AN: I know I said Monday for this, but please let me explain. Sunday morning, Ms. JenJen decided to text me and tell me she was packing a bag, hopping in the car, and driving the 5-6 hours from her house to mine. So by the time I was out of work, she was here. So Monday morning, instead of writing, I hung out with my bestie. And it was very worth it.

MN: I got to see our JenJen. No arguments from me here since she and AJ's mom and I ganged up on her!

Tony descended the stairs and was surprised when he entered a nearly empty living room. When he'd gone up to put Ori to bed, the small room had been filled with his friends, all happily catching up with Ziva, the 'family' patriarch keeping watch from a chair in the corner.

After lunch they had gone back to the office. There were formalities that had needed taken care of, including the processing of both Ziva's 'Return to Duty' and 'Temporary Adaptation of Duty' forms. The paperwork had taken significantly longer than necessary due to the number of people dropping by to welcome their colleague home.

Once they'd finally all managed to wrap things up at the office, the group had invaded another restaurant for dinner, this time joined by the Director and his children. Then the pack had travelled to Gibbs's home, save for the Vances, to continue their conversations.

Through it all, he had been at her side, but they had hardly spoken. What he wanted to say to her was best left for private and that wasn't a luxury they had been afforded yet. So he'd stayed close to her, making sure both she and Ori had everything they needed and pretending to acknowledge the congratulations on his impending fatherhood he received from those around him.

Now, however, things were quiet at Gibbs' home and the living room was abandoned save for the home's owner himself. "Where is everyone, Boss?"

The older shrugged casually. "Sent 'em home. Ziver looked like she was getting tired and I think you two probably need to talk."

Gibbs stood and Tony noticed that the bag of clothes from his trunk had made its way into the house. His surrogate father shouldered his own bag and Tony hitched an eyebrow upward. "Where are you going?"

Once again Gibbs shrugged. "Someone has to keep an eye on Anthony Senior. Don't want him tangled up in another murder investigation."

With that the man was gone, exiting his own house, leaving Tony to figure out what to do next on his own.

He hadn't slept, though he hadn't really expected to. In just over four hours she would be being taken away from him and he didn't know if he was ever going to get her back. That thought alone was going to have him lying awake for nights to come.

She stirred slightly in her sleep and a lock of hair fell across her face. He brushed it back, gently tucking it behind her ear before he went back to simply watching her. Just a few days ago they had been doing the same dance they had been for eight years and now, she was naked next to him in bed, the distinctive smell of their lovemaking still hanging on the hair.

And tomorrow she would be gone. Gibbs' concerns popped into his head. He had absolutely no idea how he was going to go on without her, but he knew he had to. He had to find a way to bring her back. Without that on the horizon, he didn't have much left.

This time when she stirred her eyes fluttered opened, blinking sleepily several times before connecting with his. "What time is it, Tony?"

"Around 0500. Go back to sleep." He pressed a kiss to her forehead, but felt her head shake beneath his lips.

"No. I did not mean to fall asleep at all. I want to spend the last few hours that I am able to with you." Her voice cracked, but he pretended not to notice. The last thing he wanted for the little time they had left was for her to feel self-conscious or weak.

He pulled back to look at her once again. "Okay, my ninja, what would you like to do?"

After a moment of hesitation she pressed her lips to his. The action was tender. Bittersweet. It made him feel whole and broke his heart all in one instant. In that same instant, he knew this memory would cause his chest to ache later, but if she needed to feel connected to him one last time, he would make love to her again. This time, however, he wouldn't let the frenzied passion of the last few nights to creep in. This time he intended to be gentle and tender. This time he would make sure she could have no doubt as to exactly how he felt about her.

The sound of footsteps behind him had Tony turning from the door to the staircase. Ziva was standing there. She had obviously gone to change while he'd been reading to Ori and was now in shorts and an oversized t-shirt. "You were upstairs for a while. Did you have trouble getting him to go to bed?"

He shook his head as he reached out to take her hand in his to lead her to the couch. "No. He only made it a couple of pages into the story. I just stayed for a bit to make sure he was okay. That he wasn't going to wake up."

When they sat, she leaned into his side, curling herself up against him. He wrapped his arm around her and his free hand sought out one of hers as she once again spoke. "He really missed you."

A strange pain jabbed at his chest at the thought of Ori being lonely, especially for him. "I missed him too. I missed both of you."

Her head lifted from his shoulder and he turned to look at her. Her eyes were shining with the effort of holding back tears and her pain suddenly propelled him to action. He barely had to lean into her for his lips to find hers in a gentle but expressive kiss.

He held his mouth against hers for a long moment before shifting and bringing his forehead into contact with hers, freeing his mouth to speak. "I don't have a clue what I'm doing here, Zi. You've got to help me out. What do you need me to do?"

At this point tears were trickling down his own cheeks, matching those he knew were on hers from the sound of her voice. "I need to you be honest, Tony. I've had months to think about everything. To figure out what I want, for myself and for Ori and the baby. But you've had twelve hours. What's running through your head? What do you want?"

He jerked backward to lock his eyes with hers. He needed her to know he was being completely truthful. "There's a million things running through my head, but I can figure that out later. What I want is easy. I want you, and our daughter, and Ori. I want my family. You and I, we can figure everything out as long as we're doing it together. If that's what you want."

He knew the last sentence had come out as more of a question, and it left him open and vulnerable in a raw way that would have made him uncomfortable if he were talking to anyone else. But this was Ziva, and he trusted her more than anyone else on the planet.

"Tony, I want the same thing I've wanted for a long time. I want a family. And I want you to be part of it. A big part."

Her words released a tightness in his chest he hadn't even noticed and he crushed his mouth back to hers in a much more intense kiss than the one he had given her just minutes before.

Her heart was aching. She had said her farewells to everyone else. Now, she had to say goodbye to Tony.

Suddenly, Ziva felt like she had so much more she needed to tell him. Things she didn't want anyone else overhearing. As he walked toward her in the lobby of the NCIS headquarters, she suddenly started doubting her decision.

As always, however, Tony seemed to know exactly what it was she needed and gave it to her. Instead of addressing her, he bent to scoop Ori into a tight hug. "You will take care of Ziva for me?"

Ori nodded as he snuffled back tears. "I promise."

Only once she was refocused on the child in his arms did he speak to her. "And you'll take care of you too, right?"

She did far less of an effective job attempting not to cry. "Right."

Without another word he reached the arm not supporting Ori's weight out to her and yanked her roughly against him in a tight hug. He lowered his voice and switched back to Hebrew. She knew that it was less about Ori understanding and more about no one else doing so. "I will miss you. I love you."

"I love you too."

She stood pressed against his chest until the Marshall cleared his throat loudly. "I'm sorry, Miss David, but we have to go."

She exchanged one last look with Tony as he handed her Ori before the Marshall rushed her out.

Gibbs reached out to accept the glass of scotch that Anthony Senior offered him. The men raised their glasses at one another in a silent toast then both sipped the amber liquid.

"So, how's Tony doing? I mean, from what Abby told me on the phone this afternoon, he's had a lot thrown at him today."

Gibbs raised a single shoulder to shrug. "He's doing better than I would have. I have absolutely no doubt about it: there is not a question in his mind about whether or not he wants to be with her. He's sure about the baby too."

Senior nodded. "That he gets from his mother. She couldn't have turned her back on family if she'd tried. I just hope he turns out to be a better father than I did."

Gibbs glanced over as he took another pull from his drink. "He's a good man. He may not think he's ready for this, but, really, no one ever is. You worry yourself sick. But then you hold them for the first time and you just know. You can't screw it up because if you did you'd have to kick your own ass."

"You did a good job with him Gibbs. Thanks."

AN: No idea where that came from. We really only had planned the one little bit and BAM! The rest wrote itself. The next chapter will be the last of the story I think, followed by an epilogue. I am a little depressed at the idea of this story ending. Going to have to start something new immediately.

MN: Okay, so the collective "we" managed to tear ourselves up a couple times writing this on account of mental images of that puppy dog face Tony tends to get when he's really not happy but is pretending to be cause someone else needs him to. So we kinda grazed over those parts when proofreading. So blame any mistakes on that.

And madcloisfan: it's currently right at 11pm Central Time (where we are located) so technically this made it up Tuesday!