Tony and Ziva watched as their son ran with wild abandon among the orange trees. He’d jump from time to time to see if he could grab an orange from the branches above him. The trip hadn’t been planned. Tony had woken up a few days prior and had an overwhelming desire to go back to the grove that he and Ziva had spent time in not that long ago. He had told her that he was fighting for her then, that he wanted her to come utama with him. They had torn down walls that day. They poured their hearts out to one another with only the trees as their witnesses. The grove and oranges had become a special part of his and Ziva’s relationship from that hari forward.
“It has been too long since we have been here,” Ziva murmured as she wrapped her arms around his and snuggled into him. “We should have brought him sooner.”
“I think we got the timing right on this one,” he smiled as he shifted his arm from her grasp to bungkus, balut around her shoulders. “He can have fun now. Look at him trying to get those oranges,” he laughed as their son bounced up from the ground with all his might only to return to it with no Buah to tunjuk for his work. “Try again, Micah!” he encouraged from where he and Ziva were.
They watched as their son once again sprang from his spot with his hands outstretched towards the tree. The little boy sailed into the lower branches and landed Victorious as he grasped in his hands a perfectly plump orange. The squeal that sounded through the grove made Ziva laugh, “Ima! Daddy! I did it!” He ran towards them holding the prize from the pokok in his hands.
Ziva bowed at the waist as her son ran to him. “You did very well, Micah!” she praised as he ran up to her.
“It’s so big!” the little boy grinned at her. “Do they have bigger ones here?” he wondered aloud.
Tony ruffled his son’s hair. “Dunno, little man. We will have to see.”
The boy began to look at the trees around them. “There are so many!”
Tony and Ziva both laughed at his amazement of his surroundings. “Yes, my son, there are many,” Ziva smiled at him. “Do anda want to know a secret?”
The little boy bobbed his head up and down excitedly. “I Cinta secrets!”
Kneeling before her son Ziva continued to smile at his enthusiasm. “This is a very special grove.”
“Why?” the young boy questioned with wide eyes. “Is it made of magic?”
Tony took this as his turn to come down to his son’s level. “Something like that,” he greeted his son. “This place is special to your mom and I because this is where we…” Tony hesitated, unsure how to explain the grove to him.
“This is where anda daddy and I came when it was time to tell each other that we loved each other. The trees that are here where there then. They heard us when we told each other,” Ziva finished her husband’s thought.
“Really?” Micah asked.
“Really,” Tony and Ziva confirmed in unison.
Micah looked around again. This time he looked at the trees a bit differently. “I bet they know a lot of secrets too,” he grinned before he demurred. “Did anda Ciuman here too?”
“Well… yes,” Tony admitted.
Micah’s nose wrinkled. “Gross!”
Ziva and Tony laughed heartily at their little boy’s disgust over what they had done there. “One hari anda won’t think it’s so gross,” Tony ruffled his hair again.
“No way!”
“Yes way!” Ziva grinned.
“No!”
Tony laughed. “For now how about anda go find an even bigger orange,” he told him as an out from the agreement that was starting to form.
Micah was off like a shot and Ziva dissolved into laughter where they stayed. Tony sobered after a few moments as he looked around. “Ziva,” he gapped at where they were, “this is the exact spot!”
Ziva looked around now as the realization dawned on her as well. “It is!” she gasped.
Tony pulled her into his arms and tenderly kissed her lips as their confession to each other that time not long lalu echoed through the branches of the trees.
“Ew!” Micah yelled from not far away as he saw his parents Ciuman where he left them.
Once again Tony and Ziva dissolved into laughter. “Tony,” Ziva sobered first this time. “We will have to do this again in a few years…”
Tony glanced over to her, laughter still bubbling from him. “I think he won’t forget this, Ziva. We may have scarred him.”
“No, not him,” Ziva reached over and took his hand bringing it to her stomach. “I wanted the timing to be perfect to tell you.”
“Really?!” Tony gasped at what was being revealed to him.
“Really,” Ziva confirmed with a sparkling smile.
And just like that the Once again the grove held a family secret.
