Gibbs looked at the teary eyed little girl in front of him and he had to steel himself not to gather her into his arms and hug her. As much as it was breaking his heart, they needed to have this conversation and come to an understanding. Aimee had been home from the hospital for a couple days now and things were beginning to gain some normalcy once again. Abby had returned to his home and was back to her bubbly self, safe in her reassurances that Gibbs loved her despite the changes in their lives. Janessa was still her adorable self, oblivious to all that had happened. Tim was staying with Gibbs for some much-needed bed rest. He needed time to recover from his injuries in MTAC which allowed Abby time to dote on him continuously much to the younger man's chagrin and Gibbs' amusement.

"But you said you weren't mad," whispered Aimee, breaking into his thoughts.

Gibbs sat down on her bed beside her, pulling her into a hug. Her more subdued demeanor was a welcome change from earlier when he'd told her they needed to chat more about what happened and discuss rules. He thought she'd pop a blood vessel when he'd first brought it up.

"And I'm not. Do I look mad?" he asked, looking deeply into her tear filled eyes.

Aimee shrugged her shoulders and swiped at tears that betrayed her.

"I meant what I said; I'm not mad but that doesn't mean that there aren't consequences for your actions. You deliberately disobeyed me and many others that day, Aimee. Ducky and Jimmy are to be obeyed the same as me when you're at NCIS. If you're in the duck pond, they are the top ducks. Got it?"

"Yah, I got it," she sighed in resignation.

"That also includes Director Shepard, Tony, Ziva, and Tim. Catch my drift?"

She nodded again.

"Good. Now the question remains, what am I supposed to do now? How can I be sure that you're going to remember this?"

Aimee rolled her eyes, making a face at him. "Duh, Gibbs, there is no way in hell I'm going to forget almost freezing to death." Then realising what she said, she clamped a hand over her mouth quickly to prevent any other random outbursts.

Gibbs had to bite his tongue not to burst out laughing at her words and the way she looked at him so incredulously.

"Nice language," he said as her face paled.

"Sorry."

Gibbs stood to his feet and grabbed the chair from her desk. He placed it backward in front of her and straddled it, sitting down and leaning his elbow on the back. He reached his other hand into his pocket and pulled out the jackknife she had taken from his room. He held it up so she could see it.

"This little item almost cost you your life."

Aimee swiped away more tears and stared at the knife.

"Was it worth it?"

Aimee bit her lip but said nothing.

"I gather it wasn't." He tossed the knife towards her and she caught on reflex. "It's yours now. I figure you earned it. I don't like the fact that you stole it from me though, and I hope that in the future you might consider asking me before repeating that action. You might find it interesting to know that I would have given it to you had you just asked."

Aimee looked at him in awe as she held the knife in her hands. "How did I earn it?" she asked with a look of confusion settling on her face.

"Well, I think you learned a valuable lesson through all this. Getting locked in that drawer must have been pretty scary. Am I right?"

She nodded.

"I'm not rewarding you for disobeying me. I gave it to you because I trust you, and I know you can handle the responsibility, just like I think you're old enough to handle the consequences for your behaviour."

Aimee's face clouded. "So, it's a trick then."

"How do you figure that?"

Aimee stood to her feet and crossed her arms. "You're gonna punish me."

Gibbs scrubbed a hand across his face. "Getting locked in a morgue drawer and nearly dying wasn't enough punishment for you?"

Aimee looked confused. "You said there'd be consequences."

"Yes, I did, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be the one handing them out. Don't get me wrong here; you ever pull a stunt like this again or anything like it then you, me, my hand and your backside are going to have a meeting you won't soon forget. And when I say that, I mean all this attitude and disobedience you've been giving me whenever you're told to do something you don't like. It stops here and now. I'm the dad and you're not. We clear?"

Aimee's eyes looked big and wide as Gibbs spoke. He waited for a response from her, even if it was only a nod. He wanted her to know that he was finished fooling around. As much as he was quick to smack Tony and Tim, he wasn't so quick to use corporal punishment with children as a rule but he wasn't averse to the idea. In his mind, there was a time and a place for it when it came to raising kids. Maybe that made him old fashioned but he was alright with that. Why mess with something that had worked for generations?

"Yah, we're clear," she finally said softly, "but if you're not handing out consequences than who is?"

Gibbs stood to his feet. "You are."

Aimee furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

"You have the rest of the afternoon to come up with a suitable consequence for yourself, and you're going to stay right here in your room until you do."

Aimee blinked. "So, I was right; it is a trick. You're grounding me to my room."

"No, Aimee, I'm not. You can come out anytime you're ready to tell me what your consequence should be."

Aimee stood up, dropping the knife into her pocket and crossed her arms. "Okay, then, I'm ready now."

Gibbs smirked, not surprised by her antics. "Alright, what's your consequence?"

"My consequence is you get to give me a consequence," she countered with a cheeky expression on her face.

Gibbs was taken aback for a few seconds, but he recovered quickly. Aimee was a smart little thing so he knew she was well aware of what she was saying. He felt like she was daring him or trying to one-up him.

"You sure you want to go that route?" He allowed a note of mystery to linger in his voice.

Aimee's face paled a little. "Maybe…depends on what you have in mind."

Gibbs smirked. "Oh, no, that's not how the game is played, Smarty Pants. You either pick that consequence or you don't. What's it going to be?"

Aimee took a few steps back looking beyond uncertain. Gibbs picked the chair up and turned it around before he sat down. He figured he'd play the game to its fullest extent. He undid the button on the right sleeve of his shirt and began to roll up it up. Aimee visibly paled some more, catching his drift completely.

"On second thought, I think I'd better think about it some more."

Gibbs stopped and stood up, unrolling his sleeve once again. "I think that's a good idea. I'll check in on you in a couple of hours." He planted a kiss on the top of her head. "Love ya, Aims."

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Gibbs chuckled as he made his way down the stairs. Aimee was a force to be reckoned with on a good day so he was thankful it was a good day and that he'd gotten a good night's sleep, time off work and plenty to do to keep him busy. He reached the foot of the steps to see Janessa crawling on her hands and knees with a stuffed toy hanging out of her mouth.

"What are you doing?"

Janessa looked up at him, her eyes twinkling. "I'mga dock."

Gibbs laughed. "You're a duck?"

Janessa spat the toy on the floor, rolling her eyes. "No, Mr. Gibbs, I'm a dog." She stuck out her tongue and started panting like a dog and then barked for added dramatic effect.

"Oh, well, in that case," he leaned over, picked up the toy and tossed it back into the other room, "Fetch, Rover."

Janessa scowled and stood to her feet, placing her hands on her hips. "My name is not Rover, and I don't chase toys."

Gibbs chuckled, picked her up and swung her over his shoulder. "Okay, Not Rover, then maybe I should toss you into the other room so I can chase you." Janessa giggled and started kicking her feet in an attempt to escape.

"No, Daddy!"

Gibbs smiled as he walked into the family room with the little girl over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The way she could so simply swing back and forth between calling him Mr. Gibbs and daddy made him think she was easily transitioning to using the name daddy permanently. That knowledge brought a smile to his face and skip to his step. He was going to let it happen naturally with no prodding on his part. Same with Aimee. She called him Dad sometimes as well but mostly she still used Gibbs. It was all the same to him. But he did secretly like the sound of daddy in his ears.

As he entered the room, he saw Tim lying on the sofa reading a book. Tony was flipping through some channels on the television.

"When are you going to invest in a flat screen T.V., Boss?"

Gibbs dropped Janessa onto Tony's lap. "Not anytime soon, DiNozzo."

Tony groaned as Janessa landed in his lap. "There is such a thing as cable nowadays and coloured television. It's a foreign concept for you I know, but I'm sure you can handle it…"

Gibbs picked up a book from his book shelf and also dropped it into Tony's lap. "That's a book, DiNozzo; I know it's a foreign concept for you but I'm sure you can handle it."

Tim snickered.

Tony looked at the book and grimaced at the old classic as he helped a squirming Janessa to her feet. The little girl dropped to her knees and continued panting and barking as she exited the room once again.

"Stay out of your room, Ness; Aimee needs some private time right now," he called after her, figuring that was the direction his little doggie was headed.

"True Grit, Boss? Have you really read that?" asked Tony, flipping the book over to read the back cover synopsis. "Wonder if it's anything like the movie," he muttered more to himself now as he opened it to the first page.

Janessa wandered back into the room. "Is Aimee in trouble, Mr. Gibbs?"

Gibbs gave her a smile of reassurance. "Nope. She's just doing some thinking for me and when she has an answer to my question, she can come out of her room. Can you give her some time alone for me?"

"Okay," she said quietly, looking a little unsettled and then perked up suddenly, "What's the question? Maybe I know the answer so she can come out sooner."

Gibbs thought for a moment. "Well, do you know what BEDMAS means?" he said, flying by the seat of his pants.

Janessa wrinkled her nose. "What's that?"

"Something you won't learn about until Grade 6, Nessie," said Tim, looking up from his book.

Janessa walked over to Tim and crawled up into his lap. "Are you done reading yet, Timmy?"

Gibbs noticed Tim grimace as the small girl climbed up into his lap. He still had dark circles under his eyes, and he looked up at Gibbs regretting saying anything, almost pleading with him for a reprieve. Gibbs walked over and scooped Janessa up in his arms. This time she protested and wiggled to get down.

"I wanna sit with Timmy, daddy."

Gibbs tucked her on his hip and looked at her. "Right now, Tim needs to rest so what else can you do to occupy your time?"

"Can you read me a story?" she asked hopefully.

"Well, normally I would say that's a good idea, but I need to have a chat with Tim for a bit, and then I have some chores I need to do outside. I tell ya what; I will read you a story before bed tonight. How does that sound?"

Janessa flung herself backward causing Gibbs to nearly drop her. "But I want a story now." Her voice was a loud whine that surprised him. She wasnt usually so persistent.

Gibbs supported her back more so she couldn't throw herself backward again. "Perhaps a nice, cozy nap on my bed will fix that whine of yours," he suggested.

Janessa's eyes grew large and she shook her head, a pout settling on her face.

Tony took that as his cue to step into big brother mode and whisked Janessa out of Gibb's arms.

"C'mon, you little Rascal, I think it's about time I taught you how to climb that rope on the tree house. You seem to struggle with that, and if you expect to escape the bad guys, you're gonna need to learn how."

Janessa's eyes sparkled in wonderment. "What bad guys, Tony?"

"What? Gibbs hasn't told you about the treehouse bad guys?" He made a shocked face and tucked her under his arm, rushing from the room.

Gibbs shook his head, laughing as he sat down in the arm chair opposite Tim. Tim went back to his book and heaved a sigh of relief.

"How are you doing, Tim?"

"You mean between Abby hovering like a mother hen and Tony endlessly teasing me? I'm just fine and dandy; thanks for asking, Boss." The sarcasm in his voice permeated the room. Gibbs was actually surprised. Usually, Tim didn't dare make a ruffle let alone use sarcasm around him.

Gibbs stretched out and put his feet on the coffee table. He leaned back and rested his head on the back of the chair. It felt kind of nice to be lazy even though he had a whole list of things he wanted to do today. He figured if Tim was going to beat around the bush and be grouchy, he'd sit and relax awhile before pressing him further. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the silence, feeling enormously thankful for Tony's quick thinking. The younger man made a fantastic big brother for the girls or maybe uncle was a better name. Whatever he was, Gibbs appreciated all the help he could get because parenting was seriously a hard job no matter how he sliced it.

"Are you just going to sit there and stare at me?"

Gibbs opened his eyes and looked at Tim. "Uh, last time I looked, I was staring at the back of my eyelids, McGee."

"Well, are you just going to sit there?"

"My house, McGee. I can sit here and paint my toenails if I like."

Tim sighed. "I'm fine, Boss. I just want to relax and read my book, okay?"

"Fine by me; don't let me stop you." Gibbs closed his eyes again.

He heard Tim rustle around and heave several sighs before closing his book with a thud.

"If you want to talk, then talk."

Gibbs sat up. "Never said I wanted to talk. I just asked a simple question about how you were doing."

Tim looked at him incredulously. "It's never just a simple question with you. There is always a double hidden meaning, so go ahead, out with it so I can finish my book."

Gibbs blinked. He hadn't seen this side of Tim before. He kind of liked the spunk the kid was displaying. He was showing a lot of gumption, and it was refreshing.

"A wise man once told me that whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger. Pretty lame adage huh?" Gibbs chuckled and then continued, "He also said that I can learn from my mistakes and sometimes things happen that are out of my control and not my fault at all. Those times are the hardest but if I learn to discern the difference, then I'll have learned something valuable."

Tim was quiet. "Who told you that?"

"My dad."

"Sounds like a smart man."

Gibbs nodded. "Yah, he is. Too bad I spent the better half of my teenage years fighting with him. I might have learned more adages from him to share with you."

This time Tim smirked. "I'm sorry, Boss."

"For what, McGee?"

"For screwing up so badly. For not knowing that it was all a ruse. For not realising the…"

"Tim, listen up for a minute."

Tim stopped talking and sighed. "What?"

"It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known what was going to happen any more than I could have known Aimee locked herself in the morgue drawer. You were doing your job, Tim. No one else expects anything else and beating yourself up isn't going to change anything."

Tim licked his lips and shook his head. "Not the same thing, Boss. No comparison at all."

Gibbs stood up and sat on the coffee table across from Tim. He picked up the book the younger man was reading. He wasn't surprised to see a mystery novel in his hands.

"Research?"

Tim blushed. "Don't worry, Boss; I've retired Agent L.J. Tibbs a long time ago."

Gibbs smiled and handed him the book. "It's up to you, Tim. You can spend your time relaxing and enjoying your time off as you recover or you can waste it sitting around and blaming yourself. I know which one I'd choose." Gibbs patted his arm kindly and rose to his feet to leave the room.

"Boss?"

"Ya, Tim?"

"Your dad give you any other sage advice?"

"Yup."

"Could you share more with me sometime?"

Gibbs smiled and nodded. "Sure, Tim, I can do that."

Tim returned the smile and returned to reading his book.

Gibbs headed towards his front door, looking forward to some alone time with his thoughts. He had taken some more time off, needing the time to figure out how he was going to balance work and family life. The last time he'd had a family to deal with, he hadn't been alone in the balancing. He'd had Shannon to help with the decisions. He never saw himself being alone and raising kids. Gibbs grabbed a ball cap from the rack as he reached the doorknob to open it.

"Daddy, can we talk?"

Gibbs spun on his heel to see Aimee sitting on the stairs, looking rather forlorn. He ran a hand through his unruly hair and nodded.

"Sure." He sat down beside her and turned to face her, resting his chin on his hand. "Come up with anything?"

She shrugged. "Not really. I thought and thought but everything I came up with sounded dumb. So, maybe my original idea was right after all." She had tears shimmering in her eyes.

"I see, so you want me to give you a consequence?"

"I do and I don't"

"Sounds like a quandary to me."

Aimee scrunched up her nose in confusion. "A what?"

Gibbs chuckled. "A sticky situation."

"Oh, yah."

"Well, I feel like it's a sticky situation for me too. I wanted you to pick a consequence for your attitude and behaviour that you thought was fair. I'm not sure you will be happy with anything I decide. See my dilemma here?"

Aimee nodded. "I just can't think of anything."

"Well, what did you come up with that was dumb? Let's start there."

Aimee fidgeted. "Well, since I didn't obey rules about Autopsy then I guess it's only fair that I'm not allowed to go down there anymore unless I'm invited."

"That sounds fair to me. What happens if you do anyway?"

"I won't, Gibbs. I keep my promises."

Gibbs nodded. "Okay, fair enough. Is that it?"

Aimee twirled a piece of her long hair around her finger. "And I guess 'cause I didn't finish my homework like you asked, I should get more of it even though I do know all my math facts."

Gibbs looked surprised. "You do?"

Aimee nodded.

"What's 8 plus 9?"

"17," she said without pausing.

"6 plus 9?

"15."

"26 plus 42?"

Aimee thought for a few seconds, working hard to do her mental math. "68?"

"Yup, 87 plus 25?"

"Ummm…" She stuck out her tongue as she looked up at the ceiling, calculating in her mind. "easy-peasy 112. And 9 times 9 is 81 and 3 times 4 is 12 and…"

Gibbs laughed, definitely impressed and feeling like he'd under estimated her.

"Okay, okay, I catch the drift. Why'd you act like you didn't know them?"

Aimee chewed on the corner of her lip. "I just didn't feel like doing it, that's all."

"Not the trained seal type, huh?"

Aimee crinkled her nose. "What?"

"Never mind," he chuckled. "Okay, so no more playing with Jimmy in Autopsy, and more homework. Is that all?"

"Well, yah. That's an awful lot to me, and I feel bad about Jimmy too."

"How so?"

"Well, he didn't do nothing wrong and he still gets punished. Now I can't help him with stuff."

Gibbs rested his elbows on his knees thoughtfully. "Yah, that is too bad. I guess sometimes the decisions we make affect others too. That's something important to remember."

Aimee nodded her agreement.

Gibbs wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close, pressing a kiss on her brow.

"Well, I'm adding one-week K.P. duty and you have a deal."

Aimee looked at him in indignation. "One week?"

"It's either that or a trip across my knee."

Aimee quickly held out her hand for him to shake. "A week is good; you've got yourself a deal."

Gibbs took her hand and shook it. "Now, how about you come outside and help me fasten that window on the tree house permanently?"

Aimee stood to her feet. "Aw, do we have to?"

Gibbs patted the top of her head with a roll of his eyes. "Yes, we have too." He mimicked her whiny voice. "I'm not stupid, Aims. I know you've been using the window to climb higher up that tree."

"I can't get anything past you, can I?" she asked, jumping from the second last step to the bottom floor.

Gibbs grabbed her by the hand, tossed her over his shoulder and swatted her backside playfully.

"Nope and don't you forget it."

Aimee squealed and broke out laughing as Gibbs carried her out the front door.

Well, we've come to the end of this little tale. Hope you enjoyed it :)

Thanks for the reviews and for letting me know you are enjoying my little NCIS universe. I love the characters too. I have some ideas for one-shots and will write a few for you. My time is going to be more limited soon as we will be adding a new little person to our family at the end of October. A new baby plus homeschooling is going to keep my hands busy for a few months.

Writing is a love of mine so I will be sure to keep puttering away at it.

I get 100's of views on my stories and I love that people enjoy reading my work.

Keep reading and reviewing.

God bless,

Jenny Wrens