It was Monday morning and the DiNozzo's were running late as usual. "Come on Ziva, Gibbs is going to kill us if we come in late again; you remember what he said the last time?" Tony yelled from downstairs. Ziva had not been feeling well all weekend and had just got done vomiting up her breakfast in the bathroom. She felt light headed and the thought of eating or drinking anything else today made her stomach turn.
Tony was about to yell for her again when he heard Ben Sneeze from where he was sitting in the family room. "You okay Ben"? Tony asked as he went into the room to check his son. Ben was not in his usual chair where he liked to sit and watch his morning cartoons. In fact, the t.v. was not even on. Tony found Ben sitting on the couch with a strange look on his face.
"Hey buddy, whatcha doing"? a concerned Tony asked.
"I no feel good daddy", Ben said in almost a whisper.
Tony leaned down to feel his son's forehead when it happened. Ben threw up all over Tony's suit and himself. "Oh my god", Tony screamed as he stood there with Ben's breakfast running down the front of his suit. Ben began to cry which caused the poor little fellow to throw up again.
"It's okay Ben", Tony said as he picked his son up and quickly carried him into the downstairs bathroom. He sat Ben inside the bathtub because he did not know where else to put the sick boy.
Ziva appeared a few seconds later to discover both father and son covered in vomit. The sight and smell made her stomach churn and she placed her hand over her mouth as she pushed Tony out of the way and once again threw up into the toilet.
Tony went to her and held her hair back as she emptied what was left in her stomach. "Thank you Tony", she said as he handed her a cool wash cloth.
"I don't think you are going to work this morning", Tony said as he looked at both her and Ben. "I think you guys must have a stomach bug or something". Ziva looked to her son who was sitting in the bathtub crying with his arms held out asking to be picked up.
"Why did you put him in the bathtub Tony"? Ziva asked in an annoyed tone as she reached down to pick up her crying son. She knew she was being bitchy but she wasn't feeling well. Tony shrugged and yelled, "I don't know, just look at me and figure it out; he puked all over me it seemed like the best place for him at the time".
"Don't raise your voice, you are scaring him", Ziva yelled back as she tried to soothe her son by gently rocking him which proved to be a mistake. Ben once again vomited, hitting Tony squarely once again.
"This is just great", Tony said sarcastically as he looked at himself in the mirror. Ziva once again felt her stomach churning and said to Tony as she tried handing Ben to him, "Take him, take him, take him". She had barely made the handoff to Tony and just made it back to the toilet in time, but this time only dry heaving. Tony held Ben at arm's length with the little boy turned away from him not sure what to do next. He stayed like that until Ziva was finished.
"Give me the baby and go clean yourself up, I will take care of Ben", Ziva said as she saw that her husband was still just standing there with Ben unsure of what to do. "And Tony, I'm sorry I was cross with you".
"Thanks Zi, it's okay just let me clean up and then I'll call Gibbs", Tony said as he hurried off to the shower. When he got to the bathroom he quickly got out of his suit, he rinsed the shirt and tie out in the sink and found a garbage bag to place everything inside so he could later transport the pieces to the dry cleaners. He took a very long shower making sure every inch of himself was clean. Afterwards he dried off and wrapped the towel around his waist and went to call Gibbs.
Ziva was in Ben's bedroom getting the boy cleaned up and heard the one sided conversation: "Hey boss it's me, just calling to let you know I will be there soon"…"I know but Ziva and Ben are sick"…"I don't know, they are both throwing up"…"I think it's just a stomach bug or something"…"No boss, I did not get a medical degree at Ohio State"…"Okay boss, sorry about all this, I will be in for sure in the morning". Tony looked at his phone after Gibbs had hung up on him.
"Is he angry with us"? Ziva asked. "No he was mad that I was still planning on coming in, he told me to take you guys to the Doctor".
"I am feeling better myself, but I would like to have Ben looked at; when I was changing him out of his soiled clothes I saw that he also has diarrhea."
Tony immediately took Ziva by the hand and together they walked into Ben's room to check on him. He was lying in his bed wearing only a diaper that Ziva had changed him into. Tony looked at him and said, "I guess it's good we hung on to a few of those", he said motioning at the diaper his son had not worn in nearly a year.
Ziva placed a hand on Ben's cheek to feel his temperature and said, "We only have a few left, why don't you go and pick some more up at the store while I call his pediatrician.
Tony nodded in agreement and went to get dressed then hurried off to the store. Ziva called Ben's pediatrician and was thankful he could be seen later that morning.
Tony returned a short while later with the diapers and found Ziva sitting in the rocking chair singing quietly to Ben.
"How's he doing"? Tony asked.
"He's asleep, Doctor Nash can see him at 10:45". Tony looked at his watch, it was just a little after nine. "How are you feeling Zi"?
"I am feeling better now that I am sitting down. I hope this is not the flu, if it is it will only be a matter of time until you catch it as well".
Tony could see the look of concern on Ziva's face. "Don't worry, I feel fine and I promise you that if I start to feel funny, I will call Doctor Pitt and have him check me out".
Both Tony and Ziva knew the dangers a bout of the flu could have on Tony's compromised lungs and made it a point at the first sign of something not sounding right to get him checked out.
Ziva kissed the top of Ben's head and felt his forehead. "No sign of fever".
Tony walked over to check for himself, placing his large hand on Ben's forehead then with the back of his hand he felt the sleeping boys cheek. "Feels fine to me too", Tony said as he looked down at his sleeping son. Ziva nodded in agreement then said, "We should take him upstairs and get him dressed for his appointment". "Here let me take him, it's ashame we have to wake him up", Tony said as he gently took Ben into his arms and carried him upstairs.
Tony layed his son down on the bed as Ziva went to the closet to choose an outfit for Ben to wear. Tony sat on the edge of his son's race car bed and moved to adjust the pillow under Ben's head. He caught a glimpse of something under Ben's pillow and reached under to pull it out. "Hey Zi, I don't think it's the flu".
"Why do you say that"? Ziva asked as she was looking for a shirt to go with the pants she had chosen. Tony shook the half eaten bag of chocolates he now held in his hand and said, "I think Ben had a few too many of these". Ziva turned around to see what Tony was talking about. "That is the pound of assorted candy I bought for the Fourth of July", she said as she walked over studying the bag. Tony began looking around the room for more evidence. He peeked under Ben's bed and found what he was looking for. "Geez! No wonder he is sick, look at all of these", Tony said as he now held at least a dozen or more empty candy wrappers in his hands.
Just then Ben began to stir, "My tummy hurts daddy".
"I bet it does, how many of these did you eat"? Tony said as he held the bag up for Ben to see. Ben's eyes got wide, "Only little bit daddy" Tony then showed Ben the empty wrappers, "This does not look like a little bit to me young man." This was the first time that Ben had ever been less than truthful with either parent. "Are you lying to me Benjamin"? Tony asked his son. Ben shook his head no then did the only thing that came natural, he began to cry. Tony sat Ben up and knelt down in front of the crying boy. "You broke at least two big rules Ben, remember what I told you would happen if you break a big rule"?
Ben nodded yes, "You give me spanking".
"That's right, but for now we need to go see the Doctor so he can help your tummy feel better; than once you are feeling better we will talk about what happened, okay"?
Ben nodded yes and Tony stood up allowing Ziva near the bed to help Ben get dressed. A short while later the three of them were sitting in the exam room as Doctor Nash listened to the events that transpired this morning in the DiNozzo household. He prescribed a medication to help settle the toddler's tummy then asked Ziva, "I take it you did not go on a chocolate eating binge with your son"? "No, of course not", she replied. The Doctor continued, "Then you need to be checked out, you may very well be coming down with something after hearing what you told me about yourself.
"Yes Doctor I will do that", Ziva said as she and Tony stood to leave. "Tell Doctor Nash thank you", Tony told Ben as he took the toddler by the hand. "Thank you…Bye, bye Doctor Nash", Ben said as he waved goodbye. As the DiNozzo's were waiting at the elevator, Ziva's Doctor stepped out once the doors opened and said, "Hello Ziva, what brings you in today"? "We just left Doctor Nash, Ben has some tummy troubles, Ziva said as she placed her hand on Ben's shoulder. "I was going to call you later today and make an appointment for myself", Ziva then went on to explain to her Doctor about the vomiting and light headed feelings she had been experiencing. The Doctor looked at the calendar on her cell phone and said she could see Ziva right now if she had the time. Tony told Ziva to go ahead and that he would wait with Ben outside by the fountain.
Doctor Garza had just finished her exam and ordered some blood work, the medical building has an onsite lab and simple blood test results were processed rather quickly. Doctor Garza told Ziva to expect a phone call later in the afternoon.
Tony saw Ziva coming out of the building, "Everything okay Zi"? Tony asked.
"Yes, Doctor Garza did not seem too concerned, she had me do some blood work and said she will call with the results later". Tony picked Ben up and wrinkled his nose at the smell of the dirty diaper. "We better get to the pharmacy and get Ben's medicine fast, I think he had another accident".
Ziva changed Ben's diaper while Tony went into Walmart to pick up his son's prescription then they went straight home. The phone rang a few hours later and Ziva thought it might be the Doctor but as it turned out it was Gibbs asking how everyone was. Ziva told him about the candy incident and ensured the worried man that Ben would be fine in a few days. She promised to let Gibbs know about her blood work results and was relieved when he told her to take another day or two off as needed but to make sure his senior field agent had his butt in the office tomorrow morning.
Ziva and Tony were watching the evening news while Ben was spending the day upstairs in his bedroom when the phone rang. Tony picked up the phone and saw it was a call from Doctor Garza. "Just a minute doc", Tony said as he handed the phone to his wife.
"Hello Doctor, do you have my results"?
"Yes I do Ziva, I would like you to come back in to have more blood work done".
"Why, is there something wrong"? Tony sat up with a look of concern on his face after hearing this.
The Doctor answered, "Oh no Ziva, nothing like that; in fact I have some rather good news."
"Good news", Ziva repeated.
Doctor Garza laughed, well at least I hope it's good news; Ziva it looks as though you are pregnant".
A/N… Please send me a review and let me know what you think. Have a happy and safe Fourth of July.