Chapter ten
Jethro woke to the sound of voices coming up from downstairs. He groaned. He had seen Fornell yesterday, what the hell could he want today again. He hadn't planned on doing anything today except maybe working on the boat, but he was certainly not spending another day with Fornell. He might have promised to be a better friend and to socialize a bit more but that didn't mean he would spend every minute, he was awake, with people. He needed his time with his boat too, to have time to think things through, sort through a few things and clear his head and he couldn't do that if there were constantly people around.
Gibbs got up and went into his bathroom. He took a quick shower, brushed his teeth and then went downstairs to see what Fornell wanted this time. As soon as he was on the bottom of the stairs, he got tackled by a very enthusiastic little four-year-old girl. Jethro laughed and scooped her up in his arms.
He was surprised when the usual pain in his heart that he always felt whenever Emily Fornell was around him, didn't come today. He did think about Kelly of course, how could he not, when she had always done the same thing, but it didn't hurt as much as it used to. Could it really be that the music played by a stranger helped to lift some of the pain he had felt for nearly ten years when thinking about his dead wife and child? God, Jethro certainly hoped so! He knew that life could be better and that he was able to find happiness again, if he'd be able to let his girls go. And as Kelly had said in his dream, he wouldn't really let them go. He wouldn't lose them, they were both still there, in his heart, in his thoughts. He would never forget them and always be sad, that he didn't get the opportunity to see his little girl grow up, and that she didn't get the chance to do all the things she'd have done if she had lived. But if he could let the grief and the pain go, he knew that he could have something similar to what he had with Shannon again. It clearly hadn't worked out with all his ex-wives but then again, he hadn't been ready then. Now he knew that he was allowed to be happy again and he knew that his girls wanted him to be happy. Kelly's assessment of Tony came into his mind again and he vowed to find the guy and get to know him and see if he could imagine having a relationship with the guy. He knew his girls, especially Kelly, would approve and well, the lust factor certainly was not a problem.
Jethro smiled at the little girl in his arms, swirled her around and then set her down on the floor gently again. He then looked at Tobias and silently questioned why he was here.
Fornell told him, that Diane and he had an argument last night and that he wasn't sure if they had solved it or if they would continue today. He certainly felt as if it wasn't over yet and he definitely didn't want Emily to hear her parents argue… again, seeing as they could get a bit louder when they were in the process of arguing. Well, and Jethro was obviously the only one, Fornell could ask to take care of Emily on such a short notice.
Gibbs agreed of course. He knew the Fornell's well enough that he knew that when they were arguing it could end up with both at them screaming at each other and he agreed with Fornell that no child needed to hear that. Additionally, he was Emily's uncle, and he loved the little girl dearly and gladly spend time with her.
Tobias thanked him, kissed Emily on the forehead and left the two of them alone.
"So, Emily, now that we're alone, what do you want to do today?", Jethro asked the little girl and secretly hoped it was something that he was able to do.
"Can we go out and play with the dog again, Uncle Jethro?", Emily asked, and Gibbs laughed. They had been at the nearby park the last time she had been with him and had met Rosy and Cookie. Cookie had immediately liked Emily and the two of them had been inseparable for the better part of the day.
"Sure thing, kiddo. We can go to Rosy and see if she'll let us take Cookie, okay?"
Emily squealed with delight and urged Jethro to hurry up so that could go out and play. Jethro told her that he needed to have at least two cups of coffee before he could go out, because he was old and needed some extra energy to keep up with her. Emily laughed at him and agreed that they could wait long enough for Jethro to have his coffee because she knew that her uncle was happier if he had some coffee in his body, otherwise he was grumpier.
After he had finished his coffee and Emily had told him everything she had been up to for the last weeks, he took Emily's hand and together they went over to Rosy's house. They didn't need to go all over there because Rosy was walking down the street with Cookie. When the dog saw Emily, he immediately took off and was all over her. Emily hugged Cookie and then all her attention was on him. Gibbs looked at her, smiled and then explained to Rosy that they wanted to go to the park and would like to take Cookie with them to play. Rosy was delighted, she too loved the little girl but made him promise to bring Cookie back in the evening.
Emily and Jethro spend the whole day at the park. She played with Cookie, raced him through the park and threw sticks for him. Jethro watched and laughed with her, because her laugh was contagious. He then threw a ball for both of them, and Emily would try to outrun Cookie. She didn't succeed but that didn't matter to her, she had fun and always gave treats to Cookie whenever he won. That resulted in Cookie following her around everywhere and Jethro couldn't do anything except laugh at that. It was a joy to watch the little girl so happy and carefree.
They had a short break to have a little light lunch, and, in the afternoon, Jethro took Emily to have some ice cream. Emily loved ice cream and Jethro knew that she would always tell Tobias how great uncle Jethro was, he always let her have ice cream and she loved it with him. Tobias, not to be outdone by Jethro, always promised her another ice cream when they got home. She would always smirk at Jethro when she left and Jethro would smirk back, knowing exactly what she was doing. She had a devious streak and Jethro was sure, she had inherited that from her mother.
He chuckled at that thought and then was brought out of his thoughts by the ringing of his phone. It was Fornell telling him, that he was on his way to get Emily. Gibbs told him that they were at the park and would make their way back home now too.
He told Emily that they needed to go home now, because her father was on his way but that she could always come visit him again and play with Cookie some more. Rosy certainly wouldn't mind.
He took Emily's hand, and they went back with Cookie dutifully following Emily. When they arrived at Rosy's house, Jethro more or less dragged Emily behind himself. She was tired and didn't want to walk anymore but didn't want to leave Cookie. He took her in his arms as soon as they were at Rosy's front step and Cookie went to greet his owner. Jethro wondered what kind of gossip she had heard now. She was smirking in that specific way, she always did, when she had heard something really interesting. Jethro was very glad that he had Emily with him because he knew that she liked to tell everyone what new things she had learned and with Emily he had the perfect excuse not to listen to her rambling today.
She didn't say anything though to his surprise and just kept smirking at him and then thanked him for playing with Cookie. Jethro told her that it was not a problem, and that Emily surely would be back soon to spend some time with Cookie again.
He then went back to home with Emily still in his arms and wondered what Rosy had found out that had her smirking at him like that.
When he got home, he saw that Tobias car was already there. Fornell took one look at the little girl sleeping in Jethro's arms and quietly thanked him for taking care of her. He took her from Jethro's arms and put her in the car. Gibbs watched till the car was gone and then let himself fall heavily on the couch. He rubbed his hands over his face and sighed. He had forgotten how exhausting it could be to spend a day with a bundle of energy such as Emily and an equally enthusiastic dog. He definitely needed some time with his boat now.
After Gibbs had spent a few hours in his basement, he suddenly heard piano sounds drifting downstairs. He realized that he had forgotten about his request. He hadn't thought about it all day and as he went upstairs to be able to listen better, he was very grateful to DiNozzo for playing his request. DiNozzo played beautifully. He conveyed the emotions just right and played with just the right amount of force but also gentle.
While he listened to the music, Jethro got lost in his thoughts and he could have sworn that he saw Shannon and Kelly. Kelly was dancing around the room, laughing and twirling around. Shannon was watching their little girl and then looked over at Jethro. Jethro could feel their presence and it filled him with warmth. Shannon came over to him and took his hand in hers and then placed their joined hands over his heart. He could feel the warmth, the love she had for him but also the sadness she felt, sadness that he hadn't been able to live on. To let them go and be happy again. He could feel the warmth spreading through his body, could feel that a great weight was lifted from his shoulders, and it felt as if he could finally breath again. He felt lighter, better, not so full of grief, pain, hurt and anger but filled with happiness, warmth and hope. Shannon smiled at him, gave him a kiss and then vanished. Kelly too came over to him and hugged him with all her might. He pressed her against his body and gave her kiss on the top of her head and then she too disappeared. The warm feeling and the hope though, they didn't. They stayed inside him, and Jethro truly felt good.
DiNozzo was still playing, and Gibbs realized that he had started the piece again. Maybe to make sure that he indeed heard it, seeing as Gibbs hadn't told him when he was home. He was strangely moved by that thought, that a stranger would care enough to play the piece a neighbor had requested, with a note taped to his front door, and then even twice.
Jethro thought about his piano in Kelly's room again and vowed to himself that he would get it out tomorrow and see if he could still play.
After DiNozzo had stopped playing Jethro made himself some dinner, cowboy-style steaks and a can of beans, he wasn't able to do much more after the day he had and then settled down on the couch to watch some baseball and eat. After a while he heard the piano again and wondered why his neighbor was playing again. Maybe he did it to relax or calm down, the was Jethro used his work on the boat? It didn't really matter, Jethro enjoyed it, nevertheless. He couldn't really envision Anthony DiNozzo sitting in front of the piano and playing to calm his mind though. He didn't seem to be the type for that, but he had just seen him once and even if his first impression was usual quite good, he could be wrong on DiNozzo. He really needed to get to know his new neighbor, it wouldn't do to put the introduction off for much longer. He would see if he could squeeze it in tomorrow, when they didn't get a case first thing in the morning.
For now, though, he continued listening to DiNozzo's playing and afterwards went to bed still with a happy and warm feeling in his chest and with his mind wondering what type of man Anthony was.