McGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click here.
Chapter 420: OBX
"I was just thinking," Tim says as he shuts the trunk. (After all, he can't load any of their luggage or get Kelly strapped in, so the least he can do is shut the damn trunk and not feel like a totally useless barnacle.) "Do you remember how we packed everything we needed for a ten day road trip, plus enough gear for a portable MTAC in the trunk of my Porsche?"
Abby smiles at him, Kelly on her hip, as they head toward the front seats. "Yeah."
Tim opens Kelly's door, and looks inside their car, their packed SUV, which is four times the size of the Porsche, yet is filled to bursting with stuff for a three day trip.
Abby gets Kelly into her seat, and strapped in. Tim gives her a kiss. "You have a good nap, baby." He shuts the door, opens Abby's, shuts hers once she's in, and heads over to the far side of the car for his seat. "So, why is it, that by adding one 22 pound person, who is smaller than the average Thanksgiving turkey, we've quadrupled the amount of stuff we need?"
Abby looks at him, grins, puts the car in gear, and then says, "Both of us know how to pee in a toilet. Take the diapers, wipes, ointment, and related baby poop gear out of the car, and that's at least half of the stuff we're dragging around with us."
Tim looks back at the piles of stuff behind them and thinks that Abby may not be entirely right, but she can't be far off, either.
Abby's foot hits the gas, then she says, "Just think, this time next year, there will be literally no room at all for our own stuff. We'll still have two small bags, that will ride down in Gibbs' truck, and we'll just be lugging baby gear."
Tim laughs at that, half afraid she may be right.
Road trips just the two of them are fun. They've been all over the US together, and had a blast doing it.
Road trips with Kelly, while she's asleep, are fun. They got through Virginia, listening to music, talking, enjoying each other, having a good time, until they were just over the border of North Carolina…
Road trips with a baby who's awake (Afternoon naptime only lasts three hours, and though they left right before naptime, and Kelly conked out shortly after they got out of their neighborhood, the trip to the Slaters' place is gonna run four and a half hours... er… five… and a half… make that six hours) is not all that much fun.
What had been driving along, steadily zooming through the miles, rapidly turned into stopping every forty minutes to get out, let Kelly toddle around a little bit, apply snacks, change diapers, and then pack everything back up again.
Tim's rapidly coming to the conclusion that there may be something to those cars that come equipped with video players, because, as they're stopping, yet again, he's deciding he would happily listen to six hours of Barney if it could get him back up to averaging 75 miles an hour.
They aren't surprised not to be the first ones there. Ducky's Morgan is already pulled up in front of the house. They know that means that Gibbs, Ducky, and Penny are here. (Abbi's getting in tomorrow sometime, and she and Gibbs are continuing their adventures in her car.)
Jimmy and Breena's van is also there.
No Tony and Ziva, but he knows they were going to do a half day today before heading off. Depending on when they got out of DC they could be hours or minutes behind them.
They pull up alongside, and Tim remembers something he'd forgotten about Ed and Jeannie's vacation home. It's on stilts. The porch (which he remembered vividly) wraps around the entire house, but that porch (and the rest of the house) is still twelve feet in the air. He can do steps now, but they aren't his favorite thing. Apparently when he's on the beach (or in the house), he's going to be staying there for a while.
Tim watches waves cresting against white sand, then looks up at the house. There are worse fates.
"Hello!" Abby calls out as they get into the house.
Breena sticks her head out of the master bedroom calling down the stair. "Hey! We're up here. Gibbs is on the sand with the girls. Not sure where Ducky and Penny got off to."
"The back porch," Ducky replies, heading in. Tim stops in his tracks. He's seen Ducky in his relaxing gear, even pool gear before, but apparently Duck has an idea of 'beach gear' as well. Soft, rumply, drawstring linen trousers, bare feet, and a Hawaiian shirt, but without the loud pattern (Tim's sure there's a name for that, but he doesn't know what it is) along with sunglasses and a wide straw hat.
"You look ready for the sand."
Ducky nods. "But first, let me help you carry in your gear. I assume, like Jimmy and Breena, you have a lot of it?"
Tim nods. "My ancestors got here from Ireland with less than this."
Ducky chuckles. Abby hands Kelly over to Tim. Since he can move his right arm around some now, he can get a decent (one handed) grip on her. He walks over to the back porch, where Penny is getting the lay of the land, sitting on one of the lounges looking around. He sits next to her, and once he's down, he sets Kelly on the porch and holds her hand, letting her work on her walking.
"No limp?" Penny asks. He did manage to walk from the car to the lounge without a limp, probably close to two hundred feet (and fourteen steps). Though, having done it, his foot is aching.
"One step at a time. PT says the more I can walk, and the more normally I can do it, the better it'll be, so…"
"So your crutch is in the car, waiting for when you're really hurting?"
"Exactly." Tim looks out over the beach, images of the crutch immediately sinking into the sand. "Probably won't be very useful out there, anyway."
Penny shakes her head. "Probably not. I take it Ed and Jeannie are serious about beach nights."
Tim nods. Everything is where he remembers it. Grill, table, chairs, several lounges, an awning and two large umbrellas to keep the sun off, and a fire pit in the middle. The lounge he's sitting next to Penny on is right against the edge of the porch.
"Fire pit's good for marshmallows. We did that last time."
Kelly's been taking two steps in pretty much every direction, checking out everything, but she's feeling very tethered. So, without announcing her intent, she plops onto her tush, Tim lets go of her, because once she's on her bum, she's not going anywhere. She looks around a bit, noticing this is somewhere completely new, with furniture she hasn't explored, and a floor she's never seen, and she's off, crawling, fast.
"Woah!" Tim's lunging for her, losing his own balance and hitting the porch in the process, as he grabs her. Kelly squawks, really startled by Tim lunging for her. For a second he sits there, holding her tight, and feels his heart slowly calm back down again. Finally he sighs and says, "Okay, I'm glad to see you're crawling now, but how about we try doing that more than two feet from the edge of the twelve foot drop?" He's suddenly very nervous about the fact that the porch rails are at eighteen inches and three and a half feet high. He stands up and puts Kelly down, "Here, hold my hand, we'll walk."
"No! Up!"
Tim looks down at her. "You want to be carried?"
"UP!"
Penny scoops her up, firm, two-handed grip. "Better view from up here, right?" Kelly looks pretty satisfied. "Can I take her to the water?"
"Fine by me. Might want to run it by Abby, make sure she didn't want to be there for her first dip in the ocean."
Penny nods as she carries Kelly out, saying to her, "Let's go play in the sand."
Abby and Ducky are lugging stuff in, so Tim starts the long slog up to the master bedroom. He knows where it is, but last time they were here, he never went in it.
No last time, he went up the stairs, all the way down the hall to the last (only) room on the left.
The master's immediately at the top of the stairs on the right.
Breena wasn't kidding. It's really big, and L shaped, a sitting/dressing/closet area right in front of the door, along the short side of the house, and the sleeping/bath area stretching along the length of the house.
"You made it!" she says as he's looking around.
"Yeah, all in one piece. Only had to stop four times. You guys?"
Breena inclines her head and smiles wryly. "Naptime was good."
He nods, yeah. "So…" He's standing in the sitting/dressing area of the bedroom. The walk in closet, which from what he can see is about the size of his dorm room at John's Hopkins, is to his left on the far wall. (And has a window. Who has windows in their closet? Apparently Ed and Jeannie Slater.) Jimmy's inside it, laying out an inflatable twin mattress. Once it's all blown up, add a sheet, and they've got sleeping real estate for little girls. Just like what they do at Gibbs' place.
The part Tim's in is open and airy, cool white and beige décor, French doors leading to a small porch, several overstuffed chairs flanking a sofa and coffee table, all facing him. Behind him, on the wall next to the door, is a flat screen TV. He can see Abby and Ducky have most of the stuff up. "If you help me push the chairs out of the way, I'll get our mattress set."
Breena smiles, amused, sparkles in her eyes, and nods, and they get to pushing furniture out of the way.
Abby and Ducky put the last of the stuff in the room, and Tim says, "Thanks, Ducky." Then to Abby, "Penny's got Kelly on the beach, if you want to go play, I've got unpacking."
Abby stares at him. "You sure."
"Yeah, go play. Let me do something vaguely useful."
"Okay!" She snatches her bag, and heads into the other half of the room, getting ready to change into her bathing suit.
Breena's got the furniture pushed back as he's unrolling their inflatable mattress. Ducky's no longer up there, so she says to him, "Really think you're going to need that?"
Tim grins at her. "Hope not. Still going to set it up anyway. Never know who's going to pop in, when. Might as well look like we're sharing the room."
"Good point."
Breena heads to the other side to go visit with Abby.
Jimmy comes out of the closet. Behind him, Tim can see the set mattress, pillows around it, Molly and Anna's prize stuffed animals already set. "All we need is Kelly's stuff."
Tim nods. "Got Mr. Boo here somewhere," tiny stuffed skull Abby got her when she was still pregnant. He finds Mr. Boo and a collection of pacifiers and lays them on the mattress. "Need to get something like this for Sean. He doesn't already have his own zoo's worth of stuffed animals."
"Second baby fun. Not quite as insane on the buy everything that isn't nailed down front," Jimmy says.
"Yeah. Also, we've been a bit busier this time around."
"That, too."
Tim looks over at the closet. "Those cross bars are handy." Normally you'd hang clothing on them, but right now the closet is empty, which means they've got yards of space for hanging the mobiles the girls like to look at as they drift off.
Unpacking isn't too hard. Slow, because he's pretty much doing it one-handed. He's got more motion in his right arm, but it still can't hold any weight and he still can't use his right hand for much of anything. (He can cut his food again, now. Tuck his fork between his thumb and the cast index finger. It's amazing how intensely good it felt to be able to do that for himself again.) Getting Kelly's stuff tucked into the closet/makeshift nursery isn't tricky. Hanging up her mobile works just fine. He and Abby just have the two bags, so when he gets to them, he heads over to the sleeping part of the bedroom.
 |
| Sharing a bed. |
Breena's laying on the bed, relaxing, Jimmy's half-sitting, half-reclining on it.
"Nice." Tim says, eyeing it. Large bed, really big. There're what looks like smooth, crisp, light blue cotton sheets, a nubby, warm white and blue quilt, and a herd of pillows ranging from those little round ones he doesn't understand to four of those big ones Abby likes to sleep wrapped around when she's pregnant. "That's bigger than a king, isn't it?"
Breena nods. "Longer, at least. California King. Dad," Breena smiles, indicating this is kind of silly, "has this thing about sleeping diagonally. He wants to be able to sleep straight up and down on his bed, not at an angle, so these are longer beds, no diagonal sleeping."
Tim shakes his head at that, but right now Ed's weirdness is working out well for him, so... Why not?
He puts his bag on the dresser, next to Abby's. "Top two drawers are for you and Abby," Breena says, and he starts pulling out clothing, feeling the somewhat surreal sensation of unpacking his clothing in Breena's parents' bedroom, while chatting with them, lounging in bed, that, tonight, he'd be joining them in.
Eventually, as he's tucking his boxers, lube, the one vibrator, and cock ring they brought into the dresser, he starts to giggle.
"Tim?" Jimmy's asking.
"I'm okay. Just… kind of goofy moment, you know?" He's looking at them in the mirror in front of him. He rolls his eyes a little, then holds up the lube. "Was trying to think of a way to tuck it in without flashing it all over the place, but…"
Breena smiles back. "Almost started laughing when I saw you lay out that air mattress. And once Abby found her swim suit, she started to head to the bathroom, stopped, stared at me for a second, then giggled a bit, and quickly got changed."
"I missed that?" Jimmy says.
"You were getting the girls stuff all set."
He shakes his head. "Miss all the good stuff."
Tim nods, then closes the drawer, all of their clothing is put away. He grabs the bag and heads to the bathroom. "Damn!" slips out of his mouth as soon as he gets in there.
He hears Jimmy laughing in the other room. A second later, Jimmy's standing next to him, looking at the huge soaking tub, granite and glass shower with multiple shower heads, dual sinks... every bell and whistle he could possibly imagine is included bathroom. "They did this part up right."
Tim's still staring around. "I'll say. You can swim laps in that tub."
Jimmy nods. Tim turns around and notices… "Is that a bidet?"
Jimmy's still nodding.
Tim investigates. "You know, I've never seen one of these in person before."
Jimmy laughs at that. "Thought you said you've been out of the country."
Tim rolls his eyes a bit and looks at Jimmy. "Shockingly enough almost all of my out of the country has landed me on Marine or Naval bases, not a lot of posh bathroom equipment for the Jarheads. They consider stalls between the heads to be the height of luxury."
Tim puts their toothbrushes on the sink and tucks the rest of their toiletries into the shower. Since Jimmy's right next to him, he can see that he's not got an empty bag, yet. Jimmy's eyeing it. Tim's feeling a little… uncomfortable is likely the right answer, but… part of this is having them watch, so…
He tucks the rest of their gear into the medicine cabinet. Jimmy's not really paying attention to Tim's pain meds or Abby's prenatal vitamins and anti-nausea meds, but the enemas get a raised eyebrow.
Tim shrugs. "Anal's fun. Not sure what we're doing this weekend, but we're equipped for it."
That gets wide eyes and a nod. "Oh."
Tim's eyebrows furrow. Jimmy's looking really surprised by this. "It's not gross, I mean, for you, right?"
"God! No." He's pretty adamant about that, so Tim's fairly sure that's true. "Just… wasn't expecting to see something like that."
Tim shrugs. "You guys brought some goodies, too, right?"
"Uh, yeah… Not… like that, though."
"Like what?" Uncomfortable is rapidly fleeing in the wake of sexy and curious.
Jimmy smirks. "You'll see."
Sand between her toes, warm and soft, and ow… prickly. East coast beaches always have bits of sharp shells sticking out of them.
Oh well, still feels good for the most part.
Abby's enjoying being on the water again. Sun's getting low behind them. They should get some dinner soon, and little girls have had a big day, bedtime for them soon.
Bedtime for grown-ups, soon, too.
Abby smiles at that.
She gets past the dunes and sees Anna laying on a blanket, under an umbrella, chilling out, chewing on her toy rings, Mona keeping guard right next to her. Gibbs, Ducky, and Penny are about twenty feet away, standing in the low surf. The waves are rushing about mid-calf high on them. Gibbs is holding both of Molly's hands, pulling her up so she can 'jump' each wave as it rushes in.
She's shrieking with laughter and joy.
Kelly's in Penny's arms, watching the water, from the looks of it, entranced. Abby scoops up Anna as she gets closer, and quickly realizes why Anna's chilling on the beach, as soon as her feet hit the water, Anna starts to cry.
"Shhh…" Penny and Gibbs both shake their heads as she tries to sooth Anna.
"Don't think she likes the noise," Penny says.
Gibbs looks at the blanket. "That's about as close as you can get her and have her stay calm. She seemed to be doing fine with Mona though."
"Okay." Abby's patting Anna's back, and starts to take her back to the blanket. And once she's back on the ground, no longer in danger of being taken into the water, Anna calms right back down again.
"You okay here?"
Anna coos.
"Okay, I'm gonna go play in the surf a bit. You holler if you need something."
Mona shuffles a bit closer, making sure her baby is safe and comfy. Abby pats her on the head as she stands up to get closer to the water.
"So… that one's not a water baby," she says when she's within talking range.
"But, I think we've got a water baby, here!" Penny says, bouncing Kelly, who's watching the ocean, entranced.
"Water BABY!" Molly shrieks between leaps.
Gibbs lifts her into his arms. "Know we got one here!"
"Think?" Abby asks Penny.
"Decided we'd wait for you to let her see what she thought about it."
Abby smiles at that. "Thanks." She wades out and hugs Gibbs, who's soaked, and from the looks of it, having a very good time. Apparently covered in salt water and sand, little girl basking in his attention and the ocean, light breeze whipping his hair around, makes for a very happy Gibbs.
He's glowing.
Penny smiles at Abby, takes her hug happily, and goes back to enjoying this. She's also looking very at home here, large straw hat shading her skin, loose sarong wrapped around her, also whipping in the breeze.
Ducky's got his pants rolled up, holding onto his hat, which seems to want to fly away, looking pensive. "You okay?"
He nods, still quiet. "Last time I went for a walk on the beach the consequence were not quite so pleasant."
"You wanna be here, Duck?" Jethro asks.
"Certainly. Still, it is hard to feel the water on my legs and not remember. So I am here, hoping to build new memories." He smiles at them and takes Molly's hands. "Shall we jump the waves, my Molly?"
"JUMPING!"
Abby takes Kelly from Penny, and says to her, "So, we gonna get wet?"
Kelly's looking down at the water swirling around the grown-ups legs. She's looking pretty ready to just leap on in.
 |
| Water baby? |
"Come on, let's go where it's shallow." Abby takes her to the edge of the water, where the sand is dry and hot, and then carefully puts her feet on the sand. Kelly looks very startled by this, not sure she's loving this, but she takes two steps forward, holding her Mama's hands, and finds the cooler, damp sand, and appears to appreciate that. She flops down, so she can get her hands into the sand as well, and she's digging in it, squishing it between her fingers and toes.
Penny's chuckling at this, and Gibbs is grinning as Kelly keeps messing with the sand.
"Third time in a row watching this," Penny says.
Abby looks up; she's kneeling next to Kelly, who just put a handful of sand in her mouth and is spitting it out, looking horrified. "Doesn't taste good, does it?" Then she says to Penny, "John and Tim, too?"
"All of my boys, and yes, Tim, too. Guess he was about Anna's age first time we got him to the beach." That makes sense, just like Anna, Tim has a December birthday, and assuming they had him out his first summer, he'd have to be about the same age. "He liked this part just fine. Had a blast on the sand. Loved the feel of crushing sand castles under his hands, or mounding the sand up." Penny laughs a bit. "He was a kind of fussy napper, but on a blanket, in the shade, warm soft sand under him, and he was out like a light.
"But he didn't want to get into the water. He wasn't crawling yet, but every time we looked like we were going to put him in, he'd start fussing. Took all day to get him down to it, and…" Penny looks down at her feet, and takes three steps so she's in the surf, feeling it wash over her. "There's a lot of force in these little breakers. We forget that, because we're big. We had him on the sand, working on the idea that the tide was coming in, so the water was getting closer and closer, and he looked like he was enjoying it, seeing how close it would come, then the first bit got him, and it splashed up, got in his nose and face, and the next one pulled back hard enough he must have felt like it was going to pull him out to sea, because he started screaming. Tori and I got him out of there, and washed off, and he didn't go near the water for the rest of that summer. The next summer he was fine with it. Would have been a year and a half or so at that point, and like what Molly's doing, he was good with being 'jumped' over the waves."
Abby says to Kelly, "You want to go in the water, or just stay here?"
Kelly looks up from the sand, notices that there is more going on here than just sand (which is awesome and kind of overwhelming for a year-old mind to process) and then starts to crawl toward the water.
Abby's eyebrows rise. "When did you start doing that?"
"Ten minutes ago. Tim put her down on the porch thinking she'd stay put, and she just about gave him heart failure when she made a bee-line for the edge."
Abby feels her heart skip a beat at that, too. "God."
"He grabbed her. Tripped over himself and the lounge to do it, but she didn't get within eighteen inches of the edge."
"Kelly." She looks at her mom. "Here, up! You don't want to crawl face first into the ocean."
Abby doesn't know if that means anything to Kelly, but she does allow herself to be lifted into walking position and starts toddling to the water.
Her foot hits the wet sand and she stops, one foot in the sand, one lifted, wobbling. Abby's not sure if she likes it or not, but she isn't crying. The second foot drops, and she just feels it. "Here comes the water!" Abby says, as the tail end of the wave skitters up the beach to wash around Kelly's ankles and Abby's toes.
Kelly lets out a surprised half-shriek, half-laugh, and then drops down to her bum to try and touch the waves with her hands, laughing.
Penny nods. "This one's a water baby."
Abby laughs at that. "Yeah."
As the water pulls away, Kelly starts to cry. "No, baby. No crying, not for waves." Abby says, sitting next to her, "They're coming back!"
And a few seconds later, when the wave comes back foamy water rushing over Kelly's hands and feet, she laughs again.
Last ones here pick up dinner. Ziva reads on her phone. It's a text from Breena.
We are about half an hour out. Are the girls already in bed?
Almost. Getting them washed off is a bit more interesting than we were expecting.
Ah.
Beach going with six grown-ups is one thing. Play in the water, get sand all over, head to the house, use the outside shower to quickly rinse all the sand off, and then wash up inside.
Yeah… Babies… Let alone a dog… Nope, not that easy.
First off, there is, at any given time, three hundred times more sand than there could ever possibly be on any baby who's even been near the beach. And even though Kelly, Molly, and Anna have all been stripped of their clothing, all of it, and rinsed off twice, Breena and Abby are still finding more sand on them.
Second of all, the dog is not going to just meekly head over to the shower and get rinsed off. Oh no! Mona is firmly convinced that showers are something that happen to other people. The pink hairless ones. And that people of her kind (four-legged, fuzzy ones) should not ever have to be involved with the indignity of having someone spray water all over them, let alone in an attempt to remove sand from her tummy. According to Mona, if God had wanted her belly sand-free, He'd have removed it himself, and Gibbs, in his attempts to get her clean enough to let her back into the house, is engaging in high blasphemy.
So, to say the pre-shower routine of attempting to de-sand the various smaller members of the party is taking quite a bit longer than anyone had anticipated, is something of an understatement.
But, eventually, after three rinses Abby and Breena declare the girls are finally sand free. At which point Jimmy carries them, one at a time, upstairs into the house in an effort to get them to dinner and bedtime, while remaining, sand free. And eventually, Mona (who is moping, as only a big, black dog can) is deemed to be sufficiently cleaned up enough to go back into the house.
And eventually, Tony and Ziva show up (with both food, and their one, tiny, carefree, we-don't-have-babies bag of luggage).
Which means the long weekend has really started.
"They down?" Breena asks as Jimmy heads down from their room. She's in the kitchen, unpacking the food that Tony and Ziva brought.
He crosses his fingers. "They're tired. But new bed, new room, really revved up. Tim's still up there, just lying on the floor being quiet with them. Hopefully they'll drift off soon. Something smells good." He doesn't see Tony or Ziva, but he can see everyone else milling around outside, drinks in hand.
"Seafood joint a few streets up. They got three of the 'ultimate sampler meals,' clams, flounder, and a bunch of other stuff. Once Tim's down, it's food time."
"Good, I'm starving." Breena gives him a look, and he inclines his head. "Not really. You know I know better than that."
"Kind of crazy day."
"I got a snack an hour ago."
She kisses him. "Good."
"Okay, what else has to go out?" Penny asks, coming in from the back porch.
"I think these can go out," Breena gestures to the two trays in front of her. "I'm gonna keep these," she points at the bags next to her, "in the fridge until we need them."
"What's in those bags?" Jimmy asks.
"Oysters and raw clams. Thought we'd keep them cold until we got through the ones that are already out there."
"There's more!" Jimmy's eyes light up. He loves oysters.
Breena nods, and Penny says, "Local shrimp and crabs out there, too."
They hear more footsteps coming down the stairs. "Some scallops, too. Just lay off the flounder, that's for Ziva," Tony says.
Ziva raises an eyebrow at him. It's supposed to be for him, too.
Tony smiles, "God and I have a deal, I'm allowed to have shellfish when it's local and fresh and I'm celebrating."
Ziva laughs at that. "And is that deal why you bought out the shellfish section?"
Tony nods solemnly. "Yes."
Jimmy grins at them. "And what are we celebrating?"
Tony grins back. "Fresh, local shellfish!"
 |
| Soft shelled crabs. |
Tim flops down next to Abby on one of the lounges fifteen minutes later. "And they are all asleep."
"Yay!" Abby says. "Baby monitor in and on?"
Tim nods, pulls his part of the monitor out of his pocket, and puts it on the table in front of them. "Oh…" His eyes light up as he sees what's in front of them. "Are those soft-shell crabs?"
Tony nods. "And now that we're finally all here, we can dig in!"
Tim snatches two of them, fast, and says, "Tony, I love you!"
"So, do we have actual plans for this weekend, or are we just laying about and enjoying?" Ducky asks.
"I'm in favor of laying about and enjoying," Tony replies.
"Beyond making sure I get a hold of Abbi's computer, I've got nothing," Tim says, eyeballing another crab. He's comfortably full, but they're soooo yummy. Abby strokes the back of his hand, and no matter how yummy they are, not feeling like he ate a bowling ball later tonight wins out.
"Cooking!" Ziva says, happy.
"Oh, God," Penny stares at the mounds of seafood detritus in front of them. (She did not practice enough restraint to avoid eating more of the oysters than she should have. She is also not regretting that in the least.) "How can you possibly be thinking of food again?"
"Abbi and I both like to cook. Tomorrow, once she gets here, we've got the farmer's market, and then cooking! You were going to help, too, right?"
Tony shrugs. "I think I volunteered to taste anything you came up with and carry the groceries." He grabs the last clam, sucking it down gleefully. "I want to get in the water. Been too long since I've done some body surfing."
Gibbs is quietly munching one of the last crabs, then he says, sounding almost tentative, "Up in Duck," the town just north of them, "they've got dancing on the beach Saturday night. Thought I'd take Abbi to that. Anyone else who wants to come is welcome. Bonfires are legal here, on the beach, thought maybe tomorrow night, might do something like that." Gibbs looks at the fire pit near them crackling away, which is nice, but it's not roaring flames and air kissed with driftwood smoke on the beach. "If it doesn't mess with the dinner you're making, maybe, roast up some marshmallows. See if the girls like s'mores."
"I think we can make room for s'mores," Ziva says. "What sort of dancing?"
Gibbs shrugs. "Don't know. Live band, bonfires, two drink minimum, no shirt, no shoes, no problem. Sounded fun."
"That does sound fun," Ducky adds. "Penny?"
She grins at him. "Of course we're going."
Tim looks to Abby, Jimmy, and Breena. "You three want to go, and I'll baby wrangle. Not like I've got much in the way of dancing skills right now."
Jimmy gently shoves him on his good shoulder. "Not leaving you here all by your lonesome to watch girls. Besides, we got Age of Ultron and Civil War. Next time, we'll all go. This week, Marvel Movies the rest of them would rather poke their eyes out than watch."
"You sure, we can watch the movies at home next week?"
Jimmy snorts. "You didn't check out the entertainment system that Ed's got up there. Complete surround sound that blows anything either of us have at home out of the water."
Tim looks from Jimmy to the girls. "Okay, we've got his vote, you okay with this?"
Abby pets Tim's hair. "I can't drink, my favorite guy can't dance, and these days 10:30 is a late night for me. I'm good with watching movies."
"And if you three are staying home, I will, too." Breena wraps with. "So, what do you say Ziva, gorgeous men in spandex saving the day or real life ones on the beach dancing?"
"I think I am going to have to go for dancing. Unless you want gorgeous men in spandex?" she asks Tony.
"Hmmm… You know, not that I lean that way, but Chris Helmsworth…" Tony winks at Ziva as she swats his shoulder.
Breena shakes her head at that. "Chris Helmsworth? Really? When Robert Downy Junior is in the movie?"
"Oh God, this is our James Bond homoerotic wank-fest all over again, isn't it?" Jimmy says, causing Penny, Ducky, and Gibbs to all stare at him in amazement. "We're here last time, and," he points to Tony, "brought the movies, including something like three Bonds, but they were all the Daniel Craig ones."
Ducky makes a distressed sound while shaking his head. "Anthony!"
"And just like last time, Craig is Ziva's favorite Bond. If it was just us guys, it would have been Connery all the way. But it wasn't just us, so I got ones that the girls liked watching, too."
"I'm still not getting the homoerotic wank-fest aspect of this," Penny says.
"That's what Palmer called the Craig Bond movies," Tony says.
"They are! And look, I get the Connery and other ones are all straight wank-fests."
"Reinforcement of patriarchal power fantasy norms?" Penny adds dryly.
"Sure," Jimmy says. "Wank-fest gets to the heart of it more quickly, but if you like the PC version, have at it. Anyway… the reason I'm remembering it was Tony said the thing about Ziva liking Craig, which then got the girls going on about which Bond they liked better, followed by why they liked those Bond's better, and if Breena gets started on Robert Downy Jr. we're never getting out of here, because then Abby will start talking about Tom Hiddleston and Ziva'll get into Anthony Mackie, and next thing you know we're" he gestures to him, Tim, and Tony, "all sitting around pretending to be deaf because none of needs to know in anything like that level of detail what,exactly, it is about those three guys that they like."
Breena, grinning, hops up and sits in Jimmy's lap, petting him a bit, then gives him a quick kiss, and says, "He's a little peevish because, unlike Robert Downey Jr., he can't grow a decent goatee."
Jimmy's eyes go wide and his mouth drops open. "Oh, you didn't!"
Breena laughs and sticks her tongue out at him, and that gets the tickling started.
It's not horribly late when they break up for bedtime. Good dinner, fun conversation, little girls that'll want to be up and playing early. Hitting the sack before morning seems like a good idea.
Once dishes are cleared, washed, and put away, and they're moseying on up, Gibbs gives all four of them a long look. "I can sack out on the sofa."
"We're good Gibbs," Breena says with a smile and a lot of certainty in her voice.
He looks at Jimmy and Tim. "Sure?"
They nod.
"Besides," Breena adds, "you may be willing to sack out tonight, but tomorrow, Abbi's getting here, and I'm pretty damn sure she doesn't want to sack out on the sofa. So," she kisses Gibbs' cheek. "Rest well, see you in the morning."
They don't run up the stairs and start tossing off clothing the second they get into the bedroom. Which isn't to say there hasn't been a current of happy anticipation, but there's also a sense of, 'how do we get into this?'
So, actually, they're up, in the bedroom, all sort of standing around the bed, and just looking at each other. Finally Abby says, "So, we're not touching. Just watching."
"Okay."
"Sure."
Tim thinks about it. Abby and Breena are next to each other. Abby in a skirt and t-shirt. Breena's got one of those sun dresses she seems to live in during summer non-work hours. And as he's thinking, Tim's noticing that Abby's really watching Breena.
Which is when something hits him, that probably should have hit him a long time ago, but didn't. Abby's bi. He knows this, but… he didn't really know it. And now, seeing her watch Breena, it's really hitting him. Abby likes girls, for real, not just in a fun way to rev him up sort of thing.
But, it does rev him up, and they're both here, and God, he really doesn't mind, at all, if the girls want to play with each other. But there's no way he's going to just whip that out in front of all four of them without talking to Abby about it first. Tomorrow night, that'll do.
But apparently he paused too long and all three of them are watching him really closely.
"Second thoughts?" Jimmy asks.
"Um... No, not really. Not, don't want to do this..."
"But..." Abby says, she can see there's something going on.
He sighs, or they can try to have it out, now. "Just, kind of stupid, something that should have hit me a long time ago but didn't, and..."
"And..." She's leading him on, wanting to figure out what's up.
He knows signing in front of people who can't is rude. He also knows that pulling her out of the room to talk about this is rude. And he knows that they're all sort of nervous and working very hard to make sure that everyone is comfortable and anyone not being comfortable will kill this, so if it looks like he's getting cold feet, they'll sleep on the floor, and Jimmy and Breena in the bed, and sex this weekend'll be catch as catch can.
So he signs (as well as he can, one hand in a cast with your arm in a sling makes for some awkward sign language). You're b-i. (He has to spell it. Doesn't have a clue for what the sign for that is.)
So? You know that.
Well, yeah, but... I'm just getting that you really like Breena the same way I like her.
Duh. What did you think...
That you liked her in a 'fun way to turn Tim on' sort of way. And, yes, I do know exactly how self-centered that is.
Abby's outright laughing at that, and Jimmy and Breena are watching this with very obvious curiosity.
Okay, so you got to the party a bit late. Glad to see you're getting it. Is this a problem?
No! Just. It doesn't bug me if you want to fool around with her. At all. And it's hitting me that she's here, and you're here, and I know it doesn't bug Jimmy, and gosh, look at that nice, big, soft bed that we'll all be in soon... So... if you wanted to amend the no touching thing so you two can fool around... Wanted to talk to you about that first, before saying it to them.
She smiles at that and then turns to Jimmy and Breena. "I guess you'd like an explanation on what that was?"
They're both nodding.
Abby looks pointedly at Tim. It's his job to set it up. He sits down on the bed, a very clear signal that yes, this is shared space for them, and whatever it is that's going on, it's not about him being afraid of this.
"Okay, in my defense, I'm really, really straight. And kind of stupid. And yes, I know Abby's bi. But, in that I'm not bi, it took a while to get the idea that she likes you" he says to Breena, "the same way I like you. And that you two messing around, at least for her, isn't justabout turning me on."
"That's a big part of the kick, too," Abby adds.
"But not all, or…" he looks at her, thinking, "most?" Abby nods. "Of it. And, now that I'm thinking about it," he turns to Breena, "I don't know what you get out of it, either. Are you straight?"
Breena smiles, and also sits on the bed, pulling Jimmy along with her. And as she speaks, Abby scrambles on, next to Tim. "At this point, I don't think it matters. Making out with Abby is fun." She strokes Abby's hand, and Abby smiles at her. "I'm not particularly attracted to you. I don't fantasize about you when I masturbate. But I love you, and this is fun, and you're beautiful, and it feels really good, so I like it. You're all soft and smooth and pretty, and that's a really nice change of pace. And the way you two react" she looks from Jimmy, who's just quietly listening to this, to Tim, "makes me feel like a sex goddess, which is amazing, so, it's all this wonderful package of love and good. But it's not like I check out girls at the gym or anything."
"Okay," says Tim, "So, what I was thinking, and realizing I should have said to Abby earlier, and would have if it had occurred to me, but it didn't, is that I can be a great husband and a great lover and a great dad and all the rest of it, but I can't be a woman. That's literally the only thing I cannot ever be for you," he stokes Abby's cheek, "And, so... I mean," he's looking from Abby to Breena, "you're right here, and it doesn't bug me at all if you and Abby want to fool around. I mean, look, I'm not comfortable with you," now he's looking at Jimmy, "touching Abby, not tonight, at least. But, however it is I'm wired, Breena doesn't set off that, 'My Woman, Back the Hell Off,' reaction."
"Like you said, 'you can't be a woman' so we're not competing. I can fill a need you can't and vice versa."
"Probably. So, if it's okay with the three of you, I'm fine if the girls want to touch. I will more than happily watch and take turns. Or both of us touch Abby but not each other, and vice versa for you and Jimmy, or just each of us with our own spouses and watching is good, too."
He and Abby have no trouble recognizing the want to talk look that flashes between Jimmy and Breena, so both of them give them some privacy by simultaneously deciding it's tooth-brushing time. When they get out, after a very long, very thorough tooth-brushing, face washing, getting ready for bed in the bathroom with the water running so as not to hear what was going on in the bedroom, Jimmy pats the bed next to him, and Abby heads over to sit next to him, Tim following.
He leans towards her and gently, mouth closed, brushes his lips across hers. Friendly kiss, less than a second long, the kind that says hello, but there's heat in his eyes, a lot of it. Then he pulls back and says, "If I'm less than a foot away from you in bed, naked, watching you make out with my wife, let alone helping you do it, my brain is going to skitter off," he makes a little hand gesture of his fingers running off, "and my balls will be in charge, and I will join in, and I will touch both of you. I will rub up all over both of you, and I'll kiss both of you, and I'll fuck both of you, and," he looks over at Tim, holding his gaze, "if you think you'd be doing anything different you are lying to yourself. That little voice saying, 'Let's watch the girls make out; it'll be fun' is your dick trying to get your brain to fuck off so it can be fucking the girls. If Abby's back is to you, and she's petting with Breena, you will be on her, and your hands will wrap around them, pull both of them up close to you, and you'll be kissing and petting and fucking both of them, and if you're doing that, I'm joining in, too, because that's just who we are.
"And I'm not ready to cross that line. Not tonight. I'm sure we'd really like it while we were doing it, but... No. We're sticking to the rules we laid out. So, tonight, tomorrow, Saturday. Me and Breena. You and Tim. We set this up so we'd have extra thinking time before touching each other, so that's what we're going to do. We'll watch and play, and share the bed, and if we're still good with each other, then we'll talk again about going further, but right now, that's the line.
"Okay." And it is, and no one's going to push it, because that's how they play. Because that's what love and respect look like.
It's a little awkward at first, because they aren't at a club, and they're not going at it hot on their own, then showing off. No, they're starting cold.
Okay, lukewarm, they all like the idea of this. They're all anticipating this and have been all week.
But the logistics are a bit off. Once Jimmy and Breena are out of the bathroom, done with their nighttime routine, they have another minute of now what?
Tim and Abby both brought pajamas, but didn't exactly intend to wear them, and Tim's not sure if this is just strip right off and go about your normal bedtime play, just with an audience, or if they're all putting on a (quiet) show.
Add in the fact that there's just no erotic way for him to get out of a shirt right now. (His sling keeps his arm secure to his chest with four Velcro straps, so, he's got to get out of that first, then out of the shirt, carefully, all button downs all the time these days, and thenback into it, because he's not supposed to have that arm free for more than a few minutes at a time.) Plus, okay, he wants to take his shirt off, because he thinks he looks god awful dumb with a hard on poking out from between the front pieces of his shirt, but, he wants it on, too, because the sling is scratchy, and he doesn't like the way it feels on bare skin.
So, for right now, they're all on the bed, all dressed, and all, kind of… well, stuck.
He sees Abby and Breena looking at each other, having one of those silent conversations, and then Abby's in his lap, pulling off her t-shirt, and Breena's tugging off Jimmy's shirt, and they aren't stuck anymore.
For a few seconds, once all the clothing (except Tim's shirt) goes flying, there's just looking. They've all seen each other in bathing suits, and caught some little glimpses of the usually covered bits at the club, but this is the first time they've been able to just look as much as they like.
And Breena's worth looking at.
Really worth looking at. And yes, like Abby, her breasts aren't rock hard or sky high anymore, and she's got a bit of a tummy, her hips and butt are probably bigger than she'd like and decorated with pink stretch marks. But she's also all warm gold skin and warm gold hair and big blue eyes and joy beaming off of her.
"God, you're beautiful," goes spilling out of his mouth before he gets it together enough to wonder what Abby may think about that. (She's smiling, so he gets the sense that she agrees.)
Breena smiles at that, little self-deprecatingly. "Should have seen me five years ago."
Tim shakes his head. "I'm sure you were smoking hot then, too, but, no. You're beautiful now. I want you, like this, now, in my head."
Jimmy kisses the back of her neck, gathering her hair so it's draping down her shoulder. "He's right." His eyes slip over Abby (which they'd been doing more or less non-stop since she tossed her shirt to the side). "And Abby, just… fuck! Been waiting fourteen years to see you naked and you're more than worth the wait."
Abby grins, enjoying the compliment, and the look on Jimmy's face. Her eyes go trailing down his body, then to Tim's, and back to Jimmy. "We are lucky, lucky, lucky women."
Breena giggles, staring at Tim, eyeing him up and down, licking her lips in a way that makes him think of at least half a dozen things he wants her to do to him with her mouth. Her eyes settle on his dick, peeking up from his un-buttoned button down. She doesn't seem to think the shirt and hard-on combo looks stupid. "Oh yeah."
Positioning is kind of odd. Find something that feels good, looks good, and where you can see what the other two are doing. At home, this would be easy. He's got mirrors all over the place. Any angle you want to see on his bed, you can see.
Apparently Breena's parents are not quite so into sex. (Or, and Tim finds this is a somewhat distracting thought, they prefer it in the bathroom. They certainly spared no expense in there. Okay, enough of that.) They've only got one mirror in the room, and unless you're directly in front of it, it's not set to give a particularly good view of anything that's happening on the bed.
It's further complicated for Tim by being one arm down. He can't lie on his right side, yet, so spooning (assuming he wants to do anything besides fuck) is out. Missionary is out. Standing, out. (sort of. He can't lift her.) With his arm strapped to his torso, anything where Abby's on top, lying against his chest, is out. Cowgirl, doggie, or any sitting position is pretty much all they've got going right now.
Fortunately, they like all of those options, and while the Slaters might not have given much thought to the location and number of mirrors in this house, they did invest in a four post bed which means there's an excellent place to lean his back if he's sitting up, and as long as he's sitting kind of diagonally across the bed, Abby can either sit facing the Palmers, and look as much as she likes, or facing him, and she can catch sight of some of what's going on behind her in the mirror.
In some ways, it's like sixty-nining. There's the split focus, feeling, enjoying, and paying attention to what's going on with you, and then there's watching and enjoying what's going on with them.
There's the feel of Abby's lips on his, soft whispered words, theirs and Jimmy and Breena's, the jostling sensation of the bed moving beneath them, and sometimes he's focused narrowly, Abby's tongue against his, her breasts against his chest, the feel of her hair on his face and throat. Sometimes his focus goes wide, Jimmy and Breena kissing, petting, nibbling and exploring.
He's sitting back against one of the posts, facing in toward Jimmy and Breena. They're laying on their sides, also on something of a diagonal. He thinks they're good positions, everyone can see what's going on. (Jimmy has to turn his head to see, but he's not doing that much. Tim wonders if Jimmy's getting off more on being watched than watching, because he certainly looks like he's having a VERY good time, but he's not looking back at them much.)
He thinks he could easily just sit here and watch. He could probably just play with Abby, tune them out and focus entirely on her. (Though he doesn't want to do that. He wants to watch.)
Breena rolls Jimmy onto his back, straddling him, resting on his chest and hips, full body stretched out along his, as they continue to kiss and rub against each other. She leans up a bit, breasts and belly and pussy rubbing over Jimmy, but she's watching Tim and Abby make love, her eyes skimming all over their bodies, and that feels amazing to Tim. Makes him feel hot and sexy and desirable and… and all the good emotional feelings that go along with sex kicked up about twenty notches, because it's not just Abby petting him, desiring him, it's Breena, too.
He catches Breena's eyes, makes sure she sees him watching her, making love to her with his gaze, and she smiles at him, then kisses Jimmy, wet and deep, and Tim sighs, liking seeing that a whole lot, too.
And then it's better, Abby's kissing him, running her fingernails through his hair, rubbing her body all along his.
So much better.
She turns around, so her back is to him, nudging his legs a bit, so they're a little closer together, and then she's straddling him, sinking onto his dick, and his head rolls back, resting against the post as the intense pleasure of her body on his and hearing and seeing Jimmy and Breena all rush through him.
Jimmy's laying down, on his back, Breena straddling his face as he eats her out. Tim practically wants to pass out that's so hot. Abby riding him, watching the Palmers, so much sex, all over, sounds (quiet sounds) and smells and slick bodies moving against each other.
Breena flips around, onto her hands and knees and takes Jimmy's dick into her mouth, and Tim's got to close his eyes at that.
He feels Abby stop riding him, and giggle. He opens his eyes, and sees her half-turned in his lap, smiling. She kisses the tip of his nose. He pulls her lips down a bit, and kisses her, deep and wet, tongue slipping between her lips.
"Want that?" she asks, when he breaks the kiss.
"God, yes."
She begins to shift off of him, but he holds her hips. "Want to do it, want to watch them do it, can't see how to do both at once."
"Oh." She slows down, barely moving on him, just rocking gently. "Watch then do?"
"Okay." His fingers find her clit for a light, slow stroke to keep her simmering along.
So they watch, enjoying it. He's not sure which he's liking more, the sight of Breena sucking down Jimmy's cock, her wet pink lips slipping up and down over his dick, tongue caressing the tip, or Jimmy licking her pussy, tongue and fingers stroking her. They're both mind-meltingly good.
Jimmy's getting close. Tim knows how to read balls more than well enough to know what it means when they pull up tight like that. He knows how it feels too, getting closer and closer to the edge. He's not quite there, yet, but he will be, soon. And when Breena pulls off, and Jimmy half-moans and curses under his breath, Tim completely understands that sound and how that feels, too. That 'So close, God, come on, almost there! Wait? What? No! Do not go wandering off, get back there and fuck me woman!' crying frustration of when she decides 'we're going a bit longer' and all you want to do is come.
Breena switches around, kissing Jimmy sloppy and deep as she sinks onto his cock, and both Jimmy and Tim moan at that, because nothing feels like that, being an inch from the end, gritting your teeth at not going over, and then having a hot, wet pussy envelop you. That's almost worth getting yanked back from the edge for.
He can see it happening to Jimmy. He can feel his own memories of it. And Abby's in his lap, wet and soft and gliding over him, so he can feel it right here, right now, too, all of it taking him so high.
Breena flips him over, so he's on top, and Tim can't really see all that much. Mostly just Jimmy's back and legs, but hears Breena say, "Fast," sees her hands cupping his ass, pulling him deep and hard against her, and Jimmy's off, fucking hard, body tight and quivering, muscles flexing, each thrust punctuated by a soft, quiet grunt.
Her legs wrap around his back, then higher, one over his shoulder, as she's thrusting up to meet him, both of them keeping the other one muffled with deep kisses.
Tim's rocking along with them, and Abby is, too, sure they may be watching then doing, but this is too hot to not 'do.' There's no way to just watch this.
His fingers speed up as she begins a fast, hard grind on his lap, and right now that's exactly what he wants.
No. It's not. It's good, so good, but…
He taps her thigh. "Up, off me,"
She gets up, surprised by that. "On your back. Hips on the edge of the bed."
She smiles, knowing where this is going; he smiles back at her. She scoots to the edge of the bed, wrapping her legs around his hips, her head a few inches from Breena's hip. So, however she's looking, she's got a great view.
He starts that slow, deliberate pace she loves. All the way in, all the way out, making sure to keep his thumb rubbing over her clit again and again in long, slow circles.
Jimmy's moving faster, Breena clinging to him, starting that fine, muffled panting that sounds to Tim like about to get off but not wanting to provide the whole house with a concert.
He's speeding up, too, wanting to go slow and drag this out, needing to go fast, get off with them.
Abby's legs pull tight, urging him faster and deeper, and he doesn't need to be told twice, he speeds up, rocking into her deep and fast, every inch of him buried in her, as she arches against him, encouraging him with her body.
He misses her voice, misses those the moans and the words, wants to hear her screaming out his name as he pulls a long, shuddering climax out of her, but they aren't alone, and the girls are in the room, too, so they can't be loud, and her body, sweet and tight on his is good all on its own.
Breena's eyes close and she pulls Jimmy against her hard, biting his shoulder, as she twitches, and Jimmy goes tense, grinding hard into Breena, once, twice, third time, and one more, before collapsing against her.
Tim's thrusting harder, deeper, rubbing against Abby, going fast and focused, feeling her legs start to tremble, and as soon as he feels that rolling twitch, first of many soft rippling pulses, he lets go, pleasure jolting through him in hot, wet spurts.
The bed's a California king. Tons of space for two people, and snug quarters for four, but they don't have to all spoon or sleep on top of each other.
Clean up is quick, mostly just wiping up with the tissues, and they all crash, with enough room to sleep in their usual (ish) positions.
Jimmy's on his back, taking up the most room of the four of them. Tim guesses that if it's just him and Breena, his arms and legs take up most of the bed, but he doesn't have quite that much room, so he's keeping himself fairly small.
Breena's on her side, to Jimmy's left. She's facing him, neck over his arm, her arm across his chest, leg over his.
Tim supposes that normally he'd be next to Jimmy, back to him, spooned up against Abby, but in that he still can't sleep on his right side, Abby's in the middle, also facing Jimmy, but not touching him, Tim spooned up against her back, both of them on their left sides.
He's in bed, naked, glowing from an insanely good orgasm, his wife warm and snug beside him, his two other best friends? Loves? Lovers? in bed with him. It feels surreal. Good, very good, but part of him can't believe this is real.
He's laying on his left side, Abby's neck is resting over his arm, and he's sure that if he flexes his fingers a little, he'll end up brushing Jimmy's shoulder.
It takes him longer to drift off than normal, two more bodies in the bed, lots of little baby noises coming from the closet, and apparently Breena has a soft, quiet snore, but eventually his brain settles down, decides this is all right, and he falls asleep.
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