Once the elevator doors opened, Tim remained still. Not having time for this, Jackson grabbed the young boy and picked him up. He handed Tony the bag of toys.
They found Gibbs and his team in the bullpen standing around the television screen. Kate saw the family first and quickly turned the TV off. Gibbs turned around and saw his boys and father.
"We thought we'd say goodbye before heading out" Jackson explained.
"Thanks, Dad" Gibbs said and gave his father a hug. "Were you good for Abby?" He asked addressing his boys.
"Yes sir" Tony informed with a faint blush. He looked around at his dad's team mates and saw them all watching the family interaction. "I got to check for fingerprints and use one of Abby's microscopes and everything!" He said cheerfully, ignoring the gawkers.
"That's sounds like a lot of fun, Tony. How about you Tim? Did you look for fingerprints too?" he asked, knowing how much his youngest loved doing those sort of things. Gibbs was unsurprised though when Tim shook his head.
"Tiger, I know you are mad at me, but I don't want your weekend to be ruined because of it" Gibbs soothed. Tim just turned away, not wanting to listen.
"Daddy, can you come to lunch with us?" Tony interrupted. The father sighed.
"I can't Tony. You'll have fun with grandpa though, right"
Tony frowned, knowing it was a longshot anyways.
"You two be good for grandpa, okay?" Gibbs told his boys, needing to get back to work.
"K" Tony agreed and gave his dad a quick hug.
"Bye Timmy" Gibbs said and kissed the boy on the forehead. Tim was not sure how to respond. The intense anger he felt earlier this morning was gone. But there was still a slight ached that they were going to be leaving without their father. He resigned himself to sitting rigid on his grandpa's hip.
"I'll be home as soon as I can. Thanks again for coming" Gibbs said addressing his father.
"Not a problem kid" Jackson told him "Come on Tony" The older man urged and was happy when the boy complied.
"Bye Daddy" Tim whispered after his father had turned his back. Gibbs tensed, but turned around quickly and gave his youngest a small smile. He was glad to see his son's resolve breaking. Perhaps it would not be such a bad weekend after all.
"Bye, kiddo" The father returned just as softly. He watched as his family entered the elevator before turning around and getting back to work.
"Where should we go for lunch boys?" Jackson asked when they were walking towards the car. He had put Tim down so he could walk, but was holding his hand.
"Dave's Diner" Tony suggested.
Jackson knew his boys did not go out to eat often and when they did it was to Dave's Diner which was right down the road from the NCIS building. So he was not surprised when Tony suggested it. Knowing Tim was not going to say anything on the matter, Jackson decided the diner was as good as anything. He made sure both boys were secure in the backseat before getting in the front seat and driving off.
The diner was busy since it was a Saturday afternoon. They were able to get a table right away though thankfully. The waitress had brought some crayons and a coloring book for the boys. She took their drink orders and promised to come back soon to take their orders.
"What are you thinking of getting?" Jackson asked the two kids.
"Bacon cheeseburger" Tony said without even looking at the menu. He was coloring a picture of superheroes.
"Sounds good." The grandpa acknowledged. "How 'bout you Timmy?"
Silence.
"He'll have chicken tenders with mashed potatoes" Tony said, still coloring.
"Tim can order for himself" Jackson said. "Is that what you want?" He asked Tim. Tim nodded. Nothing else was said until the waitress returned.
"Are we ready to order?" She asked pleasantly.
"Yes ma'am." Jackson told her. "I'll have a Reuben with fries please" He requested.
"And for you hun?" She asked Tony.
"I'll have a bacon cheeseburger and fries please?" She wrote that down before addressing Tim.
"And for you sweetheart?"
Silence.
"He'll have-" Tony started before he was cut off by his grandfather.
"Nope. Tim can order himself. Timothy" The man prompted.
Silence again.
"Okay. Thanks Annette, that's all" Jackson told the waitress.
"Wait!" Tim shouted, before she could go too far. He wanted to sit there and sulk and refuse to eat, but his tummy was already yelling at him. He knew grandpa would not let him have lunch at home if he refused to eat here. So with cheeks burning with embarrassment, he sucked it up and ordered.
"Chicken tenders and mashed potatoes" Tim muttered to the table.
"Sure thing, Swe-"
"Try again, Timothy." Grandpa cut off again. He knew his son would not let the boy get away with being that rude, and he was sure as heck was not going to allow for it.
Once more he was greeted with silence and crossed arms.
"This is your last chance Timothy or you can go hungry." Jackson warned.
"Can I please have chicken tenders and mashed potatoes?"
This time the waitress looked at Jackson before confirming the order. She left to go place the orders.
"What should we do after lunch?" Jackson asked a few minutes later. The earlier incident quickly forgotten.
"We were going to go bowling with dad" Tony informed.
"Is that what you want to do still?"
Tony took a minute to consider this. He knew if he said yes, they would go. He also knew Tim would make it a miserable experience. He would rather stay home and watch movies.
"Nah, it's alright. Maybe dad can take us tomorrow" The nine year old answered.
Jackson was happy with that decision. His knobby knuckles made it so he couldn't bowl himself. He also had no desire to try and take his youngest grandson to the bowling alley to sulk the entire time.
"Bowling is out, is there anything else you boys want to do?" Jackson asked again.
"No" Tim and Tony said together.
Jackson left it at that. He did not really want to go out today anyways.
The food was brought out fifteen minutes later and Tony was talking about school and football. Slowly, Tim began to open up. He also talked about school as well as his science projects.
"Are we going to go grocery shopping grandpa?" Tony asked when the waitress had taken the credit card to be ran.
"Are we supposed to?" The man asked.
"We were going to go with Dad" Tim answered before Tony could.
"I mean we can, but I don't know what you guys need." The grandfather said cautiously.
"Weelll" Tony started. "We could just get stuff for brownies" The boy wheedled.
"Well we can't have brownies for supper" Jackson said with a raised eyebrow.
"Spaghetti!" Tim shouted eagerly. He loved his grandpa's spaghetti. "We could have spaghetti for supper" He added more calmly.
Jackson was happy to see the exuberance. While Tim was no longer sulking, he was still not his happy self. So if Tim was excited for spaghetti, gosh darn it, they would have spaghetti.
"Okay, we can make a quick stop for brownie and spaghetti stuff before we go home. Are you both ready then?" He asked after his card was returned.
He got two "yes sirs" in return and the three left the restaurant and headed to the grocery store.
^^^^^^NCIS^^^^^^
Grocery shopping went by without a hitch. They got the supplies they needed and some popcorn and hot chocolate for a movie later. They made it home in good time as well. Tony had immediately set up a movie in the living room and Tim went upstairs to do who knew what. Jackson started the spaghetti as it would take the rest of the day for the sauce to cook.
A few hours later, after Tony had finished the first movie and was about to start the second, the grandfather asked him to turn it off.
"Why?" Tony asked. "Dad's not here, and it isn't like I have other plans." The boy offered.
"I know" Jackson agreed. "If your father were here though, you would not be allowed to watch movies all day. I don't want you to either. Go pick something else to do please, and we can watch something after supper as a family." The older man proposed.
"Okay" The nine year old agreed easily. The prospect of a movie with his grandpa and brother later sounded like fun. "Can I go out back and play then?"
It was a nice day for November, so the grandfather had no qualms about it.
"I'll go get your brother and we'll make some cocoa and meet you outside, alright?"
"Sure!" Tony shouted barely paying attention as he ran outside.
"Put a coat on!" The man yelled and made sure the boy listened before heading upstairs to get his youngest grandson.
When he got there, Jackson entered the boys room and saw Tim on his bed playing a game on the IPAD. The man took a minute to assess the room and noted how messy it was. There was barely a clear path to the beds.
"Might be time to clean this room up" The grandpa voiced as he walked towards Tim's bed.
"It's Saturday." The boy said instantly and looked up from his game.
"So?"
"There are no extra chores on Saturday" Tim explained. Just because dad was not here did not mean he was going to clean up. No matter how much he knew the room needed it.
"I did not mean you had to do it today. I was just commenting, Tim" Jackson said.
"Good." Tim commented and returned to his game. Jackson raised an eyebrow to the comment, but didn't say anything.
"I came up here to tell you it's time to take a break from the IPad." He told the boy.
Again Tim looked up.
"But Dad's not here. He told me I could play with it" Tim wheedled.
"That may be se, but you aren't going to play on that thing all day. You can have it again after supper" The grandpa compromised.
"But I am half way through this level" The five year old complained and gripped the electronic tightly.
"Then you best save it." Jackson said firmly and took a step towards the bed.
"I'll be done once I finish this level. Promise" Tim said and a clutched it even closer.
"You will be done now or done for the night" Jackson explained.
"There is nothing to do here though!" Tim whined.
"Tony is outside. Why don't you join him?" Jackson informed as he held a hand out for the IPad.
"I don't want to" Time moaned, making no movement to hand it over.
"That's fine" The grandpa noted. "But you are done with that for now. This is your last chance before you are done with it for the night. Your choice." Jackson told Tim firmly.
The five year old considered his options. He didn't want to go play with Tony. He wanted to play with the iPad. He knew his grandpa was serious though. Tim reluctantly handed it over to the awaiting hand.
"Thank you, Timmy" The grandfather said. "Would you like to join Tony or help me make the brownies?" The man asked.
He knew Tim loved baking. But today apparently, Tim wasn't feeling it. Instead, the boy crossed his arms and looked away from his grandpa.
"Okay. When you are done sulking, you can come downstairs and play." Jackson added before leaving Tim's room.
Tim considered his grandpa's words. He wasn't ready to join him yet, and Tim opted to lay down for a bit. He closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.
^^^Weekend at Gibbs^^^
I promise Tim will get out of this funk in the next two chapters. Finished my finals today, so now I have more time to type these stories up.