Chapter twenty-four
Ziva tapped her knuckles on Tony's room door gently. It was early and she didn't want to wake him up unless she absolutely had to. But so far it was looking that way.
When Ziva didn't get a reply she slowly opened the door and looked in. Tony was sprawled out on the bed asleep.
Ziva silently walked in and went to his side as she glanced around the room. On the nightstand she saw a picture frame. She picked it up and looked at the picture inside. It was the one from Paris. She smiled softly and set it down. "Tony." She leaned close to his ear. "Tony wake up. I need your help."
Tony mumbled something in his sleep and shifted how he was laying.
Ziva looked at him and sighed. "Tony! Help!" She knew it'd get him up quickly.
She was right for Tony shot up in bed and looked at her, "Ziv? What's going on? Is Conner okay? Are you okay?"
Ziva nodded and sat on the edge of the bed, "yes. I am sorry. I did not intend to scare you but I need your help."
"With?" Tony yawned rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Could you go to the store for me? Conner only has one more diaper. But instead of diapers I think we should start potty training him."
"So pull-ups?" Tony asked as he sat next to Ziva now more awake.
Ziva nodded, "yes. Could you go get it for me so I can stay with him so he can sleep?"
"Sure." Tony got up and went to get dressed.
Ziva looked at the picture again when he left. She grabbed it and opened the frame. She carefully pulled the picture out and held it in her hands. The edges of the picture looked slightly frayed like it had been held a lot. She ran her finger over the edges imagining why it had been held so much. Her mind kept thinking to hers and Abby's conversation the day Tony moved them to this apartment.
"Ziva! Are you blind? Tony is like in love with you! He's crazy about you!"
"No he is not Abby."
"Ziva! He's going out of his way to let you stay at his already crowded apartment meaning, he's giving up his personal space for you-"
"Only because I asked him to help. Plus he wanted to help protect me more."
"That's another point! Timmy would've done the same to, but not with the same intensive care Tony has given you. I mean can't you see how much he loves you? Have you seen how he watches you with Conner when we're at work? He's putting up with you, and a baby that's probably a big handful, even though he's an adorable handful, and what is he asking for in return? Nothing!"
Ziva thought about it. She did have some good points. "Gibbs would do it to."
"Gibbs is…Gibbs! He'd do that for Tony if he really wanted to!" Abby sighed frustrated almost that Ziva was avoiding the truth.
"Abby this is not helping. Stop." Ziva sighed and looked at Conner hoping he'd do something to make Abby want to stop.
"But Ziva! Tony's in love with you! You're ignoring it all to. Let me tell you something that might change your mind. When you were in Iraq, Tony missed a lot of work. Wanna know why?"
Ziva sighed, "why?"
"Because you weren't there! He got in shouting matches with Gibbs! Wanna know why?"
"Because of me?" Ziva guessed.
"Yes! When he saw on the news that you we're dead, well we all thought you were dead, Timmy said he looked like he lost his whole reason to live! He was broken because you were gone! Then that whole three months after the bombing Tony was like…not even there! He'd stare at your desk crying." Ziva looked up at her friend surprised. "Yes crying. He was hiding it sometimes but I saw it. He cried over you Ziva. He missed you so much he didn't know what to do." Abby sighed. "If you still deny he loves you, your one crazy ninja."
Ziva let the smile take over her lips as she replaced the picture in its original frame. She set it on the nightstand again and got up. It touched her that Tony was that worried about her. That he kept that picture so close to him. It showed that underneath all the charm and sarcasm, Tony DiNozzo did have a heart.
Tony came into the apartment shivering the grocery bag in his hand rustling as he shivered. "Ziva, I'm back." He called as he grabbed his surprise from the bag, he slid the box into his pocket and then walked to Ziva and Conner's room after taking his shoes off. Ziva wasn't there. Neither was Conner. Confused Tony went to the living room and kitchen. Nothing. Now he was worried. He went to his room and found mother and son curled up on his bed sleeping. After he had left Conner had woken up and Ziva had gotten the ten month old to relax by bringing him to Tony's room and laying down with him.
Tony smiled and relaxed. He went back to Ziva's room and set the grocery bag on her bed and then went back to his room and silently put his surprise into a drawer in his dresser. Ziva and Conner stayed asleep the whole time.
Tony looked at them and smiled. He hoped that the next week would be great. Especially since he got Ziva a present for Christmas that was a week and two days away. The present was going to be one that she'd love more than anything to.