Ch 25: The Twins are Five, Tony's Help, Tim's Story, Saying Goodbye, Looking for Another Home
In the two weeks between Mr. Dorneget's death and his service, the twins' fifth birthday was celebrated. They had a wonderful time with their cousins along with their new school and after-school daycare friends. Tim and Artie were happy as well as somewhat shocked that their babies were now 5! They were proud of them, proud of all four of their children and credited it to them having gone from babyhood to toddlers to preschoolers and now school-age children in a large, loving family, used to accepting new uncles, aunts and cousins, whether they were new babies or 'older' kids like their newest cousins Brian and Mia.
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After Vance's call asking him for help in tracking down one of the people who'd hurt Tim, Tony had contacted the head of their Security force who accepted the assignment.
After disconnecting, he told Maggie, the two of them relieved that he was involved and able to help his brother. As Maggie said to her mother-in-law, Tony had been 'fretting' at being unable to do anything to help Tim. When Lu pointed out the use of the Paddingtons' security forces, Maggie made a face, saying, "Yes, he counts that as helping but it's not personally helping Tim."
While they waited for news, he, Maggie, Dick and the girls had dinner with the Gibbses, including most of the family still in Varkiza.
After a delicious dinner, most of the adults adjourned to the living room of Tim and Artie's place. Tony made the mistake of looking at his dad and when his father raised an eyebrow, Tony sighed, tilting his head, "Vance called, telling us about some old case, asked me to consult."
Tim nodded, "Charlie, Peter, Rhode, Bill, Nikki, Maggie, Tony, Dick, let's talk about it tonight."
Chloe paused while clearing the table, making a face, "Daddy, we can't know?"
"Not yet, sweetie. We'll tell you when all the work is done."
Young Jack, also on clearing duty, frowned, "Are you working on a bad thing, Daddy?" Next to him, Liam stopped to listen.
"No but I did years ago and now your Uncle Leon wants to make sure we're all safe. There were some things that didn't happen before and they're going to happen now, bad guys being arrested."
"Good!"
Ellanne came in from the kitchen, looking worried, "Daddy, who's working on it if you're not there?"
"A really good agent in the United States, some of the people you know from my teams and some people I've never met."
Liam's eyes grew wide, "That's a lot of people!"
Tim smiled, "It is, son, and this time it's important to make sure they have all the bad guys."
With a smile, Artie changed the subject and within minutes the clearing up was done and a movie was selected to play in the den.
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Tim and their dad were just walking in from the kitchen, having finished putting the clean dishes away when Tony reappeared. He looked at his brother, "Tim, please, now will you tell us?"
Tim stopped to consider. The children were in the den watching a movie that had just started so it should be all right. He nodded, "Yes, Tony. Maggie, Bill, Peter, Rhode, Dick, Jack, Mac, Uncle LJ, is that all right with you?"
LJ nodded as he stood and kissed Tim on the head before returning to his recliner, which made Dick's frown deepen, although he nodded his agreement. Peter believed he knew most of the story but stayed to support his son-in-law. Artie sat on one side of Tim with Jethro on the other side of him.
Tony looked around but Tim, guessing who he was looking for said, "The Baltimore siblings, along with Nikki, Ned, and Bec already know. The exceptions are Sarah, James, and probably Jimmy and Breena as I don't want Sarah and Breena to worry. I'll tell Abby later, unless Fred's already told her. Ducky and Athena also know. As I said, I really don't want to worry Sarah or Breena which means James and Jimmy shouldn't know, don't want to add to their stress either."
Lu sat next to Tony, knowing he might need some comfort. She'd known what Tim was about to tell them since one of Tim's first few nights at the shelter, staying there along with little Sarah, Rob and Rob's mother, Ellen Brill who was the kids' shelter mother. That was probably one of the few times Ellen stayed all night and was definitely the only time she ever showed concern for any of the three children, including her own son.
When Tim had a nightmare during their third night at the shelter, Ellen woke and managed to wake him. One of the other mothers had also wakened and said she'd keep an eye on Sarah and Rob as well as their belongings. As was the custom, Ellen carried her pack and helped Tim with his belongings as they walked out to the main room. Lu was on duty that night and hearing the two, took one look at Tim and brought out her personal bottle of pink digestive liquid. Pouring a dose into a clean glass, she watched Tim drink it and then sat with him and Ellen at one of the tables. Ellen promptly put her head down on the table and went back to sleep while Lu pulled Tim into her arms and cuddled him. She shook her head. He was extraordinarily small for a child who had recently turned 10. Asking about the nightmare, he told her as much as he could remember of his life. When he said his stomach was better and he was sleepy again, he washed up and then they woke Ellen and the two of them went back to the sleeping area.
Now, decades later, she sat listening to her son. He tried to leave out the details of his captivity, including what had been done to him, but no one was having any of that. So he told them what he remembered, losing his sight, his hair disappearing, being unable to walk, having stitches, large bandages and scars appearing, waking up and finding that days or even weeks had disappeared, finding himself in a new house without any warning, the mystery rash that appeared and disappeared.
He also spoke about his helper, Ken, and how he'd eventually realized that when Ken said he had to leave, it meant they were going to do something to him again. He talked about the backyards he remembered playing in, Ken teaching him the periodic tables, Lu, Artie and Jethro sat up straight at that, looking at each other. That was new and Jethro stopped him and had him say it again, this time recording him and then sending the recording to Vance.
Eventually, Tim finished and sagged back into the sofa he was sitting on, exhausted. Tony, Dick and Charlie were crying while Peter hoped he never had to hear it all again and Bill was nauseous.
When Tim said all the Baltimore siblings knew, he'd forgotten that they'd known some of the story but had never heard all of the details. Tony thought he would never have believed he could be so happy about a kid being placed in foster care or escaping to a homeless camp!
When Dick asked Tim if he'd ever heard from Chris, the teen boy on the bus, Lu, Tim and Bill smiled, remembering. Tim graduated from high school at 13, although it was only a couple of weeks before his 14th birthday. He'd skipped a few grades and graduated with Geordie, Freddie, Joe and Barry and the rest of their class.
When Tim looked a question at Bill, he managed to smile, nodding at his younger brother, relieved to share a happy part of his brother's story.
Bill looked at the others, "Dick, yes, Tim did see Chris again, in fact we all did. Tim graduated from high school in the same class as Joe, Freddie, Barry and Geordie. A couple of days before their graduation and the parties we had planned, I was in a grocery store near where I lived when a man about my age walked up to me, asking if I knew Tim McGee. I asked the guy's name and the man said he was Chris, the guy who rode the bus across country with Tim when he was 9. I knew what had happened, we all liked hearing how Tim met Sarah and how much money his new friend had given him.
"Anyway, the man told me enough of the story that I thought this guy could be the real Chris. When he wanted to see Tim, I drove him to the camp and then watched as he walked right up behind Tim, without anyone pointing him out, and tapped him on the shoulder, saying, "Hey little brother, I hear you've finished high school!"
"Tim whirled around and from the look on his face, I knew this was really Tim's Chris. You have to realize that with the lives we led as homeless orphans and as young and scared as my brothers and sister were, and I should include myself in that, even though I had a job and a place to live I never stopped worrying that all the good things would disappear. Anyway, over the years this guy Chris had attained nearly magical or guardian angel status with them and I was perfectly willing to go along with their beliefs. Sometimes those beliefs were all that kept them, us, going, that somehow some magical or religious thing would happen to help them. While the Potter books came out later, there were other books about magical kids, I remember "Books of Magic" by Neil Gaman and "Wizard's Hall" by Jane Yolen. Tim would find books about magic happening to kids at the library and read them to the others and me if I happened to be visiting. A few times, the 8 of us spent the night or even a weekend at Ms. Lu's house and we took turns reading aloud then.
"So that was how we viewed Chris and yes, he stayed for the graduation. It was an outdoor ceremony held on the football field so the graduates didn't have to limit their guests. Chris sat with Malu, Rob, Sarah and me along with the Jamisons, Duarte Silva, his uncle, Mrs. Hoover and Linda Mac from the elementary school and the day care center." He smiled, "I didn't know Tim, Sarah or Rob yet when I graduated from high school but I remember how great it felt to have people cheering and applauding for me and that day the 5 smiled just as happily as I had at my graduation. Chris stayed over, going to both of their graduation parties, one at the shelter, the other at the camp."
He smiled at Tim, who took up the story. "Chris left a few days later. Rob and Sarah stayed with Geordie and the others, including Bill, in the guys' tent, along with our belongings, while I walked my friend to the bus depot. After exchanging hugs, I went back to the camp and we sat around talking about Chris for a long time. It felt good when everyone agreed that he did seem somewhat like a guardian angel or what little we knew about guardian angels, which was mostly from watching the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" at the shelter every Christmas.
"As Freddie said at the time, "He isn't God because then he would take you away from here and we'd go with you. But a guardian angel who's allowed to help, yeah." I wasn't sure I believed in either God or magic but Chris was definitely unusual.
"Later that night as I reached into my case for something, I found a note from Chris, wishing me well and saying he'd see me again sometime. The note was attached to a photo of us, Chris and me, on the bus. I didn't remember anyone taking a photo of us or of Chris having a camera and the bus ride occurred years before cell phone cameras but I shrugged it off. I eventually had the photo framed and it's on a bookshelf in my home office."
When Tony later asked if he'd seen Chris since the graduation, Tim shook his head, "No."
"Do you know his last name?"
Tim smiled, "No. When you're escaping from something as I was, you either give a phony name or you don't share. I didn't even know Bill's last name until we returned from Cambridge and by then he was using Camilo."
"I can't imagine you being called anything but Tim or Timothy. It's the perfect name for you."
"Thanks, Tony."
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When Tony received the call from the Security Chief with the information the task force needed, he immediately contacted Agent Roger Martinez in Marseilles, the retired SSA who'd volunteered to manage the team and office while Ned was away. After Tony also contacted Leon, he was surprised to have a call from Pete Russell, who invited him to their office to watch the take-down.
The drive to Piraeus didn't take long and Tony nodded to Pete who opened the door to the office. After greeting the Athens team, most of whom he knew from their visits to the beach in Varkiza, he was asked how he'd found the 'bad guy'. He opened his mouth to answer as their MTAC screen opened and Special Agent Jeff Andreson appeared from his location in San Diego, California. He grinned at the former Agent DiNozzo. "Yes, how did you find him?"
With a feral smile, Tony held up a piece of paper. "I spoke with a contact at the US Embassy in London. He ran a scan on the name and found a written note on a Customs record that your guy has multiple passports. That helped us find him. He's here in Europe as you thought. The embassy contact also told me the man's name was directly translatable into German and it turns out that is how he's been hiding for so long. He uses the German version of his American name and is traveling under a EU passport, he either has dual citizenship in the US and an EU member country, or it's a phony passport. Once we had the name, my contacts found him and are now keeping him under surveillance pending your instructions."
"Do they have the authority to arrest him?"
"No, they're a security firm. However, we have an office, excuse me, your closest NCIS office is in Marseille, less than 20 miles from his location. I've already given a head's up to Agent Martinez. I checked your regulations and we're not allowed to transport him on my company's aircraft."
Agent Andreson huffed, "We'll find a government flight! Thanks so much! You're staying for the takedown, right?"
Tony nodded with a grin, "Oh yeah."
He sat drinking a cup of coffee with Pete's team while Andreson called the Marseille team lead and arranged for the arrest of one William Carpenter, also known in the EU as Wilhelm Zimmermann.
In Marseille, Roger Martinez said they'd wear jacket and cap cameras so they could watch the takedown. Jeff notified his SAC and Director Vance.
After the excitement of finally locating 'Ken', they waited and while they did, the Athens team did some of their paper work. Tony had to keep his laughter to himself, remembering the drudgery of the seemingly endless paper work. Occasionally one of them asked Tony questions about his days at NCIS.
Tony thought about that later. When he and his former teammates talked about their work these days, somehow they managed to slide over the grueling parts of it, the out of town cases that sometimes kept them away from home for days, the reluctant or even hostile witnesses, searching for evidence in all kinds of nasty places, the fire fights and outright battles they occasionally had with the bad guys, along with the seemingly endless, although necessary, paperwork and all the other unpleasant things. He huffed to himself, he hadn't thought about his bout with the plague and pneumonia in years and that was just as well.
While the four of them had been and still were proud of their work, they also acknowledged to each other that although leaving the MCRT hadn't been their choice, they were very happy with their current lives, especially once the team, always including Ducky, Jimmy and Abby, had reconnected.
When he made an amused noise as someone sighed over a forgotten form, Pete looked up with a grin, "Miss this?"
"The paperwork? Mmm, can't say that I do. Although I am responsible for reports in my current job, I delegate them and then write a summary."
One of the newer agents looked up, "What do you do now?"
Tony grinned, "I'm vice president of Paddington North Sea Oil Company."
That caused several eyebrows to raise while Pete laughed at their reaction, finally saying, "You never know what's going to happen when you join NCIS! Tony's a vice president of a multi-million dollar company, Tim's an SAC, Ziva, that's Ziva David, is part-owner and director of a ballet school, and Gibbs, their SSA, went from a widower and a 3-times ex-husband to happily married and dad to 12 adults and grandfather to, how many, Tony?"
"There are currently 12, with 2 more due in April." He grinned at Pete, "And between us 12 adults and our partners, there will be more to come."
The agents returned to their reports while Tony played Tetris on his phone (some things hadn't changed!) and Pete reviewed the reports his SFA sent him.
They'd been told it would take about two hours to reach the man's location, as they first had to apply for an arrest warrant with extradition and then wait to receive it. Then there was also the traffic, although it was past commute hours in that part of France. When the Marseille team reached the town where Carpenter/Zimmermann was staying, the local police would be notified and the NCIS team would have copies of the warrants for them.
Although to those who were waiting the time felt far longer than two hours, in real time the Marseille team was in place in less than 90 minutes. In San Diego, Washington, D.C., Marseille and Piraeus, laptop and phone screens suddenly came to life with images of a hotel corridor as the team entered the building, stopping briefly in the lobby and then moving up the stairs toward the man's room.
One of the agents knocked on the door with the man's room number on it, identifying himself as a US Federal Agent. As the door opened, the screens split, with one side showing the image as seen by someone wearing an NCIS cap with a camera attached and the other showing the image as seen by someone wearing a camera a little lower, probably on their NCIS jacket.
Nearly everyone watching held their breaths as a man with grey hair, beard and brown eyes slowly opened the door. He stood for a few seconds, looking puzzled before speaking in German, "Yes, may I help you?"
One of the agents fluent in German spoke, identifying himself before saying their suspect's American name in English and then his German name and the rest of his question in German, "Sir, are you William Carpenter, also known as Wilhelm Zimmermann?"
The man closed his eyes, sighed and nodded as he said, this time in English, "Yes, I am William Carpenter."
Within minutes, they'd read him his rights while he made no effort to resist. Those watching were relieved as he was placed in the NCIS van to be driven to Marseille. The local police left when the NCIS team did, having already satisfied their curiosity about the arrested man. He was not a citizen of France. They only suggested the Americans make sure their bad guy had paid his hotel bill. Special Agent Martinez told them they'd checked that before going to his room, it was paid in full.
While the takedown was in progress, the Marseille office manager found room on a US government flight leaving later that evening from Marseille. It was a CIA flight and they could assign custody to one or more of the CIA agents who would be on the flight. When Martinez sent a text with the information to Director Vance, asking how they should proceed, Vance made a quick call to CIA Director Beau McKinley and that helped his decision.
As the European NCIS field teams were almost always stretched thin, Director Vance opted to have the Marseille team sign custody over to the CIA agents recommended by Director McKinley, rather than have two NCIS agents make the long flights to and from the US.
The CIA flight would land at a secured airfield near DC where the CIA agents would sign custody of Carpenter back over to NCIS agent Jim O'Brien and his Senior Field Agent, who would tuck him away in NCIS' holding cell for the night. The following morning they would escort him to San Diego on the NCIS jet. Toddler Tim's caregiver 'Ken' would finally be interrogated and formally charged at the Southwest office.
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During the days prior to his grandfather's memorial service, Ned met with the temporary SAC at MCW and was relieved to be told that they had plenty of work for him to do and that he could come and go as he wished, she understood his grandmother needed help dealing with everything.
Checking by email with Ned as to his planned work schedule for the following days, Tim then made an appointment to meet with the woman who was filling in for him at MCW. His meeting was for a day when Ned would not be at the office.
As planned, Tim met with the Marine Corps West Field Office's current SAC the afternoon of the day they arrived, liking her no-nonsense approach as well as her sense of humor. She was glad to meet him, saying she looked forward to seeing him again when he was through with 'everything'. Having already looked up her record prior to her early retirement, Tim was satisfied that she would do a good job and had a similar work ethic to his.
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Although it felt and sounded ghoulish to even mention or think about it, a bright side of the family attending Walt's service was that it gave Tim, Artie and his parents a chance to view in person the residential hotel they might be able to live in during Tim's 2-3 year 'special assignment'. The hotel was north of San Diego in a town called Playa Vieja, which translated to Old Beach.
In those busy days between Walter's death and the arrival of various family members for his service, Tim contacted their relocation agent, explaining that he, his wife and many of their large family would be in Arizona for a memorial service in early February and he and his wife hoped the two of them and probably Tim's parents would be able to tour the residential hotel north of San Diego.
Tim didn't mention that even though he would be in the Southwest US, he wouldn't be able to attend the service in person. There would be too many people and too much activity to take the chance. Instead, with the approval of his security teams and the lead investigator into his past, Special Agent Jeff Andreson, he would stay at the hotel in San Diego and watch via Skype. Tim's individual Skype call for the service would be recorded and saved by NCIS.
There were others in their family who weren't making the transatlantic trip, they would also watch via Skype, although through their home connections. That list included Sarah and James, the former Palmers, now the junior Mallards, and most of the Greek family. Artemis, Athena and Sophia would be at the service in person to represent the Greek families within the larger family.
The relocation agent contacted Tim early the next day, saying the local agent would be happy to walk them through, they had permission from the owners and had asked if the rest of the family would like a virtual tour.
Tim asked those he thought might be interested in a tour, physically or via Skype: his parents, Rob, Geo and Bec, all three of his grandfathers, Uncle LJ, Cousin Richard, Ben Childers, Uncle Charlie and Tricia, Athena, Peter, Rhode, Sophia, Dick, Tony, Maggie, Joe, Char, Freddie, Abby and the Porters. All of them said yes.
Those who were at home in Europe added the virtual tour to their schedules while those who would still be either in Arizona or southern California made plans to be on site or watch either via Skype or FaceTime through their smart phones.
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The service for Walter Dorneget was lovely, with many stories told and memories shared. A contingent of World War II veterans attended, one of them told Margaret he'd known Walt during the war and remembered how happy he'd been when he met her, saying he'd met the girl he was going to marry. Jackson and LJ were glad they'd decided to come. While it was a sad occasion, it also felt good to be with people who'd fought in the same war, whether on the ground, in the air like the two of them or at sea as well as those who worked as support for the various troops.
While Barry and Ned worried a little about their reception, as surrounded as they were by family and friends, being introduced by Margaret to old and new friends and neighbors, they quickly forgot their qualms. As Barry said later, it wouldn't have mattered anyway, they were there for Margaret and to say goodbye to Walter and that was what was important.
Tim watched from his hotel room with Rob who hadn't wanted his brother to be alone. While they watched the service itself, when the images turned to the reception afterward, the two played cards, ordered an extravagant lunch and listened to the bits of conversations they could hear. Occasionally one of their family would swing by the laptop for a chat and that was just enough.
While several people would leave for home on Sunday, others had now decided to stay for the virtual or physical tour of the possible newest, albeit temporary, home for part of their family. As Tony and Maggie had decided to stay for the physical tour, neither minded arranging the second flight for the family, amending the passenger lists.
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Tiring of watching the reception and playing cards, Tim and Rob found the contact information for the realtor in CA who would give them the tour Sunday morning and Tim pinged her from his laptop.
The woman smiled as she answered, "Hello, Gibbses! Are you ready for your tour tomorrow?"
"Yes, we are. I'm excited about it." Tim gestured to Rob, "This is my brother Rob Gibbs and I'm Timothy Gibbs. We're currently in San Diego while many of our family are attending the memorial service of a senior family member near Phoenix. As we were unable to be there, we thought we'd take the opportunity to speak with you. We have a large family to house and thought we'd better get going with this, even if we aren't moving over until late August!"
"Thank you for the explanation, I'm sorry for the loss of your family member. What a wonderful thing that many of you have been able to come to say goodbye. And yes, starting your search now is smart, especially for a large group. Did you like what you heard about the house and property?"
"Yes and depending on the size and condition, it sounds good for what we'll need. My wife and I, our children, Rob here and our parents aren't leaving for home, which is currently Athens, until Monday evening. Just about everyone else, and there are close to 40 of us here right now, will leave for home Sunday evening."
"And everyone lives in Europe?"
"No, we also have family here from San Francisco, New York City, Massachusetts and Maryland. One of our sisters and one of our sisters in-law are pregnant, both due in April and are at home in the UK, with their husbands and our sister's in-laws as well as my wife's sister's in-laws, who are there to lend a hand if necessary. No one connected with them, especially our parents, wants to be away any longer than necessary."
Rob chuckled at the look on the woman's face, "Don't try to figure us out, please, you'll get a headache. We currently have 54 people in our group of families."
Tim nodded, "As Rob says, we're essentially a group of families who've grown into one large family."
"Thank you, that helps! All right, so how many people will be physically available for our walk through of the property?"
"Rob and I have figured about 20. I don't know how many will actually live with us as it's only for 2 to 3 years, but we hope to host the family's Christmas celebrations here so we'll need many guest rooms."
"And the total number for that would be 54?"
Rob tilted his head, saying, "We should probably round that up to 60."
Tim nodded, "And, I don't know if you can tell over Skype, but we have 5 men in the family who are quite tall, including Rob here who is one of the tallest. We have 2 who are 6'5", that's Rob and another brother, then 2 who are 6'4" and 1 who is 6'3". Two more of us are close to 6'2", so we need tall doorways, ceilings, showers and large bedrooms. In addition to needing the height, our longer beds take up more space."
She nodded, "All right. The hotel closed during the recession but was updated shortly before everything fell apart so we should be all right for the heights of everything and the rooms are all spacious. Now, Rob, will you be one of those viewing the place tomorrow?"
"Yes and as Tim said I'm one of the tallest, so that works out well. We also wanted to know if it's all right if we record our tour for those who can't be here."
"Thank you, I'll ask the owners. I can tell you more about the place now, if you'd like?"
When both men nodded, she told them the property was 6 ½ acres and sat on bedrock with an elevation of almost 1000 feet above the ocean. Smiling, she told them that one acre bordered the ocean, although there was no beach and the acre itself was fenced off from the rest of the property. "Basically, the owners bought that acre to prevent anyone else from building on it, to keep track of erosion and then built the fence to prevent guests from wandering out on it. While it's lovely to look at it is very dangerous to walk on. As I said, there's no beach at the bottom of the rock, just rock. However, there is a lovely beach in less than 5 minutes' drive.
"The rest of the property is also fenced with an alarm, to keep the deer and their predators out as well as human trespassers. There is a caretaker who lives on site and he also takes care of the gardens."
Tim and Rob grinned at each other, Tim telling the agent, "My wife and I own property in Greece, 2 lots next to each other, with a 3rd lot at the end of the street owned by someone else; there are only 3 lots on the street. My wife is an architect and civil engineer and she and one of our brothers are just finishing building the house on the 3rd lot for our neighbors. When we bought the property and realized it might be a few years before we would build on it, we hired a caretaker who lives on the middle lot. He's also a gardener!"
The agent smiled, "Wonderful, so having a caretaker isn't a new idea. That makes things much easier. He's been there for nearly 20 years and will be able to tell you many things about the property over the years. If I may ask, you've referenced living in the UK and in Greece. Which is your main home?"
Tim shook his head, "Frankly, it depends on the weather and what either my wife or I are doing in our jobs. Since last July, my wife has been working on the neighbors' new home as I said, and we've been traveling back and forth between Greece and the UK. She went back and forth once school started in September, our older twins are in reception, that's kindergarten in the UK, so my wife was flying back and forth, then some weekends we flew out to spend them with her. At some point, I got tired of that and my boss gave me permission to work in Athens rather than London. That was easier. We still went back and forth and then when we were home in the UK, there were nasty storms and we evacuated to Greece. We did that more than once last year.
"It's also quite cold in the UK in winter and there have been years when members of our family have spent winters in Greece, which has a climate somewhat similar to San Diego. And the opposite is true for summer, the UK has in the past had fairly mild summers, with a lot of rain. However, the summers there are also heating up and very few places have any air conditioning. Now that we know what air conditioning does to the environment, not to mention that it isn't cheap to install, people are sweltering with fans, etc.
"Greek summers have traditionally been hot and humid and those temperatures are also climbing with climate change. Whereas we used to head for Greece for weeks in the summer, geez, I'm forgetting important details! My wife is Greek, although she is also a US citizen, and her grandmother, father, stepmother, mother and other family live there and since we moved to Europe in 2010, many of the family have learned to speak the language fairly well.
"Anyway, we used to have an annual family reunion in a beach town near Athens. However, in the past two years, we've moved our reunion to the Highlands of Scotland, where one of our grandfathers owns the house he was raised in. It's on the east coast of Scotland so there are beaches there and tolerable temperatures and that's where we now gather for our annual reunion.
"Currently, for my immediate family, our main home is outside of Athens, in a town called Varkiza where my in-laws live. We rent a vacation home there, we've rented the same place every year since 2010 and this year we've rented it through April as we'll spend the Easter break there. And our children are now attending an international school.
"In England, we live in a small town called Jaxton in the countryside outside London, about 25 minutes out, in a very large house that was formerly a country manor. It's owned by our eldest brother, who inherited it and we rent it from him. I should also mention that we're all adopted, none of us, there are 12 siblings, share DNA.
"Anyway, the house in Jaxton has 4 floors, including a basement with laundry facilities and an indoor pool and we've added an elevator and made several changes to the interior, with my brother's approval of course. Usually there are 23 of us living there, including Rob, although he's a frequent visitor, doesn't actually live there. He's a resident at one of London's premier hospitals so he has a flat near the hospital but likes to come home to sleep, swim, catching up on the family news and eat. "
"23 people in one house!"
Tim and Rob laughed, "We'll show you photos tomorrow."
"How many children in that count?"
Tim had to stop and think about that, "We have 4, Jasper 5, Brian and Mia, 7" he looked at Rob, "Am I missing anyone?"
"I don't think so. Kenna and Maddie live in London, Sarah's baby isn't born yet and Breena and Jimmy aren't moving in until after their baby is born. That will make 10, with little Donnie." Rob looked at the agent, "Our eldest brother and his wife have 2 daughters and our sister-in-law's father lives with them but they're in London.
"Even with 23 people in the house, there are still many rooms available, they fill up at Christmas and during the summers. While Tim and Artemis are here, everyone will come here instead of London." He winced as he said that, shaking his head, "That is, some of our family will come, not all." Then he brightened again, "Our Greek family will be here for Greek Christmases. They celebrate on January 6th. It seems like that's changing now in Greece, to December 25th although I don't think our family will change. I believe that's 16 additional people."
"You have 2 Christmas celebrations?"
When both men nodded, she smiled. Moving on, she asked about anyone with mobility problems and Rob nodded firmly. "Yes, we have several elderly gentlemen who live with us in Jaxton, three grandfathers, our dad's godfather as well as our dad's elderly cousin who visits for months at a time. And although she gets around just fine, Tim's grandmother-in-law, who is also the partner of one of our grandfathers, should forgo stairs if possible. If all of them can be on the main floor as they are in Jaxton, that would be great."
"So that's 5 rooms on the first floor, is that right?"
Tim nodded, "Yes and if there were a few extra for those who become pregnant or have babies, small children, that will be wonderful! I know of one brother and 1 sister who are planning to expand their families.
Rob's eyes grew large while Tim just looked at him. "Ziva and Brian and Joe and Char."
"Oh. I forgot Ziva and Brian want to adopt."
"Jasper will be three this year, I wouldn't be surprised if Bill and Nikki also adopt."
Rob nodded, "Joe and Char want two more and Maggie's hinted about another baby."
Tim shook his head, "However, of the people we mentioned, only our sister Ziva and her husband, our brother Joe, his wife and son, and our brother Tony and his wife and daughters will be visiting while we're here."
"What about Dick and Sophia, I mean for the main floor?"
"I don't think they need it although they might prefer it."
"So a total of 8 rooms on the first floor?"
"If there are 10, then our parents can also stay there. They don't need it but it might be more convenient for them, put all of us with children who are at least toddlers upstairs, then we can install baby gates."
"There's also an elevator there."
"Good! What about the pool, is it fully fenced?"
"Yes, fenced, locked and alarmed."
Rob chuckled, "That makes Tim happy!"
"Hey, you don't remember our sister wandering off when you two were little?"
"Yeah, I do. It's a good thing Nate and Big John stayed up as late as they did. I forgot about the times they found her curled up with Juanita."
Tim nodded, ready to move on. "All right, thank you for your help. Shall we meet you at the property or somewhere else?"
"Let's meet at my office, then you can follow me up to the property."
"Great!"
She gave them the address of the office as well as that of the property before disconnecting and while Rob found the directions to the real estate office, Tim looked online for any mention of the property, including on the county website. He smiled, "This place sounds like a treasure, it's been owned by members of the same family since the early 1900s."
Rob was surprised, "As a hotel?"
"No, it started as a family home for a large family. When they grew up and had their own families, they eventually expanded the house into a hotel for all the grandkids, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc., sounds like us!
"They started renting rooms to the public after World War II, advertising it as a place for families and friends to reunite, updated the foundation and all the buildings in the 1950s, bought the acre that borders the ocean, added a full service restaurant, updated the gardens, installed new fences and pools, ooh, plural pools, in the '60s and '70s.
"The foundation, fireplace and chimney were again updated in the early 2000s, while the appliances, windows, exterior awnings, plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical and the interior furnishings were last updated between 2006 and 2007, before the recession, and the place closed down in 2010. The current owners include 3 people who are related to the original family, that's awesome."
"How long has it been up for sale?"
"Since 2012, when they voted to sell the place. That's sad."
"Yeah, it is." Rob looked at his brother, recognizing the gleam in his eye, "Really? I thought we were only going to be here for 2 or 3 years."
"Yes but this sounds," Tim shook his head, "You're right. We need to get our Varkiza property developed before we do anything else."
"Do you want to come back here to live, I mean permanently? Or at least as one of your homes?"
Tim sighed, "Not particularly. I know Leon still hopes I'll step up to take his place when he retires but I don't want his job and we'd have to live back east anyway. At best, this property would be an investment, not a 3rd home."
"Fourth, you forgot whatever you're going to do in Scotland."
Tim laughed, "You're right, I did. Come on, I have a text from Artie that they're leaving Phoenix in 30 minutes."
"Are we picking them up?"
"I am, I want to see my wife, children and our parents. They've had a long, tough day."
"Yes, you're right. How about I pick up Mom and Dad?"
Tim looked at his phone and shook his head, "Never mind, Tony's got it all organized."
"Don't tell me, a bus?"
"Probably, it's the most practical. Oh, Maggie says the bus is picking up…no, I can't do that. You can though."
"Ah geez, Tim."
"Better get used to it. I can't be alone with them, doesn't mean I can't see them at all for the next 2 years."
Rob opened his mouth to say something a bit whiny when he remembered why this was happening, to help lead to successful convictions for the creeps who'd tortured his brother as a little boy. Keeping his mouth shut, he walked over to his brother to give him a big hug and kiss. "I'm glad you're allowed to see and talk to them with the rest of us around and right now I'm really thankful I don't work for NCIS, don't know what I'd do if I couldn't talk with you in private."
"I can also probably talk with them on the phone, on FaceTime or Skype since those conversations can be recorded."
"Good, then let's do that." Changing the subject, Rob said he was excited about seeing the property in the morning and Tim smiled, "Me too! I hope Artie, Mom and Dad like it!"
"You know, oh, never mind."
"What?"
"I was thinking Ned's grandmother could live with us here. I forgot she's moving to Marseilles to live with Barry, Ned and the girls."
"Right, that's still a nice thought though, Robbie. C'mon, let's see about dinner reservations somewhere."
"For 40 people, on a Saturday?"
"Something like that, yes. Guessing we'll need to reserve a banquet room somewhere!"
Just to be sure, they messaged Maggie to see if anyone had done anything or had any ideas and she called Tim, laughing. "Your brother handled transportation, I found a place for all of us for dinner. And yes, on a Saturday night, for 35 people! Margaret and Ned are staying at the Dornegets' house for a couple of days to meet with the movers and make sure Margaret has everything tagged that she wants to take on the plane. Barry and the girls are flying to London with the Sunday group and Ava has a week's worth of schoolwork with her as they don't want her back until she's all through with jet lag. No falling asleep at her desk! The restaurant where we'll eat was Margaret's idea so I'm sure the food will be good."
"Are they giving us the banquet room?"
"Yes and I think that's funny that there are so many of us we need the banquet room!"
"Makes sense, though, we've never gone out to eat when this many of us are gathered."
"That's true, all right, the doors are closing, I have to get off the phone now. See you at the hotel!"