Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS. I think this feels a little sober compared to previous chapters.
Tony walked up to the Adam's House Hotel and towards the woman by the taxi.
'Oh my God, Tony DiNozzo,' said Taylor, surprised to see her old childhood friend.
'Last time I saw you, you had a face full of braces and were playing with a cabbage patch kid.'
'Yeah, and now I'm having one of my own.' Taylor rubbed her stomach. Tony grinned.
'Yes. Me too.' Taylor laughed. Senior had not stopped talking about how Tony's girlfriend, Ziva, was pregnant.
'So, what do you think about or parents together?' Taylor asked.
'I think it's weird.' Taylor nodded in agreement.
'Me too. But then I saw them together, and it's real and sweet. They're in love.'
Senior came out of the hotel and Taylor went inside to chase up her mother. Father and son made up.
'So, here's what I'm thinking. Ziva's on her way. Why don't you jump on a later plane and we all go out and have a little family dinner?' Senior pulled Tony into a hug, just as Ziva joined them.
'Ziva, you look beautiful' said Senior, happily pulling her into a hug too. 'How are you?'
'I'm good' she said, rubbing her hand over her stomach. 'The baby's started moving.' Senior's face lit up. He loved hearing news about his future grandchild. He and Tony had been emailing on a more regular basis over the past few months and Senior always wanted news about Ziva and the baby. It had been a sore point, however, when Senior announced his engagement. Tony did not know the identity of his future step-mother, but was annoyed at the fact that Senior had not mentioned it earlier. They appeared to have made progress with matters of communication.
Ziva reached into her bag and found the envelope that contained the scans from their appointment a couple of weeks ago. Senior flicked through them, the DiNozzo grin across his face.
Taylor and Linda soon came out of the hotel, and they five of them made their way to the restaurant. Ziva and Taylor quickly fell into a conversation about pregnancy. Taylor was about five weeks ahead of Ziva who was enjoying having yet another woman to talk to. The two women compared notes on everything, Taylor giving Ziva a clue about the new few weeks of her pregnancy. Linda even joined in, talking about her own experiences, leaving Senior and to their own devices.
Ziva enjoyed having other women to talk to about pregnancy. Angela at work had become a wonderful source of information, happy to share and talk. Ziva had been afraid of asking too many questions, especially ones she thought to be silly, but Angela didn't seem to mind. Callie was also another source of information, and Ziva had started to meet other new or expectant mothers. She had quickly realised that it was not about having only one or two women to talk to, but many, as pregnancy was different for every single woman she had met.
The dinner had been a little strange for Senior. Family dinners in the past usually resulted in him and Tony getting quick bite to eat before Senior flew back to New York. Having his fiancée, his future step-daughter, his son and son's girlfriend (who better become his daughter-in-law before he died), talk about the next generation of Turner's and DiNozzo's made Senior's heart soar.
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Tony was very quiet on the drive home from the restaurant. The IG investigation had cleared Tony of any wrongdoing, and he and Senior had made up earlier that day, followed by a lovely family dinner. Ziva could see thoughts running through his head.
'Are you alright, Tony?' He nodded.
'Yes. I'm fine.'
'Are you sure? You seem very quiet.'
'I was just thinking.'
'Well, that is dangerous.' Tony chuckled and smiled at Ziva. 'What were you thinking about?'
'Dinner.'
'Seriously Tony. We just ate a two-course dinner at a lovely restaurant, and you want more food. I thought I was the one who was eating for two, not you.' Tony laughed.
'I wasn't thinking about more food. I was thinking about the dinner we just had.'
'Oh. Sorry. What about it?'
'Just occurred to me that I don't think Senior and I have ever had a meal like it. Yeah, we've had meals with family, especially when mom was alive, but not like today.' Ziva pulled into a parking space at the building. 'You know, most of my memories of my mother is her in hospital. Dad and I would visit her, but within minutes he had gone, and it was just the two of us.'
'Maybe they planned it like that.' Tony looked a tad confused. 'Maybe your mother just wanted to spend some time with her son' continued Ziva. Tony smiled, weakly.
'There are times Zi, where I'm scared.'
'Scared of what?' It wasn't that long ago when Ziva had been voicing her own concerns of parenthood.
'Leaving you, and Bean. Not dying in the field' he added quickly. 'I haven't been scared about that for years, but I don't want our child's lasting memories of me, to be lying in a hospital bed, dying.' Ziva smiled kindly and reached for Tony's hand, interlacing their fingers.
'They will not be Tony.' Tony looked sad and pensive. He rarely talked about his mother. There were times where he questioned the validity of his memories, wondering if he had made them up. Ziva pulled his hand over to her bump and placed it along the side where she could feel Bean move the most. Tony's weak smile grew into a happy one. He loved being able to feel his child move. The other day he had been casually singing when Ziva grabbed his hand. Bean was moving a lot. Tony carried on singing, joking that Bean was dancing. Ziva argued that she was sure that the baby wanted Tony to stop making noise.
'I am scared too sometimes Tony. My Ima died because of a drunk driver. It does not mean that I will die the same way.'
'I know. It's just…' Ziva lifted a hand and cupped Tony's cheek.
'Everything will be alright Tony.' Tony smiled again at her saying that, also remembering the other week, where Ziva was the one concerned.
'Because we have each other.'
'Always.' They leaned in and hugged. They stayed there for some time. 'Uh, Tony?'
'Yeah?'
'I need to pee.' Tony released Ziva from the hug, and watched Ziva dash (as quickly as she could) inside. He felt better now that he had told Ziva how he felt. It had been playing on his mind for some time, but given that Ziva was the one who was pregnant, not him, Tony felt that her needs, and the baby's needs came first. Tony climbed out of the car, grabbing his and Ziva's belongings. Walking up to their apartment, Tony's mind wandered to the tiny velvet black box he had hidden away in his old apartment.
Hope you like it. I have written the next chapter which will be up in a couple of days.
Thanks!