Generations 3

Tim babysits twin great-grandkids three year old Mark and Maria: fall 2066

Tim was looking forward to babysitting his twin great-grandchildren. Shannon and Michael were attending a party for Michael's parents' anniversary. Anthony and Katie were supposed to sit for the kids, but an awards ceremony at which Anthony would receive several honors conflicted. Tim had readily agreed to watch the two three year olds.

Tim opened the door to Shannon and Michael and the twins. "Papa!" both kids ran into his embrace. Shannon put their overnight bags on the table by the entrance.

"Thanks, Grandpa, for watching the twins tonight. They are excited about spending the night with you." Shannon hugged her grandfather.

"My pleasure, Shan. Let me see your dress," Shannon turned around to show off the plum-colored dress she had purchased just for the party. "Wow, it's even prettier than your Mom described!"

"Thank you, Grandpa. We'll see you tomorrow afternoon." Mark and Maria hugged their parents and went back to playing with the race cars that Papa had set up for them.

Tim shut the apartment door and moved into the living room where the children were playing. He grabbed a third race car and placed it on the track. The cars could be controlled with a smart phone or with a remote control unit. The kids had the two remotes, so Tim pulled up the app on his phone. Mark grinned at Papa as his car zoomed past the slow moving car that Papa had just started moving.

"Betcha can't catch me, Papa!"

"Watch out, I'm going to get you!" Tim grinned back at the boy, speeding his car down the track in pursuit of the red racer that Mark controlled. The three raced the cars until the batteries needed to be recharged about an hour later. Maria was disappointed that Papa couldn't just put new batteries into the cars, but when Tim mentioned dinner, she quickly perked up. Tim was certain she had inherited the DiNozzo food gene, as had her Grandpa, Uncle Anthony and cousin Tony. Tim often teased his brother of the heart about the appetite of his lineage. The twins' Saba Raba had been on the receiving end of teasing and jokes about his food habits since Tim had known Tony.

Mark and Maria followed Papa into the kitchen. "Let's see; we have hot dogs, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese sandwiches, and three kinds of soup. What do you want?" Tim looked at the children, knowing their answer.

"Grilled cheese, please!"

"Pickles, too?" Maria asked her Papa. He nodded at her and smiled. He took the bread, cheese, pickles and margarine out of the refrigerator, and placed the griddle on the counter by the stove. He spread the margarine on one side of six slices of bread and placed three of them on the griddle, then placed a slice of cheese on each piece of bread and finally topped the sandwiches with the other piece of bread.

After a few minutes he flipped the sandwiches and then got out plates for each one. He told the twins to wash their hands and come back to the table. While they were gone, he placed a pickle spear on each plate and then put a sandwich on each plate, cutting the kids' into four pieces with two diagonal cuts.

As Mark and Maria came back to sit at the table, Tim put a plate at each place. He poured cups of milk for the children and a glass of water for himself. Maria took a bite of her sandwich and then a bite of her pickle, "You make the best grilled cheese, Papa!" She grinned at him and took another bite.

After dinner, the kids helped Tim load the dishwasher and he washed the griddle, leaving it on the counter to dry. He would use it again in the morning to make pancakes for breakfast. "Who wants to watch a movie?"

"Me!" Maria looked at her Papa, "But no boys' movies. I like Disney princesses."

"Yucky, I want something good, like 'Cars' or 'Kung Fu Panda.' No princesses for me," Mark added his choices to the discussion.

"How about 'Wall-E'? It's not princesses and not a boys' movie," Tim suggested.

"Okay," both children liked the movie. Tim had the kids sit on the sofa while he loaded the Blu-Ray disc and pressed play on the remote. He sat between them, wrapping an arm around each. They cuddled into him. As the movie started, Tim wished Delilah were still alive to enjoy the great-grandkids. She had passed about twenty years ago, and Tim still missed her every day. He felt her presence and smiled, remembering similar movie nights with his own twins, Mark and Shannon's Grandma Katie and Great-uncle John.

Tim looked down at the two children who were engrossed in the movie. Mark looked so much like Ziva, but his personality was very much like Tim's. Maria had Delilah's petite build, long straight hair and blue eyes, but her personality was definitely DiNozzo. Tim often felt that his grandchildren and great-grandchildren were the best of the DiNozzo/David genes mixed with the best of the McGee/Fielding genes. Every one of the six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren were directly descended from Tim and Delilah and from Tony and Ziva. The new generations had truly made their family blood kin.

Tim's thoughts were interrupted by Mark, "Papa, are we going to have dessert?"

"I guess we can; I have chocolate chip cookies, ice cream and popcorn. What would you like?"

"ICE CREAM!" Tim paused the movie, and the kids followed him to the kitchen. He got out two plastic bowls and a large plastic cup for himself and scooped ice cream into each one. He put some chocolate syrup on each bowl and into his cup. He took the bowls to the table and put spoons on the table as the twins eyed the ice cream. He sat down with his own serving and the three ate as Maria talked about the movie. (More DiNozzo genes, Tim thought.)

After they finished the ice cream, Tim reminded the kids that it would be bed time when the movie was over. They moved back into the living room and finished watching the movie; both kids started yawning and nodding off near the end. Tim pressed stop and then turned off the Blu-ray player and TV. "Time for bed," he reminded the two sleepy kids.

As they put on pajamas and brushed teeth, Tim pulled the covers down on his bed. The twins would sleep in his queen-sized bed and he would sleep on the sofa. He moved two pillows and a blanket from the linen closet to the living room. The twins climbed in bed and he tucked them in.

"Good night, Mark," Tim kissed the boy's forehead as Mark hugged his Great-grandpa. "I love you."

"Love you too, Papa."

"Good night, Maria," Tim kissed the girl's forehead as she hugged Great-grandpa. "I love you."

"Night, Papa. I love you too."

Tim turned out the light and pulled the door partially closed. He made up his bed and then got ready to sleep. He hit the pillows and fell asleep quickly.

About 0300, a thunderstorm moved into the area. Tim awoke to little hands patting his face and shoulder. "Wake up, Papa; I'm scared of the thunder and lightning!" Maria was looking at him wide-eyed. Mark was standing next to her.

"Can we sleep with you?"

"Um. Yeah, but there isn't much room on this sofa. How about we go back to the bed and cuddle together?" Tim sat up and then led the kids back to the bedroom. All three got under the covers, and the two kids cuddled into Papa's sides as he wrapped an arm around each of them. He felt each child relax and soon they were back to sleep.

'This is the life; what could be better than cuddling and falling asleep with two of my great-grandchildren curled into my sides?' Tim's thoughts ran again to Delilah, feeling her smiling down on him. He closed his eyes and fell back to sleep with a smile on his face and pure love in his heart.