"Jude, this is Evan. Evan, this is Jude."
Lexi, EJ, Jude, and Evan stood outside Lexi's house together. EJ had a younger brother Jude's age, and Lexi and EJ decided to introduce them to each other.
"Hi, I'm Jude," Jude replied quietly.
"I'm, uh, Evan," Evan stated shyly.
"You know that, silly. Get to know each other," Lexi laughed.
Jude gazed at the boy who was a mini version of his older brother. "Uh, do you like video games?"
Evan nodded, his long curls bouncing. "Yeah."
"I've got a few upstairs..." Jude replied.
Evan smiled. "Do you have Call of Duty?"
Jude grinned. "Yeah! Wanna play it together?"
"Sure!" Evan beamed, before both boys ran inside of the house.
EJ ran his hand through his shorter curls and sighed. "It's about time the kid found a friend. Mom has been trying to make him get to know other kids for months."
"Leave him alone, EJ, he's just shy. He's like Jude," Lexi chuckled, nudging his shoulder. "It's been two months since we adopted Jude, and he hasn't gotten in trouble yet."
"Well what do you expect? Not everyone is a daredevil like you," EJ laughed.
"Got that right. He's still really shy. But school is going to start soon and Mom wants Jude to go to St. Andrew's instead of Memorial Middle School."
EJ raised his eyebrows. "How does he feel about that?"
"I've never seen him so mad before. He's afraid of nuns I guess. But I don't blame him. And you know how my mom is, once she decides something, it sticks and there's no changing her mind," Lexi explained.
EJ nodded in agreement. "So what happened?"
"Mom told him that he wouldn't be going to the public school, and he threw a small fit. I had to calm him down before Mom did. I don't blame him, nuns are scary. He's a real spitfire when he wants to be," Lexi answered.
"Wow. Yeah Evan isn't really thrilled to go there either..." EJ stated.
"Well knowing that Evan would be going too would make him want to go more," Lexi commented.
"Yeah you're right," EJ agreed.
"I just hope that he doesn't continue protesting because Mom has had enough," Lexi sighed. "I don't want to see him in trouble."
"I hope so, too. I'll see you later. Thanks for introducing Evan to Jude. I've been worried about Evan since he hasn't really made any friends."
"No problem. Anything for him. I think they'll be great friends," Lexi replied. EJ planted a quick kiss to her lips and gave her a hug.
"I'll go get him," EJ said, smiling. Lexi nodded, smiling like an idiot still after EJ walked away.
~*~NCIS~*~
3 weeks later...
"Jude! We need to leave!" Jen called out.
"Do I have to?" Jude whined.
"Yes, you do! We need to get your uniforms and you have to meet the principal by 4. Let's go!" Jen replied.
Jude groaned and slowly trudged down the stairs, a displeased look on his face. Lexi stood by the banister, looking on in amusement.
"Smile, Judicorn. It won't be that bad," Lexi sang, using her nickname for him.
"Easy for you to say," Jude whined. "Mom, why can't I just stay with Dad-"
"Jude Andrew Gibbs, get in the car, now," Jen growled with gritted teeth.
Jude huffed and stomped outside to the car. Jen sighed in exasperation, running a hand through her red locks. Gibbs smirked and planted a kiss to her lips.
"You'll be fine," Gibbs whispered. Jen kissed him back and rolled her eyes.
"I hope so," Jen sighed. She went over to Lexi and kissed her forehead.
"Mom, don't be too hard on him. It's hard for him to understand," Lexi told her.
Jen smiled. "I'll keep that in mind, sweetie."
~*~NCIS~*~
During the drive to the uniform store, it was tensely silent. Jen sighed and gazed at Jude who was staring out of the window, sulking. He refused to talk and Jen didn't force him. He was just like how Lexi was when Jen had first met her. Quiet, shy, and stubborn also.
When they got to the store, Jen turned off the engine and exited the car. Jude stayed put, crossing his arms firmly across his chest.
"Jude, let's go," Jen ordered.
Jude shook his head. Jen scowled and strode over to his side of the car. She opened his door and pointed to the store.
"I don't want to," Jude grumbled.
"Well whether you want to or not, you will. Let's go before I have to do something I don't want to do," Jen growled.
Jude rolled his eyes and got out of the car. Jen shook her head before closing and locking the car door. Once inside of the store, Jen found the section with his school uniforms in it. She picked up three pairs of black pants and three white button-downs with the school logo on the left breast in his size. Along with that, she picked up a royal blue blazer and tie that all of the boys were to wear.
"I don't want to wear this. It's for geeks," Jude whined.
Jen bent down to his size, sternly locking her deep forest green eyes into his.
"You listen to me, and you listen good young man, because my patience is wearing thin. I have had enough of your disobedience and stubbornness. I don't care whether it is for geeks, or the cool kids, you will wear it. You're lucky that I am being extremely lenient with you. This behavior is unacceptable, and I will not stand for it any longer. Keep it up, and you will be sitting on a sore backside. Do I make myself clear, Jude Andrew?" Jen hissed angrily.
Jude sighed. "Yes..."
"Yes what?" Jen snapped.
"Yes, ma'am," Jude replied.
"Thank you. Now it's time to check out," Jen answered in satisfaction at his answer. Jude sighed again in defeat. He didn't like that he was upsetting his mother, but he just was in a sour, horrible mood, and her forcing him to go to a private school run by nuns made it no better.
Jen paid for the items and they left the store. Again, Jude was completely silent on the way to the school. When they reached the school, Jen parked the car, turned off the engine, but didn't get out immediately. She turned to face Jude and looked at him intensely. Jude looked back at her in confusion.
"...What?" Jude said.
"I want you to promise me that you won't say or do anything to mess this up," Jen replied calmly.
Jude faked an incredulous look and gasped dramatically. "Me?" he gasped.
"I am serious, young man. Don't test me," Jen warned.
Jude smirked and raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay..."
Jen got out of the car, Jude following close behind her. They walked inside of the office, where they were met by a tall, kind looking nun.
"Hello, Jennifer. Very nice to see you again. And this must be Jude," the nun greeted in a slightly Irish accent.
Jen pulled Jude out from behind her. "H-hello," Jude whispered.
"Quite a shy one," the nun chuckled softly. "I am Sister Angela, the principal of the school."
"Nice to meet you," Jude mumbled shyly.
"And you, Jude. Why don't we continue in my office?"
Jen nodded and followed Sister Angela to her office. Sister Angela went to her desk and sat behind it while Jude and Jen sat in two chairs next to each other in front of her desk.
She began to ask him questions, like his interests, favorite subjects, if he did sports etc. Jude answered normally, the nervousness slowly dissipating.
"Now, Jude. I just have one question for you," Sister Angela stated.
Jude nodded. "Why is it that you wanted to come here at St. Andrew's?" Sister inquired.
Jude looked at Jen who was giving him the 'don't you dare' glare, before smirking and relaxedly sitting back in his chair.
"Well...that's easy. With all due respect, Sister Angela, I don't want to come here. I never did. I want to go to Memorial Middle like everyone else. Its just because my parents want me to come here, why I'm coming here in the first place. Or else, I wouldn't be here," Jude stated calmly.
Jude learned one thing at that moment.
Jen was very strong.
Jen silently and quickly grabbed Jude's arm in a steel grip, and basically dragged him back to the car. During the icy, tense car ride, Jude couldn't shake the feeling that he royally screwed up.
~*~NCIS~*~
"Ow, ow, ow," Jude grunted as Jen dragged him into the house by his ear.
"Room. Now. March," Jen snapped, swatting him once, hard. Jude yelped, running upstairs to his room. Jen huffed in frustration and entered the kitchen where Gibbs sat sipping from a mug of coffee and reading the newspaper. She silently moved to pour herself a cup of coffee.
"What happened, Jen?" Gibbs inquired.
Jen sighed and proceeded to tell him the events of the day. Gibbs sighed.
"I gotta say, he's got guts to test you," Gibbs commented.
"He knew that he was testing the waters. I gave him multiple warnings," Jen replied.
"He basically threw away all chances of going to that school, Jethro. He was disobedient, rude, and just insolent. If it were Lexi, I wouldn't have thought twice about straightening her out," Jen continued.
"What are you going to do?" Gibbs inquired.
"Well, once I'm calm, I'm going to talk to him. I won't go too hard on him," Jen sighed.
"He's a sweet kid. Not sure why he was acting this way," Gibbs remarked.
"Neither am I. I've been extremely patient and lenient with him all day. That was the last straw and he's going to see that being stubborn and rude will not help him any," Jen answered, finishing her coffee and placing the cup in the sink.
~*~NCIS~*~
Jude laid on his bed, hands over his face. He knew that he pushed Jen too far. Why did he have to be so stubborn? She probably hated him. Who could blame her?
His door slammed open, startling Jude. He saw that it was only Lexi and sighed in relief.
"Hey, how did it go?" Lexi asked.
"Terrible. I messed up the interview," Jude groaned.
"What did you say?" Lexi inquired curiously. Jude repeated his earlier words to Lexi. Lexi whistled and raised her eyebrows.
"Wow. You've really done it this time," Lexi chuckled.
"It's not funny, Lex. What if she hates me?" Jude whined.
"Hey, now. Don't say that. Remember what I said before. It doesn't matter if you cause all the trouble in the world, Mom and Dad will always love you no matter what," Lexi assured him.
"Okay...what is she gonna do to me?" Jude asked nervously.
"I'm not gonna lie to you, J. She's gonna give you a good spankin' for this one," Lexi sighed.
"Oh no..." Jude whined.
"Just count your blessings that it's Mom and not Dad," Lexi told him.
At that moment, the door opened. Jen walked in and sighed. "Lexi I need to speak with your brother alone," Jen stated firnly.
Jude shot Lexi a desperate glance. Lexi returned the look with a sympathetic one and leaned down to whisper in his ear.
"Whatever you do, don't resist or fight it," Lexi whispered, before ruffling his hair and leaving. Jude looked down at his hands.
"Jude," Jen spoke softly.
Jude shook his head, refusing to meet Jen's gaze.
"Jude, look at me," Jen ordered gently.
Jude shook his head again. "I can't..." he replied weakly.
"Why not?"
"B-because you're mad at me," Jude whimpered.
"No, sweetie. I'm not mad," Jen replied.
"You're not?" Jude asked in disbelief.
"No. Just disappointed," Jen sighed.
Jude nodded and went back to gazing at his fingernails. "Your behavior today, it was unacceptable. And quite frankly, it was just not like you. I want to know what was going on."
He sighed. "I dunno...I'm just afraid of nuns, and going to a school filled with them...I couldn't handle it. So I was in a sour mood all day," Jude explained.
"Sweetie, I understand that maybe St. Andrews was not your first choice. But you haven't given it a chance yet. They have your favorite sports, ice hockey and baseball, and Evan will be there, too. And why didn't you tell me?"
"I-I didn't think. I didn't know that Evan would be there too...and I thought it was dumb," Jude admitted.
"No, it's not dumb. Nuns can be scary, yes. But did Sister Angel seem scary?"
"No..."
"Exactly. Now, I hate to do this, but I warned you and it's not okay to act out just because you're in a bad mood," Jen replied.
Jude sighed and nodded. It hurt him to know that he had disappointed Jen, and now he understood that he took it maybe a little too far...
Lexi walked into Jude's room to see him lying in his bed, quietly sniffling. She walked over and sat next to him, stroking his hair.
"Aw Jude..."
"I feel awful," Jude grumbled.
"Understandable. How bad was it?" Lexi inquired.
"It hurt obviously. But that wasn't what made me feel bad. I...I made her cry," Jude whimpered.
"Oh, Judicorn. I don't think I can count how many times I've made Mom cry when she spanked me. She'll be fine. She won't hold it against you," Lexi comforted.
"I'm so stupid..."
"Jude, let me tell you something. No matter what you do in this family, it won't be held against you. Never. It doesn't matter if you cause all the trouble in the world. You'll get one hell of a spanking, but after everyone will put it past them. And you're not stupid. You made a mistake, you were punished, and you learned from said mistake. You're going to make a lot more yeah, but move on. Okay?" Lexi explained.
Jude nodded. "You're really wise... Like an old person."
"I use really good lotion," Lexi chuckled.
"Lexi?" Jude asked.
"Yeah?"
"You can sing right?"
"Uh huh."
"Can you..."
"Of course. What song?"
"My favorite one?"
"Gotcha. Just lie back," Lexi instructed. Jude laid his head on his pillow as Lexi began to softly sing Pompeii by Bastille, his favorite song to him until he fell asleep. Lexi kissed his head and left his room.
Jen answered her phone as it began to ring. "Hello?"
Gibbs regarded her curiously. Jen's eyes widened. "Really?" She remarked in disbelief. "Oh my goodness, thank you so much! Okay, I'll see you then. Goodbye."
Jen hung up and looked at Gibbs with a grin. "What happened?"
"That was Sister Angela, and she said that the interview was a success, and that Jude has been accepted," Jen laughed.
"Seriously? After all he said?" Gibbs asked.
"I guess so," Jen sighed in relief. "She said that he was honest and blunt, while still remaining respectful, and she liked that about him."
"He's a good kid," Gibbs chuckled.
"He is. I'm glad I didn't go hard on him. He's such a sweetheart."
"We have two incredible kids," Gibbs commented.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Jen smiled, planting a kiss to Gibbs' lips.
~*~NCIS~*~
Should I end this with an epilogue? Or keep going?
-Ally :)