Gibbs woke up at seven am which was quite late for him. Normally he was awake at six but maybe his body had realized he needed more sleep than normally. He felt good, well rested and ready to start the day. He got up and went downstairs to get his first cup of coffee. While he waited for the coffee maker to get ready, he looked out of the window and again saw a moving truck in the driveway. He remembered that he had noticed it yesterday but had been too tired to really think about it. He noticed that there were people walking in and out of the house, carrying boxes and furniture. One older guy was standing to the side and ordering the workers around. He wore a well-fitting suit that looked very expensive, and Gibbs was sure he would never buy one of those for himself, wasn't even sure if he could afford it. The man looked oddly out of place with his expensive suit, expensive shoes and the way he was just standing there.
Gibbs just shook his head, hopefully it wasn't the new owner of the house. He didn't think the man would fit in the neighborhood, he seemed to come from money and while Jethro didn't have anything against that, if it was well earned, he didn't think this neighborhood was the place for someone like that. Jethro wasn't one to assume though and decided to just wait and see.
He took his coffee and went upstairs again to take a shower and get ready for the day ahead.
After he had showered and had gotten dressed, he went downstairs to have breakfast. Contrary to what his colleagues at NCIS thought, he couldn't live on just coffee and indeed had breakfast every morning and ate a more or less good dinner in the evenings. Most of the time it turned out to be takeout or just a can of beans but still… When he got into his kitchen, he noticed the people next door where still moving boxes. 'How many things can someone own', he thought to himself. He had not that much stuff, but maybe that was because his three ex-wives had decided to take everything with them, one after the other, and he had never bothered to buy new things. He was content to live like this and didn't need any fancy decoration or unnecessary things that would just collect dust.
While he looked on, he observed how the guys all went to the truck and then carried a piano into the house.
Jethro immediately thought back to his girls, Shannon and Kelly. Shannon had insisted to buy a piano and he could never say no to her. At first, he had thought she wanted to have it for herself, but he soon realized that wasn't the case. She had wanted it for him. He had told her that he had taken lessons when he was a kid and that he had greatly enjoyed playing but stopped because some guys in school had bullied him because of it. Shannon had taken him to her parent's home, sat him in front of the piano there and insisted he play something for her. He had been embarrassed at first but soon had gotten lost in the music.
They had never really talked about it after that, until that day. She had told him, she wanted them to have a piano so that he could teach their child. No matter if boy or girl, she wanted them to have something to do together, to bond over and it had been a great idea. He had greatly enjoyed teaching his little Kelly how to play and sometimes she would just sit on his lap while he played something for her. Kelly had always put her hands on the keys and had played random notes and then laughed about how awful it sounded and he hadn't been able to do anything but join her in her laughter. Shannon would always find them like this, doubled over with laughter. These had been happy times, he thought with a sad smile as he remembered them.
After his girls had died, he had taken all their stuff and packed it into boxes and stuffed them into Kelly's bedroom to keep safe and the first thing he had packed away was the piano. He hadn't been able to look at it without feeling the deep grief inside of him and had to hide it away.
Even now just looking at this stranger's piano he just felt this deep sadness inside his heart. Everyone always said, 'time would heal every wound', that it would get easier to live with, but it seemed as if that wound that would remain open for the rest of his life.
Jethro shook his head to shake those memories away and his eyes went back to the workers next door. He wondered if the guy actually played the piano or if it was just a decoration element.
After breakfast he went over to Rosie's house. On his way over he was greeted by her dog Cockie. He was a cute little thing, brown and white, and just barely reached Jethro's knee with his head. He obviously had escaped yet again, and Jethro picked him up and carried him back to Rosie's house. He knocked on the door and was immediately greeted by the old lady. "Oh Jethro, thank god you found my sweet little Cockie. I was in the garden and one moment he was sitting beside me and when I turn around, he's gone again. I'm so glad you offered to help me with the fence.", she said.
Rosy was an old lady who has been living here much longer than Jethro. She knew everyone in the neighborhood and made a habit of speaking to anyone at least once a week. Partly because she was just very lonely and needed someone to talk to but mostly because she was very curious and was always up-to-date on neighborhood gossip. Jethro thought about asking her about his new neighbor because surely she would know who was moving in there but pushed that thought aside to concentrate on the matter at hand.
"It's not a problem, Rosy, you know that. I'm always happy to help when it comes to fixing things.", he answered.
"Yes, I know, you always tell me, dear boy. But you have such a tight schedule, I don't want to take away your only free time. You really shouldn't work this much, it's not good for you. You should have time to relax and drink tea with your neighbors more often."
"You always tell me that, Rosy. But I'm happy with my job and I wouldn't know what to do with too much freedom, you know I always like to be busy. Always have been this way. And it really is no problem, it will only take a few minutes.", he didn't know how often he had to tell her that, but he guessed that's just how old people were. His dad was always talking about the same thing.
Rosy showed him the broken fence and then left him to it. Gibbs indeed fixed it in a couple of minutes and went back to the house.
"See, no problem at all.", he told Rosy and then bent down to scratch Cockie's head, "and no more escaping for you, okay? No need to give Rosy a scare all the time."
"Oh, thank you Jethro, I was always so afraid for him when he was gone. But now that this is done, you must stay and drink one coffee with me. I haven't been able to see you and we haven't talked in quite some time"
Jethro thought about an excuse to get away from this so called "one coffee". It never was just one, it always got way out of hand, and he was sure he would still be here in the afternoon when it was time for cake. He sighed and resigned himself to his fate. It wasn't as if he had anything to do today. Besides maybe he could indeed question Rosy about his new neighbor.
"Okay, Rosy, I'll stay for one coffee".
They both went over to the small table, which was in the front of the garden, near the hose and surrounded by flowers. Rosy served him a cup of coffee, strong and black, the way she knew he liked it. "So, Jethro, have you met your new neighbor?", she asked him curiously.
'Ah, so there was no need to think about how to breach that topic', Gibbs thought chuckling quietly.
"Always straight to the point, heh Rosy? No, no actually I haven't. I just realized someone had bought that house yesterday with the moving truck in the driveway and all."
"Well, yes dear boy, I know you only agreed to a cup of coffee for some information, you can't fool me, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, I know you.", she said while wriggling a finger in front of his face. Jethro chuckled and raised his hands in mock defeat. Rosy laughed and continued, "he introduced himself to me a few weeks ago as Anthony DiNozzo. I immediately recognized that as an Italian name. He was quite charming, I must say. Very well dressed and he knew how to make a lasting impression."
So, Gibbs had been right. The older man he had seen this morning was indeed his neighbor. He didn't know why that left him with a felling of disappointment. Maybe he was ready for a change and had hoped his new neighbor would provide that change? Jethro didn't know what to make of that thought, so he pushed it to the back of his mind to re-examine later, preferably while working on the boat.
"Fancy suit, expensive shoes, well dressed?", he asked just to make sure.
"Why yes, so you have met him!", Rosy exclaimed, looking offended that he would lie to her on such a topic.
"No, no I haven't. I just saw him this morning, standing in the driveway and ordering the movers around.", Gibbs immediately soothed her. "He doesn't really look as if he would fit in here though?", he added as an afterthought.
"Okay", Rosy said still looking slightly offended but then brightened again when she realized, they could gossip a bit about the newcomer. "That's exactly what I thought. He won't fit in here. This is not the kind of neighborhood he should look at; he looks more like a mansion-type of guy. I even told him that, you know I always speak my mind, but he assured me that this was exactly what he was looking for and that it was perfect."
Jethro frowned. Maybe the guy just liked to wear fancy clothes. Maybe it would be alright, and Jethro could find a new friend in this guy. Not that he was searching for a new friend, but it would be nice to have someone who didn't work in law enforcement. Although maybe not, he never had enough time for those who didn't work with him. That would also need some re-examination later. He figured he could go introduce himself on his way home and check this Anthony DiNozzo out. With that in mind he answered Rosy, "maybe he got sick of all the city life and is seeking a quieter neighborhood, than this one would indeed be perfect."
"Yes, maybe you are right, Jethro, we shouldn't judge people just by what they are wearing. I will invite him for cake the next day to make sure he feels welcome here." And with that the subject was closed and Rosy inquired about how Gibbs's job was going, how he is doing and if he still built that boat in his basement.
When Jethro was finally let go, he was in serious need for some time alone. Spending a whole morning and nearly the whole afternoon with Rosy had pushed his social skills and he needed to have some time to recharge. As he walked by his new neighbor's house, Anthony DiNozzo, he reminded himself, he promised himself that he would go introduce himself the next day. He just didn't feel like any more talking and knew he would have to make at least a bit of small talk to get to know the man. And with that thought he went down to his basement and continued to work on his boat.
When he came upstairs again to grab something to eat, he realized that it had gotten dark already. He clearly had gotten lost in his thoughts while sanding his boat. He decided to eat at the table and not on the couch as he would normally do.
As he was eating, he suddenly heard the soft sound of a piano being played. He had opened the windows as it was a hot day and the soft wind through the windows was always nice. That enabled him to hear the piano from next door because clearly DiNozzo had done the same. As he was listening his thoughts immediately went to Shannon and Kelly. He was overcome with the same grief he always felt when thinking about his girls but instead of just closing the windows to shut the sound of the piano out, he just sat there in his kitchen and listened to DiNozzo playing. He was good. You could clearly hear the emotions with which the instrument was being played and realized he recognized that piece, it was "La Valse d'Amelie". It somehow fit his thoughts and mood perfectly. The sadness he always felt because his girls weren't here anymore. The sadness over the fact that his daughter would never get to grow up, never make the experiences every child should be able to make and that he would never get to teach his daughter all the things he had wanted to teach her. The sadness that he would never wake up next to Shannon again, would never see her smile again. That she would never make up another rule, she would then write down and make him remember.
But also, the happiness he felt when he thought about all the fun days they had had together. The day he and Shannon had taken Kelly to a horse ranch and his little girl hadn't talked about anything but horses for two months. They had to promise her they would take her horseback riding on the next vacation. The little things that had always made him laugh. When Kelly would jump on their bed in the mornings to wake them up and he would grab her and tickle her till she couldn't do anything but laugh and he and Shannon joined in because her laugh was infectious.
He smiled sadly and then realized that the music had stopped. He was a disappointed by that. Even if those memories where painful, he had always enjoyed listening to the sound of a piano and DiNozzo had played beautifully.
Hopefully he would be able to hear his neighbor play more…