He lifted her chin and kissed her. "My problem is: what do I do if they don't like me?" At that, Mimi chuckled, little tears in her eyes.

"They will love you. Just as I do." She returned his kiss, intending on showing him just how much she did love him. He lifted her and swung her around.

"Jethro!" She shrieked with laughter. "Stop! You'll hurt yourself."

He put her down and grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's enjoy the rest of the evening outside while we can, they I can maybe think of something else we can do to kill time."

Chapter Eight: "Other Plans"

Tony and Ziva's Home- North Arlington

Once Karina was asleep, Tony left her room and went to their bedroom. Ziva had finished her shower about ten minutes before and was brushing her hair.

Tony smiled as he watched her slowly run the brush through her curls. "Have I ever told you how sexy you look when you brush your hair?" Tony asked.

Ziva smiled. "Since last night? No." Tony grinned. "I'll just take a quick shower." He shed his clothes and took a brief but thorough shower.

He and Ziva had not been alone all day and he wanted to take advantage of every moment they had. He just hoped she hadn't fallen asleep while he was showering.

He was pleasantly surprised to see she was still awake and seemed to be waiting for him. He half jumped into bed, sliding in next to her. "Hello." He smiled.

Ziva responded by kissing him hard, with far more passion than Tony was expecting. "Ok, if she wants to have fabulous sex to help her get over her anxiety, that's fine with me." Tony thought to himself.

Tony responded the best way he knew how and soon he and Ziva were together as one. Ziva surprised him by wanting an encore, once Tony had recovered.

Tony was always happy to make love to his wife. He was quite pleased with himself and fell asleep with a big smile on his face, lying on his side with his arm draped across Ziva's waist.

She fell asleep instantly after their second round of love-making, finally releasing her stress so that she was able to relax.

Soon, her snores could be heard. Tony's smile became wider, knowing she was getting the deep sleep she needed.

They were both woken by the musicals tones and babbling coming from Karina's room. Tony opened his eyes and looked at the clock. Five am.

"She's better than an alarm clock." He quipped. Ziva was already sitting up on the side of the bed.

He got up and came over to her side. "Want to go say good morning to our daughter?" He held out his hand.

Ziva smiled wide and took Tony's hand. Together, they walked into Karina's room. She was on her back, holding one of her musical toys and shaking it, laughing and "talking" to it.

"Good morning, princess. How's Daddy's girl this morning?" At Tony's voice, Karina flipped herself over and tried to pull herself up, even though she could see them through the slats on her crib.

"Whoops. Hang on their kiddo; I think we need to do a diaper change before we go anywhere."

Tony laid her back down and began to undo her diaper. The smell was horrible. "No more spaghetti for you, little poopy-pants." Tony admonished his daughter.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Ziva slapped her hand over her mouth and ran to their bathroom.

Tony closed his eyes as he heard the sounds of her retching. "Sounds like Mommy isn't starting her day very well."

"Let's get you cleaned up and smelling very pretty and then go see Mommy, ok?"

Karina was fixated on Tony's face as he had this conversation with her. She seemed to agree with his assessment as she gurgled and clapped.

Tony got his daughter presentable, took a deep breath, and walked into his bedroom.

Ziva was nowhere to be seen, but the bathroom door was open. Tony, still holding Karina, headed toward the bathroom.

There he found Ziva, sitting cross-legged on the tiled floor, her head in her hands.

Gently, Tony sat down beside her and put his arm around her, holding Karina in the other. Ziva leaned into his side, crying silently.

"Come on. It's not the worst thing that could have happened. In fact, we've had lot worse things happen to us already, so this should be a piece of cake."

Ziva lifted her tear-stained face and looked at Tony. "I am sorry. I did not expect this to happen so early."

Tony stroked her hair. "Well, to be honest, I would have preferred waiting until Karina was closer to two years, but someone has other plans for us."

"When are we due?" Tony asked. Ziva looked at him, amazed at again how calm and accepting he was of the situation. Just like the first time.

"From what Mimi and I could figure out, around the 14th of March. I am eight weeks pregnant."

There, she finally said the word. It was almost like a release. A fresh flow of tears threatened to erupt, so Tony handed her Karina.

"She is still a baby; she should have me all to herself. It is not fair to her."

Tony put his arm around both of them, so that they were in a little circle. "Come on. She won't know the difference."

"However, having a brand new baby and a fifteen month old at the same time is going to be challenging. We may need to get some help."

"You mean like a nanny? You do not think I can take care of two babies?" Ziva was back to her old self.

"Oh, I believe you can, but once you go back to work, that's when the fun begins."

"A baby at home; a toddler in daycare; two highly irregular job schedules."

"I see what you mean. Well, when the time comes, we can discuss it."

Tony didn't say anymore on the subject. "Do you want to stay home today? We can say Karina is sick again, or you are, or I am, or we all are."

Ziva laughed at that. "I think Gibbs would be very angry if we both stayed home." She cuddled Karina who was being a very good girl and playing at breast feeding.

Ziva put her head on Tony's shoulder and he leaned his head against hers.

"I would like to stay home today with Karina, and I would like you to stay home as well, but I do not see how we can manage it without Gibbs killing us."

Ziva suddenly got a mischievous look on her face. Tony helped her up and he took Karina.

"Take her downstairs and make her breakfast, please. I have a call to make."

Tony gave Ziva a "what are you up to?" look, but did as he was asked.

Ziva grabbed her phone and punched in the numbers. "Please be home, please be home, please… Mimi? Hi, yes I am fine. Is Gibbs still home?"

"No! I do not wish to speak to him. Will you do us a favor?" Ziva asked Mimi what she wanted her to do. Mimi agreed. "Thanks, we owe you."

Gibbs and Mimi's Home- 5:30 a.m.

Mimi put down her phone. Gibbs looked up from his coffee. "Who was that calling at this hour?"

"Tony and Ziva will not be in today."

Gibbs almost sputtered his coffee over his shirt. "What? Wait. They called in, to you? Since when are you their Boss?"

He started to reach for his phone, but Mimi put her hand on his. Gibbs looked at Mimi, suddenly scared again. "This is about yesterday, isn't it?"

Mimi nodded. "Yes, Jethro it is. You better sit down." Jethro went over to the sofa. "You said Ziver didn't have cancer."

Mimi reached for his hand. "She doesn't, but she does have something growing inside her."

Gibbs looked at her, uncomprehending. Then he looked incredulous. "You have got to be kidding, right? Already? I'm going to slap DiNozzo's head silly."

"Jethro, you just found out you're going to be a grandfather again and you want to head slap Tony?"

"Stop to think about how they feel. This is a total shock for both of them. Cut him some slack. Besides, if there is any blame to be handed out, throw it my way."

Gibbs flopped back against the sofa. By this time, Bailey had come in from outside and jumped up next to Gibbs.

"Thanks Bailey, but I think Tony and Ziva need you more than I do right now."

He looked at Mimi. "What do you mean to blame you?"

Mimi had tears in her eyes. "I'm a nurse. I know these things. They don't. I just wasn't thinking."

Gibbs put his arm around Mimi. "What are you talking about, why are you crying?"

"When Ziva was sick in June, the antibiotic she was taking stopped her birth control pills from working."

"She was not protected, and I should have told her to use other precautions." Mimi looked guilty of murder.

"Hey, it's not like she was seeing you when she got the cold. If anyone should have told her, it should have been the doc who prescribed the antibiotics in the first place." Gibbs massaged her neck.

"So none of this is your fault. I'm sure Ziva doesn't blame you, and I'm sure Tony won't either."

"When he was here on the 4th and we were sitting on the deck; he mentioned wanting Karina to stay a baby."

"What? Is he nuts or something?" Mimi looked horrified.

Gibbs smiled that crooked smile of his. "Basically what I said to him. So instead, he's going to get a second baby that he can have around for a while."

Gibbs shook his head. "I have to admit, I didn't think Tony would handle a baby very well, but he far exceeded my expectations."

"Make sure you tell him that. He's probably going to need all the bolstering he can get after today."

"You think she just told him today?"

Mimi smiled. "I'm sure he knew the minute she ran to the toilet to puke."

Gibbs had to chuckle at that. "So, when?"

"When what?"

Gibbs kissed Mimi's cheek. "When is the baby due?"

"The best date we came up with was around March 14th, but we'll know better when we get her into the office for an ultrasound."

"Ah, hell, I just got her back in the field. Well, nothing I can do about it, I guess." He kissed Mimi again.

He picked up his phone. "What are you doing, Jethro?" Mimi asked.

Gibbs held up his finger. "DiNozzo…"

Tony and Ziva's Home

Tony's phone rang and he saw the readout. "It's Gibbs, what do I do?"

"Answer the phone, Tony. He will be angry if you ignore his call."

Tony nodded. "Hi, Boss." He answered. Tony's face looked concerned then confused as he listened to Gibbs on the other line.

"Clear as crystal, Boss. We'll be there." He hung up the phone and looked at Ziva.

"We've been ordered to have dinner with them tonight." Tony answered Ziva's unasked question.

Karina banged her spoon, reminding him she had not had the rest of her breakfast yet.

"Sorry, sweetie. Daddy got distracted. Here you go; yummy cereal and peaches."

Karina opened her mouth obediently and took the offered food. Tony let her hold onto the spoon for a while to entertain herself.

"Mimi must have told him. He was very worried yesterday when I went to him and asked to leave early to meet with her." Ziva decided.

"You actually got him to go with the 'doing fun stuff' without a fight?"

Ziva smiled. "Oh, he didn't like it. He told me that he didn't want to lie to you. I just batted my big brown eyes and sniffled like a little girl. Works every time."

"Huh." Tony said. "Wonder if I should try that sometime."

Ziva laughed at her husband, and then stopped. "He was really worried that I wanted to see Mimi. I think he may have been thinking I was really sick or something."

"Or something." Tony went over to Ziva and bent over and kissed her tummy. "Hi sweetie, I know you probably can't hear me yet."

"You were a big surprise but we are all going to be just fine and be a big happy family."

Karina watched her daddy kiss her mommy's tummy. "Mama." She said. They both looked at her.

Ziva kissed her baby until she giggled. "I know she does not equate 'mama' with me yet but I will never get tired of hearing it."

Tony watched Ziva with Karina and smiled. She was such a wonderful mother. What could they possibly worry about?

He looked up to the see the smile on Ziva's face. "You always take things so much better than I think you will."

Tony cupped her face. "Only when they're not bad things and this is not bad. Now, when you get hurt or go missing, totally different reaction."

"Speaking of which, how exactly did this happen? I mean you were on the pill and still kind of breastfeeding. I thought that had us covered." Tony wasn't angry, just curious.

Ziva sighed. "Mimi is blaming herself."

Tony looked alarmed at that. "How could Mimi be responsible for us getting pregnant again?"

"Antibiotics." Ziva said simply.

Tony looked blankly at her. "When I was sick in June, I was on antibiotics. Some can affect the effectiveness of birth control."

"As a nurse, Mimi knows this. But since we weren't in a patient relationship, it didn't even cross her mind to tell me of the risk and to advise us to use additional precautions."

"She is really upset with herself over this, Tony. We need to make sure she knows we don't blame her."

Tony looked surprised. "She really blames herself?"

Ziva nodded. Tony put his arms around her waist. "Ok, we'll just give her Karina all night. That will make her happy."

Ziva looked thoughtful. "Do we want to tell everyone else?"

Tony sat back down and continued feeding his daughter. "I don't know about right now. Would be kind of fun to keep it secret and let them figure it out."

"Abby knew before I did last time, or at least you suspected. Now Gibbs knows. Maybe I better call him and ask him to not say anything to anyone just yet."

He looked at Ziva's dubious face. "He would not do that."

"Well, he's going to have to come up with some reason why both of us aren't in." Ziva considered that. She pulled out her phone and called Gibbs.

"Hi, Ziver." Gibbs' voice was gently, touching.

"Good morning, Abba. I am guessing Mimi told you, yes? Please say nothing to the others."

"We want to keep this as quiet as long as we can. What? Oh…well, that sounds fine. Thank you, Abba. I love you, too."

Tony watched Ziva's face the entire time she was on the phone with Gibbs. When she ended the call, he took her hand. "Well, that was very touching. What did he say?"

"That we had asked to take the day off several weeks ago, just wanting a family day during the week."

Tony was impressed. "Not bad. I guess that's why he makes the big bucks."

"So, what do you want to do? Just stay home and play happy family or do you want to go out?" Tony asked

"Well, it is a nice day. We can take Karina to the park. Maybe go to visit Old Town and walk around."

"That sounds like a great idea." Tony stood up and cleaned up Karina's breakfast mess. "It's still early yet. Do you want to go back and try to get another hour's sleep? I can handle this one."

Ziva put her arm around his waist. "Why don't we all cuddle in bed for a while, the three of us? Karina loves being in our bed with us."

"Sounds wonderful to me." Tony looked at Karina. "What about you? Want to go snuggle with mommy and daddy for a while?"

Karina grinned and clapped.

This chapter was a little shorter than some of the others because I have finally started Physical Therapy and had a really tough session yesterday that left me in more pain than when I started. Thanks for the continuing support, and thanks to those who are reading my first stories to catch up.