Chapter 29 –Basar ( בשר) (meat) – July 2033
"We got any more lemonade?" Anthony was sweaty from chopping wood as he came into the kitchen of the cabin. John, Charles, and LJ were husking corn and washing potatoes as Gibbs seasoned the steaks that they would be cooking for dinner.
Gibbs looked up at the kid; when had the boy turned into a young man? Sixteen year old Anthony was now taller than his grandfather and reminded the older man of a younger version of another DiNozzo. "There's a glass for you in the fridge; figured you'd need it sooner or later."
"Thanks, Grandpa. I got that entire pile split and stacked where you wanted it," he grinned as he sipped the cold beverage. "I like that new splitting maul; gives me a good workout!" He rippled the muscles in his arms and upper torso, showing off.
John ribbed his cousin, "Yeah, my sister will think you are the Hulk…"
"You should try it sometime, cuz; maybe my sister will be impressed by muscle instead of brains for once," Anthony gave as good as he got. "You too, Charles… put some meat on those bones and give my sister a bod to appreciate."
Gibbs listened to the grandsons' banter; he watched the Palmer kid as the others teased him. At barely fifteen, Charles looked more like a preteen than eleven (almost twelve) year old LJ. The two younger boys were the same height and although Charles' voice had changed, he was as skinny as a rail and less defined.
"Dad says I haven't hit my teen growth spurt yet," Charles shot back.
Anthony wrapped an arm around his cousin's shoulder, "You know we're just teasing, right? Your time will come; just don't let LJ beat you to it." He couldn't resist that last tease. "Besides, if I tease you too much, Beth will short-sheet my bed again or worse."
John and LJ laughed; they remembered the last incident when Anthony had been pranked by the younger DiNozzo twin. She'd even painted a note on his ceiling with glow-in-the-dark paint to remind him why. It took four new coats of paint to cover the message.
LJ looked at his brother and cousins; each of them had a girlfriend, well technically only Anthony and Katie were dating, but John and Riv, and Charles and Beth were as good as dating. "What's the big deal with having some girl look at your body?" he asked them.
Gibbs patted the rub of herbs and spices into the steaks as he listened to the teens talking. He smirked at LJ's question and wondered how the older three would answer.
"Little bro," Anthony walked over to where LJ was scrubbing and slicing potatoes and handing them off to John to add seasoning, onion, and bacon before wrapping in foil to bake in the fire pit.
John nudged Charles, "This should be good…" Charles nodded and both teens watched and listened while working on the food prep. Charles had one more ear of corn to shuck and wrap in foil with butter and salt.
"A year or two from now, you will wonder why you even asked such a question. You will understand that as much as we guys look over a girl; they do the same to us," Anthony began. "Goes back to the primitive mating and choosing the best father for her baby stuff…"
Gibbs cleared his throat loudly, "Yeah they look us over as much as we look them over, but this is not about selecting a piece of meat at the store. It's about respecting each other even while checking out the other."
The four boys turned to their grandfather as he continued, "Yeah, it's older than dirt to check out the opposite gender; even the animals do it. But we are humans. Human beings who should respect each other and appreciate each other. If I ever catch one of you boys mistreating a lady, I will personally head-slap you into next year."
All joking stopped as the four listened to the words of the old man, "I expect you to treat every female with the respect she deserves, including your sisters. That said, you know any of you can come to me any time to talk about anything. I may not be the best choice for relationship advice, but my door is always open for my grandkids."
He looked at the four faces watching him; they all looked as though they'd just witnessed a train wreck. "Hey, enough with the serious faces; we're here to have fun. And we got some food to cook…"
"Especially some steaks!" Anthony grinned.
John asked the same question they asked every time the four had a cabin weekend with Grandpa, "Gonna tell us the secret to cooking your steaks?"
"Nope!"