Chapter Five
Ziva woke up to the sound of knocking. Then a voice said, "Girls, get up! Breakfast in ready." Ziva sat up stretched her arms. She found her self laying on the floor and Abby only a few feet away from her. Abby was half awake and rubbing her eyes. Ziva chuckle at Abby's smeared make-up. It was all over her face. Abby smiled because she knew what Ziva was laughing about, "I'll go wash up."
"Okay," Ziva replied, "I'll go get dressed." Abby headed down the hall to the bathroom and Ziva headed up the stairs to her room. In her room, Ziva completely undressed and picked out and entirely different outfit. She'd picked out a black tank-top and cargo shorts. She pulled her wild, curly, un-brushed hair into a loose ponytail and walked downstairs to the kitchen. Abby wasn't down yet.
Jennifer smiled at Ziva and handed her a cup of OJ. Ziva thanked her and sat down on the left side of the table next to the foot of the table. Jack came down and sat across from her. "Good morning, Ziva," he said.
"Good morning, Jack," she replied.
"How do you like it here so far?"
"It's great, you guys are really kind to let me stay," Ziva told him.
"Oh, it's our pleasure," Abby commented as she sat next to Ziva. Ziva smiled at Abby.
"Alright," Jenny announced, "breakfast is here"
"What about your husband?" Ziva asked.
"At work," Jennifer replied, "Jethro is a Navy Cop at NCIS."
"My daddy is one of the best of his kind," Abby proudly announced.
"I won't be leaving for work until another hour," Jennifer added. Jennifer was now NYPD. She used to work for NCIS, but she resigned soon after she had Abby. They ate breakfast and when they all finished, Jennifer went over all of the rules. There were the usual ones for Ziva, and new ones now that Ziva was staying with them. Jack rolled his eyes at a few of them like he always did. After Jennifer left, everyone did their usual daily things and Ziva read her book and watched a TV show called Tales Of The Crypt. It was series of horror episodes of random scenarios. The first few creeped Ziva out to the point where she wanted to scream. Eventually, she got used to the gore and the insane minds of the show.
After the long and unusual day, Jennifer came home and fixed diner for everyone. An hour after they had finished eating, Gibbs arrived home with good news. He and his team had put away one of Washington's most wanted serial killers. Not only that, but they saved four lives. He sat down at the small kitchen table and ate his diner. Only seconds after he'd sat down, Ziva sauntered in and headed over towards the cabinet fro a glass. She opened the fridge and poured some juice into her glass.
"Would you grab the steak sauce out of there for me?" Gibbs asked, "It should on the bottom shelf on the door."
Ziva opened the fridge door and placed the jug of juice back in it's spot and pulled out the bottle of steak sauce. She walked over to the table and set it next to his plate. "There you go," she mumbled politely.
"Thanks," he replied. Ziva sat down at the seat across from him and leaned forward in her seat.
"I was wondering. . ." Ziva began, "why you were so interested in my family background."
Gibbs took another bite of steak and chewed for a few seconds before glancing up at her. He swallowed and said, "I guess I just wanted to know the kind of life style you lived in, what kind of family you grew up in."
"Well, it was broken one," Ziva said in a bleak voice.
"Define broken," he said.
"Well," Ziva said softly, "we were in pieces most of the time." Ziva hadn't actually talked to anyone about it. There was something about how Gibbs spoke that she almost trusted. She decided to just tell him. "My oldest brother, Gabriel, died when I was four. I never really knew him, but I knew a lot about him. When I was twelve, Mother died of cancer. My father, Eli, was in pieces when she died. I'd never seen him so sad. There have been other deaths, but I will spare you my sad stories." Gibbs nodded, his eyes locked on the surface of the table.
"I guess you guys had it rough, huh," Gibbs asked a bit softer than even he had expected.
"Yes, I guess you could say that." Gibbs finished his last bite of steak and looked Ziva in the eye.
He grinned and asked, "Can you drive?" Ziva was about to answer when he stopped her. "Hold on, let me rephrase that. Do you own a license?"
"Yes, and yes," Ziva replied in a smart voice. Gibbs nodded.
"There's an old Volvo in the garage, if you need it, it's yours during your stay. I just thought you'd like your own transportation."
"I would like that very much, thank you, Mr. Gibbs," she replied politely. Gibbs took a bite of his potatoes.
"It's just Gibbs, no 'Mr.' or anything. Or you could call me Jethro."
"Okay, Gibbs." She was half smiling. They sat in silence for a few moments while Gibbs finished his dinner. Ziva stood up and grabbed her a glass of water and headed upstairs to the room she was staying in. Once she got up there, she set her cup on her beside table and pulled out a book from the top shelf of her closet. Ziva sat down comfortably on her bed and read about a young wizard named Harry Potter. After an hour or so, she fell into a dreamless asleep.
A/N: Sorry this chapter was a bit shorter. Next chapter will be longer and will be very interesting. It should be up soon, too! Enjoy ^.^