Chapter 16

Ziva was in shock as she sat there with Abby. She was still unsure of what to say or think at the moment, since Tony had gone out with Gibbs a while ago and when he come back he had pulled her aside and slipped a ring on her finger, Ziva had known then that he really wanted to marry her and it wasn't a joke. He had rubbed her stomach again and said that he really hoped that they had made a baby, even though they wouldn't find out if there was one of any chance of one for weeks, he was really hoping there was. Ziva couldn't believe how much things had changed in the past week since finding out that Maliek was back in the picture and attempting to take her out of the picture for something that had happened in the past. She was finally becoming happy and then she felt like it was time for her to move on and now she was in shock and unsure of what she was feeling at the thought of becoming Mrs. Anthony DiNozzo and carrying baby DiNozzo in her belly.

"I can't believe you still haven't given him an answer." Abby said as she sat there pouting and staring at the gorgeous ring that Tony had picked out and placed on her finger and told her not to take it off. "Why haven't you answered him yet?"

"I don't know what to say." Ziva admitted as she bit her bottom lip and started to nervously tap her fingers on the table in front of them.

"Well what is in your heart Ziva?" Abby asked her simply.

"Love, lots and lots of love. But every time I think about a future with him, I keep thinking about Maliek appearing out of the blue and killing him and our children and everyone I hold near to me." Ziva said as she got to her feet and admitted what her fear were. "I don't think I could take it if I married him and had babies with him and then lost them, if something were to happen to him and our kids because of me, well that would kill me Abby."

"Look, you and I both know that Gibbs is the wrong person to be messed with. He is going to find this creep, Maliek, and make him regret the day he was ever born. Maliek is going to wish he had stayed in Israel and never shown his face in the United States of America. He is going to make him wish he had never messed with Gibbs, the man who never lets anything happen to the people he really cares about and Ziva, you are in that category. Think about how hard he has fought for you." Abby pointed out as she faced her friend.

"But why would he want to fight for me after how things started out with us? I don't even understand why all of you like me at all, considering it was my brother who killed someone you all held near to you." Ziva said with a confused look on her face.

"Ziva, what Ari did was not your fault. I know in the beginning I was not the nicest person to you and I know that after a lot of different things happened I was probably the worst person in the world to you and the last person you ever wanted to be around. I think of you as family now Ziva, just like Tony is family and I want you both to be happy and I know that you both love each other and that the only way you both will be happy is being married and having children with each other." Abby said stubbornly. "You go into the other room, you take Tony by the hand and you take him back to the bedroom you two are sharing now, you kiss him and you apologize for not screaming out the answer yes and you tell him you will marry him and you will be the mother of his babies, as many babies and little DiNozzo's that he wants running around and you two will spend the rest of your lives together."

Ziva smiled as she looked at her good friend and hugged her close before she ran out of the room and found Tony sitting there and frowning as he stared at the wall. Gibbs and McGee appeared to be trying to cheer him up, most likely because he thought she was going to say no.

"Tony we need to talk."Ziva said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his chair and dragged him down the hall. Once they were in their bedroom she shut and locked the door and leaned against it, feeling nervous now that they were alone in the bedroom and she could see the bed they had slept together in.

"What is it Ziva? Are you going to throw the ring in my face and tell me you aren't ready to marry me? Are you going to tell me that you don't want to have my kids anytime soon or ever? Are you going to tell me that you don't even love me or that what happened between us in this room was a fluke and you never want it to happen again?" Tony asked her, clearly not happy with her not answering him and clearly jumping to conclusions about what was going on in her head.

"Is that what you want me to say?" Ziva asked him softly.

"Of course it is. I mean all I did was tell you that I hope we had made a baby together, all I did was ask you to marry me more than once and all I did was sneak out in disguise with Gibbs and spend a ton of money on that ring." Tony said sarcastically. "You know what? I think I am going to move to another room and let you have this one all to yourself. Just keep the ring, pawn it if you want to, I don't care anymore. If we did make a baby then we can figure something…" Tony was cut off by Ziva slamming her lips down onto his to shut him up.

"You talk to much." Ziva said simply as she held him tightly to her.

"So what does this mean? Are you going to marry me Ziva? Are you going to tell me what is holding you back? What is it that is making you not want to get married and start a family with me? Please Ziva, tell me what the problem is." Tony told her, wrapping his arms around her waist because he really didn't want to let her go. He said he would walk away but he kept thinking he didn't want to lose her, he didn't want to lose everything that was making him happy. He needed to know what was going on inside of her head, and he needed to know fast so he could convince her that they could fix it.