Hey guys! Here's the newest installment of Daddy's Sweetest Gift. From here on out in order to establish my time line and keep myself from getting confused, the year the chapter takes place in will appear in the center and bolded at the beginning. I'm going to go back and do that to all my previous chapters eventually.
I've decided that Jay-Jay Gibbs is going to be one of 110 children and one in seven boys with a form of autism. I've noticed that in stories where the team has children, very rarely do their children have disabilities or glasses or serious health issues like diabetes. I'm breaking the mold and putting out there that autism exists and some of us live with that every day. My little brother was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome almost five years ago and my parent's battle with our school system for three years to get him the IEP (Individualized Education Program) he needs. It took his moving up to the middle school for him to get this. (On a side note, Microsoft word doesn't even recognize "Asperger's" in its dictionary.) Autism isn't going away because we ignore it. It's here to stay and for all we know it's genetic. My little rant was inspired by Mr. Tyree in the new movie 'Dear John', because for all my family knows, my brother could end up like him one day; despite the social skills classes he's enrolled in now. Like those commercials say, "Autism speaks. It's time to listen." Plus I think that Jay-Jay's diagnosis with Asperger's Syndrome may cause Gibbs to take a step back and get more involved with his family and cut back on his workaholic tendencies. So now the mold is broken and Kate's going to have an absolutely zero tolerance for bullying; especially since children with undiagnosed learning disabilities (or diagnosed ones) are normally the prime targets for bullies. And I'll end my rant here before I go off on a tangent on bullying and what the Massachusetts school systems should be doing to help students take the option of ending their lives over bullying out of the equation.
So just read and review please!!!!
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
September 2013
Kate took a deep breath before she opened the door to George Washington Carver Elementary School. It felt so weird to be standing in the spot where twelve years ago she had watched one of the hijacked airliners fly into the Pentagon. In those twelve years Mrs. Harris, the secretary, was the only staff member left from when Kate had attended the school.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in!" Mrs. Harris cried as Kate approached her immaculately clean counter. "Little Caitlin Gibbs is back and she's all grown up!"
"Mrs. Harris!" Kate exclaimed happily. "How are you?"
"Much better now that I actually know somebody who works here." The elderly woman said. "You're the first teacher in this building in God knows how long to be an alumnae."
"Mrs. H," Kate said smiling as she handed the woman some of her paperwork. "I didn't graduate the fifth grade from here."
"Doesn't matter." Mrs. Harris stated firmly. "Half the students here were pulled out after 9/11 and went to schools further from the Pentagon and the Capital."
"It's good to see you again, Mrs. Harris." Kate said. "I need to go get ready for the first day of torture," she said jokingly.
"Go on then," Mrs. Harris said. "Shoo! Those kids will be here in an hour."
Sure enough, an hour later Kate was standing in front of twenty one fourth graders who were eagerly looking at their new teacher.
"Good morning Boys and Girls." Kate said to her class once they had settled into their desks. She had to pull out an extra desk for a new student at the last minute and pull out text books and work books for him as well. "I'm Miss Gibbs, your teacher for the year."
"Good morning, Miss Gibbs." The class chorused.
Kate smiled and one of the girls in the back, a small blond girl named Cassidy, fidgeted and played with the cover of the spelling book on her desk.
"Since I'm new here," Kate said "I thought we'd play a name game."
Genuine smiles burst onto the faces in front of her.
Cassidy's hand shot up in the air. In the already established class rules raising your hand to speak was number two, right behind 'Be respectful of others'.
Kate called on her. "What kind of name game, Miss Gibbs?" the girl asked excitedly.
"A fun one, Cassidy." Kate replied with a smile. "We're going to say our names and then say what we want to be when we grow up, and our favorite place to go on vacation. I'll go first." Kate said as she wrote the steps on the white board with an orange Expo marker. The white boards were a major improvement over the old chalk boards from Kate's days in this school.
"I'm Miss Gibbs," she said to the class. "I want to be the best teacher I can be, and my favorite place to go on vacation is my Uncle Mike's house in Mexico. Who wants to go next?"
Twenty of the twenty one hands shot up in the air. The lone hand not raised belonged to the new boy next to Cassidy.
Kate's smile grew a little wider. So far so good. "We'll start with the row closest to the door. When it's your turn I want you to stand up and speak clearly so everyone can hear you."
The first little boy stood and said "I'm Charlie Hanna. I wanna be an NCIS Agent like my Dad and my Uncle G. My favorite place is my Nana Hanna's beach house in Santa Barbara."
Kate smiled at the little African-American boy and suppressed a laugh. "Is your Dad's name Sam?" she asked him.
Charlie nodded with wide eyes. He didn't know how Miss Gibbs knew his Dad's name, but it was freaky. "Yes Ma'am. We just moved here from Los Angeles last month."
Kate nodded and Sam sat back down. Next were Kristen Mariotte, Callie Rogers, Mollie Bell, Molly Tambone, Kelsey Simmons, Emily Cummings, and Greg Johnson.
After Greg, it was Cassidy's turn. "I'm Cassidy Riley, I wanna be a vet and my favorite place to go is to my lake house in Lake George, New York."
Kate raised an eyebrow as the class politely clapped like they were instructed to. Lake George was a pretty far ride from DC by car, and then Kate remembered that Cassidy's father was a Senator from New York. They had a plane, thus the ride was greatly condensed.
After Cassidy was the new student. Kate was wracking her brain for his name but it evaded her like the phone number some co-ed had given Tony.
"I'm Sam." He said faintly. Sam was the smallest nine year old Kate had ever seen. If she hadn't known any better she would have assumed he was six. "I wanna be a doctor. I think." He said and sat back down.
"Sam, what's your last name?" Kate asked as she tried to remember what it said on her roster next to Sam's first name.
"James." Sam said in his barely audible voice. Kate let his lack of favorite place slide and moved on to Alex Chung, Andy Tyree, Nick Chase, Kelly Morrison, Michelle Stokes, Olivia Taylor (no relation to Becky), Leah Higgins, Joey Lee, and Jacqui March.
By the time their version of the Name Game wrapped up it was time for the class to go out for snack recess. Once her class was gone Kate sent out a text to Sam Hanna for not telling her that Charlie would be in her class and checked the papers Mrs. Harris had slipped her that morning for more information on Sam James.
Sam was a foster child. Kate read the note that had been put in his file for his teachers to read. Sam had been rescued from a Meth addict mother and a father who was hooked on heroin a year ago and was not adjusting well to his new situation.
Kate felt her heart bleed for the little boy as she made him a name tag and added his name to her grade book. She hoped the boy would be able to finish the year at GWC.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
Kate put her silver Jetta in park and looked at her childhood home with a huge grin. It was good to be home. She got out of her car and whistled. She waited a moment and hear the tell tale jingling of Jethro's collar as he bounded to the front yard from the back yard barking excitedly.
"Good boy!" Kate said as she set down her bags and braced herself for Jethro's slobbery kisses.
"Am I chopped liver or something?"
Kate looked up from her canine assault to see her boyfriend of two years, Jake, holding a torn leash mock glaring at the dog. Kate noticed that the other half of the leash was still clipped to Jethro's collar.
"I missed my Jethro." Kate said speaking like somebody would speak to a baby. "He's a good boy for his Mommy. Oh yes he is." Jethro sat down and his big pink tongue hung out of his mouth.
"We need a new leash." Jake said obviously. "Preferably a stronger one Jethro won't rip when he hears you whistle for him."
"Where's the chain one I bought last week?" Kate asked as she expertly scooped her bags up in one arm and grabbed Jethro's collar with the other hand firmly grasping Jethro's collar.
"Basement somewhere." Jake replied as he wiggled the bags out of Kate's arm. "Your mom dropped off Jet's stuff today."
Kate nodded as she guided the dog back into the house and let him loose once Jake had shut the door.
"Want to take Jet for a walk?" Jake asked her as he put her bags down in the living room.
"Why?" Kate asked as she took off her low heels and pulled her hair up into a messy bun.
"Get a chance to see the neighborhood." Jake said. "Meet the neighbors."
"Why not?" Kate said. "Let me go get changed and we can go."
Ten minutes later Kate came back downstairs in an old NCIS tee, cut off shorts covered in paint and flip flops. "Ready?"
"Sure," Jake said as he attached the chain like leash to Jethro's collar. "Let's go."
Kate grabbed the door and locked it. "This feels weird." She said.
"Why?" Jake asked as he restrained Jet from running off after a squirrel in the front yard.
"We never locked the front door when I was a kid." Kate replied. "Never."
Jake shrugged. "Times change,"
Kate nodded. "I know. There never were this many kids when I lived here."
"How many years has it been since you moved to Anacostia?" Jake asked her as Jethro tried to break free to greet the children running up and down the street.
"Nine years, Jake. Same as you," Kate replied. "I think the only people who remember me are the Brays from next door."
"You've been gone for a while, Kate." Jake said. "People have moved on, passed on, new families move in, old homes come down new ones go up. It's a cycle. You know it as well as I do." Jake was referring to his own move to Anacostia around the same time the Gibbs family moved there as well.
Jake and Kate had been classmates at GWC until 9/11. Kate's parents had pulled her out of the public school and she'd found herself at St. Barbara's Parish School in DC. Jake had appeared there as well in the sixth through eighth grades. Back in those days he'd gone by Jacob and had been the class clown. He also had been harboring a crush on Kate for the longest time. Being a boy and not knowing how to properly express these feelings at twelve he had settled for teasing her for the first year of middle school. Kate had slapped him across the face one day after school had gotten out when they were walking to the Metro station and he backed off after that. During the summer between eighth and ninth grades Jake had moved again and disappeared from Kate's radar until her junior year in college.
When they had reunited through mutual friends at a Boston Red Sox game, Kate hadn't recognized him. It might have been his five inch tall Mohawk, or the two gauges in each of his ears, but it took until Kate mentioned going to GWC for either one of them to realize who they were talking to. At this point it was the seventh inning in vary long game. After a couple of slightly embarrassing stories from their days in kindergarten and being conveniently left alone by Becky, Julia, and Sadie's boyfriend Mike, Jake asked Kate out and the rest was, well history. Two years later they were still going strong and were living in Kate's childhood home in Arlington, Virginia.
Jake was going to be part of the next class to go through the FBI Academy. He had already completed his necessary FLETC classes and was waiting for the next class at Quantico to start. Kate was anxious for his first assignment. She was hoping he'd be assigned to the Hoover Building so they wouldn't have to move cross-country. She was nervous about passing the teaching licensure tests in other states.
"I know," Kate said with a sad smile. "I missed this place."
The ice cream man's truck drove past with a happy song playing and a gaggle of children following it on bikes, scooters and on foot.
"Let me guess," Jake said as he watched Kate wistfully stare at the truck. "You were the kid on her bike leading the assault on the ice cream man."
"How'd you guess?" Kate replied playfully.
"I know my girlfriend." Jake said he kissed her temple. "I love you Caitlin Erica Gibbs."
Kate looked at Jake. "I love you too, Jake."
Jake just smiled and dropped to one knee as he pulled out a ring box from the pocket of his shorts.
"Kate," he said with the biggest and goofiest love sick smile Kate had ever seen. "I've been head over heels in love with you since the fourth grade."
Kate bit her lip as she began to tear up. She couldn't believe it! Jake was proposing to her!
"Ever since we were reunited two years ago, I haven't been able to picture my future without you by my side. Will you make me the happiest man on the planet and marry me?"
Kate nodded as the tears began to fall. She was so happy! Her whole body shook as the adrenaline surged through her system. "Yes!" she cried. "Oh, God, yes! Jake I'd love to marry you!"
Jake stood up, dropped the leash, and slid the ring onto Kate's ring finger. "I love you so much," he whispered.
Kate just grabbed his head and pulled him in for a searing kiss that left them both panting for breath when they broke apart. Jake wrapped his arms around Kate's waist, picked her up and spun her around in circles.
She laughed and looked at the ring on her hand and back at her new fiancé once he set her back on the ground. "So this is why Mom wanted you to go to the mall with her last week." Kate said.
"You caught me." Jake said with a knowing smirk as he pressed his forehead to Kate's. "My Gamma wanted me to propose to you with her engagement ring, but I couldn't take it. It's all she has left to remember Nono by."
Kate kissed Jake's cheek. "I love my new ring," she told him. "It's the nicest engagement ring I've ever seen."
"That's good." Jake said as he tightened his hold on Kate's waist and kissed her forehead. "Because it was your Mom's ring."
Kate looked at her ring and back to Jake. "My Mom's ring." She echoed him in disbelief.
"Yepp." Jake said. "Your Dad and I went to the bank two weeks ago. When he was taking it out of the safe deposit box he told me that if I ever do anything to hurt you I'm a dead man walking from today on."
"This was my Mommy's ring." Kate said still fixated on the piece of jewelry on her hand. "The one Daddy proposed to my Mommy Shannon with."
"The very same ring." Jake said. He was starting to think it was a mistake to use Shannon's ring. "Is that okay?"
Kate gave Jake the biggest bear hug he'd ever experienced in the two years they'd dated. "It's better than okay." Kate told him when she released him. "It's perfect." She was crying again, but these were yet again happy tears.
Kate sighed as Jake hugged her again. She was content to just stay in his arms for the rest of her life. Nothing could ruin this feeling of rightness that she was experiencing. Nothing.
"Where's Jethro?" Jake asked suddenly after they'd been kissing and hugging for five minutes. He had just realized that the dog was gone, along with the ice cream man and the crowd of kids.
"Well, crap." Kate said as she spotted Jethro's leash and collar on the sidewalk. "That rascal got out of his collar again."
Jake swore and Kate scooped up the accessories. "Language." Kate said automatically as she heard Jake cuss. "My students live in this neighborhood Jake. The last thing I need to hear from their parents is that their child learned to swear from my fiancé."
"I know." Jake said. "But we just lost a dog with Military training. He's a drug dog, Kate. Who knows what will happen if he gets a whiff of pot or he feels threatened…"
Now it was Kate's turn to swear. "JETHRO!" she called. No response.
"I'll go in the direction we were heading before you surprised me, and you head back towards the house." Kate said as she frantically wracked her brain for places Jethro could be hiding.
Jake nodded and kissed her temple. "Don't worry." He told her. "We'll find him."
Kate nodded and took off.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
"JETHRO!" Kate cried as she turned onto Schultz Place twenty minutes later. "Come here boy!"
Outside of a cheerful yellow house on Kate's right a little old lady was working in her garden. "What's with all this racket?" she snapped at Kate.
"I lost my dog." Kate said somewhat pathetically as she held up Jethro's collar and leash. "Have you seen him? He's a German Sheppard about yay high, kinda gray looking around his muzzle." Kate said using her hand to indicate Jet's height.
"You're not from around here." The old lady said as she narrowed her eyes and looked at Kate suspiciously. "How do I know you aren't coming back to rob me later?"
"I live over on Maple Ave." Kate said. "I just moved in with my fiancé last month."
"Nobody on Maple has sold their house lately." She said as her eyes narrowed even further.
"The Gibbs place." Kate said answering the unasked question. "I'm Kate Gibbs. When we moved out Dad didn't bother to sell the place. He didn't have the heart to."
The old lady's eyes opened up but she still didn't believe Kate. "Jethro's girl, eh?"
Kate nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
The old biddy sighed and pointed to a house across from hers and down two doors on the cul-de-sac. "Your mutt went into the Potter place. He followed one of their foster kids in to the house. Trouble the whole bunch of them." She muttered as she returned to her garden.
"Thank you." Kate said with forced politeness and crossed the street to the indicated house. That old lady sure was a bi-atch if Kate had ever met one.
Kate rang the doorbell at the Potter home and felt herself relax when she heard Jethro start to bark from somewhere. He was safe; not lying in the middle of the street after being hit by a car.
Kate was pulled from her musings as the front door flew open and a teenage girl stood behind it with a baby on her hip. The girl had jet black hair that was definitely achieved through hair dye in this case, her eye brow pierced, multiple era piercings in each ear, and two lip rings, 'Snakebites' Kate thought randomly. The more astonishing look was the bright pink Hollister tee shirt and white Bermuda shorts. The clothes did not match the bad girl vibe she was putting out. "Can I help you?" she asked politely as she tried to calm the screaming toddler.
"Is this the Potter home?" Kate asked trying not to sound as confused as she was.
The girl nodded and turned around and yelled "NANCY!"
Kate blinked and looked at the girl in front of her; there was the attitude she was expecting.
"Would you like to come in?" she asked Kate politely again and switched the baby to her other hip to keep his fingers away from her lip rings. "Nancy will be down in a few minutes."
"Thank you." Kate said as she came in and the girl was able to close the door and set the boy back on the ground. Once he was down he stopped crying and happily toddled off into the living room.
"What's NCIS stand for?' the girl asked Kate as she took in her apparel.
"Naval Criminal Investigative Service" Kate replied from memory. "They're the Navy equivalent of the FBI."
"Cool." The teenager said as Nancy came in from out back.
"Mellissa." Nancy said with a grown. "What have I told you about that wig?"
"Not to wear it while answering the door?" The girl said uncertainly as she pulled it off. Kate noticed that Mellissa actually had chestnut brown hair that fell in waves to her mid back.
"And take out the piercings." Nancy said. "Your Social Worker is coming this evening and I don't want to be written up for letting you pierce your ears six times."
Mellissa laughed and pulled out the fake piercings. All but two of her piercing in her ears were magnetic, and the two snake bites were just missing part of old rings. The eyebrow ring however was real.
"Can you please go put Cody in the crib and do your homework?" Nancy asked the now more respectable looking teenager.
"Okay." Mellissa said as she scooped up the little boy and disappeared up the stairs.
"So," Nancy said "Who's done what now?"
"I'm sorry?" Kate asked confused.
"NCIS." Nancy said. "None of these kids have any family in the Marine Corp or the Navy."
Kate looked at her shirt. "Oh, I'm not from NCIS. It's my Dad's old shirt. I'm actually looking for my dog. The lady across the street said he followed one of your kids home about a half hour ago."
"That's your dog outback with Sam?" Nancy asked. "He didn't take him from your yard did he?"
"Oh, no." Kate said. "My boyfriend convinced me to go on a walk with him and Jethro and surprised me by proposing. He dropped the leash and we stopped paying attention to Jet and he just slipped out f his collar and took off."
"Congratulations." Nancy said as she led Kate to the kitchen to watch her foster son Sam play with Jethro.
"That dog's a miracle worker." Nancy said. "Sam hasn't talked as much is he is right now in the two weeks he's lived here. Up until today I'd never seen that boy smile. I was starting to think he didn't know how to. I was out there with them until Missy called me in and he actually started a conversation. He normally only speaks if we speak to him."
"How long has Jet been here?" Kate asked as she recognized the little boy playing with the dog as Sam James, one of her students.
"A half hour." Nancy replied. "And it's been the happiest half hour in Sam's life in a long time."
"I can tell." Kate said as she hear him giggle as Nancy opened the sliding door and stepped onto the back porch.
Kate and Nancy stood on the deck completely un-noticed by dog or boy for close to twenty minutes before Kate realized how late it was getting.
"I don't want to be the Evil Teacher," Kate said to Nancy, "but I need to get Jethro home. Jake and I are going to Anacostia to have dinner with my parents and siblings."
Nancy nodded with a sad smile. "I knew that dog's owner was going to turn up sooner or later. I told him not to get attached. Sam's going to be crushed."
The wheels in Kate's head started to turn and she looked at Nancy. "Could you keep him here until we get back?" Kate asked. "I'd pay you for the trouble and I think Sam needs a furry friend. Jet's the best kind of therapy you could ask for."
"Are you sure?" Nancy asked.
Kate nodded. "Let me run it by Sam before we make any definite plans."
Nancy nodded. "I'm sure you'll make his day, Miss Gibbs."
Kate smiled and stepped down into the yard and whistled. Jethro froze in mid pounce and his ears perked up at the familiar whistle. His head cocked to side and he propelled himself at his mistress happily barking and then covering her in slobbery kisses when he reached her.
"Miss Gibbs!" Sam cried happily when he saw who Jethro had pounced on. "Is he your doggie?"
"He is, Sam." Kate said as she put the collar back on Jethro and the dog hung his head; he was busted.
"What's his name?" Sam asked as he came up next to his teacher and began patting the dog's head. Jethro leaned into the boys touch showing how much he enjoyed that petting.
"Jethro," Kate said with a smile. "My friend Abby named him after my Dad."
"That's so cool!" Sam exclaimed.
"It is." Kate said with a smile. "Sam," she said as she crouched down to Sam's level, "Would you like to watch Jethro for me tonight?"
"Can I?" Sam asked with wide eyes.
"Yes, you may." Kate said correcting Sam. After all, she was a teacher. "I'm going to dinner with my Mom and Dad in Anacostia. I don't want to leave Jet all by himself at home because he gets into trouble when he's alone."
"Thank you, Miss Gibbs!" Sam exclaimed. "I pwomise to take good care of him!"
Kate smiled when she heard the little lisp that made her think of Jay-Jay. "Okay. But I need you to promise me one thing."
"Anything!" Sam cried happily.
"You go to bed when Nancy tells you to." Kate said. "None of this waiting up to say good bye to Jethro. Got that?"
Sam nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, Miss Gibbs!"
"Alright," Kate said as she got up and ruffled the boy's sand colored hair. "I'll see you later, Sam."
"Bye, Miss Gibbs!" Sam said as he latched himself onto Jethro. "I'll take good care of Jet. I pwomise to treat him like Maisy."
"Who's Maisy?" Kate asked him.
"My old doggie." Sam said. "Mrs. Guren wouldn't let me bring her when I left my old house."
Just hearing Sam speak of his ordeal so casually broke Kate's heart.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
Kate sighed as Jake pulled into the semi circle driveway in front of her parents' home.
"You okay?" Jake asked his fiancé.
"Yeah," Kate replied. "I just didn't expect the whole team to be here tonight."
"They're family." Jake said. "And you know you love them!"
"I know." Kate said as she and Jake got out of his Mustang. Tony was very jealous of the 1956 blue Ford that Jake had inherited from his Great Uncle Richard. "I wouldn't have it e any other way." She added.
"Hey," Jake said as he took the potato salad from Kate. "Look on the bright side."
"What bright side?" Kate asked sounding confused.
"You won't have to tell everybody like eight times." Jake said.
Kate laughed and kissed his cheek and ran a hand over the tip of his Mohawk. "I'm going to miss this when you get back from Quantico."
"Me too." Jake said as he opened the front door. "I was pumped when they let me keep it at FLETC."
"Did you hear that?" Sam Hanna asked the assembled group in the living room. "I got Brooke to laugh!"
"Sam," Kate said from the doorway into the living room. "She's 16 months. She's been laughing at everything Tony does since she was four months."
Sam rolled his eyes as Cassie Callen-Gibbs whined "Dada!"
Callen scooped up his three almost four year old daughter. "What's up, Pumpkin?"
"Cassie hungey." Cassie dutifully informed her father and stuck her hand in her mouth like her Uncle Jay-Jay used to do.
"Well," Callen said as he looked at his little sister (he'd agreed to an adult adoption the previous spring and was now officially a Gibbs), "if Auntie Kate and Mr. Jake had been earlier we could already be eating." He said teasingly.
"What held you up, Princess?" Jethro asked his daughter.
"Jet got loose again." Kate said with a shrug. "He followed one of my students home and Sam, my student, is watching him for me while we're here."
"Damn dog caused me more headaches while you were in school." Jethro said as he scooped up Brianna as she tried to walk along the couch. "He used to escape on a regular basis."
"Where's Tony and Tim?" Kate asked Cynthia as she came out to grab everybody for dinner.
"Grilling up dinner," Cynthia replied as she took her daughter from her husband. Cassie went willingly to her mother because she knew that if Mommy was here it was almost time to eat.
"And they haven't burned down the house yet?" Kate asked.
Ziva nodded. She winced and rubbed her hand over her stomach. She was eight months pregnant with her and Tony's first child, a girl who they were planning on naming Tali Rose DiNozzo. "It is a miracle in and of itself." She commented.
"I'll say." Jake said as he reappeared in the doorway. He'd been kidnapped by his future mother-in-law when she saw the potato salad he'd carried in.
"Are they ready for us yet, Mom?" Kate asked.
"They said they'd send Jay-Jay or Charlie in when they were." Jenny replied.
Kate's smile grew. "Mr. Hanna," she said to Sam in a mock serious tone. "I am qui shocked that you didn't tell me that Charlie was going to be in my class!"
Sam just shrugged as Callen Gibbs Slapped him. "Jean didn't know if it was you or not. We didn't want to jump to conclusions."
"And now I'm going to go in tomorrow and I can guarantee he's going to ask me, in the middle of class mind you, why Jake's hair is so tall." Kate said.
"Not my fault!" Sam said. "Don't blame me. Vance was the one to reassign us all before he let Jenny take her chair back."
"Stupid tooth pick chewing nimrod." Kate muttered as Jay-Jay came barreling into the room.
"Tony an' Timmy said dinner's ready." He said breathlessly. "And they said that Ziva gets to get her food first 'cause of the baby."
Ziva was helped to her feet by Kate and Jenny and she waddled out to the back patio to eat.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
Two hours later around seven thirty the little girls were asleep in the twins' room and the boys were up in Jay-Jay's room playing WWE Raw vs. Smackdown 2013 on the PS3. The adults had gone back into the living room and were entertaining themselves with small talk and Callen's favorite undercover missions.
"Kate and I have an announcement to make," Jake said to the group after Callen finished his tale on the LA Legend Fiasco that Kate and McGee had been present for.
Kate leaned in against Jake on the loveseat and smiled softly. He looked at her and nodded for her to continue on.
"We're getting married!" she cried happily as she thrust her left hand out to show off her engagement ring.
Abby, Ziva, Jenny, Cynthia, and Jean all squealed happily and pulled Kate out of the loveseat to hear the details on Jake's proposal.
"Jake," Jethro said.
"Yes, Sir?" Jake responded slightly nervous as he took in the faces of Kate's 'brothers'.
"You do anything to hurt my Princess," Jethro said to Jake in a dangerously low tone. "And I will make you regret the day you laid eyes on her in the fourth grade. You understand me?"
Jake nodded. "Yes, Mr. Gibbs."
"Ahh, hell." Jethro said. "Call me Jethro, son. We're family now."
Jake felt himself relax as Tim and Tony winked at him. Callen however, well in the typical fashion of an overprotective, overbearing brother, he was still glaring at Jake. Sam, not being as deeply involved in the family was indifferent to this announcement and grabbed the lucky man another bottle of A&W Root Beer.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
November 2013, Jay-Jay's 10th Birthday
Kate sighed as she supervised her class' French lesson. The French teacher, Madame DeFarge (The teachers at GWC had all decided that it was the best name for a French teacher ever!) As Shelly DeFarge rambled on about La Grenouille and the dog, Kate's mind wandered to the mysterious voicemail her mother had left her that morning. She had called and asked that she and Jake be an hour early to the birthday dinner they had planned for Jay-Jay. Kate was a little worried that this would be about the results from Jay-Jay's visit to the neurologist the month before.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
That night at Kate and Jake noticed that they had beat the team to the Gibbs home in Anacostia.
"This isn't good." Kate said nervously. "They asked us to be here an hour early and Jay-Jay's results should be coming back any day now…"
"Hey," Jake said as he squeezed Kate's hand. "It's going to be okay. He's still the same kid he was three months ago. We just know why he can't focus in school. That's all that's changed."
Kate nodded. "I still have this niggling feeling in my gut that something's wrong."
Jake sighed. "There's no convincing a Gibbs Gut that everything is going to be okay is there?"
Kate shook her head. "Dad says it's impossible to even try."
"I believe it." Jake said as he kissed Kate's temple. "It's okay." He whispered.
Kate nodded and let them into the house. "Mom? Dad? We're here!" she called and Jake closed the door behind them.
"KATIE!!!" Jay-Jay came flying down the stairs and launched himself at Kate.
"Hey there, Jay-Jay!" Kate said happily. "Happy Birthday, Squirt."
"Thanks!" Jay said happily. "I'm supposed to be up in my room with the girls until Mom calls me down…"
"I'd get back up there if I was you, Mister." Jake said as he heard Jenny's heels on the stairs coming up from the basement. "Your Mom's coming up here now."
Jay-Jay's eyes grew wide and he turned around and sprinted back up to his room for safety. He didn't want to ruin whatever his Mom had planned for his birthday.
Kate bit her lip nervously as she took one look at Jenny. Her step mother was holding a large glass of bourbon and it was only three thirty in the afternoon. Kate was very nervous now.
"The results came back." Kate said quietly. It wasn't a question and Jenny knew it.
"Come downstairs." Jenny said. "We can talk down there."
Kate and Jake followed Jenny back down into the basement and sank onto the couches in front of the amazing entertainment system Tony had given them for Christmas quite a few years back.
Jethro came into the finished portion of the basement through his nifty door in the sheet rock and sat on the arm of the chair behind Jenny. Kate could tell something was wrong immediately when she saw the drying tear tracks on her father's face.
"What's wrong?" Jake asked carefully not wanting to set his future in-laws off.
"Jay-Jay has Asperger's Syndrome." Jethro chocked out.
"Asper-what?" Jake asked.
Kate felt like she'd just been punched in the stomach. "Oh my God." She whispered.
"Asperger's Syndrome," Jethro croaked again, "It's well…" he bit his lip and couldn't continue.
"It's a form of Autism." Jenny finished.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
Cliffy! Kinda. Next chapter will be how the rest of their family reacts to the news of Jay-Jay's diagnosis. Some of his experiences will be based on what my own brother went through. Each case is different, that I can tell you for a fact. One of my former classmates from kindergarten through fifth grade had a severe case of Asperger's Syndrome, and the kids at CCD from another elementary school used to make fun of him. I just snapped one day in the ninth grade (we made Confirmation in the spring of our Sophmore year {10th Grade}) and told them all to shut up because he couldn't help how he was and that my brother had just been diagnosed with the same form of Autism. Needless to say they left him alone after that and looked at me differently after that; I'm the quiet girl in the corner nobody expects to explode when she gets very angry. And boy did I explode that day…
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