Hi, everyone! Sorry for the long delay between posts. I'm trying, I'm trying!

Thanks to fiftyshadewswritergal for her encouragement with this story!

Thanks to all the reviwers - DS2010, fiftyshadeswritergal, his-red-head, Hetwaszoietsal, Troubled-Angel-26, Loads of Randomness, MissShephardGibbs, KrisShannon, Fashionista-girl (thank you! your post was so nice to hear!), Suzy Q1068, Guest who (you should like chapters eight and nine when they come out!), Hawk (good points!), S (just keep reading...!), Fan, HappyGuest, and Dawn248. I love hearing from each and every one of you, even if I have not been the best at communicating lately.

Now, please enjoy my favourite chapter yet!

...

Before Ziva had her nap, Mama had read her a picture book about a baby monkey that went to a place called "daycare", where he played ball with a baby panda, ate snacks with a baby hippo - just like Bert in "Auntie" Abby's lab - and drew pictures with a baby koala. The little monkey had lots of fun adventures until the mommy monkey came to pick him up at the end of the day.

"Tomorrow you are going to go to daycare," Mama told Ziva as she cuddled her close and kissed the top of her head. "You will be just like Baby Monkey. Won't that be fun, sweetie?"

Ziva looked at the pictures in the book and popped her pinky in her mouth. It did look like fun. All the pretty colours were swirling across the pages. It would be fun to play with little monkeys and pandas and koalas and maybe even a baby alligator.

"I ... go!" she told Mama sleepily, adding in an extra yawn accidentally. Somehow, stories after lunch always made her tired. And Mama's arms were so safe and warm. It was normal to feel a little tired. Her eyes drowsily shut.

...

"What a brave girl you are!" Jenny praised. "You will have fun. Miss Lora will make sure that you get to do all sorts of games and play with toys and read story books. Do you remember Miss Lora from our visit to the daycare three weeks ago when we first came to America? I put you on a list right away, and now they have room."

Jenny looked down when there was no response. She could not help smiling as Ziva's eyes flickered closed. Jenny hugged her baby close and relished the moment - the slow rise and fall of her daughter's chest, the warmth as she cuddled against her, the love swelling in her chest as she once again silently thanked Rivka for the precious gift of entrusting her baby to Jenny's care.

"I will do my best to take care of her," Jenny whispered toward heaven. Ziva stirred a little, then slumped with sleep. Jenny kissed the toddler's head once again - she never could stop giving the hugs and kisses and snuggles. Like any active toddler, Ziva generally protested if Jenny tried to cuddle with her when she was awake and wiggly; but when she was tired, hurt, or sleeping, Mama could give her all the hugs in the world. Jenny just soaked it all in, dreading tomorrow morning when she would finally have to trust someone else to take good care of her daughter.

...

Ziva woke up from her nap. The door to the office was open and she could hear Mama talking outside, so she was not scared. She rubbed her eyes and got up to help herself to the snack that Mama had left out for her. The package of crackers was open and waiting. She wanted to sit on a big chair and not on the floor, so she struggled to move and then climb a tiny step stool that Mr. Gibbs had made and brought to the office for her. She reached, kicked, wiggled, and squirmed until she made it onto Mama's chair where she could get a better view. She nibbled on another cracker. She would retrieve her sippy cup - thankfully matched correctly today - a little later.

"You're awake."

She looked up, stopping in the middle of stuffing a cracker into her mouth.

It was Mr. Gibbs.

Mama was not here.

Ziva was conflicted about how to respond. Hide? Growl? Yell for Mama? Make Mr. Gibbs help her get to Mama? Demand for him to find her another cookie?

Just then, she saw the flash of pink in his hand.

That caught Ziva's attention. Mr. Gibbs did not seem to be the kind of person that would carry pink things in his hand. That was a pretty colour that little girls liked. Little girls just like Ziva. And as she was the only little girl in the room, she decided that the pink thing must be for her. She started to stand up to get a better look.

"Careful, Ziva!" Mr. Gibbs warned as the chair began to swivel under her. "Sit back down."

Ziva felt like pouting but she was willing to obey if it meant that she would get a chance to see what Mr. Gibbs had. She plopped back down on her bum. He came over and held the chair still.

"Good girl. Now you can get down."

Ziva nodded and wiggled off, her eyes glued the entire time on what was in Mr. Gibb's other hand.

"This is for you," he told her, holding it out. He smiled when he saw how her little eyes glowed with excitement. She took the toy package and promptly disappeared into her miniature cave to examine it in private.

She sat with her little legs stuck out in front of her and looked excitedly at the box. Inside was a toy ice cream truck with a plastic girl figure. Her molded dark brown curls and tanned skin made her look like a small plastic version of Ziva. The toy car was the colour of Ziva's strawberry shampoo at bath time.

It was the first girly car that she had ever received and she could not wait to play with it. She began to clap her chubby hands before trying to pull the car out of the package. But there was a problem. It would not come out! She tried to pull again. Still, it would not come out.

This was a problem. She wanted to play with that new toy - and right now! How could she fix it?

...

Gibbs smiled from where he had taken a seat, on an angle to Jenny's desk. That way Ziva would not feel threatened by his proximity and he could still watch her with the toy. It was clear that she liked it. He was thankful. That agonizing ten minutes of looking over dolls and toy ponies and play-doh had been worth it. Ziva was happy. Maybe she would even like spending time with him if she associated him with the new toy. He smiled as Ziva patted the side of the box, poked the plastic girl's nose, and tried to pull the toy out again and again. Her smile transitioned into a concentrated frown as she examined the sides and the ties holding the toy tightly in place. He considered speaking up and offering to help, but decided against it. It was better to let her come to the decision on her own. She would eventually ask for help.

He hoped.

The concentrated frown changed to a frustrated one as all of Ziva's efforts came up empty. That toy was not coming out of the box without some help. She banged the box against the floor.

"Tum out!" she muttered at the toy car and plastic figurine. She pulled again, then yelled, "Tum out da box!"

Unsurprisingly, the toys did not "tum out".

Two fat little tears sprung up in Ziva's eyes and she tried to blink them away. Gibbs saw and felt sorry for the kid. She was so persistent that asking for help was not an option in her mind - at least not from him. If Jenny was here, he was sure that within seconds Ziva would have turned to her. It was sad and scary that the little one did not feel comfortable asking men for help when she was frustrated. It was time to suggest that he might be a good option for aiding her in freeing the toy.

"I am very good at getting things out of boxes," he said aloud, as if to nobody in particular.

The banging of the box stopped. He could have sworn that her little ears pricked up at his declaration.

"I used to even get toys out of boxes for a little girl that I knew," he added. Surprisingly, his throat did not constrict as much as it normally did when he was referring to Kelly.

A tiny face peeked out at him from behind the side of the desk.

"Too bad I don't have any boxes to open right now. That would be fun," he mused aloud, refusing to look in the direction of the desk.

...

Ziva could not believe her ears. Mr. Gibbs liked opening boxes and she had a box that would not open! She pushed the box out of her small cave and sat at the entrance, watching him. He noticed her and he smiled.

"Are you enjoying the toy, Ziver?"

She hesitated for a second. Abba put pretty things near her, then took them away. She was cry and then he would be angry and yell and sometimes even slap her. She did not want Mr. Gibbs to take her box with the new toy in it. If he took it and she cried, he might slap her, and then Mama and Mr. Gibbs might get in a fight and he might hurt Mama too.

But the toys were not coming out on their own...

Mr. Gibbs got up and Ziva shrunk back a little until she realized that he was just taking a seat on the floor. Abba had never done that. Mr. Gibbs looked like someone who wanted to play. Maybe if she let him take her toys out of the box, he would play with her. She slowly pushed the box toward him - just by an inch - watching him carefully. If he reached out and tried to take the box away from her, she would kick him and scream.

But he did not try to steal her box. Instead, he just smiled.

"Is it a fun toy?" he asked her.

She nodded seriously, then tapped the box.

"Is the toy in the box?"

She nodded again with an even more solemn face.

"Do you like the toy in the box, or would you like the toy to come out of the box?"

"Tum out!"

"Okay. Can I take the toy out for you?"

Ziva nodded again. "Out."

"Can you say 'please'?"

"Please" was a silly word that adults kept trying to get her to say, but if she said it, she usually got what she wanted.

"Peas!" she said sweetly.

"Okay. Let me have the box and I will get it out for you."

...

Gibbs watched the war so visible on Ziva's face - the conflict between the safety of holding the toy herself and the futility of her own efforts to free it from the plastic ties. But her desire to play overruled any past bad memories. She pushed the box toward him and he slowly, deliberately took it; pulled out his trusty knife; and carefully cut the ties and took out the toy car for the eager little girl who was now bouncing excitedly next to him. He put the knife away, then finished removing the doll and several other accessories - tiny ice cream cones and a sun umbrella and picnic table were also in the set. Ziva's smile was the brightest he had seen when the new toys were safely returned to her. He got to see deep dimples in both of her cheeks and her beautiful brown eyes sparkled with joy as she dropped the figurine unceremoniously into the back of the ice cream truck before experimentally pushing it back and forth in front of her.

Yeah, it was worth it.

...

Ziva decided that it had been worth the risk of trusting Mr. Gibbs. Now she had all these new toys! She could play in her cave. But as she crawled along, pushing the toy car in front of her, she realized that Mr. Gibbs was still sitting on the floor next to her. She had an idea. She changed courses and went to the diaper bag. She pulled out the green car - her very favourite - and crawled back to Mr. Gibbs.

"Hewe," she said softly, holding out her treasured toy.

"Oh, thank you, Ziva," he said. He held the toy gently. She knew he would take good care of it.

"Vwoom!" she said, zooming her new ice cream truck toy across the carpet.

"Vrooooom!" Mr. Gibbs said, pushing the green car next to hers.

She giggled and paused, bouncing on her knees. She clapped her hands with sheer excitement.

Mr. Gibbs was way better at playing cars than Mommy, who only made the cars "stop" and "go" and never let them go too fast over the floor and bang into walls. Mommy never "vroomed" as loud as Mr. Gibbs did either.

Ziva scooted next to Mr. Gibbs and looked up at him with a calculating expression. She pushed the new car and it bumped into the wall. Would he say the worst words in the world - "No, Ziva"?

He pushed the green car so that it bumped into the wall as well.

She wanted to play cars with Mr. Gibbs FOREVER!

...

That was how Jenny found Gibbs and Ziva half an hour later when her call ended - sitting on the floor, sending sturdy toy cars flying across the floor and marking the cheap floor boards - laughing and growing closer together the whole time.

And when Jenny said it was time for the grown-ups to get back to work, Ziva crawled into Gibbs' lap and kissed his cheek of her own free will before scrambling back to play with her truck. But it really was not the toy that had made him so attractive to her - it was the time that he spent ignoring aching joints while engaging with her on her level.

Progress.

For everyone.

...

I hope that you enjoyed! I LOVED writing/editing/re-reading this chapter. Please remember to review and let me know what you thought!