Author's Note: You all are absolutely fantastic. The best readers on here :) Thank you once again for your fantastic reviews! I am so happy you enjoyed the last chapter as much as I did! To answer some questions, it's still going to be some time before we find out why Ziva is running, but that's only because I have a lot of ground to cover in the flashbacks! This Chapter is also one of my favorites and I hope it gives you another dose of what you've been looking for all along! Also, keep in mind, I am not a medical doctor so I do not claim to have any in-depth medical knowledge of anything related to the body.
Disclaimer: I own E.E. and Dr. Mathews and no one else at this point. The song (Can't Help Falling In Love) is wonderful and I am not sure who it is originally by (read as: I am too exhausted to research that) but Elvis is who I had in mind.
You take my hand and drag me head first, fearless.
December 3, 2015.
Tony's hands kept their position over Ziva's eyes as he led her down the short hallway and into the living room to stop beside of the table that now sat in front of the fireplace. He looked down at the table he had set with the nicest plastic dishes he could find and three white emergency candles he stole from underneath the sink. Tony had bread in a basket and water in the fanciest red solo cups and salad he had dumped out of a bag and combined with the remainder of the tomatoes Ziva had chosen from the store. His heart thumped in his chest and he could only hope that while it wasn't the fanciest dinner she would ever have, that at least it would mean more than any dinner she had ever been to. He slowly pulled his hands back from her face and chanced a peek by turning his head. Ziva's eyes lit up and her hand went to her mouth.
"Oh Tony, it is lovely." She turned her head, beaming a smile in his direction.
Tony grinned and motioned for her to sit before pulling out her chair. "All for you, Sweetcheeks."
"Thank you. I am..." Ziva stumbled over her words. "Grateful."
He kissed the top of her head before moving to the stereo and turning it on then disappearing into the kitchen. He emerged a few minutes later carrying a plate of chicken and potatoes and carefully sat them onto the table, sitting down in the process.
"Your dinner, m'lady." He grinned widely at her and she laughed, curling a piece of fallen hair behind her ear.
They ate in near silence, save for Ziva's comments regarding how delicious Tony's cooking actually was and how he would have to do so more often. The soft music floated through the room and finally Tony put his fork down and reached across the table, curling his fingers around Ziva's. She put her cup down and smiled at him.
"Happy Anniversary, Tony." She squeezed the tips of his fingers with hers.
"Happy Anniversary, Zi." Tony stood, lifting her hand and motioning her to join him. "Dance with me?"
He recognized the first few chords of the next song immediately. When she nodded, he gathered her in his arms tightly.
Wise men say, only fools rush in. But I can't help falling in love with you.
"Zi?" Tony mumbled against her hair as they continued to dance slowly.
"Hmm?" Ziva's eyes were closed as her head curled underneath Tony's chin, her cheek resting on his chest.
Shall I stay? Would it be a sin? If I can't help falling in love with you.
He cleared his throat enough to entice her to lift her head to look at him. Their gentle swaying never wavered. "I just..."
This woman, this wonderful, loving, caring, understanding woman, was the mother of his child and he couldn't even get his act together enough to tell her that he loved her. Her gaze was one of sympathy. Telling him that she understood even if he couldn't tell her. No. He could and would do this.
Like a river flows, surely to the sea. Darling, so it goes, some things are meant to be.
"You are..." He paused to get his wording right. "The best person I know. An amazing mother. And an amazing wife. And I feel foolish that I haven't really told you this until now."
Ziva's eyes began to tear up and she shook her head. Her hand squeezed his affectionately. "You do not have to. But thank you, Tony. You, yourself, are a wonderful father and husband."
Take my hand, take my whole life too. For I can't help falling in love with you.
Tony bent his head down, easily catching her eyes. "Ziva what I'm trying to tell you is that I love you." He rushed on. "I love you in the most ridiculous way. I have loved you since the first time I saw your smile across the bullpen. Even though I didn't know it then. And when we found you in Somalia, found out you weren't really dead, I fell head over heels in love with you, chained to that chair, filthy and terrified. When you gave birth to our beautiful daughter I could no longer imagine a world you both weren't in. And I'm sorry I could never say it before but 'I love you' isn't ever going to be enough to make you understand how I feel about you."
Time seemed to stand still. They were both in shock that it had actually come out of his mouth. The tears overflowed onto Ziva's cheeks and she sniffled, an involuntary whimper came next.
"Oh no, I'm sorry. Was I not supposed to say that? Did you not want me to?" Concern flooded Tony's features and he hastily wiped at Ziva's cheeks with his thumb.
Ziva shook her head quickly. "No it is just that... I have waited for you to say that for so long. It was a shock but I am happy."
Tony smiled and pulled her in, kissing first her nose then her lips. "Good."
Tony wrapped both of his arms around her, pulling Ziva tightly in and swaying her back and forth. A few heartbeats later Ziva spoke up. "And Tony?"
"Hmm?" He was mumbling against her hair again.
"I love you, too. Since the very first time I saw you." A smile spread across both of their faces as they continued to sway back and forth, clinging to the other.
For I can't help falling in love with you.
January 21, 2014.
"Tony?" Ziva wandered through their new home, her bare feet sliding along the hard wood floors effortlessly. The home was nothing short of magnificent and Ziva was completely in love with every square inch of it. From it's cathedral ceilings and deep hardwood floors, to the balcony outside of their room and the newly remodeled kitchen. She ventured further into the house, listening for sounds of her former partner in the mostly empty space. They had settled seven days ago after a grueling search but Tony hadn't let her in the house until this morning since he had read no less than 30 articles on the effects of paint fumes on an unborn fetus. They had both been happily surprised to learn that since Ziva's inheritance made up nearly 75% of the purchase price, Tony was able to offer the remaining 25% out of his savings. Ziva ran her hand along the freshly painted hallway wall as she padded through the house and called out again. "Tony, we're going to be late."
The former Mossad Agent poked her head in the first bedroom to the left. Tony was standing in the middle, staring at the freshly painted yellow and gray walls. She quietly let herself in and stood beside of him. Tony had wanted to paint the room already even though they wouldn't know what they would be having for quite some time and had already discussed the possibility of keeping it a surprise for the birth. She had succeeded in preventing him from buying furniture at this point, trying to impress upon him that at such an early stage, anything could happen. Still, she felt herself warming at his tenacity when it came to their unborn child. For all of the cursing and swearing he did when they had found out, he had been the one now who was the most excited about the prospect of having a child. It was to the point where she would wake in the morning to find him already lying with his head on her chest, rubbing her stomach and murmuring quietly. While she herself was terrified of the whole situation.
"Hmm?" Tony turned at her presence.
Ziva looked up at him, offering a smile then continued quietly. "We're going to be late for the doctor's appointment."
Tony's face went from contemplative to elated. "Is this the one where we get to see peanut on the screen?"
He had taken to calling their unborn child "peanut," much to Ziva's annoyance. "Yes, Tony."
"Well then, let's go!" He kissed her forehead and hurried toward the nursery door. Ziva followed, taking one last glance around the empty room as she exited, closing the door behind her.
The drive to the doctor's office was fairly quick, even though Tony would not let Ziva drive in an effort to protect their unborn child. When they entered the building, Ziva went to check them in as Tony sat down, pulling a magazine from the rack. Ten minutes later they were being called back by a nurse in pink scrubs with yellow ducks. "DiNozzo?"
"That's us." Tony stood first, offering his hand to Ziva who took it with a curious glance his way.
They had agreed to do this together, since obviously there was no way out of it. But in the same conversation they had also agreed to take whatever was happening between them slowly since now they had more than themselves to consider. Their child depended on them and having two parents who were acting like adolescents was not something Tony nor Ziva wanted. Nevertheless, she allowed him to hold her hand until they entered the room and the nurse began to take her measurements down.
"How long have you been married?" The question caught Ziva off guard as an intrusion rather than medical necessity and she looked from the nurse to Tony for confirmation.
"A month and a half." Tony answered for her, ignoring the nosey nature of the nurse.
"Well congratulations!" The blonde nurse smiled brightly and Ziva fought the urge to make a sarcastic or otherwise rude comment. "And how far along do you think you are?"
The clip board was poised in the writing position and Ziva forced herself to smile and answer appropriately. "I suppose almost 9 weeks."
The room was silent for a moment before the blonde interjected. "Oh! A honeymoon baby! Wow! You sure worked quick!"
This time Ziva did not fight the urge to glare at the top of the nurse's head. Tony reached out and touched her leg, in an effort to calm her building rage.
"Change into the pink gown and the doctor will be right with you!" The nurse offered another bright smile before walking out of the room.
Tony turned toward Ziva. "Zi, all of these people are going to be ridiculously happy for us. Especially Abby. You're just going to have to learn to be ok with it."
Ziva glared. "I do not want to have to deal with perky blonde dumbos who have never had a fetus inside of them!"
Tony grinned. "I think you mean bimbos. But you're much prettier, even moreso with peanut inside of you."
She rolled her eyes at him. "You're only saying that because you have to."
"No, I'm saying it because it's true. Now get changed."
This time Ziva glared harder before sliding down from the table to change into the horrendous pink gown offered to her by the blonde 'bimbo.' By the time she had finished and re-positioned herself on the table, the doctor had made an appearance.
"Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo?" The redhead asked, sliding into the room and closing the door behind her.
"Please, Ziva." The brunette offered, still trying to hold the gown closed in the front.
"Ziva." The redhead nodded and offered her hand. "Hi, I am Dr. Mathews."
Dr. Mathews then turned toward Tony and offered the same hand. Tony wiped his hands on his pants before accepting. "Tony."
The doctor smiled. "Tony and Ziva."
Twenty minutes later, after a full examination that had Tony staring at the corner of the room in embarrassment for the entirety of it, the doctor pulled a machine out from the corner. "So, based on what you have told me, I believe your due date will be August 28th. Though, we will need to do a blood test to be positive. And I do need to warn you, especially with first pregnancies, they can either be earlier or late, it's really up to them, so you should be prepared for anything."
Ziva bit her lip and looked at Tony. Tony winked. "When are we able to tell the sex of the...baby? Not that we have decided that we wish to know. But in the event..."
The doctor cut off Ziva's nervous rambling. "Usually around 19 weeks. So that would be the beginning of April. You will have your usual ultrasound and you can decide from there about whether you want to know the sex or not. You still have plenty of time."
Ziva nodded and Tony squeezed her hand. She did not want to know, but she wasn't sure that Tony would be able to keep himself together enough for the remainder of her pregnancy if he didn't know.
Dr. Mathews began setting up the ultrasound machine. "I don't want you to get discouraged if we do not have much success seeing your baby today. It's still very early and at this stage we're really only listening for the heart beat."
She waited for both Ziva and Tony to nod before flipping the machine on and lathering Ziva's still flat stomach with gel. Ziva snuck a glance at Tony before the transducer was placed on her stomach. They watched the screen for a while until the doctor pressed down harder, moving the wand into place. She smiled, turned the screen and increased the volume.
"That," The redhead pointed to the small oblong object on the screen with her finger. "Is your baby."
Both Tony and Ziva stared, eyes wide and mouths open, in disbelief and awe.
"Oh wow." Was all Ziva could breathe. Her eyes began to mist over and she blinked rapidly. A voice inside of her head warned her: she should not get attached this early, she knew the dangers.
"She looks like an animal cracker." All eyes were suddenly on Tony.
"She?" The doctor asked, amused.
"An animal cracker?" Ziva's voice was obviously annoyed.
Tony turned his attention to the doctor first. "That's what I think I hope for." And then to Ziva. "Well, she does! Like a cute little animal cracker."
Ziva rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the monitor. "You are absolutely infuriating. It simply looks like a fetus." Though her words were harsh, the anger wasn't in them.
Tony seemed to silently agree to disagree as he laced his fingers through Ziva's and stared at the screen again.
After a moment Ziva spoke up once more. "Are we able to have a picture?" Uncharacteristically, she had the sudden urge to show everyone who would look.
The doctor smiled. "Absolutely. I can print one for you."
Once the monitor had ceased to show their unborn child any longer and they had left the confines of the doctor's office, Tony and Ziva sat in the car, clutching the sonogram of the surprise addition to their new family.
A/N #2: Really just copious amounts of fluff. But also important: I love you's! So we're just moving right along here :) Reviews?