Chapter 121
Tim woke at 0315 to a call for help from Ned in San Diego and Henry Tighe in Yokosuka, Japan. The two of them were on the trail of the bomb maker but were blocked and unable to resolve the block. Taking a look, Tim told them he'd get back to them as soon as possible. Calling the SecNav, who he now knew was in Japan, he briefed her, asking for permission to use his White Hat connections to resolve the block. Given that permission, he quickly accessed the White Hat site, dropping a note to his former lead, who replied with, "Welcome! Per order of the Big Cheese, you're welcome anytime, no need to ask. Let us know if you need help (Ha!)."
It took him close to an hour to resolve the block but he got it, grabbed the information needed and carefully exited. Once he was out of there, he returned to his work laptop, sending the information to Dorneget and Tighe, ordering Ned to sign off for at least 6 hours of sleep.
After sending updates to Secretary Porter, Director Vance, Agents Childers and McCoy, both working after rest breaks, and assorted other people, Tim left everything on and went right back to sleep.
Awake again 90 minutes later, he was ready to get back to work. Now he shut everything down and grabbing everything he needed for the day, walked quietly downstairs to the hallway bathroom. Showering and dressing, he headed for the kitchen, smiling as the smell of fresh coffee brewing told him someone else was awake. His smile got bigger when his wife greeted him with a kiss. They were still wrapped in each other's arms when a throat was cleared, Dad. After greeting them with one of his trademark smirks, he helped get breakfast ready.
Tim was chuffed when the kids appeared in various stages of waking up, Andy carrying Jed and Greg holding Hope's hand, to say hello to him. "Did Aunt Bec catch the bad guys yet?"
Keeping his face blank, he said, "I'm afraid that's classified for now." Then smiling, he said, "I actually don't know. There haven't been any updates in the last hour and 15 minutes."
Dad frowned, started to say something and then didn't. Turning back to the breakfast preparations, he winked at Artie who shrugged with a smile. She'd seen Tim's note, knew what time he'd gotten home and knew, as did Jethro, that he'd probably had no more than 3 hours sleep. Still, he'd been able to come home, that was a good sign.
She remembered a case shortly after she and Andy moved in, the first time she'd ever experienced Special Agent Timothy McGee, criminal investigator. He was locked in his office for the better part of 2 or 3 days, she couldn't remember, with very little sleep. Jethro had been called into the agency and he'd been gone for roughly the same length of time that Tim was in his office. Now she trusted her husband to sleep when he could.
When he received a text that his ride was there, he kissed everyone, grabbed the travel mug of coffee Dad handed him and flew out the door. Climbing into the SUV, he was surprised to find no Leon. The agent riding 'shotgun' said, "For your ears only, he has an unexpected appointment this morning, he may be in this afternoon."
Tim frowned, "Is it…obviously something isn't going as planned."
The agent smiled, "He asked that you call him when you get to the office. It's not his health, if that's what you're worried about. And the 'something' is a good something, it's just happening faster than they thought it would."
"Good, thanks!" Tim sat back, relaxing a bit. Then his phone rang, a call from Bec and he spent the rest of the ride being updated by his Field Team Lead. They arrived at the office as he disconnected and he thanked the security detail.
They nodded as he left the vehicle. Once in his office, he finished his coffee before calling Vance. When Leon answered, he said, "Tim, sorry I haven't been there. What's the news this morning?"
Tim updated him with Childers' last update. The combined Antwerp-London team, with Childers in the lead, was working closely with Interpol and the CIA to locate several Persons of Interest and bring them in for questioning. They were keeping news of the progress they'd made on the attack to a small group, a subgroup quietly brought together yesterday afternoon when suspicions of insider involvement grew stronger. With overnight work from Tim's INV agents and from Tim himself, although he didn't mention that to Leon, the list of possible insiders sharing information, or more active participation, had been narrowed down to three names. The bomb-maker had been located and brought in for questioning. When Leon asked if Tim's hat had anything to do with that, he chuckled. "Yes, I'm happy to say! Once again, I got to help on a case!"
"Yeah, that always feels good to me, too."
Finishing with his update, Tim listened as Leon told him what was going on in his personal life. A collision between a bus and car the week before resulted in fatalities, including one that orphaned a young boy, age 7. The Vances, who'd become certified foster parents in the UK as well as the U.S., had applied to foster the child. They'd met with the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service yesterday, also meeting with the social worker assigned to them as foster carers. This morning they were to meet with the social worker assigned to the little boy, whose name was Brody. They hoped to meet him during or shortly after that meeting.
Leon said he'd considered rescheduling the meeting when notified of the Antwerp attack but knew Tim was perfectly capable of managing it.
Disconnecting, Tim smiled, happy for the little boy, not that he'd lost his mother in the accident but that he would be part of a strong family with parents, an older sister and two older brothers. He'd be in Rissa and Davey's class at school and would have plenty of other kids close to his age in the Brambury extended family.
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By the end of that week, they knew who had perpetrated the attacks and how; within a few more days all of the terrorists, including the insider, were in in custody. The combined field teams, Antwerp and London, were in on the takedown and interrogations. Once everyone was booked and in lockup, the Londoners came home.
Because Bec hadn't wanted to use up precious rest time traveling home during the case, Geordie and little Tyler took the train to Antwerp and stayed there, seeing their wife and mother on her rest breaks. Barry went over on his time off to see Alan and ended up staying, working in the Antwerp office. Bec's junior agent's wife, who worked from home, also traveled over and stayed with her husband.
When Tim told his father about it, he first made a face and then stopped to think about it. "I was going to say agents need to stay focused, but that's hard to do 24/7 for days on end. For me now, seeing my wife and kids would give me strength."
Tim smiled, hugging his father. Lu also approved, wholeheartedly. When Tim later told Tony what their former boss said, his brother shook his head. "That would have been nice back then. Although I didn't have anyone that I really cared that much about, did you?"
"Sarah, Rob, Lu and the guys. I was the only one with family on the team until Bishop joined us."
"Ah, good point. And then Ellie had parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, which was new for us, even you."
"Right, parents and siblings she hadn't raised."
"And now that applies to all of us!"
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When young Brody came home with his new foster parents, he was slowly introduced to the extended family. As Tim had hoped, the little boy was in first year with Rissa and Davey, relieved and happy to have friends before he attended his first day of class at his new school. Meeting the rest of the kids close to his age also made him happy. Victoria was a year older, Hope a year younger, Kyle and Nat three and four years older and of course little Jilly and Jed were quite a bit younger. Having two big boys, Greg and Ben, around made Brody feel safe.
Before, he and his mother had lived alone. Although they'd had a good life together, apart from his friends and teachers at school he didn't know many people. His mother worked two jobs, one during the day while he was at school, then she'd be home for dinner and leave again after he went to bed, returning about 2:00 AM. Their neighbor in the next apartment knew he was there by himself and he felt a little safer knowing that. A few times he'd been awakened and scared by a noise and went next door, falling back to sleep there. That was fine, the neighbor was a night owl and had also been a single mother with two jobs. She'd had help in her time, now she was happy to pass that help along. Although she wasn't able to take Brody in to live with her after his mother was killed, she met the Vances and vowed to keep in touch with her young friend.
Now his mama was gone, people told him she'd been taken to heaven, and Brody would live with these nice people, the Vances. While he missed his mother, the neighbor and his friends and teacher from his old school, he really liked having two parents, a sister and two brothers! When Ross returned to the U.S., Brody was upset and Kayla promised him she'd come home on weekends at least twice a month. That helped as did Jared's presence. As for the teen, he was thrilled to have a little brother and spent as much time with him as possible.
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After the Antwerp case was wrapped up, at least until the trials, the field teams, every INV agent who'd been involved and the Intel Analysts spent days writing their reports, for NCIS, Interpol, the Belgian police, the CIA and Homeland Security. Because Tim had been the Acting Director, he did a few reports of his own as he read and approved theirs. For his White Hat work, he copied a report he'd done for Leon during the war, changing it to reflect the current case. It went to Leon and the Secretary of the Navy. If anyone else wanted to see it, they'd have to go through channels.
At home, those who were going to Greece for Easter were starting to get excited. The Paddington jet would take everyone who was going.
Early Wednesday afternoon, a week before they were leaving for Greece, Leon appeared in Tim's office. "I just spoke with Owens in Japan. We have a problem."
Tim looked at him but Leon was very good at keeping his usual poker face when he was teasing or pulling a prank. As today was April 1st and thus April's Fools Day, he hoped that's what this was. He was doing a good job of appearing worried, too, pacing around Tim's office.
Testing the waters, he looked at his watch, saying, "It's past noon, Leon." Traditionally in the UK, April Fools' pranks were only carried out until noon.
Vance nodded, "I know and I wish this was a prank but it's not. Owens hasn't been feeling well, went to the doctor and long story short, needs to have surgery next week. He'll be out of the office beginning April 8th for an estimated 6 weeks, which is May 20th. His first thought was that he'd be off work for a couple of weeks and then work from home. However, after our experience with Cabot's idea of working remotely and Owens' need to heal properly, I'm not willing to leave his office empty."
He finally sat in one of the guest chairs. "After discovering how inept, criminally negligent, so many of our former management staff were, I will not send someone I don't personally know and trust. That means you, Joel, Roger, Pete, Stan or Blumquist. But I can't send Blumquist, he's still holding down the fort at Marine Corps West in California. Dwayne Wilson and Ken Sisler haven't got the experience needed yet and the others, well, it really comes down to you or Joel. We can only spare you because I'm still here, we'll ask DiNozzo to step in for a couple of weeks, Bec's managed before and Sydney is a strong office manager. As for Joel, his SSA is experienced and he also has a strong office manager."
Tim swallowed, "Wow. Six weeks."
"Yes. If you go, you're taking your wife, kids and your folks too."
Tim relaxed at that, glad he hadn't had to ask because he was not going that far across the world for nearly two months without his family!
"I'll need to talk with Artie, figure out what to do about the kids' schooling and finding lodging big enough for all of us."
"You'll be on a TAD expense account. And you'll have access to our relocation agent before you leave."
"Ok, that'll help. Owens is out the 8th, do I need to be there before he leaves?"
"That would be nice but I don't see how you'd do that, not for that long a trip. If you can be there by the 9th or 10th, that would be fine."
"Visas? Vaccinations? All of our passports are up to date. Schooling, housing and medical seem like the biggest questions. Artie decided to take some time off, she's doing some consulting but that's done online. She doesn't start her next physical project until after the kids go back to school in September."
"That's a relief."
"I doubt my parents will go as Joe and Char's baby is due in two weeks. Artie's sister's baby is due in late April, early May. Sorry, going through the family's baby schedule!"
"That's all right. I'll ask Pam to check the SecNav's flights."
Tim smiled, "Thanks!"
"Why don't you take off now, see what you can find out about the schooling? I'll have a representative from Human Resources Relocation contact you, they'll know how to handle that – and housing."
"Or I could talk with them now, while I'm here. I'd rather go home with answers for those items as I'm sure Artie will have other questions."
"Sounds good." With a nod, Leon left for his own office while Tim contacted HR, asking for a relocation agent. He was amused when asked where he was going. His answer led to someone who said she'd been handling the Far East for several years.
After explaining the possible TAD gig and taking his family along, he asked about the kids' schooling. She said, "That's an easy one. There are international schools for all ages in Yokosuka, where you'll be working. Their curriculum is very close to the schools here in the UK. What levels are your children in now?"
Tim told her and she wrote them down. "I'll send the current International School curriculums for those levels to you at home. Then you can show your children's head masters. If there's anything here that's not taught there, we'll pay for tutoring, since your children will be returning to those classes."
"Great, thank you! The other questions I have are housing for 8 or 10 of us. Either two or four adults and the six children. I'm not sure my parents will be joining us. And lastly, do we need any vaccinations? My wife and two of our kids joined me on a business trip to Japan two years ago and there wasn't anything special, but I've been reading about an outbreak of a different strain of flu."
"Yes, and all of you will need to have that vaccination, the sooner the better as it takes a few days to really kick in. I'll send you an information sheet on that…you might want to call ahead a day so the medical staff will have the right vaccine. It's not yet common in the UK. As for housing, I'll start looking right away. What's your ideal and least acceptable number of bedrooms and bathrooms?"
"With 8 of us, 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms is the ideal. With 10 of us, 6 beds, 5 baths. The least acceptable would be 3 bedrooms, 3 baths for 8 of us and 4 and 3 for 10 of us."
"Will you need a vehicle there?"
"I know public transportation is great but let's say yes; we'll want to travel on the weekends. We normally rent the largest vans available, 14-16 passengers. Oh, will our UK licenses be good enough? And could we please not have an apartment? We do that on long weekend holidays sometimes but 6 weeks is too long for kids who are used to a large back garden."
He heard the smile in her voice, "I've been to the Manor for your Fourth of July parties, I understand! You will need an International Driver's Permit, with your licenses and passports. I can arrange for those, I'm assuming your wife will also be driving the rental, to be prepared for pickup on Friday. I'll need copies of your drivers' licenses and passports to get started and you'll need to have the originals with you on Friday when you pick them up. All right, I'll get busy. When will you know if you're going and if yes, when are you going?"
"I hope to know by tomorrow morning and if yes we'll be leaving sometime between Monday and Wednesday."
"Ooh, flight reservations!"
"Hold off on that until tomorrow please? Unless you can reserve without paying?"
"Not for that many seats! Although I can get you a discount. How old is the baby now?"
"He's 22 months."
"All right, as I said, I'll get to work on housing and the curriculums. If I have any questions shall I wait until tomorrow or is it all right to call you this evening?"
"Call me please. I'm leaving for home in a few minutes. Big decisions to be made!"
Disconnecting, Tim called their family doctor, asking for the specific vaccine to be on hand either Thursday or Friday. When he was told Friday, he made an appointment for all of them. He'd go in first thing while Artie and maybe one of his parents could take the children at lunchtime or after school. If they decided to do this. If not, he'd cancel the appointment. Finally, he logged off everything, told Cynthia he'd be at home and then left. He hadn't said anything to Cynthia yet, he'd wait until he and Artie made their decision. He'd make sure she had enough work, probably from Pam, to keep her busy while he was gone. While Cynthia was not a workaholic, she preferred to stay busy.
As he rode home on the Tube, he thought about the continuing fallout from their in-house serial killer. The IA investigations had been completed and those SSAICs, SSAs and SFAs who'd transferred the creep from office to office were gone from the agency and from the federal government. There was one SFA who had kept copies of his documentation to his lead and to the office SAIC. Following the recommendation of the IA investigators, he was not fired. Other employees had called the agency hotline to report what they'd seen and heard and those were given a negative comment, unless they'd also let their supervisor know, in their file. The two eyewitnesses, another had called the hotline, had been interviewed by the investigators.
That mess had taught many agents, agency personnel and most federal employees lessons about their responsibility to their employer, to each other and following through or going over heads when necessary. For NCIS employees, it was also a stark reminder of their responsibility to Navy and Marine personnel and dependents. Luckily, the criminal had not targeted any of them although as an agent, he had access to many of their records.
Once the offending employees had been replaced, Vance sent out a 'no tolerance' letter for any ostracism of those offices. His message thanked everyone for their patience while this difficult matter was addressed and for working together to change things. He stated that those who had offended were gone and it was time, especially now with the war just concluded, to pull together again.
He'd written that, knowing it needed to be said. However, as he'd said to Tim today, he was still distrustful of those SSAICs and SAICs that he, Tim, Joel, Jethro, Pete, Roger, Stan or Blumquist didn't know. When Tim added those personally known by Balboa, Rick Carter and Jim O'Brien, Leon calmed enough to realize he still had good, honest people working for him.
As he rode along, Tim realized he was getting excited about the possibility of going to Japan, especially with all the the kids. He was 99% certain his parents would say no and agreed with that decision. They'd been there for all the other grandbabies born in the last 5 years, they should be here for little Jose, too. Joe and Char knew they were having a boy but hadn't yet disclosed their choice of name.
Tim also thought about Bill, who was leaving in two weeks to start his Reconstruction work in the U.S. He'd join them in Maine, then return to his work in Baltimore and would be home in time for the annual trek to Varkiza. Nikki considered joining him but Bill talked her out of it, saying he would be swamped, likely moving around from job to job and he'd do better if he knew she was safe in the UK. His first job would be in Baltimore, as he'd requested; however, he didn't know if he'd be there the whole time or working in other parts of Maryland or other states.
Joe and Freddie requested a postponement of their Reconstruction work until later in the year when the baby would be older. Joe wanted to take time off when he was born, which would leave Freddie to run the business for a few weeks. Their request was approved, to their relief. With Freddie's social fears and anxieties, he and Joe had planned their work carefully for the weeks Joe would be home with the baby. They'd already set up the jobs Freddie would work, so there would be no meetings with potential clients.
Tim blinked when someone tapped him on the shoulder, "Unless you've moved, this is your stop!"
He nodded at the man, "Sorry, thanks."
It was a nice afternoon, warm-ish in the high 50's, and he enjoyed the walk home. As he walked, he suddenly remembered that trip to Cornwall nearly 5 years ago, when they'd been new to the UK and thought it hilarious that 60° F could be considered warm!
Reaching the house, he walked in, scaring Lu. "Timmo, what's wrong? Are you sick?"
He laughed, "No, Mom, I'm perfectly fine. An opportunity was presented to me, something we adults, you, Artie, Dad and I, need to talk about."
"Oh! I'll get your dad, he's just finishing mowing the lawn. Artie's on the phone in the family room, I think with Susannah."
"All right, meet you in there in 15 minutes? That gives us an hour or so before the kids are out of school."
"I'm dying of curiosity!"
He smirked at her as he headed for the family room. Artie looked up when he walked in, still on the phone. "Ian, let me know what happens, please? I can be there in a few hours."
Tim's eyebrows went up in surprise as Artie disconnected. "How did you know to come home early?"
"I didn't. I'm here early for something else that can wait a few minutes. What's going on with Suse and Ian?"
"She's in labor, at the hospital. They gave her an injection to stop it last week, but it's started again."
"The baby's about 5 weeks early. She or he will be all right, honey, unless there's another problem?"
"No, they've done more tests since last week and everything looks fine. She might have conceived a month before she missed a period, that happens."
"I remember you telling me that when you told me about Andy."
She nodded and he said, "Are you flying up?"
She made a face, "I'm not sure. Fiona is there with her and Mama and Yaya are already in the air to Edinburgh. Yaya says she's not missing the birth of this great-grandchild, if she has to stay for the next two months. I don't want to crowd them. I'll go up after she's born."
"She? I thought they decided they didn't want to know?"
Artie grinned at him, "They did; I decided it's a girl! If it is, they'll name her Anna Sophia. Anna is Fiona's middle name. If it's a boy, he'll be Alastair something, I don't know what his middle name will be."
"Maybe Nikolas?"
"Oh, that would be wonderful! Hmm, maybe they'll turn it around, Nikolas Alastair. No, I like it the other way better, Alastair Nikolas Clacher."
Tim chuckled, "Glad you approve, Theía!" While he rarely called Gaia, his wife's aunt, the word for Aunt, he remembered it now.
"I do, Theíos!"
"I like the sound of that, Theíos Tim." It made a nice change from 'Uncle Tim', not that he minded that at all!
She patted his face, "Good. If the baby is born between now and Friday, maybe we can go this weekend?"
"Or earlier, sure. There is something else we need to talk about."
Sitting next to her, he told her of the opportunity to live in Japan with their children for 6 weeks. "I worried about the kids' schooling but our relocation agent says the international school in Yokosuka uses curriculums similar to ours here. If there are subjects missing, the agency will pay for tutors for the kids. She's sending me the most current curriculums tonight and if we decide to do this, one of us can take them to the schools tomorrow, check with the head mistress and head master."
"When would we need to leave?"
"Monday or Tuesday. We're not taking everything, remember."
"Clothes are the easiest, it's which toys and books to take."
"Maybe we tell them a certain number each, like we do on vacations, but more than the 4 we limit them to."
She snorted, "You mean the 10 they end up with?"
"Well, yeah." They both chuckled and then Artie had a question, ""It sounds like an adventure. Will there be lodging big enough for all of us?"
"Yes, she doesn't think it'll be a problem." He told her what he'd said as far as ideal and least acceptable and she agreed, adding that his parents wouldn't go, it wouldn't be fair to Joe and Charlotte. Tim agreed before saying, "I forgot the Ibarras live there! Honey, we'll have Uncle Mark and Aunt Perla close by."
She laughed, "And Penny is already there! Oh, I hope Suse has her baby now so I don't miss meeting her."
"What if she doesn't?"
Artie thought about it, finally saying, "I don't know. I have a feeling little Miss Clacher will be born soon, this week at least."
Jethro and Lu walked into the room and Tim smiled, "Good timing! Have a seat."
His father looked him over but not seeing any of his son's stress tells, relaxed.
A bit keyed up, Tim continued standing, "First, we're on baby watch for our Clacher niece or nephew, Suse is in labor. Second, we have an opportunity to go to Japan for 6 weeks. The SSAIC, Richard Owens, is ill and has to have surgery next week. He'll be out for an estimated 6 weeks. After the recent terminations, demotions and transfers, we've barely got our offices covered with SSAICs and promotable SSAs and Leon is still distrustful of any that he doesn't know well. It's either me or Joel. Me, because Leon is still here, if Tony's willing he can come in and spell Bec, who's done this before. And Sydney, our office manager, did a great job back in '17 when Joel was Acting Director. Joel because he also has a strong SSA and office manager.
"The kicker is, we'll have to leave by Tuesday at the latest. Which means we hope the Clachers have the baby before we go and that we understand that you won't want to leave Joe and Char and miss the birth of your newest grandbaby. It's only fair!"
Jethro and Lu looked at each other, nodding. Jethro said, "You're right, son, we wouldn't do that to them. Six weeks, that takes you to days before our departure for Maine! Are you coming home first?"
"Artie and I haven't had a chance to discuss that yet, but my thought is that we won't come home first. We'll fly to the U.S., maybe have our visit to Cape Cod a little early. We hope the kids will be attending the international schools in Yokosuka, switching back to our schools here when we return from Maine. If they have a few days off between, we'll get assignments for them."
"That works. I'm sorry we can't join you this time but glad Artie and the kids are going."
Tim shook his head, "Vance knows I wouldn't go without them. It's too long and too far away."
"You're excited about going?"
"I am, yes. Provided Suse is safely delivered of her baby and Artie can get up to Scotland to see her before we leave."
"Cutting it close!"
Artie smiled, "I have a good feeling about this!"
While Tim checked to see if the curriculums had arrived, they had, his wife and parents talked about the possible early trip to Cape Cod. Tim thought he'd like that, they wouldn't miss any Sandy Pines time that way. Considering they'd been to Japan a little over two years ago, he was almost ridiculously excited about going again. Maybe it was the chance to be what he secretly thought of as a 'real' SSAIC, one who had more than 1 subordinate office to manage and without the agency director in the same building. It was a chance to prove to his peers, or maybe prove to himself, that he could do the job on his own. He chuckled to himself as he admitted one of his personal reasons was more time to explore the country, more than one weekend and a few hours after work. They'd have a few weekends as well as after work to explore; that would be far more than they'd seen yet! Rissa, Hope and Jed had never been there so that would be fun and Andy no longer remembered much about his toddler years there with his Galanis grandparents.
He hoped Uncle Mark and Aunt Perla would accompany Artie and the kids to Disneyland Tokyo while he was working. There were so many other things he wanted to see!
Returning to the family room with the curriculums, he stopped as Artie's phone chimed. She grinned, "It's Ian on FaceTime!"
She opened the app to see her brother-in-law put his finger to his lips to remain quiet and they all quietly cooed at the tiny infant resting in Susannah's arms. The new mama was grinning, "Two hours of labor, I think I broke a record!"
"Wow, congratulations! She's beautiful! What's her name, what are her vital statistics?"
Ian chuckled, "Her name is Anna Sophia, after our mothers, and she weighs 7 lbs., 3 ounces! She's not premature and she is perfect, 10 fingers, 10 toes and a mass of red hair! Her eyes are still blue, we expect them to get darker. She's 54 centimeters long, that's 21.3 inches long, already tall!
"Yaya and Sophia are here, they're getting something to eat with my folks right now. They got here just in time. She was born about four minutes after I disconnected from our call, Artie. Everything happened at once. Dad was waiting in the lobby for Yaya and Sophia, they left their bags with security and nearly ran to the waiting area for the delivery room. I was just coming to tell them little Anna was here. So they saw her in her first few minutes, long enough for Suse to be cleaned up and covered."
Lu shook her head, "Suse, you were in labor for two hours?"
Ian turned toward his wife, who smiled as she rolled her eyes. "I had labor pains before, not the false ones, but they gave me an injection to stop and it did for several days. This time, I felt different but there really wasn't any pain, I felt more like I had gas, so I didn't say anything for a few hours. Then my water broke and I told Ian that we needed to get to the hospital immediately! But I still had two hours after that. So the part of the labor I knew about was two hours."
Artie smiled, "That's good! I'll fly up tomorrow to meet my niece."
"You can stay at our flat, Yaya and Mama are staying with Ian's parents."
"All right, thank you. I'll only stay one night, we have a new adventure to prepare for. I'll tell you while I'm there so I won't have to repeat it to our mamas."
"Tim isn't coming with you?"
Tim leaned forward, "I'll try to find a way but right now it doesn't look like it."
Eventually, they disconnected. They'd recorded the call so the kids could see their new cousin. After that, Tim called the heads of the kids' school, primary and secondary to make appointments for the next morning but was invited to come in that afternoon if he had time. Dad and Lu offered to bring the littles home from nursery school.
Driving to the primary school, Artie and Tim met with the head mistress, who was pleased they'd brought the curriculums for Rissa and Kyle's years with them. She'd dealt with other children leaving and returning during the same school term and showed them the Brambury curriculums. Although he knew the agency would pay for tutors if there was anything missing, there wasn't, so unless Greg and Andy's curriculums were different, the subjects and classwork would be the same, or at least similar. It was still too early for the end of classes so they continued to the secondary schools where they met with the head of the lower secondary first.
He nodded at their explanation, looked at what they had and smiled, "That's almost word for word what ours are for Gregory's year. He'll be fine and I'm sure Mrs. Hanlan will ask him for some sort of journal or report. I saw the video of the oral reports they did after you went to court in Athens and the reports and interviews they did in America last summer, all of them are quite wonderful! I look forward to Kyle and your younger children coming through here."
Tim winced, "Don't rush them, please! Our youngest isn't even two!"
"Ah, sorry!"
After they were through, they went on to the head of the secondary school, who said basically the same thing, adding, "Perhaps Andy would like to learn Japanese while he's there. I'm sure that will help him in his career."
Tim smiled, thanking her for thinking of that. On the way home he looked at Artie, "Those were the heads! I would expect their teachers to know them that well, but not the heads!"
"This is a close-knit community and they all live in Brambury. And we do lead interesting lives, my love." Artie grinned, "And face it, our children are brilliant."
"Of course we know that but…do you remember any of your primary or secondary, never mind, you were never in the same country three years in a row."
"You're right, I was not. We were two years somewhere when I was Kyle's age and then everywhere else was 3 months to 18 months. Japan was Kosmos' longest posting and I took any job of any kind while I was there, preferably with late afternoon or evening hours so I would be away when he was in their apartment. When I had enough saved for a trip to Seattle, I lined up several job interviews and you know the rest. I'll bet your teachers still remember you!"
"Maybe those from high school, I was such a scrawny kid, about 5'7", weighed about 110 pounds. I was strong though, from pulling those cases around everywhere and climbing in and out of dumpsters."
"I meant that I'm sure they remember your brilliance."
"Aw, thanks, honey. Your teachers would have too, if you'd stayed long enough! Where did you finish your secondary education? I've forgotten."
"In Ottawa, Canada. One of our diplomats became ill and returned to Greece. Kosmos was transferred to take his place until he returned. I remember everyone being friendly and my nose and face being cold all the time, the rest of me was wrapped up in scarves, gloves and warm clothes. We were there long enough for me to apply to MIT and be accepted as well as finishing school. We must have been there until Mama took us to Cambridge because Suse came with us. We met the Biros-Santos and I moved in with them. Mama and Suse left and the following day was the new students' orientation and I met the most wonderful boy there. Now, what was his name? I've always wondered what happened to him."
They laughed at that as they pulled into the driveway. Walking into the house, they were greeted by their two youngest who ran at them as if they hadn't seen them in days, "Mama, Daddy!" Hope stopped before she reached Tim, "Daddy, why are you home now? Is that good or bad?"
"Good, Umut! Very good!"
"Yay!" She did a little dance around them, Jed joining her. They squealed when Tim swooped them up in his arms, giggling when he growled like a hungry bear. "Mm, num num yummies, two babies for my tummy!"
Hope sat back in his arms, "Wrong, Mr. Bear, I'm not a baby!"
Jed nodded, "Me neider, no' a baby, 'm big now!"
Artie said, in her best sweet 'Mother Nature' voice, "Now Mr. Bear, you know you can't eat these two, their mummy and daddy would cry and make a terrible fuss."
"Grrr…I'm hungry!"
Jed giggled, this was a game they played often and he knew how to take care of the bear. "Mistah Bear, take us to da kitchen and Umut and me will get you yummy snacks."
"It's Umut and I, yummy boy. Mmm, all right, I like snacks!" Mr. Bear lumbered into the kitchen where he growled at his mother. "Snacks!"
Hope tapped him on the nose, "You need to say please!"
"Grrr, all right, snacks, please!"
When his mother handed him something, Tim took a bite, stopping when Jed whispered, "You forgetted to say thank you!"
Growling again, Tim carefully put the kids and the snack down, reached out and gave his mother a bear hug. "Thank you!" She giggled which made them all laugh. Luella Rose Gibbs laughed a lot these days but a giggle around anyone but her husband was rare.
When the kids were all home, they saw the recording of their brand new baby cousin and heard that their mother was going to meet her tomorrow and would be back Friday morning. And then…Tim and Artie took turns telling them what they would be doing for the next 6 weeks, instead of going to Greece. When they heard they were going to Japan, Kyle was so excited he nearly yelled, "Disneyland!"
"And Uncle Mark and Aunt Perla. And Penny will be there, too!"
Andy was frowning, "What about school? Six weeks is too long to miss!"
"You'll be attending the international school near the NCIS office. Their curriculums match Brambury's. We've already met with each of the heads, primary, lower and secondary here, and they've approved the course study for each of you. You might miss a couple of days of school when we leave Japan, if so we'll ask your teachers there for assignments you can turn into your Brambury teachers. Maybe reports or interviews like you did last year."
"Then will we come home?"
"No, we'll stop in the U.S."
"Cool, we'll go from Japan to Maine?"
"Something like that, yes."
"And then home."
"Yes, from Maine, we'll fly home. Here. And go back to school and work, have a Fourth of July party, celebrate Greg and Uncle Tony's birthdays, oops, forgot something!"
Kyle grinned, "Our birthdays!"
"Yes! We'll still be in Japan for Jed's, so we'll celebrate with Penny and the Ibarras. For yours, we might still be in Japan or we might already be in the U.S., we don't know yet. So if we're in Japan, we'll celebrate there and if we're in the U.S., we'll celebrate there. We'll probably have your family party in Maine anyway."
"Yes, Daddy, Mama, yay!"
Greg's eyes widened and Tim nodded, "Yes, I'll speak with your pater. He'll have plenty of company while we're away, we'll call him to talk like we did from Norway and he can join us on Skype for the birthdays."
"Daddy, how can he talk with his hands if he's holding a phone?"
"While we're in Japan, your grandparents, aunt Sarah, uncle James will hold the phone or tablet for him, like people did before he woke up. While we're all in Maine, Mimi, Yaya, Mr. Alan or one of our other friends will visit him."
"Aunt Char's baby will come while we're away?"
"Yes and Grandma and Grandpa will be here to help."
"Good! Oh, but then they're not going with us?"
"No, not this time. They want to be with Uncle Joe and Aunt Char to help when the baby comes."
Kyle nodded, "They do that for all of us grandkids."
The kids were sad about that until their mother reminded them that it was only for six weeks, they'd mark it on the calendar and then they'd see them in Maine and back here at home!
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Artie caught an early flight to Edinburgh Thursday morning while Tim went into the office. He had the documents needed for their International Driving Permits and after seeing Leon, would deliver them to their relocation agent, Audrey.
Meeting briefly with Leon, he told him that they were a 'go' for Japan subject to 2 conditions: 1) that their relocation agent could find lodging big enough for them and 2) that the international school would take the children for 6 weeks. Leon smiled, saying he knew that particular relocation agent and had faith in her. Too bad she wasn't an SSAIC!
Tim grinned at that, understanding his boss's frustration. Leon shook his head, "Thank you for doing this. Now, I have news about your transportation. Secretary Porter is flying into Antwerp tonight, inspecting the damage to the three U.S. ships tomorrow. She'll spend the weekend with her daughter in Germany and is flying to Singapore on Monday. Given the situation, she offered to give you a lift to Tokyo and I accepted on your behalf, in case you said yes. Their ETA at the airfield Monday morning is 0600. Think you can handle that?"
Tim nodded, "Oh yeah, sure, we'll be there by 0545. Thank you for arranging that! I'm relieved because unless we're staying in a hotel, I'm sure we'll need our own bedding and maybe pots and pans and that's a lot of excess luggage on a commercial flight!"
By 10 AM, Tim had answers for both conditions. The international school was accustomed to parents bringing children on temporary assignments and readily agreed. After paying the tuition for the first month, with a written guarantee of a full refund if the assignment didn't happen, Tim spent some time online registering the children for their classes, including Hope who could start a Reception class. Tim didn't know how that would play out on their return but their Umut was one smart child and they would help her.
He was relieved to cross that off his list. The children would start school the Monday after their arrival. The more Tim thought about that, the more he wanted to leave as soon as possible. As he remembered, jet lag had been a doozy and he didn't want the kids to miss the first week of school. If they left Monday, they'd be in pretty good shape by the following Monday.
He no sooner had that done than Audrey, their relocation agent, called to say she'd found lodging large enough for them! When he said she was a miracle worker, she laughed, "Not really! You didn't specify the style of the house, just how many bedrooms and baths you wanted, so I went with that. In Yokosuka, there is a site that used to house a private school, where the instructors and some of the students lived on campus. It closed about 25 years ago. The classrooms and administration buildings were torn down when part of the property was sold off but a large parcel remains. The only building left on that parcel is the dormitory, although calling it that is a bit of a misnomer.
"For several years, that building has been used as a conference center; there are 20 bedrooms and 10 full bathrooms with 4 half baths in the common areas. There's a large modern kitchen, with an industrial oven and range top, refrigerator/freezer. All the cookware, cutlery, dishes, glassware, etc. that you'll need is there. There's a dining room, a room they call a library but looks more like a study to me and 2 meeting rooms. It's fully furnished, the mattresses are Western style, there's even a California King length mattress in one of the rooms and there's a large garden outside, plenty of room for all of you to play, eat and relax. One of the common rooms has western style furniture, sofas and chairs, makes a nice lounge. What I think is really cool about this place is that it looks Japanese on the outside while it is a mix of Japanese and modern Western conveniences inside. There are two traditional bathing rooms as well as several tatami rooms.
"Now, what you'll need: you'll need to purchase power plug adapters and a voltage converter before you leave. The standard Japanese voltage is 100 and the UK uses 230. Let's go through the list of appliances already there to see if you'll need to take anything other than personal items. Along with the larger appliances, the kitchen has a microwave, dishwasher and yes, a coffeemaker, ah and a washer and dryer. So you're all set for the big stuff but might need the plug adapters and voltage converters for your chargers, plus personal items, hair driers, electric shavers, things like that."
"All right, thanks, this sounds exciting! Anything else we should bring? Bedding?"
"Yes, I recommend you bring your own bedding and pillows. Has the Director said anything about your transportation?"
Tim chuckled, "Yes, Secretary Porter is giving us a lift."
"Great! Otherwise we would airship your extra boxes, bedding, large toys, etc. for you so they'd be there almost as soon as you will be. Hmm, you will need a small moving truck to meet you at the airfield in Tokyo. I think what I'll do is arrange for a van and driver, plus the truck, to meet you at the airfield and get you to the house, where the owner will meet you. He's quite excited about renting to a family. And probably relieved as there haven't been any conferences in a few weeks. He'll have 6 weeks of rent instead of the long weekends or week-long he usually gets for the conferences and seminars. He'll have the place cleaned this weekend.
"Back to your car rental, we usually work with a specific rental business there, one affiliated with an international company based in the U.S. So when you're ready for your rental, call them and they'll send a car and driver to bring you back to the office and get the paperwork done. Your International Drivers Permits will be delivered this afternoon, thanks for bringing everything in!
"At the house, each of the bedrooms has one to three beds, the same number of desks and chairs, a wardrobe or closet, electrical outlets and at least one window. There's wi-fi throughout the building, and two TVs."
She stopped when Tim muttered, "Portable DVD players." She could hear him tapping his phone and assumed he was taking notes.
"Sorry, I'm done."
"That's all right. There was something else I was going to ask or tell you, two things. If you fly home on a commercial flight, we'll either pay the excess baggage fees or airship all the extra bits, so don't worry about that. Bicycles, that's it, will you be taking all the bicycles?"
Tim chuckled, "No, not for 6 weeks, thanks. If we decide to go riding, we'll rent them somewhere."
"All right. Do you have any questions?"
"Yes; how far it is from the house to the school, daycare and to the NCIS office?"
"The school is about 2 miles, the daycare is a quarter of a mile and NCIS is one stop on the train. The train station is a 6 minute walk from the house. Let me give you your new address!"
With a smile, Tim entered it into his phone.
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Artie was also smiling, she'd been smiling all morning. Alastair Clacher, her sister's father-in-law, picked her up at the airport in Edinburgh, driving her straight to the hospital. On the way, he told her everything he knew or had heard about his new granddaughter. The man was so excited that Artie wondered if he should be driving! However, they arrived without incident and leaving her overnight bag in the boot, hurried into the hospital. In Suse's room, she greeted Fiona, her own yaya and mama, Ian and finally her little sister and the baby, who was asleep in Sophia's arms.
Returning to the flat to make sure everything was ready for baby's homecoming, Artie smiled at the crib and bassinet handmade by the Gibbs family. While Jethro had done most of the work, each member of the family had contributed something. With some help when necessary, Jed and Hope held pieces steady while they were glued together. Rissa and Kyle were now experts at sanding and those four were good helpers, fetching this and that for Grandpa while Greg and Andy helped with more complex tasks and bigger pieces. Tim measured and cut and helped throughout construction. Tim and Artie painted the bassinet while Artie stained the crib and worked with Lu to make the bedding. Their names and dates were written on the bottom of the crib and bassinet.
After making up the bassinet and sorting diapers, onesies and tiny sleep sacks, washing bottles and generally preparing for the baby's homecoming, the group had lunch out, giving Susannah and Ian some time alone with little Anna.
Back at the hospital, Artie told the group about their sudden trip to Japan and why. They were amazed and thankful she'd been able to be with them today. She chuckled at that, "Because we're going for the agency, we have a relocation agent helping us; she's been working with people going to Asia and specifically Japan, for over a decade. Tim says its faster to ask her a question than to look online for the information."
Asked about schooling and housing, she showed them the photos Tim sent her, photos of the schools and of their 'house'. They all laughed when Ian said it looked as big as the Manor, only all on one level. Susannah later motioned her aside to thank her for making the last minute trip to see her new niece and to tell her she should fly home tonight. Eventually Artie was convinced although she decided to take the train instead of flying home.
Letting Tim and Lu know, she spent another hour with her family before kissing them all goodbye, telling them she'd see them in 8 weeks, after their return from Maine. Taking Ian's car, Fiona and Sophia drove her to the train station. Kissing both women goodbye, Artie retrieved her overnight bag, purchased her ticket and was able to board right away. She smiled as she sat back in the comfortable seat, she'd be at Brambury station in less than 5 hours.
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Relieved when he received Artie's text, and feeling bad for that relief and his own inability to meet his new niece, Tim continued to clear out his work, making sure all reports were reviewed and approved or sent back for revisions and scheduling a meeting with Bec and the office manager to tell what was going on for the next 6 weeks. It helped that he'd had leave scheduled for the next two weeks anyway.
For this year's Easter trip to Greece, the senior Gibbses had only planned to go for a few days, wanting to be home as Char's due date approached. The only other folks going would have been the DiNozzos and the Vances. Now that Mimi and Sophia were in Edinburgh, they might not return home much before Easter or would possibly remain in Scotland until later in the month. Everyone else was saving leave time, money or both for the trip to Maine and/or the annual trek to Varkiza in late July.
The Vances would still go, it would be their last trip to Greece before moving home. They'd stay with the Russells as they always did.
Thinking that through, Tim realized they hadn't told the DiNozzos or the rest of the family what was going on, neither the birth of Anna Sophia nor their sudden trip to Japan! Shaking his head, he made a note to send out an email when he got home. With everything going on, that would be easier than a Skype call. Artie wouldn't be home until 8:30-ish, he didn't know whether she wanted to send out an email about the baby or wait for Ian and Suse to do so.
Shaking his head, he realized he still needed to tell his offices he would be managing another office for the next 6 weeks! He sent Leon a brief note and had a quick reply to go ahead with London and Antwerp, they were his offices, after all. Leon would communicate Gibbs' whereabouts on a need to know basis.
Tim first spoke with Tony, who laughed, saying, "I knew things were too quiet, even after the Antwerp attack! Oh well, Greece isn't all that warm this time of year, maybe we'll go to Tenerife for a few days. And congratulations on your new niece, Uncle Tim! How about I coordinate with Vance, Bec and Sydney and you don't worry about it? You'll have enough to do. This will be good for you, you know. It's about time you let the other half of the world get to know you!"
After that, Tim met with Bec and Sydney, who looked visibly relieved when he mentioned that retired Agent DiNozzo would cover for him at least part of the time. He chuckled, "I'll let the director know you'll be very happy if Agent DiNozzo covers my whole time away."
Sydney frowned, "You'll miss Director Vance's farewell parties."
Tim nodded, "And his last couple of months here, I know. Makes me sad, too. However, Agent Owens needs our help, we're already stretched thin on SSAICs at the moment."
"Because of all the terminations?"
"Because of all the SFAs, SAICs and SSAICs who didn't do their jobs. If the very first person involved did their job properly, none of the rest would have happened."
"Wow, you always hear about ripples, but mostly in a good way. These were bad ripples."
Tim nodded and changed the subject, asking about their own plans for leave. Sydney had travel plans in early June, after the Maine trip, and of course Bec, Geordie, Tyler, Ben, Joe, Charlotte and the baby planned to join the family in Maine. Bec smiled at Tim, "We've been reassuring Char and Joe that we'll all help with the baby and he'll sleep most of the time anyway. We'll rotate staying with him and Tyler, Caty, Timmy and Ro will be napping in the mornings and afternoons. We're all bringing portable cribs, the babies will be in the shade or inside."
Tim smiled, "We'll rotate in with all the newer babies and I know Claire and Liz want to help."
"Is Penny coming back with you?"
The look on Tim's face was priceless and both women chuckled. He finally said, "Haven't told them yet! Geez! Guess that's not too bad, though, it's only been 24 hours since this all came up and then Suse had the baby yesterday afternoon while we were figuring everything out. Thanks! I'll send a separate email to Penny and the Ibarras!"
"So no Skype call?"
"Not this time. For one thing, we don't have time. Artie's on the train home from Edinburgh now, she flew up this morning, and we're leaving Monday at 0500. Got a lot of packing and unpacking to do, for the 8 of us, between now and then."
"Unpacking?"
"My wife, kids and I have a tendency to over-pack. So we pack a few days ahead of time and then start removing things. By the time we leave, we're usually down to just what we really need."
"Does that work?"
"It does, much to everyone's surprise."
With that accomplished, Tim sent out the email to his offices, notifying them of his TAD in Japan and letting them know that Director Vance, SSA Childers and Office Manager Sydney O'Reilly would be managing in his absence, with able assists from retired Special Agent/SAIC Tony DiNozzo. Once he edited and sent that out, copying Tony, he met with Cynthia, who'd already met with Pam. She said she was all set for work and that she would handle anything that came into his office or that would normally come from his office.
Deciding to go home and start packing, Tim was shutting down when Leon appeared in his office. "I've been summoned to Antwerp to meet with the SecNav. She said she and the SecDef are reconsidering the move home this summer."
Tim smiled hopefully, "I hope that means later and not sooner!"
"I think it will be later. While everyone is happy with Brody's progress, he's doing well in school and with us, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service is not happy about moving him out of the country, away from his new friends and extended family, this soon. They want him to have at least a year with us in Brambury. I forwarded their letter to Porter."
Tim tried not to grin, but failed. "I'm in full support of that, although I think two or three years would be better."
Leon chuckled, "Yeah, I wouldn't mind that either. I'll see you in the morning, let you know."
"I'll be in late, we're having vaccinations in the morning. New flu bug in Asia."
"Ugh. We should probably all get them, it'll hit here sooner or later!"
"Audrey told us it takes a few days to be fully effective. Another reason to be thankful we're riding with Secretary Porter! Audrey warned me to call ahead as the vaccine isn't commonly given here yet."
"Thanks for the tip! Then I'll see you when you get in tomorrow."
"You flying or taking the train?"
"Flying. I wanted to take the train, which has less environmental impact, but security turned me down flat. Then I tried for a commercial flight, figuring it would be going anyway, right? No seats available. So, despite my efforts, we're taking the agency jet."
Tim nodded, "You tried."
Agreeing with a head tilt, Leon left Tim's office, ready to leave the office. Dani was going with him, they'd meet her at the Tube station, bringing his overcoat. He huffed, she was allowed to ride the Tube, he was not!
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James wasn't ready to leave when Tim was that afternoon, so he rode the Tube solo. On his way, Tim looked at his notes of everything that still needed to be done. First of all was an email to the family, including the Ibarras! He'd send that out before dinner. He'd pick Artie up from the station. He thought they'd wait until tomorrow to really start packing, one of them would check the average weather for Yokosuka in April and May. He had it in his head that it would be rainy, something they were used to.
On his walk home from the station, Tim made a point to look around what he now considered his hometown. He knew they'd have to leave someday; if he and Artie decided to take the Director's spot they'd certainly have to move back to the States. Thinking about the house in Arlington made him smile. Maybe a person could have more than one hometown in his lifetime.
Greeting everyone with a kiss, he grabbed a snack, spending an hour or so with his children before he excused himself, telling them he had to write an email.
Andy grinned, "You haven't told the uncles and aunts yet?"
"Not yet. Remember this only came up yesterday and we didn't say yes until this morning."
"Yes, but Papa, you've already told Aunt Nikki, Uncle Barry, Aunt Bec, Aunt Ellie, Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Abby, right?"
"Uh no, son, just Bec and Ellie, well and Alan so yes to Barry and Aunt Nikki."
"You better write fast! Is that why you came home so early?"
"Yes and you are correct, I'd better get this sent out."
Quickly writing an email, he said he was being sent to the Yokosuka office for 6 weeks to cover the SSAIC's medical leave and that Artie and the kids were going with him. He added their departure date, Monday, and that they planned to fly from Japan to New England for their Maine vacation. He added that being able to visit the Ibarras at home was a huge bonus and they were looking forward to seeing them and of course Penny, who was already there. Asking Andy to proof read it for him, he sent it when given his son's approval.
After that, he joined his parents for a beverage, wine and beer for them, lemonade for him and they talked about the trip and what would be happening here while they were gone.
Sarah joined them, having her own lemonade. "So off to Japan again. For 6 weeks? Is the lead guy seriously ill?"
"I don't know, Sari. I do know he has to have surgery next week and his doctor estimates he'll be off work for 6 weeks."
"So it might be more or less?"
"Either, yes. If it's more, he'll likely be well enough to work from home and we'll leave as scheduled. If it's less, we'll leave early. We'll fly to New England, we're thinking we'll do our Cape Cod thing then, so we won't miss any Sandy Point days."
"I like that idea!"
"Are you excited about Caty's first trip to the US?"
"I am! I'm so glad we have the place there, now all the kids can become familiar with the States, I mean the U.S. For Caty, Timmy, Ro and Tyler, it'll be part of their lives and the same for the new babies, although maybe not baby Anna."
Dad nodded, "We made a good start last year with our side trips. And of course Tim's seen Rhode Island and the Cape since then. What do you think, Tim, want to visit Newport again?"
Tim grinned, "Ask me in a couple of years. I wouldn't mind seeing it again, this time with the family!"
James arrived, greeting his wife, baby daughter and the rest of the family. His parents were away for a few days, on one of their road trips.
His timing was excellent as less than 5 minutes after his arrival, the kitchen timer beeped. Tim got up to check, finding their chicken cutlets were done. Leaving the oven on for the vegetables to finish their roast, he removed the chicken, covered it and added it to the warming oven with the mashed sweet potatoes, an extra treat tonight, while the kids set the table and poured beverages, Andy made coffee, Greg put the kettle on for tea, Sarah retrieved the salad from the refrigerator and the timer rang again, this time for the vegetables.
The cutlets were delicious, a new recipe that Lu and Tim concocted, the salad full of Sarah's crunchy things, the veggies were yummy and of course the mashed sweet potatoes were well received. They filled a plate for Artie, covered it and put it in the warming oven.
If there was dessert during the week, it was almost always fresh fruit and tonight was no different. After dinner, the littles played for a bit before their nighttime routine. Tim gave them their baths, got them into their jammies, had cuddles and read them stories. Jed was already nodding off when Tim put him to bed, kissing his sweet little head. Hope wasn't ready yet and that was fine, she wanted to stay awake to say hello to her mama.
Tim left for the train station when Artie texted him a few stops before Brambury. He was parking Big Blue as the train pulled in. Meeting his wife inside the station, he wrapped his arms around her. "So glad you're home!"
"Me too, I felt bad for leaving but I was right, with everyone there it was a bit crowded. I took lots of photos!"
"Good! Did you eat on the train?"
"I had a snack but that was shortly after we left Edinburgh. I'm hungry, did you save me any dinner?"
"Of course! It's in the warming oven."
Back home, Artie smiled as her family welcomed her, feeling like she'd been gone much longer than 16 hours!