Disclaimer: I own nothing of NCIS. OBVIOUSLY.
The sun was setting on another crisp night in D.C. as they strolled through their neighborhood, hands clasped lightly between them. The streets were quiet, as the start of school the previous week had children turning in early. The cooler weather meant less time spent on front stoops, windows once pulled wide were now only slightly ajar. The remnants of summer were fading around them.
In her right hand, she held the first sonogram of their child. They had left the doctor's office earlier that day, and his mouth quirked upward as he looked down at the photo she clutched tightly. Almost a half hour had passed before he realized she had brought it with them, and as he thought back over the afternoon he couldn't remember her putting it down once.
"So, have you thought about names?" He gave her a sideways glance, keeping his tone playful.
She turned her head in his direction, a small smile on her lips. So she had thought of names. He grinned widely, waiting for her.
"A few," she replied, as a blush crept over her cheeks.
Three days earlier, he was getting dressed for work when she yelled to him from the bathroom. He slid across their bedroom floor in his socks, moving as quickly as possible toward her. She met him in the doorway, her face a mix of shock and panic. They stood together stunned, looking down at the stick and its tiny pink plus sign. What had felt surreal for an average Monday morning was now official on a Thursday evening, backed by medical science and photographic evidence.
"Are you going to share?" he teased.
She bit her lip gently, and he felt his heart thump in his chest. She was utterly adorable, more content and excited than he had ever seen her, and he had spent many years seeing her.
"Do not laugh," she narrowed her eyes as she spoke, "but for a boy, I like Samuel or Elijah."
He nodded dramatically, then furrowed his brows together in thought. He turned to her with a confused expression. "I like Samuel," he said with genuine surprise. "Sam DiNozzo. It could work."
She shook her head with a laugh, "I take it you expected my choices to be less agreeable?"
"Look, I'm saying I like it. That's all, Zee-vah. What else you got? What are we naming our little girl?" His Cheshire grin gave him away, and she bumped his shoulder with her own. "Ok, so maybe I'm hoping for a girl. Is that so surprising?"
"Maybe," she squeezed his hand tighter, "but may not."
"So? Are you going to keep me in suspense?"
"Norah," her quiet reverence brought levity to the moment. "She would be our light."
He stopped abruptly, letting go of her hand only to clasp his arm tightly around her waist and pull her in for a tight hug. She wrapped one arm around his shoulder, gripping his back as she melted into him. He enveloped her in his embrace, burying his face into her neck. They stood there, holding each other, breathing in deep the other's anxieties and hesitance.
"We're really doing this," he whispered onto her skin, and she nodded her head against his cheek in reply.
"I'm scared, Ziva." His grip tightened on her, as she started to rub slow circles onto his back.
"So am I, Tony. But we will do what we have always done. We will find a way. And we will find that way together. Partners. Family."
She turned to press her lips to his cheek, then his jaw, and rubbed the tip of her nose to his. He breathed out a quick, heavy breath as he rested his forehead against hers with a light clunk. His eyes had started to redden, but she whispered her love for him against his lips before kissing him in that gentle, needy way he craved. She indulged him for several long moments, before pulling apart with a final soft press of her lips to his.
"Ok," he said firmly, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly once more. "Light for the dark, we could use that I think.