After Tony, Kelly and Nellie were in Stillwater a few days relaxing, visiting with Jackson and visiting Gibbs' grave Tony took Kelly shopping in town. He had done some shopping of his own, he took Josh shopping and did some shopping for Jackson but then he took Kelly just so they could spend time together.
"Why don't you leave Nellie with me? I've handled babies before, she's comfortable here, everyone adores her … I want some time with her." Tony chuckles,
"All you had to do was ask Grandpa. I'd rather leave her then in and out of the cold. I have my phone, there's two bottles made and extra formula. Diapers, three changes of clothes and of course our stuff at the house."
"Go on, we'll be fine. I have a dozen ladies who will come snatch her from me as soon as you're out of sight."
"As long as they don't take her all over town." Kelly enjoyed the one on one time with Tony. They bought her some new stuff and things for her room. Tony also bought stuff for Nellie, Jimmy and Charlie.
"Did you tell Grandpa what Joann did?"
"No, he doesn't need to know everything. He knows she hit you and he knows I'm pissed off about it but I doubt they'll ever see each other again." Kelly nods,
"I hope not." When they got back Jackson seemed like he was in a bad mood. "Hi Grandpa, where's Nellie?"
"Ninny took her to the house. I need to talk to Tony and I don't want to start yelling with her here." Kelly froze and Tony sighs.
"What happened?"
"I want to know what really happened with Joann. You said there was a hassle because she hit Kelly but then Jimmy called here today. He said he was worried about Kelly because he thought she was going to hurt herself because of Joann. He said she was very mean to all of them and something about Kelly dying." Kelly's eyes fill with tears and Jackson hugs her. "I'm not mad I just want to know what happened."
"She told Kelly she wished she died instead of Shannon, that's why Kelly took off that day. I just found out the other day when we came here. Maddie went to California and Charlie and Jimmy went with Aunt Camille and Uncle Arthur so we could spend time together." Jackson hugs Kelly before kissing her head.
"Why don't you go over to play with Josh and Nellie? Tony and I have to talk about some stuff."
"It's not his fault I didn't want anyone to know. It's bad enough she doesn't want me but..."
"I know and I'm not mad I promise you." Tony smiles,
"If he starts we'll just go back home."
"Promise?"
"I promise." Kelly leaves and Jackson turns to Tony. "We don't make promises we can't keep. I swore never to break a promise to her."
"I'm really not mad at you but I figured if Jimmy knew something about Kelly dying that I didn't it must be bad. You guys wouldn't want to worry me but..."
"I don't know what to do. I'm going to get her into grief groups for kids her age and get her some help because she hasn't had a chance to grieve for dad or her mom."
"What about you? You lost your dad and Colby. Colby's alive but you're doing everything on your own."
"I'm already in a group for parents without partners. It's more common than I thought and there are a few dad's raising their kids alone. I've been so busy I didn't realize she's suffering too."
"You've taken on a lot in a short time. Jethro wanted to just finish some mission, some assignment so he could come home and enjoy what I got to experience." Tony looks at him oddly. "Being a Granddad something he knows I've always enjoyed."
"He would've been a great Granddad. He didn't want the baby but … he wanted her at the end. I know he wanted her and loved her. He helped me put together the room because Colby could go into labor at any time and he didn't want me stuck if he was gone."
"He would have her spoiled. He wanted her but was afraid if he got used to the idea you would change your mind and then give her up. He didn't want to do that and see you in pain. He suffered giving you up for adoption and didn't want you to go through the same thing."
"I would drop out of school and stay home full time first. Aunt Camille's going to watch her and I trust her more than anyone else because she practically raised me with Mama."
"I thought Joann had changed but..."
"It's one thing to hit Kelly because I don't know how things used to be but I can't forgive her for telling Kelly that. Then she ignored Nellie and thinking she fell from a height she could've been seriously hurt. She just said she was sleeping but didn't even seem to hear her."
"Maddie didn't mind taking care of her?"
"No, she likes doing that. She went to California because being crowded was too much. Her dad's going to be stuck in California for another month at least and then who knows. She took two suitcases one with clothes and one with the presents we got her. She left ours at the house."
"Why? Aren't you spending Christmas here?"
"Yes, we want to celebrate New Years with Charlie and Jimmy so we're planning a New Year's Eve party just the 4 of us. Christmas presents, food and a small party."
"Sounds good, it'll be too cold to go anywhere."
"I'd rather stay off the roads." Tony went by Bob's office where the kids were. Bob was talking to Nellie who was trying to stick his badge in her mouth.
"That's not very tasty honey."
"She doesn't care, she likes the taste of anything." Josh runs to him.
"Tony guess what."
"Um … what?"
"I'm going to be a big brother. Mama Ninny's going to have a baby."
"Really?" Bob nods grinning and Tony smiles. "Congratulations Bob, that's great."
"Thank you. We weren't sure how Josh would take it but he wants to be like you and be a big brother instead of a little brother."
"Yeah that's awesome when you have a younger brother and sister." Kelly grins at him.
"Is Grandpa mad?"
"No, he's fine. We just talked a bit that's all." Tony decided to take Kelly and Josh ice skating since the pond was finally solid enough to skate on and they head out. Bob and Ninny said they would watch Nellie and Jackson thought it was fine so they left. When they got home Jackson was waiting and had a bag packed. "Grandpa, what's wrong? Where are you going?"
"NIS Agent Franks called. He said there was a problem at the house and we needed to go home right away. I packed and was just about to go get you guys from the pond."
"Did he say what happened?"
"Apparently there was a fire … they saved most of the house but a neighbor saw it start in the attic. Get your stuff and we can go." They hurry to pack calling Charlie about the fire and then heading out. Kelly was on the verge of tears. "The house isn't destroyed honey, I'm sure there's not much damage to your stuff."
"My room is in the attic. What if I left something on or …?" Tony shakes his head turning to her as Jackson was driving.
"I unplugged everything remember? Charlie's been by to check on the house every day just in case and he said he went this morning and everything was okay. They're worried about the pipes freezing so he didn't want the house to flood. He also got the mail so no one would realize we were gone."
"Are you sure you unplugged everything?"
"There was nothing that needed to stay plugged in while we were gone. Lamps, TV's, radios it was just stuff like that. I unplugged everything figuring it'd be easier to reset the 5 clocks then risk a fire." They only stop long enough for gas since none of them were hungry and Kelly fed Nellie in the backseat. It was late when they got there and they stayed at Charlie's house.
"Have you heard anything? Do they know what happened?"
"It was arson, set in the attic and your room."
"What? Did they say who did it?" Charlie nods and Tony can see he was angry. "How did they catch her?"
"She was seen leaving and went to visit a neighbor. She said that she was dropping off Christmas presents for you guys and shortly after that they saw the fire. She's locked up and Franks said to go by NIS in the morning." Jackson frowns as he didn't catch the look.
"Who was it?"
"Joann, Charlie only gets that look when it comes to the stuff she did. I can't believe I was going to trust her with Nellie."
"You didn't know we thought she could be trusted. She's been acting weird while in lock up but they're not going to let her go."
"Okay that's good and I'm definitely pressing charges. Everything can be replaced … we're okay and that's all that matters." Kelly was upset about losing everything and Tony hugs her. "Weren't you the one who wanted a new wardrobe? Now is the chance to get it."
"Yeah but..."
"We'll replace anything destroyed. There's insurance on the house and they can't say it was us, we were in Stillwater." Camille nods,
"She already admitted to it. Said she wanted to teach you a lesson for being insubordinate to her. She said you were no good and she didn't care." It took Kelly a long time to fall asleep and only after Tony let her sleep with Nellie. He wanted to check out the damage knowing he could replace things until the insurance kicked in.
"I hope they put her away for good this time. Agent Franks talked to you about what happened?"
"Since you put us to talk to them when Jethro died he had no problem with it. He knew if you were anything like Jethro you would want answers right away." Tony nods,
"Kelly wanted new things because she's teased for wearing used clothes but we were going to donate those. I hope she didn't destroy our Christmas stuff."
"Well if she did you guys can have it here. We were going to New York anyway though Charlie said him and Jimmy were coming back for your Christmas party here."
"We were going to have it New Years Eve and save the presents until then." Tony started making a list of the stuff they would need immediately depending on what was destroyed or needed. Kelly would need clothes while Tony needed clothes and things for Nellie. He was storing a lot of things in the closet for her and he hoped they weren't all destroyed.
"Wait … I put the presents, Nellie's spare car seat and stroller in the cottage. After Nonie and Poppy moved out we started using it for storage so not all our immediate needs were destroyed."
"You didn't take it to Stillwater?"
"There's too much snow to be able to push the stroller but no one minded carrying her." Tony managed to get some sleep though he couldn't stop thinking about and hating Joann. He didn't know what possessed someone to set out and hurt their grandchild the way she has. He knew something happened where she wasn't family for a long time but he didn't know what it was. He wished he had Gibbs to ask all these questions but if Gibbs was there they might not have these problems either.