Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS
Ziva leant against the door frame to the tiny box room in her apartment. They had finally managed to get it empty enough to be able to paint it. Up until recently is had a flower pattern wall paper. Not exactly to Ziva's style but the room was only ever used for storage. Since Tony had moved in, it contained mainly his things. They had spent the past week sorting out the whole apartment, trying to amalgamate his DVD collection with her book collection. Once getting permission from the landlord, the flowery wall paper was gone, and Tony had started painting the walls a very light grey colour. He put down the paint brush and walked over to Ziva, so they were face to face.
'You ready for tomorrow?' he asked.
'Yes. You?' Tony nodded. Tomorrow was going to be an important day. Their 20-week scan. This was the scan where they could find out the gender of their baby. It was also the half way point of Ziva's pregnancy. Only 20 weeks left. The baby was due at the end of June. Before Christmas, June felt like a million miles away. Now that it was the beginning of February, it felt like to both Tony and Ziva, that June as next week.
'We have not decided if we are going to find out' said Ziva quietly. Tony was quiet for a moment.
'I don't mind if we find out or not.'
'Really. I thought you would want to know. Be prepared as much as possible.'
'Yeah, I suppose, but how prepared can you actually be? If it's a boy, I'll worry that I'll repeat my relationship with Senior. If it's a girl, I'll just worry about having a girl. I don't have a sister, or any female cousins I'm particularly close with.'
'What about Abby?' Tony laughed. Ziva was surprised, but appreciated his honesty. They had built the foundations of their relationship and family on sheer honesty. Ziva had assumed that Tony would want to prepare as much as possible. Not that long ago, Tony was the man afraid of children.
'Do not forget that you have me. I had a brother and sister. I know what it is like' she said, reassuringly. Tony tucked a loose strand of hair behind Ziva's ear. He knew how difficult it was for to talk about Tali and Ari. Especially talk about Ari with him.
'Honesty Zi, I don't care if our little bean is a boy or a girl.' He put his hand on Ziva's bump. 'Just as long as it's healthy and safe. That's all that matters.'
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Abby came running into the bullpen and over to Tony's desk.
'Well?' she asked, her hand held out, clearly demanding something.
'Well what?' Tony asked in response. He had just stepped off the elevator, coming bac from his and Ziva's appointment.
'Well, do you have new scans?' Tony smiled and reached into his bag, pulling out an envelope. He handed it to Abby.
'I'm not sure what you'll be able to see Abby.' Abby waved a hand at Tony, silencing him. Ellie and Tim came over, curious to see the new scans.
'Did you find out the gender? Tony turned to see Gibbs standing behind him, coffee cup in hand.
'No, we didn't. Decided to wait.'
'Why?' asked Tim. 'I though you'd want to be prepared as much as possible.'
'Nah. Ziva and I talked about it last night. We decided it doesn't matter if it's a boy or a girl.'
'Just as long as it's healthy, right?' chipped in Ellie. Tony nodded. Tim was taken a back a bit. Where was the immature, frat boy Tony DiNozzo he had worked with for the past decade?
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'We're going to have to start thinking of names' said Tony, as he looked through the sonogram pictures from their appointment. Their midwife had printed off about fifty, for some reason. Tony knew his dad would want some. His and Senior's communication had improved a little bit since they had told him about the baby.
Ziva as in the kitchen. It was her turn to cook, Tony's turn to wash up. They were both home, one of the rare days where Tony finished at a normal time, and were about to have dinner. Ziva put down two plates on the table and sat next to Tony.
'Any ideas?' she asked.
'Only that we do not name it Anthony if it's a boy.' Ziva laughed.
'You do not want to carry on the family tradition, yes? No Anthony D DiNozzo III?'
'No.' Tony paused. 'I'd always thought I might consider my mother's name.'
'Joy?'
'Yeah, but Joy DiNozzo doesn't feel right. That was my mother's name. Sounds a bit dated as well. What about you?'
'I did not have my children's names picked out by the time I was a teenager.'
'You must have ideas, Zi. I've been thinking about it since you told me you're pregnant.' Tony shovelled some food into his mouth, marvelling at what a talented cook his girlfriend was.
'I was thinking perhaps Tali.' Tony looked at Ziva. She had a sad and pensive look on her face. Yet, she was also peaceful, remembering happy memories of her sister, as opposed to bad ones. Ones that were filled with music and laughter, instead of hospital smells and beeping machines.
'Tali.' Tony mulled it over. It sounded sweet and innocent. Ziva obviously liked it.
'Tali DiNozzo' said Ziva.
'Surely DiNozzo-David?'
'No. DiNozzo. I do not wish to burden our children with the David family legacy. I shall be the last David. Anyway, Tali David is my sister, not my daughter.
'We don't know if it's a girl. We need a boy's name as well. Somehow he may not forgive us if we name him Tali.' Ziva laughed out loud. Tony missed her laugh. There were times it disappeared. Ziva smiled a lot more since resigning from NCIS, but sometimes her laugh disappeared altogether, and Tony could see a fake smile on Ziva. He hoped that when the baby arrived, it would bring it out more often.
'Any ideas for a boy?' asked Ziva. 'Except Anthony of course.' Tony paused.
'I can't think of any. Perhaps we should have a code name for the baby. Until he or she comes.
'As opposed to calling it, it?'
'Yeah.' They sat in silence, thinking about names. They had pretty much decided on a girl's name. it seemed so obvious to Tony, now that he thought of it. The boy's name was proving tricky though. It would require some serious researching.
'What was it you said yesterday? About it being healthy and safe?'
'Our little bean' recalled Tony. Ziva caught his eye and smiled.
'What about calling Bean, until it arrives of course?' Tony leant over and kissed Ziva, his had reaching out towards her bump.
'Hello Bean' he said, smiling.
Given I'm attempting to follow canon, the name shouldn't be a surprise.
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