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Chapter 21: On Your Six, Boss

One Year Later

"Happy Birthday, Dear AJ… Happy Birthday To You!"

AJ DiNozzo, now one year old, clapped his hands joyfully as Ziva helped him blow out the candle on his cake. They were at Saba's house having a party. He wasn't entirely sure of what was happening, but saw that all of his favorite people were there and smiling at him. And the best part was that there was cake.

Tony cut the big cake for the guests while Ziva took pictures of AJ digging into the small "smash cake" that was just for him. Everyone smiled as he dug into it and laughed when the cake ended up in his hair.

AJ grabbed a handful of cake and held it up to Gibbs, "Taba, take?"

Gibbs smiled and took a small bite of the cake that his grandson offered him, "Mmm, Saba loves chocolate cake. Thank you, AJ."

At a year old, AJ did not know many words, but he did know Saba (grandpa), Ima (mom), Abba (dad), and, of course, cake. He also knew Bee (Aunt Abby), Im (Uncle Tim), Me (Uncle Jimmy), Pa (Grandpa DiNozzo), and Duck (Uncle Ducky).

Tony walked over to his wife and son and smiled at them, "Oh, that's good cake, huh AJ? Enjoy it while you've got it, you know how Ima feels about sugar."

Ziva rolled her eyes and then kissed him, and he went back to serving cake to the guests.

Tony took a job as the head recruiter for the NCIS DC office, a desk job that had him home every night. He excelled at it and was the most successful recruiter in NCIS history. It was like the position was made for him. Some days he missed being in the field, but being home by six every evening and seeing Ziva and AJ reminded him of why he took the desk job; and he did not regret it for a second.

Gibbs promoted McGee to his Senior Field Agent, and two new agents joined his team, former NSA analyst Eleanor Bishop and former MI6 operative Clayton Reeves. They weren't quite in the category of "family" yet, but Gibbs knew that they were good agents, and becoming good friends; all it would take was a bit more time.

As Gibbs watched his family celebrate little AJ's first birthday,his mind flashed back to so many memories, mostly of Somalia and Israel. They'd been to hell and back together, Tony and Ziva. There were many times over the course of the last few years that he'd feared burying one or both of them. He watched Tony now as he grabbed Ziva and kissed her, smearing the cake that was on his face all over hers. AJ laughed and clapped his hands some more.

Gibbs found himself becoming choked with emotion,and quickly put his plate down and quietly went down to the basement. Tony saw him slip away, and so did AJ. AJ held up his little, cake covered hands, looked at his father and said, "Taba?"

"Looks like Saba went downstairs, pal. Don't worry, I'll go get him." He wiped the cake off of his face and said to Ziva, "I'll be up in a minute."

Tony quietly made his way down to the basement, where he found Gibbs leaning over his workbench, both hands on the table and silent tears running down his cheeks. "Boss, are you OK?" he asked softly.

Gibbs choked out a laugh, "I'm fine Tony, and how many times are you gonna make me remind you that I'm not your boss anymore?"

"You'll always be my boss, Boss."

Gibbs looked up at him and smiled, his tears still flowing.

"Gibbs, are you going to tell me what's wrong or are you gonna make me guess?"

Gibbs wiped the tears off of his face, "There's nothing wrong, Tony. Everything is good."

So, you're down here crying because…?"

"Ah, hell DiNozzo… They're happy tears, OK? I'm just… happy to have a family. Didn't think I'd ever have one after I lost the girls. Seeing AJ growing up and you and Ziva so happy…"

Tony beamed one of his million dollar smiles at him, and Gibbs could not help the smile that crept across his face. He reached up and gently whacked Tony on the back of the head then pulled him into a hug.

"You've always been my family, Gibbs," Tony whispered, "I'm proud to call you my family, and I'm grateful for everything. If you weren't in my life, I wouldn't have Ziva or AJ.

"You saved Ziva and AJ, not me," Gibbs reminded him.

"But I couldn't have done it without you, Boss." Tony finally pulled away from him and held him by the shoulders, "AJ's wondering where you went, Saba. And Abby wants to do presents right after cake, she's practically bursting from waiting."

Gibbs smiled again and said, "Let's go back up, then. You coming, DiNozzo?"

"On your six, Boss!"

The End

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