The next day: Tony was getting ready to leave NCIS for the night when his cell phone rang. He smiled and said "Dinozzo."
Emily replied "How do you feel about takeout from Alfredo's and then seeing my place tonight?"
He answered "Text me your address and directions and I'm there. I was just heading out, I might stop at home and change first and then I'll see you?"
She said "An hour or so will be good. I'm sending you the directions now."
He smiled. "Looking forward to it." Then he hung the phone up.
"See everybody in the morning. Have a good night." Tony said before he grabbed his gear and headed to the elevator.
Ziva said "Well apparently Tony is going to have a good evening. I have paperwork to finish."
Gibbs said "Good to see him happy. He needs that."
An hour later: Tony had changed into jeans and a green button down shirt. It was casual enough for a second date and also comfortable. Sometimes he wanted out of the suits that he wore to the office. Emily took him at face value so he didn't need the shield with her. He headed to his truck after putting some fresh clothes and things into his gear bag and then headed to Emily's place with that and a bottle of wine.
Red to go with the pasta of course. He started the truck and popped a CD into his stereo. He hummed along to The Police's Greatest Hits as he drove. She lived in a nice area in Georgetown and he liked the trees around her building.
He parked in her driveway and walked to her door.
Then he knocked once and she answered. "Hey Tony."
He smiled. "Hi Emily, brought some wine for with the pasta I imagine we are having."
She replied "thank you that is what we are having though I did order some antipasto salad as well."
Tony moved into her living room. "Nice I like the colors."
She smiled. "Penelope helped me with some of that. It's a less bright version of her apartment."
Tony nodded. "I've been there a few times. She likes her purple a lot."
Emily said "The food will be here in a few minutes so I will open the wine and let it breathe. "She opened the bottle and said next to Tony.
"How did you and Penelope meet each other? "
He said "summer camp in New Jersey. First of many that I went to after well my mom. My well father didn't really know how to handle her death much less a grieving eight year old boy. So he hired nannies and sent me to camps in the summer and then boarding school. Senior is complicated and a con artist pretty much."
Emily said "I'm sorry. Sometimes I can be blunt with people. It works with my job but my personal life not so much."
Tony shrugged. "My mom had breast cancer, might have been something genetic that they could have screened for now but then well. She also had a hard time with pregnancies or rather staying that way. They had me after a girl who was stillborn. She would have been my big sister, they named her Phoebe. She's with my mom now in Long Island."
"I've had a few stepmothers around too." Isn't one right now."
Emily touched his arm just as their food arrived.
Tony opened the door and paid the delivery woman with a nice tip.
Emily said "I could have gotten it."
He replied "Well next time, this is our second date so I thought I should pay."
She smiled. "You are a charmer Anthony Dinozzo."
He shrugged. "I can dial it back, my dad has no bullshit meter. Love to see you against Senior sometime. You would probably be challenging with him."
She raised an eyebrow. "You call your dad Senior?"
He said "I'm Anthony Junior he tends to drop my first name."
She nodded. "I want to know more after we eat. You know I am an ambassador's daughter, I might just have some good stuff to share with you about growing up too."
He began to plate up their food. "So do we have crappy childhoods in common? Answer that after we fill our stomachs."