DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NCIS OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS!

Dad Day Afternoon

"Now you remember everything we went over last time?" the nervous red-haired young mother asked her Marine husband.

"I got this Shan," he patronized her. "I work with young recruits with habits a lot worse than any two year old," he smiled at their daughter who sat on the floor playing with her blocks unaware of the rare time her mother would be away from her.

She gave her husband a look that spoke of all the things he could experience from his stubborn little girl. "Okay," she smiled at him before stooping down to give her daughter a hug and kiss and asking her to be a good girl for her daddy. As she was closing the door behind her, she gave them a wave with her fingers.

When his wife was gone the confident father sat down to turn on the tv. "NO Daddy," he heard in a tone very much like his wife's. He had to smirk as he looked at his daughter now standing with her hands on her hips, or rather what would one day be her hips, but now was more the bulge of her diaper.

"What's wrong Kelly?" he asked softly.

"No tv," she gave what he assumed to be a stomp of her foot but her foot barely left the floor.

"No?" he looked at her questioningly. "Is that one of mommy's rules?" he asked knowing Shannon had a penchant for rules.

She nodded her head of fine strawberry blonde hair. He patted her head. "Then what shall we do?" he asked.

"Play with me," she smiled widely.

"Sure, Kels," he grinned clearing a spot to sit. "What shall we build?" he looked at her haphazard display of towers and rows.

She looked at him unsure how to answer, so he looked back at her thoughtfully before suggesting, "How about a castle? One fit for a princess?"

She beamed at the idea of having a castle and sat down to help her daddy build one.

It took a half hour to us all the blocks (rebuilding parts that were accidentally knocked down), but they still weren't finished.

"More?" Kelly demanded with a frown.

"Yes we need more blocks," her daddy agreed. "Want to help make some more?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay," he stood. "Let's go make some more," he picked her up and put her on his back as they made their way into the basement. Once at the bottom he stood her on her feet. "Remember Kelly don't touch anything unless Daddy says it's okay."

Again she nodded, this time somberly. She knew her daddy meant it and she wanted more blocks to play with.

"Alright," he looked around. "Let's find a good spot for you to sit." He found the stool he'd made especially for her that had a cushioned support around the sides and back and a leather strap to hold her in the seat. He placed her in it and made sure she could reach the table they'd be working on.

He already had some squared pieces cut from the last group of blocks he'd made. They only needed some sanding and painting. He handed Kelly a small sander and showed her again how to go with the grain. She rubbed a few times while he watched then looked up to see if she'd done it correctly.

"Just like that sweetie," he praised her. As she worked on her block he made quick work of the others. When all the pieces he'd had were completed to his satisfaction, he poured some paint into old baby food jars. He got enough brushes for each color of paint and let Kelly choose her color.

Of course she chose the pink jar. He held her hand and guided her in dipping the brush, wiping off the excess and applying the paint to the wood. After a few times together, she wanted to try on her own. Gibbs stood and watched her concentrate really hard on doing things like he'd shown her.

By the time they finished, Kelly was beginning to get cranky. Gibbs checked his watch and realized he was late in getting her lunch.

"Come on we need to wash up and eat some lunch," he smiled at his little girl who managed to get drops of paint in her hair and on her clothes. Not too worried about getting her cleaned up, he undid her belt and lifted her flying her up the stairs into the kitchen.

He sat her in her seat and fixed her a sandwich, sliced a banana and poured her a cup of milk. Before putting them in front of her, he got a wet cloth to wash her face and hands.

"There you go, all clean," he said pleased until she frowned at the food in front of her. "What's wrong?"

"Yucky," she pouted. "I no want it," she pushed the plate away.

"It's your favorite," he tried to appease her sliding it back in place.

"No," she shook her head.

Remembering her favorite treat he offered a little bribery. "If you eat all your food and drink your milk like a big girl, Daddy'll give you some ice cream," he showed her the carton from the freezer.

Kelly's eyes grew big as she began to pull apart her sandwich spreading peanut butter and jelly on her tray, in her hair and on her clothes. The bananas mostly made it into her mouth, though a piece did manage to get tangled in her hair as well. Thankfully the cup was spill-proof and the only drops that fell were on the tray from her knocking it over.

When she was finished he gave her a cone with one small scoop of chocolate ice cream. Her smile was all he watched as she ate away at the treat. It wasn't until she was completely done that he noticed the deplorable state of her clothes. After cleaning the tray attached to the seat, he gingerly picked her up, holding her at arm's length.

"Well I think you need a bath," he tried not to grimace as he carried the messy girl to the bathroom.

"Toys Daddy," she reminded him as he prepared the water before undressing her.

"I got them," he pointed to the plastic container under the sink which held her favorite tub toys.

Tossing the dirty clothes into the hamper he got Kelly into the tub and cleaned the lunch remains and paint away. When he was done he let her play with the toys while he readied the towel to dry her off.

Getting her out of the tub proved to be more of a challenge than he'd anticipated. Her slippery wet arms made it hard to gain purchase as she squirmed to keep on playing.

"Come on we need to check on your new blocks," he reminded her. That stilled her long enough for him to get her out and drain the tub.

He tickled her while he dried her than took her to her room for some new clothes. By the time they returned to the basement most of the blocks had dried, so he put them in a box to bring them upstairs.

It was on the floor finishing the caste that Shannon found them when she returned from her outing.

"Hey there you two," she called out. "Did you miss me?" she asked readying herself to catch her daughter who was up and running at the sound of her voice. Gibbs rolled himself up and gave her a hug and kiss.

"How did everything go?" she asked him noticing the different outfit her daughter was wearing and the somewhat tired look on her husband's face.

"It went great. Didn't it Kel?" he tweaked the little girl's nose.

"We had fun, Mommy," she nodded.

Shannon was glad that at least everything appeared to have gone smoothly. Kelly was clean, almost too clean. "You gave her a bath?" she cocked her head looking at her husband.

He shrugged a shoulder nonchalantly, "She got a little dirty, so yeah, I washed her up."

Noticing he didn't quite make eye contact she narrowed her eyes, "Uh-huh."

Sensing his wife was going to start asking a lot more questions, he distracted her with, "Hey look at these blocks we made."

"Yeah Mommy, I helped Daddy make blocks," Kelly pulled her mom to see the castle.

"Well, you did a nice job there, sweetheart," she couldn't help but smile at the pure joy her daughter exuded from helping her daddy.

"Okay. I'm going to get dinner started then," she kissed Kelly on her head and rubbed the short hair on her husband's head.

Realizing the questions were evaded, at least for the time being, Gibbs resumed playing with Kelly.

The night routine ran like clockwork and Kelly went to bed easily. Watching their little girl sleeping Gibbs' arms around Shannon's waist his chin on her shoulder, he kissed her neck. "I love you," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you, too. Now why don't you go relax before it's our bedtime?" She turned in his arms to give him an appreciative kiss. "I really am grateful to you for taking care of Kelly today."

"Anytime. She's an angel," he nibbled at her neck before she pushed him back.

"I have some things to clean up," she turned him toward the living room. "Go on and do what you do," she laughed as he redirected himself to the basement.

She shook her head and went to the bathroom. Inside the tub she found Kelly's toys. Most of them had settled near the drain. She picked them up and returned them to their bin. She opened the hamper to gather the laundry and saw the results of Kelly's day with her daddy. She took it with her as she descended the stairs to the basement.

He heard her coming but didn't turn until she called, "Hey Gibbs?"

His response was a raised eyebrow.

She looked at him in disbelief that she had to ask, "Care to explain?"

He didn't say a word, but smiled sheepishly.