This is a one shot I came up with for Thanksgiving! It's part of my Broken Road universe. Please read AND review! Thanks!
It was Thanksgiving morning and Abby Sciuto Krakowsky was watching the Macey's Parade on TV with her family. Later that afternoon, Abby would be hosting the entire NCIS family with the exception of Clay, Ellie and Julie at the Krakowsky house for Thanksgiving. Ellie and Clay had taken Julia to Oklahoma to spend Thanksgiving with her family, everyone else was coming. For now, though, Abby was enjoying spending quality time with her husband and kids. While watching the parade, The family was enjoying a breakfast of Whole wheat biscuits and pumpkin spice creamed Honey. There was also southern style egg scramblers, which included scrambled eggs, bacon, bell peppers, and melted shredded cheese in a bowl. Abby had accumilated several family recipes over the years from her mother and her Aunt Gert. Not too mention all the delicious recipes she'd gotten from her brother, Luca, a professional chef. The entire family loved these recipes and Abby loved to make them whenever she could. After the Parade was over Abby turned to her family and signed and said,
"There's still a little time before I have to start cooking the food for this afternoon. Girls, how about I teach you two how to do the Turkey Trot after cleaning up from breakfast." Jesse gave an amused smile as Kelly, his youngest, asked,
"What's that?" Abby smiled and replied,
"It's a really fun dance. Would you like to learn?"
"Yeah!", Kelly replied as her sister,Caty, nodded. Caty was deaf but Abby and Jesse had created an amp so she could feel the beat and still join in the fun when the family danced to music or played a dance game or Guitar Hero on the WII. Jesse and the girls helped clean up the kitchen, then Jesse found the right music and turned on the player and the Amp. Cocoa, Caty's service dog just sat off to the side, looking on in confusion as her human and her family started acting strange. Jesse took out his phone and video taped the craziness as family danced around the room crazily flapping their hands and kicking up their feet. Caty was grinning and Kelly couldn't stop giggling as she tried to copy her mother's moves. After the song was over, the youngest Krakowsky exclaimed and signed,
"That was fun! Can we do it again?!" Caty looked at her mother and folded her hands together in a silent beg. Abby and Jesse chuckled and Jesse said,
"I think that's enough for one day. Your mother and I have work to do to get ready for The family to come. Why don't you two go play together for awhile and we'll call you when we have something you can do to help, alright?" Caty gave the ok sign and Kelly responded with,
"Ok, Daddy.", before taking her sister by the hand and leading her back to their bedroom with Cocoa at their heals. Then Abby and Jesse got started on preparing the Turkey for the deep frier.
"Today calories don't count. Gluten Free does not exist!", Abby said firmly. Jesse chuckled and said,
"That's my girl! Always ready to make an exception to ANY rule! Even her own." Abby whacked her husband with a dish towel.
"OWW! What was that for?!", Jesse said, still laughing. He was stopped in his tracks by a look from his wife, who said,
"That was for making fun of my strive to stay healthy. And for teasing me about backsliding." Jesse held up his hands in Mock surrender.
"OK, ok. No more jokes. I'm proud of you for taking care of yourself, and holiday calories don't count. Nearly Everyone breaks their diets for the Holidays."
"Good. Now get outta here so I can make the rest of the food.", Abby replied. Then she kissed Jesse and waved him off. A couple of hours later, Ziva and Breena arrived early to help. Kasie drove up right behind them with Delilah who she'd picked up on the others would all come later. Ziva and Kasie helped lift the Turkey into the deep fryer and Breena prepared the Mashed potatos. Delilah put together a salad. each of the women had also bought a side dish or dessert and The others would bring something when they arrived. Breena brought the Green Bean cassarole. Kasie brought the Cranberry sauce and Ziva brought the candied yams. Gibbs was bringing the Rolls. Ducky would supply a pecan pie and Jack was bringing Pumpkin. Delilah had made Deviled eggs. Torres was asked to bring two Jugs of Tea, one sweet and one unsweet. To top it all off, Abby was making the Plum Pudding like she had done several years ago at Ducky's Thanksgiving celebration. Jesse watched the kids play while the five women laughed and talked and worked in the kitchen. The laughter was suddenly innterupted when Breena yelled,
"Oh My Gosh! The Turkey's on fire!" The others turned and saw what she was talking about. A grease fire had started and the Turkey was in flames. Kasie, without thinking, did the only thing she knew to do. She grabbed the fire exstinguisher and put out the fire. By spraying it on the Turkey. All was quiet for a few moments as they all stared in shock. Jesse came running in with all eight of the older kids right behind him.
"Is everything ok? What happened in here?"
"It was a small grease fire. Kasie put it down.", Ziva replied. Delilah managed a smile and said,
"You mean she put it out, Ziva." There were a few chuckles all around, except for Abby. She had tears in her eyes as she stood staring at the mess.
"Thanksgiving's ruined. I ruined the Turkey."
"It'll be alright,Abby.", Breena said Gently. Abby just shook her head and sniffled.
"No it won't. We don't have a Turkey. It's all burnt and covered in extinguisher fluid." Jesse walked over and put his arms around her.
"Abbs, Breena's right. The Turkey will be fine. We can just rinse it off. Kasie put the fire out before much of the Turkey got burnt. Look." Abby steeled herself and peeked at the Turkey which was now on a carving board. It really didn't look too bad after all. Kasie put a hand on her friend's shoulder and said.
"Jesse's right. If we rinse it off it will still be safe to eat."
"Ok, I guess that's true.", Abby said. She was a scientist. She knew all of this. Caty and Kelly came forward and Kelly said,
"It's ok, Mama. We love you, and the Turkey looks great!" Caty gave the
"I Love you." sign and then both kids hugged their mama tightly. They were quickly joined by all the other kids who wanted to show their love for Aunt Abby as well.
"Thanks, kids.I needed to here that. I love you all, very much.", Abby said and signed after pulling back. Then Kelly turned to the other kids and said while signing,
"Hey, let's go to the living room. Caty and I can teach you a new dance! Daddy can you help us with the music?" Jesse agreed and the group headed out. Kasie and Abby rinsed off the Turkey and then put it on the platter. Suddenly there was a loud racket coming from the other room.
"What in the world is that?", Ziva asked incredulously.
"That,my friend, is my kids teaching all of Your kids how to do the Turkey Trot."
"The WHAT?", asked Ziva.
"It's a dance. I learned it years ago and Gibbs caught me doing it in the lab one year."
"What did he say to that?", Delilah asked.
"Nothing. He just went straight to the point, asking me about where I was on the case." The women all laughed.
"Come on. Let's go watch them.", Breena said. So They all got their phones out and went to watch the kids and take pictures of the fun. About a half hour later, The others started to arrive and the music was turned off so the game could be turned on. About an hour after that, Abby came in and anounced that dinner was on the table. Gibbs sat at the head of the table and carved the Turkey. Ducky was the oldest man there but Gibbs was known as the patriarch of this family. Abby suggested they all go around before eating and each say something they were thankful for. When it was Caty's turn she stood and signed,
"I'm thankful that God gave me such a big family to love me. I have the best parents Grandparents, aunts uncles and cousins ever, even if some aren't here right I have the best dog ever,too. I love you all." The family all signed back to the girl, then Ducky said,
"I think that is something we can ALL be Thankful for. We really are a wonderful family. I feel quite blessed."
"I'm with Ducky on that one." Tony said,
"Me too.", Palmer said with a smile.
"Here,here.", Jack said at the same time Torres said,
"Amen!"
"We should have a Toast.", McGee said. Gibbs lifted his glass and the others copied him.
"To Family.", he said, to which the others replied,
"To family." Abby smiled as she looked around at her family gathered. She could feel the love radiate through the room around the table, This really was the best Thanksgiving to date.
Well, I hope you liked this story. By the way, the Turkey catching fire was inspired by something that happened when I was a kid. Yes, the turkey caught fire, yes my grandpa put it out with the extinguisher and yes, we rinsed it off and ate it anyway. Hope you all have a VERY Happy Thanksgiving! Catch ya Monday for the next chapter of The Unspoken Rule!