Nuka stared nervously at the staircase. He had done what Gibbs said, showering and then putting on his PJ's, but now he was at a loss. Gibbs had told him to come downstairs, but Nuka knew that he couldn't slide down the banister. It wasn't safe. He'd done that once already. And he knew that Gibbs would be mad at him if he did it again. He frowned, chewing on his lower lip. What now?

He sat down on the top step, looking at the great expanse of space between this landing and the ground floor…and then he got an idea. Grinning, Nuka picked up his legs and then used his hands to push his bum off the top step. He landed on the one beneath it with a soft fwumph.

Cool.

He pushed off the next step, landing on the one below it. It was kinda like a slide, but not as fast.

He'd made it halfway down the staircase before Gibbs stepped into view. He peered up at Nuka, a hint of a smile touching his lips. "Very creative."

"It's fun, too," Nuka said, grinning.

"I'm glad you enjoy it," Gibbs said. "You could have asked me to come help you."

Oh. Whoops. He frowned, trying to gauge Gibbs' mood, and then decided that the man wasn't mad. His eyes weren't crinkled. Besides, he'd been smiling earlier. People who were mad didn't smile in that sort-of secret way. He continued his slow way down the stairs, grinning when he got to the bottom step. He put his good foot down, and then grabbed the railing and used it to hoist himself to his feet.

"I went down the stairs all by myself without hurting my leg."

"Well done. Come here."

Nuka eyed Gibbs suspiciously. Sometimes when Daddy said 'come here,' it was because Nuka was in trouble for something. Something he didn't know he'd done. He bit his lower lip, hard, and tasted blood in his mouth.

"Nuka? What's going through that head of yours?"

Nuka swallowed. "I didn't mean to."

"Didn't mean to what?" Gibbs asked, and then his eyes crinkled a bit. "Nuka, you're bleeding." He stepped forward, and Nuka stepped just as quickly away.

"I'm sorry!"

Gibbs stopped, reaching a hand up to gently massage his eyeballs. He gave Nuka a long look and then said, "I wasn't going to hit you. I was going to look at your lip."

"My-" Nuka touched his lower lip gently and then winced. "Oh."

"What made you nervous?" Gibbs asked.

"You stepped forward real quick."

"No, I mean before that. Why'd you start chewing on your lip in the first place?"

Nuka twisted the hem of his pajama shirt nervously in his hand. He didn't want to talk about this. He didn't want to tell Gibbs that he was naughty sometimes and didn't even know it. Not knowing you were naughty was worse than just being naughty.

"I thought maybe I was in trouble," Nuka said quietly.

"We talked about that upstairs, Nuka," Gibbs said. "I told you that I wasn't upset anymore."

"Not about that."

"About what, then?"

Nuka sighed. "I dunno."

"Nuka, talking things through only works if you actually tell me what's going through your mind. What did you think you were in trouble for?"

"I don't know! Honest! I just thought I was in trouble."

Gibbs' eyes furrowed together slightly. "You thought you were in trouble for not doing anything wrong?"

"I don't know what I did wrong! It's just you said 'come here' in a quiet voice and I thought I was in trouble and I don't know why."

Gibbs swallowed. "I wasn't saying 'come here' because you were in trouble, Nuka. I said 'come here' because I wanted to give you a piggy-back ride and I know you don't like people walking towards you too suddenly."

"Oh."

"I will never punish you without making sure you know first what you're in trouble for. I promise."

"Okay."

"Alright. Now come here."

Nuka eyed Gibbs warily, and then he took a step forward, and another, until he was standing within a foot of Gibbs. Gibbs crouched down in front of him, and, breathing a sigh of relief, Nuka hoisted himself up on top of Gibbs' back.

Gibbs stood up slowly, one hand wrapped around Nuka's good leg, and carted the boy with him into the living room. "Alright, Nuka. Do you like to read books with pictures or books with no pictures?"

"I'm not a real good reader," Nuka said. "I've never read a whole book. I'm better at math."

Gibbs laughed. "I was actually thinking that I'd read to you tonight."

"Well then how come you asked what I liked to read?"

"I misspoke," Gibbs replied. "I really meant to ask if you preferred having books with pictures or books without pictures read to you."

"Oh."

Gibbs waited for a further response, and when none was forthcoming he tapped Nuka lightly on the leg. "Which do you prefer?"

"I dunno."

"You don't know?"

"I haven't ever had a book read to me," Nuka said, "except in school. All the books in school have pictures."

"Hmm," Gibbs said. "Well, then, let's try reading one without pictures. It takes a little bit longer—it will take us a couple of nights to get through it—but at the very least, it'll be good for you to know the difference."

"Okay," Nuka said.

Gibbs crouched down in front of a bookcase and ran his thumb against the spines of the books. After a moment, he paused over a tome and tipped it out into his hand. Nuke tried to read the cover, but his eyes hadn't focused enough to make the words out before Gibbs was standing again. This time he moved to the couch. He deposited Nuka neatly on one of the couch cushions and sat down beside him.

"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," Gibbs read off. "This was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. My dad read it to me for the first time when I was just about your age."

"Really?" Nuka asked. "Your dad used to read to you?"

"Every single night," Gibbs said. "No matter what. Even when he was mad, he made a point of reading to me. It was his way of saying that no matter what, we were still family."

Nuka bit his lower lip. He'd never had anyone say something like that to him before. For him, family had always been a conditional state of being. He thought it must be nice to be like Gibbs—to know that your dad would always be there for you.

Gibbs opened the book up. He'd said that he was reading a book without pictures, but Nuka saw that hadn't been entirely true. There was an illustration at the front of the chapter, and Nuka felt himself scooting closer to Gibbs so he could see it. Gibbs reached an arm around Nuka's shoulders and pulled him against Gibbs's chest. Nuka wasn't sure if he liked that much physical contact, and he was about to pull away, but then Gibbs began to read and his voice went all the way through Nuka's body. Instead of pulling away, Nuka felt himself relaxing against Gibbs.