"Dad?"
White. Red. Purple. Pink. Brown. Red.
"Take all the kids upstairs for a while."
Pain. Anger. Hope. Joy. Memories. Reality. Rage.
"I don't know."
Baby. Child. Adult. Baby.
"Dad?"
Kelly. Anthony. Caitlin. Ziva. Timothy. Abigail.
Kelly.
Kelly.
He thought he'd done ok. He'd failed.
"Dad?"
Tony had kept one eye on the clock since his dad had answered the door. He didn't know who his dad had taken into the dining room to talk to. He knew they weren't dangerous, but his dad was still nervous and cautious about the meeting. Just as the ten minutes were up and he was about to go see what was going on, his son appeared needing help to go to the bathroom. He had just finished and was standing at the door to the dining room ready to knock and enter when the door was wrenched open and his dad pushed past him at a run into the bathroom he had just left. He heard the harsh sounds of vomiting and followed him quickly.
"Dad?" Tony asked, worried.
He got no response and wondered if he could even hear him over the sounds of his own retching. Tony pulled the door to the bathroom closed slightly and started running the tap in the sink ready for his dad to rinse as soon as he was done. When he didn't move to get up, Tony looked more closely.
Gibbs was kneeling on the floor, gripping the seat of the toilet tightly, his knuckles white. His eyes were screwed tightly shut with heavy tears streaming down both cheeks. His breathing was heavy and erratic and he didn't seem aware of anything around him. He didn't even seem to know that Tony was there.
Tony heard a quiet knock on the bathroom door and cracked it open. Kate was standing outside looking concerned.
"Everything ok? Is he sick?" Kate asked.
"I don't know what's going on yet." Tony told her truthfully as he glanced over his shoulder to see his dad in exactly the same position still. "Take all the kids upstairs for a while. I'll sort this out."
He heard Kate announcing a game upstairs enthusiastically and the resulting stampede of tiny feet on the stairs. In a matter of minutes the only noise in the house was from upstairs.
As he was about to shut the door and turn back to Gibbs, Abby's face appeared at the door.
"Tony, what's going on?" she asked, concerned.
"I don't know," he sighed. "I just don't know. Go upstairs and I'll sort it."
He closed the door as she disappeared and turned back to the statue-like figure on the floor.
"Dad?" Tony asked gently once more, hoping for some reaction. Any reaction.
When he got no response, he was more insistent, reaching out to shake Gibbs' shoulder and speaking more loudly.
"Dad?"
Gibbs flinched. Tony sighed. A flinch was a response, albeit not much. He grabbed Gibbs' arm firmly and pulled him upright gently, closing the lit on the toilet and directing him to sit.
"What the hell is going on, dad?"
He reached into the cupboard above the sink and pulled out a cloth. He wet it under the tap and handed it to his dad. No reply to his question. No movement to wipe his face. Tony took back the cloth and gently wiped his face for him. Giving up on asking any questions of him, he moved quickly to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He handed it to his dad, making sure he rinsed his mouth and took a sip before leaving him to whatever thoughts were consuming him.
"What the hell is going on?"
Shannon sat anxiously, wringing her hands and chewing her bottom lip while she waited for Jethro to return. Kelly tried to concentrate on feeding the baby, swiping furiously at her eyes every few minutes.
They heard everyone moving upstairs and low conversations from what Shannon thought was probably the bathroom next door.
Shannon whispered reassurances to Kelly every time Kelly started to speak.
They waited.
In silence.
The soft sucking of the baby.
The quiet sniffs of Kelly.
The occasional voice or laugh or bump from upstairs.
"What the hell is going on?"
They both startled, Shannon jumping to her feet, Kelly almost dropping the baby. They stared in shock at the furious man in front of them. The shocked silence was punctuated by the sharp cry of the baby. Kelly didn't even move to hush him as she stared at her twin brother.
Shannon reached for the baby, seeing that Kelly was shaking from head to toe.
Tony waited angrily and expectantly for answers. Shannon took in his height –taller than Jethro, his hair – the same colour as Jethro when she first met him but without the silly haircut that she had grown to love, the eyes – as green as her own and as expressive too.
"Where's Jethro? Is he ok?" Shannon asked carefully. Jethro hadn't wanted to introduce them to the kids or grandkids today, had he?
"Jethro?" Tony asked suspiciously, his investigative instincts taking over. "How do you know my dad? What did you do to him?"
"I think we gave him a bit of a shock." Shannon muttered anxiously. She wanted nothing more than to go check for herself if he was ok.
Tony watched this woman's obvious concern dance over her face. A shock? What had they been discussing to prompt this kind of reaction?
Noticing the other woman in the room and seeing that she had covered herself – although he wasn't quite sure why she would have been breastfeeding while in someone else's house and mid conversation – he turned to her suspiciously. There was definitely something going on here that he was missing. These people seemed familiar and the older one called his dad Jethro. She must either know him quite well or have known him when he was younger he deduced.
As his eyes met the younger woman's, her trembling increased and a hand shot up to cover her mouth. He frowned as she blinked rapidly, the thick covering of tears in her blue, blue eyes. Not just any blue eyes…
"Tony?" She asked him, her voice shaky, her tone cautiously hopeful.
He knew that he had met her before. He just knew it. His mind was racing back through all of the cases he had ever worked: Victims, families, witnesses…
He blinked at her, his eyes wide.
Family.
He looked from one woman to the other, noticing the red hair, green eyes and familiar dimples of the first woman and the freckles and shy smile of the second.
His defences shot up as he took a step back.
"Is this a joke? Who…?" He shook his head repeatedly, not moving his gaze from them as if they might disappear at any moment.
"Tony-tots, Tony Baloney. Please…?" Kelly pleaded, her tears overflowing and streaming down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around herself as if they were the only thing holding her together.
He knew then… He just knew. And he couldn't stop himself.
Kelly blinked through the haze of tears to see Tony step towards her and before she knew it she was wrapped in a tight embrace.
"Kelly…" Tony breathed in awe.
She buried her face in his chest, clutching the front of his shirt and allowed herself to sob. For the first time in a long, long time she knew everything would be ok.
AN: I apologise for the delays between updates! Busy life doesn't allow much time for this. I hope you enjoy this new chapter. As always, reviews of any kind are welcomed!