Grandpa Gibbs in Charge

Gibbs takes the nine grandkids to his cabin without the parents. Summer 2027

Parallel story to You Complete Me, chapters 19 and 20

Chapter 1: Saturday and Sunday

Tali (13), Anthony (10), Elizabeth and Rivka (7), and LJ (5) DiNozzo, John and Caitlyn McGee (9), and Victoria (12) and Charles (9) Palmer filled the seats in the twelve passenger van that Gibbs had rented for the week. They were all headed to his cabin for a vacation away from the bustle of DC. Over the years, he had added bunk beds to the two additional bedrooms so that his family could use the cabin for a get-away. Each of the children had been to the cabin before, but this was the first time it was all nine together without their parents.

Gibbs had stocked the pantry and freezer with food the week before and just had to get some milk, eggs, bread, and fresh fruit before they left the little town with the nearest grocery store. He pulled into the store parking lot and explained to the kids that each would be allowed to choose a fruit that they would like and that they would take a consensus on bread and milk to buy. LJ listened carefully and then asked, "Grandpa, are we going to buy ice cream?"

"Already at the cabin, LJ." Gibbs smiled at the little boy. He led the children into the store, gathering some looks from the three women exiting the store. Gibbs had LJ by the hand and the other eight were paired: Beth and Rivka, followed by John and Katie, then Anthony and Charles, and finally Tali and Tori. Gibbs had instilled in them the use of the buddy system since they were old enough to understand.

Ten dozen eggs, six gallons of milk, eight loaves of bread and five bags of various fruits later, they were all back in the van and headed up the mountain road to the cabin. The children chattered in excitement and watched the sides of the road and the trees. Many times before they had come up this road to see deer, hawks, eagles, and one time a family of red foxes.

Once at the cabin, Gibbs opened the door and windows to air out the place. He had the kids help carry everything inside. "Tali and Tori, master bedroom. Anthony, John, Charles and LJ, middle bedroom. Katie, Beth and Rivka, third bedroom. Go. Get your bags put up and then we will get some lunch."

While the children put their bags in rooms, Gibbs opened a loaf of bread, took some cheese and lunch meat out of the refrigerator and sliced some tomatoes. He put a pile of plates at one end of the counter and lined up the food for the kids to have a serving line. Cups and a jug of lemonade were set at the table, which Gibbs had expanded to seat twelve. "Come get lunch," he called out. The sound of nine pairs of feet headed to the kitchen made Gibbs smile. If anyone asked, he would tell all who would listen that he had the best grandkids in the world!

After the children had filled their plates, Gibbs made himself a sandwich. "Grandpa, sit next to me, please." LJ waved his grandfather over to the place next to him. Gibbs sat next to the little boy, who smiled happily as he ate his cheese and tomato sandwich.

When the group had finished the meal, Gibbs told them the chores teams: Tali, LJ and Katie were one team and they had clean up chores after lunch today. Tori, John and Rivka were a second team and they had dinner preparation chores tonight. Anthony, Charles and Beth made up the third team, and they had dinner clean up chores tonight. Tomorrow they would rotate. Gibbs showed them the chore chart that would be on the refrigerator for the week. He explained to them that each team was to decide who would do what part of the chores assigned and that he would only intervene if they could not reach agreement. Each child nodded agreement with the chore chart, and Tali's group did their clean up from lunch.

Gibbs took all of the children outside on the porch and reviewed the outside rules with them. Use the buddy system at all times. If they were going away from the house, they needed to let Gibbs know. To go fishing, they had to let Gibbs know and at least one of the oldest three had to be with the group going fishing. They could fish from the dock or from the banks of the pond, but to use the boats, Gibbs had to be with them. If Gibbs was cutting wood or splitting logs, they were to stay outside the area that he had marked with rocks to use for wood cutting and splitting. All animals, insects and plants were to be left as they were, unless Gibbs gave them permission otherwise. The exception was fish large enough to keep for eating.

He turned them loose and they ran off the porch. The three older boys decided that they wanted to look for insects and bugs. LJ didn't want to do that so he drifted over to the girls who were talking about looking for wild blackberries and wild strawberries. Tali asked Gibbs if they could pick berries, and he nodded assent. They each took a pail from the porch that was there for berry picking. LJ didn't want to pick berries either. He sat next to Gibbs on the porch and sighed.

"What's the matter, LJ?" Gibbs put his arm around the boy.

"I don't want to look for bugs or berries. Grandpa, what can I do?" LJ sighed again, and looked expectantly at his grandfather.

Gibbs looked down at LJ, seeing the chocolate brown eyes of his mother, and decided the little boy was old enough to learn some basic painting techniques. "Wait here, LJ, I'll be right back." Gibbs went inside and found the brushes, watercolor paints and paper. He pulled out two tabletop easels from the storage cabinet as well. He took it all to the porch and LJ watched, wide-eyed, as Gibbs got the easels set up. "We are going to paint with watercolors, LJ." Gibbs placed two cups of water next to the paints.

Gibbs explained and demonstrated some of the basics of using watercolors, how to take a dab of water, then some color, and apply it to the paper. Less water meant darker color. Then he showed LJ how to make a horizon line and use it as a marker for placing other objects in the picture. LJ watched, fascinated. "Is it my turn, Grandpa?" Gibbs nodded and LJ studied the views from the porch. He moved to another set of chairs and looked out again. Finally, he moved his easel and paints and concentrated.

Gibbs continued with his own painting, checking the boy periodically. LJ seemed to be really into his painting, concentration furrowing his little brow. Gibbs smiled to himself; maybe he had found his painting buddy!

The other boys came running back from their bug-hunting, excited about a snake skin they had found by the tree line. "Grandpa, we found a snake skin," John announced. "From a big snake," Charles added. "I'm hungry, Grandpa." Anthony piped in. "And I got some good pictures with my camera." Only Anthony, Gibbs thought; that boy had certainly inherited his father's appetite!

"Anthony is always hungry!" Beth stepped onto the porch with her bucket of berries. The other girls were right behind her, each carrying a nearly full bucket. "Look at all the berries we found, Grandpa." Katie held her bucket up for Gibbs to see. Rivka held hers up also.

Tali asked if they could make a snack from the berries, and Gibbs nodded assent. "Just be sure to rinse them well, Tals." Tori and Tali took the buckets of berries inside and found a colander to rinse them in. They dumped the rinsed berries into a large bowl and took it outside to the rest of the family. Only LJ was not at the table waiting for berries; he was still working on his painting. Gibbs walked over to LJ and was surprised. The boy had an eye for painting, and the picture he had painted of a misshapen tree near the edge of the cleared area was detailed and well done.

"That is a great picture, LJ." Gibbs put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Really, Grandpa?" Gibbs nodded and hugged LJ. "Let's go get some berries before Anthony eats them all, and you can show the picture to everyone after we are done with the snack." LJ skipped down the porch, joining his siblings and cousins in eating the fresh berries. Anthony moved to the side a bit so his brother could reach the berries.

"Anthony, will you come see my picture?" LJ asked his brother. When Anthony nodded, LJ grabbed his hand and led him down the porch.

"WOW!" Anthony's shout caused the others to turn towards the two boys. "LJ painted a picture and it is really, really good!" The other children ran down the porch, each offering praise to LJ for his work. The little boy puffed up his chest, "Thanks, everyone. I am going to paint more, just like Grandpa."

~GIBBS~

At breakfast the following morning, Gibbs asked the children who would like to go fishing. Tali and Tori said that they would rather cook the fish than catch it. "Okay, you two are in charge of dinner then."

"Do we have to touch the fish?" John wasn't too sure he wanted to touch a fish. He would rather read his Big Nate books.

"I want to paint, Grandpa." LJ piped up.

"I'll go," shouted Rivka, followed by Beth and Charles. Anthony and Katie shrugged their shoulders. They could take it or leave it. Katie said that she wanted to try making the para-cord bracelets from the kit she had brought and Anthony asked her if he could help.

"Ok, then. Tali and Tori are in charge here at the cabin. Rivka, Beth and Charles are with me." Gibbs motioned for the three fishers to follow him. "First we have to get life jackets and gear." He fitted each child with a life vest and then helped them choose fishing poles. He put the bait in the cooler, along with bottled water. Each child was slathered in sunblock and Gibbs made sure hats were on heads. "Let's go catch dinner."

Rivka and Charles quickly learned how to thread the bait on the hook so that it would not slide or fall off. Beth had a bit of difficulty, but Charles helped her get her hook baited. They cast the lines into the water and waited. Beth had the first bite. "Grandpa, what do I do now?" She could hardly contain her excitement and nearly dropped her rod. Gibbs showed her how to set the hook and reel the fish in. As the fish appeared in the water in front of them, the children all watched as Gibbs used the net to bring it into the boat.

He showed the children how to take the fish off the hook. Beth put her hands on the fish as he helped her remove the hook. "It's a keeper. Put it in the cooler." Beth put the fish in the cooler as Charles rebaited her hook. "Keep fishing, need to catch at least ten to twelve more for dinner for all of us." Gibbs' line jerked as he spoke.

In three hours, they had caught fifteen fish, and they decided that was enough fishing for today. They brought the cooler of fish up to the house. Tali and Tori had been reading through Gibbs' cookbooks and had decided to make baked fish with herbs, rice, and a salad for dinner. They looked up from their reading to ask how many fish were caught. "Fifteen and I caught the first one." Beth told her sister and cousin. "And Beth and I caught the most," added Charles.

Gibbs showed Beth and Charles how to clean and scale the fish, and then how to filet them. He taught them knife safety at the same time. Both picked up the skill quickly and in no time, the three had the fish ready to cook. Rivka had watched, but then decided the fish guts were just too messy for her. Gibbs ruffled her hair and told her she could help put away the gear, which she did happily. Anything to get away from the fish guts, she thought.

Tali and Tori made a marinade for the fish filets and put them in the fridge until dinner time. They helped Gibbs get the sandwich fixings out for lunch. Tori went to call the others. Anthony and Katie were on the side porch, and had made para-cord bracelets for each of them, they only needed to figure out how long to make the one for Grandpa. Beth and Charles were finishing cleaning up from cleaning the fish. Rivka and John were watching a pair of crows in the field. LJ was painting in a corner of the porch.

~GIBBS~

Everyone agreed the fish dinner was excellent, and complimented Tali and Tori on a great meal. They had ice cream cones for dessert. As Gibbs scooped out the cones, he handed one to each child. The children went out on the porch to eat the cones. Tori was the last one in line. As she watched Grandpa Gibbs scoop her ice cream, she asked him a question that had been on her mind since the end of the school year.

"Grandpa, is working with dead people weird?" Some of Tori's friends had teased her about her Dad being a medical examiner and her Mom running a funeral home. She had been upset, but did not know how to ask her parents.

"What your Mom and Dad do for a living is not weird at all, Tori. People have prepared their dead for the grave for ages. Your Mom's business helps them do that and also provides comfort to the family at a sad time. Your Dad's job helps Uncle Tim's team solve crimes. Granducky also helped my team for a long time with your Dad's help. Why do you ask?" Gibbs pulled his granddaughter into a hug.

Tori shrugged, "Some girls I thought were my friends teased me about it on the last day of school. It made me angry."

Gibbs brushed a kiss on Tori's head, "Maybe they just don't understand how important your parents jobs are, Tori. You don't have to explain or defend your parents' job choices to your friends, but if they ask again, tell them what I just told you."

Tori hugged her Grandpa, and took her ice cream cone from him. "Thank you, Grandpa. I love you." Gibbs smiled to himself as he scooped out his own ice cream. His kids had given him a bunch of wonderful grandkids!