Rifiuto: Non Mirena

"So, it's noon and we just learned that Ziva is in the active stage of active labor. So... hopefully, that means my nephew will be here soon."

"Shut. Up. Sarah!" Ziva let out a cry as the contraction grabbed her around the waist; Tim was sitting on the edge of the sofa, with Ziva in a dangling position between his legs, which helped to further open up her pelvis more. By then, of course, she'd also completely forgone the pajama bottoms she'd worn when labor started, preferring her underwear and bra, but as it got closer to her actually giving birth, those too would eventually go as well. She rested her hands on Tim's knees, squeezing her eyes shut as she dug her nails into the material of his pants.

"Breathe, Ziva. Deep breaths, remember?" Slowly, the mother did as told, choking on a gasp as the contraction reached its peak before slowly ebbing away. As she caught her breath, Tim pressed a kiss to her head. "Good girl, Ziva. That's my girl, easy."

"Do you want some water, honey?" Ziva shook her head, reaching down a hand to rest it against her belly. "Ziva, you have to stay hydrated." Again she shook her head.

"Take a couple sips, honey. You don't have to drink all of it, just a few, okay? That's all Sarah and I are asking." A moment passed before she finally nodded, allowing Sarah to help her, since she refused to loosen her grip on her husband's knees. Though eventually she did, reaching out for Sarah and throwing her arms around her sister's shoulders. Sarah, for her part, wrapped her arms around her, holding tight to her and nodded for her brother to start squeezing her hips. Once the pressure left, Sarah pulled away, meeting Ziva's gaze.

"Hey, you're doing good, Mommy. You're doing real good." Without a word, Ziva wrapped her arms around Sarah's shoulders once more, whimpering in pain.

Eventually, Tim and Sarah were able to get Ziva to her feet, and the laboring mother wrapped her arms around her husband's shoulders, resting her head on his chest. The soft music they'd brought was on repeat, and Ziva to briefly relax as he rubbed her back. She tightened her grip as a contraction began, and Tim continued to sway with her, whispering softly to her, rubbing her back. She choked on a cry as the contraction began to peak, letting out a sob as it eventually released her from its grip.

"Shh, sweetheart. You did good. You got through it, like you're supposed to." She whimpered, burying her face in his shoulder. "Keep breathing sweetheart, and whenever you want to change positions let me know." They stayed that way for several minutes, before Ziva slowly pulled away.

"Do you want some more tea, sis? Would that help? Hmm? Maybe that would help calm you down." But she shook her head, going to the bed. "You want to lie down?" Another shake of her head. "Well, Ziva, honey, I don't know what you're- oh." Sarah stopped when she watched Ziva get down on her hands and knees. "Your back killing you?" Her sister nodded, too focused on breathing to reply verbally. "Timmy, can you go get Jeanne?"

Without a word, she watched her older brother go to the door before making her way towards her sister-in-law. "No!" Both siblings stopped as Ziva lifted her head, meeting her husband's gaze. "Don't leave me... please, Tim don't leave me, you promised... you said you wouldn't leave-" He returned, kneeling in front of her and gently taking her face in his hands.

"Ziva, honey listen to me. I'm just going to go get Jeanne, okay? I'm gonna go get Jeanne and then I'll come right back, okay. Sarah's gonna be here with you, and I won't be gone that long. Okay, honey?" He pressed a firm kiss to her forehead before getting up and slipping out of the room. Another contraction began, and Ziva tried to focus, tried to put all her energy into getting through the contraction, into rocking her hips back and forth to relieve the pressure, but found that she could only focus on Tim and when he'd be back, the feeling of abandonment- thanks to the emotional wringer her psyche was being put through due to the labor- gripping every part of her.

"Hey, hey, listen to me, Ziva." Sarah continued rubbing circles on her sister's back. "Ziva, Tim is coming back, he just went to get Jeanne, remember?" Ziva shook her head. "Yes, he did. He'll be back in a few minutes and we'll get you checked out, see if everything's going good, okay?"

But the Israeli shifted positions, until she was squatting, her back against the side of the bed. Silently, Sarah moved until she faced her sister, reaching out to take her hands. "He left."

"He'll be right back. He told you so himself."

"He didn't come back."

"Sweetheart, he's coming back. You just have to give him time."

She shook her head. "I have, Sarah! And he's not coming back! He's never... never coming back... it's not... him... it's not... not the man I... married..."

Minutes passed as Sarah tried to figure out what she was talking about- or rather, who- when suddenly it dawned on her. "Timmy? Ziva, are you... talking about the accident?" The other woman nodded, taking a deep breath. "Ziva... sweetie... Timmy loves you. He would never leave you, he would never allow himself to leave you. And... why are you thinking about this now, you're in labor! Honey, your son is going to out of you and into the world soon, you need to focus on him and not on Tim's amnesia. That can wait, but Amal can't."

"But-"

Slowly, Sarah reached over, taking her hands. "No buts, Ziva. This is Amal's day, it's his time to be born, you need to let this worry about Timmy go and focus on getting ready to push your son out. Okay? I know it's hard when you've been trying to bring back the person you love for months, but now is not the time. Now is Amal's time, sweetheart."

Ziva wrapped her arms around Sarah's shoulders, sobbing. She looked up when Tim and Jeanne entered, the doctor having come from just delivering another baby. "Okay, come on, let's get her on the bed so I can check her progress."