Chapter Text
Harry came home from the testing exhausted. He saw that his Daddy and Papa were still at work and as much as he wanted to be with Breena, he just wanted his Daddy after all that testing and stress. His examiner was a stern woman who reminded him of someone from his past. The memories he has from before his Daddy have faded but sometimes people of events will trigger these memories. This woman with a long next and stern face reminded him of his old aunt and he was anxious.
"Breena, can we go see my Daddy at work?" Harry asked, sitting in the kitchen snacking on some apples with caramel dip.
"Why bud, you know he will be home in a couple hours." Breena asked. She laid her hand on the back of Harry's forehead to check and see if maybe he wasn't feeling well again.
"I want my Daddy" Harry said, with a couple tears escaping. When he gets overwhelmed like this it can be hard for him to express himself. He has come a long way in the 6 years with Tony and Jethro but he is still a 10-year-old with an abusive past.
"Okay bud, let me call and make sure they are in the office, okay?" Breena said, smoothing down his hair and pulling out her cell phone. She rang Tony and after a couple rings he answered. "Hey Tony, are you guys in the office? Someone seemed to be having a rough day and is wanting his Daddy."
"Of Course, we are in the bullpen right now, but I will meet you down in the lobby when you get here. Can I talk to him for a minute?" Tony said, sitting in his chair. Jethro looked over questioningly and Tim looked up for a minute before going back to his search. He got up to walk away from the area for a minute. "Hey bud, I heard you're having a bit of a rough day. Can you listen to Daddy and take a couple deep breaths." Tony felt Gibbs come up behind him and put a supporting hand on his back.
"Daddy!" was all Harry could get out between sobs. He listened to his Daddy and started to calm down. Breena was walking around getting ready to drive to the Navy Yard. She held his hand as they locked the door and helped him into his carseat.
"It's okay Hare-bear. You'll be with Daddy soon. Why don't we take some deep breaths and maybe take a little nap, when you wake up I'll be there with you." Tony said down the phone. He was worried about what set Harry off so much because he knew the stress was bad but he did not think it would lead to a meltdown.
Tony stayed on the phone during the drive listening to Harry trying to calm down and eventually fell asleep. He went down to the lobby and waited with Jethro and the two security guards Nick and Kyle were looking over, probably wondering why they were down there.
Breena texted Tony when they got to the gate and had Dave, who was at the gate today, let her in. Tony went out to meet her at the car. She parked in the guest parking and unlocked the doors. Tony's heart broke a little at the sight of his little boy sleeping with tear streaks down his face. He gently moved the hair off his forehead and unbuckled Harry from the carseat. He slowly grabbed his son and held him close against his chest. Breena went around and grabbed little Vicky who despite not knowing what was going on, was just excited to see her Daddy at work as well.
Tony made sure Harry's head was resting on his shoulder and walked back towards Jethro. Breena gave Harry's backpack to Gibbs and went to get a guest pass and go see Jimmy. Jethro went to get the backpack checked with Nick and Tony followed him. They stayed quiet while going through everything and getting the bad cleared. Nick gave Harry a worried look and let them through.
Tony went straight to his desk when he got to the bullpen and sat down with him. He decided to let Harry sleep a little more after the day he had and would talk to him when he woke up. He went back to the casefile he was looking at and taking notes on the side. He was looking at a metro cold case that seemed to be related to their current case and trying to make the connections. The team stayed fairly quiet trying not to wake the kid in the room.
Around twenty minutes later Harry started to whimper in his sleep. Tony's head snapped to the little boy on his chest and started to rub his back comfortingly. He slowly got up to go to a conference room for some privacy. He grabbed his cellphone in case he needed anything and went to the conference room up near MTAC knowing it would be quiet and nobody would be in it currently.
He rubbed Harry's back to slowly wake him up. Harry woke up disoriented and scared. He didn't know where he was but he could smell his Daddy and felt the strong hand rubbing his back. He turned his head and when he saw his Daddy's face he started crying again. Tony let him cry for a bit just rubbing his back and muttering encouragement to his little boy.
"Daddy's here lightning bug. Wanna tell Daddy why we are having some big emotions today?" Tony asked when Harry was just hiccupping a little.
"I was really scared Daddy. The teacher giving the tests looked like mean old aunt and it was so hard" Harry said. He was trying to figure out how to word everything the best way he could.
"That's very stressful, bud. Do you want to talk about what you are thinking right now?" Tony said.
"I just wanted you and I was scared and you weren't there." Harry said, leaning against Tony. Tony adjusted them so Harry was leaning with his back against Tony's chest.
"That's okay. I am glad that you asked and were able to tell that you needed some extra help. Do you want Papa to come here as well?" Tony asked. He was running his hands through Harry's hair, calming them both down. When Harry nodded he got Jethro to come and relax with them for a little bit. After about half an hour they were able to go downstairs and finish up for the day. Harry went to visit with GrandDucky and Jimmy while they finished up a bit, Tony not wanting him around when they talk about the case if they can help it. They spent the rest of the night relaxing and talking through some of the big emotions as Harry's therapist calls them.
A week and a half later during dinner Tony took out an envelope with Harry's name on it. The results from the placement exams were finally there. Tony grabbed Harry and had him sit on his lap to open it. Harry was ecstatic when he saw that he not only passed everything but that he was advanced in Runes, herbology and potions with a good score in defense and charms. Harry had more than enough to get into D.C Academy of Science and Sorcery and Ilvermorny.
Tony, Jethro and Harry spent the night filling out the applications with copies of the exam results. He made sure to fill out everything he could on his own with Tony signing everything for them. The best thing with all the applications is that when they are put into their envelopes they are magically sent to the school. No waiting for shipping. They will find out if Harry is accepted by the beginning of summer. The rest of the school year was full of children talking about where they applied and who has heard back from who yet.
The week before summer started is when the Ilvermorny acceptance letter came in. The small family spent the night celebrating. Tony and Harry created a list to compare and contrast the pros and cons of each school. They started with classes offered, school size, sports offered, and boarding or day classes. This would help Harry make the decision hopefully.
Another two weeks later Harry got his Silver Creek Academy acceptance letter. After more celebrations, this time with Baxter and his family because he was also accepted. Harry added the information to the list as well. A couple days later each of them got their D.C. letters. The whole group got together to open them. Each and every one of them was accepted which as well led to another party where they had a nice cookout and campfire.
Harry sat down with his Daddy and Papa to talk about where he wanted to go to school. Tony and Jethro gave advice but ultimately left the decision to Harry. The next couple of weeks were spent with all the kids in school confirming where they were going. Harry and his group of friends all got together to talk about what they like and don't like in each school.
A week before school let out is when the decisions were to be made so that the principal can announce the school as they walk across the stage and graduate. This is a proud moment for each student and of the kids in his class, there were people going all over the world to schools. The night before decisions were made Tony and Jethro invited everyone over for a reveal party. Harry's friends and parents came so they could each tell where they chose to go. Each kid has a t-shirt with the school name and crest under their jacket that they would show.
The first to come down the stairs was Baxter who opened his shirt to reveal the D.C. Academy of Science and Sorcery t-shirt. The parents all cheered while Baxter beamed at his parents, proud he had the grades to get in. Second to come down the stairs is Alex who took off her flannel to reveal another D.C. Academy shirt. She hugged her parents and celebrated with Baxter when she saw the same logo. The third person to come down the stairs was Mudj who came down revealing another D.C. Academy shirt. This one was one that he had picked up during the conference. His parents were extremely happy he was not going to be traveling far yet, he had the option of traveling to Oakwood School of Fine Arts and Maj for university. Next to come down the stairs was Emma who, following her family tradition, decided on Salem Witches Academy. Everyone was super supportive of her and said they would all stay in contact but they were happy for her. She was a little sad to be going without her friends but she knew that her friend Susan is also going and following in her mother's footsteps makes her proud.
Tony and Jethro were excited to watch Harry come down the stairs as well. Tony had his camera ready and was already beaming at his little boy, who was growing up way too fast for his liking. He looked around at everybody and saw most of his friends in the same shirt knew that this would be the start of something great. He looked right at his Daddy and smiled as he removed his army jacket his Papa had gotten him. Everyone cheered as they saw the D.C. Academy of Science and Sorcery logo on the shirt.
The party lasted until about 10 when kids started to fall asleep around the living room. Harry was laying on his Papa's chest looking around at everyone happy that most of his friends will be with him on this new adventure. He closed his eyes and heard a muttered "Daddy and Papa are so proud of you little man. I am forever grateful that we found you, we love you." from his Daddy as he fell into a peaceful sleep.
