He Didn't Have To Be: Watching You
Summary: Little Tony wants to be just like his daddy, Jethro Gibbs. AU Gibbs/Tony Father/Son
It was a Sunday afternoon that Jethro Gibbs decided to take his six year old son, Tony Shepard Gibbs, on a drive. They left right after church and stopped by a fast food restaurant, just as they did anytime they were in the car alone. Tony was talking excitedly about his bible school and all of his friends and what they did that day. Jethro listened with a wide smile on his face, there wasn't anything that Tony could say that wouldn't put a smile on Jethro's face. The little boy held a very special part of his heart and, according to Jethro, Tony couldn't do no wrong.
"Daddy!" Tony said loudly, "can I have my toy now?"
Jethro glanced over at Tony. The rules for eating fast food in the car were not telling Mommy and that Tony was expected to eat all of his nuggets before he could have the toy that Jethro would remove from the kid's meal and hid in the side pocket on the door.
"Did you finish your nuggets?" Jethro asked with a smirk. Tony had become very creative with hiding his food just to get the toy. Tony nodded eagerly. Jethro came to a red light and turned to his boy. "Let me see."
Tony handed his dad his empty nugget box and the bag it came in. Nodding in approval, Jethro placed the bag on the floor in front of Tony and handed him his toy. Tony cheered in excitement. Jethro smiled and took off on the green. The duo were on their way home when at an intersection the traffic light immediately turned red.
Trying not to wreck, Jethro slammed on the brakes.
"Shit…" Jethro said silently.
A shower of fries landed around the front of the car. Immediately Jethro looked over at his little passenger and sighed in relief when he saw that the boy was unharmed…sort of. Tony's drink had spilled over and covered his front and legs.
"Shit." Tony said as he looked down at himself and holding his arms away from himself.
"What did you just say?" Jethro asked, flabbergasted that his son even knew that word.
"What?"
"Son, little boys don't speak like that." Jethro scolded softly. "You'll get in big trouble for saying bad words."
Tony bowed his head in shame and nodded. "Yes, Daddy."
Father and son had finally made it home in one piece. Jenny had gone nuts over the state of Tony's clothes covered in orange juice and had him in play clothes faster than Jethro could explain what had happened. After a half hour lecture about not having fast food in the car, Jethro retreated into the basement. He could faintly hear the sound of the television playing in the living room and he smiled. Normally, Jethro and Jenny wouldn't allow Tony to watch television on Sundays to encourage him to play outside more. Jenny must have felt the need to keep their son inside and close by and allocated the "mind numbing" shows.
Jethro turned to his boat and sighed. He was still amazed about Tony's new word. He knew that Tony must have learned it somewhere and after some thought, he realized that Jethro wasn't as careful watching his language around his little boy as he should have. He leaned against a rib of the boat and bowed his head.
"Lord, I know I'm not much of a praying man. But, please help me, help my stupid self." Jethro sighed heavily and began sanding and making himself promise to create a swear jar to help keep him in check and teaching Tony which words were not allowed.
A few hours later, Jethro climbed the stairs to help put his son to bed. It had become their nightly ritual for Jethro to read him a bedtime story, even before Jenny and himself had married. Now it just transitioned into making sure Tony was dressed in his pajamas and his teeth were brushed before his bedtime story.
After reading the same story twice, ("One more, Daddy, please?" Tony had begged after the first one,) Jethro placed a gentle kiss on his little boy's forehead. He moved over to the Magnum P.I. night light and switched it on, but as he was heading toward the door he heard rustling. Jethro turned to watch his son roll out of bed before kneeling on the floor. His little green eyes slid shut and his little hands were folded on the bed.
"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I shall die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." Tony whispered without a hint of hesitation. "Thy angels watch me through the night, and keep me safe till morning's light. If I should live another day, I pray the Lord to guide my way. I recommend myself to His care; when I awake, I give myself up to His Direction. If I should die before I wake, Bless me Lord my soul to take. Amen."
Jethro stared at his son in stunned amazement. After a year of simple prayers, this was the first time he heard Tony say this prayer. Jethro had taught him he first few lines because the little boy wanted to have something easy to say, the rest was completely new to him. Tony crawled back into bed and grinned at Jethro.
"What's wrong, Daddy?"
Jethro moved to his son's bedside and sat on the edge. "Son, where'd you learn to pray like that?"
"You, Daddy!" Tony stated proudly. "I overheard you one day and I wanted to have a neat prayer like that. Did you like it? I worked really hard on it! Mrs. Osborne helped me with it in bible school today! I want to be just like you, Daddy! I'm your buckaroo and I wanna be like you! Eat all my food and grow as big as you! We like working on the boat and holding Mommy's hand! We're just alike! I wanna do everything you do!"
Jethro pulled Tony into his chest and held onto him tightly.
"My little man's growing up." Jethro whispered tightly. He couldn't believe how fast his son was maturing.
Tony pulled away a little and stared straight into his Daddy's eyes.
"And when I'm big, I'll still know what to do!" Tony's green eyes sparkled with excitement and happiness. "You know why, Daddy?"
"No, son," Jethro shook his head and ruffled his son's hair affectionately. "Why?"
"Because I've been watching you."
Jethro hugged his son tighter and kissed his hair. After a moment of holding Tony, Jethro let him fall back into bed before tucking the blankets around the six year old. He placed another kiss to Tony's forehead before heading towards the door. Just before he turned out the lights he paused.
"Goodnight, little man." Jethro whispered seeing that Tony had already fallen asleep. "I love you, son."
Jethro switched off the lights and began pulling the door closed when a small voice reached his ears.
"I love you, too, Daddy."
Isn't that sweet? Tony's prayer is just pieces of different versions of the children's prayer from the eighteenth century. I just pieced them together to see how it came out and I'm digging it.
HOW TO: Leave a review. Click on the button with the word "Review" on it. It's around here somewhere! I'm sure you can find it. Leave me your thoughts, comments, concerns, complaints, love letters or death threats. I want anything...really. :)