Basic Skills
Summary: Set in the Future Perfect universe. Leigh finds a use for something Gibbs taught her.
Disclaimer: Leigh and Katie are mine; the rest belong to other people.
This takes place in the Future Perfect universe, which features Katie and Leigh, the twin daughters of Tim and Abby.
Tim headed for the kitchen, shuffling through the day's mail as he went. Catching sight of a postcard, he dropped the rest of the bundle on the counter and flipped the glossy image of the US Naval Academy over. He smiled as he read his daughter's tiny handwriting.
A week into her plebe summer, the Academy's equivalent of boot camp for incoming midshipmen, she was still enthusiastic about her choice of career. Tim cringed slightly at some of her descriptions; he'd survived FLETC, but he would not have been nearly as happy on a military parade ground as Leigh seemed to be.
Her last comment, however, made him chuckle softly.
*flashback*
Tim shifted his grip on the two small tote bags he carried as he watched Leigh descending the stairs clutching a backpack. The twins had plenty of stuff already at Gibbs's place, but suggesting they could survive a weekend without their current favourites was more trouble than it was worth. Katie was already in the car with Abby, and the bags for their weekend away without the kids were already in the trunk. Leigh, who usually jumped at any chance to help her Uncle Gibbs with whatever he was building at the moment, was dawdling uncharacteristically.
'Come on, Leigh...' he encouraged her gently when she suddenly stopped a few steps from the bottom.
'I don't want to stay with Uncle Gibbs! Why can't we stay with Uncle Tony?!'
Tim looked at her in surprise. The girls had a good relationship with DiNozzo, but Gibbs was definitely their favourite. But, the last time he and Abby had planned a few days alone together, one of Gibbs's old unit members had suddenly had a heart attack, and Tony had ended up taking the twins so Gibbs could go to the funeral in Tempe. What had he done to make himself the preferred babysitter? Tim wondered.
'But, you love staying with Uncle Gibbs, Leigh. You wanted to help him finish that bookcase he's making for your room, remember?'
'But... Uncle Tony lets us stay up really late and watch movies! And he lets us have pizza for breakfast!'
Leigh clamped a hand over her mouth, clearly not sure if mentioning that was really the best way to talk her father into a change of plans. Tim managed to keep a straight face only with some difficulty. Tony had already told him how he'd changed his clocks ahead to make the twins think they were staying up much later than they actually were, easily distracting them from their disappointment about not being able to stay with Gibbs like they'd planned. And Abby had told Tony he could give the girls pizza, which she rather exasperatingly called 'a sometimes food'; letting them have the treat for breakfast rather than lunch had obviously scored some major coolness points, but it wouldn't do them any harm.
'Well, maybe you can stay with Uncle Tony next time, but he has to work this weekend, sweetheart.'
Leigh still didn't move, and pouted slightly. After a moment, she continued her protest.
'But... the last time I stayed overnight at Uncle Gibbs's, I had to make my bed SIX TIMES before he thought it was good enough!'
Tim smiled, mentally comparing the usual state of Leigh's room with a Marine's expectations.
'Well, do it right the first time, and you won't have to do it again.'
'Daddy!'
*end flashback*
Leigh was apparently the only one of her bunkmates whose bed had passed inspection right from the start. Propping the card up where Abby would see it when she got home, Tim reached for his phone, still grinning as he dialled Gibbs's number.