Knights of the NCIS Table—Gibbs Chapter 3

"Okay, do you want Thym and Anton in there too?" He figures he might be able to vaguely incorporate them into a story if he needs to.

"Nope, just want King Jed and his queen."

Gibbs almost chokes on his coffee.

***

Laurie chuckles to herself as she hears Donny request a story from Gibbs. When the boy requests King Jed and his queen as the main characters she has to bury her face in a dishtowel to keep Gibbs from hearing her laughter. She can just imagine the look on the former marine's face.

She finishes preparing some soup and rounds up several water bottles to fill with juice as well as water. She also puts a fresh pot of coffee on knowing that the man will need a refill soon.

***

Donny looks up at his grandfather, waiting for the man to begin his story. Gibbs is deep in thought as he tries to figure out when in Tim's stories King Jed got married. Donny tells him, "You can tell me how King Jed meets his queen. Uncle Tim hasn't told me that part yet. I just think that as a King he should have a queen. Otherwise he'll be lonely, like you are sometimes."

***

Out of the mouths of babes thinks Laurie wondering how Gibbs will respond. She knows that the food needs to cool before they eat, so she turns the stove off and heads into the living room.

***

Gibbs blinks a few times as he wonders how to respond. Deciding not to dwell on it, especially with this precious one in his arms he clears his throat and starts his tale.

"Once upon a time, a long, long, long time ago there lived a king named Jed. Now King Jed had a lot of knights and other vassals that worked under him, but he didn't have anyone that lived with him. At least, not anymore. Many years before this story begins, King Jed had been married to the beautiful and wise Queen Shannon.

Shannon and King Jed were married for several years and even had a daughter they named Kelly. One day, Kelly and Shannon were out in the woods when a terrible black dragon came. He kidnapped them and King Jed went out after them. King Jed found the two, but not before the evil dragon had killed them. King Jed was furious and armed with his mighty sword "Dragonslayer" he killed the black dragon.

***

Donny looks over at Laurie as she sits next to them on the couch. She hands Gibbs a fresh cup of coffee, and hands Donny a bottle of juice as Donny tells her, "Shannon and Kelly were Granpa's real wife and little girl. He misses them a lot."

She says nothing as she caresses his cheek before giving Gibbs hand a squeeze. He gives a subtle squeeze in reply before returning to the story.

***

Almost twenty years pass and during this time, King Jed has met many fine princesses and wanna be queens, but there was no one who tweaked his interests. Sure there were the few who were as militant as he could be, but they didn't have much of a feminine side. The others were almost too frilly for his tastes, wanting to tame him or keep him from adventuring with his knights.

One day, he's out checking on his fields when he sees the friendly blue dragon Thym flying towards him. He waves at the dragon who lands in the closest clearing. The beast then changes to human form, so that the two can talk easier.

"I'm glad that I found you, Your Majesty. Crystal and I were flying over the eastern hemisphere when I discovered what at first appeared to be a body. Crystal managed to create a healing potion for the person, but we're not equipped to take care of him. Would you mind flying with me so that we can bring him back to your castle where your advisor can care for him?"

"Just tell me where to mount at."

***

Laurie looks at the little boy finally asleep in his grandpa's arms. She lightly touches his cheek and is relieved to see that the fever is subsiding. She says as much to Gibbs before standing up to go check on Sarah.

The younger woman is breathing slightly easier and Laurie can tell that her fever has broken too. She takes a small breath and sends a burst of healing energy through Sarah's body. She hadn't done so earlier, because she needed the fever to break first. This way, by taking it in small doses, Sarah can heal quickly without worry about her unborn child.

Going back downstairs, she checks on the now cooled food and finds that it's not as cold as it could have been. She heats up two bowls of soup in the microwave, and brings them out to the living room. Gibbs has lain Donny down on the other couch and covered him with an afghan. He stands upright when Laurie enters the room.

"Thanks, you really didn't have to prepare lunch you know." He sits back down on the couch and to his surprise she sits beside him. She turns sideways so that she see him as they eat.

"I like to cook, it's the main reason I opened the Knotted C restaurants. Being around friends is just an added bonus."

He finishes off his soup and goes out for seconds. She hears the microwave whirring as he heats his second bowl. There's a few seconds that pass as he opens the fridge and brings out a fresh bottle of water which he hands to Laurie. She smiles her thanks and they continue eating in companionable silence.

***

A/N: That's all…just kidding, chapter four should be up by this weekend. Thank you all as always for reading and for those who actually do review extra thanks to you.