Startled
Jethro stepped aside when they reached the doorway and motioned for Maria to have the honour of ringing the bell to Tony's apartment. She did so, beaming, and fell back against him as he grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"I am so mucho excited to see my Antonio's home at his college!" Smiling, she enthusiastically rang the bell again, holding it down a bit longer than she had the first time.
Jethro couldn't help laughing at her anticipation, and at her delight in having her baby so near to her.
It opened abruptly, not more than a crack, to a leggy brunette clad solely in a tee shirt from Ohio State which reached past her knees and clearly belonged to Tony. It was apparent that she was not wearing anything else, and Maria frowned at Jethro. He shrugged his shoulders in reply and shook his head slightly.
The young lady had certainly surprised them, and in turn, she seemed taken aback at the appearance of strangers.
"May I help you?" the brunette asked, twirling a long tendril of hair around a finger while still holding onto the edge of the door.
"We're here to see Tony," Jethro explained, raising an eyebrow once he finally recognized the girl's outfit as his son's shirt.
Maria added, "I am Tony's grandmama, and this is his daddy."
The girl stepped back abruptly, nearly tripping in her haste, and the colour seemed to drain from her face. "Uhm, ok, come on in. Tony's in the back- in the bedroom. I mean that is where he was a few minutes ago. Make yourselves at home. I was just leaving."
She turned, no longer blocking the entry, and they followed her, not shutting the door to the bright early morning. The young lady quickly began grabbing her belongings, and sliding on her sandals and extracting her keys from her purse, she called out a warning, "Tony, I've got to go now. Call me later. You have visitors- in the living room!"
With that she waved good bye to them and bolted out the door, shutting it firmly behind her.
Jethro consulted Maria, "Did that young lady just run out of here wearing only sandals and a tee shirt?"
"Si, she did, and it was Bambino's shirt, too, and not hers. I guess it was a dress for her, though."
Jethro and Maria took a moment to look around the vacated living room appraisingly. Trashed was the descriptive word which came to mind first, and incredulous disbelief followed as the emotion. Beer bottles and pizza boxes covered every surface, along with empty Chinese food containers. Clothes cluttered almost all of the surfaces on the coffee and end tables. The entertainment system was open and videos and music disks lay scattered across the floor. School texts and notebooks covered the kitchen table.
It resembled a tornado zone, or the scene of a horrible firefight.
The visitors looked at each other in astonishment, each trying to interpret the state of the area.
Maria spoke haltingly, "Maybe he is making up now for all the years we made him clean his room."
Tony's voice floated from the bedroom, "Amber, Honey, wait a minute and let me tell you a proper, lingering good bye!" He jogged down the hall and into view, clad only in the boxers he was pulling up as he moved. When his gaze fell onto Maria and Jethro he stopped so suddenly that he nearly slammed into the wall, and his green eyes widened in shock.
"Daddy, Abuela- what are you doing here?" Once the words were spoken he took an assessing, panoramic look around the apartment and then down at himself and groaned audibly.
Gibbs spoke carefully, "Aren't you going to tell us hello, Son?"
Tony moved to them then, despite the obvious fact that the state in which his visitors discovered him and his apartment clearly embarrassed him.
He threw his arms around his father and hugged him quickly, then grabbed Maria and swung her, kissing her all over her face. "Mi abuela, te amo! I love you! You are my beautiful grandmamma and you are here with your Antonio, your very own baby."
When he finally put her down and allowed her to stand she was laughing, and she reached back up to pull him down for another kiss. "I have missed my boy so much!"
Jethro interrupted, "Why don't you go get dressed, Son, while we clear off a place for us to sit in the living room?"
Tony looked down at his lack of clothing and blushed. No doubt the other two had no delusions about what he and Amber had been doing.
Nevertheless he nodded, but asked, "Sorry about the mess- I planned to straighten the apartment this afternoon. Why didn't you tell me that you scheduled a visit so I could have things looking nice?"
"Forget it. We'll catch up in a bit," Jethro replied. "I am going to make a pot of coffee." He manoeuvred his way towards the kitchen, then looked back at his son. "You do still have the coffee pot and coffee I left here, right?"
Tony grinned mischievously, "Of course I do, Dad. What kind of a Jethro Gibbs son would I be if I didn't have your six in vitally urgent matters?"
Gibbs couldn't help but laugh. He left them and Tony turned to head for his room. Maria had decided to clear some of the furniture.