Hey guys! I am back! But, not in the physical state. Because, well...SURPRISE! I am in Israel, still. And I will be for a while. In fact...I moved back here!

Yeah, I know...big decision. Well, when I visited a few weeks ago..I fell in love all over again, and I just could not tear myself away, so I decided to just stay! I renewed my citizenship two days ago, and I now have dual citizenship in Israel and the United States of America! My parents and brother actually went back to the States, and they are going to mail my things to me as soon as possible. I decided to just move in with my older cousin (whose name happens to be Kinneret :) and her husband. So, here I am back in Tel Aviv!

Home sweet home.

But, anyways...on with the story!

Ziva winced as the door loudly creaked behind her. She REALLY needed to get that fixed.

Kinsey's head immediately shot up from the couch. "You just got in?" She asked groggily. Ziva nodded. "Wow. They really do work you guys hard, huh?"

Ziva smiled. "It is worth it."

"So, did you get him?" The young girl yawned.

"The bad guy? Yeah. It was exactly who McGee said he was. We went in and found him at his house two hours ago. He came with us pretty easily. No shots were fired or anything. It was an easy night." She responded, dropping her bag and keys on the kitchenette counter.

"I would not call 'working until 2am' an 'easy night.'" Kinsey teased.

"Oh, be quiet. Why are you not asleep anyways?" Ziva switched the subject.

"I was. That is until YOU woke me up." She taunted. Ziva smiled as she noticed that her cousin had teased her twice in a row. Maybe it would not be so hard to loosen her up after all.

"I think SOMEone has spending too much time with Tony."

Kinsey smirked. "I am not the only one."

"What?" Ziva's head shot up.

Kinsey's innocent smile returned. "Oh, nothing."

"It's not 'nothing.' You said something. What did you say?"

"Oh, I was just marveling at these wonderful photos here." She practically sang.

"Huh?" She walked over to see what Kinsey was talking about. She quickly gasped and snatched them from her cousin's hands. "Give those back!"

"I am guessing your boyfriend does not know about these, huh?"

"He is NOT my boyfriend. And of course he knows. It was Christmas two years ago. The team all decided to spend the holiday together since none of really have family around here."

"Well then how come there are no pictures of anyone else?" This brought an uncharacteristic blush to Ziva's face.

"Because….because I lost them!" Ziva nodded sharply, satisfied with her excuse.

"Anyone ever told you that you are a horrible liar?" Kinsey quirked an eyebrow.

Ziva sighed, and hunched her shoulders. "Once or twice." Kinsey continued staring, obviously waiting for an explanation. "Listen, the relationship between Tony and I is…complicated. We are more than partners, but not a lot more. We are like…brother and sister!" Ziva smiled, obviously content with another excuse.

"Brothers do not hold mistletoe over their sister's head and stand there with puckered lips." Kinsey pointed out, holding up another photo. Ziva snatched it up as well.

"Go to sleep." With that, she whacked Kinsey with a pillow and strutted off to her own room.

"Whatever you say, Mrs. DiNozzo!" Kinsey called after her. Ziva rolled her eyes. Too much time with Tony, indeed.

As she changed and hopped into bed, she thought about the night's events. It had been a very bad night, but a very good one at the same time. She did not enjoy crying and feeling so weak as she admitted her past to Tony, but it definitely felt good to get it off of her chest and have someone's shoulder to cry on. And being as that shoulder belonged to Tony…well, that was definitely a plus.

She could not help but think about Tony's words. Ziva, she needs to live with you. He was right, of course, but could she do that?

Was she willing to accept all the responsibilities that came with raise a kid? Sure, Kinsey was fifteen and could do most things for herself, but Ziva's lifestyle would be changed. Rules would have to be enforced, boundaries set, punishments given, transportation provided (at least until she got her license), food would have to be made for two, work hours may have to be adjusted, and so much more.

But there was no way she could put Kinsey in an orphanage. She would NOT risk Kinsey's life again. She had been there and done that. And this time, Tali was not there to slap some sense into her.

She mentally juggled the pros and cons to letting Kinsey move in with her. It was too hard of a decision for so late at night, she finally decided. She would just have to sleep on it and decided in the morning.

After an hour of tossing and turning, she decided that she needed help. And there was only one person that she could think of who knew anything about raising kids.

"Gibbs?" She called hopefully, into the phone.

"Yeah. What's up, Ziver? You alright?" His voice echoed the way it could only if he was in a basement.

"Not really."

"Why? What's wrong?" The panic in his voice did not go unnoticed at the sound of one of his 'kids' having a hard time.

"Well, I have a decision to make. And it's a hard one."

He sighed in relief that she was not hurt. "Okay. Well, how can I help you?"

"Well, I know you never like to talk about Kelly…or Shannon, but I need your insight."

"Ziva, maybe this isn't the best time. We can talk later. You should be sleepi-"

"No, Gibbs. I need to talk to you now. As in…NOW now. Not later."

He sighed."Alright, what's going on?"

"Well, you know Kinsey, right?" He gave an unintelligible grunt, translating from 'Gibbs speak' to 'duh.' "Okay, well…her parents are both dead. She has no siblings. My father is her only uncle. And Tali, Ari, and I are her only cousins. Obviously, my siblings are out of the question. Along with my father. Well, Gibbs, that is where it gets tricky. She needs a place to stay. Like…permanently. Or at least until she turns eighteen or when she wants to move out."

"Hmm…so she is asking you?"

"Well, not exactly. We kind of got into a fight the other day and I think she is embarrasses to ask me."

"Then, how do you know she wants to move in with you?"

"She talked to Tony, and he talked to me."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"So…"

"So…?"

"Make the decision. And you better make it fast."

"That is all you are going to tell me? I called you for advice, not just to hear someone else repeat what I already said."

"Ziva, this is big. I can't make the decision for you."

"Well, I was hoping you could at least help me out! I mean…you had a daughter. You know what it is like to raise a kid. Can I do it?"

"Ziva, I think that you can do anything you set your mind to. But that's just it. You HAVE to set your mind to it. Raising a daughter is a big deal, especially at Kinsey's age. You have to be ready and prepared. I think you are, but do YOU think you are? Because, in the end…that's what's going to make the difference between you having joy or being constantly stressed."

"So, you really think I should let her move in?"

"I never said 'should.' I said 'could.' It's up to you, Ziva."

She sighed. "Alright. I will let you get back to sleep. Sorry to bother you."

"Eh, don't worry about it. I wasn't asleep anyways."

"Goodnight."

"Night, Ziver."

"And Gibbs?" She added, quickly.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." His response was another grunt and then the dial tone in her ear.

She couldn't help but smile. It was such a Gibbs-y way of 'you're welcome'. And even though their conversation did not go as she had planned, she now knew what she needed to do.

Read, review, repeat!

~Avigaill