Pulling together 3/?
Gibbs rolled his eyes when Tony took almost an hour to choose the new bedding and paint for the master bedroom. As one of the few people in the world that had seen DiNozzo's bedroom he was secretly amused by Tony's insistence that Tim needed an upgrade. Luckily, Ducky took over the paint choices for the rest of the house so they could leave as soon as Tony was finished.
They arrived at the house just as Ziva pulled in, the bed of the truck piled high and covered with a tarp and the seat next to her crammed full of bags. Gibbs tried to figure out what, exactly, she'd bought. "It's not that big of a bedroom, Ziva."
"I know." She jumped out of the truck and started pulling bags out from behind the seat. "You gave me the measurements, remember? I also called McGee and got Tia's sizes so we could surprise her with a new outfit or two."
Tony had gone to the passenger side of the truck and grabbed as many bags as he could carry. "Or twenty." Ziva's grin was unrepentant.
"I had fun."
If Tony had another comment to make, it was halted by the arrival of Leon and Jackie Vance, both dressed to work. Jackie had several bags in her hand while Leon was pulling out tarps and paint rollers from the back of the SUV. Jackie seemed pleased with her purchases. "I had Leon call Agent McGee for his daughter's size. I love shopping for little girls."
"Of course." Gibbs smothered a grin and helped Leon with the supplies, adding them to the ones he'd brought from his own home. Even after Tony left to help at the apartment, there were plenty of hands to share the work and by 20.30 the house was repaired, prepped and ready for painting the next day.
---NCIS---
Tony arrived just as Palmer and a vaguely familiar figure were coming down the stairs with a dresser. "Hey, Jimmy, is Abby upstairs?"
They set the large dresser down and Jimmy pushed his glasses back up on his face. "She got a lot of stuff boxed up, then she went shopping."
"Shopping?" Tony grinned, suspicious of what she was up to.
Once the door on the rental truck was open, Jimmy went to pick up one end of the dresser. "Yeah, she called McGee to get sizes for his daughter. Hey, there's a bunch of boxes upstairs, ready to bring down."
Tony took the hint and jogged up the stairs as he pulled out his phone. It was answered on the third ring.
~4-T~
"I have no idea what that means, but I bet it's a kids size."
~Hey, Tony.~
"How ya' doing, Buddy? You hanging in there, okay? Are you still on the road?"
~Yeah, I'm just getting off the freeway right now, so I'll be there soon. How's it going there?~
"Good, everything should be done by the time you get home. I think we might have to get a closet organizer, though, if the ladies keep shopping."
~Yeah, about that... I appreciate what everybody is doing, and I know Mrs. Vance will chose things that are age appropriate, and Ziva probably will, but...~
"But Abby has her own style and tends to get carried away. I get it."
~She means well and she's so excited. I don't want to hurt her feelings or curb her enthusiasm, but I don't want to look like Scrooge to Tiana either.~
"Don't worry, man. Uncle Tony will keep Aunt Abby reigned in."
~Thanks, Tony, I appreciate it - well, everything. I'm glad I'm not doing this on my own.~
"You're never on your own, Tim. Remember, the team's always got your back." Tony hated to get emotional, especially over the phone. "You shouldn't be talking and driving, so I'll talk to you later. Take care of yourself, Buddy." Once the phone call was finished, he picked up the first of the boxes and headed back downstairs.
They'd gotten about half of the truck loaded when Abby returned, the back of her roadster loaded down with bags. Tony's eyes widened, the pile made Ziva's and Jackie's look small in comparison. "Please tell me that's not all clothes."
Abby bounced out and threw her arms around Tony, giving him one of her patented hugs. "Of course not. I got a bunch of toys and art supplies for the playroom too."
"Educational toys? Because you know McGeek's going to have a smart kid."
"Well, duh." Abby tugged him over to the car and started pulling out bags to show him. "But, Tony, look at these. My favorite store has a kids section. Isn't that cool?"
Tony couldn't help but wince as he was shown tiny dog collars and platform boots. Finally, he took her hands. "Abs, you know I love you like a sister, right? And you and McGee have a very special friendship?"
"Yeah." Abby chewed on her lip as she watched Tony struggle to find the words he needed. "Too much?"
"She's four, Abby. A four year old little girl with a single father who is going to be very worried about how people look at his baby girl." He held up one of the outfits with a tiny skirt and faux corset over torn leggings. "You're a strong, confident woman who can carry this off. She's an innocent little girl that shouldn't have to learn yet about the wrong ways men can look at her. Think about it, okay?"
Abby was horrified as she looked at her purchases with new eyes. "Oh, my gosh, Tony! How could I..."
He hastily gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You were having fun, Abby. Normally, Tim would understand that, but I bet he's going to be super sensitive about being the perfect father for a while. I know I would."
"You're right, Tony. I'll take these back and get clothes she can play in and maybe a dress to wear to Church."
"That's my girl." Tony gave her a one-arm hug and handed her back the outfit he was holding. "Besides, this Fall, I'll bet you get to help with her Halloween costume." The answering grin told him compromise had been reached.
Much to Tony's surprise, Palmer was a great organizer and leader when it came to packing and moving and with Abby busy shopping he'd managed to get them ahead of schedule. Once the truck was packed full and parked in the driveway of the new house and the rest of McGee's belongings completely boxed up, they called it a day. It was early enough for Tony to do a little shopping of his own.
---NCIS---
"Oh, my God." Tony froze just inside the doors, staring at the chaos of the huge children's store. According to the ad, they carried everything from toys to clothes to furniture and he didn't have a clue where to start. Shouting to be heard over the obnoxiously cheerful music a clerk touched his arm.
"Sir, can I help you find something?"
Nodding, Tony's eyes never left the child at a nearby display of Post-Christmas sale items as the youngster rubbed his hand under his runny nose before wiping it up his pant leg. "Umm."
"Let my guess, first baby?" She didn't try to hide the amusement in her voice.
He finally looked at her. "Not me, a friend of mine. His ex is dying and all of a sudden he's got a four year old kid. Everybody is buying her clothes and toys, but..." Tony sighed and rubbed his face. "It sucks when you lose your mom and I want to find something that will help, you know?"
Tilting her head, the clerk beckoned him to follow her. Moving into an area of books and magazines, the music was quieter. The few children in this corner of the store were sitting on the floor looking at various books. She led him around a four sided bookcase and pointed out a shelf labeled grief. "These books are for helping children deal with the loss of a loved one. At that young of an age, I'd also suggest things like dress up clothes or a play doctor's kit, anything that would encourage her to act out what she's feeling if she's not able to verbalize it yet."
"Okay, thanks, I'll look at both." After the aisle of dress up clothes was pointed out, Tony returned his attention to the row of books. There were three books on the subject written for very young children and Tony grabbed one of each, along with copies of the two books written for the surviving adults.
Juggling the books, he detoured to take a cart before braving the dress up aisle. Remembering the size McGee had told him, Tony picked up one outfit only to discover that everything here was labeled small, medium and large. He turned to the teenager straightening out the racks. "Umm, she's a 4-T, would that be a small?"
"A small will be a little big, but she'll have room to grow." The answer came from a friendly grandmother at the next rack over. "They grow fast at that age, so it's always best to go a bit larger."
"Hey, thanks." Tony grinned, but she was already sidetracked, separating twin boys who were squabbling over a foam sword. He picked out the suggested doctor's outfit, complete with stethoscope, then picked out a princess costume. A firefighter costume was next, followed by a set of fairy wings and a Supergirl costume, complete with cape.
Finally finished, Tony wheeled his cart towards the check-out stands. A crowd at the rack of video games caused him to cut over one aisle, where the outside toys were located. Tony stopped and stared at the bright red, battery powered, drivable miniature Ferrari. "Oh, wow."
"Can I help you, sir?"
Tony didn't even look up. "Yeah, I think I'm going to need a bigger cart."
---NCIS---
Gibbs usually preferred smaller, locally owned businesses, but that late at night he knew his best option was a larger department store. He went straight to the luggage department and found a clerk. "Need a suitcase for a little girl."
"Of course, sir. Is this for an extended trip or just a slumber party?"
Ignoring the fact that the woman had immediately checked his hand for a ring before checking the rest of him out, he explained what he needed. "Something small enough that she can carry it by herself, big enough for a couple of changes of clothes and a teddy bear. When we're on call I want her to have a go bag just like her daddy."
Now that she knew what he was looking for, she led him around the corner to a small display. Gibbs dismissed the neon pink suitcase printed with the words Going to Grandma's, also the orange one covered in glittery peace signs, but behind that one was a dark green bag with large bright flowers. It was designed like what the rest of them used, with wheels and an extending handle, only smaller.
"That'll do."
His next stop was the clothing department. He hadn't called McGee for sizes, but he had checked out the bags already at the house. Unlike the ruffled tops, bright leggings and dainty shoes Ziva and Jackie had purchased, Gibbs picked up a couple pairs of jeans, some sturdy boots and a stack of practical t-shirts. He would have been done at that point, but then he saw a row of pastel colored plaid flannel shirts. He chose three - pale pink, mint green and baby blue - which necessitated swapping out some of the t-shirts to have matching sets.
Satisfied, he paid for his purchases before heading home, wondering if McGee would let him teach Tiana how to sail when she was old enough.
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