Hey Everyone! I know I know you must be mad but... I wrote this last year. Haha- get it? I asked my beta to write the bedtime story part becaause she is wonderful and creative but her computer kept breaking so- blame technical errors. Anyways- I finally know where I am going to go with this story!
The pizza was almost gone by 1930 and everyone was piled up in the living room watching Finding Nemo. Tony sat in one corner with his feet up on the coffee table angled towards the middle of the couch. Ziva was laying with her head on the opposite side and her feet in Tony's lap. Sadie was curled up in front of Ziva, her back cuddled to Ziva's chest.
It was a little awkward at first. Sadie was trying to lie next to Ziva while she was trying not to touch Tony. Eventually, her feet bumped him enough that he to pulled them onto his lap.
"You keep kicking me." He said. Ziva just smiled and got comfortable with Sadie. They sat comfortably for half of the movie before Chris woke up. "I got him." said Tony.
Tony took the crying baby to the kitchen and heated up a bottle for him.
"Here yah go." Chris wanted nothing to do with the bottle. Tony lifted him up to smell his diaper but it was clean. "Zi." He said walking back into the living room and standing in front of her, "I don't know what's wrong." Ziva maneuvered herself and Sadie into a sitting position and took Chris. She set him in her lap facing her and felt his forehead with the back of her hand.
"He is not sick…" she said. Sadie poked her brother's tummy and made a pop noise with her mouth. Chris stopped crying and looked at her then went back to screaming.
"Do that again." Said Tony, intrigued by the action, especially if it made the baby quiet.
Sadie did it again and Chris looked at her, then she did it one more time and he laughed.
"Why does that work?" asked Ziva, poking him and making a pop noise.
"I don't know. Mommy always did it when he wouldn't stop crying." She said and then turned her attention back on the movie. Tony and Ziva's eyes met immediately, each one's were wide. Ziva stood up.
"Stay here, Tateleh; I am going to the kitchen to talk to Tony." She nodded and Ziva balanced Chris on her hip while making her way to the kitchen following Tony. She leaned against the counter while Tony set his elbows on the island.
"When are we going to tell her." asked Ziva.
"Well, we can do it now or wait until she asks." Tony said curtly.
"I do not know which is best! You tell me!" she said is a harsh whisper. Chris began to fuss again so Ziva bounced him up and down.
"Let's do it now."
"Oh, God. How do we tell her? Do you just say 'your mother was murdered?'"
"I don't know, Ziva!" said Tony in the same strained whisper. "Come on."
They returned to the living room reluctantly. When Ziva peaked over the couch, she found Sadie sound asleep.
"She is sleeping already. We will have to tell her tomorrow."
"Make sure we don't push it back for too long." said Tony warningly.
"I'm going to put her to bed." said Ziva, handing Tony the baby. He nodded before moving back to his seat on the couch only this time stretching out with the baby on his chest. Ziva gently picked up Sadie who automatically wrapper her arms and legs around her. Ziva carried her to Tony's room like the night before and got out her freshly washed PJ's.
"Sadie, it is time for bed. I am going to help you put on your PJ's." Sadie mumbled incoherently and nuzzled her head into Ziva's shoulder. "Wake up, metuka." She slowly opened her eyes and stretched them. "Here are your PJs." she repeated, setting Sadie on the bed.
"I don't wanna wear those." She whined.
"What else are you going to wear?" asked Ziva, scrunching her face up in confusion.
"The ones I wore last night."
"Oh, okay." said Ziva, walking over to the piled of her clothes in the corner of Tony's room. She pulled out the shirt and returned to Sadie. Sadie lifted her arms up and Ziva pulled her shirt over her head. The bruises were already starting to look better. She slipped the oversized shirt over Sadie's head and then un-buttoned her jeans and slipped them off.
"Better?" Ziva asked. Sadie nodded sleepily.
"Ziva?"
"Yes, Tateleh?" Ziva held her breath and hoped that she wouldn't ask about her mother.
"Can I go to the bathroom? And brush my teeth? And will you brush my hair? My mommy always brushes my hair and she will get mad when she comes back if she knew I didn't brush my teeth." Sadie looked at her with such innocent eyes, before she could think, Ziva nodded. "Okay." said Sadie, hopping off the bed before Ziva could move.
"I am screwing this up." She muttered to herself.
"Ziva. I need help." called Sadie.
"Coming." Ziva heard the toilet flush and walked in the open bathroom door.
"I can't reach the sink." She said. Ziva picked her up so she could reach and waited for her to finish washing.
"I am going to ask Tony if he has spare toothbrushes. Okay?" she asked as she set Sadie down. She nodded so Ziva hurried into the living room.
"Toothbrushes?" she asked Tony.
"Under the sink in the bathroom." She nodded and returned to the bathroom and retrieved a new toothbrush.
"I want a pink one." said Sadie.
"We do not have pink ones." said Ziva after she double checked under his sink.
"I WANT PINK!" she yelled.
"Tateleh, please. I do not have a pink one. Green is pretty though, yes?" Sadie shook her head. "How about this? We will go shopping tomorrow and I will let you pick out a toothbrush but tonight, you must use this one."
"Okay…" she said, giving in.
Ziva wet the toothbrush and put toothpaste on it before handing it to the little girl. She fiercely scrubbed her teeth to a point that Ziva thought they would be bleeding. Finally she finished and handed the slobbery brush back to Ziva who rinsed it and set it on the counter. Sadie tapped her leg and she looked over at her and remembered her mouth was full of toothpaste. Ziva lifted her up and let her rinse out her mouth.
"Now you have to brush my hair." Ziva nodded.
"Go sit on the bed and I will find my brush." Ziva rooted through her bag and eventually found the brush and returned to the bed, standing awkwardly beside it. Sadie patted behind her and Ziva sat crisscross applesauce behind her. Sadie scooted back into her lap. Ziva started brushing her hair as gently as possible until all the tangles were out. She set the brush down beside them on the bed and Sadie leaned back into her chest. Ziva wraps her arms around Sadie and holds her to her chest.
"Ziva, will you tell me a story?" asked Sadie.
"I do not know any stories."
"You make one up then. My mom is really good at it. They always have princesses and everything." Ziva looked into her eyes and knew she couldn't say no. Tony is really good at making up lies, maybe he could tell a story.
"Do you know who tells really, really good stories?" Ziva asked her. Sadie's eyes got big and excited.
"Tell me, tell me!" she said, bouncing and turning around so her knees were digging into Ziva's thighs and her hands were on Ziva's shoulders. Ziva grimaced at Sadie's position before moving her off to the side of her.
"Tony." Said Ziva, giving her a wicked smile.
"Will Tony tell us a story?" she asked excitedly.
"I do not know. Ask him."
"TOOOONNNYYYYY!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. They heard movement in the living room before footsteps grew closer and then the door opened.
"What!" he asked, clearly confused.
"Will you tell us a story? Please!" she begged. His eyes met Ziva's and she smiled at him.
"I don't know…" he started.
"Ziva said you are really good at telling stories!" she begged again.
"Alright. What do you want the story to be about?" he asked, going to the other side of the bed and sitting against the headboard. Ziva lay on her side facing him and propped her head up with her arm. Sadie was reclining against Ziva stomach looking eagerly at Tony.
"Dragons and fairies and princesses!" she yelled bouncing more until Ziva pulled her down so she was imitating her position.
"You must be quiet and not wake up your brother, otherwise Tony will not tell the story." said Ziva. Sadie nodded and calmed down and cuddled into Ziva. Tony couldn't help but smile at them. He couldn't believe how cute they were together. Tony brought out his narrator/story voice and began:
"Okay, um, here it goes. So there's this-"
"No!" Sadie interrupted fiercely. Ziva gave her a look that told her to quiet down again.
"What?" Tony looked bewildered.
"It has to start with Once upon a time…" She insisted.
"Okay, okay! Once upon a time there lived the beautiful Princess Sadie. She was the nicest, sweetest, most awesomest princess in the whole wide world. Princess Sadie had everything she ever wanted: twenty pink dresses, six white horses, and lots of sparkly shoes. But there was one thing that Princess Sadie wanted more than anything in the world."
"A unicorn?" Sadie guessed.
"Nooooo."
"A gumball machine?"
Tony paused when he heard Chris start crying in the other room. Ziva nodded for him to continue and slid off the bed so go get Chris a bottle. He continued, but pulled back the covers first and Sadie obediently slid underneath. "Nooooo." He continued, still trying to think of what Princess Sadie did want more than anything in the world.
"A dinosaur?"
"Nope. Do you give up?" Sadie pondered for a moment before finally nodding. "Noodles." Ziva snorted in amusement, but Tony just tossed her a playful look and continued. "All kinds of noodles! Big noodles, small noodles, red noodles, blue noodles-"
"There's no such thing as blue noodles!" Sadie pointed out defiantly.
Ziva came back with Chris and a bottle. Tony scooted to the middle of the bed and she got on next to him because Sadie was taking up the side she had been on. Their shoulders were touching and Tony noticed Ziva leaned into him ever so slightly when she cradled the baby so he could eat. He bit back a smile. Sadie made a small noise of impatience and he returned his attention to her.
"Who's telling the story, me or you?" Tony playfully scolded, continuing. Sadie pouted and stopped talking, allowing him to continue. Ziva stifled her laugh. "Anyways, she loved all noodles. Princess Sadie ate noodles every day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She even let her royal dog Ginger eat noodles. One day, Princess Sadie met a beautiful queen. Her name was Queen Ziva." Ziva's eyes widened in surprise while Sadie listened, hanging on to Tony's every word. "Queen Ziva saw Princess Sadie and her dog Ginger and decided to take them both to the handsome King Tony's house." Tony paused to look over at his two listeners. They both were listening intently to his story. "But the princess and her dog were hungry, so Queen Ziva and King Tony decided to make them some dinner. Unfortunately, all King Tony could make was noodles. So he made noodles, and Princess Sadie ate them, and they were the most delicious noodles she had ever eaten. Princess Sadie loved the noodles so much that she wanted to marry them." Sadie laughed out loud at the idea. Ziva laughed as well, her eyes sparkling. "Princess Sadie was sad when they told her that she couldn't marry the noodles, but then Queen Ziva and King Tony let her eat noodles for the rest of her life!" Sadie's huge smiled but was overcome with an even bigger yawn. Tony decided to continue; he was on a roll, after all. "Princess Sadie decided that she wanted even better noodles, so she, Queen Ziva, and King Tony set out to travel the world, looking for the best noodles ever. They went to Africa, and France, and Spain, and Zimbabwe-" Sadie let out a tired chuckle at the funny-sounding name. "And finally they stopped at the very last place: the North Pole."
"To see Santa Claus?"
"Yep. And Santa let Queen Ziva, King Tony and Princess Sadie right into his house and he made them all noodles to warm them up. It's very cold in the North Pole, you know. Anyways, Princess Sadie loved these noodles even more than King Tony's. She begged Queen Ziva to let her stay with Santa and eat noodles forever, but Queen Ziva had to take Princess Sadie home before her bedtime. Santa made sure that she got an extra bag of noodles to give to Ginger the next day, and they left to go back home. On the way, they-" Tony paused in his story when he heard a soft snoring from the little princess. "And I was just getting to the good part!"
Ziva chuckled and slid off the bed, followed by Tony. She took the bottle to the kitchen while Tony shut off the lights and readjusted Sadie's covers. Then he sat on the couch and opened up his laptop.
"How old do you think he is? And Sadie?" he asked casually.
"I do not know. I am sure Sadie knows her age but I do not have a hint about him. Why?" She asked as sat right next to Tony to see what he was doing. Chris's eyes fluttered open before shutting again when he returned to sleep.
"I was just curious. I mean- babies have lots of things they need and I think he needs more than just formula. And we don't know how long he is supposed to be sleeping…" he trailed off and focused on his Google search.
"Try 6 to 8 months." She suggested. He typed it in and clicked on the first link. The webpage listed many different topics ranging from sleeping to eating to mobility. Ziva pointed to the mobility link. It said that six month olds should be able to roll over, make noises, turn to sounds, some can sit or even crawl, and they may have teeth.
"Does he have teeth?" Tony asked. Ziva shrugged and gently put a finger in his mouth and pulled his lip back. There were a few teeth that were halfway out.
"Yes a few teeth. He makes noises, he cannot sit up but he might be able to roll." She said. "You do know we can look this up tomorrow right."
"Yeah I know, I was just curious. I think he is six months old. That means he can have start having squashed up fruit and should be playing more with us. He should sleep 14 hours in a day, also should sleep through the night."
"We will talk to Ducky to be sure tomorrow and find his birth certificate. Hopefully we have probable cause to be debriefed on Christopher Moore's life." She said.
"Yeah. Wait- didn't it have a record for Sadie and Chris's births on Bethany's file?"
"No. It was blocked like her husband's."
"Hinky…" said Tony, getting a smile from Ziva.
"Okay. We will find out the kids' ages, and talk to Ducky about what they need tomorrow. After work we are going shopping for things they need and food."
"Ziva, we won't have them forever." Tony said gently.
"I know. I just want them to be comfortable while they are with us." She said. Tony nodded in agreement.
"Sounds like a plan, and on top of that we have to find a killer!" said Tony as he shut down his laptop and put it under the coffee table.
"Are you taking him again tonight?" asked Ziva as she softly rubbed Chris's arm.
"Yup, we are going to room together again. It's the guys and the girls." He said as he stood up and took Chris from Ziva. "He should sleep through the night too."
"I hope." She replied. "If you need me, you know where I am. Good night." Ziva whispered from his door. "And thanks for telling her the story… I'm no good at things like that." She added softly.
"Anytime, Zi." Tony replied. "Night." He called and headed to the uncomfortable guest room/office.
Ziva cuddled back into bed with Sadie. She was so tired that she didn't even bother worrying about Sadie waking her up in the middle of the night and how she would react. Sadie unconsciously snuggled closer and Ziva smiled softly. Children were so sweet and innocent.
Tony put Chris in his seat next to the bed and stripped to his boxers. He laid down on the cheap bed, which creaked in protest to his weight. Tony groaned. He knew his back would hurt tomorrow and he knew Chris needed a proper crib. He knew Ziva and Sadie were becoming way too close. But he didn't know who the kids were or the killer or anything about the victims. Tony rolled over and closed his eyes. He knew so much but at the same time, he knew nothing at all.
Please please please review so that I know I'm on the write(haha) track. Let me know thoughts/questions/concerns/and allways support. !BYE!