Offenders Circling the Wagons?
Never in the history of the household had chores been completed so quickly or with such attention to detail or to effort. At any other time Jethro would have marveled at the quality of the enterprise, but in this instance, he tersely praised the work done and the efficiency of time but did not elaborate.
As a father he had years of experience molding and guiding four distinct but strong personalities, and as a Federal interrogator for NCIS, he had devoted countless hours to yanking detailed confessions from suspects.
Thus, the Gunny relied upon his own expertise to both determine exact accounts of the transgressions and to ascertain just how and to what extent the kids had attempted to cover for each other.
Though in his heart of hearts Gibbs did appreciate that his children initially set out to protect one another from their own wrongs and displayed a commendable sense of loyalty to their siblings, he refused to tolerate their obvious failure to report either illegal or dangerous behavior.
In sixteen plus years as a parent he had not funneled his energy or his effort into rearing outlaws, miscreants, wrongdoers, or reprobates Jethro reminded himself.
At no time.
Jethro certainly didn't intend to lower the expectations of behavior he expected and demanded.
Rarely did all four of the Gibbs children land into trouble at the same time once out of elementary school or rather, into seriously bad trouble. However on the rare occasions when the collective unit faced their father's wrath the four tended to gravitate and align themselves to and with each other.
Jethro credited Tony with that. From childhood his oldest had lectured the other three numerous times about remaining a united front at school or when threatened by other kids.
Thus, confined to their bedrooms as technically per their father's instructions the four Gibblets instead perched nervously in a group- pathetically huddled in the upstairs hall. Both bedroom doors stood ajar so the kids could scramble back inside their rooms and close the doors should their father start climbing the steps. They had cleverly positioned a small hand mirror attached to a stand at a corner wall in the upstairs hall, a strategic trick Tony had perfected a few years before. Angling the mirror just so provided an unhindered view of the first two steps to the upstairs.
The Gibblets could spot their dad and scramble to their respective rooms with the mirror as a silent and instantaneous early warning device.
"I really don't think Dad wants us all ganged up together like this," Tim pointed out unnecessarily, combing his fingers haphazardly through his dark blond hair. "He did say very clearly to go to our rooms." He glanced toward the mirror. "I heard him say it."
"If it bothers you so much then just skedaddle back into yours right now, Timmy," Kate retorted nastily. "I find it disturbing that you sit here worried about obeying Dad's room order, but had no second thoughts about breaking the law while you and your friends tracked your Smithsonian boss so deviously."
Abby sat cross legged with her head braced against the doorframe. "Tim, let's please just concentrate on how to talk Dad into skipping the butt beatings heading our way and not waste our time obsessing over stupid stuff. Please?"
Tim thought about her request. "He'll spank you for sure," he assured her, "but as for the rest of us, I don't know how he will react."
Abby's face clouded with that pronouncement. Would her dad honestly consider her the lone child he should still discipline with an actual across his lap spanking? "Did you forget I am a teenager now too, Timothy? He is just as likely to blister your bottoms as mine."
"Nope, nope, nope. Don't rule out the rest of us, Timmy," Tony contradicted his brother. "Dad has clear cut and consistent rules and clear cut and consistent consequences based on a tiered severity system he files in that Marine Gunny head of his."
"I agree with Tony. Dad will rank illegal activity at the top, so that means he'll come down hardest on Abby and Tim," Kate reasoned, splaying out her fingers to study her pink nail lacquer.
"What about Tony?" Abby demanded. "Underage drinking? Does that count as an illegal activity?"
Kate frowned, "Forgot about that. Yep, Dad will consider underaged alcohol consumption a top drawer offense."
"Maybe he'll extend mercy since I didn't drink and drive though. Personally with my record of misdeeds over the years I am proof he typically metes out his worst punishments for lying," Tony clasped his hands behind his head. "He goes ballistics when the crime involves lying."
"That only applies to Kate," Abby reasoned. "The lying, I mean. Katie told him she had to work and sneaked off to her friend's apartment. She spit out one lie after another right to Dad's face."
"Wrong," Tony corrected. "You left home without permission and didn't tell Dad. Plus you ran off to the mall without Dad knowing. That equates to a couple of lies of omission no matter what spin you put on them."
Tim stretched his legs out onto the padded carpet and admitted remorsefully, "Tony and I broke the law, actually broke the law of the United States of America."
No one contradicted him.
Several moments elapsed as each Gibblet focused on his or her immediate, unpleasant future.
"What now?" Kate questioned finally.
Abby frowned, "What do you mean? Really, we can't change anything at this point."
"True," Kate acknowledged, nervously rubbing her upper arms. "I have goose bumps," she confided to her siblings with a nervous smile.
Tony rubbed his temples. "What now? What now? Well, Abby, I'll tell you what now. We circle the wagons. That's our what now."
"Circle the wagons?" Abby frowned. "Will that really help us? I doubt it 'cause it's not us against the world this time. It's us against our daddy."
"We know who will win," Tim shrugged his shoulders.
Kate nodded and agreed with her sister. "How will circling the wagons help the four of us now? Dad already overheard all of the dirty, underhanded details first hand."
"Yes, I realize that," Tony confirmed. "We can't take anything back at all and Dad has the lowdown on all of our crimes. Still, as his four kids we do still have each other in times of trouble and we should stick together. Need I remind you we've united ourselves in the past many times?"
Tim shrugged. "What will banding together solve now, though? We are in serious, unbelievable trouble in Dad's eyes."
"And he will punish each and every one of us, and he will punish us harshly. We can't deter him from reacting to what we've done." Tony looked from Kate, to Tim, and finally to Abby. "We can't save ourselves, but we can certainly try to save each other."
Kate ran a finger along the hall's baseboard. "Ok, how?"
"When Dad interrogates us we don't need to throw each other under the bus when he asks us what we knew about someone else's crime."
"I don't follow what you're saying to do. Elaborate, Tony," Tim prodded.
"Well, so when Dad questions me about your involvement with the tracker, what I plan to do is play up how remorseful you appeared as soon as you'd actually done it. You understood and expressed just how wrong your actions were. In other words, you regretted your behavior. That always pulls weight with Dad when we admit guilt and convince him our consciences bother us because of the guilt."
Abby gestured toward the stairs. "Smooth it over, so to speak- at least as much as possible. When Dad confronts me I'll do my best to not add fuel to his anger with Kate."
"Vice versa," Kate frowned. "I'll cover as much as I can for you."
Tim nodded, "Ditto for me, and I have your back, Tony."
"Right, and I assure you I'll do the same for you, Tim." Tony gestured toward their bedrooms. "We have collectively managed to infuriate Dad to a degree heretofore unchartered in all the years of belonging to the man's household. So believe me, he will punish us to fit the crimes. But I want to point out that when he throws the book at us and we absolutely go down, we'll fall like dominoes remembering we promised to go down united together."
"Yes," Tim responded immediately. "I'm with all of you."
The girls concurred.
"We are a team," Abby summarized.
A noise in the kitchen spooked them and the four hurriedly slipped out of the hall and back into their bedrooms and to their banishment.
At five Jethro called upstairs for Tony and Abby to help him with supper. They had expected the summons because both had meal preparation for the week's rotation, whereas responsibility for the after supper cleanup fell to Kate and Tim dealt with outdoor chores.
The family sat down to a nice supper an hour later of rice and gravy, roasted chicken, steamed spinach and green peas.
All five ate hungrily but Tony whispered behind his napkin to Abby that it felt like the last meal of the condemned.
Between bites the conversation touched on superficial matters such as work schedules for the week and who had what duty at home in the upcoming days.
Though Jethro expected to witness subdued kids during the meal, they managed to surprise him. The four cheerily complimented each other at every conceivable opportunity- certainly not a normal occurrence. Kate and Tim praised Tony and Abby's culinary skills for example while Tony and Abby managed to comment enthusiastically on the effort Tim and Kate had devoted to their own chores.
Gibbs adopted an outwardly calm and composed façade but inwardly he struggled deciding how and when to most adequately address each of his fallen angels. He had already left them to stew over their crimes for a couple of hours before supper. Jethro had no doubt that the dread of anticipating his punishment carried a wallop all of its own that would intensify the eventual consequence he levied.
Eventually Gibbs seized upon a novel approach. Once everyone finished eating he issued instructions that no one should leave the table until he dismissed them.
And then he informed the four that he didn't plan to dismiss them for quite some time.
The teens exchanged surprised, wary glances but squirmed back into their seats, smart enough to make certain it didn't appear that they had even entertained the idea of leaving the table.
Provided with the opportunity to respond to his progeny en masse as opposed to individually, Jethro delivered a blistering lecture reiterating his expectations of their behavior both at home and away from home. He emphasized his disappointment in their choices, in their failure to follow his rules, and in the lack of maturity they had shown.
The met his gaze miserably, then guiltily, and finally desperately as they attempted to dissect his remain- at- the- table- motive.
Witnessing their reactions, Jethro hardened his resolve. No matter how regretful his four children appeared lined up around the table, they had brought on the aftermath with their own immature and egregious behavior.