FAMILY MATTERS
By
Ashleigh Anpilova
Set during Faith.
Gibbs is awake and thinking.
An established relationship story.
Written: December 2009. Word count: 500.
It was 3:00 a.m. and Gibbs couldn't sleep.
After his dad had told him about killing the dirt-bag who'd intended to rob his store and possibly worse, he'd seemed exhausted, drained. So Gibbs had left him to sleep, choosing to go to his own bedroom rather than the basement.
Half-an-hour later, he'd crept back down and stood in the doorway for a while just watching the man who had fathered him, raised him, taught him most of the good things he knew, shared things will him, and no matter what, had never stopped loving him. "Glad you came, Dad," he murmured softly, wishing he could say it when his dad wasn't asleep.
Then he'd gone back up to his room and had called Ducky. He'd told him what his dad had told him and thanked him again for his part in getting his dad to talk. Then their conversation had turned more intimate.
Gibbs missed his lover; normally they spent no more than a night or two apart, but they hadn't been together since Gibbs's dad had arrived. In fact, they hadn't been alone together since then; at least not to enable them to share anything more than looks. Even when they'd left his dad in the basement, no matter how much he'd wanted to pull Ducky into his arms and kiss him, Gibbs hadn't, in case his dad had chosen that moment to appear.
His dad. Suddenly Gibbs cursed himself. What the hell was he thinking of? How could he let an eighty-two year old man sleep on the couch?
Throwing back the covers he got out of bed, pulled on sweat pants and a tee-shirt and made his way to what had been, what would be again, the spare room. He paused by the door and thought for a moment; was he sure? Did he really intend to do this?
He thought of his dad. He thought of Ducky. There was no contest.
"Leroy?" His dad's voice came from the doorway.
Wiping his hand over his sweat-dampened brow, Gibbs looked up. "Hey, Dad."
"What are you doing, son?"
"Giving you somewhere proper to sleep."
He saw his dad look around the room; saw understanding appear in his gaze. "I'm quite comfortable on the couch, son."
"No, Dad. It's not right. And more importantly, I don't want you sleeping there. This is the spare room. Tomorrow you'll sleep here. And Dad?"
"Leroy?"
"I normally spend Christmas at Ducky's. How do you feel about a properly cooked Christmas dinner?"
His dad smiled. "I'd like that, son. Your Ducky seems like a good man."
Gibbs smiled. "Yeah, he is. The two of you can swap stories; be interesting to see who can tell the tallest."
"Leroy!" His dad's eyes twinkled; it reminded him of his lover's. Ducky'd been right, he and his dad had a lot in common.
Gibbs laughed. "Go back to bed, Dad, and get warm. I'll see you in the morning."
His dad nodded. "Goodnight, son."
"Night, Dad."
Fathers Know is the sequel to this story.
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