Chapter 53

Olivia looked at her place sitting for the hundredth time. She arranged and rearranged the centerpieces, of which there were three. And she checked and double checked to make sure each person had a spot.

Olivia looked at the clock. Then she looked at Kevin. "Is it too late to call this off?" She asked.

Kevin nodded and smiled. "Yes, it is." He said, soothing his wife of, now, 3 months. "It's fine. We have enough place settings. You made enough food. The centerpieces look great. And you look stunning." He said chuckling, a little, at Olivia's nervousness.

"It's our first diner party." Olivia explained. "I want it to be perfect."

"If this is the way it's going to be, every time, it's also going to be our last diner party." Kevin muttered.

"What did you say, Mr. Moore?" Olivia replied. The use of Mr. Moore was her way of letting him know that she had heard what he had said and had not appreciated it.

"Sorry, Hon." Kevin said.

Olivia came over to him and kissed him. "It's not like I'm going to freak out like this every time. But this time, it's…it's important."

Olivia went into the kitchen to check on the food. Kevin went to the front windows to wait for the guests.

The last year of Olivia's life had been a whirlwind. She had graduated college, gotten married, brought a house, and started a new job. She was very happy with her life. And she loved her job. She liked being able to drop in and see Tony whenever she wanted, since she was stationed mostly in the Naval Yard. She love being a married woman and the house was awesome, now that they had gotten the house furnished just the way they wanted. This diner party was to celebrate all that.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

Tony and Abby arrived first, and early. Abby had asked to come early to help with the last-minute preparations with the food. Tony had come to hopefully help his daughter calm her nerves.

"Abby's got it taken care of, Baby Girl." Tony poured and handed her a glass of wine. "It's fine, it's going to be okay."

Olivia took the glass and took a sip. She sighed and kept looking toward the kitchen. She then put her glass down and gave Tony a huge hug.

Olivia stepped back, looked up at Tony and smiled. "Kevin calls you 'Dad.' Olivia admitted.

"What?" Tony asked.

Olivia nodded. "He does, he kind of catches himself sometimes, but…yeah. I think…he likes you. And I think he…he wants to be able to call you that."

"Olivia, does Kevin know you're talking to me about this?"

"He would be embarrassed, mortified. He…he would never ask your permission to do something like that." Olivia stated.

"Why?" Tony questioned.

"He would…he would think it would sound weird to you, or something. I don't know." Olivia shook her head again. "Just forget I said anything."

"Baby…."

Olivia shook her head. "I don't want this night to be awkward…for anybody. Just forget about it." She said.

"Olivia." Tony said, pulling his daughter into a big hug. "I would be honored. I…I really like him. He knows that, and he's…he's good to you." Tony gave Olivia one of his biggest smiles. "That's all I could ask for in a son." He stepped back. "Don't worry, Baby Girl. He'll never know that we had this conversation."

Soon the rest of Team Gibbs arrived. Tony took the opportunity to get Kevin alone.

"She's been driving you crazy with this, I bet." Tony said about Olivia.

Kevin nodded. "She's been fussing over everything, the food, the place sittings. The…" Kevin shook his head. "…everything."

Tony nodded. "She considers my friends her family. She...she's a remarkable woman. She just…she just accepted them all, almost immediately, if they were important to me than they were important to her."

"She is a very, very giving person." Kevin said, nodding. "Did you know she was doing pro bono work on the weekend, sometimes?"

Tony shook his head. "You know, I consider you to be a part of my family too." Tony paused. "You've been so good to Olivia. She…she's so happy. She seems so happy with you. She's just…. She loves you, very much. You're a lot more than a son-in-law to me." Tony said putting his arm around Kevin's shoulders. "I hope you know that."

Kevin couldn't speak. He didn't know what to say.

"Come on, Son. Let's go eat." Tony said, smiling.

Kevin obeyed, still unable to speak.

By the time Kevin and Tony got to the table, everyone was seated and waiting on them. Olivia could tell, by the look on Kevin's face, that something had happened between the two of them. Tony nodded when she looked at him. She smiled, appreciatively, back.

The meal went splendidly. The food was wonderful, and everyone had a great time, eating, drinking and conversing. And Olivia had promised everybody a tour of the house afterwards.

"Before we give you the tour…" Olivia looked at Kevin. "What do you think? Should we tell them?"

Kevin nodded.

"Well, in that case…" Olivia turned her attention back to the rest of the room. "We have an announcement to make…."

TBC