Don't own them, just enjoying their company.
Written for MHA anniversary topic. What if ... a butterfly had flapped it's wings and changed the universe.
When a butterfly flapped its wings …
"I knew you'd make it!"
Two arms were firmly wrapped around his neck and a whirl of long auburn hair brushed his face before his eyes could locate his two favorite girls in the crowded restaurant.
"Hey birthday girl! C'me here!" he laughed and pulled his arms around her, kissing her cheek, crushing her against his chest while lifting her off the ground and spinning her around.
"Dad, put me down! People are watching!" his daughter squealed but didn't let go of him. She looked as happy as he did and really didn't seem to care what people were thinking.
It was hard to believe she was turning 16 tomorrow, it only seemed like yesterday he held this delicate little miracle in the palms of his big hands. From her first breath she had him wrapped around her little finger and his heart and soul captured completely. She was Shannon's gift to him, both saving his life and keeping him sane.
He put her down and held her at arms length. "You're beautiful! Look more like your mam every day?"
"Dad!"
"Compliment, Kel! Now where is she?", he skimmed the restaurant again, no longer able to hide his desire to see Shannon.
"Over there", Kelly grinned and pointed at a table in the far corner, pulling him across the restaurant.
"Hey gorgeous", he mumbled as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed his wife passionately. His "I missed you" caused a slight blush to creep over her cheek. Her heart had skipped a beat when she saw her handsome Marine enter the restaurant, his eyes exploring the room and as alway he seemed completely ignorant of the effect he had on people.
"Welcome home Jethro, glad you made it", she now smiled and held his hand a bit longer as he sat down.
"Yeah, me too", he sighed, forcing back the thoughts of the events of the last few days that had made it almost impossible to get back in time. It didn't matter now he was home.
"Have you ordered already?"
"No, we were waiting for you", Kelly said.
"So certain I would make it?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yeah, ofcourse", she replied without hesitation. "You know, gut feeling?"
He didn't need a menu, just ordered the same he did last year, as did his girls. An ever so slight smile danced around his lips as the grateful feeling of finally being home again slowly settled in.
"Abby sends her best wishes and a hug", he said, handing Kelly a little box. It brought a smile to her face. "Open at midnight. Love, Abby" the little skulshaped note on top read.
"She still remembers my birthday", she said cheerfully.
"You two share something very special", he smiled fondly, thinking about the goth forensic specialist from NCIS.
"It was astonishing, wasn't it? Will you tell the story again, Dad?" Kelly pleaded.
"After dinner", he agreed, "first I wanna hear everything about you two, what have you been up to? How is life at the brink of 16? School, friends, Sean?", he wiggled his eyebrows and grinned mischievously when he brought up the subject of her boyfriend.
"School's fine, friends are fine and Sean is ... What do you know about Sean?", she said a little shocked. He cocked his head and flashed a smile, pointing at Shannon. "Modern communication", he grinned. He leaned over to Shannon, "speaking of boyfriends, any plans for tonight?" he whispered seductivly.
"Not sure, maybe he's tired from his journey", Shannon teased him back with a promissing smile. The thought of having him in her arms and in bed again already send a tingling sensation through her body.
"Oh, I don't think he's tired", he growled low with a spark in his blue eyes.
"Good", was all he needed to hear.
"Daddy, tell the story, please?" Kelly asked him again after they finished their dinner.
He looked at them with a intent look, again realizing how lucky he was to be sitting here with his girls. For a second he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he started.
"It was the day I had to leave for Irak, gear packed in the truck and saying goodbye to both of you.
Rule #13: 'say goodbye like it's the first time'. Your mams rule, she made it right after I came back safe from my first mission."
He shot a warm look at Shannon, remembering the first time she told him about her rules, waiting at the station in Stillwater.
"So here I was, ready to leave for probably the most important tour of my life, but with a gut feeling that made me sick to my stomach. This one was different, I sensed it, I could almost taste it like sand between my teeth, Desert Storm sand.
"I'll miss you daddy", still hear the sound of your voice and see the look in your mams eyes, those beautiful eyes I fell in love with the first time I saw her standing in the window of Ellen's Dress Shop. You're the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen", he gazed at Shannon, "still are." He spoke with a soft, husky voice with the emotions of his memories sounding through. He was silent for a few seconds before he continued.
"I promised 'I will take care, I will come back safe', told your mam 'I love you'. And you..." he looked at Kelly, anguish blurring his sight for a moment, "... you just didn't want to let me go, you held on to me and sobbed. That was not according to rule #13. You never tried to stop me before, you always said goodbye, standing next to your mam, waving. Always. But this time you had a premonition, you were so sure, but you couldn't explain how or what you knew, "I feel it in my stomach, Daddy", you said, and I felt it too."
He took a sip of his water and continued.
"Rule # 1: 'Family first' won from my orders. I didn't leave right away. I sat with you, asked you what was wrong and you said "Daddy, if you go now, something terrible is going to happen", and I believed you. But I had my orders, I had to go, and I did, eventually.
I left you and your mam, praying I would see both of you again when I returned, but I didn't get very far. A hearse broke down right in front of my truck and the young lady driving it asked for my help. She was dressed in black and I assumed she was on her way to a funeral. There was something about her, a kindness in her eyes and a feeling of complete trust, like she knew me. She rattled on while I worked on the engine of her hearse. I fixed it and she thanked me with a big hug and said "when a butterfly flapped its wings ..."
I didn't understand and didn't get the chance to ask, because the next thing she said was "tell your daughter everything will be all right" and she hugged me again. I don't know what happened, but that hug changed my gut feeling. I wasn't worried about the mission anymore.
I sat in my car and tried to perceive and comprehend what had happened, but I couldn't make head nor tail of it so I went back home. And there you were, standing in the drive way, telling me "Daddy, everything will be all right". I can still feel the goose bumps on my arm when you discribed the lady in black you saw in your vision."
Shannon reached for his hand and brought it to her lips, placing a soft kiss on it.
"I still can't explain it", he said.
"I returned safe, right on the day before your 9th birthday, but before I could go home I had some business at NCIS to take care of and ran into the hearse lady again. You see, there's no such thing as coincidence. We had coffee and a Caf-Pow!, talked about the chaos theory, butterflies, my mission, your mam and you. She told me to send you her best wishes and a hug for your birthday. That night was the first time we went out to dinner for your birthday, that starting the tradition."
"It still is an incredible story", Shannon sighed. "What if ...".
"Shh, don't," Gibbs hushed her, "happy birthday, Kel."
A few hours later, one minute into Kelly's birthday ….
Gibbs sat on the couch, his feet comfortably resting on the coffee-table, his girls curled up against him.
"First Abby's", Kelly said, carefully removing the paper and opening the small black box. "Oh, it's beautiful!" she choked up as she took the delicate silver butterfly necklace out.
"Leave it to Abby to think of a special gift for a special birthday", Shannon said with a gentle smile when Kelly put the necklace on.
"Next gift is from Grandpa Jack and from your mam and me, but it comes with instructions", Gibbs said with a big smile, looking sideways at Shannon who started to protest.
"I know Shan, only learned about it today myself", he kissed her objections away, slowly deepening their kiss, forgetting his daughter for a moment. "We'll have continue this upstairs", he managed to say when lack of oxygen forced them to break if off.
Kelly immediately unwrapped the second, slightly larger box, not paying any attention to her parents at all. First she took out an old worn leather key holder with a key attached to it. The question on her lips was partly answered when her fingers traced the inside of the box again and found the little yellow Dodge Challenger.
"Is this for real? It's a car?" Kelly bounced excitedly up and down.
"It is, and I didn't, Jack did", he smirked, "happy birthday again, Kelly."
THE END