This is a fluffy-ish chapter, I guess.

XLIX. The Way To A Man's Heart Is Through His Stomach.

"What is it today, DiNozzo?" Gibbs actually smiled as he looked up from the report he was reading to see his senior field agent come in carrying three cake tins in one hand and his rucksack in the other.

"Well, yesterday my beautiful wife cooked chocolate brownies, a red velvet cake and semolina biscuits." Tony placed the tins down on his desk.

"How much food is that over the past week?" McGee walked over, immediately taking a slice of brownie when Tony lifted the lid.

"Four cakes, six batches of cookies and five tray-bakes. The neighbours love her, she keeps giving them food." He chuckled. "And she's somehow in under a week managed to make everyone in the building who didn't like me actually like me. She's making strawberry shortcake today, as well as tiffin and lemon drizzle cake."

"Well, bring in some of the tiffin, DiNozzo." Gibbs took one of the semolina cookies. "Oh, and take some of the red velvet cake up to the director and Cynthia."

"On it, Boss." Tony nodded, picking up the last tin and jogging up the stairs to the director's office.

"Do you think Ziva's bored, Boss?"

"What do you think, McGee? I reckon she's going out of her mind." Gibbs said around the biscuit.


"Abs…?"

"Yes, Timmy?" Abby looked over to her best friend, who sat glumly next to her in her lab at the main console desk. "What's wrong?"

"Dunno." He sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I was just wondering… everything's changing…"

"And you're worried that everything's going to be different now?" Abby leaned over and engulfed him in a hug. "Aw, McGee… of course it won't."

"Abs, Tony and Ziva are married, Ziva's having the twins… we're not just a group of friends anymore, we're divided."

Abby snorted. "No we're not. We're family, McGee. We're no more divided than we already were."

"But…what happens when the twins are born? I mean, what if Ziva and Tony don't want to work any more? What if they want to get a safer job? I mean, if I was a parent, I wouldn't want this job."

"You wouldn't?"

"Remember that statistic you came up with, the probability of us coming back every time we go into the field? Would you do that if you had a child relying on you?"

She paused and looked down, considering his point. "I know. But they love their work, and they love us, and can you really picture Tony just letting some other agent, a lesser agent even, sit at his desk? No, I didn't think so. And Ziva? She'd just get bored of sitting at home. She likes the action."

"But they'll love their children more." Tim's face fell, lifeless as he exhaled. "What if they get other, safer jobs, and we stop seeing one another and they get new colleagues and friends, forget us?"

"That would never happen, and you know it Timothy. You should be ashamed for thinking such a thing." Her abrupt movement as she stood up knocked her stool over. "They wouldn't. We're family, McGee. Family don't forget one another."

"But, what if…?"

"No. No what if's. McGee. It won't happen." She righted her chair and walked over to her desk, jamming the keys on her keyboard.

He would have suggested that she was scared too, were he not petrified that she would carry out her threat of death with no forensic evidence. "Abs, I didn't mean…"

"Yes you did, McGee." She sighed and looked up at him, her expression pitiful. "If you're that worried, Tim, go talk to them. But I don't believe it will happen and I don't want to think about it happening." She did not sound convincing, more like it would not happen if she did not think about it, not the way the world usually worked.


The sound of energetic Spanish music drifted down the hall as Tony walked into the house, along with the warm, zesty smell of lemon drizzle cake. He smiled, following his nose like a bloodhound as he dumped his bag by the door and walked through to the kitchen. His grin widened when he saw his wife, hair in a messy bun, dancing to the loud music, her back turned to him so she faced the counter. The music covered his quiet chuckles as he lounged against the doorframe, admiring his wife's body. She crouched down by the oven, removing one tin and replacing it with another.

"Hey."

She whipped around, her eyes wide, before relaxing. "Maybe I should not have taught you to sneak up so well."

"Well, it's unfair you having all the cool ninja tricks." He shrugged, walking over to her and smiling as she melted into his arms.

"Yes, but you have all the movie quotes. I could never keep up with you on those."

"Ah, but I could never bake so well." He dipped his finger into the mixing bowl and licked the mixture off. "Mmm." There was a knock on the door and both agents frowned. "Are we expecting anyone?"

"Not unless you have invited anyone over."

Tony shook his head and they both made their way to the door, Tony fingering the weapon at his hip as Ziva reached for one of her knives. "Hey, we know you're there!"

The door flew open. "Abs, what…?" They stared at their colleagues. Gibbs rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"We brought furniture for the twin's room!" Abby grinned, pointing to Gibbs' truck.

"Why?"

"It's a wedding present. And a baby-shower gift, without the baby-shower." McGee smiled. Gibbs had told McGee about the furniture at the same time he told Jenny, whilst Tony and Ziva were away.

"You should not have. Really." Ziva let them in.

"It's the least we could do. Made two cots, a rocking chair, a changing table and two highchairs. Ducky also brought two bassinets with stands and two car seats." Gibbs said. "You'll need them all."

"And how d'you know we didn't already buy all this stuff?" Tony asked sceptically.

"Because you would probably have come in complaining about how much you've had to spend before they are even born." Jenny laughed.

Abby started jumping around. "I helped paint everything, and it all matches how we painted the nursery when Ziva was in hospital. It's gonna look so cool." She grinned. "Can we start setting it all up? Please Ziva? Please?"

"I do not see why not." She shrugged, covering her ears as Abby squealed and dragged McGee out of the room and down the steps to the street. "Gibbs, you did not have to do this."

"Yeah, yeah I did." He murmured before walking out with the director to help Abby and McGee bring the furniture in.

"Let us go upstairs and make sure there is room for everything, My Dear." Ducky took Ziva's arm. "Tony, I advise that you help the others carry. The more people, the fewer trips that will be needed."

"I'm being bossed around in my own home, and not even by my wife…Ow!" Tony screeched as something hit the back of his head, and he spun around to stare at the two innocent faces behind him. Both Ziva and Ducky smiled at him before walking upstairs.


Ziva ran her hand along the edge of one of the white painted cots, her fingers feeling the grain of the wood, memorising it, as her other hand rubbed circles on her stomach. "That's everyone gone." Tony said, coming up behind her and pressing a kiss to the back of her head, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair as he did so.

"I love our family, Tony."

"Yeah, I do too." He smiled, his hand meeting hers, fingers tangling, as she leaned back into him, their bodies pressed together, her back against his chest. "It's strange, don't you think, that in a few months we'll be able to hold our babies?"

"I do not think it is strange. I just want to hold them now."

"Ziva David-DiNozzo, are you being impatient?"

"No. Just a mother." She shook her head. "I never thought I would ever say that. I am going to be a mother." Her voice was distant, dreamlike. "Even when I…miscarried, I never considered that I would be a mother, not really."

"I always knew I'd be a father at one point, or at least hoped. I never thought I would be so lucky as to have you as my beautiful wife." They stood in silence in the nursery, the fading light of evening painting the pale room in golden oranges and tangerine pinks. "What is Hebrew for Mum, Ziva?" She tilted her face up to him, frowning. "What did you call your Mum, when you were little?"

"Ima. I called her Ima."

"I like that. It's short and sweet. Ima." He smiled, turning her in his arms and pressing a quick, chaste kiss to her lips.

"I am going to be an Ima."

Chapter 50 next, and it is still what I said I wanted it to be in the last chapter. Of course, you will have to wait to find out what that is. Sorry.

So, we have almost made it through 50 chapters, do we think we can survive through another 50, try to reach 100? It really would appease my nice-number thing. I used to be quite partial to the number 72. If not then I am sure that 75 or 80 would do, but really, if we get that far, we might as well go the whole way. I already have a fair amount of chapters typed or written up, so I will upload them what ever happens. And after the next chapter's ending I can guarantee that you will be wanting me to continue. I hope. Either that or you will all be crying out athat you hate my guts, which I do sometimes too, so you will not be the only one.