Chapter 10

The viewing/memorial service ended up being as uneventful as they could have wished. None of them got weepy. Carl's few friends showed up but didn't seem surprised at the lack of ceremony. Ginnie and Hector came and stayed the entire time, but Hollis got the sense that it was to be some sort of moral support for the family rather than out of any real connection to Carl.

The only worrisome moment came when Mason was forced to talk to one of Carl's friends. He got irritated and excused himself rather abruptly from the conversation, leaving Jason to explain that Mason had...issues. Joey went after Mason and didn't come back for about twenty minutes.

Finally, they ended the viewing. Mason flat-out refused to come to the grave and no one felt it was worth pushing for. Instead, the other four drove to the cemetery and watched as the coffin was lowered into the ground. There was a brief prayer, but none of them were particularly religious, and they had no idea if their father had been. Clearly, he wasn't Catholic, at least not in practice.

Then, it was over. Hollis and three of her brothers, plus Daralyn, walked away from the cemetery. Only Marty showed any sign of remorse...and at that, his was pretty mild considering what it could have been. Daralyn had stayed beside him the whole time. When they reached the entrance to the cemetery, Mason was standing there.

"Hey," he said.

Jason looked at him for a second and then just nodded. "It's all right."

No one else spoke. They just headed out, ready to leave their father behind. They went for lunch and talked about what everyone was doing. Joey told them that Marjorie was having some problems with him being gone but that she had agreed that he needed to stay until all was taken care of. ...but Joey was eager to get back to her.

"So...that's it?" Joey asked.

"Seems like it," Mason said. "Can I say it? Just once."

"If it'll make you feel better," Jason said.

"Good riddance."

Hollis laughed a little and looked over at Marty.

"Don't look at me," Marty said. "I'm keeping my mouth shut."

"You don't have to."

"Yeah, I do...because I know that what I want to say isn't actually the truth. It's just what I want to be true."

"What do you want to be true?" Hollis asked.

"That Dad really did care about us, that those stupid rocks he had meant something more than that he was stupid. ...but he had twenty years and never bothered. He must have known you were here, Hollis. He knew where Jason was. What's the point in thinking that there was a mistake? There was no mistake." Marty shook his head. "I just wish that there was."

"Yeah," Joey said softly. "Mason won't admit it, but I think we all wish that there was a mistake somewhere."

Mason rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't know about you all, but my flight is leaving in a few hours. I still need to check out and I don't want to miss my flight."

"I can't miss mine," Joey said. "Marjorie won't last another day."

Hollis smiled. "Thanks for coming...all of you. It really has been too long."

"Well...if you get married, Hollis..." Mason said suggestively.

"I'll let you know."

"We'll all be there...just to have proof that it's really happening."

"Thanks. You keep acting like that and we'll elope to Monte Carlo."

"Whatever happened to Vegas?" Jason asked.

"We're too old for Vegas."

They all laughed and then hugged each other and said good-bye, promising that it wouldn't take a death to bring them all together again. Then, they went their separate ways. Hollis went back to Jethro's house, happy enough, although what Marty said was still in her mind. She hadn't said anything, but she felt much the same way. Her reaction to the truth had been anger rather than despair, but she had wanted the truth to be something other than it was.

When she walked into the kitchen, she smiled to herself. She could cook this once. It would make it feel more like this was her house, too. It would be more like a home and less like a place she was staying. When Jethro was there, she felt like she belonged, but when she was alone...it was just a building.

There was nothing for cooking, really. She shook her head at the contents of Jethro's kitchen. He was such a bachelor. Then, she laughed and went out to buy groceries.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"So...Boss?"

"What, DiNozzo?" Jethro asked, not looking up.

"Are you...you and Agent Mann–?"

Jethro looked up, giving Tony his absolute and full attention, widening his eyes slightly.

"What?"

"Tony wishes to know if you are going to marry Agent Mann," Ziva said with an evil grin at Tony. "He has been talking about it since you left."

"I have not!" Tony said quickly.

"Do you two not have enough to do?" Jethro asked.

"Well...we found the three-headed dog and took it back to its daddy," Tony said.

A smothered laugh from the region of Tim's desk. After his initial breakdown, he had lost any ability to control his laughter and Tony and Ziva were enjoying every opportunity of making Tim laugh, easy as it now was.

"He was very excited to have his little dog home again," Ziva said.

"It was ten feet tall!" Tony said.

"Okay, his big dog."

Another snort of laughter. Jethro looked over at Tim who was steadfastly staring at his computer, trying to finish his report. He hadn't made it as far as he would have if the other two hadn't been there to continually give him the giggles.

"All right, that's enough. You two finish your reports...and no making McGee laugh until you're all finished!" Jethro rolled his eyes. It was like teaching elementary school sometimes with these three.

"Yes, Boss," Tony said.

"Yes, Gibbs."

His only reply from Tim was a hurried throat-clearing.

When they were all back working on their reports, he took a moment to smile. No, this case hadn't really needed them, but it was actually kind of nice to have a simple one to solve. It would make going home so much nicer later on. Not that Hollis would have a problem if he'd been preoccupied with a serious case, but with all that she'd been dealing with, he didn't want to give her anything else to worry about.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jethro opened the door and smiled. It had been a long time since he'd come home to the smell of a meal cooking. Hollis had cooked occasionally, but most of the time, it had been while they were both there. It was almost like...coming home.

"Holly?"

"I haven't burned anything. I promise!"

Jethro chuckled and walked into the kitchen.

"What are you making?"

Hollis looked around at the mess she'd made.

"Let's see...some sort of blackened salmon from a recipe I got from my sister-in-law. Then, callendarinie noodles which are so incredibly bad for you that they have to taste good. ...and broccoli."

"Broccoli?" Jethro asked in surprise.

"Yeah. I figured we'd have one thing that's masquerading as healthy."

Jethro walked over to her and hugged her from behind.

"How was the viewing and everything?"

"Something I'm glad to have over with," Hollis said. "Dinner's almost ready if you'll trust me not to kill us both."

"I trust you."

"Good." She turned around and kissed him...and then pulled back quickly. "Oh, no. I'm not going to burn this sauce. If I'm cooking, it's going to turn out right. So...go and do something that won't distract me."

Jethro grinned and then went and set the table.

Dinner was ready a few minutes later and he could tell that Hollis was relieved it all turned out well. He could also see that she wasn't as blase about her father as she was acting. For the moment, though, he was content to let her pretend.

It was a nice evening, and they went to bed early.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jethro woke up in the night and rolled over, surprised to find Hollis' side of the bed empty. He got up and walked down the stairs. He saw her outside, sitting on the patio. Quietly, he opened the door and sat down beside her. He could see the tears on her cheeks. He didn't say anything. He just put an arm around her. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

For a long time, neither of them said anything. They just sat together out in the backyard. Then, Hollis sighed.

"We threw the rocks away. Not even Marty wanted his."

"Makes sense."

"It was so easy to get rid of everything he owned. All of ten people showed up to say good-bye. It didn't bother me. It was almost a comfort to know that he made as few connections with other people as he made with his family."

Jethro said nothing, letting her get it all out.

"I've hated him for years. I ignored his existence for years. I wanted nothing more than to get him buried so that I could go back to that perspective. ...and now I'm crying. I'm worse than Marty. At least, he's consistent."

Jethro smiled a bit.

"Nothing wrong with being inconsistent."

"Something Marty said. He knew that there was no mistake in our interpretation of our dad, but he wished there was. I wish that there had been something different. I really wish that my father had been like I thought he was when I was a little girl."

"Nothing wrong with that."

"Thanks...but I'll be glad just to forget him."

"Ready to come back to bed?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Good. Come on."

Jethro stood up and held out his hand. Hollis smiled at the gesture and took his hand. He pulled her up and then kept hold of her hand as they went back inside. She held onto him tightly when they got back into bed. Jethro didn't go to sleep until she did. He just held her until he felt her relax.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The rest of the week passed uneventfully. There was work to be done, and Jethro did it. He suspected that Hollis had contacted Hettie and was doing some work herself during the day. Both of them were anxious for the weekend, but Jethro knew it wasn't for the same reasons. He felt like the ring was burning a hole in his pocket. ...but he also knew that she was really looking forward to meeting his dad.

In his spare time, he was finishing up the headboard. He liked it and he was pretty sure Hollis would, too.

By Friday, they were both chomping at the bit. Jethro actually ended up leaving early, giving everyone at NCIS a heart attack. He knew that they would be gossiping about what it meant. Still, he was ready to go.

Hollis was packed when he got back. She'd even packed his clothes, too. So he smiled, tossed the bags in his car and they took off, headed for Stillwater.

As they drove, Jethro found that he was actually a little bit nervous.

He really hoped that they'd like each other.