Another of my pre-written chapters. If there were to be a bell curve to show the distribution of pre-written chapters, the mean would be around here, in this section of the story, and it would have a very low standard deviation, with only a few outliers.

Anyway, enough of the statistical analysis. It has no place in this story.

I said it last chapter, I am going to say it now, and I will probably say it many times again.

Not real, i.e. some points may be unrealistic. But this is fiction, it says so in the web address. (I think I have used that line before.) You do not believe me? Look at the top of your screen.

Any discrepancies with the real world are to be blamed on reality – or at least your reality. My reality is sound. Sometimes.

LII. A Baby Is God's Opinion That The World Should Go On.

Gibbs paced outside of the private room they had moved Ziva into. He glanced in once more as she continued to sleep off the sedative. Her voice had faltered and her grip on his hand had weakened. It hurts, Abba. That's what she had said. Her last words before he had been forced out of the room and McGee had been rushed off to the fracture and break ward to get his broken arm cared for as soon as she had let go of it. How could the birth of two tiny little things cause such chaos? He had forgotten – they were the children of Tony and Ziva – the combination of DNA alone was bound to cause worldwide natural disasters. The two infants had been whisked out of sight immediately and he hadn't heard anything in over an hour about them. Being born at 34 weeks was not ideal, he knew that, but if there was a problem he wanted them to tell him. He wanted someone to talk to him. He looked at his watch again and yawned at the ungodly hour. Doctor Green walked through the door and he ambushed her, his glare freezing her where she stood. "Where are they? Where are her children?"

"Agent Gibbs, I understand your concern, but it will be best if we can talk about this when Ziva is awake, don't you think?"

"No, no I do not think. When she wakes up her husband will still be downstairs in a hospital bed with a gunshot wound and whatever you tell her she will need him because otherwise you would have told me what is wrong. You haven't even told us the gender."

"We'll see what we can do about transferring them into the same room." She walked off and he growled. He watched as Ziva's head rolled to the side and he walked into the room, taking her hand as she blinked sleepily at him.

"Where are my babies?" Her voice was hoarse. He sighed and kissed her forehead, unable to look at her. "Gibbs, where are they?"

"Ziva…"

"Gibbs, tell me where my children are!" She yelled at him as loud as possible, attracting the attention of various members of staff. Doctor Green hurried through.

"Ziva, we're going to transfer you to a room with your husband momentarily."

"Tony? Has he got our babies?" Her face brightened at the thought. "If Tony has our babies then it is all going to be okay. Gibbs, why did you not just tell me that?" She laughed and shook her head as her boss continued to glare at her doctor. He just stared as she was transferred to a wheelchair and trailed behind as they wound down numerous corridors, the cartoon paintings of boats on the walls becoming more frequent – it was a naval hospital after all. His eye caught on a sign reading Special Care Nursery and he bit his lip. He was nervous. He didn't want what ever was wrong to break her and at the rate her mood was growing increasingly optimistic, he could see the chances of her surviving what was coming growing slimmer and slimmer. They stopped and turned into another private room that held Abby, pandering over McGee's cast, and the director talking to Tony. No babies. Tony tried to sit up immediately when he saw Ziva and she beamed at him. He fell back in the bed when sitting up proved too painful. "How are they, Tony? Can I see them?" Tony's face fell. "You don't have them?"

"I thought you did." Tony's voice cracked. They both turned to the doctor, along with everyone else in the room. Silence descended and the air grew cold.

"Your children were born at 34 weeks which, although not always fatal, can cause problems." Ziva's happy exterior crumbled as she let out a sob. "Both of your children are in hot cots, which are keeping them at their optimum body temperature. Your son is healthy, with no problems other than being small, only 3lb 13oz. Your daughter is 3lb 8oz and is receiving oxygen through a nasal cannula. This is more precautionary than anything, and we are going to see how she improves, but we hope for her to be off the oxygen by tomorrow." She paused. "She has also failed her hearing test. This is not uncommon, particularly with premature births, and we will continue to test it every few days, however there is a high probability that her hearing issues are due to her inner ear not forming properly. Although there is a possibility that her hearing will improve with time, you will still need to consider her options. The hospital provides support and I have some pamphlets about treatments and cochlear implants. These are important things that need to be thought over thoroughly with a great deal of consideration." The whole room was silent except for Ziva's continuing sobs as they all tried to process the information. "If you would like we can transfer them here with you, but they need to stay in their isolettes as much as possible. At first we recommend that they are not held too much, as it can over stimulate them, which can hinder progress, but they do need to form bonds with you, so you can still touch them, hold their hands, feet." Tony nodded as he stroked Ziva's hair, her head lying on the bed next to him. The doctor disappeared and everyone stood or sat unsure of what to say.

"It's not gonna be so bad, you know." Tony said eventually as her tears subsided. "At least Abby has already taught us the basics of sign language. And she said that her hearing might improve." He tried to mask his own emotional pain as she moved her head to his lap and sniffed, her eyes fixed on the end of the bed as he continued to caress her head. Nobody knew quite what to do, that was at least until Abby ran over to Ziva and hugged her as tightly as she could without causing any pain to the woman in the wheelchair.

"I'm sorry, Ziva." She whispered in her friend's ear. "But Tony's right, you know – for once." She grinned and pulled back, looking between her family in the room. "She'll still be just as capable as he brother. And if she can't hear it also means that when her brother wakes up screaming in the night she won't wake up as well." The whole room chuckled at Abby's cheerfulness, Ziva cascading almost into hysterics at the state of affairs.

"What's so funny?" Tony asked as she looked up at him, new tears – tears of laughter – in her eyes.

"Only Abby could say something like that at such a time and get away with it." She laughed again and Abby grinned proudly. "If it had been McGee we all would have hit him."

"Well you have already broken my arm, Ziva. I don't think being hit would really hurt much."

"You should not have stood so close then." She shrugged. "I am sorry, McGee, but I would say that a broken arm is nothing compared to labour." Everyone turned and glared at him and he lowered his eyes in embarrassment.

"Of course, Ziva." Just then the door opened and Doctor Green and Ducky walked in with two portable incubators, a tiny mass of pink writhing in each.

"I have to say Anthony, Ziva, you have both done a very good job. They really are beautiful children." Ducky grinned as he moved the bassinette with the pink-hatted baby closer to Ziva. She was so small that the new parents struggled to comprehend her being okay – apart from her hearing of course.

"And she's healthy? She's fine apart from not being able to hear us?" Tony asked. It hadn't really hit home yet that his baby girl might never be able to hear him tell her how beautiful she was.

"They both are." He smiled. "Have you thought about names?"

They looked to one-another and smiled. "Well, we were thinking for a girl, Adabelle, shortened to Ada." Ziva looked at her daughter and then to her son. "And for a boy Ichabod."

"I want to shorten Ichabod to Bod, but she won't let me." Tony laughed as he looked at their children. Their beautiful, perfect children. "Adabelle Antonia David-DiNozzo and Ichabod Flavio David-DiNozzo." He grinned.

"Half Italian, half Hebrew. Half you, half me." She wrapped her hand around his and smiled at the contrast of her olive skin against his fairly pale skin in comparison. "A perfect compromise."

"Maybe we should let you rest." Jenny stood up and smiled. "Congratulations."

"They are by far the best things that have happened to anyone at NCIS in the history of earth. Apart from maybe Gibbs shaving his mustache." Abby grinned, still watching the two infants. McGee tugged her away gently as the room emptied, leaving just Tony, Ziva, the twins and Gibbs.

"You know, DiNozzo, I think you have finally, finally, after all these years of trying, not only got something right, but got something perfect." He walked over and placed a hand on the man's good shoulder. "Well done, Tony. You've done good." He smiled before walking over to Ziva. "You did wonderful. Even if you did break McGee's arm." He chuckled slightly and kissed her forehead, squeezing the hand that wasn't entwined with Tony's. "I knew that these two would wreak havoc, but I thought their trail of carnage wouldn't start until they were maybe able to crawl. Look how wrong I was." He stood up and looked at them. "Tony's been shot, McGee has a broken arm, and you're not gonna leave their side until you can take them home, and then a few months after that, minimum. I am down a whole team. I wonder when the earthquakes will start." He chuckled. "Gives me a couple of weeks off, I guess. I suppose you'll want me to make a start on their beds for when they grow out of the cots?" All three laughed as Gibbs stood with his two children and his two grandchildren. He nodded to them, kissing Ziva's forehead once more and giving each child one last look before he left to find the others.

"We'll get through this." Tony said confidently, and for the first time he truly believed those words as they left his lips. "We can get through anything."

"She will never hear us tell her how much we love her, Tony." Ziva whispered quietly as fresh tears trickled down her cheeks and she slipped her free hand into the incubator to hold Ada's tiny fingers.

"And that won't matter, Ziva." He tried to hold back his own tears and failed as his voice quivered. "It won't matter because even if she will never be able to hear us, she will still know that we love her and her brother more than anything in the world. She is still perfect."

"She is more than perfect, Tony." She ran a finger along Adabelle's fragile little arm and gave a watery smile. "They both are."


"They're gonna be alright, aren't they Timmy?" Abby asked, her voice small as she drove McGee back to his apartment.

"Abby, Ziva is the strongest, most adaptable person in the universe and Tony is the second most loving person in the world. They are, and I hate to admit it, going to be brilliant parents."

"You know what's funny?" Abby looked across at him.

"No, Abby, I don't." He yawned, the painkillers they had given him for his arm were starting to make him drowsy.

"They are so little and yet they have such long names. Their names are almost longer than them."

"Well, they were premature. Bod's 3lb 13oz and Ada's 3lb 8oz." He had already slipped into the habit of shortening Ichabod's name. He would have to stop that before Ziva caught him, else he would probably suddenly realise that he could learn to live without the use of his fingers.

"Of course, there is one slight problem." She mused.

"Hm?"

"Well, yeah. The babygrows I brought them are way too big."

Tim laughed quietly, keeping his eyes closed as his head rested on the car window. "They'll grow, Abs. They'll grow."

"Timmy?"

"Hm, Abs?"

"Who's the first?"

"The first what?"

"Most loving person in the world?"

"You, Abs." He sighed contently, moving his arm slightly so it was more comfortable. Abby kept her eyes on the road, letting a small smile grace her lips.

When I was little I had an imaginary friend called Ichabod, shortened to Bod.

Anyway, the next chapter is not finished yet, but it is over half way complete, so that will be up in a day or two.