By some twist of grace that felt nothing short of miraculous, they had a lifetime. ~ Revelations, Ch. 1 8
Ziva and Gibbs lay in bed, her head pillowed on his chest. One of his arms was wrapped around her, his hand playing absently in her hair. He was reading an article in a woodworking magazine she'd impulsively bought for him recently, an issue that was dedicated to building furniture. She was hoping they would have need for some very specific pieces in the not-too-distant future.
"Remember, I have my yearly doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon," Ziva interrupted him quietly, her fingers plucking at his t-shirt. If his focus hadn't been split between her and his reading material, he'd have noticed the tell that her nerves were running a little high.
"Mhm," he murmured vaguely.
She began drawing random patterns on his chest. Then, she cleared her throat gently.
"I was thinking of asking her about removing my IUD," she revealed softly, referring to the method of birth control they employed.
His heart thudded. She had his full attention now. He slowly laid the magazine and his reading glasses on his nightstand and then held onto her with both arms. Turning half-way, he rolled her onto her back so that he was pressed heavily against her, half-rising above her.
"You wanna use something else?" he asked carefully, his pulse quickening as his gaze searched hers.
"I do not wish to use anything at all," she admitted. The love that was so clear in her beautiful brown eyes was mixed with a healthy dose of vulnerability. Would he think it was too soon? They'd been together nearly three years, but only married for six months.
"Yeah?" he breathed. The dawning hope and exhilaration on his face and the emotion he delivered through his touch immediately settled her nerves.
She nodded, a feminine smile playing about her lips. Her hands slid from his chest around to his back, hugging him to her.
"I was hoping we could try making a baby," she spelled out for him. "Unless you want to wait, that is."
At the look in his eyes, her heart simply flew.
"Don't wanna wait," he answered, his voice husky with feeling.
"And I will try to keep my panic over whether I will be any good at mothering to a minimum," she added wryly, "but you might have to help with that."
He brought one hand up to cradle her head, his fingers spearing into her hair. Holding her gently, he kissed her, communicating everything he couldn't put into words with that one kiss.
"You are going to be an amazing mother," he murmured, resting his forehead against hers.
"The only amazing parent in this house will be you," she demurred with a slight shake of her head. "But I want our family to include children and I would like to create them with you, if at all possible."
"Them? How many you want?" he asked, pressing a line of kisses along her jaw and making a mental note to come back to the issue of her parenting abilities. He knew she was seriously underestimating herself.
She shrugged lightly as she nuzzled his neck just below his ear. "I think two. How many do you want?"
"Two's good," he agreed, burying his face in her throat.
"Of course, perhaps we should get past the first one before making a final decision," she suggested with affectionate amusement, cupping his cheek and urging his face up to brush a kiss across his lips. Then, she pulled back far enough to stare into his gorgeous blue eyes.
"Good idea," he said softly, the adoration in his gaze giving way to heat. "Got another idea."
"Oh?" she drawled with a sexy smile, arching into him and wrapping her arms like silken ropes about his neck. "What is that?"
"Maybe we should practice the making part right now," he suggested, his voice dipping into a low rumble that triggered an avalanche of arousal throughout her body. His body relaxed more heavily into hers as his lips found that spot on her neck that never failed to make her gasp, make her melt.
"I learned very early in my Mossad training that one can never have too much practice," she approved breathlessly, happily allowing him to pull her under that tide of desire that was never far off between them.
The next day …
Gibbs pulled his phone out when it rang, his heart tripping when he saw it was Ziva. He was sitting at his desk at NCIS; Tim and Tony were working nearby at theirs.
"Hey," he answered warmly, softly, as he got up to move over to the large window, walking further down so he wasn't right by DiNozzo's desk. "Everything okay?"
"Mmhmm," she hummed. There was an underlying excitement in her voice that was impossible to miss. "The doctor removed the IUD and everything appears healthy. With that kind of birth control, she said we can start trying anytime." She paused for effect. "How about now?"
"Now?" he managed, visions of "trying" dancing in his head.
"It is almost the end of our shift, yes?" she pointed out. "Did we catch a case?"
"Nope," he answered in a relaxed tone that belied the delicious tension building inside him, not even sure he would have cared if they had.
"I am almost home." Her voice dropped to a naughty octave. "I could be waiting for you … in our bed … naked."
Gibbs turned to head back to his desk.
"I will even leave you a trail to make sure you find me," she offered seductively.
"Breadcrumbs?" he joked in an effort to keep his already-hardening body under control. Like he needed any help in tracking her down – he'd always find her.
"I was thinking more along the lines of the clothes I am wearing right now," she murmured in that tone that always short-circuited his ability to concentrate on anything but her.
He was behind his desk removing his badge and gun. On that visual of Ziva dropping her clothes on the way up the stairs to their room, he slammed the drawer closed decisively.
"On my way," he assured her, trying to sound nonchalant, but she didn't miss the huskiness – or the anticipation - in his tone.
Her provocative laugh floated into his ear. "See you there, Special Agent Gibbs."
Taking a page out of his book, she hung up.
Tony and McGee looked up as Gibbs clearly made ready to leave.
"You're in charge, Dinozzo," his boss said, rounding his desk.
"Heading out, Boss?" Tony asked the obvious in his surprise.
"Yep," Jethro confirmed. His voice was casual; his thoughts anything but. "See ya tomorrow."
Then he pictured what – who – was waiting for him at home and he paused half-way to the elevator. Rethinking things, he tossed one word back over his shoulder.
"Maybe."
TBC …
A/N: And so it begins ... the next installment of the Revelations universe. Thank you for continuing the journey with Ziva, Gibbs and me. :)
This comes with a special shout-out to srushton24 who messaged me about a month ago asking specifically for a continuation to this story. It warmed my heart to know you thought enough of this universe to initiate a PM about it, even while I had other postings going on. This has always been in the works; I simply wanted to finish "Brewed Awakenings" before beginning to post it. And then there's all that obsessive editing I do, of course. :p
And last, but certainly not least, this also comes as a birthday gift to my three favorite Bulls: iyimgrace, gosgirl and Bamacrush. I know you are all excited to see this continue, as well, and I am more than blessed to count you among my dearest friends. Love ya LOTS! =)