"Oh, no," Kate declared, "you are not wearing that to school."
"Aunt Kate," Grace rolled her eyes, "it is not that bad."
"Grace, it's the first day of high school. Do you really this to be people's first impression of you?"
"So what if it is? What's wrong with it?" Grace protested.
"For starters, it's too high in the bottom, too low in the front, too tight around the midriff, and too loose at the shoulders," Kate recited.
"Oh, please. You sound like –" Grace hesitated.
"Your mother?" Kate interjected smugly.
"Frankly, yeah," Grace shot back.
"Well, guess what, Grace – I am your mother." Kate was only a few notches short of yelling by now.
"Barely," Grace replied nastily, matching Kate's volume.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Kate demanded, masking her hurt behind anger.
"You know what I mean," Grace answered cryptically.
"No, I don't," Kate pressed, frustrated. "Why don't you tell me?"
"Just that I didn't even know you until three months ago," Grace retorted.
"We've been over this before," Kate said, the warning clear in her suddenly lowered voice.
Grace took the hint and changed tack. "Come on, Aunt Kate, everybody's wearing this."
Kate snorted, putting aside her shock and pain to concentrate on the argument at hand. "First, I highly doubt that. Second, and I know this is cliché," Kate closed her eyes, not believing she was about to say this, "but if everyone were jumping off a bridge, would you?"
"I can't believe you just said that," Grace responded, trademark eyebrow on the rise.
"Yeah, neither can I," Kate cringed before sighing, "Please, Grace, just humor me. We can work something out later, but right now we're going to be late."
Grace considered her carefully before rolling her eyes again and huffing, "Fine, I'll change. But just this once. And only because I don't want to be late."
"I don't get it, Ducky," Kate confessed helplessly. "Last week, we got along great. I thought we were finally getting it together. This morning, I'm her worst enemy."
"Believe it or not, Caitlin," Ducky smiled sympathetically, "this is actually a very positive sign. Grace's behavior this morning, as you described it, is definitely normal teenage conduct. And, in fact, she is beginning to treat you as a mother, whether or not she realizes it."
"It sure doesn't feel like it," Kate sighed glumly.
"Trite as this may sound – welcome to parenthood."
"There's something else," Kate began hesitantly. "Grace said something this morning…"
"Go on, Caitlin," Ducky encouraged her.
She sighed. "She said I was 'barely' her mother. I know that's normal, but I really thought we'd moved past that."
Ducky frowned slightly. "It hasn't been an issue lately?"
"No, it hasn't come up for several weeks. Actually, it was never that big a problem to begin with; I think because I'm her biological mother, she can't use the 'You're not my real mom' line. There were a couple of times she seemed like she wanted to, though." Kate, as always when she was unsure of herself, babbled.
"Perhaps…" Ducky mused. Kate waited for him to continue but the pause grew longer and more awkward.
"Um, perhaps what, Ducky?"
"Oh, I was just considering…" Ducky shook himself from his pondering and addressed Kate more clearly. "Perhaps Grace didn't really mean it. It sounds almost as if she's simply recycling an old argument that has proven effective in the past. Did she press the point?"
"No," Kate acknowledged, recalling the morning's events. "I warned her that we'd been over it before and she backed off right away."
"Yes," Ducky nodded. "That does seem to correspond with my theory. I can't be sure, of course, but I wouldn't worry overmuch, Caitlin. Grace is, after all, fourteen years old. As I said before, this is typical teenage behavior."
"Thanks, Ducky," Kate smiled appreciatively.
"You're quite welcome. My door is always open."
Kate typed her report, glad Tony was out on an interview and not peppering her with inane questions and comments. She was definitely not in the mood for his antics. It was amazing, though, how quiet the office became without him around. The only sound was the clicking of keys from her and Gibbs' computers, punctuated by the occasional slurp of coffee from Gibbs' desk. McGee was working with Abby on some technical problem but even his presence wouldn't have made much difference.
"How's Grace doing?" Gibbs asked suddenly, breaking the silence.
Kate started at the unexpected noise and the even more unexpected question. Gibbs had hardly said a word about Grace before, and then it was usually to remind Kate that she ought to have no effect on her work. Why was he suddenly interested?
"Um, pretty good," Kate answered generally, still confused.
"She started school today."
How does he do that? Kate wondered. "Yeah," she replied, even though it had not been a question.
"High school. How's she taking it?"
Again, Kate wondered at his abrupt curiosity. His determined stare at his computer didn't give any hint as to his intentions, so she answered his question at face value. "She was a little nervous, but I think she'll settle in pretty quick."
"She will. She's a trouper."
Kate marveled at his ability to judge people. He had only met Grace for five minutes two months ago and again at the benefit but had apparently garnered a good bit of her personality from the two brief encounters. Of course, he did that every day with suspects but it was somewhat more impressive when Kate knew the person and knew he was entirely correct.
As suddenly and mysteriously as the conversation had started, it ended. Gibbs simply stopped talking and Kate was too befuddled (and, admittedly, intimidated) to continue it herself. It was just one more mystery about Gibbs that Kate figured she would never know the answer to.