Ima's Birthday
Tony takes the five kids shopping for their Ima's birthday presents. November 2024.
Chapter 1: Shopping for Ima; 9 November
"First stop is the jewelers' store so I can pick up my present for Ima," Tony informed his five kids. "Then we will shop for your presents for her."
"Can we see what you bought for her? Please?" Beth and Rivka wanted to see the present, especially since they figured out that Abba would be buying jewelry. Tony nodded as he pulled into the parking lot.
"Remember to look with your eyes and leave your hands in your pockets!" All five kids smiled at their Abba at his usual request when they entered a store. They followed him into the store and to the counter.
"How may I help you, sir?" The young woman behind the counter greeted Tony and looked at the five kids standing with him. She thought it sweet that a grandfather would bring his grandchildren shopping.
"I'm here to pick up a custom order for Tony DiNozzo," The salesperson looked in her computer and went to the back room. She returned with a small box and opened it to show Tony for his inspection.
"I hope this is to your liking, sir," she said as she handed him the ring. He looked it over and nodded, then held it for the kids to see. The ring had the seven first names of the DiNozzo family on bands that appeared to be interwoven. Beside each name was a colored stone. The final band had their last name.
"I see my name, Abba!" Anthony looked at all the names on the ring. "Why are the stones different colors?"
"They are birthstones, silly," Tali answered her brother's question. "See you and I have the same color stone? That's because we both were born in June. So do Riv and Beth, for February. Abba, I think Ima will really like that ring. What is the last stone by our last name?"
Tony grinned at his oldest, "January birthstone for the month we were married, Tals. Do you really think Ima will like it?" All of the children grinned and nodded.
"Ima will like it just because it is from you, Abba," Anthony thought the ring looked as special as his Ima. He knew she would have tears in her eyes when Abba gave it to her and then she would kiss - yuck! - Abba lots.
"Ima will be forty five years old this year," Tali informed her siblings.
LJ thought a minute and then exclaimed, "Wow, that's OLD!" Tony suppressed a grin at his youngest's comment.
"Well, Abba is fifty six, so what does that make him?" Tali shot a quick glance at her Abba.
"VERY OLD!" LJ grinned. The salesperson, who looked about twenty five to Tony, snickered. She tried not to let Tony see her reaction, especially since her first impression was obviously off the mark. This was a father with his children!
"Hey! I am not that old, Grandpa is old, not me and Ima," Tony turned to the kids. They all grinned back at him; he saw his own goofy grin times five. God, he loved these kiddos of his; they were the second best thing to happen in his life. His love, his ninja, his soulmate was hands down the best thing ever in his fifty six plus years of life.
Tony finished his transaction with the salesclerk and led the children out to the family van. "Now to the mall so you can all pick out a gift for Ima." Tony, Tali and Anthony helped the three younger kids with their car seats and then buckled themselves in.
At the mall, all of the kids wanted to get ice cream at the food court. The family headed to get the frozen confection first. Each child got a single scoop cone and Tony got a single scoop dish. LJ finished his cone first and tried to steal some of Tony's ice cream. "Abba, are you going to eat all that ice cream?" LJ made puppy eyes at his father. "Chocolate is my favorite!" He grinned at his Abba, hoping to get the rest of the dish to finish.
Anthony took a bite of his cone, "LJ, if you didn't gobble up your own ice cream, you could enjoy it more." His favorite flavor was also chocolate. "Eat it slowly and enjoy every bite, that's what Aunt Abby says."
Beth looked up from her strawberry ice cream and nodded, "Aunt Abby is very smart, LJ. You should listen and do what she says." Rivka agreed with her twin, her mouth full of her own favorite, chocolate chocolate chip.
Tali finished her mint chocolate chip ice cream. "Remember that Ima said that you should eat your ice cream slower, LJ, so that you don't get an upset stomach."
"But ice cream is my favorite food," LJ protested. "I can't eat it slow!" He eyed his Abba's dish of ice cream, watching every bite taken. Tony tried his best to ignore the puppy eyes and looks from his youngest. He finally gave in and handed the last few bites to the boy. "Toda, and grazi, Abba!"
"Let's finish up, so we can get this shopping done," Tony reminded his kids. "Have you thought about what you want to give Ima for her birthday?"
"Ice cream," LJ grinned at his Abba.
Tony grinned back at the little boy, "We will have ice cream at the party, LJ."
"I want to get earrings for Ima," Anthony knew how much his mother liked earrings. "Some pretty ones with stones that shine."
Beth and Rivka thought a few minutes. "How about some fuzzy slippers and a warm bath robe?" Beth didn't tell the others her ulterior motive; she liked to cuddle with Ima when Ima wore her fuzzy robe. Rivka nodded her agreement to her twin's suggestion.
Tali looked to her father, "Abba, are we getting one gift from all of us together or each getting a gift for Ima separately?"
"It's up to you all," Tony replied. "You can get one gift from all of you or a gift from each."
"I think we should each get at present for Ima," Rivka spoke up. "That way she will have five presents to open instead of just one present." The others agreed quickly and Tony led them to the jewelry store in the mall.
Anthony spotted a pair of sterling silver, crystal, and garnet earrings with the stones set into heart shapes that dangled from little chains that were attached to small hoops. He pointed to the earrings in the display case and told his Abba that was what he wanted to get for Ima. LJ spotted a matching bracelet in the case and asked if he could get the bracelet for Ima. Tony nodded and motioned for the clerk.
She came over to the family. Tony let Anthony and LJ tell her what they wanted. Anthony pointed to the earrings he had picked, "I want to get those for my Ima."
"I want to get this bracelet," LJ pointed to the matching bracelet. The clerk looked to Tony who nodded. She took the items out of the display and put them on the counter for Tony to inspect. He picked up each one, showing them to Anthony and LJ. Both boys nodded and grinned.
"We'll take both, please. Would you wrap them separately? Thanks," Tony handed the clerk his debit card and herded the kids to towards the cash register. At the register, the clerk let LJ and Anthony pick out wrapping paper for their gifts and then wrapped each one. She put the wrapped packages into separate bags and handed one to each boy.
"I hope your mom has a happy birthday," she smiled at the two. She could tell they were brothers from their looks and when both boys grinned at her, she saw their father's grin. "She's so lucky to have such good looking and loving sons!"
The next stop was a department store so that Rivka and Beth could pick out slippers and a robe for their mother. Beth wanted to get a red robe for her Ima, but she didn't find any red robes that were fuzzy. She and Rivka agreed on blue as the color and found a blue fleece robe and matching slippers. Tony paid the sales clerk and then took the items to be gift-wrapped at the service counter. He let the twins pick out the wrapping paper and each girl left with a present for Ima.
"Okay, Tals," Tony looked at his oldest, "What do you want to get for Ima? You're the last one."
Tali shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, Abba. I am trying to think of something special for Ima, but my brain won't cooperate!"
Tony led the children to the indoor play area and had them place their bags on a bench while they played. The four younger kids headed for the slide, which spiraled down from about ten feet up. Tali sat next to her Abba. "I need some ideas, Abba. Do you have any?"
"Jewelry? A book? A scarf?" Tony suggested and Tali shook her head no to each of his ideas. "Do you know of anything she wants?"
"Only the expensive mixer that you are getting her for Christmas," Tali had been with her Ima when Ziva spotted the mixer. She had made a note to let her Abba know about how much Ima wanted it. She suspected that Ima had deliberately made a big deal about the mixer so that Tali would tell Abba. "I can't get her any accessory for it without giving away your surprise for Christmas…"
Tali wracked her brain; what would Ima be surprised with as a birthday present? Her siblings had picked good presents for them to give Ima, but Tali wanted something special and something that was uniquely her. Abba's suggestions had been good ones, but not what struck a chord with Tali.
She looked around at the stores surrounding the play are. She told Abba where she was going and wandered over to the store directory. Maybe one of the stores would give her an idea. After reading the list of stores, she decided to ask Abba to go to the bookstores. Maybe she could find a book for Ima or buy her a gift card for one of the bookstores.
"Abba, let's go to the bookstores, please. I have an idea," Tali walked back over to her father. He called out to the other four and they took one last turn on the slide each.
As they were walking to the first bookstore, Tali spotted the knives in a display window. Tony followed her gaze and nodded to himself. Like mother, like daughter. Tali's fascination with knives was on a par with her Ima's love of the metal blades.
Tali turned, "Abba, may we go look in the knife store? Maybe I can find a knife for Ima." Tony nodded, and the others followed Tali to the display windows. LJ was just starting to be interested in knives, but the other three could take them or leave them. Anthony much preferred anything basketball related, while the twins were more interested in nature and animals than knives.
Tali looked over the displays. She spotted a shiny steel knife with an engraved hilt with red and yellow stones. The picture was a mother and child looking at each other with an engraved heart with the stones in the middle. "Abba! That one is perfect!" She pointed out the knife to her father, hoping he would agree.
"Let's go look at it, Tals," Tony led the family into the knife store and asked to see the mother and child knife. The clerk placed it on the counter and Tali sighed. Tony smiled to himself; his oldest was truly Ziva's mini-me.
"We can customize the stones if you need," the clerk suggested. "We can also add stones, up to six total."
Tali shook her head, "No, the stones are perfect as they are. Abba?" She looked at her Abba, hoping he would say okay to purchase the knife for Ima.
Tony checked the price tag; it was a bit more than he had expected to spend, but Tali's heart seemed set on getting the knife for her Ima. "Okay, we'll take it. Do you gift wrap purchases?"
"Yes, sir. Do you want to choose a wrapping paper?" Tony motioned for Tali to make her choice of paper. She picked the black paper with silver and gold stars and grinned at Abba.
"Ima will be very surprised!"
The transaction was completed and the box wrapped. The clerk handed the bag to Tali. Tony made sure each child had his or her bag and they headed to the parking lot. All of the children were excited that each had found what he or she thought was the perfect gift for Ima. They started arguing about whose gift should be opened first and the noise level rose significantly.
Tony whistled, "Hey; enough with the arguing. Ima will open all of the presents and we will put them where she can choose the order to open them.
"When we get home, we'll leave the packages in the back of the van. That way Ima won't know that we have any gifts for her. I will put them all in the garage later tonight."
Anthony got a laugh from everyone when he commented, "You know Ima will find them no matter what."
"True," Tony thought a minute. "Let's hide them at Grandpa's house!"