Hiatus - 1
Leroy Jethro Gibbs tucked a very sleepy Kaye Todd into bed, wrapping her purple and blue comforter tightly around her.
"You got Bertha?"
"Mmhmm. Can you read me that poetry book again, Gibbs?"
This had become their routine. And though he wasn't always there when she went to sleep, he had passed the tradition around to the team so that the little girl never went without her farting hippo, a glass of water, a short story time, and a kiss on the forehead before she snuggled in for the night.
"Can do." He replied. He wasn't typically one for many words, but Kaye didn't mind. She could talk more than enough for the both of them. Gibbs reached over and pulled open the bottom of the two drawers in her white nightstand. It had become their bedtime story drawer. He pushed aside Charlotte's Web, a few silly Robert Munsch books, The Secret Garden, and two A.A. Milne Winnie the Pooh collections before digging out the desired book from the bottom. Kaye rarely liked to listen to the same book two nights in a row, and they hadn't done this one in quite some time.
He looked at the cover. It was still in very good condition, though it was beginning to show its age. It was a bright, colorful cover, bordered in a yellow that almost seemed gold, with a detailed illustration of a young boy in early 1900's dress sitting on a tree branch overlooking a town. Emblazoned on the front was the title, "A Child's Garden of Verses", with the author's name, Robert Louis Stevenson.
He had first been introduced to the book as a child. His mother had bought it for him and read it to him at an early age. That copy had been lost sometime in the years after his mother's death, and he had all but forgotten about it until he saw this particular copy all alone on a book store shelf in 1990 when he was home on leave. He immediately bought it and took it home to read to Kelly. It quickly became her
avorite, and Shannon continued to read it to her while he was away.
After he told Kaye about Shannon and Kelly, he had gone up into the attic to pull out a few photo albums to show her who they were. Amongst them sat the book, covered in a thick layer of dust. When he had first shown it to Kaye, she gently asked, "Could you read it to me at bedtime, too?"
He couldn't have said no to that even if he had wanted to.
"Is there any one in particular you want to hear tonight?"
Kaye thought for a moment. She loved the book of poetry. Some of it was hard to understand. But she enjoyed it all the same. She always fell asleep faster with this book than any other. It was something about the significance of the book in Gibbs' life as well as the calming sound of his voice as he read the rhymes. They each had ones that they liked more than others. But there was one that was a favorite for both of them, and Gibbs smiled softly when she stated her request.
"The Land of Nod."
Gibbs nodded and turned to the page slowly. He cleared his throat and began to speak.
"The Land of Nod.
From breakfast on through all the day
At home among my friends I stay;
But every night I go abroad
Afar into the Land of Nod.
All by myself I have to go,
With none to tell me what to do,
All alone beside the streams
And up the mountain-sides of dreams.
The strangest things are there for me,
Both things to eat and things to see,
And many frightening sights abroad
Till morning in the Land of Nod.
Try as I like to find the way,
I never can get back by day,
Nor can remember plain and clear
The curious music that I hear."
He read it slowly, soft and clear. And by the time he had finished, Kaye's eyes were drooping heavily.
Gibbs tucked the book back in its place in the drawer and leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to the girl's forehead. "I'm not sure if I'll make it back before morning, but if Jimmy has to work early, Tobias will be coming over to pick you up."
Kaye nodded sleepily. She knew that Gibbs had some sort of mission that had to be done tonight. He had been at work all day and into the late evening. Jimmy had been with her since school let out and was going to be staying the night. Gibbs had only come home to tuck her in and say goodnight before he headed straight back to NCIS.
"I love you, little girl." He whispered over her.
"Love you too, Gibbs."
And with another soft peck on her forehead, he turned off her lamp, plugged in her dragonfly night light, and shut the door softly behind him.
It was time to go and meet NCIS Special Agent Abog Galib.
NCISNCISNCIS
A/N: So this is it. We're into Hiatus. I know what I'm writing about, but I'm not sure how I'll be breaking it up, so it could mean several short chapters like this, or it could mean a couple of really long chapters. This was a big turning point for the show, and it's going to be, arguably, a bigger turning point for this story. I really hope you enjoy it.