Here's the next chapter! Please read AND review! Enjoy! Thanks!
At the end of the day, Breena came to pick up Amira from the after school program. Amira said goodby to her friends and then jumped into the car.
"Aunt Bre, can I call Abby right now,Please?!"
"Why the rush? You'll see her in a couple of hours.", Breena said.
"Pleeeeeaaaassseeee? It's important. I can't wait!",Amira begged. Breena chuckled and handed her phone to the nine year old.
"Thankyouthankyou!", Amira exclaimed, bringing up Abby's name in the contacts.
"Breena, hey! Is Amira ok?"
"This IS Amira, Auntie Abbs! Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!"
"OMG, you're in the play?!"
"Yes! And Guess what else!"
"What?!"
"I'm Dianna. Evie is Anne. Braxton is Gilbert, Cody is Moody Spurgeon, Rori is Ruby and Kadence is Josie Pye. That will take really skilled acting because She is NOTHING like Josie!" Abby laughed and and said,
"I'm SO happy for you, Hon! I can't WAIT to see you in the show. Did you call Gibbs?"
"No. Are you sure he'll wanna know?", Amira asked uncertainly.
"Of course,Babes! He loves you and he'll be SO happy for you.",Abby assured the girl. Amira hesitated, then said,
"Ok. I'll call him."
"Good! I gotta get back to work. I'll see ya in a couple of hours! Love you!"
"Love you,Too. Bye.", Amira replied.
"Bye!",Abby said, ending the call. Amira looked back at Breena who was grinning from ear to ear!
"Congratulations, sweet girl!"
"Thanks.", Amira said, softly.
"Mommy, we go see Mimi's show?", said a small voice from next to Amira in the back seat. Breena looked at her daughter and smiled.
"We'll sure try, sweetheart. And hopefully your daddy can make it as well."
"Well, there are four shows. Two evenings and two matinees. But the first Matinee is for the other kids at school.", Amira said.
"Well we are so happy for you. You want to call Gibbs now?", Breena said. Amira thought for a moment, and then Breena saw her nod through the rearview mirror and pick up the phone once more. After a moment, Breena heard the girl say,
"Hi,Uncle Jethro….Guess what! I'm in the play at school! It's gonna be in October! It's Anne of Green Gables and I'm Dianna Berry and Evie's Anne Shirley and all of our other friends are in it, too! Will you come?…..oh. Ok. Well, I hope you feel ok by then…. I miss you. Ok. Love you….bye." Amira ended the call and handed the phone back to Breena, without a word. After a few seconds, Breena said softly,
"What did Gibbs say, sweetie?"
"That he's proud of me. And he misses me."
"Grampa Gibbs come to your show?", Tori asked Innocently. Amira's eyes filled.
"He…he says he'll try. He doesn't know if he'll be able to face the crowds yet. Or if he'll have to be working since he's been cleared. He's hoping by then to be back to leading the team."
"I'm sure he'll do his best to be there.", Breena said sympathetically. Amira quickly dried her eyes and got involved in a conversation with Tori about school. Later that evening, Abby got the girl to open up.
"I don't want to make Uncle Jethro uncomfortable, but I really want him at my play more than anything. I don't want to be the only kid there without my dad in the audience. I really want all of my family there, but I want Uncle Jethro there the most." Abby frowned and hugged the girl tightly. She vowed to do her best to convince Gibbs that it was super important that he show up to support Amira. His little girl needed him!
Over the next few weeks, the counciling sessions were working well for Gibbs. He seemed to be gaining a new outlook on life. McGee on the otherhand was avoiding the counciling like the plague. He later found himself in Gibbs' basement in the middle of the night. He admitted that he was scared of his own feelings. He wanted to keep them barred. He was afraid to talk to Delilah and of hurting her. He was afraid to face the turmoil and gammit of emotions that were hounding him. Most of all, he was afraid of what he would discover about himself if he allowed Dr Grace to dig any deeper. Gibbs was in the process of setting the younger man straight, when they recieved a call from Abby, regarding the current case.
"Abbs? What are you doing working this later? Where's Amira?"
"She's at Ziva and Tony's for a sleepover with Tali. And by the way Gibbs, while I have you as a captive audience, I need to talk to you about her."
"I could always just hang up.", Gibbs snapped.
"But you won't. Gibbs, If you can possibly make it to Anne of Green Gables, It would mean alot to Amira."
"Abbs…", Gibbs began,but Abby continued.
"No,Gibbs. You're the closest thing to a dad, that little girl has. She told me that she wants you there more than anything. Ya know why? Because she doesn't want to be the only kid in the show without her dad in the audience.", Abby said. Then she was quiet,letting her meaning sink in. Gibbs wished this was a video chat so he could give the woman a good Gibbs stare. Instead he just said,
"Abbs, what've ya got for us pertaining to the case?"
"Yeah, you said something about a toxic lady?", McGee added. Abby swallowed her dissapointment that she seemingly wasn't able to get through to her father figure and went into a long winded explanation of her discovery. After that, McGee went back home to his wife, and Gibbs got back to work on his boat,trying to push what Abby had said out of his mind.
Several weeks went by. Between Abby,Breena,Ziva, and Ducky, they made sure that Amira was at every rehearsal and along with the rest of the team, made sure that Amira always had someone to rehearse with at home. Before they knew it, it was opening night.
"I am SOO nervouse, Evie said to Amira, back stage. Amira hugged her friend.
"You'll do fine! You know your lines perfectly and you have the perfect personallity to play Anne. It's so cool that we get to play best friends when we ARE best friends."
"I'm just glad we are all in the play together.", Braxton said,joining the girls. Rori came over and said,
"Me, too."
"It's been SO much fun!", Kadence said.
"Break a leg, guys.", Cody said.
"Thanks! You, too." Evie said. Amira sighed.
"I just wish Uncle Jethro could be here. I want my dad to be in the audience like you guys have your dads.
"But you have a whole huge family out there. For us ,it's just our parents.",Evie said, trying to make her friend feel better.
"My Grandparents will be here tomorrow night, but you've got several people who are coming to see you in every performance. At least your Aunt Abby will. She's awesome! I wish I had an aunt like her.", Cody said. Amira had to smile.
"Yeah. She IS pretty great. But I still miss my Uncle Jethro." Before anyone could respond, the teacher in charge of the production came over and clapped her hands.
"Ok, everyone. Places! The show's about to start!" So the kids hugged each other, and wished each other luck. Then they headed out to take their places. Opening night went very well. Some of the kids forgot lines or cues ,but there were no noticable mistakes.
After the show was over,Amira headed out to find her family. She had been dissapointed not to see Gibbs in the audience during curtain call, but she was glad the rest of her family were all there to support her. Abby had gotten her some black roses, and there were some daisies from Ducky and some red carnations from the rest of the team together. Tony and Ziva had brought her a potted plant in a lama shaped little planter, which Tali had picked out, and Tori and Palmer and Breena had brought a big chocolate bar for her. But none of those things kept her attention for long, because she caught some movement further back out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see what it was and let out a gasp. She, she handed her stuff to Abby and ran towards the figure. As she dove into the person's arms, one word came out of her mouth in a hoarse whisper.
"Daddy!"
YAAAY! Gibbs made it! So will they be back under the same roof soon? How will Amira handle being back with Gibbs after so long? Tune in on Saturday to find out! Remember ALL reviews are MUCH appreciated! Please don't forget! Thanks! Be sure to catch chapter three of To Protect you tomorrow! Catch ya later!