Chapter Thirty

Gibbs got an unexpected call from Joshua's school late Thursday morning. It was a slow day so he left his team to continue working and headed over, wondering what was going on. The teacher had told him Josh wasn't sick or hurt so that eased his mind a little but Gibbs couldn't figure out why he'd be getting a call. Joshua had never been in trouble before, he got along great with the other kids and he was a good student. By the time Gibbs got to the school, he'd worked himself into a little bit of a panic. He was met by Josh's counselor as soon as he walked into the school.

"Where's Josh? What's going on?" he asked as the counselor led him through the main office back to her small office.

"Josh is right in here," the counselor said. The older, bald man motioned for Gibbs to sit in the chair in front of his desk, next to Josh's teacher.

"We had a history test this morning," the teacher started, "and Joshua always tests well but he handed in a test full of missing and wrong answers. It's almost like he didn't even try."

"He's being tightlipped about it," the counselor added. "We were just a little concerned because this is so unlike him."

"What happened, Josh?" Gibbs asked. "I know you studied because I helped you."

"I forgot some of the stuff," Josh said hesitantly. He saw the disbelieving look from Gibbs and decided to try something else. "I got confused?" It was more of a question than a statement or maybe more of a hope that the adults in the room would buy that excuse and leave him alone.

"Is it okay if I take him out for lunch and bring him back later?" Gibbs asked, gently squeezing the back of his boy's neck. He was sure he could get Josh to talk to him without an audience around him.

"That would be fine," the teacher said. "Josh, why don't you go get your jacket, Honey." She waited for Josh to leave then turned her attention back to Gibbs. "I'm willing to let Josh retake the test. I'm just concerned because he's never done anything like this before."

"I'll talk to him," Gibbs said, "see what I can find out. I'm not sure what's going on with him today. I know he studied hard for this test. I quizzed him last night and he knew the material."

Josh returned with his jacket and Gibbs wrapped an arm around his shoulders and led him out to the car. They headed to Fazoli's a couple streets away from school, ordered their lunch then sat down in a booth towards the back of the restaurant. As soon as their meals arrived the harder questions replaced the small talk the two had been passing the time with.

"What's going on, Joshy?" Gibbs asked. Noah had coined the nickname shortly after Josh's arrival and it had become a term of affection that the seven year old enjoyed.

Hearing Gibbs use his nickname immediately put Josh at ease. He'd been frantically searching for an excuse logical enough Gibbs would believe ever since they'd left the school but had come up empty handed. He and Noah had never been able to pull a fast one over on Gibbs.

"I, uh, it's just that, well, um," Josh fumbled his words, trying to find a reason for his poor performance.

"Just tell me the truth, Josh," Gibbs encouraged.

"Um," Josh took a big bite of his spaghetti and took his time chewing it up and swallowing it then it came to him. "I got distracted and couldn't concentrate."

"Yeah?" Gibbs asked watching Josh closely. "What distracted you?"

"Uh…" Another short pause told Gibbs that Josh still wasn't telling him the truth but he listened patiently. "Another kid— there was— somebody um— the kid sitting next to me kept whispering things to me." The boy slumped over in his seat and reminded himself to breathe. Lying was hard work and not something he was accustomed to. His mother never cared what he did. He'd never once had to explain himself to her and he was feeling the pressure trying to create a believable story for Gibbs.

Gibbs took a bite of his sub as he tried to figure out how to best get the truth out of Josh. "You know what I think?" he asked, wiping his mouth with his napkin. "I think you're protecting somebody." He watched as Josh started squirming and refused to look into his eyes. "Do you believe me when I tell you I love you and that I only want the best for you?"

"Yeah," Josh said quietly.

"Do you trust me?" Gibbs continued.

"Yes," Josh said taking a quick peek up at Gibbs' face.

"Talk to me, Buddy," Gibbs said. "Tell me why you turned in a test full of wrong answers."

Josh was quiet for a moment as his eyes roamed everywhere except right in front of him where Gibbs was sitting. "When I was playing with Noah the other night he told me he used to go to big kid school but he was too dumb and everybody hated him. I just thought if I wasn't so smart then maybe it would help him feel a little better."

However misguided Josh's actions were, Gibbs swelled with pride at his son's attempt to try to help his brother. For a boy who had only ever done his best and excelled in school, purposely failing a test had been quite the sacrifice. He could see how the seven year old might reason that as being an acceptable solution to help his younger brother's poor self esteem.

"Wow Josh, I don't even know what to say," Gibbs said. He hadn't expected a selfless act being the reason for failing his test. He hadn't planned on punishing Josh in the first place but he had to figure out how to deal with this current situation.

"Are you mad at me?" Josh asked timidly.

"No," Gibbs said. "I think it was a very considerate thing you did. I know you were trying to help your brother."

"But?" Josh knew there was a 'but' coming. He was waiting to be spanked or grounded or whatever punishment Gibbs had for him. He would take it like a man. In his mind it was worth it.

"But your schoolwork is important, Kiddo," Gibbs said. "I didn't take Noah out of kindergarten because he was dumb or because everybody hated him. I took him out because he was in the wrong grade. He's a little bit behind the other kids his age but he's catching up."

"I didn't think he was dumb," Josh said. "I just wanted him to not feel so bad."

"I know," Gibbs said, "and that was a really nice thing you did but from now on I want you to do your best in school. Your teacher's going to let you retake your test. Do you think you can do better this time?"

"A lot better," Josh admitted.

"That's my boy," Gibbs said with a proud smile. "Let's get you back to school."

They finished eating then Gibbs took Josh back to school. He arranged for him to retake his test after school that day and after Josh was settled in, he headed back to the Navy Yard. He checked in with his team then headed to the daycare. Naptime had just ended leaving a group of still half asleep children sitting at the table waiting for their snack.

Noah looked up at Gibbs, his eyes only half open and smiled at him. Gibbs smiled back and crooked his finger at him. Noah rubbed one eye with his fist as he unsteadily made his way over to his daddy.

"I'm going to keep him with me for the rest of the day," Gibbs told Casey as he lifted Noah into his arms.

"I didn't eated my snack yet," Noah said.

"I thought you and I could go get a snack together," Gibbs said. "How does that sound?"

"Okay," Noah said. He rested his head against Gibbs' chest and closed his eyes. Gibbs smiled and kissed his head before sitting him down in front of his cubby and helping him get his shoes on.

Gibbs took Noah to the Burger King on base and they both got French fries and a soda. Noah was fully awake after listening to music in the car and talking to Gibbs about all the fun he'd had that morning.

"What do you think of your new school?" Gibbs asked as they started in on their French fries.

"Everybody is nice," Noah answered. "I like it there."

"Do you know why you switched schools?" Gibbs asked, watching Noah's body language as he ate another fry.

Noah's expression saddened. "Because nobody liked me at my other school," he answered, poking a French fry into his ketchup cup. "I is not as smart as them is."

Gibbs mentally kicked himself for not doing a better job of explaining things to Noah. "You are a very smart boy, Noah," Gibbs said, "and a very good friend. The reason you switched schools is because you were in the wrong grade. You know how you're learning your ABCs and how to write your name?" Noah looked up at Gibbs and nodded. "Did you learn that at your old school?"

"No," Noah said. "All a other kids knowed it already. A teacher sayed I was a'pposed a know it too. Her gotted mad at me."

"She shouldn't have been mad at you, Noah," Gibbs said. "The way she treated you was wrong."

"Do I have to go back there?" Noah asked.

Gibbs shook his head. "Next year I'm going to enroll you in Josh's school. You'll go to kindergarten there and have nice friends and teachers." He realized they were getting off topic and he needed to bring things back around. "You're learning all kinds of things in your new school, aren't you? You know how to write your name and your alphabet and your numbers. You are one smart little boy."

Noah shrugged his shoulders, not really believing what Gibbs was saying. He thought his daddy was just being nice to him. "I don't care if I is dumb anyways," he said as he followed Gibbs over to the trashcan.

"You're not dumb, Buddy," Gibbs said firmly as he dumped their garbage. He put the tray on top of the trashcan then lifted Noah into his arms. Noah avoided eye contact but there was no way Gibbs was going to let him think so poorly of himself. "Hey," he said. He waited for Noah to look at him before continuing. "Have I ever lied to you?" Noah shook his head. "That's right," Gibbs said, "and I'm not going to start now. You're one of the smartest kids I know. You're still little. You're not supposed to know everything."

Gibbs paused and watched Noah as his words sunk in. "I love you, Noah," he said, hugging his little boy close. He knew after years of being told he wasn't good enough, it would take time to change his thinking.

Noah looked up at Gibbs and smiled. "I love you, Daddy," he said. Gibbs kissed his cheek then helped him into the car.

Gibbs returned to NCIS and left Noah in the bullpen with his team while he headed upstairs to talk to Jenny. He told her what happened with Josh that morning and about his conversation with Noah. After checking her schedule, Jenny offered to pick Josh up after he'd retaken his test since Gibbs was keeping Noah with him that afternoon. The two took a break from their work and talked about the boys and what they could do to help them overcome the obstacles that had been placed in their paths. The good news was they were still young; the bad news was their birthmothers had done a lot of damage over the first years of their lives.

Tony and Noah spent the first part of the afternoon causing all kinds of mischief. A whoopee cushion was put in Tim's chair, everything in Ziva's desk drawers was rearranged while she was in the bathroom, a probie from another team left his badge lying out so they hid that but when they took all the paper from the printer to make paper airplanes, Gibbs got involved.

"If you two can't behave you're not going to be able to hang out together," he said. He'd been patient with them to that point but he had to draw the line somewhere. "I'm glad you guys are having fun but this is an office."

"Sorry Dad," Tony said.

"We will be good boys," Noah added.

Even with the warning it was a struggle for the boys to stay out of trouble, especially when Josh was added into the mix. Gibbs finally sent the three of them to walk down the block and get him some coffee. When they got back there was a pile of work on Tony's desk and Abby was there waiting to take Josh down to her lab. Gibbs gave Noah the option of returning to daycare or going with Abby.

"I wanna watch TV with Tony," Noah said, his blue eyes silently pleading with Gibbs.

"Tony has work to do," Gibbs replied, not swayed by the little boy's attempt to look pathetic.

Noah slumped his shoulders and puffed his lip out as he continued looking up at Gibbs. Gibbs smiled and tapped the tip of Noah's nose. "You're a little cutie but I won't be swayed by your good looks and charm."

When Noah realized Gibbs wasn't going to cave, he rested his head against his daddy's leg. He was having a lot of fun goofing off with Tony and didn't want to be sent away. Gibbs lifted him up and kissed his forehead. "Can I watch TV with Mommy?" he asked.

"As long as she doesn't have any appointments this afternoon and she says it's okay," Gibbs answered. Tony made faces at Noah as Gibbs headed out of the bullpen. Noah giggled and made faces back over Gibbs' shoulder. "Get to work, DiNozzo," Gibbs said without missing a beat.

Jenny didn't have any meetings scheduled for the afternoon so Noah stretched out on the couch to watch TV while he played with Squirt. The little boy flipped around in every direction before finally doing a back flip off the couch. He was bored and couldn't sit still. Jenny watched, cringing as he flopped all over. The last thing he needed was a busted head.

"Are you sure you don't want to go play at daycare with your friends, Honey?" she asked.

Noah looked up at Jenny and shook his head. "I want to stay here," he said as he walked over to her. "I want to play with Tony." He laid himself across Jenny's legs and looked up at her, wondering if she would take pity on him.

"I'm sorry, Sweetie," Jenny said rubbing his back. "Tony has work to do but I'm sure he'll come over to the house soon and you guys can play all you want."

Noah climbed into Jenny's lap and she cuddled him. She looked at the work covering her desk and decided her baby was more important. "How about you and I play a game," she suggested. "I know I'm not Tony but we can still have fun, can't we?"

"What 'bout work?" Noah asked. "Will you get in trouble?"

"Nope," Jenny said. "Work can wait. You're more important."

Noah's face lit up instantly. He scurried off her lap and headed for the cabinet that she now kept a few board games in. After looking over his choices, he decided on Trouble. He liked the loud popping and fun colors and showing off his ability to count.

"What color do you wanna be?" Noah asked.

"I want you to pick first," Jenny said.

"Um, I think I will pick green!" Noah said.

"Then I'll be yellow," Jenny said.

Gibbs found them nearly two hours later right in the middle of an intense game of Chutes and Ladders, the conference table covered in board games.

The adoption proceeding was scheduled to take place the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Gibbs and Jenny had taken the boys shopping and purchased little suits for them. Noah had picked out a bowtie to go with his and Josh had settled on a clip on necktie to go with his suit. After a trip through a couple shoe stores, both had everything they'd needed for their big day. They'd both be wearing black pants and a matching jacket. Noah had a blue dress shirt that brought out the blue of his eyes and Josh had chosen a gray dress shirt. A dark blue bowtie for Noah, black tie for Josh and two pairs of shiny black dress shoes and both boys were ready for their big day.

Tuesday morning brought an unsettling feeling for Gibbs. D'Arcy had told him things looked good, all their evaluations and home visits had gone very well but with the boys' futures on the line Gibbs was feeling the pressure. He showered and shaved then dressed in his nicest suit, choosing a plain light blue dress shirt to contrast the navy blue suit. A maroon pinstripe tie completed the look and added a little color.

Jenny put on one of her business suits, a lighter toned tan skirt with a darker tan jacket and white dress shirt but after looking at herself in the mirror she decided she didn't like that look. She changed into her black pinstripe suit with a forest green dress shirt. Satisfied with that look, she and Gibbs both headed down the hall to get the boys up and ready. Jenny headed into Noah's room, knowing Josh would prefer Gibbs' help since he was a guy. When Noah realized both Gibbs and Josh were wearing a regular necktie, he decided he wanted one too instead of his bowtie. Gibbs tied one of his ties for Noah then Josh decided he wanted to wear one of Gibbs' ties too. Once everybody was settled and happy with the way they looked, the group headed out.

D'Arcy met them in the parking lot, all smiles. "Aren't you a fine looking bunch!" she said.

"Thank you," Josh said tugging at his tie.

Noah stayed right next to Gibbs, holding his daddy's hand in both of his. He could sense Gibbs' uneasiness and was unsure of what was going to happen. Would everything be okay? Would he still be allowed to live with his mommy and daddy? Would his brother get to keep living with him? He had so many questions and there were no answers yet. Jenny rested her hand on Noah's shoulder, trying to provide some physical reassurance to him as she held onto Josh's hand. D'Arcy walked into the courthouse with them, offering all the positive reassurance she could as they went.

The team filtered in not long after Gibbs, Jenny and the boys, all of them in their Sunday best. Jenny watched as Gibbs grew more and more uneasy. She could see both boys feeding off him and knew she had to do something. She asked the team to keep an eye on the kids and she pulled Gibbs aside.

"Just breathe, Jethro," she said gently as she fixed his tie. "Everything's going to work out just fine."

Gibbs stood patiently while she fussed over him, straightening his tie and smoothing out his jacket. He focused on his breathing, trying to keep his breaths calm and even. He hated waiting, hated being patient and more than anything, he hated feeling out of control.

Jenny rested her hands against his chest and watched him for a moment. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," Gibbs answered. "This is just such a big deal and there's nothing more I can do. It's hard when your future is in somebody else's hands."

Jenny moved one hand from Gibbs' chest up to cup his cheek. "I know it is," she said lovingly, "but everything will be okay. You'll see."

Gibbs smiled slightly at her as he leaned in for a quick kiss. "Thanks for keeping me grounded," he said. He brushed his thumb over her cheek as she patted his chest.

"Any time," she said. They rejoined the group and waited patiently for their case to be called.

Forty five minutes later they walked out of the courthouse as Noah and Joshua Gibbs with two very proud parents along with a group of brothers and sisters that couldn't have been happier.

That Thanksgiving brought a lot for Gibbs to be thankful for, the two young lives that had been added to his family and Jenny coming back into his life. Christina breaking into his home had allowed him to be the hand of justice. He'd received word that JP Lambert would never hurt a child again. The other inmates had put an end to his life and it hadn't been pretty. Jack was down to spend Thanksgiving with his growing family and meet his grandsons for the first time. The quiet, lonely house Gibbs usually woke up to was now filled with love and family.

He rolled over and woke Jenny with a gentle kiss. Jenny wrapped her arm around him and cuddled in as close as she could as she woke.

"What time is it?" she asked groggily.

"0730," Gibbs answered before kissing her head.

Jenny moaned happily. She loved waking up in his arms as he peppered her with his kisses. "I've got to get the turkey in," she said before leaning up and kissing him.

They both got out of bed and headed down the hall to check on the boys, their boys. They found Josh in Noah's bed and smiled. The boys had grown close; they seemed to share a natural bond. Gibbs and Jenny knew the team would be there soon, the girls to help with the cooking and the guys to watch football, but the two proud new parents took a moment to hold each other and count their blessings as they watched their boys sleep. A lot had changed since the first time they'd met all those years ago. They were now both on the same page. Family was the most important thing and nothing would ever come between them again.

THE END