Author's Note: Tony and Ziva are both 29. Thanks & Enjoy!
"DiNozzo! David! Elevator – NOW!" Gibbs demanded.
I watched as the two people I now knew to be my biological parents trail behind their boss into the elevator that I had recently vacated.
(Ziva POV)
I had a feeling that this day would come sooner or later, I was just really, really hoping for later. Tony and I followed a very enraged Gibbs into the elevator like a couple of teenagers caught by the principal.
Once the elevator doors had closed, Gibbs slammed his palm against the 'Emergency Stop' button, halting the elevator.
With a signature Gibbs-glare on his face, he asked angrily, "Care to share?"
Tony stuttered and I said nothing.
Then at the exact same time, in perfect syncracy, we said, "We can explain!"
He gave us a mixed look of anger and disappointment, saying, "I'd hope so, cause there's a 14-year-old out there claiming to be your daughter, and since neither of you have denied it, I'm guessing it's true. So where do you want to start?"
When neither of us provided an explanation, he continued.
"How about the part where you BOTH KNEW EACH OTHER BEFORE NCIS?!?"
We winced at the loudness of his voice and how it echoed off the steel walls of the elevator. I was practically positive that anyone walking by the elevator, maybe even the entire building, had just heard that question.
We explained, partially, about the girl – our daughter – and how she came to be. Gibbs was beyond furious to the point that I was waiting for those little columns of hot steam to fume out of his ears like in those cartoons Tony told me about. However, he couldn't punish us because we hadn't technically broken any rules since everything happened over a decade beforehand.
Gibbs slammed the 'Emergency Stop' button again and the doors reopened, allowing us to leave the elevator.
Just as Tony and I were stepping over the threshold and onto the carpet, Gibbs' voice reached my ears and dread filled me.
"She is the only one, right? Right, Ziva?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes, she's the only one," I quickly informed him, thrilled beyond measure that it hadn't been twins.
When we reached the desks, I watched my daughter chat amiably with McGee about something, something that he appeared fascinated by.
Hearing our approaching footfalls, she turned to look at us and smiled, tousling her hair with her hand.
"You got a name, kid?" Gibbs asked my daughter.
Damn, knew that we'd forgot something, I thought.
"Yep," She answered cheekily, "I got a first name and a last name and there's even a rumor going around that I've got a middle one."
She smirked at him.
"She's definitely your kid, DiNozzo," Gibbs commented. Tony didn't respond but I could see a twinkle in his eyes, possibly of pride or happiness.
After a few seconds of a softened version of the Gibbs Glare, she subsided and gave him an actual answer.
"Rosabella Tateleh and my last name is To Be Determined at the moment. It was Lilsworth under my adoptive mother's surname."
"It's David-DiNozzo on your birth certificate," I whisper softly.
"There ya have it: David-DiNozzo. Any more questions?" Rosabella said, smiling up at Gibbs with a toothy-grin.
Looking slightly annoyed, Gibbs left the room and headed towards the elevator, probably to visit Abby or Ducky and give them the news.
McGee rose out of his office chair and stuck a hand out to Rosabella, who looked at it for a second and then shook it, hard.
"Got your strength, Ziva," he commented absentmindedly. "Timothy McGee, or McGee, just don't let Tony convince you that I go by Probie."
"Oh, come on, Probie! She's my daughter, she has to use McNicknames!" Tony called.
"Yeah, McGee, I won't let him corrupt me. And just call me Rose, I have no idea why my parents gave me such a freaking long name." She said.
"It was proper and pretty," I told her.
"It also has more ten syllables. Rosabella Tateleh David-DiNozzo," She replied. "Half the people in my grade can't even pronounce my middle name."
"It's Hebrew," I said.
"Yeah, I know," She answered.
"You know?" I questioned her, doubtful.
"Oh yeah, I know. I speak fluent Hebrew, unlike those wannabes at my school who take it one course for their Bat Mitzvah and suddenly they're bilingual. That reminds me…" She stopped talking and began shuffling around in her purse for something.
A minute later she pulled a charm bracelet out of her purse and showed it to us. Dangling off the silver chain were several different charms – one of the italian flag, one of the jewish star, one of a cursive T, one of a cursive Z, and one of a heart with a very small diamond D in the center. This was the charm bracelet I'd given to her the day of her birth, to remember me and Tony by.
"You gave this to me, right? That's how Judi said I'd know who my parents were because they'd recognize it and their initials would be the letters. And judging by your guys faces, I'm guessing she was right," Rose said.
"I haven't seen that in fourteen years," Tony mumbled.
I lean back on my desk as the days events finally weigh down on me and then realize that we're all still standing up.
"You want to take a seat?" I ask her. She nods.
I noticed that McGee must have left at some point in the conversation and direct her to take his seat. Tony plops down in his chair and the three of us pull our chairs together in the center of the squad room.
"So, you want to hear my life story?" She asked us. We answered yes and she continued.
"Well, I was born in a small log cabin on the Massachusetts shoreline…." Then she cracks up laughing.
"Sorry, couldn't resist. But anyway, the lady that adopted me from you guys, Judi, was good. She never married and hardly if ever dated, so it was just her and me. She was a good mom when I was younger and all, but she was some high-ranking business women and she left me on my own a lot after I was 10ish. I was cool with it though, cause I was pretty independent and liked the freedom. I mean its not like she left me for months or even weeks, but she worked a lot and had crazy hours.
Oh right, she forced me to take a bunch of martial arts and selfdefense classes when I was younger and I never understood why until I was researching you guys from my birth certificate. Who knew my mom was some assassin like out of a spy movie?"
"She's way better than the crummy actors," Tony told her.
"Hmmm… what else to tell you guys? I'll get into more personal stuff later like favorite color or ice cream flavor. I know! Favorite sport. That would definitley be cheerleading. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 'it's not a sport', I've heard it all before. But it takes so much power and all plus I'm really advanced because of taking cheerleading classes so young – my first picture in uniform is like 3. I'll tell you more later." She paused and tapped her fingers on her lap.
"What's left? The reason I'm here, maybe? Judi died a few weeks ago, and before I hear the apologies and stuff, I'm cool with it. When she adopted me from you guys she was pretty old to get a baby, 45 at the time. She didn't have any siblings and her parents had already died so she wanted company and since she was infertile at her age, she adopted. But since she was that old, she turned 60 this year and got really sick, really fast. She had some rapid progressing cancer that the doctors soon found to be terminable. She died peacefully and was in very little pain leading up to her death, so I'm not sad. She left everything she had to me in her will and she was pretty rich, mansion and everything. I'm set up to get a sports car come my 16th birthday. But anyway getting back to the matter at hand…" She stopped again and looked at the ground.
This seemed odd seeing as how she was very bubbly and outgoing this whole time, so the display of shyness didn't quite fit with her personality.
The pause in the conversation droned on and on, transforming into an awkward silence after a certain point. Eventually, Tony's personality got the best of him.
"So what is it?" He asked, though I could tell he was clearly impatient, only kindness and love came through his voice.
"Well…. This might seem a little forward, since I've known you for less than a day, but… Can I live with you guys?"