An Ordinary Day
Jethro and Maria had spent hours over the past months quietly discussing her imminent retirement and transition from Washington, DC, to Campeche, Mexico. Though the family had used the Campeche home as a vacation spot and refuge for many years, it had not ever been occupied full time. Things were going to change, though, soon, and that was what the two were debating.
The pair was in the living room, Jethro in his favourite chair, and Maria in hers, and both were drinking coffee.
"Frankly, I am scared that he will be devastated without you," Jethro leaned towards Maria and swept his arm in a motion to include the entire house. "You are a part of every room here, all of his Washington life, and all of his memories."
"We will address all of his worries before the move," she responded. "Perhaps we should..."
She was interrupted by the slam of the back door, running feet, and Tony yelling, "Abuela, I'm home from school and I am starving! Can I have a snack before supper?"
Jethro called out "Don't run in the house, Son."
Tony stuck his head in the living room doorway, clearly surprised. "What are you doing home from work so early, Dad?"
Before Jethro could respond to the query, Tony raced to the rocking chair and plopped himself down in Maria's lap. He leaned up and kissed her, and she laughed and hugged him to her.
"Are you ever going to think you are too big, Bambino, to sit in my lap? Usted es demasiado grande."
"Nope, I'm not. Hey, guess what happened at school today?"
Gibbs was immediately alert, and braced himself mentally should it involve Tony getting into trouble badly enough to require a phone call from a teacher or a request for a parent conference. "What?"
"We were in gym, when..." Tony's voice trailed off and he looked at Maria pleadingly. "Abuela, I am so hungry. Tengo hambre. Could I please have something big, like a piece of cake?"
Maria frowned. "No, no cake before supper- eat some fruit right now. The cake is for our dessert tonight."
"Ok," Tony vaulted off of her lap and raced to the kitchen.
"Don't run in the house!" Gibbs called out again, then shook his head at Maria and smiled. They remained silent a minute or two, listening to Tony-inspired noise from the kitchen.
"We need to talk to him tonight, at supper," Maria stated firmly.
"Ok, I agree." Jethro nodded. "He needs to have a heads up at what's going to happen."
Tony ran back in the room juggling an apple from hand to hand. "Can I not do my homework right now, Abuela, and go shoot some ball? Just only today, please, I don't have much and I promise I'll get it done right after supper. You won't even have to remind me. Really, I only have one page of math and that's it, and it's about to rain, so I won't be able to go out later."
On a normal day, Maria would say no, unequivocally, but today was different, and she felt a bit guilty. So she nodded affirmatively and Tony raced back outside, gripping the apple between his teeth.