Hey, well here is your update. I suck. I know I keep forgetting to upload it. I was having writers block trying to get the second half of this out and than one day I just started writing and realized this chapter ended up at about 4,000 words so I chopped it in half... so I have a completed chapter waiting and I"ll post it in a few days. So yes, I'm sorry for the long wait. Anyway, here it is. I always forget to mention that I like to swear. Yeah, I drop the fbomb from time to time but I don't think I did in this chapter... I did somewhere. Maybe the next one? I don't know. It's just something I keep meaning to tell you - my sailor's mouth.
Disclaimer: Don't own. All I have is a junky red Saturn so really, you won't get much from me. Why try? I really respect the owners of NCIS. :D
"Not good enough, Gibbs" Tony sighed as he shook his head and continued looking through the window. Tony turned in time to see the doctor approaching with one last request before Ziva could be discharged. The doctor walked past him and Tony followed her into the room. Abby couldn't decide whether she should stay or leave Tony and Ziva alone with the doctor. Finally Abby slunk out of the room before anyone could notice she was missing.
"Hello Agent David. I'm Dr. Katherine Harrison. It's nice to see you awake. I trust your boyfriend informed you of what we discussed while you were still coming out of sedation?" the doctor greeted with a smile. Both Tony and Ziva looked away from each other at the mention of their relationship, or lack there of. Ziva took a moment to look the woman up and down. She was fairly attractive. She was a blonde, likely in her late 30s, tall and lean and covered in a white lab coat.
"Yes, Agent DiNozzo did fill me in." Ziva assured making no mention of the other woman's assumption. Dr. Harrison quirked her head to the side at the formal address of the man in the room but ignored it.
"Good. I have decided to put you on a 3 week bed rest, and we'll check back after those 3 weeks. I don't want you up and moving for more than 10 minutes a day." Dr. Harrison began, but stopped when she noticed Ziva hold up a hand in request for her to pause.
"10 minutes at a time or 10 minutes compounded throughout the day?" Ziva asked for specification. The doctor shook her head at the other woman.
"No, Ms. David, 10 minutes in total during a day. You will obviously need someone to care for you for the next 3 weeks. I assume that the father will take care of you?" Dr. Harrison explained glancing up at Tony, trying to decide what his relationship to her patient was. In response she received a glare from Ziva.
"My father will take me home." Ziva finalized and gave Dr. Harrison a pointed look of expectation.
"Of course. I will have a nurse bring in your discharge papers." Dr. Harrison smiled and turned to leave. As soon as they were alone Tony's eyes narrowed and met Ziva's.
"Your father will take you home? You're going back to Israel?" Tony croaked in a rushed panic. His throat dried at the thought that she could so easily leave him again, and this time take their child out of the country with her.
"Oh relax, Tony. I meant Gibbs. I just did not want that insufferable woman to ask any more unnecessary questions." Ziva snorted shortly. Tony sighed with relief before taking Ziva's hand, which she promptly tore back.
"Not much better. God, Ziva, you're being insufferable. I apologized already, twice even. Give me a fucking break!" Tony ranted as he paced back and forth, his arms flailing around.
"Do not stress me, Tony." Ziva replied calmly. The calm in her voice just proved to tick Tony off. It was a condescending tone she used and she knew it would press buttons but she didn't expect it to affect more than just the man in the room. Both looked up to the sound of the door opening, to see a disgruntled man before them.
"Enough, Ziva. Tony will take you home- his home, your home, doesn't matter." Gibbs commanded in the most gentle manner and headed for the door again before he turned to face them once more, "and, yeah, that's an order"
"An order's an order, Zazu." Tony grinned down at her.
"Perhaps we can use my 10 minutes a day to get me to NCIS." Ziva suggested as she lay in Tony's bed propped against pillows and watching him as he wondered around busying himself.
"I don't think that'll fly, Zi. You can't be at your desk all day; that is not considered 'bed rest'." Tony declined as he pulled on a t-shirt from his younger days. He crawled towards her on the bed and flumped onto his stomach.
"Hm, I could spend the day on Abby's futon, or put a mattress on an autopsy table." Ziva pondered playfully putting a finger to her chin. Tony laughed and slithered closer to her.
"Hell, let's just move your desk and put a bed on your side of the bullpen." Tony mocked as he pulled up the college shirt that covered her stomach and placed a kiss to the skin. It was so casual, but so loving and affectionate. She should have been more shocked, this being the first time he had treated their child this way, but Tony was such a loving man that it didn't faze her.
"You have not thought this through, Tony. When you go to work, I will be alone, yes?" Ziva pointed out thoughtfully. She reached forward and tapped his nose, earning her a dazzling grin. It was all they needed; to be ordered to makeup. It was just the kick in the pants they needed.
"Apparently Gibbs didn't think of it either, huh? I'll admit the futon thing isn't a horrible idea... but it's way off in a corner. I think I have a blow up mattress somewhere. Do you think it would be weird to have an air mattress in the middle of the bullpen?" Tony explored with all seriousness. He really couldn't leave her at home alone, nor could he put her in autopsy.
"Yes, it would be strange. You will just have to move the futon into the middle of Abby's lab. I do not wish to stay in your apartment alone all day." Ziva insisted, knowing fully that he would feel guilty enough to give in.
"Fine. Yeah. FYI, Ziva, you are allowed more than 10 minutes. You can pee whenever you want, she just said that so you wouldn't be tempted to bend the rules." Tony pointed out.
"You look tired. You should sleep. Abby- Abby tells me that you haven't slept well since you got back. You still having nightmares? " Tony prompted cautiously. He wasn't the best at making segues but he got them where they needed to be.
"Mmmhmm, not every night but often enough to be disruptive." Ziva mumbled solemnly.
"Can I hold you? Will that help?" Tony asked hopefully.
"I think I would like that, Tony" Ziva smiled.
Ziva followed Tony into Abby's lab and smiled when she noticed the futon already in the middle of the room and McGee sitting annoyed upon it. She could only guess that Tony had called ahead and demanded that the younger agent do the labor.
Tony took a moment to help Ziva get comfortable on the couch, throwing blankets and pillows down beside her from a large duffel bag that hung from his shoulder. Ziva was dressed in lounge pants and a Ohio State t-shirt that engulfed her small size. Abby's face lit up at the sight of her new lab-mate and the man settling her in to her new space. Tony fished a laptop out of the duffel and handed it off to Ziva, whom gratefully accepted it.
"Okay, you've got your phone, your Sig, your pillows, your blankets, your computer, your baby, your bag -which contains all kinds of crap- and your Abby. Anything else, before I head back up to the bullpen?" Tony listed ending his thought with a grin. With each item on the list he pointed in it's direction, including the direction of her abdomen. This, as he knew it would, brought an effortless smile to her face.
"Did you pack those chips I found in your cupboard?" Ziva asked with hope and a hungry look in her eye. Tony frowned at her as he thought back to which chips, since he had lots of bags of chips in his cupboards.
"No, you ate all of those last night. If that's it, I'll come down later to check on you. Call me if you need me." Tony explained carefully, knowing this would likely upset her. She really liked those chips. As Tony turned to leave the lab he was met with the annoyed, but common, expression on his boss' face.
"What're you doing here, Ziver? I seem to remember hearing something about bed rest." Gibbs huffed in frustration. He shook his head at the agent and her inability to follow the simplest of instructions, though with her training standing down wasn't an easy order to follow.
"Relax Gibbs. I will not leave the sofa, nor will I do any work. I am merely a visitor today." Ziva assured with a bored expression on her face.
"That's right, Gibbs. Ziva and I are going to have a slumber party but during the day and without sleeping." Abby agreed with a grin as she flopped onto the futon beside Ziva. Gibbs nodded, taking this as a legit answer before turning to leave and signaling his remaining agents to follow him. Abby waited until the coast was clear before turning to her friend with an excited expression on her face, which was rather unsurprising and common.
"So, have you told Tony the gender of the baby yet? Does he even know you know?" Abby gushed, the undying curiosity radiating off the woman.
"No, I actually am shocked he did not find out at the hospital." Ziva commented with careless shrug.
"Are you kidding me? When are you going to tell him he's going to have a..." Abby exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air.
"Abby!" Ziva scolded before she could finish her sentence. Ziva sighed and responded softly to Abby's bewildered and shocked face, "You were shouting. I actually think it would be better to show him rather than tell him."
Abby quirked an eyebrow high, trying to decode the vague statement. Ziva smiled at her before booting up the computer in her lap and logging into her email. She instantly noticed an instant message window pop up in the corner of her screen which indicated which of contacts were online. She should have expected to have a little green icon next to it, since the case a few days prior was taken over by the FBI. It was only a matter of time until a new case would pass under their noses, however.
"Hm, are you saying that you're gonna wait til 'Lil David-DiNozzo is born? That's very old fashioned of you Ziva." Abby pondered aloud as she tried to look over Ziva's shoulder. Ziva shook her head and dragged her bag towards her pulling out a small photo. She handed it to Abby and grinned at her friend's bubbly behavior. Abby ran a finger across the picture before reaching over and rubbing Ziva's small belly bump. She didn't need to voice how beautiful and incredible the simple picture of the peanut was. Both woman were in love with someone they had never seen eye-to-eye, but that was expected.
"This is from my last appointment, before I found myself in the hospital. It has only been two days since we started getting along again, Abby. I have not had a chance to tell him." Ziva insisted, punctuating with a soft chuckle. Abby flung herself towards Ziva's cell phone and flipped it open.
"Well, have him come down! Tell him it's an emergency." Abby ordered, but scowled when Ziva slipped the cellular device from Abby's fingers. Abby's attention quickly shifted as she looked down at Ziva's flannel pajama pants, which were speckled with pictures of puppies all over them.
"I like your pajamas" Abby laughed with amusement.
"Tony thought they would make me smile." Ziva sighed with a roll of the eye.
"So, when are the two of you getting married? Since you're getting along now and all." Abby prodded with that twinkle in her eyes.
"It is you being old fashioned now, yes? It is more widely accepted these days for people to have babies together out of marriage, Abby. There is that man - Richard Simmons?- whom had two children with a woman whom he never married. I do not see how this is any different." Ziva explained nervously, but covered it well. She hadn't even thought about marrying Tony yet, much less discussed it with him.
"That would be Gene Simmons, Ziva." Abby laughed before continuing with a slightly more serious tone, "I just think you and Tony are destined for each other, this baby is just a nudge in the right direction."
"Tony and I are not the marrying type." Ziva mumbled, her heart unexplainably sinking at the thought. Ziva reached up and twirled a fallen curl around her finger, uncoiling and recoiling excessively. Abby noticed and eyed her carefully, trying to decide her next course of action.
"Oh little Ziva, I'm not the marrying type. You, on the other hand, have planned your dream day since you were a little girl." Abby smiled gently, waiting for her friend to admit her deepest desires for a real, true family. Ziva tipped her head slightly and smirked back.
Okay, hope you liked the little Abby- Ziva banter. Ayyway, I really appreciate reviews and it totally encourages me to continue to updating.
Much love,
Luna
P.S. I know it seems like they made up too easily but you'll get it later.
