After grabbing a quick bite to eat and some coffee for the drive, the two got back on the road. Tony, wanting to avoid any more questions, dug out his Ipod to listen to. Seeing this, Gibbs wanted to give him a break and decided he would stop with the questions, for now.
The rest of the trip was made in silence. Once they hit Long Island, Tony shut off his Ipod and gave Gibbs directions to his Fathers Estate. As they approached the front gate, even Gibbs had a hard time hiding his surprise at the size of the place. After Tony showed his ID and they gained access, Gibbs drove up to the front of the house and parked their car.
Gibbs got out of the car and started to walk towards the front door when he realized that Tony wasn’t with him. He turned around and saw him just standing by the car, staring up at the house.
As he stood there, Tony was thinking that even after all these years the place hadn’t changed.
“DiNozzo” Gibbs yelled.
Tony jumped, “Coming Boss” he said as he hurried towards him.
The two of them approached the front door. Tony wondering if he should knock or just walk right in, it had been years since he had last been here. Just then the door opened and there stood someone that could only have been described as your typical butler. Tony had a look of surprise on his face as he stepped forward.
“Marcus” Tony said with a smile “I didn’t know you were still here, would have thought you’d have retired by now.”
The grey haired gentleman had a smile on his face as he shook hands with Tony.
“Mr. Anthony, this is a pleasant surprise” Marcus said, “We didn’t know you would be coming here.”
“I know Marcus, it was spur of the moment.” Tony replied.
Seeing Marcus look behind him, Tony suddenly remembered who was with him.
“Marcus, this is my Boss, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs.” He said turning to make the introductions. “ Boss, this is Marcus. He kind of runs the place.”
The two men shook hands, both seeming to size each other up. As the hand shake ended, Marcus opened the door wider and both men entered the hallway. “Impressive” Gibbs thought, as he took it all in.
“Mr. Anthony, I want to offer you my condolences.” Marcus said, “We heard about your Father’s passing yesterday.”
“Thank you” Tony said.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I must go inform Bella and Nina that you’re here.” Marcus said, “Then I’ll make sure that the guest rooms are ready for you.”
“You don’t have to go to any trouble.” Tony answered.
“It’s no trouble, Sir.” Marcus said.
As the Butler left the room, Gibbs raised an eyebrow and said “Mr. Anthony?”
Tony groaned “Can we keep that just between us? Because if the rest of the team finds out, I’ll never hear the end of it.” He gave Gibbs a pleading look.
“Not making any promises DiNozzo.” Gibbs smirked.
“C’mon, let’s go into the living room.” Tony said as he started to walk away.
As Gibbs started to follow him, he heard a woman’s voice from behind them.
“Oh my god! Is that really you Anthony?”
Coming towards them was an older, slightly plump woman. She had dark hair with streaks of grey and wasn’t very tall, maybe 5’3” or so.
As Tony turned around, Gibbs saw a genuine smile come over his face.
“Bella.” Tony said as he opened his arms, ready to hug the older woman.
Bella rushed over and gave him a hug. She then grabbed his face between her hands, as she kissed both of his cheeks she said, “It’s so good to see you Anthony, it’s been too long.”
“I know, I know,” he said as he kissed both of her cheeks in return. “It’s good to see you too.”
“So” she asked, “Why come back now?”
“Well, you see Bella,” Tony said as he took one of her hands with both of his. “I finally realized that you are the love of my life and I’ve come back to take you away from all of this”
He then gave her a wink along with his best flirtatious DiNozzo smile as he kissed her hand.
Bella smacked his shoulder with her free hand saying, “One of these days young man, that flirting is going to get you into big trouble.”
As Gibbs watched the whole scene unfold, he couldn’t quite hold back a smile. After Bella’s last comment, he spoke up.
“Oh believe me, it has.” He said with a smirk.
As they both turned towards Gibbs, Tony let go of her hand saying, “Sorry Boss, I almost forgot you were there”
As Gibbs just raised his eyebrow at him, Tony replied, “I said ALMOST.”
He then continued, “This is Bella, she runs the kitchen and is a better cook than most of the Chefs on the eastern seaboard. Bella, this is my Boss.”
Bella cut him off with the wave of her hand “Yes, I know, Marcus told me.” She then gave him the same hug and kiss treatment that she gave Tony.
“Well Agent Gibbs, It’s so nice to meet you. Any friend of Anthony’s is always welcome here.”
“Thank you Bella, it’s nice to meet you too.” Gibbs replied with a smile. He then thought to himself “ This woman could almost be related to Abby with the way she hugs.”
She then turned to Tony, “I’ve told Nina to prepare the two guest rooms in the East Wing. They should be ready by now if you wanted to go freshen up.”
As Tony’s mood sobered slightly, Gibbs decided to let HIM set the pace of their visit.
“Actually Bella, I wanted to stop in my Fathers study first.” Tony said, “Don’t worry, I remember the way up to the guest rooms.”
“Very well,” she said, “I had better get started on dinner. Will 7:00 p.m. be ok?”
“That’s just fine” he replied.
As Bella walked away, Tony turned to Gibbs and jerked his head towards the hallway.
“This way” he said
As they both started down the long hallway, walking side by side, Tony tried not to let his apprehension show.
At the end of the hall were large double doors, Tony stopped in front of them but made no move to open the doors. Gibbs was just about to say something when Tony took a deep breath, grabbed the handle and as he opened the door said “ This is the first time I’ve ever entered this room without knocking first.”
Gibbs really didn’t know what to say to that. So he just followed him into the room hoping that this would be worth it, for Tony’s sake.
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