XVIII. To A Father Growing Old Nothing Is Dearer Than A Daughter.

"Ziva, how long until the rice needs to go on?" Tony asked and she checked her watch.

"Five minutes ago." She glared at him.

"Hey, not my fault I can't cook." He shrugged, putting the rice on to cook.

"It is your fault that you invited my father." Ziva hissed at him as Gibbs walked into his kitchen. He took the pan from her hand and stirred it.

"Go sit down, you're getting stressed." He raised his eyebrows.

"I am fine, Gibbs." She wiped her brow and began chopping vegetables.

"Ziva, Abby will be here any second, she can take over." Gibbs said quietly. "Go and rest." She sighed and walked through the archway into Gibbs' lounge where Elsie and Mina were sat on the floor. They were playing with a wooden boat, probably hand carved. She scooped the younger of the children up from where she was propped up against the armchair. The front door clicked open and Abby and Tim walked in laughing.

"I thought you were going to be cooking dinner?" McGee frowned.

"Gibbs said I was 'Too stressed'" She sighed. "I do not think I am stressed!"

"Okay." He raised his hands in surrender and backed away slowly. There was really no point in arguing.

"Hey, Abby, Gibbs want's you to help in the kitchen." Tony walked through.

"Okay dokay." She skipped away. Tony hugged Ziva and placed his finger in Mina's hand, smiling as her little fist gripped it.

"I'm sorry." He whispered in her ears.

"You have been saying that a lot." She smiled sadly. "Apologies are a sign of weakness."

"Not between friends." Ducky walked through the front door. "And especially not between lovers. Let that be advice for everybody."

"Thanks for the tip." McGee grinned as he laid the table.

"McGook, before you can apologise to a lover, you need a lover." Tony laughed.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs yelled from the kitchen.

"Yes, boss?"

"Leave the Elf-lord alone."

"Er, thanks boss…I think…" Tim thought about the comment.

"Should we not knock?" Eli's voice drifted from outside as the door opened again.

"Jethro doesn't lock his front door." Jenny said, walking through.

"Dinner's ready!" Abby bounded through, stopping in her tracks when she saw the unfamiliar face. "Oh, were we bringing dates?"

"Abby, this is Mossad Director David." Jenny introduced her. "This is our forensic scientist Abby Sciuto."

"David as in Ziva David David?" She frowned, pointing between all the people in the room.

"Yes, Abby. My father." Ziva said plainly.

"Oh, you must be so excited about the baby!" She grinned. The whole house fell silent except for Mina's soft cooing. Ziva handed Mina to Gibbs and turned to Tony, allowing him to wrap his arms around her. "You didn't know about the baby…"

"Abby." Gibbs sighed.

"No, I did not." Eli looked at his daughter and walked towards her. "Is it true?"

Ziva turned to face him, Tony keeping his hands resting protectively on her shoulders. She sighed, looking everywhere but at her father as she tried to formulate an answer.

"Yes, I am pregnant. Yes, it is Tony's. Yes, it is going to be loved. No, I was not planning to tell you!" She yelled. "Tony, I want to go home." She said quietly.

"Ok." He smiled softly at her as she crouched down in front of Elsie.

"If you ever need me, even if just to talk, call me on one of those numbers." She handed the child a business card and ruffled her hair. "Good luck, Elsie. Look after your sister." She stood up and walked over to Gibbs. "Bye-bye, little one." She stroked Mina's cheek and grasped Tony's hand, pulling him towards the door.

"Night, boss." He said quietly and nodded, walking out with her. There was an awkward silence until Ducky took a breath.

"Abigail, you said dinner was ready?" The pathologist asked.

"Don't call me Abiga…" She drifted off as she looked around at the glaring faces. "Yeah, dinner's ready."


"I am so sorry about last night, Gibbs." Ziva said, standing at his desk.

"It's fine, Ziva. You were put in a difficult situation." He shrugged.

"How did the girls go this morning?"

"It was difficult." He paused. "Why weren't you planning on telling your father?"

"I do not want my child to grow up in his world. His is a world of violence and war and lies." She said.

"And you think he would allow that to taint his grandchild?" Gibbs asked.

"He let it 'taint' me." She swallowed. "I wanted to be a ballerina when I was a little girl, Gibbs." Her eyes pricked with tears.

"Yeah, and you would never have been the wonderful person you are now. You would be a different Ziva, one that never fell in love with Tony and never did all the things you have done, seen all the things you have seen." He smiled. "That's what makes you you."

"I do not know. I think that maybe I would be a better person if I had been different."

"The little girls that you spent a week caring for, they didn't want to leave you. They'd want to leave if you were a bad person, but they did."

"Do you script these motivational speeches out?" She laughed.

"Nah, I just got a lot of experience." He shrugged. "You planning on doing any work today?"

"On it, boss." She nodded and walked back to her desk. "Gibbs, will I be a good mother?" She asked quietly.

He sighed and shook his head. "Ziva, you shouldn't have to even ask that question."

"Thank you, boss." She nodded slightly.


"Fifty bucks it'll be a girl." McGee said, looking at Abby.

"No, I'm going boy." She shrugged.

"Really?" He looked at her.

"Yeah, just a feeling. What does your gut say, Gibbs?" She grinned as the boss-man walked into her lab.

"'Bout what, Abs?"

"What Ziva's gonna have."

"A baby, like you keep announcing to everybody." Gibbs sighed.

"No, boy or girl." McGee smiled.

"You're betting on my kid?" Tony walked into the lab.

"Er, no…" McGee shook his head slowly.

"Don't lie, McSneaky. I want in, it's gonna be a girl" DiNozzo grinned. "A little princess that no man is going near till she's thirty-even then he'll have to pass rigorous psych evaluations."

"Ziva know that you're making all these plans?" Abby asked, smiling.

"No, Ziva scared me pre-pregnancy, now…" He chuckled. "None of that leaves this room, and by that I mean you, Probie." He pointed at him. "What are everyone's bets so far?"

"You and McGee say girl, I say boy, Gibbs hasn't said." Abby grinned. "So what do you think, Gibbs?"

"I'm not getting involved in this." He smiled.

"Oh, Gibbs, please?" She begged him.

"We don't have to write what you say down." McGee pointed to the spread-sheet that he was working on. It had a list of names in one column and their guess in the next.

"A lot of people going with girl." Gibbs raised his eyebrows.

"That might be wishful thinking. People are worried that if Tony has a son there will be another DiNozzo whom their daughters must be locked away from." McGee smirked.

"So, seeing as your gut is the most reliable fortune teller I know, what do you think?" Abby smiled sweetly.

"Don't got a gut feeling about this." He shrugged and walked out, placing a Caf-Pow in front of her.

Abby narrowed her eyes. "He so has a gut feeling about this."