The next week, thankfully, passed quite quickly. He'd talked with both Mike and Leyla, his Goddaughter Amira, having just turned three. He and Shannon had both sent the little girl a couple of small presents.

On another note, neither Welch nor Corporal Pérez had caused any more issues that night or since, but that didn't stop Jethro from still asking the corporal's CO, Captain Martin, out for a coffee and a little chat. Standing aside and watching as your buddy harassed someone like Pérez had done was beyond unacceptable in his opinion.

James Martin had actually been a boot stationed at Camp Pendleton at the same time as Jethro and the pair had gotten to know each other while Jethro was on limited duty and hobbling around base on crutches after getting hit with an IED.

God, he'd been glad to get rid of those crutches.

Jethro's team had caught a bit of a nasty case, so Jethro was a tad concerned at some points about the case being closed in time for him to leave, but by 1700 that afternoon he was running out of the building, not wanting to stick around lest dispatch call him.

Or his friend Phillip Brooks, for that matter. Phil, as he was almost always called when not at work, was a Navy Lieutenant and had just got home on leave. So, with his wife Marcy away on a business trip the man wanted to catch up with Jethro, which he was all for. However, the man also had the tendency to invite himself to places.

"I'll be lost in the cabin in the woods for the next few days," Jethro said, glad that he'd been approved for taking the coming Monday off as well. "Do not call me for anything work-related and enjoy your weekend." He eyed them as he stepped into the elevator. "Seriously, no work calls." Jethro loved them all but he really needed a few days where he could just focus on his family and not on work.

Ziva chuckled, shaking her head slightly. "Don't worry. Enjoy your weekend."

"See you Monday, Boss!" DiNozzo said.

"Have a good weekend!" McGee chirped.

Heading downstairs, Jethro walked outside, hopped into his old pickup truck, and then drove home to Arlington where his wife and daughter were already waiting for him.

The three of them then quickly packed everything in the back of the pickup and made the drive out to the cabin, arriving there just as it was getting dark. Given the time, they got settled, started a fire, and then made themselves a bite to eat. The cabin itself wasn't very big, so it didn't take him long to show Shannon and Kelly around.

He had half a mind to ask Phil to give him a hand with building an extension off the back of the cabin. In the meantime, though, Kelly was on an air mattress, him and Shannon taking the actual bed.

Bright and early the next morning, the three of them got up and had some cereal for breakfast before heading outside to get some fishing in.

"At least it's still rather early," Kelly commented optimistically. "We're bound to catch something sooner or later."

Shannon gave a small shrug. "Maybe. Maybe not. That's the thing about fishing; it's very much a waiting game."

"Your mom's right about that," he agreed, "but we also haven't been out that long yet, Kellz. We'll catch something." They really hadn't. The three of them had only been out on the water for just over a half-an-hour.

"Well, I'm just glad we got to do spend some time together, Dad!" Kelly said. "Since I moved in with Maddie, well..."

"That's what happens when you grow up," he replied matter-of-factly, understanding what his daughter was saying all too well. "But... I think the last time that I took you fishing was when you were seven. Remember?"

"I do," Kelly said with a grin. "We were camping on the beach in that silver trailer."

"Good memory," Shannon commented. "We put a lot of miles on that thing."

"Yeah, we did!" he said with a chuckle. They'd gone on more than a few trips with it, definitely getting their money's worth out of it.

They continued chatting, and it was another twenty minutes before one of them finally got a bite on their line, Shannon catching a twelve-inch long brook trout.

It wasn't long after that when their daughter got a bite, immediately reeling it in. "I've got one!" Kelly said proudly as she showed off her catch. She'd caught a book trout as well that was maybe two inches smaller than Shannon's.

His wife pointed gestured towards him. "It looks like your dad does too."

While their daughter had been reeling hers in, Jethro had got a bite, pleased that'd he had finally caught something. Jethro smirked when he'd noted that he had managed to catch a fourteen-inch long largemouth bass.

The one he'd just caught was thirteen inches. "Not as big as mine!"

"Nice job, Dad!" Kelly said, holding her hand up.

"Thanks," he said, raising his own hand and giving his daughter a high five.

They stayed on the water for another fifteen minutes or so before deciding on calling it good and making their way back to shore.

Shannon, smiling, gestured to the three fish. "We're definitely not about to starve."

He raised an eyebrow. "Ya think?"

Heading back into shore, they put the boat away and made their way into the cabin. Shannon then started a fire while he started to bleed and gut the fish, neither woman particularly fond of that part of it. It didn't take all that long, Jethro having done it tons of times before and then he put the fish on ice and cleaned up the mess.

Once he'd changed, he joined the girls who were happily chatting away, and they went to do a little walk around the area with Bailey, not having been able to really do so the night before given the time they'd gotten there.

Besides the decent-sized lake, there was a hell of a lot of forest and there were quite a few plants and things on the property that Jethro wanted to make sure that Kelly was familiar with for her own benefit and safety. Shannon was familiar with quite a few of them, but he felt that a little reminder there wouldn't hurt either.

They then enthusiastically took advantage of the rather large yard, the family of three taking out a ball, several baseball gloves, and playing catch.

Jethro caught the Curveball that his wife had just thrown with a big grin. "You've still got quite the arm on you there, Shan!" he said before turning slightly and tossing the baseball to his daughter.

"Always the tone of surprise, Babe!" Shannon fired right back with a chuckle.

Jethro rolled his eyes in response.

Kelly easily caught the Two-Seam Fastball Jethro'd thrown, quickly tossing the ball to her mother who just barely missed it. "So, I'm thinking of getting another tattoo on my wrist or shoulder.

"What of?" Jethro inquired. The young woman had a tattoo on her back as well as on her ankle, so he wasn't overly surprised that she wanted to make it three.

"A compass or elephant tattoo," Kelly informed them. "Or some combination of both."

His wife nodded. "Any particular reason?"

Their daughter shrugged. "I just like what they represent."

"Well then," Shannon said, "I'm sure you'll find a great design you like."

The three of them continued to toss the ball around some more, chatting all the while, before switching to the Frisbee, which Bailey rather consistently tried to steal. They all eventually ended up playing fetch with her until it was time for lunch.

Jethro ended up making the fish and Shannon raided their coolers and started to help with lunch while their daughter pulled out a book, Bailey snuggled up next to her. The both of them had camped tons of times and had picked up more than a few fun tricks over the years, like Shannon's rather cheesy campfire potatoes.

His wife would slice a bunch of potatoes nice and thin, then add some butter, cheddar, mozzarella, green onions, and bacon. She'd then cook it all in a foil pack over the fire, melting the cheese. Jethro couldn't remember exactly where Shannon had gotten the recipe from but they had quickly become a camping favourite.

They ate lunch, cleaned up, played a few rounds of cards, and then spent most of the afternoon floating on the water, just relaxing, Bailey running in and out and flipping Kelly and her floaty over, which had been hilarious to watch.

When they finally got out of the water, they started a fire, had dinner, pulling out some board games and stuff to make s'mores.

As he looked between his wife and daughter, both relaxed and smiling from ear to ear, Jethro knew he'd been right. They'd all needed this.