“Dad, Daddy, wake up, wake up,”
Tony groaned and slowly opened his eyes to see Rani jumping on him.
“What is it sweetie?” Tony asked as he sat her down.
“Aunty Abby’s here,” she said excitedly.
“She is?” Tony asked.
“Yes,” Rani replied before jumping on Gibbs.
“Daaaad, wake up,” she said as she snuggled into him.
“Dad’s awake,” Gibbs said as he sat upright.
“Abby’s here,” Tony informed Gibbs. They walked into the living room to see Abby on the floor playing with Kaushal.
“Hey you two,” she smiled.
“Hey Abbs,” Gibbs said as he sat on the couch.
“You sleep well?” she asked.
“Yep,” Tony said.
“Good, because I took your alarm off,” she smirked.
“Abby, now Vance will have a reason to be cranky,” Tony said as he jumped up.
“I told him you were taking a week off,” Abby said. Tony looked at her wide eyed.
“It’s ok, McGee and Ziva have two Probie’s with them,” Abby said as she tickled Rani.
“But...” Tony said but Gibbs shoved his hand over his mouth.
“Make the most of the time with your children,” Gibbs said as he watched Abby play with the kids.
“Well, I’m off, we got a case,” Abby said as she stood up.
“Ok, see ya Abby,” Tony said.
“Bye Aunty Abby,” Rain waved.
“Bye Rani,” Abby waved back before leaving.
“Come on sweets, let’s get some breakfast,” Tony said as he held out his hand. Rani placed her hand in his and they went into the kitchen. Gibbs was placing Kaushal in his highchair.
“What’s for breakfast?” Tony asked as he sat Rani on a chair.
“Pancakes,” Gibbs said as he walked to the cupboard. Tony went and sat next to Rani and pulled Kaushal’s highchair closer to the table.
“Daddy, what are we doing today?” Rani asked.
“Whatever you’d like to do sweetheart,” Tony smiled. There was a knock at the door and Tony looked up.
“Daddy can I answer the door? It might be Uncle Tim,” Rani said excitedly.
“Sure,” Tony said as she ran to the door.
“We have plenty of babysitters,” Gibbs laughed as he started to cook up pancakes.
“Dad, someone’s here to see you,” Rani said as she walked in. Gibbs turned around.
“I’ll get it,” Tony said as he kissed Gibbs on the cheek.
“Thanks sweetie,” Tony said as he walked into the hallway. He opened the door and caught his breathe in his throat. He stood there staring, how could this happen? Not at this time, not when everything was so perfect.
“Tony,” she said.
“What... You... This...” Tony fumbled the words around his mouth. He didn’t know what to say. His heart felt like it was been ripped open.
“Jeanne,” Tony whispered. His face was now pale, heart pounding in his chest.
“Daddy, Daddy, breakfast is ready,” Rani said as she ran up the hall way.
“Sorry,” he whispered before closing the door without another word. They walked into the kitchen and Gibbs could see the hurt on Tony’s face. They ate breakfast, Tony eating slower while he fed Kaushal. When they’d finished Rani eagerly ran into her room followed by Gibbs with Kaushal. Tony went into the living room and sat on the couch.
This isn’t fair, why me? Why now? This can’t be! Tony screamed in his mind.
“Hey, you ok?” Gibbs asked as he came up behind the couch and wrapped his arms around Tony.
“Yeah,” Tony said as he leant back.
“Ha ha, stop lying,” Gibbs said as he kissed Tony’s cheek.
“Can we talk when the kids aren’t here?” Tony asked.
“Ok,” Gibbs said as he pulled Tony up.
“I’ll get dressed,” Tony said as he walked into the bedroom. Gibbs went back into the children’s room.
“Dad, can we go visit Aunty Abby?” Rani asked as she hugged Gibbs’ leg.
“Sure, but if they’re working we have to come home,” Gibbs said as he picked Kaushal up.
“Daddy, we’re going to see Aunty Abby,” Rani informed Tony. He smiled and took her hand. As they walked out to the car Tony was relieved that the street was empty. When they got to NCIS they went to Abby’s lab first and found everybody was down there.
“Hey, you’re supposed to be home,” Abby scolded.
“Rani wanted to see you,” Gibbs smiled. Rani ran up to Abby and hugged her legs.
“Are you busy?” Gibbs asked as he passed Kaushal to Ziva.
“No, just finished the case,” McGee said as watched Ziva play with Kaushal. Everybody smiled; maybe Ziva did want children after all.
“I’ll go get us some coffee; Abby you want a Caf-Pow?” Tony asked.
“Yeah please,” Abby said. Tony gave Gibbs a slight smiled before he left. He drove to starbucks thinking about how this day started.
“6 coffees, take away, please,” Tony said to the young girl behind the counter, she gave him an odd look before starting to make the coffees. Tony went and sat at a spare seat and looked out the window.
Why? He though angrily. Then there she was, standing across the road looking at Tony a look on her face he couldn’t decipher. Then that gut wrenching feeling that tore at his heart. Was he falling for the woman who’d so viscously broke his heart? He snapped his head back to the counter and saw the girl placing the coffees on the counter in the cardboard holders.
“Keep the change,” Tony said as he handed the girl some notes. He took the coffees and walked out of starbucks with his head down. He put the coffee in the car and quickly went to get a Caf-Pow and orange juices for the kids before getting in the car and slamming the door. He drove back to NCIS and proceeded back to Abby’s lab.
“Daddy’s back,” Rani smiled happily as she hugged his legs. He passed out the drinks and sat on the floor with the kids.
“We’re going to the park for lunch,” Gibbs told Tony.
“Ok, that’ll be good,” he replied. Lunchtime whirled around and everyone was down at the park. Tony had the urge to look up and regretted doing so.
“I’m gonna go over to that ice-cream stall and get the kids one each, they ate all their lunch and I did promise them one,” Tony said as he got up.
“Alright,” Gibbs said. As Tony started to walked for the ice-cream stall he listened to his friends, lover and children.
“Dad, Dad, we have to catch Uncle Tim,” Rani squealed. He could hear everybody running around and smiled.
“Hi, I’ll have a strawberry ice-cream cone and a chocolate ice-cream cup,” Tony said to the guy.
“Can you hold them here for a minute?” Tony asked.
“Sure,” the guy said happily. Tony walked towards a park bench. He knew this was the wrong thing to do; it would only reopen old wounds. It wasn’t worth it, yet he still did it. He sat on the bench and waited for a response.
“Who’s the lucky lady?” she asked.
“No one,” he replied calmly.
“Oh, so you’re a single parent?” she asked.
“No, Jethro and I are two very loving parents,” Tony responded.
“Jeanne what are you doing here? Why did you show up at home today?” Tony asked.
“I’m back in town, I wanted to see you, I wanted to apologise,” she said as she looked at Tony.
“I’ve moved on Jeanne, I’m getting married soon, I’ve got two beautiful children, life’s never been better,” Tony said, the last words coming out a bit more harshly than meant.
“I’m sorry Tony,” Jeanne said before standing up. Tony stood and walked back to the ice-cream stall.
“Here you go sir,” the guy said. Tony handed him the cash and took the ice-cream back. He gave the kids their ice-cream; he smiled as Ziva fed Kaushal. Gibbs looked at Tony who returned the look with a smile. After another hour at the park McGee got a phone call.
“Yeah ok, listen Katie, no you need to tell them...” McGee pulled the phone away from his ear and took a breath.
“Katie shut up! Tell them I’ll be there!” he said angrily into the phone before snapping it shut and shoving it in his pocket.
“We got a case,” he said as he stood up. Ziva jumped up and they said goodbye before leaving. Soon after, everybody else left and Gibbs, Tony, Rani and Kaushal went home.
The afternoon passed. They sat on the couch and watched the Spongebob Squarepants Movie with Rani before playing with Kaushal. Dinner came and went and again at 8.00 the kids were in bed with Tony and Gibbs reading them a story. Rani was asleep as soon as Gibbs flicked the light off.
“Tony, what’s wrong?” Gibbs asked as he sat on the bed.
“Nothing,” Tony lied.
“Don’t lie to me,” Gibbs said as he lay down. Tony lay next to him and sighed.
“In the morning,” Tony said. Gibbs got on top of Tony and straddled his hips.
“Tell me... Now,” Gibbs said, authority in his voice.
“Later,” Tony said, trying to get out from under Gibbs.
“So this is the way it’s gonna be, well, I’ll just have to punish you,” Gibbs said as a smirked splashed across his face.
“How?’ Tony asked, his eyes growing curious.
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