Thanks to all the reviewers since last time - Troubled-Angel-26, Loads of Randomness, Hetwaszoietsals, DS2010 (an adorable handful!), Roie442, Fashionista-girl, HappyGuest (I am so glad that it cheered you up! Feel better soon!), Patti Lipscomb (there will be romance, but there will be no Abby bashing - she is one of my favourite characters!), Guest (more of that interaction coming soon!), S, Hawk, Fan, Suzy Q1068, and Dalm.

For all who commented on the cups and the accompanying realism, it was based on a real-life meltdown with my step-cousin a few years ago when she was around Ziva's age. Let me tell you, mixing it up so that she did not have all the "girly" (pink/purple) colours and her little sister was left with blue/green was not a good idea. Apparently blue and pink don't go together in a sippy cup ... :D

Enjoy!

...

Abby was giving Jenny Shepard a deluxe tour of the lab. Usually the scientist was quite wary, even of new people in the agency, but since Gibbs knew and approved - Abby sensed that there was more than approval in his heart for the redhead - she was nice to the new director.

"And this is Major Mass Spectrometer. He helps me with identifying substances. I really need to give him a new update next week, once it comes out. I am excited to see how it will help him function even better! And here is my refrigerator. You can see all the samples. Ducky and Jimmy store stuff in there that I need to analyze. I got mostly caught up this morning, so there are only two samples that I need to run this afternoon. At least so far. Gibbs or other team leaders might be down later. Oh, and here is my drawer that I fill with rubber gloves and here is another that I fill with hand sanitizer since I can't risk getting sick or contaminating things. And here..."

...

It was taking all of Jenny's fortitude not to interrupt the eager scientist. She was trying to be as patient as possible with everyone today, and to be honest, Abby was a nice break from all the people inundating her with complaints and suggestions. So far, Abby had welcomed her with open arm - literally, with a hug, and figuratively, with her twenty-five-minutes-and-counting grand tour. But upstairs there was a little toddler getting close to the end of nap time. Jenny could only imagine how that would go if she was not there when the little girl opened her eyes.

"And here is my ballistics lab. Hey, would you like to help me test the striation patterns in one of our latest cases? I bet that you can shoot better than I can."

Jenny was intrigued as Abby handed her the gun. Ziva would likely not wake up for another twenty minutes. There was time so ...

"How does this work, Abby?"

...

Meanwhile upstairs, Ziva had woken up from her nap and was now in the danger zone between sleepiness and sobbing. She sat up, shoving her blanket off of her legs. Where was Mama? She looked around and groggily toddled toward Mama's desk. No one was there. No one was in the room.

She was alone!

Ziva gasped. Her breath was like hiccups. She felt something squeezing her tight like a hug, but it hurt. Anxiety was pouring through her tiny body and she did not know what to do. She tried to suck her finger but it was not as calming as it normally was.

"Mama?" she whimpered. "Mama?"

The door opened and Ziva swung around, expecting that Mama had magically reappeared from wherever she had gotten lost - because there was no way that she would have left Ziva all by herself.

Or was there?

Because that was not Mama at the door.

"Doh 'way!" she yelled when she saw Miss Cynthia at the door.

"Hi, Ziva. Your mom left the baby monitor with me in case there were any troubles."

Ziva blinked and frowned. Why was this person here and not Mama? This was unacceptable! Besides that, she was scared!

"Doh 'way! Mama! Mama! Mama!" she shrieked.

"Ziva, it's okay. I'll get your mom for you," Miss Cynthia tried to tell her, but Ziva did not care. She ran at the lady and banged into her knees, trying to knock her over.

"Ziva!" Miss Cynthia gasped, shocked. She frowned and Ziva, fearing retribution, squealed and ducked away, dashing around and under Mama's desk into her little hideout.

"Grr!" she growled like a grumpy tiger.

"Is something wrong here?"

Ziva sat very still at the new voice. She recognized it.

Mr. Gibbs!

"Ziva ... woke up..." Miss Cynthia hissed between her teeth.

"And?"

"She attacked me!"

"She's two. How could she attack?" Mr. Gibbs asked with amusement clear in his voice.

"Doh 'way!" Ziva yelled from under the desk. "Hew doh 'way!"

She heard Mr. Gibbs chuckle, then ask, "Want me to handle..."

"Yes. The director is downstairs and she be back soon, but I'm sure until then it will be fine for you to take care of the little ... tiger, I think it is."

Ziva listened closely until she heard Miss Cynthia leave. A peek under the desk's side revealed that there was only one set of shoes. Mr. Gibbs' shoes. Old but shiny shoes. Safe shoes.

She slowly scooted out a little bit from her hiding spot.

"Hey, Ziver," Mr. Gibbs said softly, taking a seat across the room to give her some space.

Ziva crinkled her face a little. Ziver was not her name, but it sounded a bit like it. Maybe it was like when Mama called her Zizi or sweetheart or darling or baby. Maybe it was a new name for her. She scooted out a little more and sleepily put her finger in her mouth.

...

Gibbs could not suppress his smile when he saw Ziva. Her tiny curls where mussed up, her eyes were half-closed, and her pinkie was in her mouth.

"Did you have a nap?" Gibbs asked the tot. She nodded warily. "Oh, what a big girl!" he praised, remembering how Kelly had always puffed up with pride when told that. His heart twinged a little as Ziva reacted the same way, struggling to her feet while the sleepiness faded from her face. She pulled her finger out of her mouth and made her demands.

"Mama!"

"You want to go find Mama? I'll help you find Mama," he told her. "Let's go."

He started for the door but was stopped by a high-pitched whine. He turned around to see Ziva holding her arms out to him.

"Up!"

He slowly walked over and lifted her as gently as he would a priceless antique. He had not expected the little girl to let him touch her, given her violent recent history. She did not put her arms around his neck like she did with Jenny, holding herself back as far as she could. Yes, she was still bothered by past events. Gibbs realized that he was "last resort". She simply did not want to walk, so he was her transportation.

It was a starting place, and he would take it - meaning that he would take her down to the lab.

"We're headed to see Abby and find this little one's mama," he told Cynthia on the way past the deck. She seemed relieved to see the calmed Ziva and waved them on their way.

Ziva squealed unhappily when Gibbs went to push the elevator button. He stopped, pointed to the button, and let her try. With a great grunt of strength, she managed to press it. She turned around and reminded him very seriously, "Mama."

"We're going to get her," he promised. She frowned seriously and began sucking her finger again. She only took it out when they saw Jenny through the lab doors.

"Mama!" she cried triumphantly, squirming to get down.

Gibbs could not help the smile that spread across his face as he saw Jenny crouch down and hug the little girl.

What a family!

But there was one thing wrong with how Jenny and Ziva made up a family.

He wanted them to be his family.

...

I hope that you enjoyed and that everyone is having a safe holiday season. Make sure to take precautions for bad weather and bad judgment of intoxicated or distracted drivers. Spend time with those you love and have fun. God has been so good to me this past year and I am excited to celebrate it!

Hugs to all, and to all a good night!