The next few weeks seemed to pass in a bit of a blur for Jethro. Work wasn't the only thing that was keeping him busy either. Both Kelly and Maddie Tyler were officially finished university, and Maddie had invited the three of them to her graduation, which they all excepted without hesitation.
As Jethro watched his twenty-six-year-old daughter walk on her graduation day, he was bursting with pride. Life had thrown more than a few curveballs at Kelly and she'd managed to not merely overcome them all but get a degree for a career she was passionate about.
They then helped Kelly move her things out of her dorm room and into her room at the house, Kelly having just been offered a job at Ballston Animal Hospital. Jethro was particularly thrilled by that as it meant him having Kelly home, at least for the interim. He was rather hoping Kelly would continue to stay with them for at least a few months before she moved out and got her own place. Regardless, though, his daughter would not be hours away any longer.
Tobias had teased Jethro slightly about how both the girls clearly had him utterly and completely wrapped around their finger, which just made him roll his eyes in fond exasperation and Tobias wasn't any different with Emily.
Everyone had noticed a change in Jethro, though. He was still rather strict and demanding at work, as he felt he needed to be given the nature of their job, but that haunted look in his eyes had faded some and he felt lighter. He was still trying to figure out who he was now, though. Even he knew he'd changed.
As for Maddie, she was now seriously looking at her options. On one hand, she was considering moving back to her hometown, Oakland, where she'd been offered a great job at a lab. On the other hand, the young woman had also been offered a good job at Kenwood Animal Hospital, however, which would keep her in the city.
Shannon had also done the applications for both Virginia and D.C licensure and she'd finally been approved for her Virginia teaching licence. His wife still had to wait to hear back about the D.C licensure, but that wasn't an issue at the moment.
All that meant that in the past week, Shannon had started working as a substitute teacher in the Arlington school district, which she was thrilled about.
They'd also had a small birthday dinner for his wife, Mac and Joann joining them at a restaurant for dinner on the day of the twenty-ninth. He was glad her parents were able to put their differences aside for Shannon, as he knew that their divorce upset her as she still felt responsible.
With things being more or less as figured out as they were ever going to be by that point, the three of them hopped into Shannon's car Friday evening and headed to Stillwater for the weekend. They had promised Jethro's father that they'd visit, after all, and his old man deserved a chance to get to know his granddaughter again.
The traffic wasn't so bad. and it wasn't a long trip by any means, but they stopped for dinner about halfway there before driving the rest of the way.
Needless to say, his father was thrilled when they finally pulled up.
The next day, Jethro's father made them all breakfast and the family eased into their morning before packing up and making their way to the Dobson farm as the Dobson family had a horse stable and had agreed to let them take the horses out for the day when Jethro's father talked to them the week prior.
Once they had the horses, they then headed out to ride the Wissahickon Gorge North Loop, a two-and-half-hour trail.
It had been a while since any of them had ridden, although some longer than others, so they took it easy at first but were back into the swing of things before long.
"You've still got it, Dad!" Kelly grinned as he successfully caught up to her after she'd broke into a gallop.
"You do remember who taught you to ride?" he shot back teasingly. "I can outride you any day of the week, young lady."
"Your misguided opinion is false but cute," Kelly responded in jest.
"Woah! Do you hear that?" he said jokingly, something that he'd been doing a lot more of as of late. He'd always been pretty open with Shannon and Kelly and he was finding himself becoming that man again; opening back up. It was still an adjustment for him though, lower the walls he'd erected, but it wasn't hard with Shannon or Kelly. "That's the sound of me being right." With that, Jethro started galloping again.
Kelly chuckled, immediately picking up the pace. "Whatever you say, Old Man."
His father rolled his eyes at the antics. "That girl and Leroy are something else."
Shannon gave a bemused little hum. "That's one way to put it."
"Well, come on, Shannon!" Jethro's father said, gesturing to Shannon with his right hand as he spoke, "let's catch up with them. Show 'em how it's done."
"Well," she said, starting to gallop, "what are you waiting for, Jack?"
The Gibbs patriarch shook his head in amusement and picked up the pace, wasting no time in catching up with the rest of them.
They all enjoyed riding the trail but were definitely ready to call it by the time they'd finished their picnic lunch and took the horses back to the stable.
The four of them then headed back into central Stillwater and while his father dealt with something at the store, Shannon, Kelly, and Jethro decided to go for a bit of a walk down the main road, Wesley Street. Shannon, in particular, had wanted to see how the town had changed since they didn't get to see much of the town during their last, rather quick, visit.
"I can't believe Ellen's Dress Shop is still there," Shannon said with a grin. She turned to their daughter. "I worked there part-time my senior year."
"Really?" Kelly asked, intrigued.
"Yupp," Shannon confirmed. "I really liked working there as well. Mrs. Wright, the shop owner, was great to have as a boss."
"How did you two not meet until you were like eighteen?" Kelly asked.
"Well, your dad was eighteen. I was seventeen," Shannon explained. "Anyway, it was a mix of things. We left Stillwater when I was like nine, moving to Pittsburgh for a while, and then we moved back here when I was thirteen. I was also a grade lower than your father and we just never talked even though we saw each other around. Your dad had a tendency to keep to himself."
"Had?" he said with a smirk.
His wife just rolled her eyes. "Anyway, your father ended up sitting beside me when I was going to visit my aunt and uncle and we finally talked."'
"Wasn't my smoothest moment," Jethro said with a lopsided grin. "I was so awkward and had just gotten into a fight. But you did, thankfully, agree to sit with me." He eyed his daughter. "I was waiting for the train 'cause I had to go to Camp LeJeune for my Marine Combat Training." Camp LeJeune also ended up being Jethro's Permanent Duty Station after he'd later completed his MOS.
After basic training, Jethro had to do Marine Combat Training for three weeks. He had just got back to town after Parris Island and had literally been shipping back out for further training when the unlikely pair finally talked at the station.
He sat down right near Shannon but didn't speak
"What were you and those guys fighting about?" the redhead asked, clearly recognizing him.
"I don't even remember," he lied.
She eyed him. "You should stop."
"Are you waiting for the train, too?" Of course, she was. Why else would she be here? He felt like an idiot the second the words left his mouth. He wanted to talk to her, but small talk had never been his strong suit. He dipped his head slightly before looking back at her, trying to salvage the situation. "We could sit together."
"I don't know, it's a long ride!" she said, tone of voice letting him know she was only teasing. "But, I guess you're not a lumberjack." She leaned closer to him as she said the last part.
"No," he replied, not knowing how else to reply.
"Well, I have a rule," she explained enthusiastically. "It's either rule #1 or #3. Never date a lumberjack."
"You got a rule for everything?" he asked, curiosity piqued.
"Working on it," she informed him happily. "Everyone needs a code they can live by."
Jethro nodded.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Leroy Jethro Gibbs," he said a little awkwardly.
"I'm just gonna call you Gibbs," she stated.
"You can call me anything you want," he said, giving her a small smile. And she had. He'd been Gibbs to her until they got married, and she started using Jethro more, going back and forth between the two at any given time.
She grinned back at him. "I'm Shannon."
"You were endearingly awkward," Shannon said, eyes sparkling with mirth.
Jethro gently clasped his wife's shoulder with his right hand, a small smile playing on his lips as he did so. "Only you would think that, Shan."
As Kelly had pointed out earlier, Stillwater was far from a large town. The family was quickly reminded of the fact when they felt everyone's eyes on them as they walked, people clearly having recognized Shannon and himself from the pair growing up there.
"Word still travels fast here," his wife commented.
"Yeah," he agreed, "it does."
This was going to be a great weekend.
