Summer in New York: Days in the Life

Disclaimer: I don't own anything connecting to the show.

Hello there! This is my little project that involves all the characters of my AU story, "Summer in New York". If you haven't read that one, here are the basics: Gibbs owns an apartment building in New York City where all the characters of NCIS (well, most of the characters) live. This story, or more precisely, collection of stories, serves as some kind of companion piece to that one... you know, to fill in the gaps, to get to know the characters better… Now, I don't promise regular updates. For the moment this is the only chapter written. But when something comes to me, it"ll be posted here.

This first chapter sheds light on the argument Tony and Kate had on the morning Ziva arrived in New York. Remember that one?

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Morning at the DiNozzos'

"DINOZZO!"

Tony's eyes popped open as he suddenly found himself staring at the ceiling wide awake. He groaned and turned on his stomach, burying his face into his pillow. Surely, he just imagined his wife screaming his name.

"Anthony DiNozzo, come here right now or I swear…"

Well, it seemed that he hadn't imagined it after all. But it definitely didn't make him move. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. He sighed contentedly and a little smile played on his lips as he tried to get back to his dream he'd been so rudely awakened from. He managed to recreate the sandy beach with his wife lying on a towel wearing nothing but that tiny bikini bottom he had actually bought her last summer but which she had refused to wear. Oh well, a man can dream!

He was just on the point of getting lost in his dream when Kate's angry footsteps pulled him back to the land of awareness. He kept his eyes closed, though. He figured she'd share her problem with him whether she found him awake or not.

"God damn it, Tony. What the hell did you do with my kitchen?"

Oh, yeah, the kitchen, Tony remembered and a huge grin appeared on his face… then his trousers landed in it.

"Wipe that grin off of your face and get your ass out of bed." After pulling his trousers away from his face, Tony opened his eyes and gave his wife one of his charming smiles.

"And good morning to you, too, Sunshine."

It didn't work on Kate, who was apparently pissed off, big time. And it was only 6 in the morning.

"Now," she commanded then turned and left.

Tony took his time to get dressed and follow Kate. When he emerged from the bedroom wearing a huge, satisfied grin, Kate threw him a murderous glare. Tony cringed inwardly but kept up the façade. He would never admit it to his wife but he counted himself lucky that look could indeed not kill. He would be dead over a thousand times by now, seeing that he'd been getting that glare ever since they'd been in diapers.

"I guess that look means that no good-morning-kiss for me," he observed.

"You think that's funny?"

"No. I like my good-morning-kiss," he pouted.

Kate sighed, trying really hard to stay calm. "Get in there," she told him in a leveled tone, indicating the kitchen. Hearing her tone, Tony's smile faltered for a moment and did as he was told. If there was something more dangerous than a pissed off and screaming Kate, it was a pissed of and calm Kate. But he couldn't help it, he loved messing with her.

"I don't see the problem," Tony stated after running his eyes over the kitchen, his grin back in place. "I did do the washing-up," he informed her, taking another good look at the state of the kitchen. The faucet was dripping – he must have forgotten to close it properly – and the water drops landed in the growing pool of water in the dirty sink. Oh yeah, he must have failed to empty the sink strainer, too. Yuck! They'd had scrambled eggs last night…

He quickly averted his gaze and it fell on an empty container that had once held a couple of slices of cake but now was lying abandoned and empty next to the sink with the remnants of the cake dried to its walls. "It just happened that I felt like eating the rest of that yummy-creamy thing you bought yesterday," Tony explained.

"And it just so happened, too, that you left the empty container on the counter." Kate raised an eyebrow, not amused.

"Don't look at me. You only told me to clean up after dinner."

"I see," Kate looked at him with mock understanding. "That's my fault. I should have been more specific and add that if your gluttony takes the better of you and you decide to swallow ALL of the cakes then, please, wash the container and don't throw the spoon on the counter, leaving chocolate smudges all over it."

"You see," Tony exclaimed enthusiastically, "that would've been most helpful."

Kate slapped him on the arm.

"What was that for?" Tony asked indignantly. "You know that domestic violence is a crime?"

"Not if it's justifiable," Kate retorted, hissing under her breath. "I can see you got thirsty, too." She indicated to the orange juicer sitting on the table in the middle of some sticky substance that must have been the juice of the orange the previous night. It was obvious that it'd be a feat in itself to clean the dried orange pulp from the juicer.

"I don't like washing it," Tony shrugged.

"Because that's my favorite part, too," Kate retorted sarcastically.

"At least I threw out the orange-peel," he tried to save the situation but he cringed when he saw Kate's eyes following a sticky orange trail on the floor leading to the trash can that was so packed that some of its content lay on the floor around it.

Kate took a deep breath as she turned to face Tony.

"You know, I don't know what your problem is," Tony explained. "You should be happy I cleaned the kitchen after dinner. I even swept the bread crumbs off the counter," he pointed out but Kate wasn't impressed. Okay, maybe he shouldn't have swept them to the floor but still... "I mean most husbands wouldn't have done that. I should be awarded a badge or something for doing that without complaining."

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, you only earned another opportunity to prove what a great husband you are…" she leant down to pick up a kitchen towel from the floor, "…and clean up the mess you made." Throwing the towel at Tony, she looked up at him challengingly.

"Oh, no," Tony laughed at her. "You won't make me," he shook his head, taking her hand into his and putting the kitchen towel into it as Kate watched him dumbfounded. "That's your kitchen," he indicated the room. "Which means, that's your mess, too." He grinned at her satisfied when for a moment Kate just stood their speechless. He silently congratulated himself. "So," he kissed her forehead, his grin still in place. "What's for breakfast?" he asked and went to sit down in the living room. He didn't get to the couch, though, before Kate stormed past him in the direction of the bedroom.

"You want breakfast, DiNozzo, you do it," and with that she slammed the door shut behind her.

"You can't actually leave me without breakfast," he complained to the closed door.

"Watch me," Kate told him, poking out her head from behind the door. "And just for your information, Honey," a devious grin appeared on her face, "I'll leave you without much more than that if you don't clean up your mess by the time I get dressed."

At that Tony couldn't say anything but there was no way he'd start his day cleaning up the kitchen.

"Look at that," he looked at his watch. "I'm running late." He hastily grabbed his jacket and pressed a kiss on his wife's lips. "Gotta go, Sweetheart. Bye." He flashed her a cheeky grin the practically ran out of the apartment.

"Go to hell, DiNozzo." He could hear Kate shout after him – well, he was sure the whole building could hear that – and his grin became more confident. It seemed he had just won.

Now, that was a good way to start the day!

"Oh, I'd gladly do that, Sweet Cheeks," he called behind him heading towards the stairway looking smug, "but I'm already THERE!"

Kate couldn't believe that Tony had just walked out on her. She narrowed her eyes then stormed after her husband, wearing only a tank top and a pair of tiny shorts. Her determined stride was interrupted, though, when she noticed Tony's wallet lying on the little table by the door. She huffed rolling her eyes then grabbed the wallet and stepped out on the corridor.

"DiNozzo," she called after him, making sure to sound as pissed off as possible. It wasn't that difficult. "Miss anything?" She raised an eyebrow as she gave him a pointed look.

From down the yard, Tony gave her a charming smile looking as if she had just asked him whether he'd be home by dinner.

"Yes, my peace, Darling."

"Your wallet, you idiot," she said frustrated then promptly threw it at him. She watched with satisfaction as Tony tried to catch it but then she realized that he wasn't standing alone in the yard. Ari was standing there with a woman right next to him. "Oh, Ari. Good morning!" She greeted her friend with a warm smile.

"Good morning, Kate."

"She is your sister?" she asked curious about the identity of the young woman. She remembered Ari telling her – and, well, everybody else – whenever he got the opportunity that his sister was coming for a visit.

"Yes, she is my little sister, Ziva."

"Hi there!" she greeted the woman with a friendly smile. "I'm Kate." She exchanged a quick glance with Tony when she noted the funny look on the younger woman's face. "We should get together sometime, all right?" she offered, already looking forward to it and making a mental note to tell Abby about the visitor.

"That would be great, Kate," the other woman agreed somewhat timidly.

"Nice." She beamed down at the siblings. "Now I have to go." She gave them one last smile before turning her back on the little group. She should really start getting ready otherwise she'd sure be late from work... again. Her boss was an ass even without giving him a reason to pick on her.

She was just about to enter the apartment when she realized she'd forgotten something. She turned back to look down into the yard. "Tony," she called to the man. "I love you," she smiled down at him and her smile widened when it was returned.

"I love you, too, Katie."

And that was it; the day had begun. It might be that Tony pissed her off like hell but she knew that he never meant any harm – and it certainly wasn't the first time that something like that had happened. It was a part of their life... just like making sure not to part on sour terms.

That was something she really loved in her marriage. There was no argument - serious or otherwise - between Tony and her that hadn't been resolved shortly after the outbreak. If it was necessary they'd sit down four hours - sometimes yelling a little more - to discuss the problem at hand. Sometimes it would only take a phone call and an 'I love you' to settle the matters... sometimes an 'I'm sorry' was enough... or like now, an affectioante smile would tell everything.

They both knew that it wasn't worth keeping grudges.

Passing the door to the kitchen, Kate sighed and shook her head with a tiny smile. She didn't have the time to deal with that and, anyway, she knew that by the time she got home from work, her kitchen would be clean. And if she was really lucky – and Tony was feeling suitably bad about the morning – a warm dinner would wait for her.

The End

Thanks for reading!