"Daddy?" Kate asked her father. "What's Vetans Day?"
Gibbs looked up from his paper. "Vetans Day?"
"Uh huh! Mrs. Walsh said Vetans Day is on Wednesday." Kate replied. "She said a vetan is somebody that used to be in the Army."
Jethro got it now. "Veterans Day Kate," he began, "is when the people of the United States honor the men and women that served in the Armed Forces, not just the Army."
"Oh." Kate said. She put down the coloring book she had been dragging across the living room floor and climbed up into her father's lap. "Do you know any Vet-er-ans?"
"I most certainly do." Jethro replied. "Let's see, there's Grampy Jack, he was in the Air Force in World War II; Callen is a Marine veteran. He's the one that told me that you were waiting for me at the hospital."
"Really?" Kate inquired; her eyes once again were comically large. "What's a Mawine?"
Jethro couldn't help but chuckle at the five year olds antics. With a little persuasion, Mrs. Mallard had convinced Jethro to enroll Kate in preschool for three days a week. Kate loved it. Jethro, not so much. His baby girl was growing up a little too quickly for his liking. "A Marine is a special kind of soldier." Jethro said. "He or she has to be really brave and strong. They can't be afraid of anything, and they need to help people."
"Okay." Kate said. "Daddy, did you really tell Wendell's mommy that you were a vet-er-an?"
Jethro nodded. "I am a veteran, Kate. When I found out that you were born, and Mommy and Big Sister Kelly were hurt, I was a Marine in Kuwait."
"Where's that?" Kate asked innocently.
"Very, very, far away from here." Gibbs said. "Why don't we go watch Sesame Street?"
"Okay." Kate said. The little girl was as obsessed as you could get with Elmo. "Can I have a Tickle Me Elmo for Christmas, Daddy?"
"You have to ask Santa when we go see him at the mall." Gibbs instructed, as he turned on the TV and found PBS. "We'll go see him after Thanksgiving."
"Okay." Kate said as she settled into the chair. "Daddy, can we watch Elmo at the fire station?"
"Sure, Princess." Gibbs found the video and put it in the VCR. "I'm going to go make lunch. Do you want a peanut butter and jelly?"
"Nope." Kate said. "Peanut butter and fluff, please."
Gibbs rolled his eyes. He should have known better to let his father introduce his daughter to the addicting marshmallow substance from Massachusetts.
After the video was over, Kate went to work in the Marine Corps coloring book somebody had given her. "Daddy?"
"Yes Kate." Gibbs said
"Do you know any other vet-er-ans besides Callen and Grampy and you?" Kate asked. "I wanna make them cards for their holiday."
Jethro just chuckled. "Why don't you just make one card and I'll make sure it gets mailed to the person in charge of all the veterans."
"Okay." Kate went back to work. "What colors should I use?"
"Red, white, and blue." Gibbs said. "Those are the colors of the US flag."
Kate selected the aforementioned colors and went to work. After dinner and Kate had gone to bed, Gibbs found the card in his arm chair in the living room. On the front was a drawing of Kate, her stuffed dog Teddy, and himself. There was a sun, green grass, and stick people with little American flags. In Kate's clumsy handwriting were the words, "Tank You," in purple.
Jethro opened the card and there were some legible letters, but mainly scribbles in red and blue with stars in the same colors. It was sweet and Jethro knew who was getting the original when he made copies of it in the office.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
On the day before Veterans Day, G Callen opened his PO Box in Los Angeles and found a card envelope from his old Gunny, Jethro Gibbs.
Callen,
Kate asked me what a veteran was this past week and I explained it to her. She made this card as a way to say 'thank you', and the day after she made it, Kate came barreling down stairs demanding I send it to you. Originally she wanted me to send it to the President, but then she decided you deserved it more. She's also decided that you're part of our family and it's my duty to now invite you to DC for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Kate will not accept 'No' as an answer son.
Before I send this off Kate told me to tell you, that you deserve this card because you "'intoduceded' me and Daddy." She sees you as a big brother now for some reason, despite not even remembering meeting you after we were released from the hospital at Camp Pendleton. Kids. You've got to love them. Also on the orders of Princess Kate, is a photo from Halloween. She was a 'Ballerina Princess Army Girl". Mrs. Mallard and I talked her out of the Army Girl part before I took her out trick-or-treating, Thank God.
See you soon.
Semper Fi.
Gibbs.
Callen opened the envelope up further and teared up when he saw the card. It was the cutest, most innocent thing he'd ever received from anybody. In the clumsy hands of a child was the 'Thank You' and recognition of his actions he'd always craved. Plus he now had a surrogate family that wanted him.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
November 11, 2009 – Veterans Day. Los Angeles, California
Callen heard his alarm go off and he shut it off. He'd set if by accident; he didn't have to work today. Hetty had given the team the day off because of the significance of the holiday. Most undercover ops wouldn't have halted for Veterans Day, but Hetty's teams stopped for it. Half of her people were vets or had family that were vets. Callen and Sam included.
Callen was pulled back out of sleep when his cell phone began to ring. "Hello?" he said sleepily.
"Oh my God! I'm soooooo sorry G-man!" It was Kate Gibbs. "I keep forgetting about the three hour time difference."
"That, my darling little sister, is what you say every time this happens." Callen said. "And it's seven am. Not that early."
"Well it's eleven out here in Woburn, Mass." Kate replied. The eighteen year old was a freshman at Salem State College, and was planning to major in Elementary Education.
"Good for you East Coast people." Callen said. "Why are you calling again?"
"Because it's Veterans Day." Kate replied. "I'm just checking up on my favorite veterans."
"Did you call your Dad and Grampy yet?" Callen asked as he rolled out of bed. He was staying at a no-tell motel until he could find a place he liked.
"Called Gramps first. I figured he'd be at the store already."
"Was he?"
"Well, Duh Callen! It's Jackson!" Kate said laughing. "Becky says 'Hey', by the way."
"Right back at her." Callen said. "So why are you calling?"
"Fine." Kate huffed. "Becky and I were talking about how we were first introduced to Veterans Day, and you and the card came up. I was just wondering if you still had it."
"Of course I do!" Callen said. "Along with the picture of you Gibbs sent with it and the pictures from Thanksgiving and Christmas that year."
Kate laughed and then stopped. "If those end up on Eric's MySpace of Facebook, you G Callen are a dead man."
"Gotcha." Callen said. "I found the card and pictures!"
"Great." Kate said. "Can you bring them out for Thanksgiving? Becky's coming to DC this year." The Taylors had relocated to Woburn, MA, during Kate and Becky's senior year in high school. Mr. Taylor had finally retired from the Corp, and he and Mrs. Taylor had decided it was time to go home and introduce their children to the city where their parents had met.
"Alright, Squirt." Callen said. "I gotta go actually. I'm meeting Sam and Jean for brunch at their place."
"Have fun Gforce!" Kate said laughing. Ever since that gerbil, hamster movie had come out, Kate cracked up every time an old friend addressed Callen as 'Gforce'.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
In Woburn, Mass, Kate and Becky stood with Mrs. Taylor in the crowd on the common. Becky's younger siblings, Holly and Robbie, twins, were in the high school marching band behind the Civil War monument. Staff Sgt. Taylor was the youngest man with the Marines with the riffles by the flag pole across the common from the crowd. The other men were positively ancient; but still, they were Marines. The few, the proud.
"You know, Becky." Kate said to her best friend as the band was directed to their own patch of the common. "I think my favorite Veterans Day was last year."
"Why?" Becky asked.
"Because I got to go to the Marine Corp Birthday Ball." Kate whispered back.
"And not because Cprl. Yost left you his Medal of Honor in his will?" Becky asked.
Cprl. Yost had come into NCIS one day in 2004 claiming to have murdered his best friend. Mr. Yost was eventually cleared of the charges he insisted on being brought up against him when Kate's Dad realized Yost was reliving two nights from Iwo Jima as one night. Afterwards the Gibbs family and Cprl Yost came became good friends. When Ernie Yost had passed on the year before, he left Kate his Medal of Honor and all the pictures from his home. A lot of other seemingly insignificant stuff was left to Team Gibbs, and it was quickly discovered the Ernie Yost had been sitting on the proverbial gold mine with all of his records and early recordings of various television programs.
"Well, that too." Kate said. "I know my Dad's favorite Veterans Day was the one before he deployed to Kuwait. And last years."
"Really?" Becky asked. "Why?"
"Because it was the last one he had the whole family for. I mean with my Mom and Kelly and little ol' me. Of course I hadn't been born yet." Kate said. "And last year, it was him, me, Jenny, Jay-jay, and Callen. A whole new family."
"Whatever." Becky said. "Now hush. They're starting the ceremony." The two girls quickly quieted down and stood at attention while the names of the fallen Woburnites was read and Staff Sgt. Taylor was recognized by the community.
When Kate and Becky made it back to the Freshman Dorms at Salem State, Kate found she had a package that had been delivered after she had left the night before.
Kate opened it to find a copy of the card she had sent Callen all those years ago, and a new one from Jay-jay.
A hastily scribbled note from her step mother informed Kate that her four year old brother had demanded to make a card like the one Kate had made and to send it to Callen as well. Callen got the original and Kate got a copy to keep with hers. It was now a Gibbs family tradition to make a thank you card for the veterans in their family every year starting around five. Callen, Jethro, and Jackson certainly had the cards to prove it.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
A/N I decided that this story needed a Veterans Day chapter. And here it is! Part of it was inspired by a conversation I had with xofreethelightox after our town's Veterans Day festivities. We're both in the band at our school btw and band class is where we get out creative juices flowing. There will be more on Jay-jay and who he is in a later chapter. I haven't decided when yet. Next up however, will be Kate moving into her dorm room and a college that's pretty far away from DC.
And Callen will be making some more appearences in this AU NCIS world. I feel like Gibbs wants to include him in his family. Callen needs a family and I think the broken and surragate extended Gibbs family needs Callen.
But anyways, REVIEWS Please!!!!