After dropping Tommy off back at his naval base Gibbs drove him and Evan back to Gibbs' house. Evan had a backpack full of stuff he would need if he was to spend the night at anybody's house at the backdoor of his house. Gibbs had stopped by and grabbed the bag out of the house. Gibbs walked into his house and looked around. Evan followed in after him, nervously. The boy carefully sat his backpack down by the front door and sat down on the couch.

"Left over pizza is in the icebox. Help yourself. I'll be downstairs if you need me" Gibbs spoke. Evan nodded and stared at the blank TV screen. Gibbs handed the boy the remote and walked out of the room and downstairs. Evan turned the TV on and turned it to cartoons. As soon as it went to a commercial he walked into the kitchen, grabbed him two slices of pizza and a glass of milk. He walked back into the living room.

/\

Gibbs groaned as he walked down the stairs, quickly. His boat stared at him. It was almost finished. He began working on it. He heard a step squeak under the weight of a young child's foot. He turned to face the boy and motioned Evan to come over. Evan slowly walked down the steps and smiled softly.

"Would you like to help me?"

Evan nodded and watched as Gibbs showed him what to do. The two continued to work on the boat until about nine or so. Evan let out a yawn as he stretched.

"Time for bed, squirt"

"But dad" whined Evan but stopped. He looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry"

"It's okay" Gibbs spoke.

"..." Evan smiled and nodded slightly. Gibbs and Evan walked upstairs. Gibbs handed the boy his bookbag. Evan took the bookbag with a thanks. Gibbs laid the boy to his bedroom. After Gibbs left the boy stripped down to his boxers and pulled on a t-shirt and shorts. He climbed into the older man's bed and fell right asleep.

/\

Gibbs grabbed a cup of coffee and turned his radio on once he got downstairs. He returned to working on his boat until the wee hours. He decided to just lay his head down for a quick second.