Parenthood

I had been quite content with where I was, in bed with my husband; sleeping of course. Nick and I had gone to bed an hour after the girls were in bed the night before. I had pulled my hair back after I had changed as Nick pulled his shirt off to reveal his perfectly sculpted abs that I loved with every fiber of my being.
“Okay not fair, babe. You know what your abs do to me, especially when you sleep in just lounge pants.” I said as I got into bed next to him.
“You do the same to me.”
A few seconds later our bedroom lights were off and Nick wrapped his arm around my waist as our bodies molded together under the bedding. We had stayed that way for hours, my back against his chest; his arm around my waist keeping me as close to as humanly possible and our legs intertwined with each other. Before long we had heard incessant pounding on our bedroom door. I knew it was Jayden and Jocelyn on the other side insisting it was time to get up.
“What is that noise?” Nick asked groggily.
“It’s the twins insisting we get up.”
“What time is it?”
“I have no idea; the alarm clock is on your side. You tell me.”
“I forgot how cranky you are in the morning.”
“After being married for this long, you’ve forgotten. That doesn’t surprise me.” I said.
Nick rolled his eyes.
“Oh come on, you’ve worked under my sister for how long and you didn’t see what you were getting yourself into when you met me.”
“I know; Jay, you and Jenny are two peas in a pod. But there is one thing that’s different.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m married to you, not your sister.”
Jayden and Jocelyn were still pounding on our bedroom door.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Quarter of eight.”
“Guess its time for us to be Mom and Dad.” I said as I got out of bed.
“I guess so, Mrs. Balboa.”
“Hun, we can’t keep them waiting; they want breakfast and one of us has to wake JD.”
“But I wanna play house.” Nick said with that look in his eyes.
“Maybe tonight, now its time for you be a dad; Mr. Balboa.”
Things were just as crazy at Tony and Ziva’s as they were for me and Nick. Unlike Nick and me, Ziva had already been up. Tony was fast asleep, as were Hannah and Leah. Ziva had been up since 6:30am and decided to make breakfast for her husband and daughters. Tony, Hannah and Leah weren’t easy to wake up; but Ziva knew after knowing Tony for twenty-two and being married to him for seventeen of those years that there was only one way to get him out of bed. She also knew there was one way to get him into bed if he wasn’t completely exhausted. Hannah and Leah were just like Tony when it came to getting out of bed.
Ziva knew that the aroma of a homemade breakfast would get her loved ones out of bed. All of our households each had one of those video household phones in the kitchen; much like the one Vance had hooked up in the Director’s office fourteen years ago, which remained there to this day. So like clock work; Jen, Abby, Ziva, Kate and I got in touch with each other on our respective home video phones as we made breakfast for our families. This had become pretty routine for the five us over past few years. Most days we were like the women of Wisteria Lane, other days we were like the girls from Sex and the City.
Like the others, I was able to see all of them on the screen of our kitchen phone. Jen was in the top right corner of the screen, Ziva was in the top left corner next to Jen. Abby was in the bottom right as Kate was in the bottom left. The others could see Jayden and Jocelyn sitting at the counter island eating their cereal and milk.
“You look like you could use a caffeine jolt, Jay.” Jen said to me.
“Hi Aunt Jenny.” Jayden and Jocelyn called from their seats.
“Hi girls, have a good day at school.”
“Where’s JD?” Kate asked.
“Nick is getting her up.”
“Getting her up? She should have been at school an hour ago.” Ziva said.
“Not today, she is able to go in later on Wednesdays since her first class is a study hall.”
“So what’s going on with everyone else?” Kate asked.
“Well I’m still on maternity leave, so I’ll be taking care of Addie and Jake as usual.”
“Abs.” Jen said in a motherly tone.
“I know, Jenny.”
“So what are you doing today, sis? You and Jethro christening his latest boat before heading into the office?”
“God mom, I didn’t need to hear that first thing in the morning.” JD said as she went into the fridge to find something to eat.
“Who said you had to listen in on this conversation?”
“Jay.” Ziva said.
“Thanks, Aunt Ziva; besides I’m not on the phone acting like one of the Desperate Housewives from Wisteria Lane at 8am.”
After that Ziva said that once she and Tony got the girls to school that they would be at the office. Kate said that they were going have Drew’s sisters, brothers and their families come over for an impromptu barbeque. Abby then said that Addison and Jacob’s christening was set for Sunday morning.