Goodnight Moon

Later that night Ziva insisted that she be able to see Tony. After a quick discussion between Jenny and Gibbs, Jenny consented to wheel Ziva down to Tony's room. When they got there, Tony's bed was raised into a sitting position but his eyes were closed and he was sleeping. Jenny wheeled Ziva over to the side of Tony's bed and left her sit there.

"I'll leave you three alone. I'll be outside, just call me if you need me," Jenny said. After she left the room, Ava began to fuss. Ziva adjusted her and began humming the tune of a Hebrew lullaby.

Through the grips of his sleep Tony heard Ziva's voice, softly humming. He slowly opened his eyes and what he saw amazed him. Ziva was in a wheelchair, dressed in a hospital gown and robe and in her arms was a bundle wrapped in pink blankets. When Ziva noticed his open eyes a small smile spread across her face.

"Hey," Ziva said quietly.

"Hey," Tony rasped, his throat still sore from his vent tube. "What's this?" he asked motioning to Ava with the hand that wasn't attached to an IV.

"Tony, I'd like you to meet your daughter, Ava Maria," Ziva said. Jenny reappeared from around the doorway and took Ava from Ziva and placed her in Tony's arms and then left the room again. Tony said nothing, but just stared at tiny baby girl in his arms with wonderment and amazement in his eyes.

"Just how long have I been out?" Tony asked, suppressing a laugh for fear of disturbing Ava.

"Eight months," Ziva replied, the smile slowly dropping from her face. "What did your doctors say?"

"They have no explanation as to why I was in a coma when I was perfectly healthy. Their best guess, my brain shut down to protect itself." Tony said quietly.

"When are you allowed to leave?" Ziva asked.

"Tomorrow," Tony said. "What about you?"

"Two days," Ziva said. "And I can't go home because my apartment is currently a crime scene. The doctor's said that when I dodged the bullet and fell, I ruptured the placenta. Gibbs and McGee got me to the hospital just in time. Any later and Ava would have been stillborn."

"Dodged a bullet?" Tony asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Ziva said. "A former Mossad officer is trying to kill me, although on whose orders, I do not know. Gibbs and McGee are going to investigate it." The pair were silent for a minute, until Ava started to fuss again. "Jenny," Ziva called and Jenny walked around the corner into the room and gently took Ava from Tony.

"Ziva," Tony said, causing Ziva to look up from Ava. "I love you." Ziva didn't reply, but motioned Jenny to wheel her out of the room.

The next day Tony was released from the hospital with strict instructions from the doctor to rest. Gibbs picked Tony up and drove him home. The car ride was silent until Tony decided to speak up.

"Boss," Tony began quietly.

"Don't, DiNozzo," Gibbs said with warning in his voice.

"Don't what?" Tony said angrily. "Don't ask what went on while I was in that coma? Don't ask what Ziva went through; don't ask what the team went through? Don't what?" Gibbs didn't answer but instead swerved off the road and brought the car to a screeching halt. Gibbs turned to look at Tony who had a mild look of shock on his face.

"She went through hell," Gibbs said quietly. "When Abby would stay with her she told me that Ziva would cry herself to sleep. She would break into your apartment and stay there at least three nights a week. Abby said that the only thing that she would sleep in were your clothes. Basically, she needed you and you weren't there."

"Like it was my fault," Tony shot back. "Do you think I wanted to be in that coma? Do you think I wanted to wake up and find out that I had a daughter and had missed the whole pregnancy?"

"Just be thankful she was still there when you woke up," Gibbs said darkly.

When Gibbs and Tony finally arrived at Tony's apartment they saw McGee, Abby, and Jenny dressed in work clothes leaning against a black pickup truck, which looked like it had baby furniture in the back of it.

"What's going on?" Gibbs asked as he got out of the car.

"Well, Ziva's apartment is a crime scene and probably will be for a couple days and Ziva and Ava come home tomorrow," Abby began.

"So we figured that we'd get Ziva's stuff out of her apartment and bring it here," McGee finished.

"Where are you going to put it?" Tony asked skeptically.

"You have a spare bedroom," Abby said, narrowing her eyes at Tony. Yesterday she had been ecstatic to have him back and today she was glaring at him. She must have talked to Ziva.

"Tony," Gibbs said. "You're not allowed to help. The doctor's said you needed to rest." Tony frowned.

"But Boss," Tony started to say.

"Did it sound like I wanted to start a discussion?" Gibbs said, glaring at Tony.

"Am I allowed to go get groceries?" Tony asked. Gibbs and Jenny shared a look.

"Go ahead," Jenny said.

"Here," McGee said as he pulled something out of his pocket and throwing it to Tony. Tony reached out to catch it but it slipped through his fingers. No one said anything but the look was on their faces; they knew that if he hadn't been in a coma he would have caught it. Tony bent down and picked up what he had dropped, his keys.

"You weren't driving my car, were you Probie?" Tony asked.

"No," McGee said, sounding slightly annoyed. "Jenny did."

"Well," Tony said, "that's alright then."

As Tony was driving to the grocery store he passed a Catholic church. Now, Tony was never really religious. He had dutifully gone to Mass as a child with his mother, but only because he was obligated too. After his mother had died he would accompany his father only on major holidays, such as Christmas and Easter. When he was in college he only went to impress girls; and when he started in Peoria never, until the first time he shot someone. Since he had moved to DC, he had only been to church once; when Kate died.

Feeling a sudden urge, Tony pulled into the church parking lot and parked. He got out of the car and entered the church through a side door.

The church was beautiful inside, everything a Catholic church ought to be; high ceilings with murals of naked angels, rich stained glass windows, and an ornate cross at the front of the church, hanging from the ceiling. Finally, Tony spotted what he was looking for along the left hand side of the chapel, a confessional booth. Tony headed towards it, opened the curtain, and sat down inside.

"Welcome, my son," a voice said from the other side of the screen.

"Forgive me Father, for I have sinned," Tony said, crossing himself in the process. "It has been four years since my last confession."

"That's an awfully long time," the priest said.

"Yes, it is," Tony reflected.

"What can I do for you?" the priest asked. Tony took a deep breath and launched into his tale, starting from the time when Gibbs retired.

Tony left the church feeling better than he had in years. Off loading his feelings to a stranger had been refreshing for Tony.

After he stopped at the grocery store Tony was headed back to his apartment when he spotted a small toy store. An idea sprang into Tony's head and he pulled over.

As Tony was confessing and shopping, the rest of the team was busy making his obsolete spare room into a nursery fit for a baby. Abby and Jenny were on ladders painting the room a soft pink color while Gibbs and McGee carried the baby furniture into the house and temporarily placed it in the living room.

Every so often Abby would burst into a random song. After Abby was done, Jenny would do the same and if they both knew the song, they both would sing.

When Gibbs heard them from the living room a small smile crept across his face. He remembered when he and Jenny had been stuck in that attic on surveillance. While they weren't pursuing other physical activities, Jenny would break into random songs. While her voice was not professionally trained, she wasn't all that bad of a singer. Her voice had a rich mellow tone to it with just a hint of being able to stretch higher.

While Gibbs was reminiscing, Jenny poked her head out of the doorway.

"We're about done in here and then we can order lunch while we wait for it to dry," Jenny said.

"Alright," Gibbs said, the smile still across his face.

"What are you smiling about?" Jenny asked.

"Nothing, just remembering," Gibbs replied.

The next day Gibbs drove Tony to the hospital to pick up Ziva. They had put Ava's car seat in the back and Tony had brought Ziva a set of clothes. When they arrived at Ziva's room all of Tony's former nurses were in there cooing over Ava, who was being held by Raquel.

"Tony, it's nice not to see you in a bed," Raquel said as she saw Gibbs and Tony enter the room.

"It's nice not to be in a bed," Tony answered as he walked over to Ziva and pulled a bouquet of fire and ice roses, Ziva's favorite, from behind his back.

"Tony, they're beautiful," Ziva said. Raquel placed Ava in her bed and shepherded all of the other nurses out of the room, realizing that the couple needed a minute along. Gibbs followed them out with the excuse of getting Ziva's discharge papers.

"They're to apologize and thank you. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me and thank you for giving me such a beautiful daughter," Tony said. A few tears leaked out of the corner of Ziva's eyes.

"Thank you," Ziva said and then she leaned up and kissed Tony.

After they had gotten home, Ziva had put Ava in her bassinet and then collapsed into a deep sleep on Tony's bed. Tony took the bassinet out to the living room with him and turned the TV. Occasionally Ava would make a noise and Tony would stick his hand in the bassinet and Ava would wrap her tiny hand around one of his fingers. When she became really fussy, Tony took her out of her bassinet and took her back to her nursery where everything was set up. Selecting a book off of the shelf, Tony sat down in the rocking chair and began to rock and started reading the book to Ava.

Ziva woke up, hearing Tony's voice coming from the nursery. She quietly got out of bed and walked down the hall towards where Tony's voice was coming from.

"And goodnight to the old lady whispering 'hush', goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere. The end," Ziva heard Tony say. She peeked her head around the door just in time to see Tony closing a book.

"What were you reading?" Ziva asked.

"Goodnight Moon," Tony said. "My mother read it to me until I was old enough to read, and then I would read it to her. I thought Ava might like it."

"It looks like she did," Ziva said, smiling at the sleeping baby in Tony's arms. Tony got up and placed Ava in her bassinet and then walked over to Ziva and wrapped her up in his arms.

"I missed you, Ziva," Tony said.

"I missed you too," Ziva said, squeezing Tony as hard as she could, afraid that he was a dream and not real. "Tony?" Ziva whispered.

"Yes, Ziva?" Tony asked.

"I love you."

Awwww….. wasn't that sweet? This is by far my favorite chapter that I have written. And before I get criticism, I'm sure that everything that was medical in this chapter isn't entirely correct, but hey, I'm no doctor. The book that Tony was reading to Ava was obviously Goodnight Moon, written by Margaret Wise Brown. Please review, it makes me happy!!