Thanks everyone for the awesome reviews. Sorry to leave you all on a cliffhanger but I had to... well I wanted to. Lol. Here you go. Some Tiva and a bit of Kemily (sorry RavennaNightwind).

Disclaimer: Same as other chapters.


Chapter Twenty-Eight: First Time for Everything

Tony leaned in closer to her. "Stay with me," he requested in a breathy whisper.

"Tony," Ziva began, drawing in a deep breath. "You are emotional and not thinking straight. Are you sure you will be fine with Anthony tonight?"

Tony pulled away from her. "Yeah," he replied, not even looking at her.

Ziva sighed and walked back into his apartment, sitting back down on the couch. Tony gave her a confused glance and followed her into the room, closing the front door behind him.

"Do you want to talk about it, Tony?" Ziva offered tiredly. "I will listen."

Tony remained silent and still. He did not have anything else to say to her.

"I am your partner, Tony," Ziva said, rather angrily, as she stood up and walked towards him. "I know that something is wrong. I am asking you to share it with me."

Tony let out the deep breath that he was holding. "I'm going to have a shower."

"Then you will tell me what is going on with you," Ziva ordered, sitting back down on the couch as Tony walked out of the room.

He was starting to wish that he did not ask her to stay, but he did not expect her to pressure him into talking to her. He was startled to learn that he had hoped for something else from her. Letting the warm water rush over his face, Tony found himself lost in deep thought. Why had he really asked Ziva to stay? Tony had a one bedroom apartment and was sharing it with his son.

In truth, he had completely forgotten that Anthony was sleeping in the same room. He slowly turned the tap off and stepped out of the shower, allowing the cool draught to rush against his wet skin. It was refreshing. He dried himself quickly and tied the towel around his waist.

Tony was attempting to make a quick dash to his room to change quickly when he heard a snore coming from the lounge room. Intrigued, he waltzed in his towel into the lounge room to see that Ziva had crashed on his couch, deep in a slumber.

"At least I get out of a difficult conservation," Tony muttered under his breath. He lifted Ziva into his arms, wondering whether or not she would stir, and carried her to his room, laying her down in between the sheets and tucking her into his bed. He changed quickly and looked at Ziva and Anthony. They had the same peaceful look on their faces as they slept. Tony smiled and kissed them both lightly on the forehead. He then grabbed a blanket and pillow and dragged them out of the room, closing the bedroom door behind him.

oOo

Ziva woke the next morning to the wafting scent of pancakes in a bed that she recognised but was not her own.

"How the hell..." she began, but then looked over to the port-a-cot to see her nearly year-old son fast asleep. She was still wearing the tracksuit pants and t-shirt that she'd worn to drop him off at Tony's, so she could only conclude that she'd fallen asleep while waiting for Tony to get out of the shower and he'd carried her to his bed. She looked over to the other side of the bed to see that it was still made.

Anthony slowly woke up not long after Ziva and lifted himself up to the edge of the cot, smiling at his mother. She smiled back and lifted him out, carrying him into the lounge room, where she noticed a makeshift bed on Tony's couch, and putting him down with a few of his toys.

"Did you sleep out here last night?" Ziva asked, walking into the kitchen.

Tony turned around at the sound of her voice and smiled. "Well... you were already asleep and I didn't wanna risk my life waking you, O fearless ninja."

"I'm sure you didn't," Ziva replied with a smile and walked up to the frypan, expertly flipping over a pancake. Tony was stirring the mix with a spoon before walking over to the pan to pour it in. He leant up against Ziva, feeling the shiver course through her spine as he did so, and slowly dribbled a blob of the course fluid on to the spurting pan. Ziva looked up at him and they remained in that position for several moments, slowly edging towards each other.

Tony's breath was caught for a second as he firmly pressed his body against hers and leaned down and towards her. They were now less than an inch from each other. Ziva was staring deep into Tony's eyes and he was staring back. Around them, the whole world had stopped. They were in an endless ravine, the only two people around for miles. Tony's lips brushed against Ziva's, but she pulled away when she heard a scream.

Anthony was crying in the other room. She immediately pushed passed Tony and ran to her son, who had fallen at the step. She picked him up and carried him into the kitchen, slowly soothing him in Hebrew. Tony walked over to them as Ziva passed the boy over to him and went back to the cooking.

"Ziva..." Tony began.

"Don't, Tony," she warned, cutting him off.

He remained quiet and merely stared at her until she could no longer take it.

"I understand how you must be feeling after what happened with Jeanne, Tony," Ziva said.

"This is not about Jeanne, it's about us, Ziva," Tony told her ardently.

"There is no us, Tony!" Ziva shouted back. Anthony looked at her with fright visible on his little face. "You are my friend and partner, Tony. We are not anything more than that." And she turned back around, placing a few pancakes on each plate and dousing them in whipped cream and maple syrup.

On the other side of town, Emily was knocking on the front door of Ziva's place. Kalev answered it in his boxers after a few minutes and leant up against the doorway, seductively glancing at his neighbour. "Emily, what brings you here?"

Emily couldn't answer. Her mind was trapped as her eyes travelled up and down the man's muscular and well-toned body. The only thoughts that were going through her head were those of Kalev throwing her down on her bed and passionately making love to her.

"Uh, I-I came to see Ziva," Emily stuttered out, not able to make contact with his eyes. She couldn't believe that she was acting that way. She was Emily Prentiss after all, the woman who could hold her own and keep her thoughts to herself. The unprofilable profiler.

"She's not here," Kalev answered. "Are you sure I can't help you?"

He didn't even wait for her to answer before pulling her into the apartment, closing the front door and pushing her up against it. Emily leant in and kissed him passionately, tugging on his lower lip as his hands made their way down her body. She moaned into the kiss as his hand gently caressed her left breast. Kalev dropped his hands and pulled her tee over her head before resuming the kiss. They awkwardly tried to move towards the stairs until Kalev gave up and swept her into his arms bridal style and carried her up the stairs and into his room. He gently laid her down on the bed before returning to close the door.

Emily pulled him down on top of her as he walked back and hungrily sucked away at his lips. Kalev's only thoughts as he ripped off Emily's sleep shorts were that he hoped Ziva wasn't planning to come home any time soon. He wanted his first time with Emily to last forever.

oOo

Anthony's first birthday rolled around quickly after that. Tony and Kalev had spent the whole day decorating the David condo with balloons and streamers, while Emily and Ziva were in the kitchen with a children's cookbook making all sorts of cupcakes and children's finger foods, even though a majority of the guests attending were adults. By luck, both the NCIS and BAU teams did not have a case, although Hotch suspected that that was due to Jordan, the agent replacing JJ as the team's liaison while she was on maternity leave. Ziva had also invited her and Marcel to the party.

By one o'clock, the guests had begun to arrive. Hotch arrived first with Jack, who immediately went for the cupcakes only to be stopped by Emily, who told him only to take one. It was a joyous occasion not marred by any unfortunate event. True to form, Tony was more interested in his son than any woman that turned up at the party. He didn't even look sideways at Marcel's new girlfriend, whom he recognised from the gym.

They cut the cake at about three o'clock, but Anthony was far more interested in opening up his presents. And there were definitely a lot of them. It seemed that everyone at the party had bought him a large, and beautifully wrapped, gift for his first birthday. Ziva allowed him to open them after the cake was served and the guests stood or sat around him to see what he had gotten. There were Mega Blocks from Gibbs, a tricycle that doubled as a walker from Emily, as well as a range of Disney DVDs, clothes and other toys. But Ziva's eye was on the box that had not been open. It was very large and had Swiss cheese holes on the top. And it was moving, shaking, growling... There was something alive in there and she knew it.

Tony brought the large box forward to Anthony, who eagerly eyed it. Ziva plucked off the card and read it to herself.

Dear Anthony,

For your very memorable first birthday.

Happy Birthday.

Love from Daddy.

Ziva untied the ribbon around it carefully and opened the box. A gorgeous little puppy with a light, soft hairy coat, dark brown eyes and floppy ears jumped out at her, barking. She jumped back a little, right into Tony, as Anthony shrieked with joy. The other guests did not know how to react.

"You bought him a dog?" Ziva hissed at Tony, who was smiling widely as his son lifted himself up to see the dog.

"Don't worry I had Marcel check with your landlord," Tony whispered back.

"What about checking with me?" Ziva asked in a low voice, feigning a smile on her face.

"What breed is that, Tony?" Emily asked, edging forward and picking the puppy up out of the box.

"Kelev K'naani," Ziva told her as the others gathered around to see the dog.

"Canaan Dog," Tony added, clarifying the confused looks on the faces of his colleagues and friends.

"I had one when I was a child," Ziva announced in a soft voice, picking up Anthony, who wanted his puppy back, and showing him how to pet the dog.

"I know," Tony piped up. "Kalev told me."

Ziva smiled back at him, getting over the initial shock of now having a dog as well as a one-year old to take care of.

Most of the guests had left by four thirty, but a few had joined Tony in the horrible game of picking out a name for the dog.

"Israeli dog should get a Hebrew name?" Emily suggested, sitting around in a circle with Kalev, Reid, Morgan, McGee and Abby.

"Only if I can pronounce it," Tony answered, joining them in the circle. Emily was running a brush through the puppy's very short hair.

"And if Anthony can pronounce it," Emily added. "Remember, it's his dog."

"Okay, what about Cujo?" Tony suggested as Morgan groaned, knowing that they were going to start Tony on his movies again.

"Cujo was a St. Benard," Abby pointed out.

"What about Toto?" Ziva asked, carrying Anthony into the room and placing him on the floor with his new toys. He started to walk over to the group, but fell and continued crawling. He only wanted to play with his puppy.

"From the Wizard of Oz?" Morgan questioned, shaking his head as he did.

"What is wrong with the Wizard of Oz?" Ziva asked incredulously, sitting on the lounge between Reid and Abby.

Abby merely shook her head. "Toto was a mutt, anyway."

"Okay, Jerry Lee," Tony added.

"From K-9?" McGee asked.

"Duh, McState-the-Obvious," Tony replied mockingly. "And don't say no because he's a German Shepherd. I doubt that there were any Canaan dogs in movies."

"No to Jerry Lee," Ziva concluded. The group murmured in agreement.

"Beethoven?!" Tony half-shouted, getting up and walking to Ziva's piano, flipping the lid up and playing a portion of Ludwig van Beethoven's fifth symphony, as he had seen in the movie. The puppy perked up his ears and then rolled over on the floor.

"See!" Tony announced, moving away from the piano.

"Actually, Tony, a study was recently conducted in Northern Ireland that found that dogs react to classical music," Reid pointed out, in his signature genius voice. "They find it relaxing."

"Alright, fine," Tony conceded, sitting back down on the floor. "No to Beethoven."

They argued about names for another fifteen minutes before Emily interrupted them. "Storm's coming. They said that it might snow tonight."

The group murmured in agreement, looking out the window and deciding to head home before the storm hit. They bud each other goodbye and wished Anthony another Happy Birthday before leaving.

Tony, Ziva, Kalev and Emily were left to clean up while Anthony played with the puppy.

"What did you call your dog?" Emily asked Ziva as the two washed up in Ziva's kitchen.

"Zipiya," Ziva replied sadly, staring down at the soapy water. "It is Hebrew for hope. She was such a beautiful dog."

"What happened to her?" Emily asked, ceasing to wash the dishes instead, glancing over at her friend.

"My father said she was too much of a distraction for us," Ziva explained in a monotonous voice. "For me, Kalev and Tali, but mainly me. My friend, Amir, said he would take care of her. They were both killed in an Israeli air strike."

"Amir was Palestinian?"

Ziva shook her head as she went back to washing the dishes. "An Israeli Arab, but he had family that lived in Gaza. He was visiting them when it happened. He never let Zipiya out of his sight."

"Have you seen The Fox and The Hound?" Emily asked after a few minutes of silence.

"No, I haven't," Ziva replied, confused by the change in topic.

"The fox and the hound were friends as children, but raised to be predator and prey. It was an unlikely friendship. The fox's name was Tod. I think that would be a nice name for Anthony's puppy, and of course it holds significant meaning for your friends at NCIS."

"Todd?" Ziva asked, her face perking up to indicate that she liked it.

Emily nodded and smiled. "Mm hmm, Todd."


A/N: Well, Tony had to buy Anthony something to make up for his horrible practices as a father in recent times. Reviews are loved people.

P.S. Check out Abducted by Zee-vah for another CM/NCIS crossover. First fic, so be nice and sprea the love of reviews.

.net/s/4677715/1/Abducted