A/N: Sorry this update took so long...few issues with the muse. Big hugs to Gosgirl for getting me back on track! :)
Chapter 20
Once Abby announced dinner was ready Gibbs, Ray and Margie all moved to sit at the wooden table situated between the living room and kitchen. Abby cheerfully refused Gibbs' offer of help, insisting on serving out the food herself. His intense gaze never left her; unable to hide his admiration and love as she seemed to practically float around the room, dishing out and making sure everyone had something to drink.
He was encouraged by how comfortable she seemed here, how at home she was. The idea that she had gone to all the effort of cooking for him, for all of them, wasn't something he was used to, at least not in the last few years. This wasn't about Abby just going through the motions and doing something she felt like she had to now that they were together. It was about her giving of herself because she wanted to do something special for him. Never once had she complained, instead she had approached it with her usual excitement, only ever thinking of the time she got to spend with others and how happy she was making them. Her unselfishness was never ending, and Gibbs couldn't believe how lucky he was that she had somehow fallen for him when she could have her choice of anyone.
When Abby went to take her seat, Gibbs got to his feet and pushed the chair in under her before sitting back down and letting his knee touch hers under the table. "Smells great, Abbs," he said, looking at the steaming plateful in front of him and inhaling the aromas.
"You've done a wonderful job, Abby," Margie smiled from across the table. She was directly across from Abby while Ray was seated across from Gibbs.
Abby beamed at the compliments as the four of them started to eat, the conversation between them continuing to flow easily. For a moment, Gibbs stopped to take in what was happening around him. It had been such a long time since he'd had people over for dinner like this. Members of his team were always dropping by either for a word of advice or sometimes just for a beer. But having Abby here like this, seeing her take enjoyment out of spending time with him and his long-term friends, it seemed almost surreal. Only a small amount of time had passed since their weekend together and for Gibbs it already seemed impossible to imagine life before her.
Gibbs felt no pressure when he was with Abby, there was no need for him to try to be something he wasn't and she wasn't trying to change him. In past relationships he'd always felt that he had to be what the other person wanted him to be, the real him and the things he cared about had been buried, but he didn't need to worry about that with Abby. She was aware of the masses of baggage he carried on his shoulders and yet she still chose to be here with him, as accepting and supportive as she always was.
The last time Gibbs had had dinner with Ray and Margie like this, was when he was with Diane. His friends hadn't gotten on particularly well with any of his ex-wives, but Diane seemed to spur on an instant dislike in a lot of people. On the night in question Gibbs had argued with her before Ray and Margie had arrived, the cause of the conflict now long forgotten, but she had turned it into an opportunity to try and turn his oldest friends against him. To Gibbs' utter delight and satisfaction, the couple had swiftly put Diane in her place. Due to Diane's wounded pride there had been no more dinners with Ray and Margie but Gibbs had refused to cut off contact with them like she'd wanted.
As Gibbs and Ray were having seconds of the gumbo Abby and Margie continued to talk. Gibbs couldn't help but smile at how well the two women got on, it was clear that Abby already regarded Margie as someone she could talk honestly and openly to. The slight difference in their age didn't diminish their animated discussion and Gibbs saw that Margie had noticeably taken Abby under her wing.
While he understood Abby didn't always need protection, her caring and honest nature made those who were close to her want to look out for her. It was also something he was aware that he needed to work on; while he couldn't be anything but protective of her, Gibbs didn't want her to feel like he was crowding her or treating her like a child. With each day there would be challenges and things they would have to deal with, but every single obstacle would be worth it, if he could be with her.
Margie and Ray were both aware that the four people sitting in the room were the only ones who knew about the relationship that had flourished over the weekend, and Gibbs suspected that Margie had a lot to do with what had happened. He didn't know what she and Abby had talked about at the cabin but he got a sense that the two of them had formed a bond of their own. It was an unexpected side affect of he and Abby being together and it made him feel that bit more fortunate knowing they got along so well.
When Abby asked about the other couple's children and grandkids, Margie retrieved her handbag from next to the couch and walked back to the table. Sitting down she started to filter through the things in her bag to find the photos she was searching for. Handing several over to Abby, she took them and placed them down on the table so Gibbs could look too.
"That reminds me," Ray said finishing up his last mouthful of food and putting his spoon down. "Margie and I decided to postpone our plans to go see the grandkids, so I'm free with the truck next weekend to help out."
Gibbs almost choked on the piece of chicken he was chewing and as he swallowed loudly he raised his chin to look at Ray, while the rest of his body stayed completely still. Chancing a glance at Abby before returning his attention back to the man in front of him, he hoped the glare he shot across the table would be enough to make Ray realize this was something he couldn't talk about right now. Instead, to Gibbs' dismay, the exact opposite happened.
"The Alzheimer's isn't creeping in already is it?" Ray joked, either oblivious to the way Gibbs' eyes widened, or too absorbed in his own joke to care. "Remember you asked me to come and help you with Abby's stuff?"
Gibbs felt a wave of heat overcome him, certain that beads of sweat were starting to form on his forehead. The only reason Ray wasn't getting the biggest headslap of his life was purely because Gibbs couldn't move.
"What do you what Ray's truck for?" Abby asked, looking at him slightly concerned, no doubt worried by his sudden change in mood and his tensed posture. "And what are you doing with my stuff?"
Gibbs felt any hope of diverting the conversation immediately disintegrate with her questions. He knew he could lie to her, or at least weave his way around the truth. But he couldn't do it. He didn't want to lie to her. He swore after what had happened at the cabin he would do everything in his power to never hurt her again. Their trust which had temporarily wavered over that weekend was stronger than ever, and it was built into every part of him that he would protect her, even if that meant he had to take a hit to his pride. He had to tell her the truth and hope that she would see that he'd had good intentions, however wrongly handled they'd been.
Gibbs' mind raced, trying to come up with a way to explain so she wouldn't be angry or upset. Ray stared at him confused, whereas realization now dawned on Margie, the panicked flickering of her eyes to each person her only reaction since she'd become as speechless as him. Gibbs suddenly felt his mouth go dry, the concept of breathing lost to him as his brain worked overtime on trying to keep him from messing things up further.
"Abbs..." he trailed off, closing his eyes briefly but remaining frozen in his seat.
"What?...is there something wrong?"
At the sound of the tremble in her voice Gibbs twisted on his seat to face her. Her wide unblinking eyes stared back at him, the rise and fall of her chest increasing with each hurried breath. He inwardly cursed himself, not only because he hadn't had the courage to ask her what he'd wanted to days ago, but because he was scaring her now.
"I thought..." he took a deep breath, trying to forget that his two friends were about to witness something that he'd wanted to be a special occasion between him and Abby. "I thought maybe you could move in here, with me."
The second Gibbs heard the words come out of his mouth he knew he'd screwed up. A deathly silence fell over the room and his heart rate sped up so fast he thought the thudding organ would explode through his chest cavity. All week he'd been thinking about how it felt to have Abby here to wake up to, to fall asleep with and to enjoy every minute with in between. From feeling insecure and lost without her less than a week ago, Gibbs knew with absolute certainty what he wanted. And it was Abby. If everything else was taken from him he wouldn't care, Abby was all that mattered.
When he had spoken to Ray during the week, Gibbs had mentioned he might need the extra manpower and use of another truck to help get Abby's stuff from her apartment to his place. Although Gibbs hadn't mentioned a specific date he'd said he hoped it would be soon. At the time Ray said he and Margie were babysitting their grandkids the following weekend while their son and daughter-in-law were away, but he would let Gibbs know after that when he was available. Gibbs thought he would've had more time to bring it up with Abby; he didn't want her to feel rushed into anything given that they had only just started to come to terms with their feelings and commitment to each other.
Now that they were both determined to make a life together, Gibbs didn't want to hold back. As quick as one week might seem to other people, Abby had showed no signs of wanting to leave to go back to her apartment, and with their history they already knew each other better than a lot of couples that had been together for years. But this wasn't the way he'd intended to ask her. Even though Ray and Margie knew him better than most people, he was still an incredibly private man and having them witness what he'd hoped would be an intimate moment had turned awkward very quickly.
Gibbs shifted on his seat to try and weigh up Abby's expression, to say she looked shocked was an understatement. She refused to look at anyone and he was certain she was holding her breath. Opening his mouth to speak again, his inability to know what to say was soon overcome as Abby's voice broke into the silence.
"I'm just going to umm...get a glass of water, does anybody need anything?"
When everyone declined Abby got to her feet and walked into the kitchen, keeping her eyes trained on the ground. Gibbs watched her pass him, inwardly groaning at his own stupidity; he didn't do things like this, he didn't wear his heart on his sleeve and do things before thinking them through. At least not until Abby. She took away his power of reasonable thought sometimes, all he could see was what he wanted with her and now that he had her he didn't want to let her go.
Looking at Ray and Margie, both sets of eyes were set on him in a wordless gesture that he should do as his heart was telling him to and follow her. Gibbs forced a smile of thanks to the corner of his lips and left the table. As he rounded the corner to the kitchen he could hear the couple behind him talking in an effort to give him and Abby some privacy.
Once Margie felt safe that Gibbs was out of earshot, she turned to Ray, her mouth gaping open at him in disbelief. "I love you dearly, but a freight train crashing in through the front door would've been more subtle than that," she whispered, not completely unable to hide her annoyance.
"What? I didn't know what was going on," Ray raised his voice slightly higher than hers.
"Keep it down..." she muttered under her breath. "Obviously, he hadn't had chance to ask her. I don't who looked more startled, Jethro or Abby."
Margie sighed deeply, hoping that whatever was happening on the other side of the wall was just a momentary hitch in the new couple's relationship. It was obvious how much had changed between Jethro and Abby since she and Ray had left them at the cabin. Their eyes were so much more alive. The way they looked at each other without even realizing what they were doing filled Margie with such relief and happiness for a man who had once seemed like he would never be able to move on after Shannon. And the closeness she felt with Abby was as if she had known her much longer than a week, what the older woman saw in Abby was a gentle and forgiving soul who was clearly deeply in love.
"Couldn't you have waited until you and Jethro were alone to ask him?" she admonished Ray further.
"I didn't know I needed too," he tried to reason, holding his hands in the air. "I just assumed he would've asked her before he asked me."
"You know he's not good with these things," Margie said softly, trying to rub away the unexpected onset of tension from her brow with her fingertips.
"I know...but I thought the whole stunned silence thing was his way of trying to mess with me." Ray stretched his arm out across the table to grab his beer, as if somehow the alcohol would erase his mistake.
Margie reached out to pat the back of his hand. "It's done now," she tried to comfort him, before adding, "but if we have to work harder than the first time to fix this, you're sleeping on the couch for the next week."
In a way she couldn't blame her husband for assuming Abby would've known, but the look of horror on Jethro's face was something she wouldn't forget anytime soon. She just wished she'd been able to stop her husband's attempt at humor before he'd said too much. She was genuinely worried that Abby was upset that she'd been the last to know, or that she suddenly felt as if she was being forced into something she wasn't ready for.
While Margie knew both she and Ray were both adept at reading Jethro's facial expressions and body language, at least up until tonight, getting to know Abby in the same way would take time. Margie seriously doubted that Abby would unleash verbal hell during the discussion that was taking place in the kitchen, but if she was hurt it was possible she could retreat behind her own walls just as Jethro did.
Seeing the transformation in Jethro from the moment he walked in through the front door had instantly warmed Margie's heart. At the cabin he had looked awful, his face tired and drawn and his eyes empty. He'd walked like he had the weight of the world resting on his shoulders; a man resigned to a future without the one he loved. But now, the spring in his step was unmistakable; he was healthy, happy and completely content with Abby in his life.
"He's changed..." Margie acknowledged out loud, though still keeping her voice low. She leaned forward on the table at her husband's inquisitive stare. "That worry, the hopelessness that he always used to try to hide, it's gone."
She glanced in the direction of the kitchen expectantly, as if any moment Gibbs and Abby would appear. "He hasn't been like this for so long," she smiled wistfully. "This is the Jethro we once knew...she makes him whole."
Not wanting to eavesdrop but needing some reassurance that everything was alright Margie stopped talking. She held her breath, straining to hear anything that would give her a clue as to what was transpiring in the kitchen. Barely seconds later, her concentration was shattered as Ray lost the grip on his beer, the glass bottle bouncing off his fingertips and falling loudly to the table.
TBC...