**Chapter Twenty-One -- Can't Take It**
**The Next Morning -- December 25, 2010**
Tony smiled at his girl as he helped her into the passenger seat of the Expedition, reaching over her to buckle her seatbelt as she closed her eyes sleepily. Pulling the keys from his pocket, he rounded the front end of the car and started it up, pulling out of the parking lot.
Britty had left her car behind, fortunately, when Abby had insisted that she go to midnight mass with Bradley and Jack, refusing to let her early labor dampen their holiday.
The doctor had been able to successfully stop Abby's labor, being sure to let them know that if she were to begin laboring again before her due date, that they would let her go ahead and have the baby.
Once they arrived back at the house a half an hour later, the Goth was completely passed out, exhausted from the prior day's events. Leaning across the center console, he pressed a kiss to his girl's cheek before shaking her gently. "Abs. C'mon, we're home."
She groaned quietly, shifting as she tried to get comfortable in her seat. When she opened her eyes, the Italian could see the dark circles that were starting to form under them. "Hey." She mumbled, offering him a tired smile.
"Hey you." He replied, forcing a smile. He wasn't having the easiest time dealing with all that had happened with the premature labor, but he was trying to hold it together as best he could for Abby. "Let's get you upstairs, you need your sleep."
She didn't protest, reaching down to unbuckle her seatbelt and frowning as the baby kicked her hard. With a quiet whimper, she pushed the door open, waiting for Tony to climb out and hurry around before she slid out of the seat with his help.
"You okay?" He asked her, wrapping an arm around her thin shoulders as he held her against him, frowning down at her.
"Just tired." She responded sleepily. She hadn't slept at all the night before, her concern for their baby and the occasional intense cramping keeping her from drifting off to sleep.
Leaning over, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head before they made their way inside the house slowly, surprised to find Britty and Bradley in the living room, waiting for them.
"How ya feelin', sweetie?" Britty asked as she pushed herself to her feet, hurrying over to her friend.
"She's alright." Tony responded, rubbing his girl's arm gently. "Just exhausted."
"I'll bet. You look like you're about to fall over too." She remarked, taking in the circles under the Italian's eyes. "You two go on up and get a couple hours of sleep. We can hold off on the Christmas festivities until you're feeling up to it."
"Oh, B." Abby sighed. "No. Don't make Jackie wait to open presents, okay? I already screwed up Christmas Eve and..."
"You hush." She scolded. "Jack doesn't mind. He wants you down here when we do presents anyway, you know that. Now you go on upstairs and don't worry about it, huh?"
Knowing it was pointless to argue any more, Abby hugged her sister-in-law before offering her brother a wave.
"Sleep well, baby girl." Bradley said, watching as the slightly younger man took his sister up the stairs carefully.
Reaching the top of the staircase, Tony pushed the bedroom door open and almost groaned at the sight of the bed. He wanted nothing more than to collapse and sleep until the next week, but he wanted to make sure his girl was comfortable first. Leading her over to the bed, he sat her down on the edge while he made his way over to the dresser, removing her favorite pajamas.
"Here, baby. Let's get you changed and then we'll sleep, okay?"
She wasn't much help as he changed her clothes, and she was grateful when she was finally able to lay back against her pillows, her entire body exhausted.
Tugging his jeans off, Tony kicked them into the corner before removing his shirt and climbing into bed beside her. Turning onto his side, he wrapped an arm around her as best as he could before he pulled her against his chest, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.
"Sleep well, baby. Merry Christmas."
**A Few Hours Later**
Tony woke up and climbed out of the bed carefully, making sure that he didn't wake the Goth. He was still tired himself, but he knew that if he slept any more, he wouldn't be able to sleep later that night. Leaning over, he pressed a light kiss to his girl's hair before pulling his jeans back on, grabbing a clean shirt, and heading downstairs to see what the rest of the family was doing. He stepped into the kitchen and yawned, seeing Bradley and Britty making dinner.
"You guys need any help?" He asked, opening the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of water.
Britty spun around and smiled at the Italian. "Nah, we got it. Abby's still sleeping?"
Tony nodded, leaning against the counter and taking a sip of his water. "I think I'll let her go for a little while longer. If she's not up when dinner's ready, I'll wake her."
"That's probably a good idea. I'm sure you know that she's a bear when you wake her up before she's ready." Bradley joked, chopping up carrots and celery. "How'd everything go last night?"
"Everything went fine." He said quickly, looking back toward the stairs.
Bradley eyed him carefully, seeing the stress that was clearly written on his face, before turning to his wife and giving her a kiss. "I'm gonna go out and check on the steaks." Wiping his hands on a dish towel, he looked back at the younger man. "C'mon. Looks like you could use some air."
The brunette hesitated momentarily before following him, offering a smile to the redhead as he passed. "I'm fine, Bradley." He tried, closing the door behind him as they stepped out onto the deck.
"Hope you're more convincing when you lie to Abby." He commented, opening the lid on the barbecue. "The girl may as well be a mind reader."
He didn't respond, instead moving over to one of the chairs and sitting down, sighing heavily.
"Tony, what's goin' on? The baby's okay, right?" Bradley asked. He didn't like the sinking feeling in his stomach that he had while looking at the younger man unraveling in front of him.
"Yeah. Yeah, the baby's fine." He frowned, covering his face with his hands. "I don't know that I am though."
Sighing, the older man took a seat next to the agent. "Scared ya, huh? Takin' her to the hospital last night?"
"Yeah." Tony scoffed, slumping back against the chair. "Yeah...scared is probably an understatement. I don't know that I'm ready for this, Bradley."
"Ready for what?" Abby asked, stepping out onto the deck and tugging her robe over her shoulders.
Tony stood up immediately, walking over and helping his girl to a chair. "Christmas." He covered. "I haven't even wrapped your present yet."
She chuckled quietly, relaxing against him when he sat behind her on the lounge chair. "It's okay, T. You didn't have to get me anything anyhow."
He sighed, grateful that she didn't catch his lie, knowing that she had other things on her mind. "You should be sleepin', baby."
"I'm tired of sleepin'." She grumbled, leaning heavily against him. "I feel like that's all I've been doing since Thanksgiving."
"You don't have much longer." He reminded her, his hand moving to rest on her belly, smiling when he felt their baby kicking gently against his hand.
"Long enough. As worried as I was last night...I almost felt relieved at the fact that this was almost over and now..." She trailed off, sighing.
Leaning down, Tony kissed his girl's shoulder gently, privately disagreeing. The trio remained outside for awhile longer, enjoying the cool air until the redhead came to the window, calling for her husband.
"Ty's just pulled up! How are the steaks comin'?"
Waving her off, Bradley pushed himself to his feet before turning to his sister with a smirk. "You hear that, Abs? Tyler's here. You better go get dressed." He said with a wink before he headed inside.
"Who's Tyler?" Tony asked, smiling at her obvious embarrassment.
"One of Britty's brothers. We...dated for a few years in high school." She said, trying to push herself off the chair with no luck. "I'm really starting to hate this." She giggled.
"Eh, if anyone can handle it, you can. You're the strongest woman I know." He said, helping her up. "Now, c'mon. Let's get cleaned up for dinner."
The couple made their way upstairs and changed quickly into their dinner clothes before heading back down to the living room. Tony felt his girl take his hand, lacing their fingers together when she saw the three redheaded men sitting in the living room.
"Oh. My. God. Is that little miss Abigail?"
The Goth's face flushed as she turned into Tony's chest, hiding. "You know how much I hate that name, Ryan!"
"Your Mama liked it enough to give it to you, so it can't be that bad." Ryan said, setting his beer down on the coffee table and approaching her. "Been busy since we last saw you, I see. I'm assuming you're the proud Papa?" He said, shaking Tony's hand.
Abby smiled, looking up at her lover. "Ry, this is Tony DiNozzo. Tony, Ryan Lewis. B's oldest brother. RJ there, that's Ryan's twin, and Tyler is the one with the middle child complex."
"Technically, I'm the oldest, Abby. You know that." RJ joked, waving at her from the couch.
"By 30 seconds!" She chuckled. "That hardly counts."
"Hey, oldest is oldest, no matter by how much." RJ shrugged, finishing his beer. "Where's the beer wench in this place?" He called, flinching when Britty threw a pot holder at him from the kitchen. "What?"
The Goth spotted Tyler sitting across the room, watching her out of the corner of his eye while he played video games with Jack. She smiled at him briefly before turning and pressing a kiss to Tony's lips.
"I think my assistance is required in the kitchen."
The Italian gripped her hand when she tried to pull away, his eyes widening slightly. "Please don't leave me here." He whispered, pleading with her. "I'll come help with the table...anything. Please."
Leaning up on her tiptoes, she gave him another kiss. "They're harmless. Now, go make nice. Dinner will be ready in a few."
He watched helplessly as she headed into the kitchen before he turned back to the four men in the living room, swallowing hard. He didn't quite like the way Ryan -- or was it RJ? -- eyed him, nor did he like the smirk on Bradley's face as he made his way over to the oversized chair, sinking down into it.
"So..." One of the twins began, looking him over. "You and Abby, huh? How exactly did you two meet?"
"Oh. Um...we've uh...been friends for a long time. Met when I came down to New Orleans nearly...well, I guess it was almost 12 years ago."
"Abby's managed to hold onto one man for that long?"
"We were...friends first. Kind of a 'When Harry Met Sally' type of deal."
The twins exchanged a look before turning to Bradley. "This is the guy you were tellin' us about? The one with the endless movie references?"
At least Bradley had the decency to look somewhat ashamed, Tony decided, ignoring the irritation he felt flaring up toward his girl's older brother.
"Didn't realize that Hollywood was the baby's daddy." RJ snickered, turning back to Tony. "You better be takin' good care of our girl."
"Okay boys, fun time's over. You can stop harassing him. It's time for dinner." Abby said, smirking at her lover as she pulled him into the dining room and set him down at the table.
They ate dinner fairly quickly and with little incident, due mostly to the fact that the twins and Bradley decided to have a 'who can eat the fastest' contest, reminding both Abby and Britty of their childhoods. When the meal ended, the women cleared the table and did the dishes while the boys congregated in the living room, turning on the football game.
"Hey, Jackie." Tony said, beckoning his nephew over to him. "Wanna help me with your Auntie's present?"
The boy nodded, joining the Italian as he headed up the stairs. The girls returned to the living room a moment later, taking the seats that were available, leaving Britty sitting between Ryan and Bradley, and Abby sitting next to Tyler on the loveseat.
"Ooh, look at this. It's like old times, huh?" Ryan joked, laughing loudly when his younger brother and Abby both blushed.
"Cut it out, Ry." Britty said, elbowing her brother in the ribs. "You're embarrassing 'em."
"Aw, c'mon B. You know it's not often that we get to torment our Abby!" Ryan responded with a roll of his eyes.
"See, if you'd just married Tyler like you were supposed to, we'd most likely have run out of things to tease you about by now." RJ snickered, looking pointedly at his younger brother.
"C'mon guys." Tyler sighed, offering Abby a sheepish smile. "Sorry." He mumbled.
She shook her head, resting a hand on her belly as the baby kicked. "It's fine. I'm happy with my choices, which is more than I can say for the neanderthals you call brothers. I don't see either of you two married." She smirked, wagging her finger between the twins. "So far, Britty's the only one who's gone all the way."
"You guys weren't having too much fun without me, were you?" Tony asked, stopping suddenly in the doorway when he saw his girl sitting on the loveseat with Britty's brother.
Abby turned around as best she could and offered her lover a smile, missing the momentary flash of jealousy that crossed his face. "Hey baby. What's under the sheet?"
He cleared his throat, schooling his face into a broad grin. "Your Christmas present."
"Well, bring it here, I wanna open it!" She said, smiling brightly at him.
Jack helped his uncle carry the gift over to the Goth, standing it in front of her so that she could pull the sheet off.
"Oh, Tony!" She cried, her eyes watering slightly as she looked at the framed and signed Evil Dead poster. "Where'd you get this?"
"Online. I found it a couple weeks ago." He said, leaning down and kissing her. "So, what do you think? I thought we could hang it in the apartment when we get back to DC."
"I love it, baby. You must've paid a fortune for it, being signed and framed like this."
"Why the big fuss over a movie poster? Hollywood's brainwashed you, girl." RJ said, pointing his finger at her from across the room. "Told ya you shouldn't have let Ty go."
"Richard James!" Britty snapped. She looked up at Tony, seeing his face fall slightly before he pulled his usual mask firmly back in place. "Tony, don't let these knuckleheads get to you. They're just jealous."
"Yeah." He said, shrugging his shoulders halfheartedly. "I'm...uh, just gonna take this upstairs."
"Tony..." Abby said, struggling to push herself off the couch. Tyler noticed and helped her up, his eyes following her as she went after her lover. "T, wait."
They all watched in silence until the couple was up the stairs before Britty spoke up. "Jack, why don't you run into the garage and get the pies out of the freezer, huh?" she asked.
"Sure Mama."
Once the boy was out of the room, Britty turned on her brothers and husband. "What the hell were you thinking? Can't you guys be nice to someone for more than five minutes!?" She cried, pushing herself off the couch angrily.
Ryan stood up with her and rested his hand on her shoulder. "Britty, you know we didn't mean it. RJ get's outta hand when he drinks."
"That's no excuse!" The redhead said, shrugging his hand off. "I should kick you all out of my house, treatin' my guests that way!"
RJ opened his mouth to speak, only to have Britty slap him upside the head, making him jerk forward.
"Do not *even* think about it, RJ. She's always treated you as a brother, so there's no reason for you to treat her or Tony that way." Turning to her husband, she frowned darkly. "Bradley..." She hesitated, shaking her head sadly. "I'm ashamed of you, treatin' him that way. You two were finally makin' some progress."
She left the room before any of the men could make excuses for themselves or each other, choosing instead to head upstairs to check on her sister-in-law. Pausing outside of their bedroom, she heard the couple talking quietly, and after a minute of listening in, she decided to head back downstairs, leaving them to deal with it on their own.
"Tony..." Abby sighed quietly, sinking down onto the bed beside her lover. "Please don't let those idiots bother you. I absolutely adore the poster."
He ran a hand over his face, avoiding eye contact with her. "I know you do, Abs. It's just..."
"This is about Ty, isn't it?"
Tony hesitated, pushing himself off the bed and walking over to the window, not saying a word.
The raven-haired woman could feel her heart sinking. "Tony. You aren't seriously doing this."
"Doing what, Abby?" He snapped, turning back to her when she sobbed quietly. He crossed the room quickly, crouching in front of her and cupping her face in his hands. "I'm sorry. It...I know I don't have to worry about Tyler, okay? I just...it's everything. It's all piling up."
"Why didn't you come to me, T? Why don't you tell me what's bothering you?"
He scoffed, closing his eyes briefly. "Baby, you have enough goin' on without dealing with my problems too. I can handle it, okay?"
The raven-haired woman leaned forward and kissed him deeply. "I'm always here for you, Tony. regardless of the problem, the situation...any of it. We have to be honest with each other." She sighed when he pulled away again. "I'm goin' back downstairs. You comin'?"
"Yeah." He said, following her out the door. Reaching for her hand, he linked their fingers together, offering what he hoped was a reassuringly smile. They made their way into the living room, and Tony couldn't help but feel relieved that Bradley and the twins were missing in action.
"They're outside playin' football." Britty explained as she stepped back into the living room, a warm smile on her face. "Why don't you go on out and join them?"
"No thanks." The Italian muttered. "Still pretty exhausted from last night, y'know."
The redhead nodded, looking between him and Abby before heading outside. Tony helped his girl over to the couch, offering a polite smile to Tyler.
"Want something to drink?" He asked, squeezing the younger woman's hand again.
"Maybe just some water?" She said, smiling at him as he turned for the kitchen. "Oh! Tony, could you get me some spinach dip too?"
"Sure thing, baby." He called, disappearing around the corner.
Abby relaxed against the couch, waiting for her lover to come back, when she saw Tyler move from the recliner to the spot next to her. "Hey, Ty." She smiled. "I'm really sorry we haven't had a chance to talk today."
He shrugged. "It's okay. B told me what happened yesterday. I'm glad you and the baby are alright."
"Thanks." She smiled, leaning over and kissing his cheek. "Your brothers sure know how to play the holdout, huh?"
"Oh, about you and me gettin' back together? Yeah. They...they don't understand why we didn't work."
The Goth placed her hand on her belly, groaning when the baby kicked her in the ribs. "I can't wait for this to be over."
"I bet." Tyler said, glancing toward the kitchen. "Um...congratulations, by the way. You seem really happy with Tony."
"I am. You know...we were friends for years, and we've had our bumps, but I think we're better for it, you know?"
He nodded, looking up when Tony reentered the room, carrying Abby's water and snack. "Hey, Tony." He said, standing up and offering his hand to the older man. "I'm sorry for my brothers. They can be a little...aggressive sometimes. They don't know when to draw the line."
The Italian shook his hand. "It's fine. Trust me, they're not that much different than I am around the people I work with. It's just been a tough few days, that's all."
Bradley jogged up to the back door, kicking his shoes off before entering the living room and plopping down in the recliner, out of breath.
"Good game, Bradley?" Tyler asked, seeing the grass and sweat stains on the older man's shirt.
He narrowed his eyes at Tyler. "You know what, kid? I don't see you out there gettin' your ass kicked by your brothers. Y'know that football wasn't my sport."
Abby chuckled at her brother, covering her mouth when he narrowed his eyes at her. *Give me a minute with Tony.* He signed, looking pointedly at Tyler. *Take him with you, please.*
She nodded. "Hey, Ty, can you help me up? I wanna get some air."
"Uh, sure." He said, looking at her confusedly before standing and helping her off the couch.
They closed the door behind them when they walked onto the back porch, leaving Bradley and Tony in the living room alone. "Tony..."
"Don't, Bradley."
"Okay, you can knock that shit off right now." He said, leaning forward in the recliner. "Look, I'm sorry for earlier. Now, I'm bein' man enough to say it, so you can stop bein' stubborn."
Tony sighed, dropping his head against the back of the couch. "You don't have to apologize, man. I've been under a lot of pressure with Abby gettin' so close, and..."
"I know, Tony." Bradley reached across the space that separated them and tapped him on the knee. "Things get better. I promise."
Chapter End Notes:
"Can't Take It" by All-American Rejects