Rifiuto: Non Mirena

"It's not that I have anything against being pregnant, I just... I want him in my arms."

Sarah chuckled softly, setting her coffee cup aside. She'd stopped by that morning, determined to get Ziva out of the house for a few hours; Tony had stopped by earlier and asked Tim if he wanted to go to lunch with him, and Ziva had eagerly pushed her husband out the door, telling him that a few hours away from the house would do him good.

The two women now sat at a small cafe in downtown Georgetown, catching up. "I think the feeling's mutual. Timmy told me when we went out to lunch that day that he's eager to hold Amal." Ziva nodded, rubbing a hand slowly over her belly.

"So when's your next assignment?" Sarah thought a moment, folding her arms on the table.

"That's... actually what I wanted to talk to you about, Ziva. I..." She sighed. "I'm going to Israel, to film the refugees in the camps along the Gaza strip feeling the war. I was wondering if I could... stay with your family in Tel Aviv."

"You're going to Israel?" Sarah nodded. "Of... of course, Sarit! They would love to have you! When are you leaving?"

Sarah bit her lip. "Two days."

"Two days?"

"After today."

"Oh. How... how long are you going-"

"Five weeks. Maybe longer, depending on if I get the shots I want."

Ziva's face fell. "But... in five weeks, I'll-"

"Be thirty-eight weeks. I know."

"So... so you'll miss Amal's birth?"

Sarah sighed. "I'm gonna try not to, Ziva. I'm gonna try to finish as fast as I can-"

"No, Sarah, this is important."

"So is this-"

But Ziva reached out, gently resting a hand on her sister-in-law's arm. "There will be other babies, Sarit." The younger woman shook her head.

"But not like this. This is your first, Ziva. This is the baby that makes you two parents. And I promised I would be there to film the birth-" She took a deep breath. "I'm gonna tell them no. Get someone else to go. This is too important-"

"Sarah, this is about your career-"

"No, Ziva!" She cried, standing. "This isn't about my career! Screw my career! This is about my family!" She took a deep breath, then slipped out of the cafe. Ziva sighed, following. "I'm sorry, Ziva. I... I shouldn't have reacted like I did, I just..."

"You have every right to be upset, Sarah. You're going to be missing a momentous part of your family's development." Sarah turned to her, watching as Ziva absentmindedly stroked her belly; the faraway look in Ziva's dark eyes brought a small smile to her sister's face, and Sarah chuckled. "What?"

The photographer shook her head. "Nothing, you just... you get this really faraway look on your face when you rub your belly. Like you're looking at the ends of the earth and trying to decide what's beyond them." Ziva shrugged, her gaze moving down to the swell that had taken over her petite body.

"Tim says the same thing." She sighed, gently patting her belly before folding her hands on top of the swell. "Especially at night- he'll ask me what I'm thinking about, and when I say that I'm not sure, he'll joke and say that I'm imagining the best techniques that will help me lose the weight I've gained with the baby." She shook her head, laughing softly. "But honestly, there are times when I have nothing in my head- I just... I find myself... relaxing and... and just feeling him. Feeling my son move within my womb, and... and the fact that your brother... that he loves me enough to have given me this beautiful gift..."

She stopped, biting her lip. "You okay?"

Ziva nodded, tears coming to her eyes. "I don't know how I got so lucky, Sarah." The younger woman smiled softly. "What... what designated that I would spend that rest of my life with that beautiful man as my husband? What gave me the right to accept his proposal when he could have had any woman he wanted? Why me? Tim is... beautiful and kind and loving and... and no matter what he thinks or says, he is a beautiful father to Amal. He has truly made up for lost time, Sarah. Even though he doesn't remember conceiving our son, he has made every moment of my pregnancy count from the moment he came out of the coma. Sure, there was some resistance at first, but... but now..."

Sarah cocked her head to the side. "You have Amal to thank for that, Ziva. God knows how my brother might have turned out if his son wasn't growing in your belly. Accidents can change people- especially really bad accidents. And comas and amnesia... they change people, almost as much as accidents do. Some people's entire personalities change with accidents and amnesia, thankfully, Timmy isn't one of those people. He's just gotten to be much more-"

"Blunt?" Ziva suggested, and Sarah nodded.

"Oh good, you noticed it to."

Her sister-in-law chuckled. "Yes, Tim has certainly... stopped beating around the tree when he talks now. He's not as... lengthy and drawn out when he explains things, either, except in computer-speak."

"Bush." Ziva met Sarah's gaze. "The term is 'beat around the bush', not tree. I may not be as fluent in Ziva-speak as Timmy calls it, but I do know the correct sayings. The pregnancy has really got you reverting back to your Ziva-isms."

"Ziva-isms?" Sarah nodded.

"Yes. Idioms you, being Ziva, get wrong." Her sister snorted.

"Now you are speaking in a language that I do not understand." The faraway look returned to her face, and she looked down at her belly, fingers stroking over the mound.

A moment passed, before Sarah glanced down at the camera around her neck. Without a word, she turned it on, positioned it and pressed the button.