OK. I am soo soo sorry it has taken me this long to update. I actually spent Thanksgiving week with my family at Disney. And yes, it was very hard trying not to picture T/Z there. Haha.
Well anyways, I hope to have this story finished by Christmas. I only have one and a half more chapters to write so it shouldn't be that hard. Although I can only write on the weekends because my life right now is all basketball and then exams are coming up, we do get out of school on the 16th and then I can write whenever I want. Yay!
Well, as always, enjoy!
Disclaimer: Still not mine...
P.S. You guys may find something hinky in this chapter but don't worry, there's an explanation at the end of the chap.
When Ziva woke up the next morning, she felt a pair of eyes on her. She looked up to find Tony watching her as she slept.
"Mornin," he said, noticing she was awake. He stole a kiss from her before she could say anything.
"Morning," she replied, giving him another kiss before lying back down on his chest. "What time is it?" she asked, the sound muffled by his body.
He looked over at the clock. "About seven fifteen," he answered.
"Ugh," she moaned.
"What?" he asked slightly amused.
"We have to get up," she explained.
"No we don't," he stated.
"Yes, we do," she said, even though she still hadn't moved from her position.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because, Tony. You told me we are going to Animal Kingdom today, yes?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"And didn't you also say that it closes earlier because of all the animals and it getting dark or something?"
"Yeah... so?"
"So... we need to get there earlier."
He sighed.
"Oh, and we need to get showers."
"Okay, fine. You win. We'll get up," he agreed. Ziva sat up, smiling at him.
"I'm going to get a shower," she said. She leant down to give him a kiss and then slid off the bed to get her stuff for the shower. Tony watched as she left the room.
"Okay. In that case, I'm going back to sleep!" he yelled after her. He could almost hear her roll her eyes from where he was. As he lay there, listening to the shower, his mind drifted to last night. He was so happy about it, that words couldn't even begin to describe how he felt. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he didn't have a care in the world. He knew they'd have to talk to Gibbs about it, but he wasn't that worried about it. Yes, he'd probably get mad, but he'd have to live with it, because Tony loved her with all of his heart and nothing, not even Leroy Jethro Gibbs, could change that.
"Tony, get up!" Ziva yelled, for the fifth time. This time, though, she threw a pillow at him.
"Huh? What?" he asked, sitting up in bed, startled.
"I said," Ziva paused, brushing her hair, "you need to get up. It is seven thirty." She had already changed into a purple shirt with khaki shorts. From the looks of it, she was leaving her hair naturally curly today, as well. Tony smiled; he liked it that way. "What are you smiling about?" Ziva asked him, as he stood up and walked closer to her. He came up to her and put his arms around his waist.
"You," he said, leaning his forehead against hers.
Ziva couldn't help smiling at that. "I love you," she said, kissing him.
"I love hearing you say that," he replied. "And I love you too."
"I'm glad we did this," Ziva admitted.
"Did what?" he asked, not entirely sure what she was talking about. Was she talking about them getting together? Or maybe simply just going to Disney together?
"All of this," she said. "If we had not come here, I am not sure that we would have gotten the push we needed."
Tony laughed. "Yeah. Remind me to thank them for that by the way," he said, somewhat sarcastically.
"Oh come on, Tony. All they did was help," she said, teasing him with another kiss.
"Yeah, they did. I guess you're right," he admitted.
"Of course I am. I'm always right," she said, playfully.
"I'm always right," he mocked in his best 'Ziva' voice. She glared at him with a look that clearly said 'just go get your shower'. He rolled his eyes. "I'm goin, I'm goin," he said, getting another kiss before walking off towards the bathroom.
Once he was gone, Ziva smiled. Ray had never treated her like that. But now she had Tony, who would do anything for her, no matter what. She was so thankful that they had finally admitted it to each other. She wasn't sure how much longer she could have handled this little 'cat and mouse' game they had been playing. But now she didn't have to worry about that. The only thing she had to worry about was Gibbs. She didn't think he'd mind that much, but if he did, he would have to get over it, because nothing, not even Leroy Jethro Gibbs, was getting in the way of the relationship that would hopefully last for the rest of her life.
"Tony?" Ziva asked, walking into the bathroom where he was shaving his face.
"Yeah?" He stopped for a moment to look at her before continuing. When she didn't respond, he repeated himself. "Yeah?"
She paused from playing with her fingernails to look at him. "What are we going to tell your family?... I mean, I know they probably know that something happened, but I still feel that we need to tell them."
Tony nodded and finished shaving. He grabbed a towel to wash his face off before walking to stand in front of her. "I know... Me too, and we will. But I agree with you though. I think they do know."
"What makes you say that?" she asked, smiling.
"Well... I'd say this might have something to do with it," he said. He took out his phone to show her a message he had gotten from Carman the night before. It read: I'm proud of you, little cousin. I hope this will keep you happy for a long time. :)
Ziva smiled when she read this. "I am glad they approve," she commented.
"Me too," he agreed. "But how could you not? I mean... look at us! We're adorable!"
Ziva smiled. "We are, aren't we?"
"Well I don't know about you, but..." Ziva crossed her arms and gave him the best glare that she could muster up, considering she was trying to hide her smile. "I'm kidding," he smiled, resting his hands on her arms. "You know I'm kidding," he repeated in a deeper voice, as he leaned in closer. Ziva smiled before meeting him halfway and resting her lips upon his. He responded and soon, the kiss became heated. He tangled his hands in her hair as she laid her hands in his chest. She pulled away a minute later.
"Come on, Tony," she said breathlessly. "We need to leave."
"Fine," he conceded. "As long as we get to do that again later."
"I promise," she bribed before giving him another kiss and walking away, getting her things ready for the day.
"Are we meeting up with your family, Tony?" Ziva asked him as they walked towards the bus stop to catch a bus to Animal Kingdom.
"Um, not that I know of. I think we're on our own again for today," he commented, taking her hand in his, as they neared the bus stop. They didn't see any of Tony's family, so they figured that they were probably already at the park. They sat down at the only empty bench, and Tony rested his arm across the back of it. Ziva sat down next to him, her hand never leaving his.
After about a minute of waiting, they heard a familiar voice. They looked up to see Daryn, Sophie, and Ansley holding Caroline walking their way.
"Uncle Tony!" Sophie exclaimed upon seeing them. She ran up to them and Ziva let go of Tony's hand so he could pick up Sophie and set her in his lap.
"Good morning Sophie," Tony told her. "Did you sleep well?" She shook her head fervently. "No?" he asked.
"I had a bad dream," she explained.
"Well that's not good," he responded.
"No," she said. Then she piped up, "But it's better now! Daddy made the monsters go away!"
"He did?" he asked, glancing up at Daryn, who was occupying the now empty bench across from them. Daryn glared at him and Tony averted his attention back to Sophie. She nodded. "Well that's great!" Sophie smiled before jumping off Tony's lap to sit next to her parents. "So where are Kendall and Jenna?" Tony asked, resting his arm back across the bench behind Ziva.
"Carman and Travis. They wanted to get there early enough to see how many times they could ride Expedition Everest," he said, rolling his eyes. "So, uh, what'd y'all do last night after we left?"
Tony and Ziva shared a look and smiled before turning back for Tony to answer the question. "We just walked around the countries."
"And...?" Daryn pressed, trying to suppress a smile, which Tony noticed.
"You talked to Carman, didn't you?" Tony suspected.
At this, Daryn's smile grew, before he became serious. "We're happy for you," he said. He looked over at Ziva. "Both of you," he clarified.
Ziva smiled and before she could respond, Tony spoke up. "Thanks. And don't think we didn't know what y'all were up to. Cuz we did," he said, joking again.
Daryn smiled sheepishly. "Oh look! It's our bus!" he exclaimed, seeing the bus drive up while looking for a way out. He stood up and led Ansley and the kids towards the bus. Tony smiled and rolled his eyes then led Ziva to the bus as well.
"So where to first?" Tony asked, as they started walking, already in the park.
"Safari!" Sophie suggested.
"Safari is it," Daryn agreed. He led the way and after about an hour and a half wait, they were all seated and ready to go.
"This might be one of my favorite rides at Disney," Tony told Ziva, leaning down and whispering softly into her ear. He sat next to her with his arm around her, as they watched the scenery around them go by as they started off on their 'two week adventure'. Ziva didn't say anything, leaving him room to finish, her eyes never leaving her surroundings. "I love seeing all the animals in their natural habitats. But don't ever tell McGee that," he said laughing, nudging her shoulder.
She smiled up at him. "I would never," she said, giving him a peck on the lips and turning back to look out around them.
A little while later, the truck they were in suddenly stopped. Ziva looked at Tony confused. "Why did we stop?" she asked.
"Look," he said smiling, motioning with his head for her to look ahead, in front of the truck. When she did, she saw that two giraffes eating the leaved off of a tree and were blocking the road.
"Look mommy!" They heard Sophie exclaim. "It's a momma and a baby giraffe!" she squealed. Tony and Ziva both laughed at the little girl and continued to watch the two giraffes. They waited for a few minutes before the bigger giraffe finally led the smaller one away.
Shortly after they started moving again, their ride was over. They all got off the ride and made their way through the exit, trying to escape the crowd before regrouping again.
"That was great," Ansley commented, once they were all away from the crowd. Together again under the roof of an empty patio for a restaurant.
"Yes, it was," Ziva agreed, smiling.
"Daddy, can we go to Dino-land?" Sophie asked, looking up at Daryn with a signature DiNozzo 'puppy dog' face.
Daryn sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Sure sweetheart."
Sophie's face erupted into a huge smile. "Yay! Come on daddy!" she said, dragging Daryn in a direction.
Tony watched as Daryn picked her up and led her in another direction. He looked over and Ansley who was watching them with a smile on her face. He stepped away from Ziva who was preoccupied with Caroline in her arms to notice his slight change in stance. "She sure is wrapped around his finger, huh?" he said.
She smiled even more. "Like you wouldn't believe," she sighed. "But you just wait. One day you'll have a little girl that will be able to bribe you into anything, too." She lowered her voice enough to where Ziva couldn't hear. "Someday soon," she added.
Tony smiled. "Yeah," he agreed, laughing. His gaze turned to watch Ziva with Caroline. She looked to be having a nice conversation with the baby, something Tony would have never pictured the 'old' Ziva doing. But now, he could easily see it becoming normal for her. "I hope," he said under his breath, walking towards her. When he got to her, she looked up from her 'conversation'. "Having fun?" he teased.
She mocked his face and then smiled at him. "Yes," she claimed.
"Ok," Ansley said, coming towards them. "I think we better start trying to go find Sophie and Daryn again." Ziva gave Caroline back to Ansley. "Y'all gonna come with us or...?"
"Nah," Tony said, putting his arm around Ziva. "Thanks, but I think we might go over to Everest and see what the wait is and go from there."
"Okay..." she said, repositioning Caroline on her hip. "Well have fun." She smiled at them before walking away in the direction that Daryn and Sophie had taken earlier.
Tony smiled and turned to look at Ziva, who was still watching Ansley walk away. He studied her face for a moment. "You want kids?" he blurted out. She turned to look at him with a slightly confused look covering her features. "You know... someday?" he tried to clarify.
She looked as if she were pondering this for a moment. She sighed. "Someday," she claimed. "It has never been something I have considered before, but now," she paused, "I would like to think I could settle down enough to raise a family. Once I'm married, of course."
"Just say when," he said.
She looked at him cautiously. "Are you serious?" she asked, almost scared to believe it.
"Yeah, I mean... I know we've only 'officially' been together for what? Not even twenty-four hours yet? And of course, we still need to settle some things first. But mentally... we've been together for years. And we already know each other better than anyone else ever possibly could. Mainly, my point is, I love you, Ziva and I'm not letting you go. Not again," he finished, taking a deep breath.
"I love you too, Tony," she said, turning to stand in front of him, resting her hands on his chest. "And I promise, you won't lose me. You know I would love to marry and start a family with you. But what's the rush? Why now? Let's just... Enjoy each other for the time being. When the time is right... It will happen. I promise. You are the only one I can imagine spending the rest of my life with." Ziva searched his eyes, trying to gauge his reaction.
"You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have sprung this onto you like that. It's just... Seeing you with Caroline an-"
"Tony," Ziva said to stop his rambling.
He sighed, looking into her eyes. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," she shook her head. "At least we have this out of the way. For now," she added.
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. "I love you."
"I love you too," she said, resting her head on his shoulder, running her hands up and down his back. "Now come on," she said, pulling back slightly to look at him. "Let's go have some fun."
He smiled at her and quickly led her out from the roof of the patio and back into the crowd, headed towards Expedition Everest.
"What is all this?" Ziva asked, looking around her at all the artifacts.
"It's the legend of the Yeti," he tried to explain. "The Indomitable Snowman," he said coming to stand next to her, looking into the glass case in front of them.
"Well if we have to stand in this line any longer, I will have the entire theory memorized," she said, clearly frustrated that they hadn't moved in the past ten minutes.
Tony tried not to laugh at her remark. He set his hand across the small of her back and began rubbing circles. Ziva smiled, relishing in the feeling.
"Finally," Ziva exclaimed a few minutes later, when the line in front of them started to move again. This time, they didn't stop walking until they were right near the end of the line, closer to the ride. When they were finally standing in the line of the row they were to be seated at, Tony rested his hands on Ziva's shoulders in front of him and started to massage her muscles.
He leant down and whispered in her ear. "Are you ready for the ride of your life?" he asked in a deep voice.
She laughed. "Could it really be that great, Tony?"
"You have no idea," he said, causing her to laugh more. "Why don't you answer me again after this," he said as their train came nearer. They slipped into the very front row and off they went.
"Well?" Tony asked Ziva as they walked through the gift shop at the end of the line.
"Well... You were right, it was fun, but still not the best," she claimed. "Although," she paused, holding up a finger to make a point, "the view was spectacular!"
"Yeah. But then we went backwards and actually had fun!" he said.
Ziva laughed at his childish remark. "Yes," she agreed. "We did have fun."
"See..." he said, walking towards her. "I knew you couldn't resist," he claimed, giving her a quick kiss on the lips.
She responded before pulling away. "I'm hungry," she stated.
"Ok, I can fix that. You're just gonna have to wait until we're somewhere private," he said, smiling devilishly at her. She glared at him in response. "Right, not what you meant," he smiled. "What do you want to eat?" he said, taking her hand and walking with her.
"I was thinking that Chinese place," she suggested.
"Yak and Yeti?" he asked. She nodded. "Ok. Sounds good. And... It's right across from Kali River Rapids. So when we're done eating, we can go river rafting! Theoretically, of course."
"That sounds like a very wet ride," she claimed, looking at him. All she got in return was his very 'innocent' smile.
"I've been thinking," Ziva said as they sat down at their table for lunch.
"Oh no," Tony teases, setting their food down. Ziva gave him a look that told him she was serious. "Sorry," he apologized. "What have you been thinking about?"
She took a deep breath. "How do suppose we tell Gibbs? I mean.. I know he did not approve of you with EJ. What makes you think he will react any different?" she asked, trying to approach the topic carefully.
"You are not EJ, Ziva. She distracted me from my work. You give me reason to work. You make me better at what I do," he said. He reached across the table to grab her hand. Noticing she was avoiding eye contact with him, he continued. "Even if he doesn't agree to that," he paused, rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand, "there's nothing he can do about it. It won't change my mind."
"I know," she said softly. She looked up at him, making eye contact. "I just do not want him to be mad."
"I know," he assured her. "I know. But... at least we will always have each other." This caused Ziva to smile. "So what else do we need?" he asked rhetorically.
They continued eating their lunch in silence, still hand in hand. When they were done, Tony went to throw their trash away before coming back to the table. He held his hand out to Ziva, who took it and stood from her chair. "Come here," he said, noticing the still somewhat sad expression on her face. He opened his arms to her, and she accepted it. She rested her head on his chest and breathed in his scent. "I love you," he said into her hair.
"I know. I love you too," she said before backing away. "Thanks. I needed that," she admitted.
"Hey," he said, "that's what I'm here for." She smiled back at him. "So, is there anything else you want to do today before we leave to head over to Downtown Disney?"
"I thought you said you wanted to go on the rapid thing," she said.
"Yeah, I do. But we may want to do that last considering we could possibly get completely soaked."
Ziva laughed. "Come on. How bad could it be?"
Tony pointed past her and she turned around. Her smile dropped when she saw a family coming out of the exit. Every single one of them was drenched from head to toe, making it very awkward to walk. She turned back around to Tony, who was smiling at her reaction. "Um, you know," she paused, "we don't have to ride that. We can always find something else to do," she suggested.
"Oh no. We are riding it. We're just gonna wait til last so we don't have to walk all around the park soaked. We can just head back to the hotel room and change," he said, smiling.
"Fine," she conceded. "But there is one thing."
"What?" he asked.
"I want to go ride that dinosaur ride," she told him.
"Okay. That's fine with me. Then we'll come back here and do the rapids, k?" he asked. She nodded in agreement before he led her off in the right direction.
"You do know that this ride is supposed to be scary, right?" Tony asked Ziva as they stood in line. They were in a room that was showing a movie explaining what their 'mission' was.
"Maybe for kids, yes. I will be fine," she claimed. "It is you I am worried about," she admitted, smiling a little.
"Ha!" he laughed. "We'll just see about that," he said. Then the doors opened and they were ushered out of the room, back into a line leading closer towards the ride.
After the ride, Ziva was laughing, mostly at Tony's expense.
"So I screamed once? What's the big deal?" he asked her.
She stopped herself from laughing to answer. "You said you would be fine. Clearly you were not."
"I was fine!" he argued. "Until that one dinosaur tried to jump out at me!" This made Ziva laugh harder.
She finally composed herself before resting her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry," she said sweetly. "Forgive me?" she asked, giving him her best puppy dog eyes that she knew he couldn't resist.
"Fine," he said crossing his arms. "But I'm gonna get pay back! Let's head over to Kali River Rapids, shall we?" he teased.
Her smile dropped. "You're an evil man," she said.
He smiled. "I know."
After the rapids, Tony was very wet, but Ziva was soaked. Tony was laughing until he realized how bad she was shivering. As they walked back to the bus stop, he walked behind her and ran his hands up and down her arms, trying to warm her up. Even if it was only just a little. As they stood at the bus stop, Tony smiled at Ziva, who felt his gaze on her and looked up.
"What?" she asked, sort of on the defensive side.
"You look cute when you're soaked," he stated.
"This isn't funny" she claimed.
"But it kinda is," he argued, starting to laugh.
Ziva couldn't hold it any longer; she started laughing along with Tony. "I really hate you right now," she told him.
"Of course you do," he said, pulling her into his arms. "Just think though," he said resting his chin atop her head. "When we get back to the room, you can take a nice hot shower. Sound good?" he asked. All he got in return was the feeling of her nodding her head against his chest.
Ok, so I know in Engaged Part II, Tony admitted he was terrified of kids, but I wrote this before that, and wasn't going to change it. But don't worry, there's clarification in the next chap!
Favorite part? Review please! They make my day!
