Chapter 40
AN: I love that MW named his new baby girl Olivia. And, Michael, if you do read this stuff, I hope you got the baby name from me. And if the middle name is Marie, I will be glad to take full credit. At any rate, congrats on your precious little girl.
Welcome to the world, Olivia.
Olivia slipped her arm around Tony’s waist as they walked through the airport. They had minutes to catch their connecting flight to D.C. But, thankfully, the gate was close, so they didn’t have to rush, too much.
“I had a really, really good time, Dad.” Olivia said as she rested her head on Tony’s shoulder.
“Me too, Baby.” Tony replied.
“I really didn’t want to leave.” Olivia lifted her head. “How soon can we go back?”
Tony smiled and hugged Olivia tightly. He felt the same way. “You’re off to Harvard in a few months and….”
Then it dawned on her. It would be less than 3 months and she would be in Law School at Harvard. She was sure the results of her LSATs would be back by now, waiting on her at her parent’s house. The real world, her world, was crashing back in on her. She really did have a lot to do to get ready.
“Less than 3 months….” Olivia looked at Tony. “…I’m…I’m not ready for this.” She said, letting her fear show.
“You’re more than ready for this.” Tony reassured her. “You’re a DiNozzo.”
“What does that mean?”
“That means we kick fear’s ass.” Tony replied. “That’s what that means.”
Olivia laughed, and Tony smiled.
“We got one more plane to catch, Baby Girl. Let’s go.” Tony said as they headed towards the gate.
NICS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Tony and Olivia visited the Navy Yard to catch everybody at work. Tony had told Gibbs they would be back in a few days. But he had not given an exact day. He and Olivia had wanted to surprise the team. They went first to the bullpen.
Gibbs was going out for coffee and met them when the elevator doors opened on the first floor.
“DiNozzo! Olivia!” Gibbs’ surprise evident on his face. “You were supposed to call.”
“We took a cab, dropped by my place, dropped off my luggage, and got my car.” Tony replied. “I’m taking Olivia to Sallie and Jacob as soon as we get done here.”
“Glad you’re back, it’s…it’s been an experience. “ Gibbs replied to Tony. “It is very good to see you, my dear.” Gibbs said, giving his granddaughter a hug.
“Good to see you too, Grampy.” Olivia replied. “We got presents for everybody and we wanted to deliver them.”
Gibbs rode the elevator back up with Tony and Olivia, his coffee forgotten. Gibbs got off the elevator first giving Tony and Olivia an opportunity to hide. Gibbs told Tim and Ziva to call Ducky, Jimmy and Abby upstairs. They both just looked at him for a second, not really knowing the reason. They made the calls. Abby, Ducky and Jimmy were all equally as puzzled when they showed up in the bullpen moments later.
Tony and Olivia pretended they had just gotten off the elevator. Abby was the first to see them. She let out a squeal of delight and ran to greet both of them. She enveloped Tony in a huge hug first. She then hugged Olivia, babbling the whole time about how much she had missed them. She also said how glad she was they were home.
The rest of the group turned their attention in Abby’s direction. They were equally happy to see the cause of her excitement, though their display was much more subdued.
Tony and Olivia, while they did email many pictures home, sat aside a few other ‘special’ pictures. Olivia had decided to make everybody a scrapbook. She made color copies of tickets to attractions. She wrote commentary and, of course, pasted in many, many pictures. She worked on it almost every evening they were there, and by the time they left Italy all the books were ready to be presented.
Tony presented presents also. He found Ziva a beautiful Star of David-type necklace. He found Abby a huge skull and crossbones necklace. He found a scaled down wood model of the Leaning Tower of Pisa for Gibbs. He got Ducky a book on Italian painters, their paintings, and their history. He gave Tim a very nice Italian suit. Tony felt Tim needed a really nice suit. And he gave Jimmy a very nice pair of Italian loafers. Jimmy had given Tony many compliments on his.
They were all excited by their scrapbooks and gifts. And Olivia’s trip to Baltimore was delayed a few hours. The team took Tony and Olivia out to eat after work to welcome them home.
NICS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Tony was not due back to work until Monday. He and Olivia had come back a few days early. Tony had to take care of a few things. Just basic stuff, necessary things to get his life back to ‘normal’ before he went back. Tony was very busy with this stuff when his doorbell rang. Gibbs had shown up with beer and pizza.
Tony just smiled and moved aside so that Gibbs could enter. He sat the things down on Tony’s coffee table. He then helped himself to one of the ice cold beers.
“Good to have you back Tony. You look…relaxed.” Gibbs said, observing his friend.
Tony nodded as he opened the pizza box and selected a slice. “It was amazing. Olivia is…it was just so nice to be able to spend so much uninterrupted time with her. I learned a lot about my daughter.”
Gibbs nodded. “From what she said, she’s learned a lot about her father. The email she sent me…. It was….”
“I know. She let me read it before she sent it.” Tony replied as he opened his beer and too a swallow.
“She is quite a young woman.”
“That she is.” Tony agreed. “She’s…I feel like this was the first time I ever really got a chance to just spend time with her. It…she will be starting her own life soon. She’ll…I’ll never see her.”
Gibbs shook his head. “It’s just a part of life Tony. She…You got a late start in your relationship. You didn’t get to see her grow. But in a lot of ways, what you got is better. You get a woman you can have a true, honest relationship with. You got to miss the diapers, curfews, and temper tantrums.”
“Maybe I wanted all that, too.”
Gibbs smiled. “Trust me, diapers stink. One time at diaper duty is enough. Temper tantrums only happen in public, the sole purpose of which is to embarrass the parent. Even when Kelly was little, I was getting horror stories from parents, our friends, who were going through the curfew thing. It was horrible. I wasn’t looking forward to it.” Gibbs sighed. “And yes, you will grow apart, just a little. She will want to get married. She will have kids. She will have new responsibilities. It’s all a part of life. By the time she gets there, you will be ready for it. I promise.”
Tony looked at Gibbs. “You have been watching, Dr. Phil.” Tony concluded. “It’s a good thing I came back when I did.”
Tony felt a familiar sting at the back of his head when Gibbs walked past him to deposit his beer bottle in the recycle bin.
“Thank you, Boss.” Tony said, turning to look at him. “Good to know you missed me.”
TBC
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