JF29 - Ok, so I felt incredibly bad for leaving you all with a cliff hanger, like that one and then making you wait until the new year for the next update. So ... here's a holiday present from me. It's what you've all been patiently been waiting for. Spread out over two chapters because it's a crazy time of the year and not everyone has time to read a 13k word chapter in one sitting.
So have yourselves a very, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays or whatever you celebrate and a Happy and Safe New Year
A/N: THIS CHAPTER DEALS WITH SOME VERY TRIGGERING TOPICS. IT MENTIONS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND THE DEATH OF A BABY IN DETAIL.
Burying a child is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, but unfortunately sometimes it happens, it's unpreventable and parents have to deal with it. Quite often, the death of a child will tear relationships, families and friendships apart, even the strongest ones.
As planned, Gibbs arrived first. Tim met him by the elevator because he had something else, he wanted to discuss with the team leader beforehand. The two men exchange greetings of good morning, as Tim handed Gibbs a fresh cup of coffee. "What's up? Besides the fact that you look like you've barely slept." Gibbs asked as he scrutinized Tim. Tim had bags under his eyes, but he had seen Tim better rested than how he currently looked. Sadly, he had also Tim more tired than he was currently, too.
"How hard would it be to install a lockable, solid front door, right here?" Tim asked Gibbs, giving him a serious look. "Too many people know the elevator code, now. I just want a little more privacy than what we have now. If I am in the bedroom or in my office, I can't hear the elevator ding. I would hate to have someone walk in on me."
"You mean like I did? The morning you and Kelly were in bed together." Gibbs quipped, grinning at the young man. Gibbs had twenty years on Tim, in life experience and he metaphorically picked up what the young man was laying down. He agreed with what Tim was thinking, even if it was his daughter Tim was doing those things with. "I get it, I really do."
Gibbs took some time and looked at the wall's structural integrity and the layout. He'd have to get the stud finder to see where it was load bearing. "Well?" Tim asked. Gibbs had been taking his time and Tim was already feeling antsy and impatient this morning. He was nervous about the upcoming meeting that would take place in half an hour's time.
"It'd probably take a couple hours to install, once we had the frame built. We could get a couple of pre-fabricated solid doors and build a fame for it. Custom order some glass for natural light and we'd be all done." Gibbs offered in understanding. He could definitely see why Tim was thinking he'd need more privacy. After walking in on him and Kelly sleeping in the same bed, he always stayed in the foyer and called out, now. He definitely did not want to barge in and see something he shouldn't. "Let's hit the hardware store tonight after work and price everything up."
"Morning, Dad." Kelly greeted as she came out for her coffee. Her hair wet from the shower and in a turban twist towel. "Morning, Babe." she joined them, kissing Tim as he handed her his own cup of coffee. "Did you sleep at all?" She asked, looking at her boyfriend carefully.
"In bits and pieces, but I am ok." Tim answered, glossing over the fact he felt really tired and drained. Emotionally, he felt wrought and strung out. A kaleidoscope of butterflies had taken up residence in his stomach and he was struggling to not let his nerves get the better of him. "Really, I am ok." He reiterated. "I need to show you something, Gibbs."
Gibbs silently followed Tim down the long corridor and into his study. He smiled in approval when he saw the upgraded lock on his office door and silently approved of the biometric security lock. Tim went into the safe and pulled out the envelope that the Director had given him last night. He handed Gibbs the opened envelope and told him to take a seat when he read it, that he would need it.
Gibbs felt apprehensive for the young man, but he knew that Tim had already read its contents, and probably Kelly too. After all, she was going to be here this morning for this meeting. "Are you kidding me?" Gibbs exclaimed, having only read the first page. He had thought, like Tim had, that the young man had been born at Bethesda, not at Iona Hospital, Alexandria. "If this is true, how come your birth certificate says you were born at Bethesda?"
"Keep reading, Gibbs." Tim instructed his boss. "It gets a whole heap worse." Tim let out a sigh and rested his head in his hands on his desk. He couldn't wait to hear the story. He was feeling angry, betrayed, hurt, lost, confused, scared, nervous. It was such an array of emotions and he was struggling to keep his head on straight. Gibbs had once praised Tim that he had always kept his head on straight, but right now he felt like he was letting Gibbs down.
"Oh, Tim!" Gibbs comforted the man. Gibbs was sympathetic to Tim's feelings. He had scarcely believed what he had just read and was shocked that those two people were the biological parents of Tim. His friend, perhaps one of his closest friends had been involved with the Secretary of the Navy and hadn't told him. "You know, if you think about it carefully, it kind of makes sense, Tim. Sarah Porter has a background in business, she is really smart and like you; she excelled with her degrees at an accelerated pace. Tobias, he has a really technical mind, almost scientific. He loves books and enjoys analysing things, much like you, he is an over-analyser."
"That doesn't calm my nerves, Gibbs." Tim said. The tone of Tim's voice spoke to the parental lion that lay within Gibbs. But Gibbs refused to give in to the doubts he held that this news would be welcomed. He didn't want to worry his agent any more than he had to.
"Relax, you're going to work yourself up before they arrive." Gibbs advised him. "Should I send Kelly in here to calm you down?"
"No, I'm ok." He smiled at Gibbs. The last time Kelly had tried to calm him down, he had been on the phone with Tony and Kelly had given him a blow job. That definitely wasn't happening while Gibbs was in his apartment.
Kelly came in and knocked on the door, alerting them that security had called and both Tobias Fornell and Sarah Porter were on their way up. Gibbs patted Tim on the back, before pulling him for a quick hug. "I've got your back, Tim." he whispered as the two men followed Kelly out of the room. "No matter what happens."
Tim entered his elevator access code when the doorbell rang and Kelly went and opened the door. Tim and Gibbs were seated at the dining room table and Kelly ushered them straight over. "Gibbs?" Fornell greeted them, surprised. "Well, this can't be good." He muttered to Sarah Porter.
"Thank you for coming." Tim said, inviting his guests to sit down. "Please help yourself to breakfast while we talk. I know we are all busy people and have our own jobs to get to, today."
"Agent McGee, you have me worried." Sarah admitted, as she took the empty plate Tim handed her and directed her to the buffet where they had laid out the food they had made for the meeting. "Agent Gibbs, Agent McGee looks like he isn't sleeping again. What is the case that has him looking so wrought."
"We will get to that in a moment." Gibbs said, making Tim take his seat beside Kelly. Tim's coffee cup full and his plate empty, Gibbs sent him a chastising look and Kelly made Tim a small plate, knowing Tim's stomach must be bundle of raw nerves.
"Will someone fill us in, already?" Tobias Fornell asked, looking at Gibbs. "Is Tim in some kind of trouble? Wait, what am I saying, it's Timothy McGee. He isn't the trouble-magnet agent of the MCRT. That's Agent DiNutzo."
Gibbs looked to Tim and Tim looked harder back at him. Tim had been struggling to find, let alone say the words he needed to say. "Ok, I was asked to be here as mediator. I guess it's my show." Gibbs muttered and caught Tim's grateful and relieved look. "Thank you for coming. First off, I think you both know part of this story already, but I'll recap in case you don't, or can't remember."
Gibbs filled them in on what had gone down with the former Admiral John McGee and everything that he had been alleged towards Tim. Gibbs touched on the poor treatment of Tim, from John and Gibbs saw Sarah's jaw tighten. He remembered that Leon Vance, himself and Sarah Porter had already discussed John's treatment of Timothy before. "Now here is the kicker." Gibbs finally said, taking a huge gulp of coffee. He was about to tear down both of their worlds with his words. "Vance has Agent Matt Balboa investigating the Admiral's claims. So far, they haven't found any evidence of how Tim came to be part of the McGee family. Leon offered to have Tim's DNA run and because it is tied to an active case and will form part of Balboa's investigation. It was done by Mrs Carlson, in our lab at the Navy Yard."
"How is this relevant to us?" Sarah asked softly. "Other than to make us both aware of the situation. That wouldn't require a breakfast spread like this. Tim wordlessly handed them each an envelope that he had stashed in the side bureau off to the wall opposite the dining table. He re-took his seat and Kelly grasped his hand tightly, in silent and unwavering support. "What am I reading?" Sarah asked, slowly putting the paper down. "Is this right?"
"It's not a joke or a prank right, Gibbs? Because if I find out that DiNutzo is behind this, he will rue the day that he was born." Fornell threatened. When his threat didn't get a reaction, he looked carefully at Tim, then at Gibbs and at Kelly. When no one was laughing, Fornell felt a shiver run down his back. "I see."
"How?" Sarah asked, looking at Tim carefully. She looked over at Tobias, next. "How did this happen? Tobias, we buried our son. We held him in our arms. We kissed him goodbye. We watched them put him in the shroud and then into the body bag." She began crying and Tobias put his arm around Sarah, he had felt like crying too.
"I don't know, Sare. Gibbs I swear, there was a baby in the casket we buried. Our son has a grave in Old Town cemetery." Fornell swore to his friend. "I don't know what to say, Tim." Tobias was in genuine shock. Gibbs went and comforted his friend, seeing Kelly had Tim well in hand.
"Are you ok?" Gibbs asked them both. He was concerned; Sarah Porter seemed to be taking the news harder than Tobias. She was a blubbering mess. He had never done well with crying women. Just ask all of his ex-wives and his daughter.
"I'm numb, Jethro." Sarah told him truthfully. "I have already grieved for that baby. I have mourned his loss. His death tore the two of us apart and the whole time, he was alive and living with another family."
"Take a moment to think about how Tim is feeling right now?" Gibbs countered softly. "His whole life, he was led to believe that the people who were his family loved him, only discover it was all a lie. We both know how John McGee treats Tim, too."
"How long have you known the truth, Tim?" Tobias asked, his voice had a terse tone to it. Tobias could easily lose his temper right now and if the shy man had been hiding the truth from him, heads would roll. "Have you known long?"
"I ... I found out last night." Tim admitted. "As soon as I knew, I made these plans to tell you. I wasn't lying when I said you needed to come this morning, that it couldn't wait until tonight." Tim was feeling hurt still. He was scared, not that he would admit it to anyone. Neither one of them seemed happy about him being their son and it stung a little.
"Who else knows, besides the NCIS lab tech?" Sarah suddenly asked. She felt like she was going to cave in on herself, completely.
"Vance." Tim whispered. "He was here when I opened the results. He didn't know before that." Tim's voice now took on a defensive tone and Gibbs worried for the young man he considered a friend.
"My son isn't dead." Tobias whispered softly. It was so soft that Gibbs barely heard it, even with his supersonic hearing. "Whose son did we bury, Sare?"
"Well, that's just great." Sarah Porter said, finally erupting. Her mind was undecided and it teetered between anger and denial. Whatever she had been stewing on in her mind had come to the surface in a fiery snap. "No offense Agent McGee, but this is crazy. Tobias, we buried our child. What if this gets out? It is going to be a political disaster. Sure, Vance can keep his word, but what do I tell Megan? That the big brother she says is her angel, is actually alive? What will you tell Emily? Damn it, Toby. I have a hard enough time pretending we don't know each other when our do paths cross."
"Calm down, Sare." Tobias told her, as he turned her to face him. "We can come up with a plausible explanation, together."
"How about the truth?" Tim suggested snarkily. "Foreign concept in politics, I know, but you'd think I deserve that much at least? It's not like I knew about this: days ago, weeks, or even months in advance. I have known about this for roughly twelve hours and I have so many questions. You're both only thinking about yourselves. At least I did the decent thing and told you both in the privacy of my home. Yes, you may have to deal with the political fallout from this and you have to explain to Diane, how you have a child she doesn't know about. I took both of those into account when I chose to tell you the truth, despite the fact that I am the one who's career and job is on the line. You are my boss, and because of you, I can't even make a cross agency trade. Any other job I get in the alphabet soup is going to look like a demotion and a will be a blemish on my 201 file."
"He's right, Tobias. I am his boss and if he won't work for me, he sure as hell won't work for the FBI." Sarah agreed with Tim.
"Maybe we should all take the day and let this news sink in." Gibbs suggested. "The three of you could meet up again soon and talk this out. I'd be happy to continue mediating."
"Oh, I am not leaving here until I get some answers." Sarah said angrily. "In fact, let me call my assistant and cancel everything I have on today." She snapped, pulling out her cell phone and calling in sick for the day. As soon as she was through and put her cell back in her purse. Tobias copied her, telling Sacks he wasn't coming in, but unlike Sarah Porter, he didn't give a reason why. Gibbs looked at Tim and gave him a small, reassuring smile.
"You're taking the day too, Tim." Gibbs told him, making it almost sound like an order. He knew they could take a day of cold cases if it meant Tim would be one hundred percent more focused the following day. "This is important and until it's sorted, you're not going to focus. I need my SFA to have his head on straight."
"If you can all excuse me, I have to get my things together for work." Kelly said with a smile, as she left the table. Tim excused himself too, he needed a moment alone and wanted to say goodbye to her in private.
Tim followed Kelly down the hall, into the bedroom. "Hey, are you ok?" she asked, hugging him tightly, pulling her body into his. She could feel the stress and tension in her boyfriend's body. She gave him a kiss, pouring all of her love and support into it. "Are you going to be, ok? I can try to take the day off, if you want."
"You have that big budget meeting. I will be ok." Tim told her. He didn't want her to jeopardise her career for the sake of his family drama. "Besides, I get the impression, Gibbs isn't leaving anytime soon."
"Trading me in for my dad." She joked with him.
"Hardly." He grinned at her. "It's you that I love and adore, not my boss, Gibbs. You, Gibbs. Kelly Anne Gibbs, you are everything to me. My best friend, my companion, my lover."
"Don't you forget it, either." she teased, kissing him again and wiping the lipstick off his lips. "I have to go and you have guests to get back to. I will see you tonight."
"Our son followed your daughter into the bedroom, Gibbs." Tobias broke the silence, his voice slightly higher pitched than usual. Gibbs bit back a grin as his dear friend realised that their children were in an intimate relationship together.
"Well yeah, Tobias." Gibbs quipped. "Lovers tend to share a bedroom. He is probably giving her a kiss goodbye. Tim is a shy reserved person, he is discreet, too. Probably doesn't want any of us to see them kiss."
"I have a grown son. He is not dead." Sarah stated, her voice still sounding in shock and monotoned at best. "I have a grown son, who has a girlfriend." she repeated. Gibbs muffled his chuckle that, Sarah Porter wasn't moving past that fact any time soon.
"Agent Balboa hasn't received a copy of these results yet, Gibbs." Tim said, having returned from the foyer, after seeing Kelly off. "To get the answers to the right questions, the questions that we all want answers to, we need to tell him. He is the agent in charge of the investigation."
"I have a grown son. He is not dead." Sarah repeated and Gibbs thought that Sarah might be in shock.
"Sarah, are you ok?" Tobias whispered. He rubbed her arms trying to comfort her. Tobias actually thought that Tim and Gibbs had made a valid point. They really did need to bring him up to speed. "Gibbs, call him to the apartment, if it's OK with you, Tim. It is more private here than at the yard and we can contain the story better."
"Sure, I guess." Tim grumbled and Gibbs looked at Tobias in frustration. "That's all I am, a story?"
Gibbs couldn't believe these two. Both of them were so wrapped up in their own image and their own grief, neither of them could see how much this was hurting Tim. Neither of them had accepted him as their son. Neither one of them had said much of anything towards him. If it was, he in that position, and thank goodness it wasn't because of the relationship between him and Kelly, he would want to shout it from the rooftops. He would tell Tim how proud he is of him. He would at least try to get to know him better. Maybe ask him questions about his adopted family, about his life.
"I'll call Balboa." Tim said sullenly. He hadn't felt like he was accepted, or even wanted as their child. Both of them just kept repeating that he was dead. Their reaction, or inaction was hurting him and he needed some space to be by himself for a moment to mentally sort his feelings out.
Locking himself in his study for a moment, Tim breathed deeply that he was finally alone. He quickly made the call to Balboa and told him to come alone. The less witnesses to the coldness that his biological parents were showing him, so much the better. Tim sat on the sofa in his office for a moment longer, just musing to himself. He must be a horrible person to have not one, but two sets of parents not like him. Plus, he had a stepmother who couldn't stand to be around him. Lori had been indifferent and stopped paying Tim any attention completely, once Sarah came along. "Tim, are you OK?" Gibbs asked through the door and for the first time today, Tim wished Kelly had of stayed home from work.
Tim opened the door to allow Gibbs entrance into his study. "I understand they're in shock, but I would have thought that one of them would have accepted you by now. I'm sorry, Tim."
"Don't be, it's like the Admiral used to say, I'm no one's idea of a good son." Tim told him, recalling the particular point that Tim had made.
"Tim, no. That's not true." Gibbs denied. "Before you started seeing Kell, you were like a son to me, as an agent who worked for me and as the man you are. Now, you're almost like my son in law and I'm proud of that, for you. Proud of you, as a person, too"
Gibbs pulled Tim into a hug and he felt a wet hot tear reach his shirt, and another one and another one. Then he saw Tim had pulled back and retreated into his shell. "Kelly is all I have left, now Gibbs. I've lost my family, both of my families, I have lost Delilah and I have lost Ziva. Now, I am going to lose my job and my career. I could survive for a little bit as a writer, provided I eat like a bird and never buy food or coffee. But it's not as sustainable income."
"It's been a tough year for you, son." Gibbs told him. "But it can only go up from here and it will. Look what you have gained. Two biological parents, even if they do need to pull their heads out of their asses. You've got Kelly by your side too, now."
"I can't believe that out of everyone in the world she could possibly love, she loves me." Tim marvelled with a smile on his face for the first time that morning. "She picked me, she loves me, Gibbs."
"See it's not all bad." Gibbs smiled at him, patting him on the back. Gibbs took what Tim had just said on board. The way Tim's eyes lit up in wonder and amazement when he spoke about Kelly. Gibbs knew that Tim had some self-esteem issues. He probably always had those self-esteem issues, especially being raised by John McGee. But he had been trying to help Tim with them, ever since he found out about how the Admiral treated Tim, when he met John McGee last year. "They've asked their questions about what you know. It is time they started answering some questions of yours. Let's go."
Sarah Porter had finally calmed down and had something to eat and to drink. Tobias was relieved. He had always been the more level headed of the two of them. But only by a smidge. Seeing Gibbs and Tim come back in to the room, Gibbs arm around Tim, had made Tobias feel envious in the pit of his stomach. Gibbs had been the one who had noticed that something was wrong with Tim. Gibbs had been the one to make him feel better, to cheer him up and put that smile back on his face.
"Tim, you're my son. Our son." Tobias said, looking directly at him. For the first time ever, Tobias allowed himself to look at the man in question carefully. He could see some familial similarities. "You have my hair colour, before I lost it and went grey. That was your sister's doing. My cheekbones, which my dad had too. You got your height from us Fornell's, although Sarah's father was tall, too."
Tobias had moved out of his chair and stood in front of him. "Is tall. Dad is still alive, Toby." Sarah corrected him. The two of them exchanged looks. "I think it's safe for them to know that we know each other a little more intimately than we've let on in the past. Christ Tobias, Tim's our son."
A doorbell dinging signalled the arrival of Balboa. Gibbs softly told them that he would get it and the two of them would be in the hot seat. Greetings were exchanged and Gibbs had warned Balboa he was about to walk into a really tense situation. He didn't expect the two of them to be inspecting his agent like a racehorse upon their return. Gibbs cleared his throat and the two of them looked guilty at Gibbs and he managed to muffle his chuckle.
"Madam Secretary, Agent Fornell, Tim-Man, I understand that you three have come into some information about the McGee case." Balboa took the offered papers from his work friend Tim and took a seat at the table. Scanning the paperwork Tim had handed him, he took the mug of coffee Gibbs offered him. His eyes widened at what he read. He took a sip of coffee and grimaced. He knew Gibbs drank strong coffee, but that was really strong. "Should have warned me that you made the coffee, Gibbs."
"I made the coffee, Matt." Tim admitted as he pushed the creamer and sugar towards him.
Gibbs was silently milling in the background, wrapping up left overs and clearing the table of the food, plates and cutlery, leaving the mugs on the table. When he was finished doing that, he bought a fresh pot of coffee in and sat down beside Tim. Gibbs had drawn a line in the sand. Above all else, he was going to have Tim's six.
"In your own words, tell us what happened and how you lost your baby." Balboa prompted them to begin.
"It was the week after mid-winter break, we were in our senior year at high school and there was a co-ed dance, organised by the Parents and Friends Association. I went to an all-girls school. St Francis All Girls Academy, Tobias went to the St Francis All Boys Academy next door. The two campuses formed part of the same school." Sarah began." But had separate administrative buildings."
"Actually, we had begun dating three years before that, when we were fourteen and I asked her to go on a date with me, to the movies with me to see Blazing Saddles. Our parents were neighbours and friends, so we knew each other really well." Tobias interrupted Sarah. "So, we had been going steady, for three years by then."
"Right." Sarah continued. "I was crazy about him, I actually had dreams of marrying him. Which made my mother happy, at the time." she smiled at that memory. "So, we had a school dance organised by the all-girls Parents and Friend's Association and Tobias asked me, being my boyfriend. It was a Valentine's Day dance. We went and we had a great time. We lived in Crofton at the time. My Dad was teaching at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Anyway, Tobias drove me home. Pulling up in his driveway, he kissed me good night and walked me to my door."
"We lived in Louise Court and there was a swimming lake behind our houses, Lake Louise." Tobias remembered out loud. "We use to sneak out there a lot. My dad had a gate built on the back fence line because he got fed up with George, my oldest brother climbing the fence. I asked Sarah to meet me in fifteen minutes, there. She had a curfew and I wasn't ready to say good night to her."
"I had to climb out of my bedroom window and down mum's garden trellises. But we met and Tobias had been waiting for me. He had a bundle of blankets. He had laid three down over a pallet deck that his brothers had made for their bikes and we sat out there. Leaning against the wooden fence and looking up at the stars. In summer, we'd sneak out to watch the stars and swim under the moonlight. But that night, the lake was frozen solid and we had another idea to keep warm."
"We had been together three years already and at Christmas we'd finally... You know? For the first time." Tobias admitted and Sarah shot him a dirty look. "What? It's not like they don't know how the story ends. The son that we conceived is sitting right there."
"Still?" she hissed at him and for once in his life, Gibbs was glad that, for a change, it wasn't him, in the firing line of a fiery red headed woman. Everyone knew Gibbs had peculiar talent for making fiery red headed women hate him.
"We did it again." Tobias flashed a grin at Sarah, making her squirm more, antagonising the already fired up woman. "I don't think any of our parents knew what we were doing out there because they would have definitely said something. Especially my father, he was a hot head."
"Easter Sunday was the end of March that year and we celebrated as we had for a couple of years, prior, with the Clarke's and the Fornell's. We went off to church at the school and we came home and had lunch together with the Fornell family. After lunch, I wasn't feeling well. I said I was tired and my father sent me to my bedroom to rest."
"I was already worried about her because at her eighteenth birthday party two weekends before, she was exhausted and spent the second half of the night, asleep against my shoulder." Tobias interjected.
"When my parents struggled to wake me up later that evening, my father called the doctor to come around to the house. When the doctor asked if I could possibly be pregnant, I lied." Sarah admitted. "The penny dropped in that moment and with both of my parents telling him it wasn't possible; I ran with it. I was scared and afraid of what they would do. I needed to talk to Tobias before I told anyone, anything."
"Our bedroom windows looked into one another and as soon as I saw the parents and her doctor leave. I was tossing some small pebbles I kept stashed in my room, just for that." Tobias picked up the narrative. "I'd do it a lot if I wanted to get her attention. As soon as she opened the window, I knew something was wrong. She told me to meet her on the pallets at midnight. When I met her, she was crying. She told me that the doctor thought she was pregnant and she had lied, saying it wasn't possible. But she was fairly certain that she was."
"The following morning, after my father left for work, my mother called me downstairs. In the living room, already seated was Pina, Tobias' mother and Tobias. They knew, both of them. We hadn't been fooling anyone. They didn't know when or where it had happened, but they knew that I was pregnant." Sarah told them. "Pina figured it out that morning in church. I had been sick in the bathroom, I thought I'd been alone in there. She told my mum who put two and two together. She later told me that she protested loudly that it wasn't possible; so that Dad didn't get angry at me in front of the doctor. Pina called the doctor back to the house and he run the tests. He said the results would be a couple of hours and Pina made Tobias pay for the test out of his savings."
"I'd been saving because I wanted to go to Italy. I wanted to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But that pregnancy test was worth every penny and dime too, because Sarah was carrying my child." Tobias said proudly. "We were in love and crazy about each other. As soon as my brother George came home, mom tasked him with taking all the kids, even Sarah's kid sister to the park to build a big snowman. When Nathan and Dad came in, they were told that to sit down. Nathan looked at me and I'll never forget that look. He hated me in that minute. I went from the son he never had to the most despicable man in the planet, in a split second."
"Dad was mad, like really mad. He was angry. He forbid me to see Tobias. George senior was angry too, at Tobias. Both of them told us we had to get it 'taken care of'. But that wasn't going to happen." Sarah told them. She was a beginning to shake at the anger of her memories and Tobias pulled her close. "By night time, the Fornell's had left and my father made me and my sister swap bedrooms, so that Tobias and I couldn't speak to each other through the window. But his parents made him and his middle brother Simon swap bedrooms too and it put us back to our windows being level with one another, again. We agree to meet at the pallets at ten. At ten, we met."
"Sneaking out to meet Sarah, that was a first for me, usually I just went out the back door. But that wasn't an option for me, that night. Dad was really mad and he had lectured me so much he had gone to bed with a sore throat. He drank himself into a stupor, he had punched me in the face and beat me with his belt, before he had passed out." Tobias confessed. "We both had some cash savings. Between us we had four hundred dollars. We decided we would catch the bus to school as normal, but from there, we would get the train into the city and go to city hall and get a marriage license."
"Our first night as a married couple we spent under separate roofs, in our parents' home's. No one knew what we had done, that day, getting married. The following day, we pretended to go to school, but we ran away to the city again. We sat on the station and caught the metro out to Alexandria. We holed up in this little, run-down, out of the way, hotel room by the station. It was a dive, but it was cheap. That night we slept so deeply, both us finally calm and relaxed enough to rest. We were free and we weren't scared that someone would try to kill our baby. It was almost a week before the police knocked on the door, looking for us." Sarah had calmed down for the most part and looking like her normal calm self again. "We refused to come home. We gave the police a copy of our marriage license and they said they would be back. My dad came back with them and gave us a proposition. We could come home, both of us, to my parent's house to live, but we had to go back to school and finish out the year. At the conclusion of the year, he would help us with getting an apartment and pay the rent for one year. In that time, Tobias had to get a job, get some us some savings, pay the medical bills and he would have to be fully responsible for me and the baby."
"Sarah was being stubborn and didn't want the help, but my reasoning won her over. To me it made sense; I loved Sarah and I was going to stick by her and the baby, no matter what." Tobias said, looking directly at Tim. He reached his hand out and settled it on Tim's arm in a comforting manner. "Yes Tim, I loved you from the moment Sare told me she thought she was pregnant with you. I couldn't wait to be a father. We agreed and went back to her parents' house. In addition to school, we did our own chores. Sarah and I told her parents that we were responsible for ourselves. We wanted to show them that we could do this. Sarah's mom was still mad, but agreed on the proviso that she still cooked meals for us, that we both, especially Sarah needed a healthy, well-balanced diet. We even cooked a meal for the whole family on occasion, to give her the night off. We appreciated everything they did for us and didn't take them for granted."
"Everything went well until two weeks before graduation. Overnight, my belly had popped out and now it was obvious that I was pregnant. The nuns wanted me kicked out of school. My parents and Tobias went up to the school with our marriage certificate and for the first time and to my knowledge, the only time in his life, my father lied to a nun." Sarah and Tobias let out a chuckle, while Gibbs smirked at the image of Tobias trying to be a good catholic and not lie to the nun but still protect his wife's virtue. Tim just at stared at them. But Tobias' hand hadn't left Tim's forearm. "Dad managed to convince the Mother Superior that he had allowed them to get married so they wouldn't commit sin outside of wedlock. That the child was conceived inside their marriage."
"Nathan was very convincing. You certainly didn't get his lying skills, Tim." Tobias smiled at his son. Everyone knew Tim couldn't lie very well.