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Epilogue
Gibbs busied himself with the tedious task of caulking the large front windows of his father’s general store. Things were coming back together nicely. His father was glad to be back home finally. It had been a long four months for him staying in D.C. and with the seasons changed and fall upon them, he preferred to be in the small town of Stillwater, Pennsylvania to see the leaves more colorful.

As he worked, he thought back over the past week. It had been a rough one and he was glad in many ways that Em had been out of town on a case rather than in Washington where things had become so dangerous.

Paloma Reynosa, along with her politically positioned brother Alejandro Rivera had finally returned to act out their revenge on Gibbs. Mike Franks finally appeared out of nowhere, letting Gibbs know he was alive and well and offering to help take down the revenge-seeking siblings. It was a well-played game of cat and mouse between Reynosa and Gibbs, but in the end, Paloma Reynosa was dead and her brother was behind bars.

It was a disappointment that Em had not been around to meet Mike; Gibbs mentor, the man who was responsible for him being the NCIS agent he was today. He would have very much liked to have had the chance to introduce her to him, but as it was, Mike didn’t stay after the excitement was over and there hadn’t even been an opportunity to tell him about her.

Jack was sad to leave without saying good-bye to her too, but Gibbs promised his dad that she wasn’t going anywhere. She would be in his life for many years to come and Jack would have plenty of chances to see her again.

He missed her himself though it seemed silly. He told her he’d only be in Stillwater for a week helping his dad, but she had been gone for a week before that, and he didn’t know if she would be gone on another case when he got back.

Em had called three days ago to say she had just gotten back to D.C. and the second she walked in the office from getting off the plane her boss told her she was overdue for her annual physical and was scheduled for it eight a.m. the following morning, no excuses. She said that was just one of the many things she had been putting off that perhaps she could get caught up with while he was out of town and not being such a ‘sexy distraction’.

Regardless, he wished she could have come to Stillwater with him. It would have been nice to show her where he grew up. Maybe he didn’t have the best memories in this small town, but he had a lot of memories here, memories he’d like to share with her.

The sight of a black Ford Explorer parking in front of the store caught his eye. It couldn’t be… You just wish it were. But then he saw her, red hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing a loose gray FBI tee under a navy blue knit jacket with jeans and sneakers. Em was standing on the sidewalk, leaning against her SUV, staring at her feet, looking like she was talking to herself. He immediately dropped the caulking gun, ran to the door, and rushed outside.

“Em, what are you doing here?” he asked her excitedly.

She looked nervous and broke eye contact with him quickly, looking back down to her shoes. “I wanted to see you, but now that I’m here I think maybe I shouldn’t have come.”

He was confused. Had he done something wrong? “Why would you think that?” He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly, kissing the top of her head, then her forehead, then her cheeks, and finally her lips, taking his time on them, as she seemed to relax into his arms. Taking a breath, he whispered, “I was just thinking about how much I’ve missed you. Still, I’m surprised to see you here. What made you decide to come?”

She bit her lip and closed her eyes. He could feel her tensing again. “I decided I needed to talk to you, Jethro. It’s about the results on my physical.”

He began to worry, terrible thoughts, and worse case scenarios running through his mind. “What did they find?” he managed to choke out.

“Well, they called me yesterday with some blood work results and I had to follow up with a doctor yesterday afternoon. I spent all day and all night thinking about what to say to you, how to tell you this. I thought about talking to Lily or Abby for advice on what do to.” He knew she had grown close to Abby since they first met on the Halawani case. He just couldn’t imagine what Em was so upset about that she was worried about coming to him first. “I finally just woke up this morning and decided the only thing that made sense was to drive straight here and tell you in person before this drove me crazy.”

Gibbs was getting anxious himself and so worried he could feel his heart pounding. What if she’s dying? It was the only thought that stuck in his head and he couldn’t get it out. “Em, you’re scaring me. Please, tell me what’s going on. What’s wrong with you? Are you going to be okay?”

Hesitantly, she answered. “Nothing’s wrong with me exactly. I’m going to be okay. I’m not sure how you’re going to be. I mean, we’ve been together for a little over three months. There are a lot of things we haven’t talked about. I’m just afraid you’re going to be angry with me.”

He was confused. She didn’t seem to be making any sense to him. How could she be so worried if nothing was wrong and why would he be angry with her? “I don’t understand, Em. Please, just tell me what this is all about.”

She turned a questioning gaze up at him, her eyes big and shimmering deep apple green, looking sincerely innocent as she asked, “How do you feel about being called daddy?”

For a few moments, he said nothing, taking in those words and turning them over in his mind, translating them into something he could clearly understand. His jaw dropped slightly then was replaced by a huge grin, a gasp of surprise and a laugh both escaping him as his eyes widened. “You mean… You’re… I’m… We’re…” His head was spinning with emotions, surprise, excitement, anxiety, a bit of fear, but mostly overwhelming joy. He couldn’t speak the words he wanted to say, he wanted to hear them aloud, wanted confirmation that he wasn’t jumping to conclusions he wanted to believe. “Really?”

Em was thrilled to see his reaction was to be so excited rather than angry as she had feared. “Yes, Jethro. I’m six weeks pregnant. We’re having a baby.”

Gibbs was ecstatic. Four months ago, no one could have told him he’d ever fall in love again. When he found himself in love with Em, he couldn’t let himself believe it could lead to having a family again. He had pushed those desires deep down and refused to let them out. Now he was getting everything he had lost hope life could possibly hold in store for him.
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