(6 months pregnant)
"No!"
"Please Ziva!" Tony whined childishly.
"Tony, I am not wearing that!" she shouted, but couldn't hold back a smile.
"Zee-vah!" he whined again, adding a puppy dog face.
"No! You have locked me out of my apartment for two days! I am not being dragged into your childish games and putting on that blindfold! I just want to go inside." she protested, trying to get past him and unlock the door, but he leaned his body against the door, blocking her from any entrance.
"But it won't be a surprise if you don't wear it!" he pointed out.
"I do not like surprises!" she yelled back.
"So how come you left us in charge of decorating the nursery?" he questioned with a smirk.
Ziva rolled her eyes. "I thought that if-" then his words sunk into her. "I did not tell you to decorate the nursery, only to paint it! Tony I cannot beli-"
"Ziva, you're going to love it." he said gently wrapping his hands around her wrists.
She finally gave in with a sigh. "Fine. But no blindfold."
"Fine." he copied. "But…" he trailed off slightly and changed his mocking demeanor to a teasing one. "Then we're going to have to blindfold her." he finished looking down at her stomach.
"What?" she cried with a laugh, clutching her stomach.
He took the bandana and covered her stomach with it as she playfully smacked him away. "Come on, I think I can get it to fit around." he said, mockingly serious in his attempt to cover her bulging stomach with the red cloth.
"No! Tony! Stop!" she shrieked playfully, blocking his attempts to reach her unborn child. "Fine!" she shouted, stopping him in his tracks.
"I will put it on!" she huffed, snatching the blindfold from him. "But only for her sake." she placed a hand lovingly on her stomach.
"Oh of course." he replied sarcastically.
She glared at him before placing the blindfold back in his hands. She then turned around so he could tie it around her head.
"Ok, you can't see anything right?" he asked, turning her around and waving a hand in front of her face.
"Nothing, Tony! Can we go inside now?" she practically pleaded.
"You sure?" he teased.
"Tony, do not make me hurt you!" she threatened.
He let lose a chuckle before unlocking the door and led her slowly by the waist to the baby's nursery.
The smell of fresh paint and new wood filled Ziva's nostrils as she inhaled a deep breath.
"Ready?" an anticipated Tony whispered close to her ear.
Ziva nodded as she felt Tony's hand slowly pull one end of the bandana, until it was completely off her closed eyes.
When he saw no reaction he brought his head to watch her expression and saw her eyes closed. "You can open them now." he laughed.
She blushed slightly before slowly opening her eyes, gasping as soon as she did. Tony could see the admiration and awe in her eyes as she walked towards the middle of the nursery.
All four walls depicted a different city of importance to Ziva, with a different time of day filling the background.
"Haifa" she whispered to herself at the sight of the left wall. A magnificent mural of the Bahia Shrine and surrounding gardens painted on top of a mix of yellows and light blue was on the wall.
"D.C." Ziva pointed out, looking at the back wall, where the black, handcrafted, wooden crib leaned against. A nighttime illustration of a Washington D.C setting was painted, the background colors being dark blue and specks of silver. In the corner of that wall you could see the navy yard, a blue dodge charger driving up one of the streets.
"Paris" she noted in awe at the right wall. A perfect mixture of pinks, purples, and dark oranges filled the wall where a beautiful Parisian scene during the shadow of the night was depicted. The same view Tony and she had seen from their hotel. In the middle of the sky, to the right of the painted Eiffel Tower, in gold cursive, said "C'est la Vie."
"And Tel Aviv." she breathed, turning around. It was early morning in this scene and the Israeli district's skyline was displayed on the wall in front of a paint consisting of light blue, sea green, and pale yellow.
"Tony…" she trailed off, hormones kicking in, making her eyes start to tear. "This is…amazing." she whispered, walking to the black dresser underneath the gold writing in the Paris sunset.
Displayed on the purple runner placed on top of the dresser were a collection of black and white photos. There was at least one individual picture of each of the team members, Ducky, Abby, and even Palmer included. A group picture of the team, taken at a Christmas party a few years ago. There were a few other miscellaneous shots of the team at various occasions. Towards the back was a simple picture of Jenny and towards the front was the infamous Paris snapshot, in black and white, just like Ziva wanted it. Next to a sonogram picture was one of a newly pregnant Ziva and a goofy looking Tony, he had whispered a forgotten joke into her ear, and she had laughed, whether it be at the joke or just his demeanor, but Abby had captured the moment and it would now last a lifetime.
In the middle of the cluster of photos and was a simple black frame, no picture, just a plain white background. She picked it up curiously, turning around to face Tony, and shot him a confused look.
"It's for the baby's first picture." he explained; still watching her, with a smile, admiring the once empty room.
The rest of the furniture was black, the sheets, linens, pillows, and other accessories being various bold colors that matched the paints mixed into the backgrounds of the four walls.
Ziva dared to look up, but was glad she did. The silver ceiling was decorated with white swirls that could make Van Gough jealous.
She walked to the corner of the room, where a jet-black rocking chair sat, a few meaningful stuffed animals where scattred on the seat and surrounding area; a bat, a gray fox, a duck, spaniel, scorpion, a black Persian horse, some kind of troll looking thing dressed in scrubs, an adorable ninja, and a brown furry teddy bear complete with miniature Ray Bans.
After letting out a small chuckle at the display, she turned around to face Tony. "And when you pick a name, I saw these cool letter mat, rug things that I could get, you could lay it out in front of the crib if you want."
A teary Ziva nodded. "Tony…this is, perfect." she paused, watching him smile. "How-how did you do all this?" she asked, walking towards him.
"A guy owes me a favor." he smiled.
"It's amazing, I-I don't know what to say." she exclaimed, giving the room one last look, before continuing her journey to Tony.
"Just say you like it." he replied charmingly.
"Like it? Tony I love it!" she let loosed a smile before gently clutching her stomach. "And apparently so does she." Ziva grabbed Tony's hand and placed it on her stomach, so they could both feel the baby kicking excitedly from inside Ziva.
They both shared a laugh before Ziva gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you…so much, for everything."
Their eyes met and their lips threatened to touch, but before anything happen, the sound of platform boots hurrying into the apartment penetrated the comfortable silence.
"Did she see it, did she see it, did she see it?" an overly hyper Abby squealed from the hallway. She rushed in with a toothy grin plastered on her face until she saw Ziva.
"Dammit, Tony! You we're supposed to wait for us!" she scolded him with a mockingly angry face. "So," she put her focus on Ziva "Do you like it?" her excited tone asked.
"Abby, I love it." she replied kindly, making her way over to the Goth, as Abby wrapped her arms around Ziva. "Oh!" Abby exclaimed at the feel of Ziva's round stomach pressing against hers. "She's kicking!" she pointed out, putting a hand to Ziva's stomach. "Cool…" she whispered to herself at the gentle kicks.
The sound of shoes coming towards the nursery and slightly heavy breathing were heard. "Jeez Abs, how do you run in those shoes?" McGee questioned, catching his breath.
"What's wrong McCardio? Can't catch up?" Tony teased before Tim gave him a glare.
He then looked up at Ziva. "So, do you like it?" he asked.
"It is amazing." she replied, giving him a friendly hug.
"I do hope this did not cost you much." she addressed them all.
Tony shook his head. "Walls were a favor."
"And anything with color is a present from us." Tim stated, motioning to Abby, who smiled.
"What about the furniture?"
"Got bored making the same damn boat all the time." Gibbs said, entering the nursery, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"You made all these?" Ziva asked in amazement.
Gibbs shrugged. "Gibbs…they are beautiful." she said, running a hand over the smooth edge of the crib.
Ducky entered the room. "Hello darling! I see you got acquainted with the new nursery."
"Ducky, you knew too?"
He gave her a small chuckle and nodded.
Ziva looked around at all the people in the room, her team, her family.
"She is going to be very lucky." she smiled, rubbing her hand over her stomach.
And the links for my inspirations for the walls will be posted on my profile as soon as I can. Just imagine that scene, but lighter and in painting form.