It was four in the morning and Ziva and Gibbs were sitting in the airport. Well, Gibbs was sitting holding Sienna in his arms, Ziva was nervously pacing back and forth as she tried to calm herself down.
"Ziver?" Gibbs asked softly.
"I'm sorry… I'm just really nervous… I never even met Adi in real life… I've seen pictures and I've talked to her on the phone… And it's been such a long time since I saw Micah and Leah… What if they…" Ziva began to panic again.
"Everything is going to be fine." Gibbs assured her. Moments later the arrivals board rang and the flight from Tel Aviv changed from Arriving to Arrived.
"They're here." Ziva said, clearly panicked as she ran toward the gate.
"Calm down Ziva. They'll be the first ones off the plane accompanied by the flight attendant." Gibbs reminded her softly, trying not to bother the already squirming infant in his arms.
It took several minutes but the three emerged from the gate accompanied by the flight attendant as promised. "Ziva!" Leah and Micah cried excitedly. Ziva felt tears in her eyes at the sight of the three. Leah was wearing a dirty pair of jeans and a loose grey sweatshirt. In her arms she was clutching onto Adi who was wearing an equally stained pair of jeans and a faded red jacket over a long sleeved blue shirt. Micah was also wearing jeans, his containing several holes, and he was wearing an equally faded blue jacket over his dirty white tee shirt. She knew they were coming with nothing, but didn't know exactly what it meant until now.
Ziva could feel the three bodies around her, but didn't know how to respond, so she simply smiled and awkwardly hugged the three of them. Finally Leah spoke up. "Ziva, you haven't met Adi." She said as she hiked the small girl on her hip. "Adi say hi to Ziva."
Adi looked over at her but said nothing. Ziva smiled at the little girl. "Hello Adi." She said finally. She wasn't prepared for the little girl to burst into tears.
Leah looked down at her little sister. "Mitescere Adi." She tried to calm her sister, who was most familiar with Latin. "Haec cura nobis Ziva quae deferretur." Leah looked over at Ziva awkwardly. "She's not usually this fussy." She tried to assure her.
"It's fine Leah… I'm used to a fussy little girl of my own." Ziva said pointing to Sienna in Gibbs' arms.
"You had a baby?" Leah asked excitedly and Adi looked over at the infant.
"Baby?" Adi asked curiously.
Ziva nodded as she took Sienna from Gibbs' arms. "Adi meet Sienna." She said gently. Adi quickly wriggled her way out of her sister's arms so that she could see Sienna better.
Adi looked at the infant with fascination. She gently opened and closed her hands as she waved at her. "Ziva is she my sister?" Adi asked quietly.
Ziva looked down at her with a small smile. "No sweetie. But it's going to be like she is because she'll live with us." She said gently.
Gibbs noted when Micah yawned deeply and leaned against his older sister. "Ziver it might be time to get these three to bed. They've been flying for quite some time."
Ziva nodded and handed Sienna to Gibbs so he could put her back in her carrier. "Alright kids." She said to get their attention. "This is Gibbs and we're going to be staying at his house for a little while."
"Is Gibbs our new daddy?" Micah asked, scrutinizing every inch of Gibbs.
Ziva turned bright red. " No… I'm not seeing anybody right now." She informed him awkwardly.
"How do you have a baby if she doesn't have a daddy?" Micah asked, clearly confused.
"Yeah, how do you?" Gibbs asked, his eyes wide in surprise. Had Ziva and Tony split up?
"It's complicated." Ziva said before shooting Gibbs a glare. "He's just a friend. You'll meet him soon."
"Ziver?" Gibbs questioned again.
"NOT NOW!" Ziva yelled back angrily scaring Adi, in her own right. "Oh Adi… I'm so sorry… I'm just a little wound up right now." She assured her before picking her up.
Adi simply squirmed until Ziva put her back down and she ran to Leah. "I want ima."
Leah looked sympathetically at Ziva as she picked up her little sister. "Shhhh. It's okay Adi. Everything's okay." She comforted.
"Come on, let's get home." Ziva said softly as she took hold of Micah's hand and headed to the parking garage.
"Leah you and Adi can sleep in here." Ziva said quietly, trying not to wake up Adi who was asleep in Leah's arms, as she opened the door to the guest room. "Gibbs is going to be in the basement and I'll be down the hall in the bedroom. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask."
Leah nodded thankfully before going in and shutting the door behind herself. Ziva sighed before going back to the living room to retrieve Sienna. She was walking down the hall when she heard the front door open and close. She immediately pulled out her SIG and prepared for the worst when she turned the corner. She was surprised to see Tony standing there holding Sienna.
"What are you doing?" Ziva hissed angrily, putting her gun back in its holster. "You can't just walk into someone else's house and pick up someone else's kid!"
"Ziva she's my daughter too!" Tony argued.
"DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked angrily. "Breaking up with Ziva without telling me wasn't enough for you, you have to keep it up and sneak into my house in the middle of the night to see her?"
"I didn't break up with Ziva!" Tony exclaimed, clearly confused. "We weren't ever together!"
"What?" Gibbs asked, in shock.
Ziva rolled her eyes. "I wanted to tell you but Tony insisted…"
Tony turned to her angrily. "I wasn't the one who wanted to keep her!" He exclaimed. "All I got out of this was tied down. Everyone thinks we're dating!"
"We're as good as Tony!" Ziva yelled back, no longer suppressing her anger.
"I would never date you Ziva. We were drunk okay? Why can't you just accept the fact that I will never love you and move on?" Tony asked angrily. Ziva's eyes were suddenly wide with hurt. "No… Zi that's not what I meant…" He tried to fix the situation, but it was too late.
The tears were falling. "How could you?" She asked feeling so much pain all at once.
"Zi…" Tony tried.
"NO!" Ziva yelled back. "If I'm such a burden for you then you don't deserve to see me or your daughter, so just leave… and NEVER come back." She said angrily before running down the hall and into the bedroom.
"Gibbs?" Tony asked quietly.
"Get out DiNozzo." Gibbs said sternly as he took Sienna from his arms. "And don't come back."
"Gibbs I know you want to fire me… But you have to…" Tony tried to beg.
"NO! I don't have to anything." Gibbs said angrily. "And you should know I would fire you if I could, but what my agents do on their personal time is none of my business. So if you want to keep your job I would suggest you don't let it interfere at the office."
Tony hung his head as he left.
Gibbs set the sleeping infant back into her playpen set up in the living room before moving down the hallway. He knocked gently on the doorway. "GO AWAY TONY!" Ziva's voice rang angrily back at him.
Gibbs cracked the door. "It's me Ziver." He informed her before moving into the room. He sat next to her and ran his fingers through the curls in her hair. "You alright?"
Ziva shook her head, burying her face further into the pillow, trying to hide the pain.
"It hurts me too Ziver. To see you and Abby both in so much pain." He said softly. "I wish there was something I could do."
"Kill him." Ziva said softly.
"Ziva… do you love him?" Gibbs asked her gently.
"Of course not." Ziva replied, her voice wavering.
"Ziva." Gibbs chided.
Fresh tears made their way to her cheeks. "I think I do…" She admitted softly.
"Ziver it's okay to love people." Gibbs reminded her gently.
Ziva shook her head. "I always end up so hurt." She said softly.
Gibbs sighed gently as he helped her sit up. "Maybe it would help if you knew why you love Tony." He suggested.
Ziva wiped her eyes. "He's the only person who was always there." She admitted quietly. "He's hurt me, but he's never left me."
"Ziver…"
"No Gibbs you don't understand… This isn't something you can understand. He risked his life to rescue me in Somalia… He protected me from my father… He was there with me every step of the way during my pregnancy. Even though he didn't want the baby, he knew that letting me do it by myself would only hurt me. He's never left me…" Ziva explained. "Something I've never known from anyone else."
"That means a lot to you doesn't it Ziva?" Gibbs asked, even though he knew the answer, he just thought maybe she didn't.
"Tony… Tony means everything to me…" She said in-between sobs. "When he said… when he said… he'd never love me…"
"Shhhh." Gibbs said gently. "Everything's going to work out."
Suddenly there was a timid knock on the door. "Ziva?" Leah's voice came softly through the door.
"Come in sweetheart." Ziva replied as she furiously wiped away her tears.
"Are you okay?" Leah asked softly.
"Sweetheart, you need to know that life's a little bit complicated for us right now. Don't take that to mean I don't want, or love you, because I absolutely do love and want you." Ziva explained quietly. "There's a lot of people you'll meet later today, who are struggling with a lot of really hard things."
"Harder than losing your parents?" Leah asked, feeling a bit spiteful. Gibbs could feel the same pain Ziva was, but couldn't blame Leah for the way she felt.
"You might as well know what's going on. You're old enough to be able to handle it right?" Ziva asked. Leah nodded eagerly. "Abby and Tim, are very good friends of mine. A couple of days ago Abby gave birth to twins, one of which was still born. Less than twenty-four hours later Abby was diagnosed with Leukemia."
"That's terrible!" Leah exclaimed, feeling even sadder than before.
"Sweetheart, everyone is going to love having you here, and these things are difficult to be thrown into, but you need to understand things are difficult here too." Ziva explained. "I thought when I came here, there wouldn't be any problems, but there are."
"Why are you so sad?" Leah asked quietly.
"I… I love someone who doesn't love me back." Ziva told her sadly.
"Is it Sienna's abba?"
Ziva nodded sadly. "It's a difficult relationship, but apparently his actions mean far less to him than they to do me."
"I'm sorry." Leah said honestly.
"Me too…" Ziva said with a small smile before looking at the clock. "You should really go back to bed. I'm sorry I woke you." Leah nodded before going back to her room.
Ziva quickly got up off the bed and pulled a sweatshirt over her head. "Where you going Ziver?"
"I have to know Gibbs." Ziva replied quickly.
"Ziva I don't want you to get hurt!" Gibbs replied, feeling very protective.
"I'm going to be hurt either way Gibbs… I can't just sit around wondering if he really meant it." Ziva said as she took Gibbs' keys off from his dresser.
"Ziva…" Gibbs tried to stop her.
"Gibbs. I'm sorry, but I have to do this." Ziva said firmly before heading out the door.
"I messed up Mcgee." Tony said softly in the hallway of the hospital as he sipped his coffee. "She's never going to let me see her or Sienna again."
"Tony, you can't just give up on them now." Tim advised. "Some things are worth fighting for. Your daughter…"
"Tony." Ziva's voice said from down the hall.
"Ziva." Tony replied, promptly spilling his coffee all over his lap. "AUGH!"
"Tony!" Ziva cried running down the hall and stopping promptly in front of a red faced Tony. "Do you love me?" She asked him simply.
Tony looked at her. "Are you kidding me? I have hot coffee in places where hot coffee should never be and you have the nerve…"
"Tony! I have to know!" Ziva insisted.
Tony looked into her chocolate brown eyes, seeing all the hurt, hurt that he had caused. "I can't love you Ziva…"
"I don't care if you can or can't… Do you?" Ziva insisted.
Tony scanned her eyes one more time before sighing. "I don't know."
"Tony when you look at me… Do you imagine us together forever? Would you be willing to do anything for me?" Ziva asked him earnestly.
"Ziva…"
"Tony! I just need to know!" Ziva pressed anxiously.
"Ziva… I…" He said softly before moving so their lips touched. He was unsure of how to describe the feeling he felt, but he knew it felt safe. As soon as their lips parted. "I definitely love you." He assured her softly.
"You're not just saying that?" Ziva asked hopefully.
"If I just wanted to say it I would have said it one less cup of coffee down my pants ago." Tony assured her.
Ziva stood in his arms quietly for a moment before speaking up quietly. "I have four kids…" She said softly.
"We have four kids." Tony replied with a small smile.
"How are we supposed to take care of four kids? We can barely handle Sienna." Ziva said quietly, feeling somehow relaxed by the feeling of Tony's arms around her waist.
"Tony said you were looking for a house." Tim spoke up quietly. "The house next door to ours is for sale right now. It's old, but the inside has been remodeled. It's nothing fancy, but it has four bedrooms and three bathrooms just like ours."
"That sounds perfect." Ziva said softly, surprised how well things were actually turning out.
Tony looked down at her eyes. He would see a swell of emotions, he expected the hurt to be gone, but it wasn't. "Ziva?" He asked quietly.
Suddenly tears began to fall. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" She apologized, pulling away from Tony's arms.
"What's the matter?" He asked as her shaking figure wracked with sobs.
"It's not that big of a deal." Ziva assured him, clearly frustrated by her lack of control.
"Ziva…" He said softly.
Ziva looked up at him. "Abby." She admitted quietly.
Tony took in a deep breath. "You haven't seen her yet have you?"
Ziva shook her head. "Absolutely not… I've seen her… But…"
"It hurts?" Tony asked quietly.
Ziva nodded. "I have so many new responsibilities to think about… And among all of that… Abby…"
"I'm so sorry." Tony said softly as he pulled her into a gentle hug. "If there was something I could do that would make it all go away, I would."
Ziva sighed. "Can I just… go talk to Abby for a bit?" She requested softly.
"Of course." Tony said, kissing her forehead gently.
Ziva smiled softly before moving down the hallway to Abby's room. "Abby?" Ziva asked gently as she knocked on the door.
"Ziva?" Abby replied hopefully.
"Yeah." Ziva replied as she pushed the door open.
"Three new kids?" Abby asked with a smile.
Ziva shook her head. "Don't worry about it." She tried to alleviate her friend's worry.
"Ziva, let's just forget I'm sick for a minute, and talk about you." Abby requested softly as she patted the bed next to her. "Four kids Ziva?" She asked sympathetically.
"Abby… really don't worry about me." Ziva requested meaningfully. "You have enough to worry about."
"Ziva… I seriously care about you and what's going to happen to you. How are you going to take care of four kids by yourself?" Abby asked meaningfully.
Ziva blushed slightly. "Not by myself." She admitted.
Abby looked at her hopefully. "Tony?" She asked with a wide smile. Ziva nodded, a smirk on her own face. "Oh! I'm so happy for you!" She squealed as she pulled Ziva into a hug.
"Careful Abs." Ziva warned, desperately not wanting her to hurt herself.
"No okay seriously I need all the details." Abby said excitedly.
Ziva sighed, knowing Abby wouldn't give up. "It's kind of been unspoken for… While… Since… you know…"
"Sienna's conception?" Abby said with a smile.
Ziva blushed. "You are just enjoying making this awkward for me aren't you?"
"Absolutely." Abby assured her. "Now seriously when did this become official?"
"Ten minutes ago." Ziva replied.
"What the heck are you doing in here with me?" Abby asked in disbelief. "Tony just confessed his love for you and you're in here with mopey old me?"
"Abby there is no one else I would rather be with!" Ziva insisted. "You're going to Texas for who knows how long, Abby I'm not going to have a best friend until you're back! Every moment I spend with you is invaluable to me."
"Zi." Abby said softly. "I'm going to miss you too." Abby assured her.
"I can't even imagine what it's going to be like when the ladies of NCIS aren't going to be the ladies, and it will just be the lady." Ziva said jokingly.
"You're visiting me." Abby said immediately. "I'm not doing this without you."
"Of course not." Ziva assured her. "This is… this is big Abby."
Abby felt her emotional dam starting to break. "I know Ziva… everything is ruined… I'm so sorry…"
"No Abby… you didn't. Nothing is your fault." Ziva assured her, her own tears breaking through.
Several minutes later the two of them remained on the bed, tears falling, when their significant others made their way into the room.
"Abby!" Tim called out worriedly, as Tony exclaimed "Ziva!"
"What's wrong?"
"Is someone hurt?"
"Abby do you need something?"
"Ziva what can I do for you?"
"We're fine." Ziva insisted, wiping her tears. "It's just… hard… To think about things right now."
Tim nodded. He had been dealing with his own emotions all day. "It's hard." He said softly as he gave Ziva an awkward side hug.
"Ahem." Tony interjected. "I believe that's my job." He said softly as he took Ziva by the hands and pressed his lips to hers. "Everything will work out, for better or for worse, everything is going to work out." He assured her.
"Tony." Ziva said quietly. "I think that's the kindest thing you've ever said." She said teasingly.
"Shut up." Tony replied with a smirk.
"And there you ruined it." Ziva replied with a wider smirk.
"I love you Ziva David."
"I love you Anthony DiNozzo."
Author's Note: I know I know it's Tiva heavy but it's for two reasons. 1) I needed a less angst-y chapter to even out the storyline and 2) It goes with the storyline SO YAY STORYLINE! Thanks so much for the reviews. I've been groggily cranking this out through my current sickness. So hopefully it's not too crazy!