AN: Hey guys! I know, I know, it's been a long time since I updated this. I was going to go further with this chapter but I figured I'd pot it so I'd have something. I hope you enjoy it! Please review!

Peace

McFudge

Ziva woke up and it took her a while to realize where she was. She was crashed on the couch, leaning on Tony, with Kate next to her. Given by the position of the sun, Ziva guessed that it couldn't be far past 6 AM. She extracted herself from the couch and tangle of limbs and went upstairs and put on her swim suit. She pulled her hair into a cap, went to the pool, put on her goggles and started to do her laps for the day. In Israel, the water had been a good respite from the heat. Ziva continued to swim, getting in lap after lap, pushing herself and working hard.

Meanwhile, Jenny and Jethro were just getting up. Gibbs had to go to work that day but Jen was taking the morning off to register Abby and Ziva for high school. She went downstairs and was surprised to see that Ziva was no longer on the couch with the rest of the kids. Jen looked in Ziva's room and then finally came across Ziva doing laps in the pool. She watched for a while. Ziva really was a good swimmer. Eventually, she stopped and Ziva was surprised to see Jen watching her.

"Oh hello Jenny. I did not know you were there."

"I just got up. Jethro is getting ready for work and I thought I'd come check on everyone. You are a good swimmer."

"It is one of the few exercises my father had us do that I actually enjoyed."

"Your new school has a swim team. Perhaps we could look into that today at registration. We could get the forms you need to sign up for swim team."

"I would like that. Thank you Jenny."

"I think the rest of the kids should be getting up soon. Would you like to continue swimming or get ready?"

"I think I will get ready now before I have to share the bathroom."

Ziva went upstairs and hopped into the shower. On teenage girl standards she moved incredibly fast. In fact, on anyone's standards she was moving very fast. When she was out of the shower, Ziva pulled on a pair of athletic shorts and what seemed to be a Nike shirt with Hebrew lettering.

By the time Ziva got downstairs the rest of the teenagers were starting to stir. It seemed that they did not sleep as long as usual when on a couch.

At 7 all 5 of them were in the kitchen, mostly sleepy- eyed in pjs and with bedhead. Of course, Ziva was an exception.

"I'm taking Ziva and Abby to go get registered today at about 10:00. Tony, Kate, do you know when your Grandpa's going to take you?" Jenny asked. She was making breakfast with Ziva's help.

"I don't know, probably any time." Tony said, stifling a yawn.

"Hey maybe we could all go together!" Abby squealed. It was amazing that that girl could be so energetic at 7 AM.

"I think my mom will take me anytime as well." McGee added. Although his real name was Timothy, or Tim, most people called him McGee. Abby was the only one allowed to call him Timmy. They had been dating on and off since middle school but they had stayed friends. If anything, somehow the breakups brought them closer. Most days after school McGee would come over so Abby wouldn't be all alone with Jen and Gibbs at work. Along with Kate and Tony, McGee no longer counted as company. In a way all five of them were Jenny and Gibbs' adopted children.

"Alright then. How about we all meet at school at 10:00?" Jen suggested.

There was a general consensus. Then the kids ate their breakfast and gathered their things so they could go home and get ready for registration.

Abby and Ziva headed upstairs.

"So what are you going to wear?" Abby asked.

"What do you mean?" Ziva asked.

"Oh yeah I forgot you didn't know. Every year at registration you get your yearbook picture taken."

"Well I do not have much to wear." Ziva replied.

"Oh that's okay, I'll help you find something!" Abby was excited to get to help Ziva with her wardrobe. She was a teenage girl after all.

The girls dug through Ziva's suitcase and eventually came out with a decent outfit. Ziva wore a cute pair of green cargo pants and a simple blue v-neck with her gold Star of David necklace. Her outfit wasn't fancy or dressy but it was very Ziva. They went to leave her room and as Ziva went she started to fasten her knife in its leg sheath to her shin.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Abby exclaimed. She did grow up with two special agents as parents but she wasn't used to kids her age with knives of that size and she definitely wasn't used to them wearing their knives.

"What? I always have at least one knife on me." Ziva replied. She was very surprised by Abby's reaction. In Israel, everyone had a knife on them, even five year olds.

"In America, we don't have knives on us. In fact, if you bring knives to school you can get expelled. That applies to any and all weapons."

"Oh, well that is very different. I will try to remember. However please stop me if I do revert to carrying it without meaning to."

"I'll try. You don't have a gun do you?" Abby just wanted to make sure.

"No, I was not allowed to bring it."

"Well, it's good that you don't. I don't think it's even legal for kids our age to have guns." Abby said. She was relieved because they could have gotten in a lot of trouble for having a gun.

Ziva flashed back to the nine year olds she had seen walking around with AK-47s and really started to realize how different America was. "I will keep that in mind. Shall we go get your outfit picked out?"

"Ok!"

The two of them spent a good 20 minutes digging through Abby's significantly larger collection of clothes and jewelry.

In the end Abby's hair was pulled into her signature high ponytails and she was wearing a spiky dog collar with spiky bracelets. Her tartan mini skirt was paired with black fishnet tights and a t-shirt with a logo for the band Brain Matter. Like Ziva, she looked very much herself.

The girls went downstairs and watched TV for awhile. Ziva was very entertained by the cop shows. They were nothing like anything she had seen in Israel. At one point during her channel surfing Abby selected a reality TV show. Ziva was baffled.

Before they knew it, it was time to go. The three of them got in the car, drove the high school , and as they walked in, Ziva was full of excitement towards starting a new chapter of her life.