The Easter… Skunk?
The kids find a skunk in the backyard when hunting for Easter eggs. April 2023
"That's the last one," Ziva tucked the candy-and-toy-filled plastic egg between the cushions of one of the lounge chairs on the deck. She and Tony had just spent the better part of an hour hiding one hundred twenty plastic Easter eggs around the yard. Each child had twenty four of their own color or pattern on the eggs. Tali picked out eggs with tiger stripes, Anthony chose the basketball-shaped eggs. Rivka had been undecided when the kids were selecting the packages of eggs at the local superstore, but had finally settled for the soft pastel colors. Beth found what she wanted first of all the children, choosing the bright red eggs with black spots that looked like lady bugs. Tony helped LJ pick his package of eggs, lion faces molded into the plastic, and they spent nearly a half of an hour trying to get the toddler to relinquish the package so they could fill the eggs.
Tony sighed, "Thank goodness; I was beginning to think we'd never get them all hidden." He glanced at his watch; "Took us almost an hour! It'll take the kids what, maybe fifteen minutes to find them all?"
Ziva nodded, "But they will have fun; that is what matters. Come, let us get to sleep or five DiNozzos will be running loose in the backyard before we wake up." She called to Asher who was in the yard so that the dog came inside with them.
Once inside, she checked that the five baskets were on the table in the family room, ready to go. Tali's purple basket, Anthony's orange basket, Rivka's bright blue basket, Beth's red basket with painted lady bugs on the handle, and the plush lion basket that Tony found for LJ were lined up on the coffee table. Asher nosed his alpha person; gaining some ear skritches. "Do you want an Easter basket, Asher? Such a good boy," Ziva rubbed his head. "Time to go night-night!" The dog lay down on one of the pet beds in the family room as his people headed to their bedroom.
At 0630, the parents awoke to the sounds of kids in the backyard and on the deck. They pulled on robes and opened the sliding door from the master suite. All five DiNozzos were out in the yard in pajamas with their Easter baskets. Tali was helping LJ find his eggs as she also gathered her own. Anthony and the twins were hunting their eggs. Ziva took some video with her phone as Tony snapped pictures with his. Tony went back inside to find some slippers so that he could go into the grass with the kids.
Ziva turned to follow him inside; she needed to take care of nature's call first. They left the deck door open so that they could hear the kids. Ziva had just stepped out of the bathroom when the twins came running inside.
"Ima! Abba!" they called out.
"What is it?" Ziva put her hands on the girls' shoulders to slow them down.
"LJ has a funny looking cat on the deck. Can we keep it?" Rivka asked.
"Yeah, it's black and white and has a fluffy tail," Beth added.
Tali appeared at the doorway, "Abba, Ima, come outside, but come slowly and quietly…" Ziva looked at Tony and they met gazes. Something was up with the kids.
"What is it, Tali?" Ziva questioned her oldest.
"I think LJ is petting a skunk, Ima!"
"WHAT?" Tony replied in shock. "How do you know it's a skunk? Riv said it's a cat."
The two little girls, Tony, and Ziva moved to the door and looked where Tali was pointing to her baby brother on the far side of the deck. LJ was sitting on the deck with his hand on something dark and furry.
Anthony stopped as he got closer to his little brother. Tony motioned to the boy to stay still and walked slowly and quietly towards his youngest. LJ saw his Abba approaching and grinned as he petted the animal sitting next to him.
"Cat, Abba!" LJ touched the animal again.
"Gentle, LJ and quiet, okay?" Tony spotted the distinctive white stripes on the back and tail. "Be careful with the kitty, okay?"
Ziva held the curious twins back as Tali asked quietly, "Is it really a cat, Ima? It looks like a skunk!"
Her mother spoke quietly, "You are correct; it is a skunk. We do not want to upset the skunk, so we will stay still and stay quiet until Abba gets LJ." The three girls nodded and continued to watch as their father moved closer to the skunk and LJ.
"Kitty," LJ grinned again. "Soft kitty."
Tony stopped about six feet from the little boy and the skunk. "Anthony, turn and walk slowly over to Ima, please." Anthony did as he was told, and stood with his sisters to watch Abba and LJ. As Tony spoke to Anthony, the skunk turned to look at him. It stood up and arched its back. Tony watched the tail; hoping like heck that the skunk didn't feel a need to spray.
He breathed a small sigh of relief when the animal turned around and rested its head on LJ's leg. LJ petted it some more, "Nice kitty." Now to make a plan to get the kid away from the skunk!
Tony noticed movement in the yard; he turned and saw Asher by the shed. 'Ah, crap!' he thought, last thing they needed was a dog-skunk run-in. Ziva spotted Asher about the same time her husband did. She called out to the dog softly and he trotted over to his alpha person.
"Good boy, Asher," Ziva grabbed the dog's collar and sent Anthony inside to get the leash. Asher leaned on his person as she petted his head with her free hand. "Stay here, boy." Asher did his best sit. Anthony returned with the leash, which Ziva quickly clipped to the dog's collar. "Toda, Anthony."
"Ima, will the skunk hurt LJ?" Rivka was worried about her baby brother.
"As long as we do not scare or startle the skunk, I think Abba can get LJ away from it," Ziva responded quietly. "One thing we do not want is for the skunk to spray Abba or LJ."
Anthony thought about what his Ima said. "If the skunk sprays, it will be stinky. Remember when we passed by the dead skunk when we went to Grandpa's house last week? That was a bad smell. It made me want to puke."
"Yeah, it was gross," Beth made a face at the memory of the stink.
Tony meanwhile was trying to make a plan to grab LJ and run inside the house without getting sprayed or worse. He moved a bit closer to the toddler and the skunk as LJ continued to pet the animal. He was about three feet away when the skunk glared at him.
"Okay, skunk, I'm stopping here," Tony spoke softly so as not to startle the animal. "I'd really like my kid back though. Do you think you can move on?" He hoped none of the neighbors were watching; they'd think he went off the deep end, talking to a skunk.
The three girls, Anthony, and Asher were inside after Ziva told Tali to take them all to the family room and to make sure that Asher's dog door was locked. She could see the four older kids watching from the sliding door in the family room.
"I am coming closer to you, Tony," Ziva spoke just loud enough for him to hear her as she moved quietly across the deck. As she got by his side, the skunk shifted again, stretching and turning a full circle before settling next to the little boy. He put his hand on the animal's back and stroked.
"Soft kitty, Ima," LJ grinned at his parents. "He purr."
"Now what?" Tony asked his wife quietly. "How do we get the kid away from the skunk?"
"And without getting sprayed," Ziva added. "Maybe we can distract it with some cat food?"
"Good idea… me or you go get it?"
"I will go, you can keep an eye on LJ," she replied. She moved back towards the master bedroom sliding door without making a sound.
Tony watched his better half, 'Still got the ninja skills!' LJ shifted and the skunk moved with him. Tony held his breath as he watched the little boy with the animal. LJ was on his feet now, squatting next to the creature, but still petting its head and back. Tony heard the animal making a sound that was similar to the purr of a cat.
"Nice kitty, Abba. He purr," LJ grinned at his father again. "Go in?"
"No, LJ. Sorry, buddy. That's a skunk, not a kitty, and it needs to stay outside. Okay?"
"Okay, Abba. I pet skuk."
"Good boy, keep the skunk happy until Ima gets the food." Tony glanced back towards the sliding door, hoping Ziva returned soon with the cat food. He heard her slide the door open and watched her move across the deck. His ninja still had the stealth and quiet moves. She handed him the dish of cat food.
"Okay, LJ, I have the food for the skunk. I want you to stand up and I am going to give the skunk his breakfast. Okay?" Tony crouched low and moved slowly to the toddler and skunk as he spoke. "Hey, there, skunk, I got something for you that you will like. Some yummy cat food; trade for my kid?" He placed the dish about a foot from the animal and watched as it sniffed and then waddled over to the food. As the animal began to chomp on the food, Tony picked up LJ in a swoop and took off for the master bedroom sliding door with Ziva on his heels.
Once inside, they looked back at the skunk still eating from the dish. It looked up at them and then behind it as if looking for LJ. As they watched, it ate the last of the food and walked off towards the back of the yard.
"Bye, bye, skuk," LJ waved as his parents sighed in relief. It would be an Easter they would not forget.