It had felt like hours to Tony when Ziva finally responded to his question. Ziva put the sleeping Tali in her hospital crib and sat facing Tony.

"Just because we have a baby doesn't mean you have to marry me Tony" she said as she took his hands in hers.

"I'm marrying you because I want to spend the rest of my life with you, not because we have a baby; okay that's part of the reason. . I've been wanting to ask you for the past month, but I've been worried about you and the baby…"

"Tony…I love you and I too want to spend the rest of my life with you, but I cannot marry you at the moment"

"Why Ziva?" he asked.

"I want to take the citizenship test, when I pass it I will marry you"

"Marry me and you'll become a citizen" Ziva smacked him in the chest playfully.

"I do not want to marry you so that I can become a citizen you idiot…I want to marry you so that I can have little Dinozzos to chase around the house, to show you that no one can love you more than I" Tony grinned.

"You don't have to marry me for that"

"Ask me to marry you in a few months and I will say yes without hesitation" Ziva said as she ignored his comment, Tony sighed.

"Fine" Ziva grinned, before leaning in to kiss him. The kiss lasted long enough for him to tangle his hands in her hair and for her to snake her arms around his neck. They were so distracted by the kiss they didn't hear the door open.

"This is exactly the type of behaviour that got you here in the first place" Dr. Harlow said in his British accent as he smiled at the couple. They pulled away as quickly as possible. "I see that you are two happy people" he said standing at the end of the bed.

Tony and Ziva recovered from the kiss, Tony took a deep breathe before answering "Yeah…ha-ha…very happy" he looked to his daughter before looking back at the doctor. "She'll be fine right?"

"Yes" Dr. Harlow nodded. "I was quite amazed at what a strong baby she is, before you know it she'll be running around the house demanding things from her parents. Does the little one have a name yet?"

"Natalia Dinozzo" Ziva said "Tali for short"

"That is a beautiful name indeed. Right, you will be discharged tomorrow, until then I suggest that you get a lot of rest, that includes your mouth too Ziva" making Ziva laugh, she nodded her head. Dr. Harlow walked and his laughter followed him out the door.

"Go home Tony, you look tired. I will see you tomorrow" Ziva said. Tony laughed.

"Yeah…because you know, I did just give bir…how painful was it?" the joking question turned to a more serious question. Ziva looked at him and smiled sadly.

"It does not matter. I am here and so is our baby" Ziva said.

"It matters to me"

Ziva silence stretched for about two minutes before she spoke "I thought I would…" she took a deep breath "I thought I was going to die, that I would never see you or our baby again" Tony swallowed hard. If he could reincarnate Saleem he would, and then he would kill him in the slowest and most painful way anyone had ever experience for making his Ziva go through such pain. Ziva recovered from reliving the pain. "Go home Tony, Please"

"No, I'm staying until you fall asleep" he said, he could be so stubborn sometimes, okay most of the time.

"Fine" she made her self comfortable against him before dozing off.

Tony smiled and kissed her forehead. He never thought that he'd be a father, when he found out that Ziva might miscarry it had killed him but now Tali was here and she was healthy. That was more than enough for him. Now he had to learn to be a dad to a beautiful baby girl, he could do that. He and Ziva will learn together to become the best parents that Tali could have. With the thoughts of their future he too dozed off beside.

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