This is an idea that came to me the last time I saw Series 3 Episode 8 'Under Covers' and I just had to write it, even though I'm rather unsure about my characterisation.
It annoys me sometimes when I read stories set in (for example) England using American terms (when the characters aren't American, at least) or the other way around. So, despite the fact that I live in Ireland (don't listen to FanFiction – it lies) I tried my best to use American terms as far as I knew. Honestly, you have no idea how hard it was for me to write 'trash can'… If you spot any mistakes in that area, please let me know, so I can change them! By that I mean American terms and names of things, not using American spellings.
Please R&R? I'd really like to know how I did in terms of characterisation and using American terms!
Truth From Lies
Coming through the door of his apartment after being driven home by McGee, Tony slumped against the nearest wall, closing his eyes, as he heard Ziva closing the door behind them. He felt her hand on his shoulder before he heard her voice. "It has been a long day. You should go rest while I make dinner."
Tony nodded, moving towards the bedroom, stopping once he fully processed Ziva's words. "You should rest too."
"I am not the one who was hit in the face seven times." She retorted, pausing on her way to the kitchen. "Besides, we will need some food after…everything. Go lie down for a while, and then we can have dinner and go to bed early."
Nodding tiredly, Tony turned back towards the bedroom, collapsing on the bed, asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.
Blinking awake, Tony brought his hand up to his head, running his hand through his hair as he sat up, wincing as did so. Maybe he should take that scotch that Ducky had suggested? Intending to do so, Tony heaved himself from the bed, slipping off the shoes he hadn't had time to remove before falling asleep, before padding towards the door.
Passing the mirror, he caught sight of the chain around his neck, usually hidden beneath his collar which had shifted in his sleep, and the ring hanging from it glinting in the dim light from beyond the doorway. A smile spread across his face, as it usually did when he caught sight of the ring, and he paused to finger it a moment, before continuing in his trek to the kitchen, this time to find the woman who wore a similar chain around her neck.
Padding across the dimly lit apartment, Tony came to a stop as he reached the kitchen doorway, leaning against the doorframe as he took in the woman before him, smiling softly as he spotted her ring, pulled from the collar of her shirt, as though she had been fingering it herself.
"So you want a divorce, huh?" Ziva called out teasingly as she heard Tony in the doorway behind her.
Tony just laughed, pushing off of the doorframe and coming towards her. "Nah. I think I'm good." Ziva smiled as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, kissing her cheek and resting his chin on her shoulder. "So you're pregnant, huh?" he shot back in the same teasing tone.
Ziva stilled, stiffening in Tony's arms. "Ziva?" Tony's brow furrowed in confusion. "Ziva, what is it? What's up?" he continued to ask, stroking his thumbs along her sides absently as he tried to see her face.
With a sigh, Ziva turned to face Tony, extricating herself from his arms in the process, leaning back against the counter to put some space between them. Ziva turned her gaze to the floor, ignoring Tony's frown and mumbling almost inaudibly, "Yes."
"What?" Tony cocked his head in confusion.
Ziva took a deep breath before raising her eyes to meet Tony's determinedly. "Yes, I'm pregnant."
Tony gaped at her for a moment. "Y-you...you are?" he gasped out eventually, wide-eyed. "You…when…really?" Ziva smiled slightly at Tony's fumbling for words and nodded. "You mean you…we…"
"We are going to have a baby, yes." Ziva said, smile growing with Tony's excitement.
"We're going to be parents…" Tony whispered, almost reverently, as he reached out towards Ziva's stomach, placing his hands gently over where, in the months to come, it would swell in time with the growth of their child. Ziva placed her hands over his and closed her eyes as he leant in to rest his forehead on hers. "Parents…" he whispered. "A baby…"
Ziva chuckled."A little DiNozzo…" she whispered, her voice catching in her throat.
"What are we going to tell Gibbs?" Ziva spoke up a few hours later, when the two were entwined on the sofa, Ziva cuddled into Tony's side.
"I think we should just tell him the truth." Ziva lifted her head from Tony's shoulder, eyes questioning. "I mean…we're supposed to be a team. We owe them the truth."
"I suppose we do." Ziva answered after a moment. "You mean everything, yes?"
"The whole story." Tony nodded. "What do you reckon he'll say?"
"I don't know." Ziva sighed, putting her head back on Tony's shoulder. "There is rule 12."
"Well, rule 12 is 'never date a co-worker'." Tony mused, lying back and tightening his arms around Ziva, pulling her closer. "It doesn't say anything about being married to one."
"No," Ziva yawned, snuggling into Tony, "It doesn't, does it?" Tony grinned down at her, kissing her head as he turned on the television.
"How are we going to do this?" Tony asked as they sat in the car in the navy yard. "Do we just go in there and tell him?"
"Maybe we should ask to talk to him in private?" Ziva suggested, shrugging when Tony cocked his head. "We're going to end up in the elevator anyway."
Tony chuckled. "I suppose we will." Shaking his head, he opened the door and got out of the car, coming around to Ziva's door and opening it for her. "Come on, time to face the music."
Stepping out of the elevator, Tony and Ziva noticed that they were the last to arrive. McGee was already sat at his desk, eyes fixed to his computer screen whilst his fingers rapidly moved across the keyboard, and Gibbs was at his own desk, coffee in hand as he waited for his computer to turn on, flicking through a file as he did so.
Tony and Ziva shared a glance before walking up to Gibbs' desk. "Uh…boss?"
"Yes, DiNozzo?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow, not lifting his eyes from the file.
"We need to talk to you." Tony glanced at Ziva again.
"So talk." Gibbs threw back, putting down the file and looking up at them, not relinquishing his hold on his coffee.
"Uh…right." Tony smiled nervously. "Well, I don't really know where to start, but-" Tony started, but cut off when Ziva darted from where she was standing beside him to the nearest trash can, where she promptly lost her breakfast.
McGee looked up from his computer, startled. "Uh…you okay, Ziva?"
"Does she look okay to you, McGee?" Gibbs retorted.
"Uh…no, boss, I just-"
"I am fine, McGee." Ziva muttered, standing back up. "Thank you."
The elevator doors dinged open then and Abby stepped out into the bullpen. "Hey, Team Gibbs, what's-" She cut herself off, moving quickly towards where Ziva was standing, looking worried. "Ziva, are you okay? You look a little pale…"
"She just threw up in my trash can, Abby." Gibbs answered her, glancing at Abby before his eyes flickered back to Ziva.
"That's actually what we wanted to talk to you about, boss." Tony spoke up, glancing briefly at Gibbs, but was once again cut off.
"You do realise you don't have to pretend to be married to Tony anymore, don't you Ziva?" Abby asked, eyeing Tony and Ziva's clasped hands and the rings which they had put back on, deciding that if they were going to tell them, there was no point in hiding them. "And that you don't have to pretend to be pregnant anymore?" Ziva glanced at Tony before turning back to Abby. "Right?"
"I'm not pretending." Abby tilted her head in confusion. "I'm not pretending to be married to Tony; I'm not pretending to be pregnant. I don't have to."
"Exactly." Abby said, still confused. "So why are you…?"
"Ziva and I have been married for four years." Tony answered her unasked question, glancing with a smile at Ziva before continuing. "And we're expecting our first child."
There was silence in the bullpen as Tony's words sunk in. Gibbs was the first one to speak up. "What the hell happened to rule 12, DiNozzo?"
"Well, rule 12 says 'never date a co-worker'." Tony shrugged. "We married before either of us started working for you, boss. We weren't co-workers while we were dating. So, technically, we never broke rule 12."
Gibbs stared hard at him for a moment before he saw the Director coming out of her office and moved to get her attention, head-slapping Tony on the way past. "Jenny!"
The Director stopped in her tracks, turning to face Gibbs. "I already told you, Jethro. On the job it's either 'Director Shepard' or-"
"Did you know about those two?" Gibbs demanded, cutting across her, continuing when she stared at him blankly. "Ziva and DiNozzo."
"What about them?"
"Uh, that they're married?" he demanded gruffly.
"Yes." She said simply. "Ziva's a good friend; I met the two of them shortly before the wedding. They finally told you?"
"Because she's pregnant." Gibbs muttered, disgruntled. The Director's smile grew and she turned to where Abby and McGee were still staring, speechless, at Tony and Ziva.
"Congratulations." She smiled, hugging the two of them. "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?"
"No. I only found out last night." Tony smiled at Ziva. "Besides, I think I want to be surprised. I've heard that it's the best way."
"So it's true?" Abby asked, finding her voice. "You really are married?"
"Yep." Tony answered cheerily.
"But what about all the…stories…about dates and…" McGee asked, shaking his head in confusion.
"I made a lot of enemies in Mossad." Ziva said simply, but it was enough for McGee to understand.
"And you're really going to have a baby?" Abby asked, eyes lighting in excitement.
"Yes, Abby." Ziva smiled at the forensic scientist, who was bouncing slightly. "I'm really pregnant."
Abby squealed, leaping at Ziva in a hug. "Oh, congratulations! Our first Team Gibbs baby! Oh! I'm going to make them a little hat! With 'NCIS' on it!" Letting go of Ziva, Abby gave Tony a quick hug before rushing back to the elevator, hugging Gibbs on the way past. "A baby, Gibbs, a baby!"
They stared after Abby for a while, as she bounced on the balls of her feet, waiting for the elevator, and as the doors closed on her, still bouncing.
"Uh…" McGee turned to the pair who was still staring amusedly after Abby. "Congratulations, you two. I…honestly didn't suspect that."
"That was the point, McGee." Tony grinned.
"DiNozzos, my office, now." Gibbs barked out from where he was standing in the elevator, holding the doors.
"I told you we would end up in the elevator." Ziva muttered. Tony grinned, squeezing her hand.
The three stood in silence until Gibbs pulled the emergency switch, turning to the pair as the elevator screeched to a stop. He simply looked at him for a moment. "Congratulations." He said simply.
Tony looked at Ziva, both of them waiting for Gibbs to elaborate. "Thank you, boss."
"Don't forget – a child is a gift. If I had known you were pregnant, I would not have let you go undercover, Ziva."
"I would've tried to stop you too," Tony muttered, glancing at Ziva.
"I would hope so, DiNozzo." Gibbs said sharply.
"I was the best person for the job." Ziva said simply.
Gibbs nodded, a small smile playing about his lips. "I mean it, you know." He said seriously. "A child is a truly precious thing. Never forget that. Never forsake that. Nor each other."
"We won't, Gibbs." Ziva said quietly, feeling Tony's thumb rubbing the back of her hand.
"Good." Gibbs stood up taller, a small smirk spreading across his face. "So; tell me what I should have been told from the beginning."
Tony grinned. "Well, it all starts when I met this woman in a bar…"
Tony and Ziva being secretly married before the show started has always appealed to me. I don't know why as it's basically impossible. Another vague idea of this same concept was that Tony finds out during 'Frame Up' with perhaps her giving him an ultra-sound photo while he's locked up and Gibbs finding it when he brought pizza (he dropped it or something, I don't know). I'm also working on a possibly slightly longer Tiva story, but I'm not sure how long that'll be...
Also, I know Abby isn't exactly Ziva's biggest fan at that point in time, but I see her as being the sort of person that would still be unbelievably excited about the fact that she's pregnant, even if in part because she's Tony's wife and doesn't have to just see her as Kate's replacement. As for the thing about the hat...well, I think there was an episode where Abby mentioned that she had made a jacked or something? Well, I took that and ran with it. It's just an incredibly adorable image...