A/N: First of: Thank you so much for the reviews, they mean more than you think, guys. I'm starting to feel better if I forget that, I have pain in my leg. The doc last said there was nothing to be seen or found, no phlebitis, but I know, I'm not imagining the bloody damn pain in it.

This in the final chapter before the sequel called "There is always a Sunrise" where it will be explain why McGee is acting the way he does.

Thanks to finlaure my new beta.

Warning: none, unless maybe, you might feel something reading a certain part in this chapter.

Beta's note - And severe Sweetness

Chapter 6 - Ticklish morning

Like he had done, a few hours earlier, Gibbs was very careful not to wake up, Abby as he slipped out of his bed around six thirty the next morning. Gibbs had been woken up by a need to go to the bathroom. He grabbed his clothes on his way out of the room, praying silently that she wouldn't wake up before he would come back.

He had promised her he wouldn't go anywhere, but he had also made a promise to himself that he would make her feel better. The night they had just spent together had definitely helped her feeling better, but he still wanted to do more...

Last night had him also feeling better as he had been able to say the most difficult words for him to say. Signing I love you to her was easy for him, but actually say the words, was something else entirely. Hearing his own voice saying the words to Abby had been liberating for him.

And he knew exactly what to do, but first things first. He needed to get dressed and make a few calls. Tony would probably wonder why he was giving him the lead, but he didn't care, his senior field agent would have something to think about for a while. He smiled to himself as he switched on the light in his bathroom.

After a quick shower, he put his clothes back on from the day before. He would put on fresh ones later on when he got back. This was too important, he had to take care of this first for Abby.

As he took a rapid look at himself in the bathroom mirror, Gibbs smiled, he felt good, and good about himself. Abby was his angel, since he had told her he loved her last night, he felt so much better, as if something had been lifted from his shoulders. When he was done combing his hair, Gibbs turned off the lights of the bathroom and went downstairs where he grabbed for his cell phone and headed for his basement.

There Gibbs called his father. Jackson picked up after the third ring, fumbling to turn on the lamp on his bedside table.

"Jackson Gibbs"

"Hey dad." He greeted his father.

Jackson reached for his glasses and pulled himself straighter in his bed intrigued at why his son would call him at such an early hour of the day. The older man panic for two seconds thinking that something bad had happened. But then he remembered the way his son had greeted him, there had seemed to be some happiness in the tone of his voice.

And although, Jackson would never tell this to him, he hoped Abby was responsible for it. Gibbs's father had liked the NCIS lab rat from the very moment he'd met her. The girl had something about herself that attracted you to her like a magnet. He had also seen the way his son looked at her, when she was looking somewhere else, and the same little game was played by Abby as well. It was obvious that those two were in love.

"Hey son, is everything alright?" The older man asked automatically.

"Yeah, dad, sorry to call this early, but I have a favor to asked you. Does your friend, still have German shepherd puppies to sell?"

"Yes, he does, why want to buy one?"

"Actually, yes..."

At Gibbs words, his father's interest was prickled. Dogs had always loved Jethro and while his son did too, he knew Leroy wouldn't have one because he wasn't willing to leave the animal alone during an entire day. And now he was calling him to know if his friend still had puppies because he wanted to buy one. A huge change must have happened in his son's life.

"Yes, he does, because one of his dogs, Brownie, has had puppies four weeks ago. Want me to call him for you, son?"

"That would be nice, dad, thanks. But could you just tell him it's rather urgent..." He told his father and hesitated a moment because he didn't want his. Dad to imagine things, but he also knew of found of Abby, his father was too. So he added, "... It's for Abby. It's real important. Dad."

His father was a bit surprised, but it was more because Jackson wouldn't have expected his son to admit he would do something like that for someone else, but on the other hand, the moment he had met Abby, Jackson had known that she was different from any other person he had ever met. Jackson wasn't the kind of man that would stick his nose in someone else business and definitely not his son's, but his curiosity had been prick when Gibbs had said the dog was for Abby and that it was important, so he asked.

"Son, why is this so important for you?" Jack knew that his son had said it was important for Abby, but something in his son's voice told him it was important for him as well.

Surprising himself, Gibbs was suddenly telling his father everything that had happened from the moment the NCIS forensic scientist had knocked on his door until the present.

Jackson Gibbs smiled when he ended the phone call with Gibbs. His son had finally found the one that would help him move on a fact Jackson was sure of. The realization made tears water his eyes.

He took a deep breath before picking up his phone once more to call his friend and ask him if he could have one of Brownie's puppies for his son.

000

Five minutes later, Jackson called Jethro back, saying that everything was okay. His friend was fortunately for him in Washington, D.C. with two puppies bringing them with everything that was needed for someone who had planned to have two of those cuties, but in the end they had told Jackson's friend, they had change their minds and only wanted one.

Of course they had waited for him to come all the way to their house before telling him that they would only take one puppy.

Gibbs smiled at what his father was telling him, he had suddenly the impression for an unknown reason that someone from above was helping him.

"Todd will be there in about a half hour to forty minutes, Jethro, I told him you would be waiting for him outside because, I imagine that you don't want Abbs to wake up, before you have the puppy, am I right?"

"You are, right. Thanks, dad."

"You're welcome, son. I'm really happy for you and Abby. You'll have to come and visit some day." Jackson told Jethro.

"I will, promise."

The two men said their goodbyes then and hung up the phone. Jackson was so happy that he was impossible for him to go back to sleep. He smiled and when down stairs to make some coffee.

In Washington, D.C. Gibbs smiled to himself when he flipped his cell phone closed and stuffed it in his jeans pocket, he checked his watch and saw he had about fifteen minutes to make himself some coffee. Gibbs could also put on fresh clothes since it was his father's friend that was bringing the dog to him.

Heading back to his basement, he retrieved the bag where he kept some fresh clothes in case of an emergency. Technically this wasn't an emergency, and though he knew he could be really quiet due to his training so many years ago, Jethro Gibbs didn't want to take any risks.

He pulled the bag from out of its place under his work bench and took a new boxer's shirt, a pair of blue jeans and a white undershirt. When he went back in his kitchen he put some coffee powder in his coffee machine and waiting for the brown liquid to pass through. And a few minutes later he was holding a steaming mug of coffee in his hands his thoughts wondering how Abby would react at the puppy, Gibbs smiled as he could easily imagine how she would had seeing the little ball of fur.

He was sure she would love it, she loved animals so much and puppies were so damn cute. He would never admit his thoughts on the little creatures to anyone though.

A smile appeared to his face as he remembered Mortimer, the dog, Abby volunteered to rise to become a seeing-eye dog. He remembered enjoying seeing Mortimer chewing on one of her braids. There had been a light in Abby's eyes back then when she had told them why Mortimer was at NCIS, he had loved it.

And he really hoped to see that same light shine in her eyes again when she would see the puppy. Gibbs had been so lost in his thoughts, he hadn't realized he was trying to gulp for coffee in an empty mug, As he checked his watch, he realized it was time to go wait outside for Todd who soon would be bringing the little German shepherd.

He let his front door ajar, so he would be able to slip back in house easy in case, Todd would carry the dog in a basket.

As he stood in the still morning fresh air Gibbs let his thoughts drift to his wife and daughter, silently thinking them for all they had given him while they were in this world,. Then he thanked Kate silently because he sort of thought this was something to do with all this as well. Seriously what were the odds that a family changes mind about adopting two little bundles of fur? And that this family just happened to live in the same?

He laughed.

Not even two minutes later, he saw a blue van coming to a halt in the street. The NCIS team leader knew instantly that the man who came out of the van was his father's friend, Todd Nolan.

Nolan didn't close the front door of the van after he'd stepped out, he didn't want to risk making too much noise at such an early hour.

He smiled at Gibbs before heading for the back of the vehicle to open the sliding door. Jethro could see lots of toys for dogs from where he was standing as well as blankets and everything a puppy needed. He knew the dogs were cared for.

He smiled and watched has Todd slowly took, a rather large basket out of the blue van. He had been right. Todd Nolan turned around to face him, leaving the slide door open and walked toward Gibbs with a smile. Gibbs nodded and his eyes drifted on the white blanket that was propped up in a ball, and was making soft little moans.

Todd stopped a few inches from Gibbs and handed him the basket, at that very moment, a little black snout pushed its way through the surface to sniff the fresh air as suddenly Gibbs was met with a pair of blue eyes. He smiled and felt his insides melt.

"Hey you... come to see who has adopted you?" He addressed the puppy in a very soft voice while taking the basket over from his father's friend.

"I'm sure, he'll be very happy here." Todd said.

Opening his mouth to ask how much it was. The tall black haired man raised a hand and said it was a gift. Gibbs eyed the man suspiciously, so Todd explained, "I owe you're father, he's saved my daughter a while ago from that robber in his store. She wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him Looking the man in the eyes for a minute, then Jethro Gibbs nodded his head and the man left. The ex sniper watched him close the sliding door as noiselessly as he could before climbing behind the steering wheel. And he was gone.

Basket in a hand, he goes back inside of his house, looking at the little snout that still peaks form the blanket.

"Now, we gonna get you inside, find a nice place to put your basket and then you and I will go wake up, Abby. What do you say about that?"

As if to show his approval, the puppy moaned softly.

Jethro very softly kicked his front door open with one foot and entered his home, walking a few steps inside he place the basket on the floor, just so he could close the door. When he came back to pick up the basket again, he realized at the little bundle of fur wasn't in there anymore.

Looking around he saw the puppy running toward the kitchen. Gibbs placed the basket on the floor again and sprinted after the very young dog.

"Come back here you little rogue!" He said in a low voice.

He managed to pick him up right before he entered the kitchen. "What exactly did you think you were doing?" He asked as he held it looking in the eyes of the sweet fur ball. He was holding rather close to his face and for an answer to his question Gibbs received a lick on the top of his nose.

"And this I guess... is to win me over?" Gibbs chuckled as the puppy gave a small lick on his nose again while its tiny tail was wiggling.

As he held the dog closer to him and caressed him, he picked up the basket with one hand while holding the puppy with the other and headed for his living room, . After putting the basket near one of the walls before he took the stairs to the first floor all the while caressing the animal he was holding in his arms.

He stopped a few inches from his bedroom door, he looked down and told the dog to stay silent. He then reached out his hand putting it flat on the door and slowly pushed it farther open. The first rays of sun light flooded the room, but it didn't bother Abby who seemed to be still sleeping.

Gibbs watched her sleep for a moment admiring how the sheets hugged her slender body. He realized then how much he had missed seeing a woman lying in his bed in the morning.

Bending down just enough to place a kiss on the puppy's head, and then murmured in its ear., "Come on, buddy we are going to wake her up.

Slowly he approach his bed without making a sound, w When he was standing next to the bed close enough to her face, Jethro set the dog on the bed, and watch silently as the puppy did exactly what he had want him to do.

The dog slowly moved toward her, and stopped watching the sleeping face in front of him. Inquisitively the pup moved even closer when Abby moved her arms further from her face in her sleep, the little creature moved into the space her arm had left, It lay down while Gibbs watched in amazement at how clever the puppy was and then it started to lick her nose.

Abby stirred and moaned bringing her hand to her face at the ticklish sensation on her nose and wanted to wave it away. Her fingers came in contact with something rather cold, and then the tickling stopped on her nose, and happened on her finger for a brief moment before being followed by a soft whimper.

A smile appeared on Gibbs's face when she opened her eyes slowly. When realization sank in, Abby sits up in bed and she pick up the German shepherd puppy and holds it against her chest, not carrying one damn bit that the sheets had slid off of her naked breasts.

"Hey sweetie. What's your name?" She asked.

Gibbs chooses that moment to sit on the bed, leaning closer to her to place a kiss on her lips. "He doesn't have a name yet."

"Huh?" Abby said looking up at him.

"He doesn't have a name yet," he repeated, smiling softly.

Abby studied Gibbs's face for a minute to finally look in his eyes, and a huge smile lit up her face when she realized what his words really meant.

"Gosh, Gibbs is he really?" Abby asked, suddenly really excited.

The man who looked at her nodded his head and there it was again. Yes, that light that had been shining in Abby's eyes when she needed to take care of Mortimer.

"Yeah, this little fellow here is all yours."

"Gibbs you really rule" She said.

"I know that." He smirked then asked her "Well what is his name going to be?"

Abby looked down at German shepherd puppy in her hands. She held him a little farther from her so she could take a good look at the animal then titled her head to the side and thought for a moment.

"The first idea that comes to mind would be to call you Jethro, Jr. But this would only work if I know you were one of his puppies... and if I did that he would remind me too much of..." She told the dog as a tiny wave of sadness covered her eyes for just an instant, but it disappeared as fast as it came when she saw the puppy's bright, intelligent eyes.

"You look like you can easily have your way with people. And something's telling me you're a very smart little one, so I'm gonna call you, Rex!" She said.

Gibbs chuckled. "You're spot on Abbs, he his very clever and found his way with me."

Abby giggled at his words. "No seriously, Gibbs, Rex has a Latin origin and means King, and think if fits this little one pretty well." She explained.

"Seems to fit him well..." Gibbs nods his head in approval. "What do you think? Is Rex a good name for you?" He asked the puppy as he patted his head.

The responds came in the form of a yip, and they saw his little tail wiggle frantically which made them both laugh. "Rex it is." Abby said enthusiastically.

Abby stopped laughing after a moment and a cloud of sadness covered her face, and she held Rex close to her again.

"What is it, Abbs?" Gibbs asked, concerned evident in his voice.

"Gibbs, I want to keep Rex with me, but my landlord doesn't allow me to have a dog, and I don't want to ask McGee to keep him." Abby said has she held the puppy, her hand resting softly on the dogs head as she kept caressing him.

"You won't have to, Abbs, because, Rex is staying here with you."

Abby eyed Gibbs then, trying to find if she was getting the implication of his words, right. She asked him, "Is that your way to ask me to move in with you?"

Gibbs smiled at her sheepishly and answered, "Yes."

Never would she have thought had he would have wanted her to move in with him. She had hopes it would happened someday maybe, and yet, here she was in Gibbs's bed, holding the absolute cutest puppy she had ever seen that he'd got for her. Abby had just received everything she had secretly wanted.

And she knew he was doing all this, giving her all this because Leroy Jethro Gibbs really loved her, "I love you."

"I love you, too." He replied easily and it had never felt so good to say those words.

Abby squealed in happiness. She slowly put the dog on the bed next to her before throwing herself at the man she loved, capturing his lips in a passionate kiss. Rex decided that it was time to do some house exploration. He walked on the bed with his little paws to the edge of the bed, where part of the bed sheets still where on the bed and another part were pooling on the floor. Rex started to chew on the sheets and the taste must have been to his likings because he went further to chew another part and tumbled off the bed landing in the pooling the sheet had made.

A bit surprised by what had just happened it took him a few moments to react, and then he shrugged himself out of the sheets and walked out of the room. He ventured in the corridor and came to a halt in front of the bathroom door.

Rex sniffed at the door, pushing a little with his snout, and the bathroom door opened. It hadn't fully closed the last time; Gibbs had been in the bathroom. Wiggling around Rex sniffed at the toilet, he was stranding right under the toilet paper. Something tickled him on his back, he raised his head then.

He was met with the paper and started to play with it,. Rex stated to chew at it and as he pulled at it, he realized the paper came down. He pulled even more, and when the last paper at fallen of the roll the puppy was surrounded by it.

Abby broke the kiss in the need for air, when she could regain some of her breathing "We have a new home, Rex."

She turned to take the puppy but he wasn't there. "Rex?"

She panicked slightly when she didn't see the puppy, and practically jumped out of the bed.

Reaching on the floor for Gibbs's sweat shirt she was wearing last night she put it on before looking under the bed. No puppy to be seen.

"Rex?" Abby called again, no reaction.

She knew the puppy wouldn't react to his name yet, but she hoped he would react to her voice. Still there was no response from the wayward puppy. She looked up at Gibbs with panic in her eyes.

"He can't have gone far."

"Come on, we're gonna look for him."

The both exited the bedroom and walked in the corridor, Abby was walking ahead of Gibbs, but suddenly he pulled at her arm, halting her in her march.

Abby looked at him questioningly.

"I had closed the bad room door the last time, I went." He told her.

Gibbs motioned for her to stay where she was while he went to check. H he switched on the light, and could help laughing. "Abby, come see what I found."

Abby came to stand next to Gibbs in the door way of the bathroom and she burst out in laughter at the scene before her. Rex was sitting in the middle of a pool of toilet paper, and god knew how he had managed to get some of the paper on one side of his head, but the paper covered one of his eyes as well. He looked like a real pirate.

"You sure you don't want to call him, Sparrow?"

Abby looked at him impressed.

"No, Rex is perfect." Abby said, kissing his cheek.

THE END

A/N: There you go, people I hoped you liked it. Now it's up to the sequel "There is always a Sunrise" where Gibbs is going to have a SERIOUS discussion with McGee.

I really hope you enjoyed reading this story.

AbbyGibbs