Note: Spoilers for events through episode 12.15 Cabin Fever.
Gibbs had taken Fornell on a getting-back-to-nature visit to his cabin that had ended with settling affairs with Sergei Mishnev. A couple of days after they'd returned to D.C., Gibbs had heard from Emily that her dad was doing better, that he was making lists and planning to do household repairs in the evenings to keep himself occupied. Gibbs thought about the conversations he and Tobias had had while they were at the cabin and he came up with a plan. There was something he could contribute that might help both the Fornells and himself.
Now it was a couple of weeks later. Gibbs pulled his pickup truck up to the curb in front of the Fornells' house. He purposely did not park in the driveway. He got out, walked up to the front door and rang the bell. Tobias opened the door and looked at Gibbs questioningly.
"Need help unloading," Gibbs told him, jerking his head to indicate the pickup truck.
This did nothing to enlighten Tobias about Gibbs' visit. "Unloading?" he questioned.
"Come on," Gibbs said, then turned and walked toward the truck without waiting to see if Tobias would follow or not.
Tobias shrugged followed Gibbs out to the street. "Your truck is full of wood. Why are you bringing me lumber, Jethro?" Tobias asked.
"Plywood. Marine plywood," Gibbs specified, which was not any help in clarifying the situation for Tobias.
"The question remains." Tobias shook his head. "What am I to do with marine plywood?"
"Thought we'd put it in your garage. Do you need to move your car out? You probably don't have enough open space in your basement." Perhaps Gibbs thought he was making his plan clear, but this leap in logic was beyond Tobias' ability to follow right now.
Emily Fornell chose this moment to lean out the front door. "Dad, what are you -" Then she saw that Gibbs and his truck were in her neighborhood. "Uncle Gibbs!" she exclaimed and dashed outside to find out what was going on. She looked in at the bed of the pickup. "Marine plywood?" she asked, looking at Gibbs. "Are we building a boat?" She looked between Gibbs and her dad, hopefully.
"What?" managed her father.
"Do you want to?" Gibbs asked Emily, giving her a half-smile.
"Yes! But where? Our basement's too full of stuff," Emily replied.
"I thought the garage," Gibbs said.
"Cool," Emily nodded. "We'll need to move the car out. I'll do it!" She turned to go to the house and get the car keys.
"Wait just a minute!" Tobias barked, causing his daughter to reluctantly turn back toward him. "First,' he pointed to Emily, "you're not old enough to drive. Second," he turned to Gibbs, "why are you commandeering my garage? Does your house have termites again?"
Emily went into counter-argument mode. "Our driveway and garage are private property. As such, no license is needed for the movement of vehicles between the two locations."
Tobias quickly dealt with his daughter. "Well, I'm your father, so my permission is needed. I say no." Then he looked to Gibbs and said, "I really hope she doesn't decide to become a lawyer. So, termites?"
"Nah. My basement's full of my own projects. Thought this one would be something you and Emily would want in on."
"Yes!" said Emily.
Tobias, though, folded his arms across his chest and asked, "This one what?"
"Well, Tobias, you talked about wanting to get outdoors more and to work with your hands. Thought we could build you guys a boat."
Tobias shook his head and squinted at Gibbs. "Build a boat. You say that like it's something people decide they should do one weekend. I guess for you it's normal. I'm still asking, why me?"
Gibbs sighed. He owed Tobias, though, and he wanted to do this, so he'd explain. "My dad and I built a boat for my mom when they found out that she was sick. It was a model boat. We named it after her. It was a little something we could do for her. About the only thing, it seemed." After pausing for a breath, he shook his head and continued, "I still remember when we finished it and took it to show her. I remember what she told me, 'Water never forgets.' That naming a boat after someone means they'll live forever."
Tobias concluded, "You want to build a boat and name it after Diane. You want to do this in my garage, with me and Emily."
Tobias looked at Gibbs. Emily looked at both of them, still hopeful, but thoughtful now, too, and quiet.
Gibbs shrugged, then nodded and tilted his head slightly. "Yeah," he said, "if you want."
Tobias squinted his eyes in thought. "Didn't you already name one of your boats Diane?" he asked.
Gibbs looked chagrined. "That one never made it on the water," he admitted.
"What happened?" Emily asked.
"He burned it," her father answered.
Emily raised her eyebrows and looked at Gibbs. "Therapeutic?" she asked.
"I may have been working out some unresolved anger," Gibbs said, allowing just the hint of a rueful grin on his face.
"Better than shooting someone, I guess," was Emily's innocent comment. "So, Dad?"
"Tobias?" Gibbs questioned.
Tobias looked back at the lumber, the marine plywood, in the bed of the pickup. "What kind of boat? You must already have that decided if you picked out the lumber," he said.
"A skiff. It's a fairly easy plan. Thought you could use it as a rowboat for fishing," Gibbs said.
"A rowboat. You usually build sailboats," Tobias commented. "Why the difference?"
"This is a lot quicker to build," Gibbs answered. Then he couldn't resist adding, "Plus, it'll be named after Diane. Rowing will remind you of how much work she was."
At last, Tobias grinned. He understood what Jethro was trying to do. "You sure you can fit boat-building into your social calendar?" he asked Emily. "You want this?"
Emily nodded. "Water never forgets. I like that," she said.
"Okay then. I'll move the car. Emily, you go get some work gloves so you can help unload the lumber, the marine plywood, without getting splinters. Jethro, our garage is your workshop. Looks like we're building a boat."