(Continued…)

Ziva closed the door slowly, Delilah still in her arms. She was still a little frazzled from the last few seconds. She leaned back on the door, sliding down slowly until she was sitting on the floor, back against the wall.

Delilah was now in the middle of her lap as she sat Indian style on the carpet. She grabbed for her mother's curls, fascinated with them, while Ziva stared into the distance, letting the whole thing sink in.

Her daughter could sense there was something strange going on with her mother. She lifted her hand up to her mother's mouth, pulling gently on her bottom lip until Ziva looked down, still a bit surprised.

"Oh," she looked at her daughter sweetly. "Sorry Lila." she breathed, taking her daughter's hands from her face. Delilah went back to playing with her mother's curls.

Ziva let out another breath. "You heard him too, yes?" she looked at Delilah, who now turned her attention back to her mother, but kept her fragile fingers intertwined in Ziva's hair. "He has never said that to me before. And nor have I to him." she mused aloud, surprise and a small chuckle filled her words.

She looked down at Delilah. "I know he says it to you all the time, but me…never." Delilah looked to her mother every now and then, but was still occupied by the different shades of brown embedded into her mother's curls. "And then I said it back." she said in disbelief. "I care about him, I spend every day with him, but love?" she questioned herself. Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought about it. She had said it, hadn't she meant it?

"Ma!" she heard her daughter mumble as she tapped on her chin, calling for attention. Ziva looked down at her daughter. A smile stained her face as her eyes met Delilah's. She rested her forehead against Delilah's and looked deeply into her daughter's one emerald green eye and one chocolate brown eye. "I love you, Delilah. That is one thing I am sure of." she said kindly before gently kissing her nose and lifting her head off of Delilah's.

"But Tony…" she trailed off in thought. "Could we even be?" She thought about it. She had never given it much thought. It wasn't until now that she had noticed how close they had become since Delilah was born. "Yes, we have a child together, but we did not make you together."

Ziva let out a sigh. "I suppose I love him, but to be romantically involved?" she questioned to herself.

She watched her daughter, how she was intrigued with only her mother's waves, she didn't have a care in the world right now. "You are lucky Delilah." she stated, pushing one of her daughter's curls behind her ears. "You have nothing to worry about."

Delilah looked at her mother and giggled, who in turn let out a chuckle. "You are so beautiful Delilah." she whispered. "You have changed me so much." she said after another minute. "And you are only nine months old." Delilah smiled at her, although she was practically oblivious to her mother's words. "If it was not for you, Tony and I…well Tony and I would not be this close." she began to ramble. "I am not sure what me and Tony would have been." her eyes, which had wandered off of Delilah's momentarily, came back to her daughter. "See, I cannot even imagine my life without you in it anymore." she said sweetly. Delilah smiled, causing her mother to smile even wider. "What do you think Lila? Could your father and I be together? Would you like that?" she looked at her questioningly.

Ziva's smile turned into a chuckle as she saw her daughter nod her head.

(Later than Day; Gibbs' Basement)

Ziva placed Delilah on the floor when she stepped off the last step to his basement. She stood behind Delilah, holding her hands up for balance as the baby wobbled towards Gibbs.

At the sound of their steps, Gibbs turned from the frame of his boat and smiled at the sight of Delilah. He crouched down, bouncing on his knees with open arms.

"Hey sniper." he greeted her as she Ziva let her take the last step by herself into Gibbs' arms. She giggled as he picked her up and kissed her cheek.

Placing her in her favorite spot underneath the wooden beams, he turned to Ziva. She watched her daughter raise her hands up to touch the beams that were close to her and run her fingers over the smooth wood underneath her. Then Ziva eyes went back to Gibbs, responding to his questioning look with innocence. "She misses you." she answered simply as he nodded, turning back to Delilah who seemed to be inspecting the ocean colored working glove she had found. "Blu." she gurgled at Gibbs, who let a smile slip from his lips.

"Smart kid." he turned to Ziva who nodded proudly.

"Blu." she declared once more, handing the glove to her mother. Ziva took it with a smile. "That is right Delilah, the glove is blue." she chuckled before turning back to Gibbs, who still had traces of smile on his lips.

"Well she is surrounded by smart people." Ziva shared a smile with Gibbs.

A sudden silence lingered in the basement as they both watched Delilah go through a pile of rags, looking for something interesting. "Do you think Tony will be a good father?" she blurted, almost regretting she asked.

He looked at her questioningly, thinking about the answer while searching for a reason why she would ask. "Has he not been?" he finale asked.

Ziva shook her head in assurance. "No, he has been wonderful. It is just…well I've heard the toddler years are difficult."

Gibbs chuckled at a memory long gone. "They are." he said absently.

"I do not even want to think about the teenage years." she smiled, thinking to herself. But when she caught Gibbs stoic look to Delilah, she regretted mentioning anything above the age of eight.

Ziva quickly picked up where she left off. "I just feel as if I have put it on his too quickly. I did not ask him to have a child." she paused. "But I also did not ask him to be part of Delilah's life. He just…did."

"Paternal instinct." Gibbs answered the unasked question.

She looked up at him softly. "So we will be good parents? Tony will be a good father?" Ziva did not realize how eager she sounded.

"Rule 15."

Ziva chuckled, looking to her daughter. "We always do." she responded quietly. "So you think he will be a good father?" she questioned again.

"He is a good father." he stated confidentially, watching his teammates' daughter carefully. When he looked at Delilah and how much she was learning every day, how much she had grown, he had no doubt in his mind that Tony was doing something right.

Gibbs sat on the frame of his boat, next to Delilah as they played a quick game of peek-a-boo behind the beams. She burst into a fit of giggles every time she saw his face appear from one side of the beam in front of her.

"I bet you were a good father." Ziva whispered to herself. Gibbs and Delilah continued their game, she never knew if he heard her or not, but she felt it needed to be said.

Soon, their game grew old and they stopped. Ziva could sense Delilah growing restless. Gibbs hadn't expected their visit and he didn't have many child-friendly things in his basement. But then an idea crossed his mind. He turned around and opened up the Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox he kept sitting on the desk. He slowly took out the small doll in the corner, staring momentarily at the smiling picture of Kelly and Maddie that the doll laid upon.

He walked toward Delilah silently. Ziva saw what was in her hand; she felt a lump in her throat growing. Gibbs smiled at Delilah as he came closer, this felt right. He handed it to her with a small smile. She took it gently. Somehow, she knew that this was special.

Delilah lightly brushed back the hair on the small doll and traced her fingers across its painted face.

"Gibbs…" Ziva said uneasily.

He shook his head, watching Delilah hold the doll, fascinated with it. "She can keep it." he smiled.