Once Ziva had put Ethan to bed and text Tony to let him know they were home safely, she made both herself and LJ a cup of tea and sat beside her on the couch. She had woken up when Ziva had stopped the car and trudged into the house without a word.
"Thank you." LJ murmured, taking her mug and cradling it to her chest while Ziva sat at the opposite end of the couch, drawing her legs up under her, leaning against the arm of the couch so she could face her. LJ mimicked her position and took a sip. "I'm okay."
"I know." Ziva smiled softly.
"It's just hard." Ziva nodded, choosing to ignore the break in her voice for now.
"I know that too." LJ nodded, taking another sip, blinking hard to rid her eyes of moisture.
"My mom was a really good person, and a great mom, she just wasn't great when it came to him. She loved him, and I get that, but it wasn't her job to save him, y'know?" Ziva nodded, letting Lauren take the lead in this conversation. If she had started there then this was clearly something she needed to get out. "She would cry herself to sleep the nights he wouldn't come home, lock herself in the bathroom after he lost his temper." Lauren sighed. "Ziva, I want to live here. I am more than happy to become legally yours and live here. I want that for Ethan, for myself." Ziva granted her a small smile. "But I need a promise from you."
"I will try Lauren." LJ nodded.
"I am aware that it is more likely that the sky will fall, than for Gibbs to ever raise his hand to you, but if it happens, I need you to promise me you won't stand for it, especially not for our sake because we would be better off without it." Ziva closed her eyes unconsciously.
"Lauren..." She started softly.
"Ziva, I know how unlikely it is, but I need this from you, please." There was such desperation in her eyes, in her words, that Ziva's heart hurt.
"I promise. In the very unlikely event that Jethro ever raised his hand to me, or either of you, I would pack my bags and leave. I can assure you."
"Good, that's uhh, good." Lauren nodded shakily.
"Tateleh, would you like to talk about what had you so upset earlier?" Lauren shook her head.
"Not really." Ziva smiled.
"If that changes..."
"I know. Anytime, day or night, if I want to talk to you about anything, I need only ask."
"Hey, everything alright?" Gibbs' voice filtered down the line when Ziva answered a few hours later. She couldn't help the besotted smile that curved her lips as she leaned back against the couch cushions.
"Everything is fine this end, both the children are asleep." She checked her watch. "Actually I must go wake them in a moment." Gibbs chuckled. "What?" She asked, laughing along with him.
"Just liked the sound of that coming from you." Ziva felt her cheeks heat up. "How's LJ?" Ziva sighed.
"Emotionally exhausted. We had a small talk when we got home, drank tea, she seemed to calm down before going for a nap. She was sobbing when she left that room, Jethro." Gibbs sighed.
"Do you need me to come home, Ziva?" She smiled.
"We are okay. Besides, you will be home soon anyway, yes? How are things with the case?"
"Open and shut. It was the wife. She confessed pretty quickly. Just writing it up as we speak. Should be home by eighteen thirty, latest."
"I can handle things here for two hours, Jethro. We will be fine."
"Okay. Just call if ya need me though." Ziva smiled.
"If I did not know better Jethro, I would think you were hoping for a reason to not fill out your paperwork." Gibbs laughed out loud, making Ziva's smile grow.
"Love you Ziva." Ziva's smile softened as she closed her eyes, still a little overcome whenever he told her that.
"I love you too."
Gibbs let himself in a couple of hours later and paused in the doorway to take in the sight before him. Ziva was flitting around the kitchen, adding spices and chopped ingredients to whatever was bubbling away on the stove, smelling divine. That wasn't an unusual sight anymore, the thing that had a goofy smile breaking on his face was that she was laughing. She and LJ were singing along with the radio and laughing like school girls. Ethan was happily sat on the counter beside his sister, laughing at the two females as they danced and sang and laughed.
After his phone call to Ziva, he had expected to come home to a very different scene. 'She was sobbing when she left that room, Jethro' set him up to believe that the household would be tense and emotional. This was a pleasant surprise.
Gibbs shut the door, loud enough that he knew it would alert Ziva to his presence, if she didn't know already, and left his coat on the hook before making his way into the kitchen.
He captured Ziva around the waist, hugging her from behind, bringing her gently back into his chest.
"You are late, Jethro." Ziva murmured. He chuckled against her ear.
"Traffic was bad." He gently pressed a kiss to the side of her neck, just above where it met her shoulder, smiling as he felt, more than heard, the soft hum it brought from her chest. "This is a nice sight to come home to." Ziva smiled.
"LJ and I decided that we needed some music in order to cook properly, it seems we both knew the song." LJ giggled and both adults turned to her, Ziva still firmly encased in Gibbs' arms, wanting to be nowhere else.
"Ziva started humming along and I recognised the song so I started humming too. Then she started singing, it kinda turned into who could sing the loudest from there." Gibbs smiled against his girlfriend's cheek.
"I thought I heard cats being strangled." Ziva brought her hand back against his chest none too gently.
"Just for that you can do the dishes." Gibbs chuckled.
"After my beautiful woman cooked, it'd be rude not to." He kissed her rapidly warming cheek before making his way over to Ethan. "Come on little man, let's go get your hands washed." Ziva watched as Gibbs scooped the toddler onto his hip and tickled him as he took them both to the bathroom to wash up for dinner. She shook her head with a soft smile before turning to LJ.
"Why don't you set the table, this is nearly ready." LJ nodded and hopped off the counter, grabbing the plates and silver wear they had gotten out earlier and making her way over to the table to set it for their meal. Ziva shut off the burner and leaned against the counter beside it, watching as Lauren rounded the table, sorting everything out, a smile still on her face, and couldn't helping thinking about just how very right this scene was.
