At their living quarters, Tony, Ziva and Tali were exploring around the living room, kitchen, laundry room, bathroom, 2 bedrooms, and noticed those huge LED light monitors on the walls, giving the appearance of a window with a day-and-night view of the outside world. She surmised that every living quarters had that, so that the residents would feel more as if they are able to have a sort of connection to the outdoors, and not feel confined, squirreled away in some dank bunker, completely isolated from the world. When Ziva walked into one of bedrooms, she noticed that their clothes had been hung neatly in their closets, folded and put away in their dressers, bed already made and turned out, calm background music playing quietly through the in-ceiling speakers. As Ziva walked past Tali's new bedroom, Tali looked up at Ziva in excitement.
"Ima! Look at what I have! A dollhouse!" Tali shouted in glee.
Ziva's head swiveled around in Tali's direction, and she gasped both out of startledness and at the sight of the dollhouse, wondering where it came from. Tony followed close behind, also surprised to see that dollhouse, wondering why it looked so familiar.
"Where did you get the dollhouse, Tali?" Ziva asked.
"I walked in, and there it was!" Tali said happily. "Mine?"
Tony and Ziva looked at each other. "Sure, why not?" Tony waved at the dollhouse.
Ziva felt more at ease at that moment, knowing that in this temporary home, there was a chance for Tali to be safe, out of harm's way.
Next morning, as the alarm went off, Tony turned over to turn off the alarm, and turned the light on dim, so as not to wake Ziva, then laid back in bed to look at Ziva sleeping beside him, his sleeping beauty, then gently stroked her hair from her face, then leaned over slowly and kissed the top of her head softly. Ziva stirred, opening her eyes, smiling at Tony. How he makes me feel so safe, in control, thought Ziva, as she gazed at Tony lying in bed. Ziva reached out her hand on Tony, asked him to come closer to her, desired to kiss him and Tony leaned to her, kissed her gently as he gently put his hand on her belly, and wanted to give her some attention as Ziva wanted some embracing love to explore with Tony, as they stirred around in bed as they hugged, kissed as Tony told Ziva how much he loves her, and want to be all hers to love all she wants from him. Ziva smiled as she kissed and gently told him "please move your knee" as she turned around on top of Tony, and shushed him as he tried to talk, and bade him to let things flow while they explored the boundaries of their affections without any interruptions while waking up.
A short while later, Tony and Ziva got up and got ready for the day, and made some breakfast as Tali got out of bedroom walking to Ziva, wanting to be held, a morning routine for Tali, as she always wanted to be cuddled every morning when she wakes up. Ziva picked Tali up and set her on the counter.
"Good morning, my sweet Tali!" Ziva said, smiling. "Looks like is Abba getting ready. When Abba goes to work, we need to clean house a bit, then meet up with Delilah and the twins today. We might even get to go to the play area, sounds good?" Ziva comforted Tali as Tony took a sip of his coffee before setting the cup down on the table. He then pushed his chair back and got up to walk around closer to Ziva and Tali.
"Tali, I'm sure you'll have so much fun with Johnny and Abby. Ima'll still be with you." Tony kneeled in front of Tali. "Aunt Delilah will take you kids to look around and see the play area with huge treehouse, ok?" Tony hugged Tali in an effort to comfort her before he put her down.
Ziva looked at Tali and said, "You may go on sit with Abba. I'm bringing breakfast soon, it is ok."
Tony took Tali's hand and guided her to the table as Ziva looked on and finished up cooking breakfast. As they were about to finish their breakfast, there was a knock at the door. Tony got up to answer the door, only to see McGee on the other side of the door, smiling at Tony.
"You're needed in MTAC," McGee said.
Tony looked at Ziva briefly, then back at McGee. "Does this also involve her?"
Tim raised his eyebrows once. "Uhm, no it doesn't, sorry."
"Uh-oh, doesn't sound good, someone pissed at me or something?" Tony ribbed McGee.
Tim shrugged his shoulders and gave a blank "I-don't-know" look. Tony went to Ziva, and kissed and hugged Ziva goodbye.
"Abba, you will come back home when you are done working?" Tali had gotten out of her chair and walked up to Ziva, clutching her leg with one thumb in her mouth. "Of course I will," Tony smiled at her, then he hugged her, kissed her forehead, then tickled Tali, eliciting some squeals and laughter from her.
A while after Tony and Tim left on their respective ways, Ziva and Tali were about to get ready to go over to meet Delilah and the twins, she heard a knock. Thinking it was Delilah, since it was approximately the right time for her to meet her, Ziva went to the door, and opened it, and was surprised to see him.
"Gibbs! What brings you here?" Ziva asked, the surprise evident in her voice.
Tali looked up and squealed in delight. "Papa Gibbs!" She ran to him and clung onto him in a tight hug as he bent down to hug her. Gibbs chuckled at Tali in sort of a grandfatherly tone. Ziva looked at Tali, laughter in her eyes.
"Hi Ziver," Gibbs said with a smile on his face. "How's Tali doing? More to the point, how are you all doing?"
Ziva sighed slightly, then said "Fine for the moment."
At that moment, the door across the hall opened and the twin kids ran out of the door to head out to the play area, but as they saw a tall figure standing with Tali, they realized that it was Gibbs after a moment. In a flash, the twins were all over Gibbs in joy. Gibbs bent down to hug the children and chuckled warmly at them. Ziva looked on smiling, realizing that somewhere beneath the crusty exterior that Gibbs always wore, there is a soft side to him, grandfatherly towards the children, and, more importantly, being the Abba that she really needed.
"Hey Johnny, did you like the Legos and toolset that I sent it for you?" Gibbs smiled, asking one of the twins.
"Oh that was from you? Wow, that's awesome! I thought it was from my parents, but they said no! I love them, thank you, Gibbs!" Johnny perked up in a smile looking at Gibbs.
Delilah raised her eyebrows, smiled at Gibbs, and said, "Wow, nice! So I take it that the dollhouse that Morgan showed me was from you too?"
Gibbs chuckled at her, but said nothing in reply.
"Johnny, you are welcome. You'll be able to fix stuff around the house when needed. Take good care of them and they will last you a long time. Those doll houses? I built those for your sister and Tali."
Morgan and Tali perked up as they realized that their Papa made the dollhouse for these little girls, they went up to hug Gibbs, thanked him with a kiss on his cheek as Gibbs got down to hug the girls. Ziva and Delilah smiled in happy tears knowing how much the kids meant a lot to Gibbs, and thanked him with their hug and a kiss on his cheek.
"Alright you kids, go ahead have fun at the play area, I might stop by before I leave," Gibbs looking at the children, calming the excitement, then he looked at Ziva. Seeing the look that Gibbs would typically give when he wanted to talk in private, Ziva knelt down in front of Tali as she held her hand.
"Tali, you can go with Delilah. Johnny and Morgan are going to be there at the play area too. Ima will be back in a little bit." Ziva smiled as she stroked Tali's hair back from her eyes.
As Ziva watched Tali recede into the distance with Delilah, a momentary look of anxiety fleeted across her face.
"Ziver, I managed to get away from DC, wanted to check in with you. Some things I wanted to talk with you about," Gibbs looked into Ziva's eyes.
"So what's up? Something to do with what Tim was telling Tony about MTAC?" Ziva replied to Gibbs as she looked at him with an intent gaze.
"Yup. Caught one of Ray's guys. Couple guards caught him up in Navy Yard, looked like he was trying to hide from the cameras or something." Gibbs raised his eyebrows and shrugged, continuing on. "Fool thought he could get past the guards, but they shot him before he could get away. He took this," Gibbs held out a USB thumb drive.
"Anything on it?" Ziva asked.
Gibbs shook his head. "That's the thing – it was empty. But his burner phone had one phone number – another burner. Another one of his agents?"
Ziva grunted exasperatedly. "What does he have against me? That I smashed his life by sending him to prison?"
"Dunno. Reason why they went to MTAC? Rumors are that he may be hanging around in Mexico. Probably issued commands to whoever these guys are, then isolated himself, I think, so it doesn't come back to him." Gibbs said.
"That Ray. He has no guts to come face me himself. Such a coward." Ziva cursed in Hebrew. "So what if I had smashed his life. It seem he did not like that his choices led to him being put in prison for life, and thus he flew the henhouse so he could finish his agenda." Ziva said indignantly.
Gibbs chuckled and said "He flew the coop, not henhouse."
"Gibbs. What's his agenda for going after me and Tony?" Ziva looked at Gibbs, wondering how long it would before she and her family could stop running and going into hiding. Ziva grasped Gibbs' arm and stopped walking so she could frame her thoughts.
"Only thing that I could come up with is revenge. Personal, the way he's going after you." Gibbs calmly spoke.
"Makes sense, the determination that we see from him. He will not stop until one of us is dead. I am not about to let that happen." Ziva shook her head, then said, "Gibbs, since you are here, can we just talk?" Ziva asked Gibbs, as they resumed walking down the hallway slowly.
"Sure, Ziver. I'm all ears." Gibbs said. He suddenly noticed a certain expression appear on her face.
Ziva laughed softly. "I have not told Tony this, because I am not sure how he will react. I have only found out recently. Every time I wanted to, something would come up."
Gibbs suddenly stopped. "Told Tony what?"
"I'm pregnant. I am just worried how he will react, he was never there when I told him I was pregnant with Tali, I just don't know what he will do or react."
Gibbs looked at her, and said, "Aw hell, Ziver, he'll be fine. I am sure he will be thrilled." Gibbs hugged Ziva, kissed her head, and whispered to her ear, saying "Everything will be alright, congratulations on the new baby."
Ziva smiled with a happy tear, hugged Gibbs and said "Thank you for being there for me."
Later that evening, as Ziva was finishing up the laundry, she heard the door being opened. Tony walked in, closed the door and walked to Ziva. He hugged her and gave her an "I'm-back" kiss. Tali stopped playing and turned up to face them, and squealed, "Abba's home!" She picked up her toys and zoomed toward her bedroom. Tony and Ziva laughed and told Tali that they will come in a few minutes, then sat down at the kitchen table.
"My sweetcheeks, guess who we ran into. Gibbs. Some news he brought us, I guess he came to see you too." Tony said.
"Yes he did. What did he have to say to you?" Ziva asked, a querying look on her face.
"Told me about one of Ray's fools who got himself shot and had an empty USB thumb drive on him, no clue what that's all about," Tony sighed. "Too bad the sucker ain't talking, on account of a little lead poisoning, aka 9mm rounds in the center mass. They think there are others out there."
"About as much as he told me. Well, after we talked, I came back home with Tali. All the laundry's done now. Better off doing than thinking." Ziva responded with a sweet look at Tony.
"Well, we can put all that aside for a few hours. McBabysitter's willing to watch Tali overnight, because I'd like to show you some things, you know, something like that under the circumstances," Tony said, walking to Ziva. Ziva perked up and gave Tony a huge smile, kissing him and hugged him, then she went off to get ready. Tony smiled back looking at Ziva zooming to bedroom, then he got up to go to the bedroom to get ready for the evening dinner plan that Tony and Gibbs had planned secretly to surprise Ziva. As Ziva sat down with Tali to explain that she would go stay with the McGees for a while, the doorbell rang. Tony went to the door to let Tim in.
"My sweet Tali, Abba and I will be out for few hours or so, so you will be staying with Tim, and Delilah, and get to play with Johnny and Morgan," Ziva spoke gently then she hugged her, kissed her cheek, and looked at Tony.
Tali was about to cry but her Abba saved her from getting too upset, by giving her the scarf, then sat with Tali, and spoke gently, 'It will be alright, you have your blanket and this scarf, you hold on these, just in case, Ima and I will be back before you know it." Tali calmed down, hugged her Abba, kissed his cheek, and told him that she love him from moon and back. Tony and Ziva smiled, told her they love her to moon and back here, then they guided Tali to Tim, then Tony and Tim walked to Tim's living quarter. Tony gave Tim the overnight backpack, quietly telling Tim that there were pullups in it in case there was a need for a change.
Then Tony and Ziva got onto the elevator, and they went up quite a few levels. Before they got off, Tony put a blindfold on Ziva and said, "I will guide you, but you have to keep that on, there's a surprise for you." Ziva nodded as the elevator doors opened, and Tony walked behind her as he held her shoulders, guiding her the entire distance to the destination.
Tony opened a door at the end of the long hallway, and guided Ziva into a room. He took the blindfolds off, allowing Ziva to take in the Paris-themed décor. She realized that they were in a sort of house, on top of the mountains, sequestered away from prying eyes. It was obvious that this 'house' was intended as an observation post, but in a pinch could serve as a clubhouse of sorts, to allow people from inside of the mountains to get away from the rigors of work and the confines of the underworld, allow them the view of sky without being seen by unwanted eyes. In the clubhouse kitchen, a chef was preparing the meals; a small fire crackled warmly in the fireplace, lending some warmth to the room through the chilly evening. Tony guided Ziva to a chair, and scooted her in to the candle-lit table, then sat down.
"Just thought I'd treat you to something that we never got a chance to finish..." Tony said.
"Oh, yes, before we were rudely interrupted..." Ziva said.
As evening slowly turned into night, the lights had dimmed with music playing. The chef brought out a platter with drinks and set them down in front of the couple. Tony and Ziva just could not stop looking at each other, smiled at each other, as they reached their hands to meet to be held.
"My sweetcheeks, you look so beautiful tonight. Figured that this would be the closest thing to our Paris... even chose our music. Nice meals to be served soon, and..." Tony picked up one wine glass. "Our drinks, I thought, why not a 1948 Zinfandel?" Tony gently spoke as he locked his eyes to Ziva, just looking at her made his heart all swell up, being happy to be with Ziva.
"Oh my Tony, this is so beautiful. What better way than to remember Paris?" Ziva smiled.
"Yeah, well, considering the situation, I figured, why not pick up where we left off, but I wanted this to be something special." Tony gazed into Ziva's eyes.
Ziva smiled at Tony gently, as she grabbed the glass of water in a wine glass to cheer with Tony. Tony took notice of this.
"Ziva, I thought you'd like this wine, but you chose water?" he asked. Suddenly he paused, finally noticing how radiant Ziva's eyes and face were.
'My Tony, I would love this wine from Paris, just not right now."
Tony's face slowly changed from puzzlement to one of wonder. "What are you trying to say, Ziva?"
Ziva moved the chair closer to Tony, and gave a card to him. It was one that Tali made, with the four hearts. "I had been waiting for the right time to tell you, and trying to figure out how to say this." Ziva spoke as she smiled at Tony.
Tony took a deep breath, as he opened the card, remembering when Tali showed them the card. As he did so, a picture fell out of the drawing, and Tony caught it before it landed on the floor.
"What? Are you...?" Tony realized that the picture he was looking at was a sonogram of a fetus.
"Yes, I'm pregnant. They say approximately two months," Ziva said, as Tony continued looking intently at the sonogram.
"Wow, what a surprise!" Tony looked at Ziva in joy. "Wait, does Tali know?"
"Not yet. But this card makes me wonder if she somehow knew..." Ziva pointed to the card. "The day she gave me this card, was the same day I had that morning sickness. That was why I had to go to the doctor to make sure I was OK." Ziva said.
The couple continued to gaze intently into each other's eyes as the chef brought out the main course.
"A toast, to good health for our family, then!" Tony raised his drink. Ziva followed suit with her water.
After they had completed their meal, quiet waltz music started playing on the overhead speakers. Ziva and Tony looked at each other with a knowing look, and they got up, walked to the floor, and they danced around as their music played. When there was a break in the music, Tony suddenly got down to one knee as he fumbled with something in his pocket.
"My sweetcheeks, with everything we have gone through together, I thought, why not make a complete family? Our ups and downs, our bests and worsts, we go through this together. Will you marry me and be my wife forever?" Tony asked, full of the pre-proposal jitters.
"Oh my, Tony! I have always felt that you are a wonderful man, actually the one that I want to have as my soulmate. I have seen that you are wonderful father to Tali, and for that I am very happy. I love you so much, and you make me feel complete. Yes, I would love to be your wife, forever my sweet Tony," Ziva answered, smiling to Tony before giving him a full-on kiss.
After the kiss, Tony managed to get the ring out of the box so he could show Ziva the engraving inside the ring saying "Tiva Forever". Ziva burst in happy tears looking at her ring, kissed Tony and told him that they are soulmates forever just like Tiva. He then put the ring onto her finger.
As the music played in background, the couple danced into the night. In the wee hours of the morning, they returned to their quarters, to find that it had already been cleaned by the staff.
"A Mrs. DiNozzo. Ziva DiNozzo..." Ziva considered this thought with a smile.
"Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo, makes it sound complete, doesn't it?" Tony said as he walked to the bedroom. Ziva followed. They plopped onto the bed and embraced each other contentedly. They spent the rest of the night in slow loving embrace, both feeling at the top of the world.