Insecurity
"Jethro, I refuse to have you exerting yourself too much. You are by no means healed," Dr. Ducky Mallard insisted.
He stood back and regarded his friend.
Gibbs slid off the hospital bed and stood for a moment holding onto the tray table until he felt balanced. "Right you are, Duck, but the faster I get myself moving, the better. I need to be back on the job at NCIS, and I am certainly tired of being confined to a hospital bed. Why haven't you sprung me from here yet, Duck?"
Ducky nodded sympathetically as he took the NCIS team leader's arm to help steady him. "Even the Agency Director has maintained that if you leave the hospital against medical advice, you will be subsequently barred from the agency. You are by no means well. Barred, Jethro, that is the term the director used. A synonym to that would be banned."
Noting Jethro's annoyed expression, Ducky softened and tried to reason with his friend. "I know how determined you are, but a relapse will wipe you out for weeks. Take it easy now, and it will work to your advantage in the long run."
Gibbs actually pondered the last words. Rubbing his chin he conceded, "Ok, but could I at least take a walk around the hall?"
"Absolutely," the good doctor assured him, and together they paced the length of the hall outside the patient's room three times before Ducky called a halt.
"That concludes your activity for the morning," Ducky announced firmly, "and now I want you back in that bed. Take a nap, Jethro, and after lunch you can certainly get more of a workout. I spoke to young Anthony this morning and he shared that he and Abigail would visit after lunch."
Gibbs nodded as he scooted back onto the mattress. "I forbade them to stay all day with me at the hospital and told them they can only come for visits of a couple of hours at a time. They wanted to continue to stay around the clock."
Ducky smoothed the covers over the patient. "They were terrified while you were in the coma, Jethro, and kept vigil from the time the house exploded and you were admitted here. Why did I tell you that the two…"
Interrupting the story before Ducky could really start it, Gibbs softened his expression, "I understand that, Duck, but I find it difficult having them so clingy these days. They act as though I will disappear on them on a wisp of smoke. You know while I was in that coma I actually dreamed that I was their father, and believe me, they were true to form even then. Subconsciously, I guess I realized they flanked my hospital bed. I told you that already, though."
"Understandable, dear chap, since the three of you live together. Your mind simply focused upon an obvious bond while you lay unconscious. As for their behavior now, they still need reassurance that you will not leave them. Like it or not, you have become a surrogate parent to them."
Taking one more cursory look at the chart at the end of Jethro's bed Ducky waved and exited the hospital room.
Gibbs watched the departure and shifted onto his side to get comfortable. Dr. Mallard had a good grasp of the situation, and deep down, Gibbs understood Tony and Abby's continued trepidation. Still, he really had to find a way to convey to the two that he had no intention of leaving them.
The fact that they felt so dependent upon him unnerved the agent.
The twins had celebrated their sixth birthday the week before and Jethro Gibbs could not hide his pride in their personalities and intelligence. Besides that, no one could deny that both Abby and Tony were incredibly beautiful children. Though still petite for their ages, they each possessed bright green eyes framed with long lashes and ready smiles. Tony's brown hair was laced liberally with blond while Abby's was a dark, rich brown.
Behavior wise they generally caused little deliberate trouble. However, when they did decide to head down the naughty trail, they wrought havoc in their wake.
That provided the basis for the precautionary talk Jethro currently conducted as he drove the three of them to Stillwater, Pennsylvania, and his father's home.
Both children sat in the backseat, strapped in their booster car seats.
"Remember that Grandpa is not used to having little kids around all the time, so the two of you need to use quiet voices in the house." Gibbs glanced in the mirror to make sure they paid attention.
Tony had a toy car he maneuvered by zooming the vehicle over the window frame and Abby was whispering something to her baby doll as she thrust a toy bottle into its mouth.
"Pay attention to me, please," the dad directed, slowing the car as he approached a four way stop.
"Got it, Daddy," Tony confirmed, and Gibbs glanced in the rear view mirror again and smiled at him. Tony grinned back, exposing a gap where one top front tooth had made a recent disappearance.
"You okay, Abbs?" Gibbs asked his little girl.
She grinned as well, displaying a gap where she too had lost a baby tooth. Hers was on the bottom, though.
"I am okay, and my baby is okay. I just fed her, Daddy."
"Are we there, yet?" Tony questioned, pressing his face against the window to view the countryside from that angle, then sticking his tongue onto the glass to leave a mark.
"Daddy, Tony smashed his face on the window and that will make it dirty," Abby contributed, smoothing the front of her little polka dot dress. "He needs to stop."
Annoyed at the comment, Tony whirled to confront her. "Quit talking about me! You spilled juice on the seat already."
Before they could sink into a knock down drag out fight Gibbs intervened, his voice firm, "Both of you stop that right this minute, and Abby, I believe that I just sent you to your room yesterday for tattling."
"You can't do that now, Daddy," Tony supplied. "She hasn't got a room 'cause she's in the car. You could spank her, though," he added helpfully.
Abby sputtered with anger at that contribution, and retaliated by slapping her brother's arm. He followed in kind, and a flurry of raised voices, tears, angry name calling, and smacks came next.
Their father pinched the bridge of his nose and slowly counted to ten while reminding himself they normally behaved. Sometimes, though, they made it extremely difficult for him to not lose his temper.
"Tony!" he spoke sharply, and the little boy snatched his hand back and turned away from his twin. "I did not ask for your help at all, so please do not share it with me unless I personally consult you and request your help."
Tony scowled and kicked the back of the seat in front of him, then turned to look out the window.
Abby smirked at her victory.
Jethro had not finished, however. "If I stop this car before we get to Grandpa and Stillwater, it will be because I am going to spank both of you. I said both of you, and I mean I will put each of you across my lap and blister your bottoms. Am I clear?"
Abby's smile faded then and she hugged her baby to her.
"I asked you both a question and I expect immediate replies from you."
"Clear, Daddy," his little girl responded, twirling a pigtail thoughtfully.
"Yes sir," Tony assured him, "I don't need a spanking at all. Let's talk about another thing."
Jethro nodded and quickly changed his tone. "How about we play the alphabet game the rest of the way, ok? Remember that we have to find a road sign that starts with A, then one that starts with B, then all the way down the alphabet. Can we get to Z before we get to your grandfather's, do you think?"
Excitedly they accepted the challenge and the rest of the ride proved smooth and fun.
A few hours later Gibbs tucked his little boy into bed, then crossed the hall and did the same for his daughter.
He stood a moment in the hall between them then, glancing in both open doors at their tiny bodies. Both had gone to sleep instantly, having worn themselves out on the car ride and the excitement of getting to Jack's. His heart swelled. He did love them deeply, and took his job as father, protector, and provider very seriously.
Jackson Gibbs jerked his head up to study his own son when Jethro plopped wearily onto the sofa cushion. Leaning against the pillow behind him he rolled his head from side to side, trying to unkink the tight muscles in his neck.
"Parenting is exhausting, Dad," he commented. "I feel like I have run down a family of criminals and then scaled a skyscraper."
Jackson smirked but answered simply, "I know, Son."
The next day, Sunday, the four attended an eleven o'clock service at their family church. At breakfast Jackson had talked to his grandchildren enthusiastically about the service that the chapel held just for the little ones, which consisted of a Bible story and activity, then outdoor play.
Tony turned eagerly to his father, practically jumping up and down at the prospect, "Can I get dirty at Sunday School then, Daddy? Please?"
Jackson tousled his hair, but Gibbs cautioned as he wiped milk off the side of the little boy's mouth, "Try to stay clean just for a couple of hours, okay, Son?"
Abby slid her hand into her grandfather's and twirled from side to side. "My dress is pretty and I don't want to get it dirty."
"It is a beautiful dress, and I do love polka dots. You don't have to get it dirty when you go out to play, though," Jackson assured her.
Swinging her up, the elder Gibbs set Abby on his hip and carried her, and Tony demanded his father do the same for him.
When the family entered the church sanctuary the men stopped several times before they found a vacant pew because friends and neighbors insisted upon pinching Abby's and Tony's cheeks and commenting upon their likeness to Jethro. Everyone thought them adorable. Tony loved the attention and preened happily, chattering with the strangers as though they lived next door, but Abby uncharacteristically developed a case of shyness and buried her head in Jack's chest.
The Church for Children was announced with a summons for all of the little ones to head towards the altar. Tony excitedly climbed over his grandfather and dad and hurried to the front, glancing back to give his father a snaggletoothed grin.
Abby, however, refused to accompany her sibling. When urged to join the others she wedged herself behind her father's back and refused to budge.
"Daddy, I don't want to leave you," she whispered repeatedly, and finally, Gibbs quit trying to talk her into going and let her stay.
On the other hand, Tony did not concern himself with leaving the others whatsoever. He contributed happily to the lesson and skipped out of the sanctuary with the other children when the teacher motioned them to the exit door.
Jackson leaned over and whispered, "He gets that gregarious nature from me. You were always so reticent about joining in new activities, Leroy."
Gibbs scowled good naturedly. Feeling Abby's elbow in his back, he thought to himself that she came by her shyness honestly. A second later he discarded that idea. That explanation did not make sense, though. Normally she was even far more gregarious than her brother, making friends everywhere that she ventured.
Ducky had even nicknamed her the social butterfly.
When the adult Church service concluded Jethro thanked the pastor for the sermon, then joined his father, who had gone ahead to fetch Tony from the playground.
Meanwhile Abby clutched a fistful of material from his pants leg and refused to turn loose, replying to any of his questions with a series of whines.
Jethro felt his patience dwindling and made a conscious effort to not snap at his little girl.