"I can't believe this is really our baby," Tony held the sonogram picture in his hands, gazing at it in absolute awe. Inside he felt like a kid in a candy store, bursting with excitement. He felt like he wanted to rush out and get all the baby things they would need; a crib, clothing, toys, everything. He knew it was still quite a few months before they could do that, but he could hardly wait.
Stirring her mug of hot tea, Ziva leaned against the kitchen counter, bringing the rim of the mug to her lips, "Pretty amazing, huh?" Taking a sip of her tea, Ziva let out a content sigh. "I can't believe that he or she is so tiny and in just four weeks our baby will be twice that size,"
"Oooh! When do we find out the sex?" Tony asked eagerly, grinning like a little child who had just been told school was cancelled.
"Possibly at twenty weeks, depending on whether this little one has moved into the right place, but that's only a possibility," Maternally, Ziva placed her hand over her stomach, the corners of her lips turning upwards into a smile at the feel of her small bump, "But I suppose being half DiNozzo, I'm guessing doing things quickly isn't really on our little one's agenda, so it might have to wait,"
Tony laughed softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "This little DiNozzo might just surprise you, Sweetcheeks," His hands casually rested on her waist, his gaze locking with her own, "Besides, surprises are kind of what these past few weeks have all been about,"
Placing her mug behind her on the counter, Ziva loosely hung her arms around Tony's neck, "And the next few weeks as well. Not particularly sure that international flights were on our to-do list," Her gaze dropped slightly, thoughts about heading back to her home nation, and all its memories, causing a worrying feeling of doubt to form, "It will not be pleasant, you know,"
"I'm more than aware of that, but try not to think about it too much. I know it's going to be hard, and I'm still reluctant to let you go, but it should only be for a couple of weeks," Tony lightly trailed his fingers through her hair, cupping her cheek in his palm, "We can tell Gibbs and the rest of the team about this before we leave, and that'll relieve us of one issue, right?"
"Actually, Tony, could we not tell them just yet?" Ziva asked, hopefully. She knew that it was going to be something they would both have to do sooner or later, but there was just one thing holding her back from doing it sooner. She knew there was something, but she couldn't quite isolate what it was. Perhaps it was because of the possible consequences, or maybe the uncertainty of what would happen, or perhaps it was just not the time but there was definitely a feeling in her gut which warned her to be careful of who, how and when they told the truth.
Thinking back to the meeting which had taken place between himself and the Director a few hours previous, Tony sighed. He had known how strongly Ziva felt about not telling anybody, and he had always wanted to respect that, but now he was holding back information which he couldn't keep a secret any longer. He felt awful, guilty even, about revealing it, but he had to tell her the truth. Honesty was always the key to moving forward, and when a baby was involved, steps backwards were not an option, "Ziva, there's something you should know,"
"What is it?" Ziva tilted her head to the side, looking up to her partner. A million and one things rushed through her mind, only hoping that he wasn't about to admit to one of the negative ones.
Releasing a deep breath, Tony gathered his thoughts quickly, figuring out what he was going to say. "Earlier, when I was talking with Vance, the subject of you and I came up. Somehow I managed to slip in that you were pregnant. Nothing much was said about it, and after that, I left but Director Vance knows about us and also that we're having a baby,"
Taking in his words, Ziva just shook her head, sipping out of the embrace of his arms. "How could you not tell me this?" She stood with her hands firmly placed on her hips, her big brown eyes directed clearly at Tony. She felt almost betrayed that he hadn't told her before, and the fact that honesty was supposed to play a big role in their relationship made matters worse.
"I-I didn't want to worry you before the doctor's appointment. It just slipped, I wasn't planning on telling anyone and I wouldn't have since you don't want anyone to know yet. I'm sorry, Zi, but I just thought…I don't know, that it was best not to tell you before now," Tony knew he'd hurt her, and it felt like their whole world was just crumbling before them simply because he hadn't told one thing.
"You know we're supposed to be honest with one another!" Ziva's voice involuntarily raised in volume slightly, her emotion starting to crack in her tone.
Tony sighed, leaning against the worktop, "I know, and I've told you now, haven't I?"
Ziva scoffed, shaking her head as her gaze lowered to the floor, "Don't, Tony. You told the Director of our agency, but some of our closest friends don't even know. I can't believe you'd not tell me,"
"This is just your hormones talking now," Tony muttered, pushing his fingers through his hair.
"Oh well I'm sorry for being pregnant, Tony!" She replied, throwing her hands up into the air in protest, "Sorry this is such a pressure for you! Not like you have to deal with carrying this child around for the next six months,"
Pushing himself off the counter, Tony paced up and down a small area of the kitchen, his hands shoved into his pockets, "Oh, so this is my fault now?" His eyes narrowed, the realisation that they were heading towards a full blown argument not even entering his mind.
"Well, yes! This could hardly have happened without you. Mind you, with your track record, I'm surprised it didn't happen before this."
Tony laughed, a sound which would echo proudly in a hall, "Wow, Ziva. You might want a little life lesson here; it takes two to make a baby, so this is our doing, not just mine. We said that we would stick together through this, and you know that I meant every word of that. I'm sorry that I slipped, but they have to know sometime! You heard what the doctor said, and it's just going to get harder to hide."
"If this was any other woman, you would have run a mile by now!" Ziva shouted, throwing hand gestures all over the place. Her Middle Eastern accent became much thicker as she argued her point. "What's so different about this, hm? You could have walked out from day one, but you didn't. Why, huh?"
"Wow, your hormones can be a bitch! You know damn well why I didn't walk out. We promised to stick together on this. None of this was ever planned, and I said that I'd stick by you no matter what," Tony spat back, resisting the urge to finally tell her why he had actually, truly stayed.
Ziva's lips fell slightly apart at his words. They'd certainly hit a nerve, one which twisted and contorted in unusual ways. Swallowing hard, she bit back her emotions, just giving Tony a pained look. Somehow, she managed to prevent the tears which had threatened to fall onto her burning cheeks. "Well if this is sticking together, then I don't want to know about it," Briskly walking past Tony, her shoulder brushing against his, she headed for the front door. Her hand had just latched onto the door handle when she felt his hand on her shoulder.
"Ziva, wait," Tony pleaded, getting her to turn to face him. One look in her eyes made him realise how wrong he had been, and how much upset his doing had caused. "Please, don't end this. I'm sorry for what I did and all that was said back there. I truly am,"
Blinking back the tears, Ziva just quietly let out a deep breath, somehow managing to bring her anger back down, "You lied to me, Tony," she stated simply but softly. "How much longer would you have kept that a secret unless we'd talked tonight?" Shaking her head, Ziva twisted the door handle, pulling open the front door to Tony's apartment, "I just need some time to think. I guess I'll see you at the airport," Giving one final look back, Ziva stepped out, closing the door behind her.
The sound of the door hitting the frame felt like a bullet slicing through his chest. The day had been near perfect, rounded off with a wonderful, successful doctor's appointment, and then all that came smashing down due to one tiny detail. It was as if Tony could physically feel the question marks hanging over their relationship. Suddenly, the question of whether their relationship could sustain the weight of those question marks was more difficult that first expected.
A/N :- aww, okay, I was a little iffy about writing this chapter but then, every couple argue. PLEASE tell me what you think, and I'm also open to any ideas So, review, review, review!