A/N: As I'm sure many readers are, I've been following the news from Australia about the horrible bushfires in and around Sydney, New South Wales, Victoria, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island and overall affecting Southern Australia. My sympathies, prayers and best wishes to everyone affected. In this chapter, the McGees vacation on Kangaroo Island and in Adelaide, after the deadly fires are out.

Notes in the Key of Life

Chapter 11

Later, Tim and Artemis admitted to each other that it was a good thing Susannah left earlier than planned. Although Artie and Anna moved into the McGees' home the following weekend, their own deadline was staring them in the face and in the next 8 weeks they'd be busy as they also prepared to move overseas.

Ducky rejoined them in mid-February, saying he wanted to become acquainted with Anna, Artemis and better acquainted with Henry and Emma before the move. To everyone's delight, he brought the Palmers with them. Breena had had a lingering case of bronchitis in January and Dr. Ducky decided she needed a summer vacation to heal completely. Geordie came down from Darwin on leave while the Palmers were there, enjoying meeting more of Tim's NCIS family. Geordie's visit brought more joy to his brother after his years-long deployment. Knowing that he wouldn't be returning to his covert life had removed the constant worry from Tim's heart.

The warm weather, clean ocean air and relaxing with old and new friends certainly helped Breena and the Palmers enjoyed their two weeks in the sun. Victoria and Davey had a wonderful time with their cousins and were happy to meet their new cousins Anna and Tali. The 7 children had wonderful times together, whether they were on the beach, at the park, on the hikes they took with Tony, Jimmy, Grama Lu, Grandpa Charlie, and with Artie and Tim on the weekends. As Breena said later, she never had to lift a finger and she knew her children were having fun, learning all kinds of new things, were safe and being cared for by the other adults. The three grandfathers, Jimmy and Tony took all the children into Perth one day, stopping in at the office for a quick hello to Tim and the others.

Jimmy was excited when his brother Steve flew in from New Zealand for several days, bringing his family. Jimmy's nephews were about the same ages as Victoria and Davey and the four of them had a good time getting to know each other. For Jimmy, this was a dream come true; he and Steve had reconnected on social media after nearly two decades of what Jimmy termed 'benign separation'. There hadn't been trouble between them, more drifting apart as each went their separate ways, first to college on different continents, then establishing their careers, followed by marriage and busy family lives. With so much geographical distance between them, Jimmy never thought he and Breena could afford the expense or the time off to visit his brother.

When the Palmers left for home, they left Granducky behind as he said he couldn't bear the thought of two more months of winter. Breena felt better than she had in years; she certainly had regained her strength and caught up on her sleep. The children were upset but happy again when Jimmy and Tim showed them on a calendar how few days they had to wait until Granducky and the McGees moved home.

While Jimmy's brother was there, Tim spoke with him about visiting New Zealand and the best things for the kids. He already knew they were going to Hobbiton Movie Set, he had to see everything and resolved to read "The Hobbit" to the older children before they went. Steve also recommended a few vacation spots where he and his family had been and Tim made notes.

The first day of autumn, March 1st, was also the Grand Opening of Artemis' Skywalks. She and her family attended the opening ceremony and as the youngest and oldest children, Emma and Anna helped their mother cut the yellow ribbon to officially open Skywalks, which linked several skyscrapers in Perth. Fifteen floors up, the walks were stable, built to withstand hurricane strength winds and 6.0 earthquakes. Four of them intersected in a pedestrian roundabout over one of the busiest streets and two of the busiest intersections in Perth. With the Skywalks now open, thousands of pedestrians, whether office workers, shoppers, apartment dwellers, hotel guests or sightseers could now move safely from their cars or public transportation without having to brave city traffic. The views were spectacular and restaurants and cafes were already building near the end points of each Skywalk, inside the high-rises.

The following day, the household left for their vacation in New Zealand. They had a wonderful time, visiting Hobbiton, having the movie tour and experiencing both Daddy and Mama geeking out at everything Hobbit. After years of teasing Tim about his geekiness, Tony was honored that his brother now trusted him enough to share this experience with him.

Once they had their fill of Hobbiton and everything connected to it, they left for a 'glamping' experience on a lovely beach. 'Glamping', a fairly new phenomena, is camping made glamourous. When Tim first saw the videos of 'glampers', he'd laughed himself silly and knew they had to experience it. He'd thought there was no way he would ever voluntarily sleep in a tent again, but this tent was more of a hut, a very comfortable one, with all the comforts of home. Their tent had enough rooms and beds for Tim, Artie and the five kids. Tali stayed with her dad in a 3 bedroom tent, shared with Grandpa Charlie and Granducky. Poppy and Grama Lu had a tent all to themselves.

That was a lot of fun, especially combined with trips to the beach interspersed with sightseeing around the area. They were close to Auckland and had fun exploring the city in the mornings and swimming in the afternoons. On their way to and from the city, they also explored the smaller towns. One afternoon, Jimmy's brother and his family joined them for a swim and dinner on the beach. That was great and there were several videos and many photos sent to the Palmers that evening.

They returned to Australia before their vacation ended so they could see more of the huge country. In North Queensland, they visited the Great Barrier Reef region where the coast of the Great Barrier Reef touches the edge of the Daintree Rainforest, part of the oldest rainforests in the world. They walked and hiked, even little Emma hiked on her own although she also rode on her daddy's, mama's, Uncle's and Grandpa Charlie's backs. She liked that better because she could see more. They found hidden waterfalls and played in waterholes, always keeping an eye out for critters.

They also connected with some of the oldest cultures on earth and the adults were proud when the children knew quite a bit about the cultures of the indigenous peoples. They later thanked Ms. Joan for the information and stories she'd shared with the children.

From there, they flew to Kangaroo Island, Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. They'd found an Airbnb home large enough for all of them and, renting the largest van available, they first checked in before heading out again. They visited the conservation park, where many endangered and rare water creatures live. Staying 3 ½ days, they saw everything they wanted to, although there was no such thing as spending 'enough' time with the koalas, kangaroos or their favorite sea creatures. Unfortunately, they also saw incredible devastation as the bushfires in Southern Australia during the late spring and summer had left their mark. Tim and his family had made hefty donations to help but now when they saw some of the damage in person and heard the tales of disaster, they were heartsick.

Flying to Adelaide, also affected by the bushfires, they spent their last day of vacation there, exploring the city, before flying to Perth and home to Merriwa.

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Work felt almost surreal to Tim after vacation and all their visitors. He had one more Field Team and one more Cyber Crime team to train and he started that immediately. The SAIC of the Field Team, located in Korea, was resistant to learning more about Cyber Crimes, saying they should just do their jobs. Tim had deliberately left them until last. He sent the newest statistics, number of shared cases overall within the Southeast Asia Field Office territories, before and after training. He also sent the number of successfully closed shared cases, before and after and those numbers caught the agent's eye. The close rate on those cases, for the territory, had risen from 43% to 85% between October and February. The last report showed the office with the worst stats to be his own. He groaned at that, "Agent McGee, we're holding everyone back! You're right, we need to do this. Where do we start?"

Over the last few months, Tim found that different teams responded in different ways. Accordingly, he'd developed different training modules. Part of his preparation work for each set of teams was to see how each field agent ranked themselves as far as technology. For this team, he felt he was starting from scratch. The CCU manager they worked with told Tim he'd tried everything, including sending them 'cheat sheets' of what they needed, with little success. Tim suspected that this particular SAIC had been hearing success stories from his peers and was finally ready to learn something new. It was about time as he seemed to have attracted three of the agency's most confirmed technophobes to his team.

With that in mind, he started them off on the basic modules, working with them for ten days before he brought the CCU team in. The good thing was, having trained with all the other teams, the CCU teams had shared with each other. Most of the Field teams had shared too, but not with this team. Nevertheless, Tim was pleased with their progress and by the end of March, the Field team had successfully closed three cases shared with their assigned CC team. Time from registering the case to closure had shortened considerably as well.

And that was it, his mission to train the Field Agents and Cyber Crime Techs to work together was complete, at least for the Southeast Asia Field Office, the Far East Field Office and their 13 subordinate offices.

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Every day since their return from vacation, everyone in the household from Granducky to little Emma had helped to sort through toys, clothes and household items that were put into bags to be donated or boxes to be packed. Their flight to the U.S. would leave Perth Friday morning, April 2nd.

They'd decided to see someplace new on the way home and were stopping in Hua Hin, Thailand, for their layover. They'd stay for 3 full days, time to have some fun and do some sightseeing before continuing. Leaving Thailand, they'd fly to Honolulu for another few days before continuing to DC. All in all, they'd leave on the 2nd of April and land in DC on the 10th. They'd have one day twice, once in the air from Thailand to Hawaii and again in Hawaii, where they'd land 14 hours later, only the time zone would make it early the previous morning.

Tony groaned when Tim pointed that out. "Stop, just stop! You know that stuff gives me a headache!'

Ducky smiled at him, "Anthony, you lost a day flying over, now you'll gain it back. Don't think about it beyond that. Or talk about it, please, it also makes my head hurt!" He looked pointedly at Tim who just grinned.

The adults did some research on what they wanted to do in Hua Hin and the result was they'd spend most of their time at a beach resort although they'd also do some sightseeing.

When the others asked about Honolulu, Tim smiled, "Pearl Harbor, the beach, a casual bus tour, hop on and off and more beach. A luau for whoever wants to go. Lots of beach time because our stop after that is DC. We're staying at Charlie's place again." He grinned, "Might even contact our Uber driver, see if he has access to a van or trusts other Uber drivers."

Charlie frowned, "Is that Hal?"

"Does his wife work in a bakery?"

"Yeah, he drives her to work at 3:45 every morning."

"Yes, same guy!"

"His brother also drives for Uber, or used to. Although we'll need a van and a 4 door. You still have his card?"

"Yes and we'll contact him before we leave here. Charlie, on our last trip out here with Tony, when we stopped in Fiji, we were allowed to leave our suitcases aboard the jet, same when Lu and I flew with the SecNav. We took our carry-on bags with us. For 4 days, we'll need more than carry-ons, at least for the kids, but that won't be too bad."

Charlie laughed, "I can do 4 days from a carry-on! I'll bring plastic bags for wet or dirty clothes. And I'll download all my reading material to my tablet so I won't need to take paper books. Although I might need one for the beach."

Gibbs, Ducky and Lu nodded in agreement.

Tim grinned, "We might get away with one suitcase for the girls and one for the boys, plus one each of both of us. Tony?"

"Carry-ons for both of us, Tali will do some schoolwork on the trip and will need her tablet. Definitely a suitcase for each of us, although she might have room for some of your kids' clothes."

"Thanks!"

The week before they left, the Wilsons asked Tim and Artemis to join them for dinner in the city. Dwayne had returned to work a few days after returning from Sydney but had only recently been cleared for the field due to his ankle sprain. Ty would likely be cleared for the field the following week and Tim was thankful both men had been on desk duty before he left the office for the last time.

Dwayne and Lynn picked them up, apologizing for having to stop to fuel their vehicle. On the way into the city, the couple asked questions about their itinerary and packing for travel with so many of them, 14 in all.

Artie laughed at the elaborate planning they'd done. "Although it was more negotiating, I suppose. With 6 children and 8 adults, everyone wants something different. Anna and I lived in Thailand and traveled as much as possible, so she and I probably will stay at the beach while the others go for their sightseeing."

Tim smiled, "I'm torn between staying at the beach or going into the city. Right now, I'm thinking beach."

Lynn shook her head, "All of you make sure you know where the highest point is and what the signs of tsunami are."

Tim nodded. "We do and we will, Lynn, promise! Of course the same goes for here and any beach or coastal location!"

She nodded, "I know and I keep watch. We know where the Tsunami evacuation center is."

Artemis nodded, "We'll also look for those things in Hawaii."

Reaching the restaurant, they parked and the four of them walked toward the entrance. When they entered, the hostess greeted them right away and turned to take them to their table. Just as Tim was thinking that it was nice not to have to wait even when you had reservations, he noticed they were going into a separate part of the restaurant.

He blinked in surprise when the lights were turned up and many people yelled, "Surprise!" Artie actually jumped a little and he took her hand, grinning.

"Wow, you got us!" He turned to Dwayne, "Stopping for fuel, huh?"

The other man smiled, "We had to give the adults in your family time to get in front of us on the road!"

Artie chuckled, "We never suspected!" She was introduced to Cassie Yates and her husband, Mitch Shaw, who'd said they'd flown in from Singapore that afternoon. Cassie smiled, "It's wonderful here, I'm not sweating!"

They all laughed at that. Artie knew almost everyone else, the Wilsons of course, Hannah, Ty, and Glynee. Further introductions were made for their Perth Metro PD liaison officer as well as for the remaining TAD agent who would stay until Ty was cleared for the field.

Tim was surprised that the manager of the Singapore CCU had also flown in. The woman grinned, "Can't let our miracle worker leave without a final thank-you!"

Tim laughed, "Thank you for being my guinea pigs!"

"Hey, I saw the results from that last training, that's a miracle!"

Gibbs laughed at that, saying, "Speaking in defense of technophobes everywhere, at least I was smart enough to hire a field agent who could work with our CCU."

Cassie snorted, "You mean run circles around that particular CCU, Gibbs!"

"Well, yeah, but he gets embarrassed when I brag about him."

Tim cleared his throat, "So…uh, who's watching the kids?"

Lu smiled, "Ms. Joan! With all of us here, we needed several sitters. She volunteered, opening up the center for the evening."

"Wow, that's above and beyond!"

Ducky shook his head, "When we leave, her enrollment is going to drop quite a bit."

"She'll be fine, Ducky, I have faith in her. What they will miss is your story-telling!"

"I, too, will miss that!"

Artie smiled, "The children will be in daycare in Virginia, too, Ducky. Perhaps you will continue there or at children's libraries?"

He smiled happily at her, clearly liking the ideas.

Like the Wilsons, the others wanted to know details of their trip home and the McGee group rotated answering the questions. Cassie asked to see photos of the new house and they all pulled their phones out, generating much laughter around the table.

All in all, it was a wonderful surprise and a great evening. The kids were asleep by the time they reached Ms. Joan's and each was carried out to the various vehicles, making sure the Wilson children were placed in their parents' vehicle.

After Tim turned in the agency sedan, he and Artie thought they'd try to deal with her vehicle and the family wagon. Within a day, he'd rented the largest passenger van available in Merriwa.

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Two days later, Gibbs drove the rental, following Tim as he and Lu delivered the 'family wagon' to its new owner, Ms. Joan! They were happy the SUV would have a good home and more adventures in Merriwa. That same day, Geordie arrived with his belongings, that is, his sea bag. He was now officially in the reserves and couldn't wait to get home.

He would begin college courses during the summer, some of them refresher courses and some new, with a goal of earning his Masters and Doctorate. His plan was to teach U.S. history at university level.

He was happy to help sort and pack, although he was perhaps more enthusiastic about sorting and donating than he was at packing. Of all the former camp mates, he was the most efficient about letting things go. From what he could see now, Tim had become a bit of a hoarder. How many pairs of shoes did one guy need, anyway?

When he asked their father, Jethro smiled, "Shoes for work, boots for crime scenes, nice shoes for dates, church shoes that can be worn with suits, sandals for days you're in the sun, flip-flops for the beach or pool, hiking boots, and sneakers or athletic shoes for pick-up games – basketball or baseball."

When Geo just blinked at him, Dad laughed, "How many pair do you have?"

"Boots, dress and flip-flops."

"Need sandals and sneakers."

"How come you have boots for crime scenes and hiking boots?"

"We don't wear crime scene boots anywhere else. They get stuff on them. You do not want to contaminate a crime scene with bits of whatever you were hiking through."

"Huh, good point. Tim has 12 pairs of shoes!"

"He has several suits, different colors. He won't wear the same color shoes with every color of suit. He also gardens and keeps his gardening sneakers in a plastic bag; they're hard to clean off sometimes. He also has another pair of sneakers and a couple of pairs of sandals. His size is hard to find so sometimes he buys two or more pairs of sneakers at a time. He brought his snow and rain boots with him. They're not needed here but they are in DC.

"Geordie, he didn't pack his clothes or anything else when they moved Delilah to San Diego. They had three days' notice. Some of our friends went to the house and packed up the whole place for them. Most of that was also shipped from San Diego to here. Lu did clean out Delilah's designer shoe collection and sold most of them, they'd never been walked in. She also sorted her clothes, keeping some things to make memory quilts for the twins. The rest of her clothes were sold on consignment or donated. Except for her wedding dress, Tim asked that be kept, thinking Lizbet might want it."

"I forgot about all that."

Dad rubbed his shoulder, "You weren't there, kiddo. Hard to keep up, I remember! But you're here now. We're all so thankful you're coming home with us! I do need to tell you that Tim likes to be comfortable and eat well when he travels. He's got plenty of money so there's no reason he shouldn't."

Geo rolled his eyes and with a grin, the two got back to work sorting and packing.

The moving company representative had visited two weeks before, getting an idea of how much there was to move. He gave them a stack of labels, asking them to label each group of items and to note which room each would go to in the new house. He smiled, "Not that I'll be there, mind you, but it will be helpful for your movers at the other end. Also, mark a separate label with FRAGILE for each item that is fragile. Don't take it for granted that movers will treat a TV or something obvious as breakable. If it's not labeled as such, they're not necessarily going to treat it as such. Now, we'll be here at 7:30 AM Friday, April 2nd. I know you'll be gone already, who will have the key?"

Lynn Wilson had already volunteered to do that, so they gave him her contact information, adding that she lived less than a mile away. She already had the key and when the movers were finished, she'd passed it to the real estate agent tasked with renting the house again. Lynn had been through the house with Lu, Tim and Artie and felt confident she could answer any questions that came up.

"Good, that'll make things easier."

"Do you have any idea how long you'll be here? We have a cleaning service coming in on Saturday, the 3rd."

"We'll be here all day Friday, probably won't get out of here until between 5 and 6. Thanks for agreeing to pack all the knickknacks and glassware, that saves us hours!"

"We're taking all the artwork with us on the plane."

"You want to do that? Will it be secure?"

Tim grinned, "My brother has access to a private jet."

"Wow, that's something! Ok, so no artwork, that'll also speed things up a bit. Anything you don't want to risk breaking, please take with you. You have a long trip ahead of you and so do your belongings. You fly, they'll float. We'll get your things to the shipper late Friday night, they're scheduled to sail on Sunday; figure 3 weeks from Sunday for their earliest arrival."

Tim nodded, "Will do, thanks!"

The man left several wardrobe boxes and dozens of packing boxes of varying sizes. Rather than buying more storage tubs, they used the boxes for the kids' toys and books. The Big Wheels were going home with them as well as the various bicycles in their possession.

They'd rented a truck to get everything to the airfield. The jet was already there and would be unlocked and ready to load cargo at 6 AM. The truck and van would have to be returned but the rental place had a shuttle that would take them to the airfield. As Tony said, the jet wouldn't leave without them!

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Friday, April 2nd! After a restless night, Tim and Charlie were up at 4:00 AM, threw their clothes on and went downstairs, not surprised to find Geordie, Lu and Dad also awake. They had frozen breakfasts for everyone as well as pastries and plenty of coffee. There were taking their supply of coffee on the plane with them, for their various layovers. They'd moved all the luggage downstairs last night.

Once Tim and Geo ate, also inhaling large mugs of coffee, they started hauling boxes to the truck. Although Gibbs promised not to lift anything over 40 pounds, there were plenty of boxes under that weight and he helped. A bleary-eyed Tony joined them and he and Charlie got to work as did Lu and Artie, who appeared downstairs shortly after Tim. The sooner they got everything loaded, the sooner they could wake Ducky and the children and get them moving.

By 5:00, they had the boxes, storage tubs and large objects like the Big Wheels and bicycles loaded, covered and tied down. The suitcases went in next and then it was time to wake the others. When they went back into the house, they found Ducky had already wakened the kids and was packing last minute items into their carry-ons. The kids were dressed and eating breakfast. Henry grinned, "This is like going on vacation again!"

Tim picked him up and kissed him, loving his excitement and enthusiasm.

By 5:30, everyone was ready to roll. They'd searched the house multiple times, finding no stray items. Teeth and hair were brushed, hands and faces washed and the younger kids made a trip to the bathroom. Gibbs checked the coffee three times to make sure it was in the van. The children were put in their safety seats, with Artie driving, Lu, Dad, Ducky and Geordie riding with them. Tim, Tony and Charlie rode in the truck, with Tim driving. Waving goodbye to the house that had been their home for the past 16 months, they left Merriwa. Tim told Artie earlier than he was very glad that they already had their next home, knew what it looked like, otherwise leaving this house would have been even more difficult than it was.

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By 7:00, everything was loaded into the cargo area of the jet and the crew was moving things to balance the weight. The truck and van had been returned, and the children's safety seats fastened securely in the jet. Carry-on bags went on, along with Gibbs' precious coffee, and then the children were taken aboard. By 7:30, everyone had boarded and one of their flight crew told them they'd been cleared for an early takeoff.

They cheered as they buckled up and within minutes were waving out the windows, saying goodbye to Australia. Tim kissed Artemis as the jet reached altitude. "Welcome to the rest of our lives!"

She laughed, "I know, I'm so excited!"

They had a 2nd breakfast, which made them think of their tour of 'The Shire' in 'Hobbiton, the Movie Set' they'd visited in New Zealand, about an hour later, along with plenty of hot chocolate, hot tea and strong, hot coffee. After their trays were collected, Tim relaxed and before he knew it, fell fast asleep.

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He woke when the plane started its descent into Hua Hin airspace and watched out the window. One by one, everyone else woke. The kids were amazed that they were almost there! As Tali said, "Usually when you're waiting for something good to happen, it takes a long time!"

Anna giggled, "It's because we all fell asleep!"

Lu nodded, "Yes, and this is a very quiet aircraft! We slept and there aren't any other people making noises."

On the ground, they gathered their carry-ons and the few suitcases they wanted and then waited for their transportation. They smiled as a small bus pulled up and the driver welcomed them to Thailand. Soon they were checking into their lodgings on the beach.

The kids looked around, noticing how different it looked from their beach in Merriwa. Although the beach was sandy, there were far more trees and greenery than on 'their' beach.

They spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach, splurging on lunch from an outdoor café. Sunset would be at 6:30 that evening, so by 5:45 everyone was out of the water and drying off. Gathering their belongings, the group left the beach a little after 6, carrying Emma, Jace and Lizbet, who'd played themselves out. Henry made it halfway before he was also scooped up. With a tired but happy sigh, he rested his head on Uncle Geordie's shoulder.

Some of the adults went into Hua Hin on Saturday, while the others were on the beach with the kids again. Today the beachcombers took naps under their broad beach umbrellas.

On Sunday, they took an afternoon half day tour of an Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. They were picked up at the hotel in a shuttle bus and conveyed to the sanctuary. As this was the elephants' natural home, the group first observed them from a distance, playing and feeding on their own. Later, the group hiked a bit to watch the elephants play in mud baths. At the end of the tour, they ate from a delicious Thai buffet. The children talked about the elephants and the fun they'd had watching them for days.

Tim and Artie went into the city Monday morning, returning in time to spend their last few hours on the beach. After dinner, they all took naps, waking up around 9:00 PM. Quickly packing, doing several sweeps to make sure nothing was left behind, the same driver and small bus returned, helping them load and driving them back to the airfield as the children chattered about their adventures. At the airfield, the jet was ready. Putting the suitcases back in cargo, the load was again balanced while the passengers boarded and took their seats. At midnight, under a flood-lit tarmac, the jet rolled down the runway, taking off. Their next stop: Honolulu, Hawaii!

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That next leg of the trip had the longest flight, nearly 14 hours! By boarding at midnight, all the children and most of the adults slept several hours. Tim and Artie were awake off and on, moving to an unoccupied part of the jet to talk and get a little cozy for a couple of hours before dozing off again. When everyone was awake, about 4 hours out from Honolulu, they did some exercises, including the always fun "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" which the older folks found was more exertion than they remembered. Especially when singing it faster led to some decent, if brief, real exercise. After that, they were restless and nobody went back to sleep. The adults and most of the kids walked while Tali did her schoolwork. The adults read, talked and played games, either on their phones or with each other. Jethro and Lu played cribbage.

After enjoying a hot breakfast, everyone brushed their teeth and washed up. Almost everyone was up and walking again when the pilot announced they were an hour out from Honolulu. For the rest of the flight, the travelers were glued to the windows.

They landed at 7:00 AM, April 5th. They'd left Thailand at 12:01 AM April 6th.

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Tim, Lu and Charlie grinned at each other as they waved to Hal, their friendly Uber driver, and his brother Stan. Hal was standing next to a 16 passenger van while Stan had a mini-van. After the children's safety seats were in, the children were seated, their parents and Ducky around them. Lu, Jethro, Charlie and Geordie rode with Stan and all the layover bags and suitcases.

They'd arranged for an early check-in, also requesting they be on the same floor. When they arrived, the concierge greeted each one, draping leis around their necks. At Charlie's request, a photo was taken with all of them.

As they'd be here for 4 full days, the McGees unpacked their carry-ons and suitcases. The Gibbs children were restless, so Tim and Artie let the others know where they were going, and remembering Emma's swim mat, headed for the pool. It wasn't yet 8:00 AM, and although the skies were clear, the morning temperatures were still a little low for swimming in the ocean. The pool felt good! Tim smiled when his brothers, Tali and his parents joined them. Lu reported that Charlie and Ducky had gone for a walk. Tim grinned, "Charlie has his favorite spots here. I bet when we go to the beach, he'll tell us where he usually sets up."

The pool was still heated, normally it was heated during the winter months through April. That helped and the family could watch the beach from the pool terrace. Within an hour, Ducky and Charlie walked down the beach, saw them and came up the stairs. With a smile, Charlie asked if anyone wanted anything to eat or drink. Ducky wanted tea, the rest of the adults wanted coffee and some of the children were hungry. Charlie pulled a menu out from the bar. "Bartender isn't here until 10, but they leave menus and we'll order by phone. And yes, the terrace is full service, we can eat out here too."

Jace, Anna and Henry wanted pancakes while Lizbet, Tali and Emma wanted cinnamon toast. They all had chocolate milk, a big treat in the McGee family. Most of the adults ordered something, if not a meal, then toast or fruit and coffee or tea.

After enjoying their second breakfast, Charlie showed Tim, Geo and Tony his favorite spots on the beach. They planted umbrellas, putting large blankets and some of the hotel's beach chairs under each one. They'd only intended to save the spot but by the time they'd finished, the rest of the group joined them. Within a few minutes, lounges were in place, one for each adult and Ducky declared he might just stay here. Charlie nodded at that, "See why I recommend this place and keep coming back? They understand service and pamper their guests."

The lifeguards were in place before 9 AM and Charlie took the kids and their parents to meet those he recognized.

Aside from Emma's midafternoon nap, when she and her daddy returned to their suite, the group spent the day on the beach. As they were on beach property, it wasn't crowded. Someone dropped off lunch menus around 11, returning later to take their orders.

The kids had a wonderful time in the water with their grandparents, parents and uncles. They played along the shoreline, sitting in the sand with their beach toys. With all the kids used to swimming in the ocean, the older ones, Tali, Anna and Henry, were allowed to swim out a few feet, as long as at least one of their adults was with them. Tony accompanied them while Lizbet and Jace rode on Daddy and Uncle Geo's backs into the waves, laughing in delight when they were dunked. Not quite 2, Emma stayed closer to shore while her grandparents played with her, pulling her swim mat through the wavelets. When she wasn't playing in the waves, she was sitting in the wet sand, building a sand castle. When the other kids came in to help her, she was thrilled and immediately assumed the role of boss, telling them where she wanted the castle walls. She frowned when a bigger wave flooded her castle. Marching to the waves coming in, she stomped her foot in the water, "That wasn't nice! Don't do that again or I'll tell my daddy!"

Coming to the rescue, Artie showed her a better spot to build and showed her how to channel the water around the castle, that is, into a moat. Emma was happy again and soon had her faithful servants, er, her siblings and Tali, helping her rebuild, putting a wide and deep moat around the castle.

By early evening, the kids and adults were tired. Leaving the umbrellas, lounges and chairs, they gathered their towels and toys, walking across the beach to the stairs to the pool terrace. Washing off their feet and flip-flops, they returned to their rooms. They'd have dinner together tonight, mostly because they were too tired to want to go out.

Eating in the hotel restaurant, they were pleased with the local cuisine and fresh foods. No one lingered at the table, by the time they finished, it was all they could do to walk across the lobby to the elevators. They may have gained a day but their bodies were still dealing with jet lag!

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

By morning, the group was refreshed. Today, the grandparents and Uncle Geo would watch the children for a few hours so Tim, Artie and Tony could have some time on their own. Tony opted to stay, Tali was in class and he knew Tim and Artie hoped for time alone. He had fun, he and Geordie were discovering they had more in common than Tim and their nieces and nephews.

Tim and Artie spent their free time in their suite, by themselves. For a few days, they'd considered surprising everyone and getting married here but Artie wanted Susanne, Ian and her Yaya, grandmother, there while Tim hoped all of his siblings and friends would be with him.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

Two days later, the group returned to the airfield, ready for the last leg of their journey. Similar to their departure from Thailand, they were aboard a few minutes early, all their belongings, including all the treasures they'd purchased here, stowed. They were in the air at 11:00 PM, right on time, giving them an arrival time of 1:00 PM the following day, April 10th.

They'd had a wonderful time in Hawaii. Besides their hours on the beach, they'd taken the hop off/on bus tour and everyone visited Pearl Harbor. The children were told the story before they went. Ducky, who'd been 8 years old in 1941, remembered that his parents were upset when they heard about it, decrying the attack and the loss of so many lives. He also remembered that they, and their neighbors, were relieved as it meant the U.S. would now officially join the war. The UK had already been at war for two years, since 1939.

What Tim would always remember about that stopover in Honolulu was that he was finally able to spend more time with his daughter Anna, solidifying their relationship. His oldest child had a sunny disposition and was smart, sweet, imaginative, inquisitive and full of love for her new siblings, cousin, papa and grandparents. She was also, as Charlie said, a 'cuddle bunny'. That was fine with her papa, also a cuddle bunny.

For Tony, Geordie and the other adults, the time in Hawaii and their earlier stop eased their fears that Tim was rushing into things with Artemis. They liked the woman, all were fond of her, but worried about Tim's quick acceptance of her reappearance in his life, in essence picking up where they'd left off years ago. Now that both were relaxed, off work and had time alone as well as with the children, the others witnessed the deep connection between the two, the love and the trust that each had in the other, for the other, especially after Artemis was finally able to share what led to her rejections of Tim and their relationship, first at MIT and then years later in Boston.

Having finally broken away from her overbearing parents, Artie had gradually come into her own, realizing how Kosmos had manipulated her, and her sister, all their lives, although she'd never considered that he was cruel enough to have lied about Tim's death. Her travels and her work helped broaden her thinking, as well as becoming a mother and raising her own child. While her life satisfied her, she never stopped grieving for her lost love, blaming herself for the fear that had her pushing Tim away. Eventually, with help, she was able to transfer that blame to Kosmos but that didn't diminish her grief for Tim and what might have been.

She was always thankful that she had his child. Even as a baby, there were things about Anna that reminded Artemis of her lost lover, not just her features or eye color, but her personality as it developed. The little girl was endlessly curious, smart, imaginative, loving and thoughtful.

Now, as the jet reached altitude, Artie smiled at her love, grateful he was alive and that they were together. She couldn't wait to get to America, to move into their new home. They were already planning their wedding, to be held outdoors on the property. With the exception of her parents, the two of them wanted to invite everyone they knew, from Artie's grandmother, Susannah and her boyfriend Ian to their professors and Artie's legal guardians from MIT to the school secretary in Baltimore who'd helped the McGee children when they were in school there. They wanted to share their joy in each other, their children and family, with everyone they knew.

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Although it was another long flight, over 9 hours, to Washington, DC, no one seemed to mind. The adults were looking forward to being home, their first taste of home in Hawaii had whetted their appetites for more.

While Charlie wasn't sure how long he'd stay in Virginia, his home in Arizona had lost its appeal; he couldn't remember how he passed the time there. Now his life was full, not only with his grandchildren but with his son-in-law, his fellow grandparents, Tony and Geordie. Maybe the heat, humidity and snow didn't matter as much as he thought.

As they flew, Tony was thinking of the woman he'd met at breakfast in Virginia in October, Maggie Barnes. Smiling to himself, he admitted she was not his usual type and she reminded him of Ziva in only one way, she was a warrior. Perhaps not a ninja, he didn't know yet, but being a Marine Captain certainly made her a warrior. He liked that, finding her far more interesting than most women he'd dated and hoped she'd agree to see him, even if just for coffee, while he and Tali were in Virginia.

That led to thinking about returning to the UK and their home in Jaxton and he realized he didn't want to leave his family. Oh sure, they'd visit the UK, but he wasn't ready to be so far away from these people again. He'd talk with Tali, see if she would mind continuing in her online school. That way, they could travel to and from Arlington and Jaxton without her having to miss classes and she would have plenty of children to play with in Arlington as well as her Paddington cousins in London. Remembering mention of a cottage on Tim's property, he thought about renting it from him. Or perhaps he could rent one of the suites, that might be better for Tali, continuing to live in the same house as her cousins and grandparents.

From his seat next to his love, Jethro watched his sons with immense satisfaction. He thought Tony was ready to move forward with his life again and Tim had already moved forward. Once they got settled into the house, he and Lu would marry, he'd already asked and she'd said yes. They wanted a quiet wedding, with only the family in attendance. Of course, with their combined family and the extended family, that was quite a few people! Still, he knew they both wanted all their loves with them.

Moving his feet and legs, which tended to stiffen if not moved every few minutes, Jethro gave thanks for his recovery, both psychologically and emotionally. The nightmares had lessened considerably and his physical recovery was nearly as complete as it would be. He'd never be able to return to the field, but once he was finally cleared psychologically, he planned to retire and then consult with NCIS. He didn't want to work fulltime and hoped he'd find consulting enough of a contribution to satisfy him.

He grinned at Lu as he stood up, "Want to take a stroll with me?"

She smiled, "Always!"

Ducky watched his old friend and his love walk by him and he smiled, happy that Jethro had found a lasting love again and that his friend's recovery was almost complete. It had been a long haul, 11 months since his rescue, but once Jethro was home with Tim, the children, Lu and himself, he realized how much he was loved and that certainly helped. Thinking of being loved made the doctor smile to himself again, hoping that Breena was right. She'd sent him an email while they were in Hawaii.

Curious about his mentor and surrogate father's life, Jimmy had inveigled several stories of the man's younger years from him. One of them had featured a lovely young lady he met in London at a Robert Burns Night celebration. Later, going through his boxes of photos, he'd found one with his Maisie, the woman he'd left behind to go out into the world to save lives, and showed it to Jimmy and Breena, who, bless her heart, had framed the photo for him.

In her email, Breena said that she'd been in a grocery store recently and seemed to run into two older women in every aisle she entered. One of the women looked vaguely familiar but she couldn't pin down who she was or where they might have met. Breena said she finally decided she must have been a visitor to Breena's family's mortuary and let it go at that. When she got in line to pay for her groceries, she realized that once again she was behind the two older women. The familiar-looking woman said something and the other one shook her head in laughter, saying, "Maisie Stirling Hubbard, I can't believe you said that!"

Breena's email went on to say that she finally realized the familiar woman looked like an older version of Ducky's Maisie. Ducky was gobsmacked when he read this and had to sit for a few minutes to absorb the possibility that his Maisie was in the U.S. and possibly in the Metro DC area. One of his next thoughts was that he'd take Maisie's photo to Kasie and ask her to use the ageing software on it. Or perhaps Jimmy could do it, that would be easier. Yes, as wonderful and interesting as living in Australia had been, he was now quite happy to be going home.

Geordie watched his family affectionately. Of all of them, he thought he was the most relieved to return home. He'd been away too long and braved too many odds but somehow made it back. Over the past few years, he'd come to realize that, although he was proud to be a Marine and proud of the work he'd done, he was growing older and lonelier. Finally he'd come face to face with the idea that he did not have to stay in Special Ops, that he could transfer out and still be useful to his country. When his last birthday brought him envelopes with birthday cards full of teasing about his age, he was surprised. He hadn't thought much about his age, although he was always thankful to still be alive. And he'd forgotten his dream of someday becoming a history professor, sharing his interest in all the twists and turns of history with others. Now he felt he was running behind, he'd missed too much. Yes, it was for a good reason but he was feeling the pull to move on with his life.

Noticing his new dad with Lu, he felt calmer. They were starting a new life together, he was alive and well, there was no reason he could not also have a happy life ahead of him. He was finally home, he'd already been accepted to a university close to Arlington, he'd take several refresher courses while working toward his Masters and Doctorate. In the meantime, he'd live in Arlington and be part of Tim's family.

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The group slept, walked, exercised, played with the children, ate two delicious meals, watched a movie or two with the kids and walked some more. When the jet began its descent into DC airspace, they were all awake and had their belongings packed into their carry-on bags.

They grinned at the small bus waiting for them as they disembarked, it was the same kind they'd had in Thailand! A second vehicle, a small moving truck, was on hand for all their luggage, bicycles, Big Wheels, boxes and storage tubs. The kids' safety seats were transferred without a hitch, the kids climbed into the bus with the adults finding seats once the littles were settled.

The bus led the way, the truck following closely, as they made their way from the airfield to the house in Arlington. As they drove through the gates, they waved to their Baltimore brothers and the Palmers, waiting for them on the front porch.

Once everyone was out of the bus, Tim and Artie led the way, walking hand in hand to the front door, saying hello as they walked through the crowd who were cheering, stomping, whistling and applauding. When the couple reached the door, Tim opened it before turning towards his fiancée and their family. The crowd grew quiet as, with a smile, Tim gestured for everyone to enter, "Welcome Home!"

The End

Thank you for coming along for this story. Stay tuned for more of my Tim tales!