He Didn't Have To Be: Camping Trip
Summary: Tony is seven and newly adopted by Leroy Jethro Gibbs. What does Gibbs do to commemorate the gift of a son?
Disclaimer: No own NCIS. No own Tony. No own Gibbs. No own Jenny. That just about covers it...right?
"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" A little boy's voice floated over to Jethro Gibbs' ears and he couldn't help but smile. Jethro loved this little boy as if he were his own and he couldn't imagine what life would be like without him. The little boy attached to Jethro's leg and looked up at him with wide, innocent, green eyes. "When are we leaving?"
"In a few minutes, buddy." Jethro responded. Tony Shepard Gibbs let out a huff.
"You said that hours ago!" Tony whined as his shoulders slumped in defeat.
"We just need to say bye to Mommy and we'll be on our way for our three day trip." Jethro assured the seven year old and ruffled his messy brown hair.
"Yay!" Tony cheered as he ran off towards the house. "Mommy!"
Jennifer Shepard Gibbs looked down at her little son, his excitement was contagious and she found herself smiling. She reached out for Tony and pulled him to her.
"Oh, my little boy!" Jenny nuzzled her face into her son's hair and placed a kiss on the crown of his head. "I'm going to miss you so much!"
"I'm gonna miss you too, Mommy." Tony responded quietly, his little arms tightening around Jenny's neck.
Jethro watched the mother and son from the hallway, leaning against the wall. He would never tire watching the relationship between Jenny and Tony flourish and deepen, it reminded him of the relationship between Shannon and Kelly. No matter how many times he saw them interact, he was always rendered speechless and in awe.
"You behave yourself, you hear me?" Jenny told her son as she drew away. Tony nodded mutely and smiled.
"I'm always on my best behavior, Mommy." Tony said confidently. Jethro chuckled. The boy was only seven, yet he had confidence and charm beyond his age.
"Alright, you have yourself a fun weekend." Jenny kissed Tony's forehead and let him loose.
"Hey, buddy, why don't you go up and grab your bag?" Jethro suggested and the little boy took off up the stairs.
Once he was sure Tony had left, Jethro wrapped his arms around his wife of six months and pulled her close to his chest. Jenny dropped her head onto his shoulder and took a deep breath. She wished that she could've joined the boys on their trip, but she knew that they needed this time alone, not to mention that with her being four months pregnant, the outdoors isn't the ideal place she wanted to be for a while. Sleeping on the ground with only a sleeping bag between her and rocks was not something she envied her husband and son for.
"It's only three days," Jethro murmured in her hear. "We'll be back by lunchtime on Sunday. I'll take good care of him, I promise."
"I know," Jenny sighed. "It's just…"
"This is the first time you two have been apart, not being separated by school or work." Jethro finished with a knowing smile. He rubbed Jenny's back consolingly.
"Yeah," Jenny took a deep breath and pulled away when she heard Tony stomping down the stairs. "What's the matter, baby?"
"I can't find my bag!" Tony exclaimed with a definite pout on his lips.
"Really?" Jethro tried to hold back a smirk as he checked the bags by the door. "Oh! Here it is!" He pulled out a beat up blue backpack and handed it to the seven year old. "I guess I forgot I already had it!" Jethro winked at Tony as a smile crept its way on his face. "Silly me."
"It's okay!" Tony slipped the straps over his shoulders, gave his mom one last hug before bolting out the door.
"Wait for me, Speedy!" Jethro called after him. He turned back to his wife and gave her a reassuring smile. "The time will go by fast, just you see."
"I love you." Jenny whispered, placing a kiss to Jethro's cheek.
Jethro responded with a chaste kiss on her lips. "I love you."
He turned and jogged toward the truck in the driveway where Tony was bouncing in excitement. Jenny watched as Jethro helped their son into the passenger seat and ordered him to put his seatbelt on before hoping in the driver's side and starting the truck. They backed out of the driveway and, with one last wave, they drove off.
A few hours into the drive, Tony's excitement began to die down and his incessant talking almost stopped. The little boy stared out of the window, watching trees and bushes fly by and gave a deep sigh. He turned to his father and smiled.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah, buddy?" Jethro glanced at Tony.
"I'm really glad you decided to take me on this trip." Tony said quietly. "I've never been camping before and I'm really excited. I hope that I won't mess up and ruin the trip."
"Aw, Tony," Jethro smiled at him reassuringly. "You won't mess up. If you have any questions or if you need help just let me know and I'll help you. Okay? I don't want you to feel like you have to do everything by yourself."
"Okay, Daddy." Tony beamed suddenly. "I've been dreaming about this trip for a long time about how much fun we'll have. Is it mean that I'm glad Mommy's not here?"
"Why is that buddy?"
"Because, I'm glad it'll be just us for three days." Tony fiddled with his hands in his lap. "I love Mommy, but I really want this time to be just us."
"And it will be, I promise." Jethro ruffled Tony's hair and grinned. "And don't worry about Mommy, she understands that we need a guy weekend, just for us."
Tony nodded and went back to staring out the window.
Three hours later, Jethro pulled off the highway onto a side highway that would take them to the mountains. It didn't take long to reach the dirt trail that would lead them to their campsite. The road was rocky and had high degree turns. Tony was giggling and bouncing in his seat every time he felt the truck tires bump over the boulders sticking out of the road. Jethro was chuckling at his son's amusement and began driving over the bumps on purpose. It was only a ten minute drive to their camping spot, but with Jethro intentionally making the ride more entertaining it was twenty minutes until they reached their clearing. Tony hoped out of the truck as soon as it had stopped moving and ran around the clearing.
The clearing was man made, workers had leveled the area half-assed but it'll do. The side of the mountain slopped right to their site, leveled off before a gentler slope lead the banks of the river. The river was ten feet away and surprisingly quiet. There were trees surrounding them and allowed them some privacy and Jethro hoped that his son's voice wouldn't carry to any neighboring campers.
"Daddy!" Jethro turned around to see Tony standing on a small boulder jutting from the side of the mountain. "Look at me! I'm king of the mountain!"
"I see that!" Jethro smiled in amusement. He pulled out a Kodac camera and quickly snapped a picture of his son standing proudly on his domain. "Be careful, we don't want to go back black and blue, right?"
"Right!" Tony then proceeded to jump from the boulder and landed semi-gracefully on the ground. Jethro rolled his eyes, why do I even bother?
"Help me unload the truck, buddy." Jethro lifted the seven year old into the bed of the truck. "The sooner we can get camp set up, the sooner we can have fun."
The duo spent the next hour unloading the tent, chairs, duffle bags and coolers from the truck and setting up the tent near the fire pit that sat dead center in the clearing. Jethro left their fire wood in the bed covered by a tarp. If it rained he wouldn't have to worry about drying the wood.
Their afternoon was spent splashing around in the river, going on a short hike into the forest and shooting the BB gun that Jethro had brought along (with strict rules not to touch it unless Jethro was there.) The sun was just starting to set when Jethro began making dinner. Tony sat obediently on his camping chair and stared into the fire with awe. After dinner, Jethro let Tony stay up so they could count the stars. Since Tony had never been out of the city before, he was amazed that there were so many. His father took the time to show him where the North Star was located and told him silly stories about the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. It didn't take long for the day to catch up to the seven year old and Tony's eyes began to drift closed. Jethro carried him to the tent and the two changed into pajamas before heading off to bed.
Once the sounds of deep breathing came from his boy, Jethro couldn't help but smile. The day had been filled with fun and laughter that only Tony could provide. The little boy was so excited to be on his first camping trip that he had wanted to do everything at once. Jethro had talked him down to only doing relaxing activities that didn't require them to dig out a bunch of stuff. The best part of the day had been when Jethro started teaching Tony how to shoot. They were in the perfect place so that nobody got hurt in case the boy had missed. Surprisingly, Tony's aim was dead on and Jethro couldn't have been any more proud.
The next day brought the same exuberance from before. Jethro and Tony had started the day with fishing…at least that was the plan but with Tony's energy he couldn't sit still long enough to stay on task. It ended up with Jethro "fishing" and watching his son hop from rock to rock. After lunch they hiked up the river to see what they could find. The Kodak camera hadn't left Jethro's side since the beginning of the trip and he found himself capturing many moments that he knew he would treasure for a lifetime. On their hike he had let Tony take charge of the camera and found himself on the receiving end of the lens. Shaking his head, Jethro couldn't wait to see the kind of pictures his boy took.
Unfortunately, Sunday came around and the ball of energy Jethro had for a son was very quiet and closed off. Jethro knelt in front of Tony after the tent had been packed away (he got it right the first time and it fit.)
"Son, what's wrong?" Jethro placed his hand on his boy's shoulder for reassurance.
"I don't wanna leave." Tony said quietly. "I'm afraid that this is just some dream and I'll forget about it tomorrow."
"Ah, come here." He pulled Tony into his arms and held his son close. "You listen to me, it's okay to be scared. And you probably will forget some of the things we did this weekend a few years down the line. But you will never forget the fun." He pulled back to look into those big watery green eyes. "Besides, we have photo evidence of everything we did and if we feel like we're forgetting we can always look at the pictures to help us remember."
Tony nodded and sighed. "Ok, Daddy."
"I love you, son." Jethro kissed his boy's head. "That's something you should never forget."
"I love you, too, Daddy." Tony wrapped his arms around his daddy's neck and held on for dear life.
The truck was loaded and headed down the mountain a half hour later, Tony still laughing over the bumpy ride. Jethro's eyes brightened at the sight of his happy son and swore that they would take a camping trip a year so that his little boy could have the best childhood he could provide.
The ending was a little "meh" with a side of "good enough." :) This is, of course, part of the He Didn't Have To Be series (Mr. Perfect, Big Brother, Male Bonding, and Watching You.) There's a review button that I would love for you guys to click on and leave your comments, concerns, questions, threats, dreams, love letters, whatever you wanna give me. I'll take everything.