Disclaimers: NCIS, the rights to the show and its characters do not belong to me.
Spoilers: none really
Pairing: Ziva David/Tim McGee romance (est. relationship)
Summary: Even babies need baths. *part of the Connor!verse*

Actually, this is smackalicious's fault, because one of her tags on tumblr made me want to have Ziva say "porcupig" again.

"Okay, here we go." Ziva softly said, laying her son down on his back and undressing him. Connor looked up at his mother with big, wide eyes and scrunched up his face when she removed his onesie. She wrapped him up in a baby towel and carried him to the bathroom, where she took off Connor's diaper, relieved that she wouldn't have to clean him before she carefully lifted him into the baby bathtub.

When his skin came in contact with the warm water, Connor instantly relaxed and stopped most of his fussing. Ziva adjusted her grip on the little guy before sitting up on her knees. Their midwife had shown her how to hold him and been there for his first few baths, but now she was on her own with her son. Usually, she would have waited for Tim to come home, but the MCRT had caught a case and there was no telling how long he would be stuck at work, so it had been either bathing him alone or waiting until tomorrow, and with the doctor's appointment they had then, Ziva wanted to have him clean.

"Do you like that, Connor?" she asked her son softly, keeping up a running conversation with him as she started to run a soft washcloth over his body. Connor gave her a toothless, wide grin and kicked his legs excitedly, making Ziva tighten her hold on him. Tim had been the one to discover that the boy was ticklish when they had bathed him last time, Connor squirming so hard that he had almost lost his grip on the baby.

"And then Aunt Abby wanted to visit, but with the new case, we don't know if she can make it, so it will probably be just the two of us. We can go look for new clothes, you need new socks and a few new onesies. You are growing way too fast, Connor." she murmured, steeling herself as she grabbed a plastic cup and filled it with warm water, carefully letting it run over Connor's head and making sure none got in his face. The baby couldn't make up his mind if he liked that or not, sometimes he started kicking and screaming, other times he remained completely calm. Thankfully, tonight was one of those where the warm liquid running through his soft hair did not disturb the boy, and Ziva breathed a sigh of relief.

"All done, Connor." she declared, setting the cup down and making sure that the baby towel was laid out on the changing mat on the counter before she lifted Connor out of the bath with both hands. The baby blinked in surprise before starting to scream loudly. Even though she had turned on the heating in the bathroom before she had even undressed Connor in his nursery, the baby still felt the difference in temperature and was quite vocal about his unhappiness. Ziva quickly placed him in his towel and turned on the red light lamp.

"Sh, I know, I know." she muttered, hurrying to dry the boy's skin. "It's okay, Connor, just give me a minute." Ziva asked him, trying to make sure that he was really dry before she got out a small bathrobe and a fresh diaper, having learned that there was nothing that a clean baby liked more than to soil himself immediately after getting cleaned up. This time, she was fast enough and managed to get the diaper on a failing Connor before he could think to relieve himself. Once that was done, Ziva wrapped the baby in his bathrobe and pulled the hood over his head, chuckling at the teddy bear ears that were sewn on it. It was one of the things Gibbs had given them and when Ziva had first shaken it out, she had briefly wondered if their boss had been drunk when making the purchase, but seeing it on Connor for the first time had made her laugh harder than she had in a few days.

She lifted Connor up and rubbed her hand up and down the baby's back, trying to sooth him, when she heard the door to their apartment open.

"Anyone home?" Tim's voice called out and Ziva kissed Connor's temple before responding.

"Bathroom." she answered, shielding the baby's ear from her voice. She heard Tim walk down the hallway and when he came around the corner, smiled at him.

"Hey." Tim breathed, attempting to come over to them, but Ziva quickly took a step back.

"Uh-huh, not with those shoes, mister." she sternly told him. Tim looked down at his crime scene boots before shrugging and still entering the bathroom, pressing a wet kiss to his son's cheek. Connor had quietened down by then, resting his head on his mother's shoulder as Ziva glared at her husband.

"I'll clean it up." Tim assured her before giving her a soft kiss.

"Oh, for your sake I hope you do." she answered before leaning in for another. "Why are you home already?" she asked him and Tim shrugged, running his hand over Connor's soft cheek.

"Gibbs let me go home; I mentioned that we wanted to bathe Connor… I'm sorry I missed it."

"It's okay." Ziva shook her head, casting a look down at the baby. "We managed." she smiled at Connor. "There's some leftover lasagna in the fridge." she told her husband and Tim gave her a grateful smile and waved at the baby before disappearing from the bathroom, leaving a muddy trail behind.

"Oh, your father will so pay for this." Ziva muttered, taking the baby back to the nursery and putting his PJs on. When she took of the hood of the towel, she gave a soft giggle at seeing her son's hair stick up like it did.

"My little porcupig." she muttered, bending down and kissing the baby's nose before she picked him up again, watching as Connor yawned heartily. "Let's go say nighty-night to Daddy, huh?"

fin.

Babies with damp hair sticking up has got to be the cutest thing ever.