It was going to be about two months before they were due to graduate and we were sitting around the table. Kelly had just told us she would be going straight into university after she graduated. Me and Tony smirked, we knew she would, she wanted to graduate fast and go straight into NCIS. Tony stretched out, he was eighteen.
"I enlisted in the Marines." Kelly started to choke on her food and I patted her back and I looked at him.
"Son, why didn't you talk to me first about this?" But before he could answer, Kelly stood up, she looked angry.
"How the hell can you do that to me? I don't want you coming back in a damn box. You're just going there to risk your damn life." I could see the pain in Tony eyes as she stormed off.
"Dad, I really want to do this!" I looked at him.
"I can see that, son, but I wish you would have talked to me first." He looked at me.
"I was scared I was going to lose my nerve, Dad." I knew Tony well enough to know that was probably true. We washed the dishes and went downstairs together to work on the boat. We both knew that we needed to let Kelly cool off. She rarely lost her temper like that and we both knew she would go out for a run. She exercised, just not as much as me and Tony, we went on jogs about twice a day, if we could.
We had been working on the boat for about twenty minutes before Tony spoke again.
"Dad, you think Kelly hates me?" I took a deep breath and looked at him.
"No, son, but she scared because there is a greater chance of death in the Marines than there is in being a cop." He nodded some. I could see he understood that. I looked at him. "So, when do you get shipped to boot camp?" I saw a look flash across his face, I knew that wasn't a good sign.
"In two weeks. I am going to take my GED test tomorrow." That's when I heard someone stomping down the stairs.
"You asshole! You were going to graduate with me!" Kelly slapped him, hard, across the face. "How could you do that to me? Damn you, Anthony DiNozzo!"
Tony wouldn't hit her but he would scream at her. They had only ever been in a fight twice.
"I didn't do this for you, Kelly. I did this for me, so back off. If you don't like the idea, I don't really care! I am going and I am going to do what I want with my own life!" Tony stormed out of the house. It was his turn to cool down by going for a run.
"Kelly, hun, I don't like it either, but you know Tony, he's going to go. He's already enlisted and he can't back out of this." She buried her head in my arms. As she cried, I stroked her hair. "You're going to talk to him tomorrow because you know he is doing something good for his country." She sighed and nodded slightly.
"Dad, I'm going up to bed." I let her go because I knew there was nothing I could do tonight. Once Tony cooled off, they would talk and things would probably be better, not perfect but they would be better! I laid my head on the boat! I was scared for my son because I knew what he was going to go through in the Marines. He had a hard road ahead and he knew it too. I knew he didn't go in there and enlist thinking it was going to be easy. Tony was not a stupid person, he was smart and he was brave.
The next day things seemed to be a bit better. He had got his GED diploma and we were proud of him for that. Things got better as the week went on, they were talking and spending more time together than normal. Kelly wanted to spend all her time with Tony and it was the same for Tony. When I came home in the evening, they were making dinner for all of us. We sat down and ate together. They seemed back to normal and I was glad.
We were at the bus station, waiting for the one that was going to take Tony to boot camp. We hugged him and we both told him that we were proud of him. He got on that bus and I felt the fear take hold of me, but he had chosen this and I was going to support him!
~Finished~
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.