Chapter 3 Breakfast, lunch and dinner
The next day, Kate wakes up. She sees her child and husband still asleep and tiptoes out of the room towards her kitchen. Despite the lack of sleep, she is in high spirits because her family is in her house.
Going towards her kitchen, she is thinking about serving breakfast for - she starts counting - eight adults and three kids. Then Kate sniffs the air. Something smells good! She stops in her tracks as she enters her kitchen. It is already warm and - the most important thing - a variety of food are in serving dishes on her island already!
"Good morning, sleepyhead!" Her brother greets her - mocking her tardiness.
And he continues: "Kate! Tsk tsk tsk, shame on you! You are married with 'one and a half kid', YET you are late, you are a lazy…" he stops talking as his wife cuts him short by throwing a napkin to his face.
"Lay off her, Jeremy!" his wife scolds him.
"Yeah, Jeremy!" Kate adds, standing behind her sister in law - grinning at her brother who is giving her 'the look'.
"So? What time, Kate?" her sister in law asks her.
"We fell asleep around three in the morning," Kate replies. Her brother lift his hands in the air, he is annoyed. How could women understand and can communicate without full sentences.
"I see…the scream?" Her sister in law is still curious.
"The present - the dog!" Kate replies as she drinks her coffee.
"Where is the present?"
"In Bobby's room - asleep." Then Kate realized the amount of food they had prepared for all of them. She exclaims: "Thank, you guys!" Breakfast is obviously - ready!!! Prepared by her brother and his wife.
Jeremy boasts: "We are wonderful guests, sis" as he shows off, flipping his famous 'Flapjack' pancakes.
"I know, I know, thank you." Kate kisses the husband and wife happily.
Then:
"Morning…WOW!!!" DiNozzo is rubbing his eyes, looking at the food - actually early morning feast - on the kitchen island, "I though I smell food…but…this is…wonderful" he stares at the food laid out in front of him, as he swallows his saliva.
Kate shakes her head - Gibbs has coffee radar, while Tony has food radar.
Tony does a quick food inventory: eggs, sausages, cereals, glasses of milk, pancakes, assorted types of syrup and …."UHHHH BACON!!!!!" Tony gloats, as he positions himself by the bacon…very crispy bacon, the smell is heavenly, imagine the taste!
"The best breakfast…EVER!" he murmurs in excitement, like a five year old boy. Sometimes, even Robert is better behaved than Tony, just sometimes - Ducky acknowledges.
He is about to take one or two pieces of bacon from the platter when Kate slaps his hand away from them.
"Ouch Kate! You are as fierce as ever! Motherhood didn't change you! You are actually worse than before! Poor Bobby, to have a mom like you" he goes on: "I wonder why the Boss married you, because…"
Tony's yapping is shortened by a really hard slap to the back of his head.
"Morning," Gibbs sort of murmurs in her ears as he leans over to kiss her cheek - and Kate beams at him.
Jeremy and Lucy Todd gawk at the incident. They've heard of "Jethro's head slap" from their kids, but they assumed that their children exaggerated because their children talk about their uncle as if he is a superhero, but no, they were not boasting, they are telling the truth.
"Get Ducky and Abby," Gibbs orders DiNozzo.
"There is no need, I am here." Ducky announces himself, he is squeaky clean at seven in the morning. Jeremy can see that the old man is comfortable in the house. Kate and his children talked so much about him.
"Where are the children, Caitlin?" Ducky looks for the signs of destruction around the kitchen and living area.
"They are still asleep, Ducky, but don't worry, I will take them to HQ, today, I promise." Kate answers the ME tactfully, she knows how much he is looking forward to spend time with them - they were all he talked about for an entire week.
"Speaking of the devils…" Jeremy comments as he witnesses his children with a tattooed lady in pink PJs. His children raved about this Abby, and his Jaclyn said that she wanted to have black hair too!
"Ahhh, children!" Ducky greets them gaily.
"And Abby!" the Goth feels left out.
"Yes, of course, Abigail," Ducky quickly replies.
"Good morning, mom, dad, Aunt Katie, Jethro, Ducky, Tony, McGee," Jaclyn addresses everybody.
"Sucker" Joshua murmurs to his annoying sister, but Jaclyn ignores his sarcastic remarks and walks towards the gang and lets them praise her.
-----------------------------------
Breakfast is fun!
They enjoy the good meal and the special company. Jaclyn and Joshua bicker - as usual, for quite some time - until their mother glares at them.
Their bickering goes like this:
"I am going to name the puppy Jelly Bean"
"EUWWW, Jelly Bean? He is a MALE, Jaclyn!" Joshua says - exasperated.
"So? Jelly Bean is a nice sweet name for a male dog!" Jaclyn can't see what's the problem with the name Jelly Bean.
"No way! I am going to name him Killer!" the five and a half year old decides.
"Killer? NO! You are NOT!" Jaclyn fiercely reply
"Why not? Killer is a good strong name - not like Jelly Bean!" Joshua mocks the girly name.
"It's ugly!"
"No it's not!"
"I said Jelly Bean"
"He is NOT a SISSY"
"But…"
Their heavy bickering is abruptly stopped when they hear their mom clear her throat and see her deathly glare - they are glad that they are sitting safely between their aunt and Jethro.
-------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, in the master bedroom:
Robert is gradually awoken by the sunlight streaming through the partly closed blinds. Groggily he sits up on his parents' bed, looking to his right and left, assessing his surroundings while rubbing his heavy eyes.
He has no recollection of how he got to sleep in his parents' room. The two and a half year old wonders how he ended up there.
Then he remembers! All his presents and a doggie! He looks around the room, it is so quiet - no traces of the excitement that he remembers: his uniform, just like his dad's; his new big gun; his bag of candies! His cousins; his gang; the doggie…oh no…they were all a dream, all just a dream!
What a disappointment. Robert feels a sadness which he can't contain and he starts crying brokenheartedly. He cries his heart out, the only way he knows how to express his distress. The boy cries until tears streak down his ruddy face. He is so sad he can't stop crying, he has never felt such disappointment before.
In the meantime:
Gibbs is seated nearest to the living room. With his still impeccable hearing he hears a vague cry. Without saying a word he rushes to the source of noise. He wonders what happened to his son who seldom cries.
Gibbs finds his toddler is a sorry state. He quickly calls his name and hugs the wailing boy. He rocks his son, hugging him and asking: "What happened, son? What is it? Talk to me," while he looks at the surroundings, looking for clues for what might have provoked his crying.
After a while, Robert manages to speak amidst his wrenching sobs: "Bobby sad…no present…no Jaclyn…no Joshua…no doggie…Bobby sad"
Then Gibbs finally understood - his son can not comprehend last night's experience.
"Robert, they are downstairs, Jaclyn and Joshua are downstairs, you were not dreaming, boy, and look, son! Look!" Gibbs points at something that is about to enter the room.
At that time "Jelly Bean / Killer" decides to stop sniffing around the foreign place and enters the room - the pup was awoken by a cry.
"Doggie!" Robert is surprised, he was not dreaming, the doggie is real! His sobbing subsided.
Gibbs lowers Robert and the puppy dashes to the little boy, wagging his beautiful tail excitedly, licking Robert's salty face (after the tears), cheering him up.
Within seconds the boy has forgotten the reasons he cried so miserably just a few minutes ago. Robert squeals joyfully as Killer Bean / Killer plays with him.
"No more excitement for you, young man!" Gibbs shakes his head and pats his son's head.
Robert laughs heartily as the puppy licks him and the puppy's nose is cold! It tickles Robert. Then he tried to pick the fat puppy up from the floor. He held the puppy around its tummy with both his hands and said: "Bobby go down, daddy!" His teary eyes are now twinkling with joy.
-------------------------------
Kate is surprised to see Robert's streaky flushed face. She notices the arrival of the puppy and her son, in his dad's arms. Then Gibbs whispers to her: "He thought last night was a dream" and Kate nods knowingly.
'Trouble' and 'Problem' make 'Drool' sit between them. They fuss over their cousin while Jelly bean / Killer waits impatiently by their feet for his meal, which Abby takes care of later.
The three kids are lost in their own world for a while. Jaclyn spoon-feeds Robert and he lets her! Little miss nosy tells him that his mother used to spoon-feed her when she was young and now it is her turn to takes care of him.
Robert says OK and sits obediently - a very rare sight. Kate looks at her son who usually can't sit still for more than a minute or two.
Jaclyn and Joshua's parents are getting ready to continue their journey. They regret having to leave the full house, but they promise they'll be back A.S.A.P.
Suddenly, Robert remembers his unfinished business. He slips down from his chair and dashes towards his aunt and uncle and thanks them.
"Thank you, Bobby LOVES MARINE!" he hasn't figured out how to say uniform yet, and they beam at him.
Tony comments to McGee: "Damn, the kid can say thank you!"
McGee clears his throat, warning Tony to stop talking. Gibbs is looking at him with a very dangerous smile. Tony is saved by Trouble and problem.
"Bobby like my present the best, daddy," Jaclyn informs his dad.
"Yeah right, Jaclyn! I don't think so!" Her brother retorts. He rolls his eyes in annoyance and they bicker again, as usual.
Abby, Tony, McGee and Ducky are still amused by their quarrels. Robert is enjoying the special attention, he is looking back and forth between Cousin Jaclyn and Joshua, and he doesn't have anybody to quarrel with him, yet!
Then little Gibbs speaks up: "Bobby loves ALL PRESENTS" and Trouble and Problem shut up!
"Shame on you guys," their dad shakes his head.
Gibbs realizes that it is almost eight and his guys are still loitering in his kitchen. "You'll be late," is all he says, and the gang quickly thanks everybody for the wonderful breakfast and left.
"I want to send them off" Jaclyn decides as she slips down from her chair.
"Me too!" Joshua joins her.
"Bobby too!" The chubby two and half year old follows his cousins, not wanting to be left behind.
After sending Tony, McGee, Abby and Ducky to ask if they could stay outside and play in the lot, with Jelly Bean / Killer, Gibbs says no! Even though the three of the beg, he still says no!
"No more discussion, guys."
Jeremy overhears how Gibbs handles the kids. "Excellent method!" he murmurs to Kate.
Kate just nods. "Yep!"
And they hear Gibbs threaten them that he will spank anybody's butt who dares play in the front lot unsupervised, and the three of them rush inside the house.
Jeremy crosses his arms in front of his chest, watching the 'incident.' Now the three kids and their dog are in the house and they actually listen to their uncle. He has to admit that his brother in law's stern tone is to die for.
"Can we play at the basement, Jethro?" Jaclyn asks him sweetly.
"Of course, you guys can play anywhere inside the house and the backyard." Gibbs pats her head lovingly.
"Don't worry, Jethro, I will take care of everything, I'm the eldest," Joshua says to his uncle - assuring him.
Jaclyn is NOT happy. "We are not babies, Joshua!" she snaps at her older brother.
Robert just grins. He is not bothered by the bickering.
"I know, I know! But I am the eldest," Joshua explains smugly.
"So what???" Jaclyn retorts.
"GUYS!" their parents bark in unison, "You'll help clear the table first! Then play nicely!"
"If we hear one word from your Aunt Katie and Jethro, your dog is going to the pound, understand?!?" their parents threaten.
"Yes, sir!" Robert quickly replies as he grips the dog's fur tighter. And the neighbors can hear the laughter.
-------------------------------------------------------
It is almost noon when the dishes and laundry are done. After many kisses and hugs, the duo's parents continue their journey and they will be back in a week to pick up their kids.
Gibbs left his house hours ago, after being kissed by his wife, son, and niece - while his six year old nephew shook his hand. Basically he was sent off by an entourage.
Kate looks at the three kids playing in the living room with Jelly bean / Killer. They just finished ransacking the basement. Kate is seated on her comfortable couch, resting her legs, listening to the kids while she is reading.
They are still arguing about the 'name'. Usually Kate is alone with Robert, the arrival of her niece and nephew definitely brightens their day. Moreover Joshua and Jaclyn come to her once in a while to help her with chores and to talk to her.
Kate is thinking about what she should feed the kids, when suddenly she hears them argue again, while her son is lost in his world, petting the 'doggie' lovingly.
"Come here, Jelly bean"
"Don't call him Jelly bean! It's Killer!"
"No, I won't!"
"Yes you will, Jaclyn!"
"Robert! Which name do you like best? Jelly Bean or Killer???" Trouble and Problem decide for a neutral opinion from their hardly three year old cousin.
Kate head snaps up from reading her magazine. Oh no, she said to herself. She sees Robert looking back and forth at his beloved cousins.
A few seconds later he answers: "Bobby likes both." Her son doesn't wish to hurt anybody's feelings. That, Kate is certain, he got from her, not her husband.
And the chubby toddler kisses the pup's head lovingly, not paying attention to his stunned cousins.
Jaclyn and Joshua gawk at each other:
"So, he has two names?" Jaclyn asks her brother.
"COOL!" Joshua agrees.
Problem solved, the Golden Retriever is called:
Then Bobby exclaims, "BOBBY LOVES KILLER BEAN"
Yep, the pup's name is settled! His name is Killer Bean.
----------------------------------------------
-Tbc-nova2007-BETA (MV)
SPECIAL THANKS TO MY BETA!!!!!
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.