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Chapter 29

Abby was feeling nervous as she entered her lab. They'd gotten back from the field trip and picked up Dyl. He had chosen to stay in the bullpen with his Dad, sensing Abby's bad mood. Jess was quiet too. She understood that she'd got off fairly lightly and was part of the reason that her Mommy was not happy.

"Mommy are you still mad at me?" she asked.

"No sweetie! Mommy's just a bit worried about something that's all. Mr Maj Spec is giving me some trouble that's all. I'll work it out. Don't you worry." She said kissing the small girl's head. Jess was relieved and skipped off into Abby's office to play. Abby kept a box of Barbie dolls and clothes in there to keep Jess amused.

When the elevator dinged, Abby didn't look up, she could sense that it would be Tim. She hadn't stopped in at the bullpen to kiss him hello. She KNEW that would alert him to something but she'd needed some time to get herself was only a matter of time though until he came to didn't plan on actually out and out lying to him but she knew that he considered leaving stuff out to be the same thing. Abby really wasn't looking forward to revisiting the whole 'lie of ommision debate', especially when Tim's argument was usually followed by a round of his belt. Last time she had lied it had not ended up well and she had promised. But if she told him this, she would be sent up to tell Gibbs so fast that her head would spin and then what would happen with Kimberly. Their relationship was so new......No she had made her decision, God help her. This would be the very last time she put herself and Tim in this position. And she meant it. She always meant it at the time.

When Jess saw her Daddy she flew across the room and jumped into his arms. "Daddy!" she shouted wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his face. Tim cuddled her back and kissed her cheeks but his eyes were on Abby. As he suspected, something was wrong. "Hey little one. How was the zoo?" he asked.

"Good," Jess said. He stood her back down and moved in on his wife who still hadn't turned around.

"Hey Abs." he said hugging her from behind.

"Hey Timmy." She said patting the hands that were at her waist but not turning around. Well she's not mad, or she wouldn't have called me Timmy, Tim thought. Something was definitely not right here though.

"Everything ok Abs?" he said spinning her around and kissing her.

"Yep. I'm just tired I guess. Big day." She answered pulling him into a hug and laying her head on his shoulder. She was hoping to make him feel better while not actually having to look him in the eyes.

"Mr Maj Spec is giving her trouble." Jess piped up. "But she'll figure it out."

"Really?" Tim said moving over towards it. "What's the problem? Maybe I can fix it." Tim said helpfully.

Oh God, Abby thought. She hated how this always happened. You just want to keep one small detail to yourself and then one incident flows into another before you're lying about everything. In front of your child.

"Go and play with your dollies now Jess please." She said.

"Ok Mommy." Jess answered before she skipped off again into the office.

"Abby?" Tim said.

"Sorry?" she said vaguely.

"The major spectometer? What's the problem?" Tim asked.

"Um.......don't worry Timmy. I've called the technician in to look at it. It's a specialised piece of equipment. I shouldn't really have you looking at it."

"It's never stopped you before." Tim said narrowing his eyes. "When's the technician coming?" he asked. Oh thought.

"Sorry?" Abby said.
"The technician Abby. When is he coming?" Tim said. Oh she was such a terrible liar.

"Tomorrow. Sometime tomorrow. I'm really sorry Timmy. I should have asked you first." She said. They both knew that apology had nothing to do with the Maj Spec technician. But neither would tell the other that. Yet. Abby felt really bad and she WAS sorry. MMmmm. Tim thought. If you've lied to me again Abby, you will be sorry. Very sorry.

Tim kissed Abby and went back up to the bullpen. Abby wanted to just burst into tears but she looked over at Jess and didn't give in. She tried to get on with her work as best she could.

Kimberly wasn't feeling much better. Jethro was going to be arriving very shortly for dinner and she didn't know how she was going to keep him from finding all this out. For God's sake, what was she so worried about? She never used to care about any of this stuff. Well Abby mainly. She was worried about Abby. The girl had been nothing but nice to her. It had been a very long time since she had had a real friend. Maybe they'd be able to talk about this on the phone or something before Sunday. Maybe it wasn't too late to deal with this without involving Abby. Otherwise she had a terrible feeling that something would come out and get her friend in trouble then she might lose Abby as well as Jethro.

Back in the bullpen Abby and the kids were waiting for Tim to shut down his computer and pack up his stuff. They were all ready to leave when his phone rang. Abby's cell rang at the same time. She watched as the look on Tim's face changed from normal to confused........She answered her own phone and her tummy sunk. "Abby? The school just rang. Amy's mother made a complaint to the school about Maddie stealing my wallet and buying ice cream. Apparently we should have reported it to the teachers.......suddenly the phone was taken from Abby's hand and Kimberly found herself talking to Tim.

"You can hang up now Kim, I'll take it from here. Sister Mary Clarence just rang me personally. Oh and Kim? Gibbs told me to tell you he'll be there shortly."and he ended the call.

"Tim I...." Tim held his hand up to stop her.

"Don't even try. We WILL talk Abby." He said giving her an uncompromising glare. "But I'd rather have that conversation privately and when I've had a chance to cool down."

"But Tim....." Abby said desperately. He would have loved to been able to discuss at least some of this with her, hell he would have loved to have been able to tan her ass on the spot. But he wouldn't do that here, not in front of his kids and not in the middle of the bullpen. But he was close. Seeing his friends frustration, Tony stepped in.

"Why don't Ziva and I take the kids down and put them in the car and stay with them for a few minutes. Give you two a chance to talk."

"Thanks Tony." Tim said. "Thanks Ziva." Ziva gave Abby a concerned look and patted her on the arm as they left.

When the elevator had left Abby turned to Tim. "You're upset with me." She said quietly.

"Upset Abby." He said incredulously. "You think I'm upset?"

"Well...."

"What I AM, is really angry. You LIED to me." He said in that deadly quiet tone he uses when he's really pissed.

"Ok. I know it looks bad."

"It isn't bad?" he said in a fake happy voice. "Sister Mary Clarence begs to differ Abby." he said sarcastically. "She seems to think that Jess watched as Maddie stole her mother's wallet and then, even though she wasn't supposed to, she went with Maddie to spend Kim's money on ice cream." Abby covered her face. Trust Sister Mary Clarence to make it sound like a federal crime had been committed.

"Uncover your face now Abigail." Uh!oh! The full title. He is mad. "Sister Mary Clarence seems to think that when you found them eating ice cream, you didn't report it to the teachers, even though you were supposed to."

"But Tiiim! We didn't think we had to. They were our own kids. Of course we would have told if it was the other kids."

Tim scoffed. "So, you're telling me, that you wouldn't have minded getting other people's children into trouble with the teachers but because it was our daughter and Kim's you thought you'd spare them?"

"Um....no you're twisting things. That's not what I meant at all. I thought us dealing with them would be enough."she said.

"And by covering the incident up, that was your way of dealing with it?" Another good point, but .....geez,she really didn't think this whole thing out real well.

"I know it seems that way Timmy but......"

"But nothing. You lied to me."

Abby sighed. "Kimberly asked me to give her a chance to deal with Maddie on her own. She thought that Gibbs would take over. Don't you see, I couldn't tell you because you would have made me tell Gibbs."

"Abby you were the one who pushed them into a relationship and now you're messing about like a puppet master deciding who gets to know what."

"I'm sorry Timmy, but I said I would give her some time."

"Great! So you SAID you'd help Kim but have you forgotten Abby? You made me a promise to never lie to me again. And you have. You know that I consider leaving things out on purpose to be lying and you did it anyway. Didn't you?"

Abby nodded and tears sprung to her eyes.

"Is the Mass Spec broken? Did you call a technician?" The look on Abby's face answered his question. "Well I hope you think it's worth it. Come on." He said taking her hand in his and walking to the elevator. When the doors closed behind them he smacked her bottom and kissed her head lovingly. "What am I gonna do with you Abs. You can't stay out of trouble for five minutes."

"I could say I'm sorry again and promise that I'll never do it again. Then we could kiss and make up and forget this ever happened?" she said hopefully.

"Not a chance. But nice try Abs."

When Kimberly hung up from Abby, or Tim when he took the phone from Abby, she knew the jig was up. Thinking fast she thought the best thing to do was to phone Jethro right away and tell him what happened. She dialled the number and waited nervously for him to answer. "Gibbs." He barked into the phone.

"Jethro, it's just me."

"Too late just me. I know all about it. I was there when Tim got the call."

"Oh. Well I was gonna tell you tonight, it's just that I didn't want to bother you at work."

"I'm gonna ask you this once and give you the chance to tell the truth and if you lie to me again you won't like what happens."

"Am I gonna like what happens if I tell the truth?"

"You're gonna like it a lot less if you lie. Were you and Abby conspiring to hide this from me?"

"That's really two questions Jethro." She said.

"Answer the question!" he growled.

"You know what, I really would hate for you to get a ticket for talking on your cell."

"Kimberly!"

"Alright. Please don't blame Abby. I told her that I wanted the chance to deal with Maddie's punishment myself."

"And did you?"

"Not exactly. I tried. I told her she couldn't have dessert for a week." Not much of a punishment even if she had been able to make it he was pretty sure that she hadn' thought

"And?" Gibbs asked hearing in her voice that there was more to the story.

"And, she asked me ......"

"Go on."

"She asked me how I was going to keep that from you."

Gibbs smirked. Stealing and blackmail. Maddie had really outdone herself today. "And what did you tell her?" Silence. "What did you tell her Kimberly?"

"I told her to tell you that she didn't want any." She said waiting for the bomb to drop.

"That's not good Kim."

"I know. I told her that you'd find out and spank her, and she said that then you'd find out that Abby and I didn't tell you. Oh Jethro, I realised then that I shouldn't have ever asked Abby not to say anything, I should have rung you straight away and told you myself."

"Yes you should." He said ending the call. Kimberly burst into tears. That was she had done it. Jethro was gone. He wouldn't bother with them now. Who would blame him. Then there was a knock on the door. Kim ran and opened it and just stood there crying.

"Am I that much of an ogre?" Gibbs asked."That you're petrified of me?"

"No! I'm not scared. I thought you'd gone. Run as fast as you could away from us." Gibbs grinned.

"Do you really think after everything that I've been through in my life, that I'd run scared from a badly behaved six year old girl and her misguided but beautiful mother? Who I am becoming very fond of I might add." He said pulling her into his arms. She sagged against him in relief.

"I thought you'd be so mad at me, at us."

"Oh I am. But we'll fix that. And we'll fix Maddie. But every time you hide things and she gets away with whatever she's done, you give her more stops today. You hear?"

"I'm starting to see that."

"Time to pay the piper. Go and wait upstairs in the corner. I'm going to deal with Maddie and then I'll come and talk to you. And then we're going to start afresh."

"Ok." Kim said, knowing that there was absolutely no point in arguing. "Oh. Do you have a box?"

"Um yeh. In the garage.I'll......"

"No. I'll get it. Upstairs." he said.

After locating the box, Gibbs went up to Maddie's room and knocked on the door then entered. "Hi Gibbs." She said, still playing with her dolls.

"Hey Miss Maddie. How was the zoo?"

"It was ok. The only person in my group with Mommy was a dumb boy."

"That's not a nice thing to say. That the only thing that happened?"

Maddie shrugged.

"I spoke to you. Did....anything....else...happen?"

"No."

"I know that's not true. I know what you did, but I want to hear you say it."

"If you know what I did why do I have to say it?"

Gibbs spun Maddie around and landed a hard smack on her bottom. "Stop it right now. I asked you a question and I want an answer. NOW!" he said quietly, but his tone brooked no disobedience.

Maddie's head shot up. "I..I took Mommy's wallet and I bought Jess and me an ice cream and we went away when they weren't looking."

"And were you good for the rest of the time on the field trip?" Maddie shook her head. "Why not?"

"Cause I wanted Jess to be with me."

"You can't have everything you want. What about when you came home did you tell your Mommy she couldn't punish you because I would find out that she hadn't told me?"

"Yes. Are you going to spank me?"

"Yep and more than that. Come here." Maddie walked very slowly over towards Gibbs.

"I don't wanna have a spanking."

"Like I said Maddie you can't have everything that you want." Maddie started to cry before he'd even put her over his knee. When the first spank landed she cried even harder and louder than she did last time. Gibbs just ignored her and kept on spanking until she was crying more quietly. As far as a Gibbs' spanking goes, it was mild really. After a few more smacks on her sit spots he stopped and pulled her up into a hug. " You will learn Maddie. I'm not going anywhere and I'm not going to let you get away with this stuff any more." When she went to climb down off his lap he stopped her. "We're not finished yet sweetheart. You obviously need more of a reminder to behave. See that box? We're going to put all your dolls in there, and I'm going to put them up high. If you can stay out of trouble for two weeks? I'll give them back. Ok?"

"No! You're not my Daddy and you can't take my stuff." Maddie said crying all over again.

"I know I'm not your Daddy but I care about you and your Mommy and I'm going to help your Mommy teach you to behave whether you like it or not." Maddie stomped her foot. "It won't help Maddie." Gibbs picked up the box and started packing all of Maddie's dolls into it. This was ridiculous, he thought. He was going to need another box. Or two. Maddie started screaming.

"Put them back. Put them back. There mine!" Gibbs was going to put her in the corner but he needed another box and he dared not leave her in here by herself in that mood so he took her hand and went towards the garage with Maddie in tow. When they got to the stairs however, Maddie decided to lay down and refused to walk. Not willing to get into another argument with the stubborn lttle miss, he picked her up and kept moving. After gathering up and stacking another three boxes he picked Maddie up again and headed upstairs.

Back in Maddie's room, he stood her in the corner with a smack to reignite the fire and went on with the task of emptying her shelves. Within five minutes, Maddie's tears had dried and the monumental task was finished. "You can come out now honey." Gibbs said. Maddie was not happy when she saw all her empty shelves but she didn't dare give Gibbs anymore trouble tonight. "I want you to do you homework until we call you for dinner. Ok?"

Maddie nodded and sat at her desk. After Gibbs had left and closed her door she started writing on a piece of paper.

gibs is a min poo poo head

She opened the drawer of her desk and hid her secret note inside underneath some junk. That made her smile. She took out her homework and started to copy her words.

TBC