Title: Once Upon a Summertime

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from NCIS, I'm just borrowing them for the story.

CHAPTER 21

A team

Gibbs and Jenny were seated at the kitchen table, sipping their morning coffee when Tim, Tony and Abby pulled out their chairs.

"Good morning," Jenny said. "Everything is on the table so just help yourselves."

"Thanks," said Tony and grabbed two scones and the butter.

"Can I have the butter when you're done, Tony?" Tim asked and filled up his glass with orange juice.

"Yup."

Jenny helped Abby with her scones.

"Don't you want pigtails today, Abby?" Jenny asked and brushed a hand through the girl's hair.

"No, I want one braid." she said determinedly.

Gibbs grinned and turned the page in the newspaper.

Jenny handed Abby her breakfast.

"Oh ok. I'll make it for you when we've finished breakfast. We don't want hair in your food now, do we?"

Abby shook her head.

Gibbs put the paper down.

"Where is Ziva this morning, Abby?"

"I don't know, Gibbs. She wasn't in our room when I woke up."

Gibbs frowned and pushed his chair back. Passing her he put a hand on Jenny's shoulder.

"I'll be right back."

He walked out the door and onto the porch.

"Hey, Ziva, you out here?"

When he didn't get an answer he crossed the lawn over to the tree house and climbed up the ladder. She wasn't there.

"Where is that girl?" he muttered to himself as he climbed down again.

He took an extra look around and checked all the bushes before heading inside again.

"Was she out there?" Jenny asked as he took his seat at the table again.

"Nope, couldn't find her. Don't worry. She'll turn up soon."

Jenny crossed her arms over her chest.

"Turn up, Jethro? We don't even know where she is. Perhaps we should worry a little when a girl we're responsible for disa…"

They heard the front door slam shut and foot steps towards the kitchen and then Ziva appeared. She was dressed in a white sundress and tennis shoes.

They all looked up as she entered. Jenny was the first one who spoke.

"Where have you been? We've been worried."

Ziva pulled out a chair and sat down. "About what?"

Jenny sighed.

"About you. Now, I would like you to answer my question. Where were you?"

Tim, Tony and Abby were all silent. It seemed like this was a time when Jenny could get a little moody if not answered.

Ziva shrugged and stared back at her.

"I was just outside in the tree house. I did not think you would mind."

Gibbs looked up from his second attempt at reading the newspaper.

"You were in the tree house?" he asked.

"Yes," Ziva answered.

Gibbs raised an eye brow incredulously. "Uh huh,"

"What do you mean uh huh?" Ziva asked slightly exasperated now.

Gibbs just looked calmly at the girl, showing no emotion.

"Sit down and have some breakfast now, Ziva," he said gesturing at the table.

With a huff Ziva dropped into her seat.

"I cannot go out to the tree house now?" Ziva asked, directing her question at Jenny who put a new pot of coffee on the table. Jenny who had visibly calmed down by now after getting an answer answered her.

"Of course you can, sweetie. We were just worried because no one had seen you this morning that's all."

Ziva seemed satisfied with that answer and grabbed some scones of her own and started to put marmalade on them.

Ziva's POV:

"I cannot take you back to the pond you know. That horrible man could come back and catch you. And there is no telling what he might do to you if he does."

I glanced at the pine panel walls surrounding me and the dog sitting on the floor inside Gibbs work shed. The sun entered through the window and made me have to shade my eyes with my hand when looking up. Gently I stroked the dog's soft head as she rested her head in my lap. I fingered the bandage on the dog's paw.

The night before I had snuck the dog through the gate and into the backyard. But while there I had had no idea where to hide her. I could not bring her into our bedroom and hide her there because then Abby would have noticed and Gibbs and Jenny could have found out. I had thought of the tree house and even given it a try to climb up there with the dog in my arms but had not even been able to lift the dog successfully by myself. Even though I was strong I was not strong enough to lift the dog and carry her all by myself. Then I had thought of the only option I had, Gibbs work shed, and despite knowing it was forbidden for us kids to enter without him I had opened the unlocked door and hurried inside followed by the dog.

"I'll be in big trouble if Gibbs finds us in here. But I do not care as long as you are safe from that man."

The dog licked my knee affectionately in response. She seemed content with being in there and had not barked once since I had left her in there during the night.

She whined a little as I shifted position on the floor and pulled my knees up and hugged them to my chest. She sat up and looked at me with her big hazel eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I have to leave you now," I said and patted her head. "Do not worry though. I will keep Gibbs busy all day long so that he will not come in here and find you. "

I put my hand before her, palm up, and she raised her paw and shook my hand. "It is a promise."

"Ice cream bar in town? Right now?" Gibbs asked a bit confused at her sudden demand…or request because he wasn't exactly sure which one it was.

"Yes, Gibbs. I want to visit one. Please, please let's go. " Ziva said and pulled at his hand in the direction away from his work shed which he was heading to.

"Ziva, I was just about to go work on my…"

"Oh you can do that any time, can you not?" she pleaded with big eyes. "Pleeease, Gibbs, I have always wanted to see a real American ice cream bar," She said using a tone as sweet as candy.

Gibbs was quiet a moment, watching her pulling his arm, trying to make him move. It was good that she actually wanted to do something for a change, instead of just taking off on her own, but this sudden change of attitude confounded him some.

When he felt her pull even harder in determination he finally gave in.

"Okay okay, you win, we'll go." Gibbs waved at Abby and Tim over by the swing. "Hey you two! We're going for ice cream. Get Tony. Leaving in three minutes."

The two youngest kids' eyes lit up at hearing the word ice cream. Abby gave a little squeal of joy and jumped off the swing. She ran over to the tree house and called up to Tony that they were going for ice cream. Tony must have been overjoyed as well judging by the short time it took him to reach the ground.

Tim's POV:

"FIVE scoops of chocolate? Really Abby?" Tony asked astonished at the small girl's decision on ice cream.

Abby nodded and balanced on her toes to see the flavors inside the ice cream counter.

"I can't see the rest," she complained as she craned her neck in effort.

Gibbs put a hand on her shoulder and eased her down from her toes. "Oh, I think three will be quite enough anyway Abby. We don't want you to get a stomach ache."

"Oh, oookay, Gibbs. But I still only want chocolate." She said stubbornly with her arms crossed.

"Tim, you're next," Gibbs said.

I made my way past Tony who looked a little huffed at not getting to choose before me. I craned my neck a little, not wanting to admit in front of Tony that I actually couldn't see the flavors in the back row either. I was older than Abby. One whole year older but actually not that much taller. Perhaps only two inches taller than her. Suddenly I felt two hands grab my waist and hoist me up.

"There you go, Tim," Gibbs said with a grin. "Take your time."

I heard Tony snicker down there on the ground and bit my lip, trying not to care about that, but then I heard Gibbs clear his throat and when I turned my head I saw Tony cringe a little. All of a sudden I felt a little better.

Back at the little house on Pineroad:

"Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!"

Gibbs gave a little discrete sigh and stopped on his way to his work shed. He turned towards the porch where Ziva stood.

"Yes?"

"Jenny needs your help in the kitchen. Uh, you know, with the lunch…stuff."

"Lunch stuff?" Gibbs raised a brow at the girl.

"Yes, I already told you."

She waved at him to come inside and stayed in her spot until he had walked the entire way back to her. He put a hand on her head and tousled her hair a little as he walked past her through the door to the porch and into the kitchen.

"Jen, did you need me for something in here?" he asked.

Again he raised a brow at the scene before him. Jenny looked up from the stove and gave him a questioning look. Tony, and Tim were cutting vegetables and Abby was setting the table.

"I'm not sure what that would be at this point, Jethro," she replied calmly with a humorous smile. "But it's nice of you to ask."

Gibbs grunted a little and turned and gave a little glare at Ziva who was standing at the door.

She shrugged her shoulders unaware.

"I thought you looked so busy, Jenny, and that you probably needed Gibbs' help. Perhaps I was mistaken."

Gibbs nodded slowly.

"Uh huh, perhaps you were."

He studied her suspiciously a few seconds but to his surprise she didn't budge under his stare. Instead she spoke up.

"But while you're in here, Gibbs, could you help me with something? I really want help moving the cedar chest at the foot of my bed to Abby's instead."

Gibbs didn't bother asking any questions. He just followed the girl up to the room she shared with Abby and helped her move the heavy cedar chest. He figured he could get some work done as soon as he was finished up there but right when they were headed down the stairs again Jenny called that it was time to eat.

The mushroom soup tasted great but afterwards there was no escape doing the dishes. Gibbs and Ziva were the only two who hadn't helped with the cooking so Ziva chose that precise moment to politely suggest they handle the dishes.

"If that is all right with you of course, Gibbs?" she added with a sweet smile.

Gibbs eyed the girl with slightly narrowed eyes, then reached for an apron to put on to avoid getting dish water all over himself.

"I wash, you dry," he replied, a bit disgruntled.

Ziva's POV:

I was sitting on the steps to the porch, resting my chin in my hands. Suddenly I felt someone block my sun light and when I looked up I saw Tony. Great, I thought. Just great. Like it was not enough to put all my energy into keeping Gibbs from his work shed, I now had to deal with Tony as well.

"What'r you up to?"

He took a seat next to me and pulled a long blade of grass up by its root and started to twirl it around his left index finger.

I sighed deeply.

"Up to? I do not know what you mean."

"I'm pretty sure you do." He continued. "You won't give Gibbs a second's peace today."

I glared at him, feeling annoyed that he had to stick his nose where it did not belong.

"It is none of your business, Tony. Now, please leave me alone."

I stood up and was ready to leave when he grabbed the hem of my white sundress to keep me in place a moment longer.

"If something's up maybe I can help," he suggested.

Angrily I pulled the hem of my dress from his hand and took a leap down the rest of the steps and landed with a thud on the grass.

"I do not need your help. I do not even know if I can trust you, Tony."

I stalked off towards the tree house without looking back.

All afternoon I kept myself overly busy trying to keep Gibbs from the work shed where I had hid my dog. My dog. That was exactly the way I viewed her now. I was so scared that he would find her and send her away somewhere…or maybe even toss her out on the street again. Then that man was sure to get hold of her.

It was getting close to dinner time and I had just managed to this time con Abby into talking Gibbs into playing hide and seek with her. It was hard to say no to Abby's pout, I had learned that. So, I figured it was best to get Abby to keep Gibbs busy for an hour or so. Tony and Tim had joined in as well but I stayed up in the tree house where I could keep an eye on the back yard and the shed. Jenny was at the kitchen table thumbing through a heap of papers, looking busy. I could see her from my hidden spot by moving a few leaves aside with my hand. I could never figure out why grown -ups always paid so much attention to papers and shuffling them around. I mean, what was the point with that?

Anyway, I at least knew I had something more important to do. I needed to save a life. The life of an animal who had saved mine first. I owed her. And I never forgot about a debt I owed to anyone. NEVER.

Scanning the area first and making sure no one was around, I climbed down the ladder. I shoved the tree branches aside and emerged from behind all the leaves. I looked to the right and to the left but did not see anyone so I took off, at the speed of lightning, towards the work shed. There I flung the door open and ran inside, quickly shut the door behind me.

The dog sat up right away and this time even waved her fluffy white tail at seeing me.

"Shalom," I greeted her with a smile and fell to my knees on the floor, letting her come to me. When she reached me I put my arms around her neck and hugged her.

"I am glad you are here," I told her in confidence. "I have spent the day keeping Gibbs away but I am soon out of ideas as how to keep him away. I am going to somehow have to move you out of here tonight."

The door opened and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I spun around and saw Abby standing, one hand on the door handle, looking at me with her mouth open and Philip tucked under her left arm. Next I knew I heard someone running outside on the lawn, coming our way.

"Abby, what are you doing? You have to hide before Gibbs comes looking…"

Before I had time to react Tony was standing behind Abby gawking at me.

"Ziva, what the…"

"A dog!" Abby suddenly exclaimed as realization washed over her.

Quickly I got to my feet and was by the door in a second.

"Get inside both of you and hurry!" I spat out with clenched teeth, nudging Abby inside and yanking Tony in by the front of his shirt. "What are you doing sneaking around?"

"I wasn't sneaking, "Abby protested. "We are playing hide and seek and Gibbs is seeking."

I threw my hands in the air in exasperation, "Just great!"

Tony cleared his throat.

"Uh, Ziva? What are you doing with that beast there?"

I straightened to my full height and pinned him with a steady gaze.

"This, here, is NOT a beast, Tony. And you really should not assume things about others just because you do not have all the, or in this case any of the, facts." I said with my arms crossed over my chest.

"Well, whatever then. But what are you doing with it?"

"None of your business, Tony DiNozzo and I will tell you…"

Abby's sudden laughter cut me off mid sentence and Tony and I both turned to see the dog happily licking the younger girl's face. Abby was sitting on the floor facing the dog and had her hand on the dog's head, right between her ears.

I could not help but grin at the sight. But then I remembered the dilemma I was in here and sighed in defeat.

"All right," I said with resignation, "I found the dog down by the pond the other night when I was out exploring the neighborhood." I admitted, thinking there was little point in trying to hide details now anyway. Too much had already been revealed.

Abby stopped patting the dog. "You were outside by yourself?" she asked incredulous.

"Yes."

"At night? When it's a dark?"

"It is traditionally dark at night, yes, Abby."

"But Ziva that's dangerous," she protested. "You could get lost and…and…Madame Black could get you and…"

Tony held up a hand and took a step forward. "Never mind that now, Abby," he said, "So you found a dog, Ziva. But why the heck did you bring it here?"

"She was hurt." I said indicating her inured paw with the bandage on it. " Also a man was after her. I think he hurts her because she was hiding from him. Also, anyone who saw that man would agree with me. He seems horrible. "

Abby got to her feet and started for the closed door.

"We have to show Gibbs and Jenny the dog, they'll be soo excited…"

"NO Abby!" I yelled, and then clamped a hand over my own mouth, remembering who was out there. "We cannot tell them. They will send her away and that man will get her again. I cannot let that happen. I will not."

I sat down and called the dog to me. She immediately went to my side and leaned her head against my hip.

"I promised her I would take care of her."

"That's gonna be a bit difficult to do, you know," Tony said, looking out the window over the back yard. "Gibbs and Jenny probably aren't gonna let you keep her. They'll insist on finding the real owner. Or maybe they'll believe you when you tell them that he's dangerous but then they might send her to some shelter instead where she'll wait for someone who will want her or….be put down."

"What do you mean put down?" I asked with a frown."Where will they put her?"

"They won't put her anywhere, Ziva. They will kill her."

I just stared at him in horror.

"But that's not for sure, of course." he added like he did not want to alarm me," Like I said, maybe someone would come and give her a nice home…"

"But maybe Gibbs and Jenny want a dog." Abby said, hopeful.

Tony shook his head. "No, I don't think so, Abby."

"Why not?"

"Because if they did, Abbs, then they would already have one. I mean they are capable of getting their own."

I nodded.

"Yes, you are right," I said, sagging my shoulders. "But I cannot just leave her. I need time to think. But I do not have time because soon Gibbs will find her here."

Tony stared at the dog, lost in thought. "I don't see how we can help her…" his voice trailed off as the dog suddenly went over to him and nuzzled close to his leg and gave a little sad whine. It was as if she was pleading for us to figure something out.

Tony looked at the dog in surprise.

"Oh no you don't. You can't con me with your soft fur and gentle sad eyes. I'm not her you know." He said with his head held high and pointed a finger at me.

Abby started to giggle at the sight when the dog lay down right on top of Tony's feet and started licking his legs.

I could not help but giggle too.

"Oh, all right then," Tony said resigned to his fate. "Maybe we can pull it off if we all help."

He looked at me as if searching for my ok in the matter of working together. I knew why he did that and felt a little bad about what I had said earlier on the porch steps. This time I offered him a little smile instead.

"Agreed," I said. "We are a team."

Abby nodded, agreeing.

"We'll need to move her out of here before the big man comes along," Tony said. "He must be wondering where we are about now. We agreed to only hide inside the house or outside or in the back yard." He stole another glance out the window. "He's not out there so he must be inside the house."

Ziva crouched down next to the dog.

"Then we must get him and Jenny out of the house," I said and stroked the dog's furry back.

Tony frowned. "Why?"

"Because the only other place we have to hide her in is inside the house. And they certainly cannot be inside it when we do it."

Abby stood on her toes, trying to see out the window. When she could not she instead reached for a screw driver lying on Gibbs' work bench. Tony quietly took it from her hand with a shake of his head.

"Hey," Abby whispered a little disappointed at not getting to examine the tool.

"We need a distraction. Something that will distract Gibbs while we sneak the dog into the house," I said and scrunched my eyes trying to figure something out.

"I think I can provide the distraction for Gibbs," Tony scratched his chin. "But you two have to take care of the dog and get her up to your room."

"Agreed," I said. "But what are you going to do?"

Tony's POV

Ten minutes later by the tree house.

"I told you this was a bad idea, Tony." Timmy complained while desperately hugging the opening to the tree house he was up in.

I looked around and saw Ziva signal from the work shed that she and the dog were ready. I took a deep breath and called out Gibbs name as loud as I could. It didn't take more than a few seconds for him to come running across the lawn.

With worry written on his face Gibbs ran towards us, his silver hair almost shimmering in the sun light. He came to a stop in front of me.

"Timmy is stuck in the tree house, Gibbs!" I said with distress in my voice. "I can't get him down. "

Gibbs pushed the branches aside and went over to the ladder. He looked up the tall tree at little Tim sitting up there refusing to even look down the ladder which he had only a few minutes earlier used to climb up there.

"I thought you didn't like the tree house, Tim?"

Gibbs put one foot up on the first step of the ladder and grabbed its sides ready to climb up after him.

"But I don't," Tim said in a small voice which sounded terrified, even for him.

"Then why did you?"

"He wanted to see the view from up there, Gibbs." I told him with a convincing nod of my head.

"Yeah, after you told me I should," Tim piped with eyes shut tight and clung even harder to the opening.

Gibbs gave me a disapproving look from half way up the ladder. He then climbed all the way up and took a seat next to Tim in the opening, resting his feet on the top step of the ladder.

"Hi,"

"Hi, Gibbs," Tim answered with a slight tremble in his voice.

"You can open your eyes now, Tim," Gibbs patted his back gently and Tim slowly and hesitantly opened his eyes. "You won't fall."

"How do you know that?" he asked, his bottom lip sticking out the way it sometimes did.

Gibbs gave a little grin.

"Because I'm sitting next to you. And I won't let you fall."

After some thinking Tim finally agreed with a quick nod of his head and opened his eyes.

Just like I had hoped Gibbs got Tim to his feet and then spent the next ten minutes up there in the tree house. He got him to walk around and take looks out the windows and reach for the branches. Probably to make Tim confident up there. It worked too. Soon Tim was talking about how nice it was up there and that it was like a real home, inside a real house, only smaller…and in a tree of course.

Finally Gibbs helped Tim all the way down, until he was safely on the ground again, standing next to me with a big grin on his face.

"Did you see it, Tony? Me up there I mean. It was great. And I could see so far too!"

"Yeah, Tim. You were great. And now you know that heights aren't really that bad, right?" I asked, feeling a little guilty about luring him up there for the sake of our plan.

Tim turned and looked up the ladder again and a more solemn expression placed itself on his face.

"Well, I did like it up there. But I don't think I could climb up and down all by myself yet."

Gibbs stepped over and put a hand on his head.

"You don't have to worry about that, Tim. I'll give you a hand when you want to go up there."

Tim smiled.

"Thank you, Gibbs. I gotta go tell Abby I was up in the tree house."

Excitedly he ran off to find Abby and left me alone with Gibbs. I cast a worried glance up at him and seeing his expression I quickly turned and tried to follow Tim.

"I think I'll help him look for Abby."

"Tony."

Gibbs voice made me stop and turn again.

"Mm."

"Did you just trick Tim into climbing that ladder?"

His question caught me off guard. I hadn't thought he would be able to see right through me to the truth like that. I mentally kicked myself for feeling guilty, guessing that must have been why he had seen right through my trick the way he had.

Meeting Gibbs' steady gaze I opened my mouth and tried to lie. But something made me stop. A sudden ache in my stomach that struck like thunder the moment I tried to come up with something untrue to tell him.

I liked Gibbs. Unlike most grownups I had met he was honest not to mention nice to all of us. In that split second I made a choice. I realized I just couldn't lie to Gibbs.

I took a breath and looked up at him again.

"Yeah, I guess you could sort of, in a way, maybe say I did."

Gibbs closed the distance between us and led me over to the ladder where he took a seat on one of the steps. Not wanting to talk and have to face him the entire time I dropped to the ground and rested my back against the tree.

"Why?"

Staring forward I tried to come up with an answer that wouldn't be a lie and wouldn't be the truth either. Deciding that was impossible I instead shrugged.

"I'm going to need more than just a shrug, Tony. Why did you trick, Tim?"

"I can't tell you," I whispered.

Gibbs was quiet a long moment before speaking again. I held my breath.

"Well, I appreciate you're not lying to me."

I exhaled so loudly I was sure they must have heard me inside the house.

"But I still don't understand why you won't just tell me why."

I could feel Gibbs eyeing me curiously or perhaps suspiciously. I wasn't sure which at the moment. At least he didn't sound mad.

"I'm sorry, Gibbs." I said in a slightly louder voice than before. "But I can't tell you."

Gibbs spread his hands, palms up. "Fair enough. At least you were honest. But you will apologize to Tim and I don't want to see it happening again. Do we have a deal?"

I nodded and raised my chin a little. "Yes."

"And Tony,"

I looked up at him now standing above me, looking down at me.

"Sooner or later…I will find out what's going on."

Ziva's POV:

There was a knock at the door and as Abby called out "come in," Tony opened the door, only enough so that he could slip in, and then closed it behind him, quietly. He turned and saw me and Abby sitting on my bed and a fluffy white tail sticking out from under the bed.

"How'd it go?"

I could still feel my heart beating quickly in my chest from Abby and I maneuvering the dog upstairs to our room.

"It almost did not go at all, because of Jenny suddenly deciding to clean the living room," I told him.

Abby nodded, "But I distracted her so Ziva could get by her." she beamed proudly.

Tony let out a sigh of relief.

"Good. I got caught actually."

Ziva flew to her feet.

"What? You mean Gibbs knows?"

Tony held up a hand and padded across the room to our side.

"No no, relax. He doesn't know. He figured out I had tricked Tim up that ladder to the tree house is all. But he doesn't know why I did it."

I exhaled and slumped down on the bed again. It had been quite the accomplishment getting the dog past Jenny. We had hoped to get her inside through the front door and up the stairs while Jenny was in the kitchen. The problem was that you could still see the passage between the hall and the stairs from the kitchen table so we had hoped to do it when her back was turned and she was focusing on something else. But when we were on the porch to the front door, ready to bring the dog inside we suddenly realized Jenny was not in the kitchen anymore. She had started to clean the hall instead, and we could hear her humming as she was mopping the floor right inside the door. Desperately I tried to think of something but did not have to think for long before Abby started wailing and when I turned around she was on the stair, pretending to have fallen and hurt her knee.

I hurried around the corner with the dog loyally following behind me and listened to Jenny cowing and telling Abby she was going to be all right and that there was not even any blood, but that she was going to put on a plaster anyway. She certainly was a nice woman that Jenny. Only nice people put on plasters when there was no blood, because they knew kids always felt better when that plaster was on. I was of course too big for plasters to help that way but I remembered when I felt the same way.

It was not until Abby came into our room that I realized she actually had not faked it at all. She had tripped for real on the steps and hurt her knee. But I chose to call it a cleaver diversion anyway, to make her happy. And it had after all saved the day.

"Was he mad?" Abby asked, worriedly.

Tony looked pensive.

"Nah, I wouldn't call it mad exactly," He said confidently. "But I guess he wasn't happy about it either. And he did say he was going to find out what's going on sooner or later."

I nodded.

"I believe he will. That is what worries me. I have to find a way to keep her," I glanced at the dog whose furry head was now sticking out from under the bed, with something that looked like a big happy smile on her face. " without Gibbs or Jenny finding out."

"We have to find a way, remember Ziva." Tony reminded me.

I leaned forward and rested by elbows on my thighs.

"You two sure you want to get involved. I mean, we might get caught. It is risky."

Abby pushed her shoulders back a little and tried to confidently throw her one braid over her shoulder, like I sometimes did, but it was too short and only ended up bouncing back to rest on her neck and upper back.

"Of course we'll help, Ziva. I want you to keep her," She said and patted the bed, meaning the dog hidden underneath.

I looked at Tony who just shrugged.

"We're already involved, Ziva," He said indifferently. "And besides, we're in this together now."

That was when Abby reminded us of something.

"What about Tim?" she asked with a small gasp. "Poor him, he doesn't even know about the dog…or why Tony tricked him up to the tree house." Her brow furrowed. "That isn't fair. He should get to know the secret, like us."

I thought on it for a moment. Abby was in a way right. It did not seem fair to leave Tim out. Perhaps he would feel sad and left out and I did not want that.

"You are right, Abby. We will tell him." I turned to the only one of us who had not yet agreed on that with a raised eyebrow. "Right, Tony?"

"Sure, I agree with that. I mean, the little guy certainly isn't very bright on all occasions but he should know."

We all agreed to tell Tim on the right occasion.

To be continued

A/N: So, this became a longer chapter than I had at first planned. Please let me know what you think.