Chapter 4: Night 8, 25 December 2068

"A penny for your thoughts, neshama," Chaim wrapped his arms around his wife, who appeared deep in thought.

Tali broke from her silence leaning back into the embrace of her love. "Just remembering… all the holidays past." She grew quiet again lost in her memories of her family, especially of her parents. "I have a very vivid memory of the first Chanukah and Christmas with Ima and Abba in Paris. We were so happy that year. I remember feeling that both Ima and Abba were no longer sad or missing a part of themselves. I felt so loved."

Chaim nodded and pulled Tali to him, "You still are." He gestured out at the family gathered in the DiNozzo family room; three generations of DiNozzo, McGee, Palmer and other bloodlines under one roof, much like it had always been. The only difference was that prior to this year, there had been four generations.

"I wonder if Ima felt this much love when she looked out at the grandchildren and great-grandchildren on Christmas morning!" Tali skimmed the room; her nine grandchildren ranged in age from nine years to three months. Anthony had eight grandkids, ages five and one half to just over a year old. The twins, Beth and Rivka had both become first time grandmothers in the past year. Little Sarah Rivka McGee had made her appearance five weeks before her due date on her Great-grandpa McGee's birthday. Uncle Tim had gotten to hold the baby before he passed. Even LJ was about to be a grandfather in April of next year!

"Ima!" Elijah called to his mother. "I want to get a picture of you with all of the grandkids. Abba, too." Tali moved to the sofa in the family room, memories of her Ima with grandkids and great-grandkids flooding her mind. She sat on the sofa and the little ones surrounded her. She felt her Ima's presence and swore she heard her voice, 'Yaldati, they are beautiful!' Then Abba chimed in, 'Yes they are Tals.' Chaim sat next to her, pulling the two youngest girls into his lap as Tali held three month old David in her arms.

Anthony and Katie were next up in the photos with their grandchildren. Five year old Tony was fascinated with baby Sarah, gently stroking her head and putting soft kisses on her forehead. "I'm glad your Dad got to meet Sarah," Anthony whispered to his wife.

"Yeah, me too," Katie wiped a tear from her eye. "I miss him so much, but I know he's with Mom again. That makes me happy." Anthony wrapped his wife's hand in his own and gave a gentle squeeze. He remembered his own sadness during the first holidays without his Ima and Abba. He blinked away the tears that were threatening to spill and heard his Ima's voice, 'Motek, it is okay to cry.'

After John and Rivka posed with baby Sarah, and Beth and Charles with baby James, LJ and Savannah were the last to pose with a pregnant Jessica. Both grandparents to be put a hand on their eldest's belly. Baby Barbara was due in early April; she would be the first of the next generation for LJ and Savannah and the first great-grandchild for Clay and Ellie.

LJ, Savannah, Jessica, her husband Dan, Jackson and Jethro grabbed their coats. "We'll be back shortly, Tal" LJ called to his sister. "Going to visit Uncle Clay and Aunt Ellie for a bit." Clay and Ellie had moved to an assisted living complex about a year ago, saying that it would be easier for them than trying to maintain a house and yard.

Tali grinned at her brother, "Give them hugs from me; you'll be back for the candles?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," he replied with a grin and led his family outside.

Tali, Katie, Rivka and Beth moved into the kitchen to prepare the meal for the family. Fifty four people would be present for the lighting of the candles for the eighth night of Chanukah. The four would be making enough latkes to feed the whole bunch; Tali figured one hundred and fifty should be enough for everyone. Katie and Rivka had spent three weekends in the fall making and canning applesauce for the meal. They had bought apples in bulk at local farm stands and farmers' markets and enlisted the help of anyone old enough to use a knife to pare and cut apples for making the applesauce.

Beth had brought chicken strips that she had cooked and frozen over the past month. She preheated both ovens in the large kitchen. Memories of Ima cooking lasagna for Christmas dinner came back to her. Both ovens had been full with pans of lasagna of various types and ingredients. Ima always set the pans on racks to finish cooking and as Abba said, seal the flavors together. When Ima turned her back to make the garlic bread, Abba would always grab a fork and scarf a taste from each pan. Ima would pretend to be angry with him and scold him, but he'd flash his grin at her and she would melt into his arms.

"Hey, Earth to Beth," Tali's voice brought her sister back to the present.

"Um, yeah?"

"I asked you, how much time for heating the chicken? I need to plan so we can keep the latkes warm." Tali smiled at her younger sister, knowing full well she had been lost in memories.

"Oh, twenty to thirty minutes, tops," she replied focusing back on the task at hand.

Riv grinned. "No scarfing a taste!" Both Tali and Beth grinned at the memory reference; only Abba could get away with swiping a bite in Ima's kitchen.

Rivka grinned even wider, her DiNozzo genes showing, and pointed upward above the breakfast nook. "I see someone remembered to put it up." The others looked at the mistletoe sprig hung in Abba's favorite spot in the kitchen. "I can see them lost in each other, standing there as if the rest of the world didn't exist."

Anthony walked into the kitchen as his sister made the last comment. He looked at the mistletoe and pulled Katie under it. He planted a kiss on her lips. As they drew apart, he commented, "I think I got all of Abba's spots around the house, even the one in their bathroom!"

He turned to his older sister, "I came to help; what do you want me to do?"

Tali laughed, "Yeah, yeah, you came to sneak a taste, just like Abba!" She handed her brother a spatula, "The first two griddles are yours, bro."

With the five of them, the food was ready and in the ovens to keep warm within ninety minutes. As Tali put the last latkes on the trays in the oven, LJ and his family walked through the front door. "Perfect timing," Katie mentioned to LJ as he tried to steal a piece of latke from the cooling griddles.

Chaim put out extra kippahs for anyone who needed one as Tali called the family into the dining room. With so many of them, it was a tight fit, but as a group they had decided to keep with Ziva's tradition of lighting the menorah in the dining room. All of the married women wrapped their tichels around their heads before entering the room.

Tali began by lighting the shammus candle and saying the blessing for the candles. Anthony said the blessing for Chanukah. Tali lit the first candle and passed the shammus to her brother. Anthony lit the second candle, Rivka the third one, Beth lit number four and LJ lit the fifth candle. He handed the shammus to Levi, the oldest grandchild for candle number six. Levi then helped his daughter Rachel light the seventh candle as the oldest great-grandchild. The five DiNozzo children all placed a hand on the shammus for the final candle, remembering their eighth night tradition from childhood. Each of them felt the hands of their parents as they lit the final candle. So much love and warmth in the touch of Ima and Abba, remembered from over the years…

Tali placed the shammus back in its holder; the family stayed silent in remembrance and reflection for two minutes. Tali broke the silence, "I have been reading Ima's journals, especially the ones about her childhood and from before we were born. The more I read the more I realize the miracle of Ima not only surviving, but also having five children. Ima was born into a world we may never fully understand, but she was a fighter. She broke free of that world with Abba's help and together they became each other's everything.

"Abba's world was one of loss and sorrow as well. He lost his mother when he was just eight years old. I have vague memories of his father, Senior, but not many. Ima and Abba were like two lost souls in the night until they found each other. All of you only got to see them together; they were inseparable as Uncle Tim said so many times. I have very sketchy memories of each of them apart from the other. Even at not quite two, I could sense a sadness in Ima, especially when she told me stories about Abba. It was like a part of her was missing now that I look back on it.

"When I first met Abba, he had that same sadness. He would tell me stories about Ima, and I could tell he really missed her. Again, it was a like a part of him was missing. That first year we were all together in Paris for Chanukah and Christmas the feeling of happiness and love is what I remember the most. Ima and Abba no longer had that sadness."

Tali's voice broke and she wiped tears from her eyes, "I felt so loved. Ima and Abba just seemed to be living their happily ever after finally. The following year we were back in DC and I found out just how big the family that Ima and Abba belonged to was; aunts, uncles, Grandpas, cousins, Ima, Abba and Anthony. In Ima's journal of those early years of our family, she mentioned that Christmas of 2017 was the year she realized that family didn't have to be bloodlines. Her words; 'I realized that the family of the heart to which we belonged was stronger than any bond I had ever seen other than my love for Tony. I felt like I belonged to a family for the first time since my sister died. I felt so loved.'

"Just yesterday, as I was reading about 2013, I found out that Ima had been pregnant before me. She and Abba were devastated by the loss of the baby at just twelve weeks. That loss brought them closer but also drove them apart for a while. It was that loss that triggered Ima's journey to redefining herself and sending Abba back to DC without her. Anthony, Rivka, Beth and LJ, that baby was represented by the eighth candle on Ima's and Abba's birthday cakes! The eighth candle wasn't just for our family; it was for their first child."

There was silence again as the family digested this news. Anthony wiped at his eyes as he met gazes with Tali. Riv and Beth hugged with tears streaming. LJ stood open mouthed at a loss for words. The five instinctively moved together as John and Katie hugged each other. Siblings sought each other and shared group hugs as the five DiNozzos grieved a sibling they had never met. Parents pulled their little ones to them as Anthony spoke.

"Wow; in all the time we interviewed them for 'Soulmates,' it never got mentioned. But I'm not surprised. Both Ima and Abba were very private people, choosing not to share their losses and sadness with anyone. I was actually quite surprised when they agreed to do the documentary.

"Let's celebrate the memories of our parents, not just DiNozzos, but McGees and Palmers, as well as others. I am so glad I was born into this family; I love each and every one of you." He looked around the room as he spoke. "Let's join hands."

Around the room, hands intertwined and clasped the ones on either side or behind, forming an eternal, linked chain and a circle of love. Together the family sang a Christmas song and a Chanukah song that had become tradition within the DiNozzo family. When they stopped singing, Rivka spoke, "From two became many and we are still growing as a family. Toda raba, Ima and Abba. Ani ohevet otchem!" She took John's hand in hers, "I love you Uncle Tim and Aunt Dee." John squeezed her hand in his as she wiped tears from his face. He pulled his wife into his arms.

Beth wrapped her arms around Charles as her husband wrapped her in his, "And Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Breena!" Charles brushed tears from his eyes as she continued, "May you all rest in peace."

LJ pulled Savannah to him, "Aunt Ellie and Uncle Clay, we love you. And may we remember all of the others fondly; Aunt Abby, Uncle Leon, Grandpa Gibbs, and Grandducky to name a few.

"Merry Christmas and Chag Urim Sameach!"