FAMILY PORTRAIT, FAMILY SHADOWS

CHAPTER 14

Seeing Kaity wasn't in her bedroom, Gibbs smiled and headed down to the basement.

"I didn't touch anything, grampa," a quiet voice came from under the boat currently being built.

He chuckled as he reached the boat and crawled beneath it with Kaity. "You're the only one around here I trust down here alone. Even your mom and dad can't follow directions."

Kaity looked a little shocked. "Really, grampa? But they're old!"

Gibbs laughed outright. "They touch stuff, move tools around, break things… someday remind me to tell you about the time your mother broke a boat."

Gasping, Kaity looked amazed. "Mommy broke a boat?" She giggled. She couldn't wait to hear about this!

Smiling, Gibbs sat back and pulled the little girl to his side. "Yeah," he sighed, "you know, you and me are a lot alike. We both come down here when we need to think."

"What are you thinking about, grampa?"

Gibbs grinned and booped Kaity's nose gently. "You. And how nervous you are about going back home."

Head down, Kaity pouted. "I'm sorry, grampa," she sniffled.

Giving her a kiss on the forehead he told her, "there's nothing to be sorry about, kiddo. I know how hard it's been for you lately." He brushed her bangs back softly. "You know how much I love you and AJ and your mom," he waited for her to nod before continuing, "so you know I'd never let any of you do anything that might hurt you, right?" Kaity nodded again. "And you also know I'd neve let anyone or anything hurt my favorite granddaughter."

Kaity rolled her eyes. "I'm your only granddaughter, grampa," she said with a tiny giggle.

Gibbs smiled. "So you are." He shifted slightly as his knees began to ache. "Your dad is the best agent I've ever worked with, and I love him as if he really was my son." He gave her a mock glare. "And if you tell him that, I'll deny it!" Kaity giggled again, making him smile. "I'd take him down like any other scumbag if he ever hurt any of you, I promise you that. But let me tell you something, sweetheart. Your dad loves you to the moon and back. Now, I tell that story about the day you were born, and it's kinda' silly, but he was so happy to become a dad, he was so excited when you were finally here. It was one of the best days of his life."

Kaity gave him a sly smirk. "Only one?" she joked.

Laughing, Gibbs ruffled her hair.

"So daddy's not mad at me?"

Gibbs gave her a big hug. "He could never, ever, ever be mad at you. He loves you very much. And he's real sorry he scared you. Tell your ol' grampa who loves you, princess."

"You do, grampa!"

"But who loves you more than anything?"

She blushed, ducking her head. "My daddy."

"You know you're welcome here anytime you want. As long as you don't let your mom and dad down here alone," he teased. "Give your ol' dad a chance, ok princess?"

"I will grampa." They sat in silence for a moment. "Grampa?"

"Hm?"

"Can we work on the boat now?" She smiled as Gibbs laughed and got up, helping her out from under the boat. He handed her some sandpaper. "Yeah," he sighed happily. "Yeah."

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

Abby had been home from the hospital for a couple of days. Between Tony not letting her do anything for herself and Gibbs not letting her go to work - wholeheartedly backed up by Ducky - she was going crazy. Gibbs had kept the kids for a few more days so she could get settled and she and Tony could talk. If you could call it settling in. "I can rinse dishes, Tone," "Tony, I can make the bed," "Would you let me…" "I can do it myself." Tony wasn't letting her do anything. It was driving her batty. When he tried to take over making cookies for the kids, she'd had enough. "Touch that oven door and I'll show you how I can render you impotent with basic, household ingredients."

Tony froze, fingers millimeters away from the oven door handle. "But the doctor said… I was just trying to keep you from overdoing it… no heavy lifting…"

Abby sighed. "I'm not about to bench press the stove! I'm just making cookies."

"I just wanted to make things easier for you," he said, pouting.

She took the cookies out and placed them on a cooling rack. "You want to help?" she asked, taking off her apron and throwing it at him. "You can clean the kitchen." She posed dramatically. "I'm so tired," she said in her Louisiana accent. "I swear, I can not lift another cookie. I must go lay down." She then waltzed out of the kitchen.

"I walked right into that, didn't I?" he asked sheepishly.

"Yep!" Abby called from the living room. "And no calling Mrs. Moretti to come clean it for you like you did before picking me up the other day!"

Tony grimaced. He knew the place was too clean for his version of cleaning up. "Mrs. Moretti didn't mind, FYI! She's lonely without me to fuss over."

"She was your landlord, for Pete's sake! You were easier to clean for when you lived in that apartment alone, hardly ever home. A whole house is a whole 'nother story!"

Cleaning the dishes for the dishwasher, he mumbled to himself. "Wasn't the whole house. Just the living room." He closed the washer door. "And the kitchen…" he murmured, sweeping the floor. "And our bedroom." He put away the broom and tossed the apron on the table. "And possibly the den."

Abby was in the den at the computer, looking for a particular file. She looked up and waved Tony in. Soft music began to play as she sat on the sofa, patting the cushion next to her.

Tony walked over and sat, putting his arm around her and pulling her close. He pressed a gentle kiss on her head. "We haven't done this in too long, Sweets," he sighed.

She snuggled into his neck. "Maybe that's part of our problem. We never had 'us' time, really. A stolen moment here and there, but even then it was all about… you know… other things."

"You mean sex," he replied softly. "Never just… dating. Talking, touching… dinner and a movie…" The opening "shoo bop shoo wops" of their song - 'I Only Have Eyes For You' by the Flamingoes - started and Tony stood up, holding his hand out to Abby. "...dancing…"

Abby took his hand, letting him pull her up off the sofa and into his arms. They swayed and danced together, Abby beginning to get emotional, sniffled and wiped her eyes. Tony stopped to see if she was ok. He wiped away a tear. "I'm fine, really. I just… miss this… miss 'us'... and I love you, Tony. Love our family, love our life together."

Smiling tenderly, Tony wrapped his arms around her and softly kissed her cheek, her temple. "I love 'us,' too. More than I ever thought possible. I've missed you and our kids so much."

Another song started as they continued to slow dance. "Tone? There's something missing… no, nothing bad. It just doesn't feel like home yet. There's something … someone… missing."

He kissed her softly. "Our babies. Should we call the boss, have him bring them home?"

Abby smiled big. "Yes, please." She pulled his head down for a kiss as another slow song started. "In a little while, though. I just want to enjoy this for a little bit."

Tony smiled and pulled her closer. "Me too. I love you, Abby," he rumbled in a husky voice.

Her heart melted, as it did every time he said those words. "I love you too, Tony. So much." And the music played on as they danced. "And I think to myself… what a wonderful world…"

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

She was at the top of the bumpy slide when Kaity's belly began to tickle. Grampa called it his gut, and it usually meant something was about to happen. She looked over at where grampa and Auntie Z were watching her, and she waved back when they smiled at her. So if it's not them, it's someone else. She scanned the playground… recognized most of the adults except … the woman approaching AJ. Kaity looked down the stairs and decided going down the slide was faster.

She slid down, her eyes still on her little brother. Kaity ran as fast as she could to get to him before that woman did. She and the woman arrived at the same time.

"Hi there," the woman said.

Kaity grabbed AJ's hand and pulled him from his sand city. "C'mon, kiddo," she said loudly, purposely not using his name. Don't give a stranger your name, she remembered from daddy and grampa's talks. "Grampa is looking for us," she interrupted before the younger boy could say anything.

"Hey!" the little boy argued, "you don't get to call me kiddo, only old people, like mommy and daddy can call me that!"

"Just come on," Kaity insisted, marching towards grampa.

"What is wrong, Kaity?" Auntie Z asked. Kaity stood straight and tall, feeling important. "There was a strange lady trying to talk to AJ in the sandbox."

Both Gibbs and Ziva stood quickly, eyes searching. "She's gone now. She got into a big, white car." Without a word, Ziva nodded at Gibbs and picked up AJ, heading for the car. Gibbs knelt in front of Kaity.

"Tell me," he instructed the young girl.

Kaity shrugged. "That's it, grampa. She started to say hi, but I got AJ outta' there right away. And I didn't use his name, either, so the lady wouldn't know it."

"What did she look like, sweetheart?"

"Ummm…" Kaity thought. "Yellowish hair, kinda tall. But not as tall as mommy, I think. And the car was big and white."

Gibbs scanned the area, eyes blazing. He didn't see the car or the woman, then looked at Kaity and picked her up. "Good job, Agent Kaitlynn DiNozzo," he said, walking to the car. "That has a good ring to it, doesn't it? Don't know if I can handle two DiNozzos!"

She giggled. "Thanks grampa, I just did like you guys always tell me."

Ziva came up as Gibbs buckled Kaity into her car seat. "There were no big white cars. AJ was more upset about Kaitlynn calling him 'kiddo' than any stranger. I do not think he even saw this person."

"Blond," Gibbs said quietly. "Not as tall as Abby, big, white car." He got a text notification and read it. "Tony and Abby want the kids. We'll drop them off then come back. You get McGee to check traffic cams on all sides of the park. Traffic cams, banks, anything with video for that car."

Ziva agreed and got in the passenger seat, eyes on the lookout as they left the parking lot.