Now it's My Turn

Sequel to "Gibbs' New Girl" & "Switching Places"

By MchakotayParis (R. Mason)

Chapter 6

Their extra day turned out to almost an omen of the good things to come for Gibbs and Allison. The morning dawn clear, sunny and warm enough so that when Allison and Gibbs finally got on the road after sleeping late they drove to Chesapeake Beach with the windows down. After stopping around noon time for lunch and to change Allison, Gibbs finally turned down the private road that lead to the Abrahams Chesapeake Beach house. A quarter of a mile later he finally pulled into the driveway of the beach house.

It was a single level Florida Cracker style house with three bedrooms, two bathroom. A Lanai (a covered rear porch) in the back, with a split front porch on either side of the front door. From the outside it didn't look that bad, but as they got nearer both Gibbs and Ali could see that it hadn't been lived in for a while. When Gibbs opened the door they could see that all the furniture was covered with dust clothes, and everything else in several inches of dust .

"Sorry about the house Daddy. I was coming down to check on the house a couple of years ago, after you...then I was in the accident and didn't make it." explained Ali quickly then moved away to start drawing little circles in the dust on one of the end tables.

Gibbs smiled at her insecurity then pulled her away from the table and into his arms. "It's alright baby girl. You told me that you hadn't see the house before so I didn't really expect that much. It actually looks like it might be in pretty good shape after we clean it up." said Gibbs as he walked around inspecting everything.

With the exception of the two to three inches of dust on everything things didn't look really that bad. It looked to be a well built house that was taken care of before it was closed up.

"So you want to stay?" asked Ali as she looked up at him.

"Of course sweetheart. I promised you a week of "Daddy time" at your beach house and that's what you're going to get. But first of all I think we might need to make a run back into town and pick up a few things at the store to get this place livable."

"Agreed, I'll race you. First one to the car get's to drive." called Ali as she turned and raced out of the house with Gibbs on her heels.

It was really no contest so Gibbs wasn't surprise to find Ali waiting at the car bouncing with excitement.

"I win, I win!" cried Ali as Gibbs came up to her.

"Yes but I have the keys little lady, so I'm driving" answered Gibbs with a smile as he dangled them in front of her.

"No fair Daddy!" exclaimed Ali as she tried to jump for the keys.

"Life's not fair so get used to it little lady, now get in. I want to get there and back before it gets dark so we can get a start on cleaning up, fix an early dinner then get you to bed at a decent hour. We're going to have a busy few days and I don't want you to get overtired." said Gibbs as he pocketed the keys then opened the door for Ali.

"Yes sir, but I'd like to drive at least once while were down her. Please Daddy." said Allison as she got in the car.

"Well see sweetheart, remember this is suppose to be our "Daddy time" and I want you in " Ali mode" as much as possible." reminded Gibbs as he came around and go in the drives seat.

"Alright, actually "Ali mode" sound good after the past few days." said Ali with a sigh the leaned against Gibbs' chest before he started the car.

"That's my girl, now sit up and relax. It shouldn't take that long to drive into town, get the things we need then we'll head back home. After that you can go into full "Ali mode" for the rest of the week if that's what you want."

"Love you, Daddy" whispered Ali as she leaned against the passengers side door and closed her eyes. Even though all she'd done today was sit and watch Gibbs drive, she was getting tired. She guessed the past few days were beginning to catch up with her and full "Ali mode" sounded really good right now.

As Gibbs watched Ali's eyes close he leaned over and kissed the side of her forehead whispering. "I love you too sweetheart." then sat up and started the car, pulling out of the driveway and heading back into the small town of Chesapeake Beach.

It took about forty-five minutes to drive back into the small coastal town of Chesapeake Beach and when they arrived quickly found the only grocery store in town and parked in front. It was a medium sized store that carried a large selection of items but was owned and run by and elderly couple and their son. As they entered the store the cute blond at the register flashed Gibbs a smile, while Ali went to get a cart.

"Oh come on Daddy, the least you can do is give her a smile" said Ali as Gibbs joined her on the first aisle.

"Not interested princess, one woman in my life is enough for right now thank you. Now how about we get started with the things we need." said Gibbs with a smile

"I was thinking Daddy, that it might be easier and go faster if we divided the stuff up. I'll get all the cleaning stuff and you can start on getting the food and everything else we'll need." suggested Allison.

They had done a cursory look around the house and while the interior was in good shape the cabinets, refrigerator and shelves were bare. Since Allison didn't know anyone in Chesapeake Beach she hadn't been able to call and ask someone to get the house ready for her and Gibbs. So they were stuck with buying almost everything that they would need to furnish the house. Since Gibbs had asked Mrs. Travis to pack Ali's "baby" things that was taken care of but the rest would have to be rebought so as Gibbs looked at Ali he had to smile. This was his Allison coming through even in her "Ali mode", but he wasn't upset really because sometimes it was nice to have another adult perspective of things.

"Good idea sweetheart. Why don't you go find all the cleaning stuff, just remember to get enough for two while I start on the food. Then we'll work on the house stuff together." said Gibbs as he gave her a quick kiss on the side of the head then went to get another cart.

As Ali watched him leave she couldn't help but smile, even shopping or cleaning the beach house she was happiest anytime she was with her "Daddy" Gibbs. With a little bounce in her step she quickly found the cleaning supplies and loaded up the cart with the essentials. About twenty minutes later she found Gibbs with an equally full cart just finishing up choosing the last of the meat. He had gotten all the essential staples, plus Allison's juice, Gator Aide and some beer for him. Along with fresh fruit and vegetables, plus some ice cream and other sweets. As they neared each other they couldn't help but laugh at the picture both of them made. Both pushing an overflowing cart, that recked of "newbie" to the area.

"Well it's a good thing we'll only have to do this once" said Allison as she came up beside him.

"Ali if you need..." started Gibbs but stopped at the look she was giving him. She was in her full "don't mess with me" Allison mode and this one time he was going to let her win.

"Gibbs, remember what you told me our very first weekend together? You said that any time we were at your house you would pay for anything we bought, and I would pay for anything when we were at my house. Well this is my house now, so I'm paying." said Allison firmly as she pushed her cart towards the check out register.

"Yes ma'am" said Gibbs with a smile then followed behind her.

At the register the young woman's smile turned to a frown then shock as she saw Ali and Gibbs approaching especially after Ali said. "Both these carts are together."

"Uhhhhhh...Mrs. Peters. I'm going to need help on the register please," called the young woman over the p.a. system the story had installed.

As Mrs. Peters approached she quickly retreated retrieving her husband and the young stock boy they had helping them. It took the three of them almost an hour to check out and bag all the items and when Ali pulled out her driver's license and credit card the older lady finally asked.

"Grayson, you wouldn't be any relation to the Abrahams/Grayson's now would you. I think the names were Douglas and Adrian?" asked Mrs. Peters as she looked at the name on the card in her hand.

With a deep sigh Ali replied, "Yes ma'am. My father's name is Admiral Douglas Grayson, and his wife was Adrian Abrahams."

"And she passed away recently didn't she?" asked Mrs. Peters.

"Rachel, that's none of our business" replied her husband firmly.

"Yes ma'am, as a matter of fact that is why we're down her. We just came from the funeral and reading of the will in Stanford." said Allison softly.

"Oh my dear you have our sympathy, although from what I've heard her family wasn't much better than that monster that she married." said Rachael hotly.

"You knew my parents?" asked Allison. She had honestly thought that Admiral Grayson didn't know about the beach house here at Chesapeake Beach.

"No, I've never had the pleasure. But I knew your mother's uncle, you're great uncle I guess and he told us all about you and how displeased he was with Adrian, her husband and family for the way they treated you. He's the one that put the house in trust to you until you were old enough to claim it."

"What was he like? Father never allowed Mother to talk about her family unless it was about her father or brother." said Ali sadly.

"Ohhhh he was a wonderful man. Ran a pleasure boat business, and was quite successful. Not up to your Father's standards of course but he made enough to have that house custom designed and built. Even left some money in trust to take care of repairs and utilities for the house even after you inherited it. Check with the bank in town, I'm sure they can give you all the details."

Well that certainly explained the reason why the house was in such good shape even after sitting empty for more than ten years. Allison's great uncle had someone looking after the house so that it would be livable when Allison claimed it. With a grateful smile Gibbs sent a silent thank you heavenly to Allison's great uncle and added another name to his very short list of people he was thankful for from the Abrahams/Grayson family.

"Thanks for the information, Mrs...?" said Gibbs as he extended his hand to the older woman.

"Ohhhh forgive my manners, I'm Rachael Peters and this is my husband Todd" said Rachael as she shook Gibbs' hand and introduced her husband.

"I'm Jethro, Jethro Gibbs. And this is Allison." said Gibbs as he put a protective arm around Allison's shoulder.

"Glad to have you both in Chesapeake Beach. Are you planning on staying here long?" asked Todd Peters.

"We were actually thinking of staying for the week. It will help Ali get away from D.C., and having to deal with her family and the funeral." said Gibbs.

"I totally understand little one. To lose you're mother is bad enough, but to have to put up with the Abrahams/Grayson family is just to much. Now you have all the cleaning and food essentials but you're going to need stuff for the house. We have a Walmart out on Riverside Road, just on the edge of town. You'll need to go there and get the rest of the household stuff because I'm afraid we just don't carry that." said Rachael.

"Thank you so much, Rachael, Todd. But I think we might wait until tomorrow to tackle the household stuff. At least that way we'll have made a dent in the cleaning and can put stuff out instead of just storing it until the house is clean." answered Gibbs.

"Good solid plan, well if you need anything don't hesitate to come by or call. Our numbers in the phone book under Peters' General Store." said Todd as he extended his hand and shook Gibbs' once more.

"Thank you Mrs. Peters, Mr. Peters. You have been a big help and thank you for the information, and we'll stop by the bank tomorrow as well." said Allison.

"It's Rachael and Todd little one, and your welcome. Always glad to meet a relative of Silver sails." said Rachael.

"Silver sails?" asked Allison.

"That was what we called your great uncle around these parts. His real name was Anderson Abrahams, but we called him silver sails because he had a head of silver hair and loved his boats. Matter of fact looked a lot like your man there." said Rachael with a smile and a little wink at Gibbs.

"Well thank you again Rachael, Todd but we need to get going. We still have a house to clean and I want to get this little one to bed at a decent hour." replied Gibbs with a smile down at Ali.

He could tell that although she was excited to find out about her great uncle, the trip and everything was beginning to wear on her. She was leaning just a little to heavily against his side when he'd pulled her close to him.

"Of course, of course we don't mean to keep you. Let us help with getting all these groceries to the car so you both can be on your way. Come on boy," called Todd as he started pushing on of the carts out the door to Gibbs' car.

After everything was loaded in both the trunk and backseat Gibbs put Ali in the front seat and pulled off with a wave to the Peters. On the way out of town Gibbs stopped by a deli and bought dinner and by the time they got home Ali was sleep leaning against the passengers side door. Gibbs gently laid her across the front seat, quickly checking to see if she was wet before heading inside to get her bag. The boxes he'd asked Mrs. Travis to pack had arrived earlier and were waiting on the right side of the front porch so he knew that she would have everything she needed for tonight. Anything extra they could pick up tomorrow at Walmart. After a quick change, Gibbs covered Ali with one of her blankets then started bringing the groceries and supplies in the house. When he was finished he gently woke Ali, carrying her into the house and out to the covered porch were he had cleared a little spot.

"Ali sweetheart, we need to eat dinner then get started on cleaning the house before it gets dark." said Gibbs as he set her down on the one clean sheet he had found.

"I'm sorry Daddy, I guess I was tireder than I thought" said Ali as she stretched.

"It's alright baby girl, you've had a big day. Do you think you can eat, then we need to at least tackle cleaning the refrigerator and at least one of the bedrooms so we have a place to sleep."

"Can we sleep out here Daddy, it's so cool and peaceful. We could move the mattress from the rooms if there clean and sleep on the floor at least for tonight?" asked Ali

"Sure baby girl, we'll get started as soon as your finished" said Gibbs then sat down beside Ali and passed out the sandwiches.

After they finished eating Ali quickly cleaned up then followed Gibbs into the kitchen and started unloading the cleaning supplies. After a couple of hours of hard cleaning the kitchen, covered patio and one of the bathrooms were clean. So while Gibbs moved the mattresses from the bedrooms, Ali put the food in the refrigerator. Luckily the mattresses had been wrapped in plastic, then a dust cloth was thrown over the bed so they weren't as dirty as the rest of house. After fixing Ali's bed with one of her blankets over her mattress Gibbs took care of Ali's nightly routine then put her to bed with her Puffalump and pacifier. Since it was a fairly warm night Gibbs let Ali sleep in only a sleep shirt and diaper. As he turned on her sleep music on the iPad, he gently kissed her forehead then silently walked over turning the light out. As Gibbs sank down on his mattress he turned on his side noticing that Ali was already asleep. With a smile he closed his eyes slowly drifting into a peaceful sleep, the first time since he'd gotten that fateful call from Jameson saying that something was wrong with Ali.