AN/Disclaimer: We own nothing.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're back! Poor Ronnie-kins is sickly so chapters are going to be slow. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and thanks to Riddicks-gurl1988 -tosses you a Ziva plushie-
When Andie came home from the hospital she was more subdued than normal. She stayed away from the room they had been turning into a nursery, she usually was sitting in the living room reading or doing housework. She didn't talk much or leave the house unless she had too and only Gibbs and Ronnie could bring out her usually always present sunny smile. On this particular day she was reading an old western that Gibbs had laying on his bookshelf in his office. Gibbs was downstairs in the basement, when Ronnie knocked on the door. Going upstairs, Gibbs let her in and told her where Andie was.
She smiled and went to find her. She strolled into the room and flopped down on the floor. "What the hell are you reading?" She asked, dipping her head beneath Andie's hands to read the cover. "Eeewww." She said disgusted and smiled up at Andie from her lap. Andie couldn't help but smile back, marking her page and setting her book down on the side table. "Just because they bore you..." she teased, tapping Ronnie on the forehead. Ronnie stuck out her tongue and laughed, sliding back down onto the floor. "So? Just because I like smutty paranormal romance, doesn't mean westerns can't disgust me." She said smiling. "They're so slow and boring." She rocked back and leaned on her hands, her legs crossed in front of her.
"Only if you pick the wrong ones." Andie quipped, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "So what's up Homie?" she asked, leaning back against the couch pillows she had stacked around her. "Well that depends," Ronnie said, tilting her head so her long black hair fell over her shoulder. "Do you want the utter nonsense first or second?" She grinned, mischief in her eyes. "Give it to me first." she chuckled, rolling her eyes.
Ronnie took a long exaggerated breath. "WELL. Tony has another two girlfriends, neither of them know about the other, one of his ex girlfriends is calling him every night at three am just to get even with him for dumping her via email, Ziva has a new gun and won't stop talking about it, McGee is doing the same thing with his new computer system and touch screen at HQ, Abby is at my house teaching Tommy how to play zombie videogames, even though all he does is drool on the controller, but she finds it amusing," Ronnie took another deep breath trying not to laugh. "Brodie is asleep for work, and Gibbs is apparently in the basement. And I'm here bugging the hell out of you hoping you'll go shopping with me at the "unmentionables store" since, of course, I have sex on the brain."
"Ok. now what's really up?" she said, grinning at her favorite partner in crime. "Well, if you REALLY wanna know..." Ronnie teased, rolling her eyes around the room. Andie rolled her eyes. "What are you up to Ronnie-kins?" "Ok, so devils night and Halloween are coming up, and I need to go shopping for my party." Ronnie said in a rush. "I want you to help me set it up, and figure out my costume, and what we're going to do to our families houses and what we want to eat for the party. PLUS, I hear one of the guests or more intends on bringing "firearms"." she said, holding up her fingers and making quotation marks in the air. "We need to be prepared for a counter attack and war." She said grinning.
Andie sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Lee doesn't usually decorate and I don't really feel like it...I'll help you with your house and your costume but I'm not sure I'm up for a party or a war." she said softly, her eyes misting over. Ronnie shook her head. "There may be no way of dodging the war, unless you wanna sit there while everyone else shoots you in the ass for hours on end, I'm pretty sure you won't let anyone get away with that. We'll see what happens." She said hauling herself to her feet. "Come on, we has shopping to do woman!" She said bouncing around Andie who sat there for a good ten minutes ignoring her before giving in and getting her shoes on, throwing on one of Gibbs old NCIS sweatshirts on over the oversized t-shirt and torn jeans she had taken to wearing and meandered over to the basement door.
"Lee, I'm going out with Ronnie, do you need anything while we're out?" she called down the steps. She still wasn't allowed down for some odd reason. Ronnie bounced after her, her hair bouncing freely. Gibbs muffled voiced came from downstairs as he replied, "No, hon, you go have fun with Ronnie and be careful!" He said. Ronnie stuck her tongue out in an ew-mushy look. "Alright sweetpea let's go!" Ronnie giggled. "Yes dear." Andie muttered, following Ronnie out to her car, her Tweetie Bird slippers muffling any sound her feet made. Ronnie rolled her eyes and hopped in the drivers seat, starting the car as she got buckled. "Ready Freddy?" She asked.
"Always Ginger!" Andie replied, buckling in and leaning back against the seat wearily. She looked older than her now 22 years, having not mentioned a word to the others when her birthday passed by. Ronnie bounced around in her seat, knowing her friend was still upset, but hoping she'd be able to lift her spirits at least a little. "So, what should we do first, home skillet?" She asked. "Get your costume." she said, closing her eyes and tucking her hand into the sleeves of the sweatshirt. "You should go as Catwoman." she said, a sly grin on her face. Ronnie laughed. "Eh, shiny leather clothes aren't my style, maybe a cat however..." She said thoughtfully. "How about you?"
"Wasn't really thinking about dressing up." Andie shrugged. She hadn't really thought much about Halloween. "Aw come on, you gotta dress up! It is a costume party!" Ronnie whined playfully. "Ok then I'll get a sheet and pull a Charlie Brown." she teased, waving her sleeve covered hand at her. Rolling her eyes, Ronnie whizzed down Main Street to the mall. "You gotta do better than that, come on." "I don't know Ronnie. Maybe I'll dress up as Ziva..." she said, thinking about it for a brief moment. "Oh lord, Andie, one Ziva is bad enough!" Ronnie laughed, whipping her car into a parking space in front of the mall. "Lets go see if we can find any sexy costumes!" Ronnie said flinging open her car door.
Andie's movements were a tad slower than normal as she wandered into the mall after Ronnie. "Oh lord..." Ronnie went whizzing into the mall, having to double back a few times to let Andie catch up. "Come on pokey, lets go!" She said smiling and wrapping her arm around Andie's shoulders as she came back a fourth time. Andie gave a halfhearted smile as she sped up a little. "I'm not as hyper as you." she teased, poking her friend in the side as they entered the costume shop. Ronnie squealed and scampered away from Andie's poke. "Jerk!" She laughed and wandered off into the many racks of costumes. A few seconds later, Ronnie's voice reverberated through the store. "OH. MY. GOD!" she laughed.
"Oh dear..." Andie muttered, wandering over to where her best friend was dying of laughter. "Oh lord! How the hell do you find these things?!" "I just stumble on them!" Ronnie laughed hysterically as she held up a very "unmentionable" costume that was a human size replica costume of a certain part of the male anatomy, and began laughing even harder. "The only person I can think of who'd actually wear that is Tony." she said, chuckling softly. "He'd be bragging like crazy that his was 'life-sized'." She snorted. Ronnie laughed so hard she could barely breathe, her face starting to turn a light shade of purple. The store clerk poked his head around to see what the ruckus was, and chuckled softly when he saw what was going on.
Andie wandered the aisles looking for a costume, finally finding one that Ronnie would encourage her to get. "Hey Hooker!" she called. "WHAT SKANK!" Ronnie called back, wandering over with a pair of black wings she intended on purchasing for later use. Andie held up her costume choice, an old time red saloon girl dress complete with feathered head band. "This good?" Ronnie's eyes widened and she did a little jig. "HELLS YES!" She said and held up her black feathered wings. "Whattaya think for my gothic outfit? Think Abby would try to steal them?" "Probably." she chuckled, heading for the cash register to pay for her costume. "I can't guarantee that Lee will dress up though."
"Oh he will, or I'll have him in the dirt with a vibrator between his shoulder blades." Ronnie chuckled. "Hey, meet me in the animal costume aisle when you're done." She said and swished her rear as she walked off giggling. Andie rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she paid for her costume and headed over to the designated aisle. "Yesh Mommy?" she said, looking at a rubber chicken suit. Ronnie was wide-eyed as she stared at the twenty different chicken costumes. "Andie look!" She said, holding out her arms. "Oh dear god, NO!" Andie said smacking her forehead and chuckling softly.
Ronnie stuck out her tongue. "Well fine miss 'pop-my-happy-chicken-bubble'." She laughed and went to the cat costumes. Sifting through them, she couldn't decide. "Help!" She said laughingly to Andie. Andie shook her head and grabbed one that wasn't made of shiny black leather or looked like the models whole body was gonna pop out. "This one." Ronnie gave the costume a once-over and then a look of approval. "Me likey, what size is it?" She asked. "Your size." Andie grinned, tossing at her. "Gotta love one size fits huge." she quipped, winking at Ronnie to show she was kidding. Ronnie walked over and gently Gibbs-smacked her. "You're a jerk, you know that?" She said as she brought her items to the counter. "I'll get you back for that one, see if I don't."
"What? I meant the bust line!" she said mock innocently, laughing a true laugh for the first time in two weeks as she followed her to the counter. Ronnie immediately looked down at her chest. "What? They aren't that big dammit!" She laughed, as the store clerk coughed to try and hide his laughter. Ronnie handed him the money snickering. "It's alright, we're used to the laughter by now." She told him. "After, what? Our whole lives knowing each other? We've never been bothered by the laughter...'cept that time when I was two and you tried to drown me in the tub." she said, smirking.
Ronnie got indignant, the store clerk snickering. "Hey, YOU stole my rubber duck as I recall! Whipped it RIGHT out of my hand!" she accused. "You were squirting me with it! Even at four years old you attacked me mercilessly!" Andie said, acting all offended. Ronnie shrugged, smiling and thanking the clerk before picking up her bag and walking towards the door. "Well I was your older sister, it was my job." she grinned. "Yeah and as such you should have known that my job, as the younger sister, was to annoy the living hell out of you!" she laughed. "Exactly why I supposedly tried drowning you!" Ronnie laughed as they headed off to hot topic to find decorations and Ronnie's costume accessories.
Andie chuckled as she followed Ronnie around, looking at a few things here and there. She found a pair of pretty black gloves that would go well with her costume and went to pay for them. Ronnie poked her head around a spinner shelf. "Why do you keep paying for everything before I do?" She said, pouting. "Because I find what I want faster than you do. Come on Ronnie we've had this conversation HOW many times?" she teased, huffing exaggeratedly. Pawing at the air, Ronnie replied, "Marowr." She found a few things that would go well with her decorating and a few pieces of jewelry, for her and a piece she thought Abby would most definitely appreciate, and paid for them. "Ok, now to the sports shop to find our weapons of choice, in case the dastardly men start a war." She snickered.
Andie laughed. "Like they could ever stand a chance against you and me." she stated, leading the way this time. "I know, right?" She said, linking her arm in Andie's and leading the way. Ronnie's eyes were as big as dinner plates when they walked into the store and saw the Airsoft artillery.