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Day Twenty: Arguing (Prt 1 of 2)
Timeline: married
She had sat in stony silence the whole ride home, and Gibbs grit his teeth and dealt with it. He didn't want to start in the car, or in front of Lucy, and he knew she was probably pissed at him.
He waited until the sleepy little girl was tucked in bed and kissed goodnight to follow her into the kitchen and corner her while she poured a glass of wine.
"You pissed at me?" he asked bluntly.
"I'm not particularly pleased with your for questioning my parenting skills in front of the entirety of Washington, D.C."
"Bullshit, Jen."
She slammed her bottle down loudly.
"It was public critique, Jethro, and you damn well know it."
He swallowed hard and shrugged, folding his arms.
"She busted her lip, Jen," he snapped. "Cut up her knee, could've needed stitches," he groused. "You just stood there."
"I didn't stand there while she got hurt," Jenny retorted rapidly. "I told her not to climb on the stones or she would get hurt, and she ignored me."
"You should have grabbed her!"
"You could have grabbed her yourself, Jethro," Jenny snarled.
"I was dealin' with Shannon," he threw back. "I would have let her drop her ice cream, if I'd known you didn't give a damn if Lucy busted her ass."
"Disciplining her is not the same as not caring!"
"Her lip, Jenny - !" He swore. "Discipline?"
"Yes!" she hissed back. "She ignores us, Jethro, and it's because you pamper her and protect her. I don't want to see Lucy get hurt, but she needs to learn that consequences come from not listening - and you do not have the right to shout at me in front of a crowd - "
"No one was paying attention to us - "
"Everyone was paying attention to us!" she shouted. "You know, you wouldn't be acting like this if it was Levi, you'd tell Levi his smart ass deserved a cut lip - but Lucy's your precious fragile angel, you can't shake that old sexism even a little - "
"I managed to raise a daughter on my own, Jen, I think I know what I'm doing!"
She whirled on him, spilling her wine glass.
"I know I didn't get as far as you, you son of a bitch, but I know something about stubborn little kids," she lashed out violently, her voice dangerously raw. "Your over-protective coddling had Kelly acting out like a Magdalene when she was fifteen - that isn't how we're going to deal with Lucy - "
"You said that wasn't my fault - you of all people, Jen, I'd think would be more careful about letting your kid get hurt - "
"I wasn't responsible for what happened to Peter!" she shouted.
He stopped, taken aback. He stared at her - he hadn't meant .. he hadn't even implied ... but then, he realized: maybe it sounded like that.
I know I didn't get as far as you -
He took a deep breath.
"Jen," he started.
She turned to the spilled wine, and then shook her head, turning on her heel. He followed her, and then stopped, realizing from her stride that she probably wanted to be left alone.
She slammed the bedroom door, and Gibbs stood outside of it, already thinking of ways he could fix his mistake - and he got distracted when a door opened behind him and his daughter's voice piped up -
"Daddy, can I have some milk?"
He turned and nodded, taking her hand and leading her to the kitchen - he'd let Jen calm down a minute, and then he'd go eat his words.
-alexandra