A/N: I'm borrowing my friend's laptop while she's gone dropping off our other friends at the airport, so I thought, "Hey, she's going to be gone for awhile, I should type up my next Tower chapter and get it posted." So here it is. :) I'll be back home on Wednesday, and I plan on writing tomorrow on the plane/at the airport, so maybe I'll have another chapter ready for then!

Chapter Nine

"Ziva?" McGee put his own arms around Ziva, patting her on the back as he tried to look down and see why she was so upset. "Hey, what's wrong? Aren't you happy?"

Ziva sniffed and looked up, giving him a wobbly smile and brushing away her tears. "I am sorry. I don't . . ." She shook her head. "I suppose I just got overwhelmed."

"It's okay," McGee soothed, still running a hand down her back. "Everyone's allowed that, especially a pregnant woman finding out the sex of her baby."

Ziva laughed at that and nodded. "You are right. And I am happy." She brought her hands up to her face again and spoke into her palms. "I'm going to have a daughter."

McGee grinned at her. "That you are. And if she looks anything like you, you're going to have to beat the boys away with, well, knowing you, your bare hands." Ziva laughed and he continued. "Just don't go killing anyone. That's kinda frowned upon here in America."

Ziva reached out and slugged him in the chest and he made an exaggerated noise of pain, but then laughed and pulled her to her feet, wrapping his arms around her again. "You're gonna be an awesome mom, Ziva."

She smiled against his chest. "Thank you, Tim." She pulled away from him as the door opened and Dr. King came back in, holding a large envelope.

"Here you are," he said, handing Ziva the envelope. She took it and slid out the ultrasound scans, staring in awe at the pictures. McGee rubbed her back and then turned to Dr. King, as Ziva was distracted.

"Ah, thank you for letting me stay with her during the scan," he said, and the doctor smiled, then turned his attention back to Ziva.

"I think we're pretty much done here for the day," he said, and Ziva finally looked up, nodding. "I'll see you for your next appointment and hopefully not any sooner."

Ziva smiled at him. "Thank you." She turned to McGee. "We should get to work. I am sure Gibbs has more than enough for both of us to do."

He nodded his agreement, then turned to the doctor, holding out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Doctor King."

King shook his hand. "Likewise, Tim. You two have a good day." He left the room and McGee and Ziva followed his lead, stopping by the front desk momentarily before leaving the clinic.

Once they were back in McGee's car, McGee glanced over at Ziva. "Think you'll be able to sleep tonight?" he joked, and she rolled her eyes, a smile on her face.

"I think I will sleep," she gave him a devious look, "like a baby." McGee groaned at the awful pun, but smiled, turning the key in the ignition and pulling out into traffic and taking them to work.

When they got to NCIS, Abby was waiting for the pair at Ziva's desk. She popped to her feet as soon as she saw them. "What is it?" she asked without hesitation, and even Tony couldn't pretend he wasn't interested, as well.

"Yeah, is it a baby ninja or what?" he asked.

"That remains yet to be seen, Tony," Ziva said, then grinned. "But I do hope she will take after her mother."

"Yes!" Abby exclaimed, raising her arms in triumph and gaining the attention of a few other agents. "Oh, I knew it was a girl. Pay up, DiNozzo."

Tony growled under his breath and dug into his wallet, retrieving a $20 bill and flopping it toward Abby. But before the Goth could collect, McGee intercepted the transaction, and Abby glared at him.

"How about you spend that money on something nice for the baby?" he suggested, and Abby gave him a curious look.

"Who's saying I wasn't going to do that already, McGee?" She raised an eyebrow at him, but he had already turned to Ziva and handed her the bill.

Ziva took the proffered donation with a laugh, saying, "My very own Sir Raleigh. Whatever would I do without you?" He winked at her and Tony cleared his throat.

"Okay, okay, enough stroking the McEgo," he said. "Gibbs said to give you this," he handed Ziva a large stack of papers - or attempted to, as Ziva gave him a dirty look, leading him to plop them down on her desk, "and ordered the McGee to do some McGoogling or, well, the cop version of that." He handed McGee a Post-It with a name and address scribbled on it. "And I am going to check out Abby's results with her."

Abby's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What results?"

Tony made a vague hand motion. "You know. The results." He cleared his throat again. "Good luck and mazal tov on the Mini Me, Ziva." With that, he grabbed Abby's arm and dragged her to the elevator, leaving McGee and Ziva looking after them with amused expressions.

"Tony is acting . . . weird again," Ziva noted once they were gone.

McGee snorted. "Pretty sure he's always been weird, Ziva."

Ziva laughed in agreement and started on the paperwork as McGee grabbed his gear to head out and do a little investigating of his own.

Once in the elevator, Abby pulled a Gibbs and flipped the switch to shut down the elevator, then turned to Tony, hands on her hips. "You tell me what you're planning or else, mister."

He chuckled. "Planning? What makes you think that?"

"You're acting hinky, Tony. And I think I know why." She crossed her arms over her chest, giving him a demanding look.

"Well, can you blame me?" he said. "I don't think I'm ready for McStepdaddy quite yet."

"Tony!" Abby glared at him. "If they're happy, that's all that matters."

It was Tony's turn to give Abby a dirty look. "Oh, right, you're telling me you're going to be happy with McGee being with someone who isn't you?"

"That is not fair and you know it, DiNozzo," Abby said. "And this is different. It's Ziva."

"And you don't find that the slightest bit weird?"

Abby shrugged. "You can't control who you fall in -"

Tony clamped a hand over her mouth. "If you say 'love,' I will Gibbs slap you."

She glared at him and reached up to pry his hand from her mouth. "Well, what would you call it then, Mr. Not-Exactly-A-Relationship-Expert?"

He returned the glare. "Okay, so maybe the Probie's gotten a little caught up in the whole playing daddy role, but Ziva?" He scoffed, and Abby raised an eyebrow.

"Ziva is happier than she's been in a long time," she said, and quickly added, "and it's not just the glow of a pregnant woman. In case you forgot, this isn't exactly the happiest situation in the world." Tony had the decency to look sheepish and Abby continued. "Tim makes Ziva happy and Ziva makes Tim happy. That's all I care about."

Tony thought about her words for a few minutes, then said, "You have a point." He paused. "Doesn't mean I don't think it's weird, though."

Abby grinned and threw her arms around him. "You're a good friend sometimes, DiNozzo."

"Only sometimes?" He pouted at her and she giggled, then Tony's phone rang, interrupting them. Tony pulled it out and made a face at the caller ID. "Hi, Boss."

"You done 'checking those results yet, DiNozzo?" Gibbs' voice came over the line.

"Ah, yeah, getting back to work now, Boss."

"Have Abby slap you for me, would ya?"

The call ended and Tony narrowed his eyes at the phone, then turned to Abby. "Well, nice chatting. Gotta go." He flipped the switch on the elevator, facing the door and hoping Abby hadn't heard Gibbs' final words.

The head slap he received a few moments later proved otherwise.

That night, as Ziva climbed into bed, she found herself imagining her future. She saw herself jogging with a baby stroller, a grinning dark-haired baby girl staring up at her; teaching her daughter how to walk; sending her off to school with orders to beat up the boys if they teased her too much.

The final image brought a smile to her face, but it dimmed as she thought of how she would be doing these things alone, how her daughter would likely never know her father.

Ziva shook the thought from her head. She wasn't alone. She had the team, Tim especially. McGee. The more she thought about it, the more she found herself wishing he were the father of her child.

As soon as the thought entered her mind, she shook her head. " It was very dangerous to start thinking such things, especially about co-workers and friends. However, she also knew that regardless of what her thoughts were, McGee would remain a gentleman, and it was unlikely their relationship would suffer because of it. That was a comfort to her, and it made the idea of an uncertain future a bit more bearable.

She rolled over and turned out the light, a feeling of calm washing over her . . .

. . . but that calm was relatively short-lived, as Ziva awoke a few hours into slumber, a startled cry on her lips. She gasped and held her side as a sharp stab of pain seared through it.

She simply lay there for a moment, hoping it was a fluke, a minor trouble that would dissipate as quickly as it came. But when she chanced shifting and the pain returned even more intense, she knew what she had to do.

Ziva reached over to the nightstand, turning on the lamp and grabbing for her cell phone. She dialed a number that had become second nature to her and attempted to will the unbearable pain in her side to go away.

The person on the other end picked up, worry in his voice as he asked, "Ziva? Are you okay?"

Ziva closed her eyes as another stab of pain struck her. "Tim . . . I need you. Something's wrong."

A/N: So yeah, kinda short, but I had to leave it there. *evil smile* Mwahaha. Hope you guys enjoyed it. :) More to come soon! :)