Gibbs sat on the couch, the shade to the window across the living room open so he could see when the girls got home. His shirt was full of sweat, and the beer in his hand felt cold – just what he needed after working. Working with Tony was what the beer was for. That boy needed to learns something about working with tools.

Tony had left to take Ziva to the airport – she had come over to help with the decorating. She had been so surprised to see that he had taken thought for Kyrie's room. They had brought in a bed and dresser from the shed behind the house – stored there for who knows how long, Gibbs thought. Ziva had brought the curtains, bed set, and a small rug to cover the bare wood floor. Then they all had cleaned and scrubbed the room from top to bottom, getting all the dust and dirt out – and a few of the creepy crawlies that had taken residence in the empty room. Ziva had been satisfied before she left, and Gibbs assured her that Kyrie would be fine. He thought that maybe he was figuring something out about all this dad stuff.

The car pulled into the driveway, and Gibbs got up off the couch to go out and help them bring in the stuff that they had bought. He was so excited for Kyrie to see the room. But before he could even get to the front door, he saw Kyrie get out of the car, slam the door, and run into the house. He stepped out of the way as she ran past him.

"Wow, girl. What are you doing?" He asked, curious.

She stopped at the first step of the stairs, and turned around to face him. Her face was red, and her eyes held a fire in them that Gibbs had seen many times before. Jen's face held that same blaze when she was pissed with him. Kyrie said, spitting her words out. "If you think you can buy me things to like you, you're sadly mistaken." And with that she stomped up the stairs, ran to her room, and slammed the door.

Gibbs didn't know what had just happened.

Behind him, Abbey said, "She was quiet the whole day, but I didn't think anything was wrong. But on the way home, she seemed like she was more upset than she had been."

He turned around to face her, and he took the packages she had in her hand. "Did she say anything about why she was like this?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing. She was fine."

Gibbs thanked her for taking Kyrie out. He walked her out to the car, grabbed the rest of the bags before telling her goodbye. What did I do wrong, He thought I was just trying to help.

When he got back inside the house, he set the packages down in a pile, and walked slowly up the stairs. She's gotta learn that she can't act like that. She needs to talk to me in a grownup conversation and talk about what she thinks I did wrong. He stood outside her door, gathering his thoughts when he heard her crying. His thoughts completely changed, and he, again, felt like he had no idea what he was doing. He knocked, and when he didn't hear anything but crying, he went to open the door. But the handle turned but the door wouldn't open. She put something in front of it.

"Can I come in?" He asked to the door.

Sniffling, and she said, "I don't want to talk to you right now." And then he realized that she hadn't put anything in front of the door – she was sitting in front of the door.

He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Kyrie, what's the matter?"

"I said I don't want to talk to you right now." Her voice crackled, and he heard more crying, even though she was trying to sound tough.

He thought for a minute. Then he said, "If you don't let me in, I'll come in anyway. I kick doors down for a living, remember?" He waited, giving her a minute to move. When he heard the floor shift, he slowly opened the door, to find her sitting against the wall. Her knees were pulled up to her chin, and her head was laying on her arms that were folded on top of her knees. But of course she had her head turned the opposite way from him.

He closed the door. And sat down with his back against the door, right next to her.

"I said…"

He interrupted her. "You don't want to talk to me. So I've heard." He looked at her, her hair whispy over her face. "So what did I do to make you mad at me?" Her shoulders tensed. But she didn't say anything. But her shoulders started to shake, and he heard her breathing increase and she started to cry again.

And he did the first fatherly act he'd ever done. He put his arm around her shoulders. And pulled her close to him. And to his surprise, there was no resistance from her, and she sank into his embrace. And they sat there, her gut wrenching sobs pulling his heart into shreds. After a few minutes, she calmed herself down enough to say, "Mom and I always went shopping together." And she looked up into his eyes, her cheeks stained with salty tears, and she said, "I miss her so much."

And she started crying again, burying her head into him. He just rubbed her arm, and said, "I know. I know." As tears came to his eyes.