Hey guys. Here's a new one shot. I've had it in my head for months but am just getting around to writing it. Hope you enjoy it. Please read AND review. Thanks!
"Hey Mama?" called out five year old Danny Krakowsky.
"What is it, bud?" answered his mom, Abby Sciuto Krakowsky.
"I can't find my dinosaur." lamented the little boy.
"Well where did you last have it?" was the reply.
Danny began wailing. "I don't remembeerrrr!" and stamped his little foot.
"Ok. Calm down. Call your brother and sisters. We'll spread out and do a search." Abby soothed her son.
Danny nodded and ran off to find his siblings. After a twenty minute search of the grounds, Danny's nine year old brother Alex ran in to the room.
"Found it!" he declared.
"Where was it?" inquired Kelly, the boys' eleven year old sister.
"It was in the tree house under the round table."
"Thanks, Alex. Ok Danny-Boy, go put your dino in your backpack" Abby encouraged her son. Danny ran to do just that.
"Alex, do you have your bag ready?" Abby checked.
"Yeah. I finished packing a few minutes ago. When are we going to leave for Grandpa's?" the boy answered. Alex and Danny, along with their honorary cousins, Timmy and David DiNozzo, Donny Palmer and Johnny and Jax McGee were invited to their honorary Grandpa Gibbs' house for an indoor camp out. They were especially excited because they were all going to get to help with the latest boat in the basement. The girls were splitting between the Palmer and McGee houses with the four older girls at the Palmer house and the younger four at the McGees.
"We'll leave in about fifteen minutes. Go help your brother make sure he's got everything." was the reply.
"Ok." Alex stated obediently. He ran to the back of the house and to his brother's room. A few minutes later, all four kids returned with their bags.
"Ready, Mama." signed thirteen year old Caty.
"Great. Let's head out. I'll drop you girls and Cocoa at Uncle Tim and Aunt Dee's house and then I'll take you boys to Grandpa Gibbs'. We'll see if Johnny and Jax need a ride, too." Abby told the kids.
The kids said goodbye to their dad who was just coming in the door, and headed out with their mom. Before they knew it, the two Krakowsky boys and two McGee boys were greeting the other three boys and their Grandpa.
"Thanks for doing this, Gibbs." The boys are so excited.
"Glad to do it, Abs. You and Jesse enjoy your night of freedom." was Gibbs' reply
"Oh, we plan to." Abby informed him slyly.
Gibbs gave her a smirk and simply uttered, "Abby."
Abby smiled in return. "I better get back now. Jesse's waiting." Then she called out, "Boys?" I'm leaving!"
Alex and Danny came running in from the back yard and hugged their mother.
"Bye Mama." was the youngest boy's sweet statement.
"See ya later, Mom." his older brother added.
Abby kissed her boys on their heads and told them, "If you boys need anything or if Danny gets homesick, call me anytime. K?"
"We'll be fine, mom." Alex assured her.
Abby nodded, then released her boys to hug Gibbs. "Bye, Gibbs. I'll see you tomorrow. You sure this isn't too much?"
"We'll be fine, Abs. Go on home. We'll see ya tomorrow." Gibbs responded. Then he kissed Abby's forehead and pushed her gently towards the door.
After she had left, Gibbs went to the back door and ordered, "Bring it in, guys!"
The boys quickly complied and were asked, "Who's ready for cowboy steaks in the fireplace?"
"Oh yeah!" Timmy DiNozzo cheered. The other boys all joined in the cheering. Gibbs got the steaks out of the fridge and the older boys helped him wrap them. Then all the boys helped get out the sides and drinks ready. Soon everyone was in front of the fireplace in the living room preparing to eat.
After supper, Danny begged," Grandpa Gibbs, can we go work on the boat now?"
"Well, we need to clean up this mess, but after everything's put away, I don't see why not." Gibbs affirmed.
That lit a fire under the group. No boy had ever cleaned up faster than those seven. In no time the eight males were down in the basement with sand paper.
"Grandpa Gibbs, How are ya gonna get the boat out when it's done?" asked Jax
"I just break the bottle." was the quick retort.
"What's that even mean?" Donny demanded.
"That is my secret." Gibbs shot back.
"Awww! Come on Grandpa." Davey pleaded.
"Nope. I'm not about to let my secret out for anyone. Even your parents never found out." Gibbs told the boys firmly.
"Really? They still don't know?!" Johnny questioned in awe.
"Really." Gibbs insisted.
"Wow." all the boys breathed out at once.
He chuckled and playfully ordered, "Ok, let's get back to work, guys. In a few minutes, we'll go back up for s'mores."
"YAAAY!" came the loud cheer. They finished up on the boat and then moved on upstairs.
The next two hours were filled with toasted marshmallows, chocolate, graham crackers, and ghost stories. Sometime in the middle of the night, Gibbs began to snore, a pretty good indication that he had fallen asleep.
Johnny signaled to the other boys and they all headed silently into the kitchen.
"Hey, guys. Grandpa's asleep. Let's go down to the basement and figure out what he does with the boats." he suggested. With nods of agreement, the boys quietly crept down the wooden stairs, careful not to let them creak. They pushed on all the walls and checked for trap doors, but found nothing.
Finally, Timmy sighed in defeat. "Hey guys, I can't think of anything else to try. We'd better get back up to the living room before Grandpa wakes up and catches us."
"I guess you're right." Donny relented. They all quietly trudged back up the stairs and quickly got back into their sleeping bags. Davey was the slowest one to get back and he was caught by Gibbs who had already awakened and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water.
"What are you doing up?" The man asked the little boy.
"Going to the bathroom." Davey lied. Gibbs gave him a hard stare before shaking his head and letting it go.
"Back to bed now." was all he said aloud.
"K. Night Grandpa."
"Night, kiddo." Gibbs replied, smiling to himself when the boy turned away.
A couple of weeks later, the entire NCIS family gathered at Gibbs for Easter dinner. The boys filled the girls in on what had happened at the indoor camp-out.
"Hey why don't we all go down and look together. Maybe you all missed something. It was late." Tori Palmer suggested.
"What about Gibbs and our parents?" AJ DiNozzo questioned uncertainly.
"They're busy talking. They won't miss us for a while. Come on." Kasie Palmer urged.
The kids headed down to the basement and started the search. At first, they came up empty, but then Caty noticed something.
She went over to Morgan and pointed to what she'd noticed before signing, "I wonder if the boys thought to look behind things."
"Hey guys? Did you all look behind things? Like the work bench or other stuff that in front of the walls?" Morgan asked.
"Hey, great Idea! Why didn't WE think of that?!" exclaimed Jax.
The bigger kids worked together to remove the workbench away from the wall. They looked carefully and then Caty found a place in the wall that looked cracked. She moved closer and realized that the crack was actually the crack where the wall met a door. The tool wall was actually a big sliding door. Johnny, Timmy, and Donny worked together and got it open to reveal a tunnel.
"Holy COW! We found it!" shouted the younger kids. The older kids shushed them.
"The grownups will hear you!" warned Tali in a hoarse whisper. She turned the flashlight on her phone and beckoned to the others to follow. They still needed to find out how he got the boats out of the tunnel and where it led.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Ziva observed, "Our kids are being abnormally quiet. Perhaps we should go check on them."
"Where are they, anyway?" asked Delilah.
"I think I know." Gibbs stated.
When the kids returned from exploring the tunnel, which they discovered ended up in the back yard; they found they had an audience waiting for them.
"Um, hi, Mama. Hey Daddy." Kelly nervously greeted.
"Hi, Grandpa Gibbs. Hi guys." Jax added.
"Where have you guys been?" demanded Breena.
"Well... um, we ended up in the back yard." Morgan explained. Then Johnny told the entire story.
Once he finished, Alex spoke up. "We just wanted to see how Grandpa Gibbs gets the boats outta here."
"Wow! So THAT's how he does it." Tony uttered in shock.
"We've been trying to figure that out for years!" Palmer added in disbelief.
"How?" was McGee's question.
"It was Caty's idea. She figured out that the way out might be behind something." Johnny credited proudly, signing as he spoke.
"It WOULD be one of Abby's kids." Torres quipped.
"Eh, they're inquisitive like their mom." Sloane told him. All this time, the others were taking turns translating for Caty when the speaker failed to do so, and Caty wasn't in the position to read their lips.
"Well, Now that my secret's out, can you kids please shut my door?" Gibbs demanded in a grumpy tone remembering to sign.
Johnny and his dad pushed the door shut and moved the bench back into place.
"Are ya mad at us, Grandpa Gibbs?" Alex asked worriedly.
"Nah. Just don't tell anyone about it. I don't want it to go outside this room." was the quick reply.
"Ok. I know. Your stuff could get stolen if bad guys found the tunnel, right?" Danny asked.
"Something like that." Gibbs deflected.
"Well, you guys did the impossible. You solved the age-old mystery." Abby praised the kids.
Kasie nodded. "Yeah, after all this time we finally know how Gibbs gets those damn boats out of his basement."
"Alright. You know my secret; now get out of my basement. Back upstairs, all of you." Gibbs commanded. At that, everyone scurried up the stairs as fast as they could.
Well, there's the answer to the age old question. Well, at least my version of the truth. Thanks for reading. Stay healthy and safe out there. Catch ya later. Bye!