Hello everyone, welcome to my latest and last one-shot for awhile. First of all, I just want to say that whoever is harassing other writers on this site because they have a connection to me, please stop. They don't deserve that. They never did anything to you. They just want to be free to write their stories in peace. Your problem is with me. You can say whatever you want to me, but please leave my friends and fellow writers out of it. If you have a problem with me, please stick to talking to me about it directly, and leave other writers who are brilliant writers, most of whom have been writing on this site for years, alone. Thank you. This story is one I've had in my head for several months, but I was saving it for today because it's Michael Weatherly's birthday and this is a Tony story. It's part of my Broken Road universe. Hope you all enjoy it.

It warm Spring day, and seven-year-old Timmy DiNozzo was sitting at his desk in school, listening to his teacher make a special announcement.

"Next month, we are going to have a father/son field trip to Rock Creek Park for a nature hike. There will be a mother/ daughter one the week after. You'll need to pack a sack lunch and be at the school at the regular time. I will hand out permission slips for you to take home and return in two weeks."

Several kids asked questions, which their teacher answered as best she could, then Timmy felt something hit his shirt. He turned to see his classmate, Max Delgado, smirking at him.

"So I guess you won't be able to go on the trip, huh." the boy said smugly.

"Why not?" inquired Timmy, softly.

"Because you don't have a real dad. I heard my dad say so. You had another dad when you were born." scoffed Max.

"So? He's still my father." insisted the little DiNozzo boy.

"Not really. He just took you in. You're mom left your real dad and moved here with you when you were a baby. This hike is for real fathers and sons."

"Max, that's mean." spoke up the little girl sitting behind Timmy.

Timmy struggled to hold in his tears as he shot back, "My Abba loves me!"

"What kind of name is Abba? Anyway, he probably only took you in for your mom." Max replied nastily. That was the last straw. Timmy swung back and gave Max a hard punch in the face.

"Timmy DiNozzo!" the teacher scolded.

"It wasn't Timmy's fault, Ms. Warner. Max was picking on him and saying really mean things!" the little girl, who's name was Paisley, defended.

"That's not true! He just hit me for no reason!" Max lied.

"Max is lying, Ms. Warner! He was being really mean!" Paisley cried out.

"Both of you boys, go to the principal's office. We do not condone bullying or hitting in this school. Paisley, you go with them and tell Principal Woods what you saw.

Max refused to obey, so the principal had to be called down to get him. Timmy and Paisley followed behind.

Eventually, after getting to the truth of what happened, Principal Woods assigned one day of no recess for Timmy for hitting and a week to Max for bullying.

"It will start tomorrow," she informed them, before sending Max to the nurse for first aid and the other two children back to class.

Timmy found it hard to focus the rest of the day. Would he get in trouble for hitting? What if Max had been right? What if his Abba hadn't adopted him out of love? As soon as the teacher announced free reading time, the little boy went into a corner by himself and cried.

Later that day, after Timmy had returned home from school, the entire family noticed his mopey behavior. His Ima had received the call from the teacher and tried to find out what had happened, but Timmy simply clammed up and went to his room.

When Tony returned home from work, Ziva immediately approached him and told him, "Our middle child got in trouble at school today.

"What for?" questioned Tony.

Ziva sighed. "The teacher simply said he hit another child who apparently had been unkind towards him. Timmy was given one day without recess effective tomorrow."

"Why was he punished at all? It was self-defense," demanded Tony.

"There is a school policy against physical violence for any reason. The other child received a week for his transgression." Ziva answered.

"I guess I'll go talk to our son and see what I can get out of him," Tony decided.

He knocked on Timmy's bedroom door a few minutes later. "Go away!" called the boy grumpily.

"Buddy, it's Abba. I just want to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about." Timmy snapped.

"You got detention at school so, yeah, I think there is."

"Fine." came the grumbled response after a slight hesitation. The little boy stomped over and opened the door before stomping back to his bed.

"So what happened at school?" Tony asked as he sat down at the end of the bed.

"Max Delgado is a big fat jerk." was the retort.

"So you hit him? You know we don't solve problems that way in this family." Tony admonished.

"I know. But he said something really mean and I couldn't help it." Timmy whined.

"What did he say? And maybe I should talk to his parents."

"They already know. And what he said was really, REALLY mean."

"Timmy, what was it?" Tony reiterated.

"Why do you care?" the seven-year-old mumbled, looking down at his feet.

Tony looked at his son in shock and confusion. "What? Bud, where's this coming from? I care because I'm your Abba and I love you. When you hurt, I hurt."

Timmy looked at his Abba for a moment before starting to sob. Tony scooped the little boy up and held him tightly, just letting him cry it out.

When Timmy had finally reduced to sniffles, his Abba handed him some kleenex and helped him wipe his eyes.

"So, are you ready to tell your old man what this is all about?"

Timmy giggled before sobering once more. "Well, Ms. Warner announced a special field trip for Abbas and their sons to Rock Creek Park. We're supposed to make our own lunches to bring and everything. But Max said I couldn't go because it's for real fathers and sons and you aren't my real Abba. He said since I was had a different Abba when I was born that you aren't my Abba. He said you just took me in to make Ima happy and that you don't love me like Tali and AJ and Shannie and Davey."

'Damnit.' Tony thought to himself.

Out loud he said, "I need you to really listen to me, Timmy. What that kid said was not nice and it's definitely not true. I may not have been there when you were born, but I love you just as much and I love your brother and sisters. Nothing will ever change that. I planned to adopt you from the moment your Ima came home with you. You are very much my son. Got that?"

Timmy gave a slow nod as he processed his father's words. "Uh-huh."

"Did you remember that your friend and cousin Donny Palmer and his sister Kasie were adopted? And both Caty and Kelly Krakowsky were adopted, too." Tony continued.

"I remember." was Timmy's reply.

Tony smiled and added, "Did you also know that Aunt Abby was adopted?"

Timmy's eyes widened. "She was?"

"Right. And what about Grandpa Gibbs and all of your aunts and uncles and cousins? You aren't related by blood, but they're still our real family, aren't they?"

Timmy grinned. "Yeah!"

"So you just tell that Max kid that there's more to being a family than blood. A family is just a group of people who love and support each other." Tony told his son.

"Ok." Timmy agreed.

After another short pause, the little boy asked, "Abba? What happened to my first Abba? Why did Ima bring us here to you?"

Tony didn't answer for a moment. He and Ziva had been dreading the day his son started having questions like this. They just hadn't been expecting it to be so soon. The couple had discussed the situation and had come to the decision that, due to Ziva's anxiety caused by the events, Tony would have that conversation with their son. So, after some hesitation, Tony carefully explained, "Some very bad people wanted to hurt you and Ima. Your birth father, Adam Eshel stayed with your mom and pretended they were married in order to protect her. The bad people took her memory away and she didn't know she was in danger, but he knew and he did all he could to protect her. She didn't know he wasn't really her husband. While they were together, You came along. When you were a year old, Adam arranged for you and your Ima to escape to DC with the help of our friend, Schmeil. Before he could get you both out, the bad people came and tried to get you and Ima. Adam got hurt really badly and died. But he had kept the two of you safe."

"So my other Abba protected me and Ima but he went up to heaven because of that." the little boy pondered.

"Well, because of some very bad people who didn't know how to use their words," Tony stated, in a way that Timmy could understand.

Timmy sat quietly in thought for a moment before turning to his dad with a smile. "I'm glad you're my Abba."

"That's good. Because I'm very glad you're my son." Tony replied, adding, "So tell me more about this field trip."

"It's a nature hike. We'll see a lot of cool stuff. It's at Rock Creek Park. Will you come with me?" Timmy responded.

Tony had had some pretty bad experiences at Rock Creek Park and with nature in general but he didn't want to disappoint his kid, so he answered, "Sure, Bud. When is it?"

"It's next month. I got a permission slip in my bag. You have to sign it." The younger DiNozzo told his Abba excitedly. He ran to get the slip out of his backpack and handed it to Tony.

"I'll get right on that. I'll take a personal day at NCIS and I'll sign this and you can get it to your teacher ASAP."

Timmy grinned and threw himself into his father's arms."Thanks, Abba. I love you."

"Love you too, Buddy. Let's go see if Ima has dinner ready." Timmy nodded and the two of them headed back towards the kitchen.

As Tony helped Ziva get dinner on the table, he told her in a low voice, "It happened. He knows now." Ziva looked at her husband for a long moment before giving him a silent nod. He didn't have to explain. She knew exactly what he was referring to.

A month later, Tony packed lunches for himself and Timmy and took him to the school in time to catch the bus for the field trip. Johnny McGee didn't go to the same school as the DiNozzo kids but Palmer had taken a personal day from work to go on the trip with Donny.

The boys had a lot of fun together with their fathers and found some very interesting leaves, rocks, and little animals. When the group sat down for the picnic, Max approached Timmy.

"So you got to come after all," Max observed tauntingly.

"Yeah. My Abba took off work. By the way, Abba means dad in Hebrew. My mother is from Israel and she taught my older sisters and me to call her Ima and him Abba. Is that your dad?" Timmy replied when he noticed the man with Max

"Um..." Max began uncomfortably.

"I'm his Uncle Jefferson. You can call me Jeff." the man introduced himself.

"Where's your Dad?" Timmy questioned.

"Well, he's, uh, away." was all Max would admit.

"Max lives with me and his aunt now."

"Oh. Did your dad die like my other Abba?" was the innocent inquiry.

"Timmy. That's not any of your business. Max might not feel comfortable telling you that." Tony firmly stated.

"Why? I just was asking a question." Timmy asked in confusion.

"I know, but..." Tony began to explain.

"No." Max quietly spoke up."

Timmy turned to look at him. Max was obviously trying to hide tears. "My dad didn't die. He just went away. My mamma died and my dad just went away and never came back to me. It was a year ago. I'm still living with Aunt Johanna and Uncle Jeff." With that, the young boy took off and ran to the playground, hiding in one of the towers.

The entire group was silent for a moment. Then Timmy took off after his classmate.

When he reached the playground he called out for Max. When he eventually found him, he called out, "Max? You ok?"

"Just leave me alone!" yelled Max in a tearful voice.

"I'm not gonna tease you. My Abba's dad did the same thing when he was a kid. My grandpa DiNozzo told me that himself. He said that he made mistakes as a dad, so he wants to be a better grandpa. Maybe your dad will come back again, too."

Max sniffled. "Really?"

"It could happen. But even if he never does, you still have a family. Your uncle is awesome."

"But he's not my real dad." Max protested.

"My Abba told me that family doesn't have to be blood. A family is people who love each other and are there for each other. Your Aunt and Uncle love you, so you are a family. Donny Palmer, he's my cousin, but not really. I have a big family because Ima and Abba made a family with the people my dad works with. Grandpa Gibbs the leader of the team my Abba was on before I was born but now he runs the entire NCIS headquarters. That's like NAVY cops. Anyway, I love my family the way it is. You have a family, too."

"I love my aunt and uncle. And my cousins and my other aunt and uncle and my grandparents. I do have a pretty awesome family." Max realized.

just then, the teacher blew the whistle and called out, "Time for freeze-tag!"

"Cool! Let's go!" Max exclaimed, suddenly feeling better.

Timmy grinned and helped his new friend up. Then the two ran back to the group. Before running to play with the other kids, Timmy hugged his dad and then smiled as he noticed Max hugging his uncle really tightly.

The DiNozzo middle child had learned two things that week. The first was that family can be anyone who loves and supports him and visa-versa. The other thing he learned was that things aren't always what they appear. Max had acted out because he was insecure about his family situation. Timmy was able to help him feel better and ended up making a new friend in the process. All in all, Timmy was glad to be a part of the DiNozzo family and the NCIS family. He felt secure in the knowledge that he was loved very much by a lot of people.

I was adopted as a baby, so I really enjoy writing adoption stories. There are a lot of adopted kids in several of my stories. A guest reviewer pointed out some facts I had gotten wrong, so I went back and fixed that and clarified some things in the Tony and Timmy conversation. I downloaded Grammarly so the grammatical errors should be mostly gone. Thanks for the for reading. Happy birthday, Michael Weatherly. Tomorrow I'm posting the next chapter of my JAG story. Until then, bye!