Good Time to be Alive

"It's a good, good, good time to be alive.

This world could throw me anything with you by my side."

Saturday, May 25, 2019 – Ziva's baby shower

"C'mon Zi! Gibbs is expecting us for lunch and we don't want to be late!" Tony yelled up the stairs to his wife who was getting herself and Tali ready to go to Gibbs house for what they thought was just lunch. He and Abby had been planning a surprise baby shower for Ziva for over a month and were able to talk Gibbs into letting them have it at his house. The decorating was left completely up to Abby with the promise that she would keep it a light, neutral theme. Meanwhile, Tony ordered all of the food from one of Ziva's favorite deli's that catered, as well as the cake which Senior promised to pick up and deliver to Gibbs. Now, Tony's job was to get Ziva to Gibbs' without her being suspicious. After five minutes, Tali came running down the stairs, shortly followed by Ziva. They were in matching striped dresses with their hair clipped half-up, Tali's pink with a bow in her hair and Ziva's a dark purple with a white flowy cardigan over top. "Well look at my beautiful girls."

"Thanks daddy! Look, Ima and I match!" Tali hugged Ziva's leg, smiling up at her mother.

"You do don't you." Tony smiled at his daughter before looking up into Ziva's eyes. She was looking lovingly down at their daughter, one arm held by Tali and the other hand laying on her bump. "So, are you two ready to go?" That broke Ziva out of her head and she nodded, telling Tali to go get her jacket out of the coat closet as the D.C. air was still cool. Tony helped Ziva into her shoes and grabbed her purse, leading his family out the door.

The DiNozzos pulled into Gibbs driveway five minutes late according to Ziva, but right on time according to Tony's plan. Thankfully, everyone else had carpooled and had parked down the street in the opposite direction they had driven in from so that Ziva wouldn't see their cars. He put the car into park and stepped back to open Tali's door before walking around to open Ziva's. Having been told of the surprise that morning, Tali ran ahead into the home and took her place between Gibbs and Senior in the living room. Behind them were Abby, Ducky, Tim and Delilah McGee and their baby, Jimmy, Breena, Victoria and Charles Palmer, three of Ziva's friends from work, Cassie, Mindy, and Amanda, and Abigail Borin.

"Well someone's in a hurry." Tony commented lightly, taking Ziva's hand in his and walking up the sidewalk. Tony opened the door, holding his hand out for Ziva to lead the way. Stepping inside, Ziva was welcomed by several voices yelling surprise. She looked around in awe at her friends and family gathered under a Baby Shower banner and took in the pastel yellow and green balloons that adorned Gibbs living room. Tony's hand came up to rest on the small of her back as he whispered "surprise" in her ear, causing her to turn around and envelope him in a hug, whispering "thank you." Shaking off her shock, she walked the rest of the way into the house, going up to each person for a hug or handshake. As usual, Abby was jumping up and down and wrapped her in an excited hug. Ready to get the party started, Abby ushered her into the kitchen where lunch trays were set up around the room and the cake was placed on the dining room table. Everyone grabbed their plates and gathered around the living room to eat and share light conversation. After eating, the four children went upstairs to their room where Gibbs had filled the room with hand-made toys to keep them occupied and had sleeping bags laid out across the floor in case they got tired. Meanwhile downstairs, the guys were relegated to the basement so all of the women could play the shower games Abby had prepared and the guys could work with Gibbs on putting the finishing touches on the furniture for Ziva's nursery.

Throughout the evening, the mothers shared their pregnancy and labor stories before calling the guys up and the kids downstairs for cake and presents. Abby pulled a kitchen chair strewn with balloons and streamers into the middle of the living room and brought the presents over within her reach. Tony pulled a chair over next to her and Tali came over to hand the presents to Ziva since bending over was no longer possible. Ziva opened bags full of clothes and books, including an NCIS onesie that came from Borin, a "Mommy's Little Ninja" onesie from the McGees, and a light gray onesie with the outline of a bat in the middle. The Palmers had purchased a bag full of newborn necessities including fingernail clippers and diaper cream. After all of the wrapped presents were opened, Ziva was instructed to stay still and not turn around as Tony, McGee, and Gibbs went into the other room where they hid the furniture earlier and carried it into the living room behind Ziva. Tony signaled to Abby that they were done and came around to Ziva's side.

"We have one more present for you Zi. I know that you had hoped this little one could have had the same crib Tali had when she was born, the same one that you slept in as a baby, but it was destroyed in the explosion." Ziva just looked at him and nodded, recalling their conversation almost two months ago when she confessed to him that she didn't want to buy baby furniture yet because she always wanted her children to have the same crib she slept in at her family's farmhouse. "I know you wanted the bed our baby slept in to have meaning, so I called in some reinforcements." Ziva's eyes started getting teary-eyed as she realized the meaning behind his words. "Turn around Zi." Ziva turned around in her chair and gasped at the hand-made crib and matching rocker that had a rich brown stain. There was a white and gray blanket with bears and foxes draped over the front of the crib which held a stuffed brown bear and orange fox. The rocker was adorned with a light gray cushion with two pillows in a dark purple and olive green. Ziva's hand went up to cover her mouth as she stood up and took it all in, looking at her husband then Gibbs.

"You did all of this?" Gibbs just shrugged.

"Can't take all the credit for it. Senior helped too." Ziva turned around and looked at her father-in-law in amazement.

"You, you worked on this too?"

"Well, mainly just the staining and getting the decorations. Gibbs here doesn't have an eye for decorating like I do." Ziva just smiled and walked up to him, enveloping him in a hug before moving to Gibbs.

"Thank you, thank you both so much." She tried hard not to cry but wiped at her eyes as a few tears escaped against her will. "I love it."

"I'm glad Ziver." Gibbs pressed a kiss to the side of her head before she went back to looking at her new furniture.

It was getting late and guests began heading home, Ziva making sure to stop each one to thank them for coming before they left until eventually only Abby and Senior remained with Gibbs and the DiNozzo family. The men were cleaning up as Abby, Ziva, and Tali began carrying presents out to the car. Tali ran back in to get the bags she could carry but Ziva paused before following her, waiting for Abby put the gifts in the back of their car before addressing her. "Thank you so much for the party Abby. I, um, I did not have one with Tali and now, being back here, with Tony, and being around family. Well it, it really means a lot."

"Oh Ziva of course." Abby pulled her into hug as Ziva tried, unsuccessfully, to hold in the tears, blaming it on the hormones. "I'm so glad you're back and that you and Tony are together and having another baby. This is such an exciting time and I wasn't gonna let it pass without throwing you a shower." As they pulled away, Abby was wiping at her eyes as well, trying not to mess up her makeup. Tali came back out with a small present and placed it in the backseat and this time Ziva and Abby followed to get the rest of the presents.

Thirty minutes later the car was packed and Gibbs house was completely cleaned. Ziva had made her rounds, hugging Senior, Abby, and Gibbs, saying goodbye and thanking them all. "Okay Tali, say goodbye, it is time to go."

"Ima, can I stay at Grampa Gibbs tonight? Pretty please?" Tali looked up at Ziva with big eyes that always made her think of Tony.

"Did you already ask Gibbs?" Ziva looked at her daughter curiously, knowing that the first time she asked to spend the night she had sprung it on her grandfather, although he was never going to turn her down.

"Actually I suggested it Ziver. Give you and DiNozzo a quiet night and I can bring her back tomorrow when I drop this stuff off." Gibbs answered, motioning to the crib and rocker. Ziva looked at her husband and they held one of their famous, eye-only, conversations, silently agreeing with each other.

"Yes Tali, you may stay the night. Just, please make sure to go to bed on time. And Gibbs, please do not let her sleep in too late." Gibbs just smiled and shook his head, remembering the last time Tali stayed over and he unknowingly let her stay up until 2:00 am with him as he worked in the basement. She was so tired the next morning that she didn't wake up until her parents arrived for brunch at 11:00 am. "And Tali, make sure to brush your teeth too okay?" Tali just smiled and nodded. "Okay then. Well, Tony are you ready to go?"

"Sure am Zi." Tony walked up to Senior, Abby, and Gibbs, hugging them each before stepping back next to Ziva. "Thank you all so much for helping me do this for Zi. I couldn't have done it without you." He was met with a series of "of course" and "you're welcome." The couple said goodbye to Tali and waved, walking back out to their car. Tony opened the passenger side door for Ziva before walking around to the other side and getting in. As soon as he got settled and backed out of the driveway, he reached over and laid his hand over hers and, as usual, she turned hers over to clasp their hands together.

"Today was amazing Tony. I really cannot believe you pulled that off. Every time you do something like this I fall in love a little bit more." Ziva pulled their intertwined hands up to press a kiss to the back of his. "Thank you again ahava."

"You are very welcome Zi. You are so very welcome."

AN: I had a day off so I got 2 chapters done in one day! I'm pretty happy with myself. "Good Time to be Alive" is also a song title by Lady Antebellum.

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