Even with Tony's heart beating in her ear and his arms loosely drawn over her body, a nightmare still seized Ziva in the early hours of the morning, leaving her whimpering and shaking. Her reaction drew Tony from the hold sleep had on him and with oppressive weariness muddling his thoughts, he kissed and touched and whispered the bad dream into oblivion.
Ziva opened her eyes a moment later and stared at him. "I do not know how you do that."
His sleep clouded eyes held only love. "They don't belong here. I just remind you that this life is stronger than the memories."
Her hand caressed his face. "I am sorry to wake you." She kissed the corner of his mouth. "Go back to sleep."
Tony was about to follow orders when he felt her move away and squinted into the darkness. "Bathroom?"
Ziva stopped. "Partly. But I cannot sleep any more right now. It is too close."
He sighed and waited for her to close the door. Ziva was up, so he was up. Stifling a yawn, Tony pulled on a t-shirt, since it wasn't a requirement for sharing the bed since the night Ziva decided she liked touching him, and shuffled downstairs to the kitchen.
The kettle was filled and a mug found without any lights. Sugar was a little more challenging, but it eventually turned up and Tony realized he hadn't made Ziva tea since they'd been married. It was an old ritual, a comforting one that reminded him of their two weeks and what it was like to have her back. He'd have to rectify that error and do it more often.
Back upstairs, Ziva met him in the hall, confusion written on her features. "Tony, why are you awake?"
"Because you are," he said simply, handing her a DVD. "Put it on. It'll be like old times." Only better, his mind added. She looked ready to argue with him, but Tony shook his head. "I love you Ziva, let me do this."
Ziva acquiesced and did as he asked. Soon they were cuddled back together in a semi-sitting position on their bed, with his wife sipping her tea slowly, watching the opening credits of a drama he knew would be fine to fall asleep with. Only they didn't. To his surprise, they made it to the end before Ziva gave up fighting to stay away. Tony wasn't sure how he'd make it through two hours, but when he finally closed his eyes shortly before 0400, he knew it was going to be a very long day.
NCIS
Ziva didn't wake until almost ten am the next morning and was distressed to realize she'd slept through Tony getting up and ready. A piece of stationery on his pillow caught her eye and she reached for it. The folded paper was marked with her husband's bold scrawl and she smiled before she even read it.
Z - this is as close as I could get to following Rule #1. After last night, I couldn't wake you up just to say goodbye, we don't like that word anyways. I hope your sleep was peaceful. I miss you and I haven't even left yet. I love you. Sleep. Rest. Eat. Take care of yourself and our baby. Call me if you need anything. I'll see you tonight. - T.
She rolled her eyes at all of his precautions and shifted uncomfortably. Her lower back was unusually sore today and getting up suddenly didn't seem like such a good idea. Ziva reached for the remote and found a channel airing a romance movie marathon. She dozed for the rest of the morning but by noon was definitely aware that she'd missed breakfast.
After her third trip to the bathroom in less than that number of hours, Ziva tugged tony's hoody over her head and slowly made her way downstairs. She settled for eggs and toast which were eaten slowly at the table as she paged through more of the pregnancy and baby book from Mandy.
Finding it hard to keep her eyes open by the time dishes were done and supper was in the crock pot, Ziva pulled a fuzzy blanket from the closet and got settled in the chair near the piano that reclined. For awhile she napped but one position was only comfortable for so long and her discomfort necessitated yet another bathroom visit and a move to the couch. With the romance movie marathon playing in the background and a headache doing more than just threatening, Ziva curled up with the blanket and pillows tucked several places to support her body and started drifting off to sleep.
A knock on the door interrupted and Ziva wearily lifted her head in time to see Grace peek through the window. Not wanting to get up, Ziva motioned for her to come in. Grace found the spare key and unlocked the door, slipping out of her shoes so she could sit on the coffee table in front of her friend.
"I have terrible timing, don't I?" she commented. "I'm always showing up in the middle of your naps."
Ziva's smile was faint. "Normally I do not mind, but I am not myself today. I am sorry Grace, I do not think I am down for a visit."
Grace's forehead creased and she laid her palm on Ziva's forehead. "Do you feel sick?"
"No, just very tired and my head is pounding," she replied, blinking slowly.
"Can I get you anything? A cold cloth? Tea, maybe?"
Ziva shook her head and her eyes slid closed. "No thank you Grace. I will just rest."
It wouldn't have bothered her so much except Grace knew this was no ordinary pregnancy. She bit her lip. "Maybe I should call Tony."
"No!" Ziva protested, struggling to prop herself up and focus on her guest. "He has had some very long days and because of me he could not sleep last night. Please, do not bother him at work."
Uncertain as she was, Grace had no choice but to respect Ziva's wishes. "Alright. But I want you to promise to call someone if anything changes or you feel worse." The older woman found the downstairs phone and set it up within reach, along with a glass of water and straw. "Get some sleep."
"Thank you," Ziva murmured, barely aware as Grace locked up and left.
The sun was low in the sky when Ziva woke, feeling slightly rested and very hungry. Untangling herself from the little nest she'd created on the couch, the woman retraced the familiar route to the restroom, then back to the kitchen to check on dinner. The pot roast and vegetables were tender and fully cooked, so she fixed a plate and left the rest warming for Tony to have when he got home. The book from her doctor absorbed her with fascinating and sometimes unsettling details of labour and delivery and newborn care while she ate dinner.
Ziva was just putting her dishes in the sink when a twinge gripped her abdomen and she stopped. Instead of dissipating, it only grew stronger and she gripped the edge of the counter, bracing herself against the discomfort. Then it was over and Ziva frowned, wondering if it was one of the 'practice' contractions she'd read about.
She waited a minute but it didn't happen again. The episode did remind her that the baby could come anytime so Ziva made her way upstairs and found a backpack and dufflebag. Propping the book up on a pillow, she started collecting everything suggested to take to the hospital.
There was one for her and one for Tony, because heaven knew he would probably need to be entertained if she was in labour for awhile. For herself Ziva packed a full outfit, going into the back of the closet and digging maternity pants out of her five months box and adding a nursing shirt as well. Her body wouldn't be back to normal right away, much to her dismay.
Next a cheap and relatively unflattering nightgown she'd ordered online that would work for labour and delivery, Ziva didn't want to ruin any of her good things with the mess that had been described. With that went a nicer pair of nursing pyjamas she could wear after the birth, a package of plain and inexpensive underwear and thick pads that would apparently be a necessity, socks, a nursing bra and breast pads.
A small zippered bag from the bathroom soon contained several hair elastics, an extra brush, travel size shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, lip balm, a toothbrush and toothpaste and moisturizer. Ziva rolled an old towel she found in the back of Tony's linen closet and added it to, then tucked her iPod and headphones into a side pocket.
She reached for Tony's backpack and again felt the tightening in her abdomen. It started out feeling like period cramps, but built until Ziva wanted to cry out. But she didn't, only held her breath until she thought of the baby and grabbed a quick gulp of air. Like the other one, the pain eased and disappeared. A glance at the clock showed twenty minutes in between. Shaking it off, she tried to think of what Tony would need beyond the list of suggestions.
Fishing through his drawers, Ziva packed a t-shirt and sweatpants, sock, boxers, a couple magazines and comics, the portable DVD player and a few movies, though favourites where hard to pinpoint. His camera went in the front pocket with their cellphone charger, a toothbrush and deodorant. Making an extra trip downstairs, Ziva went about packing small bags of snacks for both of them and added a couple water bottles with fliptops.
Her last stop was the baby's room and Ziva re-familiarized herself with what she'd put in the diaper bag days ago after their shopping trip to purchase all the baby things they'd been missing. A warm soft blanket, several receiving blankets and baby cloths for spit up, a purple hat with daisies on it and a couple tiny pairs of baby socks.
Unsure of what size their baby would be, Ziva added a handful each of preemie and newborn diapers and six outfits in different styles, colours and sizes. Wipes, diaper cream, nail clippers, baby powder and anything else that looked useful joined the collection.
Ziva then took all three bags and the nursing pillow, also from her online shopping, and left them behind the railing at the top of the stairs. Another pain had come and gone while she was in the nursery and with her lower back discomfort increasing, she decided to have a bath and go to bed early.
Stripping down, she plaited her loose hair into a tight french braid and clipped it to her head so it wouldn't get wet. Sinking into the hot water felt like heaven and after several minutes Ziva closed her eyes to relax as the achy feeling in her body eased somewhat.
Only one pain came during her bath and was less severe than the others. When she nearly fell asleep in the tub, Ziva finally decided to get out and slipped on a pair of comfortable cotton shorts under one of Tony's t-shirts. It was large on her and comfortable and best of all, it smelled like him.
Ziva smiled as she crawled into bed but a contraction caused her whole body to tense and without even looking she knew it had been less than twenty minutes since the last one. Shutting her eyes and taking slow deep breaths, she pushed back the fleeing thought that wondered if maybe she was in labour for real, none of that Braxton-Higgs nonsense.
Ignoring it did not make it go away and with each pain worry assailed her, but it was the memories that she couldn't forget which hurt worse. The waves of relentless, regular pain brought back scenes from Somalia - hours and days of torture that should have made this seem mild by comparison but did not. She tried to sleep but those moments were haunted by echoes of screams and sounds of torment Ziva had once thought would never end.
NCIS
It was after eight pm when Tony finally got home to a dark house. There had been a lot of wrap up from the previous day's case - reports to file and paperwork to fill out - then a cold case they got sucked into until Gibbs finally sent them out of the office. It had been a long day and he wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed and stay there for hours and hours.
The gnawing hunger in his stomach sent him searching for food and Tony stood over the sink eating leftovers out of the crockpot. A shower was next, necessary if only to wash away the stress. With how quiet it was, Tony knew Ziva was already in bed, so he tiptoed into the room, grabbed pjs and a towel and didn't turn on any lights until he was in the as of yet unused bathroom at the other end of the hall.
Tony stood under the hot spray with his head leaning against the wall, utterly exhausted from the last couple days and being up with Ziva last night. Wryly he thought he might be getting a taste of what life with a newborn would be like. It was 2100 before he crawled into bed beside his wife, careful not to disturb her.
She moaned quietly and Tony held still, studying her. Ziva's sleep didn't seem peaceful but she needed all the rest she could get. He slept better when touching her, but at the moment the need for sleep trumped his insecurities. After a final look at Ziva, Tony lay down and was asleep before he remembered closing his eyes.
NCIS
A sharp contraction woke Ziva up and though she tried to ignore it and go back to sleep, the next one hit before she could. They were getting closer together, roughly eight minutes apart if the clock was accurate. For a brief moment she considered waking Tony up so she wouldn't be alone in this, but the lines of exhaustion on his face stopped her. After last night Ziva couldn't bring herself to intrude again on the sleep he so desperately needed.
She suffered in silence for over an hour, counting in Hebrew in her head and forcing herself to think of other things, before her reaction to the pain could no longer be hidden. Curling around her bump and panting quietly, Ziva squeezed her eyes shut and allowed a noise to escape.
Tony's hand was on her back before she had time to notice he'd woken up, but until the contraction eased she couldn't answer his concerned queries. Finally she let out a breath and relaxed. "Zi?" Tony's voice broke through. "Honey, are you alright?"
Gingerly rolling to her other side, Ziva met Tony's eyes. "I think...I may be in labour."
His eyebrows rose and he gave her an 'are you kidding me?' look. "You're what?"
She sighed. "I am having contractions. I was not sure at first, but I think I am in labour."
Tony ran a hand over his face. "You were going to mention that before I had to call on my limited First Aid training and deliver the baby in our bed, right?"
Ziva shrugged. "They were not so bad earlier, and I wanted to sleep before-"
"Earlier?" Tony repeated. "Ziva, how long has this been going on?"
She avoided his gaze and didn't answer the question. "When did you get home?" She frowned. "I did not notice you coming to bed. You look very tired."
He sighed, deciding to wait it out before he tried asking again. "I don't know, after eight sometime. It's been a long day Zi." Tony feathered his fingers through her hair. "You didn't look like you were sleeping very peacefully."
Ziva looked at her rings. "I was dreaming. The pain...reminded me of-"
"Somalia," he finished for her. "Honey, when-"
Before he could finish his question, the pain gripped her abdomen and Ziva instinctively reached for Tony's hand, grasping it as she rode out a contraction that lasted longer than the others. Tony's eyes went to the clock and worry shadowed his expression. When it was over, she released the pressure on his hand but didn't let go.
"Geez Zi, that was only six minutes. We need to get you to the hospital."
Ziva was beyond protesting and only nodded. Tony jumped up and changed his flannel pants for a pair of jeans laying by his dresser, grabbing a t-shirt from the drawer before he started down the hall with his cell. The first number came from his contacts, it was off the business card from Dr. Meyers.
She answered at two rings and Tony paced barefoot on the carpet, starting to feel a little panicky. It was happening now, the baby was coming and his hands shook a little as the implications settled in. "Mandy? It's Tony DiNozzo. Ziva's in labour, I'm taking her to Bethesda now." He listened a moment. "You'll meet us there? Okay, great, thanks."
His second call was programmed into speed dial #3 and Tony noted the bags by the stairs as he waited for Gibbs to answer.
NCIS
At Celeste's house, Gibbs was carving more detail into the pieces for a dog that could be pulled on a string. Celeste, taking a break from her editing project from Jenna, sat sideways on the couch with her knees pulled up and her feet tucked under her ex-husband's leg, absorbed in a thick historical novel.
At the sound of his cell, Gibbs dug it out of his pocket. "Gibbs."
"Boss?" Tony tried to keep the tension out of his voice. "Sorry to call so late, but Ziva's-"
"In labour," Gibbs finished for him, dropping the wooden pieces in the box and catching Celeste's attention.
Tony's mouth fell open. "How did you know?"
Gibbs snorted. "Been there DiNozzo. I'll let the team know, you get Ziva to the hospital."
"On our way." Tony hung up and Gibbs stood.
"Les..." he began, but she shushed him and got off the couch.
"You need to be there, I understand." Tucking her book into the bag hanging off her chair, Celeste followed him to the door. "I'm ready."
Gibbs eyed her curiously. "You're coming?"
She laughed. "Someone's got to keep you from harassing the nurses and drinking that awful hospital coffee." Celeste raised an eyebrow. "If you want me there."
He slid his fingers between hers, feeling relief at her intentional involvement. "Let's go."
They took her car and Celeste drove - Gibbs had phone calls to make.
NCIS
Hurrying back into the bedroom, Tony helped Ziva out of bed, stopping when she had to concentrate on a contraction. He held her hand and rubbed her back gently, hating the pain he saw in her features, even if she barely made a sound. When it passed, Ziva stood and let him help her put his hoody on over her sleep clothes.
Tony's eyes caught her rings when she pushed the sleeves up and he made a face, touching them lightly. "Zi, we should probably leave those here. You won't want anything on your fingers while you're dealing with labour and contractions at the hospital."
A look he didn't recognize took over her brown orbs and she shook her head, holding her hand to her heart. "They are my promise Tony. I do not want to take them off."
He pushed a loose hair behind her ear. "Hey, my promise isn't attached to your rings babe. I made it here." Tony put her hand on his chest.
Ziva blinked away tears. "I want to keep them."
Failing to understand the significance and not really having time to argue with her, Tony looked for a solution and his gaze fell on her Star of David. "Okay, why don't we put them on your necklace? They'll be close but not in the way."
After a moment of thought, Ziva agreed and slowly twisted the rings off her finger. Tony unclasped her necklace and let her slide them on, then did it back up securely. After a reassuring smile as she rubbed the empty spot, they started towards the stairs and she looked at him questioningly.
"How did you know six minutes apart meant we should go to the hospital?"
Tony looked offended. "Hey, just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I'm completely clueless."
She looked at him with mirth, trying not to laugh. "You have been reading my baby book, have you not?"
He tried to deny it but gave up. "Alright, fine. I was curious."
Ziva nodded, growing serious again. "I am glad." She pointed to the bags she'd packed earlier. "Those need to come."
Tony frowned. "Were they here this morning?"
She shook her head. "No, I got them ready before bed. But I did not expect to need them so soon." Her mental checklist scrolled through, checking off items until she came to one she wasn't sure of. "The carseat is installed?"
"Got the guy at the store to check it for me," Tony confirmed. "We're ready Zi."
She lowered herself to the arm of the chair to wait while he took the bags to the car. "I hope so."
Tony made the trip quickly and came back for her, leaning down to kiss her. "I love you sweetheart. Let's go have a baby."
Staring into his eyes, Ziva leaned on everything she saw there, knowing she'd need his strength to make it through the next several hours. Another contraction came before they made it out the door and Tony braced himself against the doorframe to hold her. The force of her grip bordered on painful and gave him a glimpse of what things were going to look like at the hospital. But they were together, partners, and just like every other time, they'd make it through whatever was to come.
A/N: And so it begins :) I could make you wait 2 days but that would be mean and I don't have that much patience anyways, lol. The next chapter will be up in about 7 hours. Stay tuned! I can't wait to hear your thoughts! Baby in 1...
PS. I guess alerts were down when I posted the last chapter, a lot of people were asking about them. I'm hoping the problem is fixed now and that everyone did actually get to see Ch 35. FF seems to be having some technical difficulties lately, let's hope that doesn't interfere with today. Thanks for everything guys! :)