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English
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Part 5 of Moving Day
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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-04
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803
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1/1
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13
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Unhappy families

Summary:

It hurts. Inside. And sometimes it just has to come out.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

Moving Day Five - Unhappy families
by fanficwriter101


On the drive home, Tony looked across at Gibbs. `You never told me you had brothers.'

Gibbs almost swerved across the road, keeping his concentration on driving with difficulty. `I don't.'

Unsettled by the tone, Tony bit his lip and stared out of the window.

Gibbs gripped the steering wheel tightly. `Momma gets confused. She... uh...lost...three babies before I came along. Doctor said I was her last chance to get pregnant. She has Alzheimer's. Early stages, doctor says, but...'

Tony swallowed hard. This was much more than he ever expected Gibbs to share with him. Particularly as he knew he rarely shared anything of his own family past.

`I'm sorry.'

In answer, Gibbs swerved across the lanes, eliciting angry blasts of the horns of those cars forced to move out of his way.

********

Gibbs pulled the car up at the ornate wrought-iron gates and got out without comment.

Staring through the gates into the cemetery beyond, Tony followed cautiously, unsure if he was expected to tag along, prepared to risk being yelled at just to satisfy his curiosity.

Gibbs walked along the rows of headstones until he stopped in front of what was clearly a family plot. Neatly maintained, the black marble monuments in a row all bore the surname Gibbs. All were polished and hardly marked, the flowers apparently freshly placed.

Tony stood a few yards away, back from Gibbs, allowing him his privacy. He caught a few words including his own name until his attention was caught by an elderly man walking between the rows of graves whose job seemed to be to tend them. He held bunches of flowers and a watering can, which, Tony guessed, explained the freshness of the flowers on all the graves he could see.

After a few minutes, Gibbs walked past Tony without speaking and Tony had to run to catch him up as Gibbs gunned the engine and Tony was worried he would be left behind. He wasn't sure Gibbs even knew he was there.

*************

Middle of the night...

Gibbs woke slowly, his arm shaking. He groaned softly, blinked a few times and finally worked out *he* wasn't the one doing the shaking. The relief that he wasn't having a heart attack or whatever made you shake like his arm was moving made him close his eyes in silent thanks. It took him a moment to realize that it was the body under his arm that was moving.

`Tony?' No response. He leaned up and squeezed Tony's shoulder gently. `Hey!'

Tony sniffled, took a couple of shuddering breaths and whispered: `I'm sorry. I'm okay.'

Gibbs sighed. Tony was clearly very far from `okay'. He tightened his grip, pulling Tony towards him, hoping to calm Tony back to sleep. `Shhh...what is it?'

Tony's hair brushed Gibbs' chest as he shook his head. `It hurts.'

Gibbs felt his heart miss a beat. `What hurts?!'

`Inside.' Tony whispered. `It hurts inside. And sometimes...'

Gibbs let out a deep sigh. `It has to come out.'

Tony frowned and squirmed so he was far enough away so he could look at Gibbs. `You're not mad?'

Gibbs frowned at the suggestion. `Mad? No.'

Tony snuggled down, resting his cheek on Gibbs' chest. `Thank you. For...um...taking me with you.'

Gibbs' hand moved up, fingers carding Tony's hair slowly. `You're welcome.' After a few seconds silence between them, sensing Tony's mind was on something other than their trip out, Gibbs urged gently: `Talk to me Tony.'

Tony swallowed hard, took a deep breath and let it out slowly. `It sounds stupid.'

`I'll decide that.' Gibbs said firmly.

`Your Mom...she was...not like my Mom.'

Gibbs chuckled. `Oh I think it's safe to say they broke the mold when they made Momma.' Picturing his mother, Gibbs felt his eyes pricking with tears and decided it was okay to let them fall.

Feeling the tears dripping onto his cheek, Tony was suddenly sad for both of them. Eyelashes dark and damp, his arms moved to pull Gibbs as close as he could, offering comfort to a man he knew wouldn't seek it without encouragement. `She said you've liked me for two years.'

Gibbs huffed both at the way Tony had changed the subject, and the subject he had changed to. `Momma gets...confused. I told you.'

Tony nodded. `Yeah. Still...I'm gonna think she was telling the truth. If...uh...that's okay?'

Gibbs smiled, fingers gripping Tony's hair, arching the younger man's neck to look up at him. `Yeah Tony, it's okay.'

Tony closed his eyes and was asleep in seconds. Gibbs rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and gently stroked Tony's cheek, damp with their shared tears. Gibbs found sleep much more reluctant to claim him.



End

Notes:

This orphaned work was originally on Pejas WWOMB posted by author fanficwriter101.
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