Preparations
Mike Franks took credit for having everyone settle in Campeche, but in truth, it was Abuela, the family's housekeeper, who had led the family to the beautiful city.
Years and years before she had visited her maternal grandparents, who lived there, and it was the story of those idyllic visits that she shared with Tony. He, in turn, begged his father to take them to Mexico, and after a solid year of his son's pleading, Jethro Gibbs finally agreed.
Tony's spring break from school was in March, so Jethro booked airline tickets to access the Mexican city and reserved a suite at a local hotel. Abuela had cousins living in the area, but she hadn't seen them in some time, and didn't want to intrude.
Former NCIS Special Agent Mike Franks, Jethro's first NCIS boss, had resigned from NCIS several years earlier. Since then, he had led a nomadic existence, but made it to Washington, DC, a couple of times a year to visit his former probationary agent. His latest visit coincided with the Campeche, Mexico travel plans, and intriuged, he announced he would accompany them, as well.
Gibbs worked overtime for two months at NCIS before the vacation date, feeling guilty that he would be leaving his team for a week. Difficult as it was for him to break away from what he perceived as his responsibility, though, his son's excitement and delight with the excursion made it worth the guilt.
Tony was beside himself with anticipation, effectively driving the adults to distraction with his chatter and announcements of what he wanted to pack. Maria Osiorio, or Abuela to Tony, finally came up with the idea of taking Anthony shopping for his take on bag several days before the flight.
He spent a great deal of time poring over the selected luggage, commenting on which ones had Velcro and which had zippers, which possessed pockets, which color looked good, and which could hold most of his treasures.
After thirty minutes of comparison, Maria called time, and he grabbed his final choice, a rolling Spiderman bag. Once home he set it in a place of honour by the television, and spent hours adding to and subtracting contents from its depths.
Maria, of course, took over the packing for Jethro, Tony, and herself. Mike had one duffel bag which followed him from one locale to another, and he was not her responsibility. Gibbs and Tony turned out to be the problems.
Gibbs chose exactly one change of clothes, arguing that he wasn't planning to need any other apparel, that two outfits would suit him. He pointed out that warmer climates required fewer clothes, and that Maria was viewing the clothing through her Washington, DC eyes. Maria simply waited until he was out of the house to locate the items she deemed essential for the trip, and she packed them quietly and furtively.
What Gibbs lacked in fashion consciousness, Tony made up for with his excessive concern about his own clothes and future appearance. More than one meltdown occurred when Maria firmly removed or added wardrobe pieces to the suitcase. Tony was a five year old fashionista. Eventually, though, the bags were packed and ready the night before departure, and Maria was busy adding items to the carry on luggage.
Mike was out to supper with another agency buddy. Gibbs supervised Tony's bath to free Maria, who was spending the night with them, then dried and pajamed Tony and told him he could have television time. Left to his own devices, Tony discovered a Pippi Longstocking movie and divided his time glued to the set, commenting on the plot, racing his toy cars on the floor, running to the entry to pull out items from his bag, and jumping from the sofa to the armchair.
Coming through the living room with a load of laundry Maria scolded, "Bambino! Calmarse de inmediato! Settle down immediately!" Tony smiled his angelic smile and Maria blew him a kiss as she continued to the upstairs rooms.
Gibbs passed her on the landing, and he jogged down the steps in time to see Tony throw out his arms and "fly" from the back of the sofa to the chair. "Hey!" he barked immediately. "Get your rear end sitting down by that tv and don't let me catch you jumping off the furniture again!" Tony responded by puffing his bottom lip out into a pout and folding his arms defiantly across his chest.
Gibbs responded with a firm, "One!" which preceded picking his son up and depositing him in front of the television. As soon as he was released Tony scrambled backwards on his rear end until he was back at the sofa, then eyed his parent defiantly.
Jethro held up two fingers and called out "Two!" Then he added a warning, " Now you know what's going to happen if I get to three." Tony responded by picking up the nearest toy truck and hurling it in his father's general direction.
Jethro sidestepped the missile and announced, "and that, my little man, was three!" Before Tony could react Jethro scooped him off the floor, sat down with a thunk on the sofa cushion, placed his son across his knees, divested him of his pajama bottoms, and landed five stinging swats on his five year old backside.
Tony's screams of outrage and tears of pain brought Maria to the upstairs landing and she leaned over the rail to call out, "Bed time, now- come here, nino." That brought a sobbing response of renewed protest from Tony, who, released from Jethro's firm grasp, began declaring loudly that he was not sleepy and didn't want to go to bed. Jethro grabbed his hand, led him to the foot of the stairs, swatted his bottom (which brought a fresh onslaught of tears) and told him to get up the stairs and to his room immediately.
Smiling his thanks at Maria, he called out, "I'll be up in a couple of minutes."
Ten minutes later he entered Tony's bedroom. Tony was just finishing his prayers, and Maria kissed him goodnight before turning him over to his father.
Jethro helped Tony under the covers and tucked him in securely prior to opening the book Tony had chosen for bedtime. Before he began reading he settled against the headboard and pulled Tony to him, kissing the top of his head and ruffling his hair. "I want you to tell me why you got that spanking downstairs."
Tony played with the covers a second before looking at his father sideways. "I distobeyed you."
Gibbs smiled at the answer and didn't bother to correct his son's vocabulary, then opened Green Eggs and Ham and began the narration. Ten minutes later he closed the finished book and placed it on the nightstand, returned Tony's kiss and hug, and cut off the lamp by Tony's bed. He checked to make sure the baby monitor was engaged, and headed towards the hall.
"Night Daddy," Tony called as Gibbs slipped out of the room.
An hour later the three adults were congregated in the living room, exhausted from the day's activities and the vacation preparations. Thirty minutes after that they divided and headed their separate ways to bed.
Gibbs automatically headed back to Tony's. Standing in the doorway his heart swelled with pride and love at the little being. Tony had wriggled, as he usually did, to the very bottom of the bed, losing covers along the way. Gibbs repositioned him and covered him again before tiptoeing out of the room and into his own.