Redefining The Future

Releasing the Past

Chapter 9 - Releasing the Past

"Well Tony, I think we have every available form of party junk food ever created," said Jenny, as she and Tony stumbled through the living room and into the kitchen. Dumping the bags of groceries on the table, they both gave a relieved sigh when their arms were once again unburdened.

"Can we taste test a few things tonight?" asked Tony eagerly, peering into the bag that contained the candy bags and chips.

"We'll see," replied Jenny.

Tony's shoulders slumped. 'We'll see' usually meant no.

As Jenny checked her watch, she noticed it was 2.15pm.

"I thought Ziva and Dad would've been back by now," she said, opening the door to the basement to listen for any sounds that might indicate they were home.

Suddenly a loud tapping could be heard through the patio door. Turning instantly, Tony and Jenny headed in that direction.

"Woah!" exclaimed Tony as he opened the door onto the back yard. Eyes alight, he stepped onto the patio and just stared ahead.

The backyard looked completely transformed. Strung between the patio and various trees in the yard were thousands of tiny fairy lights. Although, due to the daylight, Tony couldn't see the actual effect, he could imagine how great it would look tomorrow night. Looking to the right of the patio, he could see a large red and blue striped Marquee. As Tony ran towards his Dad, he watched him hammer in the last remaining pegs.

"This is cool Dad," he said as he stepped under the canopy.

"Yep, well, that's the idea," replied Gibbs, giving one last tap before standing up and stretching out his back. "They've forecast a pretty hot day tomorrow so this should provide us with plenty of shade.

"What are these for?" asked Tony, looking at the rolled pieces of plastic between the openings.

"I guess they're kind of like roller walls," said Gibbs smiling. "If it started to rain, or if it was cold, you could roll them down, zip them to the corners and it turns it into a room."

Gibbs demonstrated by unrolling one of the walls and showing Tony how it covered the space between the two legs of the marquee.

"But," he continued, rolling it back up again. "I don't think we'll be needing these tomorrow."

"I love all the lights," said Tony, heading back out in the yard and stretching up towards the cords strung between the patio, the marquee and the trees. "There must be thousands!" he added.

"Yep," replied Gibbs. "Some of them are coloured and some are just clear, but they should look really good when it gets dark."

"It looks fantastic Dad," said Tony, putting his arms around Gibbs' waist. "Thank you."

Gibbs tousled Tony's hair before leaning down a planting a gentle kiss on the boy's head. "Not a problem Bud. I want tomorrow to be a special day for you. Actually, the best thing hasn't arrived yet. It will be here in the morning."

"What is it?" asked Tony, the excitement bubbling over into his voice.

"You'll have to wait and see," replied Gibbs mysteriously.

Looking up, Gibbs saw Jenny walking towards them.

"So, did you and Mom get everything you needed at the grocery store?" he asked, smiling at Jenny as she approached them.

"Yep," said Tony. "We have 4 huge bags full of junk food."

His voice sounded so excited and his eyes were so bright that Gibbs couldn't help but laugh. It was lovely to see Tony so excited about his birthday. Gibbs knew, all too well, that, at the very least, the last three of Tony's birthdays has passed without any acknowledgement. He and Jenny intended to make sure this was one to remember.