July 2006
Kaye stood between Claire and Ryan, scanning the crowd with them. It was pick-up day. She had not only survived her first two weeks at camp, she had had a blast. Between the canoeing and the swimming, the hiking and the campfires, the friendship bracelets and the cabin prank wars, she had managed to put the craziness of her life back home out of her mind. She was pretty sure she even acted like a normal kid. Not only that, but she had become quite close with her counselor, Carrie, who assured her that she, Claire, and Emma would all be in her cabin again at the end of the summer.
Kaye had also gotten to know the real counselor for her cabin, too. Her name was Cindy, a kind older woman who had no problem strapping on shorts and runners and attempting the ropes course with the kids and young cabin counselors. Kaye had ended up talking to her quite a bit in the two weeks at Camp Liberty about her mom, Gibbs, and life with the team. She said she was looking forward to seeing Kaye again at the end of the summer.
"So, you're going to tell Jenny that she has to meet my mom so that we can hang out, right?" Claire asked excitedly.
"Yep. And you guys have to talk to your mom, Claire."
Ryan piped up. "If she doesn't, I will. We can be in the same groups at the day camps and it'll be really cool to know someone at the new daycare. Plus, you know, it's kind of hard to find friends who understand your crazy life in school. At least we have one more crazy person to add to the group during the year, now, too."
Kaye grinned. When Jenny had suggested going to camp, Kaye had been doubtful. She wasn't great at making friends, probably because she spent so much time with adults and found herself feeling more comfortable with them than kids her own age. But things had turned out well. She and Claire and Ryan had been completely inseparable for the two weeks. Emma, Cory, and Alex had been part of their group, too, but in the end it was always the three of them who stayed up latest or got out of the water last. Ryan always pouted because Claire and Kaye got to keep having fun without him when they went back to their own cabin.
Kaye spotted the black sedan before it even pulled to a stop. Many of the kids had parents who worked at places like the FBI, CIA or NCIS, but very few of them would have the okay to take a company car all the way out to the camp to pick up their kids. And those who could have probably had a spouse to do the run for them.
But not Kaye. Kaye had Jenny. And Jenny got to take the black sedans wherever she wanted. Those were the perks of being the one that everyone blamed when things went wrong.
"I think that's Jenny, now!" Kaye squeezed Claire's hand. She was excited to be going home, but she would miss spending every minute of every day with her new best friends.
Sure enough, the redhead with the pixie cut (slightly longer than when Kaye had seen her last) emerged. But to her thrilled surprise, so did a tall, handsome Italian, and a black lace parasol followed by a pale goth.
"Oh my god! It's Tony and Abby, too! You get to meet all three of them!" Kaye squealed.
"Good timing," she heard Ryan say. "Because there's Aunt Leslie."
Claire turned her head to where Ryan was pointing and started jumping up and down. In true Claire form, she dropped Kaye's hand and ran directly to the blonde woman across the yard, screaming, "Momalomalinglang!"
Kaye gave Ryan one of her very confused looks (something he had become used to being around Claire all the time – she was an odd girl). "She has nicknames for everyone. She only uses them when she's really excited. I'm sure you'll get yours soon."
Kaye just laughed and looked at him. Ryan was the yin to Claire's yang. He wasn't shy, but he was calm and quiet, where she was loud and excitable. He was shorter than Claire, only about a half inch taller than Kaye, with sandy colored hair that looked more brown in some lights and more blonde in others. He shared Claire's freckles, though his eyes were a darker, greyer blue than her bright icy ones. He had a rounder face, too. But there were things that they did and said that showed that they were related. They both squinted and tilted their heads when they were trying to think deeply about something, for example.
"Do – do you mind watching my stuff?" she asked her new friend.
Ryan just chuckled. "Go. You're more like Claire than I am. I'll refrain from running across the camp screaming."
Kaye laughed and thanked him. That was another thing she liked about Ryan. Claire was pretty average for her age, but Ryan had a big vocabulary and could keep up with her.
She located her favorite people and began to run across the dry, dusty grass toward them. Suddenly, Tony caught sight of her. "Bella!"
Kaye giggled and ran right at him, hitting him with a force that almost knocked him back. He immediately swung her up into a tight hug and planted a big kiss on her cheek.
"I missed you, little girl!"
Kaye giggled and gave him a kiss back. "I missed you, too!"
He lowered her to the ground, where she quickly gave Abby a squeeze before running over to Jenny for a hug.
The woman, for once out in public in jeans and a casual sleeveless top, crouched down in front of Kaye, taking her hands. "Did you have fun, sweetheart? We only got two calls from you in the whole two weeks."
"I had a ton of fun. I missed you guys, but I was so busy I didn't really have time to call. I made some really awesome friends who don't live that far from us and they're going to go to my daycare in September!"
Jenny grinned. She had been battling some guilt over sending Kaye to Camp Liberty for the past two weeks. She constantly second-guessed herself on the decision, wondering if she had pushed Kaye to go when she wasn't ready out of her own insecurities about having to step into a parent role for the girl. But clearly things had gone well. Kaye seemed brighter and happier than she had since before the explosion on that ship nearly two months before, and she was now sure that the old saying, "absence makes the heart grow fonder" was incredibly accurate. Jenny had always loved Kaye, and they had grown closer in the time since she moved in. But the two weeks, which she thought might give them both a break from each other and from all of the responsibility and, well, drama that had been happening, had nearly killed Jenny. She had missed that little girl so much. It was like her life was empty and void of a certain level of joy and excitement that she had grown to love and need. So as Kaye gripped her hand and began dragging her across the field to where she saw two children and a woman standing near Kaye's bags, she took the moment to really take in how wonderful it felt to be reunited with Kaye and have their hands joined once again.
It's going to be really difficult when Jethro comes back. If he comes back.
She brushed the thoughts away.
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"Well, sweetheart, we really need to get going."
Kaye looked up at Jenny. After they met Claire's mom, Leslie, the two groups had decided to meet up at a diner about halfway between the camp and the city for lunch. The whole group had been getting to know each other, and Leslie seemed excited to talk to someone who already knew about the daycare.
"Not until you guys schedule a play date." Claire said loudly.
"Claire, mind your manners."
Jenny chuckled. "It's alright. She's right. If we don't schedule something now, who knows when it will happen? Let me check my calendar."
"Well," Leslie started, "If you're interested, I know that you all have very demanding jobs that often go into the evenings. Whereas my new job has me working from 7 until 2. I'm having trouble finding a way to get the kids to the day camps in the morning, but I will have no problem picking up."
Jenny perked up. "Well, even if I start too early, I have an entire team, here, that could rotate coming in a bit late in order to drop off in the mornings. It starts at eight, right?"
"Yes. They started at nine last year, but this year they're including breakfast to make it easier for working parents. My job just happens to not work out so perfectly for the mornings. But if you guys could pick the kids up and drop them all off in the mornings, I could take Kaye home with me any afternoons that you can't."
Jenny glanced over to Tony and Abby who both nodded. After meeting Leslie at the camp and seeing just how close Kaye had become to Ryan and Claire, Abby had given McGee a call and got him to run a background check on the family. Sure enough, they were amazing. Leslie's husband, Jim, and his sister, Anne, were both fourth generation military, and both were serving in Iraq in different areas and capacities. Wayne, Ryan's dad and Anne's late husband, had been an police officer for over a decade when he was killed in the line of duty when Ryan was only two. They were a solid family just trying to make the world a better place and get by. And in the short time that the three of them had spent with Leslie and the two kids, they instantly liked her.
"That sounds like it could work out perfectly. We try to have them out of the office at five if there's no case, and often I'll break one of them free to go and pick up Kaye from wherever if I can't make it, myself. But I think she would love to spend the time with you. And we're happy to help with driving in the mornings. You're only a few minutes out of the way from my place, and I think you're pretty much on the way from Tony's."
"YES! Hang outs all summer!" Claire shouted excitedly. Ryan rolled his eyes and Kaye giggled.
"Well, now that that's settled, why don't we exchange phone numbers and we'll get on our way back home. I still have to go in to the office for a bit today."
"Really, Jenny?"
Jenny ran a hand down the girl's back, tugging playfully on her long brown ponytail as she did so. "Yes, really. But these two are going to take you home and get you unpacked and hopefully washed. I'm pretty sure you have brought half of the camp's land home on you. And then I'll meet you there for a late dinner with the rest of the team. Sound good?"
Kaye grinned and nodded enthusiastically.
Jenny and Leslie exchanged numbers and stood by as the kids hugged goodbye. They would see each other in only a few days. Just minutes later, they were back on the road.
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