Chapter 9: Kick-off, Play, A New Friend

The kick-off on Saturday went very well. Artemis was a little surprised but very happy when nearly everyone who'd been invited showed up. She was pleased to meet members of the press as well as regional government officials, who were pleased to see the construction already started, people from the building trades, most of her crew and their family members as well as her own family. She smiled when Evander introduced the Remises, her, Tim, Bill and Mr. Mallas to the former owners of the three lots, who still owned the commercial building down the street. The two women were happy to meet them, especially the Remises and the junior Gibbses, between them the owners of all three lots. With the sale of the properties, the women could now start to rebuild their lives after the loss of their husbands and everything that meant.

While Tim was meeting with them and the Remises, the children stayed with their grandparents, Poppy and Grama, Yaya Sophia, Papi Barnes, Pappouli Peter and Yaya Rhode or with Aunt Nikki, Uncle Tony, Aunt Maggie, Uncle Geo and Aunt Bec.

Also in attendance were Eva, Artie and Susannah's childhood friend, her husband Caleb, Evander's American wife Kim, their co-worker Thea and her husband Adan along with their boss, Pete Russell with his wife Trina. Most of Athena's and the Lekkases' neighbors also came by to say hello and to see for themselves the views their friends had been talking about.

Alan Martin, their new caretaker, was also there, happy to once again see the Remises and the Gibbs family as well meeting Ermis Mallas, the main contractor, and some of the crew. While he'd lived on site for less than 24 hours, he already knew he loved it up here and reported that everything worked as designed, the water, all the plumbing and the electricity.

He thanked Jethro and Bill for the air conditioner the two had installed. He said the air conditioner kept the place cool during the afternoon and evening. He reported that late last night he'd opened the windows to bring in the cooler night air using fans to distribute the fresh air. The man smiled happily when Jethro told him he was working on a few planters which would eventually become the raised bed gardens behind the mobile.

While Jethro didn't mention it then, he and Tim planned to add a front porch and a back deck for Alan, as he'd asked to be called. The front would be fairly easy to add around the stairs leading from the ground to the front door. The back would be more work as they would first add a small hallway with space for a stackable washer and dryer, which they would supply. The hallway would have doors at each end, to help keep the heat from building up in the dwelling proper and to lead out onto the shaded deck. They wanted their caretaker to be comfortable and to enjoy his new home!

When the owner of the Timothy Gibbses' vacation rental appeared, he said he had to see what would lure his favorite renters from their vacation home. As soon as he saw the view, he sighed, saying, "I suppose I could take a photo of that and have it enlarged for one of the walls in the living room." Then he smiled, asking if there were more lots for sale up there.

The demonstration of the foam concrete setup did very well. Those in the building trade and the press watched carefully as the crew showed the group how to do the setup, including the tie down, before the guests were guided to the setups that had been done on Friday. Many photos were taken.

At the Remises' request, the design for their new home was not displayed. Artemis hadn't planned to display them anyway but was happy when her clients asked. Their new home would be unique, at least for a while.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

Wednesday morning, days before the Kick-Off party, Tim was a bit startled when his phone reminded him of a Thursday evening online and in person lecture by a professor of advanced mathematics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where the lecture would take place.

When he'd signed up for the lecture, he had planned to attend from the UK, not Greece, where the time was two hours ahead of London. This meant the lecture would likely take him into the wee hours of the morning and he had work the next day, or that same day, depending on the length of the lecture, advertised as 2.5 hours, including time for questions and answers.

Tim shook his head, he'd need to record it and ask to contact the professor later with any questions and he almost always had questions! Finding the appropriate email, he sent off his request and the reasons why.

Several hours later, he smiled when he read the reply from the professor who asked that they schedule a time that worked for Dr. McGee as he also had some questions for him! After Tim sent an email to his parents, asking if they would please watch the children Thursday afternoon of the following week until 6:00 PM and had their agreement, he and the other professor agreed to meet online at 3:30 PM Eastern European Summer time and 5:30 AM Pacific Daylight Time. While Tim thought that was very early for the professor, the man insisted he was always up early and reminded him the Fall semester had not yet started for him, he could go back to bed or take a nap. Setting their meeting for the following week gave Tim plenty of time to watch the lecture.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

After the Kickoff, Artie and Bill were busy getting all the foundations made, working with Mr. Mallas and his crew to ensure everything was going according to the construction plans. Matthaios was a big help and was learning a great deal about engineering, design and construction in general. As he told his parents one evening, he was realizing how much he had to learn and was glad he knew that now so he could start taking the classes he'd need.

While their parents worked, the 5 children, including Jasper, were having fun with their Barnes-Gibbs cousins, whose parents helped in their care. During the mornings, all 7 of them went to a nearby day care center where they quickly made friends. Their grandparents usually collected them before lunch, some days they happily stayed all day. On the days when they left before lunch, they'd lunch either at their grandparents' vacation home, Uncle Tony and Aunt Maggie's place or Yaya Rhode's home. After playing for a bit, Madelyn and Jasper took naps, sometimes joined by Chloe if she was tired. While at 3 she didn't really need a nap, more of a rest, she also knew that Jasper was happier if he wasn't the only one of the 'big kids' who had to lay down. Not quite a year old, little Madelyn hadn't yet worked out that not everyone took naps.

They visited the building site with their parents on the weekends, happy when they could finally see where the buildings would be and understand a little more about what their parents did. They swam a great deal, never tiring of it. This year they not only had the ocean and the Lekkas' pool to swim in, there was also a pool at the vacation apartment building where Uncle Larry and Aunt Cyndie Porter and Uncle Charlie and Cousin Trish were staying. That pool had afternoon shade and became very popular with the 'early bird' group as a whole, even the Lekkas family, leading to Peter and Rhode exploring ways to shade their own pool during the blazing hot Greek afternoons.

Realizing their shade would have to be artificially produced, growing trees large enough to provide any kind of shade would take too long, the couple looked at adding fabric covers that would be on poles several feet over the pool and perhaps on the western sides of the pool. While that would work to some degree, Rhode wasn't thrilled with the way that would look. They also looked at climate control domes and liked the idea, especially because the dome could be taken down or put up according to the season, it wasn't a permanent fixture. When the Mideis and Gibbses heard about the couple's search, they spoke with them about splitting the costs, pointing out how much the larger family enjoyed the pool when the sea was still too chilly or the beach was too hot. In the end, the couple agreed and before the rest of the family arrived for the annual reunion, a climate control dome was purchased and installed, with additional security provided by Tim.

The vacation apartment property also had a huge shaded pavilion with ceiling fans, picnic tables and a large barbecue, for the tenants and their guests. As it was bigger than Tim and Artie's rental house's back yard, it would likely be the gathering space when the rest of the group arrived. In the meantime, the 'early birds' frequently met there for dinner, either bringing their own or having a group dinner. Although the ceiling fans helped, Tim, Bill and Dad had also cobbled together a small battery operated portable air conditioner and once the original was working the way they wanted it to, made several more, including a few for Caretaker Martin's mobile home. Now, when they gathered in the pavilion, they strategically placed the air conditioners to cool off everyone there. With no other project to handle, Dad made several more of the little gizmos. By the time everyone else arrived, there were enough portable air conditioners for each family to have more than one.

Tim's work didn't change, he was busy as always with case reviews, evaluations, keeping a quiet eye on various cases and generally making sure NCIS: Europe was fulfilling the agency's mandate.

The Thursday before the Kick-off, Tim set up the recording of the mathematics lecture before he went to bed. He was pleased when he checked the next morning and saw the length of the recording, he'd made the right decision about not staying up for it!

It was Sunday morning before he had a chance to watch it, while Artie and their parents took the children to church. He felt a bit guilty about that but without cutting into his time with his wife, children, parents, siblings and work, this was really the only time he had available. As he watched, he paused the recording to jot down notes, chuckling at the end of the lecture when he noticed how many questions he had. If he had time, always questionable, he'd watch it again before the planned meeting with the Professor on Thursday.

The days passed quickly with Artie, Bill and their crew making good progress on the Remis project, Tim and Nikki continuing to handle work without any unusual problems and the rest of the family enjoying their various pursuits. Tony and Maggie slipped away for 2 nights, leaving their girls in the tender loving care of their grandparents. MacKenna was all right with that, her parents had been away before and came home with presents for her. Because big sister wasn't upset, Madelyn, while missing her mommy and daddy, didn't fuss very much. Her Papi, Poppy, Grama, Pappouli Peter, Yaya Rhode and Yaya Sophia always made her feel safe and secure, and her grandfathers made her squeal and laugh with the silly faces they made at her.

By Thursday, Tim had watched the Math lecture again, finding the answers to a few of his questions during his second viewing. At the appointed time, he was in the den of their rental that he and Artie used for their home offices. Artie was so tired that she'd turned in as soon as the children were asleep, insisting she only needed a nap.

When his laptop pinged with a Skype call, Tim was ready, a freshly brewed cup of coffee close by. He smiled as he answered the ping, "Good morning, Professor!"

"And good evening to you, Professor! Ah, coffee, you can drink that in the evening and still sleep?"

Tim nodded, "Yes. I'm pretty sure I can drink it in my sleep after so many years in law enforcement!"

"Odd hours?"

"Odd hours, days, weeks, months, yes. On our team, we worked until we dropped and no longer responded to the boss's orders to get back to work."

"Wow and I thought academia could be tough!"

Tim laughed, "I also thought that, until I became a Fed."

"Lots of stories?"

"Some, can't talk about the more exciting ones, they're classified."

The other man, whose first name was Matt, nodded, "I've done bits and pieces of work for the FBI over the years and always have to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements."

Tim smiled, "My wife says I should have had her sign a blanket NDA when we got married, to cover all conversations about work. But then I'd have to tell her more about work and I'm sure she would have left me by now. So, I watched your lecture twice, great job, very interesting and well presented. I do have a few questions. I had more but my second viewing answered several of them."

"That's good, glad to hear it and thanks, this is a new lecture and I really enjoy giving it and hearing the questions people have as well as seeing eyes light up when they begin to understand. I bet you saw the same thing in that 'I hate Math' class you taught."

Tim laughed, "I think I was a little more subtle, calling the class 'Math for people who'd rather not' or something along that line but yes I did enjoy seeing their eyes light up. I even had a couple of students who took it for two terms, a year apart, even though they passed the first time. They said they were afraid they'd forget it all, give into their fear of mathematics again. I let them audit the class and graded the exams for them, they did fine."

"You also taught in the UK, right?"

"Yes, the same subjects although I had to restructure the math classes to fit with British school systems requirements."

"How was it, teaching overseas?"

Tim gave him a look before he answered. "I was lucky to be have mentors, one for each of my classes and one an overall mentor, to help me understand how things work in the UK. My sister-in-law teaches environmental botany, she taught in the US and then was invited to be a visiting professor in London. She's still a visiting professor, they keep extending her contract. She loves it and in the meantime my brother, her husband, now has his masters and doctorate and is also teaching, although at a different university. Are you thinking about it?"

Matt grinned, "Yes! I've received an offer from Bedford University in the UK and we're considering it."

"That's a great university and the town it's in is beautiful, an old market town minutes outside London and surrounded by lovely green countryside. My administrative assistant lives in Brambury, that's the town. Like Jaxton, where we live, Brambury has public transportation to just about everywhere via the tube, also known as the Underground, bus and train. It's only 20 minutes into London by tube or train. Via the Eurostar, the fastest trip to Paris from London is a little over 2 hours. And there's so much to see over here!"

"My younger sisters live in the UK and Portugal, and we have other family in Portugal."

"That might be a little more complicated by train but I'm sure the airfare will be a lot less than it would covering the same distance in the US. You should take the opportunity."

"I'm pretty sure we will. My wife is a little nervous about it but hearing what you've said and knowing there are plenty of Americans in the UK will help."

Tim grinned, "There's an American Grocery store in London, you can buy all sorts of things from the US. And we found that when we were homesick, we'd visit a McDonald's and that would help a great deal. Sounds silly but it worked for us."

"So with the house your wife is building, will you be living in Greece full-time?"

"Probably not. The house she's working on now isn't ours. There were 3 lots for sale, the people she's building for now bought the first lot and we bought the other two. The middle lot will likely house our garage as it's too hot to leave vehicles unprotected in the sun, at least on our mountain top. We plan to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas in Jaxton, our US family joins us for Christmas and then we'll probably leave for Greece after New Year's and stay until May, possibly June, depending on our children's school schedules, then we'll return to Jaxton for most of the summer. We have an annual summer reunion in Greece for the whole family in late July, early August, two weeks and we'll stick to that unless the heat gets unbearable. Then I guess we'll move the reunion somewhere else. My wife's grandmother, father, stepmother and their children plus her mother all live either in Athens or close to it and her aunt, uncle and cousins live in the northern part of Greece in Thessaloniki. That's why we started coming here.

"We've been joking about moving our reunions to somewhere on the coast of Scotland, where we have additional family, or to Scandinavia to escape the worst of the heat but it's not much of a joke anymore. The UK isn't built for heat but they're gradually adapting. My dad, brother and I put together some small portable air conditioners to use here in Greece and we'll make more for all our Jaxton neighbors."

"Save a few for us, please! There's no real escape from climate change and I'd rather be in the UK, experience life over there as an adult with my own family. My parents had a home in the UK and I spent the later part of my teens there but I'd really like to experience it as an adult and I'd really like to raise my children there."

Tim nodded, "I understand what you're saying. We're very happy to raise our children in the UK or here in Greece, many places in Europe. There are things to consider. There is a kind of…I don't know what to call it, I guess I'd say it's a somewhat blind perception. As Americans living overseas, we're not involved in what happens at home and most of the time that's all right, our US based family keep us up to date. We do vote and we pay attention to the issues but the emotions surrounding those issues and candidates don't really exist for us, which is nice although sometimes it's sad or frustrating. We're not there, we're no longer part of life in the US. I guess it might be somewhat like being retired from an employer for whom you worked all your adult life. You're no longer involved, what happens isn't as crucial as it was when you were part of the company. Only as voters, we still have a responsibility to help make the decisions for those who do live there and sometimes that's hard to figure out.

"On the other side of the coin, we have absolutely no say in what happens in our adopted country and I understand from Americans who've been here longer than we have that not having a say can be just as frustrating. So there's all that to consider and I imagine you'll have your own concerns. I would think that having family nearby, in Portugal, will help your sense of belonging. Having my parents, my youngest brother and sister, our eldest brother and his family with us in the UK from the start really helped and then more of our family joined us there along the way. Also having my wife's relatives and a dear friend, honorary grandfather to my kids, in Scotland and here in Greece has been wonderful. My father-in-law teases me that I brought my home with me. Perhaps it's because of my background but I feel I belong here, far more than I ever did in the US, except possibly for Baltimore, where I grew up, although the idea of calling it home is bizarre."

"Why's that?"

Tim shook his head, "Long story, let's just say it wasn't a lot of fun. However, we all made it out in one piece and we're thriving now. Wow, it's getting late in your morning, shall I email my questions?"

Matt laughed, "That's fine, this has been very interesting."

"It has been, let me know if you decide to take the job over here, would love to have your family meet my family!"

As Tim reached out to disconnect the call, Artie quietly opened the door to their shared make-shift office space and smiled. "Oh, am I too late to meet the professor?"

Still online, Matt shook his head and Tim moved his hand. "Artemis, this is Professor Matt Mello, professor of mathematics at the Santa Barbara, California campus of the University of California. Matt, this is my wife, Artemis Midei."

The two said hello and chatted briefly before finally disconnecting. Needing to use the loo, Tim quickly kissed his wife before nearly running from the room while Artie stood in thought.

She'd recognized the name of the American professor, it was the same as the young man who'd lived near their Canadian friends from their Turkish tour, the Mannings, and his image on screen looked very much like the photo she'd seen of him online. However, seeing him now on Skype she understood why the Mannings thought he and Tim looked so much alike. While their skin tone was about the same, Tim's hair had its usual summertime light highlights, while the other man's hair was the same darker color that Tim's was most of the year. Their faces were similar although Tim's was a bit longer and the other man's a bit fuller. Their eyes were shaped a bit differently and their eye color wasn't quite the same, Tim's eyes had more green while the professor's eyes had more blue but then that could be attributed to their computers.

She finally shook herself out of her musings, thinking what a strange coincidence it was.