Hey ya'll! Here's a cute Easter one-shot set in my Broken Road universe. It also includes some Passover moments. Hope you enjoy Please read AND review! Thanks!
It was a warm spring evening, and the entire NCIS family was at the DiNozzos' home for the Passover Seder meal. Well, not everyone was there. Sadly, Ducky had passed away back in January.
"It's weird, isn't it?" Abby said to Ziva softly as she helped prepare the food.
"What is weird?" Ziva asked.
"Having a family dinner and Ducky not here. Knowing he won't be at another family gathering ever again." Ziva saw the tears in her friend's eyes, and took her hand.
"We all miss him, Abby. He will never be forgotten. But he would not want us to be sad. He would want us to go on with life. And to make certain we make the most of every moment. We should never take anything for granted."
"You are so right, Ziva. Hey, maybe I should re-start my #LivingRocks campaign!" Abby said.
"What is that?" Ziva asked.
"Well, a few years ago, not long after you had...left, Tom Morrow was killed." Abby began. Ziva nodded.
"Yes. I heard about that. It was a terrible tragedy."
"It was. But it got me thinking that we have to live life and celebrate living to the fullest. I had tee-shirts and buttons made up and I made sure to tell all our friends what I loved about them. I encouraged everyone I talked to, to do the same. By the way, Ziva, I would like to celebrate the fact that you are a wonderful mother to your kids and a great aunt to the other kids in our family, and also the fact that you are an amazing friend."
"Thank you Abby. I would like to celebrate that you are a wonderful godmother to my children and an amazing mother and one of the most loving and caring people I know."
"Awww! Thank you, Ziva." Abby said, hugging her friend. They were interrupted by their husbands who were coming into the kitchen to check on the progress of dinner prep. Tony came up behind Ziva and began kissing her up and down her neck, making her chuckle even as she swatted him with a dish towel.
"What? Can I help if I can't get enough of making out with my wife?"
"Not in front of our company," said Ziva in a mock stern voice. Abby smirked and said,
"Come on, Ziva. Jesse and I are fine with it. It's not like we don't do the same thing."
"Exactly, like, right now." Jesse said, pulling Abby close and giving her a passionate kiss. Both couples were interrupted by five voices all saying,
"EEEEWWWWWW!" The adults quickly pulled apart, laughing at the disgusted looks on their kids' faces.
"Did you kids need something?" Ziva asked.
"The little kids were thirsty, so we came in for a drink." Tali said.
"Mama!" Danny squealed, reaching out for Abby from AJ's arms. Abby went over and took her son from her goddaughter and kissed his cheek.
"Hey there, little man. Are you having fun with your cousins?"
"Ove ou, Mama." was the reply. Abby smiled at her son and gave him a squeeze before saying,
Mama loves you too, Danny boy. To the moon and back." Then Danny wiggled to get down, so Abby handed him back to AJ and helped Ziva get the drinks ready. After they'd all received their drinks, the kids all headed back outside. Not long after that, the doorbell rang. The others were starting to arrive. Tony gave Ziva a quick kiss and went to answer the door. Jesse leaned in to kiss Abby and said,
"I guess I better go out and let you ladies finish up in here."
"I love you." Abby replied.
"To the moon and back." replied Jesse, with a smile.
As Ziva and Abby finished up the preparations, Ziva thought about what Abby and Jesse had just said to each other and their kids. She just might have to start using that line with Tony. Before starting the Seder meal traditions, Tony stood and got everyone's attention.
"Before we begin, Ziva and I thought it would be nice to remember Ducky in some way. So, I'm going to propose a toast and then we'll have a moment of silence in his honor. If all of you would raise your glasses..." The others obliged and then Tony said,
"Ducky was a majorly important part of our family for so many years. It won't ever be the same without him, but we can respect his memory by living our lives to the fullest. It's what he would have wanted. So... to Ducky. No longer with us, but always with us in spirit!"
"To Ducky." said the others. After the moment of silence the meal began. A few hours later, after helping with the cleanup, the family all headed back to their respective homes. On the way out, Abby reminded everyone,
"Don't forget the Easter egg hunt at our house next weekend!" Everyone promised to be there.
All week long, Abby prepared for the big event. She bought candy and small toys for the eggs. She bought two big eggs to put special prizes in for two lucky winners. Some of the eggs were shaped like animals, some were metallic, some had skeletons and spiders on them, some had patterns and the rest were plain. Some of the toys included skeleton rings and rubber spiders and rubber skeletons in Easter colors. She had a friend who owned a bakery, who made customized cupcakes with skeleton bunnies on them. They were filled with marshmallow cream which was referred to as spider egg yolk. The big prizes were a big bucket of sidewalk chalk and a jump rope. The night before the big hunt, Abby had all the kids over to help her and her kids dye Easter eggs for decoration. They all had a wonderful time.
On Easter day, right after Abby and her family returned from church, Ziva, Delilah, and Breena came over to help Abby hide the eggs. The others arrived about an hour after that. Later that afternoon, the kids ran all over the yard looking for eggs. The cupcakes were a huge hit and so were the candy and the toys in the eggs. Jax McGee and Kasie Palmer were SO excited when they found the eggs with the golden tickets to get the prize eggs. Kasie got the sidewalk chalk and Jax got the jump rope. About an hour later, the adults were watching contentedly as the kids played. Leaning into her husband, Ziva said,
"I love you, Tony, to the rainbow and back."
"I think you mean to the moon and back, Zi." Tony replied then he kissed her and said,
"I love you, too. To the moon and back one hundred times." Ziva thought for a moment and said,
"I like my version better."
"I think I agree with Ziva." Abby said. Jesse kissed Abby and said,
"Yeah. She may be on to something. I love you, Goth Angel, to the rainbow and back. Abby sighed contentedly and responded,
"To the rainbow and back one thousand times squared." Then the group sat back and watched the kids and simply enjoyed the pleasant celebration of Easter day.
Hope you enjoyed this short bit of Easter fluff. I am going to write a story Just for Ducky and do his character justice and respect him.
But due to the time
line of this story, I couldn't write it first. first chapter of that story will be up Monday or Tuesday. It will be sad but sweet and I believe it
will be the
perfect tribute. Don't forget to review this story! Happy Easter to all my readers who observe the holiday! Catch ya later!