Camping Chapter 4

A/N - The beginning of their weekend camping trip. Hope you enjoy and please leave me a review. I don't own NCIS.

About two hours later, the Palmer family pulled into Big Meadows Campground. They were given a very nice and private site in the tent only section because they didn't have a RV. Jimmy backed into their space and getting out, Jess scouted the campsite for the best place to pitch their tent.

"This looks like a nice level spot" Jess announced to her family while pointing to the ground a few feet from where she was standing. "Please bring me the ground cover."

Jimmy dug out the cover handing it to Victoria to take it to her mother. "Here you go mom."

"Thank you sweetie. Help me spread this out."

Victoria grabbed one side of the cover and Jess the other while maneuvering the cloth into position. Jimmy brought the tent over while they were doing so. The three Palmers spread the tent over the ground cover before staking it to the ground.

Jimmy reached into the tent bag pulling out the poles passing them to his wife. The poles were assembled and Jess directed the placement. When finished, the tent was standing firm in the ground bringing smiles to the Palmer family. Jess unzipped the door and window flaps to air out the tent while they unloaded the rest of the car.

Jimmy placed the ice chest on the table opening it up. "Are you hungry?"

Jess and Victoria both answered. "Very."

"Let's have something to eat before we explore the area a little bit and walk to the Ranger Station." Jimmy offered.

"Sounds good to me." said Jess. Victoria nodded in agreement.

After lunch, Jimmy, Jess and Victoria put on their hiking shoes to do a little exploring. Each took a bottle of water in their day packs with some snacks. The first stop was the Ranger Station for maps and to find out about any activities available for the weekend. Jess spotted an advertisement for a boat rental and Victoria a kid's day camp and with the park rangers on Saturday afternoon for two hours. Jimmy looked for fishing spots and pole rentals. "Look," he said to his wife and daughter, "there is a group fishing tour we can take not far from our campground. It includes everything you need form fishing licenses to equipment and bait. Are you interested?"

Jess came closer putting her arms around Jimmy as he showed her the brochure. "That looks like fun. What do you think Victoria?"

She looked up at her mother. "Do I have to bait the hook with worms?"

Jimmy and Jess laughed. "Maybe. I don't know what kind of bait they use or if they just use lures."

"That sounds like fun except for the worm part."

"I'm sure they have other types of bait. They'll let us know."

The Palmers took the brochures and maps placing them in their daypacks before heading out the door for a hike to the river.

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"Martinez, did you pick up the new guy?" Jorge asked.

"Si. He's in the back helping to load."

"Do you know where the drop is?"

"Not yet. We're waiting to hear from Morales."

"Ok. Let's help load the merchandise so we're ready to go when he calls."

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Gunny Thomas went home to his mother's house. He was surprised he had a visitor waiting for him there.

"Hello Paul. Long time no see."

"Hi Gage. What do you mean? We talked on the phone several times a week. What brings you here?"

Winchester laughed. "I came to meet with my superiors to see if I can get a joint investigation going again with NCIS."

"Are you serious? Parker told you that they have no part to play in our investigation."

"Well, with your connection I think we can."

Paul shook his head. "What's this really about Gage? I'm your friend. You can tell me."

Gage looked at Paul. "I screwed up last time I was here. I really want to show Jess that I'm a changed man. I want her back."

"Sorry to hear that."

"What do you mean?"

"She's taken and off limits."

"She chose the Doc?"

"More than that. Jessica and Dr. Palmer are married."

Winchester's face fell. He looked at his friend in silence before shaking his head. "A lot can happen in nine or ten months."

"You're telling me."

"I still think we should help find the drug dealers. Are you in?"

"I'm in as long as we leave NCIS out of it."

Gage winced at his friend's not so subtle rebuke.

"Don't worry. Jess chose someone else. It's time for me to do so as well."

"You're right about that. Let's go to Franco's tonight. Maybe you'll meet someone new."

Gage laughed. "Maybe."

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The Palmer family walked by the group campsite area on the way to the river. Victoria spotted a classmate among the group of girls sitting around the campfire.

"Look mom and dad. I see a friend of mine. Can I go over and say hi?"

"Certainly. Go right ahead."

Jimmy and Jess followed Victoria into the camping area.

"Amy?" Victoria asked as she approached the group.

All the girls turned toward Victoria.

One of the girls stood and came over to Victoria. "Vic! So great to see you. I didn't know you were coming here this weekend." She gave her a hug that Victoria returned.

Amy turned to her group of friends and introduced Victoria.

One of the adult leaders of the group came over to where Jimmy and Jess were standing. "Hi. Are you members of the Fireside Girls?"

Jess shook her head. "No. We just came over because our daughter recognized a member of your group and wanted to say hello."

"Welcome. It's always nice to meet new friends. Where are you camping?"

"We're by the trees in the back. Not far from here."

"I'm Diane Jones. If your daughter is interested she can join us in our activities if she would like."

"That is very kind of you. I'm Jimmy Palmer and my wife is Jessica."

"Nice to meet you."

"We're heading down to the river."

"Bring Victoria back after dinner. We have music and games around the campfire."

"Thank you. We'll talk to her and see what she wants to do."

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The Palmers removed their shoes and socks then waded into the river where there was a nice calm beach area. It was a popular place as there were several other campers there. The water was warmer than they expected, but still on the cool side. Away from the bank farther into the river they could see a strong current. While watching the river, a group of young people rode by on inner tubes. "Look mom and dad. That sure looks like a lot of fun."

Jess said. "It sure does. I wonder where you can rent the tubes. Hopefully they have a bus or something to get back to where you started."

Jimmy nodded. "It does look like a lot of fun. We should ask around. I'm sure someone knows where."

A woman walked to the shore next to where the Palmers were with her five year old son, holding his hand. "Look mama." He pointed to the tubers. "Can we do that?"

"I think you may be too young. We need to find out."

Jess overheard their conversation. "Do you know where they get the tubes from and is there transportation back?"

The woman smiled at Jess and answered. "It is a lot of fun. There is a group up the river a mile or two where you can rent the tubes and get a ride back. It's called UberTuber."

Jess chuckled. "Cute name. Thanks for the info. We'll check it out. It does look like a lot of fun."

After playing around in the river and skipping rocks on the water, the Palmers put their shoes back on and headed down the trail along the river. A half mile or so down the trail they came to a tree that was leaning at a 45 degree angle over the water. Jess dropped her daypack on the ground and climbed up the tree. To where she was straddled the tree looking up and down the river.

"Can I come up there mom?" Victoria asked.

Jess looked at Jimmy and he nodded. "Sure sweetie. Make sure you keep your balance as you head up the tree."

Victoria said "Ok mom."

Victoria started up the tree looking a little wobbly as she started up but gained in confidence as she went. Eventually she reached Jess wrapping her arms around her mom. They both looked back at Jimmy. "Are you going to join us?"

Jimmy smiled. "Is that tree steady enough for all three of us?"

Jess and Victoria shook the tree a little and it held steady. "No problem. Come on up."

Jimmy dropped his daypack with the rest of their bags and headed up the tree. When he reached the rest of his family he wrapped his arms around Victoria and Jess making Victoria the middle of their Palmer family sandwich. They all enjoyed being together at the top of the tree. A little while later, they heard a crash and splash in the river. Jess leaned way out over the water from the tree to see what happened.

"Be careful sweetheart." Jimmy said to his wife.

Jess glanced back at him and smiled. She then turned back to the river and leaned a little farther out over the river. The base of the tree groaned bringing alarm to the tree bound Palmers. Before Jess could come back toward her husband and daughter, the tree snapped and gave way, dumping all three of them in the river with a loud splash.

Since Jess was the farthest out over the river, she was thrown away from the tree got caught in the current. Victoria screamed and Jimmy grabbed onto her putting her back in contact with the tree, holding on tight. Jimmy went to the end of the tree and reached out to grab Jess' hand before she went very far. Unfortunately she was just out of reach and the tree with Jimmy and Victoria started to flow down the river. Seeing that Victoria was safe holding onto the tree, Jimmy broke off a branch and reached out as far as he could with the branch for Jess to grab onto. Jess reached out and just missed the branch. Jimmy kicked his feet to get closer to his wife and reached out again. Again she was just out of reach. Victoria spotted a longer branch floating nearby and grabbed it, giving it to her father. Jimmy reached out with the longer branch and this time Jess was able to grab on. Jimmy pulled his wife to him placing her arms over the log and wrapping one of his arms around her while holding on to the tree with his other.

Jess was exhausted from fighting the current. Jimmy looked over at Victoria checking to see if she was ok. Victoria nodded at her father.

"Mom, are you okay?"

Jess looked up at Victoria and smiled. "I'm fine, just tired."

Jimmy looked out over the river concerned with the loud sounds of rapids approaching. Spotting a large rock at the edge of an eddy, he kicked as hard as he could to be on the right side of the rock. As they floated near, Jimmy put both feet on the rock and pushed as hard as he could toward the eddy. Thankfully it worked and the tree with the three Palmers drifted into the quiet waters of the eddy.

Resting a bit, Jimmy tried to stand and was glad the water was shallow enough to do so. They were about 10 yards from the shore with many smaller rocks in the way. Jimmy held the tree steady and asked Jess if she could hold on a little while longer. She nodded yes. Jimmy trapped the tree between some rocks and picked up Victoria, carrying her to shore. Immediately he went back for his wife taking her into his arms and carrying her to shore. Jimmy set Jess down on a sandy place next to Victoria and collapsed next to both of them. Jimmy pulled Jess to him with his left arm and Victoria with his right. All three panted with the effort and lay still for a while catching their breath.

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After the tree broke, other campers hiked down the river to see if they could help and one went after a park ranger. They also picked up their day packs to take to them once they were found. About twenty minutes later, several fellow campers found them, making sure they were ok. Jimmy and Jess thanked them for helping and bringing their packs. Another ten minutes later, the park ranger showed up, taking them to the ranger station to make sure they weren't injured. Other than being tired, cold and wet, they were fine. The rangers insisted that they stay at the station by the fireplace to warm up and dry off. Even though their towels were at their campsite they purchased some towels from the store and sweatshirts and sweatpants to stay warm. Victoria and Jess went into the ladies room, stripping their wet clothes off, drying off with their new towels and putting on their new sweatshirts and sweatpants with nothing on underneath in order to be dry. Jimmy went into the men's room and did the same thing. When they came out in their new clothes, they matched, the Palmer family looked like tourists by the fireplace. After their wet adventure, none of them cared one bit. They sat by the fireplace huddled together until they felt warm to return to camp.

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It was sunset when they made it back to their camp. Everyone was hungry so they decided to eat the food they bought at the restaurant at the station. No one had the energy to cook anything. The also had to get their air mattresses and sleeping bags ready.

Jimmy went to the car getting out their lanterns,, setting them up on the picnic table and the in the tent. He also took the air mattresses and sleeping bags into the tent while Jess and Victoria got their dinner ready to eat. Back at the table with his family, Jimmy hugged and kissed the ladies in his life thankful they were alright.

"What are we going to do tomorrow mom and dad" Vic asked.

"What would you like to do?" Jess asked.

"I'm not sure. I'm so tired I can't think about that right now."

"Let's get a good night's sleep and decide in the morning. Hopefully it won't include falling from a tree into the river." Jimmy said.

They all agreed and ate their dinner enjoying the sunset and the night sky when it arrived. "Do you know the names of the constellations mom?"

Jess nodded. "I know some of them. We should pick up a star map."

Victoria laughed. "Haven't you heard of the star app on your phone, mom? You rely on paper too much."

Jess chuckled. "I suppose you're right."

Jimmy laughed with her. "She's helped keep me tech savvy for years. Welcome to the club."

Jess leaned over giving Jimmy a kiss. "Just one of the many benefits of being a member of the Palmer family."

Victoria and Jimmy smiled at her. "We're so very glad you are."

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They all worked together to put their food in bear proof containers as required, used the restrooms, brushed their teeth and went into the tent. Using the pump, the air mattresses filled up quickly while Jess worked on zipping their sleeping bags together. It took some deft maneuvering in the tight space of the tent, but the sleeping bags were situated in the best possible way. Jimmy and Jess were in the back and Vic near the side, leaving a few feet between them.

Once Vic was situated in her sleeping bag and kissed goodnight, Jimmy and Jess snuggled up together in theirs. Jimmy turned out the light and pulled Jess on top of him. Jess kissed him deeply and Jimmy kissed her back. Still wearing their new sweatshirts and sweatpants, Jimmy slid his right hand up Jess' back under the shirt and his left hand to her bottom inside the sweatpants. Jess smiled against his lips and whispered "Don't forget our daughter is only three feet from us."

Jimmy kissed his wife and said "I haven't," giving Jess' bottom a gentle squeeze. "But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy my gorgeous wife's incredibly soft skin."

Jess kissed him back and slid her hand underneath Jimmy's sweatshirt. "Of course not, my handsome husband. We'll just enjoy what we can until the opportunity arises to do more."

"I love you my beautiful bride."

I love you my handsome groom."

Enjoying the closeness they could at the moment, Jimmy and Jess drifted off to sleep.

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