Rekindling the Flame

Adding More Fuel

Chapter 7 - Adding more Fuel

Walking through the living room, still carrying the groceries, books and glasses, Gibbs smiled as he passed Jenny. Curled up on the sofa, she was fast asleep. Depositing the groceries on the kitchen table, he quietly crept back to the sofa and put the books and glasses on the coffee table. He took hold of the nearby throw and laid it gently over her, pulling it up around her shoulders. Reaching down, he gently ran his fingers through her hair and smiled. If only she wouldn't be so stubborn, he thought, she would see that her body still needed plenty of rest.

Figuring he should probably check on Tony and Ziva and make sure they hadn't taken advantage of Jenny's slumber, he headed out into the garden.

"Tony! Ziva!" he called from the patio.

"Up here," came the familiar voice of Tony from the tree house.

Climbing the wooden ladder, Gibbs peered through the door to see both children leaning against the inner walls. Tony was once again completely absorbed in the DS game while Ziva sat quietly reading.

"Hey guys," said Gibbs, smiling at the two of them.

"Hi Daddy," said Ziva, looking up from her book. "Jenny was asleep on the sofa so we came out here."

"That was very considerate of you both," Gibbs praised. He felt proud knowing he could trust these two to do the right thing. They may still squabble and test the boundaries. But, on the whole, they were good kids and when it mattered, they showed a level of maturity beyond their years. He wondered if this had anything to do with the fact that only two months ago, they had been adults or, if in fact, they were just naturally mature children. Both had certainly been forced to grow up quickly.

"So can I?" he heard Tony say.

Realising he hadn't been listening, Gibbs responded, "Sorry Tony. What was that?"

Sighing in frustration, Tony said again, "Can I have something to eat?"

Looking at his watch, Gibbs saw that it was nearly eleven o'clock.

"Yep," he said. "There's some muesli bars in the bag on the table. Go and get one of those."

"Me too?" asked Ziva.

"Of course," replied Gibbs. Heading backwards down the ladder, Gibbs jumped the last few rungs in order to give Tony some space to descend. Once Tony was on the ground and was walking towards the house, Gibbs looked up to see where Ziva was. He should have known. Why bother taking the ladder when you could climb across to a metal bar, hang upside down and swing until you had enough height in order to flip your body backwards and land perfectly on the grass? Watching her brush off her hands and run ahead to catch up with Tony, he smiled at her athleticism. He wondered if he should take the risk and enrol her in some sort of gymnastics class. Surely they wouldn't ask too many questions for that kind of activity.

As he neared the side door into the kitchen, he could hear raised voices. So much for the maturity and peace, he thought to himself.

"But you never have the berry ones. Daddy buys them for me!"

"I just want to try one. Let go!"

"Hey," growled Gibbs entering the kitchen. "Jenny's asleep on the couch. What are you arguing about?"

"Tony's trying to take one of the berry muesli bars and he never has those," whined Ziva. "They're always for me."

She was holding tightly to one end of the wrapped bar while Tony gripped the other end. A tug 'o' war was ensuing between them.