Ziva had been in this country for a few years now. This was not her first Christmas Season, but it was her first Christmas with a Christmas tree. Santa's big day was only a week away, and she and Tony were trying to decide where to put the tree in the new condo. Boxes were against the walls, some open and some still sealed. The furniture, at least, was mostly in the right places. They decided to put it in front of the large dining room window, careful not to block the Menorah that was perched on the windowsill.
The Menorah had been a sort of house-warming present to Ziva from Tony for her deciding to move in with him. His way of showing her that this was her home now, too.
They had been moving the things from Tony's storage unit into the U-haul (well, Ziva had been supervising Tony and his buddies move everything) when he asked her. Tony stopped moving things to take a rest and put an arm around her waist. She laid her head on his shoulder. He had been staying with her for a few weeks, and she made some quiet comment about missing him when he was gone. He didn't even blink.
"Move in with me."
She had took a step away from him to look at his face. He was still watching the others load up the truck. His face did not betray any feeling. He might as well have said 'Nice weather we're having.' She knew that the only other woman he had ever asked to move in with him had been Jeanne, so long ago. But those were different circumstances, and he had seemed so unsure about it afterwards. He didn't seem unsure now. He looked like he had just asked her the most natural thing in the world. She laid her head back on his shoulder.
"You sure?" He nodded.
"I've gotten so used to you cooking for me now, I might starve on my own. Besides, my big old bed will feel lonely." He gave her a half smile and a little squeeze and went back to help the guys.
And so they had moved his things that weekend, and hers the next. She had no lease where she was at, and her rent was already paid to the end of the month.
Although they were far from done unpacking, and had tons of work to do on the new place, Tony had insisted on the tree. What was Christmas without a tree? And he wanted their first Christmas together to be special. After they had decorated the tree and put the star on top, he turned the lights out and pulled her to sit on his lap in their big armchair. They sat quietly for awhile, enjoying the glow from the tree lights and each other peacefully.
Peaceful feelings did not, however, always last. Monday morning Ziva threw her bag down behind her desk and kicked it over to the corner with rage. The guys on her team raised eyebrows at each other. She slammed her body down into her chair and fumed.
"Everything okay, Ziva?" Gibbs asked with a small smirk. He knew enough about women to know that Tony had probably done something. He was right. Before she could answer, Tony came stomping into the bullpen and straight to her desk. He put his hands on it and leaned across, face close to hers.
"We are not done talking about this, Zee-vuh."
"Oh yes we are, To-nee!" She seethed and then jumped up to look him in the eye. "I am not a child and you will not tell me what to do!"
"If you didn't act like a child, I wouldn't have to tell you what to do." The look in her eyes when he said that made him back up a little. He mentally took inventory of the things on her desk, wondering what she'd pick as the weapon to kill him with. Instead she punched him once, hard, in the chest.
"If I am such a child, why are you the one who is insisting on arguing about this at work, hmmm? You followed me up here and now you're making McGee uncomfortable!" She nodded towards McGee who looked up at the sound of his name and put his hands up as if to say, 'Don't bring me into this!'
"C'mon, you're being unreasonable!" Tony crossed his arms and turned to Gibbs. "Gibbs… tell her she's being unreasonable!" Gibbs stood up and crossed his own arms, looking from one of them to the other.
"What is this all about?" He asked, against his better judgment. He didn't want to get involved, but he wanted this to be over and done with so that they could get back to work.
"She almost killed me this morning… and I don't think she should be driving anymore until after the baby's born." Tony told him, matter-of-factly.
"I did not, and he tried to take away my keys. Like he was my father or something!" She threw her hands up, exasperated.
"You drive like a maniac!"
"You are such a big baby sometimes!"
"You. Drive. Like. A. Maniac!" He repeated.
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Enough!" Gibbs shouted, coming to stand between them. The both turned away from each other, arms folded and sulking like children. "You two stop arguing right now or I'll headslap you both!" He shook his head at the look they gave him.
"You wouldn't-" They both started.
"I don't care that you're not on my team anymore, Dinozzo. And you're not pregnant in the head, David. Now both of you, knock it off and get to work."
They gave each other the evil eye and Tony turned to head back to his own team. Ziva sat down and watched him leave. He was so infuriating sometimes!
