a/n: After a long hiatus, I'm glad to go back to the Buchanan stories. Please enjoy this next chapter of their saga. It is short and fluffy and dealing with a sad aspect of endometriosis, but only a prelude to what's to come.
Many adventures are still to come.
Summer – Abby
Ziva was giving the last touches on her report of their latest case when she feels someone standing in front of her desk. She looks up and sees Joy and Abby smiling like maniacs down at her.
"What are you two up to?"
Joy looks at Abby and opens a paper. She clears her throat and says in a pompous voice, "Miss David, you are cordially invited to a night of mayhem, laughter and men-bashing in the Buchanans' townhouse tonight, starting at eight o'clock. Food, booze and entertainment will be freely provided. Your attendance is mandatory. Beds will be provided to those too incapacitated to drive."
Ziva laughs at the silly invite. She can see Abby is almost bursting with energy.
"What's this?"
"Please, Ziva, you will come, won't you?" asks Abby.
"Depends. I still have to finish my reports. What's this about?"
Joy leans over Ziva's desk, "It's the seasonal Buchanan clan meeting. We girls get together for the fun of it; update the others in our love life, or lack of it, and just laugh. We leave the stress of our jobs behind and just plain gossip. Toe painting and hair styling might happen, depending on the girl's humor. Hope insisted that I invite you two."
"Oohhhh, a girls night out. Are you going to be talking about me? Can I go?" DiNozzo leers at the women. He overheard them talking about their plans.
"You wish,"Joy rolls her eyes at him.
Abby laughs and hugs Tony. "Sorry Tony. You've got the wrong equipment for this party. Only women allowed."
"That's discrimination."
"No, that's self preservation. And talking about self preservation…" Joy turns to McGee who has just returned to his desk, Gibbs right after him. "…you'll need to sleep in your apartment tonight. The hordes will be invading and I don't want you caught in the backlash."
He frowns at that. "But I love your sisters. I don't mind that they drop by."
Joy smiles at him and shakes her head. "I don't think you've really caught on with what's happening tonight. My sisters will be drunk, horny and badmouthing men for hours. And you have a penis. My sisters, drunk and horny. Have I mentioned that you have a penis?"
McGee stares at Joy with huge eyes, his mind trying to picture the scene of horny, drunk and angry Buchanans running after him in the corridors of the townhouse. After some thinking, "I'll sleep at my place tonight."
"Good," she taps his cheek lightly, "I knew you would see my point. I'm just trying to protect your chastity."
Gibbs smirks at the interplay between his agents and Abby laughs, delighted. "Are we going to have music? Can I bring my music? I have to separate my CD's. I have some new ones of punk rock that I promised to burn for Temp."
She hurries off, excited with the prospect of sharing her music knowledge with another music lover like Temp.
Joy shakes her head. "Thank God I live in a house and not an apartment. My nearest neighbor is as deaf as a doornail."
"May God have mercy of your ears," Tony intoned, imagining the type of music Abby will bring to the Buchanan home.
"Amen." McGee answered.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
The music is pouring in full blast out of the windows of the Buchanan's townhouse when a small airport taxi stops before the imposing house. A tall blonde in a deep indigo blue jacket leaves the car, pays the bill and gladly receives her small travelling suitcase from the hand of the taxi driver. She turns her back to the departing cab and stares at the door of the house.
Taking the handle of her rolling travel bag, shedrags it slowly the door of the townhouse and rings the bell repeatedly, hoping to be heard over the sound of music and laughter that is floating out of the house.
The door is opened by a pixie faced girl, her pale face framed by brown curls, her bright violet eyes becoming huge when she recognizes who is at the door.
"Grace?" Temp shrieks and hugs her sister, Grace Buchanan, who lives in Utah, "GRACE!"
Grace hugs her littlest sister tight, Temp's shrieks giving her an earful, but she simply smiles at her enthusiasm.
"I was just driving by and decided to check on Joy, you guys seem to be having a party without me."
She looks up from Temp's face to look at Hope, Faith, Joy and three other women she doesn't recognize immediately.
"Hey sister," says Hope to her blood sister, "welcome home."
The two blondes hug each other, while Temp grabs the suitcase and takes it upstairs to one of the guest rooms.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Fresh juice is poured in glasses; wine is offered, sometimes accepted, sometimes refused. Bowls with fresh cuts of several fruits are all over the table, along with nuts and some small finger food bits that the women are attacking voraciously.
Sarah, Abby and Temp are all sitting on the floor around the stereo, comparing their CD's collections, blasting their ears each five minutes with the favorite songs of one girl, then the other.
Faith is talking with Ziva, both sitting comfortably on the sofa. She has strangelyfound a soul sister in Joy's oldest sibling, who has to works as a department head in the FBI. Ziva throws her head back, laughing at something Faith says to her. Joy smiles from her position by the table as she sees Hope and Grace with their heads close to each other, talking softly, just like they used to do when they were kids.
In the Buchanan's household, despite the fact the adopted kids were treated exactly the same as the flesh and blood kids were they were expected to respect and care for the others as well. Hope and Grace however, always had a special way to communicate. Both were blood siblings who were thrust into a difficult situation when their parents died in a car crash. They were adopted into a noisy household so different from the one full of rules their house had been. Shortly after they moved in, the Buchanan's took the guardianship of Joy from the state and then adopted her as well.
Things were bound to be problematic for a while.
Hope resented Joy's presence deeply and did nothing to hide her distaste for the mute street kid the family had adopted. Grace, as the oldest sibling, just incited Hope to even bitter rivalries. Having to share her room with the strange kid, didn't help.
But things smoothed out after their kidnapping, when Joy willingly sacrificed herself to be tortured in Hope's place. Grace, forced to face the facts, silently accepted the strange kid and slowly mellowed with the years. Now they shared an amicable relationship, not close, but quite better than before.
Joy takes a sip on her red wine and smiles when Hope squeals happily and jumps into Grace's arms, hugging her tightly. Both women stand up and walk to the middle of the living room. Grace takes a glass of wine and hits it softly with a spoon, calling everyone's attention to herself.
"Ladies of the Clan Buchanan, and honorary ladies of the clan," Sarah, Ziva and Abby snicker and sit closer on the sofa, "I have news to partake with you, before anyone else in the family."
"Cut the crap and go straight to the point, Grace," says Joy smiling, walking up to the fireplace and putting more wood in it.
The girls roar with laughter and Hope nods, holding her middle from laughing so much.
"Come on, tell them!" she says, looking up adoringly to her oldest sister.
Grace shakes her head and with a beautiful smile on her face, "I have been dating for the last couple of months a Detective from Utah Metropolitan force." A series of catcalls is heard, along with shouted questions about how gorgeous and good in bed he was.
Grace blushes and laughs, but doesn't answer the questions.
"We went on a date last week and he proposed."
"No way."
"Way."
"So what, what did you answer?"
"I said yes."
Squeals and screams of joy could be heard, but Grace waves her hands energetically trying to calm down the hysterical women, as she is not finished yet.
"Oh my God, there's more?" squeals Temp, who is sitting on the floor by Abby, squeezing her hand nervously.
"Yes."
"Come on, stop torturing us!" shouts Joy.
Grace looks around, glancing at her beloved sisters, the friends they had brought into their family-close circle, then at Joy who is standing by the fireplace.
"I'm pregnant," she says in a quivering voice and the room erupts in cheer, with one single exception.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Joy brings the empty trays into the kitchen and clears the leftovers into the trash. She mechanically places the machine washable trays into the dishwasher and disposes of the paper ones into the trash. She throws the contents of the half drunken glasses into the sink and puts all glasses in the dishwasher, being careful to ensure that the delicate wine glasses don't break during the cycle.
She closes the dishwasher door with a thud and supports her hands on the corner of the kitchen top, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. She refuses to cry and spoil the happy moment of her sister.
The sound of laughter and more toasts being shouted can be heard and Joy takes a minute to calm the turmoil boiling up like lava in her soul.
"Hey, Joy, do you have more of this hinky biscuit? It's delicious!" says Abby entering the kitchen. She freezes as she sees Joy turn her back to her, pointing vaguely to the boxes filled with pastries over the kitchen counter.
"The chocolate puffs are in the third box, and the guava filled ones are in the first," Joy answers in a quivering voice. "The other two are with the cream filled ones, just take your pick."
She sniffles and taking a clean dish cloth from a drawer, starts wiping some cutlery to bring back to the living room.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong."
"If nothing is wrong," Abby closes the kitchen door and walks up to Joy, who turns around in order to keep her back to Abby, "why are you hiding in your kitchen crying, while people are having a party in your own house?"
"I'm not…" Joy sniffles again, wiping her face. She turns to stare at Abby, "I'm not crying."
Abby stares at her for a minute.
"Sure, you're not. You're just leaking something out of your eyes."
Joy snickers at Abby, who smiles at her, "Come on, what's wrong?"
"It's petty and wrong of me. It's silly, forget about it."
Joy twists the dishcloth in her hand nervously, almost strangling the cloth.
"It's not petty if reduces you to tears. It takes a lot to rattle you. So spill it. I'm not leaving until you do." Abby folds her arms and stares at Joy in a vain attempt to imitate Gibbs' glare.
Joy smiles at Abby, and then looks at the closed door that leads to the living room, trying to sort out her feelings. She glances at Abby and sighs, tiredly.
"She's pregnant."
Abby frowns at Joy's statement, which culminates with a single tear escaping from her eyes which Joy promptly wipes away.
"And you are sad about it."
"I'm not sad." Joy rolls her head to the side, feeling the muscles complain of the tension in them. "I'm envious."
Abby stares at Joy for a second, and then opens a big smile, "but all you do to is talk to Tim. He loves you, and he adores kids, and I'm sure that—"
"Abby," Joy tries to put a word in the edgewise, but Abby is on the roll.
"He would be ecstatic if you told him that you're biological clock is ticking, or something similar, and then I'm sure—"
"Abby," Joy tries again.
"And can you imagine? Little McGee-Buchanans running around the bullpen! These kids would be adorable, and so smart and bright and –"
"I CAN'T!" hisses Joy, finally shutting Abby up. Abby stops her ramblings and stares at Joy who is struggling to keep her tears at bay, "I can't have children. I was told years ago."
Abby stays in shocked silence for a few minutes, just watching Joy struggling to keep her misery hidden from view from her family.
"Does McGee know?"
A silent nod.
"Do they?" she points vaguely to the closed door, where the squeals of happiness can still be heard, and where the Buchanan clan is celebrating a new addition to their ranks.
"They know about the endometriosis but they have no idea how serious my condition really is. And I would appreciate if you don't tell them," whispers Joy, her eyes filled with tears staring into Abby's, silently begging her to keep her secret.
"Ah Joy, can I give you hug?"
Joy smiles and opens her arms, and the Goth simply wraps her arms around Joy and squeezes her firmly in an Abby hug. Joy sniffs and can't hold back her sobs. Abby closes her eyes, rubbing her hand up and down Joy's back while she cries about the dream which will never become reality.
"Shush… you could always adopt."
Joy laughs lightly and takes a step back out of Abby's arms. Abby stares into her face and there's some color back into it; the sadness from before is not present anymore.
"Thanks Abby," she rubs a hand on Abby's arm in a show of appreciation, "I really needed a hug."
"That's why I'm here. Whenever you need an Abby hug, just ask."
Joy laughs again and stares at Abby for a few moments, which ends up leaving her uncomfortable.
"What?"
"That's why Gibbs keeps you around, you know?"
"What are you talking about?"
Joy nods silently at something going on in her head, and then turns smiling to Abby. "In our line of work, we need something, or someone, who constantly reminds us why we do what we do; the reasons we're fighting for."
"I still don't get it."
Joy smiles and walks up to the counter, getting another paper tray and starting to organize pastries on it to bring to the living room.
"You are like a summer breeze blasting after a long cold winter. You revive the land and order everything around you to seize the day. While the light is still out, you remind us that life is there to be lived and enjoyed in its fullness."
Joy takes a chocolate pastry and bites it, smiling as some of the rich filling leaks on her chin.
"And you are Gibbs' reason to keep doing what he does. At least, one of them."
She wipes it with her finger and sucks the rich mix with a smile.
"You really think that?"
Joy nods and points to the pastries boxes.
"I know it. Seize the day, girl, we'll diet tomorrow."
Abby takes a cream filled pastry, glances Joy and bites it, moaning at the divine taste.
"Who cares about dieting, can I have another one?"