Chapter 10
Two days later Tony received a huge box at his home. He opened the box and pulled out a note.
Tony,
I have been waiting, many years, waiting for you to find out about our baby girl. Our child has given Jacob and me so much joy and laughter over the years. I started making these scrapbooks for you the day she was born. I have added to them with each special occasion, with each passing year, hoping, one day, I would be able to give them to you. When she found you, I was waiting on her cap and gown picture to arrive. Now that it has, I send them to you. Her childhood is contained in these pages.
Thank you for giving me such a wonderful child. I am so, so glad she found you. Thank you for accepting her. I am so happy for her, and for you. She was a wonderful child who has grown up into a strong, caring, loving woman. She gets her strength from you, and I thank you for it. I am not sure I would have been able to do what she has done, had I been in her place. I am not sure I would have had the courage to look up my parent after all these years. Your acceptance means the world to her, and it means a great deal to me.
Bless You,
Sallie Martin
Tony put the note aside after reading it. He pulled out three large, heavy scrapbooks. They were numbered and Tony opened the first book. If Tony hadn’t known better, he would have sworn he was staring at his own baby picture.
Tony looked through the first scrapbook. It contained pictures of Olivia crawling and her first baby steps. Tony saw her in her first Halloween costume and her first big-girl dress. He smiled at the pictures of her first birthday party and laughed out loud as she got the first piece of cake, with her hands. The next picture showed her smiling broadly, pink and purple icing from ear to ear. Tony moved on to the next pictures. He was soon through the first scrapbook. The pictures ended with Olivia’s first day of kindergarten. The last picture showed Olivia getting on the bus, waving goodbye to her parents.
The second scrapbook followed Olivia through elementary and middle school. There were pictures of her first boy/girl dance. Sallie had included some of Olivia’s drawings. There were a few of her report cards enclosed also.
There was a letter stuck in between two pages. The envelope was addressed to ‘Dady DeNozo,’ written in a child’s hand. Tony, his hands trembling, opened the envelope and pulled out the half sheet of notebook paper inside. He read the child-scrawled message with tears in his eyes.
‘Hapy Fathur Day
I am the lukist gurl in the wurld to hav 2 dadys. I luv U, Dady DeNozo. Livia.’
Tony stared at the message for a long time. He finally wiped the tears from his eyes and put the letter back into its envelope. He smiled to himself. He put the letter back into the scrapbook and turned the page.
Tony flipped through the rest of the rest of the scrapbook, but his mind kept going back to that letter. He hurriedly made a decision, putting all the scrapbooks into his backpack; he slung the pack over his shoulder and headed out the door.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Twenty minutes later, Tony arrived at his destination. He entered the house and quickly headed downstairs. Tony had sat down on Gibbs stairs before he spoke.
“So, DiNozzo, how does it feel?”
Tony shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel. There is an 18 year-old woman out there in the world calling me Dad.”
Gibbs smiled at him. It was one of his genuine smiles he only took out on the rarest of occasions.
“What?” Tony asked.
Gibbs shook his head still smiling. “Kids aren’t complicated, even the grown ones.” Gibbs replied. “She only needs or wants two things from you, love and acceptance.” Gibbs paused. “You have already shown her both. The way you acted with her at the pizzeria. She knows you love her. She knows you accept her.”
“You’re not upset with me?” Tony asked. “I was honestly expecting a pretty hefty head-slap for this one.”
“You didn’t know Olivia was out there.” Gibbs stated.
“No, but I kept things from you. I asked you to wait a week.”
“I got a grandchild out of the deal. How can I be upset with that?” Gibbs said smiling.
Tony smiled. “I was really hoping you would say that. She…she likes you.” Tony paused and sighed. He studied Gibbs for just a moment. He then turned his attention to his hands. “I…I missed so much. I mean…I missed all the important things, all the firsts.”
Gibbs shook his head. He put down his sandpaper and then took a seat on the steps. “Tony, she still have more ‘firsts’ in her life, high school graduation, first day of college, college graduation, getting married, her first child.” Gibbs fell silent, appearing to be lost in thought.
Tony shook his head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up memories of Kelly. But…” Tony explained. “…I just couldn’t go to anyone else. It’s…they haven’t had children.”
Gibbs nodded. “She…if I could have Kelly back, just for a day, I…I would take her…at any age.” Gibbs stared at the floor, his voice was starting to shake and he didn’t want Tony to see the tears in his eyes. “Don’t concentrate, don’t dwell on what you’ve missed, Tony. That’s not important. What’s important is what you have now.” Gibbs looked up at Tony at this point. “You can find out about Olivia’s childhood through stories and pictures, but don’t…don’t let THIS go by because you are upset you had no part of THAT. You’re depriving yourself of something very special, very precious.”
Tony wanted to give Gibbs time to compose himself. “I…Sallie, Olivia’s mom, sent me some scrapbooks. You want to look at them with me?”
Gibbs nodded, but still didn’t look up.
Tony stood up and headed upstairs.
Gibbs went upstairs a few moments later, after he had dried his eyes.
Tony had sat down on the couch by the time Gibbs got upstairs. He had the letter in his hands he had read at home. He handed it over to Gibbs without a word. Gibbs read it and then lay it back down on the table beside the unopened scrapbooks.
Tony shook his head. “She didn’t even know me. How could she love me?”
“You’re her dad.” Gibbs said simply.
“That’s it.”
“That’s it.” Gibbs repeated. “Kids don’t impose conditions. They don’t understand conditions. They just love. They just are.” Gibbs explained. “Olivia was probably told when she was a kid she had two dad’s who loved her and wanted her and she just accepted it as fact. She saw how much the dad who raised her loved her. She figured you must love her that much too. That was what daddies did as far as she was concerned.”
“Is that what dads do?”
Gibbs nodded. “Yep.”
TBC
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