A/N Ok here is more McGee/Ziva/Chelsea. More Case soon. Disclaimer: the usual. Tony/Abby teamwork up next.

McGee and Ziva took Chelsea back to Gibbs' house around seven. They were trying to keep her on a sort-of routine.

"Eat!" Chelsea demanded as soon as they stepped through the door.

"I will feed her." Ziva said, setting her on the ground.

"I'll look around."

McGee was under orders to lock every door and window in the house. After his rounds, he found Ziva and Chelsea at the table eating hot dogs.

"Yours are in the microwave." Ziva said through a full

mouth.

McGee smiled, grabbed his food, and sat down across from them.

"Purple." Chelsea said, "Purple pretty."

"What's purple Chelsea?" McGee asked her with a smile.

Chelsea just giggled, then promptly smeared ketchup on her face.

"Chelsea!" Ziva scolded.

"I think you mean red, sweetie." McGee chuckled, leaning across the table with a napkin.

"Red?" Chelsea's face screwed up in confusion.

McGee pointed to her ketchup. "Red."

Chelsea stared at the ketchup for a few moments. Then she squealed, stuck her hands in the ketchup and clapped frantically. "RED!"

McGee roared with laughter as red spatter landed all over Ziva.

"Timothy McGee."

McGee froze at the tone of Ziva's voice.

"Clean her up." Ziva stood up, "I'll be back."

"Oooh. Look what you did." McGee softly scolded, picking her up, "Now mommy's mad."

Chelsea looked at him with big innocent blue eyes. "Mommy mad?"

McGee wiped Chelsea off, much to her distaste. "No!"

"I think that is one of your favorite words." McGee chuckled, attempting to clean Chelsea's tightly curled hands.

He pried them open when Chelsea yawned. "You're sleepy."

Again, Chelsea shook her head wildly and hollered "NO!"

"I will get her ready for bed." Ziva said, returning with a new shirt on, "But she will insist that you read her a story."

That was Chelsea's newest thing. Someone had to read her a story or else. Her favorite book right then was The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss. So after Chelsea had been put into her pink footie pajamas, McGee settled down right next to her cot.

"Wead." Chelsea demanded, but a look from Ziva changed her tone, "Wead Pweeze?"

McGee laughed and began reading. It was his favorite part of the day.

Once Chelsea had fallen asleep, McGee and Ziva went upstairs to the living room. They curled up together and flipped on the TV. But as Ziva lay her head on McGee's chest, she could tell something was bothering him. He was tense. She glanced up at him.

"Tim." she said softly, bringing up her hand to caress his cheek, "What is the matter?"

McGee just hugged her closer and sighed. "It's this case Zee. Do you see how this is affecting Gibbs? I have never been worried about him more than I am right now."

Ziva cuddled into him. "We have to trust him like we always do Tim. He is our boss for a reason."

McGee numbly nodded his head, then looked down into her eyes. "Do you trust me Ziva?"

The intensity that pooled in his green eyes made her shiver. She felt warm all over as if she was standing in the deserts of her home land.

"I trust you Tim." Ziva whispered, reaching up, "With all my heart."

He kissed her then, her whole world tilting. If they were attacked at that moment, Ziva wouldn't have been able to move. And she only had one thought.

When they came up for air, Ziva took his face in her hands. She was about to say something that she guarded very deeply.

"I love you Timothy McGee."

"I love you more, Ziva David."

"I wuv you Mommy n' Daddy!"

Ziva and McGee jumped apart to find Chelsea out of bed. Another new thing was her fascination with stairs.

"Chelsea!" they groaned at the same time.

Thinking that was an invitation, Chelsea launched herself onto the couch. McGee caught her in his arms and pulled her close between them.

"We love you too Chelsea." Ziva said with a sleepy smile.

That's how Damon and Gibbs found them a few hours later.

"They're pretty neat together aren't they Gibbs." Damon whispered.

Gibbs only returned a smile.

Meanwhile, Tony hadn't left the office yet. He hated what the case had been doing to Gibbs, so he wanted to work harder, to see if he could find anything.

"Tony! Why are you still doing here?"

Tony looked up with stiff eyes to see Abby standing in front of his desk, hands on hips.

"Oh, Hey Abs." Tony said, clearing his dry throat, "I'm just-"

"Worried about Gibbs." Abby finished.

"No! Well, maybe. Ok yes." Tony worked through his feelings.

"Me too." Abby said, chewing on her lip, "Come on!"

"Where are we going?" Tony asked, grabbing up his files.

"We are gonna brainstorm in my lab." Abby told him when they had gotten into the elevator, "We're gonna solve this case if it kills us.