Rifiuto: Non Mirena

Thanks to Reader aka Sun Samurai for reviewing 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28; DS2010 for reviewing 20, 24, 25 and 28 and mcgeeksgirl for reviewing 28.

"You look good, Ziver."

She blushed, whispering a soft thank you to Gibbs. The Team Leader had stopped by after work, carrying a large, wrapped cardboard box. He, Ziva and Tim sat in the living room, talking over coffee and tea, but the agent noticed that the young father's gaze kept drifting towards the box, where it sat near the fireplace. He chuckled.

"Go on." The pair turned back to him. "Go on, open it."

After a moment, Tim got up, bringing the box over and setting it down as Gibbs moved the coffee table out of the way. They quickly sliced through the box, revealing something wrapped within soft packaging. Gently, they lifted it out of the packaging, and Tim set it on the sofa between him and his wife.

It was a beautiful wooden box, made of smoothed oak, with the baby's name carved into the center between two whittled symbols- the Celtic knot on the left and the Star of David on the right, signalling his heritage. "A toy chest?" Ziva glanced at their boss, confused.

"Open it." Slowly, Tim did as told; held together with small wooden dowels, the only metal on the box was the clasp that opened it. His mouth dropped, and Ziva leaned over.

"Tim, what-" She glanced at Gibbs, just as shocked as her husband. "Oh, Gibbs, thank you but... but you shouldn't have... you... you've already given us so much..."

Inside the toy chest were various toys, all hand-carved out of sturdy oak; toy planes, small wooden balls, hand-carved blocks, pull-along toys of various types- cars, horses, ducks, a set of beautifully made stacking rings, a number of small wooden toy trucks and cars, some painted various colors, a couple wooden puzzles for him to play with when he got older, and two or three wooden rattles that Gibbs had lovingly carved with the meaning of the baby's name on the handle.

Clearly, the agent had put a lot of thought into this gift- the couple weren't having a baby shower; Ziva wasn't thrilled about the idea of having a small party, besides, they had all they currently needed and more for when the baby came, and still, were receiving gifts from the other agents at NCIS as well as Fornell and some of the agents at the FBI, and also from family and close friends. It seemed, the closer Ziva got to the end of her pregnancy, the more they received from family and friends.

"Keep looking. There's more at the bottom." Without a word, Tim gently lifted the toys out; Ziva took several of them, studying the work.

"Gibbs... this must have taken you... weeks..."

The older man shrugged. "A baby can never have too many toys. Plus, these won't wear out as quickly as store bought ones."

"They're beautiful, Gibbs, thank you." The older man gave the expectant mother a soft smile, as Tim finally pulled out several articles of clothing. He shook out what appeared to be a baby-sized bathrobe, beautifully made of soft white cotton, but what got the young father-to-be was the hood; it had two little black ears on either side, shaped like lamb ears. "What is that?"

"A robe." Gibbs replied. "Fornell stopped by the office today, told me Diane had made it for the baby; Emily suggested that it be a lamb."

"For our little lamb, huh?" Tim said, handing it to his wife before returning his attention to the bottom of the box. There were several more articles of handmade clothing- including a knitted sweater, gloves, booties and scarf that Ellie Bishop- from the NSA- and her husband had given them, a couple beanies- one with ears, eyes and a nose that looked like a dog, and the other with two puffs on the ear flaps- from the sisters at Abby's church, a little ensemble in blue from Mrs. Vance- and then Tim lifted something out of the box that was neither crocheted clothing or wooden toy.

"Is that a-" Ziva met her husband's gaze.

"It's a... a porcupine." The two shared a glance. "A soft, plush pink porcupine." Ziva laughed. "Who-"

"Breena. Palmer brought it up and asked me to give it to you." Tim handed it to his wife, who studied the little animal.

"Oh, Amal will love this. Tell Breena and Palmer thank you for us."

Two hours after Gibbs left, Tim came upstairs to find his wife sitting in the middle of the nursery floor, the toys spread out around her, the small, stuffed porcupine Breena had made for the baby in her hand. A moment passed before Tim joined her. She'd changed out of her clothing into his sweats and a sports bra, and sat rubbing her belly absentmindedly, clearly lost in thought. "What's running around in that brain of yours?" He asked, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

She sighed. "That... that Gibbs and... and the others would... would do all this for us. I mean... look at these toys... Gibbs must have spent hours on them, and the chest... they're beautiful." Slowly, she glanced over her shoulder at him. "Amal does not know it, but he is very... very loved. By not just us, but... by everyone we work with, at NCIS and the FBI and even... even the NSA!"

"We rally around our own. And you and Amal... you're one of our own."

She swallowed, resting her forehead against his cheek. "I've always wanted to belong, I just... I never realized that I did. But now... now thanks to you, Tim, I... I have something I never dreamed would ever be possible." She kissed his cheek. "I have a home."