Epilogue
McGee smiled as he walked down the hallway carrying the sprinkles he grabbed out of the cupboard for Josh, pausing just outside the bedroom door to watch his lover and their son as they spoke animatedly to each other. Tony had gotten much better over the last few weeks, gaining back some of the weight he had lost and even going as far as beginning to work out again.
He still had bad days, but they were far outnumbered by the good days he had. The couple made it a point to take Josh over to Gibbs' house at least once a week to have dinner and see the twins, both of which Josh enjoyed immensely.
He finally felt like things were getting back to normal.
“You have ‘prinkles too, daddy?” Josh asked, poking another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.
“You know it, buddy. But you’re not gonna have any ice cream left if you keep eatin’ it before he gets back,” Tony teased, leaning over to drop a kiss to the top of his son’s head.
“Is good,” Josh said by way of explanation, shrugging a shoulder.
“It’ll be even better with sprinkles,” McGee said, making his presence known as he stepped into the bedroom, shaking the bottle of sprinkles with a grin.
“Took you long enough,” Tony teased, shifting slightly against his pillow. “I was afraid all my ice cream was gonna melt before you got back!”
“You shoulda taken a page of J’s book. He knows how to keep ice cream from meltin’, don’t you buddy?”
“Eat it.”
“Now why didn’t I think of that?” Tony smirked, grabbing the sprinkles from his lover’s hand before he opened the top.
“I do it?” Josh asked hopefully.
“As long as you promise not to make a mess,” McGee warned, sinking onto the mattress beside his son.
Tony handed the little boy the small jar of sprinkles when he was done with it and watched as he proceeded to dump it upside down into his bowl, emptying the container.
“Uh oh.”
“Want some ice cream with those sprinkles, chuckling as he looked at his younger lover. “He didn’t spill one sprinkle, daddy.”
“I see that,” McGee snorted, shaking his head as he ruffled Josh’s hair. “It’s okay, buddy. No big deal.”
“Is lots’a ‘prinkles.”
“Definitely,” Tony agreed, snickering quietly. Finishing up his own bowl of ice cream, he settled back against the mattress, grinning when Josh snuggled against his side, handing his ruined dessert off to McGee.
The boy was asleep after a few minutes, the sound of his light snores bringing a smile to Tony’s face.
“Didn’t take him long to fall asleep.”
“Big day tomorrow. He’s excited to see the babies.”
“Can you believe he’s turning three?” Tony asked, leaning over his sleeping son to press a kiss to his partner’s lips.
“Makes me feel old,” McGee snorted before he pulled away, glancing down at Josh with a grin on his face. “I’m going to take him to his room and when I come back…” He trailed off, looking over Tony’s body slowly. “Well, we’ll discuss that when I get back.”
“Promises, promises.”
“You’ll see.” Climbing from the bed slowly in an effort to keep from jostling the mattress, McGee leaned over, lifting Josh into his arms carefully, grinning when the little boy snuggled against him.
::::::
Pushing the covers off of her body slowly, Abby couldn’t contain the quiet groan that escaped her as she glanced around the darkened bedroom, allowing her eyes to adjust. Glancing over at the clock, she wasn’t surprised as she watched the red numbers change to 0200. In the two months since her daughters were born, she’d grown accustomed to waking up at odd hours of the night, though she found she was most frequently pulled from sleep between the hours of 0130 and 0230.
So frequently, in fact, that it came naturally to her now.
Pushing herself up, she glanced over at her lover’s side of the bed, frowning when she realized it was empty. Running a hand over her face, she climbed off of the bed, stifling a yawn as she padded out of the bedroom quietly.
Pausing in the hallway, she couldn’t help but smile at the sound of Gibbs’ voice drifting out of the twins’ bedroom. Making her way over to the partially opened door, she peeked in, tears welling up in her eyes when she spotted him.
He was perched in the handmade wooden rocking chair, Giovanna cradled in his arms as he spoke softly to her. In the weeks leading up to the birth of the girls, Abby couldn’t help but wonder how Gibbs was going to deal with being a father again after losing his first wife and daughter, but from the minute he’d laid eyes on his girls, she knew he’d fallen right in love.
“It’s not nice to stare,” he said quietly, and though his back was to her, she could hear the smile in his voice.
“Can’t help it. It’s a nice view.”
A quiet chuckle escaped him as he shifted Giovanna in his arms before he pushed himself to his feet. “What are you doing up? I got up so you didn’t have to.”
“Internal alarm, I think. I’m so used to getting up at this time, it’s kind of a reflex now. Sofia still asleep?”
“Uh huh. This one’s gonna be the trouble maker, I think,” he said, glancing down at the little girl slowly drifting off to sleep in his arms. “She takes after you.”
“You sayin’ I’m trouble?”
“Uh huh,” he teased.
“And I guess you’re an angel?”
“Nah. But I’m not as mouthy,” he smirked before he leaned over, capturing her lips in a gentle kiss. “Let me put her down and then I’ll put you to bed.”
“Sounds good to me,” Abby grinned as she made her way over to Sofia’s crib, peering down at the little girl. “We really made some beautiful kids, huh?”
“Mmhmm,” the older man responded as he laid Giovanna down gently, running a hand over her head carefully. “We did. Goodnight, sweetheart,” he said quietly before turning back to his girl. “Ready?”
“Always,” she grinned, reaching for his hand as they made their way out of the nursery quietly. Pausing at the doorway, she glanced back at her sleeping children before she turned to Gibbs. “Never thought we’d have this.”
“Neither did I. Never thought I’d want it again either but now that they’re here, I couldn’t imagine life without ‘em.”
Wrapping her arms around her lover’s waist, she rested her head against his chest, breathing in his comforting scent. “I love you, J.”
“Love you too, Abs,” he said quietly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “C’mon. Bedtime. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
::::::
The Next Afternoon…
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Josh, happy birthday to you!”
Setting the cake down in front of the three year old, Tony couldn’t help but laugh as the little boy bounced up and down in his chair.
“Is I’Age cake!” He gasped, a squeal of excitement escaping him as he glanced up at his father. “I’Age daddy!”
“I see that, buddy. You’ll have to thank Auntie Ziva for that. She’s the one who picked it out.”
“T’ank you A’tie Zeebra!”
“You are welcome, Josh!” She grinned, leaning over to press a kiss to the top of the little boy’s shaggy hair. “I am very glad you like it.”
“Y’know, we should probably not encourage his obsession with that movie,” McGee mused. “We’re already on our third copy.”
“Leave him alone,” the Italian scolded playfully as he accepted the knife from Gibbs to cut the cake.
“’Van and Soapy have cake too?” Josh asked, poking his chubby finger into the side of the cake with a laugh as he scooped some of the frosting off.
Tony couldn’t help but snort as he swatted his son’s hand away playfully. “I think Van and Soapy are a little too small for cake this year, buddy. Besides, who’s gonna want cake after you’ve had your fingers all in it?”
“Daddy.”
“Yeah, Daddy will eat just about anything, huh Josh?” McGee smirked, earning a cocked eyebrow from his lover.
“Ha. Very funny,” Tony said, serving the cake.
“I thought so.”
“Timmy, do you have somewhere I can lay her down?” Abby asked, smiling down at the little girl she held in her arms.
“Sure. Here, lemme take her. I’ll go lay her down in the bedroom.” Leaning down, he lifted the infant out of the Goth’s arms, cradling her close to his chest. “C’mere, Giovanna. Let’s go lay down for a nap, huh?”
“Actually"“
“That’s Sofia,” Tony corrected smugly. “Sheesh. You really can’t tell them apart yet?”
Abby couldn’t help but giggle. “I thought J and I were the only ones who could tell the difference.”
“Well, I *did* carry them for nine months. I think that pretty much makes me an expert,” Tony teased.
“How can you tell which one’s which?” McGee asked, frowning as he glanced down at Sofia before looking over at her sister, who was still wide away in Gibbs’ arms.
“Sofia has a rounder face than Giovanna.”
“They look exactly the same to me.”
“Well, when that fails, you can tell by their personalities. Giovanna’s definitely going to be the trouble maker.”
Shaking his head at his lover, McGee shifted Sofia in his arms again as he made his way down the hallway, unable to contain his smile. Things had been hard on Tony but seeing him surrounded by his friends and family, he knew that they were really going to be alright.
Chapter End Notes:
A/N: And here it is, the end of the story! A huge thank you, as always to my bffl Kelley for all her help with this fic! Without her, I probably would have given up a long time ago! Also, I know I'm awful about responding to reviews, so since this is a short chapter, I wanna just take a minute to thank everyone who's taken a minute to send me a kind word. You guys were amazing, and without you, this fic wouldn't even exist. Now, that being said... I have every intention of writing a third story, but I'm going to take a little hiatus from my McTony series to work on a story with my Kelley. In the mean time, if you guys are lookin' for something to read, make sure you check out Kelley's Tabby fics. They're absolutely amazing and the third fic in the series features an awesome Daddy!Tony! I'm going to put the link up in my profile if anyone's interested. Just make sure if you read, you send her a review, letting her know what you thought! Thank you guys again for all your support and I hope y'all enjoy this.