CBS and Paramount Pictures own NCIS.
Ever since Tony DiNozzo turned thirteen his birthday was treated as though it was just another day. He was a year older and a year closer to being left on his own. That was all that matter to Daddy DiNozzo. When Tony's eighteenth birthday arrived his father celebrated by throwing all of his belongings out on the back porch. Tony was given just enough money to take a bus to Ohio and then Mr. DiNozzo wiped his hands clean of his son. He didn't even say goodbye.
His nineteenth birthday was spent alone in the apartment that he rented for the summer watching James Bond movies. It was then that he decided that Sean Connery was the best Bond. It was a Sunday and he had the day off from working at the gym.
His twentieth passed without him realizing it.
It wasn't until his twenty-first birthday that any of his frat brothers realized that they didn't know when his birthday was. The few that were in town took him out to get drunk legally for the first time. Needless to say he didn't actually remember what happened that night. He did though find himself in bed with a leggy blonde.
When he first started out as a cop in Peoria it didn't him that no one knew when his birthday was. He was just a rookie then. He didn't even bother to ask for the day off. He didn't have anyone to celebrate with. By the second time his birth day rolled around he was already thinking about moving on. He didn't have anyone that he wanted to have around.
Philadelphia was worse than Peoria. He only celebrated one birthday there.
Then he went to Baltimore. It wasn't that horrible there even though he didn't really belong to one department. By then he learned not to get close to anyone. He would be gone in two years or less as the case was with Philadelphia. He had a few frat brothers living nearby so he celebrated with them. He lasted 22 months.
That was when he met Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
He had just started at NCIS when his birthday first rolled around. His teammates were nice enough but he wasn't sure if he trusted them. So he didn't tell them.
But on his birthday he found a note on his desk to go to his boss' house that night when work was over. He was confused but complied to the order. He didn't want to anger his new boss.
Gibbs never mentioned anything about it being Tony's birthday but on the table was a casual dinner and a few beers. Tony raised an eyebrow at the invite but didn't say anything.
The following year the team was in the middle of a tough case on his birthday but on his desk was a note telling him to come over again. Tony didn't think twice about the invite. He had dinner with the boss a few times since he first started at NCIS. The fact it was his birthday meant nothing.
Over the years he had come to expect the note on his desk from his boss to come over for his birthday. He began to trust Gibbs more than he ever trusted anyone else in his life. That he would remember his birthday was a huge deal to him when his own father couldn't have bothered to send a simple card.
Even when he had a girlfriend he would tell them that he already had plans for his birthday and that they could do something the day after. It was just to be expected that he would spend his evening with Gibbs and nothing would or could change that.
Then Gibbs went and ran off to Mexico. Tony didn't blame him for retiring. He understood why he did it. When his birthday came around there was no note from Gibbs inviting him to dinner. That night when they were done with work he still went over to Gibbs' house. He brought pizza and a few beers and ended up falling asleep drunk under Gibbs' boat. He did remember what happened then and went into work late. For some reason he was glad that there wasn't a leggy blonde next to him when he woke... and it wasn't because it was his boss' house.
The next year the whole fiasco with Jeanne and the Frog happened only months before Tony's birthday and things were still tense between Tony and Gibbs. But when he got to work that morning there was a note on his desk telling him that he was to be at Gibbs' house as usual.
He was stuck on a boat on his birthday the following year. During dinner he was left a note on his desk that someone had arranged for him to have a private video conference during dinner. He knew that it was Gibbs.
It was the first time that Gibbs wished him a happy birthday. For the next hour all they did was talk about nothing. It was as though they weren't separated as much as Tony thought they were.
For the first time he realized he was the only one that Gibbs invited over for his birthday. The others had family to celebrate their birthdays with.
Before they disconnected Tony called Gibbs 'Dad' and he meant it.
The next year was heard for them. They felt as though they were distancing from each other. But on Tony's birthday was the familiar note to come over to Gibbs house and none of that mattered.