Kyle shifted in his mother's chair. He suddenly wishes John was here too. He'd make a funny face and make him laugh. Then dad would crack a few jokes. Once he even skipped out on work to see Apollo 18 with them. It was loads of fun and excitement. He doesn't do that when they're in trouble or grounded. Tony can't be the fun dad; he has to be the firm dad with the grounded son that plans on sneaking out tonight.
Tony rounds the corner into the bullpen. "Why couldn't J, stay up here too?" Kyle complained wistfully.
"Have you had fun today?" Kyle nods with a happy grin. "You're not supposed to be having fun; being grounded isn't supposed to be fun, hey look outside it's…a little bit cloudy" Tony said sounding like he's begging for his own son to be unhappy.
"You're the one who got us burritos this morning" Kyle said shrugging his shoulders helplessly. Tony groans and suddenly wishes that he didn't do that. His stomach feels tense and unsure, almost like he's going to throw up from food poisoning.
"Yeah, but I do that all the time. That's a normal everyday thing. Mom torches you with oatmeal and I get you guys' burritos" Tony stated rolling his green eyes.
Kyle watches as Tim enters the bullpen. "Yo McGee, do you buy yourself a burrito everyday?" Kyle asked causing Tim to cringe. Oh great, Tony's evil spawn is going to start calling him McGee too.
"No, what morons would buy themselves burritos everyday?" he shouldn't have asked. "Tony, you do know that you'll get heart complications eating those all the time. I'm surprised you don't already" Tim said crankily. Kyle smirks at his father.
"See, buying burritos isn't normal" Kyle pointed out knowingly to his father. Tony rolls his eyes. At least he buys them burriots. Ziva would kill him if she ever found out. She believes healthy kids are happy kids. When that couldn't be more untrue.
Tony taunted. "Who said I wanted normal kids? Now start looking unhappy or I'll let Mom make vegetarian meat loaf tonight." Kyle's eyes widen and he knows his father isn't lying. Mom's health foods are cruel and unusual punishment. He just bets that's what she used to do with the other killers of the world; bake deathly foods that could kill you.
"Eww barf" Kyle groaned trying to hide his own disgust. He's always been the kid who loves meat. Johnny is the same way. Sammie...well Sammie she isn't so sure about cos he hardly knows her, but she'll come around to loving meats too.
"You got that right. Don't even get me started on her tofu desserts. I nearly ate my napkin" Tony shuddered in remembrence of that horrible night. It was on a date; the dinner was delicious, but the dessert. Let's just say to this day, Tony hates pudding.
There's a silence. Kyle swallows hard. He needs to know this just in case it could happen. Kyle DiNozzo doesn't like surprises. "Dad?" he dared to ask.
"Yeah" his father answered noncholantly.
"You don't think mom would ever make tofu right?" Kyle asked in a weak whisper.
"I wouldn't put it past her. She think you and John need to start eating healthier" Tony informed him. He sort of agrees with Ziva, he doesn't want his sons to be made fun of because of their weight. It seems like that could never happen to his boys' they're so active all the time that it'd be strange if they sat still.
"But we play sports!" Kyle whined, he's getting mighty sick of mom's health kick.
"Talk to mom about it. Kiddo, if it were up to me. We'd all be living off a pizza and breadsticks. Start looking unhappy!" Tony ordered with a joking grin. It's hard for him to be firm with his boys. They're so much like him, it hurts his soul to spank them.
"YES SIR!" Kyle saluted him.
"Don't call me sir" Tony chided.
Kyle corrected smirking slightly, "Yes ma'am"
"Don't call me ma'am."
"You got it captain" Kyle said trying to hide a fit of giggles.
Gibbs strolls into the bull pen. "There's no doubt he's not your son, DiNozzo" he stated gruffly. The silver haired man casts a glance at each of the boys. Sometimes he wonders how they can be fathers, when they still act like fourteen year olds.
"Thanks Boss" Tony said looking especially uncomfortable. His green eyes are pinned against the red carpet and his cheeks are flushed. Kyle smiled. Gibbs is so much like the stern Papa between his parents.
"Get to work! All three of you" Gibbs reprimanded with an eye roll to match.
"Hey! I'm not apart of you're team, Gibbs. You can't just bark orders at me like I'm some underdog" Tony has to hide his smile. Yeah, Kyle's defidently his kid. Nobody has enough guts to say that to Gibbs without joking. Gibbs turns and puts on a fake mock glare.
"Get used to it"
Kyle smiled. "Gibbs, where's Thalia?" his voice sounds high-pitched letting the world know that he's going through puberty. Kyle's smile fades and his face is bright red. Tony smiles at him. He remembers when he was fourteen and what a difficult time it was.
"Conference Room" Gibbs answered gruffly. He just hopes that Kyle won't sneak a visit to the Conference Room. He hates the way he looks at her; all googly eyed and stupid.
"Why isn't she out here?" Kyle complained.
"Don't want you two grabbing ass the entire day" Gibbs replied, know Kyle knows wherer his dad gets all of his tricks. "You're supposed to be bored and unhappy."
"I can't help it, if I'm not."
"Pretend to."
"Gibbs, that'd be lying. I'm done with that" Kyle answered with a smart-ass look appearing in his blue eyes.
"Lying or being a smart ass" Gibbs said, making it sound more like a statement than a question. Tim grins and shakes his head. Kyle can be such a smart ass, sometimes.
"The lying part, I'm a DiNozzo. I have to be a smart ass" Kyle said sighing like his entire personality isn't his fault.
Gibbs stated, "Point taken"
"Where's Ally?" Kyle asked yawning.
"Day-care."
The fourteen year old glances accusingly at his father. "DAD! That's like punishing John instead of me. An afternoon with Ally is like an afternoon in Hell! I'll bet J, is dying right now and his last words are gonna be 'why dad…why'" Kyle said clutching his throat overdramatically while Gibbs tries to hide his smile.
"Kyle, Ally's a very nice little girl" Tony lied. Ally's a litttle trouble-maker, but she's adorable. Sort of like Sammie, only Tony can tell that Samantha is a demon and Ally is trouble.
Gibbs smacks the back of Tony's head. "You never were good at lying, not even when you were a Probie" Kyle's eyes widen. He's never seen his dad get hit for something stupid.
Sammie has a tantrum while getting her hair cut. She's very lucky the barber doesn't slice open her head. Sammie secretly doesn't mind her new hair length; it's shorter and easier to play with. Her blonde mane reaches just above her shoulders. Ziva is sorta nice too, but Sammie doesn't want to like her. After getting her uniform, Ziva takes the now grumpy six year old grocery shopping Sammie keeps on wandering off. She's wicked bored and wants to look at the toys. Ziva just doesn't understand what it's like to be a kid.
"Do not wander off, Sammie. It isn't safe to wander off and if you need to go someplace tell me" Ziva chided thoughtfully.
Sammie rolls her baby blue eyes at her, but doesn't say anything. Ziva decides on letting this matter slide. Unfortunately Sammie doesn't want to listen to her. Why should she? This lady can't tell her what to do. Ziva pulls Sammie into the Ladies Room with her. "I don't wanna be in here" Sammie complained.
"It will not take very long" Ziva promised with a soft smile. Sammie scowls at her. Ziva shuts the purple bathroom door and locks it.
Sammie has a brilliant idea. She will play hide and seek without Ziva knowing. She knows for sure this will get Ziva mad, but she doesn't care. It isn't like Ziva can do anything to her, is she's bad. Plus if she's really naughty then maybe they'll send her back to live with Grampa.
The six year old wanders off towards the meat section of Stop and Shop. After five minutes, Sammie sees Ziva come out of the bathroom and look around. Anger and worry flash through the older woman's brown eyes. Ziva abandons their cart and starts searching in obvious child places of the store. When she realizes that Sammie would most likely go to the least obvious place she checks out the Vegetables to find nothing. Going through Stop & Stop worry seeps into Ziva's bones. This child is an orphan and has nobody in the world. She spots the child squatting behind the Meat area of store. She has her back to her and is giggling like crazy. Ziva can also tell it's her because she's the only little girl in the store who's wearing a sparkly pink backpack.
Ziva sneaks up from behind her and taps her on the shoulder. "You are in so much trouble, Samantha" Ziva takes Sammie and pulls her over to their cart. She takes a seat on the red chairs and stands the child out in front of her.
"Sammie, what did I tell you?" Ziva asked seriously.
"I don't know" Sammie lied badly. Her face is red and she's struggling to meet Ziva's eyes.
"Yes you do. Now tell me, young lady" Ziva ordered not caring if anyone is watching. Sammie looks around and realizes that a few people are watching them. She smirks, thinking she can put on a bit of a show for them.
"Go away poop face" Sammie stated trying to push her away. Ziva takes her hands and gives them a gentle squeeze, letting Sammie know that she cannot push people
"Samantha, I do not tolerate disrespect."
"You're stupid. I hate you. Go away" Sammie ordered sticking out her tounge. Ziva resists the urge to smack her bottom and tell her to cut it out.
Ziva is suddenly pleased that neither Johnny nor Kyle came with her. She's almost certain they would've caused trouble due to the fact that most of her attention is on Sammie, for now. "Stop this behavior right now or you will be sent to the naughty chair when we get home" Ziva warned, remembering the first time she sent Kyle and Johnny to the corner in Abby's lab. As a rule the older ones are sent to the corner while Ally is sent to the naughty chair, well Sammie now too.
Sammie scowled at her. "You aren't my mommy. You can't tell me what to do."
"I may not be your mommy, but I am in charge. Whether you like it or not you will do as you're told. I told you to stay put and you didn't. When we get home, you will be in the naughty chair for six minutes" Ziva declared knowing this punishment is a little harsh, even on Sammie's first day, but every child must learn there are limits.
"I don't like you" Sammie said her stubborn blue eyes staring up at her. Ziva doesn't say anything instead she pulls the child onward. There still are many things they need to collect. Milk for instance.
To Ziva's amazement the shopping trip only gets worse when Sammie spots a Barbie doll she doesn't have. The Barbie is Beach Barbie wearing a sparkly pink bikini. She tugs on Ziva's shirt. "I want it" she points to the doll.
"No" Ziva said with the shake of her head. She starts to walk away, fully expecting Sammie to follow. Sammie doesn't move a muscle.
"But I want it" Sammie whined, feeling her anger start to rise.
"You have been misbehaving all day. I am not going to award you for bad behavior. The answer is no. Now, we still have many items left on the list. Come we will go" Ziva said trying to sound firm, but it's hard to be firm when a child isn't hers.
"NO! NO! NO!" Sammie starts pushing everything off the shelves and screaming. Other shoppers are giving Ziva dirty looks, like this tantrum is her fault.
"Sammie, stop this insolence. If you're good then maybe we can get some chocolate" Ziva said hoping the alternative will do the trick.
"NO! NO! NO! I WANT IT! I WANT IT!" Sammie screamed dropping to the ground: kicking and screaming even louder.
Ziva lifts the incorrigible child up and tries to push the cart while carrying the unruly little girl. The former Mossad agent has a high tolerance, but when Sammie hits her in the stomach. Ziva decides she has had enough of this. She knows Sammie is only six, but her fetus is still growing and she doesn't want the young girl to injure it. Ziva's never been pregnant before and she's nervous. Anything in the world could happen and this baby is relying on her to keep it safe. She puts Sammie onto the ground and squats down so they're at eye level.
"Stop, this tantrum right now" Ziva ordered sternly. Sammie starts screaming even louder. People start to look over with disapproving looks. An elderly woman shakes her head. "If you do not stop, I will smack your bottom. Do you understand me?" Sammie stops screaming and stares at her with widened eyes.
"No way! You'd never do that to me" Sammie said, glowering at Ziva who raises her eyebrows.
"I will if you continue acting disrespectfully" Ziva threatened. Sammie glares stubbornly at her.
"No! Go away" Sammie said kicking Ziva in the shin and running in the other direction. Ziva being older, taller, and faster manages to grab Sammie in no time at all. Sammie is already crying her eyes out. Once again Ziva lifts the child into the air. She holds her over her shoulder.
"Go away! You aren't my mommy. You aren't my mommy!" Sammie shouted at the top of her lungs in a feeble attempt of getting away.
People look over at Ziva with concerned questions streaming through their eyes. Ziva quickly flashes her NCIS badge at them. The watchers examine the badge and nod. They've all been there with their kids. They can relate. So the watchers continue shopping, like this is all normal. Ziva bends down to the child's level. "You will be in the naughty chair for fifteen minutes when we get home. If you throw another tantrum, I will add five minutes onto the time" Ziva whispered. Sammie stares up at her innocently and nods.
Sammie isn't through, though. She wants Ziva not to want her staying with their family. Ziva goes to checking. The clerk starts pricing all of the items. Sammie tugs on Ziva's hand.
"Ziva, I left my lucky rock over there. Can I go get it?" Sammie asked. Ziva glances down at her wondering why on Earth a child would consider a rock to be lucky? Then again, Americans are very strange people and have very odd customs.
"Yes, be back in ten minutes" she nodded.
"I can't tell time" Sammie lied. Her Grandpop taught her to. He wanted to teach her all the advantages of becoming a very smart child.
"Be back as soon as you can" Ziva answered looking intently at the clerk; an old woman who has been giving her the stink eye. The clerk looks down and tries to ignore Ziva's daggars of eyes.
"I will" Sammie promised looking as innocent as the Devil. Ziva nods and watches her go off to the Meat section.
Sammie waits until she isn't visible anymore. She runs to the doll section and stuffs the dolly into her pink backpack. She skips back towards Ziva and grins up at her. "I got it"
"That is very good" Ziva praised, causing Sammie to almost feel bad about what she did.
The two depart from the store, right as they reach the door. Loud buzzers go off. Sammie stares up at Ziva; startled. Ziva looks around trying to hide her shame. A teenage store clerk walks over to the pair with a bored expression. "Excuse me ma'am, did you take something that didn't belong to you?" the boy asked numbly like he's been doing this for a long time.
"No, we did not. Here is our receipt and what we bought" Ziva said showing the boy their items. He glances at the receipt and into the bag, silently checking if anything was stolen.
"What about your purse?" he questioned yawning.
"No!" Ziva stated her eyes burning two very dangerous looking bullet holes in the kid's skull. The teenager gets the message that she didn't steal anything.
"What about her bag?" he points to Sammie who is staring at the checker patterned floor. Her face is flushed with worry.
"Sammie, open your bag" she shakes her head. "Samantha, open your bag" she repeated firmly. Again with the shaking of her head.
"I can't. Zippers stuck" the six year old lied.
"I do not appreciate being lied to."
"I'm not. It's stuck…see!" Sammie whined stamping her feet.
"Come here. I will fix it" Ziva stated sternly. Sammie stares up at her trying to use her baby blues to make it look like she's too cute to do anything like this.
"No" Sammie mumbled, her lower lip jutting out as though she is going to cry. The clerk starts to feel bad for the poor little kid. Ziva doesn't she knows that Sammie is only faking it.
"Why?" Ziva asked pretending that she didn't already know the answer. Sammie's eyes become wide with anger and frustration. This lady just doesn't give up, does she?
"Umm..wait, I fixed it. See!" Sammie reluctantly zips open her bag; revealing a Beach Barbie doll. "She made me take it!" Sammie said trying to shift the blame all onto Ziva.
The teenager chuckled at the child's reasoning. "Yeah okay kid. Umm, if she gives back the doll we can let it slide. Stealing isn't good. Try not to do it again" Ziva takes the doll out of Sammie's bag and hands it to the older boy.
The clerk leaves, Ziva stares down at Sammie. She looks up at her and plasters a smile onto her cherubic face. Ziva takes her wrist and pulls the child outside. "I didn't know it was bad. I didn't" Sammie tried pleadingly.
"You knew" Ziva answered shaking her head looking very disappointed in her. Ziva is disappointed. She cannot believe a young child at her age stole something. The six year old looks down.
"Did not!" Sammie garbled, offering Ziva a glare that could rival one of Gibbs.
"Stealing is wrong. It's against the law" Ziva sighed. "You will not steal again. Is that clear?" the former Mossad agent asked feeling tense. She leads Sammie to the car.
"GO AWAY!" Sammie shouted. Ziva takes a deep breath. She can already feel her temper start to simmer more and more.
"You cannot throw a tantrum every time something doesn't go the way you wanted it to. Samantha, you must learn that you cannot get everything you want. Do you understand me?" Ziva asked trying to remain calm.
"NO!" the petulant child shouted stamping her feet.
"I suppose after you're spanking tonight you will" Ziva said opening the car door. Sammie slowly gets into the car with worry and dread in her eyes. She's too busy feeling sorry for herself to notice that maybe she did something wrong. Ziva shuts the car door and runs a hand through her brown curls. She never planned on spanking Sammie at all. Ziva touches her belly and guesses that things don't always go as planned.
Gibbs leaves to talk with the Director. He has a smirk on his face. Tim smiles at Gibbs comment. He watches as his 'older brother' Tony's face reddens and grins. "Wipe that stupid grin off you're face McGoober" Tony ordered shakily. Nobody has ever commented on his lying before.
"Really? That was all you could come up with, McGoober. Dad, you usually do much better than that" Kyle laughed causing Tim to laugh too.
"He's right, you know" Tim said joining in at Tony's expense.
"Just work on you're homework" Tony mumbled feeling like a sad eight year old. Kyle shrugs his shoulders. He doesn't have a lot of homework, he might as well enjoy himself now and do it on Sunday.
Kyle asked pretending to make it sound like a joke, "Do you think Gibbs would mind if I took Thalia on a date next weekend?" Everyone stops laughing and stares at him.
"I don't know, ask him yourself" Tim offered. He just hopes if he ever has a little girl and she starts dating, the boy will have the courage to ask him first too.
"That's so 1970's; asking a dad if he can date their daughter and Gibbs isn't even her dad" Kyle said nervously and it's true. He doesn't need to ask permission, when he already knows that Julie will be fine with it, it's Gibbs everyone's worried about.
"So true, when I tell him that. He gives me a look and you make one little comment and he smacks you for no reason at all! Stupid Gibbs" Thalia mumbled appearing out of no where. She looks seriously pissed off. Kyle guesses that she got a few smacks this morning or else she wouldn't be that mad at him.
"Thalia, what are you doing here?" Tim asked sternly. Kyle smirks, one minute he's Dr. Cool and the next he's Mister Stern.
"I finished my homework and got bored" Thalia answered rolling her sapphire blue eyes at him. She shouldn't have to answer to these people, even if they are her supposed elders.
"Kiddo, if I know my Boss and I do! He's going to make you go back" Tony said sounding more like a small child rather than a father of two teens.
"No he won't" Thalia laughed. Even Gibbs isn't that mean. He can get cranky, but he's never been down-right mean for no apparent reason before.
"You can hide under my desk if he comes" Tim offered smiling his nerdy smile. Thalia grins happily and pokes her tongue out at Tony who rolls his green eyes. He's still a little peeved about the McGoober thing.
"I'm not afraid of Gibbs...oh yes" Thalia answered smiling at Kyle.
"Yes to what?" Kyle asked returning the smile.
"I'll go on a date with you" Thalia answered like it is obvious.
"I haven't asked you, yet" Kyle's cheeks are turning red.
"So?" Thalia sits down at Gibbs desk.
"I'm supposed to ask you and then you're supposed to say yes."
"And if I suddenly change my mind?" Thalia asked with her eyebrows raised and a knowing smile appearing on her beautiful face. Kyle's cheeks turn even redder.
"I'll…ask you until you say yes. My dad can drive us to the movies…right dad?" Kyle asked hopefully. Tony turns and looks at his nervous son; poor guy.
"Yeah, sure…wait no can do. Johnny has a basketball game that night, your mom and I are going" Tony explained suddenly feeling bad.
"Can't you just skip it? Just this once. J, would understand" Kyle whined, whining is something Kyle hardly ever does. This must be important to him.
"No, a DiNozzo man never breaks a promise" Tony scolded lightly.
"But dad" the fourteen year old complained, once more.
"No kiddo. Ask you're uncle."
"GIBBS?" Kyle asked gulping.
"Yeah" Tony answered turning back to his 'work' grinning like a fox.
"He'd kill me! Then he'd say NO!" Kyle almost shouted. Tony rubs his chin. He doesn't want to break a promise with Johnny, but Kyle's acting like Gibbs is a terrorist.
"Hmm, I'm not sure if that's a bad thing. It would give me one less nagging son" Tony joked with a smirk forming on his Italian face.
"I don't nag!" Kyle muttered as he runs a hand through his blonde mane.
"I'll ask Julie if she can take us" Thalia intervened just as Gibbs enters the bullpen. He looks at Thalia and sighs, now he has to smack her butt and send her back to the Conference Room. He was really hoping for the girls to behave. Gibbs doesn't want for there to be any friction today, just smooth sailing.
"Thalia Caruso, what are you doing here?" Gibbs asked looking pained.
"I went to work with you" Gibbs gives her a hard look. "Only joking, I finished my work and got bored. So I went to find you to see if I could stay here...can I please?" Thalia answered sweetly, a little too sweetly for his liking.
"Oh, well okay then…play solitaire on the computer or draw" Gibbs ordered waving her away with the flick of his hand. Thalia smirks at the three shocked boys.
"See, he didn't make me go back" Thalia said looking more at Tony than anyone else.
"When the job is done-walk away" Gibbs stated.
"Rule 11" Thalia chimed. Gibbs looks around with a knowing smirk. He doesn't want Thalia dating boys, but Kyle isn't so bad. He knows how to treat a girl right, it's better than not knowing the boy she's dating at all.
"What's this I hear about you two dating?" Gibbs asked glaring directly at Kyle. The young boy looks down at his fingers and chews on his lower lip.
"Nothing sir…I mean Gibbs" Kyle stuttered nervously. It's not that he's scared of Gibbs. He just doesn't want Gibbs to...well nevermind he's scared of Gibbs. Who the hell isn't? Oh yeah. Thalia, Ally, and Julie. Gibbs girls.
"You sure? I could've sworn I heard something about you two going to a movie, which I would never allow because you're two young to even be dating" Gibbs answered turning towards Thalia for a proper explanation.
"GIBBS! I can date and kiss whoever I want" Thalia screeched, several people from different bullpens' look over with raised eyebrows. Gibbs glares at them, until they all look away.
"You won't be kissing anyone till you're 18" Gibbs declared feeling his temper get the best of him. That happens sometimes; parents get over-heated and they say something they don't mean.
"I can kiss anyone I want. You said" Thalia complained feeling only slightly betrayed and lied too.
"Sometimes I'm wrong and make mistakes. You can't kiss till you're eighteen and that's final" Gibbs shouted slamming his fist against his desk. Thalia doesn't flinch, she squints at him and gets up from the chair of his desk.
Thalia smirks as she goes round to Ziva's desk. Kyle is already standing at attention with a very nervous look on his face. Much to his surprise, she grabs him and gives him a kiss on the lips. Kyle's blue eyes widen. Sure, he's kissed his share of girls but it's always been in that cheesy romantic way; moving a strand of her hair out of her eyes and kissing her gently. He's never kissed a girl like this before with Thalia holding onto his shirt and kissing him like she could never lose her breath. Once they pull apart, the teens look at the jaw dropped Gibbs and the smiling proudly Tony. Tim turns back to his computer and pretends to look interested in that.
"You're a good kisser" Thalia praised sounding surprised. Kyle's cheeks burn a red color and he shrugs.
"Thanks, you're strong for a girl" Kyle admitted. Thalia lets go of his now crinkly shirt and feels her cheeks burn the same color as Kyle's. Gibbs stalks out of the bullpen in search of a coffee.
"Atta boy" Tony said slapping Kyle on his back. Thalia goes after Gibbs knowing all to well that they need to talk. Kyle pauses for about a second, and quickly runs to catch up with Thalia and Gibbs. He figures that Thal might need back-up.