Bad Luck Turns to Good

Chapter 10

Jethro carried Ziva over the threshold the Saturday they returned to their practically new house. They had taken the previous two days off to move in, arrange everything, clean Ziva's apartment and finally, finally get settled living together like normal people. Jethro had been thrilled to be able to move out completely while the remodeling was being done but given the size of the apartment it hadn't taken long for them to be tripping over each other. He had missed his basement and his boat which had been neglected for months now.

Ziva too was thrilled to be out of the small apartment and living in a spacious, almost new house. She was looking forward to springtime when she could plant flowers and enjoy a yard for the first time since moving to America. She wanted to cook in her new kitchen and entertain their friends in the new house. She also was anxious for Jethro to get back to his boat; she knew he missed it and that he needed that solitude even now.

On Sunday after they moved in, they invited the team and Director and Mrs. Vance over for drinks and snacks to show off the new house. Jethro was very proud of what they had done and Ziva was happy to be a hostess in her lovely new home. She finally felt like things were becoming settled for her and Jethro.

That night the happy couple, still newlyweds by most measures, christened their new bed and unbeknownst to them created a new life. The next day they went back to work and their lives fell into a comfortable routine of work, enjoying their home and each other. Things weren't always perfect but both Jethro and Ziva were determined not to let any small irritation turn into something big. Jethro still brooded at times but as the weeks went on he became more and more comfortable having Ziva in the house and he found himself spending much less time in the basement. He didn't like to talk about cases at home; that had always been a rule with him and that continued now. Ziva was fine with that rule since she already knew what was going on at work. The difference now was that Jethro had someone to come home to who understood why he might be in a bad mood or angry or sad even. And, he was becoming more and more willing to allow Ziva to comfort him when he had those feelings. Rarely did Jethro feel the need to keep his feelings to himself these days. He loved coming home to find Ziva already in the kitchen with something delicious cooking. He was getting spoiled and he knew it. And he loved it.

Ziva might have had a more difficult time adjusting to marriage than Jethro simply because she had never been married before. Learning to let someone else be responsible for part of her life was not easy for Ziva. She was the one who always checked the door, she managed the food, the bills the laundry. Now she had a man in the house who was quite capable of doing some of that as well. And, he was willing to do it. Just as Jethro was learning to let Ziva comfort him, she was learning to let Jethro take care of her.

They talked about everything all the time and never really argued. Most people who knew them would have been surprised at how much conversation they had. They both enjoyed having someone to talk to about books they had read, places they had traveled or things they had experienced in their pasts. Of course they would both say they really, really enjoyed the sex that came with being married but each would have also said they enjoyed the other forms of intimacy they experienced. Jethro loved touching Ziva. Holding her hand, having her next to him on the couch, kissing her whenever he felt like it. Ziva found she actually craved his touch. She wanted him close whenever they were at home. Sometimes she feared she would smother him with her desire to be close but so far Jethro had not seemed to mind. She too enjoyed the freedom to touch or kiss him whenever the urge struck her; except at work of course. So far, being at work had not been a problem. For some reason when they stepped onto the Navy Yard business took over and they managed to keep their hands to themselves-mostly. There was one time when Ducky walked in on them in autopsy and one time in the conference room when poor Dorneget had surprised them, but so far that was it. All in all things were going very well for the newlyweds.

At the end of March Ziva began to feel out of sorts and realized she had missed her period. She waited a few weeks then, without alerting Jethro, went to her doctor for a checkup. When she left the office she was happy and anxious at the same time. She went back to work and told Jethro everything was fine.

That night she fixed one of her special meals and told Jethro she was pregnant. She worried that he would think it too soon but of course he was thrilled. Ziva would have preferred to have waited until they had been married for a year or so but she was excited and very happy to be carrying Jethro's child. They celebrated their good news that night and Ziva felt a tenderness and passion from Jethro she had not experienced before. He never stopped smiling.

They had planned to take some time off and go somewhere warm for a few days but work simply would not cooperate. One case after another kept them tied to DC until the second week of April. One morning that week Ziva woke up not feeling well and Jethro convinced her to stay home from work. They were only doing paperwork and hers could be done tomorrow. Ziva fell back to sleep after Jethro left but woke up a few hours later in pain and when she got up she realized she was bleeding. She called Jethro and told him to come home.

Coming home from the hospital that night was the hardest thing Ziva had done in a long time. She hated coming back into the house without her child in her womb. The doctor had assured her the miscarriage was not due to anything she had done or not done; it was simply a sad fact that it happened many times in the first trimester and did not signal anything wrong with her. He assured her she was in good health and could safely get pregnant again when she was ready.

They both stayed home the next day. Ziva was heartbroken and closed herself off from Jethro, too consumed with her own grief to see his. Even though the baby had been unplanned and quite a surprise, she had fallen in love with him (she was sure it was a boy)and now was inconsolable at his loss. Jethro tried his best to say and do the right things but nothing seemed to help. He knew Ziva needed her space so he retreated to the basement and consoled himself with the rhythm and familiarity of working on his boat. He too was heartbroken at the loss of their child and he needed the comfort that only his wife could give him.

Ziva slept most of that day with Jethro silently checking on her almost every hour. He stood in the doorway of their bedroom and watched her sleep. He longed to be in bed with her; holding her and telling her everything would be alright. He knew though that she needed time and space and he had to give that to her. It was all he could do at the moment. After watching her for a few minutes, Jethro would wander back down to the basement and resume his sanding therapy. It had worked for years and years on many other hurts and he was counting on it working again.

Late in the evening Jethro heard her footsteps upstairs and realized he hadn't checked on Ziva for over two hours. When he heard her coming down the stairs he put down the sander and brushed the fine covering of sawdust from his hands, arms and shirt. He stood by the workbench watching Ziva descend the basement stairs.

Wordlessly Ziva approached him and when Jethro opened his arms to her she fell into his embrace and clung to him for dear life. Jethro held her tightly and gently rocked them back and forth. Ziva had thought she was out of tears but being in his arms, inhaling the scent of him, she cried and cried all over again. Jethro didn't even try to hold back his tears. He knew Ziva understood his grief was as intense as hers and he had no hesitation in letting her see that.

Finally the first of June, Jethro managed to get them some time off and they went to Sanibel Island in Florida for a very delayed honeymoon. They had managed to find a small condo for rent on the beach and left DC on a Friday afternoon flight. There had been a difficult few weeks for both of them after the miscarriage but they were finally moving on and even talking about getting pregnant again soon. Ziva was in perfect health and Jethro didn't want to wait much longer to start their family. In fact he had high hopes of Ziva conceiving while they were on vacation. He certainly had plans to spend a lot of time trying!

The condo was fabulous with a gorgeous beach view from the deck that wrapped around two sides of the condo. They could see the beautiful blue of the Gulf from their breakfast bar. They deposited their bags in the bedroom the evening they arrived then set out to explore their beach and watch the sunset. Walking hand-in-hand on the white sand beach Jethro knew he had never been happier or more at peace since losing his wife and child. He loved Ziva more every day and appreciated all the blessings she brought to his life.

Ziva was also happier and more content than she had ever been. She was excited about her future with the man she loved more than life itself and looking forward to starting their family. She was just as anxious as Jethro to try for another pregnancy and she wanted very much for that to happen on this trip.

"So, Mrs. Gibbs, how do you like married life so far?"

They were sitting on the soft sand in front of their condo watching the sun disappear below the horizon.

"I think it is the best thing I have ever done. I love my husband more each day and there is nothing I can say in the negative about being Mrs. Jethro Gibbs."

"Wow."

"Is that all you have to say?"

"No. I have to say that I love you more than I did the day we got married. I love everything about being married to you. I will never have enough of you."

"It seems we made a good decision that day in the hospital then."

"An excellent decision. Really, Ziver is there anything I can do to make our marriage better?"

Ziva turned to look at him and pulled his hand to her mouth and kissed his palm. Where, she wondered, was that question coming from? Had she somehow indicated to him that she was unhappy about some aspect of their life together?

"Why do you ask?"

"Is there?"

"Absolutely not. You are a wonderful husband, Jethro. Thoughtful and loving, attentive and understanding of my many moods. You are everything I could ask for. Why did you think to ask such a question?"

"I just know that in the past I've screwed up and not known it until it was too late. I don't want to do that with you. With us."

"You won't. Jethro, you make me so happy. Do you know that when you walk into the room I immediately feel better? When I look at you and know that I am going home with you and will be able to sleep with you and wake up with you every day for the rest of my life I am almost overcome with joy. I thought maybe that would fade over time but it has not. I am proud to be your wife. I am excited to think about our future; our children."

"Speaking of children, do you think you might be ready to try again pretty soon?"

"How does tonight sound?"

Jethro laughed and answered her with a kiss that stole her breath away.

"Tonight sounds perfect."

They spent a relaxing ten days at the beach. Every day was beautiful and fun and Ziva wanted to stay forever. They slept late, sat in the sun and then the shade, played in the water and took long walks on the beach. They went out to dinner only twice preferring to stay in and eat by themselves. They sat on the patio in the mornings and watched for dolphins playing in the gulf and in the evenings they sat and watched the sun disappear. And of course they worked on making a baby.

Ziva had wondered before they got together, what kind of a lover Jethro would be. She had in fact fantasized about it innumerable times, a fact she reluctantly admitted to him late one night when she had had maybe one too many glasses of wine.

"You did huh? So, do I live up to the fantasy?"

Jethro was lying on his side next to her, tracing random patterns on her stomach and only occasionally straying to let his fingers caress her breasts. He had his head propped up in his other hand and his top leg wedged between hers.

"Oh my dear you more than live up to the fantasy. You surpass it."

"Tell me more."

Ziva scrunched her face up and tried not to laugh at him. He was so serious and yet he expected her to talk in complete sentences while lying naked with him running his hand over her, setting her skin afire with his touch.

"More? You mean like what I fantasized about you doing?"

"Yeah."

He scooted just a bit closer and she knew he was getting turned on by this conversation.

"Well, I used to have this dream that you and I got locked in the elevator and you made love to me there. You were very demanding and never said a word, you just took me. It was very hot."

"The elevator? You want me to do that sometime?"

"No, I do not! Good heavens! That was simply a wild fantasy. You, in the flesh are much more exciting and fulfilling than any fantasy I ever had."

Jethro leaned down and kissed her. His mouth traveled down her throat and he kissed each breast before returning to her mouth to taste her again. He moved over on top of her and braced himself over her on his elbows. They were touching in all the right places and Ziva once again was reminded how much better reality was than fantasy.

"Tell me another one."

Ziva closed her eyes. Jethro dropped his head and nuzzled her neck, kissing across her collarbone and back to that certain point below her ear that made her a little bit crazy.

"There was one where I came to see you in the basement and you were working on the boat wearing only some worn shorts. I was wearing a coat but nothing underneath. We had wild sex against the boat."

"I think we've done that already in real life."

"Yes we have and again, it was much better than my dream."

After that Jethro didn't need to hear any more stories. He set about proving to her again that things really were better in real life than in her dreams. That was the night they made a baby.

Returning to DC after such a perfect vacation was difficult but as usual work was so intense they didn't have time to dwell on missing the beach. Ziva was paying close attention to her monthly cycle and as soon as she was a week late she bought a home pregnancy test and to their great delight, found she was pregnant again. They didn't share their news with anyone at first, preferring to wait until the first trimester had safely passed. Once that milestone was reached they happily told the team their good news.

This pregnancy was picture perfect. Ziva felt very well throughout and worked right until two weeks before the baby was due. They had learned the baby was a boy so Jethro painted the nursery a pale blue and they spent an entire weekend stenciling and painting a water scene with fish and a sailboat on one wall. Jethro brought Kelly's baby bed down from the attic and after a thorough cleaning he made sure it was still as sturdy as when he'd built it then put on a fresh coat of paint and sealer. Ziva and Abby shopped for Clothes, sheets, blankets and all manner of things Jethro didn't know babies needed.

On a cold, blustery Thursday in March, Ziva called Jethro at work and told him he needed to come home. He made it in record time which was a good thing because all of a sudden their son was in a hurry. They were in the hospital barely an hour when Zachary Paul Gibbs made his grand entrance into the world. Ziva knew she would never forget the look of utter joy on her husband's face when the doctor handed him his son. Jethro couldn't stop smiling at the red, crying baby and tears filled his eyes.

He took his tiny, squalling little boy and handed him to his mother. He leaned down and kissed Ziva on the forehead.

"Thank you Ziver. Thank you so much."

"Oh, Jethro he is perfect! I cannot believe we finally have our son here."

"He's wonderful, just like his mom."

The nurse whisked Zachary off to be cleaned up and weighed but soon she brought him back wrapped in a soft blanket and sporting a knit cap. While the nurses tended to Ziva, Jethro cradled Zachary in his arms and ran the tip of his finger gently over his oh-so-soft cheeks. He whispered to him how much he loved him and promised he would always protect him no matter what. He wiped away a couple of tears that threatened to escape.

The happy family spent the rest of the day basking in the joy of a safe delivery and a healthy baby. When the lactation specialist came in to talk to Ziva, Jethro took the opportunity to make the necessary phone calls. As promised he called Ziva's father first then his dad and then the team. As difficult as it was, they agreed to wait until the next morning to visit. Jethro knew Abby was going crazy to see the baby but he was going to be selfish and keep Ziva and Zachary all to himself just for this one day.

Ziva took her full complement of maternity leave and Jethro stayed home for a month after the baby was born. He had missed the first month of Kelly's life so there was no way he was going back to work any sooner. He helped as much as he could but of course feeding was almost exclusively mom's area. Occasionally they supplemented breast milk with formula so Jethro did have that bonding time with his daughter. Much to Ziva's disappointment, breastfeeding did not work out for them after the first month but at least that meant Jethro was able to help even more with the overnight feedings. That was the only glitch in an otherwise perfect baby experience.

Zachary was an easy baby who loved to cuddle and was sleeping for four hours at a time when he was five weeks old. Once Jethro went back to work Ziva concentrated on getting Zachary on a proper day/night schedule. She was dreading the thought of going back to work and Jethro was dreading the idea of Ziva being shot at or punched or any of the other things that could happen to her when dealing with their suspects.

One Friday night after a particularly trying week at the office, Jethro decided to broach the subject of when Ziva was going back to work and what that work was going to be. They were lying in bed, both exhausted but neither ready for sleep. Ziva rolled onto her side and looked at her husband who was staring at the ceiling. She began letting her fingers wander over his chest and kissed him on the shoulder.

"What are you thinking about?"

"You going back to work."

"And?"

Jethro turned his head and moved away just enough to be able to look at her. The idea that this beautiful woman was his wife and the mother of his child still made his heart race. He hoped he never got over that feeing.

"Just wondering about you being in the field. Are you okay with that?"

They hadn't talked about this at all; not during the pregnancy and not since Zachary was born. Somehow they just avoided it because neither of them had the answer and they both knew the other was worried about it. They still had almost two months before Ziva's maternity leave would be up but obviously Jethro was worrying so they needed to talk about it now.

"I am not sure. I know I want to go back to work. I am not ready to be a stay-at-home mom yet. As much as I love Zach and enjoy being home now I know I need to work. What would I do if I was not on your team?"

"Good question. You want me to talk to Vance and see what he says?"

"Actually, I was thinking I might come in one day next week and talk to him. I could bring Zachary to meet everyone and if you were not busy we could go to lunch."

"That sounds good. Any idea what you'd like to do?"

"Maybe threat assessment or something where could we would use my language skills. I have skills I wasn't using on the team because they were not needed but surely there is something else I could do."

"I'm sure Vance can find something. Now, about those other skills; the ones you weren't using. Could you demonstrate a couple on me before I fall asleep?"

"My pleasure."

"I hope so."

TBC