Chapter 94
Zuma and Rocky were curled up in his special chair dead to the world. Tony smiled at him as he scooped mounds of mashed potatoes into a large cast iron skillet.
"That is one tired puppy," Jackson said.
Tony smiled at Jackson. "Jethro and McGee wore him out."
When McGee was ready to leave, Zuma had been upset and did not want to allow Jethro to leave. The puppy had kept plopping down on McGee's feet. Finally, McGee had taken both dogs into the backyard to play and had wrestled with them. Zuma had been almost staggering on his paws but still blocked McGee's exit. The men had laughed when Cousin Jethro solved the issue. The German Shepherd had simply stepped over to the pup and picked him up by the nape of his neck. Zuma had dangled helplessly waving his paws from the big dog's jaws. Jethro had brought him over to Tony and placed the pup on his lap. Zuma had whined tiredly but had given in to the inevitable and had barked good-bye before collapsing.
When Tony and his family had moved to the kitchen to start the evening meal, Zuma had allowed himself to be carried to his high chair. After several drinks of water and a few mouths of food, he had barked and waited for Rocky to be brought to him. Almost immediately, he had curled up and fell asleep.
"Anyone think it was a coincidence that McGee and Abby both had a date tonight?"
"Rule 39." Jethro and Tony chorused. "There are no coincidences."
Tony paused in smoothing the mashed potatoes into a level fluffy layer. "Do you think McGee is considering make a move towards the coffin again? What about rule twelve?"
"We'd be a little hypocritical, wouldn't we?" Jethro looked at him wryly. "If we can make it work, who's to say they can't? McGee is a lot more mature and Abby… Well, McGee is a lot more mature now."
Tony shook his head. "Abby has settled down a lot, too, Jethro. They've both dated in the interim and for the feelings to last that long… Maybe this is the right time for them."
"If it isn't, then …"
"I know, you'll boot McGee back to cyber crimes." Tony laughed.
"Nope," Jethro shook his head. "Finally got him trained good. I'll slap them behind the head."
Tony just laughed. "Now, all I need to do is to pop this in the oven for about forty-five minutes. Then a layer of shredded cheese and voila, Shepherd's pie ala Tony."
"I will pop it in the oven." Jethro had come around the table and picked up the cast iron skillet. "That skillet alone is over your weight limit. I still think you could have used a regular pan."
"It wouldn't have tasted the same." Jackson and Tony chorused.
"More coffee, dad?" Jethro brought a fresh pot to the table.
Jackson immediately held out his mug. "Any more of those chip-a-peel cookies, son?"
"Someone cleaned out the cookie jar earlier." Tony noted the look of disappointment on both men's faces and the lack of repentance on his husband's face. Turning, he moved to the counter and opened the bread box. "I do have a loaf of Hulu bread." Bringing it to the table, he handed it to Jackson with a cutting knife.
"What's Hulu bread? Isn't that for sandwiches?"
"Not mine. This is a snack bread."
"When did you make this?" Jackson placed a slice on a napkin passing it to his son, he could see the moistness and the nuts.
"When you and Jethro ran to the lumber store to buy things that I do not know about to make something I am not allowed to ask about. Zuma and I whipped up a couple loaves."
Jethro moaned as the flavors melted on his tongue. "Loaves?"
"I put several in the freezer. I'll be going back to work and won't have as much time to cook or bake. I want to stock up for late nights."
"A couple more weeks and then desk duty."
Tony maturely stuck his tongue out at his husband. "I still want to have some stuff made ahead. It'll soon be too hot to cook. If I have casseroles pre-made, I can stick them in the oven and just warm them."
"Lasagna?" Jackson looked up from slicing another piece of bread.
"The green kind?" Jethro chimed in.
Tony paused in shredding cheese for on the pie. "If Mr. Williams is right, we could be moving in, around the end of October. It might be nice to have some casseroles and desserts stocked up as I'm sure that we'll have a lot of help moving. I'd rather sit down to a meal, but there isn't a lot of room in the freezer."
"Room in the basement for a big one." Jethro avoided Jackson's swat as he grabbed for another slice of bread.
"A big one?"
"A big freezer." Jethro took a drink of coffee and savored his stolen slice. "Yours was the right size for a bachelor but we have a large family. We could use a large freezer. I've been considering putting one of those all refrigerators in the basement."
"All refrigerators?" Jackson queried. "Do they still make them?"
Tony carefully wrapped the cheese back up in its protective cloth and wrapping. "You mean like that one on the design show we saw the other night?"
"Yup."
"You watched a design show, Leroy?"
"Jethro and I are looking at ideas for the house." Tony stepped in before Jackson could tease Jethro. "We could keep a lot of drinks cold that way."
"Why don't go look and see what we can find? We know that there will be plenty of room for them at the new house. We've got several months to get through and they would make summer easier." Jethro finished his coffee.
"It would." Tony agreed.
Jackson snuck another small bite of the Hulu Bread. He looked at his two sons and smiled contentedly. Marriage was good for his boys. And for him.
Chapter 95
"Well?" Tony said impatiently.
"Fine." Jethro donned the carrier. "Why couldn't he stay with McGee while we went shopping?"
"It's a big decision and I need to be sure his needs are taken care of. A better question is why isn't Jackson here?"
"Ducky is dropping him off. They already had lunch plans." Jethro reminded Tony as he helped him out of the car.
"Hello, you must be Mr. Gibbs."
Tony watched in amusement as the salesman took in the puppy in his NCIS carrier. And recognition in five… four… three… he counted down.
"Agent Zuma." The salesman eyes opened wide. "That's Agent Zuma. That means you're Agent Gibbs and DiNozzo. My wife is going to be thrilled when I tell her. Listen to me going on. My name's Wayne Ashton. With your injury, Agent DiNozzo, I know you shouldn't be walking too much. Give me just a minute."
Tony discreetly poked Jethro in a silent demand to be nice. Of course, he also surreptitiously counted the fingers on his right hand. Who knew a salesman would have such a grip?
The salesman emerged from the building dragging a chair. "Why don't you have a seat right here and I'll be happy to bring anything you're interested in to you, Agent Dinozzo?"
"Tony, please. I…"
"That's very helpful." Jethro said politely sealing Tony's fate.
When Tony saw his husband move to slip out of the carrier, he spoke up quickly. "That's kind of you. I guess Zuma will have to give his initial opinion instead. You don't mind if he tags along, do you?"
"Not at all. You should have seen the looks on the other sales agents when they realized who you were." Wayne gestured to where sales persons were peering out at the group. Self-consciously, Tony gave a little wave and then settled into his chair.
As Jethro turned towards the salesman, Zuma whined and began to wriggle in his carrier. Giving in to the inevitable, Tony held out his arms. "Give him here."
Jethro tried to hide a smirk of triumph as he slipped out of the character. The look on his husband's face told him that he wasn't doing a very good job. Carefully, he sat the carrier on Tony's lap and hooked it over the shoulders to ease the strain on his husband. Automatically, Zuma stilled and looked around.
"Traitor." Tony teased the pup. "You know without one of us along we'll be stuck with a black box with black interior."
"Who has the 1970 Dodge Challenger?"
"Your dad helped refurbish it." Tony countered.
"And pick the colors." Jackson confirmed walking up to them. He shook hands with the salesman. "Jackson Gibbs. I'm protecting Tony's interests."
"Just call me Wayne. What do you have in mind?" The salesman interceded.
"Well, as you know we're agents and sometimes need to use our personal vehicles. Has to be dependable with good gas mileage."
"But…" Tony interrupted. "It will be the family car. There has to be plenty of room for all of us."
"And us is…" The salesman prompted.
"Well, Jethro, Jackson, me and last, but not least, a safe place for Zuma."
"Don't forget. We sometimes have Ducky or McGee or Abby along." Jackson spoke up.
"What about storage?" The salesman asked.
"We have to have room for Zuma's stroller and our go-bags."
"Price range?"
"No object." Tony spoke up. "We're doing a cash sale. But it needs to look good, too."
"Well, I'm sure that you've done your research. What it sounds like you're describing is a large, luxury family SUV. The top seven in US news and world report are the Cadillac Escalade, Land Rover Range Rover, Mercedes-Benz GL-Class and G-Class, Toyota Land Cruiser, Lexus LX, Lincoln Navigator and the Infiniti QX80."
"Not a Mercedes." Tony said quickly. "Too boxy looking."
"Well, that's good. We don't carry them." Wayne smiled. "We do have the Cadillac, Lincoln and Lexus. Now the owner of the dealership has a couple of other dealerships, I can have the Infinity, Toyota and Land Rover here within a half an hour. Now any other requirements?"
"Not white." Jethro spoke up. "Not black." He added reluctantly.
"Nothing overly flashy." Tony confirmed.
"Among the models there are basically the same color choices. Favorite color?" The three men looked at each other as Wayne listed off colors. "Silver? Gray? Blue? Green? Red?..."
Zuma perked up his ears and barked definitively. "We have one vote for red." Tony laughed.
"Not a flashy red though." Jackson spoke up.
"Jethro?" Tony questioned.
"Not overly bright. We want something sedate for work." Jethro hated the dimming of Tony's excitement. "Maybe something like a dark red, perhaps in metallic sheen. With chrome accents…" He was happy to see the spark return.
"Anything like that, Wayne?"
"Actually, I do. If you give me a minute, I'll run in and give the other dealership a call."
"You really don't mind red?" Tony asked.
Jackson smiled as Jethro's stern façade crumpled. "No. It is a family car and it should reflect our family." Zuma yipped. "That includes you, Zuma."
In the end, it came down to a choice between a Midnight Sapphire Lincoln, a Firenze Red Land Rover, a Brandywine Mica Toyota and a Red Passion Cadillac. All of the SUVs had been tested for Zuma's car seat and been test driven by Jethro and Jackson while Tony and Zuma greeted fans, took video and selfies and signed autographs.
Finally, the choice was narrowed to the blue Lincoln and the Cadillac. It had been a close call, but Zuma had finally crawled into the Cadillac behind the driver's seat and refused to come out again. Fortunately, the rest of the Gibbs family agreed with him; liking the extended version's legroom.
"Looks like he votes for the red." Wayne laughed. It had been fun interacting with the three man and opinionated pup. Zuma had taken one look at the Infiniti and refused to put one paw into the vehicle regardless of all the coaching and even attempted bribery with a puppy treat.
"Let's get the paperwork done." Jethro said. He could tell Tony was getting tired and wanted him to get home to rest.
"While you're doing that, I'll put Mr. Bossy's car seat in and take him a walk." Jackson scooped his grand-pup out of Tony's arms and Zuma looked at him with narrowed eyes almost as if he had understood the slur on his character. "Do you want his stroller, too?"
Jethro looked at his husband. "No." He decided. "Why don't I call in an order for dinner and pick it up on the way home?"
"Usual suspects?" Jackson asked.
"You know, Abby will be bouncing off the ceiling to see the new car." Tony reminded his husband.
Jethro shrugged. "Call Ducky, he'll round them up." He watched as Wayne began shepherding his husband into the sales office.
"Want me to stop at Hansen's?" Jackson offered. "Pick up a cake for dessert or something?" Jethro's mouth started to water and Jackson smirked. "I'll pick up some muffins, too."
"Thanks, dad." Jethro strode off after Tony and Wayne.
Zuma whimpered. "None of that, mister." Jackson turned the pup to face him. "Your dads have to do the paperwork so that they can take your car home. In the meantime, let's get your car seat moved out of Leroy's car. Then, we'll get your leash and you can make a pit stop before the ride home."
Later as Tony looked around at his family laughing and joking, he had that feeling. Darn his Gibbs gut. He couldn't see anything that would disturb him but then the phone rang. Jethro grabbed the phone and when Tony saw the look on his face, he knew.
"It's Senior." Jethro said hanging up the phone. "He's regained consciousness and he's asking for you."