"Hurry up!" Shouted my mum. I rinsed my hair one last time before turning off the shower. I stepped out and there stood my mum with a baby on her hip. The baby reached towards me. I wrapped a towel round myself and took the baby from mum.
"Did Adira miss me?" I asked, smiling at the dark haired baby. She cooed and my smile grew bigger.
"Sorry to dump her on you mum. I needed a shower." I said, turning to my mum and looked at her sheepishly.
"It's O.K. I don't mind taking care of my granddaughter. She's lovely." She said, smiling. I walked away from the bathroom and into my bedroom. Adira started to yawn and I lay her in her cot.
"You found hope.
You found faith
Found how fast she could take it away
Found true love
Lost your heart
Now you don't know who you are
She made it easy
Made it free
Made you hurt till you couldn't see
Sometimes it stops
Sometimes it flows
Baby that is how love goes.
You will fly and
You will crawl
God knows even angels fall
No such thing as you've
Lost it all
God knows even angels fall
It's a secret
That no-one tells
One day its heaven one day its hell
And it's no fairytale
Take it from me
That's the way its supposed to be
You will fly and
You will crawl
God knows even angels fall
No such thing as you've
Lost it all
God knows even angels fall
You laugh
You cry
No-one knows why
But oh the thrill of it all
Your on the ride
You might as well
Open your eyes
You will fly and
You will crawl
God knows even angels fall
No such thing as you've
Lost it all
God knows even angels fall
Even angels fall.
Even angels fall." I sang in Hebrew, stroking Adira's hair. I never wanted a child. I was only fifteen. I didn't even have a boyfriend. I didn't want one. I knew I wasn't straight. Adira snuffled as I went to sit on my bed. I thought back to how she had been conceived. Not the best of ways if I was totally honest. I had been raped after being beaten to near death. I was lucky that my dad was head of the police force. I thought the only reminders that I would have of the encounter would be the mental scars until I missed my period. I shook it off but I missed another and I started to gain weight. Without anyone knowing I bought a pregnancy test and locked myself in the bathroom to try it. Positive. I fought so hard with myself at that point. I didn't want a child but abortion was just so cruel. So I kept it. When I found out that it was a girl I had decided upon a name. Adira Abigail David. Adira means strength and that was what she would need and Abigail was the name of my best friend and recently turned girlfriend. Abigail was the first to know that I was pregnant. The first to notice if I was completely honest with myself. She cornered me one day during lunch and asked me.
~Flashback~
Abby had me locked in the gym changing rooms. She poked me with a finely tapered black fingernail.
"Spill David. Some thing's wrong. Tell me." I hung my head. It had been one week since I had took the test and my head was still reeling.
"Is it to do with that bastard who raped you?" She asked, sitting herself down next to me. I nodded, tears beginning to form in the corner of my eyes. I had one hand splayed protectively over my stomach, a habit I had developed ever since I had took the test. She looked from the hand to my pale face and back again.
"Are you...?" She asked uncertainly. Her confident demeanour failing. I nodded again.
"Oh. Oh Zi." she said, pulling me up close against her. I sniffed, trying to retain the tears, but failed miserably.
"What are you going to do?" She asked me as she rocked us both back and forward. I sniffed once more before pulling from her grasp and wiping my eyes before jumping up.
"I'm keeping it Abigail." I shouted. She looked shocked. Half because of my confession and half because I had used her full name. I only tended to say that when I was annoyed with her.
"I didn't mean like that Zi. I meant what are you going to do about your parents? You want some help telling them?" She asked, her eye's wide and a bit tearful. I flumped back down next to her and nodded. She pulled me back into her embrace.
"It'll be O.K. Zi. You'll see. We'll all be O.K."
~Reality~
I heard the doorbell ring and knew instantly who it was. A moment later I heard footsteps thundering up the stairs. They slowed and then the owner of the thundering feet tiptoed into my room.
"Hey Zi." She whispered, her pigtail's bouncing with excitement. I smiled at her childlike hyperness. She was just to insufferably cute when she was hyper.
"Shalom Abigail." I greeted. I was using her full name more and more since we began dating. I didn't know why but I wasn't about to stop. She sat next to me and we watched Adira sleep for a bit.
"She's beautiful. Just like her mum." Said Abby after a while. This caused me to smile. I knew that even if me and Abby broke up Abby would continue to care for Adira.
~5~
"Mummy! Mummy!" Screamed a hyper little girl. A twenty year old woman picked her up.
"Yes darling?" She asked, balancing the little girl on one hip. The girl smiled up at the woman before asking in an amazing excited voice.
"Where's Mummy?" The Israeli woman smiled before pointing to the kitchen where another woman could be heard singing along to some song that consisted mainly of guitars by the sound of it.
"In the kitchen Adi. Don't disturb her sweetie. She's cooking." Said the Israeli woman placing her small daughter back on the floor.
"Mummy's cooking?" Asked the little girl with a laugh in her voice. The woman nodded, smiling at her daughter.
"Grandma's coming over and Mummy promised that she would cook her speciality." Said the tanned woman. The little girl looked up at her Mum with bright eyes.
"Toast?" She asked, completely serious. There was a bang from the kitchen and another woman appeared from behind the door.
"No." She said flatly, crossing her arms and looking down at the little girl. Adira ran up to the new arrival and hugged her knees.
"Mummy! Mummy guess what!" Cried the little girl, jumping up and down. The new woman picked up the little girl and propped her on her hip.
"Ummm...You just found a box of kittens?" The little girl shook her head and laughed at her Mum's silliness.
"No. I..." The Pale woman cut her off again by asking
"You...just won the lottery?" The little girl shook her head, unable to speak due to her laughter. The Israeli walked over.
"Abigail let Adi speak." She said, smiling reproachfully at her wife. Abby nodded and Adi opened her mouth but she was cut off this time by the doorbell.
"That'll be Grandma. You tell Mummy Adira while I go and get the door." Said the Israeli woman, shaking her head at her daughter and her wife.
"I learnt how to play a new song on the drums!" Cried the little girl triumphantly. Abby smiled at her and started to congratulate her but was stopped by Adira wriggling to get down. Abby put her down and watched fondly as her daughter ran up to hug her Grandma. Ziva walked back to stand by Abby and watch the exchange take place. Abby silently slipped her hand into Ziva's but withdrew it when she smelt something burning.
"Crap..."
~12~
"Mum! Mum!" Cried the Pre-Teen as she ran through the front door of the house, tears streaming down her face.
"What's wrong Adira?" Asked Ziva stepping out of the living room. Adira ran right up to her Mum and hugged her close, sobbing into her shoulder. Ziva stroked her daughters hair and waited for her to calm down.
"A-all the kids at school are s-saying horrible stuff to me." Hiccuped the girl as her Mum led her into the living room.
"Like what?" Asked Abby, looking up from the book she was reading. Adira sat down between her Mum's and wiped her eye's.
"Stuff about you two. Horrible stuff saying that it's sick that I have two Mum's. I don't think it's sick. I think it's cool. I get double the amount of cool clothes." Said the Twelve year old girl in a garbled rush.
"Take no notice sweetheart." Comforted Abby. She had always been better at this sort of thing.
"Uncle Gibbs will be here soon. That should cheer you up." Adira smiled, looking up at her Gothic Mum.
"Thanks Mum. I think I'll go and do my homework." She said before she stood and took herself upstairs to her room.
"What are we going to do?" Ziva asked Abby once she was sure that Adira was out of earshot. Abby shrugged and put her book down. She pulled the smaller woman into a hug.
"It'll be O.K. Zi. You'll see. We'll all be O.K." Ziva smiled up at her wife and Abby looked confused at her expression.
"You know. You said the same thing to me when we found out that I was pregnant. Remember?" Abby nodded vacantly.
"I do believe that it was not soon after that you convinced me that I loved you." Muttered Abby, smiling impishly.
"I wasn't wrong though." Said Ziva, kissing her wife gently on the lips.
"Yeah..."
~25~
Adira stood at the alter, her Mum stood on one side. She was smiling hugely.
"I do." Said Timothy McGee, a boy turned man that Adira had loved basically since the moment she lay eyes on him.
"I do." Murmured Adira, looking Tim straight in the eyes. Ziva smiled. She was glad that her Daughter was able to do things that she had never been able to do.
"You may now kiss the bride." Everyone cheered as Tim leant down and captured Adira's lips in a kiss. Ziva stood through all the photo's with her daughter and then made her way to the reception with her. She didn't dance though. She had no-one to dance with. Or so she thought. Abigail was away on work, unable to get away. Adira had been upset but had refused to re-schedule. Ziva was downright outraged and it had triggered what basically was their very first argument. Ziva scanned the happy faces looking for her daughter but instead saw the one person she definitely didn't expect to see. It was Abigail. She was making her way slowly over to Ziva, stopping however to whisper something to Adira. When she finally arrived at the table that Ziva was sat on she looked exhausted.
"I couldn't miss our daughters wedding now could I? What kind of Mother would I be. I was there almost the whole time. I missed just the first minute of it. I was right at the back of the church though." She said after a moment. Ziva's face broke into a silent smile. That was so like Abby.
"Glad you could make it Abigail." She said, her voice low, almost un-hearable. But Abby heard it alright.
"I couldn't leave my two favourite girls on my daughters special day." Replied Abby, her voice the same volume as Ziva's.
"Forgive me Zi?" She asked, turning to look at Ziva with watery eyes.
"Always." Replied Ziva, leaning over and kissing Abby gently on the lips.
~50~
I stood in the sunshine with my twin daughters, looking down at the two stones. One that read,
'Ziva David
14th April 1965- 1st January 2005
Wonderful Wife, Doting Mother, Unknown Grandmother
Shalom.'
And the other that read
'Abigail David
22nd December 1965 - 1st January 2005
Wonderful Wife, Doting Mother, Unknown Grandmother
Rock on!'
"See girls. Your Grandma's were great people." I saw my two girls look up at me as I wiped my eye's. They had never seen me cry before.
"Adira? Ziva? Abby? Come on! We need to get going." Called Tim as he walked towards us. He put his arm round me.
"They would be proud of you." He whispered into my ear. I nodded, closing my eyes momentarily and seeing a flash of flames as it engulfed her sleeping parents.
"Lets go girls." I said, turning to my five year old daughters.
"I'll raise them right Mum. For you two." I said, casting a glance back at the gravestones as we walked away.
