It was early on a Monday morning. Ziva was out of town working a case with her team and Tony was making breakfast for himself and Sadie who was now eight years old. Sadie was sitting in her chair drumming her hands on the table. Jack was sitting beside her in his wheelchair. Once the eggs were done Tony carried the pan over and set it on the table. He watched Sadie serve herself and then put Jack into his chair and hooked him up to his feeding tube. It always broke Tony's heart that his son would never taste real food. He had been on a feeding tube when he was fighting the plague and he hated it and that was only a few weeks. Jack had to live with it for his whole life. Once Jack was fed, Tony served himself and sat down at the end of the table.
"Sadie did you do your homework?" Tony asked.
"Yes" Sadie replied.
"Good girl" Tony replied kissing her on the forehead.
"Thank you Abba" Sadie replied.
It was Tony's day to drive the girls and Jack in carpool. Jimmy had had a date over the weekend and Tony was dying to hear about it. This had been Jimmy's first real date since Breena had died. For Emma's sake Tony hoped that even if this date didn't work out. Jimmy would find love again and Emma would have a mom. Abby and Ziva acted as mother figures but she wanted what Sadie had. Tony had always thought Jimmy and Abby would be good together but Abby had gotten married to a friend of Delilah's from college Neil last year. She had adopted Tyler not long after Johnny and Jackson were born. Jimmy usually argued that Ducky and Gibbs were alone and Gibbs was raising a daughter too.
"Go get dressed for school. I am going to get Jack ready." Tony told Sadie.
"OK Abba" Sadie replied.
Ten minutes later Sadie and Jack were dressed and ready for school. Tony got Jack into the van. While Sadie waited patiently in the backseat. Much to Tony's disappointment Jimmy had already left for work and Emma was waiting with Ducky. After dropping Jack at his school. He drove Emma and Sadie to the elementary school.
"Don't forget Amira has an away volleyball game. So Ducky will be picking you up." Tony reminded.
"We know" Emma replied.
"We already told our teachers so they let us go." Sadie added.
Sadie tried to hide her frustration from her father. She was amazed she could keep it past him. He was like a bloodhound sometimes and her mom was even worse. Of course neither were as bad as grandpa Gibbs. Maybe Jack's health had something to do with it. He had gotten real sick a couple months earlier and almost died. It was right around that time Sadie's troubles had started. The troubles that were why she was dreading report card day. Which was today. The first report card of third grade and the first she wouldn't be on honor roll. Gym and music were the only ones she hadn't had trouble in but the core classes and computer were greatly affected. Surprisingly the only people who noticed were her best friend Ivy. Her other best friend Emma may have caught on too if they were in the same class.
"Did you tell your dad you are having trouble seeing the board?" Ivy asked.
"Not yet" Sadie replied.
"Why not?" Ivy asked.
"My mom is in Iraq." Sadie explained.
"So your parents end up having to go overseas once a year at least and besides there is always an excuse something with Jack. Ducky's heart. It's always something." Ivy explained.
"It's no big deal. We are rearranging today and I will be sure to get a seat up front." Sadie replied.
"Sadie! You are already in the second row." Ivy reminded.
Sadie was relieved when the recess bell rang. Recess was her favorite part of the day. Not only did she get to see Emma but she also didn't have to read anything. She was grabbed her water bottle and started towards the front of the room.
"Sadie may I speak with you?" Miss. Lucas asked.
"Ohhh Sadie's in trouble!" The class minus Ivy and Landon cried.
"Uh yes mam" Sadie replied nervously.
The rest of the class filed outside for recess. Sadie could see Ivy peeking through the thin window on the door. Until a hall monitor pulled her away. Sadie looked around the classroom wondering why Mrs. Lucas hadn't started talking yet. The door opened again and Sadie looked up expecting it to be Ivy claiming to have forgotten her inhaler. Instead it was her dad. Her heart crashed down to the floor. She knew that she was in trouble. If her dad had come in the middle of the work day.
"Thank you for joining us Mr. Gibbs" Miss. Lucas said as Tony sat down.
"What seems to be the problem?" Tony asked.
"Last week was the end of the quarter and report cards came out today and I am afraid that Sadie's grades are not on par with past years." Miss. Lucas explained.
"Is she failing?" Tony asked.
"No her lowest grade is a D and the others are B's and C's." Miss. Lucas explained.
"Yeah so? Third grade is tough and her brother spent most of the quarter in the hospital. I will get her a tutor and I am sure her grades will be back up in no time." Tony argued.
"Normally I take that excuse but I have also noticed Sadie squinting to see the board and most times her friend Ivy ends up giving her a copy of her notes." Miss. Lucas explained.
"Are you accusing my daughter of cheating?" Tony questioned.
"I certainly am not. I think that Sadie may need glasses." Miss. Lucas replied.
"But she passed her eye exam last year." Tony countered.
"Yes but a lot of times children's vision suddenly gets worse. Now the school health check is next week but I would recommend you take her to the optometrist right away." Miss. Lucas replied.
Sadie sat in the middle of the backseat. Refusing to look out the window of her dad's car. Not that she could see much anyway. She gave Ivy excuses for not telling her dad but the real reason was that she did not want to get glasses. She had seen an episode of full house once where Stephanie had to get glasses and they were hideous. That was just a stupid TV show but when Jake Balboa got glasses his parents made him get from the discount rack and the ones he ended up with were ugly and looked like something an old lady would wear. Her dad parked in front of the optometrists office and guided her inside. Sadie tried her best during the eye exam. Hoping that maybe it was a mistake and her eyes were just fine. After the exam Dr. Mark led her out into the waiting room. Her eyes were still dilated and sore.
"How did it go?" Tony asked.
"Great" Sadie lied.
"Mr. Gibbs, Sadie does need glasses." Dr. Mark replied.
Sadie did not make a sound as the eye doctor led her into the eye glass shop. The kids section was in the back corner. The cheap frames were on a spinning rack and the designer frames were in a glass case. She started over to the discount rack and spun it around.
"You don't have to get those. We can't afford the designer frames but everything on the beg board is just fine." Tony explained.
Sadie smiled and looked over the peg board. None of the frames fit her style. They were either too girly and boyish. Finally she spotted the perfect frames. They were her favorite color red square wire frames. She pointed to them and Dr. Mark got them down. One hour later the frames were ready. Dr. Mark adjusted them to her face.
"What do you think?" Sadie asked.
"You look very grown up." Tony replied.
"I can't wait until Ima sees them." Sadie replied.
"Nether can I." Tony replied Ziva had only been gone three days but it felt like a lifetime.
"Sorry I didn't tell you sooner but I was worried I would look ugly with glasses." Sadie apologized.
"Beauty comes from within and you could never be ugly." Tony told his daughter.
A/N: Just a warning Ducky is probably going to die in the next chapter. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.