Couples' Sabbatical

Jethro, Nick and Tony had been acting quite suspiciously that day; which only left Jen, myself and Ziva wondering what the hell was going on with them. Now we all considered Jen and Jethro to be married like us, despite the fact that Jethro never put a ring on her hand to make it official. They had been together for fourteen years now just as Nick and I had been married for fourteen years and just as Tony and Ziva were. What really threw Ziva and me was that Ducky had volunteered himself and Jordan for babysitting JD, Jayden and Jocelyn for Nick and me. Abby and McGee had even volunteered to watch Hannah and Leah for Ziva and Tony.
Of course our curiosity got the better of us. I guess in a way the respective men in our lives could tell that the stress of being federal agents and all the responsibilities that came with it was starting to get to the three of us. Midway through the day Nick had revealed to me that he was going to make me a nice, kids-free dinner at home. Tony had told Ziva to wear a nice dress, one close to the one she wore when they were undercover as the married assassin from years past. Jethro on the other hand had been a bit more subtle with his way of telling Jenny that he was taking her out.
At one point in the early days of Jen and Jethro’s relationship; the first time around, Jethro had found it hard to tell Jen and I apart. Both Jen and I had dark auburn hair back then; which had earned us the nickname, Jethro’s Crimson Beauties. Eventually Jethro figured out a way to tell us apart. One day he had noticed that our eye color was different despite the fact that we were sisters. That day he had noticed that I didn’t have the same alluring green eyes that Jen had, the green eyes that he had fallen in love with. But as time progress and we all got older it became easier to tell us apart.
With time Jen’s hair had progressed to being shoulder length and strawberry-blonde like it had been prior to her supposed death. Mine on the other hand had remained dark auburn in color but tended to vary in length depending on my mood. One thing was certain, both Jethro and Nick knew that my sister and I were emotional beings. Jethro had chalked it up to it coming with the hair color. That afternoon as the men were planning; Ziva and I went out for a run. We had thought of inviting Jenny to go with us; but then we figured she had too much work to do at the agency so we decided not to bother her. But as we got to the entrance of NCIS, Jenny had caught up with us and asked if she could tag along.
Ziva had pulled her hair back as we waited for Jenny to lace up her running shoes. I had my hair pulled back like Ziva’s in a ponytail, but I also had one of those thin headbands that wrapped around your head on.
“Okay I’m ready.” Jenny said as got up from the bench she sat on.
“You might want to put your hair up, Director.”
“We run five miles, Jen.” I said.
“Okay five miles is nothing. Jethro and I use to run fifteen.”
“He was chasing after you. There’s a difference there; sis.”
“Jaylyn.”
“We all know about yours and Gibbs’ relationship from back then. There is no need to hide that.” Ziva said.
“I can handle it, just because I am not as young as the two of you but I can definitely keep up.” Jenny said as she pulled her hair back.
“Well then let’s see what you’ve got, sis.” I said once we got outside.
Once the cold crisp air hit my skin I instantly bolted in desperate need to stay warm. Within a matter of minutes Ziva had caught up with me. Before we had even turned the corner Jenny had caught up with us. It was kind of peaceful and calming running at twilight. The three of us had been chatting about our plans for the night.
By 5pm that day we all had gone home for the night. Jethro had stuck the plane tickets to Marseilles in a part of the boat he was building. Jethro had asked Jen to sand part of the boat where the plane tickets were hidden. Before long Jenny had found the tickets and sauntered over to Jethro.
“Let me guess you want to take a trip down memory lane, Jethro.” Jenny said as she fanned out the tickets.
“That and you need a vacation.”
“I know you, Jethro. That isn’t the only reason for the trip.” Jenny said with a look in her eyes that told him that she was wondering where else they were going on this vacation he had planned.
“We’re going to Marseilles, Positano and Serbia. Before you ask our luggage is already packed and it’s sitting in the car, we leave at nine.” Jethro answered.
Jenny just smiled as she kissed Jethro.
Meanwhile Tony and Nick were both anxiously waiting for us to find the respective plane tickets for the trips they had planned. Tony had taken Ziva to a quaint, yet romantic Italian restaurant. Prior to the host sitting Tony and Ziva down; Tony had asked then host to place the plane tickets he had purchased for their trip to Key Largo.
“What’s this?” Ziva asked.
“Our vacation, a second honeymoon to Key Largo.”
“But why now?”
“Cause you need it. And after fifteen and a half years of being a perfect mom, you deserve a sabbatical.”
“Well thank-you.” Ziva said as she kissed Tony.
“You’re welcome.”
“When do we leave?”
“As soon as we are done here.”
Back at Nick and mine’s house, Nick had made a romantic dinner for us. He had also made his own dessert menus where he hid our plane tickets to Key West in. There was a look of complete shock on my face.
“Plane tickets to Key West.” I said.
“Yes, a second honeymoon and a much needed vacation. A vacation you definitely need.”
“Thank-you.” I said as I kissed my husband.By midnight that night all the kids were in bed. Tony and Ziva, Nick and I along with Jen and Jethro were all on our respective flights. I had fallen asleep on Nick’s shoulder as we took off. Jen had fallen asleep on Jethro’s shoulder as their plane was midway over the Atlantic Ocean. Ziva had followed suit by falling asleep on top of Tony.