Tali & Monique, Age 16

                   December 3^rd, 2033; Tony had always been amazed by his girls; the DiNozzo trio as Senior put it. Madalyn, Tali and Monique had their mother’s beauty without a doubt. Albeit all four of the DiNozzo kids had been well versed in Italian and all the languages their mother spoke fluently long before they turned six years old. But the DiNozzo girls were just like their mother. They carried themselves with the same kind of confidence their mother had. And they were just as skilled with a knife and a gun as their mother was.

            Ziva’s two weeks of having her two youngest children still at the age of fifteen had passed. Today was the sixteenth birthday of Tali Rachel DiNozzo and her twin sister, Monique Rivka DiNozzo. Once again Monique was unable to come State side despite how much Madison had attempted to get her mother - in – law to lay off for one day. Monique called the twins to wish them a happy birthday. The girls understood why Monique couldn’t be there physically, it was the nature of the beast. But it just sucked in the girls’ honest opinion, of course they had taken a trip down to Colombia recently with their immediate family but it still on some level bugged them both that Monique couldn’t be with them on their birthday because of a problem Doctor Samantha Ryan had with their Aunt.  The DiNozzo children had to deal with the fact that with each birthday they had that they had to deal with the fact that neither of their grandfathers would be in attendance. Senior had always been too busy ever since the twins’ seventh birthday to be around for a birthday since he was preoccupied conning someone or chasing after some skirt that was old enough to be his grandkids’ mother. Eli on the other hand, well it’s just easier to say that the DiNozzo kids knew that the one man they could count on in their lives besides their father of course was Jethro. It was the same lesson their parents had learned the hard way. After the twins were off the phone with Monique they had gone into the kitchen, venting along the way.

            “I don’t see why Dr. Ryan can’t give her vendetta a rest for a day.” Tali said in a completely flustered Belgian French accent.

            Of course their mother, sister and brother understood what was being said. Their father on the other hand was left in the dark.

            “She should focus on why her dirt bag ex-husband is still out of jail instead of going after Aunt Monique.” Monique responded in Belgian French.

            “What are they saying?” Tony asked as he saw his eldest daughter and his son laugh at their kid sister’s response.

            “They’re just frustrated with Dr. Ryan, my love.” Ziva said.

            “Dr. Ryan should have let Jethro deal with her ex-husband all those years ago.” Asher said joining in his kid sisters’ discussion in the same language they had been speaking.

            “There’s a bit of a problem with that, Ash. One that you’re too young to remember.” Madalyn chimed.

            “And what’s that Maddy.”

            Madalyn directed her brother and sisters’ attention their mother.

            “We as in your father, myself, Gibbs and the rest of the team were contending with Harper Dearing twenty-one years.”

            The conversation had reverted back to English at this point.

            “I was only two at the time.” Asher stated.

            “And Maddy was six, Tali and Monique weren’t even a glint in my eyes at that point.” Ziva said.

            “I didn’t even know about you guys yet and none of us knew that Gibbs and the Director were married let alone the fact that they were parents.”

            Madalyn knew the story a bit better than her sisters and brother had since she was older at the time that the Dearing fiasco took place. This retelling of that event was a refresher for Asher while the twins were basically hearing it for the first time.

            “Dearing planted a bomb in Jenny’s car. Gibbs left Cole to disarm it so that he could get Abby out of the building in time.”

            “Cole died in the explosion.” Tony said happily.

            Ziva gave her husband a rebuking look to which he countered with a look of his own.

            “Gibbs made it to Abby in time and got her out of the way. McGee was knocked out by the explosion in the squad room and impaled some by shards of glass. Jenny took refuge in her office with Cynthia. And I was trapped in an elevator with your father for hours on end after we evacuated the building.”

            “Where was Ducky, Palmer and Breena?” the twins and Asher asked together.

            All four knew that their parents along with the rest of the team had been invited down to Florida to attend Palmer and Breena’s wedding but were unable to attend due to Harper Dearing and the chaos he chose to inflict on the Navy and NCIS for what had happened to his son on the USS Brandywine. They also knew that Ducky was the only one who had been able to go to the wedding.

            “Ducky was walking on the beach when he got a phone call after the bomb went off up here and he had his heart attack.”

            “Palmer and Breena?”

            “I don’t know where they were?” Tony said.

            “I think they were in Breena’s room at the hotel they were staying at before they had found Ducky lying on the beach with the waves coming.”

            Tony took Asher outside when Ziva had decided to give the twins’ their gifts from Victoria’s Secret. Madalyn stayed to see her sisters’ open their gifts.  And of course like Jethro had protested in the weeks leading up to his twins’ sixteenth birthday about the tradition that Dana Shepard had started with Jenny, due to the fact that Tony also believed that Ziva was basically telling the twins like she had told Madalyn years prior that it was okay to fool around with guys. For Tony of all people to have this problem was hypocritical so Ziva did it anyway.

The DiNozzo family finished the conversation they were having and celebrated the twins’ birthday for the rest of the day. 

Aliyah, Juliet & Zoey, Age 16

            September 15^th, 2033; the triplets’ junior year of high school had been underway for eleven days so far. One of their teachers had assigned a project within the start of the school year. The girls were a bit bummed that their teacher had given them a project to present on their birthday. Thankfully their teacher had said that they could work in groups for this project. The project was for the class to present their family to their classmates in presentation form to show how families were different in America as well as illustrating how America was the world’s melting pot when it came to the different ethnicities. The teacher had said if the groups wanted to they could tell the class about their extended family if they wished.

            So on this particular morning the girls were going over their project while they ate their breakfast at the kitchen table. Jaylyn stood out of sight in the doorway that her daughters’ backs had been facing. Jaylyn watched and listened to her daughters while they worked.  Being nine years old; Jordan and Dylan were still in bed since they didn’t have to leave for school until 07:15 that morning whereas their sixteen year old sisters would be leaving for yet another day as high school juniors at 06:30 that morning. Kasey had woke up around the same time as his wife and had jumped into the shower so he could before he took their daughters to school that morning before he went into work. Jaylyn would bring the boys to school on her way in to NCIS later that morning. By this age, the girls knew all about their birth father and that their dad had adopted after he married their mother. Obviously they also knew that their brothers were their half-brothers just like their cousins were Kelly’s half-sisters, but much like Kelly; the girls really didn’t give a damn whether their brothers were their half-brothers or not. Jordan and Dylan were their brothers no matter what their DNA said.

            “Well our presentation will have the whole class and the entire school talking in no time. We’ll be known as the girls who have whore for a mother.” Juliet said.

            Jaylyn knew that this would be a concern of their and she knew that her middle daughter would be the one to bring it to light. Juliet had been the drama queen since day one and that’s probably why Jaylyn had named her after one Shakespeare’s heroine from Romeo & Juliet.

            “Give it a rest Jules.” Aliyah said pulling rank on her younger sister.

            Aliyah had always been the strong and fiercely independent one out of the trio who didn’t give a damn what other people thought. She was just like Jaylyn in that respect.

            “That’s easy for you to say, Ali; you’d beat the crap out of the person that said anything”

            Zoey was getting tired of her sisters’ squabbling but she also hated playing the mediator between her sisters in these situations.

            “Both of you, put a sock in it already; we have a presentation to get through in a bit. The last thing any of us need is violence and drama. Let’s get through this and then we’ll argue with each other afterwards.”

            Jaylyn rolled her eyes at her daughters. Kasey had finished his shower and everything, before long he was within inches of his wife. He was about to go into the kitchen to get some coffee when Jaylyn grabbed his arm to stop him from going in.

            “Jay, let go.”

            “I will, just wait; they’re working on their project and the air just cleared between them.”

            Meanwhile inside the kitchen where the girls were, they were finalizing their presentation or at least Aliyah was.

            “Okay, so this is how we’re going to present the project. We will each introduce ourselves, then I’ll talk about Mom and Dad. Jules, you will talk about Jordan and Dylan. Zoey, you can address the extended family then if we have time we’ll address the whole different dads thing.”

            “Okay.” Juliet and Zoey said in unison.

            Once they had their plan for their presentation, the girls put their breakfast dishes in the sink. Jaylyn and Kasey came into the kitchen.

            Kasey made a beeline for the coffee and then told his daughters that he would be waiting for them in the car. This gave Jaylyn a moment to continue her mother’s tradition before her girls left for school.

            “Girls, come here. There’s something I want to give you.” Jaylyn said as she pulled out the three boxes from Victoria’s Secret she had stashed in one of the kitchen cabinets.

            “What is it Mom, we have to get to school.” Juliet said impatiently.

            “I have a birthday present for each of you. Mind you it’s just from me and before you open them you have to listen to what I have to say.”

            “This better be quick.” Zoey said just as impatient as her sister had seconds before.

            Jaylyn gave her daughter the stare.

            “You’ve really been around Uncle Jethro for too long, Mom. Tell us what you have to tell us.” Aliyah commented.

            “Years ago when your Aunt Jen turned sixteen your grandma Dana started a tradition with her. Of course, Grandma Dana died long before my sixteenth birthday so your Aunt Jen continued the tradition with me on my sixteenth birthday in honor of our mother. Your Aunt continued the traditions with the quads and she’s  going to do it for the twins next year just like Ziva did it with Madalyn eleven years ago and like she will do next year with her twins. Now when you all have daughters of your own you will continue the tradition to honor your grandmother.”

            “Can we open the gifts now?” Juliet said impatiently once again.

            “Go ahead.”

            The girls opened their presents and were quite thrilled. Once the girls had opened their gifts, they had left for school. Jaylyn had put the girls’ gifts up in their rooms and put the dishes in the dishwasher while her sons got ready for school. After that Jaylyn took the boys to school and went to work.

Kate & Kassidy, Age 16

            November 19^th, 2034; as it had been over the years with the birthdays for all the kids, there wasn’t much to do when it came to planning something for Kate and Kassidy’s sweet sixteen. The twins had been fielding phone calls all week long. Jack had called the day before just before he opened the store up. Ann treated her granddaughters out to lunch at a restaurant of their choice. Amira called the twins at the start of the week when she had a moment to herself while she was overseas commanding a platoon of Marines in Syria. Leyla called the twins shortly after her daughter had.

            The birthday girls had opted for a spa day with their mother, aunt, sisters, cousins, Rachel, Ziva, Madalyn, Tali, Monique and Abby. So days before the twins’ sixteenth birthday all that Jenny had to concern herself with was the spa reservation for the fifteen person party and continuing the tradition that her and Jaylyn’s mother; Dana, had started the day that Jenny had turned sixteen. So days before Kate and Kassidy’s birthday, Jenny took a trip to Victoria’s Secret with her sister. This shopping trip to Victoria’s Secret was the last one that Jenny had to go on when it came to her daughters. Jaylyn had her one and only trip to Victoria’s Secret last year for her girls’ sweet sixteen. Now Ziva had adopted the tradition that her two best friends did with their own daughters. Ziva did it with Madalyn when Madalyn turned sixteen years old back in 2022.

            Now Ziva would be in Jenny’s stilettoes in two weeks’ time when her last two girls, her babies turned sixteen. Tony was still trying to figure out why Ziva was so distraught. He was happy like everyone else was, but everyone else understood why Ziva was upset. One of the things Ziva had said to Tony twenty-nine years ago outside the Embassy hotel back then was on constant replay in her mind today.

            I lost my little sister, Tali, in a Hamas suicide bombing. She was sixteen and the best of us. Tali had compassion.

            But Ziva still had another two weeks before her twins were no longer her fifteen year old twins. Today was Kate and Kassidy’s day, today was a happy day for all intent and purpose. Jenny had the spa reservations made before her daughters were out of bed. The plan was that Jenny, Kate and Kassidy were going to meet everyone at Qi spa. This plan provided Jenny the opportunity to give the twins what she had bought them at Victoria’s Secret.

            “Kate, Kassidy; can you come here please.” Jenny called as Jethro stepped out to go to the diner to get coffee for the four of them.

            “You’re not staying for this?” Jenny asked her husband through the open window.

            “This is your moment with them not mine. And no as a father of two sixteen year olds, I don’t want to even think of them doing that. Hell I don’t want to think of any of them doing that.” Jethro said as he drew closer to his ’71 Dodge Challenger RT Hemi that he got back in 2008.

            “Stop acting like they aren’t your little six year olds, Jethro. They’re going to and in fact two out of the seven already are.”

            Jenny saw the abhorred look on her husband’s face as he got into the driver’s side of his Challenger.

            “We’re here mom, what did you want?” Kate said.

            “We were trying to get ready for the spa.” Kassidy said.

            “I have something to give the both of you. An early birthday present if you will.” Jenny said as she handed her daughters each of their present.

            “What is it?”

            “Where’s dad?”

            “Your dad went to get coffee for all of us from the diner. As far as the gift before each of you is a part of a tradition that my mother started with me when I was your age and I continued it with your Aunt J when she was your age. And of course your Aunt J continued it with your cousins last year as I did with your sisters.”

            The twins opened their gifts and saw what the gift boxes held inside of them. In Kate’s gift box was a blue halter babydoll. Kassidy’s box held a flyaway apron babydoll that was black and white in color.

            “Thanks mom.” the girls said awkwardly before they left to finish getting ready for their spa day.

            Shortly after the girls left, Jethro came back with a carrying tray of four cups of coffee.  Once Jethro was in the kitchen he removed and handed Jenny the cup of Jamaican blend coffee.

            “Thank-you, Jethro.”

            “What did the girls think of their gifts?” Jethro asked.

            “I think they like they were just a bit socially awkward and quickly left.”

            After that Jethro brought his daughters their coffee. Kate’s French Vanilla blend and Kassidy her Colombian Dark Roast.

            Sometime later Jenny and the girls met the rest of their party at Qi spa. The twins went to the mud room while their sisters and cousins took off for the steam room. Jenny, Jaylyn, Ziva, Rachel and Abby went directly to get a deep tissue massage.

            “Once we all have our homes to ourselves after the kids go away to college; we have to make this a regular thing. Just the five of us, just the moms.” Rachel said as her masseur started the massage.

            “These women are so tense.” the masseur who was working on Rachel said in Korean.

            “We’re tense cause four of us are Federal Agents and she’s a psychiatrist.” Jaylyn said.

            The spa day continued on for a while. Once the spa day had ended it was time to call it a day. Delilah had revealed that she was seeing Carson Taylor/Carson Matthews. Arabella was dating Zach Tanner. Emiliana was involved with Zane Wilson. At midnight that night Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Jennifer Gibbs were the proud of forty-five year old Kelly Joann Gibbs,  thirty-five year olds  Delilah Jayne Gibbs, Emiliana Jayme Gibbs, Arabella Jacqueline Gibbs and Madison Jaliyah Gibbs; and now the newly turned sixteen year olds Kate Jayden Gibbs and Kassidy Jacey Gibbs. Tonight Jethro and Jenny went to bed happy.

Jordan & Dylan, Age 13

August 20^th, 2037; the Mitchell twins had decided in the days leading up to their thirteenth birthday to put an end to the family gathering for a while. So their sisters continued packing their stuff that they were bringing back with them when they returned to Arcadia University for their junior year. So today was just like any other day at the Mitchell household.  It kind of bummed Jaylyn out that her own sons didn’t want to celebrate their birthday with their family or even with their NCIS family. With everything that Jaylyn had gone through over the years both personally and professionally; Jaylyn knew as well as the rest of the NCIS collective, that life was far too short to miss out on the little things such as birthdays. Knowing that life was too short just came with being an NCIS Special Agent; Jaylyn knew that just as her colleagues did.  It also kind made Jaylyn wonder what the next few years would hold for her and Kasey now that their daughters were college juniors and their sons were high school freshmen. As she thought of this she also wondered how Jenny had made it look so easy over the years. Jaylyn’s nieces were now thirty-eight and nineteen years old respectively. Her step-niece was forty-eight. Then of course Tony and Ziva’s kids were thirty-two, twenty-seven and nineteen. Amira was thirty and was a Colonel with the Marines. Kyle Luca was nineteen like Tali, Monique, Kate and Kassidy.

Things had changed a lot over the years but that was to be expected.  Kelly and Charlie were doing well. Delilah, Emiliana and Arabella had assumed the roles of eternal bachelorettes. Madison and Parker had tied the knot a few years ago so now Sam was officially family just like Parker was. The irony of Jethro’s ex-girlfriend being a part of the family after she had been his girlfriend at one point in time was completely laughable. But Jaylyn, Jenny and Sam did enjoy it a bit when they ganged up on Jethro. Jethro wasn’t too pleased with it at all. Apparently having your head gamer ex-girlfriend turned in-law, your wife and sister – in – law who were just as capable of being “head gamers” as Sam was wasn’t Jethro’s  cup of tea.  Kate and Kassidy were starting their sophomore year of college at Boston University in a few days.  Tali and Monique were Ohio State sophomores this year just as their dad, sister and brother had once been. Kyle Luca was starting his sophomore year at Louisiana State University and was planning on getting his master’s degree at Georgia State University like his mother did. Of course McGee was a bit disappointed that Kyle Luca hadn’t chosen his alma maters of MIT and John Hopkins University, but he knew that his son was getting a great education from LSU and would get an impeccable education for GSU later on down the road.

So August 20^th, 2037 was just like August 19^th, 2037 had been and was just like August 21^st, 2037 would be. Jethro, Tony, McGee and Palmer had teamed up with some other agents from work to face Fornell and some of his colleagues from the FBI in a somewhat friendly match up of inter-agency baseball. Breena had flown down to Florida to spend time with her family. Ducky was spending the day with Claire. But the women of NCIS; Jenny, Jaylyn, Ziva and Abby, were meeting Rachel and Sam at Panera in town for lunch as well as for some girl time without any outside factors such as children, husbands or significant others in Sam’s case. The women ventured down memory lane as they revisited things and events from the past for the sake of remembering what had happened as well as the ones that hadn’t been fortunate enough to be physically sitting at the table inside of Panera with the women.

The women all considered their children to be their miracles on a personal level.  On a professional level, there were a lot that hit home for the women.  Each of the events that popped up in the professional lives would coincide with the personal and familial side of things from time to time.

“I’ve got you all topped; two pregnancies, six kids and fifteen plus hours of labor.” Jenny said staking her claim on the title.

“Doesn’t count, Jen; I’ve had just as many kids as you and I was in labor for the same amount of time as you were.”

“Are they always like this?” Sam questioned.

“Yeah, this pissing match is typical for them.” Ziva answered.

The sisters continued to squabble until one of the others put an end to it.

“Okay enough is enough you two. We’ve all had a kid or more and were in hours of excruciating pain just to meet them for the first time.” Abby said trying to keep the peace.

“How many kids do you all have?” one of the regular Panera patrons inquired as she came towards the table.

“Six and step-child.” Jenny replied.

“Five.” Jaylyn said.

“Four.” Ziva stated.

“One.” Abby cheerfully said.

“One.” Sam reluctantly responded.

“Two.” Rachel said.

The patron smiled and continued on.

“We’ve been through a lot through the years.” Sam said.

“Yeah we have, a lot of ups and downs; Sam.”

“We lost some good agents.” Jenny said as she remembered Pacci, her daughters’ namesakes and all the other agents that were gone.

“We’ve lost a few good friends too, Director.” Abby said as she also remembered Kate while she smiled at Rachel.

 Sam was puzzled.

“They are talking about my sister.”

“Ah Special Agent Caitlin Todd.”

“Kate Todd.” Abby corrected.

“If Kate hadn’t protected Gibbs that day then Director Gibbs would be a widow and a single mother of four, plus Kate and Kassidy wouldn’t exist; Abby.”

“Everything happens for a reason, I know.”

Meanwhile at the baseball game between NCIS and the FBI, Jethro was getting a kick out of the fact that NCIS was kicking the crap out of Fornell and the rest of the FBI’s lackeys.

“Just give it up now, Fornell.” Tony teased as Fornell came up to home plate.

“Quit while you still have some dignity left, Tobias. It’s the least you could for yourself since Diane took it with her in the divorce.”

Fornell didn’t say a word as he took his stance.

Hours later everyone was back at their respective homes.

“So how was your day?” Jethro asked.

“It went quite well. Who won the game?”

“We did. Tobias wasn’t pleased.”

“Well that will teach him for bashing NCIS and for stealing Diane from you. Now it’s time for the winner to get his prize.” Jenny said as pushed Jethro backward on their bed with a look in her eyes that said it all.

Things had changed a lot over the years but that was to be expected.  Kelly and Charlie were doing well. Delilah, Emiliana and Arabella had assumed the roles of eternal bachelorettes. Madison and Parker had tied the knot a few years ago so now Sam was officially family just like Parker was. The irony of Jethro’s ex-girlfriend being a part of the family after she had been his girlfriend at one point in time was completely laughable. But Jaylyn, Jenny and Sam did enjoy it a bit when they ganged up on Jethro. Jethro wasn’t too pleased with it at all. Apparently having your head gamer ex-girlfriend turned in-law, your wife and sister – in – law who were just as capable of being “head gamers” as Sam was wasn’t Jethro’s  cup of tea.  Kate and Kassidy were starting their sophomore year of college at Boston University in a few days.  Tali and Monique were Ohio State sophomores this year just as their dad, sister and brother had once been. Kyle Luca was starting his sophomore year at Louisiana State University and was planning on getting his master’s degree at Georgia State University like his mother did. Of course McGee was a bit disappointed that Kyle Luca hadn’t chosen his alma maters of MIT and John Hopkins University, but he knew that his son was getting a great education from LSU and would get an impeccable education for GSU later on down the road.

So August 20^th, 2037 was just like August 19^th, 2037 had been and was just like August 21^st, 2037 would be. Jethro, Tony, McGee and Palmer had teamed up with some other agents from work to face Fornell and some of his colleagues from the FBI in a somewhat friendly match up of inter-agency baseball. Breena had flown down to Florida to spend time with her family. Ducky was spending the day with Claire. But the women of NCIS; Jenny, Jaylyn, Ziva and Abby, were meeting Rachel and Sam at Panera in town for lunch as well as for some girl time without any outside factors such as children, husbands or significant others in Sam’s case. The women ventured down memory lane as they revisited things and events from the past for the sake of remembering what had happened as well as the ones that hadn’t been fortunate enough to be physically sitting at the table inside of Panera with the women.

The women all considered their children to be their miracles on a personal level.  On a professional level, there were a lot that hit home for the women.  Each of the events that popped up in the professional lives would coincide with the personal and familial side of things from time to time.

“I’ve got you all topped; two pregnancies, six kids and fifteen plus hours of labor.” Jenny said staking her claim on the title.

“Doesn’t count, Jen; I’ve had just as many kids as you and I was in labor for the same amount of time as you were.”

“Are they always like this?” Sam questioned.

“Yeah, this pissing match is typical for them.” Ziva answered.

The sisters continued to squabble until one of the others put an end to it.

“Okay enough is enough you two. We’ve all had a kid or more and were in hours of excruciating pain just to meet them for the first time.” Abby said trying to keep the peace.

“How many kids do you all have?” one of the regular Panera patrons inquired as she came towards the table.

“Six and step-child.” Jenny replied.

“Five.” Jaylyn said.

“Four.” Ziva stated.

“One.” Abby cheerfully said.

“One.” Sam reluctantly responded.

“Two.” Rachel said.

The patron smiled and continued on.

“We’ve been through a lot through the years.” Sam said.

“Yeah we have, a lot of ups and downs; Sam.”

“We lost some good agents.” Jenny said as she remembered Pacci, her daughters’ namesakes and all the other agents that were gone.

“We’ve lost a few good friends too, Director.” Abby said as she also remembered Kate while she smiled at Rachel.

 Sam was puzzled.

“They are talking about my sister.”

“Ah Special Agent Caitlin Todd.”

“Kate Todd.” Abby corrected.

“If Kate hadn’t protected Gibbs that day then Director Gibbs would be a widow and a single mother of four, plus Kate and Kassidy wouldn’t exist; Abby.”

“Everything happens for a reason, I know.”

Meanwhile at the baseball game between NCIS and the FBI, Jethro was getting a kick out of the fact that NCIS was kicking the crap out of Fornell and the rest of the FBI’s lackeys.

“Just give it up now, Fornell.” Tony teased as Fornell came up to home plate.

“Quit while you still have some dignity left, Tobias. It’s the least you could for yourself since Diane took it with her in the divorce.”

Fornell didn’t say a word as he took his stance.

Hours later everyone was back at their respective homes.

“So how was your day?” Jethro asked.

“It went quite well. Who won the game?”

“We did. Tobias wasn’t pleased.”

“Well that will teach him for bashing NCIS and for stealing Diane from you. Now it’s time for the winner to get his prize.” Jenny said as pushed Jethro backward on their bed with a look in her eyes that said it all.

August 20^th, 2037; the Mitchell twins had decided in the days leading up to their thirteenth birthday to put an end to the family gathering for a while. So their sisters continued packing their stuff that they were bringing back with them when they returned to Arcadia University for their junior year. So today was just like any other day at the Mitchell household.  It kind of bummed Jaylyn out that her own sons didn’t want to celebrate their birthday with their family or even with their NCIS family. With everything that Jaylyn had gone through over the years both personally and professionally; Jaylyn knew as well as the rest of the NCIS collective, that life was far too short to miss out on the little things such as birthdays. Knowing that life was too short just came with being an NCIS Special Agent; Jaylyn knew that just as her colleagues did.  It also kind made Jaylyn wonder what the next few years would hold for her and Kasey now that their daughters were college juniors and their sons were high school freshmen. As she thought of this she also wondered how Jenny had made it look so easy over the years. Jaylyn’s nieces were now thirty-eight and nineteen years old respectively. Her step-niece was forty-eight. Then of course Tony and Ziva’s kids were thirty-two, twenty-seven and nineteen. Amira was thirty and was a Colonel with the Marines. Kyle Luca was nineteen like Tali, Monique, Kate and Kassidy.

Kyle Luca, Age 13

            December 13^th, 2031; today was young Kyle Luca McGee’s thirteenth birthday. Kyle Luca was the last to turn thirteen this year and his mother had relinquished the party planning for this particular birthday to Kyle Luca’s father. Tim being one of the NCIS geeks as Tony had put it countless times before only justified Tim planning his son’s thirteenth birthday party that much more. At first Abby was a bit hesitant to let Tim plan their son’s birthday since she was the queen of parties, she did plan Palmer’s bachelor party after all. But as expected Abby came around and relinquished her party planning crown to her husband. Tim had planned a party that he knew his son and all the other kids in attendance would like a lot, he definitely liked his idea for Kyle Luca’s party quite a lot himself. Kyle Luca’s party was a two part party. First part was going to the local video game arcade in town. After that it was laser tag at Tim’s laser tag haunt.

            While Tim planned Kyle Luca’s two part party, Abby prepped the house for her NCIS family in case they had decided to crash there after Kyle Luca’s party. Before long it was time for the arcade. Abby, Tim and Kyle Luca met the guests at the arcade. The usual suspects were at the arcade for the birthday boy’s party; both of his namesakes, his Aunt Sara and Penny were all there as expected. The team was there with their families. Of course Tony couldn’t pass up a prime opportunity as he put it to relentless tease the Elf lord. So while Tony got his jabs in as all the kids played the various games those around Tony had varying look of disgust on their faces. Jethro was fighting the urge to slap Tony on the back of his head. Ziva was annoyed and rolling her eyes at her husband who still insisted on acting like a child at his age. Sara found it a bit entertaining. Jaylyn and Jenny were just as annoyed at Tony’s childish antics as Ziva was. Penny had found Tony’s antics to be absolutely charming, but then again she had found Tony to be absolutely charming since she first met him twenty years ago. Abby was far too busy making sure that her son was enjoying himself.

            At one point Jenny had challenged Jethro to an arcade shooting game and then to skeeball. Jethro had thought he was the better shot since he had his Marine Corps background and the fact that he had been NCIS longer than she had been. But Jenny knew that was far from true. Jethro’s eye sight was weak from all those years as a Gunnery Sergeant. Plus she was a few years younger than her husband which was her added bonus. Jenny had beaten Jethro in the arcade shooting game as she had predicted.  Even with the skeeball challenge was a win for Jenny.

            “Told you so Jethro.” Jenny said.

            “Jen.”

            “Jethro.”

            Jethro didn’t say a word; functional mute mode was in full effect.

            “Your eye sight is weak not your hearing, Jethro.” Jenny had reiterated.

            The festivities continued onto the laser tag. Tony laughed hysterically every time one of Tim’s laser tag comrades came by and said hi. And course everyone now thought Tony was acting like a freaking child. Everyone participated in countless rounds of laser tag before the parents decided to call it a day. Everyone had dinner at Abby and Tim’s once the festivities were over.  Once dinner was over Kyle Luca’s Aunt and Great Grandmother left just before his Uncles did. So the only ones that stayed behind were his parents’ co-workers, their families, Ducky and his love interest; Claire Garrettson.  As everyone began getting sleepy midway through the movie that they had started watching after the calm had settled in, all the adults excused themselves to the bedrooms while all the kids from Kelly and her husband down to Jordan and Dylan remained in the living room for the rest of the night.

            Kelly and her husband kept an eye on the younger kids.  The living room group was spread out all over the place just  as their parents sort of were between Abby and Tim in their master bedroom along with the rest of the couples were each in one of the guest bedrooms. There was an upside to being Thom E. Gemcity in Tim and Abby’s opinion and having the home that they had was definitely one of them. All the kids knew that their parents had their little quip about referring to Jenny and Jethro as Mommy and Daddy thanks to Abby. So when their parents started their ritual of saying good night they just ignored it since it was partially part of Abby’s quip from the time when Sara had been a suspect in one of the team’s cases, the other reason was that the television show that their parents were referring to predated them some. Of course by the time the team started their good night ritual; Kasey, Breena and Claire had already fallen asleep.

            “Night Dad.”

            “Night Abby.”

            “Night McGee.”

            “Night Tony.”

            “Night Palmer.”

            “Night Jaylyn.”

            “Night Mom.”

            “Night Grandpa.”

            “Night Ziva.”

            “Shut up already!!!”  the kids shouted from the living room.

            “This isn’t the Waltons, guys.” Claire said afterwards half asleep.

Tali & Monique, Age 13

December 3^rd, 2031; Today was Tali and Monique’s thirteenth birthday. And instead of doing the typical family gathering before doing something with their friends like they had over the years, the DiNozzo twins had opted to not do the whole family get together to spend time with their sister, brother and parents that day.  Madalyn and Asher had each driven home for their sisters’ birthday a few days before hand. When Tony woke up that morning and begrudgingly headed downstairs he stopped in the threshold of the kitchen and smiled at the sight of his wife, his daughters and his son conversing over coffee at the center island. Never would he have thought this would be his life, the thought of being happily married with four kids of his own went out of Tony’s mind after things with Wendy had gone south years ago. Of course Kate and Ziva had clearly sparked that idea in him when they each respectively came into the picture. But this was his life; Anthony DiNozzo Jr; federal agent, husband and father.

Apparently Ziva and their kids had gone out for a run around Anacostia that morning while Tony slept. Ziva had as she ran with her kids something from her past as they passed another runner who was wearing a neon fluorescent beanie. Seeing the hat made Ziva remember Lt. Roy Sanders from twenty-four years ago.  The thought of Sanders made Ziva a bit sad. Madalyn, Asher, Tali and Monique didn’t ask their mother why she had tears in her eyes as they rounded the corner that morning on their run. But that was this morning and as far as Ziva was concerned her trip down memory lane was need to know and Tony didn’t need to know.

Now Tony was watching his family from where he stood. Tony had picked up that his family was speaking in his wife’s native tongue. It tended to bug him when they did since he couldn’t understand them when they did. For Ziva it was just an added bonus.

“So what was that pause during our run this morning, Mom?” Madalyn asked.

Madalyn was always outspoken and she definitely pressed her luck just like her father.

“Classified and need to know.”

“Okay which agency?” Asher asked.

“Mossad or…?” Tali asked.

“NCIS?” Monique pressed.

“Its need to know and you four don’t need to know.” Ziva reprimanded her children.

“So that’s how we’re playing it?”

“That means it’s related to NCIS.”

“But when?”

“I think it was a particular case from twenty-four years ago, in between my birth and Ash’s; which means I was two years old at the time.” Madalyn said.

“Madalyn Lara DiNozzo!!!!” Ziva said in attempts to stop her daughter in her tracks.

Tony figured that now was as good as ever to step into the kitchen for the sake of his daughter. He’s seen how bad his wife’s temper got when she was pissed.

“It was an NCIS case and like your mother said its need to know.”

Ziva knew that Tony knew. At that point Tali and Monique got a phone call from their Aunt Monique who was down in Colombia once again. This time she couldn’t come up to the States like she had in the past. Sam had made it impossible for Monique to come up this time. Not even Jethro could get his ex to relent for a day. Jenny wasn’t lucky either. Sam was persistent when she wanted to be.

“Happy Birthday, girls.” Monique said.

“Thank-you Aunt Monique.” the girls said in unison.

“So what are you girls up to today?”

“Nothing much.” Tali said quickly.

“We’re just hanging out with Mom, Dad, Mads and Ash.” Monique said finishing her twin’s sentence.

“Enjoy your day, girls. I love you girls.”

“Love ya, Aunt Monique.” the girls said in unison as they hung up.

For the rest of the day; Tali and Monique spent time shopping with their sister and mother. Once they were done shopping with their sister and mother; the twins played a quick pick up game of two on two basketball with their brother and father while their mother made dinner. Their sister sat on the sidelines of the driveway and kept the score of the game that was going on before her. Ziva had made the girls’ favorite Italian dinner that night, chicken masala. Of course there was a birthday cake for after dinner like there had been every year for the twins’ birthday. Just as there had been one for every one of Madalyn’s birthdays and one for all of Asher’s birthday. The twins would have an ice cream cake when they celebrated their birthday with the rest of the NCIS fold a few days later. The cake before them were actually two cakes, one for each of the girls; but these cakes were specially made as well as specially retrieved. Ziva and Tony had Asher pick up his sisters’ cakes from Carlo’s Bakery in Hoboken, NJ on his way down from Ohio State. Tali’s cake was white pound cake with chocolate icing and white chocolate fondant. Monique’s on the other hand was straight up red velvet cake with cream cheese icing and red colored decorating icing. Both cakes had happy birthday written on them. Cakes from Carlo’s bakery on the thirteenth birthday of the reigning generation of DiNozzo children was a DiNozzo tradition.