After the interview, they went upstairs to their room and changed to go get some lunch. Brie had spotted a little sea food hut near the beach that she wanted to check out. “I want fish for some reason”, Brie laughed as she slipped on some clean clothes. She looked at her arms and legs after she pulled on the clean shorts. “Damn, I’ve gotten dark since we’ve been out here.”
David laughed. “You and me both, beautiful. We’ve both gotten a little bit of color in the month we’ve been here.”
“Have we really been here that long?”
“Yeah. I have to finalize our tickets home tonight for either tomorrow or the next day.” He reached out to her and she took his hand. She frowned as they walked into the hallway in silence. When they stepped out of the building and into the street she put her sunglasses on and they kept walking. David noticed her sulking. “What’s the matter, baby?”
“Do we really have to go home tomorrow?”
“Yeah. We’ve been here a month, baby. We do have kids and grandkids that need us. Remember promising a certain little brown haired, green eyed little girl that shares your birthday that you and she would take a ‘Gramma and Miri Day’?”
She sighed. “Yeah. I remember. I do owe her that.”
“And remember promising a certain future daughter in law that we’d meet with her parents.”
“Oh, yeah, we did promise Jona that, didn’t we?” When they got to the little hut she’d spotted, they got their food and kept walking through what amounted to Downtown Tel Aviv. “Ok, so, we go home tomorrow and sleep all day when we get back. The following day the girls and I cook our asses off to have enough food for everyone so that we can meet Jona’s parents. The first person with a Y chromosome to walk into my kitchen that day will have things thrown at them unless they’re a child.”
David laughed. “I’ll warn the boys.”
“Good because I’d hate for one of them to come out of the kitchen with egg all over their face, literally.”
---------------
The Draiman parents were finally a day from being home and everyone was excited. The young children all bounced when they were told that Gramma and Grampa would be home soon. Miri, Ira, and Hunter got with Levi- Jordan’s son- got together and made signs that said ‘Welcome Home, Gramma & Grampa!’ with Jake’s help. He’d been taking vacation time so that someone could run the household affairs while their father was away and it was soon to be his responsibility. It was nice being Chief of Medicine at two different hospitals that were actually pretty nearby.
But, the Draiman parents meant that Jona’s parents were due too. Jona was actually pretty excited. She hadn’t seen her parents in a couple of years. “My parents are going to be here soon”, Jona said when she and Jeremiah climbed in bed that night. “Their flight arrives the day after tomorrow.”
“Great, because MY parents will be home tomorrow from what I understand, and you and I won the lottery to go pick them up from the airport.”
“Really? We’re picking your Mom and Dad up from the airport? Maybe we should pick MY parents up from the airport too.”
“We could do that. I would kind of like to meet your parents before they meet MINE. It would be nice to see the people that made such a beautiful young woman together.”
She blushed and ducked her head. “Miah…”
“Jona… hey, guess what.”
She glanced up. “What?”
“I love you.”
A smile slowly broke across her face. “I love you too, Miah.” She leaned in and pressed her lips to his for a quick kiss. “We should probably get some sleep if we have to pick your parents up. What time do we have to meet them at the airport?”
He reached over to his nightstand and grabbed his phone. “Let me IM Dad and find out.”
“Is your Dad online?”
“Yeah. See, Jake thinks that texting Dad is the quickest way to get a hold of him. Not true. If Dad’s in the air, then he’s on his laptop. If he’s on his laptop, he’s probably on Instant Messenger.” Jeremiah opened his IM and sent David a message. He smiled when he got the response. “Dad says he’s scared of my driving and requests that you, my love, drive home.”
“Ask him what if I’m a crazy driver?”
Jeremiah sent the message and it dinged back in no time. “He says, ‘I can handle crazy driving. Hell, I can handle driving like one has a death wish. What I can’t handle is you driving like you’re MY age, ‘Miah.”
“Tell him that he won’t like my driving either then, because I’m a very careful driver.”
The message was sent and Jeremiah gaped at the answer. “I’ll do no such thing”, he said as he typed the response.
“What?”
“He said, ‘Bring James with you then’.”
---------------
The next morning as Delilah made breakfast for everyone, Miri started her daily ‘Did you know..?’ game. She asked whomever walked into the room if they knew some obscure fact about animals and usually they told her it was WAY too early in the morning for her asking questions. That morning’s first victims were Jeremiah and Jona. “Hey, Aunt Jona”, Miri said.
“Yeah, Miri?” Jona said with a smile.
“Did you know that the average lifespan of a male koala is ten years because they fight a LOT?”
“No, I didn’t. Now, I’ve got one for you, Miri. Did you know that the Koi fish of Japan can live up to a hundred years old and that they recognize their owners’ when they approach the pond?”
Miri’s eyes grew wide. “NO! That’s COOL!” She looked at her mother from her high chair. “Mama, can I get a Koi fish?”
“No, Miriam”, Delilah said.
“I’m sorry about that, Delilah”, Jona said.
“No worries, Jona. I don’t mind her spouting off different animal facts. I actually enjoy it. At least I know she’s learning something. It just bothers Jake because he’s usually the first one that she runs to when she learns some new fact. The next time she sees him, she’s going to tell him the Koi fish fact.” She flipped the pancakes on the griddle pan. “I take it you two are up to go pick up Mom and Dad?”
“Yeah”, Jeremiah said.
“Have fun with that. Oh, got a call from Mom this morning. She said to warn you two that she and Dad are darker than they were when they left.”
“Ok. So, they’re both sporting a golden brown tan. I bet Dad’s head is crispy burnt.”
“Actually, Mom sent me a picture of the two of them the day before they left Jerusalem to go to Tel Aviv. His head’s as brown as the rest of him.”
“Great. Good to know”, he yawned.
--------------
When they got to the airport, David and Brie searched for Jeremiah and Jona, spotting them with no problem. They headed over to where their son and his girlfriend stood with weak smiles. “Welcome home, you two”, Jeremiah said with a smile. He hugged each of his parents.
They hugged him back as well as making sure to hug Jona. “Yeah, yeah, we’re home”, Brie yawned.
“What’s the matter, Mrs. Draiman?” Jona asked.
“Time just went in reverse, Jona dear, and I’m jet lagged. Time needs to readjust to what’s normal and the only way to do that is to go home and get a LOT of sleep.”
“Agreed”, David laughed.
“Then let’s get you two home”, Jeremiah said. “Aren’t you glad the son that drives like Grandpa came to get you instead one of the kids that drives like a maniac?”
“Yeah, actually, I am. I don’t need a heart attack today. I need sleep and so does your mother.”
“Then you two catch a cat nap on the way home so that you’re prepared for the stampede that’s going to take place when you two walk through the door. ALL of your grandchildren are ready to knock you guys over when you get home.”
“GREAT!” they sighed in unison.
---------------
After greeting the grandkids and telling their children they’d be down for dinner, David and Brie went up to their room and passed out. They didn’t even get their shoes off, though it was a good thing that they were both wearing sandals. The shoes just fell off of their feet. They scooted on to the bed enough to be able to put their heads on their pillows and let out a long content sigh. “Finally, our own bed”, David said.
“Yeah, but I still want to go back to Israel. Maybe after you and the guys officially retire, you and I can move out there permanently.”
“Is that what you want?”
“Yeah. Just me and you in Israel. We can get a big house so that all of the kids and grandkids will fit or a big plot of land to have guest houses built, but I just want to go away with you so that we can live out the rest of our lives in peace.”
He smiled sleepily. “Sounds good to me. While you’re cooking for Jona’s parents, I’ll start looking for property to buy online. We can check it out the next time we head out there.”
She smiled crookedly at him. “Sounds good to me.” She sighed softly and snuggled into the strength of his chest and drifted off to sleep. He pressed a kiss to her forehead before settling into the bed to getting comfortable and going to sleep.
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