After almost a month of working on this chapter you would have though that I would have been able to come up with something better than this, but I just could not get the words to flow like they normally do. So instead I have been working on some small multi-chaps like 'A Life Worth Living' that I will write up completely before I even think about considering posting them. I think I have started three, so look out for those if they do ever reach the final stage of development.
Anyway, I really only like the first part of this, the rest is really nothing special, but I felt that it was not getting any better, if anything it was getting worse the more I wrote, and I feel it has been too long since the last update, so I will start working on the next chapter immediately and hope that it will be better than this one.
XXXIV. A Day Without Laughter Is A Day Wasted.
"Tony, I just want to go home." She sighed, her eyes closed as he drove.
"I know." He smiled softly, watching her out of the corner of his eye. She had just been discharged and she seemed, although not one hundred per cent, definitely better. He stopped the engine and smiled as she looked up at the brick walls of the townhouse, recognition flickering across her face. "Welcome home." He helped her out of the car and led her up the steps to the front door, producing a key from his pocket and pressing it into her hand. "Would you like to do the honours?" She smiled widely and slotted the key into the lock, letting the door swing open to reveal the fully furnished entrance hall and stairs leading to the two other floors and the attic.
"When did you move in?" Her voice was quiet, shocked.
"I haven't technically moved in. Everyone just helped me put all the rooms together. I wanted to wait for you."
"Why?"
"It seemed wrong spending the first night in our new house without you by my side." He wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind and nuzzled his face into her hair. "Come on, I'll give you the grand tour." He grabbed her hand and guided her gently into the kitchen. "Okay, Abby said that she fully stocked the fridge this morning and…" He opened one of the overhead cupboards to reveal boxes upon boxes of herbal tea. "Ducky has spent the whole week sourcing and organising your very own cupboard of naturally caffeine free teas of nearly every flavour your heart could desire." He pointed, a game-show-host voice loud and booming in the quiet house. He showed her the rest of their rooms, pointing out things like the photo frame Gibbs had made with a picture of the whole team and the table that Kate's bowl sat, the goldfish swimming happily around. He led her up the stairs to the first floor with two bedrooms and a bathroom, pulling her to the first of the three doors. "Okay, so after a lot of talk with Gibbs, Alison and Dave, Elsie and Mina's social worker, Elsie and Mina themselves, we have devised a little plan." He grinned and opened the door to a bedroom painted with a field of poppies leading onto a forest. A single bed stood on one side and an ornate crib opposite. A bookshelf and chest of draws was next to the white cot.
"Tony, what is this?" Her voice cracked.
"We have custody of Elsie and Mina on our weekends off. This is their bedroom." He smiled as her face broke into a grin and she turned around, hugging him so tightly he reckoned Abby had some contest.
"Thank you." She whispered as she rested her head on his shoulder, her energy suddenly drained again.
"Come on. Sleep. You can see the rest of the place later." He scooped her up and carried her up the second flight of stairs and into their bedroom, laying her down on the new bed he had spent an age deciding whether to buy and pulling her boots off. He left her in the gym clothes she had worn on the way home from the hospital, knowing full well that she would be awake in a few hours and wanting a shower, it being half three in the afternoon and he didn't want her to get too chilly. He climbed into bed next to her and she immediately wrapped her arms around him curling into his side. "Welcome home, Ziva."
Her eyes fluttered open and for the first time in almost three months she wasn't overcome with the sudden nausea as she awoke. It was dark outside the bedroom window, a bedroom window she was unused to. She was lying in a bed she was unused to with covers that she was unused to and wall colours she was unused to. It took a moment for her to realise she was in the new house, their new house. The house she and Tony owned together. As the disorientation faded she started to look around, take things in about the room that she hadn't noticed when Tony had carried her through…last night? She looked to the clock. 1900. She highly doubted that she had slept for 28 hours without waking. So he had carried her through three and a half hours earlier. She looked up at the soft pale blue fabric draped over the canopy of the bed. The wall with the head of the bed against it was a rich burgundy colour and the other three walls were an eggshell blue colour. The bedspread matched the blue walls and the carpet was cream. All of the furniture was a dark oak. A door on the left led off to the en suite, she remembered that from when they had visited, and the door in front of the bed led out onto the second floor landing. The room was decorated elegantly and Ziva was unsure whether Tony had done it by himself or not. She slipped out of bed carefully, treading lightly to the door that led to the landing. She heard the noise of music floating up from downstairs as someone clumsily played a piano. She followed the noise into the lounge smiling at Elsie sat at Tony's baby grand, hitting the notes that Tony pointed to. Neither of them noticed her presence as she watched from the doorway, a smile playing on her lips as the two of them laughed, Tony shushing her when her laughs got to loud. Ziva walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing a soft kiss to the top of his head.
"Hey." He said softly and looked up, trying to pretend that he didn't jump. She leaned her chin on his forehead. "Did you sleep well?"
"Better than I have in a long time."
"Good." He covered her hands with his as they clung to the front of his shirt. "The girls wanted to come over and see that you were alright as soon as I phoned to tell them that you were coming home."
"And I am very glad that you did. I have missed seeing you both." She tousled Elsie's hair.
"Are you feeling better?"
"I am, thank you for asking." She started to pick the six-year-old up.
"Woah, woah. No, Ziva, you're not carrying her around."
"Tony, I am fine. Really."
"No. I don't want to see you or the babies getting hurt."
"I don't want to hurt the babies!" Elsie started crying, the noise setting Mina off as well. Ziva sighed and glared at Tony as she carried Elsie over to the sofa and sat her down, scooping Mina up off of the play-mat that she was lying on.
"You are not going to hurt the babies, Elsie. It is all right." She rocked Mina in her arms and continued to glare at Tony as she paced around the lounge. He just stood by the piano, not wanting to do anything that may result in him angering Ziva any more. "Tony, could you take Mina into the kitchen or upstairs or outside or something whilst I calm Elsie down." She looked at him and he just gulped and nodded, taking the young infant and walking out to the sunken garden at the back of the house, grabbing a blanket for the child on his way. "Elsie, you would not have hurt the babies or me…" She wrapped her arms around the child as she cried.
"I don't want to hurt the babies!"
"And you will not."
"Then why did Tony say I would?"
"Tony was just being overprotective. He is scared that something will happen." She let Elsie cry, her face buried into her t-shirt.
"Hey." Tony shuffled through to the living room, Mina sleeping in his arms. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been like that."
"You were just worried. It is fine." She kissed his hand as he sat next to her. "I am sorry for ordering you about."
"You were taking control of a situation. It's one of the thinks I love about you. And hey," He tapped the top of Elsie's head. "I'm sorry I shouted at you. I was just…"
"Being overprotective." Elsie finished quietly. "I would never hurt Ziva or the babies, Tony."
"I know, Sweetie. I know. I just worry, okay?" He tousled her hair. "What can we do to cheer you up?" The child deliberated for a second before grinning.
"Cupcakes!" She sat up on Ziva's lap.
"Okay, I think we can make some cupcakes." Tony smiled. "I'll just put Mina in her cot and then we'll go into the kitchen."
"I can do that, Tony. I need a shower anyway." She kissed him softly and took Mina from him, smiling as she nestled her head into the crook of her arm.
"Okay. You remember the way?"
"Mmhm." She nodded.
"I have the baby monitor with me, so you don't need to bring it down."
She smiled as she turned the water off, the sound of laughter drifting up from the kitchen. She pulled a pair of jeans on, realised they wouldn't do up, threw them across the room and looked through the wardrobe for something that would fit. She groaned when she realised that even her cargo pants were to tight. She would need to go shopping. Maybe she could ask Jenny to ask Cynthia to get what she needed. She did not want to have to go shopping. She grabbed a pair of Tony's jogging bottoms and pulled the drawstrings tight before taking his Ohio State hoodie and pulling it on. She smiled at her reflection in the full-length mirror and turned to the voices of Elsie and Tony. She gasped at the sight of her new kitchen. There was flour and cocoa powder and sugar and cupcake mixture everywhere. She sighed at the sight of the two responsible grinning sheepishly.
"We made you an extra special plain one!" Elsie held it out on her palm.
"Oh, thank you Sweetie." She walked over and smiled. She reached up and wiped a glob of mixture from Tony's forehead and licked it off her finger. "Tastes good." She pressed her lips to his. And pulled back suddenly.
"What's wrong? You feeling okay?"
"What is the date today?" She looked at the clock that read half seven.
"December 31st. New Years Eve." He smiled; glad that was all that was troubling her. "Everyone's coming over at eight, kind of a new years eve meets new house meets welcome home thing, but if you don't feel up to it I can cancel."
"No, it is fine." She looked down at what she was wearing. "Do you think they will mind that this is all I am wearing? I could not find anything else that fit besides the clothes I came home from the hospital in, and they are barely an improvement."
"Ziva, they won't care a bit." He kissed her and wrapped his arms around her. "But I am very interested in this 'Couldn't find any clothes to fit.' I would quite like to see why none of your clothes would fit." She sighed and pulled the hoodie up, revealing a small, noticeable bump. "Hey! Look at that! That wasn't there before!" He pressed his lips to the skin of her stomach twice. "My two little babies! Hey, Elsie, come look at this!" He pointed.
"Why's it bigger?" She pressed her ear to Ziva's tummy.
"Because the babies are bigger." Ziva smiled. "And they are going to get bigger." She grumbled.
"So big that they won't fit any more?"
"Soon, yeah." Tony chuckled and picked the little girl up. "We need to get you cleaned up and ready for everyone to come round." He began tickling her. "Do you want to do bath-time or rest?" He smiled at Ziva.
"I want to tidy the kitchen."
"No, two options, bath time or rest."
"Are you going to tidy the kitchen if I do bath time?" She narrowed her eyes sceptically.
"Yes." He smiled proudly. "It will be spick and span before you know it." Ziva narrowed her eyes and muttered something sounding very much like 'likely story' but took Elsie's hand and headed back upstairs.
Tony smiled proudly to himself. He had just finished tidying the kitchen as the doorbell rang. He went to answer it, pulling it open to see Abby, Tim and Cassie. They all burst into fits of giggles when they saw him. "What? What's so funny?"
"Oh dear. Tony, I thought when you said tidy the kitchen you meant everything in it. Including you." Ziva walked down the stairs carrying Mina, now awake, in one arm and holding Elsie's hand with the other. "Go on. Go have a shower. I know how to entertain." She waved to the gathering crowd on the doorstep.
"Oh, I know you know how to entertain, but I thought that was between you and me…going for a shower, Boss." He winced as his head collided with Gibbs hand. "Hey, Boss, do you get a sort of callous on your hand from where you keep hitting my head so frequently or do you use a lotion or moisturiser or…? Shutting up, Boss." He headed upstairs.
"I do apologise for him." Ziva smiled. "Come in." She waved them through to the living room.
"Aaahhhh, Ziva, we've all missed you so much!" Abby jumped up and down, barely restraining herself from throwing her arms around the woman, managing only by thinking about the child in her arms. "How're you feeling?"
"I feel well, thank you." She smiled.
"It's been quiet with Tony moping about the squad room." Tim smiled, his arms full of food. "Hey, Elsie, how's the bedroom?"
"It's really cool!" The child grinned and let go of Ziva's hand, running through to the kitchen. Cassie nodded.
"Cassie." She held her hand out for Ziva to shake.
"I remember." Ziva smiled.
"And who's this little one?"
"Mina." The child leaned forwards uneasily in Ziva's arm and stretched her arms out, laughing, as Ziva introduced her.
"Me and Tony made cupcakes!" Elsie said as she carried a plate through from kitchen.
"Wow! They look great!" Jimmy crouched down to be the same height as the little girl.
"Ziva my dear, how does it feel to be home at last?" Ducky handed Cassie a bottle of champagne.
"Good, Ducky. It feels good." She breathed and visibly relaxed.
"Well, we are all very pleased, and I am sure young Anthony is very relieved. He does worry about you."
"Talking about me again?" Tony waltzed through, placing his chin on her shoulder and snaking his hands around to sit on her stomach.
"No, we were talking about the other Anthony in my life." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.
"I always though I was special." He pouted.
"Oh, you are, DiNozzo. Very special." Gibbs muttered and rolled his eyes.
"You mean that, boss?" He grinned and looked at Gibbs face. "Oh, you didn't mean it as a compliment, did you?"
"Nope." He shook his head and kissed Ziva's cheek. "How are you?"
"Glad to be home." She leant back into Tony's arms as Gibbs took Mina from her, bouncing her and making her laugh. "And I'll be even more glad tomorrow when I can come back to work." She smiled hopefully and Jenny shook her head.
"No, Ziva. You have the next week off."
"Jen! I cannot go a whole week more! Two days."
"This is not negotiable, Officer David."
"Please Jen?"
"Fine, four days."
"Three."
"Ziva…" The director sighed at the Mossad officer's scowl. "Three days off, then you can come back."
Ziva beamed. "Thank you, Jen." She hugged the NCIS director tightly. "Thank you."
"She hasn't missed work at all." Tony chuckled, taking her hand in his and pulling her into his arms. He pressed his lips to hers and grinned. "I've missed doing that."
"Me too." She wound her arms around his neck and McGee coughed. Both Tony and Ziva glared at him.
"We've been apart for a week, McProbie, leave us alone."
"Hey, I'm just thinking of the kids. There are young eyes present."
"You are talking about yourself, yes Tim?" Ziva grinned and high-fived Tony when he held his hand up for her, creating the start of a night full of laughter.
