Author's Note: I don't know what possessed me to write this, but enjoy? R&R is always appreciated =]
Gibbs took the moment of rare quiet to sit against his headboard and think. He had his eyes closed against the glare of the morning light that shone through the lace curtains. He was dressed and ready to go to, but this morning it wasn't work that was a priority. The photo in his hands had seen better days; it was slightly worn from constant handling and viewing. The box it was held in was slightly battered and creased around the edges- much like Gibbs himself.
Most mornings he would barely notice the twinge in his shoulder and the various other aches and pains that came with his job. Not to mention the fact that he was not as young as he used to be. He could still run and tackle with the best of them, his mind was still sharper than most of the agents under his command. But this morning, every year, made him remember his age. It made him reminisce on a past that he usually buried.
It was his anniversary- and not just any anniversary this year- it would have been 20 years today that he married the only true love of his life, Shannon. He had forced himself the night before to sleep in the bed they had shared.
For every year, Leroy Jethro Gibbs spent this morning sitting in his favourite quilt, sewn by Shannon's mother for the day they got married, surrounded by the past. Every director he had served under had received a request for leave on this day. Come hell or high water, he would not insult her memory by working this day through.
Tom Morrow had been sympathetic, as too had Jenny. Leon didn't argue with him, he just gave him what amounted to a sympathetic smile. But as he looked around the room this morning, he realised that the hurt wasn't so much when there was family to take care of. It was the first year, although he was still mourning their loss, the room didn't make him feel like he needed several shots of bourbon to dull the pain. It was an unfamiliar feeling- almost like he might finally be able to let go.
Abby usually came past on this day of the year, because she knew how hard it was for him. This year, she had asked if she could bring Kyle. Gibbs couldn't see why not. Getting up from his spot on the bed, he came to a decision. He was getting too old to be sleeping on the couch any more, and these boxes could really do with shifting. From the boxes, he took only a few things- his box of rules, various mementos of Shannon and Kelly, and photos.
There was a manhole in the hallway outside his bedroom with a set of stairs leading to the attic, Gibbs kept his attic compulsively clean, and had stored a few things up there over the years, but more of what he was keeping was to be moved up there. The rest would be moved into his front hallway, ready to be picked up.
He emptied out a box on the bed and then as he sorted, he placed the things he wanted to keep with him in the box. Amongst the keepsakes were Kelly's first piano recital tape and the photo of her playing. His wedding photos with Shannon, their rings. He took the little things that he regularly looked at.
Picking up the first box, he moved it into the hall, putting it down momentarily in front of his bedroom door and reached for the chain that would allow him to open the manhole. The stairs came down easily, having been regularly oiled and maintained. Picking up the box one in one arm, Gibbs climbed into his attic. He had laid flooring down, some years before, loath to store everything in the rafters. At one end of his attic was a small stain glass window. It was somewhat obscured by the few boxes that were stored, but Gibbs still pictured it clearly. After all, it had been his idea. Two doves set in a flame orange background, with their names below. After all, they were what bought him peace.
Moving his stuff took the better part of the morning, until finally all that was left was his bed, a few pieces of furniture and the box of keepsakes that had somehow expanded into not only Shannon and Kelly, but photos of his team, and the little things they had given him.
The attic was considerably fuller than it had been. Closing the man-hole he returned to his somewhat sparse seeming bedroom. His eyes drifted over the bed, and the hours that he had spent there with Shannon. He had not shared this room with his other wives, electing to take up residence in the spare-room. Gibbs ruefully admitted that perhaps this was a reason they weren't entirely happy with their relationship. It was somewhat of a shrine.
He couldn't help that the room elicited memories of laughter and tears, of when Shannon found out that she was pregnant with Kelly, or when he was deployed for the second time during their marriage and it was the last time he would see her alive. How she'd run her fingers through his hair and kissed him softly before letting him go reluctantly once Kelly had come knocking at the door. This particular shade of mahogany would always be a reminder of her. The detailed headboard she had chosen- with the vines cascading from each corner. It had been hand carved to Shannon's exact design.
Shaking his head to clear the memories, he left his bedroom for the moment and went downstairs into his living room. He sat at his table and made his phone calls.
"Abby," he said, when she finally answered her phone, "I… need to ask you a favour."
He told her what he needed, and she readily agreed to help him. She would be there in half an hour, but Kyle would be down later. DiNozzo would probably stop past once Abby and her brother left. Ducky too would call. McGee would call Abby while she was there, ostensibly to ask her one question or another, but the look on Abby's face told him that McGee was checking up on him, to see if he was ok. All these thoughts played across his mind as he made his request.
He dialled a second number he'd found the night before for the Salvation Army. He figured if anybody could use solid pieces of furniture, it was the families they supported.
They told him they would be there at 1:00pm to pick everything up, and Gibbs glanced down at his watch, realising how much he still had to pack before they got there. Thanking them, he hung up and raced back up to the bedroom. He had two hours to dismantle the bed and pack all his clothes away out of his furniture and bring it downstairs.
He began by bringing down both his bedside tables, once he'd removed all the clothing. Then he pulled his mattress off the bed and began pulling the frame apart. By time he'd finally completed his task, he heard a slight knock, before the sound of his door being opened.
"Gibbs?" Abby called, her voice muffled by the distance.
"Up here Abbs." He replied, still concentrating on the task at hand. All the smaller pieces, like the screws and things were being placed carefully in the container beside him on the floor. The bed was a beautiful hand-made mahogany piece, and the surrounds were built to match it. He heard the footsteps coming up the stairs, and waited patiently.
"Gibbs!" she gasped as she walked into the room, "When you said you wanted to go furniture shopping, this was not what I was expecting."
"You don't think it's a good idea?" he asked anxiously, the first doubt creeping into his mind since the morning. Abby shook her head emphatically.
"Not what I meant! I just mean… well, are you sure?" Gibbs looked at her steadily, and after a moments' consideration, he nodded.
"It's time Abby. I've spent the better part of the past twenty years on the couch. I think it's time for me to feel at home in my own house again."
On impulse, Abby wrapped him in a hug. She couldn't help the tears that made their way down her cheeks.
"Shannon would be proud," she whispered. Gibbs couldn't help but agree. She pulled back and studied his pale blue eyes, holding him at arm's length. He reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs, before pulling her back in for a hug.
"Thanks Abby. I hope so." He replied softly.
Shaking away the tears that threatened to fall, she smiled brightly at him, and asked,
"Where do I start?"
Between them, they managed to take pieces of the bed down, but the tallboy was more challenging. Gibbs pulled it along until it was on the landing at the edge of the steps. He allowed it to lean against his back he brought it down, Abby steering and making sure he didn't get hurt from the other end.
They managed to complete their task by 12:45am, and Abby seemed quite proud of their achievement, to Gibbs' amusement.
It wasn't a long wait for the truck, and within minutes, Gibbs and Abby watched as the furniture was loaded and hauled away. She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze as the last bedside table was loaded in.
Gibbs thanked the driver and shook his hand. It was as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Like he could walk back into his sparsely furnished house and maybe begin to feel like it belonged more to him than his memories.
They climbed the stairs together, and all that was left in the room was a few boxes filled with mementos and clothes. Abby looked around at the crisply painted walls and the faded but well kept cream carpet. She felt Gibbs' regret and sorrow as he looked around the room.
Anybody else wouldn't have noticed the hope there too. Not Abby though, she knew him well enough now to know, he was feeling good about this.
"It's been a long time Gibbs."
"I know Abby."
"Are you ready to go shopping?" Gibbs groaned theatrically in response, and Abby punched him in the shoulder.
"Race you to the car," Abby grinned, and took off before Gibbs could blink. He watched in surprise as she tottered down the stairs in her boots and skirt before racing to his garage and the yellow charger that had fast become his pride and joy.
"Can we take the charger, pleeeeease?" She asked,
"Abby,"
"Yes Gibbs?"
"How am I supposed to bring the furniture home?"
"Oh, I hadn't thought of that," Gibbs descended the stairs, watching Abby bounce on her heels and she threw him the keys to his truck. They made their way outside, and Gibbs locked the door behind him.
He opened the doors of the truck and they got in. He took them to a local furniture store where he had known the owner for several years, although the building looked a little run down, there was nowhere else he would buy his furniture from, short of making it himself.
"Leroy!" called the short balding man standing behind the counter, "It's been a long time!"
"Yes it has George," Gibbs smiled, "How have you been?"
"Good! Good!"
"Wife and kids?" Gibbs asked,
"Great, Kids are at college now. Wife's retired. I just run my little shop here."
"Good to hear George,"
"So, what can I do for you Leroy?"
"I need new bedroom furniture." George nodded emphatically, and led them towards the rear section of the store.
Between Abby and Gibbs it was a hard fought decision. Abby liked the darker materials, but Gibbs preferred the lighter shades. Abby loved the modern look, but Gibbs was more traditional. She had too much fun teasing him to really be concerned about what he chose. After all it would be his bedroom, not hers.
He finally settled on a queen suite, not in a mahogany finish, more of a dark cherry. It had a simple headboard, and low side tables. Instead of opting for the tallboy this time, Gibbs decided on a dressing table that had no mirror. The suite was simple and timeless, but very different to the suite from his first marriage.
It was uniquely his. It meant that he would be comfortable in it and actually sleep upstairs. No more uncomfortable nights under the ribs of a boat, or on the couch. He had one more stop before he went home, for a mattress. Abby squealed as she raced inside, bouncing happily on the nearest one.
"This one Gibbs!"
"Abby…" She sighed and poked her tongue out at him.
"So pick one, and hurry up!" Gibbs rolled his eyes at her and went to test out a mattress that caught his eye. It was a little too soft for his liking, but he found one minutes later that was perfect. He organised for the mattress to be dropped off at his home, and paid for it cash.
He drove them back to his place, and Abby went inside to start cooking. She had promised to make him her world famous Cajun chicken and rice. He couldn't help but smile at her exuberance. He could smell the food as he brought his new furniture upstairs. She helped once again to bring the biggest piece upstairs; they had to turn it to face vertically so they could get it upstairs. They pulled and dragged it until it sat beneath his windowsill.
Abby pulled one of the bedside tables up before Gibbs could protest, and he swooped on the second one before she could speak.
"Now, put the bed together!" She commanded him, "Before my chicken is ready."
Gibbs looked at her with a raised eyebrow; she just grinned and left the room. It took him the better part of a half hour to put the frame and headboard together. Finally when it was done, Gibbs surveyed the furniture in the room, and decided it needed something else. He opened his box of mementos and took out the framed photos. On the bedside table he placed a photo of himself, Shannon and Kelly. On the other, he place a photo of his team, and one of Abby, Tony and Kyle. He also pulled out an old alarm clock, which although he seldom used it would simply serve as a clock.
On the low dressing table, he placed the box of rules at it's centre, and a small velvet jewellery box to it's side. His NCIS badge sat on the edge, and his dog tags, returned to him by Stephanie were slung over the rules box.
He looked around one he'd placed these finishing touches. Ironically, Gibbs noted there was something still missing. From the pocket of his coat, Gibbs pulled out his ipod. The one Abby had given him so many years ago and placed it on his dresser.
There was nothing left for him to do in the room now, but he was satisfied that for the first time in many years, he could walk in here and not be overwhelmed.
He left his bedroom and closed the door behind him. The bedroom next door to his, still had the door slightly ajar. He could just make out the slivers of pink and strawberry shortcake doll posters.
As he heard the door open downstairs and the sound of two male voices floated up to the second flight, he carefully shut the door. That was a task for another day. For today, he would enjoy the company.
"Happy Anniversary Shan."