Mostly as a treat for Rubyjane because she'd never been out of Quantico before, when Christmas vacation rolled around, Abby took her new family down to New Orleans by train. They were going to be spending the holidays with the Scuitos of New Orleans, and they were each looking forward to it very much.
"Remind me again who we're meeting." McGee said as he, Abby, and Rubyjane disembarked the train, luggage in tow.
"My brother, Luca!" chirped Abby.
"And he knows you're pregnant, right?"
"Oh, yes." Abby gave her rounded middle a pat, smiling when, under the layers of clothing and jackets to keep warm against the Louisiana cold, she felt the baby turn over. "I told Luca the story in a phone call, and he's told the others."
"Meaning that they all also know about me and RJ?"
"Yes, and I promise you, Tim, they're all going to love you both. Plus, RJ is the first Sciuto grandchild, so my parents are especially going to have a field day with her."
"Okay..."
Abby just laughed and looked at Rubyjane, who was in McGee's arms. "RJ, will you tell daddy to chill out?"
Giggling, Rubyjane turned to McGee and held his face in her mittened hands, telling him with an extremely straight face, "Mommy says chill."
"Oh, alright." McGee said, surrendering playfully. "If mommy says to, then I will."
Rubyjane trilled her approval and then looked around the crowded train platform. "Where's Uncle Luca?"
No sooner were the words out of her mouth than Abby spotted her little brother in the crowd.
"He's there!" she said, pointing.
In contrast to Abby's looks and features, Luca Scuito was tall with blond hair and bright blue eyes, and he even had some kind of permanent scar on his upper lip. Without changing his own skin color, Luca was Abby's complete opposite. He was also dressed in a preppy style, straight down to a bow tie and preppy-looking boots, but the way Luca carried himself, including the twinkle in his eye and his enthusiasm as he greeted his sister when she wove her way across the crowded platform to join him, told McGee that unlike most preps, Luca wasn't full of himself or any shade of pretentious. McGee would be able to roll with that.
From what McGee understood, the family that his girlfriend had grown up in was large... at least by his own standards.
Abby's adoptive parents were named Tyler and Gloria, and both of them were completely deaf, although they were both experts at signing and reading lips. The elder Scuitos were also capable of speaking verbally, and they did, although their speech sounded a little different from a person who wasn't deaf or hard of hearing.
Abby, herself, was next in the lineup, and after her, less than a year younger was Ellie Kate. She had been a complete surprise, having been born after her parents had told her that even conceiving a biological child would be impossible. Nevertheless, Ellie Kate had been welcomed into the family as equally as Abby had been. And also like Abby, Ellie Kate was born with a clean bill of health.
Born when they were five was Luca, very healthy and very happy. He was the only son, and because of that, he had been spoiled when he was younger.
Rounding out the Scuitos was Clementine, just twenty-five now. She'd been born with hearing problems, though not as drastic as what her parents had to deal with. So as to at least point her in the direction of a good life, she'd been wearing hearing aids since she was two months old and was put into speech therapy as soon as she had the coordination to start signing. She was almost a chameleon these days with how well she was able to fit in.
McGee had only one sibling, a sister, and he already had no idea what to expect when Abby, Ellie Kate, Luca, and Clementine were going to be in one room. This was going to be a vacation to remember.
"Tim!"
Abby's voice jarred him from his thoughts. She was back, and Luca was at her side.
"Hey, Abby." he greeted her. "Is this Luca?"
"Yep!" Abby looked up at him. "Luca, this is Tim, who I told you about. He's my best friend, and the love of my life."
Beaming, Luca shook hands with McGee, speaking all the while with what was a very distinct Louisiana accent. "I'm so happy to finally meet you! Abby's told me lots of stories!"
McGee laughed nervously. "All good ones, I hope."
"Of course. Let me just be the first to say—welcome to the family, brother."
McGee relaxed immediately. "Thanks!"
Luca turned his attention to Rubyjane, who had been watching the conversation from McGee's arms, very quiet. When she locked eyes with Luca, she turned to putty at the kind smile he gave her.
"And you're Rubyjane, right?"
She giggled and gave a nod. "Yes, Uncle Luca!"
"But you like it more when people call you RJ?"
"Yep!" she repeated, immediately liking him.
Using a mixture of speech and sign language, Luca asked, "May I call you RJ?"
The mouth of the little girl in question dropped open in surprise, but she leaned towards her new uncle, wanting him to hold her. Surprised, but happy, Luca took her from McGee, laughing when Rubyjane attached herself to him like a baby koala and hugged him.
Luca gladly returned the hug and then look over at his niece's parents, who were watching the scene fondly.
"I think your kid imprinted on me."
"She's as touchy-feely as Abby is," McGee said. "But she's only this touchy-feely with people she really loves."
"That's totally true." Abby confirmed. "I know she's going to adore mom, dad, and EK, but I think she and Clem will be as thick as thieves."
"Speaking of EK and Clem," Luca said thoughtfully. "They would have come, but they stayed behind because they were putting the finishing touches on RJ's welcome-to-the-family presents."
"Presents?" Rubyjane had heard the word and perked up, even pointing to herself. "Are they mine?"
Luca laughed again and gave his niece a hug. "Uh-huh! Do you want to go to the house and find them?"
Rubyjane clapped her hands together, nodding. "Let's go!"
Abby's childhood home was on a cul-de-sac off a quiet lane called Ponchatrain, and the name of nook was called Jefferson Place. The Scuito house was the only one on the cul-de-sac, and except for the junkyard on the other side of the field next to their house, there was nothing else there. It had been that way since before Abby had been adopted.
The house itself was huge and four stories tall, and had a carriage house garage and even a screened wraparound porch on which, when she was younger, Abby had spent many days, drinking lemonade and just shooting the breeze with Ellie Kate, Luca, and Clementine. One thing that McGee and Rubyjane were immediately amused by was that Number 18 Jefferson Place was painted in bright rainbow colors.
When they'd walked through the garden and onto the porch, Luca stopped McGee just before they went inside.
"Tim, are you allergic to dogs, or anything?"
"No, and I like dogs a lot." McGee replied. "Why?"
"Clementine has a service dog for an anxiety disorder. She's called Scout."
"Alright, by why are you talking in a tone of warning?"
Abby chortled and filled in the blanks because Luca was being too slow. "Scout is a Welsh Corgi, and Luca just doesn't want you to accidentally trip over her. Clementine has hearing aids like RJ does, and she's more confident now than before she got Scout..."
"But...?"
"Our parents have a service dogs, too—a pair of Labradors, called Maggie and Raja. They're signal dogs."
"Because your parents are hearing impaired?"
"Bingo."
Abby turned to McGee, brushing a speck of imaginary dust off his jacket.
"There's a surprise for you inside." she said.
"Really? What is it?"
Abby rolled her eyes. "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?"
Bored, Rubyjane slid out of McGee's arms and walked over to Luca, holding her arms up to him. Luca obliged and picked her up.
"What are you thinking?" he asked.
Rubyjane made the sign for cold and burrowed closer to her uncle, who hugged her closer.
"Alright, we'll go inside and get you warmed up."
Luca turned to Abby and McGee.
"Hey, weirdos—your kid just told me that she's cold, so I'm going to take her inside now. Feel free to stay out here and keep squabbling about dumb stuff if you want."
Abby and McGee caught his drift and followed him and Rubyjane inside the house.
After putting their things away in what McGee deduced to be a mudroom, they had barely set foot in the front hall when they were greeted by two women: the older one, tall and elegant, even looking like a bohemian hippie, was Ellie Kate. Beside her, dressed in a red and green dress that looked straight out of the 1950s, was Clementine.
She looked like a younger version of Ellie Kate, but instead of a hippie, she was an artist. This was evidenced by a smock apron she had tied around her waist; it even had an assortment of pens, markers, pencils, and eraser sticks that were sticking out of the front pocket. Another clue that she was the artsy type was that instead of blond hair like Ellie Kate and Luca, Clementine had long hair that she'd dyed emerald green. Beside her sat Scout the Welsh Corgi, loyal and patient. Even she was dressed up, wearing a kerchief with a paintbrush pattern over her collar.
Both Ellie Kate and Clementine greeted their oldest sibling with love and joy, giving her lots of hugs and things like that, and cooing over her baby belly, which, at eighteen weeks, was cute and petite.
"EK, Clem," Abby said to her sisters, I want you to meet my new family—this is my boyfriend, Tim McGee, and our adopted daughter, Rubyjane."
"Why, Abby-kins," Ellie Kate said slyly as she looked from her older sister to her sister's beau. "You didn't tell us that your man in Thom E. Gemcity."
Ellie Kate looked at Clementine.
"Did she tell you?"
Clementine smirked and shook her head. "Nope!"
McGee groaned. "Are you guys going to be weird about this?"
The smirk on Clementine's face grew as her voice became coy. "Maybe..."
"Maybe not." Ellie Kate finished in a matching tone.
Deciding to spare McGee from further teasing, Abby steered Rubyjane our from behind her, where she'd been hiding. She was front and center now.
"Bumblebee, these are your aunties Ellie Kate and Clementine—they're my sisters." As Abby spoke, she indicated each sister in turn. "They're both very nice, and guess what? Auntie Clementine is different, just like you!"
Immediately awed, Rubyjane approached Clementine and spoke to her using speech and sign language.
"You use ASL?"
"Mhm, and I have hearing aids, just like you." Clementine pointed hers out before motioning towards her four-legged companion. "RJ, this is my dog, Scout, and she's my buddy. Her job is to cheer me up."
"For why?"
"I get sad sometimes, and Scout always knows just what to do." Clementine smiled at her. "She knows a lot of tricks, and we can play with her later, but for now, I need you to do something for me."
"Okay!"
"I need you to stay over there with Auntie Ellie Kate and Uncle Luca, just to the side, alright? I have to go get a surprise ready!"
Rubyjane bobbed her head in understanding, immediately sidestepping to the right and standing in between her aunt and uncle.
Grinning, Clementine left the room, Scout hot on her heels. They were only gone for a few moments when they returned with a new person, whose presence threw McGee for a loop.
"Sarah?!"