Disclaimers: I do not own NCIS or the characters. Just borrowing.
Warnings: Fluffy
A/N: Just a cute, short little drabble for Father's Day! Enjoy!
The Best Daddy Ever
After a long hard week, all Anthony DiNozzo wanted to do that Sunday morning was sleep in. Long nights, very little sleep, and lack of proper nutrition that week had taken it's toll on him. In the end, it had paid off as they had found the missing kid and returned him to his parents in a tearful, happy reunion—Tony considered it to be one of the team's finest moments—but now he was exhausted. Sleeping in had been the only thing on his mind when he arrived home close to midnight the night before.
He felt the shift in his mattress before he fully awoke. Tony groaned into his pillow as the smell of Baby Magic hit his nostrils. Maybe if he ignored his three-year-old daughter, pretended to be sleeping, she would go back to her room and play for a while…. No such luck. Little hands reached out and shook his shoulder. "Daddy. Daddy wake up!" Kaitlin whispered in his ear.
Tony tried to bury his face deeper into the pillow but his daughter was, well, his daughter and she was persistent. She shook him again, this time a little bit harder and spoke louder, "Daddy! Wake up! It's Father's Day!"
Crap. So much for sleeping in, Tony thought with a grumble. He felt Kaitlin shift and slide over him and land on the other side with a soft thump. Opening one eye he came face to face with her smiling, sweet little expression. "Hi Daddy!"
"Hi peanut," he murmured, sounding as exhausted as he felt. "Did you miss me?"
"Yes. I don't like it when you work late," she said, her eyes getting sad. "We missed movie night."
"I know. I'll make it up to you with two movie nights this week, okay?" Tony promised her. He reached out and pushed her hair back away from her face. "Maybe we can have one tonight."
Kaitlin smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling on it. "Daddy, come on. It's Father's Day! I made you gifts! Don't you want to see them?"
Tony wanted to stay in bed and get some sleep, but he also couldn't resist his little girl when she batted her eyelashes at him like that. With a slight groan, Tony rolled out of bed and followed Kaitlin downstairs to the kitchen. He could smell toasted strawberry Pop Tarts and coffee. "Katie… what did I tell you about using appliances without an adult?"
She looked at him innocently, sweetly, "But I wanted to make you breakfast, Daddy."
He couldn't resist that sweet face and since it was Father's Day… he supposed that he could let the digression slide… but just this once. Tony picked her up and put her at the table, pouring her a glass of orange juice and breaking a Pop Tart up for her to eat. "Thanks for my breakfast, peanut."
"Do you like your mug? I made it," Kaitlin said, her eyes eager and wide. It was obvious she wanted everything to be perfect for him.
Tony had to chuckle at her excitement. She was pushing his coffee mug towards him and he could see two bright pink handprints on the mug, underneath someone had written Kaitlin, age 3. On the opposite side of her handprints was stamped Best Daddy Ever. "Aw, I love it! Did you get to pick the words and color?"
Kaitlin smiled, proudly. She was always happy to bring artwork and crafts she had made at school for him, but this time it was special. "Yes. Tommy said daddies don't like pink but I told him my daddy does because he's the best daddy ever."
"Well," he said, reaching under the table to tickle her toes, "it's easy to be the best daddy ever when I have the best baby girl ever."
"Daddy! Stop!" she said between giggles.
Her laughter was music to his ears. Tony realized that he was happy she had pulled him out of bed, that she had made him breakfast, because he never felt more loved than when he was spending time with Kaitlin, whether it was Father's Day or not.
