Scenes From A Marriage
VII What Have You Done?
Jethro Gibbs walked into his house on a Wednesday evening carrying a bouquet of flowers. They were nothing spectacular, just an arrangement of daisies and carnations and a couple of roses in a plain vase. He took the flowers into the kitchen and added water to the vase before setting them on his wife's desk in the office. Then he went upstairs, changed his clothes, came back down for a beer and then disappeared into the basement to work on his latest project. He was well into his third beer and concentrating on the cabinet he was building when he heard the front door open and close and Jen announce she was home.
"I'm in the basement" he called up to her.
"Okay."
He put the tools down and waited. He heard her moving around upstairs, heard her go into the office and then,
"Jethro what have you done now?" Jen hollered down to him from the hallway.
"What do you mean?" He was smirking and waiting; waiting for her to descend into his sanctuary and accuse him of not playing well with others in the alphabet soup that was DC.
"I mean, who did you piss off today?" She was halfway down the stairs, a beer in each hand and a very suspicious look on her beautiful face.
"What makes you think I pissed anyone off? Did you hear of me doing anything wrong today, Director?" He reached for one of the beers and wiped off the seat of the stool so she could sit down. She chose to stand.
"Don't you Director me, Jethro! No I didn't hear of you doing anything wrong but you never bring me flowers unless you've stepped in it somehow. Just tell me and let's get this over with."
"Jen, you wound me. Can't I just give you flowers because I love you and think you are the most beautiful woman on the planet?" He was standing impossibly close to her; so close he could hear her breathing. The urge to touch her almost overwhelmed him.
"Of course you can give me flowers because you love me. The issue is; you don't. Jethro what have you done?" She looked at him and could barely stand to keep her hands and her mouth to herself. She was determined not to be the one who gave in tonight. He was going to tell her what he'd done or else.
"I haven't done anything bad I promise. Why can't you believe me? Do I ever lie to you? I just wanted to give you flowers. If you don't want them, I'll give them to Noemi." Jethro gave in and leaned down to kiss her. He drew her to himself with a hand on the back of her neck and kissed her tenderly but with purpose. There was a reason for the flowers of course but he was hoping to convince her they were simply an expression of his love for her and get her to drop the issue. He probably should have simply told her but for some reason he just couldn't find the words.
Jen was beginning to feel a little bit bad for accusing him of having some ulterior motive. The thing was, he just didn't bring her flowers for no reason. In the almost eleven years they had been married he had done it exactly three times before. However, he had brought her flowers or some other peace offering at least a dozen times when he needed to get back on her good side after screwing up something at work. Naturally she was skeptical of his denials tonight. Something in his tone though had her backing off and accepting what he was saying.
"No, you don't lie to me. Thank you for the flowers, Jethro. They're lovely." She put her beer down and wrapped her arms around his waist laying her head on his chest. His hand came up and stroked through her hair and down her back. They stood like that for a long time, soaking up each other's love and warmth.
Hours later Jen came out of the bathroom to find Jethro sitting on the side of the bed with is head in his hands. She sat down next to him and began rubbing his back gently. Something was wrong; she knew it as sure as she knew her name. Their years together had taught her to be patient and be present and Jethro would eventually tell her what he needed her to know.
He didn't look up and when he started talking his voice was thick with emotion. "I love you Jen. I got you the flowers because I love you more than I can ever tell you. I was at the cemetery today because it's Shannon's birthday and I took flowers to the grave. While I was there I realized that I almost never give you flowers but I take them out there several times a year. It just struck me that I wanted to give you flowers too. All these years we've been together and you never get flowers just because. You deserve so much more than I can ever give you."
Jen wiped the tears from her face and pulled his face around to look at her. "Jethro, you show me every day, many times a day how much you love me. Flowers are all you can do for Shannon now, I understand that. Thank you for wanting to give me some too. Don't ever think you are letting me down or shortchanging me because you don't. You are the best man I have ever known and I consider myself very blessed to have you in my life. I'm sorry I badgered you about the flowers. I should have just accepted them and said thank you. Forgive me?"
Jethro pulled Jen down onto the bed with him and kissed her until neither of them had any breath left. He brushed his fingers over her lips and smiled down at her. "Nothing to forgive. You had every right to wonder. After all, I was out with Fornell all afternoon. Who knows what might have happened."
END
