note: Sorry for the delay on this. It was ready to go at the start of the week but I couldn't seem to find the right time to post it, so. But I'm here now! With what I am sorry to announce is the final chapter of this thing. I was toying with the idea of a fifth but this seemed a nice place to end it. A random note, Tony has glasses here because I like Michael in glasses and I know he uses them for reading so I figured I could use a little artistic license and give Tony them too...
Uhm, this one's been nice, guys, and thanks so much for your support and reviews and alerts and messages about it, each and every one is appreciated- you guys are awesome.
So, I only hope that you enjoy this last chaper, and if you did, please leave a review at the end!
disclaimer: Done.
"To share what I've been given
Some kids eventually..."
Life-ning; Snow Patrol.
Her words send a cold shiver down his spine. Be it from experience or just cliché, he can't say, but he knows good rarely ever follows "We need to talk."
"Okay."
He aims for confidence but her tone is so serious it's shaken him, and his voice wavers a little. He sits on the couch with his elbows on his knees and his fingers locked together; she sits on the coffee table, facing him. He wrings his hands without even knowing why.
She clears her throat.
"These past few mornings I have been feeling a little... worse for wear. It's been nothing I can't handle, yet, but it kept happening, so I started to wonder what it might be."
He nods. It seems to be all he can do.
"And I remembered that you had said how tired I have been lately so I put the things together, and I took a test, and... we're having a baby, Tony."
All breath seems to leave him at once.
"Oh, thank God."
"I'm sorry?"
He looks up from the floor to see her frowning, eyebrows furrowed, and can't help but laugh as realisation sets in.
"I thought you were dying, or- or breaking up with me or something,"
She laughs too and he grins, mesmerized just by the sight of her. So he stands, pulling her up and to him, and judging by her yelp, he takes her by surprise. His arms slip round her and he kisses her, fiercely, wondering quite why he feels like crying and laughing and screaming all at the same time. When they part he reminds her he loves her, and she presses her face into his shoulder with a smile.
"It's kinda weird, huh?"
"You think it's weird? It is part of me."
He lightly presses his finger against her stomach again, squirming a little at the feel.
"But I think I like it."
"It's your child, you had better."
He raises an eyebrow at her, but the amused look she sends him assures him she's just joking. If in a very convincing manner.
Her skin is taut and raised and rounded, but only noticeably so this morning. She realised whilst getting dressed and a half hour later he's still staring at it. His feet are dangling over the side of the bed as he lies on his front and his hand rests against the little bump, but it feels like they're in their own little bubble. Just the three of them, huddled up in their bedroom and contemplating the future. They talk in quiet voice and his thumb moves up and down every so often. It makes goosebumps rise up in its wake.
"Of course I will do. And you know that."
Propping himself up on his elbows, he inches forward to brush his lips over Ziva's stomach. She runs a hand through his hair and he rolls to the side to rest his head against her torso, looking down at the rise of skin.
"You are crushing me, Tony." she says, after a few minutes.
"I'm having a moment with our kid, Ziva, I'm afraid it'll have to wait." he teases.
Her breath hitches, though, and it's then that his words sink in for himself. His kid, their kid, is growing inside Ziva, visible right before his eyes. A tiny little boy or girl, nestled up, and becoming human, and it's a mixture of them. And he's seeing evidence of that for the very first time, the tiny little swell of her stomach is right there and it's leaving him breathless.
"Oh my God."
He sits up straight and veers toward Ziva, kissing her with a force unexpected even to him. She gives him the same back and clutches at him desperately and he honestly can't believe any of this is happening right now. That he's happy and in love and is going to be a father and has everything he could possibly want in the world, here in his hands.
It's an incredible feeling.
The thud of the book falling to the floor is what wakes him. It makes him jump and his eyes fly open before he realises the threat wasn't a threat at all, but simply another parenting guide he's fallen asleep reading. They're all lengthy words and over-description and despite the knowledge he gains they have an uncanny ability of sending him straight to sleep.
He pulls off his glasses and throws them lazily onto the coffee table, then runs a hand over his face with a groan. A look to the clock tells him it's nearing 3am.
"Tony?"
He turns to see Ziva, standing in the bedroom doorway. Her eyes are half-shut and her hair's mussed and messy and her stomach protrudes at a size that reminds him just how close their son or daughter is to arriving.
"Hey. I, uh, I couldn't sleep. And then I could."
She smiles sleepily and rubs a hand over her belly in circles, something she's done often these past few months. He heads over to her.
"The munchkin woke up too, huh?"
"Yes. I blame you for that."
He scoffs and fakes offense but grins, then brushes his fingers against her stomach along with her. Their child is very energetic of late; he's convinced they've got a future footballer or dancer on their hands.
"Keeps moving?"
"Yes. And it is extremely uncomfortable."
They're words he's heard a lot recently.
"Y'know, I might've heard that somewhere. But hopefully it won't be too long now."
She's due in three days time and each night builds more and more anticipation. He's had so long talking to this child and knowing them, without actually seeing them, or holding them, and his hands are itching as more time passes.
"Come back to bed, Tony."
He sighs, tired, and links his fingers through hers and follows her back through to their bed.
She calls his name, voice calm, and he pokes his head round the door to see her standing in the bathroom, a towel wrapped round her as best it can. Her knuckles are white as she clutches at the fabric, and she's breathing in deep steady streams, and he knows what she's going to say before she says it.
"My water just broke."
His head spins and his hands tremble but he reminds himself that he has to breathe in order to meet their child, and the dizziness subsides.
He moves, suddenly. He gets some clothes and helps her dress and reminds her to breathe through the pain, despite the fact that she's currently calmer than he is. Then they grab their things and he pulls on a coat, and scoops up their pre-prepared bag at the last second and drives her to the hospital at a reasonably controlled speed. But time is racing and he can feel blood rushing in his temples as the minutes pass.
Their pace slows only as they walk in, and it's then that it hits him; it's happening.
They have a little girl. He's captivated the second he holds her.
