Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to CBS.

I thought it would be really sweet and cute if Gibbs lived with Tony and Tali. He deserves to have a family and be happy like everyone else. As much as I love whump stories, I do like to see him happy. I always love it whenever he smiles on the show. When he's happy, I'm happy.

This is a collection of moments Gibbs has with his new family, but this first chapter is more of an introduction. Tony comes back from Paris to stay and visits his boyfriend, Gibbs. He has an offer that will advance their relationship and change their lives. How will Gibbs react to it?

Welcome Home

It was 2:13 in the morning and Gibbs was still awake. He had recently closed a case and decided to come home and try to get some rest. However, he couldn't sleep. He had tried to fall asleep, but he ended up dreaming about Tony and woke up with a heavy heart and tears in his eyes. It happened every time he fell asleep, so it was no surprise. Why he thought it might be different, he didn't know.

Even though he knew it was important to Tony to take his daughter to Paris, he missed him like crazy. Being in a long-distance relationship was incredibly painful, to say the least.

When he found out that Tony had a daughter with Ziva, it barely fazed him. He knew Tony only had eyes for him, so any jealousy he did have was extremely small. They had been in a relationship for a while since Ziva left.

He had always been attracted to Tony, since the day they first met. Obviously, he never said anything because of rule twelve. It was somewhat annoying seeing Tony flirt with women and hearing him talk about his dates to McGee. It wasn't until he noticed the chemistry and sexual tension between Tony and Ziva when his jealousy began to skyrocket.

Telling Tony how he felt about him and asking him out was insane for many reasons. First of all, Tony was still struggling to get over Ziva at the time. Then there was rule twelve, obviously. Plus, he wasn't even sure that Tony liked men as well as women. Most importantly, he didn't know if Tony would even want to go out with him, of all people. Did Tony even like him as a person?

All those thoughts were running through Gibbs' head the night he admitted his feelings to Tony. They had gone to get some pizza after finishing a case and were eating outside.

Gibbs had tried to make it clear that he didn't want to be just a rebound date. He asked Tony to give him a real chance unless he really was completely straight.

Tony asked him why he was finally saying something, pointing out that he was still trying to get over Ziva. Then, of course, he brought up rule twelve. Gibbs couldn't say anything. All he could do was look at Tony with sad eyes. Immediately, Tony guessed that he was jealous of him and Ziva. Gibbs simply nodded his head, downhearted.

A few moments later, he realized Tony's warm lips were touching his. They were so soft and perfect, he felt like he could melt. After the kiss was broken, Tony looked at him, reached over, and wiped away a single tear sliding down his right cheek. He wasn't even aware that he had been crying.

Then he was pleasantly surprised when Tony asked if he wanted to go out for coffee later. It was a fitting first date choice. They would end up going on many coffee dates.

Remembering all of this was making it impossible not to get emotional. In order to distract himself, Gibbs decided to turn on the TV and watch some westerns.

Of course, since he was trying not to cry, he chose not to make himself a drink. He knew alcohol would just make him even more emotional as it had before. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with being emotional, but it was extremely tiring. It felt like he was almost always emotional now.

It was even pouring over into work. He knew that his team could tell how miserable he was. They were working harder than usual and being extra nice to him, constantly making him coffee just how he liked it and even bringing him food.

Also, whenever he visited Abby in her lab, he always expected her to give him a hug before giving him an update. The hugs helped him calm down and feel a little better. They started when he went down to Abby's lab one day to check her progress on a case. Not surprisingly, he was thinking about Tony at the time. It was pretty obvious that he wasn't feeling okay, which Abby immediately picked up on. So, of course, she offered to give him a hug. He was hesitant at first, but then decided that he really did need a hug. Truthfully, he did want someone to comfort him.

Sometimes, he was even caught crying at work. So far, everyone except Vance had seen him cry. It felt rather weird crying so openly and randomly in front of his team, but it was getting harder and harder to control his emotions as time went by.

He loved Tony so much and couldn't stop missing him. Phone calls and video chatting just weren't enough anymore. All he wanted was to be in Tony's arms again. To touch, hold, and kiss him. Being apart was unbearable. If only Tony came home, he would be happy and whole again.

"Damn it!" Gibbs muttered to himself. He could feel himself getting emotional even though he was sober. Not that being sober made a difference anyway. "Come on!" he exclaimed, wiping his eyes, which were full of unshed tears. "Get it together," he told himself. "Stop thinking about him. Stop thinking about him." Folding his arms together, he continued, telling himself, "I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry. I've cried enough today. If I cry anymore, I'm gonna dehydrate myself. So no more crying tonight, okay?"

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Since watching TV wasn't helping anyway, he turned it off and walked toward the front door. Upon opening it, the most beautiful sight in the world was revealed. It was Tony. Standing on his front porch and staring at him.

"Jeth," Tony finally spoke, his eyes watering and his smile so big, it was hard to believe it could fit on his face. "I'm home."

Completely forgetting what he had just told himself, Gibbs found himself crying. Again. This time, it felt like a waterfall of tears and he couldn't stop it. Tony was here. He was here. He was really here, standing in the doorway.

"Tony!" Gibbs exclaimed, throwing his arms around Tony's neck. Tony immediately embraced him.

"I missed you so much!" Gibbs exclaimed, hugging Tony tightly. He couldn't believe that Tony was really here, at his house. That he was actually touching, hugging his boyfriend after so long.

"I-I know," Tony replied, tears dripping down his face as well. "I know. I missed you too, honey. I missed you so much. I missed you every damned day." He could feel Gibbs' tears falling onto the side of his neck. Although he knew they were mostly happy tears, he still wanted to comfort his lover. So, he started to stroke Gibbs' hair, whispering, "It's okay, honey. Cry as much as you want. I've got you. I'm not going anywhere."

As soon as Tony said that, sobs started to wrack Gibbs' body.

"I didn't want you to go!" Gibbs cried as his body shook in Tony's arms. "I don't like being separated from you! I hate it! I mean, I know I told you to take care of your family, that you gotta do what you gotta do, but—" A sob escaped his throat. "You knew that I wanted you to stay, right? I wanted you to stay with me. You're my family, Tony."

Pulling back from the hug and looking into Tony's eyes, he felt another wave of emotion crash over him.

"I love you," he said as simply and clearly as he could. "I haven't stopped thinking about you since the day you left. Living without you has been one of the worst experiences of my life."

As emotional as that sounded, it was the truth. The undeniable truth. When he and Tony fell in love, he fell hard. Maybe his feelings were a little intense, but honestly, he never thought he would ever fall in love again. When he and Tony started dating, he decided that he didn't want to hold his feelings back when they were together. He wanted Tony to always know how much he loved him.

"Oh, Jeth," Tony sighed sadly as he looked into his boyfriend's tearful eyes. "I never, ever wanted to hurt you like that. You know that, don't you? I love you so much."

"I know," Gibbs said softly, sliding his hands down to Tony's chest. Bringing his face closer to Tony's, he moved in for a kiss, tasting his lover after what seemed like forever. After a few minutes passed, he finally pulled back and began to kiss Tony's whole face. First his forehead, then his nose, and then his ears and cheeks.

Without even stopping to take a breath, Gibbs kept going, gently kissing Tony's neck over and over, as much as he could.

"Well!" Tony exclaimed, chuckling. "I have to say, this is definitely the nicest welcome home I've ever had."

"It's been so long since I've kissed you," Gibbs said, looking at Tony with longing eyes. "I almost forgot how it used to feel."

He wrapped his arms around Tony one more time. "Please tell me you're staying. Please. If you leave again, I don't think I could bear it."

"I'm not leaving," Tony said as a large smile grew on his face. "I'm here to stay, for good this time."

"Really?" Gibbs asked, breaking the hug and stepping back to look at Tony's face. He hoped that he wasn't just imagining what Tony had said. "You mean it? You're really back?"

"Yep," Tony answered, nodding his head and smiling. "Actually, to be honest, I came back a couple of weeks ago."

Gibbs' eyes, still red and full of tears, grew wide, then immediately started to droop sadly. It looked like he was going to start crying all over again.

"I-I don't understand," Gibbs said, feeling confused and dejected. "If you came back a few weeks ago, then why-why didn't you come see me? Why didn't you call?"

"Shit!" Tony exclaimed, realizing what a jerk he was, even though he never meant to hurt his boyfriend. "I'm sorry! I am so, so sorry! Please let me explain. It was supposed to be a surprise. You see, I got a new apartment."

"Huh?" was Gibbs' reply. He wondered if he heard that right. "You what?"

"I got a new apartment," Tony repeated. "McGee has my old one. It wouldn't be fair if I tried to take it back. Anyway, I've been moving my stuff into my new place and hanging out with Tali, you know, helping her adjust to her new home."

Since Gibbs was quiet and seemed to be listening, Tony continued with his explanation. "I really wanted to see you tonight, but there is another reason why I'm here. I have an important question for you."

As he looked straight into Gibbs' eyes, he took a deep breath.

"Would you consider moving in with me?" he asked, relieved to have finally said it. "I love you. I love you more than anything else in this world. Well, besides Tali. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I want us to be closer. I would really like it if we could live together."

This caught Gibbs by surprise. He never expected to hear something like that.

"You don't have to give me an answer right away," Tony said nervously. "Just think about it. And if you don't want to, I'll understand. That's why I brought this with me."

He then took a key out of his pants pocket and placed it in Gibbs' right hand. "I want you to keep this as long as you want," he said in a serious voice. "I don't want to force you to do something you're not comfortable with."

After taking in everything Tony had said and looking at the key in his hand, Gibbs started to think. He had been living all by himself for quite some time now. Living together would be a huge change in his life, but he really did want to be closer to Tony. More importantly, he wanted to bond and create a relationship with Tali. After all, she was his boyfriend's daughter, so it was inevitable that he would be spending time with her.

Even though living with a little girl would definitely bring back old memories of Kelly, it was an opportunity he couldn't simply dismiss. It would be another chance to have a family, something Gibbs had spent too many years without. Although Tony used to come over to his house a lot, it wasn't quite the same as living together, which he figured would be more permanent.

"Are you serious?" Gibbs asked, finally speaking after what seemed like a while. "You really want me to live with you? Me? I don't know if you could stand living with someone like me."

"Hey, don't say that," Tony said, walking closer and stroking his lover's hair. He hated it when Gibbs put himself down like that. It was always heartbreaking to hear and it made him feel sick. "I love you," he stated, making it sound like a fact. "And I want to be with you. You're worried, I get that. But neither of us are perfect. Maybe you won't be able to stand living with me."

"No," Gibbs replied, shaking his head. "That's impossible. I love you. How could I possibly hate living with you? I mean, yes, you and I both have a few annoying quirks, but we could make it work."

"I guess we'll just have to find out," said Tony, happy that Gibbs actually seemed to be considering the offer. "So, what's your answer?"

After staring at Tony for about a minute or so, Gibbs gripped the key in his hand.

"I'm going to hold on to this," he said. "Maybe for a few days, a week, or a couple of months. I need some time, but I will give it back to you eventually. I want to. It's not every day you get a second chance at having a family."

"You're serious?" Tony asked, a little surprised. He had thought that Gibbs wouldn't want to leave his house, that there was less then half a chance of him saying yes, which is why he got a second key made for him "You want to share a key with me sometime in the near future?"

Wrapping his arms around Tony's neck, Gibbs nodded his head yes, tears glistening in his eyes and falling down his already wet cheeks. His heart felt so full at the moment, it was hard to believe that several years ago, before he and Tony got together, before Ziva left, he genuinely thought he would never be able to love someone as much as he loved Shannon. Back then, all he had was a one-sided crush on Tony, or at least, he thought it was one sided. There were a few women, but he could never keep his relationships with them.

Yet, here he was with Tony, the love of his life, his partner, and he couldn't possibly imagine life without him. He never wanted to be apart again.

As Tony wrapped his arms around him, Gibbs buried his face into his neck.

"Welcome home."