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A/N This is for Winnie aka donttouch. Happy birthday, hon.
And I feel like I can fly just knowing that I am yours and knowing you are mine. I cannot ask for more. – Mercy Me, You're to Blame.
Friday October 19, 1990
This was the first time that Shannon and Jethro Gibbs had celebrated their anniversary since they had adopted Tony. It wasn't his fault. There were just a lot of unusual circumstances surrounding them that made it impossible. Tony's obsessive behavior during exams was only one of those circumstances.
Now there was nothing to prevent them from going out. Tony was home from wherever the Corps and last sent him. He did mention something about Germany. With Tony being home that meant the was someone besides Kathryn Franklin around that could look after Kelly for the weekend.
Jethro made this year a big deal because two years is far too long to woo his wife on such a special occasion. He made reservations at an inn on Chincoteague Island with plans to wine and dine in some of best restaurants the island had to offer. It wasn't really his thing but he knew Shannon would love the atmosphere the island had.
Tony had learned a lot during his time in Germany (including picking up a fourth language after English, Italian, and Spanish) however he couldn't help but be glad that he was home. Eight months was a long time to be away from those that he loved. It was too long to be away from his family.
He wasn't going to begrudge his parents time to themselves. They deserved it after all that he had put them through the past few years. And if he had to look after his baby sister... well there were worse ways to spend his weekend. His plans with Kathryn could wait a few days. The movies he missed since he left would still be there next weekend.
Besides, he hadn't been able to spend that much time with the little girl since his return. The weekend was going to be fun with just the two of them. They hadn't done that even before he went to Germany.
Then he found out that Jeremy had final exams and he needed him to look after Kristina while he studied. Having the baby around was a little harder. While he had taken care of Kristina by himself before it was never longer than a few hours. Shannon and Jethro were always there when he had her overnight. Well, at least he had Kelly to help him.
Shannon was impressed when she saw where Jethro was taking her for dinner. It was a little restaurant that clearly served some high class clientele. She had no idea how Jethro managed to get a reservation for a place like this.
She smiled at him and asked what he would recommend. He made a joke about seafood. Looking at the menu she noticed that most of what they served was seafood.
"As much as I hate to say this, but it feels so good to get way from the kids for a few days. Kelly is driving me insane and Tony is no better."
Jethro couldn't fully understand what she meant but he was sympathetic. He wasn't the one home all day with them. "Well, now you don't have to see either one of them until Sunday night."
"I still worry. I haven't been away from Kelly this long before. She might need me."
"She'll be fine. Tony can take care of her while we're away. If you want, you can call them when we get back to the hotel," reassured Jethro. "For now, just try to enjoy yourself."
"I am enjoying myself. It's just..."
"You're a mother first."
"Yeah. Is that awful? You brought me here so that I can relax."
"It's not awful. I worry about you guys too."
"I don't think that's the same. You're the one that's being put in dangerous situations."
Kristina was crying for her daddy when Tony heard the phone ring. He hoped that it wasn't Jeremy checking up on his daughter. He would surly hear the girl over the phone. The only place he would have been able to block it was the basement and that wasn't an option he wanted to consider.
The voice on the other end was a welcome relief.
"Sweetie, is everything alright? I can hear screaming."
"I'm fine Mom. I have Kristina here and I think she misses her dad."
"Dada!" cried Kristina.
"I can hear that."
"Do you want to talk to Kelly? I'm about to put her to bed but I almost certain that she'll take this call," joked Tony.
"Put her on. I want to say goodnight." Tony called for Kelly. Shannon could almost picture her daughter running in the house. Tony's scolding was heard was muffled but she could clearly hear him telling her not to run in the house.
"Hi, Mom!"
"Hey, Baby. Are you being good for Tony?"
"Yeah, but Kristy isn't. She won't stop crying." Shannon almost laughed at the annoyed tone Kelly used. "When are you coming home?"
"Not for a few days, Kel. You know that."
"But if you come home Kristy would stop crying."
"Kelly..." Shannon laughed. "she misses her daddy."
"I miss my daddy too but I'm not crying," Kelly pouted.
"Not now. But when you were Kristy's age you would cry for your daddy." Shannon missed those days.
"I did?" She couldn't believe that she had ever acted like Kristina.
"Uh huh. Baby, I have to say goodnight. Can you Tony back on? I want to talk to him for a few minutes. I think I know why she won't stop crying."
"OK, night Mom."
"Hey, Mom."
"Sweetie, did you try just lying down and rubbing her back? She might like that. Your heartbeat might sooth her."
"No, I'll try that as soon as I hang up."
"I'll let you go then. Goodnight Tony."
"Night Mom."
Saturday October 20, 1990
Tony hated to admit that Shannon's idea worked. After putting Kelly to bed he did exactly what she suggested. A few minutes after lying down Kristina stopped crying and fell asleep on Tony's chest. The rhythm of his heart forced her to relax. Plus, it gave Tony the chance to stop panicking. She could sense that her caregiver wasn't comfortable.
He had instinctively woke up at five only to find Kristina gone and noises coming from downstairs. He grabbed the baseball bat his dad insisted he needed and followed the noise. However he tossed it aside when he smelled french toast coming from the kitchen. He doubted that a kidnapper would make breakfast before taking the kid.
"Kitten, what are you doing here?"
"I thought you could use some help. Things are under control if you want to go for your run." She kissed him before placing some oatmeal on the table for Kristina.
"You really are the greatest." He went to change and went on his run.
Breakfast was waiting for him when he got back. Kelly was half asleep over her own french toast. Tony was tempted to give her some of his coffee but thought better of it since he wanted to live to see twenty. Shannon would kill him if she found out. And since she is a mom she would find out.
Tony wasn't the only one out of bed early. Jethro had found a jogging path near the hotel the night before. It wasn't very long but going around it a few laps would equal what he usually ran.
Shannon was on the phone when he got back. By the sound of it, it wasn't room service.
"OK Hon. Tell tony that I'll call later." She hung up and turned to Jethro. "That was Kathryn. She's spending the day with Tony and the girls."
"Kathryn answered our phone. Where was Tony?"
"I'm guessing he's doing the same thing you were doing a few minutes ago. And speaking of which, go take a shower. You stink."
"Join me?"
She thought about it for a moment. "I suppose I can do that. It will be a while before any of the shops open."
Jethro snorted. "It's nice that you know what your priorities are."
She kissed him to shut him up. "I love you," she mumbled against his lips.
"Love you too."
Coffee was truly a marvelous find. Tony knew that would have passed out by now if it weren't for the strong caffeinated brew... and Kathryn. He couldn't forget her.
The reason he was tired was because Mrs. Taylor dropped Maddie off at eight that morning. She forgot that Shannon wasn't going to be there when she left Maddie by the curb. That wasn't typical behavior on Mrs. Taylor's part and caused Tony to wonder why she just left her daughter there.
Kathryn decided that it was warm enough to go to the park. So it was her fault that he had to chase after two little girls for three hours. He was less tired after PT. Kathryn's taunting is what convinced him that it was time to go home.
"So the big bad Marine is tired. I thought you guys were supposed to be tough."
"Shut up, Kathryn."
Jethro hated shopping. However, Shannon insisted (she seemed to do that a lot) that they had to bring back souvenirs for the kids. He still trying to figure out when Jeremy became one of 'the kids'. He understood why she would bring back something for Kathryn. She was practically family. But Jeremy was just another one of his son's friends.
He was getting bored with just following Shannon around so he started to look at the displays. He called her over hoping that if he showed interest now he could convince her to stay in their room for the rest of the afternoon.
Tony knew from past experience that when Maddie suggested that they play a game it usually meant that she was insanely good at it. So when she said that she wanted to play 'Risk' he knew that he was going to be walloped. The fact that it was a game of chance didn't matter.
He know how much time had passed but it wasn't long before both Kelly and Kathryn were out and Tony was reduced to China, Japan, and Australia. Not exactly everyone's dream territories. He considered fighting but thought better of it. Looking at Maddie, he tipped over his pieces in surrender.
"Anyone up for pizza?"
Sunday October 21, 1990
Shannon had always been a light sleeper. Other than when she was pregnant with Kelly, she had never failed to wake up the moment she felt Jethro leave their bed. She usually would fall back to sleep but this time she climbed out of bed the moment Jethro had left. She had to pack now if she wanted to meet the checkout time without any stress.
Plus, they could always checkout early and not come back after they went to the animal reserve.
Jethro had been amazing during the whole trip. He had put up with all of her demands that she almost felt sorry for him after yesterday's shopping trip... almost. So if he wanted to go traipsing through a forest with her, she wasn't going to complain. She wasn't the most athletic person around but a marked trail couldn't be that hard. Besides, she had a husband that was all too willing to rub away any sore muscles this little excursion might give her.
She had to admit that it was pretty. The trees in Washington went from green to red and orange to brown far too quickly that it was impossible to appreciate. Here the colors seemed to melt together like a painting. No two trees had the same shade of red and orange. Green was a accent for the other two colors. It wasn't like anything she had ever seen.
Waking up in Tony's arms was far too comfortable. Kathryn didn't want to move but she knew that she had to get up to get the baby soon. That wasn't something she thought she would think when she was only eighteen-years-old. Not that she was planning on having a baby any time soon now that she spent a whole day with Kristina. She wasn't going to be in Tony's arms for much longer anyways. He was going to want to get up for his run.
Suddenly she was rolled onto her back and Tony was kissing her. Not something that she was about to complain about. He moved down to her neck...
Then the baby cried. Kristina was awake.
Kathryn pushed Tony off from her which resulted in a lot of complaints. All she could do was promise that they would continue later when they didn't have any children to look after.
Kristina was just finishing her breakfast when Tony got back. Kelly and Maddie was also just waking up. Tony and Kathryn fixed up some omelets for everyone... surprisingly Maddie actually ate some after many complaints that she didn't like omelets. She was too used to eating cereal in the morning.
Tony didn't want to spend the day at the house but he didn't want to go to the park again. He piled them all in Kathryn's car and took them to the Navy museum. Not his first choice but there weren't any age appropriate films playing. The girls have been to museums before but they had never been to this one. Maddie in particular seemed to enjoy exhibits, especially the submarines. They spent hours looking at everything. Kelly like the USS Constitution's gun deck.
By the time they got home and had dinner all three children were fast asleep. Tony and Kathryn followed soon after them
When Shannon and Jethro got home they found all five of them fast asleep in the living room. They had not problem with handing out souvenirs in the morning.