Thanks to everyone who's come along for this tale of Tim and family! This story may be complete but there's more to come. See the note at the end.

Special thanks to my beta, Alix33

Chapter 53

Back at the house, Kelly and her father chatted while Shannon looked at the time, "Honey, we need to get going."

"All right." He kissed his daughter, "See you later Doc!"

"Good luck!"

When Shannon pulled up to the curb at the airport to let Jethro and his walker out, one of the security guys spotted the Navy Yard parking sticker and walked over. "Are you meeting someone?"

"Yes."

"You can leave your car here. Not something we usually do, you understand."

Jethro nodded, feeling even guiltier as Shannon locked up and joined him. When they got inside, they found seats and got comfortable. Emily walked in a minute later.

"Uncle Gibbs, how's your knee?" Emily kissed his cheek.

"It's much better, Ems. Where's your dad?"

"Here Jethro, oh, hello." Tobias smiled at the lovely woman next to his friend. She looked vaguely familiar and he looked at Gibbs and then back at the woman.

"Tobias, Emily, I'd like you to meet Shannon, my wife."

Emily's eyes opened wide, she grinned and offered her hand. "Are you the Shannon?"

"Good heavens, I hope so. Jethro's had enough trouble as it is!"

Tobias was still staring, mouth slightly open, speechless. When he finally blinked, Jethro gave him more information. "She and Kelly were released from WITSEC in November after 25 years."

"Oh, my freaking - I can't believe this! Shannon, I'm Tobias Fornell and I'm very happy to meet you." He laughed joyously, "Jethro, both of them and Tim and the babies! The universe loves you!" Then he stopped, "If you were released in November, does that mean that her nastiness of the mean eyes had you cornered too?"

"Yes, although we didn't know it was her."

"Wow, I'm just - oh my GOD! Gibbs, you are going to be in such deep doo-doo with our ex-wife!"

"Only she's not my ex-wife, Tobias, we were never legally married."

Emily's eyes almost fell out of her head. "Oh, can I tell her, please, please?" Then she laughed, "Good thing I'm not your kid, huh Uncle?"

He grinned, "I wouldn't mind that at all, Ems and I'm sure Shannon wouldn't either."

She smiled, "Of course not. I have several children I didn't know about, Emily! I raised an only child who now has 4 brothers and 2 sisters, counting Ellie, a niece, and nephew. I'm a grandmother and loving it all!"

The young woman laughed again. "Bet that was a surprise. And I get to meet Kelly today, yay!"

Tobias was thinking again, "Now I understand why you wanted to meet us here. Her flight should be landing any minute."

Two minutes later, they heard the announcement that the flight was at the arrival gate.

"Why is she here anyway?"

"Case, wouldn't say anything else."

Shannon's eyebrows rose in surprise, "Is she also a federal agent?"

Emily beamed with pride, "Yes, for the IRS."

"I didn't know they had agents like Jethro and your dad."

"Not quite the same but don't say that to her!"

Emily spotted her mother as she came down the escalator and moved forward to welcome her. Then she took her by the hand, "Come on, Uncle Gibbs is here too; he has something to tell you."

"What's he done now?"

"Nothing, well he had his bad knee replaced so he's using a walker."

"A walker, Leroy Jethro Gibbs? This I have to see!"

Tobias came forward to greet her with a hug and kiss and then said, "Jethro's here."

"I understand he's using a walker!"

"Yes, not bad for post-surgery. Had to stay at Ducky's for a while because his grandchildren had colds."

"Grandchildren, what grandchildren? Did he get married again, to someone with kids?"

"Nope. Come on."

Jethro was standing, remembering to lean on the walker when she reached him. When she spotted the woman next to him, she nodded to her and then looked at Leroy. "Finally got that done; good. What's this I hear about grandchildren?"

"Two of them so far but Tim and Ellie just got married, so we'll see."

"Ellie? Ellie on your team - Ellie Bishop?"

"Yes but that's not why we're here, Diane. First of all, I'm glad you're recovered, you look well."

"I am well and it was a long haul, Leroy; I'm glad to be alive."

With a smile, Shannon jumped right in. "So am I, glad we're both alive. Diane, my name is Shannon, Shannon Gibbs."

Diane's mouth dropped open and she looked at the other woman, then at Leroy, at Tobias and back at Shannon and then at Emily who was nodding.

"You're Leroy's Shannon?"

"Yes, I am. Released from protective custody after a very long time."

"Oh, my heavens. And Kelly?"

"Also alive and currently at her brother's house."

"Her brother, I thought she was an only child?"

"It was news to me too. Before Jethro and I were married, we had a baby he never knew about, one who was born prematurely and died after a few hours. I was able to hold him and name him; he was baptized. Then I went to sleep and when I woke, they told me he had died. But he didn't, it's a long story but basically he was kidnapped, adopted by a navy family and when he was grown he joined NCIS."

Diane's mouth made an 'O' and she looked at Leroy. "Chuckie? That has to be Chuckie. He really is the spawn of a woodchuck?"

"That's my boy! And he has a sister and brothers I adopted. Shannon and I now have 6 children, 1 daughter-in-law, and 2 grandchildren."

"And Ellie married Chuckie, I mean Tim? But she was married to that good looking lawyer!"

"Yeah, that ended and so did Tim's relationship with Delilah."

"The young woman in the wheelchair?"

He nodded. "Diane, you realize Shannon's my legal wife. I had no way of knowing she was alive."

She stared at him for several seconds, "That means we were never legally married! That's fine, Leroy; it means I'm a two times divorcée instead of three, actually makes me feel a little better." She smiled, "But I'm not giving any of your money back."

He laughed, "I knew you'd say that, wasn't going to ask! At least I got my grandfather's railroad watch."

She shook her head, "That was mean of me; I'll give you that one." She turned to Shannon, "I'm so happy you're alive and you two have found each other again. He's been a miserable SOB for so many years; I can only hope your return will cure that!"

Shannon bit back a grin, "I hope so too! Although I think Tim, the grandkids and the new knee might have cured at least part of that. Will you still come to our party today?"

"Of course, I can't wait to see Chuckie, Ellie, and their kids! Anyone else I know?"

"Tony?"

"Ah, Agent DiNozzo, always the stud muffin."

"He's dating a Marine captain."

At Diane's stunned look, Emily giggled, "The Captain's a she, Mom, and an NCIS agent."

"Of course, what was I thinking? Not that there would be anything wrong with that."

"All right, we have to get going so we'll be there to surprise other people when they arrive."

They disbursed to their own vehicles, Diane stopping behind Shannon and Leroy to watch him maneuver the walker. She shook her head, "I can't believe he's using that thing."

Tobias made a noise, "He's got a kid now who's a doctor, not like Ducky where he could go home and ignore him."

"Who's a doctor? I thought there were two children now, Chuckie and Kelly. Kelly can't be old enough to be a doctor! Oh, he said something about adopting Tim's siblings, is one of them a doctor?"

Tobias looked at his daughter for help. She grinned, "I got this one, Dad."

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

When they pulled into the driveway at home, Tim and Kelly were there, borrowing the coffeemaker. "How'd it go?"

"A lot better than I thought. Having Shannon there really helped."

Kelly looked at him, "Does your knee hurt?"

"No, I have a headache; I always have a headache when Diane is around."

"Okay, I'll get you some Ibuprofen."

As she walked away, he called after her, "Need three, please!"

As he waited for the Ibuprofen to kick in, they walked down to Tim's and the rest of the kids arrived to help. While all the chairs were dusted and cleaned, two leaves were added to the table and it was turned sideways so people could walk around it.

At 12:15, Dad gave a whistle and motioned them over to him. When they'd gathered around, he looked at all of them, "Are we all set?"

"Yes, Dad. Before we start heating the food, we'll ask everyone to be seated and explain what's happening."

When the littles heard what was happening, they did their happy dance, taking Poppy and Nonny's hands as they jumped around them.

By 1:00, they were as ready as they were ever going to be. The Palmers and Ducky arrived together, followed by Abby and Bob, and then the others poured in.

Now that Tobias and his family had been told about Shannon and Kelly, all of the extended family knew about their return. When asked which was her favorite response, Shannon said it was a three-way tie between Breena, Tobias and Diane.

When told at Tim's birthday party, Breena stood still as a statue with her mouth open for so long that Tony had reached over and gently tapped her chin. She'd finally smiled, saying, "I'm so happy I get to meet you, I never thought…" She blinked back tears. "He's been a changed man since the kids and Tim and now, oh gosh, this is so wonderful!"

Jimmy's reaction had been verbal, he and Breena had been preoccupied with their children the week Shannon and Kelly had appeared; both had painful ear infections.

"Shannon and Kelly are alive? Wow, this is, wow, I can't believe it! How long did you say, twenty-five years?"

Kayla and Jared were touched when Ty and Brynie came to them at the party. "Daddy told us your first mommy is an angel in heaven like our first mommies."

They nodded, they'd heard the story and they liked thinking of their mother Jackie as an angel. "When we were in the crash, I couldn't wake our mothers up and that's when they were going to heaven to be angels. Daddy says your mommy wouldn't wake up either. Nonny and Aunt Kelly weren't asleep so they weren't taken for angels. Bad people were after them so they were hidden like we were when we went to New Mexico."

Kayla was so moved she kissed both children and then introduced herself to Shannon and Kelly who spotted her cowgirl boots. She grinned, "I saw all the great boots at Tim and Ellie's wedding and had to have a pair. Jared, Lara and Dad bought some too!"

"I think we're the only ones in the family without them! But not for long."

Abby was nearby and laughed, "I tried some on but they hurt my feet. After wearing platforms for so long I can't deal with the heels."

Kayla raised an eyebrow, "Come on, Abby, a fashionista like you? I bet there are platform cowgirl boots."

"Ooh a challenge, I love it!"

Shannon watched Abby with thoughtful eyes. On their first meeting, she had been surprised to find she was almost Tony's age, she'd been expecting someone younger than Tim. While she was having a good time, she also saw grief in her eyes and wondered at the cause. She admired her fashion sense; although it was not hers, she gave her credit for having the bravura to wear what she obviously enjoyed.

Now she asked about the woman's teaching project and her face lit up as she talked about it in detail. As a teacher of children, Shannon got a kick out of some of the 'tricks' Abby had used to teach adults, they weren't that far removed from her own 'tricks of the trade'.

Kayla wanted to talk forensics with Abby; she knew she wanted to go into law enforcement but didn't want to be in the field. She and Tim had already had some solid conversations about computer forensics but she wanted to know more about physical evidence. She especially wanted to know how Abby was so often able to break cases for the agents. Abby beamed; someone had obviously mentioned her work. It was good to be recognized and she told Kayla that a good forensic scientist had to see herself as a member of a team. When she broke a case, she was using evidence the agents found. They brought it to her for the best interpretation and definition. Kayla liked that a lot and Lara later thanked Abby.

Leon made a mental note to include Abby in their high school and college recruitments. He smiled to himself, it would be interesting to send a former cop with excellent instincts, like DiNozzo, a 'civilian' field agent/uber tech like Tim Gibbs and Abby out together, give the students a glimpse of what and how a team worked. They could do two demonstrations, one highlighting the field agents and forensics and the second one tying in the CCU, field agents, and forensics. He liked this a lot and the three of them would be comfortable together.

Tobias tapped him on the shoulder, "Penny for your thoughts."

"Woolgathering about a project that involves DiNozzo, Tim, and Abby. Or maybe Bishop, Tim, and Sciuto. Or Chalmers, Tim, and Sciuto. Have to think about that." He paused, "Diane looks great."

"Yeah, she's doing fine now. Back here for a case. Jethro tell you what they did?"

Leon shook his head and Tobias told him about the airport meeting. When he finished laughing, Vance clapped Tobias on his shoulder, "Only Gibbs would show up at the airport with his original wife to tell wife #2 he made a mistake!"

Diane was having a great time. She'd congratulated Ellie and Tim, fallen in love with their children and admired their home. She was a bit surprised by the cowboy boots, once again, most of the family was wearing theirs but understood the reason when she heard about Leroy and Tim's sojourn in New Mexico and Ellie's roots in Oklahoma. Although that didn't explain the rest of the family wearing them!

It was fun meeting all of Leroy and Shannon's kids and she was again surprised to find there were two doctors in the family, two writers, and another Marine. She liked Tony's Marine Captain Maggie and thought he was permanently off the market, he'd found his own Shannon. That brought her up short; she hadn't realized how often she used that expression.

Mac, Leroy's father-in-law, was a hoot, a lovely man who looked like an older twin of his grandson and great-grandson. The photos of Tim, his grandfather, son, and daughter together were extraordinary; Diane thought they should go in the Guinness World Records for best lookalikes. If there was such a thing!

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

When Tim announced the meal would be served in twenty minutes, Mac stood in the shade and tapped a glass to get everyone's attention. "Please gather round, c'mon, time to celebrate before we feast! Ellie, Sarah, and Rob have poured bubbly drinks for everyone so kids of all ages go ahead take a glass. Teddy, maybe your Mama or Papa will help you with the sippy cup just for you. Now hold onto those as my kids that is my original kids, have something they want to share with you."

He nodded to Shannon and Jethro who stepped forward, hand in hand. Mac continued, "Twenty-five years is a long time for a couple to be separated. But even with each thinking the other dead, neither Shannon nor Jethro ever forgot the love they'd had for each other. They've spent the last few months becoming reacquainted and today they will renew their wedding vows, recommit to each other. They asked me to stand with them, as I'm the only one here who was there the first time. And I know they'll agree when I say this is a lot more fun!"

Smiling at the happy murmurs, he waited for silence before he helped his children renew their vows. The words were simple, full of love, joy and commitment to each other, their marriage and their clan. There were chuckles at that, mostly from the clan. With a long kiss, they completed the brief ceremony and turned, finding their children and grandchildren surrounding them. They laughed and smiled as toasts were made and glasses were raised.

As the applause finally died down, the cooks and their helpers brought the food out and the crowd was seated at the very long table.

When everyone was seated, the food on the table, Mac stood again.

"As the eldest of this bunch, I've decided that makes me the patriarch, how about that? As patriarch, I want to welcome all of you to our celebration of family and to officially welcome our daughter, wife, mother and grandmother Shannon and granddaughter, daughter, sister, and aunt Kelly back into our loving arms and lives. Please join me in welcoming home our darlings, celebrating our family and the lives we live. To family!"

"To family!" The group again raised their glasses and then broke into cheers, celebrating the reunited family.

The End

The next story is titled Fallout, here's a snippet:

Tim answered his desk phone late one afternoon. In the middle of reviewing a case file and expecting a call from his wife, he answered without looked at the caller id.

"Hello."

"Agent Gibbs, Secretary Porter."

Tim straightened his posture so fast he knocked a stack of paper to the floor. Rolling his eyes, he left them there.

"Afternoon, Ma'am. What can I do for you?"

"Need you to come to the Pentagon for a meeting; it is need to know and for now that means just you..."