Chapter Eighteen: Blessed
A late Thanksgiving that year made it possible for the Gibbs family to be in their new house in time for the holiday. The entire team, including Abby, Ducky and Jimmy had taken all of Thanksgiving week off to help them get moved. Gibbs knew he wouldn't have been able to do it without their help. As a thank you they were hosting Thanksgiving at their new house. They were still working on unpacking and getting organized but they were confident they could pull off a Thanksgiving feast.
Gibbs and Jenny both got up with Lizzy on Thanksgiving morning. Gibbs changed her diaper and fed her while Jenny got the ham and the turkey in the double oven. They were going to have enough food to feed an army. Once the meat was in the oven and Lizzy was burped, Jenny took the infant from Gibbs and sat down in his lap.
"This is the best Thanksgiving ever," she said. She was so happy to be in their new house and have some room to spread out.
"You're right," Gibbs said, "it is." He kissed Jenny then Lizzy as he held them.
They weren't sitting for very long when Josie made her way downstairs and into the living room. She crawled into Gibbs' lap with her mom and baby sister. Jenny leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
"Good morning Sweet Pea," Gibbs said before kissing her.
"Good morning Daddy," Josie said.
"I think Daddy needs a bigger lap," Gibbs said rubbing the toddler's back. "Do you have a good morning kiss for us?"
Josie smiled and gave each member of her family a kiss. "Can we have breakfast now?"
"Sure Honey," Jenny said. "Maybe Daddy can cut up some fruit for you while I get the coffee cake going."
"You're making us coffee cake?" Gibbs asked happily.
"I am," Jenny said with a smile. She put Lizzy in her bouncer then headed for the kitchen. Coffee cake had been a tradition for Thanksgiving breakfast when she was growing up and she wanted to share it with her new family.
Gibbs kept an eye on Josie and Lizzy while he cut up some fruit to tide everybody over until the bread was done.
Jack woke to the smells of coffee cake filling his room. He'd gotten the downstairs bedroom with the private bathroom. It was off by itself in one corner of the house which gave him some much appreciated privacy. His room had a door leading out to the back porch and he didn't have to walk up and down the stairs to get there. The room had the smallest closet in the house but he couldn't have been happier. The other downstairs bedroom was being turned into a playroom for the kids.
After he got himself up, Jack headed out to the living room with the others. Josie was attempting to teach Lizzy the alphabet using her little wooden blocks and Lizzy was watching and gurgling as she waved her arms and kicked her legs excitedly. She didn't have a clue what her big sister was saying but she knew she was talking to her and the blocks had all kinds of fun colors.
"Morning Jack," Jenny said. "I've got some coffee cake in the oven. It should be done in about five minutes."
"I was wondering what I was smelling," Jack said as he took a seat in the recliner. "It smells fantastic. I can't wait."
"There's some coffee in there whenever you're ready for it," Gibbs said.
"I'm ready now," Jack said standing again. He headed into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee then went out front to retrieve the newspaper. When he opened the front door he saw Abby pulling into the driveway. He waited for her to get out then they went back inside together.
"Well look what the cat dragged in," Gibbs said standing and pulling Abby into a hug. "Mornin' Kiddo, happy Thanksgiving." He kissed the top of her head as she hugged him back.
"Good morning everybody," Abby said. "I came early so I could watch the parade with you guys."
"I know the twins will like that especially," Jenny said. "Jethro, do you want to get Bailey up while I get the bread out of the oven or do you think we should let him sleep?"
"I'll get him up," Gibbs said. "Who knows how long he'll sleep if we let him."
The twins each had their own bedroom in their new house and they were well on their way to making the space their own. The rooms were slightly bigger than their bedrooms at the old house and they enjoyed having their own space again. After being crammed together for the past three months, it was nice for everybody to have some room to stretch out.
Gibbs picked Bailey up from his bed and hugged him close while he kissed his cheek. "Good morning Buddy," he said softly.
Bailey yawned and nestled into his daddy's neck. He was thrilled to have cuddle time with Gibbs. It was going to be a good day. Gibbs carried him back downstairs and sat down on the couch with him. Bailey buried his face in Gibbs' chest while everybody ate breakfast.
"This is delicious, Jenny," Jack complimented.
"It is really good, Babe," Gibbs said.
"It must be if you're actually eating breakfast," Jenny teased. "You always skip breakfast."
"Usually don't have time," Gibbs said.
Ducky showed up not long after breakfast was over and Ziva not long after that, both to help with the cooking. Tony, Tim and Jimmy arrived to watch the parade and the football pregame. Cooking turned out to be a little bit of a scavenger hunt. Jenny and Ziva ended up taking a few boxes labeled 'kitchen' into the living room for the guys to search through.
"Okay, we need a large-ish mixing bowl, as many serving spoons as you guys can find, there should be one more pie pan somewhere in one of those boxes and then whatever you want to carve the turkey and the ham with," Jenny said. "Thanks Babe."
"Anything we can do to help," Gibbs said opening up one of the boxes.
After the guys found everything the cooks needed, they started bringing in more boxes from the garage to go through while they watched TV and talked. Bailey and Josie helped by unpacking their toys in the playroom. Tony walked by on the way to the garage to grab another box and peeked his head in the room to find a massive mess and the twins sitting in the middle playing.
"This looks like fun!" he said. "Can I play?"
"Yeah!" Josie said.
Gibbs was in the living room wondering what happened to his senior field agent and why he hadn't returned with another box for them to go through. "DiNozzo must've gotten lost on the way to the garage," he said. All the boxes were being stored in the box and they were bringing them in a few at a time to unpack.
"Oh, I'll go check on him," Jimmy said with a smile.
Jimmy found Tony and the twins knee deep in the middle of all the toys. He peeked back into the hallway to see if anyone was looking then joined the group in the playroom.
Not long after the second person disappeared, Gibbs decided to go investigate himself. He pushed the door to the playroom open slightly to find it looking like a war zone. Bailey and Tony were dressed in his old uniforms and Jimmy and Josie had buckets on their heads acting as helmets. There were army men set up amidst the mess and the group was using cannons from the castle play set and the pirate ship to bomb them. They were so involved in their game that they didn't even notice Gibbs standing there watching until a stray cannonball went flying in his direction.
"Are you guys having fun?" Gibbs asked.
"Oh, hi Boss," Tony said. "Guess we kind of got distracted."
"I see that," Gibbs said. "Looks like I need to build some shelves in here." He looked around the room once more before smiling at the group and heading back towards the living room.
"Wait," Jimmy said obviously confused, "what just happened?"
"What do you mean?" Tony asked loading a cannonball and shooting it at Jimmy's bucket helmet.
"I was expecting a head slap or a scolding or something," Jimmy said.
"Nah, Gibbs is a harda—" Tony paused when he remember the twins were in the room, "uh, hard-butt at work but he's that way for a reason."
"Which is?" Jimmy asked. Gibbs was a mystery that he'd spent years trying to understand.
"To keep us safe," Tony said, "make sure we're on top of our game. He's different off the clock. He really is the best dad ever." He paused and looked at the young autopsy assistant. The conversation was getting a little too serious for him. He laid down on the floor and rolled through the pile of toys, knocking down every single army man in his path but also getting poked, prodded and stabbed.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" he yelled. "Man down! Man down! I need a medic. Injury! Injury!" He had no choice but to roll to safety as the group watched. The twins couldn't help but giggle. Even when he was in pain their Uncle Tony was funny. Once he rolled to safety he pulled up his shirt to assess the damage.
"Yeah, you're bleeding, Tony," Jimmy said looking over the man's back. "Looks like you have a good sized scratch on your back."
"Oh no," Tony said trying to arch his neck far enough around he could see the damage. "Am I gonna have a scar?"
"I don't know," Jimmy said, "but you know what they say about scars—chicks dig 'em!"
"Oh yeah," Tony said perking right up. "At least it's not on my face this time."
Tony headed out to the kitchen in search of a band-aid. He knew he might be hard pressed to find one considering they were still living out of boxes but he didn't want to get blood all over the back of his shirt.
"My, my, my, what happened to you?" Ducky asked inspecting the scratch.
"I was delivering turkey to the homeless when some street thug jumped me," Tony said as if that were really what happened.
Ducky gave him a disapproving look and Tony smiled brightly back at him. "Just hold your shirt up out of the way while we find the band-aids," the medical examiner said shaking his head.
With three little kids around, band-aids were one of the first things that had been unpacked. Jenny headed upstairs to the bathroom where they kept them while Ducky took over with the homemade stuffing. While she patched Tony up, Jimmy helped the twins get their toy room cleaned up. Everything was put into the correct tubs and lined up neatly against the wall.
While lunch was being finished up, Abby showed the twins how to trace their hands and turn them into turkeys. Tim and Jimmy joined in the fun while Tony played with Lizzy.
Lunch was ready early that afternoon. Everyone got involved setting the table then they all gathered around to eat. Gibbs carved the meat, dishes were passed and plates were filled. With an endless amount of food all of them ate too much. They couldn't help it, the food was delicious.
The dishwasher made cleanup much quicker and easier. Once lunch was cleaned up, Jenny took Lizzy upstairs to feed her and put her down for a nap. By the time she got back downstairs, Bailey was lying on top of Gibbs on the couch, both of them sound asleep and Tony was sleeping in the recliner with the TV remote in his hand. Abby, Tim, Jimmy and Ducky were playing a game with Josie.
"Where's Jack?" Jenny asked.
"I think he went to his room to lie down," Abby said.
"What are we playing?" Jenny asked.
"Candy Land," Josie answered.
"Fun," Jenny said. "Can I play?"
"Yeah, you can be this person" Josie said passing her one of the unused characters.
The afternoon was spent napping, playing, watching football, unpacking boxes and snacking while they enjoyed each other's company. The twins had a blast playing with their aunts and uncles and baby Lizzy was passed from person to person and was happy with each of them. After a light dinner, the team headed home so Gibbs and Jenny could start settling the kids down.
"What are we gonna do now, Daddy?" Josie asked.
"I think it's bath time, Sweet Pea," Gibbs said. "Can you guys go upstairs and get your bath toys ready and we'll be up in a minute?"
Gibbs and Jenny watched the twins go upstairs but had a hard time finding the motivation to get off the couch. It had been a long day with an early start.
"How long do you give them before they're running around down here naked?" Jenny asked.
"About two minutes," Gibbs said with a laugh.
Jenny laughed in agreement but still wasn't ready to move. "I think today went well," she said.
"Oh yeah," Gibbs said holding Lizzy's hand while she rested peacefully in his lap, "I do too. They're an easy group to please, especially when there's food involved."
"I don't know what we'd do without them," Jenny said.
"Daddy, we are naked and ready for our bath!" Josie screamed from the top of the stairs.
"Sounds like the twins are waiting," Jack said coming in from the kitchen. "Give me my granddaughter; it's time for some quality time with Grandpa."
Gibbs handed Lizzy to Jack then followed Jenny upstairs. It had been a real blessing having his dad there. The kids having their grandpa around to share important events in their lives was invaluable and he couldn't have been happier with how well his dad was doing. It was a big improvement from the depressed man he'd found in Stillwater a few months prior.
Unlike Josie who was waiting anxiously at the top of the stairs, Bailey had gotten his train set out to play with. Instead of debating with him, Gibbs scooped him up and whisked him off to the bathroom. He got him washed up quickly with little resistance. The four year old was tired after a long day. Once he was clean, Gibbs got him out, wrapped him in his towel and carried him down the hall to the bathroom Jenny was bathing Josie in. He couldn't help but laugh at the sight in front of him.
"I'm no expert in these things, Mommy, but I think you used too much bubble bath," he said.
"Don't start," Jenny said giving him a somewhat annoyed smile. "Josie put the bubble bath in before I got up here."
"I helped, Daddy!" Josie said with a proud smile.
"I see that, Sweet Pea," Gibbs said. "Did you have anything planned for their snack tonight, Jen?"
"I told them they could have some pumpkin pie after their baths," Jenny said.
"Okay," Gibbs said, "you two have fun."
"Wait, pie?" Josie asked quickly forgetting around her rubber ducky. "I want to come out now."
"Are you sure?" Jenny asked. "It's okay if you want to play longer. You can have your pie whenever you get out."
"That's okay," Josie said. "I want pie now."
"Two pieces of pie coming up," Gibbs said.
"We'll see you downstairs," Jenny said.
After snack time and story time, Gibbs and Jenny put the twins to bed. Jenny breastfed Lizzy while Gibbs sat next to her and watched then they changed her diaper and put her pajamas on her.
"Do you want to rock her or put her in her crib, Daddy?" Jenny asked. They often put her in her crib so she'd learn to soothe herself to sleep but Gibbs loved the quiet cuddle time, sitting in the dark, rocking her while he sang lullabies. It was a way for him to spend a little more time with her after working all day.
"I'm gonna sit with her for a couple minutes," Gibbs said.
Jenny smiled and headed downstairs and she and Jack enjoyed some pumpkin pie while they talked about decorating the house for Christmas. Jack was thrilled. His son didn't usually decorate. It would be kind of like old times. They decided they wanted to start the tradition of baking sugar cookies and decorating them with the kids. They'd even make enough to take along to the hospital with all the toys Gibbs and Jack took each year.
Gibbs came down and stole a bite of Jenny's pie. She swatted at him playfully but she'd known what was going to happen and cut herself a bigger piece in anticipation. After sharing a kiss she passed him the plate to finish off. Gibbs added his ideas about the Christmas decorations then the conversation shifted to how much fun the day had been despite the house still being in disarray. The group toasted their coffee to their new beginning then headed off to their rooms for some quiet time before bed.