Tobias slipped upstairs, listening to the sounds of the kitchen fade as he made his way up to the master bedroom. Tony had told him about the gift Jethro had made him and he wanted to see it for himself. The bedroom door was cracked, and he pushed it open slowly, feeling like an intruder.

He'd been in here before, pouring his friend into the bed after the explosion-running-off-to-Mexico fiasco, on the nights when Tony was out with Jeanne and Jethro knew something was wrong but couldn't pull the whole of his friendship with Tony out of the depths of his not-quite-returned memories, and was too busy properly grieving Shannon and Kelly to worry about it anyway. Tobias had spent more time than he liked to remember taking care of both of them. He looked around the room, glace sliding past the bed and the dresser to come to a halt on the – well, Tobias knew it wasn't called a cabinet, but he wasn't sure what you called it – on what Jethro had made Tony. The wood matched the bedroom furniture, and one door was open, exposed the TV Jethro had set up inside. The doors had been inset with frosted glass, and the top drawer was compartmentalized to hold DVDs – small places inset in the dividers for genres. The drawers underneath it were plain, but slid out cleanly and easily.

He heard the door creak open further, and turned to see Jethro standing in the doorway, watching him. Tobias turned away and continued his appraisal.

"This is nice, Jethro," he said finally, aware of how inadequate his words were. Nice didn't really begin to describe it. He thought about Tony in his not-so-great apartment, with IKEA furniture he'd had for years. Nothing at Tony's place said home – except for the end table Jethro had made him, when Tony had passed the two-year mark. Tobias had never been able to make Tony feel properly at home at his house, but he thought that Jethro might just manage that feat. Of course, if he didn't, Tobias would claim older brother prerogative and beat the daylights out of Jethro.

Jethro nodded in thanks, and then spoke. "It just sort of happened – I needed a bigger project than the ones I'd been working on and this one – I got halfway through and realized I was making it for Tony, and I couldn't convince myself to stop working on it."

"He wouldn't shut up about it," Tobias griped good-naturedly, and watched in amazement as Jethro second-b-for-bastard Gibbs blushed.

They stood there, a little awkwardly, both lost in thought, for several minutes before Emily pounded up the stairs.

"Dad! ! Its time to eat dinner!" She looked around the room curiously. "Mr. Gibbs, did you really make that for Uncle Tony?"

Jethro grinned a little. "I did. And Emily, how many times – it's Gibbs. Or Jethro. None of this Mr. Gibbs."

Emily grinned back. "But Mr. Gibbs, my dad says I have to respect my elders, and mom says that respecting my elders means calling them Mr., Ms., or Mrs."

Jethro shook his head, laughing, and Tobias couldn't keep the smile off his face. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Jethro this happy – and he'd never seen Tony as happy as he was these days.

"C'mon!' begged Emily, done with her perusal of the bedroom. "Uncle Tony made real pasta and the special red sauce! So we gotta go eat dinner!"

Tobias grinned, "Yeah, missy? Gotta?"

"Daaaad," she whined, "there's fresh garlic bread and its gonna get COLD. Hurry up!" She was practically dancing in the doorway, and after a final look at the room, Tobias followed her, Jethro chuckling behind him.

Tony had made "real" pasta (Emily had been present as a kid to the many lectures Tobias had received on the evils of store bought pasta and decided after hearing her Uncle Tony declare it the 'real thing', that Uncle Tony's pasta was "real" pasta) and red sauce with that fancy Italian sausage and red wine, and there were mounds of garlic bread. There was a salad, too, because for all the noise Tony made about eating crap food, he was kind of a health nut – it came from his days as a college athlete. Tobias had even become better about eating salad and greens – Tony had got Emily on his side, and he was pretty helpless when the two of them started in on him.

Emily tugged his hand, pulling him into the large kitchen. "Doesn't the table look nice, dad? Uncle Tony said we should eat in the dining room, but I thought we should eat here. Its homier," she said, and then looked guiltily over her shoulder at Jethro. "Sorry Mr. Gibbs."

Jethro grinned slightly. "Shannon refused to eat in the dining room too, Emily. Said it was too formal and cold for a family."

"See, Uncle Tony! I was right," Emily said, sticking her tongue out at Tony when he made a face at her.

Jethro ushered Emily and Tobias to the table, and then went to the cupboard, where he pulled serving bowls out. "These good?" he asked Tony, who was making a last minute salad dressing adjustment.

Tony turned his head briefly. "Yeah, those are fine. Pasta needs draining but it's ready. Pour half the sauce on it, and put the rest in the smaller bowl, thanks."

Tobias watched, pleased, as Jethro and Tony wove around each other in the kitchen, leaving bowls and utensils out for each other, stepping out of the way – their years of partnership on the job showing clearly. He and Emily looked at each other and smiled. "He looks happy, dad," whispered Emily, smiling.

Tobias nodded. "He does."

Jethro set the pasta and sauce down on the table as Tony finished the salad, and finally all four of them were seated. Emily said grace, a practice she'd picked up from Diane and Tony – though mostly Diane, and they tucked in.

Tobias was watching Jethro's face as he started eating, and was gratified by the flash of surprise that crossed his face as he took his first bite. The second followed quickly, and then he turned to Tony accusatorily. "You can cook!" he said.

Tony turned red, and didn't really say anything, though noise came out of his mouth.

"Tony always cooks!" chimed in Emily. "Real pasta is special, but dad can't cook. When I'm coming over, Uncle Tony makes dishes we can reheat so we don't eat take out all weekend."

Tobias felt his neck flush. "I can cook," he protested, "You just prefer Tony's cooking to mine."

"Well," Emily lingered over the word, "That's 'cause Uncle Tony is a better cook than you are."

Jethro laughed. "Really, Tony. This is really good. How come I never knew you could cook?"

Tony grinned a little. "I made you pizza all the time, and you never realized? And about every other time I brought food over here, I'd made it. It was just lonely eating by myself."

Jethro stared, and then laughed again. "I thought that was good take-out from some hole-in-the-wall place you'd found. I had no idea you made it. It's really good."

Tony ducked his head, and blushed, and turned his attention back to his meal. Rather than poke fun at his brother, Tobias did the same – it was no good letting 'real' pasta get cold.

After a long, leisurely meal, Tobias looked at the clock in shock. "Emily," he said, "we've gotta go. Your mom will be by at 8 tomorrow to pick you up."

Emily looked disappointed – Tobias had a suspicion that she'd known exactly how late it was and hadn't said anything about it – but she didn't complain. Instead, she cleared the table, and then leaned her head on her Uncle Tony as Jethro started the dishes.

As Tobias turned to grab coats, Jethro snagged his arm. "Thanks for coming tonight. Meant a lot to him."

He nodded. "Thanks for letting him have us."

Jethro shook his head. "His house too. Our guests. You're his family. You're always welcome."

They both looked away, neither comfortable with displays of emotion, but not before Tobias nodded his understanding. He pulled their coats off the couch, and came back into the kitchen.

"Up you go Emily," he said, holding her coat out for her. She looked about ready to drop to sleep on Tony's shoulder. She put her coat on, and started for the door. Tobias stopped her, quietly prompting, "manners, Emily."

"Thanks for having us," she said, yawning. "Dinner was really good, Uncle Tony. You have to show me the basement next time, ."

"Night," said Jethro from the sink.

Tony gave Emily a hug, and dropped a kiss on her head. "Thanks for all your help, Emily! I'll see you next time, okay?" He let go, and stood awkwardly in front of Tobias. "Thanks," he said, quietly.

Tobias touched his shoulder briefly, and then let go. "Fratellino, you better still keep me and Emily well fed," he said instead.

Tony laughed, and nodded, pushing a container of left-overs into his hands.

Tobias gathered Emily, and they left. As he pulled out of the drive, he could see into the kitchen. Tony had wrapped his arms around Jethro, and they were standing at the sink, soaking up each other's presence. Tobias smiled. Tony was home.