"Ziva?"

Ziva looks at the girl sitting across the table from her. She brushes her bangs out of her face, she tucks them behind her ears.

"Hannah I am... your mother, you do not have to call me Ziva."

"It may take a while for me to get used to calling you anything else," she admits.

"What were you going to ask?"

"Did you know my..."

Ziva answers before she can finish, "No I never met him."

"What about Matthew?"

"What about him?"

"He is your son."

"Yes," she nods.

"With Agent Gibbs?"

"Yes."

"Why? What makes him so special?"

"Agent Gibbs was a sniper."

"Are you afraid that you won't be able to change things?"

"Change what?"

"Who we become?"

"I only hope that the two of you become good people."

"Not assassins, or snipers?"

"I would prefer that..."

"We save lives instead of end them?"

"I just hope that you learn to see the good in the world, instead of always looking for the bad. Sometimes you will be surprised."

"Isn't it going to be awkward trying to raise a child with your boss?"

"You may have a future as an interrogator."

"Sorry, I just have a lot of questions."

"Yes. It will be awkward."

"Do you have romantic feelings for him?"

"No."

"What about Tony?"

"What about him?"

"Do you have romantic feelings for him?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"Wow, unbelievable. You don't know."

"Know what?"

"You are going to fall in love with him."

"I am not," Ziva argues, "I don't have time for those kinds of distractions right now."

"You have two children, so that means you can have no life, now?"

"I have two children, and usually work sixty hours a week, that means I can have no life."

"So were you in love with the guy from Miami?"

"How do you know about the guy from Miami?"

"You left me with Tony," she reminds her.

"He told you?"

"He seemed jealous."

"Don't tell him, but there is no one in Miami."

"You were just trying to make him jealous?"

"I was trying to annoy him, and I succeeded."

"Just to be clear, I still have to go to school?"

"Yes. I have to find a school for you. I have to find a bigger place to live, and someone to watch Matthew while I am working."

"The school thing can wait."

"Why don't you want to go to school? Are you afraid that you won't fit in?"

"I know I won't."

"You will learn."

"Maybe I don't want to."

"You will try."

"Yes ma'am."

"You do not seemed bothered that no one speaks Hebrew to you."

"I do not like speaking Hebrew. I prefer to speak English."

"Why?"

"Speaking Hebrew reminds me of where I have come from. I am not trying to deny who I am. I just... things weren't always pleasant, so I prefer not to think about them."

"Speaking Hebrew is part of who you are."

"It is not who I want to be. I do not want to be an Israeli trained Mossad assassin. I just want to be normal."

"I know."

"Although I don't think I have met anyone normal yet. Abby is really nice, but..."

"She isn't normal?" Ziva smiles.

"No."

"She is unique, and that is ok."

"When we would shoot at targets, I would always imagine faces. The faces were always of the people that I was with. They weren't the enemy, but I still shot them, and that was not ok with me."

"You should meet Ducky," Ziva replies.

"Ducky?"

"He is the Medical Examiner."

"He examines dead people?"

"Yes."

"Is he normal?"

"No, but you'll like him."

"Can we order now? I'm starving."

"Of course," Ziva yawns.

A week later Ziva finds herself settled into a new place, with a new routine. She makes her way into Hannah's room. She finds the eleven year old asleep on the floor.

"Hannah, get in bed," Ziva insists.

"Ok," Hannah climbs on top of the bed.

"Hannah under the covers," Ziva suggests.

"I'm not cold."

"Goodnight," she yawns as she turns out the bedroom light.

She walks down the hall towards her bedroom. Before she reaches it she begins to think about the shower that awaits her. Before she steps foot into the bedroom Matthew begins crying. She makes her way over to his crib. She lifts him out of the crib into her arms.

"Matthew you have been fed, and changed. I have rocked you, and sang to you. There is nothing wrong with you. Please go to sleep."

Her please prove futile. He continues to cry. She pats him. He cries louder. She walks back and fourth in front of the crib with him. He continues to cry. She sits down on the edge of her bed. She lies the wailing baby in her lap.

"I don't understand what you need. I wish that you could just tell me. You are driving me crazy. Could you please just go to sleep? I am very tired."

He ignores her. She touches his cheek. "You are acting like DiNozzo." He stops for a moment and looks at her. She kisses his cheek. "Is that it? You want to talk about DiNozzo?" The little boy stares up at her with big dark blue eyes. "Ok we can talk about DiNozzo. He told me you want to play for the Buckeyes. Is he right? It is ok if you want to play football, but you can't let it go to your head," she warns. His eyes remained fixed on her. "Do you think that we could finish this conversation in the bathroom? I need a shower. You can sit in your bouncy chair. What do you think?"

The baby doesn't object. She grabs her pajamas and takes the baby into the bathroom with her. She sits him on the floor in his bouncy chair. She turns on the shower. He begins crying.

"I take it we are not done talking?" Her voice quiets him from inside the shower. "So tell me what are we going to do tomorrow after we take Hannah to school? I think that we should come home and take a nap. Doesn't that sound good? Listen to me I sound crazy. I'm talking like an idiot. He doesn't even care what I say to him. He just likes my voice? It's ridiculous. Next I'm going to start talking about poop, and bottles when I am around adults. I think that I am spending too much time alone with a baby. I sound like someone's mother. Oh..." she stops herself. "Matthew are you still out there?" she pulls back the shower curtain and finds the baby sleeping in his bouncy seat. She finishes her shower, and quickly dries off. She pulls on her pajamas, and dries her hair. She puts Matthew in his crib, and climbs into bed. The instant she turns the light off he begins crying again. She climbs out of bed, and walks over to his crib. She picks him up out of the crib, and returns to her bed. She lies down, and places the cranky baby on her chest. She pats him until he falls back asleep. Afraid to wake him, she leaves him where he is. She pulls the covers over them. They stop at the baby's shoulders.

He walks into the apartment, and finds Hannah in the kitchen eating cereal.

"Morning," he greets.

"They're still asleep," she reveals.

"He won't be asleep for long," Gibbs looks at his watch.

"She won't either, if she's going to get me to school on time."

"I can take you."

"Why would you take me?"

"So she can sleep."

"Why doesn't she sleep when he sleeps?"

"Ask her," he replies.

He walks down the hall to Ziva's room. He carefully pushes open the door. He tiptoes over to her bedside. He finds Matthew asleep on her chest. One of Ziva's hands rests on the baby's butt, the other rests on his back. He carefully tries to slip the baby out from under her hands. Her grip tightens.

Without opening her eyes, "Why do you people always try to take him when I am sleeping?"

"I didn't mean to wake you."

"You are worse than Tony," she admits as she loosens her grip on the baby.

"I have an excuse."

"Just because he is your son, does not make it ok to sneak in my room, and take him."

"When would you like me to see him?"

"When I am awake Gibbs."

"I am usually at work."

She opens her eyes. "Why don't you keep him, overnight?"

"Would you be ok with that?"

"Not any less ok than someone prying him away from me while I am sleeping."

"You're not sleeping now."

"I was trying to sleep."

"You never sleep, do you?"

"I thought that I was a light sleeper before. Now I live in a house with two children, and I have become a basket case."

"Why don't I keep him tonight?"

"It's Friday night."

"Like I have plans."

"I'll bring him over after you get off work."

"Ok," he agrees as she lets go of the baby.