he signed again to the boy, his mouth forming the words as he did so.
Before heading out of the bedroom that he had once shared with his various wives, Gibbs grabbed the throw blanket from the old arm chair in the corner by the window and covered the sleeping four year old boy on the end of the bed, being careful not to wake him up.
Ryatt had already gotten himself back out of the bed and was making a dash for the door while Gibbs was attending to his brother. Gibbs let out a tired sigh and managed to move with speed and grace that should be impossible at his age; he nabbed the little boy before he had fully made his way out of the door.
"Its time for bed, you need to go to sleep" the Agent repeated, his patience close to gone with the need for sleep and his worry over the mothers and little brother of the little boy who was currently giving him a run for his money in the realm of not giving up.
Ryatt tired to get himself out of Gibbs's grip, even biting the older man on the hand when wriggling proved to be unsuccessful.
Swearing in his head Gibbs reverted to type and swatted the boy firmly on the back of the thigh, just below his diaper. The swat was meant to get the little boy's attention, not to hurt him or to punish him, Gibbs just hoped that Abby would understand, because she could be a force to reckon with when she got it into her mind to be upset and Gibbs wasn't sure she would agree with his treatment of one of her precious babies, not that she didn't know about Gibbs methods, he had employed them before with Knox and Summer in the past, but never with Ryatt.
"No biting" Gibbs scolded the child "Its bedtime, go to sleep" he repeated for the umpteenth time that night, settling the boy into the bed and hoping he would stay there this time.
...
Abby felt her world falling apart around her, she tried to stay grounded to something, anything tangible as she listening to the doctor explains the treatment protocol that her toddler would soon be starting to try and fight the cancer that had invaded his perfect little body. Knox Roy was so little, not even three yet, he should be at home snuggled up on the sofa with his Mommy or playing with his brothers and sisters, running around the house and yard with the family's service dog Mortimer or oven sneaking into Mommy and Momma's bed because he's got a sore tummy from eating too many treats.
But that wasn't the case, little Knox was lying in an unfamiliar bed, antibiotics and fluids being pumped into his body through an IV in his little arm. He looked so confused and upset, Abby just wanted to grab him into her arms and run from this place, take him home and love on him. But he needed to be here, this place was going to help to make him better.
Looking over to her partner, Abby could tell that this was just as hard for her little boy's other mother, the woman who shared the little guy's DNA, the woman who had carried him inside of her for all those months, the woman who had graciously allowed Abby to share this boy's life. Her love for the other woman could not be stronger in this moment as the stood, side by side and listened to the medical jargon that would now be a very big part of their lives together.
"Hey Penny, you stay with Knox okay, I'll go help Gibbs get the kids ready" Abby said to her partner as the doctor left the room having discussed the protocol they would be using in hopes of saving their little boy.
"Okay, I hope they didn't give him too hard a time" Garcia said, trying a small smile as she stroked her toddler's head.
"Oh I'm sure Gibbs can handle them" Abby assured her, although she too was hoping that her four other children hadn't given her boss slash surrogate father too much trouble over night.
"I'll talk to Day Care about Knox when I drop off Maddy and the twins" the Goth said to the other woman, with a loving peck on the lips she slipped out of the room, sharing a sad smiling with another woman was she passed her in the hallway.
...
Derek Morgan was giving his child minder, a retired nurse in her mid sixties the run down for the care of his two sons for the day. Dylan, elven and Dwayne, ten, were paternal half-brothers, both of whom had known their father their whole lives but had both come to live with him in December for different reasons. Dylan was your typical preteen, full of energy and attitude, athletic like his father, having played baseball, basketball and football back home in Chicago where he had been living with his maternal great grandmother until she had suffered from a stroke several months ago. Derek's mother had taken him in temporarily until the FBI Agent had been able to make arrangements to take over full legal and physical custody of the boy.
Dwayne was different from his brother, his mother hadn't just upped and left like Dylan's mother had shortly after his birth. Dwayne's mother had been in a horrific car accident when she has thirty-four weeks pregnant with her baby boy, they had been able to save her unborn son by delivering him quickly via an emergency c-section, but they had been unable to save his mother. The baby had suffered irreversible damage to his brain from the trauma and had been diagnosed with moderate to severe cerebral palsy during his first year of life. He had limited verbal communication and although able to walk short distances he was in a wheelchair most of the time.
Both boys were his full-time now and that meant a lot of changes had to be made changes necessary, like moving from his one bedroom apartment into one of the many houses he had fixed up, making sure the house was accessible to his younger son and hiring full-time live in help to care the kids while he was working, especially when he was out of town. But today he wasn't running off to work, he was off to the local children's hospital to check on Penelope Garcia, his 'Baby-Girl' and he little boy who it turns out was very sick.
"I've got the boys covered, go on, get out of here"
"Yes Ma'am" Derek replied like the well raised boy that he was.
"Give that Little Angel a kiss from me" Barb instructed the man, she had been a paediatric nurse for thirty years and had seen then hardship that childhood cancer had on a child and the family, even just family friends were often greatly affected by peripherally by the child.
"I will, I promise" Morgan promised his sons' caregiver as he headed out the front door.
A/N: It took a while for me to write this, hopefully it reads well and isn't too short. I'll get more done in the new year.