Jethro ended up getting a bit more than he'd bargained for over the next few weeks. First thing that following day, Jethro threw himself full swing back into trying to help his father locate his old war buddy. His team was more than able to handle the case they were working and his father clearly needed him more at the moment. It definitely felt as though they were racing the clock now. Abby had, much to Jethro's relief, been able to identify the ambulance company that Walter Beck had called and helped him to narrow down the elderly veteran's location to the Blue Sky Hospice which was located a short nine miles north of Walter's house.
Meeting the man his father held such high esteem for had definitely been interesting, especially considering the Gibbs patriarch had actually stated out loud that Jethro was a good man. That Jethro was the best person he knew. That was as close as he'd ever been to being told that his father was proud of him.
That didn't take long though and the MCRT had ended up working straight through the weekend. The ensuing week was a little bit calmer, thankfully, Jethro's birthday dinner notwithstanding, of course. They didn't get called into work that weekend. No, it was something else entirely that was keeping Jethro busy over the next couple of days. All stemming from a recent conversation with his father.
His father stared at the sizeable building, a myriad of different emotions playing across the man's face. "Never seen a hospice before."
Jethro shifted in the driver's seat, making eye contact with his father. "Dad, why don't you move in with Shannon and me? We have the room; our house is way more than big enough. It does not make sense, you being up in Stillwater all alone." I'd also feel way more comfortable. "Especially without a license."
I'm gonna take the damn eye test and get my license back.
"So you've said." He decided to throw one last argument onto the pile. "But Dad, you'd be a lot closer to Kelly and the kids too."
Jackson sighed. "That's true." The elder man shook his head slightly. "I appreciate the offer, Leroy. I do. I'll think about it, okay? Really."
His lips turned upwards into a small smile. "Please do." He then tilted his head slightly. "Why do you want me to meet him so bad, Dad?"
His father simply took a breath and moved to open the passenger side door. Evidently, the Gibbs patriarch wasn't in the mood to talk anymore. "You ready?"
Not long after their meeting with Walter Beck, the Gibbs patriarch had finally agreed to move down to Arlington after getting things ready at the store. Cal Fraser had been a huge help at the General Store since starting and his father was more than confident that the young man could handle running things. His father would still own the store but Cal would handle the on sight logistics.
So, Jethro and Shannon ended up helping move some of the more major stuff down to D.C and doing some cleaning in the bedroom that was going to be his father's when he moved down in a week's time.
That Sunday morning, however, they both planned on taking it a bit easier and slept in some before they got out of bed to let Bailey out.
Leaving the back door open so Bailey could come and go, they threw somE breakfast together and sat down at the kitchen table to eat. After they'd eaten their fill, the pair both poured themselves a fresh cup of coffee and made their way out to the into the living room, playing some cards and chatting with the radio playing.
He and Shannon and just wrapped up a game of Crazy Eights when they heard the telltale sound of a car pulling into their driveway.
A moment later Kelly walked in with Michael and the grandkids in tow. Their daughter swiftly pulled them both into a hug, carefully handing Mason to Shannon. Just as Kelly stepped back from the hug, his granddaughter threw herself at him. "Pappy hug."
He chuckled softly and smiled affectionately down at Paisley before picking the toddler up. "I'm always up for a hug from you, Little Miss."
"Yay!" Paisley cheered happily. She then shoved the small doll that she was holding at him. "New dolly." She pointed directly at Michael, still grinning. "Daddy give."
He smiled warmly down at his granddaughter. "Ah, well, that was nice of Daddy."
The toddler nodded sagely. "Daddy nice." Paisley then gave him another hug before she ran off to chat with her grandmother and show Shannon the new doll as well by the look of things.
"Kid's been carrying that doll everywhere with her since I gave it to her," Michael told him with an amused look.
He nodded with a fond smile of his own. "Kel had a few items like that over the years. Don't expect it to end anytime soon."
"Thanks for the warning," Michael quipped. "How's your weekend been?"
"Good," he said. "More or less ready for my father to move in next weekend."
"Oh, that's right!" his son-in-law commented. "He's moving down from Stillwater." The younger man's expression then shifted slightly. "That's quite the change for him. How does he feel about leaving the store?"
"The day-to-day running will be left in good hands," he stated. "Dad knows that."
Michael nodded. The younger man then took a seat right beside him on the couch, his wife and daughter following suit just a couple of minutes later.
They all sat around chatting for a while and playing with Bailey. Shortly after they put Mason down for a nap in the guest room, Shannon got up and - with a hand from Kelly - made everyone some lunch.
When they sat down for lunch, well, his granddaughter was a character as usual. She swallowed a bite of her food and eyed him. "Coffee hot?"
He nodded. "Yeah, Kid, it's hot. Don't touch."
The toddler pointed to his coffee cup. "I want."
He shook his head, chuckling softly. "Sorry, Miss Giggles."
Paisley eyed him again, clearly not pleased by his answer. "I want."
"No," he reiterated. "But why don't you have some orange juice instead?"
Paisley shook her head at first but the toddler quickly conceded and nodded her head in agreement. "Have juice."
Shannon got up to pour Paisley a cup of orange juice and shot both Jethro and Michael a sideways look. "See what you've done? What kid doesn't stand a chance with the way you two boys mainline caffeine."
Kelly instantly barked out a laugh. "See, Mike? It ain't just me."
Michael and Jethro rolled their eyes in amusement.
"Coffee and mid-rats," Michael fired back. "Don't knock it."
His lips quirked upwards. "Oorah." For his money, mid-rats was always the best meal, followed closely by breakfast. And there was nothing like a hot cup of coffee to wake you up while you were on fire watch.
His wife quirked a brow. "Twenty bucks says that's Mason's first word."
Kelly gave an amused little snort. "That's a fool's bet, Mom."
After lunch, their daughter took put Paisley upstairs and put the toddler down for her own nap as well. Meanwhile, Shannon pulled a deck of cards back out. The four adults then started playing a game of Cheat right there at the kitchen table.
Feeling more at ease than he had since the whole Brotherhood of Doubt/Benham Parsa debacle started, Jethro couldn't help but smile as he read a text from Ziva. 'You up for a visit later from Tony and I?"
He quickly typed back a reply. 'Always, Ziver. Make it dinner?'
Jethro shook his head slightly at the response. `Tony says it's a date as long as your cowboy steaks are on the menu. I can't say I disagree.'
Still amused, he fired back a short response. `Works for me.'
