Seven Months Pregnant...
When Ziva DiNozzo screamed, it wasn't normally a good thing.
It meant one of several options, none of them that Tony liked very much.
Option number one: She needed something. Badly. That was normally why she screamed.
Option number two: They were pleasuring themselves into the night. However, option number two had gone to hell ever since Ziva had gotten 'too big' for said escapades. Tony liked option number two.
Option number three: She was pissed off at him. He did something to piss her off. Tony didn't like option number three very much. That normally meant that, somehow, he could get injured. By a pregnant woman.
But this was definitely the worst; Ziva was screaming at him at 0200h in the morning.
He had received the worst wake-up call he could have ever received.
One moment, he was in his soft, warm bed, Ziva wrapped around him.
The next moment he was crashing onto the hardwood floors, groaning and rubbing his backside. He squinted and looked up, his eyes meeting Ziva's through the darkness. She was on all fours, looking down at him, her hair falling over her shoulders, "I am hungry." She finally said after moments of silence.
"What?" He demanded.
"I. Am. HUNGRY!" She shouted and he quickly stood up. He really should have been used to it by now. In fact, her crazy food obsessions had gotten so bad over the past couple of weeks that he had decided that it would just be easier and faster to sleep in jeans and a t-shirt.
And, he'd avoid more screaming from Ziva.
The past week, she had gotten obsessed with 'The Worlds Greatest Barbecue', a rather messy goat sandwich in bed wasn't exactly what he wanted to be...messy in their bed.
But he also wanted Ziva to be happy.
And if that meant him having to get pushed out of bed and screamed at to go and get her her stupid sandwich at 0200h in the morning, he was perfectly fine with that.
Grabbing the keys off of the dresser, he slipped on his shoes and hurried out of the apartment, taking the stairs two at a time.
Pulling up to the restaurant, he rolled his eyes as the man opened up the door for him, yawning as he handed him a paper bag, "Are you that DiNozzo guy?"
Furrowing his eyebrows together he nodded, slowly, and the guy let out a deep sigh of relief, "Thank god. Here's your food." Tony eyed him and then took the bag from him, carefully, as if it was going to attack him.
"Thanks?" He questioned.
"Look, it's like two in the morning, can you just pay me so that I can go home? The stupid manager made me stay up and wait for you to come and pick up your sandwich. And I'm beat. So just pay me."
Tony nodded and then pulled out his wallet, fishing through it for a ten dollar bill. The man, who was fighting to keep his eyelids open watched his hands, smirking slightly, "Pregnant wife?" He questioned and Tony stopped, looking up at him as he pulled out the money.
"Yeah...why?" He questioned.
"Well that explains it." He snatched the bill out of his hand and pocketed it, closing the door behind him, locking it, "Have fun." He stifled another yawn before starting back towards his car.
Tony looked down at the paper bag and then got back into his Mustang, putting the key into the ignition as he looked inside of the paper bag, making sure that the sandwich was perfect. He couldn't even imagine what Ziva would do if he got it wrong. He shuddered at the thought as he started the engine, satisfied with what was in the bag as he drove off.
Tony kicked off his shoes and ran a hand through his bed head, the paper bag in one hand as he shuffled towards the bedroom.
Opening up the door, he saw Ziva sitting there, on top of the covers, a spoon in her hands.
He chuckled, "I don't know how you're gonna eat this with a spoon, but don't get it on the comforter okay? I just washed it."
He threw the key down on the dresser and then chucked the bag at her, shuffling back towards the bed, his feet dragging. He heard the bag rustle and he stopped abruptly when something hit the side of his head.
He looked down at the ground, where the paper bag was and then up at his wife. He spread his arms wide and she crossed her arms, "I do not want that."
Tony let his mouth drop open, he couldn't help it, "Are you serious?" She just stared at him and he sighed, nearly spinning in a circle as he ran another hand through his hair, "Well then what do you want?"
"Ice cream and garden peas." She said, simply and he just stared at her.
"Right now." He said, almost in a question.
"Right now." She confirmed, nodding once.
Tony groaned, "Ziva, we don't have any ice cream! Your ice cream obsession was two weeks ago! You ate it all! Come on, it's two in the morning, can't you wait until like...normal people wake up?"
He pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers, "What flavor?"
She grinned, "Neapolitan."
"Ziva, the supermarket isn't even open now."
"Ask around." She simply said and he groaned, grabbing the keys once again before starting out of the bedroom, "Tony?" She called and he had to resist the urge to scream at her as he turned around, on his heel, "Could you get that disgusting smell out of the room?" She questioned and he looked down at the paper bag before walking over to it and picking it up, starting to walk out of the bedroom again when she, once again, stopped him.
"What?" He demanded, his tone annoyed.
She smiled at him, "Thank you."
He just rolled his eyes and left the room with the sandwich, disposing of it on the kitchen table before leaving the apartment completely.
Sighing, he approached Nick's door, knocking rather timidly at first before banging on it. A couple of minutes later, after repeated knocking, Nick threw open the door, "What do you want, Tony?" He questioned, leaning up against the door frame, rubbing his eyelids with his fist. His was obviously trying to fight his eyes. And he was desperately losing.
"Do you have any...uh...ice cream?" he questioned and Nick blinked a couple of times before nodding.
"Yeah...why?"
"You got any...Neapolitan?"
"No." He responded, shaking his head, "Just Chocolate and Coffee. Why?"
"Ziva wants some. She's gone...crazy with these food obsessions."
Nick stared at him for a moment or two before nodding, "Uh-huh." He paused another moment, "Well have fun." He yawned before closing the door in Tony's face.
Sighing, he started onto Nick's neighbor.
By the moment that he knocked on her door, he knew she was gonna be a pain.
The uptight, stick straight blond that he had slept with a couple of times opened up the door, frowning at him, "What do you want?" She snapped.
"Uh...hey...Veronica..." He started, looking down at the ground, "You...got any ice cream?"
She furrowed her eyebrows together and looked at him, "You bang on my door at three in the morning demanding ice cream? What are you trying to pull, DiNozzo?"
"Look, just...do you have any ice cream?" he asked before and she rolled her eyes.
"Yes." Her answer was simple and Tony stared at her, gesturing for her to continue.
"Well? What flavors?"
"Vanilla." She finished, "Now do you want it or not?"
Tony groaned, "No, but-" He never got a chance to finish, for she had scoffed, rolled her eyes and slammed the door behind her.
Tony moved onto the next neighbor, an aging woman who he felt rather horrible about waking up in the middle of the night. She had no ice cream.
The next neighbor was a man that was fresh out of college. To Tony, he looked like a string bean, "Hey..." He grinned, "What's up?"
"Uh..sleeping." He said in a tone that proved to Tony that that was a stupid question to ask.
"Right. Well..." He looked at the ground before looking back at the kid. He hoped he had ice cream. Oh how much he hoped he did, "You got any ice cream?"
He stared at him, "Uh...yeah..."
"What flavor?"
Neapolitan. Neapolitan. Neapolitan. Neapolitan. Neapolitan. Tony kept thinking to himself, but was disappointed when he responded, "Strawberry."
He groaned before his mind went to work.
Nick had chocolate.
Veronica had vanilla.
This guy had strawberry.
"Can I have some?" He grinned and the kid moved towards the kitchen, reaching into his freezer and pulling out a pint of strawberry ice cream, "Thank you so much." He grinned and the kid nodded.
"Yeah...no problem..."
Tony left the apartment happily, the strawberry ice cream under his arm.
He thought as he walked back over to Nick's apartment...what kind of guy would have only strawberry ice cream?
He must really really like fruit.
After disturbing both Nick and Veronica once again, he hurried back into his own apartment, running as fast as he could past the bedroom door so that Ziva wouldn't see the three different ice cream tubs he had in his hands.
Letting out a sigh, he set down the three containers and pulled out a bowl and a spoon, taking rather large proportions of each of the three flavors and placing them into the bowl.
Now all he needed was garden peas.
He threw open a cabinet.
No peas.
He threw open another one.
Again, no peas.
He searched the rest of the cabinets before searching through the fridge.
No prevail.
Groaning, he decided to check the freezer, opening it up and shoving a couple of frozen TV dinners out of the way before finding what he wanted: an extremely cold can of peas. Grinning, he pulled it out and turned on the light, checking the expiration date.
Five months ago.
Five months.
But...they were in the freezer, so they must be...okay, right? He glanced out into the living room, the light from the bedroom shining out onto the floor. She would never notice...but she would notice that they were...snow peas.
He laughed slightly at his 'pun' and took the top off of the can before he then threw open the microwave, shoving the entire can into it. He put it in for a cook time of a minute but then stopped after it started to spark.
Right, DiNozzo...that's a METAL can, meaning that it's going to BLOW UP in the microwave. Scolding himself, he pulled out the can, dropping it onto the ground for it was hot from the sparks. Cursing himself, some of the peas dribbled onto the ground. He shoved them back into the can and then cleaned up the water from where the ice on the can had melted. He pulled out a pan and filled it with water, putting it on the stove and waiting until it boiled.
By this point, the ice cream he had in the bowl had melted and it was now ice cream soup.
Groaning, he dumped it into the trash can and placed the can of peas into the boiling water. It bobbed in the water as he put new ice cream into the bowl, waiting a little for the peas to defrost before picking it up out of the stove, this time with an oven mitt, and pouring them over the ice cream. Frowning he turned off the stove and shoved a spoon into the ice cream and peas combination, walking towards the bedroom.
He walked into the bedroom and over to Ziva, who was sitting in her same position, smiling at him. He handed it to her, sighing, "Here you go."
She grinned and took it from him, shoveling it in. He started out of the bedroom, heading into the kitchen to go and finish putting what he had used to make Ziva her concoction away when she stopped him, "Tony?" He voice was sweet and he turned instantly, trying to put a fake smile on his face, "I love you." She smiled, softly and he nodded.
"Right back atcha, sweetheart." He watched her eat another spoon of her ice cream before starting back into the kitchen.
He disposed of the boiling water, which now was just hot, and shoved the ice cream into the freezer, cleaning up his mess with a sponge and a towel before running a hand through his hair and down his face.
When he was finally finished, it was around 0400h, and he entered the bedroom, trying to find sleep. Instead, he found an empty ice cream bowl and a sleeping wife in their bed. Walking silently over to the beside table, he grabbed the bowl and washed it in the kitchen. Returning back to the bedroom he fell back down in bed, but couldn't find sleep.
He had been up for nearly three hours, and they'd have to be up in three hours anyways to go to work...
He groaned.
At around 0600h, he fell asleep, even though he didn't really realize the time. He felt as if he had been asleep for just a couple of seconds before he felt someone shake his shoulder, "Tony..." They cooed and he groaned, "Tony..." It was more persistent, "Tony!" They shouted and he growled, "Wake up...it's time for work."
"Ugh..." He groaned, "Are you serious?"
She nodded, "Yes. In fact, I let you sleep in." He finally opened his eyes and noticed that she was dressed and ready for work, "You have five minutes." She smiled before kissing him on the forehead and leaving the bedroom.
Tony groaned and leaned his head back on the pillow.
One thing was certain.
He couldn't wait until that baby was born.
Tony glanced down at his watch one more time.
Ten minutes ago Ziva had woken him up and specifically told him he had five minutes to get ready for work. While he was buttoning up his shirt, she had walked into the bathroom.
And she hadn't come out since.
He hadn't wanted to disturb her, after the way she acted last night when he got her 'the wrong food'. But, really? How was he supposed to know that she didn't want the food that she had eaten nonstop for a week?
He groaned and finally banged on the door, "Come on, Zi, we're gonna be late! What are you doing in there anyways?" He demanded and her muffled voice came through the door.
"I am not ready!"
"What?" He demanded, "Why?" He banged on the door again, "Open up!"
"No!" She shouted, "I need to shave my legs!"
Tony paused and had to resist the urge to laugh, "Shave your legs?"
"Yes!"
He groaned, "Can't this wait?"
"No." She simply said.
Groaning, he pounded on the door again, "Open up, Zee-vah."
"Only if you will help me."
"Shave your legs?"
She nodded, "Yes."
Tony sighed and looked down at his watch, checking the time. They were so going to be late, "Well I need you to open up the door."
He waited for a moment before the door opened up, revealing his wife, the bottom half of her naked. He groaned, "Oh god, Zi..." He whispered in agony under his breath, as if she was torturing him.
Because, frankly, she was.
She grabbed his hand and roughly pulled him in, slamming the door shut behind him, "Jeez, Zi, there isn't anyone else out there!"
Tony noticed her pants thrown on the ground near the toilet and she walked over and grabbed her razor off of the sink as well as pull out her shaving cream and handing it to him. Before Tony even had the chance to think about what to say, she sat down on the toilet, shoving one leg out as far as she could towards him. Tony sighed and looked at her, narrowing her eyes at her, "You're lucky I love you."
She just smiled like a princess and wiggled her toes as Tony bent down on one knee, allowing Ziva to rest her foot on his leg.
He ran his eyes up and down her leg and smirked, "God, Zi, you're right..." he looked up at her and grinned, "You're incredibly hairy!" She narrowed her eyes at him, watching as he tilted his head to the side, examining her leg, "It's like a little forest of hair growing on your leg!"
She smacked him, "Hurry up, DiNozzo."
He grinned and looked up at her, "Talking to yourself now?"
She rolled her eyes, "Just...shave my leg."
"How?" He demanded and she groaned.
"Just like your face!" She gestured towards his visage, "Which you need to shave..."
He narrowed his eyes to slits, "Hey! I'm not as bad as this!" He pointed towards it and she had to resist the urge to let her foot 'accidentally' pop up and smack him in the chin.
Letting her foot drop, he grabbed a washcloth and wet it, wringing it out so that it was slightly damp before returning to his previous position. Setting her foot back up on his leg he groaned, "Why can't you do this yourself?" He demanded as he wet down her leg.
"Because something-" She gestured to her baby bump, "-is in the way!" She nearly shouted, rolling her eyes, "Idiot." She muttered under her breath.
"Do you want me to do this or not?" He demanded.
"Yes!" She exclaimed, exasperated and he nodded, his eyes wide.
"All right! Then be quiet!"
"Fine."
"Fine."
Once he finished wetting down her leg, he grabbed the shaving cream can and squirted some into his hand. It had a blue tint to it, and he lifted it up to his nose, sniffing it. He lowered his hand and looked up at her, "Rain?" He questioned but she just gave him a closed, tight smile before busting out laughing.
Tony narrowed his eyes at her, "What?" he demanded and she just continued to laugh, "What?"
Unable to talk, she wrapped an arm around her stomach and then pointed to her nose with her other finger. Sighing, Tony reached a finger up and wiped it off before looking at her wet, perfectly toned leg and taking in a deep breath.
Oh he knew that this was going to be fun.
Running his hands up and down her legs without having sex?
Oh, this was going to be fun.
Note the sarcasm.
Quickly, he started rubbing the shaving cream up her leg. Ziva smiled at him, noticing his discomfort. He barely even took the moment to breathe as he continued to quickly make sure that every part of her leg was covered in the cream. Deciding to mess with him, she let out a small moan and he stopped and looked up at her. Before Ziva even had a chance to laugh, he let her foot drop from his leg, attaching his lips on hers, pulling hungrily at them, putting one hand on each of her legs to support himself. They broke for air, Tony pulling back and returning to his position, both of them breathing hard, "Don't do that to me, damn it." He muttered as Ziva sighed.
"Tony..." She pointed to his pants and he looked down, realizing the white shaving cream stain all over the front.
Tony groaned, "Aw...shit!" he nearly shouted, grabbing the washcloth and wetting it, wiping it away and scrubbing until all that was left was a nice wet stain running up and down both of his pant legs.
"It looks like you wet yourself." She laughed and he groaned.
"We are so late, Ziva."
"That is because you cannot keep your hands focused on the task."
Not wanting to argue and waste more time, he grabbed the razor and started at the top, near her thigh, pulling it down her leg slowly. Halfway down her leg, Ziva let out a small 'ow' and she shuddered, her leg involuntarily moving away from Tony, who was pulling the razor down, "Tony!" She shouted as her leg immediately started bleeding, the blood running down her shin and mixing with the shaving cream.
Overreacting, Tony jumped up and grabbed the nearest towel he could find, wiping the blood away...as well as all of the shaving cream that was there.
Ziva groaned and threw her head back.
This was going to take forever.
About ten minutes later, Tony had finished one of Ziva's legs and had just started on the other one when he felt her hand on top of his head, running her fingers through it. He looked up at her, "You are the sweetest man I have ever met." She smiled.
"And you are the most demanding woman I've ever met." He grinned back and she rolled her eyes, shoving his head away.
She sighed as he ran his hands up and down her leg, applying the shaving cream, quickly, "We are...so dead, Tony."
"Yeah, I know." He nodded as he examined her leg, making sure that he got all of the places, "I can see that conversation now..." He confirmed he got all of the places before grabbing her blue razor again, changing into his 'Gibbs' voice, "DiNozzo's!" He shouted, furrowing his eyebrows together as he did his impression, "Why the hell are you two so late?" He changed back into his normal voice, "Oh sorry, boss, Ziva just wanted me to shave her legs for her." He rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah...that'll go over well." He scoffed.
She smiled down at him and shook her head again, "Well we will just have to wait and see his reaction, yes?"
"I guess..." He let out another breath as he finished half of her leg. Once he was finished, he grabbed a towel and wiped down her legs before he bent down and picked up her pants, handing them to her.
"Thank you." She smiled, leaning up on her tip-toes and giving him a kiss on the lips, tugging on his collar as she did so. Her belly ran into his stomach and he smiled as she broke the kiss, sitting back down flat on her two feet.
Ziva slipped the pants back on, holding onto Tony for support before they both started out of the bathroom and into the living room to gear up.
Tony checked his watch.
"An hour late." He commented as they both holstered their guns, slipping the badges on their waistbands of the pants, "Gibbs is gonna kill us."
She shrugged as she adjusted her gun, "Not me."
"How are you so sure?" He demanded as they started towards the door, Tony grabbing the key to Mustang.
She grinned, "I am pregnant." She said and he held the door open for her, groaning as she walked through.
Correction: he really couldn't wait until the child was born.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Dead." Tony said, "So dead." Ziva rolled her eyes as the elevator doors opened, and walked ahead of him towards the squad room. Tony jogged a couple of steps to catch up with her, "I mean, do you know how dead we are? Very dead. Dead, dead, dead."
Her patience was running thin, very thin, "Tony, will you please stop saying that?" As they rounded the corner of the squad room, Ziva walked to her desk while Tony stood in the middle, dumbfounded.
"Where are they?" Tony said, pointing to the other two empty desks.
Ziva shrugged, "I do not know Tony, I just got here." She said. Tony walked slowly behind his desk, dropping his backpack in the process. He walked over to McGee's desk, looking around it.
"McGoo's gear is gone." He then opened the left drawer, looking in it, "And his weapon is gone."
"Then they are probably on a case." Ziva said.
"A case? We haven't had a case in a week. And I've been here everyday. And now somebody decides to die?" Ziva furrowed her eyebrows together, "Oh, sorry, that was a little...mean, wasn't it?" Ziva's eyes grew big and she nodded. "I gotta find out where they are."
Ziva pointed to McGee's desk, "But McGee is not here."
"Don't need him." Ziva chuckled and rolled backwards in her chair, standing from her desk.
"This I have got to see." She said, hovering over Tony as he typed on his computer. She giggled again, "McGee would be done by now."
"Yeah well, McGee hasn't had sex in over a year." Ziva only shook her head and watched as he typed for several more minutes, finally pulling up the GPS on Gibbs' phone. "Come on, Zi. We're going to that crime scene. I'm not sitting here and letting McSteal get all the fun this week."
Ziva put her weapon on her side and followed Tony quickly to the elevator, "I do not think that working on a murder case is fun, Tony. Because somebody was...murdered."
Tony pressed the button for the button for the garage, holding his finger up in the air, "Yeah, yeah. But it beats paperwork."
Pulling up to the crime scene, Tony parked the car and the couple got out, walking over to Gibbs, who was squatting next to Ducky. "Hey boss, what do we have?" Gibbs heard Tony's voice and looked at Ducky before turning slowly, standing and staring right into the senior field agents eyes. Tony gulped, "Um, sorry I was late...I just...had to take care of something."
"Why in the hell didn't you answer your cell phone?"
Tony swallowed again and pulled it out of his pocket, holding it in the air so that Gibbs could see, "Um, the ringer was off." Gibbs raised his left hand and slapped him on the back of the head, the usual punishment for the major case response team.
"Thank you boss."
Gibbs nodded slightly and turned back around, facing the body, "Sergeant Jonathan Crowell. Took two to the chest about 3 hours ago. Since your finally here, DiNozzo, why don't you take photos and then you can interview the witness." Gibbs said, and Tony looked up at the other Marine who stood quietly, waiting.
Ziva walked up to Tony, holding her camera in her hand, the strap around her neck.
"DiNozzo!" Ziva and Tony both looked up, but it was painfully obvious who he was talking to, "What is Ziva doing here?"
Tony looked at her and then back at Gibbs, "I don't know boss, she just...came with me. Didn't really think about it I guess." Ziva looked up at Tony, for she really didn't think about it either, and then back at the boss man.
"Gibbs I am fine. I can sketch or take pictures." Ziva said, but Gibbs ignored her as he walked back over to Tony.
"Do you know how dangerous it is at a crime scene? Your wife is 7 months pregnant with your child. Use your head, DiNozzo. Take her home. Now." Tony was in no position to argue.
"Yes boss." Gibbs walked away from them and Tony wrapped his arm around Ziva's waist, walking slowly with her back towards the car, "Sorry sweetcheeks, but Gibbs is right."
"Tony this is ridiculous." Ziva said, but then at that moment, a gunshot was heard. The Marine that Tony was to interview hit the ground, crying out in pain. Tony grabbed Ziva and ran behind the Medical Examiner's truck, where Ducky and Palmer were hiding as well.
Tony's heart was about to beat out of his chest as he held Ziva's body close to his own, holding her head to his chest and she had her arms wrapped around her belly. Gibbs and McGee were constantly firing the weapon in the direction the shots were fired from, but the shooting continued. "Ziva, you okay?" Tony muttered into her neck. Ziva didn't reply, she only pulled him closer, the only thing she was concerned about was her baby.
And then, the gunshots stopped.
Gibbs and McGee ran over to the wooded area, their guns at the ready. Gibbs kicked the weapon, "Clear!" He yelled, and then holstered his gun, McGee doing the same. Ducky and Palmer ran to the wounded Marine, squatting down to his leg.
Tony moved from Ziva just a little bit, his breathing labored, "You okay?" He asked again, his voice in a panic.
Ziva nodded, her eyes closed and arms still wrapped around her pregnant belly, "I am fine, Tony." She looked down at her belly, "And so is baby." Tony kissed her on the forehead.
"Come on, I'm taking you to the hospital."
"Tony, no. I am fine."
"Ziva, please I just wanna make..."
Ziva shook her head and grabbed his arm, stopping both of them from walking any further, "No. We are fine, Tony."
Tony sighed, shook his head and pulled her into a tight hug, "I'm so sorry, Zi." He whispered. They finally let go of each other and Tony walked her to the car, sitting her down in the passenger's seat. As he walked around to the drivers side, he looked up at his boss, who was staring at him.
Tony knew that he was in for the biggest head slap of the year when Gibbs got back to NCIS.
As they pulled away from the crime scene, Tony shook his head.
He deserved worse.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If Ziva heard the question 'are you okay?' one more time from her husband, she was going to scream.
Literally.
And then after that question, he would say 'I'm sorry.'
It wasn't all his fault, she didn't even think about it either as she got into the car to go with him to the crime scene. And even after explaining all of this to him, he still sat at his desk, beating himself up about it. Sighing, she stood from her desk and walked over to him, pulling out his chair and making herself comfortable in his lap, "Tony." She said firmly as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "We are fine. It is not all your fault. Our job is sometimes dangerous."
"Yeah, but Ziva..." She pressed her finger to his lips,
"We are fine." She said again, and he smiled slightly, nodding his head. She pressed a kiss to his lips and stood as McGee and Gibbs entered the squad room. McGee stopped and looked at the two.
"Hey, Ziva, you okay?"
Ziva nodded and answered him, but she was looking right at Gibbs, "Baby and I are fine."
McGee looked at Gibbs and then back at Ziva, "That's good." Was his reply. Gibbs never took his stare off of Tony as he spoke.
"McGee, go down and help Abby with ballistics."
He put his gun in his drawer and placed his backpack on the ground, nodding slightly, "Yes boss."
Gibbs wiggled his finger at Tony and then walked to his second favorite 'meeting' place, behind the stairs. Tony ran a hand through his hair and spoke first, "Alright, look boss, I know what I did was stupid. I would have rather been shot then have Ziva and my child in danger."
"What in the hell were you thinking, DiNozzo?"
"I know boss I...."
"Use that head on your shoulders, Tony. You are about to be a father very soon and you cannot do stupid things like putting it in any kind of danger!" Gibbs took a step closer to Tony, his face only inches from the senior field agent, "Because one day, DiNozzo, you may not be there to protect them. And in a split second they could be gone." Gibbs pulled an evidence bag from his pocket, a bullet in it, "We picked this up not 10 feet from where you were walking with your pregnant wife, Tony."
Tony's face turned pale white and he felt as if he could faint. He stared at the gold bullet in the clear bag and he honestly didn't know how Gibbs lived everyday with his wife and child not by his side. He swallowed the lump in his throat, "I don't know what I would've done to myself if something had happened." He said softly.
"I know what I would've done, DiNozzo." Gibbs said sternly, and then raised his hand, his finger pointing right at Tony's face, "You got lucky today. Don't ever do that again."
Tony nodded, "I've learned my lesson, boss."
Gibbs raised his hand and placed another hard slap on the back of Tony's head, "Good."
As if on cue, Ziva walked up to the two men and Gibbs looked at her, placing both of his hands on her shoulders, squeezing lightly, "You sure you're okay, Ziver?"
Ziva nodded, "Yes Gibbs."
"Okay. Whatcha need?"
Ziva glanced at Tony and then back at the boss, "Abby called. She and McGee have something for you." Gibbs nodded and started to walk towards the back elevator.
"Uh, boss?" Tony said and Gibbs stopped, turning back towards the couple. "Ziva and I would like to talk to you for a second."
"About what?" Gibbs asked and Tony swallowed the lump in his throat again as Gibbs' blue eyes stared right at him, waiting on him to continue. "Um...we discussed this a few days ago and wanted to...ask you something."
"Spit it out, Tony." Gibbs said.
Ziva sighed and decided that she better take over, since Tony was already in hot water, "We would like you to be apart of our child's life, Gibbs." Gibbs nodded slowly.
"Yeah, well you see, boss, since my father is insane and her father is on the other side of the world, we're going to need somebody to play the grandfather card. And we'd like that to be you."
Gibbs narrowed his eyes, "I'm too young to be a grandfather." He commented. Tony and Ziva looked at each other.
Tony cleared his throat, "Uhh, okay. How about Uncle?"
Gibbs let the corners of his mouth pull up, "That's better."
Tony grinned, "So you'll do it?"
Gibbs smirked and nodded, only slightly, "Sure." And with that, he turned and left the two standing behind the stairs.
Ziva smiled at him, "See, that was not so hard, was it?"
Tony watched her walk back to her desk and shook his head at himself, Gibbs' words echoing in his head, "Because one day, DiNozzo, you may not be there to protect them. And in a split second they could be gone."
Gibbs was right.
He did get lucky today.
He didn't want to ever get that close to being un-lucky again.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The case was an open and shut when Abby's ballistics concluded that the shooter's weapon was the one who killed the Sergeant. Gibbs assigned the team to paperwork, as usual.
Tony had his chair right next to Ziva's. She was actually feeling a little claustrophobic, but only because after that incident earlier, Tony hadn't let her out of his sight. She had to force him to let her go into the women's restroom alone.
She understood his concerns, she really did, but she didn't know how many times she had uttered the phrase 'We are fine.'. Currently, he had his left hand on her belly, rubbing with his thumb, and his right was around her waist as she sat in the chair.
"Hey, that one looks good." He pointed to the screen, and she snapped out of her thoughts.
"Hm?" She asked and he smiled.
"The third one down, sweetcheeks. It's a three bedroom, two bath." And then she remembered, she was supposed to be looking at townhouses.
Earlier, when Gibbs said the words 'There's always paperwork to do, DiNozzo.', Tony decided that it would be an excellent time to house shop. She clicked on the picture and a long description was shown, along with several photos. "Oh yeah we've gotta see that one." He grinned, and Ziva printed the page, adding to the stack of about four they already picked out.
When they exhausted the ones around DC and surrounding areas, Tony returned to his desk, giving Ziva a little breathing room. She felt baby move inside her and she smiled, wrapping her arms around her belly again. The squad room became quiet for about an hour, until Tony slammed down his phone and stood up quickly, collecting his gun from the drawer, "Come on babe. We've got appointments."
"Appointments?" Ziva questioned, confused.
"Yeah. We're gonna look at townhouses! Gotta get ready for baby girl!" He said and watched Ziva grin as he added, "Or boy." Ziva sighed and stood, grabbing Tony's hand as she waved goodbye to McGee.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ziva scoffed as she hurried out of the front door, the real estate agent and Tony following behind her. "We will definitely not be moving into that one." She said more to Samantha, the estate agent, than Tony.
Tony pouted, "Why not?"
She gaped, "It was green!"
Tony looked at Samantha, who looked between the pair, confused. Tony lifted and dropped one shoulder, "I like green."
Ziva rolled her eyes and counted on her fingers for emphasis, "The walls were green, the carpet was green, the ceiling was green, the plants were green, the toilet paper was green!"
Tony furrowed his eyebrows together, "The toilet paper was green?" He laughed, "And aren't the plants supposed to be green?"
She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "The point is, it is too much green."
"We could change the green, sweetheart."
"It does not matter, every time I walk into that house I would see the green."
Tony laughed and pressed a kiss on her forehead, "You are so weird, Zi."
"Why? Because I do not want to live in a crayon box that has only green crayons?"
"Precisely." Tony replied.
Samantha decided that she better stop the bickering, for it seemed like it was never going to end, "Well, Mrs. DiNozzo, is there anything that you like about this townhouse?"
Ziva sighed and nodded slightly, "Yes, I like the tub."
Tony shook his head, "Nah. I'd rather have a shower." He grinned and then added, "A big one."
"A tub is more relaxing, Tony."
"A shower is more...fun." He argued, but a grin was across his face.
Samantha smiled, "We have a few more to look at, why don't we head that way?" They piled into Samantha's SUV and she drove them a little out of town, and into a two bedroom, two bath townhouse. Tony and Ziva both liked the place, and it wasn't green, but the bedroom's were incredibly small and they wanted something a little bigger.
The next house was about the right size and had two bedrooms, but needed a lot of TLC, and with a baby on the way, that was something they wouldn't have time for.
Houses number four, five, and six, were not at all what they had in mind, both for baby's needs and their own. As soon as they walked out of the seventh one, Tony groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Alright, Samantha, I think we're done. None of these are what we're looking for." He held out his hand, "So thank you for your time, we really appreciate it."
Samantha nodded, "I understand that these townhouses are not what you had in mind, but I do have one more that may fit your needs perfectly.
Tony looked over at Ziva, who was 7 months pregnant, and he could tell by the look on her face that she was exhausted. "No, really, my wife is exhausted, and I need to get her home."
Ziva put her hand on Tony's shoulder and he turned around, "Tony, I am fine. I would like to see it."
Tony shook his head, "Ziva, no, it's been a rough day. You need rest."
Ziva smiled at him, and then looked at Samantha, "We would like to see it, please." She said, and then kissed Tony as she walked around him and to the SUV. Tony sighed and shook his head as he climbed into the vehicle.
"You really should rest, Zi."
Ziva chuckled, reached over and patted his knee, "I am fine."
Samantha smiled, watching the pair in the backseat, "You know, you two are a very beautiful couple." Tony and Ziva looked at each other and smiled as she continued, "I bet you were in love from the moment you met."
Ziva felt the blood rush to her cheeks, "Thank you."
"Well..." Tony started, "I don't think it was love at first sight." Ziva turned to him, her mouth open from shock, "I didn't really like her until she told me her name."
"I told you my name not a minute after we met, Tony."
He laughed, "Precisely." Ziva rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile as he continued, "And don't get me wrong, there has been times when I could've killed you from stupid decisions." She looked at him, confused, "Like that time when you climbed up to that bomb that could've gone off at any second, and that time when..."
He stopped when Ziva's hand was in his face, "I get the point."
Samantha chuckled, "When did you fall in love with him, Ziva?"
She smiled as the blood rushed to her cheeks again, "Within a minute." Tony smiled his famous 1000 watt DiNozzo smile, "But..." His smile faded, "When he fell in love with her, I kind of lost hope."
Tony looked at her, a serious look on his face, "Zi...I thought that was love." She half smiled, "It wasn't."
Ziva couldn't help but smile as she leaned over and gave him a kiss, earning another 'aww' from the relator. "Well, I hate to stop such beautiful memories, but we are here." She said and Tony and Ziva got out the car, following her into the home.
Much like when they first met, it was love.
The kitchen was the perfect size, along with the living room that contained room for Tony's big screen TV and plenty of storage space for his DVD collection. Amazed, Tony walked out onto the back patio, "Hey Zi! Look!" Ziva walked out and saw what caused Tony to be so excited.
A pool.
"I have two words for you, Zi. Nude. Sunbathing."
Ziva rolled her eyes and walked back inside, as Samantha showed the rest of the bottom floor. Tony helped Ziva up the stairs and into the two other bedrooms. "Great. Three bedrooms. One for this baby." He pointed to Ziva's belly, "And one for future baby!"
Ziva smiled, "Yes. Or perhaps a guest?"
"Oh. Guests. Right." Samantha chuckled as she walked in front of them, showing them the last room.
"And the most important room, for you, Mr. DiNozzo, the master bedroom."
Tony walked in and stopped. It was gorgeous.
The walls were a perfect shade of tan, along with the carpet and curtains that were a tad darker, but the match was absolute. The bed was huge, and it was just was Tony and Ziva wanted.
"This is beautiful." Ziva said, looking around in awe.
"Yes it is," Samantha agreed, "And, you both will be please to know that all of the furniture will stay." Tony and Ziva smiled and then followed her into the master bathroom. Two sinks, a huge jacuzzi tub, and a shower that was big enough for four.
Tony and Ziva were speechless as they walked back down the stairs and out of the house, heading towards the SUV.
"So what do you think?" Samantha asked, a smile stretched across her face.
Tony and Ziva looked at each other. They looked at 8 houses and just when the thought there was no hope...perfection. All of their thoughts were summed into three words.
"We'll take it."
The silver elevator doors opened, revealing the squad room to both Tony and Ziva DiNozzo's eyes.
Tony had tried to convince Ziva that she should stay home and rest...he'd patch it up with Gibbs and then head home, picking up dinner on the way.
Of course she had to be stubborn.
Since when did she ever even want to stay home in the first place?
Correction: he really should have known better.
Through her complete and utter tiredness, Ziva still managed to stay alert, a smile stretching across her face. He was smiling as well, just as much as she was, but that was only because he was happy that they found a townhouse that would fit their needs. And, Ziva was happy.
Which always made a smile grow on his face.
They barely walked into the bullpen before Gibbs stopped in front of them, causing them to abruptly stop walking, "Uh...hey boss!"
Gibbs just stared at him for a couple more seconds before slapping him upside the head, causing him to wince. Ziva smirked slightly.
"Abby's lab. Now." He pointed, moving out of the way so that just Tony could get through. Tony, whose hand was attached to Ziva's, pulled her along before Gibbs placed a hand on top of their intertwined ones.
They both stopped and looked at him, Gibbs looking at Tony, "Just you."
Tony and Ziva looked at each other before letting go, Tony nodding slightly as he slowly made his way out of the bullpen, shoving his hands into his pockets in an attempt of something to do. He wasn't holding Ziva's hand, after all.
"Gibbs?" Ziva questioned once Jethro was sure Tony was gone and it was just them in the bullpen.
He just glanced at her and then started towards his desk, wiggling his finger at her to follow. He grabbed the chair from the fifth desk and brought it around to his own before sitting down in his chair. Ziva looked at him, then at the chair, and then went and sat down quietly and politely, trying to get as comfortable as she could with her pregnant belly in the way.
He clasped his hands together and leaned forwards, "I..." He opened and closed his hands, looking at the ground before looking back up at her, "I want to send Tony undercover." He finally said and Ziva just stared at him.
"Yes?" She prompted, hoping that he would continued, "Are you asking my permission?" She nearly gaped, "He is not my child, thankfully. You do not need my permission."
"It's not your permission, Ziva." He quietly said, "It's whether or not you're going to be able to take it."
She furrowed her eyebrows together, "Why would I not be able to take it?"
"I can't explain it." He admitted, "But I am warning you about this."
She laughed, "I do not need 'warning', Gibbs."
He sighed and stood, "Oh yeah you will...Tony's going after a drug dealer. Acting like someone who's interested in buying drugs. He could get caught."
She copied his movement and stood as well, "Tony is a trained federal investigator, Gibbs. Do not worry." She smiled, "Even though it is kind."
"I just thought I'd warn you." He nodded and she laughed as he helped her out of the chair, starting towards the back elevator that took them down to the lab.
A rather awkward silence was between the two until Gibbs broke it, "You two ready?"
"For what?" She questioned and then noticed his look, "Oh, our child." She took in a deep breath, placing her hands on her belly as he pressed the button for the lab, the silver doors sliding slowly closed, "We just bought a townhouse, but we need to move in and get everything ready for him or her."
"You don't know?"
"Tony knows." She nodded, "But I do not. He refuses to tell me."
Gibbs smirked, "Yeah, that sounds like DiNozzo."
"He will tell me though." She admitted, "I have faith."
"Yeah, he'll admit it...while you're in labor."
"Ziva!" Abby grinned as she jumped up in and down, the Israeli walking into the lab, Gibbs on her six.
Tony, who was standing next to Abby perked up and grinned at his wife as Abby hopped towards her and wrapped her arms tightly around her before pulling back and rapidly firing questions; they were so fast that Ziva could barely catch them all as Abby rambled with her hands, "How are you? How's the baby? It's due in like two months, right? Are you taking good care of yourself? Are you guys going to move? Do you need any help? Is Tony treating you right?"
"Hey!" Tony protested, walking towards her and wrapping an arm around his wife's waist, "I'm treating her just fine." He grinned, "Even though she refuses to go home and sleep."
"I can make all three of you sleep forever if you don't get back on topic." Gibbs' voice spoke up over them and they all paused abruptly, looking between each other.
"Right." Abby sheepishly said before turning around and walking back to her computer, "So...Tony! You and Ziva missed out on a case!"
Tony rolled his eyes, "There's a shock. We don't have a case in weeks and then when I decide to take some time off to spend with my lovely wife...we get a case."
Abby shrugged her shoulders and put her hands up, "It's just karma, I swear."
Tony sighed and stared at her, "The case...Abs?"
"Oh!" She perked up, "Right!" She grinned, moving towards the computer once again and pulling up a picture of a man that was on the most wanted list, "So this guy..." She zoomed in on him, "Is Travis Jeremy Blackburn... or 'TJ' for short....he's a drug dealer." She all but giggled, "And this guy..." She pulled up another photo, this time of a petty officer, "He died of drug overdose..." She grinned, "Well, actually, that's what we thought originally. And then Ducky gave me the cocaine found in his lungs and the toxicology said that it was filled with potassium cyanide."
"So what am I supposed to do?" Tony questioned and Abby put a finger up.
"Just hold up one moment, Mr. DiNozzo..." She pressed a couple more buttons as two more pictures came up, "We can't figure out which one of them it is...the drug dealer that is. Two different sets of prints were found on the bag of cocaine McGee dug up in the Petty Officer Bard's home. Now if they're working together, that's fine, but we don't know that yet. So you, Tony...need to go undercover as someone who 'wants to buy drugs'. Not that you do want to buy drugs, but you're just pretending you want to buy drugs." She gasped, "Hold on...do you want to buy drugs?"
"No!" Tony nearly shouted, exasperated as Ziva chuckled slightly, "Okay, so what's my cover gonna be?"
"Oh you know, one of those like...gangster guys that walks down the road. You know, like white trash."
"White trash?" Ziva questioned, furrowing her eyebrows together, "Why would you be wearing trash bags?" It was Tony's turn to laugh at her.
"It's an expression, Zee-vah."
She just sighed, "Oh, Americans."
"How you love them so." Tony sang, grinning at her as she crossed her arms as much as she could over her belly.
"So..." Tony grinned, "What's my name, Abby? What am I gonna wear? Let's get this show on the road." Both Ziva and Gibbs just looked at him, "Or white trash on the streets."
"You hear me...Sean Preston Cole?" Gibbs asked, standing in the squad room with a headset on his head, Ziva standing next to him as they stared at the plasma.
Tony pulled on his pants; they were hanging dreadfully low on his butt as he walked down the street, itching the earwig in his ear, "Loud and clear." He paced outside of the front of the alley, breathing heavily.
"DiNozzo..." Gibbs started, "What the hell are you doing? Why are you breathing like that? Are you nervous?"
In the earwig, Tony laughed, "Are you kidding me?" He questioned, "I'm never nervous."
"I would not be too sure about that." Ziva said into her own earwig, smirking slightly.
"Ziva!" He grinned, "Nice to hear your voice, sweetheart." Tony continued to pace outside of the alley.
The two watched as a woman walked past him, staring oddly, "Stop talking to yourself, Tony." Gibbs said, "You're gonna make yourself look even more ridiculous."
"Fine. Now are you sure this is the place, boss?"
Gibbs groaned, "Don't make me jump through this and shoot you."
"I was just checking!" Tony defended himself.
She smiled and shared a look with Gibbs, who was wearing one that wasn't able to be deciphered on his face. A black van pulled up in the dead of the night and Tony stopped pacing, turning to look at them. He pulled the back of his baseball cap down before looking both ways and moving to meet the man in the middle.
They stopped in front of him, staring, "You the new guy?"
"Stop asking questions, dawg. Yo, just give me the drugs, man." Tony said, putting on his gangster accent.
On the other end of the feed, Ziva gestured towards Abby and McGee, who were sitting at McGee's desk. Tim nodded and then pulled up the pictures of the two alleged drug dealers, the ones that touched the bag of cocaine, on the other plasma. Ziva turned to look at them and then studied the screen again, the camera that they had built into one of the 'pieces of bling' that Tony had around his neck, "Stop moving the camera." She hissed and she watched as Tony grabbed onto the chain, causing the entire camera to go dark, "Tony!" She groaned, "You are covering the camera!" The camera moved as he quickly let go of it.
"How much you want?" One of the drug dealers asked.
"Tony, step back." Gibbs said, glancing at the plasma behind him at the two men, "I need a good look at them."
They watched as the camera swung back and forth as Tony moved, "Oh, you know...the usual. But hurry up man, I got somewhere I gotta be at."
The two looked at each other and then at the driver of the car, "We need that driver." Ziva and Gibbs told him at the same time, so Tony tried to swing around and look at him when the drug dealers moved in front of him.
"What you think you're doing?" One of them asked, causing Jethro to get a good look at him.
"That's TJ." Gibbs responded, "Now take the drugs and then give him another scheduled meeting place. We'll catch him up there after we get Abby to run the tox scan of the cocaine. Make sure it matches."
Tony groaned as he stared at him, "Look dude, just give me the drugs, okay? I don't want no police coming around here...I hear that them cops they have in DC are brutal. Slap people."
Gibbs rolled his eyes as he stared over at Ziva.
The two drug dealers looked at each other, "Something's off." Ziva finally said, "They're not giving Tony the-" She stopped as she felt a painful sensation rush through her body, starting down at her lower half. Subconsciously, she let out a scream, the pain feeling as if she was living back in the terrorist cell again, under the hand of that man that hurt her. She was still sore from said event.
"Ziver?" Gibbs questioned in a panic as she grabbed onto the side of McGee's desk to support herself, "What's going on, what's wrong?" He then realized that Tony was still on the other end of the line and he was probably all but freaking out, "Tony, just hold on." He said into the mic before bending down slightly to stare at her, "You okay?"
She nodded, slowly, "Yes." She was about to open her mouth up to say something more when she heard what was happening on the screen. And saw it.
He grabbed Tony roughly and then reached up carefully and grabbed the ear wig out of his ear, pulling back.
"Who are you?" The drug dealer demanded after studying the earwig for a while, "Are you a cop?"
Tony paused before speaking again, "Yo man, just give me the-" He stopped as Ziva watched the camera get thrown backwards, meaning that Tony fell onto the ground. Standing up straight, quickly.
"Tony." She whispered as everything became a blur to her. The one drug dealer, TJ, pulled out a gun and trained it on Tony.
"Don't move." He demanded and Tony just stood there, the gun pointing him in the face.
"Damn it." Gibbs muttered as he pulling the headset down, "Go!" He pointed to McGee, "GO!" He jogged towards his own drawer, throwing it open and holstering his weapon, "Where the hell is Agent Larson?" He demanded, "He was supposed to be Tony's backup!" He turned to McGee again, "Come on! Let's go! Go!"
McGee tried not to pause as shots were fired on the feed of the screen, the feed 'falling' on the ground, trying desperately not to pause as Ziva pulled the headset off and slowly sank down to the floor, wrapping her arms tightly around her belly, hot tears running out of her closed eyes.
McGee and Gibbs found her to be absent in the bullpen as they both sighed, letting their long faces drop as they returned from 'helping' Tony, "Ziva?" McGee called.
"Ziver?" Gibbs questioned again, furrowing his eyebrows together as he looked around, "McGee, you-" He stopped when he found McGee staring at Tony's desk, "What are you doing?"
"Found her." He nearly gulped and Gibbs looked worriedly at him before hurrying around the desk. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw his special agent sitting under Tony's desk, her legs sprawled out as the only comfortable position.
They locked eyes and she stared at him, "Tony?" She questioned and Gibbs sighed.
"Took a bullet in the arm. McGee rushed him to Bethesda, they're taking care of him now. Agent Larson's staying with him and McGee and I came back to finish up reports on the case."
Ziva quickly stood up, nearly hitting her head on the bottom of the desk, her heart rate accelerating, "Why did you not tell me about this once you found out?" She demanded, nearly screaming, her hormones going in all different directions, small tears forming in her eyes.
That was one thing she hated about being pregnant.
Ziva hurried over to her desk, which turned out to be more of a fast waddle type movement, "I must..." She fumbled with her keys and then her sweater before picking up her cell phone, "...Tony..."
Gibbs walked calmly over to her and took the cell phone from her hands, snapping it shut quietly, "I'll take you." He whispered, looking her in the eyes. He nodded, as if to answer the question for her, and she slowly nodded again, "You need to take deep breaths, Ziva. No stress. Tony is fine. He was mostly concerned about you and your contraction you had. I found it to be a little early, but you always like to do things fast."
Ziva smiled slightly, "Thank you, Gibbs." She nodded.
"Hey..." he shook her shoulder, stepping back from her, putting his arms out to the side, "What's family for?"
Gibbs got them to Bethesda rather quickly, Gibbs having to slow Ziva down a couple of times for she was overdoing it and putting too much pressure on her body. She was out of breath by the time they finally made it up to Tony's room, which was on the second floor, "What room is he in?" Ziva breathed out, searching frantically up and down the hallway, peeking into the rooms as she did.
"267." Gibbs responded, automatically and Ziva hurried towards the door, waddling in her jog. A couple of nurses looked nervously at each other and then started towards her when Gibbs put his hand up, stopping them abruptly in their tracks, "I don't think you wanna do that."
"A pregnant woman should not be running around like that. Are you her father or her baby's father?"
"Her brother." He responded with a dead panned face on.
They furrowed their eyebrows together, "Step." He added in, "I was adopted by her parents." Gibbs nodded before hurrying after Ziva.
Gibbs followed her down the hallway until she walked past a room, stopped, backed up, and then made a beeline into that room. He decided to lag back, to give the two some time alone. As long as all of their clothes stayed on, he was fine.
"Tony?" Ziva breathed out, unable to mask how out of breath she was. She paused in the doorway and then hurried towards his bed, where he was sitting upright.
"Ziva." He smiled as she leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips, pulling back and looking him in the eyes, running a hand through his hair over and over again.
"Are you okay?" She questioned as he nodded. She started looking up and down his body, noting the black stitches in his left arm. She gasped and carefully reached over and touched them lightly. His shirt had been cut so that they could have better access to the wound, and his NCIS federal agent jacket lay strewn across the foot of his bed. She moved her eyes to his green ones again, "You were shot." She noted and he nodded.
"Stupid, probie mistake really." He said, "Figured out that I was a cop, took out a gun, pulled my backup out...took a shot. Backed up-" He put his hand up in the form of a gun as he acted it out, Ziva sinking down onto the bed, "Took cover behind a dumpster, which smelled like crap by the way-"
She laughed, "It is a dumpster, Tony."
"Anyways." He waved his hand, "So he took a shot, I thought I was out of the way, but obviously I wasn't." He sighed, "McGee must have switched our bodies or something."
She shook her head, "You gave me quite a scare there." She admitted and Tony sat up more in bed, "Even baby was scared. They kept kicking me." She smiled down at her belly and then up at Tony, "Are you ready to go?"
"Besides my shoulder killing me, I can't wait to get home. Boss told them not to give me painkillers....I think that he had good reason for that, but I can't remember what it is."
She smiled, "Exactly, my love." She rested her hand on the back of his neck, twirling his hair with her fingers. He looked up at her chocolate brown eyes and then back down to her belly, rubbing his hand against it, brushing his thumb on the top.
He leaned towards her, "I'm all right, baby." He lifted up her shirt slightly and pressed a gently kiss on her soft skin before drawing back. They stared at each other for a while before Ziva stood up and let go of Tony's hand, which had worked its way to hers, their fingers intertwined together. She backed up from him.
"Stand up." She commanded and he looked at her as she rolled her eyes, "Up, Tony. On the ground. On your feet."
He stared at her, "I know what it means."
"Then do it!"
He groaned as he pushed himself out of bed, "You know, I already tried to make a run for it. The nurse got really upset with me by the fourth time."
She sighed, for she had no response to that as she watched him stand up straight, as he normally would, "Tah dah."
"You are okay." She smiled and Tony nodded, moving towards her.
"That's not who I'm worried about." He whispered as he pulled her into a tight hug, Ziva leaning her entire body into his embrace, resting her head on his shoulder as she let out a shaky, deep sigh. He kissed her neck gently, his lips brushing up against her skin as he spoke, "You screamed while I was undercover. And doing a bad job at it as well." He let out a breath, "Damn, it's been a while."
She laughed, "Yes...it has."
"But you screamed."
She sighed, tightening her grip on him, "Yes...I did. Stupid sign of weakness. I know."
She felt him shake his head against hers, "No, it's not." he pulled back, "What went wrong?"
"I...had a contraction. I think."
He furrowed his eyebrows together, "I thought those weren't super painful. Well, at least not painful enough for you to scream out."
She rolled her eyes, "I am still tender." She whispered, not wanting to say anything else.
It took Tony all but two seconds to figure out what she was talking about, tightening his arms around her, "I'm sorry." He murmured into her hair.
"Not your fault." She whispered back.
The two broke apart when they heard a knock on the door, "You two ready to go home?" Gibbs questioned and they looked at each other before nodding, Ziva moving away from Tony. Gibbs noticed how Tony's hand lingered under her shirt and one her belly for as long as he could as Ziva stood next to Gibbs.
"Hell yeah." Tony said, "Let's get outta here as fast as we can."
"No, Tony, you have to be released." Gibbs said, "Ziver and I will wait for you in the car." They turned around and started away from him, Ziva smirking as Tony let his mouth drop open. He quickly moved out of the room and into the hallway, watching the two retreat.
"Hey!" He shouted, "Hey, wait up! No, Zi, come back! No! Hey-" He started as they continued to walk through the double doors, but then was stopped as he heard someone shout his name.
"Agent DiNozzo!" His nurse scolded, his eyes going wide as she started marching towards him, "I thought I told you to stay in bed!"
For the fifth time that day, he made a run for it.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Tony I am fine." Ziva said again. She rolled her eyes and scoffed as Tony only shook his head in response, "I do not want to sit here all day." She protested.
"Sweetheart, I know you're hurting. You don't need to go to work today." He walked over to her and placed a kiss on her lips, placing his hands on her belly, "Lay down, relax."
"I do not..." She stopped when Tony's finger was over her lips.
"Not another word."
He placed another kiss on her forehead and walked over to the dresser, adding his weapon and badge to his belt. "Don't I get a say in what I do?"
Tony smiled and thought for a few seconds before chuckling, "Nope." He walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of orange juice, downing it quickly. Ziva followed her husband and started to protest when he interrupted again, "Nope."
Ziva groaned, "Tony, I have been in much more pain than this at Mossad. I can handle it."
Tony walked over to her again and led her to the couch, "But you're not at Mossad. You're here. A special agent." He sat down with her, his arms around her waist, "Now, you stay here, get some rest, and call me if you need me."
She sighed and sat back on the couch, crossing her arms over her belly, "I hate you." She mumbled. Tony laughed and kissed her temple, standing from the couch. He collected his NCIS issued backpack and opened the door, standing in the doorway as he turned back to her.
"I love you too, Zi." He said, and with that, he was gone.
Ziva rolled her eyes again and stood from the couch, walking into the kitchen and throwing open the refrigerator. Groaning, she slammed it closed. Nothing even looked appetizing. She went back into the living room and sat down on the couch, flipping through the channels on the TV. She stopped on no particular channel, throwing the remote across the room as she realized one thing: this was going to be a long day. She lay down on the couch, her belly in the air. She wrapped her arms around her belly and thought back to what happened yesterday.
Tony was still beating himself up about that.
But, as she explained to him, it wasn't entirely his fault.
She felt baby move and smiled. She returned to her thoughts until something on the TV caught her attention.
"...today they charged the parents of a 5-month-old Peoria boy with first-degree murder." Ziva sat up and squinted her eyes at the television, listening closely as the news anchor continued, "21-year-old Tracey Hermann and 23-year-old James Sargent are accused of gross neglect and starvation of their baby." Ziva protectivly wrapped her arms around her belly again. "Last week Sargent called 9-1-1 from the family's Proctor Street home in Peoria. When rescue personnel arrived they found the baby unresponsive seated in a car seat placed inside a crib. Investigators now believe the child had been strapped in the car seat without food or water for eight days. States Attorney Kevin Lyons said the room was about 80 degrees when the baby was found. The boy was wearing a snowsuit and held in the car seat by a rope. He said there are times "when crying yourself to sleep no longer works, and you cry yourself to death." Tracey Hermann has another child, a three year old girl." Ziva quickly stood and turned off the TV, tears immediately flooding her eyes.
How could anyone do that to their child?
She honestly didn't know.
She slowly walked into their bedroom and lay down, grabbing one of the pillows. Tears streamed down her face as she thought of the baby, alone, in a car seat, starving to death. Anger mixed in her emotions, she wanted to take her SIG and shoot the woman. Repeatedly. And then shoot her husband.
They deserved the worse.
About 2 and half hours later, Ziva woke, sitting up and looking around the room. She sighed deeply and stood from the bed, walking into the kitchen. As she retrieved a bowl from the cabinet, she thought about all of the other dishes, and that maybe she should start packing. They had a a lot to do before baby was born. When she finished making her salad, she walked over to the table and sat, her hunger immediately satisfied as she took the first bite.
When she finished, she pushed the bowl away from her body and crossed her arms on the table, looking around the empty apartment again. She looked down at her watch.
Tony wasn't going to be home for several more hours. And it could be longer if Gibbs was on an active case.
And she was bored. Deciding that turning on the TV again would not bring pleasant results, she reached across to Tony's chair where the paper sat. She turned it from the sports section and back to the front page. She sighed angrily and folded it closed, practically throwing it across the room. She stormed into their bedroom, pulling out the boxes Tony stored. She placed it on the table and began to fill it with dishes.
All of the dishes.
There, across the room, on the front page of the paper, sat the exact same story that Ziva didn't want to see on the news this morning.
And she definitely didn't want to see it a second time.
Tears flooded her eyes again as she thought about the poor child. And soon, the tears won the battle as they streamed down her face.
About 7 hours later, a very tired Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo slugged into the apartment, yawning as he did so. Gibbs said 'grab your gear' early in the morning, and he had to chase the suspect for almost three miles before tackling him.
Looking around the apartment, he was confused as to why there were boxes...well...everywhere. "Zi?" He questioned and when she didn't answer, he slowly walked into the kitchen, looking into the box that was on the table.
It was their dishes.
All of them.
Now, Tony was more confused. What in the hell were they supposed to eat on?
"Ziva?" He said, a little louder, as he looked through a couple of other boxes. He finally took his backpack that was thrown over his shoulder off, placing it in it's usual spot near the door. "Ziva?" He said, and then walked into the bedroom, immediately becoming concerned when he saw his wife. "Ziva, what's wrong?" He asked as he pulled of his gun and badge, placing him on the dresser before walking over to her. He crawled into bed next to her, taking her into his arms. "Ziva, sweetheart, what's wrong?" He asked softly. He used one of his hands to wipe her tears off of her face.
Ziva removed the pillow that she was holding and was now in between them, so he pulled her closer. "These...people." She started, "Murdered their 5-month-old son." Tony wrapped his arms around her and rubbed small circles into her back, "They...starved him to death."
"There are some evil, evil people in this world, baby." Tony mumbled.
"How could someone do that to their child?" Ziva cried.
"I don't know, Zi." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips, "Just...try not to think about it, okay?"
Ziva sobbed more into his shirt, "I have tried to not think about it, Tony."
"Shh." Tony said, and if it was even possible, he pulled her closer. He wish there was something that he could do for her, and he too, heard about the story and knew it was in Illinois, and there wasn't much he could do about it. Much like Ziva's thoughts, he wished he could go and shoot the people. But now, Tony wanted nothing more than to see his wife happy again.
And then, he had a plan.
"I know that I'm going to love Bailey more than life itself." Tony mumbled, and he felt Ziva nod into his shirt. He smiled.
She didn't even catch it.
She sat up quickly and looked him in the eyes, a small smile on her lips, "This is Bailey?" She asked, pointing to her belly.
Tony smiled.
Maybe she did catch it.
"Yes. That's Bailey." He said, and smiled even more when Ziva seemed delighted, "It's a girl."
Ziva leaned over and pressed a passionate kiss on his lips, "Thank you, Tony."
Tony nodded, happy that she was happy again. They both stood from the bed and walked into the kitchen, Tony's arm around Ziva's waist, "Now, can I ask you a question, sweetcheeks?" Ziva turned to him and nodded slightly, "What are we supposed to eat on?" Ziva chuckled and walked further into the kitchen, pulling dishes out of boxes.
Only one thing mattered now.
Bailey Raine Leah DiNozzo.