Chapter 2: The Beginning

Jethro Gibbs was still in shock as he walked through his front door. It was a miracle that he had made it home in one piece as he could not even recall the drive home. After Tony or Julian had left the office Gibbs hadn’t even waited a full minute before yelling at Kate and Tim to get back to work. As hard as he tried to concentrate on paperwork the more his mind keep going round and round. Tony was Julian Gibbs had known that Julian’s first name with Anthony but had never connected it somehow. Gibbs was almost positive that he was now a father. He had been a father for almost sixteen years without knowing it and could have gone his entire life never knowing that he had a child. Why had Jules not bothered to tell him that he was pregnant? Or after the baby was born that he had a daughter. Finally after a long morning and even longer afternoon of getting almost no work done Gibbs could at last escape the office and the enquiring eyes of his subordinates.

Why had he not bothered to get in touch when he found out about the baby? Gibbs wondered again as he walked down the stairs into the basement. Oh God, thought Gibbs what if that was what Jules wanted to talk about that night when I left. He probably already knew about the baby and I just left. No wonder he didn’t tell me. He thought that I wouldn’t give a damn about him or the baby. With these thoughts running through his head Gibbs looked over at the boat. There sitting next to the boat on his worktable was a letter with his name on it in a familiar handwriting next to what appeared to be a book. Gibbs reached out with his hand trembling with fear of what was inside of it to pick it up.

Jet,
When I saw you again that day in Baltimore my heart almost stopped due to shock. I knew within minutes that you did not realize who I was but I couldn’t seem to make myself say no to the job offer. I guess I didn’t think about the consequences of working so close with you. I was too surprised and too emotional after seeing you again to think clearly. I never expected to see you again after that day when I awoke and found you gone. For a long time I was so angry with you, so angry that I cannot even find words to describe it. The night that you left I had planned to tell you that I was pregnant with your child. There have been so many times over the years when I have wanted to tell you about her, hundreds even thousands of times. I was scared to tell you for fear that you wouldn’t have given a damn about her. At least if I didn’t tell you I could honestly tell her that her father had no clue that she existed. I never wanted her to be hurt or disappointed if you didn’t want her. I never wanted her to feel the way that I did when you left. I loved you and you left. It made it hard to trust you with this little perfect soul that we had created.
My daughter, our daughter is the most wonderful gift that I have ever received. Her name is Julia Elizanne Gibbs Mallory and she was born on November 18 over a month and a half early. She is hardworking and so intelligent. She has your beautiful eyes and your personality when she gets frustrated. She even now at fifteen is addicted to caffeine and drinks as much coffee as you do. She denies it but I think she can tell different brands of coffee by their smell even before she even drinks it. She is getting ready to graduate from high school and her whole life almost revolves around gymnastics. She is so talented at gymnastics and ballet that it is unbelievable. I think she could do anything that she set her mind to she is that stubborn which I blame you entirely for. There is not a day that goes by that she doesn’t do something that reminds me of you.
When the call came in this morning from her coach my heart stopped first due to worry about her and then due to the realization that you now have figured out who I am. There is still a large part of me that is still in love with you. I don’t know what to do now about any of this situation but then again I never really was sure where to start. It is up to you if you want to have a relationship with your daughter. I have not told her that you now know about her but she will know something is up. She is much too perceptive at times especially about me. So please think quickly about what you want to do about her. I will bring my resignation by your house tomorrow evening. If you decide to have a relationship with your daughter I will make sure that you have the address for where ever we end up. I have to go now the nurses were nice enough to give me some paper to write this on while Julia was in X-ray and then having her cast put on. She is almost ready to be discharged now. I am going to leave my journal from the spring that I got pregnant through when I was pregnant and Julia’s first year so you can start to get a picture of your daughter. I will talk to you tomorrow.
Love
Julian

Gibbs could see the tear marks on the letter as he read the words that Julian had written. He was completely conflicted in emotions as he finished reading the letter. He had confirmation that he had a daughter and Julian still loved him after all these years. Gibbs wanted to get to know his daughter and he wanted to deal with the issue of him and Julian but how was the question. He had started to feel something for Tony and he knew that Tony reminded him of Julian every once in a while when he dropped his guard down. This had caused him to stay away thinking that he would just be using Tony as a replacement, but Tony was Julian. Gibbs looked over at the Journal wondering if it would help give some answers.