The whole house was woken up at 7am that Sunday when the doorbell rang. With most of the family bar Rick Snr, Jessica and their youngest son, Max who lived just down the road, going home today, the family decided they would all have breakfast together.
Kate and Lana has been up since 6 getting the breakfast for 21 people started while Tony and Joe has got the girls up and ready and also packed their cars ready for their long journeys home.
Before Tony had gone to bed last night, he had asked Kate's father if he could ask Kate to marry him in the morning at breakfast and Richard positively beamed at the idea.
As more and more of the family filled the house, the women seeming to congregate in the kitchen again and the men and children all in the living room watching cartoons, Tony sat on the bench under a big Oak tree in the back garden, looking at the ring and going over everything in his head.
"Tony?" Kate asked as she walked up to him, causing Tony to quickly clench his fist and hide the ring. "Are you okay?" She asked again as she took a seat next to him.
"Yeah, I just needed some air, that's all" Tony smiled reassuringly at Kate.
"Are you sure?" Kate wondered. Tony just didn't seem right this morning.
"I'm sure" he smiled as Kate linked her arm through his.
"They can be a bit intense sometimes!" Kate laughed. "My family, I mean"
"Its so weird, you have so many people who love you and I don't, I never had this. I've never really had a family... Not until I met Gibbs anyway" Tony let out a single laugh. "And then you came along and now you're my family, Kate" Tony laced his finger's with Kate's as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"This is your family too, you know. They all love you"
"Like I've always said, you Todd's are incapable of resisting the DiNozzo charm" Tony smiled cheekily as Kate placed a quick kiss on his lips.
"C'mon, breakfasts ready and we've got to be at the airport in a few hours" Kate pulled Tony up and off the bench and walking back into the house with him, his arm wrapped around her waist and her head rested on his shoulder as they walked.
Once breakfast was ready, Kate, Lana, Jessica and Rachael all helped to bring out the many plates of toast, bacon, eggs, sausages, cereals, fruit, yoghurt, croissants and all the other delicious breakfast food that Kate and Lana had prepared.
Amelia, Lilly, Lana's daughter Callie, Rick Jnr and Jessica's youngest son Max, Tommy's sons Jack and Alex and Rachael's children Leo, Jennifer and Ella all sat at a separate childrens table, despite their ages ranged from 17 to 4. While all the adults; Richard, Kate, Tony, Rick Snr and his wife Jessica, Tommy, Joe and his girlfriend Lana, Rachael and her husband Mark and Rick and Jessica's eldest daughter, Olivia and her girlfriend Carrie all sat at the big table (or rather two tables and a snooker table pushed together).
All through the breakfast Tony was nervous. He was nervous Kate would say no. He was nervous that her brothers would try and beat him up. He was nervous that he would be down on one knee and no words would come out of his mouth, but the one thing he was not nervous about was the life he would lead if Kate said 'yes'. The idea of that life, of getting to call Kate, the love of his life, his constant, his everything, his 'wife' is what calmed his nerves and gave him the courage he needed.
Every so often, Richard would shoot him a reassuring look which also helped calm his nerves.
Considering just how scary Kate's ex Navy SEAL father looked on the outside, on the inside he was just a big softie and having him as an in-law didn't scare him in the slightest any more.
"Jeez, Lana. That's like your fifth croissant!" Kate laughed as the tall, black haired woman shoved another French delicacy in her mouth.
"What, I'm eating for two!" Lana laughed back, her words muffled from the food in her mouth.
"My little boy is gonna be a ten pounder!" Joe smiled proudly, patting his girlfriends slightly rounded stomach.
"It is not!" Lana scoffed. "And we don't know its a boy yet. It could very well be a girl" her hand joined his on her bump.
"Its a Todd baby, most of us were ten pounds... Except Kate. She was almost twelve!" Joe smirked.
"I was not!" Kate slapped her older brother on the arm playfully.
"Katie, you were the fattest baby ever!" Rick Jnr laughed.
"You wouldn't think it now but you were bigger than all of us" Joe teased.
"Joe, you're forgetting this baby is half mine. Its not going to come out some huge freaky baby like you!" Lana smiled at her boyfriend.
"We'll see" Joe smirked.
Just as Kate was about to grab her second slice of toast Tony started clearing his throat and asking for everybodies attention. With a nervous smile he took Kate's hand in his own.
"Kate, I'm not good with words, not like you anyway and there is no way humanly possible to put into words how much I love you and how much you mean to me, but I'm going to try my best to do it anyway. You are the strongest, kindest, most beautiful woman that I've ever had the honour of knowing and loving. How I ever got you is beyond me, because believe me Kate, I really got lucky and hit the jackpot with you! You've changed me, every day since I've known you, you've changed me. And even though for the first few years we would always bicker and I'd wind you up, I always thought you were the most amazing person. Your smile, as cringey and cliché as it sounds, is the light of my life. You make everything and everyone better and always bring out the best in people. Five years ago, if somebody would have told me that I would fall in love and have kids with my partner I would have laughed in their faces and five years ago, the though of that would have terrified me, but now, not having you or the twins is what terrifies me. My life finally feels like it has meaning, Kate, and that's because of you. I wouldn't be the man I am right now if it wasn't for you. I am so, incredibly, head over heals in love with you Kate and I never want to spend another day without you. You make me happier than I ever thought I could be, all my dreams that I didn't know I had have come true and I owe everything to you. So" Tony got down on one knee, Kate's hand still in his own. "Caitlin Todd, will you marry me?" Tony asked, his eyes glistening with tears while Kate's flowed freely down her cheeks, holding up the ring and looking into her deep chocolate eyes.
Kate's mouth went dry and her palms began to sweat. Time seemed to stop still, making each passing second of silence seem like a year. Every single person's eyes were on her, burning holes into her, waiting for her to answer. After a quick scan of the room and a deep breath, Kate looked back down at Tony, who was still down on one knee, the engagement ring in one hand and Kate's in the other. His face was a wash of emotions, and right now, he looked both terrified and heartbroken.
She didn't know how long she had stayed silent, gobsmacked, for, but she knew it was long enough. She didn't even know why she had stayed silent that long, its not like she even needed to think about her answer.
"Yes" Kate smiled, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Of course I will, Tony!".
Tony breathed a sigh of relief as he slid the ring on Kate's finger, stood up and pulled her into a passionate, blissfully happy kiss.
As Kate's family cheered and wiped their eyes, Kate wrapped her arms around Tony's neck and smiled into their kiss before her family all stood up and pulled the newly engaged couple into a hug.
Both Kate and Tony bent down and picked up Lilly and Amelia as they came hurdling towards them, their little arms outstretched.
"Are you gonna marry Daddy now?" Amelia asked as she inspected the ring on her mothers finger.
"I am" Kate beamed at her daughter, still not over the fact they called Tony 'Daddy'.
"Can we be bridesmaids and wear pretty princess dresses?" Lilly asked from Tony's arms.
"You guys are gonna wear the prettiest, most princess-y dresses ever!" Tony smiled, placing a kiss on his daughter's cheek.
"And Mommy too!" Amelia added, smiling.
"And Mommy too" Tony smiled, the thought of Kate in a wedding dress, of how beautiful she would look, knocked the breath out of him for a second.
It wasn't long after breakfast when most people, Kate, Tony and the twins included, headed home. If it were up to Kate, they wouldn't have left but they had work in the morning and the girls had school.
The flight home had been better than they had expected, they had been bumped up to first class thanks to the girls excited chattering about how their Mommy and Daddy just got engaged.
"Can we go get Noodles on the way home?" Amelia asked as Tony drove them home from the airport.
Abby had been babysitting the puppy since Thursday night and the girls missed him terribly.
"Pleaaaaase!" They both whined in unison.
Tony looked over to Kate and he knew that she couldn't resist them.
"I'll have to phone Auntie Abby first, okay?" Kate turned in her seat to face her daughters. Once they both nodded she pulled out her phone and phoned her best friend.
As Tony pulled into Abby's driveway, the girls started to get really excited and hyper over the fact they'd be seeing both Noodles and Abby in a few minutes.
Kate and Tony got the girls out of their carseats and the four of them walked hand in hand up the driveway to Abby's front door, where Tony rung the doorbell about six times.
"McGoo?" Tony asked when Tim answered the door. "What're you doin- ohhhhhh" he asked, nodding his head and smiling suggestively once it clicked that he had probably spent the weekend with Abby -again.
"Auntie Abbyyyyyy!" The girls squealed as Abby emerged in her hallway, nearly getting knocked off her feet by the two tiny humans racing towards her.
"Hey guys!" Abby smiled, pulling them into a bone crushing hug. "I missed you!"
"We missed you too" the girls replied, before getting distracted by Noodles in the living room.
"Something happened when you were away, didn't it?" Abby raised her eyebrow and smirked. "C'mon, spill. What happened?"
"We, er-" Kate started but got cut off by Tony.
"-We're engaged!" Tony blurted, not being able to hold it, or his huge smile, in any longer.
"You're what?" Abby asked, her eyes wide in shock.
"We're engaged, Abbs. We're getting married" Kate laughed before Abby flung her arms around her two best friends.
"Lemme see the ring!" Kate held her hand out to Abby.
"It was my mothers, and my Grandmother's before that" Kate smiled again.
"It's beautiful!" Abby gushed before hugging them both again.
"I didn't think you would do it that quick!" McGee stated once Abby had pulled Kate into the living room. "Congrats, man!" He added, clapping Tony on the back.
"Thanks, Timmy" Tony smiled sincerely. "I asked her father for permission last night, he gave me that ring and I proposed at breakfast this morning, in front of her whole family"
"See, I told you you would know when the time was right" McGee smiled. "So... Does it feel weird?"
"Not at all, Timmy. If I'm honest, it sounds cheesy and like I'm a walking cliché, but it just feels right. I've never been this happy in my life"
"Good, Tony. I'm glad"
"Is Auntie Abby gonna be a bridesmaid too, Mommy?" Amelia asked, her attention never leaving the white puppy she was playing with.
"Well Abbs?" Kate asked, looking over at her best friend.
"As if you even have to ask, Kate!" Abby beamed with excitement.
"Good" Kate smiled. "Because I want you to be my Maid of Honour"
"Aaaaaaahhhhh!" Abby screamed with excitement at the top of her lungs.
"But no black, no sculls, no spiders, no coffins!" Kate laughed.
Oh wow, two updates in like one day. You guys are sooooo lucky;-) That just shows how bored I am and how much time I have on my hands now i've finished College till September. Im hoping to get this story finished soon and I may do a sequel, if anybody is interested? Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. Please leave a review letting me know what you think and whether or not you'd be interested in a sequel:-)