Another really short chapter. I have some ideas in my head, but I want to do a chronological order kinda thing and well… you'll see. At least I'm updating quickly, yah?
It was Saturday, March 28th, a couple weeks after the allergy testing incident. It was Timothy Dinozzo's eighth birthday. To say he was a bit excited would be an understatement. There was going to be a family party, they were having his favorite food, and the next day his dad and him were going to have a "boy's day out." Timmy jumped out of bed. He figured he had let his dad sleep in long enough. Running through the house, Timmy barged into his dad's room and started jumping on the bed. "Wake up, daddy!" He exclaimed happily.
"Mmmf," Tony rolled over and looked bleary-eyed at his son and then at the clock. "Happy birthday, Timmy. How about you go watch cartoons and let daddy sleep a little longer?" Timmy bounced off the bed.
"Okay daddy!" He raced into the living-room and turned on the TV. There is nothing like a little Saturday morning cartoons on your birthday. That's where Tony found him, curled on the couch, clutching Scruffles and sucking on his thumb, an hour later.
"Aah, Timmy," Tony said, "stop sucking your thumb. You're eight now." Timmy only sucked his thumb when watching TV, and although Tony thought it was adorable, he knew it was a bad habit.
Tony felt badly. Timmy had been having a hard time at school. When Tony would ask how it went, the generic "fine" was the only answer he got. A love of learning (which Timmy definitely had), did not necessarily mean a love of school. Tony had wanted to have a party with the kid's from school, but Timmy didn't have any friends (yet), and Tony knew Timmy wouldn't want it. Although, Tony suspected Timmy was being bullied, Tim wouldn't tell him if that was so or not. Without any evidence, Tony couldn't do anything about it. Instead, he invited the team from NCIS, "Uncle Toby" and his family, and "Uncle Leon" and his family.
As the days went by, Tim was beginning to love his surrogate family more and more. Aunt Abby and Aunt Ziva had taken him to a movie last week, and he had a great time. Grandpa Gibbs had let him help sand his boat in the basement. Uncle Jimmy was Tim's favorite person to hang out with (besides his dad), because they could do anything together and have fun. Tony and the whole team had grown closer thanks to Tim. They trusted each other even more in the field and their friendships ("family relationships") were practically seamless. Tim was a bundle of joy and a complete blessing to everyone.
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A couple hours later, everyone was at Tony's house. Emily Fornell, Kayla Vance, and Jared Vance were also there. Although none of them were the same age as Timmy, (Emily was 11, Jared 12, and Kayla 6)* Tony was glad there were at least some kids there and that they all got along. They all went to the same school as Timmy, but none of them ever saw each other since they weren't in the same grades.
Even though Timmy still was not crazy about having all the attention focused on him, Timmy was having a great time as the party progressed. Eventually, Jared asked Tim if he wanted to go play catch. The Vance family had bought both Timmy and Tony mitts and baseball stuff, and Jared loved baseball. "Uuh, sure," Timmy replied.
Jared knew Tim didn't have any experience with sports, but he didn't mind teaching the kid how to play. So, Jared and Tim tossed the ball around for a while. Jared was really good at baseball, and although Timmy was essentially terrible, Jared was very patient.
Later that night, Tim was telling his dad all about playing baseball with Jared. "He's my friend, dad. I have a friend." Timmy was overjoyed.
* Don't actually have any idea how old the Vance kids and Emily are. I don't even remember if Jared and Kayla are their real names…
