A/N: Okay, so prepare for a monster A/N, I have a lot to say this time.

1 - I was so excited that you guys were all surprised by the proposal. That was the whole point, that it was unexpected, because Ziva certainly didn't expect it either. So the reactions were fabulous! :) Thanks.

2 - Because I have no patience and I'm pretty much as excited as you all for this story, I'm going to do 3x a week updates (Mon/Wed/Fri) for the month of February. I'm in the middle of writing Ch 23 and you guys are way behind so this will help us catch up a bit. Hope that works for everyone ;)

3 - To my un-signed in reviewers: EowynGoldberry, Anonymous (there was no name left), Tiva lovah (who faithfully reviews and whose reviews I would love to reply to), juli (another faithful reader who I would love to chat with in replies), and wanderer5 (someone brand new who can be assured that she does stand out and I appreciate her words so much). Thank you all so much for your lovely reviews. They are a joy to read and I look forward to every one!

4 - Until I come up with a good way to translate the Hebrew in the story, I'll stick it in the A/Ns if I remember. So:

ktantonet - term of endearment, something like 'precious little one'

boker tov - good morning

matok - sweet one

lehitraot - see you later

Okay, I think that's it for now. Enjoy everyone! (I think the first two scenes are my favuorites).

0600 Friday morning Ziva was laying in bed, looking at her ring and talking to the baby. "This is real ktantonet, your-" she stopped short, having almost slipped up and called Tony her child's father. Ziva shook her head. Not yet. "He asked me and sometime in the next month we will be married." She caressed her bump as the baby moved, jabbing an elbow into her ribs before finding a comfortable position and settling down. "You will have a father matok, and he will love you enough to make up for everything."

Her cell rang and Ziva reached for it, checking the caller ID before she answered. "Boker tov," she said softly.

Tony's grin could be heard through the phone. "You really said yes?"

She laughed. "Yes."

"And that you love me?"

"Yes."

"Say it again," Tony asked, sure that he would never get enough of this.

Ziva closed her eyes and imagined his earnest expression. "I love you."

"No regrets?"

She understood his insecurity. "None," she stated firmly.

Ziva felt more than heard his sigh of relief. "Good. I love you Zi."

"I know," she said in a quiet voice.

Tony bunched the pillow up under his head. "What're you doing right now?"

Ziva held up her hand again. "Looking at my ring, telling the baby how lucky we are." She smiled. "Do you want to say good morning?" she asked spontaneously, surprising herself.

Loving this step they'd taken, and how everything was new and different yet familiar and perfect all at once, Tony agreed. "Sure."

Turning the speakerphone on, Ziva held the phone against her belly and listened to Tony's muffled words. "Hey there Chipmunk, how's it going? Did you let Mommy have a good sleep last night? I hope so, it was pretty emotional for both of us." Closing his eyes, Tony took another risk. He'd been waiting so long to be able to do this. "Daddy loves you baby," he said softly, "I'm going to make sure I tell you that every day so you never have to wonder."

At that point Ziva moved the phone and tried to stop the silent tears falling from her eyes. "Are you sure you are ready for this Tony?"

He smiled. "I can't wait until we don't have to do this over the phone Zi, until I can roll over in the morning and see you lying next to me."

Ziva bit her lip. "Tony..."

He pressed the phone tighter against his ear. "Does that scare you?"

Her answer was barely audible. "Yes."

Tony's forehead wrinkled. "Why? We've shared a bed before."

She was quiet for a long time. "Yes, but then you were only my partner and friend. As my husband..." Ziva trailed off. "Everything changes."

"Your husband," Tony's grin was back, wider than before, ignoring her trepidation for now. "Boy I like the sound of that."

His enthusiasm was catching and Ziva pushed all her fears away momentarily. "Me too." Her eyes strayed to the clock. "I should get ready for work."

"Okay. I love you." He would say it now every chance he got after six months of holding it in. "See you there."

"Lehitraot," she responded, in the mood to use Hebrew more these days than she used to. If Tony paid attention, he would eventually learn something.

NCIS

Just over an hour later the newly engaged couple shared an elevator to their floor. About halfway up Tony hit the emergency switch and turned to Ziva, grinning like he knew a secret. She glared at him and crossed her arms. "If you have any fantasies involving elevators, I do not want to know."

Tony pouted. "I'm about to reveal my deepest darkest secrets to the love of my life and she just shuts me down? Cold Ms. David, very cold." The look she gave him made Tony reconsider playing the martyr. "Don't worry Zi, I was actually just going to ask how we're telling the team."

Not certain whether to believe him or not, Ziva held out her hand and flashed the ring. "Call everyone upstairs. We may as well get them all over with at once."

"No guessing games? No hints? No seeing who notices first? Since when do we do things the easy way?"

Ziva sighed. "Since I have discovered that drama in one's life is not always a good thing."

"Ah," Tony nodded once, "point taken. So that's it then, a team meeting?"

She shook her head in amusement. "Only if that way does not ruin all your fun Tony."

He kissed her fingers. "My fun is getting to tell the world that I'm in love with you, and that you are going to be my wife. It doesn't get better than that until we say 'I do'."

His words melted Ziva and she leaned up to press her lips to his cheek. "Thank you Tony, for loving us."

Tony held his fiancee close and just breathed in her scent. "Always Zi, there will never be a time when I don't. I love you."

Ziva smiled and looked down. "The baby too?"

His eyes widened. "Of course the baby too."

"Tell her," Ziva demanded, joy lighting her eyes.

Without even a pause Tony leaned down and kissed her bump. "Daddy loves you Chipmunk. You're gonna get sick of hearing it before I get tired of saying it."

When his eyes met Ziva's, the emotion there was so overwhelming he just had to kiss her. His concern about her response was immediately drowned in the love she poured out as she kissed him back. They broke apart, breathing a little heavily and Ziva looked away as if embarrassed, but Tony turned her face back to him. "Being able to do that with you is always going to feel like a gift Zi."

She tucked herself into his side. "You make me feel beautiful again Tony," she whispered, "and worthy of being loved."

He closed his eyes and held her close. "I told you I would show you that you were worth it sweetheart. I keep my promises now."

"Yes," Ziva replied sincerely, "you do."

"So, time to go tell the family?"

She laughed. "Yes, it is. Before you get distracted."

Tony glanced at her. "Not even possible, you're my favourite distraction."

Ziva gave him a flattered look. He grinned, then flipped the switch and seconds later the doors slid open. Abby was standing beside McGee's desk, looking for all the world like she was stalling until Gibbs sent her down to the lab. McGee was watching Abby play with one of her braids, remembering what it was like to slide his fingers into her silky hair while they lay in bed. Gibbs was hitting buttons on his computer and seemed ready to throw the whole assembly out the fifth floor window.

Everyone and time itself seemed to freeze when Tony and Ziva walked in the room. It took mere seconds for Abby to realize they were holding hands, less time for Gibbs to check her ring finger and nod as though he approved. McGee was focused on the smile Ziva wore, how she looked truly happy for the first time in months. Without even a word, Tony held out Ziva's hand for Abby's inspection.

"I knew it!" she squealed. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" Abby turned back to McGee. "Timmy, didn't I tell you?"

He shrugged and glanced at Tony. "She has been predicting it for awhile now."

As soon as Abby was done gushing about her abilities to know things, she smothered Ziva in a hug and Tim came over to shake Tony's hand. Tony was so pleased at the reaction that he couldn't do anything but stand there grinning like a fool. McGee was next to congratulate Ziva and he wrapped her in a tight brotherly hug. She leaned into the embrace, needing it from him, glad he was willing to take that place in her life.

Gibbs walked up behind Tony and smacked him sharply. Tony ducked instinctively and whirled around. "Boss..." he whined, but Gibbs just glared.

"About time DiNozzo." To his adopted Israeli daughter, Gibbs took a closer look at her ring even though he'd seen it before and folded his arms around her. "Congratulations Ziver. You deserve this happiness and so much more."

"Gibbs," she whispered, overcome with the emotion. So she blinked back tears and rested in the comfort of her father's love.

Matt poked his head around the cubicle wall and grinned at McGee. "See, I told you they belonged together."

"Huh," Tony remarked, "I guess the new guy got something right after all."

Agent Collins stood to shake hands with them both briefly. "It was just a matter of time. Seriously, that's great news."

"Thank you Matt," Ziva smiled.

Just then Ducky and Jimmy walked in from the back elevator. "Well, well, it seems that we did not get invited to the party," the ME commented.

Jimmy looked around at everyone's faces, feeling like he'd missed the surprise until Tony pointed at Ziva's finger. The young assistant's mouth fell open and then a grin took over his lips. "You and Ziva got engaged? Wow, that's awesome!" He tried to high-five Tony and because it was a special occasion, the agent took pity on him and reciprocated the gesture.

Ducky moved towards them and put a hand on each of their shoulders. "My congratulations to you both. May you find every happiness together."

They were all standing there grinning at each other when Gibbs' phone rang. He snatched it up with an impatient, "Gibbs," and dropped it back in the cradle seconds later. "Gear up, got a case, party's over." Gibbs stuck a sticky note to Abby's shoulder. "Take Ziva with you and find me everything you can on that guy."

Abby saluted. "Aye, aye Cap'n...uh, Skipper, sir," she corrected when he stared.

"Abs, don't call me sir."

"Yes my silver-haired fox," she grinned. Then to Ziva. "Come on assistant, we have work to do." Suddenly Abby narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Wait, this isn't some underhanded plot to try to take over my lab, is it? I have bad luck with assistants."

Ziva held up her hands innocently. "I am strictly an observer unless otherwise stated."

The Goth grinned. "Perfect, let's go."

Tony waved as his fiancee got dragged away by their overly enthusiastic co-worker. "Have fun."

She tossed a smile back at him. "Go catch the bad guys."

"Yes ma'am." He continued to stare in her direction until Gibbs literally began breathing down his neck.

"Sometime today DiNozzo."

Tony was immediately unfrozen. "Right away. Coming Boss."

"And Tony." The man stopped dead in his tracks. "Keep it out of the office."

He bit his lip, not sure he could completely agree to those terms. "As much as we can?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "This is what happens when you break Rule 12."

"Well, technically Rule 12 states that we should never date a co-worker." Tony shrugged and stared straight ahead at the elevator doors. "I don't remember anything about not asking a co-worker to marry you."

The sound of a hand connecting with the back of a head resounded in the small room, making both Matt and McGee wince in sympathy. "I'm adding an amendment."

Tony nodded seriously. "Right after the wedding." He could feel the glare boring into the side of his head. "Shutting up Boss."

"You better learn that a whole lot quicker before you get married DiNozzo," Gibbs grumbled as they followed him to the car.

Tony and Ziva being engaged was going to be a headache for him as long as they worked in the same office. But he hadn't seen Ziva look like that since long before Somalia. To see her happy was worth any price the rest of them had to pay. This time breaking the rules was probably the best decision his senior field agent had ever made.

NCIS

Mail had been delivered by the time the group was back from the crime scene. Tony walked in to see his favourite person looking at the paper lying in front of her. With a dark glare, Ziva scrunched it up into a ball and tossed it without aiming. Tony caught the crumpled stationery and turned towards her desk. "What's the matter Zi?"

She frowned. "That is a letter from the government, my citizenship test is on Monday."

He smoothed out the paper and read it over carefully. "That's a good thing though, right?" Tony had a feeling she wanted to become a citizen all on her own, rather than just acquire it by default when she married him.

Ziva crossed her arms over her stomach. She wasn't as big as she'd expected to be at thirty-two weeks, but the bump was still starting to get in the way of things. "I cannot believe I have to remember all that information when my brain is full of baby."

Tony choked on a laugh but quickly sobered when she sent him a threatening glare. He cleared his throat. "I think the term is pregnancy brain Ziva."

"I do not care what it is called, I am full of holes!"

Tony didn't bother with that one as he tried to figure out how to encourage his brand new fiancee. This was a test he could not afford to fail. Just then Gibbs walked in. "David, first amendment!"

Startled, Ziva rattled off the words without even thinking about it. Five months of hard studying had paid off. Gibbs gave her a rare smile and she realized what he had done. Tony squeezed her hand. "You're gonna do great Zi, and we'll all be there to see it when you say your oath."

Her eyes softened and she mouthed the words, 'Thank you' before getting back to work. Tony shot a grateful look at his boss. One crisis successfully averted, he only hoped any others would be this easy.

NCIS

"So that's good news about Tony and Ziva, right?" Tim asked his wife later while they cooked dinner.

Abby grinned at him over her shoulder. "The best. I knew it would happen eventually, but I honestly thought Ziva might have the baby before Tony stepped up."

"He's been waiting a long time for the right moment. Hard to believe six months of dancing around each other finally led to Ziva wearing a ring," he commented.

"And it's pink too, isn't that cute? Ziva's the furthest thing ever from a girly-girl but Tony got her a pink diamond. Did you see how happy she looked? Has Ziva ever smiled like that before?" Abby asked, almost ready to cry from pure joy.

"I've waited to see that look from her for a long time," McGee admitted. He reached over and snatched a bean out of the frying pan. Abby made a show of trying to get him with her wooden spoon, but it was all in fun. "Does it make you feel any better about telling them, now that Ziva has Tony for real?"

Abby set down her spoon and leaned back into his chest. "The longer I wait, the harder it gets. I think if I just told it wouldn't be such a big deal but I'm," she hesitated, then took a breath, "I'm a coward Timmy."

McGee slid his arms around her waist, resting them over the not yet existent baby bump. He rested his chin on her head. "You're not a coward honey, it's just a strange situation. I don't think it ever occurred to me that complications might arise from keeping our secret." He sighed. "I just wanted to marry you so badly, I wanted to claim you as mine before you could change your mind. I didn't want to wait and plan before we could have what we have now, a life that is truly and completely shared together."

Abby nodded. "I know. It was your secret first, then it was mine, now we have two. I know we have to tell them sooner or later but right now..." she trailed off. "I'm voting for later. Let's give them some time to get used to their own news, before we go spilling ours, okay?"

Arguing with her was not an option and to be honest, Tim wasn't sure what to think anyways. He kissed her temple. "Okay babe." McGee fingered the wooden spoon. "Need any help?"

"Yes." Abby turned around and pushed his chest lightly. "Shoo. Go write your book or something Timmy, I can't cook with you staring at me like that."

Stealing a kiss before he followed orders, McGee grinned and headed for the stairs. "Yes ma'am. Call me if you need me."

"I always need you Tim," Abby said quietly to his retreating back. I'm so glad you're here.