She sits in a chair, in a waiting room. She fights off sleep. Jonah sleeps in her arms. Her arms have long ago fallen asleep, from the weight of the baby. She stares at the people around her. Abby is the first to make eye contact. She rises from her seat, and moves towards Ziva. She lifts the carseat, and the diaper bag sitting in front of Ziva, off the ground. She smiles.
"Come on, I'm taking your home."
"But he's not done yet."
"You're going to go home, and get some sleep. You can come back in the morning," Abby insists.
"But..." she attempts to argue.
"Let's go," Abby demands.
"Ok," Ziva concedes, knowing that it's an argument she won't win.
Abby drives her home, and helps her carry Jonah's stuff into the apartment. Abby leaves, to go back to the hospital, leaving Ziva alone with Jonah.
She undresses the baby. She puts a fresh diaper on him, and clean clothes. She places him in his cradle, and heads into the bathroom, for a quick shower. When she returns from the bathroom, she finds that Jonah is wide awake. He stares at her, silently. He doesn't make a sound. He just stares up at her, with big blue eyes.
She scoops him out of the basinet, and holds him closely. He watches her. She kisses his face. She pats him, until he falls back asleep. Once he's sound asleep she returns him to his cradle. She climbs into bed, and eventually she falls to sleep.
0800- Without opening her eyes she realizes that someone else is in the room with her. She hears drawers opening, and closing. She listens for a few seconds. The opening and closing stops. She opens her eyes, and finds that Tony is standing in front of her, with his back to her. He stands over the cradle, with the baby in his arms.
"Is he awake?" she inquires.
He turns around, and looks at her.
"You want him?"
"I know that he's awake. That isn't who I meant."
"No, he's not awake yet," DiNozzo reveals.
"Did you get any sleep last night?"
"No. We waited for them to get done, forever. They finally finished, and sent him to recovery. None of us were allowed to see him, in recovery, so we had to wait some more. Around four o'clock they finally sent him to his room."
"I'm going to go to the hospital."
"Can't you wait? I want to get some sleep."
"Then go to sleep."
"Who is going to take you?"
"I can drive," Ziva reminds him.
"But..."
"You stay here."
"I..."
"With the baby."
"I don't have the right equipment for that," he reminds her.
"There are bottles in the fridge."
"When did you get baby formula?"
"I didn't."
"Oh."
"So will you be alright, if I go?"
"Yes, we'll be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, momma bear, we will be fine."
"Are you going to change him?"
"Change him? He's a baby. He can wear pajamas all day."
"His diaper."
"Of course I will."
"I mean now."
"Do you want to watch me do it?"
"No, I am going to go get dressed."
"Then why do I have to change it, right now."
"Because you need to."
"It's not full."
"Just change it," she insists.
When she comes out of the closet, after managing to find some clothes she finds Tony tying a plastic bag up.
"You were right, it was full," he tells her.
"I'm leaving. I'll see you later."
"What, I don't even get a kiss?"
She kisses him, and then kisses Jonah.
"Love you, bye," Tony calls after her, as she leaves the room.
"Love you, too," she answers.
"Love you more," he replies.
"I heard that," she calls from the other room.
Tony looks at the little guy in his arms. "You have to be very careful what you say Jonah, your mommy has ninja hearing."
"I heard that too," she adds, as she opens the door, to leave the apartment.
Tony rolls his eyes. He hears the door close. He looks at Jonah, who is wide awake.
"So little man, what are we going to do, today?"
Jonah closes his eyes.
"You want to nap? That sounds like a splendid idea, mind if I join you? Not in your basinet, of course, we can't both fit in there. I'll sleep in the bed. Sound like a plan?"
He places Jonah back into the basinet. He climbs into bed, and closes his eyes. He falls asleep rather quickly.
Hours later he awakens to a fussy baby. He opens his eyes, and sits up, in bed. He climbs out of bed, and wonders over to Jonah. Without a second thought he proceeds to change the baby's diaper. He then heads for the kitchen, and grabs a bottle.
He turns some coffee on while he warms up Jonah's bottle. He stands in the kitchen, watching the baby, as he drinks his bottle.
"So, are you going to have ninja hearing too? And impeccable timing too, I'm sure."
Jonah ignores him, and focuses on eating his bottle.
"And because you're around me, you'll be able to tune everything out, when you eat, won't you?"