WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS
I am so sorry about the lack of updates work has been extremely busy, but I am vacation for a good, long while and I hopefully if my muse decides to cooperate will be able to write more. This chapter is longer than usual so maybe that might go a smidge of the way to make up for the lack of updates. I hope you like it! NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS Chapter 12: Family November Gibbs scowled at the sight in the room before him. His daughter was sparring with G. Callen. He liked the young man; thought that he was a good, promising agent. However he was not particularly pleased with all of the time his daughter was spending with Callen, particularly in a setting where she wore clothing what was tight-fitted and revealing. "You look like someone ruined one of your shots." He looked over to see his wife's teasing smile as she sidled up alongside him. "What has you so upset?" He looked back at the gym; she followed his line of sight. "Kel seems to enjoy working with Callen." His scowl deepened. "Why? He's too old for her to hang out with." Jenny tried to smother a grin at his perturbed tone. His expression took on a thoughtful frown. "Does she like him? I mean " Jenny managed to hold back a laugh but shook her head. "I know what you mean. And it is possible that she has a crush on him, but she's also too realistic to act on it or make anything of it." She looked back at Kelly and Callen. "She just likes being around someone who treats her normally, aside from us." Gibbs shrugged in acknowledgment but still did not look overly happy. She finally did chuckle, twining her arm around his before pulling him away. "Kelly's fine; she's a smart girl, just lonely." His frown became regretful. "Maybe we should have found a way for her to at least stay back in the States." Jenny shook her head. "She is enjoying the chance to travel and see new places and work on her Russian. She just doesn't like the school here and the other kids have trouble understanding and accepting her. She's ok with waiting until we go home this summer." She gestured back at the workout room, "And now she has a friend who accepts her as she is and is also willing to help her work out her frustrations over everyone else." Gibbs finally nodded, though his expression still clearly portrayed how much he did not like it. Jenny chuckled. NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS "Jenny." "Hmm?" the redhead looked up from her desk to her step daughter, who was working on her homework at the kitchen table. The teen was biting her lip and playing with her pencil. Jenny frowned, put down her pen and turned her chair to face Kelly fully with an open expression. "What is it, Kel?" "I just - Well, you see " Jenny nodded encouragingly. "Mommy and I used to make and send out Christmas cards." Jenny leaned forward, nodding again for her to keep going. "Um, especially to Grandmom and Grandpop." Jenny felt her eyebrows shoot up, Jethro rarely spoke of his father and he had not mentioned Kelly having a grandmother. "Your grandparents?" Kelly bit her lip again. "Mommy's mom and Dad's dad," she elaborated. "I see Grandmom sometimes, though I think it's still hard for her and Daddy to see each other. I I haven't seen Grandpop in a long time, only talked to him on the phone occasionally; I think he and Dad don't get along or something." She fiddled with a page in her textbook. "Anyway, I was just wondering it you don't mind if you could help me send Christmas cards out." Jenny smiled widely. "Of course, how many were you thinking?" Her stepdaughter returned the smile just as brightly. "Not too many really. Grandmom and Grandpop, Ducky, Maddie and Tom's families and maybe Decker." "That sounds like a good amount to me. And maybe for your grandparents we can included a couple of pictures as well." Kelly brightened up even more. "Yeah! I don't think Grandpop has gotten a picture of me in a long time." Jenny grinned, "Sounds like a plan." NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS Jenny knew that Jethro knew what she and Kelly were up to, though he did not really say anything about it. He was happy that Kelly was happy, though he did not talk about the cards and whenever his father came up there was a tightening in his expression. Jenny asked about his reaction; he had grimaced and said that they had issues. Jenny got the feeling that the reason he did not elaborate was because she would have pushed to have these "issues" resolved. Though, if there was one thing she had learned about her husband on some things you had to let him work his own way through; if you pushed he would balk and nothing would be accomplished except an argument. Jenny sighed and got back to writing the letter she was working on. For Kelly's grandparents Jenny had decided, in addition to a photograph of Jethro, Jenny and Kelly to put a couple more of Kelly from school and other activities. They had also decided to add two longer letters to each grandparent, one from Kelly and one from Jenny. In all honesty the one Jenny had written to Jethro's father had been miles easier to write than the one she was now haltingly composing to Shannon's mother. "Jenny." She looked up at Kelly. "Yes?" Kelly had paused in writing in the card for Tom. "Thanksgiving is coming up and I was wondering if maybe we should invite Callen and some other agents who can't go home or don't have families." The redhead smiled. "I think that's a great idea, Kel. I'll talk to your dad about it." The teen nodded happily before turning back to the card. Jenny reached over and ran a hand down Kelly's hair causing the girl to look up. "You have a good, big heart, Kelly." Kelly blushed. "I just thought it would be nice, and isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about?" Jenny nodded. "Yes it is." Kelly looked thoughtfully out the window. "One time at church, the Sunday before Thanksgiving, the priest said that if self-less kindness and goodwill emitted light, that Thanksgiving would be the brightest day of the year." She turned and looked at Jenny. "It's the one day a year when people will do things without thought of getting something in return, the one day when people will invite strangers over to their house for dinner." The woman smiled. "That is a very lovely and wonderfully true thought." Kelly grinned back and returned to the card. NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS Thanksgiving turned out to be quite an affair with several single agents and a few young couples coming over to the Gibbs's home and having dinner; they all said thank you quite a few times to the family for inviting them all over. Kelly was substantially younger than anyone else there but she still had a great time talking with everyone and listening to stories about assignments, most of them ones that went awry. Not quite as entertaining in Kelly's opinion as last year with Mrs. Mallard, but all in all a very successful night. NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS Early December Joann Fielding opened her mail box and pulled out the stack of envelopes. Bills and credit card offers mostly, but a large manila envelope caught her eye. The return address stated "Gibbs" and was in Russia, though the hand was not masculine enough to be Jethro's and too neat to be Kelly's which meant that it was the handwriting of "that woman". She frowned. Jethro had called her to tell her that he was getting married, again, but this time
something was different in his tone. Kelly had spoken happily and at great length about the new woman in her father's life, never had her granddaughter sounded so excited about any of the women Jethro had seen romantically. Joann knew that Kelly needed a good maternal influence in her life, particularly at the age she was, but it tore her up inside to see a woman moving into Shannon's position. She was still frowning when she sat down at the table turning the envelope over in her hands. It had a piece of cardboard inside and stamped across it was "PHOTOGRAPHS, DO NOT FOLD". She could not ignore the swell of longing in her heart to see pictures of her granddaughter, which she assumed were in the envelope. Finally she took a deep breath and opened the flap and shook the contents out into her hand. She was a little surprised to find not only a number of photos but a Christmas card and what looked like two folded letters. She opened the card first to find the normal holiday greetings with Kelly's signature alongside Jethro and "the woman's" names in the same hand as on the envelope. Under the names in the post script was a note for her to read the two letters. She turned to the photos, four of them. The first three were of Kelly: her school portrait, her grinning on the back of a horse and a candid shot of her looking off to the side with snow flecking her hair. The fourth photo was a family picture, non-professional, taken with Jethro and his new wife sitting on a couch smiling and Kelly sitting in front of them, elbows on the coffee table, chin in hands grinning. Joann attempted to ignore the pain in her heart and focused on the woman in the photo, trying to study her objectively. She was a redhead like Shannon, but that was where the similarities ended. This woman was quite a bit shorter than Shannon had been and had green eyes, unlike Shannon's hazel. Shannon had been soft and gentle, through and through. This woman you could see a toughness in her face, but in her eyes along with the way she leaned into Jethro and rested her hand on Kelly's shoulder there was an underlying softness and love (as much as she was loath to admit such things.) She propped the family photo against the vase of flowers on the table and turned to the letters. The first one was from Kelly; it was full of news about her life in Russia, how much she hated how they treated her like a china doll at school and how much fun she was having visiting all the new places and improving her Russian she nearly spoke it like a native now. She talked about a young agent who sparred with her and did not treat her like she'd break; reading between the lines Joann could see the crush her granddaughter had on him but how it was strongly tempered. She updated her about how high she could jump her horse now, her continued interest in science and newest book she was reading (Persuasion,she had considered reading Anna Karenina but had been told she was a little too young still.) She signed off with a promise to visit her as soon as possible once they returned to the States. Joann reread the letter a couple of times before she forced herself to stop procrastinating and move on to the letter she knew was from "the woman". It was not very long. Dear Mrs. Fielding, This is very difficult for me to write; I can only imagine how hard it is for you to read. I struggle to know what to write but I feel I need to write this letter to you. I want you to know that I do not intend to take Shannon's place in any way, I cannot, she has a place in Kelly and Jethro's hearts that I can never have. They love her still and I would never change that, I am just forever grateful that they found a place for me in their hearts as well. I love them both with all my heart. Kelly loves you and Jethro cares for you as well, you are part of their family and I do not want to cause you any more pain than you must already feel; if seeing me as little as possible makes things easier for you than I will respect that and try to stay away from you as much as I am able. I also wanted to say that you must be an amazing woman because of all I have heard about Shannon from Jethro and Kelly, how much they love her, how wonderful she was and how beautifully she raised Kelly. Thank you for reading my letter, even though it cannot have been easy for you. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Jenny Shepard-Gibbs Joann set down the letter, tears burning in her eyes. She lowered her face to her hands and silently sobbed. NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS Jackson Gibbs stared at the manila envelope in his hands, Kelly had called him just before leaving to let him know that they were going to be in Russia until the summer so he knew that it was likely from her, but the handwriting was not hers. The new wife she had mentioned in such happy tones, perhaps? He sat down at the table in the middle of the store and opened it, particularly encouraged by the word "PICTURES" stamped on the outside, not having had many photos of his granddaughter over the years. Out slid a few pictures, a Christmas card and what looked like two letters. The pictures were mostly of Kelly but often with friends and family. The first was of her sitting at a patio table with a boy and girl (her best friends Maddie and Tom according to the back) all three of them in their bathing suits dripping wet and grinning at the camera over their lunches. Kelly and Maddie dressed up for Halloween, showing off their haul. The three kids passed out on the couches sometime around Christmas last year. She and Tom having a staring contest. Her sitting next to an older man (Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard the M.E. at NCIS), both of their head bent over a table, he doing paper work most likely and she doing homework. The last one was of her atop a horse next to Leroy and a red haired woman (Jenny, Leroy's new wife), both on horses as well. Jackson felt some amusement at Leroy's obvious continued preference for redheads though this woman appeared to be a bit shorter than the others he had dated and married. One thing he noted was how much happier his son looked than Jackson had seen in a long time. The card held the normal Christmas greetings in the elegant hand that had inscribed the envelope along with both his son's name and the name Jenny while Kelly had signed her own name. The p.s. promised more in the accompanying letters. The first letter was from Kelly, full of her animated chatter about what she had been up to and her mixed feelings about living in Russia he chuckled at her sharper handwriting when she wrote about how she was treated at school, obviously illustrating her annoyance. She told him excitedly about her language lessons with Jenny and her latest best score at the range. Her riding lessons continued to go well and Jenny could now canter with them when the family went riding. He could hear her sorrowful voice as she wrote how much she missed him and would call him the first chance she got. She sent him "tons of love" and signed it "Kelly-Bug", his nickname for her. He had to blink several times to keep from crying. Once he was sure he had the tears under control again he turned his attention to the other letter, he knew that Leroy would not write him so it had to be from Jenny. Dear Mr. Gibbs, Kelly told me that you would probably prefer it if I called you Jackson and not Mr. Gibbs, but at least for the first time I contact you I feel I should be a little more formal. I am sorry that we have not met yet, but from how Jethro acts and what Kelly has said there is some sort of friction between the two of you though it seems to be mostly on Jethro's side from what I can tell. As you know he can be very stubborn and does not seem eager to discuss whatever the problem is, but as with many things Jethro most likely needs to work this out in his own time. Kelly and I have been talking about possibly coming out to see you when we return to the States, if we can get Jethro's agreement grudging though it may be. But I feel it is important for her to have her "Grandpop" in her life and maybe that will lead to fixing whatever the problem is between you and Jethro. I want to tell you that I love your son and granddaughter very much, and that I am in this for the long-haul. I look forward to meeting you in person. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Jenny Shepard-Gibbs Jackson laid the letter down with a smile. NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS I hope that was ok, I haven't seen the episode with Shannon's mom yet, only clips and read summaries and quotes from the episode, so I am going off of those when I wrote her; I hope I did her justice. I hope that you all enjoyed it! Thank you for reading and as ever please let me know how I did!
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