------------"Baby's Big Day"------------
Story by R. O. Knight
based on the hit television series "NCIS"
Created by Donald P. Bellisario
Outside in the backyard Gibbs stood in front of the grill on a peaceful Saturday, late-afternoon. He was grilling up hamburgers and hot dogs for the party. He wore a pair of faded blue jeans and his old NIS t-shirt. Over all of that, though, he wore his "Kiss The Cook" apron.
Today was a special day. June the 3rd to be exact. It was little Chloe's third birthday. She was now 3 years old. To Gibbs and Abby time already seemed to be flying by.
Gibbs had just flipped three of the dozen or so patties on the grill when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist.
"Should I kiss the cook now, or wait til later?" Abby asked, mischievously.
Gibbs grinned. "Well you could kiss him no, but then you might get burned." Gibbs said.
"Point well taken." Abby replied with a chuckle.
Gibbs turned his attention away from the grill, laying his tools down on the side of the grill, and turned to face Abby gathering her into his muscular arms.
"How's it coming?" Abby asked.
"So far so good. Shouldn't be too much longer." Gibbs informed her.
"Good." She replied as she stole a kiss from her lover. "The guests should start arriving any minute now." Abby told Gibbs.
"Seems like only yesterday we brought her home from the hospital." Gibbs said, a nostalgic look in his eyes.
"It sure does feel that way, doesn't it." Abby agreed.
Gibbs stole another kiss from Abby before turning back to the grill and flipping a few more patties.
"So who all's coming?" Gibbs asked.
"Well lets see...Ducky and Jimmy, Ziva and Tony, McGee's coming, oh and he's bringing his new girlfriend with him too..." Abby began.
"McGee has a new girlfriend?" Gibbs sounded slightly shocked.
"Yeah, you know Slaughter's new probie." Abby reminded him.
"Right...I knew that." Gibbs said trying to hide a grin.
"...and let's see, who else is coming...Oh, Jenny's coming...and oh remember Mike just helped us wrap up that case last week. He said he might stop by. Too bad neither of our families could make it up here this weekend." Abby finished.
"Yeah, maybe next time though." Gibbs said with a sigh.
Ding! Dong!
"Sounds like the doorbell...guess I'd better go get it." Abby said.
"Yep, guess so." Gibbs replied with a chuckle.
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Abby through the living room towards the front door. To do so she had to walk past the baby's play-pin where little baby Chloe looked awfully curious.
Abby had found it to be somewhat of a challenge to put up all of the decorations for Chloe's birthday party when Chloe wouldn't stay in her play-pin like she was supposed to.
"You know something's goin' on don't ya." Abby said with a smile as she walked past her daughter in the play-pin.
Chloe was now 3 years old. She had her father's eyes for sure, but Gibbs said she had her mother's hair and smile. Abby always did her daughter's dark hair up in pigtails just like hers. Which was just how Chloe liked it.
Abby unlatched the deadbolt on the front door and pulled the heavy door open. She was instantly greeted by Ducky.
"Ducky." Abby greeted her daughter's adopted grandfather with a big hug. "Where's Jimmy?" she asked as she motioned for him to come inside.
"Poor Jimmy, his father had a stroke, so he had to fly back to South Carolina--short notice I know, but sometimes these things just happen I suppose." Ducky explained.
"He did, however, ask me to make sure that Chloe got this." Ducky said as he handed Jimmy's gift along with own gift to Abby.
"Aawww! That was sweet of him." Abby said as she took the gifts and laid them on the table next to the door.
Thud! Abby and Ducky both turned at the same time to see little Chloe pull herself up off of the floor, having just escaped--again--from her play-pin, and come racing across the living room towards Ducky.
"Ducky! Ducky!" the little girl yelped excitedly as she raced towards her adopted grandfather.
"Well hello there." Ducky said with a chuckle as he stooped and gathered the little girl into his arms. "I wonder, if you're ticklish." Ducky said with a grin as he tickled the little girl's tummy which made her giggle like crazy.
"I'm really sorry Ducky. We've been trying to keep her in that play-pin all day, but she gets out every time." Abby explained.
"Well that's to be expected at her age, Abigail." Ducky said. "She's growing and needs to explore...not to be bottled up inside a cage."
"Where's Jethro?" Ducky asked as they walked towards the kitchen.
"Oh he's outside working the grill." Abby informed him.
"I've got to finish wrapping the P-R-E-S-E-N-T-S...so-" Abby started.
"Well that's quite alright. You hurry off and finish up, I'll take the little duckling here and we'll go find daddy." Ducky said looking at Chloe with a smile.
"Thanks Ducky, I owe ya one." Abby said with a chuckle as she skipped off to finish wrapping Chloe's birthday presents.
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Ducky stepped outside into the backyard, with little Chloe in his arms, and approached Gibbs.
"Daddy!" Chloe screeched happily as they neared her father.
Gibbs turned in the direction of his daughter's voice.
"Munchkin!" Gibbs replied mimicking the excitement in his daughter's voice.
Gibbs held his arms out and Ducky handed the little girl over to her father.
"Daddy, Ducky here!" the little girl screeched.
"I see that." Gibbs said with a smile as he planted a kiss on his daughter's cheek.
Gibbs and Chloe laughed and cut up with each other. Ducky had to admit he hadn't seen Jethro Gibbs this happy in a long time.
"Hey there Duck." Gibbs said finally, with a grin.
"Hello Jethro." Ducky said.
"Abby was telling me about how our little escape artist here, has been giving her a hard time." Ducky said with a chuckle.
"True...she has pretty much outgrown her play-pin, but it was my idea. I didn't want her to get to close to the grill and hurt herself by accident." Gibbs explained.
"Yes well, kids are like curious explorers seeking to learn of the wonders of the world around them." Ducky said with a slight chuckle.
Gibbs and Ducky laughed together.
"Where's mommy at?" Gibbs asked the little girl in his arms.
The little girl just shrugged at her father.
"Oh she's busy with a wrapping escapade, I'm afraid." Ducky informed Gibbs.
"Oh okay." Gibbs replied.
Ding! Dong! Went the door bell once again.
The little girl's head turned instinctively in the direction of the sound--ears listening intently.
"Who's That?" Gibbs asked his daughter.
The little girl shrugged, not turning her attention away from its preoccupation.
"Why don't you go see." Gibbs said as he let his daughter down onto the ground.
The little girl quickly pulled herself up and raced back towards the house.
Gibbs and Ducky watched in amazement as the little navigated her way back into the house, and through the kitchen.
In the house they could here the door opening, and Abby's voice greeting more guests at the door.
"Hiya Squirt!" came a voice from inside the house.
Gibbs looked at Ducky with a grin.
"Well, sounds like DiNozzo's here." Gibbs said.
Another, second, voice floated through the house and out to the back yard as well.
"You're not my ladybug." the voice said, sweetly.
"Yes I am!" the little girl squealed, hilariously.
"Come here!" the voice said again, laughing.
"And Ziva too, I'd wager." Ducky said to Gibbs.
To everyone's astonishment the originally hardened Mossad officer had softened up considerably since joining Gibbs' team. And even more since the arrival of little Chloe. Ziva had affectionately christened the little girl with the nickname "Ladybug". This nickname came about after little Chloe, who was known to occasionally accompany her parents to work, was found chasing after a ladybug that had somehow gotten into Abby's lab--and the rest as they say is history.
"Well these burgers and hot dogs are pretty much done." Gibbs said as he flipped two more patties and turned a couple of hot dogs.
"Well here, let me help you then." Ducky said.
"Alright, there should be a plate on the patio table behind you." Gibbs instructed.
Ducky turned and walked over to the patio table and picked up the plate that he found sitting on top of it.
"Here we are." Ducky said as he returned to Gibbs' side.
Together the two friends loaded the plate up with the hamburger patties and the hot dogs. Gibbs then shut down the grill and closed it up. And then he and Ducky made their way back into the house.
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Inside the house, by this time, McGee and Cindy had also arrived.
Gibbs and Ducky couldn't help but laugh at the little girl basking in the attention that she was getting from her adopted family when they walked into the living room.
"Hi Boss." McGee greeted Gibbs when he noticed his boss and Ducky standing there. "Ducky."
"Hello, sir...er, I mean Gibbs." Cindy greeted Gibbs. "Dr. Ma...Ducky." she greeted Ducky, correcting herself before she could call him Dr. Mallard.
"Wanna go for a ride in Uncle Tony's new Ferrari?" Tony asked Chloe with a sly grin.
Unfortunately, the little girl's father overheard their conversation.
"You wanna start lookin' for a new job, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked Tony.
Tony straightened up and looked at his boss.
"Uh, no Boss...sorry Boss." Tony said looking over at Gibbs. "You know I was just kidding about the whole Ferrari thing...Right?"
"I sure hope so, DiNozzo." Gibbs said, before cracking a grin.
Abby moved over to Gibbs and stole a kiss from her muscular lover, with a sly grin spread across her lips.
"I take it the food's ready." Abby said.
"Yep, ready and waiting on us in the kitchen." Gibbs said with a grin, as he stole a kiss from Abby.
"Alright then...if you'll do the honors." Abby replied.
Gibbs grinned and gave a chuckle before letting out a long, loud whistle that got everybody's attention.
"Food is in the kitchen! And if everyone will form a neat, single file line we can get this party under way." Gibbs informed everyone.
Everyone did as instructed. Ziva had had to hand over "her ladybug", rather reluctantly, to Gibbs so that she could make her plate.
"Don't drop her." Ziva said as she handed Chloe to her dad.
Gibbs rolled his eyes and grinned at Ziva as he took his daughter from her.
"Ziva, I'm not gonna drop--Whooaaa!" Gibbs said, suddenly pretending like he was going to drop his daughter, but his hands never left her and he instantly snatched her back up gently into his arms, laughing as he did so.
Ziva nearly jumped out of her skin thinking, at first, that Gibbs really was about to drop her. She scolded her laughing boss for even thinking about playing such a cruel joke.
Little Chloe thought the whole thing was hilarious and giggled with delight at her daddy's joke. She wasn't afraid, nor had she been. She knew...no, she had learned that if there was one place in the world where she was safe, it was with her father. She was a pretty smart two year old in that way. Like her mother before her, she leaned on her father as her mighty protector--her "Knight in Shining Armor". But you know what they say--sometimes a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
The door bell rang again and this time Gibbs, carrying his daughter in his arms, decided that it was his turn to answer it. When Gibbs opened the door he was greeted by Jenny Shepherd and Mike Franks.
"Are you two...Together?" Gibbs asked jokingly, as he motioned for them to come inside.
"Very funny Probie." Mike said jokingly.
Gibbs laughed at his former boss.
"Keep it up Jethro, and I'll see to it that you get a permanent desk job with LOTS of politics." Jenny said jokingly.
"And you'd be shooting NCIS in the head, Jen." Gibbs replied with a grin.
Gibbs ended up handing little Chloe to her two other adopted grandparents. Grandpa Mike and Grandma Jenny as the three of them walked towards the kitchen to fix themselves a plate.
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The gang had finished their supper, Chloe included, and they had had birthday cake, with two candles on top. It was Chloe's favorite of course, Ice Cream cake.
Afterwards they had all moved into the living room to watch Chloe open up all of her gifts.
So far, from Abby, Chloe had gotten her very own white lab coat with her name embroidered on it, just like her mom's, that was just her size--that way she could really help her mom at work--and a new set of bathtub toys that she could play with in the bathtub now that she was big enough to use the big people's bathtub (with some supervision of course). From Uncle Timmy Chloe had gotten two stuffed animals, a Giraffe and a Chimpanzee--because another thing that Chloe liked other than going to work with her parents was going to the zoo--too add to her stuffed animal collection that Abby had started for her when she was still an infant. Cindy had gotten Chloe her very own, very first purse that had little monkey's on it.
From Grandpa Ducky she had gotten a neat little kids Play-Doctor kit along with a couple of boxes of her favorite animal crackers. And she loved that. She would definitely use that when playing doctor with her stuffed animals. Jimmy, who sadly couldn't be there, had sent Chloe a a set of coloring books and crayons because he knew that she liked to color too.
From her dad, Chloe got a new teddy bear that wore an NCIS ball cap stitched to its head like the one that her dad sometimes wore to work. That teddy bear never left her side the entire rest of the night. From Uncle Tony she got an actual NCIS ball cap that was just her size, and a fun little DVD about animals (because of her love of animals)--which he had searched everywhere to find until finally looking it up on the internet--which she would watch the very next chance that she got.
From Aunt Ziva she got a small ladybug backpack (you know the kind that's like fleecy material and is shaped like a ladybug) and a ladybug purse (and come on these two gifts were pretty obvious). From Grandma Jenny, Chloe got a stuffed Lion and some more of her animal crackers. From Grandpa Mike she got a nice, small, wooden "treasure chest" that she could put her treasures in.
Everybody sat around laughing and watching as little Chloe had a ball with her gifts. Tony suddenly noticed that Gibbs had left the room.
"Hey where's Gibbs?" Tony asked Abby.
Abby looked around and saw that her lover had disappeared.
"I don't know." Abby replied.
Suddenly a voice came through the kitchen into the living room.
"Look what I found Chloe...another present!" Gibbs said as he entered the living room carrying a medium-sized cardboard box.
"What is it?" Abby asked as Gibbs handed the box to Chloe.
Gibbs just flashed Abby a grin.
Just then everyone in the room became aware that there was something alive in that box.
Chloe paused for a moment before opening the lid on the box. Once the lid was opened a small head poked out from inside the box and a long tongue licked Chloe's face.
"Puppy!" Chloe screeched excitedly as she threw her arms around the little puppy's neck.
"Jethro...why didn't you tell me?" Abby asked with a sly grin.
"Well he had talked about it, so I figured you knew." Gibbs replied.
In the middle of the floor the puppy had gotten out of the box and was now playing affectionately with its new master. Chloe was just giggling like crazy at her special gift.
Abby moved down to the floor beside her daughter, and the puppy acknowledged her as part of the family.
"You know what puppy needs?" Abby asked the little girl.
"Puppy needs a name." Abby said.
The little girl thought for a moment, and then her face brightened up with a smile.
"Teddy!" Chloe informed everyone excitedly.
Everyone in the room laughed at the little girl and her puppy as they spent the next hour and a half chasing each other around the living room, each member of her family and adopted family occasionally running interference to make sure that little Chloe did not hurt herself.
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Later...
Gibbs and Abby emerged from the back of the house after having just laid their worn out, 3 year old daughter, down to bed for the night.
"She's fast asleep." Abby informed everyone quietly.
"She seemed like she really enjoyed herself tonight." Ziva said quietly with a smile.
"You know I still can't believe she's already Three." Tony mused out loud.
"They do grow up fast." McGee added.
"Cherish these moments while you can Jethro." Mike told his former probie.
Gibbs smiled. They all knew, every one of them, how Gibbs felt. He'd been through this once, and had lost it--now after so many years of searching and utter internal turmoil he has finally genuinely happy once again. And he would do anything and everything in his power to protect his family.
"These two are my whole life now." Gibbs said quietly, with a grin, as he pulled Abby close to him and wrapped his arms around her.
Ducky stood up from the chair he was sitting in.
"Well I suppose we should take our leave as well." Ducky said.
Everyone started to agree with everyone.
"Wait...before you guys go there's something...something I need to do." Gibbs said nervously.
Everyone returned to their seats.
Gibbs turned Abby so that she was facing him.
Gibbs took a deep breath and then let it out, preparing himself.
"There's a second part to Chloe's last gift." Gibbs began. "Its actually something for all three of us, but I know that she would like it."
"Gibbs what're you talking about?" Abby asked, confused.
"Abby, I don't think I've ever been so happy in my life since we've been together...since we brought that little miracle into the world." Gibbs continued, referring to their daughter.
Gibbs took Abby's hands in his and held them up to his lips and kissed them gently.
"And you know that I love you and Chloe with all my heart, and with everything that I am--you guys are my whole life." Gibbs continued.
"And These last few days have made me more and more sure of what I am about to do...about just how much I want this." Gibbs said softly.
"What? Gibbs I don't understand." Abby said.
Gibbs reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out something that no one else in the room could tell what it was. Then Gibbs took a knee right there in front of Abby, before a living room full of witnesses and did something quite unexpected.
Gibbs held the ring out in front of him. "Abby Scuito...W-Will you marry me?" Gibbs finally asked, sounding surprisingly nervous.
Abby stared at Gibbs and at the ring held out before her for a moment in shock, her heart racing, and her mind spinning in a thousand different directions. Suddenly her eyes became moist with tears, and she tried to smile, but it didn't quite work like she wanted it to.
"Jethro I...Yes, I will marry you." she said finally, her voice beginning to crack.
Gibbs then proceeded to slip the ring onto Abby's finger. After which he stood up and the two of them kissed, and then embraced each other for a moment or two.
There wasn't a dry eye in that whole living room.
Even Teddy yelped his approval to the couple as he sat at their feet wagging his tail.
------------To Be Continued in "Daddy's Little Girl"------------
Author's Chapter Notes:
It's Chloe's second birthday, and the gang is getting together at Abby and Gibbs' house to celebrate the event. Plus, there's an unexpected surprise ending!!!!!
Chapter End Notes:
I hope you guys Enjoy and God Bless!!!