It Could be Worse
Tony and Ziva have a small rough patch as Ziva's anxiety goes into overdrive with the 2020 social isolation due to COVID-19.
Chapter 1 – Weird Times
Ziva's six week post-partum check-up was completed virtually due to the pandemic gripping the world. Tony kept the four kids occupied while his wife met from her home office with her ob/gyn via Zoom. The adult DiNozzos and even Tali were becoming proficient in the virtual meeting application. The main user in the household was Tali, with her daily sessions with her kindergarten teacher and classmates.
Rivka and Beth had nursed before Ziva's appointment; she was still doing what Tony called the "tandem thing." A baby on each side of their mother, happily ingesting their mother's milk; afterwards, if he was home, he helped burp one of the infants.
Tali and Anthony were fascinated with their twin sisters; now that the babies were staying awake some between feedings, the older two children enjoyed trying to get their little sisters to smile. Both Riv and Beth watched their older brother and sister from their play mats on the floor.
With both parents working from home, they took turns watching all four to give the other a break or some focused time for work. Tony did all of the family grocery shopping once per week; he tried to get out to the stores as soon as they opened to avoid the masses that tended to populate the stores later in the day. With four young children at home to worry about contracting the virus and his own high-risk status, he wore a mask and latex gloves each time he ventured out to shop, washing his hands as soon as he got home.
Ziva was content to stay at home, protecting her children and keeping their day-to-day routine as normal as possible. When Tony offered to stay with the kids so that she could get out for a break and some alone time, she shrugged it off. He thought nothing of it at first.
As April turned into May and then to June, the social distancing and mask-wearing when out and about became the new normal. Tali and Anthony played in the backyard or inside without much of a fuss. Tali's kindergarten year ended before Memorial Day, so the family was no longer scheduling things around her daily Zoom sessions. The twins were changing rapidly and watched their older siblings constantly.
Ziva was content to stay home and to have Tony be the one to do shopping and run necessary errands. He enjoyed the brief escape from the house, even if it was just to get groceries and household supplies. Ziva shrugged off his suggestions to get out for a break from the children, so he eventually stopped mentioning it.
On the morning of 15 June, the twins woke for their usual 0400 feeding; Ziva nursed both girls together, and Tony took Rivka from her afterwards to burp the baby and rock her back to sleep. Riv dozed off into a milk-induced slumber readily so Tony placed her back in her crib shortly after he was sure the baby was asleep. He glanced over at Ziva and Beth.
"She is fussy," Ziva whispered as the baby moved in her Ima's arms. "She closes her eyes and then moves and opens them again." She softly hummed a lullaby to the tiny girl. Ziva's head started drooping.
"Hey," Tony gently took his youngest from Ziva. "Go back to bed; I'll get her settled." Ziva headed to the master bedroom as Tony cradled the infant. After about thirty five minutes of rocking, walking the hallway, and finally swaddling the child, she fell into slumber. He placed Beth in her crib and checked on Rivka. A final check that the baby monitor was turned on, and he headed to the master suite where he quickly snuggled up against his sleeping wife and drifted off himself.
The first cries came over the baby monitor at 0722; Tony had just looked at his bedside clock before he heard one of the babies crying. Ziva stirred as he slid his feet out from under the sheet and sat up.
"Stay there," he suggested. "I'll get the girls and bring them in here for you. Tali and Anthony will be up soon also, so I can get breakfast started after I get the twins." Ziva shifted on the bed.
"That is a plan," she headed to the bathroom while her husband headed out of the master suite to get the babies.
Tony entered Rivka and Beth's room to the sound of matching cries. 'Baby in stereo.' He smiled to himself as he scooped up Rivka and rested her in his left arm. He moved to Beth's crib; she was still swaddled, but drenched in sweat. He quickly used his free hand to unwrap her from the blanket and scoop her up. She fussed as her twin tried to rut into his chest.
"Okay little Ninjas, let's go find Ima and the good milk," he spoke softly to his daughters. "Abba's going to take you to the milk machine, but don't tell Ima that I called her that. She'll throw paperclips at me." He kept up the soft talking until he got to the master bedroom where Ziva was propped with the two nursing pillows on her side of the bed.
Since Rivka was closest to Ziva, he handed her off first. Ziva got the baby settled on her right side and no sooner had she got the little one in place than the baby began sucking greedily.
"She nurses like Anthony," Tony commented. Ziva nodded as he helped get Beth in place. The baby fussed and squirmed as Ziva tried to get her to start nursing. She finally latched and sucked for a bit. Then she stopped and started fussing again.
"Why is she sweaty?" Ziva asked Tony.
"I had to swaddle her to get her to sleep earlier," he explained. "I guess she got too warm?"
Ziva used one of the burp cloths to wipe Beth's tiny head. She gently prodded the baby to nurse again and finally succeeded in getting the little one to drink.
"I hear Tali and Anthony in the kitchen," Tony turned to tend to the older children since Ziva was settled with the babies feeding. "Let me go get them some breakfast; I'll be back to help burp when I can."
Tony made scrambled eggs and toast for the older two and got them situated at the breakfast nook table in the kitchen with their food and cups of juice and milk. He walked to the master bedroom to help Ziva and to see when she would be ready for some breakfast.
Rivka was lying on her back cooing at Ziva who held a fussy Beth, still trying to get the baby to nurse properly. Tony could see a trace of frustration on his wife's face.
"Want me to take Riv?"
Ziva shook her head, "No, take Beth please. She won't nurse and she's very fussy. Maybe you can have some luck with getting her settled down. I'll change Rivka and then come get some breakfast."
Tony grabbed the baby sling from the chair on Ziva's side of the bed; he expertly wrapped it around himself and then slid his number three Ninja into the folds. She was still fussing, but not as loudly; the semi-swaddling of the sling seemed to comfort her.
In the kitchen he put two slices of bread into the toaster, cleaned up the dishes from Tali and Anthony, and scrambled two more eggs to cook. Beth was mostly quiet, so he grabbed a clean plate from the cabinet and filled it with his breakfast. He poured another cup of coffee and a glass of orange juice. Rather than disturb Beth, who was lying peacefully in the sling, he ate standing up at the counter.
Ziva came into the kitchen with Rivka; he popped another two slices of bread into the toaster and broke an egg into the skillet. Ziva had been on a fried egg kick lately, putting it in between her slices of toast to make an egg sandwich. He placed a slice of toast on the plate he had used, slid the fried egg on top, and put the second slice of toast on top of the egg. He handed the plate to Ziva who had poured herself a glass of milk.
"Give me Riv, and I'll put the girls on their play mats for tummy time," he suggested. "That way you can eat in peace and the girls can watch Tali and Anthony play." He propped Rivka on his left shoulder and headed to the family room.
"Tali or Anthony, would one of you please put the play mats down for your sisters?" Both older children grabbed a soft mat and set it on the floor; they loved entertaining their little sisters during mat time and tummy time.
Tony placed Rivka on her belly; she immediately propped her arms in front of her and lifted her head to watch her older siblings, cooing to them. He lifted Beth from the sling and set her on her belly as well. The baby lay on the mat with her fist in her mouth for a few minutes before lifting her head to look around.
With the twins on their mats, Tony headed back to the kitchen to finish his coffee. He and Ziva had just put all the dirty dishes into the dishwasher when Anthony came running into the kitchen.
"Ima, Abba; Beth barfed!" he tugged his mother's hand. "She burped and then farted and then barfed. Tali moved her away from the mess."
Both parents rushed to the family room; Beth was on her back near the edge of her mat. She was looking around the room and watching both Tali and Rivka. Riv was still on her tummy, head up and looking around.
Ziva carried Beth to her room to get the soiled clothing off the baby, clean her up, and put on fresh diaper and clothing. She sat in the rocking chair afterward nursing the fussing little one. At last she nursed properly, so Ziva figured the baby had an upset stomach earlier. Beth fell asleep nursing, so Ziva placed her in the crib, made sure the baby monitor was on, and headed back to the family room.
"She okay?" Tony looked up from his recliner; he had Rivka propped on his left side so she could watch Tali and Anthony playing a video game.
"She fell asleep nursing, but she did finally nurse well," Ziva stretched. Riv spotted her Ima and grinned. The baby didn't whimper or start fussing, so Ziva grabbed a controller for the video game and spent some time playing with the two older kids.
When Rivka did start fussing and acting like she wanted to nurse, Ziva took her to her room and sat in the rocking chair to let the baby drink. Beth was still soundly asleep when Ziva put Rivka in her crib after the older twin had dozed off after her mid-morning feeding.