Archive of Our Own

Pressing his lips together, Gibbs stood and opened the front door, stepping out onto the porch. Sure enough, Tony was seated in the front seat of his car, hands on the steering wheel, but head bent down. What the hell? Gibbs thought as he rushed down the front steps and went to tap on Tony's window.

Tony didn't seem startled by the sudden appearance of his boss, like he had sensed Gibbs coming. Instead, he lifted his head slowly and gazed at him.

"DiNozzo, what the hell are you doing?" Gibbs snapped. He yanked the door open and glared at Tony. "It's freezing out here and you're sitting in the car with no heat."

"Needed to think for a moment boss," Tony whispered with a sad smile. "Always need time to process after seeing my dad."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes. When he'd last spoken to Tony earlier that day the younger man was going to go see his father. Had something else happened? Gone wrong? Gibbs could only imagine what could have transpired at the hotel between Tony and his father. "Did you talk to your father like I told you too?"

Tony nodded his head. "Yeah. I did. Met him for dinner before seeing him off. It…it was nice…the four of us…like we were some kind of family." He chuckled and shook his head quickly, to clear his thoughts. "Guess we are some kind of family…I mean…my dad is marrying Linda and well, her daughter will be my step-sister and since she's having a baby…it does make me almost like an uncle."

"But?"

"But I just kept wondering what my mom would think."

Gibbs reached into the car and yanked Tony out, slamming the door shut. He led the senior field agent up the steps and inside the warm house. He plopped him down onto the sofa and went to grab a couple of beers from the fridge. He popped one open and handed it to Tony before opening the other one for himself. Gently he sat down on the sofa next to his senior field agent. "I never met your mother, Tony, but I'd suspect she'd want you and your dad to be happy."

Tony took a sip of his beer, letting the amber liquid slide down his throat slowly. "It was rough, all those years after she died and step-mom after step-mom paraded through my house. None of them ever felt like a mom to me. I grew up pretty much alone and unhappy. I know she never wanted that. So didn't Linda. You have to wonder…if Hamilton had died years ago…would my dad have married Linda sooner?"

"Can't focus on the what-ifs, Tony."

"Yeah. I know."

Gibbs noticed that Tony was rubbing something between his fingers. He gestured towards it with his beer. "What's in your hand?"

Tony stopped moving and held up a ring. "This?"

"Uh-huh."

"My grandmother's engagement ring… that was then my mother's. My dad gave it to me tonight."

Gibbs looked at the fairly old ring, it's intricate white gold details of floral patterns, princess cut diamond book-ended by sapphires. Quite beautiful and quite expensive. "Why?"

Tony smiled sadly. "Because he thought it was time I had it. He's found his soul mate and thinks it's time that I find mine. Guess he wanted to give it to me last Christmas, but well, things just didn't work out according to plan."

Last Christmas it had been amazing that Tony had forgiven his father at all, but Gibbs decided to leave well enough alone. "He was going to give you both the family ring and your mother's engagement ring?"

"Yeah. Guess he thought I could use it."

"Were you seeing someone that I didn't know about?"

"Nope."

"So why the hell did he think you could have used it?"

Tony tossed him a grin, one that he would use so often to cover up his true emotions. "Ziva."

Gibbs paused and then took a long swig of his beer. Of course, Ziva. Senior the eternal optimist and hopeless romantic had probably once believed that his son was going to ride off into the sunset with his partner. Perhaps, if things had worked out differently the pair would have. "What made him change his mind?"

"She had never been to my apartment. He believed he had misinterpreted my feelings for her," Tony replied. "Actually the more I think about it, maybe he was right."

"How so?"

"I didn't love her, boss. At least not in the way one should love a woman you want to spend the rest of your life with. It was lust."

"Being in a real, committed relationship bring you to that realization, Tony?"

"Pretty much, yes."

They fell into a comfortable silence, sipping their beer. Neither of them needed to talk. Years of working together had built up this silent communication between them. In fact, neither of them spoke until Gibbs finally asked, "What do you plan on doing with that ring, Tony?"

He chuckled, lowly and pinched the ring between his fingers, holding it up against the fire light. It sparkled and shimmered. "Someday I'm going to give it to my soul mate."

"Do you think you've found her yet?"

"Told my dad it was looking better and better each day."

"What did he have to say to that?"

"He wants to meet her."

Gibbs smiled, thinking about Senior gushing over Tony's significant other. He might be in love and getting married but that did not mean he would stop flirting. Something told the former marine that Linda Turner was very much aware of this aspect to Senior's personality and accepted it. "Naturally," the team leader said.

Tony looked sideways at him. "He also wants us to go up to the Hamptons for a weekend, spend it at Linda's place. Told me that when I do bring her up there that he hopes to see that ring on her finger. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I don't think we're there yet."

"Why wait?"

"Boss?"

"Do you love her?"

"Yeah."

"So, why wait?"

He looked at Gibbs perplexed for a moment. "You sound like my dad. Life's too short, Junior," he said in a mock tone, imitating Senior.

Gibbs laughed. "Never thought I'd say this—but he's right."

Tony rolled the ring through his fingers one more time, recalling when he had admired it on his mother's finger. His heart warmed at the thought of admiring on a woman he loved just as much, if not more. He smiled, gently and shot a bemused look at Gibbs. "The sapphires will match her eyes."

"Oh well, all the more reason to give it to her then," Gibbs snarked.

"Hey boss."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks…I feel…better now."

Gibbs grinned and raised his beer towards him. "You know my door is always open for you Tony. But next time…actually come to do the door. Don't make me go out and drag you in, got it?"

Tony smiled and nodded his head. "Gotchya, boss."