I apologize for the long lull in writing. We were out of the country for the summer-oh Bahamas how I miss you, then when we came back it was time for another school year and as a teacher I'm not going to lie-I hate going back sometimes as much as the kids. Plus my son is now doing sports and scouts so we have been busy. But I digress…..
Twinkie had been a member of the Gibbs family for a week when one night Abby took him out of his cage and carried him down to the basement where her father was working on his latest boat.
Gibbs heard her on the stairs and continued working. "What's up Abbs?"
Abby walked down the stairs in her slippers and walked over to her dad. She sat between the slats on the shell of the boat.
She held out the ball of yellow fur to her father. "Twinkie say hi to grandpa".
Gibbs rolled his eyes at the thought of
A) Being called grandpa this young in his life and
B) Being considered a grandpa to a rodent.
Gibbs knew how much Abby loved said rodent so he humored her by giving it a quick rub on its little yellow body.
Abby satisfied that her father had acknowledged his hamster grandchild, went back to cuddling it while talking to her dad.
"I was thinking dad, Twinkie needs a hamster house".
"Abby he has his critter cage or whatever that plastic monstrosity is called."
"But daaaaad. That is not the same he needs a wooden hamster house to hide in and feel safe, and who better to build him his little hamster house then the greatest daddy in the entire world."
Gibbs couldn't help but roll his eyes again. He had to give his youngest credit she was good at daddy manipulation.
"Ok Abs I'll tell you what I will help build a house for Twinkie but you are going to help me."
Abby quickly jumped up and hugged her father being careful not to squish said hamster.
Gibbs leaned over and kissed the top of her head.
The next night after dinner Abby and Gibbs spent the next few hours making Twinkie a one of a kind two story hamster house complete with a little ladder to get from the first floor to the second floor.
When Abby was home she always had Twinkie with her.
She had even tried to bring him to the dinner table one night but after a heated argument and a few well-placed swats courtesy of Gibbs, Abby decided that Twinkie would be happier in his cage then at the dinner table.
One night after the kids were in bed Gibbs couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer. He rolled over and looked at Jen. He almost was too distracted by the skimpy blue silk nightie she was wearing which set off the red in her hair.
"Jen I know you had a plan with buying Abby the hamster. I know you better than to think our daughter screwed up royally and you were going to reward her for it. I know you have an ulterior motive and I want to know what it is."
Jen couldn't help but laugh. "Oh Jethro . I do have a plan which will hopefully teach one little black haired, greened eyed, little girl an important lesson. As for what my plan is, well that my dear Jethro you are just going to have to wait and see."
And with that she began passionately kissing Gibbs and within a few minutes Abby and a hamster were the last things on either Gibbs or Jenny's mind.
It was a relaxing summer Saturday. Gibbs was doing some household projects that he had been putting off. Jen was at home working in the study. Tony and a few of his friends were hanging out by the pool and Abby had gone with Lucy to the mall.
Abby came home after a few hours of hanging out at the mall imagining all the things she could buy if she actually had more than 10 dollars and 63 cents in her pocket.
Abby ran up to her room at see her beloved Twinkie.
A few seconds later a blood curdling scream shook the Gibbs house.
Gibbs and Jenny burst into Abby's room, Gibbs with his gun drawn thinking someone must have gotten into the house and was trying to harm his daughter.
Abby was by now sobbing and tossing hamster shavings all over hoping that Twinkie was just hiding in them.
Gibbs put his gun away when he realized there was no immediate threat. Jenny began trying to calm Abby down.
Jenny had her arm around her distraught daughter. "Abby honey relax, what is going on?"
Abby had big fat tears rolling down her cheeks. "Twinkie's gone" was all Abby managed to choke out before she broke into hysterics.
Again Gibbs rolled his eyes. Great now there was a rodent on the loose somewhere in the house probably chewing on god knows what. He was really not feeling the love toward the newest member of the family.
"Abby we will find him" soothed Jenny.
"He could be anywhere and what if he is hurt and he is probably scared, and what if he has gotten outside. Anything could happen to him. I love him so much I don't want anything bad to happen to him."
Jenny put her fingers under Abby's chin and made sure Abby was looking at her. "It is hard to be a parent isn't it Abby. We want to keep our little ones safe and when we don't know where they are we can't keep them safe."
Abby was a little confused at what her mother was trying to get at. This was an emergency not the time to give advice.
"Mom we have to start looking all over the house. Dad you need to call team Franks and have them assist."
"Abs I don't think a lost hamster is grounds for a team call out. Sorry kiddo. You will have to rely on the expertize of your mother and I."
Jen continued "Scary when you love someone and they put themselves in danger isn't it Abby?"
Abby was still confused and looked at her mom "Huh?"
Jen was determined to drive this lesson home. It was now or never. "All I am saying is you love Twinkie like a parent loves a child. You want Twinkie to be safe which is no different from how a parent feels about a child."
While Jen was talking Gibbs was beginning to catch on to her devious plan with the hamster. He had to give her credit, her plan was genius.
"When you snuck out to the cemetery and we didn't know where you were and when you put yourself in danger going to a party and getting drunk your father and I were feeling just like you are feeling now about Twinkie."
Abby was still distraught but was beginning to get a funny feeling in her gut telling her there was more to this than meets the eye.
Jen persevered "being a parent is hard. It was hard when you love someone so much and yet they put themselves in danger."
Abby was beginning to get impatient. The more time they spent talking the farther Twinkie could get.
"Mom we need to start looking for him NOW."
Jen stood up. "Just a minute Abby. I have an idea".
Jen left the room and Abby was still sitting on her bed confused.
Gibbs decided he should stay because he had a feeling there was going to be an explosion when Abby finally figured out what had really happened.
Jen came back into the room carrying one little yellow ball of fur.
Abby quickly grabbed it from her mom and began cuddling it. "Oh Twinkie you're okay".
Once Abby had calmed down she began to wonder why her mom knew where Twinkie was.
"Mom why did you know where he was?" She could feel her temper rise. "Did you do this on purpose?"
"Oh my god I can't believe that your own grandmother hamster napped you Twinkie."
Abby turned to her mother and started her tirade. "Oh my god mom how could you do something like that. You had no right."
By this point Abby was shouting at her mother and Gibbs knew if he didn't intervene things would spiral out of control quickly between mother and daughter.
Gibbs crossed the room. Grabbed Abby by her arm up off the bed and swatted her butt hard.
The swat shut Abby up quick because it hurt and she knew if she kept shouting her father would be providing more than on swat.
Gibbs turned those steel blue eyes on his daughter. "Abby I suggest you stay up here and think about the lesson your mother was trying to get into that stubborn little head of yours. I do not want to see you out of this room until dinner. And when you come down to dinner I suggest you have control of that attitude because if you continue to yell at your mother there will be plenty more swats coming your way. Am I clear young lady?"
Although Abby was still angry she wasn't stupid. "Yes daddy".
Gibbs grabbed jenny's arm and escorted her out of the room to give Abby some time to think.
TBC- Do you think Abby will see the error of her ways?
