Carly was taking a small box out of the attic when she heard the front door open. She closed her eyes as the scent of sawdust reached her. Jet. What was he doing home? Resolutely setting her shoulders, she took the box and met him in the living room. She put the box on the table and they stared at each other for a while. Her eyes kept going over his features as if she hadn't seen him in years.
"Gibbs, I know you need space but..."
"I've never hated it as much as I have since you left town. It’s too quiet here and even making your desk hasn't taken my mind off that fact. I know I was a bastard, Carly, it's part of who I am. I can't get away from it even though I've tried. And tiptoeing around things hasn't helped. I love you and I don't want to lose you because I was too stupid to accept you for who you are. I know it will take some time trying to understand what you can do but I'm asking you for patience."
Carly put her hand over his mouth and nearly cried as his thoughts flooded her mind. "You really love me." She said knowing he was telling the truth but he took it as a question.
Jet took her hands in his and said again, "I love you Carly Thomas. If you can forgive me for being a narrow-minded bastard, I know we can make this work."
Carly jerked on his hands, pulling him to her and kissed him tenderly. "I love you, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. I love you so much and if you can forgive me for not being up-front with you about all this, I know we can make it work."
Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her passionately. She pulled back in a daze and pushed him back onto the couch. When he moved to pull her on top of him, she bit her lip and sat beside him. He knew her well enough to know that meant she was nervous. He traced her lip until she smiled.
"What's wrong Carly?" He asked.
Carly took a deep breath and took his hands again. "I have a few other things I need to tell you and I would like for you to listen to me for a moment, alright?"
His thoughts were going crazy wondering what she had to say and she nearly let go of his hands to get hers separated from his when he said, "Ok."
She nodded her head and started. "Right before I got back into town, I realized something. I was late." His mind shot off and took that information to the only logical conclusion. Again, she nodded. "I'm pregnant Jet. About twelve weeks. I've scheduled an appointment with my ob/gyn next week to make sure everything is ok." Staring at him, holding his hands, she saw the joy in his eyes and heard the doubts in his mind. "Before you react to that, I need to tell you something else." This time she did withdraw her hands from his. "I went to visit an old friend of my Nana's while I was out of town. I was trying to make sense of what had happened to me when I was taken by Downey."
"What were you trying to make sense of?"
"You remember when I told you Downey had killed people before?"
It was Jet's turn to nod.
"You thought he told me all that didn't you?"
Puzzled, Jet asked, "He didn't?"
She shook her head. "When he grabbed me, I almost immediately passed out. Not from whatever it was that he shot me with but from his thoughts."
He sat up straight and looked at her. "His thoughts."
With a sigh, Carly started to explain. "There are several types of psychics, Jet. Clairvoyant like me, empaths like Abby, telepathic, and so on. Abby is an empath. She can feel others emotions and sometimes they overtake hers when they first hit her if they are really strong. My Nana was clairvoyant and I am too. We both have known things without really being able to explain why or how we know them. People in Nana's day thought she was crazy. People today would just think I'm involved in things because I know things I shouldn't." Jethro looked away and she reached out to turn his face back to her. "You didn't understand and you were worried for Abby. I know that and I know you are trying to understand this." She took her hand away and licked her lips. "Nana's friend, Miss Eileen is telepathic. She's an open telepath and all that means is she can't control what she gets and she doesn't have to have contact with someone to know their thoughts. That's why she has stayed to herself all these years. She's never been able to block it." Jet was starting to look dazed so she hurried on. "Apparently, I've developed some sort of touch-telepathic ability. If I touch someone, I can hear their thoughts, know what's going on inside their heads. That's why I didn't want you to touch me when you found me that day. It’s why I've avoided touching as many people as possible. I haven't learned to block it yet."
Jethro leaned back against the couch. By his expression she knew he was struggling with everything she just told him. It wasn't in his nature to just accept things, especially things he couldn't do himself without seeing proof that someone could do it.
After several long moments, he spoke. "If you touched me right now, you could tell what I'm thinking?"
Carly looked him in the eye and said, "Yes, I can."
He held out his hand and hesitating only a moment, she took it. 'I don't know how you do this. You are an incredible woman Carly Thomas.' She smiled and his thoughts changed. 'I love your smile, did you know that? I want to kiss you when I don't see it and kiss you more when I do.'
"What's stopping you?" She asked him and just before he pulled her onto his lap, she got a mental warning of what he was about to do.
Laughing until his lips touched hers, Carly's breath caught. They both lingered in the slow kiss. Funny, she didn't need to hear his thoughts to know how he felt. His kiss told her everything.
Chapter End Notes:
Longer than the last chapter :)