1A/N: Sorry it took me longer to update than I thought it would. I had some major family drama going on and I was distracted for about a week with that. But anyways I can't believe it's already Christmas time. Anyways here's the next chapter. Only one more chapter after this one.
Ch. 15 The Week Off
Tony and Kate both thought that Sunday morning came too soon. They woke up entangled in each other and neither one of them wanted to get up, but they knew they had to eventually. It was still fairly early so they decided to take a shower together.
When they had finished showering and changed into some nice dress clothes they headed down the hallway to wake the children. Tony started with Anthony, while Kate went to the girls room. Then she headed to the kitchen to start some breakfast. Once Tony had gotten Anthony up he moved on to Kayden's room and then went to help Kate with the breakfast.
One by one the kids came dragging into the kitchen. They sat down at the table and waited for their breakfast.
"Do we have to go to church today dad?" Annie asked her father
"Yes munchkin, we do" he told her
"Why?" she asked
"Because it's nice to go to church and be thankful for everything you have" he told her
"Like our toys?" Anthony questioned
"No do do head he doesn't mean our toys" Annie told her little brother annoyingly
"No Ace, I mean to thank him for your house and your parents, and even your brothers and sisters" Tony told his youngest child
"Why?" he asked quizzically
"Because Little-T, some kids don't have moms or dads, and some don't even have homes" Kayden told his little brother
Tony and Kate looked at each other and then looked back at Kayden. For such a young kid, he was much wiser than he would sometimes get credit for.
"Why?" Anthony asked again
"Because Ace, some parents don't want their kids anymore, and some of their parents have died and they don't have anyone else to take care of them" Tony told him
"Oh" he replied softly
As they were eating their waffles Anthony looked up at his parents.
"What's up Ace?" Tony asked him
"Did you really want all of us?" he questioned his parents
"Of course sweetie" Kate told him
"Even me?" he asked
"Even you" Kate told him with a smile, "Because if I didn't have you I wouldn't have a mini Tony"
Anthony smiled his best smile when Kate said that and then went back to eating.
After breakfast Tony took Anthony to get him ready for church, while Kate went with the girls. After everyone had gotten dressed Kate looked over everyone, starting with Kayden. He was wearing khaki pants and a dark blue dress shirt. Annie was wearing a cute little blue jean skirt with a red shirt and brown sandals. Kaylee was wearing a pretty green sun dress, which matched her bright green eyes. And Anthony and Tony were dressed exactly alike. They both had on black dress pants and a green dress shirt on, which matched their deep green eyes. Kate smiled at the two of them, then walked up to Tony and whispered in his ear,
"Very sexy" and she reached behind him and slapped his butt, then winked as she stepped back.
He smiled before saying,
"Okay kids let's go"
As they walked out of the house Kate stopped to lock the door and Tony came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck.
"You know you look pretty sexy yourself" he told her
"Tony I'm just wearing a black skirt and a blue blouse" she told him
"Mmm, but you still look hot" he told her
"Okay, Tony, we are going to church, stop that" she laughed at him.
"Mom, dad, lets go" Annie yelled from the driveway.
So they all piled into their Lincoln Navigator and headed to church.
When they got home an hour later they made some lunch and then decided to take the kids to the zoo for the afternoon.
That night when Tony and Kate were lying in bed Kate came up with an idea.
"What if we have a barbecue Saturday"
"What? Why?" Tony asked cluelessly
"I don't know. I just thought it would be fun. We could invite Abby, McGee, Gibbs and Jen, Ducky, and Palmer"
"Does that mean we would be in charge of catering it?" he asked
"Well the barbecue yes, but Abby and Jen and some of the others could bring the side dishes" she told him
"Hmmm, sure why not, it might be fun" he told her with a smile
Tony rolled over on top of Kate and pinned her down,
"You know what else would be fun" he suggested with a smile
"Tony not now, I'm not in the mood" she told him
"Aww, comeon, why not?" he whined, putting on his puppy face
"Because I'm trying to plan the barbecue right now" she told him seriously
"Are you saying that's more important than your husband?"
"Well...yes" she told him smugly
"Ouch, that hurts Kate" Tony said, as Kate rolled her eyes to his reply
"How about if we wrestle and whoever gets pinned down first has to do what the other person wants?" he asked
"That's a real mature solution to our disagreement, Tony"
"Fine, your no fun" he said as he pouted.
Just as Tony began to sit up Kate quickly saw her opportunity, so she grabbed Tony's wrist and flipped him backwards on the bed so that she was now laying on top of him.
Tony smiled as he said, "That's not fair Kate"
"Why? You had already gotten off of me, right?" She said with a smile
"But I wasn't ready, I thought you didn't want to wrestle" he whined
"Well as Gibbs would say, you should be prepared for anything at anytime"
"Aww Kate, don't talk about Gibbs when we're in bed. Better yet lets never talk about him in our bedroom" he told her
"Well no matter what, I win" she said smugly, "And I want to plan the barbecue" she told him as she got off of him and sat back up against the headboard, notepad in hand.
Tony remained on his back at the foot of his bed speechless. He had just been defeated by his wife, again. 'Damn I should have been prepared' he thought to himself.
Kate watched his facial expressions and she knew he was cursing himself for not being prepared and she couldn't help but smile. She quietly put the notepad on the night stand and then crawled over to him and got back on top of him, straddling him, and smiling.
"What are you doing?" he asked confused.
"Did you really think I would rather plan a barbecue than roll around in bed with you" she asked him in a low sexy voice.
"But you-" he swallowed
"Tony you should know by now I just do things like that to make you squirm. I enjoy teasing you like that" she told him with a smile.
"Yeah well I don't want-" he began, but was cut off by Kate's lips meeting his.
The next morning they got up and rushed the kids to school before going back home to relax. It seemed weird for them to be at home on a Monday morning, together, with no kids. Tony got bored after watching TV for awhile and then bugging Kate, so she sent him to the store right after lunch to pick up some beer and wine for the barbecue.
While he was gone Kate stayed at home to pay all the bills that had come in over the week. When she opened the last bill, it was Tony's credit card. She gasped when she saw the amount he had charged to it. $2,000 at a hotel, plus another $500 at a jewelry store.
About an hour or so later Tony walked through the front door whistling and carrying a box of beer, with some wine bottles in a bag on top of the beer.
"Hey beautiful, I'm back" he said out loud as he walked into the kitchen.
But when he entered the kitchen he saw a very pissed off Kate sitting at the kitchen table with some kind of paper in her hand.
'Great, now what have I done?' he thought to himself, as he set the beer and wine down on the floor.
"Hey honey, what's wrong?" he asked nervously
She didn't answer him but instead just glared at him as angrily as she could, because she knew that scared the crap out of him.
He swallowed and took a deep breath trying to decide whether to say something else. He hated when she was this upset, because it really did scare him. But he decided to say something.
"Babe"
She got up and walked closer to him, still with the same angry glare on her face, and he stepped backwards, scared of what she was going to do, and he bumped into the counter.
She threw the bill at him, hitting him in the face with it, and asked angrily,
"What the hell is that?"
He caught it after it hit him in the face and looked at it, and his eyes got wide, and he gasped,
"You weren't supposed to-"
"I wasn't supposed to find out" she yelled
"No"
"Ughh" she yelled as she turned to walk down the hallway.
"Wait Kate, let me explain" he said turning to face her
She spun back around and marched back towards him, and he jumped back as she got closer, because he could see how angry she was.
"Go ahead Tony, try me"
"How about we move to another room without any sharp objects" Tony said, seeing how close she was to the butcher knives.
"Don't be stupid Tony, I wouldn't stab you"
"You wouldn't?"
"No you idiot, I'd shoot you"
He gulped before turning to walk towards the living room,
"How bout we talk in the living room?"
"Tony, there shouldn't be anything to talk about, except you just giving me the reason for your spending $2000 at a high dollar hotel" she said angrily
"I'll tell you in the living room" he said, trying to coax her that way.
"Fine, but don't touch me" she told him harshly as he had reached his hand out to her.
"Right" he responded
When they got into the living room Tony looked at kate and said,
"Why don't you sit down"
She didn't answer, but instead remained standing, with her arms crossed, glaring at him.
"Okay then, why don't you remain-"
"DiNozzo spit it out" she yelled at him
"Truth is I would rather not tell you"
Kate walked up to him and stared him in the eyes,
"Why?"
"Because if I tell you it will mess everything up"
Kate slanted her eyes even more at him, before punching him in the gut and walking away.
"Okay then-" Tony said, catching his breath, "-That went well"
Kate slammed the door to their bedroom, making Tony jump. He sat down on the couch and tried to decide whether or not to tell her why he had charged that much to his credit card. 'Damn it you idiot, you knew that bill would be coming. You should have been prepared' he cursed to himself.
Meanwhile Kate was in the bedroom thinking about what Tony did, or why he would have charged that much. She began to run different scenarios through her head. Then she thought about the hotel. It was a very high class, savvy hotel, and she remembered telling Tony that she had always wished she could stay there, even if it was just for one night. Then it hit her, she thought she had figured it out. She came out of her bedroom and went down the hallway to the living room. She saw Tony sitting on the couch and he had his back to her.
"I'm sorry" she said, making him jump, yet again.
"Geeze Kate. You know I don't like it when people sneak up on me" he told her, as he turned sideways on the couch to look at her.
"Sorry, about everything" she told him, still standing there.
"Why are you sorry?" he asked
"I think I know why you charged that much at that hotel" she said, walking over to him slowly.
"Why did I?" he asked
"I think you did it for our anniversary. I'm not sure what you have planned, but I think that's part of it" she said, as she got to the back of the couch.
Tony took her hand in his and laced their fingers together and then looked up at her.
"I wanted it to be a surprise"
"Well it was" she smiled, "Besides I don't know everything"
He smiled and asked, "So you're not mad"
"No, as long as it is for our anniversary"
"You have no idea" he smiled as he pulled her over the couch, laid down on top of her, and kissed her.
"I love you Tony"
"I love you too, Kate"
Then Kate thought about the kids and jumped up, pushing Tony off of her onto the floor.
"Oh my gosh it's 3:30"
"And?" Tony said from the floor.
"The kids got out of school at 3:15" she told him, jumping off the couch and running to grab the keys to the car.
"Wait for me" Tony yelled after her
As Kate broke every traffic law there was, Tony couldn't help but comment,
"Geeze Kate, I think you've ridden with Gibbs too much"
They got to school and thankfully there were still a group of kids waiting for their parents. As soon as they pulled into the parking lot, they saw their kids walk over to them. As they piled in, Annie was the first one to speak,
"Well, I see you almost forgot us"
"No" Tony stated
"C'mon dad, it's 3:45, we got out thirty minutes ago. I'm willing to forgive you because it's a Monday. But seriously you guys aren't even working today. You always remember us when you are working. So tell me what possibly could have distracted you on a day that you have absolutely nothing to do?" Kayden commented, looking from his dad to his mom
"You know what...You guys put your seatbelts on and be quiet" Tony told them
"Good answer" Kate told him sarcastically
"Fine, but you guys have ruined the surprise" Tony said, turning to look at the kids
"What surprise?" Annie asked excitedly
"The vacation I promised you guys"
"Where are we going?" Kayden asked
"We were thinking about getting a house for a week at Virginia Beach" Tony told them, shocking not only his kids, but his wife as well.
"Tony" Kate began
"Now, now, we might as well tell them" he told her with a smile
"That's awesome"
"When do we leave?"
"Cool"
"Whoa, slow down guys. One at a time, youngest to oldest, one question, go" Tony said
"Can Hobie come?" Anthony asked
"No"
"When are we going?" Kaylee asked
"When school is out for the summer" answered Tony
"Just the six of us?" asked Annie
"Yep"
"And no phone calls or emergencies from work?" asked Kayden
"No phone calls"
As Kate drove back to the house, all the kids could talk about was the going to the beach for a week.
That night after dinner, while the kids were getting ready for bed, Kate looked at Tony and said,
"I can't believe you told them we were going to Virginia Beach for a whole week"
"Well I did promise them a vacation before we went undercover"
"I know, but Tony, that's going to be expensive. Besides we haven't even asked Gibbs if we can have off. You know there are two of us, not one, that he has to give vacation too"
"Well if he only lets one of us off I'll go with the kids since it was my idea" he tole her with a smile
"Tony" she said as she punched him in the arm
"I'm just kidding, I don't want to go without you" he said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Really?"
"Yeah, because then I wouldn't get to see you in that black bikini that you look so hot in"
"Tony" she yelled at him playfully, as she punched him again in the arm.
The rest of the week went by fairly smooth. When Thursday came around it was time for Anthony and Kate to get their stitches out. So Kate took Anthony out of school at lunch time and she, Tony, and Anthony went out to eat for lunch. Then Kate dropped Tony at the house because the sight of blood and stitches being removed usually made him woozy.
Then Kate and Anthony went to the Doctor and he checked Kate and Anthony out to make sure everything looked good before sitting Anthony up on the table to remove his stitches first.
"Is it gonna hurt mom?"
"Maybe a little bit sweetie, but you squeeze my hand if it hurts, okay" she told him, taking his hand in hers.
"Kay"
With that the Doctor removed his stitches quite easily and Anthony only squeezed Kate's hand only one time.
"Okay Mrs. DiNozzo, your turn" the Doctor told her
Anthony scooted over so that his mother could sit next to him on the table, and he looked up at her and said,
"You can squeeze my hand if it hurts"
She smiled down at him. She could just imagine Tony being that way at that age, even though he wasn't really close to his parents, and it melted her heart.
"Thanks Little-T"
This time Anthony was the one to take his mothers hand in his. Once the Doctor was done they both jumped off the table and Anthony said,
"That wasn't so bad mommy"
"No it wasn't"
They thanked the Doctor, payed, and then left. Kate stopping at the ice cream shop to get herself and Anthony an ice cream before heading home.
That afternoon Tony and Kate were watching the kids play outside through their living room window. They were laughing at Kayden and Annie playing soccer against each other. Then all of the sudden they saw Hobie run by on the sidewalk, a rope attached to his collar pulling a long board skateboard with Anthony and Kaylee both sitting on it, holding on for dear life. Tony and Kate both ran out the front door to stop them, but it was too late. The skateboard hit a rock and Anthony and Kaylee flew off and landed on the sidewalk.
"Kids" Tony yelled, as him and Kate ran as fast as they could down the street to where they fell.
They both got there at the same time and sat their kids up, looking over them.
"Are you guys okay?" Kate asked, looking over Kaylee carefully
"I think I'm hurt" Kaylee said
"Me too" added Anthony
That's when they lifted up their arms and Tony and Kate saw that their elbows were completely scraped up and bleeding, as well as their knees. Luckily they had been wearing their helmets, so their heads were okay. Kate picked up Kaylee and Tony got Anthony and they carried them back to the house and inside to the bathroom. They sat both of them on the counter as they got out the first aid kit.
Kate began to clean up Anthony's cuts first. He had a pretty good gash on his left knee and really bad, almost burn, on his right elbow.
"You know Little-T, we just got back from having your stitches removed, you need to be more careful" Kate told her youngest as she bandaged him up.
"I wore my helmet" he told her with a smile
She couldn't help but smile at that comment and said,
"Yes you did, good boy" she told him as she kissed the top of his head.
Then she began to clean up Kaylee's cuts. Hers weren't quite as bad as Anthony's, but that was because he helped to break her fall since she was behind him. She had a pretty bad burn on her right knee, but a smaller gash on her right elbow. After Kate finished bandaging Kaylee, she looked at her two youngest and said,
"Will you two try and be more careful, don't do something that might hurt you real bad, kay?"
"Okay" Kaylee answered
"I don't know what will hurt me" Anthony stated as he jumped off the bathroom counter and ran back outside.
Kaylee was still looking at her mother before she asked,
"Am I gonna have a scar?"
"I don't know sweetie, maybe" Kate answered
"I don't want any scars"
"Well then maybe you shouldn't try anything that Anthony does" she told her with a smile
"But he said it would be fun"
"And was it?" Kate asked
"Uh-huh, until I fell" Kaylee told her with a smile.
Kate just shook her head as she helped Kaylee off the counter.
"You know what baby girl, you should just have fun, don't worry about your scars" Tony told his little girl.
"But daddy I wanna be pretty when I grow up"
Tony and Kate smiled at each other before Tony bent down to Kaylee's level and said,
"Well you're already a very pretty girl, which tells me that you're gonna grow up to be a beautiful young woman"
"Really?"
"Yep. You know how else I know you're gonna be beautiful when you get older"
"How?" she questioned
"Because you look just like your mother and she is very beautiful. And you know your mom has some scars, but I still love her and I still think she is very beautiful."
Kaylee giggled a little as her father mentioned how beautiful her mother was. Then she leaned forward and kissed Tony on the cheek.
"Love you daddy" she said as she ran down the hall and back outside to play.
Tony stood up and watched his little girl run back outside before he said,
"She's definitely gonna be a little heartbreaker"
"Looks like she already is" Kate commented, talking about Tony.
"Well she is my baby girl" he told her
"Well one day she's going to grow up and start dating, and she's not going to want you around all the time" Kate told him
"Not if I have anything to do with it" Tony stated protectively, "Besides she's only six, let's not rush things"
Kate smiled at Tony as they went back outside to play with the kids.
Before they knew it Saturday was upon them and it was time for the barbecue. Gibbs and Jen arrived first because they were never late for anything.
"Uncle Gibbs" Kaylee yelled as she ran and lept into his arms.
"Umph, hey beautiful" he said to her as he kissed her cheek, "I think you've grown since the last time I saw you" he told her as he set her back down.
"Uncle Gibbs, Aunt Jen" Annie yelled as she ran down the hall to the front door to greet them.
They all hugged each other and Gibbs looked at Annie and said,
"Hey Spunky, you still playing pranks on people?"
"Of course"
He winked at her before she ran off to play. Jen just looked at Gibbs and shook her head as she headed to the kitchen to help Kate get the food ready. Gibbs then headed out to the backyard where he found Tony and the boys already barbecuing.
"Hey Uncle Gibbs" Kayden said as Gibbs walked over to them
"Hey Scout, you still playing soccer?"
"Yes sir" Kayden answered
"Hey Boss" Tony said
"DiNozzo. You sure you're qualified to be barbecuing?" Gibbs asked with a smile
"No, but the wife ordered me to. And I've learned to not cross her" Tony told Gibbs with a smile
"Uncle Gibbs" Anthony yelled running over to him
"Hey Little-T, how's you're head?" Gibbs asked
"Look, I've got a cool scar. But dad said once my hair grows back out you won't see it" Anthony told him as he turned around so Gibbs could see the back of his head
"Yep that's a cool scar" Gibbs told him
"Can I show you something" Anthony asked the older man
"Sure"
So Anthony took Gibbs by the hand and led him inside to his bedroom.
"Look I got another one" Anthony told him, pointing to two model planes on his dresser. One that Gibbs had given him when he was in the hospital and the other one he had gotten from Tony and Kate the day he got his stitches removed.
"Wow that's very cool, you going to collect them?" Gibbs asked the young boy
"Uh-huh. I just wanted to show you" Anthony told him as they walked back down the hallway to go outside. But as they got to the backdoor, the front door opened and McGee, Abby, and Piper came in.
"Piper" Anthony yelled to her. Piper took off running towards him and they went out into the backyard to play. McGee followed them and took a couple of beers for Tony, Gibbs, and himself, while the women stayed in the kitchen to talk, while they waited for Ducky and Palmer to arrive.
A few minutes later Ducky and Gibbs arrived and so everyone ended up moving outside. While the men were barbecuing, drinking beer, and telling jokes. The women sat at the picnic table with a glass of wine, talking, and watching the kids play. About twenty minutes later the barbecue was done so the women went inside and brought out the side dishes and they set up everything on a cardboard table. While they were getting everything ready Jen noticed the bandages on Anthony and Kaylee's knees and elbows.
"What happened to those two?" she asked, catching all the adults attention.
Tony and Kate smiled at each other before Tony said,
"Well Anthony seems to think he lives in a bubble. Like bubble boy only-"
"TONY" everyone yelled at him
"Fine geeze, I just thought you'd like to hear why-"
"Tony just tell them what happened" Kate told him
"Fine. Anthony and Kaylee decided to have Hobie pull them on a skateboard and they hit a rock and" Tony told them, turning and pointing at his two youngest.
"Like father like son" Kate said with a smile
"Like mother, like daughter" Tony countered back
"You guys have got your hands full" McGee said with a laugh
"You know Caitlin, you are going to have to watch our young Anthony very closely, because I have a feeling he is going to turn out exactly like his father" Ducky told her with a smile
"And what's wrong with that?" Tony questioned, causing everyone either to laugh or roll their eyes.
"And on that note, maybe we should eat" Kate said, receiving nods from everyone.
They rounded up the kids and got them situated first at their own little kid sized picnic table. Then it was the adults turn to fix their plates and eat at their picnic table.
Once they finished eating they sat around talking for awhile, watching the kids playing. Then about half an hour later the kid started throwing around a football, so Tony and Kate went to join them and of course Gibbs couldn't sit that out, and to McGee's surprise Abby wanted to join them. So they picked teams, Kayden and Annie got to be the captains and by the end it was Gibbs, Kate, Kayden, and Piper vs. Tony, Abby, Annie, Kaylee, and Anthony.
The other adults sat and watched their little game of what was supposed to be flag football. Gibbs was supposed to guard Abby, Kate and Tony had each other, Annie and Kayden, and then Kaylee and Anthony had Piper.
Everyone laughed when Kate scored the first touchdown on a pass from Gibbs. She caught the ball and threw Tony completely off balance as she ran and scored the touchdown.
"Good job Tony" Abby commented
"Geeze dad" Annie said
"Hey I was just letting them feel like they had the edge on us. Don't worry that's the only touchdown they're gonna get" he told his team
"It better be dad" Annie told him seriously
When he turned back around to face the other team, there were smirks plastered on all of their faces, including Piper's
"You guys just wait. You have no idea what's in store for you" Tony told them
"Bring it dad" Kayden told him with a smile
"Yeah Tony bring it" Kayden added with a smile
"Oh it's on baby" Tony replied smiling back at her and Kayden.
A few minutes later Annie scored a touchdown on a pass from Tony.
"Yeah baby, that's my girl" Tony said out loud as she scored the touchdown.
"It's been brought now" Annie told Kayden, with her hands on her hips.
Everyone watching the game couldn't help but laugh at Annie's reaction, as well as the look on Kayden's face.
The game continued on for about another twenty minutes without another touchdown being scored. Then Kate caught a pass from Kayden and turned to run when she was taken down by Tony. He wrapped his arms around her waist and took her to the ground with him, landing on top of her and keeping her pinned down.
"Hey that's an illegal move, I call a flag on that play. We're playing flag football, not tackle dad" Kayden told him as he ran over to his mom and dad, who were still laying on the ground.
"Yeah dad you cheated" Annie told him, as she stood next to Kayden.
"Hey I stopped her didn't I" Tony commented
"Yeah Tony you did, I guess that you knew you'd never be able to catch up with her once she took off, so you did the only thing you knew would work" Gibbs said, smiling when he finished talking.
Once again everyone watching laughed, especially at Gibbs' comment.
"Hey I could have caught up with her" Tony whined
"Sure you could honey, if I were walking" Kate smiled at him
After she had said that he leaned down and kissed her in front of everyone, receiving means from almost everyone.
"Eww mom, dad" Kayden whined
"Daddy don't do that in public" Annie told him
Kaylee giggled and covered her eyes, while Anthony and Piper laughed and pointed at them.
"Seriously DiNozzo, Todd, we're trying to play a game here. Will you two grow up, you've got guests remember?" Gibbs said to them
With that Tony got up and grabbed Kate's hands to help her up. They set a new play up and Kate's team got to move forward five extra steps which put them only a few feet from their touchdown line. Gibbs got the ball and tossed it carefully to Piper, who caught it and tried to make a run for the touchdown line, but just before she got there, Anthony tagged her.
After that play it was Tony's team's ball. Tony made a long pass to Abby, who caught it and took off running, and ran smack into Gibbs who tagged her. Then Tony threw it to Anthony who caught it but was tagged right away by Piper. Then Annie threw the ball to Kaylee on the next play, but when she saw Piper running at her, she tossed it to her dad. Tony caught it and turned to run, but ran into Kate, who flipped him and landed on top of him.
"How do you like that, stud?" she questioned with a smile, still laying on top of him.
"Mom, now you cheated, but that was really cool, you totally nailed him" Kayden told her
"Thanks that's what he get for tackling me" she told her kids
"You two are worse than the kids, you know that. At least they play by the rules" Gibbs told his two agents.
"Sorry" Kate said, sitting up, still on top of Tony.
"Can we get back to the game guys?" Abby asked
"Let's raise the challenge and make it tackle" Tony suggested, smiling up at Kate
"Tony someone's going to get hurt, especially the kids" Kate told him
"We can play tackle without making it too rough. You just have to tackle carefully, what do you guys say?" he questioned looking from Kate to the kids.
"Cool" Annie said
"Yeah" agreed Anthony
"Tony you have seen what real football is like, right?" Abby questioned
"And you do know what real tackling is right?" Gibbs asked
"Very funny guys. I just thought you'd like to raise the stakes, but if you're too scared, I understand" Tony said, instantly regretting what he had said when Kate jabbed her elbow down into his ribs.
Then Gibbs and Kate looked at each other and Gibbs gave a slight nod.
"You're on" Kate told Tony looking down directly into his eyes. Then she got up off of him and as Tony was getting up Gibbs said,
"You have no idea what you just got yourself into"
So they continued on with the game, this time tackling instead of just tagging.
When Tony's team had the ball, Annie had thrown it to him and Kayden jumped onto Tony, trying to knock him down, but it was no use, Tony kept running with Kayden latched onto his back, until Kate caught up and took Tony down.
They had been playing for almost an hour and a half, when their cheering squad suggested a half time break. The team's agreed and they all took a fifteen minute break. Then it was back to the "field" for some more playing time.
This time Tony's team had the ball and he launched it to Abby who saw Gibbs coming for her and tossed it to Anthony who scored a touchdown.
"Yeah, shoooww meee the mooneeey" Anthony yelled, as he threw the ball down and did a little dance.
Everyone laughed and shook their heads as he did this and Gibbs looked at Tony and said,
"He's so much like you it's scary"
Tony grinned before picking Anthony up and throwing him in the in the air.
"You guys just wait" Kayden said with a smile.
"Whatever Kade" Annie said, rolling her eyes
Then on the very next play Kate threw the ball to Gibbs who took off in a dead sprint down the field right before Tony and Abby were about to tackle him he tossed it to Piper, who was standing on the touchdown line.
"Yes baby girl" Gibbs yelled to her
"I scored a touchdown mama" Piper told her mother with a smile.
"Yes you did baby" she replied with a smile
The game went on for about another half an hour, before people started getting hungry again, so the cheering squad said whoever scored the next touchdown wins.
So then it was ll on. The game went for another twenty minutes and people were getting tackled right and left, and scrapes and bruises were forming on everyone. Then when Kate's team had the ball Gibbs threw the ball, and Kate threw Tony off by pretending to jump out to catch it and so he jumped with her and they both went down, as Kayden jumped into the air and caught the ball. He ran a few feet, Annie right on his tail, and when he could feel she jumped at him, he also jumped and landed right over the touchdown line, Annie still attached to his legs as they hit the ground.
"Yeah, that's my boy" Kate yelled, as she jumped up from the ground and ran towards him, picking him up and swinging him around. Then Gibbs picked him up and sat him on his shoulders.
"What do you think about that Tony?" Kate questioned with a smile.
"I think you just got lucky" he told her
"Sorry dad, I should have stopped him" Annie said, looking up at her father.
"Hey munchkin, you did great, okay" he told her, "It was just a game"
She nodded without looking up at him. So he bent down and started to tickle her.
"We had fun right?" he asked as he kept tickling her.
"Yeah" she laughed as he continued tickling her before throwing her over his shoulder and walking over to Gibbs and Kate.
When he stopped in front of Gibbs, Tony looked up at Kayden on Gibbs's shoulders and said,
"Good job son"
"Thanks dad, sorry you lost" he replied
"No you're not" Tony responded
Kayden, Kate, and Gibbs had huge smiles on their faces.
Tony looked up at Annie and said,
"I have a feeling we are going to be hearing about this for awhile"
"Yeah but there were four of us and only two of them, so they will always be outnumbered" she told her father, referring to her brothers and sister and parents.
"That's true. So they better watch out" Tony said with a smile
Then they all walked back over to their cheering squad, Tony put Annie down, and Gibbs set Kayden back on the ground. Then they had some dinner, and the adults talked for awhile, while the kids played. Then around 8 PM everyone started to leave and by 8:45 everyone was gone and they had cleaned up.
After they got the kids into bed, Tony and Kate stayed up for awhile watching TV in the living room.
"I don't know about you, but I'm kinda hurtin after today's game" Tony said to Kate
"Yeah, me too, and I have a feeling we are really going to be feeling the effects tomorrow" she told him
"Yeah I think we are going to be sorry we played tackle"
"And whose idea was it"
"You could have said no" he told her
"Right and listen to you tease us for the rest of the game. I don't think so" she told him with a smile
"Think the kids will be hurting tomorrow?" Tony asked
"I don't know, but I'm sure they will have some bruises. People will probably think they have been abused or something" Kate told him
"Honey you worry too much" he told her
"And you don't worry enough" she countered back
He smiled before asking,
"You ready for next week?"
"I am kinda excited. Considering I know where we are going, I still don't know what you have planned" she answered
"I think you'll enjoy it" he told her with a smile
"I'm sure I will" she replied
Then they went back to watching TV before going to bed and waiting for next weekend.
A/N: Once again sorry for the wait, just one more chapter left in this series. Hope you enjoyed. Hopefully I will get the final chapter up within the next couple of weeks, but it definitely will be up before Christmas. Please review! Thanks again.