Jackson tried to enjoy his latest cup of coffee. He was sitting at his son's kitchen table and growing increasingly concerned by the comments drifting up from the basement. He wasn't disturbed that it looked like his next daughter in law would be a son in law. Jackson liked Tony. He was good for Leroy. From the comments thought he was concerned if the reverse was true.

"It won't fit."

"It fits perfectly. Keep going."

"Ouch. It hurts."

"You wanted to do this, didn't you?"

"Yes, but…"

"Then suck it up, buttercup."

Jackson couldn't take it anymore. "That's enough," he hollered stomping down the steps. He looked sympathetically at Tony who was holding up his finger. "Suck it up, buttercup? Really? Leroy Jethro Gibbs you get up those stairs right now. You are not to old for me to take a strap to you. Go on."

"And do what?" Jethro said belligerently.

"Think about your behavior. Now march."

Jethro headed for the steps muttering about interfering fathers. And incompetent lovers. And being thrown out of his own work room.

"Let me see," Jackson took Tony's hand. "That is a nasty looking splinter. How ever did you get that?" Taking out his pen knife he soon had the splinter removed. "Project not going well?"

Tony shook his head dejectedly. "I just wanted us to do something together, but I ruined it." At his nagging, Jethro had reluctantly cut all the pieces and assembled the necessary hardware and divided it into two piles. This evening was to have been spent putting the projects together. Tony had hoped it would be a bonding event.

The younger man looked at the wooden object he had been assembling. "I thought if we made each other nightstands for the bedroom it would…" He shook his head. "I screwed it all up and now we only have the nightstand Jethro made me and Jethro hates me. I'm a clumsy idiot."

Jackson pulled Tony into a hug. "Tony, Jethro doesn't hate you. My son is many things, but a good teacher is not one."

"Hey!"

"Leroy Jethro, quit your eavesdropping and go do something." Jackson snarled. "Should have dusted his britches more growing up. He isn't good on motivating people."

Tony remembered a certain hat and thought Jackson might be on to something. "He made me use my favorite hat for target practice."

"That's Leroy. In this case, he's too good a woodworker to make a good teacher. Leroy assumes you are going to know what he means when he hollers an instruction. That's what makes you a good team at work. Here, however, not so much. I was afraid this would happen. So, I hedged your bets a bit." Walking over under the stairs, Jackson moved a tarp revealing a pile of wood. "After Leroy cut all the pieces, I made another set while you all were working. Let's see if we can't do a bit better on putting it together." Jackson looked at what Tony had been working on and prayed for divine guidance.

"Okay, first we start at the base. Everything, even relationships, needs a strong base."

In the basement, while one man sulked upstairs on the couch, the older man and younger man worked long into the night. It was more than a nightstand they were building but a family. Tony learned a lot about wood-working and a lot about love. When the two emerged, they left two perfect nightstands waiting to be varnished. While Jackson sought his bed, Tony was met by a repentant Jethro and they spent the rest of the night snuggling on the fur rug in front of the fire basking in the lights from the tree.

Upstairs, a master craftsman smiled in his sleep, as the two men realized that love sometimes has some assembly required.