***
There is five minutes until the ceremony and know I'm actually very nervous. Worst case scenarios play in my head-that's a steep set of stairs I have to climb up. My father isn't here yet.
"Where is he?" I say frustrated, pacing in circles. Ziva places a comforting hand on my shoulder to stop me. My father zooms around the corner. He runs up to us and plants a kiss on my cheek.
"Where have you been?" I say angrily. He just smiles at me stupidly.
"Had to find a parking space…" he says, "You go sit down, Zi…you ok?" he asks her, casually draping an arm over her small frame.
"Yeah, of course. Good luck Bethany" she says.
"Gibbs saved you two seats" I say pointing over in his direction. Gibbs sees us and waves.
They go and sit with Gibbs and I'm left alone. I go and take my place.
I fiddle with the awkward hat on my head and play with the tassels idly with my fingers. The black drape I'm wearing is heavy and uncomfortable. I recall a conversation with my father when I first bought my dress. He couldn't understand why I had spent his money on an expensive dress that will be covered by an ugly black robe.
Before I know it, my name is called and I approach the stand, I look out across the podium and see all the faces staring at me…specially the three faces of Ziva, Gibbs and my father. They look so proud and I don't want to let them down.
It's over in a second and I'm back in my place. I've graduated from high school…I'm a grown adult with the big scary world ahead of me…it's as scary as hell.
***
After all the photos and chit chatter we head round to the cars.
"Shut your eyes" my father says excitedly.
"Why? What's going on?" I say. He covers my eyes and steers me in a direction which I cannot work out. All I can feel is the gravel beneath my sandals.
"Surprise!" he says releasing my eyes. They adjust to the bright light of the sun and they blur into focus-I should have known. Before me is a brand new Mercedes hatch back. I turn around to face him…he loves his cars,
"Happy graduation!" he says. I just laugh and laugh, I pull him into a hug.
"Thank you!" I say.
"You're very welcome" he says.
"Hey Ziva? Wanna come with me for a spin?" I ask. She looks hesitant and quite unwell. But she nods anyway, forcing a smile.
"Sure" she says. I run round to the driver seat. And slip my sandals off.
"Converse are in the back seat!" he calls. I turn around and the bag is on the back seat just as he said. I slip them on and turn on the ignition. I speed out of parking lot.
"Your father will kill me after he sees you driving like this" she says.
"Why you?" I say.
"I taught you those tricks" she says as I wheel spin around a corner.
"Bethany, could you pull over, I'd hate to spoil your new car" she says, a slight sweat has beaded on her forehead. I screech to a sudden holt. She opens the door and promptly threw up outside the car door.
"Oh my god!" I say unbuckling my seat belt and leaning over. I rub her back.
"I'm ok!" she says.
"No you're not!" I retort. "I'll phone dad, we'll postpone dinner, you can't go and I won't go without you" I say sternly reaching for my cell.
"No!" She shouts. "Don't I'll be fine. You know what this probably means, right?" she says.
"You are happy about that right?" I say.
"I don't know" she says. I look down and see her hand instinctively over her flat stomach. She notices me looking and hastily removes it.
"Lets go, the others will be wondering where we are" she says. I sigh returning to the seat and switch on the ignition. I drive slowly back to the restaurant.
"Are you sure you're going to be ok?" I ask once more.
"I'm more worried about my father finding out" she blurts out.
"Why?" I ask
"I don't know…I'm afraid I won't be able to protect my child from him" she says
"But you're not with Mossad anymore…" I say, trying to work out what she is getting at.
"I know, but he's still my father…never mind, I'm just…" she says trailing off
"Just relax…ok?" I tell her. I pull up onto the side walk. My father, Gibbs, McGee, Ducky and Abby are all waiting.
"Ah hah! Here she is!" Ducky says in his smooth English accent. He gives me a dainty hug and hands me a gift.
"Thank you" I say, pulling away from him.
"Congratulations, Bethany" McGee says handing me a bag…gee this is better than Christmas.
"See you survived your spin!" Abby says.
"Not even a scratch!" I say high fiving her. Ziva gets out the passenger side and slams the door.
"Hey!" my father says grabbing Ziva's wrist softly and pulling her into a tight embrace.
"Hey?" she says effortlessly.
"Let's go!" I say leading the crowd into my favourite Italian restaurant.
***
We are seated and begin several courses of wonderful food. My eye is on Ziva all the time, she orders a salad and picks at it. She leaves most of it and by dessert she is paler than a ghost. I open my gifts from Ducky and McGee.
"Ducky! It's lovely!" I say, it's a celebratory champagne flute with my name, high school and date on it in pink glitter.
"I love it!" I say.
"You're welcome my dear!" he says, chuffed that I like his gift. I turn to McGee's package. It feels like a small book-typical McGee! I open it and it is indeed a book by Thom E Gemsity.
"No other copies of that around!" he tells me
"You wrote a book for me?" I say, touched. He nods.
"Thank you! Thank you so much guys, for all you're gifts, it's really touching! You guys are the best!" I say. Ziva goes to get up from the table but staggers and collapses.
"Oh My God, Ziva?" My father says rushing to her aid-she is unconscious. Everyone rising from the table. Ducky pushes through while Abby phones for an ambulance.
"Ziva, baby…wake up honey!" My father says desperately, running his hand through her hair and down her pale face.
"Ziva?" I say. I want to say something but I hold back.
An ambulance arrives quickly by now, Ziva has come to.
"Ziva are you alright?" my father says cradling her head to his chest. She tries to sit up but dizziness overwhelms her and she falls against his chest.
"Sleep…" she whispers. Before passing out.
***
***
We all drive to the hospital and we are sitting in the waiting room. My father is pacing back and forth. I feel bad for not saying anything but I remain quite, I wait for the doctor. I shiver and Ducky, ever the gentleman, puts his jacket over my bare shoulders.
The doctor comes out.
"Family of Miss David?" he says, I cringe at the mispronunciation of her name.
"It's dav-eed!" My father says harshly with worry.
"Dad!" I hiss, it's not the doctor's fault and he knows it.
"Please tell me what's going on…I'm her fiancé" my father asks desperately.
"Well, she's dehydrated so we've set her up with some IV fluids. We sent off some blood tests, they should be back in a few hours. She was complaining of nausea so we've given her something to ease it" he says.
"When can I see her?" he says.
"Now, if you like, she's sleeping though…we'll keep her in over night until we get the blood results back, ok" the doctor says, my father nods gratefully but passes straight by him into Ziva's room. I approach the doctor to thank him on my father's behalf.
"Thank you…Erm…" I say hushing the volume of my voice, "I think she might be pregnant" I tell him. He nods knowingly.
"That's something we've tested for, no need to worry miss…" he says walking away.
I peer through the window and see my father engulfing her into a hug, she's been crying. She looks up and her eyes catch mine. We're both thinking the same thing, we know what's wrong…well nothing wrong but what the matter is.
***
Some hours later, the others have called it an evening and I promise to call them in the morning, my father has fallen asleep beside Ziva. The doctor comes back. I get up.
"Yes?" I say,
"she's fine…blood tests were normal apart from…" he says. "Are you a relation to Miss David?" he asks in confirmation.
"She's gonna be my new mom…is she pregnant?" I ask. The doctor nods.
"Would you like me to talk to her?" the doctor asks.
"No, I'll tell her" I say, "Thank you, doctor" I say.
"Your welcome…we'll do a scan in the morning" he says patting me on the shoulder. I quietly step into the side room. My father stirs.
"Hey" I whisper. He untangles himself from his fiancée and gets up off the bed to stretch his legs.
"The doctor just came by…" I begin.
"And?" he says.
"She's fine!" I say. I'm not lying, there is nothing actually wrong with her, but I feel totally weird telling him her news. She stirs and sees me in the room. She sits up and our eyes connect. She senses I need to talk to her alone.
"Tony, could you get me a glass of water please?" she asks. He looks at her.
"Sure" he says planting a kiss on her forehead. Once he is gone she becomes more alerted,
"I am, aren't I?" she says instinctively.
"Yes…" I say, she stays silent, tears fall from her eyes.
"Hey! Don't cry!" I say, pulling her into a hug.
"I don't think I can do this, Bethany!" she says.
"Of course you can, think of how many people you have around you to help you…Abby will be thrilled!" I say.
"What about your father?" she says.
"I know him…if you're scared of him having commitment issues he wouldn't have asked you to marry him if he were" I say.
"What?" he says, I turn around startled, I don't know how long he's been there.
"Erm…" I say. I can't think of anything else to say. It's not up to me, it's all down to her.
"I'm pregnant, Tony" she says. Silence falls. I stare at my father to see his reaction, it doesn't look promising. He steps out the room without a word. She bursts into tears. Right now I'm faced with going after him or tending to a tiered, emotional Ziva. Right now, I choose Ziva…my dad can be such an ass.
I pull her into a hug. We stay like that for a few minutes. She falls back into the pillows asleep. I step outside the room, I'm boiling with anger. He's only sitting outside.
"What the hell?" I say sitting beside him.
"It was a shock" he says.
"She's as scared as hell in there! You've done the whole father thing before! She hasn't done the mother thing…she's frightened, she thinks you don't love her any more…" I say. He shakes his head.
"I love her, you know that" he says.
"Then why did you just walk out?" I ask.
"The last time I did this whole thing, was with your mother" he says. I can't really say anything to that.
He gets up and leaves me alone outside the side room.
***
He returns several minutes later with an envelope.
"What's that?" I ask.
"It's a get well soon card" he says. I follow him inside the room. She wakes up when she hears us enter.
"Tony, I'm sorry…I understand if you want to call the wedding off…" she says, he pulls her into a passionate kiss.
"Why would I want to do that?" he says, "I'm sorry I was such an ass" he says, his forehead touching hers.
"I love you" she says.
"I love you too, we both do" he says placing a hand over her stomach. He hands her a card. I can't help feeling a little left out. Soon I'll be going to New York and I'll hardly ever see them. I know it sounds horrible but I can't help but feel I'm being replaced.
He gives her a card.
"What's this?" she says turning it over.
"Open it" he says. She does so and it's a card with the picture of two cartoon cats on the front. She opens it and laughs. I lean over to see what it reads…
To the best mommy in the world.
Love Baby.
I smile as I watch them hug. Not wanting to ruin the moment I leave the room, I can feel tears welling up in my eyes.
I drive to see Gibbs, hoping he'll understand.
"Hey" he says, noticing the tears in my eyes.
"What's up? Is Ziva ok?" he says.
"Yeah, she's fine" I say weakly.
"But you're not" he says knowingly. Letting me inside.
We go down into the basement with his favourite remedy…hot cocoa.
"So, are you going to tell me what's up?" he asks.
"Ziva's pregnant" I say
"That's good, right?" he says.
"Is it wrong for me to feel jealous?" I say soundly really bad.
"Why?" he asks. I know I will feel better after I tell him what's on my mind.
"Dad's moved on, he's marrying Ziva…they're having a child together…they're a family" I say.
"You are part of that family too" Gibbs says.
"No, me and my father and my mom were a family. My mom died, my dad has moved on…I'll be leaving for New York soon, I'll hardly be around" I say.
"You think he'll forget about you?" he asks. It sounds so stupid coming from his lips.
"It's stupid…I know" I begin.
"No, It's normal to feel like that"
"I know my mom died a long time ago, and I got over it a long time ago but…" I say, trying hard not to cry but I fail miserably.
"You're not over your mom…Bethany, no one is asking you to forget about your mom, and your father won't forget about you" Gibbs tells me, I really want to believe him but something weighs down my heart.
"I wish I could believe you…I know it sounds horrible and selfish but…" I say.
"You're only human, Bethany…it's ok to feel like this" he says.
"But it feels so wrong…Ziva is so nice, I love her to bits but…Gibbs, why do I feel like this?" I say, I don't know where this has all come from. Buried deep inside my, it's finally decided to rear it's ugly face.
"Because when your mom died, it was just you and your dad…then it was Ziva and now you have to share them both between a new baby, that will take up a lot of their time and attention. At least you'll be in New York, you'll have plenty of distractions" he tells me wisely. I begin to feel better.
"Thanks Gibbs"
***
I leave Gibbs' house and head back over to the hospital. I know full well that my father won't have left Ziva's side. When I get back they are right where I left them fast asleep. I decide to go home and get some rest, knowing they will still be there in the morning.
***
I wake up at 7 the next morning and head down to the hospital again. When I get there I am horrified to find that they are gone. A nurse reassures me that they have only gone up to obstetrics for a scan. She gives me directions and I stop off at the hospital cafeteria to get some breakfast.
When I get there they are just about to go in.
"Hey!" Ziva calls sitting in a wheel chair directed by my father
"Good morning, how are you feeling?" I ask.
"Better, thanks" she tells me, "We did a lot of talking last night…" she says. My father puts his hand on her shoulder and she puts her hand over his.
"You ok?" he asks me.
"Yeah I'm fine" I say smiling.
"I assumed you went home" He says ruffling my hair.
"Yeah, I figured you both could need some clean clothes and stuff" I say, handing him a bag.
"We're just going to have a scan" Ziva said, sounding almost exited.
"Ok, I'll just be out here" I say, not wanting to intrude.
"No, come with us, it'll be ok" My father says taking me by the shoulders.
We all cram into the tiny examination room and my father helps Ziva up onto the bed. However, she resists his help.
"I'm not a complete invalid yet, Tony!" She says, making me laugh.
"Right" the nurse says, "I'm just going to put some jelly on your stomach…I'll warn you now, it'll be cold!" she says with a smile. My father takes Ziva's hand in his own and kisses it.
"Well, everything looks great…there's two arms, and there's…" the nurse stutters squinting at the screen "…another two arms…" she says.
"My baby has four arms?" Ziva says in alarm. The nurse laughs.
"No, you're babies both have two perfectly healthy arms" she says, smiling.
"Babies? As in…two?" my father says.
"Yes, congratulations, you're having twins!" she says, "I'll print a picture of for you, I'd say judging by the size of them you're about 8 weeks!" she says reaching for a paper towel to hand to Ziva in order for her to wipe the jelly off.
"Two?" My father says again.
"Can you believe it!" Ziva says, eyes wide with excitement.
The next thing we know, my father is on the floor.
***
"Gibbs, I need you're help, Dad fainted!" I say outside the hospital. Ziva was in the ER with my dad and an ice pack.
"What?" he said laughing hysterically.
"Yes, it's not one baby, but two!" I say.
"Wow!" he says "Congratulations big sister!" he says, I smile.
"Thanks, Uncle Gibbs" I reply
"I'm sure you don't need my help, just drive carefully with Ziva and Mr Poofter, will you, come by NCIS, They can announce it to everyone, I've been dying to tell everyone but it's not my place…" he says, I can hear the excitement in his own voice.
"Sure, we should be outta here soon, hopefully" I add. We say our goodbyes and hand up. I switch my cell phone off and head back into the hospital. I find Ziva at the reception signing my father's release papers.
"He ready to go?" I ask, she nods.
"Yes, his ego is feeling very battered indeed" she says.
"It was a shock" I say.
"I've come round to the idea" she says with a smile. I give her a hug.
"What are you going to do about the wedding? Are you going to wait until after the births?" I ask.
"I don't know…we'll have to talk about it, I don't really want to be the size of an orca on my wedding day" she says, I laugh at her English.
"It's the size of a whale!" I say. She frowns at me.
"An orca is a whale" she says.
"I know, but the term is…oh never mind" I say knowing it's probably not a good idea to argue with a doubly hormonal woman.
"Oh, I spoke to Gibbs, He wants you to come by NCIS to tell the news, He's been bursting to tell everyone…he also needs to discuss issues concerning the field" I say sensitively. She sighs.
"I wondered how long it would be before he asked about that" she says
"You know he's only looking out for you…and the babies" I say.
"I know…I'm just not used to doing desk duty…it's going to be so boring!" she says.
"Well, lets just see what he has to say first, lets go and find dad" I say leading her off to the cubicles to find my weak excuse for a father.
***