Hi everyone, I know I said "The End" but I realized that I loved how the episode Heartland ended with a flashback so I thought it appropriate to end my story with a flashback too.

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The morning after Thanksgiving, Jackson and Leroy Jethro Gibbs sat quietly in the general store drinking their morning coffee and reading the paper. They had talked late into the night and Jethro had decided to stay overnight rather than driving while tired. Some of the tension between father and son had definitely been released during the discussion they had the night before, now a feeling of peace was in the air.

As he finished his coffee Gibbs stood up, intent on saying goodbye. As they embraced one more time, Gibbs said 'thanks' to his father for a wonderful Thanksgiving, then headed for the door of the shop. As he turned to take one last look around a wooden shelf in the back corner caught his eye. Suddenly, Gibbs was thrown into a powerful memory of a Thanksgiving conversation long, long ago.

FLASHBACK

"Uncle LJ" Leroy Jethro Gibbs yelled, as he knocked noisily on his mentor's door. He'd run from his house located less than a block away.

"I'm coming little man" LJ replied as he opened the front door.

The boy pushed past the tall older black man as he ran into the house. "Look at my paper" he said as he showed the paper covered with childish scrawl to the man. At the top of the page was a large A plus written in red ink.

"Good job, Leroy." LJ said as he smiled. "Did you show your parents?" he asked as he sat on the couch in the living room.

"Yeah," Leroy said suddenly getting very quiet. "Dad said I should get more A plusses."

"Remember, Leroy," LJ paused while Leroy repeated the rest of his sentence with him "Your Dad loves you and doesn't mean everything he says." Leroy sighed as climbed onto LJ's lap. LJ had obviously repeated that phase to his namesake many times.

"Is this a story?" LJ asked indicating Leroy's paper.

"Yeah, I wrote it. It is about a bully who is mean and I beat him up so he can't pick on anyone any more." Leroy reported. The story's topic concerned LJ. He knew that Leroy was picked on sometimes, but he didn't want the boy getting in any fights.

"Leroy, has someone been picking on you lately?" LJ ask demanding honesty. Suddenly, the usually talkative boy clammed up. "Leroy" LJ pushed.

"I told them I had the best Thanksgiving because my Mom cooked a bunch a great food and 'cause my Uncle LJ came, and they said you weren't my uncle 'cause you were black, and a black man shouldn't be eating at my house anyway and they called you a bunch of names. I wanted to beat them up."

"Leroy, I don't want you getting in any fights over me. You got that boy?" LJ said a bit sternly.

"Yes, Uncle Leroy." Leroy groaned, boldly he looked up at his mentor. "You are my uncle, aren't you?"

"Leroy, those boys were just being mean. They don't know what real family is." He turn slightly to make sure Leroy was looking him in the eye. "Family isn't about blood; family is about what is in here," he said pressing on his heart and then Leroy's. "It don't matter if we are related. I'm still your uncle."

Leroy smiled at the proclamation. "I love you Uncle LJ. I am glad that I have you as an uncle."

"I love you too, Leroy. Now what do you say, we go finish sanding that shelf we have been making. We are running out of room in the store and I promised your Dad I'd have it done by next week."

"Yeah!" little Gibbs said enthusiastically. The two worked in the shop sanding the shelves for the rest of the night. Little Gibbs chattered on about his story, sanding haphazardly while LJ simply sanded and smiled periodically reminding the boy to sand with the grain of the wood.

END FLASHBACK

As Gibbs turned and left the Stillwater general store, he smiled as he realized that ironically, it had been only days after Thanksgiving many years ago that he'd had that conversation with LJ. Long ago, his uncle LJ had taught him that family was not whom you were related to by blood, but whom you cared about. Now, Gibbs counted himself lucky that his new family and his old had become acquainted over a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.