NCIS Parking Lot: Seating Arrangements
Gibbs decides to take control of the situation since Kate is about to faint.
“Joshua, a Marine would let the lady sit in front.”
“Jethro, I am not a Marine yet, and she is no lady!”
“But, you want to become a marine, right?”
“Yeah…” he pouts.
“OK…OK…OK!” Joshua moves to the back seat, looking rather unhappy with the consequence.
”I hate girls! I hate them! I hate cooties!”
“I don’t have cooties!” Jaclyn snaps.
“Guys, please…” Gibbs begs them. He is very much afraid that Kate would really spank them right there, right now.
“Kate…” he looks at her.
She exhales and says, “Gibbs, just go straight to your place. I’ll go and pack their stuffs. Can you handle them alone? You are too soft Gibbs! Is it OK?” She glares at him while she kneads her head.
“Sure, Kate. I can handle them,” and he fastens their seat belts and drives off.
Nobody has ever told him that he is too soft. He takes a glimpse at the kids who are sitting peacefully in his car.
Kate is glad when she reaches her apartment. She quickly straightens her place up as fast and best as she can. Within half an hour, it’s almost up to her standard. She then packs for tonight.
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Gibbs’ House
It is almost 4pm by the time she reaches his home.
She tries to open his door which is usually unlocked, but it doesn’t open. ‘Strange,’ she thought as she knocks and calls his name out.
Within seconds, she hears stamping tiny footsteps and their bickering.
“I want to open the door!”
“You are too short!”
“No, I am not!”
“Yes, you are!”
And then,”Jethro...” and Joshua’s face peeks out at her. “Aunt Katie, come in!” he instructs.
“Hey, Guys! Having fun?” she smiles at them.
They jump up and down excitedly, and are trying to talk at the same time - telling her this, and telling her that. She can obviously see that they are happy.
She notices the owner of the house walking towards them with his smiling face. Then, the kids start to show off the surprise presents Gibbs gave them - a toy gun for Joshua and a Teddy bear for Jaclyn.
“Kate, now that you are here, we can start!” Gibbs escorts her towards the kitchen.
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It is very domestic and fun. The stuffed Turkey is already in the oven before Gibbs and Ducky join them for lunch.
He lets the kids run around and roam through, but to go outside of his house. They run down to the basement, up the stairs, into his bedroom, to his bathroom, and then, they come down again. She believes that they can keep it up for hours.
Gibbs spots them pause once in a while to sniff the air, “Yummy!” they say out loud and continue playing.
“Gibbs, are you sure about them running around your place? They are nosy, you know,” Kate confirms with him.
“Yes, Kate. I don’t mind. They are not that bad. They do know the limit,” he responds.
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Kitchen
Kate finds it embarrassing as she finds out that Gibbs is a much better cook than her. He is organized, efficient, and simply good at it. She is impressed.
“What’s with the smile, Kate?” he asks.
“You! Cooking! The domestic Gibbs!” she replies.
Gibbs looks at her and says, “There are lots of things which you still don’t know about me, Kate.”
“You don’t know much about me either, Gibbs,” she responds smugly. She gasps when he suddenly moves behind her and closes in on her while she is stirring the thick cranberry sauce in the pot.
“Now, I know where Jaclyn got her attitude and sweetness,” he whispers to her ear and kisses her temple gently.
She turns around and faces him, and his lips gently graze hers, then they kiss each other with sweetness and passion, oblivious to the boiling sauce and two monkeys perched on the kitchen’s island, who are observing them with their mouth covered to suppress their giggles. After a while…
“Why do you keep kissing Aunt Katie, Jethro?” Joshua asks Gibbs.
“Because he loves her, Joshua!” Jaclyn is looking at her brother incredulously.
“Do you love my Aunt Katie, Jethro?” Gibbs thought that Joshua is looking very serious, making it all his business, and trying to protect his aunt - his father would be very proud of him.
“Of course he does, Joshua!” Jaclyn replies for Gibbs.
“Yes, I do, Joshua,” Gibbs looks at him very seriously and answers him with respect.
“See…I told you! Boys, stupid!” she haughtily tells her brother.
Joshua ignores his sister, and replies, “OK…you have my permission to date my aunt,” with his slightly puffed up chest.
“Mine, too, Jethro!” Jaclyn follows and gives Gibbs her sweetest smile, the one that usually makes her father give her anything she wants.
“Ehh…guys…!” Joshua points at the boiling pot to remind them.
“Oh, yah!” Kate saves the sauce at the last moment.
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Gibb’s Living Room and the Dining Table
Their little incident is distracted by the arrival of Ducky who is shortly after, followed by Abby and Tony. Gibbs is looking over his lively house – it is warm with his fireplace lit on, cozy, and full with kids’ antics and laughter, and he brought the TV up to the living room as well. He feels content; he could just get use to this.
Abby brought a large chocolate mud cake and pies. Tony brought lasagna and bottles of beer, and Ducky brought a big bowl of salad, the savory meat, and bottles of wine.
By seven pm, the dining table is fully set with everybody’s help, even Joshua’s. Now, they are just waiting for the Turkey while Abby and Kate are pouring beverages into the glasses.
“Wow!” Gibbs exclaims when he takes a look at his dining table and his living room, which have been idle for years.
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He goes up to his bathroom inside his room to freshen up and change.
He stops in his pathway when he sees a little girl sleeping peacefully on his bed - Jaclyn is plopped in the middle of his bed. He has never imagined before that in his entire old sorry life, he would come across such a sight.
He watches the scene for a very long time, trying to comprehend his feeling, then he lifts her up and slips her under the cover. She wakes up and snuggles to him sleepily. “I’m hungry,” she says.
“Soon, Sweetheart. I’ll get you something to eat when it’s ready, OK?” he speaks to her gently.
“OK,” she nods and sleeps again.
Ducky is standing by his door and looking at the scene in front of him. Since he has no intension to disturb his friend, he leaves quietly to join the merriment downstairs.
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Thanksgiving Dinner
The dinner starts by 7:30pm. Abby declares that it is a bash.
Gibbs goes down the stairs with Jaclyn stuck to his hip (Tony calls Jaclyn “Gibb’s shadow”), and of course, she sits right next to him on the table.
The seating arrangement is perfect. It is a large oval table fit for 10 people, so at each end sit Ducky and Gibbs, and Jaclyn and Joshua are each on his side. Kate sits between Jaclyn and Abby, who is facing Tony who sits next to Joshua.
Jaclyn is wearing her new pink pinafore with bows on her chest. Her teddy bear from Gibbs is in her arm.
“Wow, Boss, we could get used to this!” Tony is salivating in front of the feast.
“Wait! What about saying grace?” Jaclyn asks around.
“Why don’t you lead, Jaclyn,” Ducky gives her the permission.
She starts with her prayer, “Thank you lord for the nice meal, thank you lord for our new friends, thank you lord for the big house, thank you lord for the presents, thank you lord for the big boat in the basement…” and she goes on while Abby, Tony and Kate are trying to contain their laughter - amused with her antics.
She finishes by saying “…and I hope our Mommy and Daddy won’t fight anymore,” and she opens her eyes.
Kate is shocked to know that her little niece knew her parents are fighting. Now, she feels guilty for laughing at her prayer in view of the fact that she was serious about it. Meanwhile, everybody else is staring at Miss Nosy and Joshua, and all of a sudden, feeling sad. The sweet kids are about to suffer because of their parents doing. Ironically, Gibbs hates divorces - God is perhaps reminding him through the kids.
“I am hungry!” Joshua calls out impatiently as he slips his toy gun from Gibbs in his pants. He waits for the quiet adults to start, since he knows that he is not supposed to start before he is told to do so.
He breaks the sadness, and they start attacking the food. Gibbs notices that Kate’s eyes are red.
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Ducky carves the Turkey, and the rest concentrate on the kids first and help them get to their food before they fill their own plates.
The kids’ chatters, laughter, and antics really brighten the evening. Even though Jaclyn is nosy and rather spoil, and Joshua always bickers, they are considerably very good children, plus their table manner is impeccable for their age, of course.
Their parents did a great job, Gibbs thought.
They sit properly and eat properly – just poor Jaclyn can’t handle her cutlery quite well yet since they are still too big for her. As a result, she lets both Kate and Gibbs cut her food for her. Kate tucks a napkin on Jaclyn’s chin, and Tony does the same to Joshua. “Thanks, Uncle Tony!” he says though his concentration is still on his food.
Ducky is extremely happy with this gathering. He’s beaming all night long, and he feels as if he is becoming ten years younger. Tony, who has been watching Ducky, whispers to Joshua and Gibbs that it must be the wine.
They have never stuffed themselves so full in their entire lives. The amount and variety of food are just impressive for the lone federal agents and the ME.
Apart from the Turkey and the cranberry sauce, there were pies, the Caesar salad, the savory meat, lasagna, the mashed potatoes with gravy, the creamed peas, and croissants.
For dessert, there are Abby’s chocolate mud cake, ice cream, and apricot pies.
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At the end of dinner, Tony is rubbing his stomach, and Ducky is not moving, but fully contented. Jaclyn and Joshua are very obedient when the dessert is served with coffee, of course.
Tony grins when Jaclyn spoon-feeds Gibbs once again. Kate asks her to spoon-feed Ducky and everybody else, and then, she does it happily. She goes around the table, and at the same time, shows off her new pink dress.
She has the audacity to ask Tony whether he likes her new dress or not, and he answers that it is the most beautiful dress he’s ever seen on a little lady, which makes her so happy that she kisses Tony on both sides of his cheeks. At this instant, he understands why Gibbs is melting in these kids’ hands.
Abby thought that she has never seen Tony beams at somebody that way before, and Kate also just realized that since the kids arrival, never once he made any stupid sexist remarks.
They all love the attention from the little girl.
When Jaclyn finishes going around the table, she goes back to Gibbs, but not to her chair - it’s like they’ve been doing it for years, instead of a couple of days.
He doesn’t have to look at her to know that she is coming to him, but he automatically lifts her up to his lap without her asking for his permission. She just does it, and they are both comfortable with the arrangement.
“Do you think I am a good girl, Jethro? Jaclyn asks Gibbs as she is sitting on his lap.
“Of course you are, the best ever!” he answers her as he looks at her adorable puppy eyes.
“I think you are a good boy, too, Jethro…and I am glad that we are related,” she whispers the last part. “I am glad you think so,” and he kisses her head.
Tony and Abby have never known Gibbs this way, showing such affection to another human being. He has become very patient and gentle with these kids, more than Kate has become actually. That’s why they are ogling him.
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It is past midnight when everything is cleared off the table.
“Sorry, I can’t help you guys,” Gibbs tells them when they are clearing the table and the kitchen. Kate is busy rationing leftover food to be brought home by Abby, Tony, and Ducky. There is still so much food left for Gibbs that would last him a week.
“Good excuse, Boss!” Tony replies and eyes his sleepy boss, who is sitting on his couch with Joshua’s head on his thigh, and Jaclyn asleep in his arms against his chest.
He yawns and answers Tony, “…I can’t move, Dinozzo.” Abby doesn’t say a word since she is happy to see Gibbs so content. She hardly sees him at peace normally.
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After they left, Kate picks Joshua up and carries the sleeping boy to the guest bedroom.
”Kate,” Gibbs whispers and calls her. She acknowledges him.
”Why don’t we all sleep in my room?” Gibbs asks her.
“Oh, no Gibbs. You won’t be able to sleep since you are not used to have them,” she whispers back to him.
“Kate, I don’t mind.” He stands up with Jaclyn in his arm. Her head lies on his shoulder.
“These little guys take a lot of space,” she refuses.
“Kate, C’mon!” He doesn’t care and pushes her upstairs. She sighs, “Ok, your place, your wish,” she says.
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Bedroom
Gibbs takes shower while Kate slips the kids into their pajamas. She is tucking them into the bed when he comes out from his bathroom, all cleaned in his boxer short and shirt.
She collects all their dirty clothes and brings them to the laundry room to start the cycle before she takes shower. She can hear Gibbs footsteps walking through the house, locking doors and checking on windows.
After she is done with everything, she enters his bedroom. They are all asleep. Joshua and Jaclyn in the middle with Gibbs on the side of the bed. She has to admit that his bed is spacious, and then, she slips under the cover and falls asleep within minutes.
The man of the house is so comfortable that he doesn’t want to open his eyes.
Last night, before she put them into bed, she changed his bed sheet and the cover. He loves the smell and the touch of the clean sheet against his skin. Usually, he doesn’t bother changing his sheet too often since he hardly sleeps there, and he sleeps more often in the basement.
Anyway, all around him is soft and nice, but he can feel some movement. He slowly opens his eyes and sees the kids are sleeping in between him and Kate.
Jaclyn is hugging Mr. Fuzzy Jethro, and he can see Joshua’s toy gun peeking under his pillow, just like his aunt thought him. Kate is sleeping at the other end of his bed and holding small Jaclyn in her arms.
Gibbs minds starts to wonder: is it all right for a failure like him to wish for a happy family? Is it too much to ask for sleeping peacefully with his kids and wife on one bed? But, his wishful thinking is disturbed as Kate awakes.
She raises her head to check on the kids and looks at the time. She raises her body with her elbow and looks at her niece and nephew while Gibbs pretends to be asleep. Kate is kissing Jaclyn’s head and stroking her arm. Then, she reaches for Joshua to kiss his cheek and looks at him fondly, and she flicks his button nose softly for fun.
She is about to leave the bed, “No kiss for me, Kate?” Gibbs asks her.
“You…are awake?” She eyes him, and he nods.
“It’s almost 10am, Gibbs!” She changes the subject and slips down his bed.
“Kate, I am still waiting for my kiss…just like the ones for them,” Gibbs persists with his both hands under his head lying on his back and waiting.
She walks to his side. He notices her short silk blue PJ as she gives him a sweet kiss, just like the ones for the kids, and then, she kisses his forehead and his cheeks. As she is about to stand, he pulls her to him and kisses her lips.
‘It is beautiful,’ Gibbs thought - kissing Kate on his bed with kids sleeping in it. He definitely has something to be thankful for this year.
‘One more wish,’ Gibbs’ thought. “Kate…stay one more night,” he says.
“OK…” she whispers to his lips. Their sweet embrace is disturbed by the kids’ movement of snuggle deeper into their pillows.
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Gibbs’s Living Area
So the grown-ups starts the day:
It is a very domestic scene. Kate is doing the next round of laundry. She helps him to change the bed sheet from the guest room as well. He is taking the trash out and cleaning up his basement because he promised the kids that they can play there when he is satisfied with the condition of the place. He makes sure that there are no loose nails or broken glasses around. Then, he walks up to his living room:
He is stunned - the place is spotless; it smells different and good, too; it feels lived-in; even his kitchen seems different now. Not that he is a dirty person. In fact, he is fairly clean and dislikes clutters, but he supposes that a little bit of woman’s touch makes a whole world of difference - something that he really missed.
“Kate!” he calls out to her, but no reply. He calls her again a couple of times and looks for her around the house until he catches her shadow outside his backyard. She is hanging their clothes up to dry.
It looks funny - there are his, hers and the kids. He has never had a child before, so it feels strange for him to see tiny shirts, overalls and dresses hanging in front of his eyes. He thinks his backyard looks wonderful today.
He never bothered to hang his clothes instead he just threw them in the dryer. He is absorbing the new theme in his backyard, and he doesn’t notice Kate comes in.
“Gibbs…Gibbs,” she calls him a couple of times, cocks her head at him.
“You OK?” she asks. He nods, and he hears the patter of footsteps. The kids are up - Trouble and Problem are coming down.
It seems to become a fine day for all of them. After the kids are bathed and changed, they join Gibbs in his basement, while Kate tidies Gibbs’s room up and prepares lunch for all of them.
They greet her homemade lunch, which consists of sandwiches, sliced apples and glasses of fresh juice, excitedly. Then, they carry off their lunch down to the basement.
At three in the afternoon, Gibbs takes them out to the shopping mall, and they decide to watch the movie “Ice Age 2” - Joshua and Jaclyn laugh till their tummies hurt. After the movie, Kate buys them all ice cream.
She catches sight of Jaclyn who is whispering to Gibbs. “This is the bestest-funniest-holiday ever in my entire life!” she says seriously. Kate laughs and thinks that she still is only two and half years old.
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Chuck E. Cheese’s
They have rather late dinner at Chuck E. Cheese’s after the big bickering among Kate, Joshua and Jaclyn. Kate makes them promise not to play and go straight home after they have their meal, and they shook on it.
While they wait in their booth for the cheesy meals, they let the duo play around.
Gibbs is curious and asks, “Why can’t they play again after their dinner, Kate? It’s still early. I don’t mind,” and he sits closer to her.
“You want to know why?” She looks at him cheekily and says, “Wait…”
Soon, he understands…
He is enjoying their closeness and places his hand behind her back. Then, he watches his duo, not letting them get out of his sight, when suddenly a boy, who is a little bit bigger than Joshua, passes by their booth huddled up. He stops on his way and throws up all over the floor and on himself, then he bawls for his mommy. His mother quickly picks him up, and at the same time, she is scolding him.
The Chuck E. Cheese’s cleaning team spots the hazard and quickly cleans it up.
Gibbs laughs and says, “I see…OK then, I get it now!” and then, he looks at her.
“See, my brother and I have learned it the hard way, Gibbs.” She shakes her head trying to erase the unpleasant memory out of her head.
“We are hungry…” comes the duo. They are puffing, sweating and gasping for air, with smiles on their faces.
Kate takes them by the hands to go wash up before dinner. Joshua refuses by saying,” I’m not going to the girls’ wash room, euuww…cooties!”
“Girls don’t have cooties!!!” Jaclyn shouts and kicks his shin. Gibbs stands up and takes Joshua to the boy’s room spontaneously. Problem solved.
The kids and Gibbs are in the middle of their pizza frenzy. Just by looking at them eat, Kate feels already full.
Shortly after, a little boy about Joshua’s age with a pair of glasses comes over to talk to them.
“Jaclyn said you both have guns,” he asks them anxiously.
“Yes, we do. We are cops” Kate answers him carefully as he won’t understand what “NCIS” is.
“WOW! Jaclyn, you have the coolest mom and dad ever!!!” the boy exclaims. “My Mom and Dad only have pens to work with…” he starts to compare.
“They are not my parents, Jimmy,” Jaclyn tells, “We are just related because…” Kate immediately closes her mouth with her hand. Gibbs starts laughing.
“Enough, missy…don’t talk with your mouth full, and don’t spread rumors around.” Kate glares at her. “Hey, I think your mom is looking for you,” Kate says to Jimmy.
“Bye, Jaclyn!”
“Bye, Jimmy!”
“Jaclyn has a boyfriend…eeuuww” Joshua teases her.
“Be quiet, Joshua!” she says. “Jaclyn has a boyfriend!” He laughs at her.
“Ouwww…!” he shouts painfully as she kicks him in his shin once again.
Gibbs and Kate laugh as they separate them. Joshua is angry since his shins will stay forever bluish- purple.
“Daddy said, he’ll shoot her boyfriend” Joshua informs Gibbs.
“No, he won’t! Jimmy is a gentleman!” Jaclyn answers hastily back.
“What do you know about gentlemen, Jaclyn? You are only two.” Kate mocks her niece a little as she sounds older than herself, in other words, her aunt.
“I am two and a half, Aunt Katie…and I know boys,” she pouts.
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Gibbs’ Bedroom
Soon after they left for home, and they stayed in his basement for just an hour or so. Then, Gibbs tells them it is time for them to sleep, and he hustles them to bed while Kate does some ironing. She thought, ‘So much! It’s really different from her one-person load,’ and she smiles to herself.
As she is finishing it up, she sees Gibbs coming down to check on the doors and windows. After that, he pulls her to go to bed, and they tickle each other on their way up. Then, they stop when they see two pairs of beady eyes gazing at them.
Kate now takes shower while Gibbs works hard on putting them into bed again. He falls asleep with them, and Kate comes to the bed, takes a look at them, and falls asleep as well beside them.
In the late morning, Gibbs opens his eyes and looks at the time, and he smirks. It’s the second day where he wakes up so late: it’s almost 9am. He hardly gets up at such late morning even though he doesn’t work.
He notices the two kids sprawled in the middle of his bed. ‘Where’s Kate?’ as he realizes that her side of the bed is empty.
He slowly lifts their limbs that ended up on top of his body and leaves the room quietly. His nose is greeted by a nice aromatic smell - coffee! He looks down and sees some activity in his kitchen.
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Kitchen
Kate is still in her PJ and making pancakes for their brunch.
“Morning, Katie!”
“Oh hi! Morning, Gibbs,” she replies. “Coffee?” she points to the coffee.
He sips his cup of coffee and walks to Kate, but he is, all of a sudden, taken aback. Kate’s eyes and nose are red. She was crying.
‘Katie, what’s wrong?” he worries. She tries to ignore him. ‘Nothing, Gibbs,” she murmurs and goes on with making pancakes. “Kate…what is it?” he bothers her for a while.
”My brother and his wife are getting divorced…they’ve decided, and they are going to pick up the kids today and explain to them what’s happening.” The silence is deafening.
“I told them where we are. They’ll be here in the afternoon,” Kate continues while she wipes her tears off. He doesn’t know what to say even though he is supposed to be very familiar with the divorce situation.
“The kids…what will happen?” he manages to say it.
“My brother is taking Joshua, and of course, Jaclyn will be with her mother,” she sobs.
“Jethro…” Jaclyn is standing at the archway with her teddy bear in her arms.
“Hi…sweetie…” he greets and picks her up, and then, kisses her cheek and her temple. He holds the girl closer and tighter to him than usual.
Jaclyn enjoys the extra affection he lavishes her, and she just smiles at him. “You sleep like an angel. You know that?” he tells her as he feeds her pancakes. “You can play in the basement after you’ve eaten and gotten changed, OK?” and she nods happily.
She then grabs the fork from his hand, and she feeds him back instead. She sniffs him and utters, “Coffee!” Gibbs suddenly feels like crying. He feeds her again while she adds milk to his black coffee, so that he can share it with her.
Kate is trying very hard not to cry. She is facing the stove and busying herself with the pancakes, so that she doesn’t have to look at her precious niece. She really doesn’t want her to know what’s going on, but it’s impossible.
Gibbs feels as if his heart stops beating when Jaclyn looks up to him, kisses his cheek and tells him, “You are my hero, Jethro!”
He can’t stand it anymore - “your parents are coming, Jaclyn.”
“Really?” she sounds happy. “Are they picking us up, Aunt Katie?” Joshua, who is standing just outside the kitchen, asks the question.
“Are they still getting divorced, Aunt Katie?” he asks his aunt, who has been avoiding to look at him. “I am not stupid, you know,” he sounds mad.
“What’s a divorce?” Jaclyn asks Jethro. He can’t answer this simple question. Damn it! He’s done it like three times.
“Guys, lets not talk about it now. Your parents will be here soon. They are going to tell you everything you want to know. OK, Joshua? C’mon, I made you your favorite food,” she tries to calm the boy down.
“No!” he shouts and runs off from the kitchen.
“What’s wrong, Aunt Katie?” Jaclyn gets scared and looks at her aunt.
“Joshua!” Kate tries to catch him. “Kate, don’t. Let him go.” Gibbs stops her.
“But…” she is confused. “He has to deal with it. Let him, Kate… I’ll go to him,” he decides. Gibbs finds the boy in his basement. He is hugging his knees, hiding and crying quietly in the corner.
He wishes he could tell him that everything will be all right, but then he’ll be lying to him. “Hey, Marine…come here,” he beckons to him. “I’m going to tell you a secret.”
-TBC-nova2007
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tears and broken hearts