Just a note on the last chapter, not ever new mother is the same. I'm not saying every new mother can do what Ziva did and I'm not saying every new mother couldn't do what Ziva did. I know giving birth is exhausting, I know that. But I do not think that having a party 3-days after in which Ziva was there for a short time is really too big of a stretch. And unless you are used to it, breastfeeding does hurt. And sleeping shortly after birth is in no way unusual either. I know adrenaline is high during and after birth, but it comes down fast and after that sleep is a blessing ;) So yeah, that's my little note.
Another little note . . . this is the 2nd to last chapter :(

VillageVoice

"Maybe we don't have to do this." Ziva said anxiously as she paced around the tiny exam room.

"Ziva" Abby began from the other side of the room where she was getting Emma out of her car seat. "She wasn't born in a hospital, we have to do this."

"Why? Why do we have to do this?"

"Because when a baby is born in the hospital there are certain things they do before they let the baby leave the hospital."

"Like what?"

"Like they do some standard genetic testing and sometimes further screenings, which we should do with Emma as we know nothing about her father or what he and his family may be carrying around. They will probably have to give her a couple of shots. I know for certain she will need her first Hepatitis B shot and possibly Vitamin K, but we will have to discuss that one first."

"Injections? Abby the needles are bigger than she is. And what tests? Do you think something is wrong with her?"

"Whoa Zi calm down." Abby walked over to Ziva and put a comforting hand on her arm. "Here, take Emma. Look at her. There is nothing wrong with her."

Ziva took a deep breath as she very closely examined the little girl in her arms. "Are you sure?"

"Well no." Abby had learned long ago, before she even began to like the Israeli, that lying to her was in no one's best interest. "But so what if there is?"

"What?"

"So what if there is something wrong with her? She will still be our little girl. Would you love her any less if there was something wrong?"

"Of course not."

"Then it doesn't matter. It would just be helpful for us to know that way we could start treatment and know what to expect."

Ziva visibly relaxed and smiled. "Thank-you Abby."

Abby placed a kiss on Ziva's cheek. "Anytime."

"Knock knock. Hi I'm Dr. Hanson." The dark skinned woman entering the room announced. "And this must be Emma."

"Yep." Abby said. "This is her."

"And which one of you is-" She looked down at her chart. "Anna Reyes?"

Abby nodded toward Ziva. "She is."

"And you are the birth mother?" The doctor asked.

Ziva nodded. "Yes."

"And so you must be Kate Biggs?"

"That's me." Abby said.

"And I have permission to share everything I do with you with Ms. Biggs." Dr. Hanson asked.

"Yes." Ziva answered.

The doctor made a couple of notes in the chart and had Ziva sign something. Then she sat down in the chair next to the exam table.

"Zi--Anna?" Abby whispered, looking up at the clock. "Here, give Emma to me."

"Is there a problem?"

"No." Ziva answered.

"She has her post-delivery appointment downstairs in five minutes. Since it was a home delivery we just want to make sure I didn't completely mess up." Abby joked. "We made the appointments forty-five minutes apart."

"Yes, sorry about that." The doctor apologized. "We had a two-year-old meltdown."

"That was just one kid?" Abby asked. The doctor nodded. "It's fine." Abby said as she took Emma from Ziva. "You go down and go to your appointment. I will stay here with Emma and give you detailed notes later."

Ziva looked from Emma to Abby to the clock on the wall before grabbing her purse on the table by the door. She turned back to Abby. "I can reschedule."

"Go." Abby said. "We're good."

Ziva stepped outside with the doctor and after a few seconds of whispered conversation the doctor returned.

"She's a first time Mom." Abby explained.

The doctor chuckled. "I can see that. Is this your first also?"

"Yeah. But I have a brother who has three, so I'm a lot more used to this stuff than Anna is. Every hiccup she thinks Emma is dying."

"Totally normal. Now let's see how the little one is here. You delivered her?"

"Yep."

"You did a good job. She seems nice and healthy. Can I ask you to take everything off of her except for her diaper?"

Abby nodded and took Emma's dress and onesie off, leaving on only her diaper as instructed. For the most part Emma was asleep for the majority of the exam. She had good color, her eyes were bright and alert for the few seconds she was awake, her heartbeat was strong and healthy, her lungs were clear and working just as they should and her reflexes were sure and fast. Abby smirked. 'Just like her mother.' She thought. Ziva had the reflexes of a cat. Emma had lost two ounces since she was born, but Dr. Hanson assured Abby that that too was 'totally normal.'

"Everything seems fine."

Abby let out a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. She had no idea what she would have done if there had been something wrong with Emma. And how would she have told Ziva? Especially since she assured her that everything would be fine.

"Now I am going to ask you to put her clothes back on and get her all snuggly in that blanket I see you brought because I am going to have to prick her heel for the standard newborn screening." Abby found Emma's blanket and redressed the baby as quickly as possible while the doctor went back to the baby's chart. "Now I noticed that you have Anna's medical history down here, but there is nothing about the father."

"Yeah. Um . . . we don't know much . . . well, we don't know anything about the father." She rephrased.

"Did you use a donor?"

Abby pursed her lips. "Something like that."

"You weren't given a medical history?"

Abby kept her lips pursed and shook her head. "It's . . . complicated."

"Then I would recommend further testing when she is a little older. Right now she seems perfectly healthy and if something shows up on the tests we do today I would recommend further testing, but if everything comes back fine then I would wait a while. But I am going to bring her into another room for a quick minute to run a hearing test."

Abby didn't feel comfortable handing Emma over to this woman she didn't know, so she went with the doctor for Emma's hearing test. Emma had perfect hearing.

Once back in the room Abby sat down and took a deep breath. There was only one more part to this doctor's visit - shots. In order to prevent Emma's pain for as long as possible Abby proceeded to ask the poor doctor every question in the book. From how many diapers was normal to go through in a day to what temperature they should keep the house at even to a large variety of clearly common sense questions Abby couldn't believe she was asking. Whoever said there was no such thing as a stupid question didn't see Abby's pediatric exam room performance. Call it her first time mother coming through, but she asked the doctor questions for a good ten minutes before she finally could no longer come up with another question.

"Any more questions?"

Abby thought for a minute. "No." She sighed. "Oh, when should we make her next appointment?"

"You want to schedule it for approximately two weeks after she was born."

Abby nodded. "And it is normal for her to be eating this much, right?"

"Totally normal."

"Right, of course." Abby mumbled. "Totally normal."

"And you both are free to leave now."

"What about the tests? And the shots?"

Dr. Hanson pointed to the tiny band-aid on Emma's right heel. "Already done."

Abby examined the tiny foot and kissed the band-aid. "I'm sorry baby girl."

"She didn't even flinch."

"Doesn't mean it didn't hurt." Abby mumbled as she put Emma's socks on and strapped her into the car seat wrapped tightly in her fluffy pink blanket. "When will the results be in?"

"You want me to send these to your lab, correct? The one on the island?" Abby nodded. "Since you are on maternity leave I guess that is up to whoever is running the lab in your absence."

Abby smiled. She had a few strings to pull.

It was usually Abby who rocked little Emma to sleep. However this time was different. This time her little girl has just gotten two shots that Ziva wasn't there for so she felt the only way she could in some way redeem herself was to comfort her daughter now. "Abby!"

It took a couple of seconds, but Abby came racing into the room. "What? What happened? What's wrong?"

"Her thigh is red."

"It's normal Ziva."

"This is not normal. Look."

Abby walked over and examined the baby's leg. In order for Ziva to keep an eye on the injection sites she had the baby only in a onesie and a blanket, folded over in the front so she count continuously check her leg. "It's fine Ziva."

"Abby it is not fine."

Abby took a deep breath to calm herself down. This was her first baby too, but she wasn't freaking out because Emma's leg was a little red. "I will be right back." A few seconds later Abby arrived with a marker.

"What are you planning to do with that?" Ziva asked.

"I am going to trace around the redness so that you can see it is not getting any bigger."

"You are not touching my child with that."

"Ziva it's a marker, not a knife. And it's non-toxic. Completely kid safe. Now move your hand or I will write all over you as well." An intense staring contest ensued with Ziva finally moving her hand and the blanket off of Emma's leg. Abby gently outlines the redness. "There. Now you will actually believe me when I tell you her leg is not getting any redder."

They both let the conversation die on that note and Abby turned to leave, but turned back to say something and noticed Ziva's eyes drooping. "Ziva?"

"Yes?" Ziva's eyes snapped open.

"Why don't you get some sleep?"

"I need to keep an eye on her leg."

Abby resisted the urge to say that her leg was fine. "I can watch her leg." She said gently, holding her arms out for Ziva to hand her Emma.

Ziva stood up and handed the baby to Abby. "Why are you not as tired as I am?"

"I didn't give birth to her. And at NCIS when Gibbs would send you guys home early, that was still hours before I ever got to leave. I'm thoroughly versed in the art of sleep deprivation."

"How many times were you offered an assistant?"

Abby stuck out her tongue. "I do my own work."

Ziva nodded and placed a gently kiss on Abby's lips. "You know where to find me." She placed a quick kiss on Emma's forehead before heading toward her own room.

"Yes we do." Once Ziva was gone Abby took up her vacated spot on the glider. "See, it doesn't hurt does it?" She gently brushed her finger over the redness around the two tiny injection sites to make sure it didn't hurt and she hadn't just lied to Ziva. Emma didn't even blink. Abby decided to take advantage of Emma's few moments of alertness to begin her education in the ways of NCIS. After all they had all the time in the world. "It all started with a man named Gibbs, the silver-haired fox. Well it didn't actually begin with him, nor does anyone but me in my head call him a silver-haired fox, but he is the beginning of the Team Gibbs legacy."

"Abby she is one week old she does not need a cake."

Abby shushed Ziva as she walked into the dining room where Sam, Shannon, Lil, Gwen, Courtney and Lucinda were all waiting. "I know she doesn't need a cake, but why not have one? It takes a lot of work to make it through your first week of life. Why not celebrate it? Do you remember when you turned one week?"

"Of course not."

"See that's because no one celebrated it."

Lil, who was holding Emma, chuckled and stood up. "Well I say we should celebrate things more often. And if the celebration includes cake count me in." The women all laughed. "It was even enough to bring Courtney back from her little wedding shoot."

"Hey it isn't my fault the wedding I was supposed to be shooting today was cancelled due to a little bridal indiscretion."

"No?" Gwen exclaimed with wide eyes.

Courtney nodded. "Oh yes. The groom caught her and her ex the night before the wedding."

"Well," Abby began. "I feel bad for the groom, but I am happy that we can all get together and why not eat cake?" She had recently uncovered a cake cookbook they had sitting on a shelf that looked like it hadn't been touched yet. She set the adorably decorated polka-dot teddy bear cake down on the middle of the table.

"Auntie Kate can I eat the teddy bear?" Shannon asked.

Abby ruffled the little girl's hair. "Sure kiddo."

"Can I hold the baby?"

Ziva nodded. "On the couch." She took the baby from Lil and walked over to the couch with Shannon.

Sam smiled and turned back to the group. "She's been asking for a little sister. She says that when you guys get sick of Emma we can take her."

They all laughed.

"Good luck with that." Abby said. "Even when she's sleeping one of us is with her. She hasn't been out of our sight since she was born. Someone's always been with her."

"That will change." Sam said. "Not for a while, but it will."

"Until then," Gwen began. "We have cake."

"So when is Anna's father coming down?" Lil asked with a sparkle in her eye. "I'm assuming he wants to see his granddaughter."

"Lillian Blake keep your hormones under control." Sam joked.

"I can't help it." Lil defended. "He's hot."

Abby held back a laugh. "I don't know. It's hard with uh . . . with his job." She fumbled. She never was good at making things up on the spot. Not lying to her friends. It made her feel guilty, but it wasn't just her and Ziva anymore. She was even more willing now to do what she had to do to keep up this charade they had built for themselves.

"Tell him to screw the job." Lil said. "This is his granddaughter. Is it his first?"

Abby nodded. "When and if he does come here you are not going anywhere near him."

Lil leaned back in her chair with a huff. "Can we just eat the cake already?"

Abby looked over toward Ziva and waved her over. "Cake time."

"Are we singing happy birthday?" Shannon asked.

"That is a good question." Ziva answered, looking to Abby.

"Um . . . does anyone want to sing?" She looked at Ziva and Shannon then to everyone around the table. No one seemed particularly thrilled. "Then I guess we can just eat cake."

"Hold on." Courtney instructed as she picked up her camera. "Let me get a picture of you guys and Emma before you cut the cake.

Abby joined Ziva on the other side of the table and leaned down slightly so she and Ziva were more equal in height.

"Smile?" They did and Courtney took the first picture of the afternoon. Once Courtney took an up-close shot of the cake everyone dug into the cake and Ziva and Abby, not feeling particularly in the cake eating mood as the majority of what they had been eating the past few days was cake, took Emma upstairs to pick out what outfits she would be wearing for the pictures Courtney was going to take.

"You know we are going to have to do something different for Gibbs."

Abby nodded. "I know. It depends on what announcement we choose, but I was thinking of using the same announcements, just cutting out our names. And we'd have to only use a picture of Emma." They had a few announcements they were considering, but the one they were leaning toward was card-like. It would have Emma's picture over the entire front part with a band of pink on the top and Emma's name in the right hand corner with her initial on the left side and would open up and have text inside. That hadn't decided what yet, but depending on whether or not they would be able to order one card different from all the other it may possibly have to be Gibbs and real life friendly.

"How about this outfit?" Ziva asked, holding out a tiny little tutu.

Abby shook her head.

"A lot of babies on that website were wearing something like this."

"When did you even get that?"

"Sam-"

"We could put her in her bee costume." Ziva vetoed that suggestion. "How about one of her Halloween onesies? The black one with the orange bat would look really cute with her jean skirt or something. Doesn't she have orange tights with black spots somewhere?"

Ziva chuckled. That would be really cute, but she was thinking of something more traditional. "When did you become a stylist?"

Abby shrugged. "I have many skills. Hey, we could go with something cold weather related? It's almost winter in DC. Doesn't she have something with snowflakes around here?" She rummaged around in the closet until she pulled out the perfect outfit.

Ziva nodded. "I like it." The dress was made out of pale blue cable material. It was the perfect balance of the warm weather they were having with its short sleeves and the cold weather they were most likely having in DC shown in the little penguin on the chest.

Abby turned to the drawers under the changing table and rummaged around a few drawers. After a couple of minutes she turned to Ziva holding up a pair of black leggings with white polka dots that matched the buttons on the dress, little boots made out of pale blue suede and white faux fur and an elastic headband with a bow and matching polka dot button at its center. It was all very cute.

"I was thinking this weekend I should take a trip to the mainland. You know, get some girl outfits and such since we only have a couple." They had a few girl specific outfits they got at the shower that had all come with matching boy outfits. That was what they had been using for the past week, but Emma needed more than a couple of outfits. "I have the receipts for the boy outfits so I was thinking I could return those and get some different things. And I could bring our necklaces and get them engraved."

"Just you?"

"Well yeah. You're breastfeeding so you can't be away from Emma for that long."

"Why would I have to be away from her?"

Abby turned toward Ziva. "You want to take her on the boat?"

Ziva thought for a minute. She had forgotten about vast, vast ocean surrounding their current living space. "Is it safe?"

"I don't know. I suppose you could always use the breast pump and we could leave her with Sam or Lil for a couple of hours."

Ziva made a face. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with that contraption. She finished dressing Emma and handed her to Abby so she could throw the clothes she had just been changed out of in the laundry bin. Despite Emma having only been in them for a couple of hours, Ziva's policy was if they were worn they went in the laundry. She grabbed another little outfit Sam had brought over within the past week. Not as extreme as the gigantic tutu, it was a pale pink onesie with a little tutu around the middle. "However we are also getting a picture of her in this."

Abby looked down at Emma, but remained silent.

"Abby?"

Abby nodded. "Yeah." She replied softly, responding that she had heard Ziva's previous statement.

Ziva put her hands on either side of Abby's face and forced her to look up. "What's wrong?"

Abby looked back down at the baby. "I keep thinking. About back home. I know Emma isn't really my daughter, but she may be the only grandchild my parents get from me and they're missing all of this. And my brother. I want to share all of this with them, but I can't."

"Abby, she is your daughter." Ziva sighed. "When I first came to NCIS my life was a mess. My younger sister and my mother were dead, I had just killed my brother and my father was the head of the agency that ordered me to kill my own flesh and blood. I thought that was what a family was; flesh and blood." She made Abby look up again and smiled. "But then you all took me in. First Gibbs and McGee, then Tony and eventually you. You became my family. I have no blood connection to any of you and yet you are the only real family I have ever been a part of. I would die for any one of you. And I promise you your parents will know Emma. They will know their granddaughter."

Abby smiled and brought Ziva in for a bone crushing hug with her free arm. "Thanks Zi."

"You are welcome. No more talking like that, yes? You are Emma's mother as much as I am." Abby nodded as she pulled away. "Good. Now let's go."

"Wait! What are we gonna wear?"

Ziva paused at the doorway. She stepped back to allow room for Abby to walk through. "After you Ms. Stylist." She teased.

Abby sauntered by and smacked Ziva's backside on the way. "This attitude you have developed is gonna get you in trouble."

Ziva smiled. "I hope so."

Every picture was so perfect they didn't know which to choose. Each captured something different. The shoot hadn't taken as long as they had expected. Courtney wasn't especially a newborn or family photographer, but she had done a few newborn and family shoots and knew that newborn shoots typically took anywhere from an hour to a full school day depending largely on whether or not the baby was in a cooperative mood. But it seemed as if Emma inherited her mother's photogenic likeness which meant the whole picture taking process a lot easier. That and she was sleeping the entire time so they could pretty much do anything with her.

They were planning on buying pictures of a lot of the different shots, but their first order of business was to pick one picture to use for the birth announcement. Most of the people on the island had seen Emma at the Halloween party, but sending out these announcements was a part of the whole new parent experience both women wanted to partake in. It would also be a keepsake for Emma when she got older.

They took pictures in the little ballerina outfit, in the Elmo dress, the penguin dress and just about every other outfit in her closet including a few sans clothing. Ziva didn't quite understand why, but Abby was adamant they needed a couple of naked baby bum pictures. It would be good blackmail for when she was fifteen or sixteen and dating and they made her behave with the threat of showing her boyfriend, or girlfriend whichever it may be, the pictures. Abby vowed to show Ziva her own naked baby pictures as proof that it was her right as a parent. The only outfit they hadn't been able to put her in was a bathing suit they had that was too big to even make it fit with elastics or pins or anything. But they got a picture of her in a swim diaper and a pair of Ziva's sunglasses, so it all worked out.

"We're sure we want to use a picture of her in the penguin dress, right?" Abby asked.

Ziva held up a picture of Emma in the tutu.

Abby nodded. "Penguin dress it is."

"I think that dress is cute."

"If we send Gibbs a picture of Emma in that he is going to come here and take her away from us." She said with a laugh.

Ziva laughed and set the picture aside. "Penguin dress."

The picture they finally decided on after much debate was in fact the last picture Courtney had taken. Emma was passed out lying somewhat propped up on a pillow on the couch in the living room with her right arm up by her face, her little hand touching the end of her eyebrow. Her other hand was tucked up under her left cheek.

They uploaded the picture onto the website that had the announcement they had been leaning toward and put it all together. They figured that that would be the best way to decide whether or not they wanted to use that for the birth announcement and if not they could always play around and use a bunch of other designs until they found one they really liked. Once everything was all together they decided to use the announcement they had been leaning toward in the beginning. They liked the card design more than the regular photo-like announcements. They had also decided to go with a sepia tint to the picture as opposed to using color or black and white. 'It looks . . . more stylish…Elegant?…Fancy?' Ziva had questioned. 'Classy.' Abby said. 'It's classier.'

3 Weeks Later

Gibbs had a lot of rules he lived by. The ones he didn't tell anyone; drink at least one glass of water a day, mow his grass at least once a month in the summer and go home a couple of times a week. If only to grab the mail. Such was the reason he was making his weekly trip home. For the past month or so they had been working on a tough case so he tweaked his rule of going home a couple of times a week to once a week. He knew that to stay at his peak he needed to get a good night's sleep and he did that best at home and in his own bed. Despite what he told everyone else.

Now, however the case was over and he had given himself and his team the next three days off to recoup. Except for Tony who had put off doing all of his paper work and had to finish that first. Everyone had worked extremely hard and they all deserved the break. He thought for a second how much his team would have benefitted from having Ziva and Abby. Ziva was a phenomenal agent and Abby was one of the best forensic scientists in the world.

He grabbed his mail and unlocked his door, which he had actually locked as he didn't know how long he would be going without returning home. One envelope caught his eye. Despite the uniformity and plainness of bills and such this one plain white envelope looked different. He didn't recognize the return address, so his first instinct was to put it in a plastic bag and have it tested at the lab before he opened it. But something stopped him from doing that and propelled him to open it.

After a second he set the envelope and its contents aside and put a call into Director Vance. He was taking a vacation. It was the perfect time because they had just finished a case and since Tony had already acted as the team leader he could step in for Gibbs with no problem.

"When will you be back?"

Gibbs shut his cell phone. "When I get back."