Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
JUNE
Ziva smiled as she watched her twin girls run into the bullpen.
"Mama! Mama!" they cried as they ran up to her desk. TJ was wearing a blue t-shirt that said 'Daddy's Girl' on it with white trousers and blue trainers, with her hair tied back in pig-tails. Kate wore the same thing, apart from the fact that her t-shirt and trainers were green and her t-shirt said 'Mommy's Girl' on it, and her hair was tied back in a French plait. Ziva smiled and picked them up, setting them on her lap.
"How was your day today?" she asked.
"Isn't that my question, DiNozzo?"
The twins leapt off Ziva's lap. "Grandpa Gibbs!" They leapt onto his lap and grinned up at him.
"Hey girls, how was your day today?" Gibbs asked, grinning down at the twins.
"It was fun!" Kate yelled.
"We got to pway in da sand-box!" TJ told him. "And I made a san'castle!"
"An' then, an' then, an' then miss let us pway in da park in da playgwound, and TJ pushed me into da mud!" Kate frowned at her little sister, who was grinning like mad. It was then that Ziva noticed the mud covering their trousers and shirts, and covering their hair. She groaned inwardly. She was going to have to wash those, then give them a long bath.
"So, have you two been good girls today?" Gibbs asked, smirking as he already knew the answer.
"Yes!" TJ answered for herself and her sister.
"TJ hasn't," Kate interjected.
"Yes I have!"
"Well, if you haven't been good girls today, then I don't think I can give you your 'good girl' treats," Gibbs said thoughtfully. The little girls gasped.
"Pwease, pwease can we have our tweats?" Kate begged.
"Yeah! I be a good girl tomowwow!" TJ added. Gibbs smiled.
"Oh, alright," he sighed, earning smiled from the little girls. He was about to reach into his drawer to get out the girls' treats when he heard a throat being cleared. He looked up to see Ziva glaring at him.
"No," she stated. The twins pouted.
"Pwease, momma? Pwetty pwease?" Kate begged.
"No."
"But momma…" TJ whined.
"I said no, Tali. That is my final answer."
The twins pouted and slowly slid off their Grandpa's lap, walking slowly towards their mother. Suddenly, the elevator opened, and the twins' faces lit up when they saw their father walk into the bullpen.
"Daddy!" They ran up to him and hugged his legs tightly. Tony smiled.
"Hey, there are my little angels," he said as he lifted them both up. They giggled.
"Daddy, momma says we can't have Gwampa Gibbs' tweat," Kate told him.
"Yeah. Pwease? I'll eat all of my dinner!" TJ begged.
"An' I wiw too!" Kate added. Tony sighed and looked over to his wife, who had her eyebrows raised at him.
"You promise?" he asked the girls. They both nodded eagerly. He sighed.
"Oh, alright then."
The twins cheered as Tony put them down on the floor, and they ran up to their 'grandfather' happily for their treats. Tony grinned at Ziva.
"You'd better hold them to their promises, Tony, because otherwise I will kill you," she threatened.
Maria smiled as she watched Ziva join her on the edge of her bed, watching her do her final piece of homework.
"Are you nearly done?" Ziva asked. Maria wrote her final sentence before putting her papers into her bag.
"I'm done now," she pointed out. Ziva smiled at her.
"That is good. I felt like talking to you."
"You never feel like talking to me like this unless I'm in trouble…" Maria feigned shock. "I'm not in trouble am I? What do you want to talk about?"
Ziva rolled her eyes at her. "I do not know. I just felt like talking."
"About…?"
"Girl… stuff…" Ziva told her, a bit hesitant about her response. Maria smiled.
"What kind of girl stuff?" she teased. Ziva glared at her.
"I just felt like talking," she admitted. "Tony isn't someone I'd like to talk to for comfort reasons." Maria nodded knowingly.
"Ok, how've you been, then?" Maria asked.
"You are talking to me as if you have not seen me in a while," Ziva said. Maria raised an eyebrow at her.
"I have been quite fine, I admit. My mornings have not been perfect, though. Last week, I felt tired all the time, and for the past week I have been throwing up in the morning…" Ziva trailed off when she realized what she said. Maria stared at her.
"You aren't…" Maria started.
"No! I cannot be! I… I…" Ziva tried to defend herself.
"If it happens again, you have to get a test, Ziva," Maria warned.
"I am worried. I have not yet woken Tony up about my vomiting, but I am afraid he will, and he might jump to conclusions. I mean, I might just have a stomach insect."
"Firstly, it's a stomach bug, Ziva. Secondly, it won't matter if Tony finds out, either way you will be forced to get a pregnancy test. And thirdly, shouldn't you know Tony enough that he won't jump to conclusions? He might already know about you being sick in the mornings," Maria pointed out. Ziva sighed.
"You always make a good point, Maria," Ziva sighed, lying back on Maria's bed. Maria laughed and joined Ziva.
"I do, don't I? Maybe it's a family thing…"
"Or maybe you are not my full sister. Father was never like you."
Maria gasped. "Don't say that! Dad was always like me! You just weren't around to see it!"
Ziva sat up. "You never met Tali, did you?" she asked suddenly. Maria looked over at her.
"No, but why the sudden change of subject?"
"You are a lot like her – nothing like father, but rebellious and fun loving like mother used to be." Ziva sighed. "I have not seen mother in a while. She refused to see me after Tali… how is she?"
"She's good… I think. I haven't spoken to her in two years. Those three-year-old monsters you call 'children' have tortured me so much I never have much time to myself anymore."
Ziva laughed at Maria's remarks.
"So, are you gonna get the test today, or not?" Maria asked, changing the subject.
"I do not know. I will get it tomorrow, but not today. It is getting late now." Ziva looked out of the window to see it was already getting a little darker, although it was 8 pm in the middle of the summer.
"Are the twins asleep?" Maria asked. There was a squeal from the corridor, and suddenly Maria's bedroom door burst open and the two little girls ran in. They were both stark naked, soaking wet, and their hair was let down to their shoulders. They looked exactly identical; apart from the little fringe that TJ had that had fallen into her green eyes. Ziva sighed and looked over at Maria, who was trying to hide a smirk. Just then Tony ran into the room, soaking wet and covered in soap. Ziva couldn't help but laugh as his hair stuck to his head, and his clothes were soaked right through.
"Next time, you bath them!" Tony gasped before grabbing the giggling girls and taking them back to the bathroom. Maria smiled.
"Oh, the joys of children," she said. Ziva laughed.
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