WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS
AN: This chapter took a few days to come up with the concept for; after I finished the last one I had no idea what to write then I heard in my mind Gibbs saying, "Oh, that's real mature, Jen." I started thinking about how Jenny and Gibbs argue a lot quite a bit in the series and voila! I have to make some comments though involving the episode last week: Over protective, papa bear Gibbs! I love it! :D I liked how he told Bin-Gidon to tell Eli David that Ziva "is off limits", and how she told Bin-Gidon apologizing is "a sign of weakness", aligning herself with team Gibbs. When Eli David said over the phone to Vance, "He is a thief for stealing my daughter!" I just wanted to sock the guy, talking about his daughter like she was property. All in all just a kick ass episode! NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS Chapter 4: Arguing It was a Thursday night; Kelly was sitting in the living room doing her homework at the coffee table. Her dad and Jenny were due back from work with dinner at any minute, which she was glad for considering she was starving. She heard her father's truck pull into the driveway; her head perked up and turned in the direction of the door but after a few moments her face fell. She could hear muffled arguing coming up to the door. "Oh, that's real mature, Jen," her dad said sarcastically as he opened the door. "And you sticking your gun in that senator's face was?" Jenny snipped back. "At least that got us somewhere," he growled. "Oh yeah! It totally got us somewhere!" Sarcasm dripped from her tone. "It got us written up!" He spun around so that they were now standing face to face and toe to toe in the entryway. "It got us the dealer." "There were other ways to get that without us getting our asses handed to us!" She fired back. "Not any that were fast enough!" Jenny took a step closer to him. "There are rules for a reason, Jethro; you can't just go around doing whatever you want! There are proper channels! If you ignore them you end up in trouble, much like we are now!" He bent his head down closer to hers so that their noses were mere centimeters apart. "Some rules are meant to be broken." He spun around, dropping the takeout bags unceremoniously in the hallway and heading toward the basement. "Leroy Jethro Gibbs you are not leaving in the middle of an argument; get back here this instant!" He looked back at her just before he entered the basement. "Watch me." He slammed the door behind him. Jenny let out a frustrated noise before turning and seeing Kelly still sitting at the coffee table, looking stricken. The redhead's face creased with worry and she moved over in the girl's direction. "Kelly?" Kelly jumped up and ran off. Jenny was stunned for a moment but quickly followed her; she stopped at Kelly's closed bedroom door; she knocked. "Kelly?" There was no answer; she pushed the door open and went inside. Kelly was sitting on her bed with her knees drawn up to her chest, tracing the patterns on her comforter. "Kelly, sweetie? What's wrong?" Jenny sat down on the bed close to Kelly. The teen stopped tracing the patterns and instead just scratched at the fabric, not saying anything. Jenny's frown deepened. "Are you ok?" Kelly bit her lip. Jenny was about to ask what was wrong again when Kelly blurted out, "Are you gonna breakup with Dad?" Jenny jerked back at the question, looking at the young girl in surprise. "Kelly, why on earth would you think I was going to breakup with your dad?" "'Cause you were arguing." Jenny's eyes slid shut and she let out a sigh, feeling guilty. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry you had to see that, but just because we are arguing doesn't mean that your dad and I are breaking up." "He divorced his two wives and broke up with a bunch of his girlfriends and they had been arguing." Jenny tilted her head to the side. "Kelly, adults argue; it's normal." She bit her lip. "Particularly for two adults as stubborn as your father and I." She chuckled lightly. "You should hear us at work." Kelly looked up curiously. "Hardly a day goes by that your father and I don't disagree upon some point. And the fact that we both know exactly how to push each other's buttons makes the arguments all the more spectacular." She raised her index finger and leaned closer to Kelly. "The important thing is to make sure that if you are having an argument that you make up, because it's when you don't that odds are you're going to ruin the relationship, no matter what it is." Kelly tilted her head. "So you and Dad are gonna make up?" Jenny laughed lightly. "Eventually. We just both need time to cool off. Once we do we are able to talk and work things out. Understand?" Kelly nodded. "Good," Jenny said as she stood up. She reached her hand to Kelly to pull her up beside her. "Now, how 'bout you and I get things ready for dinner?" "Ok," Kelly nodded. NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS Jenny slowly descended the basement stairs, all the while watching her ever frustrating lover working on his boat. "I'm not ready to talk, Jen," he said, not looking up. "I know," she told him as she came to a stop at the bottom of the steps, one hand still resting on the handrail. "But I think that the fact that we upset your daughter overrules our need for more time." Jethro's head snapped up. "What?" Jenny bit her lip, tapping her finger on the handrail. "Did Kelly often hear you fight with your exes?" He looked down, rather guiltily; she did not need any more of an answer. She took a deep breath. "Hearing us argue upset her because in her experience when you argue with the woman you are involved with it means you're going to break up or get a divorce." He pinched the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb. Jenny stuck her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. "I explained to her that just because we were arguing doesn't mean we're breaking up and that it is normal for adults to argue on occasion." Jethro dropped his hand back to the hull of his boat and looked down at both of them resting there. "How did she respond?" "She understands intellectually, I think, but it might take some time before she truly believes it." He clenched his jaw; she could tell he was angry with himself. "I wish she hadn't seen that." She took a deep breath, bracing herself. "I think that it was actually for the best that she did." He looked at her like she was crazy. She held up her hand, stopping the comment she knew was coming. "Hear me out." She moved to his side; he turned to face her. "Kelly needs to have an understanding of what real adult relationships are like, which includes the fact that arguments happen. And where else will she learn this than observing her parent's relationships?" Finally his lips quirked into a small, amused smirk; he reached out and twisted a lock of her hair around his finger before gently tugging on it. "How'd you get so wise?" She smirked broadly back at him. "Someone has to be the adult in the relationship," she teased gently. He chuckled before he sobered up. "I didn't mean to get you dragged into trouble as well, Jen." Jenny nodded. "I know." She bit her lip, silent for a moment. "But I can't say I wasn't tempted to do the same." That had him laughing which caused her to grin. He was grinning down at her as his hand that had been tugging at the strand of her hair released it and cupped her face, his thumb stroking her cheek. "I guess one of us has to pay attention to protocol," he admitted quietly. She leaned into his hand, bringing her own up to hold it there. "And I guess one of us has to be willing to bend – and even break – the rules to get things done sometimes." He buried his hand in her hair as he leaned down and kissed her; she responded enthusiastically. He maneuvered them to that her back was against his boat, she moaned against his lips and pulled him closer by the waistband of his jeans. His hands wandered under her shirt, drifting up her back and along her sides. "Dad! Jenny!" The disengaged from the kiss, though they didn't move away from each other. "Have you guys made up yet? 'Cause I'm hungry and dinner's getting cold!" Kelly's voice came through the doorway, though she was still out of sight. "We'll be right up, Kel!" Jethro called. "Hurry up…please!" The two adults laughed lightly. "To be continued," Jenny murmured, amusement dancing in her eyes, as she disengaged herself from the embrace and moved toward the stairs. "I sure as hell hope so," he muttered a he placed a gentle hand at the small of her back, following her up to the kitchen and his daughter. NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS So I figured that after seeing her dad go through two divorces, who knows how many break-ups and probably rarely, if ever, seeing Shannon and Gibbs argue Kelly would have issues when it comes to her dad and his significant other arguing so I decided that this would be a good way to deal with it. I hope I did ok. As ever, please let me know what you think! Even if you thought the chapter was crappy, tell me what you think is wrong with it! Let me know what you like. I use your input to try to become a better writer.
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