HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2023 to all Americans, wherever you are, enjoy the turkey (or food of choice) with all the fixings. May it be a peaceful day. For those of you in retail, well, good luck with the big sale on Friday, whether you work in a physical store or for an online merchant. To everyone helping customers, taking orders, answering phones, finding elusive items, pulling stock, checking orders, packaging, mailing, handling financial transactions (and sadly, complaints), delivering packages and everything else you do, Thank You!
This year, I'm thankful for all of you as well as my family. I'm especially grateful I was able to help my brother-in-law after a scary and successful surgery and able to say goodbye to my sister shortly before she passed away early in October. Most of all, I'll be forever thankful she seemingly recognized me the last time I saw her, kissing my hand.
Momcat, so happy to see you're reading! And thank you for your reviews which I finally saw for the first time a few days ago. Fanfiction net has been broken, or horribly redesigned, not sure which, and still isn't functioning very well. If you don't see a new chapter from me here, look at my profile (on f f n) for directions to the other site I post to, Archive Of Our Own (A03), under my same screen name.
I may finish editing another chapter and if so, will post it this week and, fingers and toes crossed, will post another chapter next week.
For everyone else reading this on FFN: THANK YOU for your reviews over the last two months, now that I know there are any, although a few have slipped through, very strange. Anyway, now the site appears to have been at least partially repaired. After more than 2 months, I actually had email alerts the other day and also noticed that an alert went out for Chapter 14 that same day although I posted it earlier in the week. While I've sent out a few replies so far, I really wanted to work on the next few chapters!
Ch 15: What Now?
The day after Christmas, the children played in the basement, Tim keeping an eye on them while he checked his work email and was glad he'd checked. Although the subject of the email didn't need immediate action, it was something he would need to address within a few weeks. That led him to wondering about possibilities and he made a brief note on his phone.
He frowned when he saw an invitation to meet with Leon and Secretary Porter, hoping the topic wouldn't be anything that would disrupt their lives. It was for Tuesday, the 30th and that was fine, he'd planned to work aboard the Navy Yard Monday and Tuesday anyway. And he would have already had his meeting with Leon Monday morning, so that would be settled. Artie was hopeful Leon would agree, she'd love to have her husband and children with her full time!
After checking with his wife about Tuesday and showing her the invitation and seeing she was having the same reaction he'd had, he accepted the invitation, noticing the meeting would be in the SecNav's office at the Pentagon. That really didn't bode well but he did his best to think positively. Maybe one of his suggestions about NCIS agents and offices in the Pacific and Indian Oceans was under scrutiny and they had questions. That could be a good thing.
Eventually he put aside his qualms, he didn't think he was in trouble, he was more concerned that they were about to stick him with some project that would require him to travel or worse, have to transfer. Then he remembered their finances, if it was something they didn't want to do he'd leave the agency again. He shook his head, he really hoped that wasn't it! Although he had plenty of other things he could do, he hadn't even been back at the agency for a full year!
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On the drive back to Reston the day after Christmas, D'Arcy started laughing and laughed all the way back to their friends' home. Lloyd enjoyed hearing it, his love all too frequently worried about the children in her charge and how to make sure each found a family or at least someone who cared about them. He nodded to himself, she'd needed the break, he was glad he'd asked their friends if they could housesit, telling them D'Arcy seriously needed a break.
He also looked forward to the trip they were planning in the new year, getting her away from her worries for several weeks would help both of them. They'd been planning and saving for years and now they'd decided. They'd finally take their trip overseas and they would take enough time off to make it truly worthwhile.
While D'Arcy had the years in to retire, she was reluctant to 'leave her children' as she'd once said. Now Lloyd thought, after seeing the Gibbs, Vance and Fornell families, that possibly his love would agree to retire if they took in a foster child or two.
They'd never had their own children, although both wanted a family. While they'd talked about fostering and adopting, they needed two incomes and D'Arcy didn't want any child of hers, adopted or foster, to become either a latchkey* child or to find a babysitter once that child was too old for day care. She wanted the two of them to raise their child, not a daycare or a revolving group of babysitters.
Through the years she'd tempered that as she realized the few choices many, if not most, people had. Two incomes were generally necessary and that meant children needed people to watch them when their parents could not.
Now, with Lloyd's business doing well, a savings account that would do them well in retirement, successful investments and whatever her retirement income would be, they could afford to take in a child or two without a second income. He smiled as he listened to her laughter, they'd talk later, maybe tomorrow.
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At some point on Christmas Eve, Athena, Lu, Sophia, Cyndie Porter, Edie Powell, and Gail Fornell made plans to have lunch and possibly do a little shopping on Saturday, two days after Christmas. Lu and the other American women insisted that Athena, Sophia and Edie had to experience the after-Christmas sales as well as returns of Christmas gifts.
Although many people did most of their Christmas shopping online now, there were still plenty of folks in the physical stores, returning or exchanging. While Athena wasn't sure what she was getting into, she was curious! Edie had a better idea, she'd shopped in Manchester the day after Christmas and knew that although it might be chaotic, it would also be fun.
Cyndie and Gail were happy to have other women to hang out with. Not that they didn't love their husbands but it was fun to go out with the others!
At home, Ducky, his home empty for the moment, looked around, digging through his carry-on bag for something to do and finally deciding to read for a couple of hours. Jimmy was at work, Breena and Sarah were shopping with Emily and Pauley, taking little Donnie with them and Athena was out with 'the girls' as she'd said. The other Christmas visitors left yesterday, taking the train home. Ziva and Brian were still in the vicinity, they'd left for Mac's beach house to celebrate their first wedding anniversary and would return on Sunday in time for breakfast with the family before they flew home.
After 20 minutes spent reading the same two paragraphs, he decided it was too quiet, the house too empty and he would pop over to the Arlington house to see what was going on there. Returning the book to his room and the carry-on bag where he'd found it, Ducky went looking through his belongings to see what else might be interesting enough to take with him to the Arlington house. He had a dim memory of something he'd promised to do but could only hope that whatever it was would pop up on its own rather than him having to dig through all the various bits and pieces he'd brought with him.
Finding a large manila envelope underneath everything in his sock drawer, he made a face, yes, this was it. Grabbing his jacket, he left, glad that Lu, Sophia, Edie and Cyndie had picked Athena up that morning and thus leaving him the car. While his venerable Morgan was still in the garage, it was up on blocks, the tires removed, the battery disconnected, nothing he could remedy by himself.
Sliding into the driver's position of his 4-door sedan, Ducky though about shopping on a Saturday, much less the Saturday after Christmas, and shuddered.
After a relatively short drive, less than 30 minutes, Ducky pulled onto the Arlington property and parked, belatedly wondering if he should have called first. He shrugged, it was too late now!
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Rob smiled at his friend, mentor and chosen grandfather as he answered the door to find Ducky standing there. "Hello, Ducky!" He stood aside, "Come on in!"
"Hello, Robbie my boy and thank you. With Athena out with the women shopping, I'm finding my home a bit too empty today. Do you mind if I stay here for a few hours? I'll likely fall asleep but I have brought something I promised to review for my cousins."
Rob eyed the manila envelope in the older man's hands. "Of course I don't mind, you're welcome anytime! Would it be easier to sit at the table to look at that?"
"I suppose it would be, thank you."
"Have a seat, how about a cuppa?"
Chuckling, Ducky agreed before opening his mouth again to ask for decaffeinated or herbal when Rob told him he was making him an herbal tea. Knowing it was the flavor that Tim liked, Ducky smiled, he was also growing fond of that particular tea.
When Rob brought the tea, he brought two cups, one for himself. Sitting down next to Ducky, he began telling the older man about a patient he'd had earlier in the month. It was quite a tale, with a positive ending, and Ducky smiled as he told Rob that reminded him of an interesting case he'd had while he was a member of the Doctors Without Borders organization.
As always, Rob was fascinated and by the time the tea cups had been emptied, refilled and emptied again, the young doctor was ready to sign up with the organization. After their talk, the two men bundled up and went for a walk, a short one as it was quite cold outside. Considering it was the end of December, that wasn't a surprise.
Back inside, Ducky went to the family room to look something up on the framed world map that hung on the wall in there. Finding the spot he'd been looking for, he smiled, thinking again of the case he and Rob had discussed. Sitting down for a minute in one of the recliners, Ducky thought of something else that he wanted to tell Rob, although it could wait until later. Within a few minutes he was sound asleep.
Rob also had a nap, waking to remember Ducky had been going to look at something from his cousins in Scotland. Returning to the table, he chuckled when he noticed the envelope on the floor under the table. Shaking his head, he retrieved it, found a large clip, using it to attach the envelope to Ducky's coat.
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Tim, Artie, Bill, Nikki, Maggie and Tony were in the pool room with their children, occasionally swimming or playing with them in the pool. Throughout the day, all three couples had been discussing Geo and Bec's new status as foster parents. Barry told his brothers before they left that he, Ned and the girls planned to talk with them on the flight to Washington.
Ava, as the older of their daughters, wanted to tell her aunt and uncle what it was like to be a foster child. She knew Uncle Tim had been a foster but didn't know much about his experiences. She also thought it might help if she told them how she felt when she met her new family and then a few days later flew across an ocean to live in a different country. Luckily for the two girls, the last foster home she and Ava had been in together was in northern New England, in a location that was split between Stanstead, Quebec, Canada, and Derby Line, Vermont, US, two towns that had originally been one. Living so close to the border, she and Naomi spoke a bit of French. Her new dad Barry had worked with both of them on the long flight over the ocean and then when they got to the hotel where they stayed until they found the house they lived in now.
Their new cousins, Brian and Mia, wouldn't have to worry too much about British English, their new parents would help them and Ava knew the twins, Liam and Chloe also wanted to help. They might all work on it on the flight home!
The swim group felt better after hearing that their nieces planned to speak with Geo and Bec as well as their new foster cousins. Tim nodded when Nikki asked if the children had finished with the name tags. "Yes, they started last night and with everyone's help finished after breakfast this morning. It's a good thing Brian and Mia are joining us after our Christmas celebrations, that would have meant even more name tags!"
Maggie huffed, "If that had been me coming in and seeing the sea of people in the dining room alone, I would have run for my life!"
They looked up, smiling, as Rob and Ducky joined them. "Hello, what have you two been up to?"
Ducky chuckled, "It was too quiet at home, so I came over and then proceeded to talk Robbie's ear off for nearly an hour! Then we went for a brief walk, it's quite chilly outside, came back in and I fell asleep in the family room. I brought something to review but now I've lost interest again."
"What is it?"
"Oh, something my cousins put me up to. They couldn't figure out something on some paperwork and gave it to me to figure out. It's a good thing it isn't time sensitive as I believe I've had it for over a year already!"
Laughing at that, Tim told them about part of a story he'd recently found on one of his thumb drives. "The year on the thumb drive is 2008! And although it's definitely my writing style, I had absolutely no memory of where I was going with it or when exactly I wrote it. Then I looked at the very bottom of the page and saw the date and time with a note I left that said 'Tony left a few days ago. I miss him, it's too quiet!' So I wrote that in the first few months I lived in California."
He grinned, looking at Artie, "I remembered then, I decided not to stay at home and mope. Instead I took the Boxster to the train station, parked the car and hopped on a train to San Francisco. Once there, I took a shuttle to the Wharf, bought a round trip ticket for the ferry to the seaside town of Sausalito."
Artie's mouth dropped open and she smiled, "That was the day?"
"Yes, my darling wife, that was the day the two of us reconnected after too many years apart."
Giggling, Artemis reached out, pulling Tony closer to her. After giving him a big kiss, she thanked him for leaving the agency when he did. Then she kissed Tim again while the others laughed.
Minutes later they received a message from Geordie, "We've landed in Wenatchee, there's a car and driver waiting for us, thanks to whoever did that! N, B & girls told us stuff on the flight, we feel better, might even have a clue what to say and do! Will send photos."
Telling the children, who were still in the pool, everyone cheered. Then Tim frowned, looking at the other parents. Ducky grinned, pointing to himself and the others nodded happily. They wouldn't whine if Ducky told them to get out, they were used to him ordering them out when they were swimming and playing in the ocean and pools in Varkiza.
Ducky walked closer to the pool, noisily clearing his throat. "Children, yes, all of you, it's time to get out of the water and get warmed up. It may snow soon, you don't want to be in your wet bathing suits then, do you?"
Every single one of them grinned as they carefully climbed out of the pool, took the towels handed to them and carefully walked closer to the heater while not getting too close.
Once the towels were soaked through, they were tucked in a large bag and the still wet children were given another dry towel. They sat until their parents had them stand up and walk around in front of the heater again. Once they were no longer dripping, the group left the pool room, Tony locking the door, and hurried down the enclosed corridor to the house.
They were dressed and warm again, playing in the family room when the snow finally started. The children, their parents, all their elders, were glued to the windows as they watched the snowflakes flying through the air, it wasn't just snowing, it was storming! Tim and Bill made a fire, which would help and bumped up the thermostat.
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Lu shivered as she, Athena, Edie, Cyndie and Sophia joined the group in the family room, glad she and the other women had cut their shopping trip short when they felt the wind picking up and the snowflakes falling closer and closer together. She thought they'd been ready to get home anyway, after fighting crowds, having fun shopping and enjoying their relaxing and delicious lunch. Next time someone wanted to take folks new to the US shopping after Christmas, she'd stay home, her feet were killing her and she couldn't seem to get warm. She smiled when her sweetie wrapped one of her shawls around her shoulders and then wrapped his arms around her. Now she was warming up!
MacKenna, Jasper, Chloe and little Madelyn sat on the floor on two blankets, a third and larger blanket covering all but their heads, watching the storm through the big window. MacKenna pretended to shiver, "I like the snow and having fun in it but not today."
Chloe agreed while Jasper, mesmerized, nodded. Madelyn was also entranced watching the snowflakes, giggling when one of the flakes would latch on to another one.
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The storm had blown over by the next morning, leaving a sparkling fresh foot of snow behind with the sun shining brightly although still without much heat. After breakfast, helping to clear the table and load the dishwasher, dressing, brushing teeth and hair, the children were nearly jumping and down, anxious to play in the snow before it melted.
Tim laughed at that, "It's not going to melt today, it's too cold to melt." He looked at his parents, signing something to them and Malu nodded.
Tim looked at the other adults, leaning over to whisper something in Artie's ear. Nodding, she passed the message to Maggie, who passed it to Nikki, then Tony, Bill, Rob and James. Sarah was still asleep but then she hadn't slept well the night before.
James grinned, "We used to play this when we were little! All right, what I heard was that we can go out for 5 minutes and play!"
The kids frowned, that wasn't enough time.
Tim shook his head, "Ah, the old game of telephone where the end message is never the same as the original one. James, the rest of us are going out to play for 15 minutes before we come back in. But if you want stop playing and leave fresh snow after 5 minutes, that's all right."
The kids cheered, happy they were really going out for 15 minutes. Ellanni whispered to her twin that she remembered that from last winter. They'd play outside, come in and get warm, drink something hot and then go out for another 15 minutes!
Young Jackson grinned, quickly asking his father if that's what they were going to do and Tim nodded at his older son, "Yes, that's what we are going to do!"
The children cheered again, dancing around. Then they changed into their snow clothes, waited impatiently for their adults to be ready and remembered just in time, with a few loud reminders, not to charge right out into the snow. Tim had marked off each foot of a broom handle and now he went ahead measuring to see how deep the snow was, similar to what he and the other parents did the first time they visited a beach although of course this water was frozen, not liquid and salty and hopefully didn't have any dangerous-to-humans sea creatures in it!
The kids watched, looking up at him when he walked back inside. He squatted, smiling, "All right, except for Madelyn, Donnie and Tommy, the snow is not too deep anywhere for the rest of us. Be careful! Now, go enjoy your 15 minutes."
He looked at Jimmy, Jose and Tony, "The littles need to stay on the saucers with you pulling them."
Grinning, they nodded, grabbing the saucers and helping their toddlers onto them. They would pull them very slowly so none of them would fall off into the snow.
Everyone who ventured out had a great time playing in the snow, followed by warming up with hot beverages and dry clothes, warmed in the dryer before they put them on. Their stays inside that afternoon lasted about 45 minutes, roughly the time it took to change into dry clothes and for their wet outdoor clothes to also have a spell in the dryer. After their third time playing in the snow, which had stretched almost to 20 minutes because the outdoor temperature had warmed up, the parents decided that was enough. The three toddlers were napping and even the twins, almost 5, were tired. Liam, MacKenna, Chloe and Jasper nodded when their parents told them their playtime in snow was over for the day while the twins opened their mouths to protest. Then they looked at each other, had one of their silent conversations, finally nodding at their parents. They didn't feel like getting cold and wet again. It helped knowing that they would play outside again the next day.
Surprisingly, it was little Donnie, now 16 months old, who was upset when he woke from his nap saying he was ready to play in the snow again. When told the snow play was over for today, his lower lip trembled and big tears rolled down his cheeks. He settled happily into his granducky's arms, cuddling with him and telling him a story, even smiling when his daddy took a photo of the two of them cuddling. It also helped that none of his playmates were playing in the fun stuff.
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That Christmas, there were a lot of photos taken with the family elders and the children. Athena led the group with the best health although Jack, Mac, LJ and Cousin Richard were also doing well. Ducky hadn't been seriously ill since the bout of pneumonia that caused him to spend the winter at Mac's retirement home in Florida; however, recently he seemed tired and more contemplative than Jethro, who in the family had known him the longest, thought he'd ever been. When consulted, Athena agreed, saying she believed they needed to better organize their trips, that she felt her love was exhausted from all their travels, saying it was something like long-term jet lag.
Jimmy and Breena took that to heart, deciding they needed to visit him in Scotland in the spring and in late summer, although this next spring would be problematic with their baby due in April. Knowing there weren't any easy answers, they also decided to talk with a few people, to see if anyone had additional ideas.
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Late Sunday afternoon when the Paddington flight carrying Geordie, Bec and their two new fosters landed at the FBO near DC, the couple were happy although not surprised to be greeted by their parents, along with Grandpas Jack and Mac. The family decided collectively that was enough people for now, the children would have enough faces and names to learn as it was!
As the aircraft taxied down the runway, the five greeters attached their name tags to their coats. Geo and Bec were the first off the jet, followed by Mia and Brian, who looked tired, excited and a little nervous.
Not wanting them to be overwhelmed, the group decided they would hug the new children, no kissing yet. They'd messaged Geo, asking if that would be all right and he responded positively, so now they were ready. They were inside the FBO, so they wouldn't have to rush due to the cold.
Geo and Bec kissed their parents and grandparents before introducing Brian and Mia to them, making note of the name tags. They grinned as they saw that each tag said, along with the wearer's name, "Welcome Brian and Mia" or "Welcome Mia and Brian" That made the children smile, breaking the ice, so to speak.
Once their luggage arrived in the FBO, Jethro, Ben and Geo took it to the passenger van. When they signaled, the others joined them, hurrying through the cold to the vehicle.
While it was getting dark, the children could still see enough to comment on what they were seeing and Ben, their new Grampy, played tour guide, telling them what they were seeing. Lu also enjoyed that as, other than their stays in the vicinity, she'd never spent much time in DC. Her husband frowned when he heard her say that, determining to show her around the area, to at least start on this visit.
Back at the house, the older adults along with Bec and Geordie grinned when they found their siblings and friends lined up, wearing their name tags. The children, also wearing their name tags, were in front of them or in their parents' arms and Bec grinned, deciding that Mia and Brian would likely be more comfortable if they met their new cousins first.
Accordingly, Brian and Mia met the children first, smiling at the hugs they were given as well as the 'welcome' each of the children who were of speaking age said to them. They were surprised when Jasper, Chloe and Liam told them they had also been fosters as had Naomi and Ava, who were currently visiting their papa's grandparents in Arizona.
After that, each child or group of children introduced the parents, Brian and Mia's new aunts and uncles. The four children of Tim and Artie grouped together to introduce their parents and Geordie looked at Bec, smiling in approval. It would be easier for their two to remember who belonged to which set of parents this way.
The elders who hadn't gone to the airfield were also introduced, giving each of the children a warm hug. Brian and Mia never stopped smiling, they knew they'd have cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, they hadn't realized some of the uncles were as old as their new great-grandparents and they liked that.
In Wenatchee during the summer there were older people at the library, telling stories about their lives, how things were when they were young and reading stories to the younger children, although all the kids were welcome to listen. That had been interesting and fun and both children now looked at each other, happy they wouldn't have to give that up!
They'd waited dinner and after Geordie and Bec showed the children their rooms upstairs, including where they'd be, between the children's rooms, and where the bathrooms were, they washed their faces and returned to the first floor, following their noses. The delicious hot soup helped finish warming them up and the dinner that followed was also delicious. As the eldest grandchildren, the twins explained it was one of their favorite dishes and they'd asked for it tonight especially for their new cousins. Neither child was especially fond of vegetables but when they saw the other children digging in to their cooked carrots, each quietly decided to be brave and try a bite. To their amazement, the carrots were soft and delicious, not crunchy and well, not very good, that they were used to. They tried the salad too, thinking it was a different kind of lettuce. When their plates were empty, Liam leaned in, "Did you like the spinach salad? Aunt Sarah made it, she loves to make yummy salads and puts crunchy things in them. Uncle Bill also makes chopped salads, we might have one of those pretty soon."
Brian was so surprised, he said, "That was spinach? But it tasted good, not all…" Abruptly he shut his mouth, not wanting to sound like he was complaining about Mrs. Spenser's cooking.
Beside him, his new dad patted his shoulder, "That's all right, son, we've all learned about good food and good cooking in the last few years." He looked at his Baltimore siblings, "Much better than we had growing up, right?"
Agreeing, they raised their glasses, joined by everyone else, in salute to their cooks of the day and Brian relaxed again.
With their long day and Bec and Geordie's long weekend, the four of them said goodnight and went up to their rooms after being shooed away from helping with the cleanup. Tim chuckled at their exhaustion, "Jet lag, no matter in which direction you fly!"
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Early Monday morning, Tim kissed his wife and hugged his dad goodbye as his Uber ride pulled onto the property, the children and his mother weren't yet up. He guessed they'd really worn the kids out playing in the snow. Laughing to himself, he admitted he was also tired!
After having been in the office for a few hours last week, it didn't feel quite as strange this week, although he saw several people who hadn't been around last week. Greeting or nodding to them, he hurried up the stairs to the Director's suite.
Greeting Pamela, she smiled happily at him, "It's so great you're still here! Go on in, he's got freshly brewed coffee for you."
"Coffee, yay and thanks!"
"Not me, thank him! He says he knows how you drink it now."
Tim wasn't sure he knew what that meant, he didn't think he'd changed how he took his coffee since the early 2000s. Shrugging, he went on in, smiling at his boss and friend.
"Good morning, sir!"
"Good morning, Timothy. Geo, Bec and the new kids get home all right?"
"Yes, their flight was on time and all three of their grandparents and two of their great-grandparents were there to greet them." Tim chuckled, "They met everyone, we all wore name tags, then had dinner and the four of them disappeared upstairs, they could barely keep their eyes open!"
"I bet, not a long flight but stressful, gaining new parents and all of you. So, what did you want to talk about?"
"I've added something, an idea I had but I think my first item will be a quicker deal."
"Go for it."
"Artie and Bill will be through with their current project in April. What I want to do is what we did last summer, live and work in Greece, borrowing an Embassy office again. The twins will be able to attend classes either in Varkiza or an International School in Athens and there is a day care in Varkiza that Liam and Chloe can go to."
"So, in essence you'll be moving to Greece for a few months?"
"Yes sir. We'll live with my in-laws in Varkiza and if there are storms as nasty as last winter, we'll take refuge in the commercial business building down the street from our property."
"You'll drive to and from the embassy?"
"Yes, a rental which I'll pay for."
"Except when you're visiting the Piraeus office."
Tim nodded and Leon nodded, "That's fine by me, everything went well last summer. What about Jardine?"
"I decided not to say anything to her until I'd spoken to you but my impression is that she would be interested in doing that as well."
"So four months, then?"
"Yes, sir and then we'll have the Easter break, both Jardine and I have scheduled a week off."
"Ah, visitors?"
"Hope so!"
"That's fine, Tim. I trust both of you and as I said, you did well last summer." He tilted his head, "Have you set a date for starting construction on your own property?"
Tim waggled his hand. "We've gone back and forth on it. Currently our thought is to start in January of 2016, a year from now, to get the preliminary work done. Then they'll stop work in May or June, depending on the heat and start again in the autumn when the temperatures have cooled down enough that the crew can work whole days and not have to start at dawn. That way, at least the main house will be done by late spring, early summer of 2017. That is, of course, subject to the weather and crew availability." He added, "They've already done some work on our site, while waiting for materials, or various building items to set, that kind of thing. Our caretaker has already begun planting summer crops in the greenhouses he's installed on the middle property, along with dozens of raised beds for more food crops and several large containers for fruit, nut and trees that Bec has planned. Artemis and Bill plan to get more of the foundation in for the garage building this winter, which will be a big help."
Vance shook his head, "That's an immense project!"
Tim closed his eyes, chuckling, "Oh yes! I confess I'm still not entirely sure what would go where or how but I trust my wife and brother and I love the designs and plans."
"That your retirement home?"
Laughing again, Tim nodded, "If it's done by then, it's only two decades or so in the future! Again, our current plan is to spend summers in the UK and the rest of the year in Greece, depending on how old the children are and how hot it is everywhere by then."
"Jaxton?"
"Maybe early summer. Right now, we're thinking most of the summer will be in or around Tain."
Leon smiled, "That sounds good to me and I'm looking forward to having our reunions there."
"Not Greece?"
"Too hot, even the Russells are thinking about living elsewhere, at least during the summers."
Tim grinned, "That would be fun if they were in the Highlands!"
"Yeah, it would be and we'll be also be over there by then. So what's your second item?"
Tim told him and Vance nodded, "I have mixed feelings about that but as they are more or less personal, I'll say yes. Are you going to post it?"
"Yes, I'll verify again and then post it. Almost wish we didn't have to."
Vance rolled his eyes at him, "Timothy, you know that legally we have to post. You know what to do. How soon?"
"Not sure yet, the verification will tell me that. I'm 90% certain it will be next month."
"Good, that takes care of one of the concerns I had. The other," Leon asked Tim a question he thought would likely be the first question asked and Tim nodded with a smile, giving the Director an answer that also had him smiling.
With both issues resolved, at least between them, Tim stood to leave, giving his boss a questioning look. Vance huffed, "Sorry, can't say and I'm not quite sure about it anyway. It's less than 24 hours, Tim, think you can stand it?"
Rolling his eyes at his boss, Tim nodded, "I'm glad I'll be busy today."
"You working here or from the house?"
"Here today and at the house after the meeting tomorrow, unless something comes up between now and then."
"So, will you uh…"
Tim laughed, "Yes, Director, today."
"Good because I don't think I'll be able to stand waiting very long."
"Okay, I'm working in your conference room, right?"
"Yes and I'll be very happy for the company! Ms. Cook will be even happier as it means I'll have someone else to talk to when I get…mm, never mind."
Chuckling, Tim left the director's inner sanctum, turning left after passing Pam's desk and heading for the conference room in the back of the room. Watching him leave his office, Vance frowned.
Tim smiled as he entered the conference room, the temperature was perfect, warm enough not to need a sweater while not being warm enough to make him sleepy. Setting up his laptop, he looked at the desktop phone, grinning to himself.
First, he logged onto his laptop smiling at the email answering his earlier question. After that, he answered more of his mail as well as a few phone messages. Needing more coffee, he returned to the outer office, chuckling as he found the coffee maker had moved there from the inner office.
Looking at the activity happening with the field teams here, he finally dialed the extension he'd been itching to dial since he left his boss's office. Making a date for lunch, he looked at the time, 10:30. Good, only an hour to wait!
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
At the Arlington house, Brian and Mia were being given a Grand Tour of the house including the upstairs as well as Poppy and Grama's suite downstairs, learning there were more suites down that hall. Then they went through the enclosed walkway to the pool building, where they could swim later. They were also gawking out the windows at all the trees and snow, that looked like fun. Brian looked at his new dad, "Do you, we, spend every Christmas here?"
Geo chuckled, "We usually alternate between our home in the UK and this place, which is a rental. When we decide to have Christmas here, then we rent it, usually for the month of December and then we leave for home on the 1st or 2nd of January.
"Last year's decision was easy to make because there were two new babies, Donnie and Tommy, over here, and Tommy was born in early December, so his family wouldn't have been able to fly over. Donnie and Madelyn were born in August and October, Maddie lives in London, so she was old enough to fly. Along with the new babies, my sister Ziva and the other Brian got married here the day after Christmas and my brother Tim had a special ceremony in early January so we stayed longer. Next year we might stay in Jaxton."
Brian's eyes had gotten wider and wider as Geo explained and now he shook his head, "That's a lot of things happening at Christmas! I didn't know you could rent a whole house for a month or weeks."
"Not all rental properties can be, but no one lives in this one all the time, so it's rented out to people who might be visiting the area or visiting family, working here for a few months or staying until they find their own place. When we come here for Christmas, we often find food in the freezer, left behind by other people, with the date it was left so we'll know if it's okay to eat. One year we were here for Thanksgiving and bought pots, pans and dishes, leaving most of it here. The next year, we were here for Christmas and found notes thanking "whoever" added the pots, pans and dishes. So we know other people stay here and we even think some of them are returnees, like us coming back every year or so. The same brand of peanut butter, jelly and frozen food has been here a few times and we think that's one family who likes those brands. We've also found notes under the coffee cups from other renters to the next renters."
Brian laughed, that was funny and, chuckling, his dad agreed.
Mia and Brian also laughed at the snow people they saw, noticing what looked like the beginnings of 2 more snow people, grinning when their new mom told them the new snow people were for them. She said they would wait to go out until afternoon when it was warmer, that this morning they could swim or read or do whatever they wanted to do.
Mia looked at her mom, "Have you stayed here before?"
Beside her, Brian and his dad looked at each other with smiles, while Bec grinned, nodding, "Yes, we've stayed here several times, I think this is stay number 5 or 6, I've lost track. It's the only house we've found that is big enough for most of our family. This year, some of the family stayed at Granducky's house, although those are people who don't normally join us at Christmas. We'll continue renting it for the holidays we're over here. The house we live in outside London is large enough for the whole family so next December, we'll have Christmas there and you'll see how everyone fits. Now, this year, we're flying home on New Year's night. We won't leave until about 9 PM, so we'll probably sleep most of the way and it will be morning when we arrive in London.
"We'll have to go through Customs and Passport Control there, that's one place, you two and your dad and I will be together and we have all your paperwork. You'll answer some questions and they will probably look in your suitcases, that's a regular thing for them. When we're all done with that, a big bus, like a big school bus, only more comfortable, will transport us from the airport to a house in the city of London where Uncle Tony, Aunt Maggie, your cousins MacKenna and Madelyn live, along with their grandfather, Papi and possibly Yaya Sophia. I'm not sure if she's going with them or coming home with us for a visit, she lives in Athens, Greece but spends a lot of time with Papi." She smiled, "They're sweethearts. I'm not sure if your uncle Rob will also be dropped off in London, it depends on his work schedule. He has his own apartment, which is called a 'flat' there, but if he doesn't have to work for a few days, he'll probably come home with us."
"How long does it take to get to Jaxton from London?" Brian was proud that he remembered the names of the towns and his new mother patted him on the shoulder.
"Good job with the names! It takes about 20 minutes. When we get to Jaxton, the grown men, including your dad, will form a line to pass all the luggage from the bus into the house. When you're older you can help with that but not yet. The four of us are going to live on the ground floor. We'll have three bedrooms and will pick them out when we get home. They all have beds, dressers, closets in them already. Once you see the rooms, you and Mia can pick the ones you want."
"Do all the kids live downstairs?"
"Yes, they do. However, your aunt Sarah and uncle James are having a baby in April and they live on the third floor and want to stay up there. Mr. George and Mrs. Edie also have a room up there. They are your uncle James' parents and don't live with us all the time, they have a house about 3 hours away by train. But they like our family and spend a lot of time with us, which we also like!" She leaned in, "Sometimes they even babysit the children, even though they're not related!"
Mia grinned, "That's nice! Are they fun?"
"Oh yes, they are lots of fun."
"What about all the grandpas and uncles?"
"The grandpas and older uncles also live on the same floor we'll be on, we'll show you. You know, I think someone has photos of the rooms right after everyone moved in, I'll ask your grama if she knows who has them."
"What about the people who stay in the US?"
"Those people are Uncle Jose, Aunt Char, their little boy Tommy, Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Breena and their little boy Donnie, Uncle Freddie, Aunt Abby and Abby's niece Menolly. Menolly's parents live in another state and Abby teaches at a school that Menolly wanted to go to, so she lives with Freddie and Abby. She's spending Christmas with her parents, I don't know if she'll be back before we leave. Aunt Ziva and Uncle Brian live in New York City. They weren't able to join us in Greece last summer so we hope they'll be able to come in April."
Mia looked confused, "What's Greece?"
"It's a country in Europe, sweetie. Mimi, Yaya Sophia, Aunt Artemis and another aunt you haven't met yet were born there. We have a big family gathering there every year. Mimi still lives there."
"Does Granducky live with Mimi?"
"Yes, they live in Greece, Scotland, which is another country, and here in the US. Your uncle Jimmy is Granducky's son."
"Oh."
Bec hugged both of them, "That's more than enough for today! It'll be easier for you when you see all this happening and get to know everyone. Please don't worry about it!"
Brian nodded, deciding that was a good idea. Then he realized, "There's an uncle with the same name as me?"
"Yes, Uncle Brian who is married to Aunt Ziva. We'll figure something out, don't worry!"
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Breena was at the Arlington house with Donnie, sitting in the pool room with her mother-in-law Malu, her second father-in-law, that is Jimmy's second dad Jethro, Char, Tommy, Artemis and her four. Mimi had called earlier, saying she and Don were staying home today and hoped that Breena, Jimmy and Donnie would come for dinner tomorrow night.
Relieved that her father-in-law was getting some rest, Breena happily accepted, with the usual caveat regarding Jimmy's work, asking what she could bring. The answer was just themselves.
When her phone chimed with a call, she looked at the ID, smiling, asking Char to watch Donnie for a few minutes. Char nodded with a smile and Breena left the pool room, glad she hadn't been swimming yet, heading into the house. Finding the family room empty, she ducked in there, telling Jimmy she was alone now.
She heard the excitement in his voice, "Breena, wow, I still can't believe this!"
"What, sweetie? You sound excited and happy."
"I am and I hope you will be." Breena heard him take another breath. "I had lunch out with Tim today and he offered me a job in London, the lead Medical Examiner's spot. The current one is leaving and Tim thought we might be interested."
"Oh my gosh, Jimmy, that's wonderful! Is it a limited time job?"
"Not limited, no. However, if we say yes we'll be committing to three years there, so the agency will recoup the cost of the transfer although Tim says the 3 years is also to discourage people from office-hopping. We'll have 60 days temporary housing while we look for a place or we can move into the Jaxton house. The agency pays for our flights, everything but what we need every day, like clothes and diapers, will be moved for us. The tube runs 24/7 so I can take it home if I have to work late and oh, there's so much more to tell you!"
"So someone's leaving?"
"Yes, the Senior ME gave 60 days' notice the other day, so we have a little bit of time to make a decision."
"Jimmy, you worked so hard to be the Chief Medical Officer at Headquarters. Are you sure you want to give that up?"
"The great thing is, that will always be in my records and if we want to return at some future date and the job is available, I would stand a good chance of getting it again. Tim says I'll be the CMO for NCIS Europe.
"More importantly, Bree, this feels like the chance of a lifetime, to live in another country, especially one that we've been to and like, that speaks the same language with a few differences and where we can raise our children without the violence we have here. And we can travel in Europe! We can go to Paris for the weekend or go visit Joe's family in Switzerland! How are you feeling about it?"
She laughed, "Yes, Jimmy, absolutely yes! This will help your dad, he won't feel obligated to cross the Atlantic every few months, we can visit them in Scotland and Greece as well as live with them in Jaxton. I can't wait to tell my mother! Mom will be upset although they're usually too busy to see us and they can afford to visit."
"And Ed?"
Breena shook her head, "How soon can we leave? Maybe I'll call them on the way to the airport or as we're waiting to board."
"Breena Rebecca Mallard! We are adults and we are not running away. Maybe the night before?"
She laughed, "All right, we'll figure something out. So, really, how soon do we need to be there? We can be packed and ready to go by New Year's."
"Uh, wow. You know it's also cold there. Oh, the baby. You're right, we need to get over there soon before the doctors decide to ground you."
"Yes. Jimmy, what about health insurance?"
"We'll still have insurance through the agency. Tim says it isn't their National Health insurance but whatever it's called works very well. He gave me several brochures about various things. And please don't forget that your husband, brother-in-law and father-in-law are doctors."
"Do we pay taxes here or there?"
"There's some sort of deal so we aren't double taxed, we continue to pay the IRS. Tim says he also has information about that but it's at home."
"Oh, Jimmy, I can't wait to live in that beautiful house with the indoor pool and the huge back yard, I mean back garden, with the animals! Donnie and Baby are going to love it there, with their grandparents, cousins, aunties and uncles!"
"I thought about that, Tim says they rotate taking care of each other's children, so if Bill and Artie want time away, Jasper stays with them and if Tim and Artie want time away, well I guess Mom, Dad and everyone else pitches in for the four of them. So we'll be able to spend a couple of days away without worrying about our children."
"Yay! We'll have to learn how to drive on the other side of the road."
"Yes, Tim says James, Sarah and Artie taught them and that it didn't take long to get used to."
"Yes, love, let's do this! And I'm serious about leaving with the others, it'll be much easier for us."
"That's in 3 days!"
"But it's not everything, sweetie. Our clothes, Donnie's crib, the bassinet for the baby, whatever else we have left over from Donnie's infancy. We can stay in Jaxton until everything arrives. By that time we might know whether we want to live there or find our own place." She had a sudden thought and frowned, "Honey, what about a replacement for you?"
"Tim said he has an idea he's already shared with Director Vance, that it is not my responsibility and not to worry about it. Wouldn't tell me who or what yet. I'm going to call him now, before he leaves for the day."
"All right, love you and YAY!"
Laughing, Jimmy made a kissing sound before disconnecting.