McGee and Mallory scooted through the front doors, and down the hall, pressing the button for the elevator. After a moment, the doors opened, and they stepped in, watching as the doors began to close.
"Wait, Probie, hold the door," Tony called, prompting McGee to stick out his hand to stop the doors, and Mallory to press the Door Open button. Tony leaned against the door, keeping them open, as Kristi pressed her cane against the floor, and stepped in, as well.
"…Hey, guys," she said, moving and hugging them both as Tony stepped in and let the doors close. Mallory grinned, and returned the hug, before stepping back.
"You aren't coming back to work, are you? I mean…you've only been awake a couple of weeks, and out of the hospital for a few days," she said, raising an eyebrow.
"No, no…please…I'm just coming to make sure there's nothing else in my desk, and to talk to Vance," Kristi replied, chuckling, and giving Mallory's hand a squeeze. Tony lifted his eyes from the other side of the elevator, and smiled at her, glancing over as the doors opened. Kristi stepped off first, using her cane and Tony's hand as support, before stepping to the side to let the other two off, too.
"Good…I'm glad you're here, though…we have an announcement to make…we just thought it best to do once we were all together," McGee replied, smiling at Mallory as they moved towards his desk. Kristi looked up at Tony, eyebrow raised, but shrugged slowly, following him and sitting in his desk chair.
Once the team had been gathered, McGee reached out for Mallory's hand.
"Just…a small announcement, I guess," he shrugged, blushing. She turned a light pink, and looked around, before glancing over at Abby, who had a knowing – yet happy – look on her face.
"Spit it out, McGee," Gibbs said, from his place behind his desk. McGee, chuckling, nodded.
"…We're engaged," he said quickly, glancing around the room. For a moment, no one said anything, but Gibbs stepped up first, and stuck out his hand.
"Congratulations, Tim," he said, shaking McGee's hand, before placing a light kiss on Mallory's cheek. She blushed, glancing up at McGee, before turning her head to see Ziva move up.
"Congratulations, both of you," she said, hugging them both gently, before stepping back towards her desk. Tony stepped away from Kristi and shook McGee's hand, smirking, before he let go and put his arms around Mallory.
"…He's a good man, Mallory," Tony said, quiet enough that McGee couldn't hear. "Congratulations." She smiled, patting his back before he pulled away.
"Thank you, Tony," she replied, smiling sweetly as she looked at Kristi. Rather than stand, Kristi extended her cane, and chuckled.
"Good luck, both of you," she said, poking them both with the end of the cane, and prompting a laugh from Mallory and a silly smile from McGee.
Ducky moved around Tony's desk, and tightly embraced them both rather happily. Once he released them, and patted McGee on the shoulder, he stepped out of the way, and turned his attention to Abby, just as the others had. It wasn't a secret that Abby and McGee used to be together, and it was just as far from being a secret that for years, they didn't like seeing the other date. This was a first for McGee, and she didn't change the knowing look that was on her face as she stepped in front of them. She glanced at McGee, then at Mallory, and let a small smirk curl on her black lips.
"I hope you both know that if either of you does something stupid to each other during all of this…no one will be able to trace anything back to me," she said, pointing her finger mock-threateningly between them. Mallory raised an eyebrow, before laughing softly, as Abby hugged them both tightly, smiling. "Congratulations, you two…really. You're so good together!" she said, before stepping back. "And it's about time, Tim!" she added, playfully punching him in the shoulder. Mallory snorted, blushing and covering her mouth as she laughed, and McGee rolled his eyes, laughing softly as he pulled Abby in for another hug.
"Thanks, Abs…it means a lot," he said, smiling over at Mallory.
PAGE BREAK
Kristi closed Noah's bedroom door, and slowly made her way down the hall into the room she shared with Tony. Once she was close enough, she leaned her cane against the night table, and climbed slowly onto the bed, tugging the blanket over her legs. The water in the bathroom shut off, and Tony stepped out in his jeans, clicking off the light and moving towards the bed.
"I can't believe McGee finally asked her," she said, pulling the blanket down for him. He tugged off his jeans, and climbed into bed next to her.
"I can't believe they've been together so long," Tony replied, shrugging and smirking. "You know, it being McGee and all."
"You're such a jerk sometimes," Kristi chuckled, shaking her head as she turned off her light and slid down against the pillow. Tony looked over at her, and frowned.
"You okay, Kris?" he voiced softly, moving his hand and brushing her hair from her forehead. She lay quietly for a moment, before nodding, and shrugging, sitting up a little bit.
"Yeah…Yeah, I'm fine, Tony," she said, reaching over and turning on the radio before carefully rolling onto her side, away from him.
"And I'm Gibbs. You aren't fine, something's bothering you." She shook her head against the pillow.
"I'm fine. Really…just exhausted. And if you were Gibbs, something tells me you'd be building a boat in the basement…" she teased gently. Tony, cracking a small smile, moved some on his side of the bed, causing Kristi to lift her head, looking over her shoulder at him. "What're ya doin?" she asked curiously. After a moment, Tony rolled back over, and kissed the side of her head.
"…I was going to ask, I promise, but I just had to find the right piece…" She raised an eyebrow, but looked down at the box in his hands as he wrapped his arms around her, and placed his lips by her ear. "Farà lei mi sposa?" he whispered to her. She widened her eyes when he opened the box to reveal the gold ring, and blushed.
"…Oh, Tony…it's beautiful," she said, reaching down to remove the ring from the box. He smiled, raising an eyebrow.
"…Is that a yes?" She chuckled, and turned her head to see him.
"…Bien sûr je vous épouserai," she replied, kissing him gently. "L'amo…" He smiled, and moved so she could roll over and face him.
"L'amo," he replied, before smirking softly and casting a quick glance at the clock. "…Possiamo ordinare una pizza?" he asked, eyebrow raised, voice low. Kristi pulled her head back, and bit her lip, trying not to giggle.
"…Did you just ask me about pizza?" He grinned but just bounced his eyebrows, making her laugh and hug him.
"Figured it went with the 'speaking in another language' roll we were on," he answered, shrugging and chuckling as he kissed her cheek.
"Just shut up and lay down, DiNozzo," she said, shaking her head. He lay beside her, pulling her carefully against his chest, before kissing her forehead, and closing his eyes, resting his head against hers.
PAGE BREAK
Tony rolled over in bed, draping his arm across the bed, and stretched, squeezing his eyes closed. For a moment, he lay still, before he realized that he was the only one in the bed. Using one hand to rub at his eyes, he pushed his other hand into the mattress to sit up.
"Kris?" he asked, looking around. When there was no answer, he climbed off the bed, and carefully opened the door.
The living room light glowed down the hall, and, still slightly groggy, he dragged his feet down the carpeting, poking his head around the corner. The table lamp was on, and boxes were partially covering the coffee table, pictures splayed around them. Kristi sat on the corner of the couch, an album open in her lap.
"…Kris, what are you doing up? It's…" he began, glancing around behind him at the clock on the wall, "…it's three in the morning." She didn't lift her head, but he saw her eyes close, and her head drop slightly.
"…I just…I couldn't sleep. The shit that's happened over the past couple of months, it's made me think of…of how much I missed my dad." She lifted her head slightly, and turned the page. "And…that makes me think of how it was all a cover. He wasn't who I thought he was, he never had been. Selling arms overseas? He knew better, and he did it anyways…and I didn't know…" she said. Her voice was low, and sad, and Tony walked over, lowering himself onto the couch beside her.
"Kris…your dad loved you. I only met him a couple of times, but I knew that. He may have been dishonest elsewhere, but he did love you." She shook her head, turning the album slightly for him to see, tapping her finger against a picture of her and her father.
"Maybe…but he lied to me, Tony. However long he had his fingers in all that money, he lied to me. He never spent a dime of it, he borrowed money he claimed he could pay back but never did, but because he was my father, and I was doing alright, I didn't press and I didn't care. He was all I had, and he decided that it would be okay to do something like that…and because he lied, and he did what he did…" She closed her eyes, and snapped the book shut, dropping it onto the table. "…he never gets to meet his grandson, and he never gets to see his daughter get married…" She looked up at Tony, biting her lip. "He…doesn't get to walk me down the aisle when I marry the only boyfriend he met that he liked." Tony moved, and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his arms.
"…C'mere, Kris," Tony murmured softly, unsure of what to say to make her feel even a little better, as he ran his fingers through her hair. She let her eyes close again, and rested a hand against his chest, sighing softly, sadly.
"He was the only family I had that cared about me…and after he met you, Tony, he couldn't stop telling me how excited he was about us getting married, even though that wasn't anywhere on the horizon for either of us. He was excited about the marriage, about getting to walk his little girl down the aisle, about holding his grandbaby, when that came around." She bit her lip, and moved, carefully kneeling beside the table as she began boxing up the albums and the pictures again. "And the day that Noah was born, as happy as I was to have him, my heart broke…I was finally seeing that the things my father had been so excited about for so long ere things that he was never going to see, though at the time I didn't know it was partially his fault. It broke my heart to see Noah when he was born, because he not only didn't have his father, but he didn't have his grandfather, and I thought that he never would."
Tony watched her, letting her carefully put things back in the boxes, just as they had been when she removed them, knowing it wouldn't do any good if he kneeled beside her to help. She barely had her eyes open, and her voice was very soft, but it was shaken, and sad, and it brought a helpless look to his eyes.
"I felt…better…a little, anyways, after I found you again, and you were happy about Noah, and things were okay. For the first time in nine years, things were okay, and I felt good about the life I'd chosen for us. And then I found out why I lost my father." At this, she turned, and lowered her butt to the floor. "I found out what he did, and why he really died that day. It wasn't an accident, it wasn't 'caught in the crossfire', it wasn't just the way it went down. That man walked into the bank that day with every intention of killing my father. And when I found out the truth about who he was, about what he did…that mending that happened because of you was fractured, and I didn't know what to think. And I was so hurt when I saw Noah after you saved my life, because it was just like the day he was born…only this time I got it to go away, because this time I still had you, and this time you weren't leaving."
"Kristi…your father made mistakes…and he did some bad things," Tony said, his voice soft as he brought himself to the floor beside her, "but no matter how badly he messed up, he did love you. Anyone could see that, just by the glint in his eye when he talked about you, or when he looked at you, or when he was with you. I knew that within five minutes of meeting your father…and I'm a thick-headed jerk," he added, smiling slightly at the half-smile it brought to her lips. "He screwed up big time, and because of it, he hurt the only person in his life that loved him…but it doesn't have anything to do with you." She lifted her head to see him, before moving her arms around his shoulders, hugging him carefully.
"…can we go back to bed now, Tony? I don't wanna think about my father anymore," she said softly, biting down on her lip. He nodded, helping her to her feet as gently as he could, before wrapping an arm around her waist and shutting off the light as they headed back into the hallway.
"…Just think, though, Kris…when we get married…Gibbs can always walk you down the aisle," he said, smirking as he closed the bedroom door behind them.
Author's Note:
Farà lei mi sposa? Is Italian for "Will you marry me?".
Bien sûr je vous épouserai is French for "Of course I'll marry you."
L'amo is Italian for "I love you."
Possiamo ordinare una pizza? Is Italian for – that's right – "Can we order a pizza?".
Just so we're clear, though, I used for these translations – I'm still learning French, and I can't speak Italian. ^_~
