Title. Once Upon a Summertime
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on NCIS, I'm just borrowing them for the story.
CHAPTER 10
Hidden tree house
In the back yard
Tim's POV:
That evening was the first time Gibbs ever showed us the hidden tree house in the back yard. We didn't know it then, but that tree house would prove more useful that summer than any of us had ever expected.
We put our plates and forks and knives in the sink and Jenny said she would take care of the dishes tonight. But she also explained that the rule was that after tonight we would all take turns helping her or Gibbs clean the table and do the dishes or dry, every evening.
But tonight we were off the hook since it was our first evening at the little house at 1242 Pineroad. Gibbs took us out in the backyard again and finished showing us around. Like everything else it was not big, but it wasn't boring either. I could see that one could easily find things to do in this back yard. There was the swing and the lawn where you could play football or something else involving a ball of some sort. Not that that was one of my biggest interests in the world but it worked. Looking around I noticed that there were enough places to hide around here to play hide and seek. You could hide on the front side of the house and behind Gibbs' shed. There were bushes underneath the kitchen window that would do well to hide in and there was the maple tree to climb up into or you could hide behind its trunk.
"Why are we going out here again?" Ziva asked. I thought she seemed like a brave person for some reason. I wasn't really afraid of Gibbs myself either anymore, but she didn't seem to have a problem questioning anything. I was not that brave. "We've seen everything."
"I thought you should see the tree house." Gibbs answered her, stopping in the middle of the lawn, his blue eyes targeting the maple tree.
"Tree house?" I glanced around the backyard. I didn't see a tree house anywhere. And the place wasn't that big. Was Gibbs trying to trick us? "I…I don't…see a tree house, Gibbs." I had gone over to addressing the Federal Agent Gibbs, the same as Tony did. It felt better than always saying Agent or Special Agent first. And Tony was right; Jethro sounded very strange. For some reason it reminded me of some sort of dog.
Abby came up by my side. "I don't see one either, Gibbs." She frowned in confusion.
"No, no you wouldn't yet." He said looking a little mischievous. With a dramatic wave of his hand he said, "Follow me." We crossed the small lawn and walked past the maple tree with the swing Abby had been on before. There, behind the maple tree, closer to the white little fence stood a proud Walnut tree. Gibbs folded some branches to the side and allowed us kids to step in under the tree. He then followed us. Tony looked at him skeptically.
"So, where is this tree house, Gibbs?" he asked impatiently.
Gibbs grinned and pointed upward. I tilted my head back and looked up. There high up in the branches and leaves was indeed a tree house. I looked around for a ladder and noticed that Ziva had circled the tree and was standing on the other side. I did the same and noticed the ladder leading up to the tree house.
"Wow." I managed to whimper as I stared up at the tree house. It was great. Just the right size. But it was sooo high up. I would never be able to climb up there without fainting from my fear of heights. I glanced up again and felt dizzy just from looking up at it. It was impossible.
Tony was already on his way up the ladder. "Wow, Gibbs. Did you build this?"
Gibbs shook his head. "Not all of it. The floor and walls were already here when we moved in. I just fixed it up. I made the roof, windows, ladder and the mini balcony with the ladder."
We all looked at the tree house in awe. Then Abby spoke up. "But Gibbs…you don't have any kids. Why did you up fix it?"
"Fix it up." He corrected. He seemed to think for a moment about the answer to her question before answering. It was like he wasn't completely sure himself. "I guess I just had a lot of time on my hands then. And I didn't like seeing it half finished like that."
He stepped over to the ladder and took hold of Tony's waist, lifting him down and planting him on the ground again. "Hey!" Tony protested.
"No, not now." Gibbs said calmly but in a determined voice. " You can all climb up there tomorrow. Right now it's time for bed."
"But don't you think someone should check it out and make sure it's safe for us to be up there first?" Tony asked. "Someone small enough to fit up there without bumping his head in the ceiling causing a leak when the rain comes, I mean. "
Gibbs laughed. "Maybe. But you can still do that tomorrow, Tony."
Tony's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Oh okay."
Gibbs ruffled his hair some, "Good boy." He then turned to me. "What do you think, Tim? Is it good enough?"
I made an attempt to smile, despite my nervousness. "Yes, Gibbs. Of course. It's great." I gulped a little as I looked up at the tree house again. "And very high up. " I whispered to myself.
Abby pulled Gibbs sleeve to get him to crouch down. "Is Philip and me allowed to go up there too?"
Gibbs scratched his chin a little in thought. "Well, Abby. How old are you?"
"Six." She said with downcast eyes.
"Are you good at climbing?"
She nodded and looked a little more confident. Tony tapped Gibbs on the shoulder.
"I'll help her, Gibbs. And I'll keep an eye on her."
Gibbs contemplated this with his hands on his thighs for a moment. "And what about Philip?" he said seriously. "Will you look after him up there too?"
Tony grinned. "I promise." He assured him.
Gibbs smiled a little crocked smile. "Yeah ok. Abby you have my official permission to be up there too." He stood to his full height. "Now I just have to get it past Jen." He mumbled to himself as he stalked out of the leafy hideout.
We remained where we were, just looking in the direction he had went, wondering what to do. Suddenly we heard a shout from outside. "Hey! Let's go! When I leave you follow. Marsch."
We scrambled to follow quickly. As we exited I suddenly remembered something. I hadn't heard a peep from Ziva for a while. I looked around but she was nowhere in sight. I peered at Gibbs who was waiting for us to catch up by the porch steps. Tony and Abby were headed towards him and I started to follow, but I stopped when I heard a rustling sound above my head. I turned and looked up at the maple tree with the swing. There on one of the highest branches sat Ziva causally dangling her legs. It was almost as high as the roof of the house. I wasn't sure what to do. I wanted to yell out to her but what if I scared her and she fell. She could die. I wanted to cry out to Gibbs but what if he got really mad at Ziva. I didn't want that either.
I stood there frozen in place for a while, just staring up the high tree. The maple was higher than the Walnut tree with the tree house. What if she fell? What if she did? It would in a way be my fault. Gibbs was going to freak when he discovered her up there. I was sure of it. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. When I looked up I saw him standing there next to me, looking up the tree as well. I waited for the explosion and panic that I thought sure would follow, but they never came. His expression was nothing like I had expected. He looked calm and relaxed.
He pointed a finger at Ziva sitting in the tree. She looked down at him. When Gibbs saw she had noticed him there he beckoned her with his finger."You. Bedtime. Now."
And that was all he said. He actually even turned around and left after that, bringing me with him. He didn't even seem mad. He just seemed confident that she was on her way down after having been told, by him, to climb down. He didn't look back to make sure. He just seemed to know.
-%%%%To be continued%%%%-
A/N: Please take the time to send me a review after reading this. It makes writing a lot easier knowing it's appreciated.