A/N: I know, it's been a while.. so sorry, all I can say is RL! But here's a new chapter folks, I hope I still have some people with me on this ride!
To the guest reviewer Guest: everyone is getting ready for the trial, as for the last minute witness.. ahh now that's someone who will ruffle some feathers!
Let's see how the family go at getting ready for court..
Shannon stared up at the ceiling, how did it all get to this? The trial was starting today! TODAY! Well, in about 6 hours as it was 03:00! For her it was still hard to fathom that she was laying in bed next to her husband, her very much alive husband! Let alone much else of what she'd come to realise. She knew she need to try to get back to sleep, she needed to rest, and it was the first night that her & her man were sleeping alone, Kelly & Nix had bunkered down together in his bed without even saying a word to them, they clearly knew something. She thought she'd had prepared for court as best as possible with Viviane, but it was all happening so fast that it made her head spin. Could she really talk about everything that happened in front of everyone, but especially in front of her man? After all, he'd not been there for any of her preparation as they both thought it best that one of them remained with the kids. What would his reaction be? What about her kids? How would they react to some it?
Shannon was pulled from her musing when she felt an arm come around her & pull her backwards, she couldn't help but smile as she was brought into her man's hold.
"What's going on babe?" Gibbs asked quietly as he tightened his control around her "I could feel your thinking, it was pretty loud" he knew she'd be nervous, but was hoping she'd have a proper night's sleep.
"Sorry darling, go back to sleep" Shannon responded.
Gibbs ignored the response "come on Shan, tomorrow's the trial, I know you're nervous, anxious, talk to me."
Shannon didn't answer right away, she just lay there in his hold, and took a further grip of his arms, she needed that contact right now.
Gibbs felt her hands on his, and turned her to rest against his chest, he wrapped his arms around her body & pulled her in nice & tight "I'm here Shan, I'll never, ever leave you! I know you're anxious about tomorrow, but I'll be right there with you." He pressed a kiss against her head "I know you're worried about what I'll think about everything not just what you're going to say, but a lot of people. Shan, please don't worry about that, I want you to say what you have to say, you say it & we'll then forget it, it's gone, we don't have to talk about it again unless you want to. So just relax, and if you get nervous you just keep your eyes on me, don't worry about anyone else, just focus on me & say what you need, we'll get through it."
Shannon didn't say anything, she just nodded against his chest.
Gibbs ran his hands over her back & head "it'll be ok Shan, I know you've prepared with Viviane and she says you're ready." He raised her head enough to look her in the eye "you can do this, you're a Gibbs, you're strong, the strongest person I know, you can do this" he finished as he leaned forward and gave her a kiss.
"I'm not strong Jethro, how could you even say that given everything I let happen" Shannon cried.
Gibbs let out a sigh "Shan, stop right there. You did NOT, LET anything happen! That bastard manipulated not just you, but everyone, me included! He manipulated all of us! That does not make you weak, it makes you human!"
Shannon just cried into her husband's chest, she tightened her hold on her husband as she cried it all out.
"You're ok Shan, I've got you babe" Gibbs soothed, as he caressed her against his chest "I'm here babe, you're with me babe now & forever. Your marine's got you babe"
Gibbs wasn't sure how long it took to sooth her into sleep, but it was a while, he just kept a strong hold of her, he needed to make sure she got some sleep, he could go without, but she couldn't. He wished it was a month into the future & all of this was behind them, but they had to get through it.
Gibbs just kept soothing his wife, as he lay there thinking, he'd already worked out he had a fair bit of leave up his sleeve, all those years without taking a day off would definitely coming in handy now! And summer was approaching.. but where? They wanted somewhere to go horse riding, and sailing, so that meant, either a lake or the ocean.. did they want to camp or rent a house? Probably rent a house, given his dad, Shan's mum would visit for at least part of the trip.. if she was well enough, then there was Buster to consider.. maybe the Taylor's would join them for a bit too.. yea, that'd be great, beachside probably, but he didn't want anything in the middle of a town, maybe on the outskirts..
"mmm.. that feels good" Shannon whispered.
Gibbs flashed a look at the clock, it was 07:00, thank goodness she slept! Though he didn't, just resting, with his gorgeous wife in his arms was more than ok for him! It had soothed him to the core! "I'll keep going then" he whispered in response as he laid a kiss to her head.
Shannon shifted a bit to move herself closer to her husband, so they were eye level "thank you darling" she smiled as she wrapped her arms around him "thank you" she repeated as she looked into her man's eyes.
"Any time Shan" Gibbs responded as he looked back into her eyes "did you sleep?"
"I did darling" Shannon assured him, as her hands ran up & down his back "did you sleep at all?" she was keenly aware that he was the reason she'd gotten some sleep, she just hoped he did too.
"Enough babe, I'm more than rested" Gibbs assured her "and I was thinking that for our time away, we should look at a beachside place to rent that gives us access to horse riding and sailing, but not right in the heart of a town, more on the outskirts & large enough for us, your mum, my dad, extras"
"I want something right on the beach, oh! do you remember that little cottage we got down near North End Beach, near Virginia Beach? Maybe somewhere near there?" Shannon suggested.
Gibbs had to smile "I remember the place, and yea, somewhere near there, and we can definitely get something right on the beach, place will need a nice big master bedroom too" he finished as he leaned into her neck line & gave her a few small kisses. Whilst he was enjoying this, he also wanted to keep her mind off what the day was bringing for as long as possible.
Shannon couldn't help but laugh as his kisses moved along her neck line "Jethro, you need to shave!"
"Not yet" Gibbs chuckled in response, as he kept his kisses up, he wanted her completely distracted!
Shannon just laughed as he kept going "Jethro!" she laughed.
"Shan" Gibbs just laughed in response.
"SURPRISE!" Kelly & Nixed exclaimed, right before Buster barked "Whoof!"
Gibbs jumped back in shock & hit his head on the bedhead "sheez!"
"Argh!" Shannon exclaimed in shock.
"Whoof!" Buster barked again.
Gibbs looked up to see their dear kids laughing "you scared the heck out of us!" he commented as he rubbed his head.
"Well, we wanted to surprise you" Nix grinned as he got himself comfortable on the bed "breakfast!" he said holding his hands open & showcasing the trays in front of him.
"Mission accomplished" Gibbs responded as he saw his girl get comfortable on the bed as well, he looked to his wife to see how she was doing.
"And then some" Shannon added as she rubbed her chest from the fright.
Kelly grinned & high fived her brother "mission definitely accomplished!"
Gibbs pulled himself up against the bed head, the one that his head had only recently banged against "so what's this in aid of?" he asked, once he'd gotten over the fright.
"We were awake & decided to make French toast" Kelly remarked.
"And it's something we can eat in bed, so thought we should" Nix added.
"Sounds lovely" Shannon smiled "so French toast is it?"
"Basically, yea" Nix grinned.
Gibbs became suspect of that grin & response "what do you mean by 'basically'?"
"We gave it a bit of a twist is all" Kelly grinned as moved one of the trays closer to her parents.
Shannon shared a look with her husband "as long as it's still breakfast material." Sometimes their creations left something to be desired..
"Try it" Kelly urged.
Gibbs pulled the tray between himself & his wife, he took one plate, placed it on his lap, before manoeuvring the tray on his wife's lap, wanting to get her the easier way to eat. He looked at his plate, it looked like 2 pieces of toast that they'd used, and it was pretty thick too?
Shannon smiled at her husband's action as she too investigated what she was about to eat.
Nix watched his parents go for their first bite & grinned when they both cut into it & brought the piece to eat & it caused a string to stretch out between the piece they'd cut & the rest on the plate.
Gibbs saw the string of what he thought to be cheese stretch out, but he took a bite & cut the string off, he chewed slowly & had to smile, it actually tasted pretty good. He lifted the toast up to get a look of what was inside "turkey & cheese sandwich?"
"No, grilled turkey & cheese French toasted sandwich" Nix grinned.
"I wanted French toast, squirt wanted turkey & cheese toasty, so we combined the two" Kelly grinned.
"Well, it's delicious" Shannon smiled, it actually did taste quiet nice "one of your better creations for sure, let's all dig in & enjoy."
Nix smiled as he started to dig in, it was pretty delicious. He saw Buster lay his head on the bed by him, he gave a quick look to his mum to see if she was watching, he'd give his dog a bite when she wasn't looking, 'just wait boy' was what he thought.
Gibbs sighed as pulled 2 ties out of his bag, he was wearing his standard black suit, and white shirt, but he looked between the ties, one was red, one was blue, he considered both as he tried to decide which one he wanted to wear.
He sat down on the bed & laid them each over one of his legs as he worked out which one, from the corner of his eye he saw movement, he looked up to see his son hovering at the door way, that was odd "come 'ere son" he beckoned.
Gibbs waited until his son got closer & then drew him to stand between his legs. He could see that his son was in black pants, and a white shirt, just like him, and he was holding his tie. "What's up?"
Nix just shrugged, as he looked at the ties on his dad's legs.
"Come on son, what's wrong? Are you nervous about today?" Gibbs prodded "you don't have to be, I'm going to be right there next to you, and remember, if you want to leave, you can. You don't have to be there if you don't want to be."
"I want to be there" Nix whispered.
"Ok, so what's up?" Gibbs prodded, he could see though that his son was playing with his tie, he wondered something.
Gibbs smiled "you know it took me ages to work out how to tie my ties properly, could never get it right to start with" he commented as he reached for his son's tie.
"Really?" Nix wondered as he looked up to meet his dad's eyes.
"Really" Gibbs nodded "so, how about we do our ties together?"
Nix nodded "yes please"
"Ok, I'm going to go with the red tie, so we match" Gibbs smiled, he saw the smile he got in return & that made him smile even more.
Gibbs quickly put his red tie around his neck, before he put his son's tie around his neck "ok, are you ready?" he asked.
"Yes" Nix nodded.
"First thing, we make sure the tie is a bit longer on the wide side than the narrow side" Gibbs commented, as he made sure the tie was placed correctly on his own neck. He saw his son do the same "next, we cross the wide end over the narrow end."
Nix did his best to copy his dad's movements "how do you work out how far down to cross it?" he asked quietly.
"About half way bud, that gives you room to do everything, and then tighten" Gibbs answered "that's perfect" he smiled as he saw what his son was doing "so next, we bring the wide end underneath the narrow end, go left to right bud" he finished looking at how his son was doing.
"Like this?" Nix asked his dad as he held the tie.
"Just like that son" Gibbs smiled "ok, now let's bring the wide end over again, but this time, we do right to left." He watched as his actions were copied "that's perfect bud, ok, now we take the wide end under this knot part and bring it into the middle area up here" he finished as he pointed to areas.
Nix copied his dad, he wasn't sure it was looking right "ummm…"
Gibbs could see son was looking unsure "hang on bud, now that wide part we brought up here, we pass it through this loop like area we created in the front" he explained as he showed him how to do it.
Nix did his best to push the part through the tie, but it was getting all messy "umm.." he flashed a look up to his dad.
"Hang on bud" Gibbs remarked as he reached out for his son's tie "you've just got to straighten it is all, let's see, we flatten this part here & smooth it out" he remarked as he flatten the tie "and we're good, now we can tighten the knot part, until it's firm" he finished as he secured it.
Nix just watched his dad's hands move across the tie.
"Ok last part, using 2 hands we pull down the narrow end gently using one hand, and using the other hand we move the knot up to our collar" Gibbs explained as he quickly did his, and then hovered his hands over his son's as he guided him to do it too.
"That's centred pretty well, but I like to fold down the shirt collar, and then finish getting it perfect" Gibbs remarked as he folded his son's shirt collar down, and finished adjusting his tie "perfect son" he finished as he pressed a kiss to his forehead.
Nix smiled at his dad, but he saw that his shirt collar was still up, so he tentatively reached up to fold it down, he smiled when his dad moved closer to let him do it. He then moved the tie a little to what he thought was centre.
Gibbs had to smile at his son's actions, so he moved closer and just rested his hands on his son's waist, when he was finished he looked at the job he'd done "thanks bud, that's pretty perfect too" he finished with a smile.
"Thanks" Nix smiled.
Shannon had been standing at the door, and let a tear run down her cheek at the exchange, she knew her son knew how to tie a tie, she'd taught him. But he'd obviously wanted his dad to teach him too, the sight made her teary, she was glad she'd be able to do her part to put the men responsible in jail. She just hated that MacDonald wasn't going to pay his dues. She moved away from the door way, and headed back towards the bathroom, wanting to give the pair a bit more privacy.
"Ok, now why don't you go brush your hair & finish getting ready ok?" Gibbs smiled as he ruffled his son hair.
Gibbs watched as his son headed back out of the room, and his mind cast back to two days ago.
"Kelly darling, where's the nearest salon?" Shannon asked her girl as they ate breakfast.
"Ahh, just 2 blocks away, I go to a place called HairStyles, they're pretty good" Kelly answered.
Shannon nodded "can you call & see if they can fit me in for a trim tomorrow morning, and do you want one?"
"No, I only had my haircut a few weeks ago, so I'm good, but I'll make your appointment" Kelly smiled to her mum.
Gibbs smiled at his girls, but he looked down to his son who was sitting next to him "maybe we need to book you in bud, get you a haircut too." His son's hair was getting pretty shaggy.
Nix looked sideways to his dad "ahh, why?" he didn't need a haircut..
"Cause it's pretty shaggy and rough around the edges bud" Gibbs responded as he ran a hand through his son's head of hair.
"I don't like it short short, I like a bit of length to it, I had my last haircut at the same as Kelly's. It's fine" Nix responded.
Gibbs looked to his wife in query, he definitely thought his son needed a haircut.
Shannon had to smirk, she'd been waiting for the comment as soon as she raised the issue of haircuts. "Jethro, Phoenix likes it a tad longer, it's not like he's got a pony tail or anything, and this length is acceptable at his school. Not everyone has to have marine buzz cuts." Truth be told, she was hoping to convince him to let his hair grow a bit longer, it was way too short in her opinion, she knew he preferred high & tight, but this current cut, was extremely short.
Gibbs couldn't help but smirk back "high & tight is neat, and makes it easy to manage"
"That is not high & tight, that is…. I can see skin on the side of your head! You know I don't like that look, it's too short, you're growing it mister, it can be high & tight, but you need hair!" Shannon smirked back.
Gibbs ran a hand through his hair, he'd shaven his head when he was in the hospital in Portsmouth because at the time, his hair felt too long for his marine side. He knew though his wife disliked the complete shaved look, he took a breath "I'll give you one fifth of an inch, if we can take an inch off this head" he finished as he ran a hand through his son's hair.
Nix's eyes widened in horror "huh?"
"I don't think so, this isn't a negotiation, we're leaving our son's hair alone, until he's ready for it to be cut. But you, you Jethro will grow your hair until I can't see any skin above your neckline" Shannon retorted.
Gibbs smiled as he stood up & pulled his jacket on, he'd eventually conceded on his son's hair situation, his though.. he was still working on it.
Gibbs headed down towards the main room, he wanted to corral the girls "we need to leave…"
"in 10!" Shannon finished his sentence as they came face to face in the living area. "it's nice to see you in a suit, regardless of why"
Gibbs had to smirk "Not as nice as you in this dress, and besides, you like dresses!"
"Yes Jethro, I like dresses, just as much as I like sweats, but you can't deny that you look good in suits!" Shannon retorted.
"I'd never deny anything you think" Gibbs replied.
Shannon placed her hands in his "Darling are you prepared for today? I know you're more concerned about how I'll go, but I know you're going to hear new things, many of which you won't like."
Gibbs couldn't believe her, she was the one who was preparing to testify, and here she was asking how he was doing? How amazing? How lucky was he to have found her again! "I'm as ready as I'll ever be, but I won't deny that I will probably get upset during the course of this trial, but it's never directed at you Shan, it's at that bastard of a man! Not you."
"I know darling, thank you, just please don't lose your cool, the kids need us to remain as calm as possible" Shannon remarked.
"I know babe, and I know you're still nervous about having testify, just remember, I'm with you for every moment, we'll get through it, we'll get through it then work through it, put it behind us, and go on that beach holiday we want" Gibbs wanted to finish on a happy note.
"Too right we will" Shannon smiled "I want to get the house all ready for us, then we go for a nice relaxing & long holiday."
Gibbs just nodded as he looked at his watch "time to go"
Shannon put herself into his side as they headed back down the hall "Kells, Nix, time to go"
"Ahh, we've been waiting for you two for like 5 minutes" Kelly remarked from the front door, she was leaning against the wall with her brother next to her. Whilst she was pretty nervous about what was to come, this was what bringing justice against wrong doers meant, and she was looking forward to seeing those men, and MacDonald's estate pay for their crimes, hopefully for a long time too!
A/N: Can always rely on the kids to bring some smiles to their parents faces! But how will both Shannon & Gibbs go at court? Not to mention the kids?
Let me know you're still with me, and how you're enjoying this, and if you've got any ideas for a family/team outing to relieve some stress from the court sessions.
Hope to get more up soon!