Chapter 21: U is for Underwear

Tony watched Anthony re-position himself on the chair for what must have been the tenth time during dinner. Anthony had on a pair of loose fitting sleep pants and a t shirt instead of the clothes he had worn to school that day. As soon as the meal was finished and the kids were allowed to leave the table, Anthony jumped up, offering to clear the table.

The other kids went to finish homework, and Ziva put a hand on Tony's arm before he followed Anthony into the kitchen. "Did you notice him squirming? He could not sit still. I wonder what is up with him?"

Tony nodded, "He also has on his sleep clothes, not his day clothing. Something is up. Me or you to talk to him?"

Ziva thought a minute, "I think it should be you. It might be a father son thing?"

"Okay," Tony took the dishes that Ziva had in her hand and went into the kitchen. Anthony was rinsing dishes and loading the dishwasher.

"You can put those on the counter over here," Anthony nodded to the empty counter to his left.

"Okay; anything you need me to help with?"

"I got this if you bring everything in from the dining room, Abba." Tony went out to the dining room for the last pile of dishes. He placed them on the counter and moved over to take dishes from Anthony to put them into the dishwasher racks.

They worked silently until the last dishes were loaded. Anthony opened the cabinet under the sink and took out a pod of dishwasher detergent. He placed it in the cup as his Abba checked the rinse agent indicator. Tony shut the dishwasher door and pressed start.

"Anything you want to talk about, kid?" Tony looked at his son.

"Not really, Abba," Anthony just wanted to get to his room to lie down.

"What's with the pajamas? Not feeling well?" Tony pressed.

"I'm fine. Just did something stupid," Anthony mumbled.

"Oh?"

"I went 'commando' on a dare today and I got a rash in a bad place." Anthony hung his head and wouldn't meet his father's eyes. "It got worse all day and now it hurts and it itches."

"Did you wear jeans today?" Tony grinned at his son; he couldn't help it. (Been there, done that!)

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I did the same thing; paid the price for three days. If you go 'commando' you need to wear the soft, loose pants, not jeans."

Anthony looked at his Abba, "Really, you did the same thing?"

Tony grinned again, "Yep, really did; and I was MUCH older than you when I did it. We were still at NCIS on the MCRT and I decided to go 'commando' on the day we worked in the evidence locker. I had on jeans and after the first hour, I thought I was going to die. Your Ima noticed pretty quickly and she figured out what had happened. She ribbed me about it all the rest of the day, but after we got off work, she helped me by making a salve that helped the rash go away in a few days."

Anthony grinned at his father, "Did she help you put in on?" He ducked as Tony moved to head-slap him.

"I'll never tell!"

An hour later, Ziva walked into Anthony's room and placed a jar of something on his nightstand. "Abba said you could use this."

"Thanks, Ima!"