After the system problems last week and other considerations, I decided to go ahead and post a chapter tonight and probably another one during the week. Momcat, thank you for your lovely comments. Please, everyone...remain safe and well. Positive thoughts and prayers for those in Turkey and Greece affected by last week's earthquake and to those affected by the hurricanes/tropical storms here in the U.S. No fires or smoke for California, it's snowed in the mountains and there's been rain, YAY! Sending hugs to all, just because.
Chapter Five
Sitting in first class, the only seats available on both this flight and their connecting flight, Tony realized the aircraft wasn't moving yet and called Tim. When there was no answer, he started to leave a message when one of the flight attendants told him to turn the phone off immediately and then stood there until he did so. Asking if he could text, she said yes, but only by using wi-fi when the service was available.
That's when Tony decided there wasn't anything more he could do and hoped Maggie had time to call Sarah and tell Tim or Ellie what was happening or that Sarah called their brother directly. Looking at the time, he winced and then took a deep breath, held it and then exhaled. He did this a few times until he found some calm. His thoughts were still chaotic though, mostly along the line of why the frackin' universe kept playing havoc with his little brother.
Bob Chalmers, his SFA and brother-in-law, leaned over, "Everything okay, Tony?"
"Yeah, it is, Bob, thanks. Had a call from Sari about some new relative who showed up at the ranch today but we're here, not there so there's nothing we can do about it."
"Oh, Mac's nephew, yeah, I heard a little about that."
The two of them shook their heads, there was always something going on at the ranch, and then settled back for the first leg of the journey, from Albuquerque to Dallas-Fort Worth. There, they'd have a 90 minute layover before boarding their Air Canada flight to Calgary. They wouldn't arrive until after dark but on the way to the airport Tony had contacted the local police, who had already canvassed the crime scene but agreed to continue guarding it and to have flood lights brought to the scene for the NCIS team. After many photos had been taken, the bodies had been removed to the coroner's office but the autopsies wouldn't be started until they'd had a chance to view the victims.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
As he left the office for the day, Tim walked over to the daycare while Ellie drove the van over. They gathered Mackie and his things and then rounded up Ty and Bryn. They'd started school last week and both of the older kids had homework, worksheets they'd already completed. Mackie was there to socialize with toddlers his own age.
Ty handed over one of their pool towels that had gone on walkabout during Day Camp. Now it had finally surfaced, washed, folded and returned with a note of apology from one of the other parents. Tim chuckled, "Thanks, son! That was good of them to return it to us. Guess they finally saw the tag, huh?"
They laughed at that as the junior Gibbses routinely put tags with their name on beach towels, toys, anything that might go astray.
Ellie drove and Tim was puzzled when she pulled into the parking lot of their favorite grocery store. She looked at him, "Grandpa asked for extra chicken and vanilla bean ice cream."
"Oh yeah, thanks, Hon!"
She and the boys remained in the nice cool van while Tim and Bryn hurried in to buy the chicken and ice cream. Brynie thought it was a funny combination until her dad told her about chicken and waffles. She wrinkled her nose at that and Tim laughed, admitting he'd never tried the combination.
Out on the back porch of the ranch house with the twins, Sarah made a face when she saw Tim and Ellie's van go by. She certainly hoped that Tony or Maggie had contacted Tim about the new relative. Bob had sent a text that they were on their way to Canada for a case and the timing of that text seemed very close to her chat with Tony. She sighed, she should have just called Tim herself!
Entering their house, the junior Gibbs family found a note that Lia and Henry were with Grandpa, Liz and the Hubbards at the pool with the new cousins. Wondering when new relatives had popped up and realizing they might be the reason for the extra groceries, they changed into their swim stuff and walked over to the pool.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Charlie was enjoying the water, playing with Eleni, Lia, Henry and Ricky. They'd moved to the big pool when the rest of the Palmers arrived. Ricky wanted out so he could kiss his mommy and daddy and once he was out, Lia and Henry followed him. With Jimmy and Breena there, the other adults were more amenable to the youngsters moving to the big pool.
The littles all had small floats that their adults pulled around, although Lia and Ricky knew how to swim. Eleni copied them, grinning at Papa, she was learning new stuff! He said that was fine, as long as he was there with her.
The adults traded off watching the kids while the others swam laps. Henry watched Eleni watching the other kids and followed her actions. He'd been hesitant with the big water thing that wasn't a bath but the other kids liked it. Although Henry was very happy and secure with his family, he was still a cautious little boy and was not yet sure whether he liked the big water. He liked the little water, meaning the wading pool, as he could sit in it without it covering all of him but the big water was new, very different and scary.
A large van pulled up to one of the houses on the cul-de-sac and Mac grinned, "That's Tim, Ellie and the rest of their kids. After school, Ty and Brynie are bused to a daycare center that's next to their parents' office. And the center has three other babies who are Mackie's age, Tim and Ellie like him to have that socialization. Otherwise, Lia, Henry and Ricky are older and the new babies are too young to play with."
Charlie nodded, that made sense. It was his turn to swim and Liz told him to take advantage because the pool would be full in a few minutes. Smiling, he swam the length of the pool underwater and back several times, surfacing near the steps to see a familiar face kissing Lia and Henry. Shocked, he stood in the water. He must be wrong; this couldn't be, it seemed impossible.
Mac noticed Charlie had surfaced and said, "Charlie, like to introduce you to my grandson Timothy and his wife Eleanor, although we call them Tim and Ellie. Kids, like you to meet my nephew Charlie Fielding."
Tim had a smile on his face, starting to look up from the kids as his grandfather introduced him to…who? He was still holding Lia and Henry and nearly dropped them. He carefully put them on the deck, holding Lia's arm so she wouldn't scoot right back into the pool. He knew Henry would stay with him or Ellie.
When he looked back again, the man was still there, his mouth as wide open as Tim thought his must be. "Grandpa, what? Colonel? You're who, what?"
Charlie was still staring, his mouth open. Liz took Eleni in her arms. "Let's go dry off for a bit, Eleni, while your papa talks with Uncle Tim." She felt terrible, apparently Mac either hadn't remembered the Delilah mess or hadn't known about it after all. She felt she owed both Tim and Charlie an apology!
Eleni was prepared to fuss, she didn't like it when Papa was upset. Ricky patted her on the arm, saying that she'd get a cookie and she brightened.
Mac looked back and forth, bewildered. Claire joined Liz and Eleni and they walked toward the Cranes' home.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
On her way into the ranch, Maggie stopped when she saw Sarah on the back porch of the ranch house and rolled the window down, calling out to ask her about the text from Tony and if she and the twins would like to join them at the pool. Sarah shook her head, signing that the thing from Tony was old news now, not to worry and that the twins had been fussy but were now peaceful, Sarah didn't want to 'rock the boat' as it were. Maggie waved to her as she continued to their home, smiling and then frowning in surprise as she spotted Claire and Liz with an unfamiliar little girl. Arin also looked at her with interest, "Look, Mommy, a new girl!"
"I see, sweetie. Let's stop and meet her, shall we?"
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Still stunned and wondering when the Colonel had arrived, why no one had said anything to him or Ellie about expecting him, Tim turned to his wife, still working to find his words, "Ellie, this is Colonel Charles Fielding, Delilah's father and apparently a relative of Mac's."
Although in almost as much shock as her husband, Ellie noticed his reference to his grandfather as 'Mac' rather than 'Grandpa' and knew he was upset. His extreme pallor was another clue. She too wondered why no one had called to let at least one of them know. Family guests like this would normally be planned for, where he'd stay, whether to introduce him to the entire family right away or start with just those on the ranch, or even, in this case, with Mac and the Gibbses . She thought about Mac's request that they stop for additional food for dinner. Either he'd forgotten, or perhaps had forgotten the date of arrival. This just didn't fit into what had become their routine regarding overnight guests, especially family. She thought about who was home today. Her in-laws were still away but Sarah was home and she certainly knew the Delilah story. She thought Liz and Claire did, too. Oh well, too late now.
Maggie had hurried over with the baby and Arin, and heard what Tim said to Ellie. When she saw that Tim was upset, she thought she could shed some light on why Tim had apparently been blindsided by whatever Mac said and whoever this person was.
Now she decided to speak up, "Tim, Ellie, I think Sarah must have called Tony. But they got called out to a case in Canada and had to run to make their flight. He texted me to call Sarah but I didn't see the text until we were on our way home."
Tim sent her such a grateful look that she wanted to hug him. Ellie smiled, relieved.
Pushing aside his shock and all the other emotions that were churning around inside him, Tim reached out to take his wife's hand, "Colonel Fielding, this is my wife, Ellie Bishop, and our children, Mackie the baby, Brynie and Tyler. I see you've already met Henry and Lia."
Mac knew the story of the former girlfriend but had never heard the woman's name and still hadn't made the connection with what Tim said to Ellie about Charlie, Colonel Fielding, he'd said, being someone's father and apparently related. Now he looked at his grandson, noticing he was pretty upset. He hated seeing his Tim upset like this. "Do you two know each other?"
"Yes. He's the father of my former girlfriend. The one I broke up with shortly before meeting you."
Remembering what Tim had walked in on, although not the woman's name, Mac's eyes grew wide and he winced, sorry that both men had been blindsided.
Charlie shook his head, "It's all right, Uncle Mac. It's a shock to us both. Timothy, I had no idea, I promise you. I came here to see my uncle, I had no idea you were here, that you're related to Uncle Mac. Delilah's not here with me, she's in Dubai. I found Uncle Mac through the list of ranch owners online – and I did see a Timothy but it was Timothy J. Gibbs, not Timothy McGee."
Tim took a deep breath, "It was never - you and Carol did nothing wrong and when it happened I remember wishing I could keep you two, I hated losing you. You're right; this has been a shock for both of us." He frowned, looking around, no one had mentioned Carol Fielding. Then he remembered that she'd died and he'd sent the Colonel a card, an e-card, easier as he hadn't known the Fieldings' address.
"I'm so sorry about Carol, she was such a great person."
"Thank you, Tim and thank you for the card. I miss her every day."
Shaking hands, both men relaxed a little and then Tim managed a smile, "So, are we related?"
"I guess we are! I'm your grandfather's nephew, I believe that makes us cousins of some sort."
Tim turned to his grandfather, "Grandpa, when I first met you, I had recently broken up with my girlfriend. It was a serious relationship but it ended. I think I told you that much but I don't think I ever mentioned her name, Delilah Fielding."
Mac was about to say all he remembered about Tim's love life from that day was the love bite on his back and he knew that was from Ellie. As he opened his mouth, he also remembered that Tim had walked in on the girlfriend, now he knew her name, Delilah, having sex with another man, and he snapped his mouth shut.
Liz and Claire returned with Eleni. Eleni held her arms out to go to Charlie and he greeted her with a kiss. "Tim, Ellie, kids, this is my daughter Eleni. Until today, we were a family of two. What do the other kids call you?"
Ellie smiled, "He's Uncle Tim and I'm Aunt Ellie."
"Oh Eleni, an aunty and an uncle!"
Eleni smiled, leaning forward from her Papa's arms to give kisses to Tim and Ellie. "Hi, Uncle Tim, Aunt Ellie, I Eleni!"
They welcomed her with hugs and she squealed, getting an answering squeal from Mackie.
Tyler and Brynie watched their parents closely while they swam. Ty thought everything was better now but his father still seemed a little upset. They decided to play dolphins and surprise him, he always laughed then. Swimming underwater, they surfaced next to their father and the new cousin, making their dolphin noises. Daddy smiled and softly squeed back at them. "Charlie, I know you met my two-legged children, now I'd like you to meet our dolphin children."
"Hi, dolphins! I'm Uncle Charlie."
Ty squeed at him before saying, "You're Eleni's father, Grandpa is your uncle and you are our cousin and Nonny's, too."
"Yes, that's right!"
Ty stood in the water, introducing himself the way he first learned from Sue and Deeny before he was two years old. Brynie followed him and Charlie shook their hands with a smile.
When they met Eleni, they looked at Uncle Charlie and then at their parents, deciding they probably shouldn't ask. In their experience, little kids like Eleni usually had another parent besides a Papa, which they knew was a 'dad' name as well as a 'grandfather' name. Maybe she was like them and Lia and her other parent or parents were in heaven.