***AN: Readers, this chapter goes back to the year after where I have left off in the last chapter of the book "The Life We Live". This is the beginning of the journey this family takes; as we go along with this, I will do my best to keep updates on weekly regular basis. In advance, thank you for reviews, tweets, messages and Kudos.

Elizabeth "Liza" Zivah McGee narratives:

My Dear ones, This is the beginning of a new generation, and also a start to a major change in the family dynamic. The year my older brother Ian was born was really one of so much change in our family, and in some ways it defined the years that followed.

Chapter 2 – Gather 'round the Family - November 2042

Tony focused on the freeway ahead of him, pleasantly surprised that the traffic was flowing so smoothly at this time. He glanced over at Ziva, a small smile on his lips. He reached out and gently held Ziva's hand. "Ziva, you doing ok there?" Tony raised his voice slightly louder than normal.

Ziva snapped out of her thoughts and turned to look at Tony. "Did you say something?" Ever since she had lost her hearing from the medication she was on while in the hospital a few months ago, things were... different. Off balance, as if someone had screwed around with the balance setting on the stereo.

"You okay there?" Tony repeated his question, spelling out O-K.

"Yeah.." Ziva nodded and smiled. "I was just thinking about the trip we had, out to Philadelphia. It was good to get out of the house, after a crummy week." She sighed. "Just wished Zara was in a better mood when we visited her, though."

"Yeah" Tony nodded, whispering to himself, then clenched his lips briefly, shaking his head slightly. He almost forgot that Ziva couldn't hear very well out of her left ear anymore. He raised a fist and nodded it up and down in a "yes" sign to Ziva, then stroked her cheek as he glanced over at her. "I know. At least she did show us one of her drawings, so that's good at least." He did his best to enunciate each word as clearly as he could for Ziva; he was still adjusting to her hearing loss.

Ziva sighed. "I just wished there was more we could do for Zara, besides have her placed in that group home." She held up a hand and closed her eyes and bowed her head for a moment, composing herself. "But, it is what it is. Things happened the way they did, while I was in the hospital, sick and unable do anything. It was all on you to take care of things, and you made the decisions to the best of your ability. That's why I'm not placing blame on you or anyone else in the family."

'Yeah, I know. Hardest decision I ever had to make, I'll tell you that. Decisions, plural." Tony said, signing the last two words to Ziva. "And everything happening almost all at once, you know?"

Ziva nodded. "Everything out of your control. You couldn't help it. No one could have predicted how Zara would have reacted with me being taken away by ambulance to the hospital." She sighed. "Out of the blue, it happened?"

"Yup, just like that, three days after." Tony snapped his finger. "I wonder about how the family's faring, all the time now. I guess we'll just take it one day at a time. Just like the therapist told us, remember? One day at a time."

Ziva smiled. "That's what I've been working on. The one day at a time part is sometimes hard because the days seem to blur together at times."

Tony nodded. "That's why the Philadelphia thing was a good break for us, right? And now we're coming home, to another surprise." He flashed a smile to Ziva.

"Oh, more surprises?" Ziva tilted her head to Tony a slow smile formed on her lips. "Looking forward to it. I do agree about the trip to Philadelphia, how nice it was. Much needed getaway to just spend time together, just the two of us. Made me feel whole again."

"Honey, you know I would always be there for you. Make sure you feel loved and cared for, not left out just because you couldn't hear well anymore." Tony smiled at Ziva, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"I truly appreciate that. Out of all the people that say they understand, you understood me the most. I'd have to give credit to your aunt – what was her name? Ade? For being there and a part of your life." She remembered his aunt from years ago, how she had first met her and almost recoiled from her very loud, booming voice. She smiled slightly. "She certainly has made an impression on me as well."

"Adelaide, you got that right, my love. Yeah, Ade was a character, what with her loud voice. And her hearing aids giving out a constant feedback." Tony formed his hand into the letter "e" and held it near his ear and shook it in and out.

Ziva chuckled. "Yes, those hearing aids. I remember she wore 'em a couple times, and I could hear it in the other room." Ziva looked more closely at Tony and asked, "I'm not talking too loud, am I?"

Tony laughed and shook his head slightly as he turned off the exit, and pointed the SUV on the road leading to their house. "Naw, you're just fine. Your voice is beautiful as always."

Ziva smiled and sat back in her seat. "You know, it's a nice day out there today. Just a hint of chill in the air. Nice to come home in this weather. I just wonder what the kids have been up to these days."

"Heh, you know how the kids are these days, always out and about doing their own things. I did tell the kids this morning that we were coming home today, but I'm not sure if they'll be around."

Ziva nodded, a hint of sadness in her face, but a smile on her lips. "It's good to see the kids going on with their lives, but it'd be nice to see them when we get home. And our grandson Ian, too."

Eventually they reached their house. As Tony pulled up in the driveway, he noticed a very mud-streaked Jeep sitting in the driveway, still dripping mud in a couple of places. He shut off the ignition and got out of the SUV, chuckling to himself as he looked at the Jeep. "That boy," he muttered to himself.

"Tony." Ziva spoke up as she got out of the SUV, her attention drawn by a familiar-looking SUV driving up from a distance. She looked over at Tony, and said, "Looks like someone's coming home."

Tony spun his head around to Ziva, then followed her finger that she was pointing to. "Ah yeah, that must be Zack. Wasn't sure if he was gonna make it in tonight."

"It's good to see him come home," Ziva said.

The front door burst open and out came Matt, a broad smile on his face. He held up a hand and waved at her as he made his way toward Tony and Ziva "Hi, Abba, Ima!" Matt reached Tony and Ziva and hugged them both. He then stepped back and said, "Happy belated birthday, Ima."

"Oh thank you, Matt." Ziva smiled as she spoke softly. She cleared her throat slightly and raised her voice a bit. "I saw your jeep over there. Looked like you had a good time, and forgot to give your Jeep a bath." She shook a finger at him, then tilted her head and smiled at him.

Matt chuckled at Ziva. "Yeah, maybe I got a little carried away with testing the off-road capabilities of this Jeep. I'm real surprised at how much mud it'll handle with all the mods I did to it. I'll get it cleaned up soon, I promise." He held up three fingers in a scout's salute.

Just then, the SUV that Tony and Ziva had seen earlier pulled up in front of the house, and Zack and Morgan stepped out of the SUV. Zack quickly ran around the SUV and made his way up to Tony and Ziva. "Hi Abba, Ima! Good to see you both again." He turned to Ziva and said, "Happy birthday, Ima."

"Thank you, Zack." Ziva smiled up at Zack. She had to look up at him because he already stood a head taller than Ziva. "How have you two been doing these days?"

Morgan stepped up beside Zack and put her arm around his waist. "A whole lot of stories to tell. More than can be said standing around here." She looked up at Zack and smiled. "Right, Zack?"

Zack chuckled. "That's right. We'll head on in, we gotta get the stuff that we got from the store out of the car." He turned to the SUV and opened the back door, revealing a bunch of bags in the back seat.

Tony chuckled slightly and turned to Matt. "Go help your brother, will you please? Looks like he brought enough to stockpile an army in there."

Matt laughed as he walked past Tony to help Zack with the bags. "Not a problem, Abba. We'll be a few moments."

"I'll see you in there, Morg. Just gotta get these bags in." Zack smiled at Morgan as he grabbed the first few bags of food.

"Tali in there?" Tony asked, gesturing toward the house.

Zack looked up at Tony briefly before grabbing his share of the bags. "Yeah, she's in there cooking. She called and asked me to get more food on top of what we already got."

Ziva smiled at the banter, slightly lost due to her missing half of what's being said due to her hearing loss. Yet, she managed to understand the gist of what's being said. "Everything's good, I assume?" she whispered to Tony.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Tony turned to Ziva. "Tali's up in the kitchen cooking some food. We should get inside out of this chill."

"Yes, let's." Ziva made her way up to the house, following Zack and Matty, who were carrying multiple bags of shopping up to the house.

As Tony and Ziva made their way into the house, Tony let out a sigh. "Ah, good to be home again," he said loudly.

Before Ziva could answer, the sound of a toddler's excited squeal reached her ears, followed by the sound of little pattering feet. An extremely happy toddler burst from the kitchen, running full steam toward Tony and Ziva. "Papa! Sav'a!"

Ziva quickly knelt to the floor and held her arms wide open, a wide smile on her face. "Hello Ian! Come to Savta!" She wrapped her arms around Ian as he ran into her and hugged her. She then looked at Ian and held him at her arms' length, still smiling at him. "Why, you've grown a couple of inches taller since the last time I saw you!"

"Sav'a, me big!" Ian held his arms wide, then swung them vertical, giggling the whole time. He was happy to see his grandmother again, after an extended absence.

Tony reached down and tousled Ian's hair. "Hey, little man. Good to see you again. Being a good boy?"

Ian nodded his head once as he held his hands up. "Yeth, Papa. Uppies?"

Tony chuckled as he reached down and picked Ian up off the floor. "I'll give ya some uppies, here we go!" He lifted Ian high up in the air, causing Ian to squeal in delight.

Tali stepped out of the kitchen, chuckling. "You know how happy Ian is every time he sees you two," she said as she walked over to her parents.

Tony brought the toddler down to his chest. "Ian's been growing, hasn't he?" He smiled at Tali. "He looks good."

Tali nodded as she gently plucked Ian from Tony's arms. "C'mere, you," she said to Ian, smiling at him. Turning to Tony, she said, "Yeah, he's been doing real well, since that day. I was kind of concerned that he'd probably not want to see you two, but he's happy."

Tony clenched his lips slightly; that was not an easy time, the day that everything blew up in his face. He pushed his thoughts to the side. "Yeah. That was not a good day at all," he muttered to himself. He cleared his throat and said, louder this time, "I'm happy that everybody's here again. It's good to see all of you again."

John stuck his head out of the kitchen. "Hey there. Just got done preparing the meat on the grill. Gonna be some good eats tonight, I'd say." He pointed back to the kitchen. "Better get back to watching the meat, making sure they get a nice smoke flavor."

"Dada!" Ian held his arms out for John in Tali's arms.

Tali quickly put Ian down, letting him run over to John. She then stood up in front of Tony and Ziva and smiled. "That boy's always full of energy." She stepped up and hugged them both. "It's good to see you two again, despite what's happened in the past."

Tony nodded. "Yeah. I think it's a good thing that we were able to take a step back and reassess things, with a little bit of help. That therapist we've been seeing has been a lot of help for us."

Ziva looked up at Tony and nodded. "Some things we learned from talking about it. Might be something worth talking about, after dinner."

Tali nodded. "One thing at a time. Just wanted to say happy birthday, Ima." She flashed a quick smile at Ziva.

Eventually after the table had been cleared away and the food put away, everyone made their way out of the dining room. As Tony and Ziva walked side by side, he signed to her: family campfire?

Ziva let out a small sigh, and nodded. "Get it over with," she whispered.

Tony called out to everybody. "Hey, don't go anywhere just yet. I think it's time we had a family campfire in the living room. Been way too long since we've had one."

Everybody stopped in their tracks and turned to Tony. Tali was the first to speak up. "Now? Can it wait?"

Tony nodded. "Yup. Now. I feel like it's time we need to see how everyone's been doing these days. I know it's not been an easy time for us."

Tali sighed. "Alright. I guess you're right. We do need to talk. It's been too long." She turned to the living room. Everyone else followed and found themselves places to sit down: Tony and Ziva in the couch, the McGees in the small sofa, John and Tali sitting in their chairs next to Ziva, while Zack sat in the other recliner, Morgan next to him in a dining chair, and Matt sat by Tony.

Ziva's eyes slowly scanned the family pictures on the living room wall, a tear starting at the corner of an eye as she noticed Zara in some of the pictures, how she smiled in those pictures. "It was a good dinner, just not the same without Zara here. First year with her gone." She let out a sigh.

"Yeah I know. I miss her presence, too. I look over to the coffee table or the dining table expecting to see her drawing away, but she's not anymore. All because of what happened." Tony sighed. "I guess it's for the better, in the long run."

Tali looked at her father, seeing the struggle in his eyes over the guilt he had within him, then she glanced over at her mother, studying them carefully. "Well, I do miss her, too. But I believe it was for the better that she was put in the group home. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to know that Ian was safe with her around."

"Well, I understand, and this is the reason why I asked your Abba to call you kids to come over, so we could have this family campfire thing. The therapist had suggested to us that it might be a good idea to discuss things what have happened." She held up a hand and shook her head slightly. "I mean, I know this is my birthday, but I would very much rather be doing something other than to have this meeting with all of you – like writing, or sewing. But I feel that we are overdue for a family campfire." She turned to McGee and Delilah and said, "This includes you, too. You're part of our family, too."

Tali held her hands up in the air. "Wait, I know you've been seeing that therapist, but how long have you been going?"

Tony shrugged his shoulders. "Couple, three months now?"

"I didn't know you needed counseling for your marriage," Tali said, coming to an assumption on the fly, without thinking.

Tony let out a short chuckle. "No, not that kind of counseling. There's other kinds too. We've been going through a lot, and needed a little help processing things because it was all too much in too little of a time space. So, yeah." He let out a sigh. "Not an easy journey, I'll tell you that."

Ziva gently put a hand on Tony's arm. "But well worth it, I think. Sometimes the only way past the pain is through it. One day at a time. I'm still trying to deal with some things, myself. Like this thing with me going deaf in my left ear, for example. If they hadn't given me that antibiotic -"

"You wouldn't have made it," Tony said, gently. "You were running a real high fever, and you had gone septic, and the doctor had to give you a really hefty dose of antibiotics to save you."

Ziva nodded. "I don't remember what happened that night. It's like, one second I was talking to you all, and then the next thing I know, I was laid up in the hospital, with tubes all over me. I had no idea what happened to me."

Tony nodded. "That's when I had to call the ambulance on you after finding you on the floor. The screams that Zara made, she could wake the dead with that. I heard her all the way from the garage, where I was showing the McGeek over there my model train set." He let out a sigh. "After that it was all downhill from there with her."

McGee nodded. "He just left the trains running when he ran into the house and I followed him, found you on the floor. You were burning up."

Ziva let out a sigh. She hadn't known how serious it had become in a matter of hours. She recalled that she was feeling fine most of the day, and was starting to get tired when everything went black on her. "That's the part that I had not known because I was so out of it. Zara couldn't handle it well?" She looked up at Tony.

Tony slowly shook his head. "She did not take it well, at all. When the ambulance took us to the hospital, I saw her through the back window trying to run after the ambulance."

John sighed. "Had to run after her to stop her. She kept screaming for Ima. Took us hours to try to calm her down, but we finally found what could calm her. A little bit of the music you liked to play for Zara. Same one that calms Ian down, too." He looked down at Ian, who was sleeping peacefully on his shoulder, and smiled a bit.

Zack let out a sigh, then said, "She could pack a mean punch, especially when she couldn't get her way." He rubbed his abdomen. "Still hurts me a little to think about it."

Morgan reached up and rubbed Zack's shoulder. "I know, I had to get some ice for your stomach, remember? You couldn't work the next day because you were still sore."

Zack nodded. "Yeah. Felt like I did several rounds with a heavyweight boxer in the ring the day after, my stomach hurt so much."

Tony sat back in his chair. He hadn't known about that part. "What happened, exactly? This is the first time I'm hearing about it."

Matt groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Couple of days after you got taken to the hospital, she had one of her tantrums, ended up punching Zack in the stomach, causing him to drop to the floor." He let out a sigh as he shook his head. "It's like the moment you weren't in the picture anymore, Zara changed to a completely different person."

Tony nodded. "Yeah. Totally new person we were dealing with, because Ima wasn't around, couldn't because she was so sick." He leaned forward on the couch and put his head in his hands, letting out a sigh. "When I came back the next day, we tried to explain to Zara that you weren't able to come home from the hospital, but we couldn't get through to her."

Tali nodded. "She shut everyone out and just started drawing. Nonstop drawing for about three days straight. She would scream when she ran out of drawing paper, and we'd have to go get her some more."

Zack nodded. "All the drawings shared a common theme: you. It's like she was trying to ask why Ima couldn't come home. We didn't get it for a while, then realized that they were all about you, her memories with you." He pointed to the cabinet where the TV sat. "They're all in there."

Tony sighed as he got up and walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a couple of the drawings. "Like these two." He held the pictures up. One showed Zara and Ziva sitting together, eating ice cream, while the other showed Zara drawing, with Ziva looking over her shoulder and smiling.

Ziva took the pictures and studied them carefully. Almost absentmindedly, she said, "Just like losing a security blanket." She dropped the drawings into her lap and looked up at Tony. "Was that why your back was messed up a few days before I was able to come home?"

Tony sighed and nodded. "Yeah. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. I did notice that Zara had been getting a little irritated with Ian lately, before this whole thing happened. Just little things." He held out his thumb and index finger, with a tiny space between them.

"Yeah, the weird thing is she was fine with Ian, until he was able to start crawling around and getting into things. She'd get bent out of shape every time Ian got into her drawing stuff and started ruining her artwork." Tali shook her head. "We were able to change things up a bit, making it more difficult for the baby to get into Zara's things. But wow, she could be a handful on those bad days."

Ziva reached out her hand to hold Tali's hand. "I am sorry Tali, for everything that's happened. I had no clue that things got out of hand so quickly, and I came to understand why your Abba had to make the decision for the better, to put Zara in the residential program."

"Yeah." Tali nodded, "If it weren't been for Matt checking on Ian, who knows what could've happened to him."

Matt let out a long sigh and buried his head in his hands. "That's a day I wish never happened. Do we really have to talk about this?"

Zack prodded Matt gently. "Hey, that's what this campfire is about, to talk about it and not keep things in. I can see Abba and Ima's point about talking about things. Only way to heal, I think." He shrugged.

Matt sat back and let out a long sigh. "Alright. Point taken." He clasped his hands together, then kneaded them together, trying to put his thoughts in order. "We, I mean, Zack and I, were playing an online game, 'cuz it was our days off and, why not. Ian was doing okay for a while, then I guess he wandered off before I realized it."

Zack nodded. "We didn't know, until a few minutes later when we realized we weren't hearing Ian play in the living room. Matt got up to check on Ian. Next thing we know, everything's blowing up in our faces."

Matt nodded. "I saw Zara standing in front of the bathroom with a smile on her face, so I asked what she was doing over there. She just said nothing, and walked away, to go do her drawing." He let out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair.

"And?" Ziva prompted him to continue. "What happened?"

Matt sighed. "I found the bathroom door locked, and heard water running in the bathroom. Then I heard this tiny voice almost giggling. I realized that Zara locked Ian in there, with the water still running. I tried to kick the door in, but my asthma kicked in because I was freaking out about, what if he got into the water? So I managed to call out for Zack to help."

Zack nodded, his face becoming animated. "I ran in there, and saw Matty gasping for air, and pointing to the bathroom door. All I could make out was Ian's name, so I had to run out to the garage and get my practice ram and ram the door in."

Matt nodded. "Saw the baby climbing into the tub, managed to dive into the bathroom and grab ahold of his leg, stopping him."

"It was a close call, and I was able to help Matt and turn the water off and grab the baby from the tub." Zack sighed, shaking his head gently. "Breaking the news to Tali about what happened, that was not a fun thing at all."

Tali turned to Tony. "Oh, I was not happy at all, when I found out it happened while I was out doing errands. I had to drop everything and come home, and -"

Tony cut her off gently, holding up a hand. "And I got your call, you were real upset about what happened -"

It was Tali's turn to cut Tony off. " - and I told 'em this wasn't the first time Zara's had an issue with Ian, and you weren't around to make sure -" she whirled toward Zack and Matt, pointing an accusatory finger at them.

"Whoa, now, what're you saying?" Matt shot back, holding his hands up in the air. "I thought I could handle watching Ian and playing games at the same time, and Zack was there with me, helping me keep an eye on Ian!"

Tali scoffed. "You were supposed to keep an eye on Zara also, while everyone else was gone!" She held a hand out to John, and continued. "John was out with Uncle Tim for the day, while I was with Delilah doing the shopping and taking care of the bakery. You knew that I had to go do errands."

Delilah held up her hands, trying to calm everyone down. "Hey, hey, let's not get out of hand here." But the argument between Tali and her brothers continued unheeded.

"Alright, hold up!" Ziva yelled out, slamming her hands on the couch, causing everyone to stop and look at Ziva. "I'm getting lost here, everyone's talking too fast! Don't you remember, I can't hear so well out of my left ear?" She pointed to her left ear. "One person at a time, please, and speak clearly so I can follow the conversation!" Fire shone in her eyes as she glared at the others, then slowly died down as she willed herself to calm down, taking a deep breath. "I know that everything's been hard on us lately, but can we talk without rancor? Come to a common understanding?"

A small cry escaped Ian's mouth as he jumped from the sound. John quickly shushed Ian, and rocked him back to sleep. "Ian's sleeping here," he half-whispered. "Try not to wake him up, please."

"Sorry, Ian," Tali whispered to Ian and rubbed his back, helping him to fall back asleep. She looked at her Ima, then sighed. "Well, you know I called Abba after it happened, and told him, if Zara stayed another day, Ian wouldn't be able to come over, because I never knew what Zara might do to him the next time."

Tony sighed. "Yeah, that was the hardest decision I ever had to make, but thankfully Tim and Delilah helped me to think things through. And that's why, while you were in that medically induced coma, I made the call and had her emergency-placed in the residential program." A small tear started to leak from his eye, and he quickly rubbed it away. He didn't really want his family to see how much it tore at his heart to have to make that decision. But he knew it was for the best, to keep Ian safe.

Ziva put a hand on Tony's, and rubbed it gently. "I understand that you had to do it, and I understand the reason why. I felt like it was becoming a little difficult for us to enjoy being grandparents while having to take care of Zara, but I wasn't sure how to proceed next. This illness decided things for us." She shrugged her shoulders. "At least we got to see Zara this morning before we came home, though."

Tali looked at Ziva and tilted her head slightly. "How's she doing, these days? She settling into the group home life?"

Tony smiled and held his hands up in the air. "She seems to like it. At least I think that's what her drawings are saying."

John sighed. "Yeah, it was a rough few weeks after everything had happened. We took turns visiting Zara at the group home so she wouldn't feel left out, but she's not really the same since she got there."

Tony nodded. "I got the chance to talk with the people there, get an update on how she's been doing, just this morning. They put her on some medication, help with some of her mood swings. They say it's not that big of a dose, just enough to smooth things out a bit." The idea of Zara being on medication rankled at him a bit, but he told himself that it was for the best.

Ziva nodded. "She recognized us, smiled when she saw us. But even though she was happy to see us, I could see that something was... off... about her. Like she'd fall back into that blank stare. Almost like all the expression in her face just got sucked out. I don't like it when she's on that medication."

Tali sighed, disgusted at how the staff had been treating her condition. She couldn't come to terms with why they had to use powerful medications to control her emotional swings. "I just hope they know what they're doing, because I still don't quite have the confidence that they do. Even if they say they're highly regarded as being the best in dealing with autistic cases."

Ziva sighed and held out her hands. "If the people at Zara's day program told your Abba about that residential program, it sounds like they had a plan for helping Zara out. I still don't see where the medication comes into our picture, though."

Tony sighed. "The head psychologist did say that in some cases, it helped with some of the issues with emotional self-control, and the art program gives her something to look forward to. Those drawings she's been showing us over there, they seem to show a happy interaction with the people over there. I just feel like we might be missing something, though."

John nodded. "Yeah. Zack said something to me about it the other day. Tell 'em, Zack, about what you said."

Zack glanced at John, then looked at Ziva and Tony. "Well, the drawings seem to center around one or two people that work over there. Seems she had taken a liking to them, but it's kinda weird, I can't explain yet."

Tony sat up, suddenly interested. "Got the drawings handy? I'd like to see 'em." He held out a hand and beckoned for the drawings.

Zack shook his head. "No, for some odd reason she wouldn't give 'em to me. Every time I'd go check on her, that same guy that's in her drawings is always hovering nearby, as if he was watching her like a hawk."

John nodded. "Yeah, not sure what that was all about. Just something worth noting."

Tony nodded. "Maybe they're just making sure she doesn't lose her temper, or something. I dunno." He shrugged his shoulders. "I asked about the program there, and they just said she was doing fine. Some bad days, but that's to be expected when they adjust to the new environment, they said. I'm just not sure if she's totally happy there, though."

McGee cleared his throat slightly. "Excuse me, I need to go to the kitchen for a few seconds," he said, holding a hand up as he slowly got up from his chair.

Picking up the cue, Delilah smiled and nodded. "I'll go with him. Make sure he's okay." She wheeled her chair to McGee. "Be my chariot?" she smiled at McGee.

McGee smiled down at Delilah as he took the handles of the wheelchair and started pushing her to the kitchen. "Why, certainly, my lady."

Just then, Ian started moving about in John's arms and fussing. "Ima," he called out fussily.

Tali turned to Ian. "Sounds like we have a hungry little man here, don't we? I'll get a bottle warmed up for you." She got up from her seat and followed the McGees into the kitchen.

Tony looked over at Zack. "Hey you. How have you and Morgan been doing? I heard you took a little trip out to Vegas. Have a good time over there, get some winnings in?"

"Oh yeah, we had a good time in Vegas. Had an event in Vegas that I wanted to go to. Kinda work related, but not really. It was a little one-day thing, and we were able to work it into our vacation plans." Zack smiled at Tony. "Didn't hit the slots, though. Too tempting."

Before Tony could say anything, Tim and Delilah came into the room, carrying a large birthday cake, and Tali followed close behind with the bottle for Ian. "Here we are!" Tim called out, smiling broadly.

Tali walked up to John and Ian and smiled as she gave the bottle to Ian. "Here we go, Ian."

Ian let out a small squeal of delight as he took the bottle and started sucking hungrily at it. He drifted off to sleep moments later.

"Happy birthday, Ziva!" Delilah smiled at Ziva.

Ziva smiled as she saw the birthday cake lined with 60 candles on the cake. "Wow, that's a lot of candles!"

Tony leaned toward her and said in her ear, "Don't worry, I'll help you."

Tali chuckled. "I'll help you as well."

Zack and Matt stepped up. In unison, they said, "Count us in as well."

"Ready? One, two, three!" Tim called out, and everybody started singing the birthday song in unison as Tim set the cake on the coffee table in front of Ziva.

"Okay," Ziva said to herself, smiling as the song ended, feeling the love from the family. "Make a wish?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Sure, it's your birthday," Tony said, smiling at her as he put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him. "Together, shall we?" He turned to the cake, and prepared himself for Ziva's cue.

Ziva nodded, smiling, then took a deep breath and blew at the candles. As she did so, everyone followed suit, save for John, who was still holding Ian. "I got ya," Morgan said to John.

After the cake was cut and served, Tony turned to Zack. "So, what exactly did you do out in Vegas, anyway?"

Zack chuckled a bit nervously as he looked over at Morgan, then back at Tony. "Well, we kinda eloped, too. Got married over there, by the king of rock himself."

Tony blinked at Zack. "Now, why would you run off and get married in Vegas, anyway?" He put a hand on his chin and stroked it. "Something you wanna say?"

"Uhm, yeah. But you're not... mad at us for eloping?" Zack asked, taken aback by the lack of anger from Tony and Ziva.

Tali scoffed. "Zack! Look at us, and how we got married. It wasn't in some fancy church with all the bridesmaids and all that. We got married in the hospital, so I guess you could say we eloped as well."

"Yeah, so? I'm happy for you and wish you the best in your marriage." He looked over at Ziva and smiled.

Ziva smiled and nodded to Zack. "What if we did the same thing you did when we got married?" She clicked her tongue at Zack. "Why should we be mad at you?" She knew she had no place to say anything because she had been down that road as well, a lifetime ago.

Tony chuckled. "Yeah. Happened in Israel. Had a rabbi tie the knot for us and everything. Best part of it all is, that's where Tali was created." He looked over at Tali and smiled at her.

Tali groaned internally, putting her face in her palm. "Oh, Abba, not that again!" She held up her other hand as she shook her head; she'd heard that story quite a few times, now.

Ziva put a hand on Tali's arm, and said as she chuckled. "Abba's just being his silly self. Don't worry about it." She turned to Tony and batted her eyes. "Behave, now." She smiled at him.

McGee laughed uproariously at the exchange. "You guys are hilarious. That story always fascinates me, and I'm sure Zack and Morgan has an interesting story behind their marriage, am I right?" He looked over at Morgan.

Morgan smiled and nodded. "The biggest reason we married is because of this little discovery we had." She pulled out a small piece of paper from her purse and flipped it over for everyone to see. On it, was an ultrasound picture of a small developing fetus.

Everyone erupted in surprise and joy, startling Ian slightly, who stirred, but fell back asleep. "Well, I just can't believe I'm gonna be a grandpa again!" Tony exclaimed.

Tali's mouth hung open in surprise, then slowly turned to John and patted him on his shoulder. "Looks like we're not the only ones. Wanna tell 'em?" she whispered to John.

John chuckled softly to Tali. "Why don't you do the honors of wracking our dads' minds?" He held a hand up toward Ziva and Tony, but kept the motion vague enough to not be immediately noticed.

Tony looked at Tali and John, noticing them whispering to each other. "Got something to say? C'mon, out with it." He chuckled slightly.

Tali swiveled her head to Tony, giving Ziva a quick glance. "Yeah, well, there is something." She smiled, then turned to Morgan. "When's your baby due?"

"Oh, I was told May 2043. It was a complete surprise for us as Zack and I weren't even prepared, never mind planning to have kids. Yet it happened, and now we're looking forward to a spring baby." Morgan smiled.

"Well, looks like we have double trouble coming at about the same time." Tali beamed to Morgan, and was positively glowing.

Morgan gasped at the sudden change in Tali's expression, and how radiant her smile had become. "You're pregnant too?!" she exclaimed.

Tali chuckled, pulling her own sonogram out of her purse and waving it in the air. "Yes we are pregnant, expecting the baby around June 2043. Who knows, the baby might share my birthday."

"Wow," Tony breathed out, numb with shock at finding out the news about the double pregnancies within the family. As if in a daze, he looked over at Tim and Delilah, then at Ziva. "Can you believe it?" he muttered to no one in particular.

Tim chuckled at Tony, having heard his comment, and slowly shook his head. "Like a happy dream. I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around this."

Tony let out a short chuckle. "Me too, bro. Me, too."

Delilah looked over at Ziva and chuckled. "Looks like the news broke our poor men." She clicked her tongue and shook her head, smiling the whole time.

Ziva smiled as she watched Tali and Morgan hug each other, taking in what Delilah said, then looked over at Tony and Tim, who had a dazed expression on their faces. "We'll have to nurse 'em back to normal tonight, I guess."

Delilah chuckled. "Yeah, looks like it. I'm just surprised and happy for them." She held up a hand toward Tali and Morgan.

"Me, too." Ziva chuckled as she looked over to Tali and Morgan, then back at Delilah. "Look at 'em. They'll be perfect for each other as their kids grow up."

Tony chuckled at Tim. "Yeah. More elflets to run around, right, McElfLord?"

McGee laughed and held up a hand. "I'm not ready just yet. But it's still very good news."

Ziva turned to Tony and smiled at him as she leaned on his shoulder and held his arm. "This has got to be my best birthday gift, ever."

Tony looked down at Ziva and smiled as he put his arm around her. "I didn't know about this whole pregnancy thing, either, it's a good surprise for both of us."

Ziva looked over at Tim and Delilah, both hugging each other, then looked back at Tony and hugged him on his side as she watched the kids rib each other. She said in a soft voice, just loud enough for Tony and Tim and Delilah to hear, "We'll get through this, together, as a family, won't we?"

Tony nodded as he smiled at Ziva. "Yup, we will. Family always stick together, and we make it through, no matter what."

McGee held up a fist and clenched it, and half-whispered to Tony and Ziva, "We got your six, don't forget."

Tony nodded back to Tim. "And we got your six, too."