Sisters
Summary:Kelly Gibbs always wanted a big sister.
Kelly sat swinging her feet under the Gibbs' kitchen table, spooning a hearty beef and potato soup into her mouth, careful to take slow sips to match her father's. She had an important question to ask him, and she would never get the chance if he finished before she did and went off to play poker or drink bourbon with the other kids' dads. It was good Mom was there, too, chewing on a potato, because it might have been one of those questions that was more suited to having a girl's view on things, too.
"Daddy, you know what I really want?", she asked, waiting for him to finish a sip before she continued.
"Yeah, what, kiddo?", Gibbs replied, taking a drink of water as he gave an attentive gaze to his daughter, her eyes sparkling with a mischievous curiosity.
"A big sister. Like Ashley's big sister Olivia. That's such a cool name, right? Well yesterday, Olivia let us try her lipstick in the bathroom and showed us all the big math they do in the eighth grade. The eighth grade that sooo old!", Kelly babbled, her childish happiness leaving her completely oblivious to the growing tint on Gibbs face or the helpless grin on Shannon's.
"-oh, and Olivia taught us how to play Truth or Dare and we dared Maddie to climb that tree in Sergeant Kerensky's yard. It was fun. So I was thinking, instead of having a bike for my birthday this year, can I just get a big sister?", Kelly stared up at Gibbs with the same look she'd give him when she wanted some fancy new toy he couldn't even understand with all those flashing lights. He cleared his throat and took another sip of water, emptying the glass.
"Kelly, it doesn't work that way. You see-"
"Oh, I know how it works, Daddy. Olivia told us that too.", Kelly interrupted.
Gibbs swallowed hard. "She..." He aimed a frantic look at Shannon, who gave him a playful glare back.
"Yes, you know, how I'm the biggest kid in my house and there can't be anyone bigger than me except for parents, so Olivia said I couldn't get a big sister. I think she's wrong, though.", Kelly explained, wearing a tiny goofball grin as her father breathed out slowly several times.
"Okay, why do you think she's wrong?" Ever since Kelly and Maddie had discovered the science shelf of the public library, they'd been obsessed with trying to prove every written and unwritten rule of the universe wrong. The explanations were usually pretty amusing, something that Gibbs would share with a swig of beer and a laugh on poker nights.
"Well, because you can do anything, of course.", Kelly said simply, toying with her spoon. That hit Gibbs like a tidal wave. "You're like Superman...only you don't dress up silly!"
Gibbs cleared his throat and blinked, grinning at his only daughter. "Um. Well, Kelly, me and your mom would have to see what we can do. How about you go watch TV now and we'll talk about it."
Kelly smiled. "Okay! See, I told Olivia she was wrong!" The girl rushed off to the Gibbs' newly-carpeted living room, her stride light and eyes sparkling. Gibbs began to gather the empty dishes from the table.
"What the hell are we gonna do?", he chuckled, taking note of Shannon's shining expression. She got up from the table to put her own bowl in the sink and nudged his shoulder lightly.
"There's no deadline on dreams, Gibbs!"
"Gibbs!", Abby shouted, bringing back her daydreaming boss to the scene at hand, the Annual Beltway Carnival, an event of clowns, prizes, and cotton candy overloads. Yeah, Gibbs didn't have the place on his "Must See" list, but Abby had seen the signs and insisted on dropping in for "just a little while". Apparently, to Ziva, a little while amounted to just over three hours and enough money to reload his Starbucks card into next year. He didn't imagine there'd been too many visits to the carnival in Eli David's twisted, sick idea of parenting. Not that he was being a parent here, of course.
"Gibbs! You aren't listening to me!" Abby had a cup of Caf-Pow in her hand, with a novelty green-and- yellow swirly straw they'd been handing out at the gates. Gibbs turned to his favorite (and only) lab rat, unless you counted McGee (which he preferred not to).
"Dammit, Abbs, I know we've been here a long time. Look, give it five minutes, and I'll go drag Ziva out of whatever cash cow game booth she's in.", he told her with a slight smile, enough to let her know he was joking, but not quite enough to discount the possibility.
"Oh, don't do that. I mean, not only would it be mean, but you're like twice her age and it'd probably look wrong, not that I'm calling you old-"
"Abbs."
"Did you tell her yet?", Abby asked innocently, setting her cup on the table and looking Gibbs straight in the eye. " 'Cause you should, Gibbs."
He sighed and gave Abby a "What the hell?" glare. He'd asked his newest Probie to come out with he and Abby that night, to dinner, like they'd done every year for...well, a while. Didn't know why he'd done it, but it was one of those impulses, like dodging a bullet. Ziva had agreed, if a little reluctantly, though there was no way they were gonna make time at Mickey's with Abby's little detour.
Abby rolled her eyes skyward and crossed her spiked arms across her chest. "Gibbs, you know what I want?', she said harshly, a venomous edge to her voice Gibbs was hearing more and more of these days.
He had 'It doesn't work that way' right on the tip of his tongue, before noticing a familiar figure inching up behind Abby, armed with an enormous goth-themed Hello Kitty and an assortment of other oversize plush offerings. His faced switched to an expression of alarm and he discreetly signed Stop to Abby, hoping she would get the message. Abby only gave the slightest shake of her head.
"I want you to man the hell up and quit treating Ziva like damaged goods! She's better than that and you know it!", she shouted, kicking away her chair and grabbing the Caf-pow. Abby passed Ziva coldly on her way to the parking lot.
"It's Kelly's birthday dinner by the way.", she said. Ziva seemed to crumple like leaves in a windstorm.
On the bright side, they had made time at Mickey's, though management had changed hands over the past year and the bar was now empty save for some fancy flavored water and a collection of iced teas. Gibbs ordered plain, gritting his teeth as his agent and forensic specialist glared at him. Abby had raspberry, Ziva asked for Ginger Ale. Gibbs ordered their usual, potato soup with a side of breadsticks and side ribs. Ziva asked quietly for a salad, her voice wavering between anger and shame. When the food came, they picked at it with their forks and occasionally swallowed in silence.
Gibbs eventually grew bored of scanning over the restaurant, trying to put faces to muttered names, orders to tables. He stared up at the light hanging low above their heads, highlighting a couple of flyaway strands of Ziva's wild chestnut curls. She'd used to straighten it, he remembered, but found the process too long and Tony's jabs at her annoying, so she'd left it alone. Shannon had curled Kelly's hair once, not with and iron, but the thing that you did with braids and letting them sit for a night. She'd sent him the picture and he'd kept it tacked to the side of his bunk, whispering a prayer to God every night, his eyes glued to his little girl. It wasn't quite so painful to think of Shannon and Kelly now, so he let his mind wander.
Kelly would have been around Maddie's age...just a little younger than Ziva and Abby. He wondered if Kelly might envy Ziva's exotic looks, like he'd heard so many women on the floor did. Would they have been friends, or would Kelly have been closer to Kate? Well, there's a no-brainer. Would they have gone to the shooting range on weekends, just like Gibbs had promised Kelly they would when she got older?What would Kelly have said to Ziva now, after everything that had happened?
His eyes shifted to Abby, who was twirling her pigtail while she waited for a water refill. What about her? Would she and Kelly have gotten along? Shared clothes, CD's, thoughts about boys? He cringed a little at that last one, but knew it would have been inevitable. Gibbs wondered if Abby would have answered Kelly's questions...if she would have...
"Can I have a big sister?"
"You can do anything."
"There's no deadline on dreams, Gibbs."
Gibbs blinked, focusing back to Ziva. She had eaten little of her meal and shoved the plate away, preferring to study her hands in her lap instead. Gibbs took a deep breath and exhaled sharply.
"You gonna finish that, Ziver?", he asked, in the tone his agents knew so well.
"I am not hungry. I am just waiting for you and Abby to finish so we may leave.", she said, ice dripping off every word. Her eyes were glued to the table, shifting from her fork to Abby's cup.
"Well, you should. You're gonna need the strength if you're gonna be Tony's Probie."
"I am fine, Gibbs."
"You're a part of my damn team, and I'm not gonna have you dropping at a crime scene. Finish the salad, and we can go."
"Well, I will have a good breakfast, how about that?"
"How about you finish the salad, Agent David? Didn't your dad ever tell you to eat you vegetables?"
"Gibbs!", Abby scolded, obviously not wanting to bring up the topic of Mossad's slimy director in front of Ziva, especially not now. Ziva swallowed and steeled her eyes, close to staring Gibbs down.
"No, he did not. But...perhaps that is one of the things I should be learning here in America, yes?"
Gibbs shrugged and nodded and Abby breathed a sigh of relief.
"The problem with this salad is that it does not have enough ketchup..."
Abby giggled. 'Ziva, you don't put ketchup in salad!"
Gibbs smirked at Abby, snatching a ketchup bottle from the table beside theirs and and squeezing it all over Ziva's plate. "There. Eat up."
Gibbs glanced out the window, silently wishing a Happy Birthday to Kelly. She would have been blessed to have Ziva and Abby as her older sisters, perhaps almost as blessed as he was to consider them his daughters.
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