FAMILY PORTRAIT, FAMILY SHADOWS

Chapter 3

Two weeks later

George Washington Elementary School

Kaity fidgeted in her seat on the stage, just like all the other kindergarteners. Mommy had already been up front taking pictures, and the gradiashun hadn't even started yet. Kaity was nervous, just like all her friends, about performing in front of all these people, but she was also nervous because most of her family wasn't here yet. Mommy and Grampa Ducky were here, so was cousin Casey and Aunty Breena, and she gave a small sigh of relief when she saw Jackie, Uncle Director's wife come in and sit with mommy. They were sitting in the second row, so Kaity could see that the rest of the row - where the rest of her family should be - was empty. Playing with the hem of her new dress, she figured that that's what happened when your whole family were special agents.

Miss Lisa, her kinnergarten teacher, got up in front of the stage and began talking to the parents. Feeling a nudge from the girl next to her, her bff Mandie Lewis, Kaity looked where Mandie was covertly (so they thought) pointing. The girls giggled, seeing Joey Masterson - seated a few kids away - with his finger up his nose, digging away like he was mining for gold. They heard Joey's mom stage-whisper to him to stop, but Joey just waved at her, big smile on his face. Kaity wasn't so nervous anymore as she and Mandie traded nudges and giggles.

It was during the fourth song of the kindergarten's 'Our Year in Song' graduation that the door to the auditorium opened, and a group of people made their way toward the front of the room. As they slid into the second row, Kaity was thrilled to see the rest of her family had arrived. Starting to stand up to run over, she quickly sat back down again and waved like crazy to her daddy, who stopped and blew her a kiss, then sat down next to mommy. And there was grampa, and Uncle Timmy and Aunty Ziva, and Uncle Director, too, all with big smiles on their faces. Kaity thought her heart would burst out of her chest, she was so happy.

Tony dropped into the seat next to Abby and pressed a kiss to her temple. "What'd I miss?" he murmured in her ear, picking up her hand and entwining their fingers.

Abby leaned closer to Tony, never taking her eyes off her daughter on the stage. "You missed the 'Good Morning' song, the 'Days of the Week' song, and the weather song. Don't worry," she assured him, "Breena's recording it for us, so you can see it later." She gave his hand a squeeze. "Bad guy caught?"

He chuckled softly. "Fastest confession Gibbs has ever gotten! Skipped everything and went right for the jugular, guy cried like a baby and gave up everything, even some stuff we didn't know." Tony smiled up at his daughter - his baby girl. "If we used Kaity graduating as an excuse every time, we'd have the fastest closure rate of the entire agency! You've never seen any of them move so fast so we could get here in time!" He felt a slap to the back of his head. "Mmph! Sorry, listening to your granddaughter sing, shutting up now, boss." He narrowed his eyes at his daughter, who was giggling at him as she sang. Yep, that girl was spending wa-a-a-a-ay too much time with grampa.

"…The first few days of kindergarten are almost always spent wiping tears," announced Miss Lisa, " as I'm sure most of you remember." The parents all chuckled, nodding. "This is the first time your child is away from home for so long, and it's a time of big adjustment for both parent and child. To help your children feel a bit better about being away from mommy and daddy, in those first days we learned a song to remind us that our loved ones will always be there when we go home. It's called 'Mommy and Daddy Always Come Back.' We have three soloists for this song, so I'd like them to come stand up front. April Loveless (the crowd applauded as a girl with a walker stepped forward), Jamsheed Akrami (more applause) and Kaitlyn DiNozzo." There was a lot of hooting and hollering from the second row, followed by several "ows!" Kaity just laughed and waved to her family when her teacher looked at the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, we present 'Mommy and Daddy Always Come Back.'" Miss Lisa sat at the piano and began to play, along with the guitarist.

Little April, with her coke bottle glasses, sang the first verse in a voice that was as big as she was little. Her family was taking pictures like crazy. Then Jamsheed, a very shy boy, sang his verse in a soft, wavery voice, with his father taking the pictures while his mother cried. Then it was Kaity's turn. She was so nervous, she missed her cue, and the teacher had to start her verse again. She focused on the person she was singing about, and felt instantly more confident. This time around, she made her cue.

Sometimes I visit with my grampa,

When mommy and daddy go somewhere.

We build a boat and we read a book,

Rocking in a rocking chair.

CHORUS (all students)

But mommy and daddy come back.

They always come back,

They always come back for me.

Mommy and daddy always come back.

They always come back.

They never will forget me.

There wasn't a dry eye in the second row, except for grampa's. His eyes, while misty, were full of love and pride for his first grandbaby. He saw Kaity looking at him and gave her a big smile and a wink as the audience burst into applause for the sweet song.

Still clapping, Abby whispered to Tony, "did she tell you she was going to be doing a solo?"

Tony was busting with pride - his little girl had had a solo! "No," he whispered back. "She did great, didn't she?" He turned to the father in the row behind them. "That's my daughter! My girl! She was great, wasn't she?" Abby turned him back around with an embarrassed apology to the other father.

With a small wave and wink at her grampa, Kaity bounced back to her seat next to Mandie, who gave her a congratulatory nudge, which sent the two girls into giggles. They barely managed to keep their composure for the rest of the graduation, until Mandie nudged Kaity and pointed to the impeccably dressed Rajiv Amon, who had somehow managed to fall asleep and was slouched in his chair with his mouth wide open. Made worse by the boy next to him peering at him like he was an alien.

Thankfully, there was only one more song, thought Lisa, the kindergarten teacher. As she looked over her students, she teared up a bit, thinking how much they'd grown this year. Hearing another giggle on the right, she looked over to see Kaity and her best friend Mandie with big smiles on their faces, laughing carefree, as only a child can. Lisa took a deep breath and made one decision for next year's graduation - don't let best friends sit next to each other!

Forty-five minutes later, 28 beautifully dressed five-and-six year olds were running around on the auditorium stage while their parents had coffee or juice and pastries, chatting with each other. Because most of the parents worked for the government in some capacity, they weren't all always available to come to kindergarten functions, so this was the first time most of them had met each other.

After a few minutes of meet-and-greet, Director Vance needed to go back to NCIS, so Abby rounded up Kaity and brought her to say goodbye. "Uncle Director!" Kaity ran into his arms and he gave her a big hug.

"Congratulations, Kaity! I'm sorry I can't stay longer."

Kaity pulled back and looked at him. "That's ok. You have to go back to NCIS and protect the world." The adults had a good laugh.

"That's right, I do. But I'm glad I got to see you graduate, honey. And we'll see you later at your party. Aunt Jackie and I are bringing Jared and Lily, too."

"Cool! I got a new Princess Pony video game I want to show Lily! Bye, Uncle Director, bye Aunt Jackie!" With a quick kiss to them both, she took off back to her friends.

As Vance passed Tony on his way out the door, he stopped and gave him a look. "You didn't hear this from me, and I'll deny to kingdom come that I ever said it…." he looked back where Kaity was playing happily with her friends, and then back to Tony. "You did good, DiNozzo. You're a lucky man."

Tony was momentarily speechless - a compliment from Vance! "Uh, yeah…I am…thanks." He watched as Vance gave him his usual stoic nod and left. He looked over to Jackie when she touched his arm.

"Don't worry. I heard him. I'll be your witness if you ever need it." She smiled softly at him as he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

"Thanks, ma'am….Jackie," he quickly corrected before she could glare at him. It just felt weird to be calling Leon sir or director, and his wife by her first name. "I might take you up on that! Thanks for coming today, it means a lot to Kaity. And me and Abby."

"It was a beautiful ceremony. I may pull out the videos of Lily's and Jared's graduations tonight! We'll see you later, Tony." He gave a final wave as Jackie went out the door. He looked for Abby and saw her talking to Mandie Lewis' parents. With their smiles and sense of playfulness, it was easy to see where his daughter's best friend got her giggles from. He made his way over to them, shaking Brian Lewis' hand as he came up. "Brian, good to see you and Mia again." They chatted for a while, he and Brian moving a few feet away for some guy talk. They took turns keeping an eye on both girls. Tony was surprised when Brian nudged him.

"Hey, Tony. Looks like your girl's found her first boyfriend."

Almost spitting out the sip of his drink, Tony turned and saw Kaity, a finger twirling a lock of her long, blonde hair, and the other hand swinging the tie of her dress, as she stood talking to a boy, her body twirling side to side. "Aw, man….wait a sec…isn't that…what's his name….isn't that the nose picker?"

Brian laughed. "Yep, Joey Masterson. Hey man, who knows? The way he likes to dig, maybe he'll strike oil someday and make Kaity a rich woman!"

"Oh ha, ha, ha. You wouldn't think that way if it was your daughter." He watched the innocent flirtation. "Damn, why couldn't she go for that kid?" He pointed to Rajiv, the boy in the mini-designer suit. "He may drool when he sleeps but at least he knows his designers….." Both fathers got a shock when Kaity's faced scrunched up and she stomped on the boy's toes and stalked away in a huff. Looking guiltily at Brian, Tony took a sip of his drink. "She gets that from her mother."

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An hour later, parents were trying to drag their kids out of the school auditorium. Kaity and Mandie were both on their way out with their families, and the two little girls were acting like they'd never see each other again, crying and hugging each other. Abby turned to Mia Lewis, Mandie's mother. "I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "She gets the drama from her father." The women chuckled, both knowing how true that statement was. The moms both finally went in and picked their respective daughters. "She lives on the next street over, Kait, it's not like you'll never see her again," Abby said, trying to nip the drama in the bud. Then Kaity had to make a big production of saying goodbye to all her family, another stalling tactic.

Tony grabbed Kaity before she could latch onto McGee for another good-bye hug. "You'll be seeing them in a few minutes, Kaity-Did. They're all coming to your party, remember?" With a pout, Kaity let herself be buckled into the car and driven home.

The party was in full-swing in the DiNozzo family backyard. Kaity and Director Vance's children, Jared and Lily, were running around the yard, a short-legged AJ trying to keep up. Gibbs was preparing the grill with Leon, while everyone else mixed and mingled. There was lots of laughter and a sense of joy in the air.

Gibbs looked toward the kitchen door to see where Abby was with the food. He saw her standing on the porch watching the kids running around, a reflective look on her face. He turned the grill over to Leon and silently made his way up to Abby. She was so focused on the kids, she never even saw him coming until he put his arms around her from behind. He kissed the top of her head, holding her in a hug. "Whatsa' matter, Abbs?"

Abby shook her head, blinking back tears. "It's just…everything. My baby just graduated kindergarten. She's growing up so fast."

Chuckling, Gibbs gave her a little squeeze. "It's been known to happen, Abbs."

"I know, but….(sigh) when I think back…almost seven years ago….what happened. And how I….I can't believe I ever thought of….." a tear slipped down her cheek. "How we wouldn't be celebrating here today if I had…"

Gibbs sighed and pressed his lips to her temple. "But ya' didn't. And we are here today. And you have a beautiful baby girl and an incorrigible son who's too much like his father for his own good." He hugged her tighter and smiled when she giggled. "I admit, I worried about you for a while. You and DiNozzo. But you're a strong woman, Abbs, and you took the bull by the horns and won the rodeo. You did good, Abby. And I'm damned proud of you." He lay his head on hers when she hugged him back hard and tucked her head into his chest, rubbing his hands over her back.

Tony looked up from tying one of the kids' shoes and saw Abby on the porch wrapped up in Gibbs' arms. Concerned, he got McGee to keep an eye on the kids as they played and walked to the porch.

Seeing Tony on his way over, Gibbs gave Abby one more squeeze and kiss and walked away. This was something they had to fix themselves.

Tony climbed the stairs and went to stand next to his wife. He could see she'd been crying . "Abbs?" he asked, worried. She just turned and walked into his arms. He cuddled her close and kissed her just above her ear. "I'm right here, sweets," he whispered. "I'm always going to be right here. From now until always." She just nodded and sighed, burrowing deeper into his arms.

Neither knew exactly how long they stood there like that, but Gibbs yelling up at them startled them. "'ey! There's a lot of hungry people down here. One of ya' want to grab some food out of the kitchen so we can get to eating?"

Holding Abby at arms' length, Tony looked her in the eye. There were still some shadows, but she definitely had some sparkle back. "You ok?"

Abby smiled and gave him another quick hug. "I am now." With a kiss to his cheek, she ran into the house and brought out hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, and salmon, all ready to go on the grill. "Did somebody ask for food?" A hungry crowd yelled 'yes!'

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It was much later in the evening. The party was long over, guests gone, kids in bed. Abby and Tony had gone to bed themselves a couple of hours ago-Tony checked the time when he woke up alone. He waited a moment, to see if she came from the bathroom. When she didn't, he quietly walked down the hall to check the kids' bedrooms. Peeking into AJ's room, there was no Abby, but Tony smiled at his son, sleeping on his stomach and knees, little diapered butt sticking up in the air. Hopefully he got out of this sleeping habit before he got married, Tony thought to himself, shaking his head. He backed silently out of AJ's room and shuffled down to Kaity's. His baby girl was also sleeping on her stomach, but no bottom in the air. She was a sprawler, his girl. And a blanket hog. Just two more traits she inherited from her mother. Her bed was filled with stuffed animals, and at the moment, Kaity had her arms wrapped around a large white, stuffed pony with bright pink mane and tail and a glittery tiara atop it's head. Her favorite character from her favorite video game, Princess Pony, a gift from Lily Vance for Kaity's graduation. The thing was so big, he almost couldn't see Kaity's face behind it.

He stood in the doorway for a minute, watching his daughter sleep. Sometimes he couldn't believe that he, Tony DiNozzo, Ohio State Sex Machine, had kids. And that he loved every second of fatherhood. Flashing back to Abby coming extremely close to choking him with his own necktie while giving birth to Kaity, then actually breaking two of his fingers as she squeezed his hand giving birth to AJ, he amended his statement about loving every second of fatherhood. He loved every second from the actual birth, on. As much as he loved his kids - and wouldn't mind another one or two - he wished it could be done without Abby having to go through labor. Somehow he was the one that always ended up hurt. Kaity shifted in her sleep, and the pony slipped to the side a bit. Tony noticed her thumb in her mouth - she had been broken of the thumb-sucking habit fairly easily, and hardly ever did it anymore. Only when she was stressed or worried. The last time he remembered her doing it was right before kindergarten started. But once she went, she was fine, and they didn't see the thumb in her mouth again. Until tonight. Wondering if the realization that she wasn't in kindergarten anymore had finally hit her, he vowed to keep an eye on the thumb.

Well, if Abby wasn't with either child, she was downstairs somewhere. Tony made his way down the stairs and when he reached the bottom he saw the glow of the TV from the living room. Pausing at the door, he observed Abby curled up on the couch crying,

watching the DVD of Kaity's first birthday. On the table was the DVD of Kaity's birth and other firsts - first step, first tooth, first word ('dam-ma'-which at first got him in trouble, because everyone thought she learned a bad word from him. It was to everyone's relief when one day, Gibbs walked in the door and Kaity started chortling and bouncing in her seat, and saying her new word at the top of her lungs. It was Abby who figured out that their girl was saying 'grampa,' not 'dammit.' Now that he thought about it, Tony felt that that right there should have been a clue to Kaity's weird, in-tuneness with Gibbs). Moving into the room, he sat Abby up and sat in her spot, then pulled her into his lap, arms wrapped around her. "What's wrong, Abbs? Talk to me."

Abby was embarrassed. She knew this was a non-issue, but she just couldn't help it. With a sniffle, she said, "today just got me thinking. You know, what might have been…if you hadn't loved me so much….hadn't wanted Kaity so much….there would have never been a 'today.' And I…it just (sniffle) makes me feel…like I was a bad person, for ever thinking what I thought…."

Tony closed his eyes and pulled Abby closer. "You could never be a bad person, Abbs. You just don't have it in you. And if you had done…that…." he kissed her forehead, "no one would have blamed you or felt differently about you. You'd been through hell, Abby. All we wanted was for you to feel better…safe….loved. Everyone would have understood, and supported any decision you made. Especially me. You're my girl," he said, making her look him in the eye. "No matter what decision you came to, I was going to love you. That was never going to change. And never will."

Sniffling, Abby wrapped her arms around Tony's neck and snuggled closer. "You make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world, Tone." Expecting his usual, flippant response - something like 'yes, you are!' - she was surprised when he just nuzzled her neck and jaw.

"Uh-uh. I'm the lucky one, Abbs. You've given me so much….more than I ever thought I deserved."

Tears filled her eyes again, but for a totally different reason. "You're a great man, Anthony DiNozzo. A loving husband, a terrific father….I couldn't ask for anyone better."

Feeling a little overwhelmed with emotion, Tony needed to break up the heaviness of it all. "Even the Toothpick agrees that I'm a lucky man."

Abby giggled. "Don't overdo it, Tony, I'm already a sure thing tonight."

"Really?" He winced when Abby thumped his chest. "What? I'm serious! Ask Mrs. Director, she was right there!" Playing with the hem of her nightshirt, he said - in that low, sexy voice of his - "Let's talk about you being a sure thing tonight…"

Turning in his arms so she was facing him, she squirmed a little and felt not-so-little-Dinozzo hard against her hip. Abby chuckled. "I'd rather talk about you being a sure thing," she teased.

Grabbing her butt with both hands and pulling her up hard against himself. "When it comes to you, Abby-love, I'm always sure." His hand slipped up under her nightshirt, fingers lightly dancing over her skin. With his other hand, he found the remote and turned off the TV.

Abby sighed and relaxed against his body. "Mmmm, talk to me in Italian, mi Antonio."

"Il rosso sottaceto e` nella struttura ad albero (The red pickle is in the tree)."

Abby felt the melting begin. "Altro, mio amore. (More, my love)"

"Ho una matita gialla (I have a yellow pencil)." Tony's hand slid up her back, dragging the nightshirt with it.

She groaned. "Ohhhhh, yes you do!"

"Cameriere, c'e` una mosca nella mia minestra (waiter, there's a fly in my soup)." Tony's wandering hands made it up her back and to her head, where he used them to pull her forward for a hard, wet kiss, smiling at her compliance, groaning when she ground herself down on his cock. "Mmmmmm, fattorino, si prega di prendere i nostri bagagli alla vestibolo (bellman, please take our luggage to the lobby). Damn, Abby!"

Reaching beneath her, Abby slid Tony's sweats down as far as she could, moaning at the feel of his hardness against her belly. She rubbed her pantied pussy over it again and again, making herself just as hot as she was making him. She whimpered softly when one of Tony's hands came down and pushed her panties down and off. She bit her lip to stifle her cry when she felt his fingers dancing in her wetness. "So good, baby….ohhhhh Tony, don't stop. Please don't stop."

Feeling the tremors deep inside her pussy, Tony knew she was on the verge of orgasm. Reluctantly he slipped his fingers out of her softness, with every intention of replacing them with his cock. Abby surprised him when she took the hand that had been playing in her pussy and sucked the fingers into her mouth, rolling her tongue over them, sucking them as if they were his cock. Damn, she kept surprising him like this! Watching her as she licked her own juices off his fingers made his cock twitch and flex - he hadn't thought he could get any harder. Hands on Abby's hips, he positioned her over his lap. "Ride me, Abby," he groaned softly. Tony shut his eyes in ecstasy as she held his cock at her entrance and slowly slid down, down, til she could go no further. They both moaned as she hit bottom and did that famous "Sciuto Shimmy," as he liked to call it.

Abby sat up straight, shoulders back, chest out, the perfect invitation for Tony's hands to play with her breasts. The pinches, tugs, and flicking on her hardened nipples sent shockwaves through her body straight to her clit. She rose up and dropped back down, unable to stop the cry of pleasure. She leaned back and put both hands on his thighs to support herself as she began to slide herself up and down on his beautiful cock.

Tony gazed up at her, eyes closed, head thrown back, mouth open in a silent scream, hair wild around her face - he loved seeing her like this, knowing that it was he who did this to her. Taking his hands from her breasts, he grabbed both her hips and set a faster pace. He wasn't going to last long this time. Neither was Abby for that matter. He could already feel her heat tightening around him. And then she went over, stiffening in his arms, trying not to scream so she didn't wake the kids. Feeling her start to come down, he sat up and lay Abby on her back. Coming over her, he thrust hard and deep, locking eyes with his wife as he felt the explosion building, connected on all levels as he emptied his seed deep inside her, groaning his pleasure when he felt her pussy walls contract around him again as she came a second time.

They lay there, bodies intertwined and connected, trying to catch their breath. Tony lay his head against her neck, giving her soft kisses where he could feel her pulse. Her fingers ran through his hair tiredly. "Ti amero` da oggi fino al sempre….I'll love you from now until always, Abby. Love you so much." He rose up enough to kiss her lips softly. Caressing his cheek with one hand, she returned the tender kiss. "Love you too, Tony. Always."

It was as they cuddled together, breathing beginning to return to normal that they heard the call from upstairs. "Mom-my!" Tony chuckled. "Looks like we finished just in time," he teased. "The Wild Man wakes!"

With a final, quick kiss, Abby pushed Tony off her and stood, adjusting her nightshirt. "One of these days, Special Agent Daddy, I'm going to make you take midnight potty duty." She stomped out of the room with a smile.

Tony laughed. "But he specifically asked for you, honey!"

Abby stopped at the door. "Yessss," she said, "but you are so much better equipped than I to teach your son how to aim for the bowl." She started toward the stairs, and stopped as she reached the bottom of the staircase, giving him a come-hither look over her shoulder. "Meet you upstairs in five?"

Tony growled his tiger growl with a sexy smile. "Make it three."

She rushed up the stairs with a smile.

Turning the TV on again so he could take the DVD out, the frozen picture on the screen was of the three of them, Abby, Kaity, and himself, on her first birthday. Kaity's smiling face was covered in pink, purple, and white frosting, from her eyebrows to her chin, and from ear to ear. Abby was on the baby's right, kissing her cheek, and he was on Kaity's left, doing the same, everyone's eyes shining with laughter. He sighed as he stopped and removed the DVD. Yeah, he would have understood and supported any decision Abby had made, would have loved her regardless. But he couldn't help but be thankful she chose the way she did.

With a smile, he turned off the TV and headed for the stairs. Life was good!

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A/N - Hope that you enjoyed a little angst mixed in with your happiness! The song Kaity sang during graduation is really a song from a kindergarten somewhere in the Midwest. I have no idea how it goes - there was no recording, just the words. So however you want to sing it, that's how it goes! And the first few paragraphs are supposed to be misspelled - they were from Kaity's POV.

DISCLAIMER - I OWN NOTHING, RECEIVE NOTHING, GIVE ANYTHING TO ANYONE REGARDING ANYTHING IN THIS CHAPTER, INCLUDING THE KINDERGARTEN SONG SUNG BY KAITLYN DiNOZZO. I do, however, claim ownership of Joey Masterson - the nose picker; and Rajiv Amon - the well-dressed sleeper. Somehow, it doesn't sound so great to say that, after seeing it in print…..

PLEASE REVIEW! MY WORKLIFE HAS BEEN RATHER UNSETTLED LATELY, AND I'VE BEEN KIND OF DEPRESSED OVER IT - WRITING HAPPY AND FLUFFY WHEN YOU'D REALLY RATHER KILL OFF EVERYONE IS DIFFICULT, SO PLEASE LET ME KNOW IT WASN'T FOR NOTHING!

THANKS, PEEPS!