Redefining The Future

Playing Pretend

Chapter 8 - Playing Pretend

Arriving only a few minutes after 10.30am, Mrs Redding had been eager to meet with the family who had not only looked after her husband but had also found his captor. Tim, who had been assigned to drive Mrs Redding to Gibbs' house, had explained to her that Agent Gibbs' two children, Tony and Ziva, were unaware of the true nature of Douglas' condition, thus asking that she not mention anything until the children had been taken away from the house. Mrs Redding fully understood and agreed that she would pretend Douglas was her grandson.

When she and Tim stepped through the door, they were greeted by Gibbs and Jenny who quickly led them into the living room, where Tony, Ziva, Abby and Douglas sat on the floor playing with the now brightly painted blocks Gibbs had made.

Gibbs couldn't help but notice the shocked intake of air made by Mrs Redding when she laid eyes on her six month old husband for the first time. He had to admit though, he was impressed with her ability to regain composure quickly and step into the grandmother role almost immediately.

"Oh Douglas!" she cried, as she stepped forward and crouched down in front of the baby.

Although Gibbs watched carefully, he saw no sign of recognition from Douglas. No flash of familiarity, no widening of the eyes. This relieved him greatly. He had hoped that Douglas had no memory left of his adult existence and it would appear this was the case.

"Are you Douglas' grandma?" asked Ziva, looking carefully at the older woman who was now crouching on her knees.

"Yes dear," replied Mrs Redding. She smiled at Ziva and the little girl smiled back.

"Are you going to take him home with you?" Ziva asked.

"If that's ok with you?" replied Mrs Redding.

"Oh yes, that's very ok," replied Ziva nodding solemnly. The adults around her tried hard to supress smirks of amusement.

"Babies can be quite challenging can't they?" said Mrs Redding, not missing the relieved undertones expressed by Ziva.

"Yep, and he cries a lot!" remarked Ziva, rolling her eyes. "Mummy and Daddy say it's because he's getting a new tooth, so you may want to get some ear plugs because he's still got a lot of teeth to get!"

When Ziva reached out and patted Mrs Redding sympathetically on the shoulder, those around her could no longer hold their mirth. Abby was the first to crack, letting out a snort of laughter, quickly followed by Tim. Even Jenny and Gibbs gave a small chuckle. Tony was the only one who didn't see the funny side. He fully agreed with Ziva and thought the advice was excellent.

"You may also want to get some pegs for your nose," Tony added. "He stinks pretty bad in the mornings."

"Ah huh!" agreed Ziva, continuing to nod her head.

"Well," said Mrs Redding, looking at both children and smiling. "I can see that you are both quite eager to get back to your normal lives."

"Oh please don't think that we haven't enjoyed having Douglas," remarked Jenny, stepping forward and placing a hand on each of Tony and Ziva's shoulders. "The children have loved playing with him, and reading him stories. They even helped Jethro to paint those blocks for Douglas."

She pointed to the blocks scattered on the floor. "We thought Douglas might like to take them with him," she added.

"That's very kind of you," replied Mrs Redding.

Standing up and groaning slightly from being down on the floor, Mrs Redding turned to Jenny and, taking the younger woman's hand, said, "I appreciate everything you have done for him. I know it can't have been easy, especially with two children of your own."