Ever since Ziva called Tony, just before moving out, about a month ago, they'd stayed in touch. Whether it was via email, telephone or Skype, they always found a way to talk to each other. But Ziva was always very careful to not let him know about Sarah. She'd always show him pictures of her alone, made sure not to call him when Sarah was awake (so he wouldn't hear her crying) and she was always choosing her words carefully so as to not let him know she had a child.

Meanwhile, Sarah was still growing up and she looked a lot like Tony. She had big green eyes, blonde hair and a smile that melted Ziva's heart. The only thing Sarah had gotten from her mother was her curly hair, which Ziva knew she'd be to blame for later in life when Sarah told her that it takes her hours to get ready because she has to untangle that messy hair of hers. It kept getting harder and harder to try to forget the fact that Tony was her daughter's father. Ziva felt like she was being mocked, like it was some sort of joke: "ok, mommy, you won't take me to meet daddy, then I'll look more like him every day until you can't take it anymore". And, boy, was it working. Ziva was very close to reaching her breaking point.

And one day it happened.

It was a sunny Saturday morning. One of the two days off she got at work, which meant spending two full days with Sarah. They were in the living room, having breakfast and watching TV. Ziva was feeding Sarah her bottle and she, herself, was eating breakfast. Everything was going well, she was zapping through channels, trying to find something to watch that would entertain Sarah, as well. She didn't normally watch the news, especially on the weekend when she was with Sarah, because it was bad enough during the weekdays, when she listened to the news on the radio on her way to the office. It was a habit she'd picked up during her days at Mossad and now she couldn't kick it. But this time, on CNN, she saw something. Something that made her stop eating. Something that made her whole world stop spinning. Something that made her heart stand still.

The news was in every news channel in Israel. A bomb had gone off on a US Naval Ship in Norfolk and 7 sailors had died. NCIS had been called in to the scene and the team in charge of the investigation had concluded that the bomb had been planted by an Al-Qaeda member, given the evidence collected on site and the signature of the bomb. This particular team had uncovered an Al-Qaeda cell located near a farm in D.C and they had gone, along with the FBI, to take it down. And they were successful, but in doing so, two FBI agents had died and one very special NCIS agent had been badly wounded. Three photographs appeared on the TV screen, each with its respective name below. Special Agents Jason Shulman and Patrick Hadley, both FBI. Both strangers to Ziva. Both dead. Now, the third man she knew. She knew him very well. She was having breakfast with his daughter. Below his photograph, his name read "Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS, shot twice in the stomach". The news anchor then proceeded to say that a memorial service would be held for the fallen FBI agents, while the injured NCIS agent had been rushed to Washington General Hospital and was currently undergoing emergency surgery to save his life.

Ziva couldn't believe it. Was it too late to tell Tony about Sarah? Had she missed her chance to have the family she had wanted for so long? Without even thinking about it, she opened her computer and booked a flight to D.C. One adult. One child under two. If she was going to D.C to check on Tony, she was definitely taking Sarah with her. Luckily for her, she found a flight for that very same night, arriving in D.C the following day at around noon. So while Ziva packed hers and Sarah's bags, she was calling her boss to let him know that there had been a family emergency and she had to leave the country for an indefinite amount of time. She knew she should make hotel arrangements, but she had no time to think about that. She'd try to do it on the plane, along with coming up with a way to tell Tony that he had a six-month-old daughter. She was sure of one thing, though, she knew that "Team Gibbs" would be at the hospital waiting for news and she wasn't going to tell them she had a daughter with Tony before she talked to him.

It was a twelve-hour flight to D.C, and the only thing Ziva could think of was the twelve-hour flight she'd taken from D.C to Tel Aviv about a year and a half ago. And the events that had happened before boarding that plane, from killing Ari to spending the night with Tony. She kept playing that night over and over again, trying to remember every detail that had led to this moment. And she regretted not doing so many things after she'd left. Not telling him she was pregnant, not coming to visit, not even contacting him at all. She'd had so many chances to tell him that she'd had a baby since they finally got in touch, but she didn't. Now, she'd give anything to be able to tell him. To be able to say "I love you".

Upon arriving in D.C, the first thing she did was take a cab straight to the hospital. She didn't care that she was carrying her luggage or that she hadn't slept in over 24 hours. She just wanted to see Tony. When she got to Washington General Hospital, the first person she saw in the waiting room was, as she'd expected, Gibbs.

"Gibbs!" She was panting and really worried. Gibbs was more than surprised to see her.

"Ziva? Hey, what are you doing here? Is that your baby?" He couldn't believe that she was back in D.C, and he had a gut feeling as to why.

"I was watching T.V and the news was talking about a terrorist attack and they said something about FBI agents dying and an NCIS agent being shot. And it was Tony. I know he was taken into surgery, too. Is he ok? What happened?" She overlooked the fact that Gibbs had asked if Sarah was her daughter.

"He's already out of surgery, but in critical condition. The surgery went well, though, and he has been transferred to the ICU, so that the doctors can watch him closely. Why don't we take a sit, ok? You look exhausted".

"Ok… Thank you… I'm glad he's all right. I jumped on a plane as soon as I heard. I have to see him. I have to talk to him…" She was very worried. There was still a chance he wouldn't make it. "… I just don't understand… I mean, wasn't he wearing a bulletproof vest? How did this happen?"

"He was, Ziva. We all were. But the terrorists had rifles with bullets big and strong enough to penetrate through the vest. We never saw it coming…" Gibbs wanted to go back to talking about Sarah, so he motioned his head towards her. "She's beautiful… What's her name?"

"Oh, thanks… uh… Sarah. Her name's Sarah" She seemed nervous, but was hoping Gibbs thought it was because of Tony's condition.

"Blonde, curly hair and green eyes, huh?" The all-knowing Gibbs was at it again with that famous gut of his. "She's Tony's, isn't she? That's why you're here, too?"

Ziva couldn't take it anymore. Other than her father, no one knew she'd had a daughter with an American Agent, and even her own father wasn't completely sure Sarah was Tony's. He had asked Ziva about it and, while she had never admitted it, she'd never denied it either. The game was over. She had flown 12 hours to see the man that she loved, the father of her daughter, to tell him that she loved him. And now, she was sitting in a hospital waiting room, waiting for good news. And she was next to a man she was also close to, but in a different way. They shared a secret. And she thought sharing another secret couldn't make matters any worse. So, with a fragile voice she confirmed his suspicions.

— "Yes"