In Motion, Ch 14: Brothers and Sisters, A Surprising Decision, Festivities

Tim was thankful Artemis was at the other end of the house, giving him a minute or two to regain his composure. He was relieved to have had the opportunity to talk with Freddie, the only person he knew would understand his fear, although his brother was right that it was closer to terror along with doubts and other negative emotions.

His wife met him in the hallway, "Everything go all right with Freddie?"

"Yes. I wish we all lived closer, Skype is good but it would be wonderful if we could have a transporter or something so we could see each other in person more than twice a year, although I'm grateful for those times!"

"I know you're right, I also miss everyone who doesn't live in the UK and I know Susannah and I are blessed to live as close as we do. Now, come on, everyone we mentioned is waiting!"

Chuckling, Tim followed his love to the family room, smiling at his siblings. "Hey, thanks for agreeing to meet with us or whatever reason Artie gave you. Here's what's happening."

Telling them about D'Arcy's call and his and Artie's refusal to make any changes to their family considering everything going on, he stopped, smiling again. "So then we decided to see if any of you are interested. There's no need to make snap decisions, D'Arcy and her husband Lloyd are joining us for the Christmas Eve lunch and may stay over. They're house-sitting in Reston and while it's not a long drive, the roads could be icy, rather have them stay and experience our family at its best…" He paused as his siblings erupted into laughter, "or maybe I should say our most enthusiastic."

"When would the children need to move?"

"At the end of May when their school is out. The hard date is mid-June, say June 12th which is a Friday here. Their current foster parents are retiring, already have their house on the market and have purchased a home in a retirement community. They'll move as soon school is out and children or any other visitors at the retirement community are only allowed to stay two weeks."

Bec raised her hand, "What are their names and how old are they?"

"They are Brian LaCourt, who will be 8 by then and Mia Darby, who will be 6 in April. They've been fostering together in Wenatchee, Washington, for the past 2 years, so this will be a big move for them. Although that's good, they've had stability in their lives."

"So they're both in school. Do you know anything about why they're in foster care?"

Artie nodded, "We know a little bit. Brian's father is incarcerated and hasn't been involved in Brian's life since he was a newborn. Brian's mother divorced him before the boy was a year old. He has a life sentence with no parole."

Geordie frowned, "So terrorism or a hate crime."

Tim nodded, "I think D'Arcy may not be allowed to say exactly but she hinted that it was a hate crime. Anyway, he will not be a factor in his son's life, Brian has never visited him nor has he asked to visit him. His mother died in a car accident a little over two years ago. He's been with his current foster family since then. He and Mia have both been there about the same time, they arrived within days of each other. Her parents died, not sure how but there weren't any relatives who would take her in, so she's been a foster about the same amount of time as Brian, only she's younger, of course."

Charlotte asked if having foster siblings was normally a good thing and Tim nodded, "The one time there was another foster kid where I was, it was very good. You remember me talking about my friend who taught me how to fight and uh, make a few things?"

Geordie grinned, knowing his brother didn't want to say that the friend had helped him make his shiv, which he also knew his little brother still had, although it lived in his gun safe.

Jose answered, "Yes, although I don't remember his name."

Tim grinned, "Because I've never told anyone. It's okay now, we've been in touch and like me, he's changed his name again. Back then it was Marlon. And no, that was not his birth name. Anyway, he was the only foster sibling I ever had for more than a month or two and I was only with that family for about 5 months. Once school was out, I was moved."

"Why do you think that wasn't his birth name?"

"Because he said his middle name was Luther and his surname was King."

Bill nodded, "That's a good sign, though, Tim, more or less naming himself after Dr. King."

Tim nodded, "He was good to me, a little older which is what I needed. And then we were in school together again at my last foster location, although we weren't in the same foster home. He helped me plan what I would need, how I would travel, where I would go, how much money I would need. He was really good about talking out what I'd need, how to get it, making me think everything through and went with me whenever he could."

"Did you keep in touch?"

"Not at first, he didn't think it was a good idea because sooner or later someone would notice I wasn't where I was supposed to be. He hated lying, although he was pretty good at it, who do you think taught me?" Waiting while the laughter died down, he added, "Before I left, we discovered that you can mail things to 'General Delivery' at any post office. I knew I was going to Baltimore while he hoped he'd stay in the town we were living in then, in the Northwest; he liked it there. We decided to write each other, starting on a specific date, it was January 1st, 2 years after I would be leaving the Northwest, with agreed upon fake names, at the main Post Office in Seattle, General Delivery."

He looked at Tony, who grinned, "It was very cloak and dagger-ish. Tim planned to check for letters when he visited me in Seattle while I was an agent afloat in the autumn of 2008. However, before he left San Francisco I was injured and went to stay with him instead. Before I left the ship I asked my XO, that's Executive Officer, to check the main post office, told him it was a promise I'd made, which was true, and a little of the situation.

"Anyway, after I left he went to the main Post Office and retrieved Tim's letters, only that wasn't the name I gave him for Tim. I also asked him to check to see if there were any letters still there for Marlon, that was also a different name but the Postal Worker remembered they'd been picked up earlier that week. That was good news. When I finally returned to the ship, the XO gave me Tim's letters and the news about Marlon's and I brought Tim's letters with me when I left for California a few weeks later."

"Wow, that's something else!" Jose laughed, "Tim, you were a secret agent before you were a special agent!"

They laughed at that and Tim relaxed. His former foster brother, whose legal name was now Clayton Avery Farrell, sent him his cell phone number in one of the letters Tony's XO collected and now the two men spoke every so often. During their childhoods Clay had known him by another name and of course they'd both used other names for their mail exchange. As Tim didn't know whatever name had been given him at birth, the other man was amused that some things hadn't changed and happy that Tim had seemingly settled on a permanent name, Timothy Jackson Camilo-Gibbs and even more amused that Tim might sometimes answer calls as Timothy Midei.

Tim shook his head, "Does anyone remember where we were before we stepped into my former life?"

"Yes, if having foster siblings was a good thing."

"Right, thanks! In my experience, yes it was and other former fosters have said the same thing. In many cases, it was the only time many of us felt like we belonged, almost like having family."

"You didn't get that with your foster parents?"

Tim shook his head, "After the first 3 times I was moved, I quit hoping for that and decided that I needed to rely only on myself. Not in those words, I was pretty young but it was clear I was never going to be part of a family, foster or adopted, if I stayed in foster care."

"Ouch!"

"I've been told, by fosters and case workers, that the system has changed for the better since then but for me, having a foster sibling would have been a really good thing. As well as knowing why I was being moved, that also would have helped." He looked at his brothers, sisters and his wife. "When I arrived in Baltimore and met Sarah and then Geordie, I was pretty sure I'd made the right decision to leave foster care. When I met Nathan, Juanita, Big John, Barry, Jose, Freddie, Robbie, Ms Lu and finally Bill then I was 100% sure and I never changed my mind. Finally, I had people, I belonged! Yes, we had nothing, had to scrounge and hide from bullies and thieves, our lives were often too hungry, too cold and usually terrifying but we stuck together, all of us! I remember Bill saving the smallest pieces of scrap wood so he could build a shelter for us on the back of his truck so he could take us places, remember the first time we went to the Chesapeake? When I think about all of us staying warm together, helping me with Sarah and Rob, Ms. Lu making us warm sweaters and having us over to her house for showers, a long warm sleep and meals, as well as Nate's warnings, which was him showing his love and fears for us, bellowed at us and the loving glares from Juanita…" he stopped as his brothers, Sarah and those who knew Juanita dissolved into laughter. "Yeah, maybe it didn't seem like it to you all but I felt it." Then he joined them in their laughter.

When it got quiet again, Tim looked around, "Any more questions about the children who need a new home?"

Looking around, he spotted one of his brothers talking with his wife and he mentally crossed his fingers. He curled his lips in when that brother raised his hand, saying, "Bec and I would like to foster Brian and Mia. We've read what we could find online about being foster parents and filed in the UK to become foster parents. We went to the Agency today to sign up as US foster parents living overseas."

Bec added, "We gave Malu and Dad, Tim and Artie, Barry and Ned's names and contact information as references. Then we were so nervous and excited that we forgot to tell you when we got back!"

Barry and Ned nodded, "Good! Have you checked on your UK request?"

"No, thought we'd do that in the morning."

Tim looked at them, "That will be online, even if they're closed for the day. You can check tonight."

"Great, thanks!

Artie said, "When are you thinking you want to take the children home?"

"Don't we have to be qualified first?"

Tim looked at Barry and Ned. Barry sat in thought while Ned said, "Barry handled everything for Ava, I was involved with Naomi's fostering but we were still living in the US. And we were qualified here in the US. When we moved to France, we emailed copies of the fostering agreements to their fostering agency and had a reply saying everything was in order, that they would need to know our permanent address when we found a place to live. I remember they inspected the place almost 2 months after we moved in, gave us time to get organized."

Nodding, Barry finally spoke, "I'm not sure about overseas, Bec, Geo, because Ava fostered in the US with us, even if it was only a few days before we moved overseas. Actually, that should be the same situation, even if you only stayed over a couple of days, check with D'Arcy about that. I do know that the home inspection can be done by international foster services. D'Arcy told us that when we were transferred to Marseilles. While Naomi was all set, Ava joined us days before our departure date. D'Arcy said because we already had approval for Naomi, she could stretch as far as the home inspection, especially with us not yet having a home in France. You should probably ask her."

Everyone nodded, by now that seemed the best idea. Checking the time, they decided to call her now so neither she nor they would worry.

As they spoke with D'Arcy again, she asked about them flying over again in May or June and Geordie told her they'd be flying on one of Tony's company jets. That got Lloyd's attention and he listened as his wife continued with her work.

When she had more questions, especially if the children would be flying from Washington to the UK on them, Geordie answered, "Yes and sorry we're so nervous! The full name of the company is Paddington North Sea Oil Company and our brother Tony, whose legal name is now Anthony Barnes-Gibbs, is a senior officer at the company, you can Google the company and him and he'll vouch for you, he's careful about who flies with them."

"All right, thank you."

"If you're free come meet us either for lunch on Christmas Eve or spend Christmas Day with us, or stay over Christmas Eve and do both, we'd love to have both of you with us and then you two can see all the children you've placed with our family as well as meeting Tony and the rest of the family. That includes the director of NCIS and a retired FBI agent as well as several people who still work for the agency. Oh, and our dad's father and godfather, both fighter pilots in World War II, will also be here."

Lloyd was ready to hop in their car now! "Wow! That sounds like fun! Yes, we'll come for lunch and stay over, by then we'll be more than ready for company. We needed rest, which we've now had and by Christmas Eve, I know we'll both be restless."

"Great, I'll send the directions to D'Arcy's phone, it'll be easy enough to find coming from Reston, normally wouldn't take you more than 30 minutes, tops, but Christmas Eve day, don't know. Come early, we have several small children in the family and are up early with them. My dad's usually up by 6:00 AM and you know him."

"I do, yes and thank you! D'Arcy wants to know if there's anything we can bring?"

"Mm, any appetizers, desserts or sweets you feel like bringing but don't feel obligated, please, we always have a lot of food! And this year, Christmas dinner will be catered, our newest splurge, so no one has to cook or clean up! We have 2 cases of non-alcoholic sparkling cider, none of us drink alcohol at family gatherings. If you'd like to bring other non-alcoholic drinks, that's fine. I can't think of anything else. Oh yes, no gifts, please. The children have more than enough. If you feel obligated, make a donation to your wife's agency, although I'm sure you already donate a lot of your time together to the agency."

Lloyd chuckled at that, "Very true! All right, we'll see you Christmas Eve day, plan to be there by 11, how's that?"

"Sure! Bring your snow gear in case you want to play outside. This place has a huge back garden, sorry, backyard, big woods and it's beautiful this time of year. We've been building snow people back there and will add more between now and then."

"Great, we brought a lot of our gear, glad we'll be able to use it, sounds like fun!"

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Ned and Barry gave them the highlights of the class and exam they'd taken before Naomi became their first foster child. The couple then watched the class online, taking what might have been the same test, they thought there was probably more than one version and did well. Sending their results to Ms. McKinna, they went for a walk, too wound up to think of anything else. Now they would need to decide when to bring the children home with them, to wait until May or June or not to wait. Although not waiting presented a slew of other questions and challenges.

While Bec and Geordie were taking tests and making decisions, Ned and Barry talked to each other about the situation, coming up with something that might help. Ned went to talk with Tony who agreed. Sitting down for an early lunch, the two men, Naomi and Ava stood at the table. Grinning, Ava said, "We're taking Aunt Bec and Uncle Geordie when we go to Arizona." Naomi nodded, "Only we're going to Wenatchee, Washington first. We'll stop there, drop them off and then go to Phoenix."

There was applause at that and Bec motioned to Tony, who stood with a grin. "Hey, it made sense and the times will work out well. It's a great idea! As Naomi, Ava and their dads will be in Arizona for a few days, I believe the plan is that the jet will return to Wenatchee Sunday morning and bring Geordie and Bec back here. That hasn't been confirmed yet, although it has been confirmed that they'll return to Virginia via 'Air Paddington'!"

Grinning, Geordie nodded, "We'll meet and spend time with them. We thought about bringing them home with us now, but while we were on Skype, both Brian and Mia said they hoped they could stay at their current school until it's out in May. Since we don't have rooms or a suite ready, not to mention getting them registered for school in Jaxton, we decided that the four of us will get to know each other and our family over the next few months. We haven't told them yet, we said we were still figuring things out.

"We'll fly over when their classes are over for the school year, maybe we'll help the Spensers, their current foster parents, move. We're thinking that will help strengthen the relationship between the 6 of us, the Spensers asked if they could stay in touch. We'll talk with Ms. McKinna about that, we're not sure if that's a good idea or not.

"From what we've seen and heard so far, the Spensers are old fashioned or reluctant to join this century, maybe both. They don't have a computer or anything electronic and told the kids' case worker they would not buy a computer and refused to have anything electronic in their house, even though they have a television and, well, never mind. Brian and Mia stay after school to do their homework on the school's computers and then spend Saturday in the public library finishing up if they need to although I would think that's mostly Brian. The library is 10 miles from the Spensers' home, too far to ride their bikes in the winter and the Spensers don't like to drive in bad weather. The kids sometimes take the bus but it takes them over an hour to get to the library and then an hour back. It's not the distance, it's that there are several bus stops, traffic signals and of course traffic. When they get to the library, they sometimes have to wait to use the computers. They were recently given cell phones, their case worker got them those and set them up so they can now do their homework on those. The Spensers were told they were for emergencies and that the foster agency would pay for any costs."

Geo paused, shaking his head and looking at Bec, "Now that I say that aloud, they'd be better off coming home with us."

Tim cleared his throat, "If you're thinking about doing that, you should contact the administrative offices for the Jaxton schools, we have the phone number, and see if they can start after the holiday break. We'll be home in time for them to get through jet lag before they start back, we planned that for the twins. If Jaxton can't or won't take them then, there is a branch of one of the international schools that's recently opened near Jaxton. It's about 10 miles from us so the children could be driven. They could attend there through the end of the school year and start in Jaxton next September."

Bec and Geo smiled at that, each admitting they'd been a little panicky about the children's schooling. Maggie titled her head in thought, "There's another alternative, they can attend school online. That's how most children got through the pandemic, although the online schools were around before that. We've looked into having McKenna do that so we can do more traveling. We've met with school administrators and teachers for 3 different online schools and liked all three, although we do have a favorite and if we decide to go through with this, she and probably Madelyn will attend that one. They use a lot of normal school rules for the children attending online, no eating in class, asking if they need to leave to go to the bathroom. Everyone has lunch at the same time and the parents are fined if the children are late arriving in the morning or back from lunch.

"They're allowed to leave early for the day, say for a medical appointment, with work assigned to them for the time they'll be gone. Same for leaving for a long weekend, in both cases, as long as the school is notified a week ahead of time, it's accepted. However, the teachers do assign work to those students and that has to be done by the following week.

"Also students can attend from anywhere there's a quiet space, a computer or laptop. So if McKenna was in school now and we were flying home on a school day, we'd let the instructor know, they would record the class and McKenna would take the class and do the homework after we landed. There would likely be some extras for her to complete, for instance she might need to present the instructor with 5 questions about the class or something like that. It sounds professionally done and," she made a face, "while they are accredited and have to account for their students, they're not tied to any one school board or district. There are overseers but my point is, their curricula doesn't change every semester at the whim of - never mind."

Tim laughed, "Politicians or people who want to be elected to something but don't know or care anything about what children need to know in this day and age or how on earth teachers will have time to add extra subjects when they already don't have enough time to teach the basic curriculum?"

Maggie nodded, "Or who think their pet topic should be included. I have a friend who taught elementary school until she recently retired. I laughed until I cried when she told me that every year, that entire school has to perform some play that has nothing to do with the school, the students, parents, the local cultures, there's no connection. It's a 'tradition' someone started decades ago and apparently that someone is still around and still has some influence. So the teachers and students have to take up class time to learn and practice the play, which is performed during the evening on a weeknight toward the end of the school year. Teachers have little to no personal time as it is, or at least not at that school." She shuddered, "I'm thankful I never considered going into teaching!" She made a face, "Sorry!"

Charlotte was laughing so hard, Joe had to stop her from sliding out of her chair. When she finally stopped and caught her breath, she nodded at Maggie, saying, "I taught primary grades for a few years before I realized it was never going to get better. It's not teaching itself that's the problem and it wasn't the children! Sure, they weren't perfect but they're kids and at the age they were when I had them, they would only have known what their parents taught them. I wanted to teach the little ones!" She added, "This was before the internet was as influential as it is today. The problem, in my opinion, was mostly the school administrators, those who'd never taught or their teaching days had been so long ago that they used a horse and buggy to get to work. And of course they were probably doing what the state or local politicians decided they should do."

She looked at Geo and Bec, Tim and Artie. The latter pair were laughing, finally saying that the schools in the UK, at least in Jaxton, seemed to have their acts together, that they liked the way they operated. Char nodded, "Sure, my experience was all at one school."

Geo and Bec were quietly talking, finally looking up. "We're thinking that before we make a decision about bringing them home now or later, we'll contact Jaxton, the International School and Maggie, Tony, if you'll share, the online school, to see what makes more sense and what our options are." Bec made a face, "I don't like the idea of leaving them in Washington. We've agreed and now we need to make it work for them and us. As for rooms, for now we'd just need two additional bedrooms, they can be next door to us or across the hall or one on either side of our room."

Malu and their fathers had joined them when they heard Char's laughter and now Jethro looked at the new foster parents. "Artie already has a plan drawn out to renovate one of the 3rd floor mini-suites to a full suite. Tony, as I recall, you've seen and liked them."

Tony nodded, "I did, there were no load bearing walls that needed changing out so eventually the suite could be returned to individual rooms." He grinned at Artie who nodded.

Geo smiled at his parents, "Thanks, Dad, we'll keep that in mind. I think if we do this now, we'd rather the four of us remain on the first floor in three bedrooms. At least until they've had a few months to settle in."

Mom nodded, "That's a good idea, they might feel a bit isolated up there."

"Hey!" That was Sarah and everyone chuckled. Then she tilted her head, "Actually you're right, the 3rd floor probably won't be a great place to live for a few months once the baby arrives. Although they'd be sleep deprived, not isolated!"

Looking at the time, Geo and Bec excused themselves, hoping to get through to at least one of the school offices before the end of the UK business day.

The others didn't move, Malu took Ava and Naomi for a walk while the others were talking. The Dorneget-Gibbs' were staying in one of the 2 bedroom suites downstairs. The rest of the children were playing upstairs, watched by their great-grandfathers and uncles.

After their walk, Lu took her granddaughters upstairs to play with their cousins and returned to the family room, where everyone seemed to have adjourned after lunch and cleaning up. She smiled at finding her kids talking about Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Their favorite catering company would provide food and service on both days, much to everyone's relief. They knew they were being spoiled but as Abby told Freddie, everyone who'd lived at the shelter and/or the camp deserved to be spoiled.

Freddie laughed, telling her that more and more he found himself actually forgetting about those days. "Unless Joe says something or one of us sees Nate, I don't think about those days anymore. Joe says he doesn't either and I know the others don't, we talked about it this summer."

"That's great, sweetie!"

Her boyfriend huffed, "Tim and I still think about the bad stuff, before we got to the camp but not about anything much afterward."

Abby shook her head, "It still amazes me when I hear Tim saying that he never felt any sense of belonging to anyone or anything until he landed at a homeless shelter and camp. It feels illogical and contradictory but then I see all of you together and I understand again."

"I know, it's weird, huh? But it's true for him and I think for all of us. We found a place to belong to and people to belong with. That has to be Nate, Juanita and Malu's doing."

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By the end of the next day, the decision had been made, after Christmas, Brian and Mia would fly to Virginia and then to the UK with their new foster parents. The principal at their current school had agreed to forward their school records, including their end of term grades to the International School the children would attend until the end of their current school year. That would give them time to learn what was different in the curriculum of UK education, specifically mathematics, history and language and to become accustomed to their new country.

They'd ease into British English, the different spellings and pronunciations with the help of their new Uncle James and his parents, while new dad Geordie would handle history with them and another new uncle, Tim, would help them with mathematics. Tim told his wife he was very happy he'd kept his notes from his London university days! Although he'd taught his 'math class for people who'd rather not', he'd first had to learn what students in the UK had been taught as they grew up. He was grateful when Bec handed him a list of what mathematics Brian and Mia had studied at school in Washington and for Brian, at the first school he'd attended, before his mother died.

While Geordie and Bec were happy to hear that there were a few other students from Jaxton attending the International School, they were adamant about transporting the children to school, no ride sharing! Grama, Chloe and Jasper or Poppy and the two littles, Grampy Ben or Great Uncle Charlie would alternate collecting them from school in the afternoons.

Bec eventually told the family that although the Spensers seemed sad at first they wrote a letter to the address in Virginia, received before the family left for their various homes, saying they were relieved, that they believed it would be easier on the children to leave while they were still in the house they'd lived in with them and that perhaps they could visit sometime.

Geordie smirked when he read that and started a reply, saying that he and Bec were only in the US for Christmas vacations but that the Spensers were more than welcome to join them either in Varkiza, Greece, for the Easter break in April, including the dates they'd be there, or in Tain, Scotland, for their family's annual reunion the last week of July and the first week of August. He didn't think it necessary to add that the new year, 2015, would be the first year the reunion would be held in Tain, although there would also be a reunion during the Easter break for whoever could make it. As the children of the large family lived in France, Italy, Greece, the US, Scotland and England, the Spring/Easter break might get a little tricky depending on school holiday schedules but the adults were determined to give it a try.

Before Geo sent the letter with the dates and places they'd be gathering, Bec added a separate page with information about the senior Dornegets and Mrs. King traveling by ship from the US to the UK, France and Greece, adding that members of their family were related to the three travelers and lived in France, the UK and Greece while most of the overseas family, including Brian and Mia, would be in Jaxton, England, including their address and the house phone number. She added that they would take photos when they arrived home and would mail them copies. At her cousin's suggestion, Bec also included Char and Joe's address, explaining their connections to her and Geordie, along with their phone numbers.

She laughed when Geordie had to go to the post office to buy a stamp for their letter. They were so used to sending letters and photos, contact information, nearly everything, through the internet. He told her later he almost bought several stamps but realized the next letters and photos would likely be sent from the UK, they'd buy stamps when they got home.

As Geo said, when they talked about bringing and Brian and Mia into the family now, "They'll have Christmas with their current foster parents and then they'll have a second Christmas, our Greek Christmas with us. They'll also meet more of the family that way. And we're wondering if anyone would like to make name tags for all of us?" He turned to look at the children who were nodding happily. "Great, thank you! Maybe our titles, aunt, uncle, Grandma, Poppy, Kid, then 1st names and who our parents are?"

The adults quietly chuckled as Chloe, the craftiest of the children, was already writing on a piece of paper from her dad, with big brother Jack whispering as he helped her with the words. "Like this, Uncle Geo?" She held up the paper that read: Uncle Tim maryed to Ant Artie. Sun of Grama and Poppy.

Tim and Artie beamed at their 3 ½ year old daughter, proud of her and Jack. They were also proud of everyone for not saying anything about Jack and Chloe's spelling and were astounded that at her young age, Chloe could write the words, or rather the letters that Jack told her to write. They were also proud that Jack knew what to say and how to spell most of the words and that the misspelled words sounded like the proper words.

Geo grinned, "That's great, Chloe, thank you! Now as far as Bec and me, we're lucky our classes don't start until the end of January so we'll have plenty of time to help the children settle in. We met them on Skype with Ms. McKinna, we could see they were a little sad but when Bec mentioned riding the trains and the indoor pool we swim in year round they were happy! And they're used to cold winters, another good thing!" He added quietly that they hadn't said anything about computers, they'd already ordered two tablets to be delivered to the Jaxton house the day after they got home. Those would be given to their new children during their Greek Christmas celebration.

Their parents were amused when the children were still excited about their new cousins when they went to bed that night. Jasper was already talking about showing the animals and their really fun back garden to their new 'big' cousins.

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When Lu remarked Christmas Eve morning that she couldn't decide whether the children were more excited about Christmas or the two new cousins they'd meet the following week, Jethro snorted, "The children? I hope by that you mean our children as well as the grandchildren. I'd love to see what our kids were like as children at Christmas," he winced, "Oops, sorry, sometimes I forget."

She chuckled, "I don't know about Jimmy, Tony, Abby or Ziva with Hanukkah but our 8 homeless kids were just as wound up as our grandchildren are now. None of them had experienced Christmases in a warm, loving home with parents or at least someone who loved them. I take that back, Jose remembers both his parents, he may also remember the Christmas before his father died, he was nearly 4, so it's possible.

"Anyway, none of the others knew much about Christmas. Bill and Tim spent a few Christmases in foster homes with one present which I'm sure was something practical, like socks or underwear, which is fine, really, especially in the winter! Anyway when they were staying at the shelter or the camp, their Christmas day, getting one gift each, plus candy, hugs and a full holiday dinner, although I never let them eat it all at once, in the nice warm shelter with their friends, was likely as exciting to them as our littles are feeling now." Leaning in, she kissed her husband, "Thank you for Toys for Tots, Marine!"

He grinned, returning her kiss before saying, "That existed long before I came along! However, you're welcome, I always enjoyed participating in that."

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By 10:30 Christmas Eve morning Lu and Jethro were dressed and ready for the guests, the caterers had the tables set and were working in the kitchen. While the children played in the family room, watched by various parents, aunts and uncles, the rest of the adults gathered in the large formal living room with hot beverages, courtesy of the catering team. Tim and Tony left to meet Ziva, Brian and the senior Metzgers at the train station.

D'Arcy and her husband Lloyd were the first to arrive. Geo and Bec met them at the front door, welcoming them. While Lloyd was taken to the living room where he was given a hot beverage by one of the catering staff, D'Arcy and the new foster parents disappeared into an office in the rear of the house. While it wouldn't take long, they did have a few things to go over.

Next to arrive, nearly all at once, were the Vances, Carters, O'Briens, Baxters and the Fornells. While they were shedding coats and also sipping hot beverages, the adult Gibbses who hadn't stayed over at the Arlington house arrived. Following them were the Porters, and the rest of those who weren't staying at the house.

Nikki's family, who'd arrived the evening before, watched, eyes wide, as everyone entered, gave their outerwear to Bill, Maggie, Artemis or Rob, and headed for the living room. Although they tried not to, the Kings also watched the catering crew, approving of their smooth operations.

Ziva, Brian, his parents, Joe, Char and Tommy, Jimmy, Breena and baby Donnie, Freddie and Abby were showed to their rooms as they were staying over. Abby's niece had flown home for Christmas with her parents. Freddie, Abby and her brother Kyle were flying to New Orleans after Christmas to spend a few days with Luka, his wife and Menolly and were planning to take the train home, Abby's niece returning with them. Joe and his family, Jimmy and his family, Barry and his family had suites downstairs while everyone else was upstairs.

Kissing her mother-in-law in welcome, Breena refrained from rolling her eyes when Malu asked how their early Christmas with her parents had been.

They'd met the previous Sunday for an early Christmas brunch with Ginny, Ed, Breena's sisters and their families. While the day was successful, both Jimmy and Breena recognized that Ed was angry that they were having their Christmas early. As Breena told her mother, "You were all invited to join the rest of our family, it's not our problem Dad refused to go."

Ginny sighed, "At least you live over here and we do see you. Your father isn't comfortable with Jethro."

"Or Ducky, or Jimmy."

Making a sad face, Ginny nodded, "He's all right with Ducky and he keeps promising to try harder with Jimmy. It's really Jethro, your dad says he feels like he's looking down at him."

"He's not, maybe Dad is feeling guilty, I'd take that as a positive sign. And if he's trying harder with my husband, Jimmy certainly isn't noticing it. He brushes it off, says now that he has both a mom and a dad, two dads with Jethro, he doesn't care anymore how Ed feels about him. Neither Don nor Jethro ever mention Ed to Jimmy, unless they know there's been an incident."

Ginny winced, "That could have been us. Should have been us."

"Yes, it should have. But it wasn't and won't be, not for Dad, anyway. Jimmy knows you're fond of him and you know he's fond of you, right?"

"Yes, honey, I do and I'm glad to know that. But it's not all your dad's fault. I've been lackadaisical about getting to know Jimmy better, learning what he needs as far as his diabetes, getting to know Don better and putting my foot down with your father."

Breena had shrugged, that last was a well-worn topic and it wouldn't help, wouldn't change anything to rehash it.

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As large as the crowd was, Lu worried there were too many but as everyone sat down, she saw everyone seemed relaxed and happy, likely looking forward to their meal. She smiled as she noticed that Geordie and Bec were sitting with D'Arcy and Lloyd and that the Kings, the second to last new set of family to join them, the senior Metzgers were the last, were also engaged with the couple. Looking around, she saw everyone looked comfortable, good!

Gently tapping one of the glasses with a spoon, LJ stood up. "Good afternoon, everyone, welcome to our family's US home away from home, we're happy everyone has joined us. First of all, I am the original Leroy Jethro, although my surname is Moore. I am Jethro's godfather. As the two eldest of the family, Jackson, raise your hand," With a laugh, the elder Jack raised his hand, winking at his young namesake. LJ continued, "rotate saying grace and making any announcements that need to be made. Today it's my turn, Jack will lead tomorrow. Now, we do have a few announcements to make."

With a happy smile, he announced the adoption of Jimmy Palmer by Donald Mallard, saying, "Jimmy is now Jimmy Mallard and is also known as the junior Dr. Mallard. Collectively, he and Breena have become the junior Mallards. Although the adoption happened a few months ago, this is the first large gathering we've had since then, at least in this country."

After the applause, the Mallards resuming their seats, LJ told of the babies expected in April. "They will be baby #1 for Sarah and James Powell," he paused while the couple stood, "and grandbaby #1, the first official grandchild anyway, for Edie and George Powell and of course, #, oops, I forgot to figure that out, well, a new grandbaby for Lu and Jethro," he waited while the six of them all stood, grinning at the comments.

Continuing, he added, "Baby #2 will be child #2 for Breena and Jimmy Mallard, the younger sister or brother of young Donnie and the second official grandchild for Don Mallard although Lu and Jethro's younger adults regard him as one of their grandfathers. The new little Mallard will also be a grandchild of Luella's and therefore also of Jethro's." Donnie looked around, smiling as his daddy raised his arm for him while most of the 'younger adults' grinned at their Ducky, who was blinking back tears. Next to him, Athena beamed with pride and joy in their family. Having never married, Ducky never thought to have any children, much less grandchildren!

LJ smiled, "Now, we have three more announcements, unless something's happened since I stood up and in our family that is entirely possible. I believe there once was a marriage proposal!" He paused before looking at James, "In fact, that was the younger Mr. Powell!"

The family and several of the guests nodded, laughing.

Continuing, LJ looked at Ziva, Brian and his parents, "We want to wish an early happy first wedding anniversary to Ziva and Brian as well as welcoming his parents, Ben and Julie." He grinned, "While Ziva and Brian were too busy to travel this summer, Julie and Ben managed to sneak, uh fly, to Greece for a visit, followed by having to spend some time in the Scottish Highlands cooling off!"

Laughing, Julie, her eyes wide at the memory of the heat in Greece, nodded. LJ continued, "Now there are no dates or information yet but we'd also like to congratulate and encourage Ziva and Brian on their decision to adopt a child." He cleared his throat, looking meaningfully at D'Arcy. "I believe there's someone here today who might be willing to offer some help with that?"

Laughing, D'Arcy nodded, grinning at Ziva and Brian.

Also grinning and motioning to Geordie, Bec and her father Ben to stand up, LJ continued, "And as our last and most recent change, we are all very happy to announce that two children will be joining Bec and Geordie and Grandfather Ben next week. This all came about this week so we're still a little over the top with excitement.

"The new children are Brian, age 7 and Mia, age 5. Both have birthdays coming up before summer but that's how old they are now. Brian Metzger, we'll leave it to the two of you to figure out how to avoid confusion with your names!"

"The children currently live in Washington state and will meet their new foster parents in person next week. Thanks to Tony's company's generosity, their jet taking Ned, Barry and their daughters to visit Ned's grandparents in Phoenix will first make a side trip to Washington where our new foster parents will disembark. Another of the Paddington jets, I believe the larger one, will collect them, as well as the children, the following day, bringing them to the airport we use here."

Tony nodded, "Yes, that changed from the original plane. The larger jet is returning from Tokyo and they'll need to layover before continuing to the UK. They'll actually land in Washington Saturday afternoon to get some rest overnight."

Geordie nodded, "Any idea how many people will be aboard?"

"I know it's not full although there are more than we're used to on the smaller jets. There's a big conference in Tokyo."

"Glad you don't have to go!" That was his dad and Tony nodded, "Thanks, I feel the same way. Japan's supposed to be even colder than here in the winter! Emma, my cousin Nigel's wife, has family there so she and the children went along."

Julie Metzger smiled, "Is Emma Japanese?"

Tony shook his head, "No, they're from," his mind blank, he looked at Rob who nodded at him, smiling at the others, "Emma's birth family is from Kenya, emigrated to the UK close to 30 years ago." He added, "I dated Emma's cousin Sylvie for a while. We're both studying, or were studying, to be doctors. That was a while back, now we're both residents at different hospitals." With a huff, he rolled his eyes, "And we're still studying!"

There were chuckles at that, LJ said a brief grace and was thanked as he sat down as the caterers entered the room with their food.

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The lunch on Christmas Eve was fun with everyone relaxed enough for the current and former NCIS group to tease each other about various situations they'd encountered during their time at the agency. While Bill and Nikki had previously told their King family bits and pieces about life in the Gibbs family along with tidbits here and there about NCIS, this was the first time Nikki's aunt and cousins had heard whole stories and they gasped, grimaced and laughed with the others.

Jackie laughed as heartily as Leon as by now she'd heard most of the stories, although there always seemed to be at least one newly revealed gem. With the Fornells also there, Em, Pauley, Kayla and Jared sat together. Now that they were older, they were allowed to hear a few stories new to them and they laughed along with the others.

Leon was grateful his agents, current and former, found things to laugh at, considering some of the horrors they'd all dealt with. However, in the course of their investigations, things had happened that, taken out of context of a criminal case, were funny. The koala on the submarine, the 'superhero' group, Tim posing as a male model, he and Ziva having been forced to search for their weapons in a large fountain, Tim falling into a creek and thus finding a weapon they were looking for, Tony and his bad luck with his cars and Ziva's frequent problems with the English language, especially idioms, Gibbs' frequent escapes to the coffee cart or Abby's lab, and other things that in retrospect were amusing.

Having spent hours with the UK family on the jet flying to and from Greece while avoiding the storm, Kayla also had new stories, about the Gibbses on the flights as well as tales of the Russell family, her hosts for that week.

D'Arcy and Lloyd listened, laughed and commented on what they were hearing. Knowing they would be in the company of the agents she'd worked with in DC, D'Arcy had mentally gathered some of her own favorite stories and told a few them that day, bringing more laughter and some pointed looks at Jethro, finally outed as a foster parent, although never for more than a couple of days and only when the child was old enough to be on his or her own for a few hours.

When D'Arcy heard that part, she shook her head, making a gesture at Tobias, who nodded, "Yes, I confess, I was his backup foster parent if and when he got caught up in a case. Emily loved having another kid around."

Em grinned, nodding, "That was fun, I learned all kinds of useful things." When her father glared at her, she smiled sweetly.

When Jackie admitted they'd also taken in a few of Gibbs' fosters, when both he and Tobias were tied up, Tony, Tim, Ziva, Jimmy and Abby frowned while Ducky laughed so hard they were a little worried. Finally he caught his breath and told the group he was actually the second backup for Gibbs, between Fornell and the Vances, because as medical examiner, he was also frequently away with the MCRT. Em nodded, "I also stayed with Ducky a few times when Dad didn't want Mom to know he had to be away, that was fun! When I was really little I used to have tea with Grandmother Victoria."

Smiling, Breena looked at her, "We need stories, Ems, please! Maybe after Christmas?"

"Sure!"

D'Arcy laughed her way through the confessions, of course she'd known all along, although not about Emily, Ducky and his mother but everything else.

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After they'd finished eating, small gifts were handed out, something for everyone, from Lu and Jethro.

When they finally left the table, the large group headed for the back yard for a much needed walk in fresh air.

While they walked, Tim murmured something to Artie who nodded, kissing his cheek. Catching up to Leon, Tim gave him a look and the two separated from the others, although they continued walking.

Tim cleared his throat, "Leon, I need to meet with you. Would Monday work for you?"

"Yes and thank you for not trying for Friday, I'm doing my best to keep my calendar empty that day."

Tim nodded, "Didn't seem fair, the day after a holiday!"

Leon nodded, "A lunch meeting?"

Tim shrugged, "Sure, if you don't mind, although I don't think we'll need more than a few minutes."

"Is everything all right?"

"Mostly, the topic is personal but will slightly affect NCIS: Europe."

Vance stopped walking, putting his hand on Tim's arm, "Timothy, we don't need to wait."

Tim shook his head, "It's not worth interrupting your holiday or upsetting your wife."

"Bringing your dad with you?"

"No, he'll have new grandchildren arriving Sunday and will want to spend time with them on Monday." He paused before adding, "I haven't mentioned it to him, but you know him, there's no way he'll be surprised."

Leon nodded at that. "All right, then let's make it earlier. Does 0800 work?"

Tim smiled, "0800 is fine, thanks."

Rejoining their respective families, the men continued the walk through the forested property backing the old house.

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Evelyn King smiled all day, happy to hear stories about her niece and the family she'd married into. Her affection for the Gibbs family increased whenever she spent time with them. She especially loved being known as "Grandma Evelyn" even to little Alec Clacher who wasn't a Gibbs at all!

D'Arcy's husband Lloyd later admitted that he'd laughed so much on Christmas Eve that he didn't think he would have had the strength to drive back to Reston. That was fine, they'd already decided to accept the offer to spend Christmas day and night with them. While their friends' home in Reston was pleasant, both of them led active lives and after resting for several days, felt the pull to spend the holiday with friends.

As always, the family's Christmas was fun with barely controlled chaos Christmas morning and afternoon when the children of the family, regardless of age, gleefully tore decorative paper off carefully wrapped packages or grabbed wads of tissue paper from gift bags. With so many of them, they'd established a routine although it would be closer to the truth to say they attempted to follow the routine they'd established.

People under 20 opened their gifts first and although attempts were almost always made to rotate openings, the children old enough to understand about presents frequently had a difficult time waiting while the babies, when old enough to sit up and grab objects, were almost always bouncing on whichever lap they were sitting in, reaching for the pretty paper, or squirming and making a fuss to get 'down'. Younger babies either cried, made happy noises toward their siblings and cousins or slept through everything.

Over the years, the children's parents had learned to behave themselves, waiting until presents were handed to them, then did their best not to fidget while waiting until it was their turn to open a gift. If people didn't wait until it was his or her turn to open a gift, then the givers of those gifts frequently didn't have the pleasure of seeing the happy look on the giftee's face and, as Tim said, watching someone open what he'd found to give them was his favorite part of Christmas.

Lu, Jethro, George and Edie Powell had come up with another way to handle their grown children's presents in the past few years. Just as the littles had 'Santa' presents, those left unwrapped with only a tag for the giftee, each of the grown kids and their partners now also had at least one Santa gift. After the first year of doing that, the adult children added a Santa gift for each of their parents as well. At least that way, everyone had at least one gift to start off with.

The Kings had had this explained to them and while Grandma Evelyn found it a wonderful and amusing idea, her son, daughter-in-law and their cousin did a bit of eye rolling. That is, until they experienced their first Gibbs' Family Riot, Part One, otherwise known as Christmas morning. D'Arcy and Lloyd, having been warned by Lu, sat back and watched in amazement.

By the time they returned to the tree that afternoon for Gibbs' Family Riot, Part Two, with additional family and friends and more gift exchanges, the first time Christmas Day visitors weren't sure what to expect, although they were certain it would be loud, fun and entertaining. They were glad to see that everyone was happy, no one was counting how many presents anyone else had or who got what and the children were also happier.