Autopsy Room
Gibbs answers his mobile, “Gibbs.”
“No…Jethro…” Jaclyn tries to be funny. Gibbs beams at her, and kisses her head. Kate rolls her eyes – obviously annoyed.
Kate takes Jaclyn out of his arms, “C’mon baby, you got to take a nap.”
“Do I have to, Aunt Katie?” Joshua looks at her expectantly.
“Yes, Joshua, C’mon!” she pulls him, and looks into his eyes. As if Joshua understands the need for him to behave, he listens and follows his aunt obediently.
Abby leaves with Kate, “Kate…to my lab…” she signals her.
Abby’s Lab
They set up a makeshift futon on the floor at the corner, behind Abby’s extra desk.
“Guys, I have to work…so, stay with Abby and please take your nap, OK?” They nod.
“Don’t worry, Kate. I love their company, and compare to my younger brothers, they are very well behaved. I can take care of them without any problem.” Abby assures her. Then, Kate leaves.
Working
Kate goes back to her bullpen. She collects her things, and runs to the truck where the guys are already waiting.
It is an hour drive to the scene. Thank God, it is a clear case. But, after a few hours they still haven’t closed the case. After collecting the evidences and taking photographs, they go back to the HQ for the follow up on the victim’s information and the witness info.
Abby’s Lab
Kate excuses herself to check on Trouble and Problem.
It is almost 5pm. She is surprised to find them all fresh and polished up.
Abby has outdone herself, “Thank you, Abby…thank you!” Kate thanks her Goth friend.
She feels a presence behind her. Without turning herself around, she immediately recognizes his “fragrance” - coffee!
“Only Joshua is a little bit uncooperative.” Abby says cheerfully.
Joshua is standing a few steps away from Abby with his arms folded in front of his chest. He looks annoyed irritated, and says “Abby took me to the ladies room.”
“Yeah…you are a girl, Joshua!” Jaclyn enjoys herself while Abby is working on her hair “á la Abby”…Oh my God.
“I don’t want to use the ladies room!” Joshua insists.
“Joshua, you’ll have to adjust to the surrounding and do what’s needed, OK?” She kneels down in front of him and strokes his head, trying to calm the upset boy down. His pride is hurt. Kate whispers into his ears and begs,”Please…Joshua…for me.” He pouts and refuses to answer her.
“I’ll take you if you need to go…,” Gibbs joins in from behind.
“OK!” Joshua quickly replies.
“Gibbs!” Kate is shocked. “It’s OK, Kate.” He interrupts her.
“All right little miss Kate!” Abby addresses Jaclyn, “You are ready!” Her hair is all tied up just like Abby. Jaclyn grins.
“I’ll pick you guys up when I am done, OK?” Kate leaves with Gibbs.
Bullpen
“Gibbs, I’ll find a baby-sitter…” She explains to him.
“They won’t be bothering us like this in the office everyday.”
“Kate…” Gibbs tries to cut in… with no success.
“Besides, it’s Thanksgiving holiday soon. I might as well take some of my awaited days off,” she continues - talking more to herself than to her boss. And, she looks confused, he noticed.
“It’s going to be all right, Kate,” he holds her arm. “We all love having them here. Have you ever seen Tony NOT chasing skirts for a whole day!? He’s been behaving quite well…” Gibbs jokes.
“Why don’t you go home, Kate?” he asks.
“No, I’ve got some paperwork to do,” she tries to pull away from his grip.
“Kate…”
“No, Gibbs,” she insists.
“Kate, they are still little kids, and they don’t have the stomach and strength like we do. They fall sick easily,” he explains. She looks at him. Gibbs is right; she can’t treat them like she treats her colleagues. Damn, he is always right, and he knows more about kids than she does, she shames herself.
“Go home.” He leaves her, and he adds, “I might come by to check on them…later.”
Did she hear him right?
She quickly grabs her files, “Oh dear… the kids’ bag” then she sees a helping hand, Tony’s hand, which grabs their bag, and he tells her to go to her car while he picks the kids up.
Yeah right, they end up playing tag and Kate witnesses them running full speed, yes…including Tony holding their hands, heading towards her car.
Kate’s Apartment
It is 6pm when they reach her apartment. As soon as she opens the door, Joshua and Jaclyn rush inside, and start to mark their territory.
“This is my chair!”
“This is my towel!”
“This is my table!”
“This is my pillow!”
“No that’s mine!”
“I’m sleeping on this side!”
“Aunt KATIIIEEE…!”
Kate has learned from their mother to block their bickering since they rarely fight with each other. So, she lets them bicker and have fun swarming her apartment.
She is trying to prepare their dinner, but she realizes that it is, indeed, a lot of work to feed somebody, especially little children. She has to pay greater attention to the nutritional value. She could live on protein bars, fruits and the occasional junk food, but not the little tots.
She asks them to put their things away, and they instantly oblige themselves to tidy things up - they are actually quite independent which their parents make sure of.
Kate is making lasagna tonight. While she is preparing the pasta leaves, she is making a mental note that she has some grocery shopping to do.
She hears knocks on the door.
“I GET IT!” Joshua bellows.
“ME, TOO!” Jaclyn immediately follows.
“GUYS, peek out first!” Kate bellows…too late, Joshua has already opened the door.
She is about to walk to the door and change her mind when she hears him.
“JETHRO!” Jaclyn screams and jumps on him.
“Hi, Jethro! Come on in!” Joshua invites him in, as if it the place is his.
“What’s in the bag, Jethro?” Joshua asks him while he peeks into the brown paper bag.
“Open it!” Gibbs pats the boy on the head, and he gives permission to the boy, who dares not to touch the bag, but just peeking at it anxiously. He is very well behaved for his age, Gibbs looks at him fondly.
With Jaclyn in his arms, “Hi, Kate,” he greets the woman, who actually owns the place, and he sees her struggling to cook for the kids.
“Hi, Gibbs,” she replies without looking at him, “had your dinner, yet…?”
“Actually, no,” he answers.
“OK, have dinner with us then. It’ll be ready soon.”
Then, she hears Joshua and Jaclyn wail when Joshua opens the bag, “Marshmallows!”
“Can we, Aunt Katie?” they ask her with joy.
“After dinner, OK?” she replies, looking at their happy eyes.
“Why not now?” Joshua tries.
“Josh, I think we should all wait, OK? Don’t want to spoil your appetite,” Gibbs intervenes.
The three “musketeers” help set the table. And, the duo bickers again this time about who may sit next to Gibbs. At the end, Kate glares at them, and they settle: it’s Gibbs, Jaclyn, Kate and Joshua
Gibbs is, in fact, having the time of his life - eating dinner with kids and listening to their questions. They are trying to probe him, especially Jaclyn. She wants to know everything - his age; where he lives; with whom he lives; whether he owns a dog or not.
While Joshua complains, “Girls…they talk too much,”
Jaclyn refuses to be spoon-fed by Kate. Both sassy ladies strike a deal - she can eat on her own at home, but not in the office. Gibbs thought Kate looks overwhelmed, yet happy.
After dinner, Gibbs and the kids clean the table up. Kate is taking out 2 small cups and 2 large cups when her phone rings. She picks it up.
After a few minutes, she calls, “Joshua, Jaclyn…it’s your mommy and daddy,”
And Gibbs hears them scream and run to the phone, “MOMMY! DADDY!”
Kate goes back to her kitchen, and heats the milk in the saucepan for the marshmallows. Milk for the three of them, and Coffee + milk for Gibbs.
“Kate, are you OK?” he asks the quiet Kate.
“Yeah,” she steals a look at her niece and nephew who’re talking on the phone with their parents. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to them, Gibbs. My brother and his wife are going away for a while to fix their problems, but there is no guarantee, isn’t there?” She looks at him. “Who knows what will happen by then, Gibbs,” she says quietly.
“Yes, Mommy, we are good, I promised.”
“OK, Dad, bye Dad, I’ll be good.”
”Yeah…I know, Dad…She can kick my bum, Dad,” Joshua laughs.
“We are eating marshmallows…yeah, Jethro got them for us…Aunt Katie’s boss, Dad…”
“Bye…bye…”
Finally, they are sitting in the living room, and each holding their own cup and dipping the marshmallows in it, including Gibbs.
“Hey, Gibbs. These are good,” Kate says.
“Yaa...jethoo…ihts…daa…besss...“ Joshua speaks with his mouth full of sticky marshmallows. “Thaanng… kyuuu… jethooo,” he continues, but __TWACK__ he gets a weak slap from his aunt, and he swallows them up and grins at her.
“EUWW…” Jaclyn wails. Gibbs laughs out loud - he just loves it.
Usually, it is Gibbs who is worried that Kate gets too attached to their victims. But, this time, it is Kate who is worried. She sees how he adores them, besides little Jaclyn has Gibbs wrapped around her little fingers.
Kate got a feeling that he’ll do anything she would ask. She is sitting on his lap again, and letting him feed her… ‘Hey?’
Gibbs loves the boy as well. He pays great attention to him, and his eyes shine when he listens to him talk.
Joshua yawns, and Kate takes a look at the time. It’s 9:30pm - early for her, but pretty late for the tots.
“OK, guys. C’mon, it’s late. Brush your teeth and put your PJ on!” she hustles them. Kate is greeted by many unhappy moans and groans from the duo.
“C’mon, guys…go on,” Gibbs guides them to Kate’s room and disappears with them.
In the meantime, Kate makes a quick phone call to her neighbor. Lest she has to leave for a case in the middle of the night, she’ll have somebody to check on the two. She is truly glad that they are fairly independent for their age.
She hears noise from her bathroom inside of her room. She hears mostly Trouble and Problem’s voice, and at the background, Gibbs’s very “patient” tone. ‘Patient? Yeah right,’ Kate thought.
Now, they are making him choose their PJs. ‘Unbelievable!’ Kate rolls her eyes, but Gibbs goes along with it. Then, ‘Oh…my…God, Jaclyn is making him brush her teeth!’ Kate sighs.
When she enters her room, they are both clean and shiny in their PJs, which they are showing off to Gibbs.
“Where do you sleep, Jethro?” once again, the nosy little Jaclyn asks him.
Gibbs smiles at Kate cheekily, and says, “Ask your Aunt Katie…she knows,” and he walks out of her room.
Jaclyn looks at her aunt curiously, and asks, “How d0 you know where Jethro sleeps, Aunt Katie?”
“Jaclyn, you are nosy.” Joshua interrupts and eventually saves Kate’s face. Gibbs is laughing in the living room, and Kate can hear him. However Joshua continues, “That’s because they slept together, Jaclyn,” he says innocently.
Jaclyn is eying both Kate and Joshua. “Oh…OK,” she spontaneously replies and smiles.
Kate wishes she could just disappear into the thin air.
Gibbs kisses them goodnight while he avoids Kate’s glare. Then, the kids jump into Kate’s bed, which Gibbs misses very much. He says goodbye, and as he walks out of her room, he finds Kate and kisses her goodnight on her mouth. She is lost in their kiss for a few seconds, then, hears…“EUUWW…!” - The kids’ comment on the kissing scene. “Goodnight Katie!” He leaves her in a daze.
As he walks out of her place and closes the door, he heard, “OK…no more question, enough now…sleep…sleep…sleep!” Kate is hustling them.
Gibbs smiles and chuckles, Gosh! I am falling for the kids as well as their aunt, he thought on his way back to his lonely place.
The little ones fell asleep as soon as their heads were on their pillows. It, certainly, was exciting day for them. After Kate showers, she joins them and kisses them over and over again before she falls asleep on their side.
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She wakes up at 7am. After she gets herself ready for work, she takes a look at the Trouble and Problem who are still in their dreams in her bed. They look like angels, unaware of their near impending future. Kate kisses their soft chubby cheeks rather roughly over and over again until they flutter their eyes open. They look at her and smile. Their innocence and presence brighten her day.
“Guys, time to wake up and get ready!” Kate utters.
“You don’t want me to be late for work, don’t you?”
“OK, Aunt Katie…no problem,” Joshua slips down from the bed groggily.
Kate is happy that they are self sufficient. Even though they bicker here and there with each other, it is obvious that they love each other. Kate sees Joshua lets Jaclyn use the bathroom before him, and he hands her toothbrush since she is still too short to reach it.
Kate is apparently not used to the extra activities in the morning. She struggles to keep up with her schedule, thus she tells herself that she’ll do better tomorrow, and then, she drives to the HQ with two hungry children at the backseats.
“Sorry, guys. We’ll get something when we reach there, OK?” and they nod.
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Bullpen
They reach the bullpen by 8:45am.
‘Excellent,’ Kate thought, ‘still empty.’ The kids are still calm. “Aunt Katie, I’m hungry,” Joshua says. Kate is about to reach for her purse, in order to take them to the cafeteria when…
“HEY, YOU LITTLE SCHMUCKS! TONY is here!!!” Tony jumps out of the elevator with 3 boxes of Krispy Kreme Donuts in his hands.
“Anybody hungry?” he purposely shows off the donut boxes in front of the kids. Suddenly the quiet bullpen turns into playground
“ME…ME…ME…ME…ME!” Joshua, Jaclyn, and Abby jump up and down screaming. ‘Abby?’ Kate noticed her. And, Ducky arrives with a jug of cold milk just in time.
The elevator doors open, the elevator doors open, and the smile is on Gibbs’ face. He heard the racket while he was in the elevator.
“Morning, Boss” “Morning, Gibbs” “Morning, Boss Man” “Good morning, Jethro!” “Hi Jethro!” They all greet him as he exits from the elevator.
Gibbs sees Tony opens all of the Krispy Kreme boxes on his table. Joshua and Jaclyn are both salivating in front of the boxes - eyeing them eagerly and waiting for the moment…
“Dig in!” Tony calls out, and each of them grabs two donuts at the same time, one in each hand.
“What do say, guys?” Kate reminds them in the chaos.
“Thanks, Tony!” they thank him in harmony.
Ducky pours milk for the duo. He has arranged 2 little cups for them – “Power Puff Girls” for Jaclyn and “Batman” for Joshua. “Thanks, Dr. Ducky!” they thank him blissfully while turning their cups to have a look at the pictures.
The “both” kids are sitting in Kate’s chair obediently, and eventually lost in paradise with their Krispy Kreme and milk in their brand new cups.
“Wow! Donuts, milk, new cups…I don’t want to go home anymore, Aunt Katie!” Joshua declares.
“Donuts, Boss?” Tony remembers his boss. At this time, Tony is up to his 4th donut and 2nd cup of milk. “Thanks, Dinozzo.” He grabs 2 donuts.
Kate has been busy pouring milk into the bottomless cups around her. Abby is now up to her 3rd donut. When Kate turns around to check on her niece and nephew, she finds Gibbs who is now sitting on her chair with the duo on his laps.
“Did you guys sleep well?” he asks them.
“Yeah, we did, Jethro,” Jaclyn replies, and gives Gibbs a bite of her donut.
“Yeah, Aunt Katie’s bed is all soft, big, and smells nice, too,” Joshua tells, and he, as well, offers his donut to Gibbs.
He takes both of their offers and bites small pieces off of their donuts. Kate gives the kids 2 more donuts each and tells them that’s enough.
“Hey Tony, have you ever seen Boss Man like this before?” Abby gulps her milk down and asks Tony. Meanwhile Gibbs is busy talking with the kids - not realizing that his guys are talking about him, which is highly unusual.
Tony shakes his head rapidly, not being able to talk with his mouth full of milk.
Gibbs is drinking his coffee slowly. And, Ducky offers him another donut, yet, Jaclyn intercepts, “I want to feed Jethro,” and she takes the donut for him.
“OK…feed Jethro then…” Ducky says to the small lady.
Kate almost chokes on her milk, but pretends that nothing happened. Gibbs must be mortified she thought, and she’ll, perhaps, need to talk to the girl. Then again, that seems to be unnecessary. Gibbs is not embarrassed at all instead he absolutely enjoys eating glazed donut from her hand.
Joshua and Jaclyn want to try his coffee, so Gibbs adds some milk in his black coffee to make it as mild as possible for the tots. While he is still adding milk in his coffee, he notices that Ducky is trying to ogle him. ‘Oh dear,’ Ducky thought, ‘the kids nailed Boss all right.’
As soon as they are done with storing sugar in their blood streams, Ducky and Abby bring them down to the lab, BUT not before Jaclyn kisses her Jethro goodbye on his cheek.
“What about me, Jaclyn? Don’t you want to give Uncle Tony a kiss as well?” Tony eyes her. Jaclyn shakes her head and covers her mouth with her hand, as Gibbs puts her down on the floor.
“She is smart, Tony,” Abby commends.
“Bye, guys!” They leave the bullpen.
It is rather a slow day, but Kate and Tony still have to go out to look for the previous victim’s relatives. Gibbs has to stay at the HQ for a monthly meeting with other senior agents and the director.
In the car
“Kate, so what’s the deal with your niece and nephew?” Tony asks promptly.
“Oh, Tony! It’s a long story,” Kate sighs.
“Well, I’m here…aren’t I…if you need to talk?”
“Tony, their parents are getting divorced.”
“That’s…not good.” He is surprised and thought, ‘no wonder Kate has been rather stressed out lately.’
“Yeah, tell me about it…and the kids…they don’t know anything about it?”
“They are still toddlers, Tony. Jaclyn is 2 and a half, Joshua is almost 4…” Then, she gets lost in her own thought.
In front of MTAC (2nd floor of the bullpen)
Gibbs hates the meeting. It’s time consuming and useless for him and time consuming. But, he has to do what he’s got to do, for two long hours…sometimes more.
It was past noon when the meeting adjourned. He walks out of the meeting room next to MTAC, and he is about to contact Kate and Dinozzo when suddenly…two kids are sprinting towards him with all their might. He catches them in time, and lifts them up and carries them both - he surely is very glad that he is still fit and healthy. On the other end of corridor, he sees Abby running out of breath and looking for the kids.
“Gibbs…they…play…hide and seek…and they…disappeared.”
“I’m going to tell… your aunty,” she tries to speak out.
“NO, Abby! We are just playing…don’t please!” Jaclyn begs.
“We are just hiding and running,” Joshua adds as he slips down from Gibbs to stand on his own.
“I’ll take them down in a moment, Abby.” Gibbs gives her a sign.
As Abby leaves the 2nd floor.
Gibbs advices, “Guys, please don’t do that again, OK? You might get lost or get stuck somewhere, and we would all worry…you understand?”
“OK…we’re sorry,” Joshua responds, and adds, “But, it was fun, and Abby is funny.”
At that moment, Director Morrow walks out of the meeting room. He at once stands still and looks at his agent, Gibbs. He couldn’t believe his eyes. ‘Who’s that?’ he wonders.
‘Gibbs with kids? His family?’ The Director knew him pretty well, and he doesn’t recall him having a kid or two. Gibbs is holding a little girl in his arms, and a little boy hanging on to Gibbs’s pants.
“So…what do we have here?” the Director asks Gibbs.
“Say hello to my boss, guys. Director Morrow,” he urges the kids.
“Hi, Mr. Director!” Jaclyn greets the man.
“Hi, sir!” Joshua takes his hand and shakes it. Morrow is impress with the boy.
“Why don’t you introduce yourself to my boss?” Gibbs urges again, he loves showing them off.
“I’m Jaclyn. I am two and a half.”
“I’m Joshua, and I am four.”
“You are not four yet, Joshua! You are still three and a half. He is lying, Mr. Director,” she interferes. Gibbs sees a twinkle in Morrow’s eyes.
“How old are you, sir?” the nosy Jaclyn asks.
“Hmm…60,” he clears his throat uncomfortably.
‘Did she just ask his age? And, did he just answer her?’ Gibbs wonders. Morrow can see Gibbs is trying hard to hold back his laughter.
“WOW! You are old!” Joshua is somewhat impressed with Morrow’s age. Morrow laughs out loud.
“And, how are you related to Gibbs?” he asks and wonders, ‘such good kids.’
“No, we are not related, Mr. Director. Kate is our aunt,” Joshua explains politely.
‘Yes, we are related…Joshua!” Jaclyn stares annoyed at her brother. Morrow looks at Joshua and notices that the boy looks rather confused.
“They are sleeping together…remember???” she scolds at her brother for forgetting. Gibbs blushes, and Morrow coughs.
“Oh… yeah…sorry…then, we are related,” Joshua adds innocently.
“They are here to spend Thanksgiving with their aunt!” Gibbs quickly tries to change the subject. He doesn’t know what else to do at the moment; nevertheless, he sure is glad that Kate is not there. Or else, the 2 schmucks would be so in trouble right now.
“I hope you don’t mind, sir…we love your office. I want to become a marine when I grow up,” Joshua starts talking, and Gibbs is more than glad that he does.
They chat for a while. Then, “Come and visit me when you have time, OK?” Morrow says to them as he goes into his office.
Once he is inside, he bursts out laughing in tears. ‘Unbelievable!’ he thought. His gut feeling was right about his two agents
‘Kids’ he thought, ‘say the darnest thing sometimes.’
Abby’s Lab
It’s already late when Kate and Tony arrive at the HQ. They’ve reported to Gibbs, and they are closing up the case.
Kate finds them asleep in the corner of Abby’s lab just like yesterday, but Abby is not there. Kate kneels down to caress their hair and their peaceful faces.
“They’ve been good, Kate, for their age.” Gibbs stands behind her and surprises her.
“Oh, hi, Gibbs!” she replies while she still looks at the kids.
“They had burritos tonight with us,” Gibbs reports.
“I know…I checked with Ducky. Thanks, Gibbs…” She smiles and stands up.
He holds her close to him and looks into her eyes.
”We need to close the case. I’ll get the paper work done as soon as possible,” she switches the conversation. “You look tired, Kate” he points out.
“I’m fine, Gibbs.” She walks away once again, not wanting to feel too close to the man. She has a lot on her mind.
“Kate…” he stops her.
‘I’m fine. I’m just not used to the additional responsibilities…it’s different. It’s…” she tries to explain to him.
“Hey, Kate, It’s OK…”
“I don’t want to screw it up. They have their needs, and they need three meals per day, clean clothes, playing time, education…” she tries.
“I’m used to get something to bite…whenever I find time. There were times where we didn’t eat over 10 hours when needed. I did my laundry once a week, slept when permitted, but with the…there’s no way…I’m a terrible aunt!” she sighs.
“That’s not true, Kate,” he holds her, and she cries. She feels like a failure – her being over 30 years old, which is old enough, but she can’t even take good care of her niece and nephew.
“I think you are doing great, Kate.”
“I’m sorry.” She is feeling embarrassed, and wipes her tears away.
“I have to get going…to finish up the report, and then, to do some grocery shopping.” She walks away from him. Gibbs sighs and looks down at the kids, who are still sleeping blissfully, and unaware of their future.
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TBC.Nova2007
Author's Chapter Notes:
STOP THE NOISE!!!
Chapter End Notes:
Like the noisy kids?