Holiday Mayhem
Tony's Aunt Isabella and Ziva's Aunt Nettie visit the DiNozzos for the holidays in December 2022. Kids, pets, aunts, oh my.
Chapter 1 – Organized Insanity – Sunday 11 December
LJ DiNozzo ran past his Ima as she tugged on her boots and winter coat; the twins Rivka and Beth followed within minutes running in the same direction as their little brother. The day had been gray and overcast with cold temperatures, so the kids had not been out in the yard to play at all. Ziva sighed as the three kids and the dog raced past again.
Asher, being a greyhound, loved to run; it didn't take much to get him going. Ziva preferred that he not run in the house, but with five kids eight and under, someone was bound to be running inside. Asher would then be right behind whoever it was.
"Tony," she called out to her husband. "I have to leave for the airport to pick up Doda Nettie." When she had no reply, Ziva quickly walked to the family room, no Tony. He wasn't in the kitchen either. She peeked into his home office; there he was on the phone and computer.
"Tony," he held up a hand to ask for a minute; she didn't have any spare time. "TONY!"
He turned towards his wife, covering the mic on his phone with his hand, "I'm almost done on this call…"
She spread her hands in front of her, "I don't have time to wait; I need to get going to meet Doda Nettie at Dulles." She leaned in and pecked him on the lips, "See you in a while."
"Okay, this is my cousin Dori; she's going to bring Aunt Isabella to Baltimore so I can meet up with them and bring my aunt here. I will have to leave before you get back," he quickly explained. "I'll call Ellie or Clay to come stay with the kids."
Ziva gave him a thumbs' up and nodded, "I will see you whenever then." She hurried to her van to meet Doda Nettie at the airport.
Tony firmed up the plan with his cousin and then called Ellie Bishop to ask her to stay with the kids until either he or Ziva returned home. She and Clay both agreed to babysit. Tony let the five kids know the plan while he was waiting for the two agents to arrive at the house.
"Be good for Aunt Ellie and Uncle Clay; when Ima gets home, she will have Doda Nettie with her. When I get back, I will have Aunt Isabella with me. They are both staying for the holidays. Tali and Anthony, are the bed sheets changed in your rooms?" Tony had a mental checklist as he waited to leave for Baltimore.
Anthony gave his Abba a thumbs' up gesture, "My room is ready for Aunt Isabella. I moved my pillow and Ferrari bear to the bed in LJ's room."
"Mine is done also, Abba. Doda Nettie has fresh sheets and towels. My pillows and Kelev are in the top bunk of Riv's bed," Tali added.
"Good; we will have a house full when the two aunts arrive," Tony explained to the kids. He wasn't sure LJ or the twins understood that there would be two additional adults living in the house for the next three weeks. "LJ, you have never met Doda Nettie, and you are too little to remember Aunt Isabella." The one-year-old grinned at his Abba. "Riv and Beth, you also have not met Doda Nettie; we visited Aunt Isabella last year when LJ was a tiny baby."
"K, Abba," Riv gave Tony such a serious look that he had to bite the inside of his lip to keep from laughing. "Where Aunt Ellie?"
"She and Uncle Clay are on the way here, they will stay with you for a while," he explained again. "Please be good for them," he looked his mini-Ninja in the eyes, knowing full well the almost three-year-old had her Uncle Clay wrapped around her little finger.
"We be good, Abba," Beth grinned at her father. "We like Uncle Clay; he fun to play."
Tali answered the knock at the door; Ellie and Clay greeted everyone.
"I'm off to get Aunt Isabella," Tony hugged the kids. "Be good for Aunt Ellie and Uncle Clay." He turned to the adults, "Should be about three and a half or four hours tops, depending on traffic. I'm meeting my cousin in Baltimore to bring my aunt here. Ziva will probably be home before me; Doda Nettie's flight should be landing soon, if it hasn't already."
~Mayhem~
Ziva arrived at Dulles with plenty of time to spare; she found out just how much time she had to wait once she got inside the baggage claim area. Doda Nettie's flight had been delayed by forty-five minutes due to a weather system over the Atlantic that had to be circumvented. She was extremely glad she'd brought her laptop with her for the now slightly over ninety minutes wait.
She found a comfortable chair near a power outlet and powered up the computer to work on her final paper for her Contemporary Literature class. That paper and one exam on campus for her physical science class were the only two remaining finals for the term.
As she typed, she glanced up at the arrivals board every twenty minutes or so, hoping to see that the El-Al flight had landed. She finished the final paragraph and was running the spelling and grammar checker when she noticed that the arrivals board indicated that the flight was at its gate. Great timing!
After reviewing the suggested two changes, Ziva saved the final draft and powered down the laptop. She packed her bag and watched the doors from the concourses for her aunt. Nettie spotted Ziva first and called out to her.
"Zivaleh," Nettie caught her niece's attention.
Ziva made her way to the older woman, "Shalom, Doda." The two hugged and then Ziva led her aunt to the baggage claim area for the El-Al flight. The two chatted as they waited for the bags to arrive at the carousel.
"I cannot wait to meet the younger children; Tali and Anthony have grown so much since you were last in Israel. The baby is so cute, I just want to kiss his chubby little cheeks," Nettie reflected on the changes to her niece's family since 2019 when the DiNozzo family of four had flown to Israel for Schmeil' s funeral and celebration of life.
"LJ is just over a year old, the twins will be three in February, Anthony is five and in kindergarten, and Tali is eight. She is in the third grade this year," Ziva added. "I have almost finished my third term of undergraduate school. In fact, I finished my final paper for my English class while I was waiting for you to arrive."
Nettie hugged Ziva again, "Rivka would be proud of you, Ziva. Earning your university degree, raising a beautiful family, and so happy."
"We have added to the family this year," Ziva smiled. "A retired racing greyhound named Asher and two cats, Callie and Lightning. Lightning came to us just last week. We found her by the garage door, and she ran into the house."
The light flashed and the buzzer sounded to alert the waiting travelers that the baggage carousel would be moving with the bags to be claimed. Ziva and Nettie moved closer to the belt watching for the older woman's large suitcase.
"There it is," Nettie pointed to an oversized black case. Ziva grabbed the handle and lifted it from the belt. She set the case on the floor and pulled the handle out to maneuver the luggage across the tiles towards the doorway. Since it had four wheels the luggage was easy to move and steer.
"Did you bring your entire house?" Ziva joked, "This is heavy!"
Nettie grinned, "Well, I am staying for nearly a month…" She walked alongside her niece to the exit doors with her carryon bag slung over a shoulder.
"You will have Tali's room," Ziva turned to her aunt after they crossed the walkway to the parking garage. "Tony's Aunt Isabella will be in Anthony's room, so you two will share a bathroom."
Nettie patted Ziva's arm, "You did not need to have Tali move out of her room. I could just sleep on a sofa."
"Not for almost a month," Ziva retorted. "Besides, we have plenty of room for everyone. Tali will be in with her sisters, and Anthony and LJ will share LJ's room."
Ziva loaded the suitcase in the rear of the minivan with her computer bag. She glanced at the clock on the dashboard as she started the engine. Her phone chimed with an incoming text message alert, so she quickly swiped the screen to read her message.
Tony was headed back home with his aunt and expected to arrive in about an hour and one half. Ziva sent a return message to let him know she had Doda Nettie and was headed out of the airport towards home.
~Mayhem~
Ninety minutes later, Ziva noticed a familiar truck turning into the family's subdivision; she made her left turn soon after and followed her husband into their driveway. She and Nettie had been stuck in a traffic back-up on the Beltway caused by an accident at I-495 and I-95. She'd sent a text to Ellie to pre-heat the ovens and then put the pans of lasagna in to bake for dinner.
Tony helped his aunt from the truck and grabbed her wheeled bag as Ziva took Doda Nettie's luggage and her computer bag from the rear of the minivan. The two older women eyed each other.
"Doda, this is my Aunt Isabella," Tony made the introductions. "Aunt Isabella, this is Ziva's Doda Nettie."
Nettie extended a hand, "Nettie Levin."
Isabella grinned and wrapped the other woman in a hug, "Isabella DiNozzo. No formality here, we are family."
Tony kissed Ziva as their aunts hugged, "Traffic?"
"Yes, worse than normal," Ziva replied. "But we are all here, that is what matters."
The two aunts walked together to the front door followed by Tony and Ziva with their luggage. They chatted like long-lost friends as they walked.
"Welcome to our house," Ziva opened the front door to Clay running past with LJ on his shoulders and Rivka and Beth each clinging to a leg. Anthony and Tali had Nerf guns and were shooting at the others. All of them were laughing and yelling.
"Our organized insanity!" Tony joked.