With their usual impeccable timing, the DiNozzos got back to Millie's after their walk with Ruskin just in time for lunch.
Tali squealed with delight when she saw her godparents and rushed to hug Tim and Ellie who were in the process of clearing up before heading back to DC.
Ellie hugged Tony, "You look better than you did last night," she observed.
"The power of a good night's sleep," he replied, "Actually, it was the power of having a bed to sleep in rather than on the floor."
"Where's Gibbs?" asked Tony.
Tony shrugged, "Not sure. Bonding with Colin over the iniquities of Federal Agencies that try and take over cases which belong to NCIS. Or grilling him about his sister, soon to be the DiNozzo housekeeper cum nanny. Or …"
"So we've got time to have lunch?" interrupted McGee.
"Sure. There's always time to have lunch," said Tony.
Tali finished eating first and then decided that the equable Ruskin needed grooming and sat down on the grass in front of the café to begin work. John Sutherland was already there and began surreptitiously to sketch her at work.
"So, new nanny?" said Ellie.
"With excellent references, amazing qualifications and links to law enforcement," said Tony hastily.
"What?" said Ellie innocently.
"I've already had Gibbs' doubts," said Tony.
"Hey," said McGee, "We're the godparents. We've got responsibilities, you know."
"You two must be the most conscientious …" Bishop and McGee looked smug, "… interfering godparents ever," grumbled Tony.
"You're welcome," said Bishop.
"And you knew what you were getting when you signed us up," said McGee.
"I guess," said Tony, "I didn't realise being a godparent had this effect on people. Even Doug has set up a savings account for Tali and gives me recipes for sugar free desserts." Bishop and McGee grinned at one another: Doug was John's somewhat unsatisfactory son to whom Tali had taken an unlikely fancy and who had been co-opted as another godparent.
"I can look up more recipes if you want," offered Ellie.
"That's all right," said Tony. "Now, if you really want to help …"
"Anything," said Bishop.
"If we can," said McGee who, knowing Tony better, was warier.
"I'm thinking I need to extend the cabin," said Tony, "Mac didn't mind roughing it when we stayed down here but newNanny might want something different. Another couple of rooms would be good."
"Building's not really my thing," said Tim, "Have you asked Gibbs. He'd love to build you something."
"It's not the building," said Tony, "It's the design. Need to find an architect. The guy who did the last extension has moved away."
"It'll be expensive," said Ellie with studied casualness.
"Hmm," said Tony absently as he watched Tali still brushing Ruskin.
"Yes, building work doesn't come cheap," chipped in Tim.
"That's OK. I've come into some money," said Tony. He looked away from his daughter and caught Tim and Ellie exchanging significant looks. "OK," he said, "What's going on? Why the eye rolls?"
"I didn't roll my eyes," protested Ellie.
"Excuse me," said Tony, "You're looking at the expert in silent communication, I know an eye roll when I see one. Spill!"
"Well," said Tim, "When you went missing …"
"… we had to do some background searches," said Ellie.
"Go on," sighed Tony.
"And we found …" began Tim.
"Actually it was Raleigh PD who found it," corrected Ellie.
"Good to hear that my co-workers are thorough," said Tony blandly, "So, what did they find?"
"That your father deposited $25000 in your bank account," said Tim.
"And you thought … what?" asked Tony.
"That it was generous of him?" said Ellie doubtfully.
Tony took pity on them, "Don't worry, I was as surprised as you were. Remember that Dad moved to DC? Bought that retirement apartment?"
"Yeah?" said Tim
"Well," Tony did an impersonation of his father's voice, "Investments aren't quite lining up, Junior … I don't want to miss out on this apartment, so …"
"You lent him money?" said Bishop.
"Yeah. And he paid it back, with interest," said Tony. "Just goes to show that a leopard can change its spots."
Tim and Ellie smiled in relief and resisted wondering if there had been other loans that hadn't been repaid.
"Tony, about Senior …" began Tim but he was interrupted by the sound of Ruskin shaking himself vigorously and then rolling in the dust.
"Bad Ruskin!" scolded Tali as the dog undid her good work.
Tony laughed and she came over to sit on his knee instead. John walked towards them with his sketch pad,
"Thought you might like these," he said and handed a piece of paper each to Tim and Ellie. They looked at them in amazement,
"This is wonderful," said Ellie.
"It's great," said Tim.
Tony peered at the sketches and realised that John had diverted his attention from Tali and Ruskin to produce two quick sketches of Tim, Ellie and Tony in conversation. "Nice," he commented, "Two genuine John Sutherlands … you might be able to retire on the proceeds!"
"Hardly," said John although, in truth, his portraits did command a high price especially as he rarely painted them anymore. "Just a thank you for helping find Tony."
"He found himself," said Tim, "But thank you … I won't give it back!"
Ellie gave John a hug before she and Tim went off to finish their packing.
NCISNCIS
Later that day, Gibbs strolled outside Tony's cabin to the beach to where Tali and Tony were building sandcastles.
"You OK?" he asked.
"Sure," said Tony. Then he looked at Gibbs and saw that it was more than a routine enquiry, "I'm fine," he said, "Why?"
Gibbs grunted as he lowered himself to the ground next to Tony. "Hardman …"
Tony groaned, "Enough, already!"
"Let me finish," said Gibbs mildly.
Tony gestured for him to continue.
"Hardman implied that you were going through a hard time. He didn't think it was impossible that you'd cracked under the pressure," said Gibbs.
"So?"
"So, you know that we … I … care. If you're struggling, you can come to me," said Gibbs.
"What sort of thing did Colin say?" asked Tony.
"He said about the Pink House falling through … about the bad feeling in the town."
"But you know now that Lew and I played that up a bit," said Tony.
"Still," said Gibbs, "It must have hurt."
"It was OK," said Tony. "And good news about the house."
"What?" asked Gibbs.
"It's been sold."
"It has? Do the buyers know that you burned it down?" asked Gibbs.
"Ha ha, and I didn't burn it down. It's just a bit singed."
"The roof fell in and the walls have collapsed," said Gibbs.
"Only that store room," said Tony, "And that was an add-on. Didn't go with the rest of the building."
"You saying that you did the buyers a favour?" said Gibbs sceptically.
"I wouldn't go that far," conceded Tony, "But it hasn't put them off."
"Who's them?"
"The Marine Corps," said Tony triumphantly.
"What?"
"Well, Camp Lejeune is close by."
"Thank you, I had noticed," said Gibbs drily.
"And the Marine Corps decided it would be good to have a property where sick and wounded Marines could convalesce. Pink House is perfect, it's quiet and reasonably remote but residents can get into town if they want some company. They can go swimming, sailing off the pier, walks along the beach …"
"Sounds good," admitted Gibbs. "How'd they find out about it?"
"Hmm, I might have mentioned it to the Commandant when he came to visit his great aunt at the Milsom Bay retirement home. You know, so they could be ready if one of the offers fell through."
"Good work," said Gibbs.
"I called them this morning. Let them know that the current option holders had … er … backed out. They put a call in straightaway and their offer was accepted. I think the owners just want to be rid of it especially after the latest episode. Although it's not as bad as they feared."
"They thought there was more damage than you burning half of it down?" asked Gibbs.
"Isn't there a rule against exaggeration?" asked Tony loftily. "No, the realtor was getting anxious because they were making a lot of noise and she thought they were knocking down walls and stuff."
"And they weren't?"
"No, the banging was just for effect. They figured that if there was a lot of noise going on, people would think they were legit and not trouble them."
"Sounds good then," said Gibbs.
"It's perfect," said Tony hotly before saying more hesitantly, "Well, possibly …"
"What?" asked Gibbs, "It sounds perfect to me as well. What's wrong with it?"
"It's just," said Tony, "Well, it's the name."
"What's wrong with the name?" asked Gibbs.
"The Marine Corps having somewhere called the Pink House?" said Tony. "Won't they want it to be green?"
Gibbs chuckled and took a sip of the coffee he had taken care to bring with him. "And what about Mac leaving?" he asked.
Tali looked up hopefully at the sound of Mac's name but went back to her work when she realised he wasn't in sight.
"That was a blow," admitted Tony, "But not completely out of the blue. We knew he'd be going. I could have found someone quicker but I wanted to take my time … talk of the devil, here she is!"
Tony jumped up as he saw a middle aged woman walking towards them. Gibbs could see the resemblance to her brother but where his face was habitually in a frown it appeared that Alice's face was more inclined to smiles.
"Tali," said Tony, "Here is Alice. You remember that I told you about her?" Tali decided to be shy and hid behind Tony's legs. "Alice, this is my daughter Tali. And this is Special Agent Gibbs, a friend."
Gibbs nodded. He held out his hand and noticed that her hair was distinctly auburn.
"Pleased to meet you, Agent Gibbs," said Alice as she shook hands, "Colin has told me about you." Her eyes twinkled with amusement. "Tali," she continued, "I've been looking forward to meeting you. Why don't you and I go down and have a paddle? You can tell me what sort of thing you and your Daddy like to do. And what your favourite dinner is."
Tali looked up at Tony who nodded permission, "Go on, Sweetheart. I'll be right here."
Alice held out her hand. Tali hesitated. "Your Daddy told me that you're very good at drawing." Tali nodded. "And that you like cooking?" Tali nodded again. "I like cooking too, especially if I've got someone to help."
"I like licking the bowl," said Tali.
"That's a big help," said Alice, "And it saves on the washing up!"
Tali stared at her and then giggled, "That's naughty!"
"Is it?" said Alice, "Why?"
Tali took her hand and led her away, giving her a lecture on hygiene as they went.
Tony laughed, "My daughter, she loves to be in the right."
Gibbs nodded approvingly, "You didn't tell me she was a redhead."
"I told her to dye her hair," said Tony gravely.
Gibbs delivered a head slap.
Tony returned to their previous conversation, "We knew Mac would be going and I'd decided I wouldn't try and replace him completely but that it was time to go for a housekeeper more than a Nanny."
"You think you're going to be busier when you're standing in for the Chief?"
"Not sure. It will be a different pressure but being CAFALO isn't exactly regular hours. Meetings in the evening – well, that'll carry on but I just want to make sure that what time I have to spend with Tali isn't spent on chores."
"Good luck with that, it sounds as if you won't get her out of the kitchen," said Gibbs.
"And it was tough when Mac left. We both missed him and it's hard seeing your daughter crying herself to sleep."
"And Mel?" asked Gibbs.
"Gibbs," said Tony in surprise, "What's up? We don't talk about our love lives … do we?"
"Had to hurt," said Gibbs.
"I guess," said Tony, "But we both agreed … I didn't get dumped. And we're planning a trip to Hawaii, we're still friends. And hey, it looks as if Tali's got a new friend!" He pointed to where Tali was tugging Alice back towards them.
"Daddy! Alice says she likes movies! But she hasn't seen Finding Dory yet. Can I put it on for her?"
"Sure," said Tony. "Come on, Gibbs, you won't get away from it," but somehow he didn't think Gibbs would mind spending time with the new member of the DiNozzo household.
NCISNCIS
"She's down for the night," said Tony later that evening as he emerged from his daughter's room. Perhaps he sensed that Gibbs was still concerned about him and as he sat down he said, "You know, getting kidnapped had a good side."
"It did?"
"You remember when Tali arrived?"
"Hard to forget," said Gibbs.
"I loved her from the beginning but I was clueless about what to do with her."
"You've done well," said Gibbs.
"But I always thought that I loved her because I was supposed to."
"Excuse me?"
"You know, out of duty. You're supposed to love your children."
"You've always done your duty, Tony," said Gibbs gruffly.
"Thanks, Boss, that means a lot," said Tony. "I've always done what I could for her."
"Nothing wrong with that" said Gibbs.
"And willingly," said Tony, "But then, when I was taken … well, I realised that I missed her."
"Yes?"
"I missed her smile, her giggle … even the way she gets cross with me sometimes. I realised how good it's been to see her growing up, seeing her personality develop … trying to guess what sort of person she's going to be. I missed her as a person, someone I loved and enjoyed being with. She's not a duty, or a burden but the most important person in my life. And I wonder if sometimes I haven't made that clear to people. Maybe I gave people like Colin the impression that she weighed me down in some way … perhaps that made it easier for people to think I could have walked away from her. But I couldn't do that. Sounds sappy, but she's the light of my life …"
Gibbs cleared his throat, "You don't have to tell me what that's like …"
"So, don't worry, Gibbs. I'm fine. Doesn't mean life is always easy but it's always worth living."
Gibbs raised his glass of bourbon and clinked it against Tony's glass. "Even if it means you're on non- non-alcoholic lager?" he asked.
"I'll be grateful when she wakes up in the middle of the night," said Tony.
Sleep was beginning to claim Gibbs when he remembered there was something else he hadn't told Tony, "Senior …" he began.
"Kinda odd, isn't it?" said Tony reflectively.
"Yes," said Gibbs firmly.
Tony looked surprised but continued, "I mean, Prince Al must be really fond of him to be willing to pay a ransom for me. Just goes to show there's good in the old man after all. He must be a good friend to Prince Al. And to be fair, he's tried to be a good grandpa to Tali." He smiled as he thought about his family.
Gibbs felt a little bad to be giving bad news, "We couldn't find him. You know, to tell him you'd gone missing."
"Oh," said Tony absently.
"Abby and McGee have been trying to find him. So had Prince Al. No trace at all. I'm sorry, Tony. They're still looking."
"He's in Texas," said Tony.
"What?"
"He called me a few days ago from a pay phone in Brownsville."
"What's he doing in Texas?"
"He was on his way to stay with his buddy, Clinton Furrough. Clinton has an estate on Padre island and Senior was going on retreat there for a few weeks. Completely out of contact with everyone, didn't want anyone to know where he was."
"Why?" asked Gibbs suspiciously as he began to imagine Senior's latest plotting.
"He went swimming in a new pool," said Tony, "Brought him out in a rash, his dermatologist said it was the chlorine. Dad said he wasn't fit to be seen so he was going somewhere serene and peaceful until his skin was DiNozzo worthy again."
Gibbs sighed.
"You weren't worried about him, were you?" asked Tony.
"Nah," said Gibbs and he smiled as he realised that, far from it all falling down for him, Tony was still building a good life for himself and Tali … and that Gibbs was a valued part of that life. "Nah, it's all good."
AN: there at last … this chapter was pure fluff! Thank you to everyone who has taken an interest in this story. The NCIS characters are back in their boxes, Milsom Bay is mine!
