Tony was getting himself ready for going to the Military Academy, but his little sister Kelly, who was 8 years old at the time, didn't want him to leave. What was gonna happen when he was gone to the Military Academy? Was he gonna miss his little sister growing up or being there for her when she needs him?
"Tony don't go, please don't go! Please!" Kelly had tears falling down her cheeks as she ran to him. Tony turned around and, seeing Kelly, went to her and opened his arms, scooping her up and holding her tight like he used to.
"Kelly, I have to. I'm sorry little brat, but I'll come home on the weekend and holidays and I'll try to call you and daddy when I can." He also had tears falling, hating to see his little sister cry. He wanted to give her something so he would be with her, even when he was gone. "Hey Kelly, can I give you something to help you when I'm gone? Remember that shirt that dad wears all the time while working on the boat?"
Kelly nodded slowly, tears still running down her cheeks. "Uh huh, I...I remember. Those United States Marine Corps t-shirts." Tony walked up to his bedroom with her in his arms. She was gonna miss being in his arms when he left. She was also gonna miss the jokes and pranks and him making her laugh.
Tony sat Kelly down on his bed, wiped her tears away and smiled. "I know you're gonna miss me when I leave, so I'm going to give you something. When you miss me, you can wear the shirt and smile. You're probably gonna cry when you're in bed, not seeing me walking to my room at night, but when you wear that shirt, it's magic."
"How's it magic Tony?" She looked at her brother, confused.
Tony went to his dresser drawer and grabbed two things for Kelly - one of them was his pullover, and the other was the t-shirt that his dad had given him when he had left on deployment. "Okay sis, these are the special pullover and shirt that dad gave me when he was getting ready to be deployed. The pullover is really warm... the warmth is me hugging you and holding you tight when your down or sad. And the shirt is my courage flowing though you. When you're wearing it, I want you proud to be a Marine's daughter and sister." He smiled and handed them to Kelly, who still had some tears streaming down her face, and took her into his arms.
"I'm going to miss you big brother! Don't forget me or daddy, please don't!" she cried, cuddled in Tony's arms.
He sat down on the bed holding Kelly tightly. He also had some tears coming down, worried that Kelly thought she was going to lose him. "I'm not going to war like dad did, Kelly. I'm just going to the Military Academy in Rhode Island, to learn to be a Marine like daddy. I promise." He was choked up from crying. He lay down on his bed and tried to keep the tears from escaping his eyes as he held Kelly in his arms.
"I love you big brother," Kelly said, snuggling in Tony's arms as he rubbed her back, telling her everything was gonna be okay.
The next morning, Kelly was still sleeping in Tony's arms. She didn't want to let go of Tony at all. He had some friends to hang out with before he left, so he put her on the bed and covered her up and looked at her. "She looks so peaceful when she sleeping. I don't know how she's gonna do when I'm at the academy," he sighed. Grabbing a fresh set of clothes and his sneakers, he showered and changed and went downstairs. He called his friends and told them that he was on his way to meet them. He left a note for his dad, telling him that he was gonna hangout with his friends. He put it down on the table and left the house for a couple of hours.
An hour later, Kelly woke up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She put her slippers on and went looking for Tony, but didn't find him anywhere. "Tony? Where are you?" She walked downstairs, looking around for him, not seeing him in the house. She looked outside but didn't see his car either, only her father's truck. Heading back inside, she saw a note on the coffee table. She walked over and looked at it, frowning. "I want to spend time with my big brother before he leaves! It's not fair!" Some tears fell as she sat on the couch and sighed.
Not too long after, Gibbs woke up and stretched, then walked downstairs, not knowing that Kelly was in the living room. She was looking out the window, waiting for Tony to get home, sighing and muttering to herself, "not fair, not one bit." Gibbs looked at Kelly, confused and walked over to her. Seeing the note, he picked it up and read it, sighing. "I guess Tony went to hang out with his friends."
Kelly looked at her father trying not to cry. "IT'S NOT FREAKING FAIR DADDY! HE"S GOING TO THE MILITARY ACADEMY TOMORROW AND I WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH HIM! BUT NO! I CAN'T, BECAUSE HE WANTS TO SPEND TIME WITH HIS STUPID FRIENDS!" She started crying and plopped down on the couch.
Gibbs looked at Kelly and sighed, rubbing her back to comfort her. She sat up and buried her head in his chest, crying her heart out. "I know it's not fair to you. He does need to spend some time with you. Do you wanna work on the boat with me for a little while?" He looked down at his daughter and saw she had cried herself to sleep after her tantrum, so he lay on the couch with Kelly on his stomach with a sigh and rubbed her back soothingly.
That afternoon, Tony came back to the house and didn't see his dad or little sister. "Dad? Kelly? Are you guys here?" He started looking around for them but heard Kelly's laugh from the basement, so he headed there and saw Gibbs and Kelly working on the boat. He stood against the door of the basement, watching them both working on the frame of the boat. Tony looked at Kelly and knew that she been crying . "Hey guys, what ya working on?" He walked down the stairs toward to his dad and Kelly.
"We're working on a boat Tony!" She jumped down from the chair her dad had set up for her and ran over to her brother. He picked her up in his arms and looked at both her and their dad.
"Tony, can you and I talk? Alone?" Gibbs softly glared at his son.
Sensing his dad was mad at him, Tony said, "uh...sure, dad." He put Kelly down. "Hey, how about you go upstairs to your room for a bit? Me and dad are gonna have a little talk, okay Kelly?" He smiled as Kelly walked upstairs to her room. When she was out of earshot, Tony looked at his dad, confused, and not sure what he'd done wrong. "Uh, did I do something wrong, dad? Because you were giving me the Death Glare a couple minutes ago, there," he tried to joke, but gasping instead when his father walked over and head slapped him. "What the heck dad?!" He rubbed the back of his head.
"That's for not spending more time with your sister when your leaving for the Military Academy tomorrow! She's cried all freaking day, Tone!"
Tony sighed, feeling ashamed for not spending time with his little sister. "God dammit, I know I should have spent time with Kelly, and I didn't know that she was crying all afternoon. But dad, I just wanted to spend some time with my friends too, before I left." With a sigh, he looked down and head slapped himself.
Gibbs patted Tony's shoulder softly, understanding his son's feelings. It was hard at his age to be going away to school. "Go and ask her to watch the fireworks with you tonight, just you and her. I'll be watching from the car."
Tony nodded and walked upstairs past the living room and straight to Kelly's room. With a deep gulp, he knocked. "Kelly? Um, it's me... Tony."
Kelly walked to her door and opened it, and looked at Tony.
"Hey Kell. Wanna go the 4th of July fireworks with me and dad? I, um, feel bad that I didn't spend time with you and... I want to make it up you. I'm sorry that I didn't spend time with you. Can you forgive me?" He knelt down to Kelly's height. "Please?"
She looked at Tony and went into his arms and hugged him tight. "I forgive you, Tony." She sniffled a couple of times as Tony rubbed her back.
"Shhh, I got you Kelly." He sniffled a little, himself. "Go get a sweatshirt on, and I'll grab a blanket so we can sit on the grass, how about?" He smiled and stood up, ruffling Kelly's hair.
She giggled and ran to her bed and grabbed Tony's pullover, smiling more now as she put it on and walked back to Tony. She reached her arms up so Tony could pick her up. "Pwetty pwease, To-nyyyy?" she sang with her cutest puppy pout and as usual, he fell for it, picking her up and walking to his room.
