The next week went by quickly. Ziva had cleaned, re-cleaned, scrubbed and re-scrubbed every surface of the house. She had cooked and baked and done a load of laundry for every single color of clothing in the DiNozzo household.
--
Lia came down the stairs and was greeted with the smell of cookies.
"Jeeze mom, do you think you've baked enough cookies?" She looked at the several Tupperware containers filled with different kinds of the calorie filled objects.
"Just one more batch." Came her mother's reply. Lia looked in the direction of her voice and found her getting the flour out of the cabinet. She quickly walked over, took the flour from her mother's grasp and put it back in the cabinet.
"You've made enough. Jake's gonna go crazy when he sees all these cookies." She smiled. Lia could tell that her mother was nervous so she tired to lighten the mood. "I bet it's a girl Jake's bringing home. I bet he," She put a hand over her heart, "feel in love with his soul mate and is bringing her home to meet the parents. I just hope it goes better for her than it did for Ben Stiller."
Ziva smiled a small smile. "It ended fine in the end though."
"Yes, but it's a good thing we don't have a cat!"
--
Tony, Ziva, Lia and Daniel had been waiting at the airport for over an hour when Lia's cell phone rang.
"Hello?" She paused as she listened to the person on the other end. "We're at the airport, where are you?" She sighed in frustration and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we'll be there soon. There's a key buried in the dirt under a brick in patio. Yup. See ya." She hung up.
"Who was that?" Tony asked.
"Jake. He took a cab to the house."
The DiNozzo clan groaned and headed back towards their car.
--
Tony pulled up in the driveway and Ziva jumped out of the car before it was in park.
"Ziva! Calm down! Jake's going to be here for two weeks! There's plenty of time to catch up!" He called, but Ziva was already on the front step. Lia was not too far behind.
The door opened and Jacob stood there, a half eaten cookie in his hand.
"Hey mom! Lee!"
--
After the 'welcome home hugs' had been given and the 'it's good to be back hugs' had been received, the family made their way into the kitchen. A redheaded woman sat at the table with a glass of milk and a plate with a cookie on it in front of her.
"Guys, this is my girlfriend Holly. Holly, this these are my parents, Tony and Ziva, and my brother and sister, Lia and Daniel."
"It's very nice to meet you. Jacob has told me so much about you." Holly said as she shook everyone's hands."It's nice to meet you too. Jacob hasn't told us anything about you." Tony replied in a joking tone.
Holly smiled.
"So… I guess it's time to catch up." Jacob said, changing the subject.
--
Jacob looked like he could be a younger Tony. He had the same hair, same eyes, same kind of body. Unlike his dad, his sport of choice was football. He was the star quarterback on his college team.
--
The DiNozzo family, and Holly, spent the rest of the day catching up.
--
Jake was acing all of his classes and on his way to be an NCIS special agent. Tony was as proud as a father could be at his son following in his footsteps. Ziva was worried because she knew the dangers of the job, but she was proud nonetheless.
--
Jacob yawned as he stood up. "I think it's time I hit the hay." He took Holly's hand and pulled her up off of the couch. "Good night!"
"Good night." Holly said as she followed him out of the room.
Once she was sure they were out of earshot, Lia spoke. "I like her."
"I do too." Daniel added.
Tony and Ziva looked at each other. They had been impressed by Holly. She seemed like an intelligent young woman, not to mention attractive. And it was fairly obvious that that the two liked each other.
"I do too." Tony said and Ziva nodded.
The family sat there in a comfortable silence before Daniel announced that he was going to bed. Lia followed soon after, and Tony and Ziva not long after.
--
The next few days went by to quickly for the DiNozzo, McGee, Gibbs and Anders families likings. Caitlin McGee had brought home her boyfriend, Lucas Mash, and announced that they were engaged. Abby and McGee were thrilled, Lucas was a handsome young man. He was tall, had blonde hair, muscular. Basically the kind of guy that Caitlin McGee had dreamed of since she was a little girl.
--
Caitlin had bright green eyes and short dark hair and was tall and thin. She had apparently met Lucas, a mechanic, when her she went in for an oil change. They had started talking, he asked her out for coffee, and they had been dating ever since. It wasn't the story Caitlin had wanted, but it didn't matter much to her now.
--
Jacob had been delighted to reunite with Emily and Caitlin. They had spent hours just laughing about the old days and several more hours catching up.
--
The next day, Jacob pulled his parents aside and told them something that shocked the both of them speechless.
"I'm planning on proposing to Holly."
Tony and Ziva had their mouths open in shock for several minutes before Ziva was able to stammer out a, "That is great!" And pull him into a hug.
Tony clapped a hand on his son's shoulder, at a loss for words.
"You have rendered your father speechless! That is something that I have been trying to find a way to do for years" Ziva joked, trying to give Tony time to gain his senses back. Which, despite her best efforts, failed.
--