Chapter 2: B is for Baseball
Tony walked in the front door on a Friday evening, "I'm home." When no one answered he made his way to the kitchen where Ziva and Delilah were preparing the meal. After kissing his wife and greeting his sister, he asked, "Where is everyone?"
"Outside playing whiffle ball; Tim and Gibbs are the team captains,"' Delilah replied. "I think the dogs are each on a team too." She grinned at her brother.
"They tried to get us to play, but we have to make dinner," Ziva explained. "Now that you are home, we can grill the hamburgers and hot dogs."
Tony grinned, "Goes with the theme, I guess. You two are never going to believe this; guess who won the family outing to the Nationals game?"
Ziva looked at her husband, "No way! How many tickets?"
"Twelve," Tony held up the tickets. "Right behind third base, good seats in the second tier of field level."
"Who's playing? Delilah asked. She knew they would be near the Visitors' dugout and hoped it was a team she at least tolerated.
Tony grinned even more, "That's the second best part; it's the Mets!" Tony's favorite team was the New York Mets; he had convinced the kids to root for the Mets also.
"The kids are going to be so excited; I am excited," Ziva grinned back at Tony.
"Let's not say anything until we are all at the table," Tony suggested. "That way I can tell the whole group at once." Ziva and Delilah nodded and smiled.
Ziva handed Tony the plate of meat, "The grill should be ready. Tim and Abba said that they would help if you need."
"Let them all play; I got this." Tony cooked the hamburgers and hot dogs as Ziva and Delilah finished preparing the rest of the meal. As Tony took the plate of cooked meat inside he called to the rest of the family, "Time to eat!"
Daisy and Asher followed him inside, having smelled the food and heard the word eat, with the others heading inside to wash up right behind.
Gibbs said the blessing, the family all joining hands. Ziva started passing food and the hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, baked beans and cole slaw disappeared quickly.
As the meal was winding down, Tony tapped his fork on his glass. The rest of the family looked up at him. "Remember that contest for Nationals tickets that we entered about three months ago?"
The family all nodded and a few replied, "Yeah."
"Well, the winner was picked earlier today, and guess who it is?" Tony grinned at his family as he pulled the tickets from his pocket.
"No way!"
"Really?"
"Who are they playing?" Leave it to John to get to the details first.
"Nationals versus Mets two weeks from tonight. We have seats in the second tier of field level just behind third base. What do you think?"
"How many tickets?" Gibbs asked.
"Twelve; we are all going!" Tony grinned at his family.