Rifiuto: Non Miriena
The strong scent of hot coffee reached his nose, and he stretched, getting up. As he came into the kitchen, he found her sitting at the table, lost in thought. "Good morning."
"Morning, Ima." She chuckled as the boy yawned, and dropped into the chair next to his mother.
"Did you sleep well?" The boy nodded. "Good. Did Abba keep the nightmares away?" The boy's head snapped up, green eyes in shock. She chuckled. "I woke up last night, and found you sound asleep with Abba. It is okay, if he can keep the nightmares away, then that is fine-"
"Morning." Both looked up as Tim entered, fixing the collar of his white button-down. The blue jeans he wore gave him a very casual look, and Ziva found herself blushing like a schoolgirl. As he poured a cup of coffee and took a sip, meeting Ziva's gaze. "So, have you considered my suggestion?" Her blush rose deeper, and Asher glanced between his parents, suddenly hopeful.
"We are going to live in an apartment? As a family?" Tim shrugged, clearly putting it all on Ziva's shoulders. Asher turned to his mother, bright green eyes shining with something she hadn't seen before. A moment passed, as Ziva chewed her bottom lip, weighing the options.
What harm could it do, if they looked at apartments? All of Tim's arguments made sense- they did share Asher, he was their son, and they currently had no place to put their things when they did arrive from Tel Aviv. And, no matter how many years passed since their night together as teenagers, they were inexplicably linked together, through Asher. He was their son, their DNA ran in his veins, and he deserved to have his father in his life. He deserved to have what other children had, what neither Tim nor Ziva had ever had: a family.
He deserved to have both his parents there for him, not like it had been the first eight years of his short life, living in Be'er Sheva, with his mother, while his father had been ripped from their lives before Asher had ever made his existence even known. He deserved to have Tim there, to teach him the important things a man needed to know, to help him with his homework and answer his questions about girls. He knew the story of his parents' whirlwind love affair, the single night that had resulted in his conception, and the months of loneliness his mother had endured before giving birth to him. Yes, he knew his parents' backstory, but that was the past. Their present and future was here, with Tim.
Finally, she glanced at Asher before meeting Tim's emerald gaze. A moment passed, before she spoke. "I agree, Tim. I think... I think that is exactly what Asher needs. What we all need. A family." She nodded, becoming more and more sure of her words. "Ken. We are a family, and to be a family, we need a place of our own. We need a home." Asher let out a yelp of excitement and launched off his chair, throwing himself into Ziva's arms.
"Toda, Ima! Toda!" She chuckled softly, wrapping her son in her arms and pressing a kiss to his head before he rushed to Tim and threw his arms around his father. "Toda, Abba! I will go get dressed!" Then, without a look back, he rushed back towards the bedrooms. Tim chuckled, glancing at Ziva.
"So," She sighed. "How, exactly, do we start looking for a new home?"
"Are you sure we cannot do this on our own?" She asked, following Tim up the steps towards the brownstone in Georgetown they were interested in looking at. They'd spent half the morning looking at various apartments and townhouses all over the D.C., area, before finally agreeing that an apartment would probably be best for them at this point. He sighed as they stopped outside the apartment door, waiting for Asher to catch up.
"In my experience, I've found that it's easier to go through someone who knows the business, because they often have insights on apartments you wouldn't find on your own." Once Asher joined them, he took Ziva's hand as Tim pushed the door open and stepped inside Apartment Two-Thirty-Four. The realtor was just finishing up with another couple, and smiled to them as the last couple exited.
"You must be Mr. McGee and Ms. David. I'm glad you could make it." After quickly shaking hands, they were shown the apartment- a nice split level, almost octagonal in shape, four bedroom in a nice, semi-residential area of Georgetown. The beautiful brick and white mortar walls gave it a the feel of a time gone by. The kitchen was moderately sized, with beautiful white cupboards all along the far wall, a nice breakfast nook, big enough for a small dining table, and a good sized island in the center. There was a nice entryway, that led down into the slightly split-level living room by way of two steps. There were at least four big vertical rectangular windows against the left brick wall of the living room, with a fireplace facing them. There was a door just off the wall between the fireplace and kitchen- a linen closet, and then down the hall, were the three bedrooms: the master, with a nice-sized bathroom, and two smaller rooms, with a small bathroom to be shared between the three smaller rooms.
"It is beautiful." Ziva whispered, unable to take her gaze from the living room they'd returned to, afraid she'd miss something. The realtor grinned.
"How about I let you all look around, and meet back downstairs in the lobby." She nodded, not noticing as he left them alone in the apartment.
"Tim, I know you liked some of the other apartments we looked at, but this... this is absolutely- Tim?" She finally looked around, realizing she was alone in the living room, and then, headed back to the bedrooms. "Tim?"
"In here, Ziva." She pushed the door to the smaller back bedroom open, finding Tim leaning against the wall. Each bedroom also had a slight octagonal shape, giving the apartment a slightly cozier feel. There small, slightly cutoff corners could be turned into a small reading nook or play area if so desired.
"What are you-" He nodded into the room, and she followed his gaze; Asher was walking back and forth along the small area, talking to himself. "What is he doing?" Tim glanced at her.
"Apparently, he wants that to be his reading area. He's trying to decide where to put his bookcases and his desk." Ziva nodded, understanding only slightly.
"But if we do not choose-"
"He thinks we're going to. According to our son, this is absolutely the best apartment we've looked at so far, and it wants us to be the people that live here. Can you believe that?" Ziva raised an eyebrow.
"Ken, I can." She replied, leaning back against the wall and looking at him. She leaned close, eyes darting briefly to his lips. "Because I feel the same way."