A/N Thank you for all the reviews! Very much appreciated and loved. :)
This chapter is for Elle because she made my day with her update of 'Deterioration of the Fight or Flight Response' (read it if you haven't -- /s/4201749/1)
Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter 2
Tony fumbled with the keys as he unlocked Ziva's front door, distracted by his thoughts.
Ziva had a son? That probably meant Jamal was her husband. Why hadn't she told him she was married with a baby?
Tony was hurt. He cared very much for Ziva, more than a friend, and then it turned out she already had a family. He needed proof.
Finally he got the door open. He'd been in their before, so nothing really surprised him. The only change she'd made was swapping the couch and seat positions. There was still no T.V set.
Tony flicked his eyes to the mantel. No photos, except for the one of the NCIS team at last years' Christmas party.
He walked into the bedroom. It was tidy, but he knew better. He opened the wardrobe and was hit by several falling objects. He reached in to check for other boxes at the back.
Nothing.
Sighing, he put everything back and walked towards the door. He heard a cracking noise under his feet. "Ah, crap," he said. He knelt down and moved the blue rug he was standing on.
A floorboard had come loose.
He carefully picked up the floorboard and looked under it. Inside was a box. Reaching down he pulled it up by the sides and carried it to the bed.
Tony was breathing harder. This box must be secret. Why else hide it under the floor?
He opened the lid and took out the top two items.
The first was a blue woolen baby bootee, very clean but it looked as though it had been worn. The second was a small toy bear that was missing an eye.
Tony was beginning to realize the truth. Gently putting the bootee and bear aside, he reached in and pulled out a photo album. He opened the cover.
The first photo was of a wedding. The bride was obviously Ziva. Her long hair was up and she was smiling up at the groom.
There were several more wedding photos, each one causing more tears to form in Tony's eyes. He had never seen Ziva as happy as she was at her wedding.
Her wedding. Why hadn't she told him?
Finally there was a shot of a wedding cake. On the top were words written in icing: Ziva and Jamal.
So Jamal was her husband.
A few more wedding shots, then some of what looked like Jamal and Ziva on their honeymoon, moving into a new house, and just random shots, mostly of Ziva.
Tony kept staring at her face. This was a different side of Ziva. Happy. Open.
Then he was shocked. He knew that, obviously, to have a baby of her own Ziva would have had to have been pregnant, but he wasn't prepared to actually see her in that state. She looked positively radiant.
There were a few photos from her pregnancy, but then they changed to scenes from a hospital, Ziva holding a little baby wrapped in a blue blanket, possibly the cutest baby Tony had ever seen. He could read the baby's name bracelet - Chaim.
The photos that followed were from Chaim's childhood. He was a very loved little boy; in nearly every shot Ziva was either running after him with her arms open or squeezing him tight.
Tony shut the album, tears silently and slowly running down his face. Why hadn't she told him?
Putting the album back into the box, he pulled out several envelopes.
They all contained letters. Tony pulled them all out and read the end of each one.
I love you and Chaim so much, and I hope to be home soon.
Jamal.
Two more weeks and I shall be with you.
I miss you both,
Jamal.
Three more days.
I love you.
Tony piled everything back into the box carried it to the car. Taking a moment to pull himself together, he drove back to NCIS.
"DiNozzo, where are you?" Gibbs said into the phone. "I've been calling for nearly an hour."
"I'm nearly at NCIS now. I went to Ziva's place to…to-"
"Find proof of her family," Gibbs said. He could tell this was hard on Tony; it was hard on everyone.
"Yeah."
"Alright." Gibbs hung up. He'd spent the last ten minutes calling everyone on his team to make sure they were okay. Abby was now at the hospital watching Ziva. Ducky was performing an autopsy. Jenny and McGee were both sitting in the squadroom.
"What exactly happened?" Jenny asked.
"We'll let Tony answer that. He'll be here soon."
Sure enough, Tony stepped into the squadroom minutes later, carrying the box.
"What's that?" McGee asked. Tony put it down on his desk and sat on his chair.
"What happened at the scene, Tony?" Jenny said, intent on getting an answer this time.
Tony took a deep breath. "We got to the warehouse. We were going to bust two Marines who were manufacturing ice."
"You'll be happy to know that we traced them to being just outside of Fairfax. LEO's are bringing them in now," Gibbs said.
"Continue," Jenny said.
Tony stared at the box.
"I'm just saying, most women prefer to let men do the dirty work and follow behind them," Tony said as he closed his car door.
"Ha! You are very much mistaken," Ziva replied.
"Right…"
They approached the warehouse. "Can you see in the window?" Tony asked.
"No, but I don't think anyone is in there."
"Why?"
"Can't hear anything."
They opened the door.
"NCIS!" Tony said loudly. The room was filled with rows and rows of shelves, much like supermarket aisles.
Ziva walked forward. "I'll take the side room," she smiled. "Just to show that women can take the lead." She opened the door.
"Ziva, wait! We don't know what's in there!"
"It's only a-" BOOM.
"Tony?" Jenny was standing directly in front of him. "Are you alright?"
"It's my fault," he said quietly.
"What?"
Tony spoke louder. "It's my fault."
"How is it your fault? Did you make the bomb go off?"
"No, but-"
"Then it's not your fault."
Tony quickly explained what had happened. "If I hadn't said women don't take the lead she wouldn't have gone into that room and she wouldn't be lying in a hospital right now."
"Tony, it's alright," Jenny said kindly. "You didn't know there was a bomb in there. And I don't want to hear otherwise," she added sternly as he opened his mouth to speak again.
"What did you find at her place?" Gibbs asked. Tony pushed the box towards him.
"This was all I could find. It was under a loose floorboard," he said quietly. Gibbs pulled out the bootee and bear and passed them to Jenny.
"Oh my…" she said. Gibbs pulled out the photo album.
"Just photos from her wedding…honeymoon…baby…everything," Tony said. This was surreal. Ziva sure had kept a big secret.
"Do we know when the photos are from?" McGee asked.
"No," Tony said. "We got nothing."
Gibbs head slapped him. "Ouch, Boss, what was that for?"
"This photo is dated on the back," Gibbs said. He had pulled out a picture of Jamal, Chaim and Ziva all posing together, smiling up at them. Sure enough, there was a date on the back.
"McGee, start a timeline," Jenny said. She and Gibbs pulled the rest of the photos out and began to arrange them.
A/N Please review!
I realise a lot of information was revealed in this chapter. If you don't get it or something, message me. (Don't worry, I get confused about the plot to.)
There will be more Tiva soon.
