Chapter 2 – Ziva
Ziva turned the partly-filled shopping cart down the snacks aisle. She was glad about the lack of company on this shopping trip; not that she didn't enjoy having Tony and the kids along for the shopping as they did help make the chore go smoother most of the time. This trip was a spur-of-the-moment stop on her way home. Once in the store she rounded up the items on her mental list quickly: more bread flour for holiday baking, Goldfish crackers for the kids' snacks, shampoo for the little kids' bathroom, extra batteries that they would surely need come Christmas morning, and two more of the large packages of chicken breasts that were on sale that week.
Her final item, Little Debbie Christmas tree cakes in whatever variety the store had in stock, was her treat to herself. Why she craved the cakes was a mystery to her; she'd much rather have home-made snacks most of the time. However, when the seasonal goodie appeared, she just had to purchase at least two boxes each of the white-iced, the chocolate-iced, and the brownie version of the tree-shaped cakes. Her first taste of them had been back at NCIS when Jimmy Palmer brought two boxes of the white-iced version as his contribution to the holiday party in the break room in 2005.
Even when Tim pointed out that the Christmas tree cakes were merely a version of the year-round zebra cakes from the same brand, Ziva adamantly insisted that the Christmas trees tasted differently from the zebra cakes. She had even had cravings for them when pregnant with the twins, sending Tony out late at night in hunt of the cakes multiple times. He'd finally ordered a case of the cakes from the manufacturer's website, hoping that would satisfy her craving.
She spied the display of cakes near the end of the aisle. There were only two boxes of the brownie variety left; they went into the cart immediately. Five boxes of the white-iced and five of the chocolate-iced versions were quickly added to the other items in the cart.
At home, Ziva parked the minivan and opened the rear hatch to carry the bags of groceries inside. As she was walking to the rear of the vehicle, the garage door opened.
Tony scurried from the warm garage to help his wife with the bags. "I should have worn my jacket; it's cold out here!"
"It is winter," Ziva retorted as he grabbed all but two of the plastic bags; the two she already had in her hand. "You do not need to play park donkey," she grinned at her other half.
"Pack mule, and yes, I do. You know it's a personal challenge to try to bring all the bags inside in one trip," he smirked back at her. "Hey, at least you didn't say jackass…"
No sooner did the couple get inside the kitchen from the garage than LJ ran up to his parents. He threw his arms around Ziva's legs.
"Ima! Ima is home!" the little boy hugged is mother tightly. He looked up at her, "Simba frew up in da play woom."
Tony tried to get the bags off his arms and put them on the floor quickly, "I got this."
Ziva watched him try to detangle himself from bags, "You put the groceries away, I will take care of the cat and the playroom."
"You sure?"
Ziva nodded and followed her youngest to the hallway as Tony juggled the bags off his arms.
He put the chicken breasts in the refrigerator, knowing that Ziva would repackage them in meal-sized portions to then be put into the freezer. The bags of Goldfish crackers went on the shelf for salty snacks in the pantry. Tony noticed the Christmas tree cakes, and decided to put them out of sight of the kids, knowing that if they spotted the treats, Ziva would not get many to enjoy for herself. He placed all but one box of the chocolate-covered cakes into a bin on the top shelf of the pantry.
Tony was dumping the flour into the sealed canister when Ziva returned to the kitchen.
"All groceries put away; this flour is the last of it," he grinned at his wife. "Cat barf problem solved?"
She nodded and held up a crumpled paper towel, "It was only a small hairball; Simba seems fine. He was sitting on the windowsill watching some birds in the front yard."
Several days later, Ziva was sitting at the counter in the kitchen, planning the holiday meals that her family would be hosting. LJ was napping, the twins were at their preschool, Anthony and Tali were at the elementary school. She remembered the Christmas tree cakes, and decided that she needed to have one for a snack. She opened the pantry door and looked for the boxes; she saw one. What had Tony done with the others?
She opened the box that she did find, and slid one of the cakes from the cardboard. She knew that she had maybe thirty minutes before LJ was awake, so she chose to eat the snack and then hunt for the other boxes of cakes.
Ziva placed her phone on the counter and sent a text message to her husband, 'what did you do with the Christmas tree cakes and brownies?' She took a bite of the one in her hand as she waited for him to reply.
'Put them all in the pantry. Why?'
'I can not find them, just one box.'
'Well, I didn't eat them. You know I don't like those things.'
'I am not accusing you of eating them. I just want to know where they are. I bought a dozen boxes and only found one.'
'In the pantry.'
'Where in the pantry?'
'I dunno; I've slept since then. Will help you look when I get home. :D'
"You had better, my little hairy butt. Christmas is not Christmas without the Christmas tree cakes and brownies," Ziva noted to self as she heard the sounds of LJ stirring over the baby monitor. "I may have to hold some ugiyott qinamonn hostage…"