"I was worried I would not be able to buy one of these… it is called a…"
"Rocking chair… and believe me, with a new baby, it will get a lot of use" Gibbs said "once you pick out the rest of the furniture I will put a stain on it to match"
"Thank you, but how will I get the rest of the furniture I need" Ziva seemed worried about this detail.
"The team decided that we would provide it and have put together a lot of money… enough to get some high quality furniture when you and Jackie go to pick it out"
"You really did not have to do this for me… I would have found a way…"
"We might not be marines, but we still take care of our own," he replied firmly.
Jackie Vance arrived at Gibbs' house about twenty minutes later, she knew that he was building the rocking chair, but had not seen it for herself. She came down to the basement to find Ziva looking over a beautiful hand-made rocking chair.
They left and Gibbs went to making final preparations for staining the chair and getting it to Ziva's home.
He had expected a good reaction to the rocking chair, he knew that the fact that he had created it with his own two hands made it special to Ziva and probably would be a cherished piece. He knew that her father didn't give her special things like this that she could cherish for years to come so he felt good that he could do that for her.
McGee was deep in the story that Natalie had handed him that day, he had grabbed a red pen to make any notes with for her to see, but he didn't find much in the way of errors. Although he did find that the story seemed to pull him in and made him want to read more, the fact that he knew it was based on a true story only made it that much more appealing.
'This girl has some talent' he thought as he continued through the story. He finished it in one night and then went back to double check to make sure he had caught the errors, he didn't want to claim an editor position and then leave obvious errors in the final story.
The next day he met up with Natalie
"Natalie, I finished looking through your book and I called my publisher first thing this morning"
"You did what?" Natalie asked
"I called the publisher, you aren't reconsidering publishing it are you?"
"No, but I never expected you would use your contacts to help me get it published" Natalie said in shock
"Well, what kind of editor would I be if I didn't help you out?" Tim said
"We never negotiated what you would get out of this…" Natalie said
"Natalie, don't worry, I never expected to get anything out of this book; I don't really need it. Deep Six has given me more than I could have ever asked for. Not to mention I want to help your cousin as well." Tim said, "This has the potential to be a smash hit, they want to meet you"
A few days later Tim and Natalie went to the publisher, she had a bound copy of her book ready for them to see.
"Hello, you must be Natalie Wu" the publisher said
"Yes, that's me" Natalie said shaking the woman's hand
"I honestly didn't know what to expect when Thom called and told me about your book. I was actually surprised that he edited it for you"
"I was surprised too, all I actually had to do was ask… we work together in our day jobs," Natalie explained
"Thom, if we do publish this book, are we to put your name on it?"
"Yes, but as editor, I want to give her credit for writing it because it is her story to begin with"
"Okay, so her name will be in big letters at the top yours in smaller at the bottom, but still present"
It took a while for the book to be processed and to Natalie's surprise; she got a call from the publisher saying that they had picked up the book and it was sent to the printing company to be put out for the masses.
"Tim, they're publishing it!" Natalie said as she came into the office
"That's great!" Tim said, "Have they started working on the cover?"
"Yes, I had an old photo of the cousin the story was based off of from a year after she immigrated and their artist is using it as a reference for the picture on the front cover." Natalie said in excitement. Tim figured that her feet were barely touching the floor at that moment.
A few days later Natalie has to look at several cover options for the book, they didn't have the title; it was just the background picture.
"These are so amazing; I don't know which one to chose." She said as she looked through them, then she found one that looked more like some of old fashioned Chinese line art.
"This one… defiantly… it is absolutely beautiful and captures so much feeling." Natalie said
They picked the font and such for the title, author and editor to be placed on it and she was told she would soon get a finished version for her approval before it went into mass production.
Meanwhile Ziva David was curious as to what Natalie's book was about, she had heard very little about it.
The day soon rolled around that she was to approve the final cover before it went to print in paperback and hardcover form. She also had to pick colors for the hardcover version to be under its sleeve. She for the main color to be red, as it was considered lucky in the culture that she was raised surrounded by.
She arrived in the office after the release date was set unable to wipe the grin off her face.
"Natalie what has you so excited?" Tony asked
"I have a release date for my book," Natalie said in excitement.
"Really… when would that be?" Ziva asked
Natalie told them the date
"I also heard that some of the bookstores might allow people to reserve copies ahead of time because of the fact that it was edited by the author of the best seller Deep Six," Natalie said
"Okay, I will defiantly get a copy" Ziva said
"Right now the critics are having their chance at it, and well, that makes me a bit nervous"
"Will you get to see what they say before the general public does?" Ziva asked
"Yes" Natalie replied and then went to her desk and pulled up her e-mail, as that was how she was going to get the information (A/n: I'm not sure if that's how it really works so just go with it). She was surprised to see two e-mails about the critics' reviews.
She opened the first and began to read.
"When I saw this was edited by Thom E Gemcity, I expected a crime drama, not this, but I have to say it was a pleasing surprise. For a first time author it shows a natural talent for pulling the reader in and making them want more."
She then opened the second one and began to read
"This is one of the few ageless stories that show how much a mother is willing to do to give her children a better life than she had. It is a classic in the making showing the strength of a mother's love for her unborn child." She hadn't realized she was reading aloud until Tim cleared his throat and gave her a thumbs-up.
The book had many copies reserved before it came out and Ziva was among the ones that had paid down to make sure she got a copy when it did come out.
Ziva picked up her copy the day it came out. She then went home to relax and read her newly purchased book. She soon came to understand why the critics said what they did about it. The book was obviously not something that most would think would come from Thom E Gemcity, but it was a brilliantly written book.
She knew that her delivery date was fast approaching and was nervous about the whole thing; she had heard her fair share of horror stories of labor and delivery. She prayed for an easy delivery, as did several of her friends pray for her to have that luxury.
The day that Ziva was to take off for her maternity leave, but things were not going to go as planned.
It was midday and the snow was falling harder than expected.
"Um, boss, it looks like there is a storm brewing out there" Tim said. Ziva had a weather site up on her computer watching the radar intently. She was meanwhile ignoring some minor stomach cramps.
She had put maternity leave off until the people in human resources had started putting pressure on her and Director Vance about the issue.
She was chewing on her lower lip trying to hide the fact that the cramps were getting stronger.
She swore quietly in Hebrew, but that didn't get past Gibbs.
"Ziva, what's wrong?" he asked
"Nothing," she replied
"You're having contractions, aren't you?"
"False labor" Ziva replied
"We'll keep an eye on this… if they get more regular, then we'll have a problem"
At that point, Director Vance came downstairs and gave them the news that a freak blizzard had put the building in complete lockdown for safety reasons.
Gibbs got the Director out of earshot of Ziva to update him on some issues
"Ziva is having Braxton Hicks contractions, or so she thinks… I think she's going into labor," Gibbs said
"Keep an eye on her, and if things change let me know and we'll try and get a plan in motion." Vance said
"I'm going to get Abby, Ducky and Jimmy to come up here with us," Gibbs said
"Whatever you think is best" Vance said and went back to his office.
Gibbs went back to his desk and placed the calls to autopsy and Abby's lab to get them up to the squad room. They arrived and went to talking with different people in the squad room when something happened with Ziva
"Gibbs… something is wrong…," she said looking quite surprised and confused.
"What happened, Ziva?" he asked
"I just… felt a rush of fluid…"
"Oh shit…" Gibbs muttered
To be Continued…