In a world surrounded by sailors, marines, spies, cops and politicians Special Agent Gibbs had given up hope that he would ever have children of his own after losing his wife and daughter 23 years before. Gibbs has created a family with his team and...
Esprit d'escalier (n.) the witty comeback you think of after the time is past to use it.
"Morning, Boss, Ladies," Tony smiled, walking into LJ's hospital room before she was to be discharged.
"Morning, DiNozzo," Gibbs whispered, standing from his chair, "The girls are still asleep. Let's talk outside."
"How were they last night? I know hospitals are a hard place to sleep," Tony asked as they watched the two sleeping women from the hall.
"They didn't fall asleep until 3 AM, so I want to let them sleep as long as possible," Gibbs smiled as he admired his daughter, "So, I'm going to assume you had Abby run LJ's DNA; against mine?"
"How did you know?" Tony breathed in amazement.
"I knew you heard the end of our conversation. You kids would do anything to protect me, and a part of that means making sure she's telling the truth," Gibbs replied, glancing over at Tony.
"Vance beat me to giving Abby the request," Tony replied, rubbing the back of his neck, "He said if she is your daughter, he's not going to take us off the case and thinks LJ staying with you is a good idea."
"Has Abby confirmed it yet?" Gibbs asked, not caring that Vance knew LJ was his daughter.
"Not yet," Tony replied as Abby's ringtone started playing, "Speak of the Devil. Hey Abby, you're on speaker with Gibbs and me."
"Hey, Gibbs," Abby greeted shyly, not sure how he would feel about them running the DNA test.
"Go ahead, Abbs, I'll be good with whatever the results say" Gibbs smiled.
"Well, you get a second chance at being a father. Leilani is your daughter!" Abby cheered.
"We'll bring the girls to the office so you can meet LJ" Gibbs smiled, feeling relieved that what he could see was true.
"We'll hold you to that!" Abby called.
"We'll see you later, Abby," Tony laughed as he hung up.
"She reminds me so much of her mother. Tala was just as fierce and unafraid of the world as LJ is. I wish she had told me about Leilani before she had died, I met Tala at the wrong time, but I loved her," Gibbs sighed as they stayed just outside the room.
Before Tony could reply, Leilani whimpered in her sleep as she started to fidget. Tony recognized the signs of nightmares from the last time Gibbs was in a coma, and based on the concern on Gibbs' face, he knew what was going on as well. Both men rushed into the room as Valda started to stir at the sound of her sister having a nightmare.
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"Baby Girl. Princess. LJ," Gibbs whispered, gently shaking LJ in her sleep.
With a gasp, LJ awoke, scrambling to try and get out of bed. There was a wild look of terror in her eyes as she snapped her head around the room, trying to figure out where she was. Everything seemed to slow down for LJ when she finally laid eyes on her father, and her pounding heart began to slow.
