Plenty of SMUT coming up. But I need to start the plot part of my little story. I have so much to tell. Oh, so much to tell…
Eight hours later Gibbs still hadn't emerged from his room. Ziva had gone up four times to listen outside his door. Each time she heard soft snoring, and left Gibbs in peace. If Gibbs was sleeping in the middle of the day, then he really needed it.
Tony and Ziva were busy preparing a dinner of Chicken Marsala for the rest of the NCIS team's arrival, as Abby burst in through the porch door, followed by the slow trickle of the others.
Abby was clearly well caffeinated, and spoke at breakneck speed. "They wouldn't let me call and tell you…Bugged phone lines, maybe…And it's something that's better delivered in person…I always prefer big new in person…I find phone calls impersonal…I rather someone wait and tell me to my face…But that ride was so long and I feel like I'm going to explode." She took a breath to make up for oxygen she'd forgone to speak.
Abby stopped her rant, freezing in place as she studied Tony and Ziva standing shoulder-to-shoulder preparing dinner. "Oh…my…god." Abby enunciated. "You two had sex!" She yelled in a mixture of shock and joy, openly pointing a finger at them. "Oh my god!" she repeated, as she started to dance in place.
"Wait. What?!" Tim's voice reached a shockingly high octave upon hearing her declaration as he entered the house. Ducky and Palmer filed into the room after him with curious smiles at the new development.
"We have bigger concerns at this time." Ziva told the group. She knew that if Abby wasn't calmed down she might bounce through the ceiling.
Abby raised her hands above her head and waved them wildly. "What could possibly be bigger than this?" She asked excitedly.
"Gibbs is here." Tony told them. "And he needs our help."
"Where is he?" Abby demanded, suddenly serious. "I've been so worried. I need to see him right now. Right now!" She stamped her foot like a child.
"I'm right here, Abby." Gibbs voice boomed from halfway down the stairs. Though Gibbs' voodoo magic probably had him buzzing as soon as the team entered the outskirts of Cape May, Abby's yelling could have woken the dead.
Abby screamed in joy as she ran up the stairs to launch her body at Gibbs, crushing him in a hug. When she finally released him, they made their way down the remaining stairs to join the rest of the group. Gibbs shook hands with McGee, Ducky and Palmer.
"You feeling better Boss?" Tony asked.
"Much better." Gibbs said simply. "Something smells good. You two make a good team." He said slyly.
Abby spun to face him with a huge smile across her face, and an accusatory finger pointing directly at him. "You know!" She spoke at Gibbs, enthusiastically referring to what she deduced had happened between Tony and Ziva.
Gibbs moved his hands together rapidly and sighed something to Abby that caused her to burst out in laughter.
"Hey." Tony scolded them. "No sign language."
"Would you like me to share with the group?" Gibbs dared Tony.
Tony ate his words. "Okay. No more sign language."
"Boss, we have some major developments." McGee told him, reverting immediately to work mode in Gibbs' presence.
Gibbs sighed. "There's a lot to be said and discussed. But let's all take a beat. You've all been in the car for a while, and I'm sure this has been a tough week. We have all night to talk about all these problems."
Tony looked down at his hands coated in raw chicken. "Umm, Z. Would you mind showing everyone to their rooms? Dinner will be ready in about 45 minutes."
They all exchanged knowing looks at the sweet domesticity Tony and Ziva displayed. Ziva surprised everyone by standing up on her tiptoes and placing a kiss on Tony's cheek, to everyone's delight. Tony lit up from within and beamed with pride. Ziva turned to their guests. "I will show you all to your rooms. We just made up all the beds, and there are fresh towels in each bathroom."
"Could I trouble you for a glass of water" Palmer asked politely.
"I left a few bottles of water in each bathroom." Ziva smiled, proud that her suggestion proved wise.
"Sweet digs." Abby complimented, as she swaggered into the huge open front room.
"The house is lovely. Each room has a private bathroom. And just wait until you see the views in the morning. The sunrises here are truly beautiful." Though Ziva spoke to their guests she faced Tony, a soft smile trained at solely at him.
She led the group up the stairs to their rooms. Ducky looped an arm behind her back. "This house looks good on you, my dear." He complimented. Gibbs followed the group upstairs to wash up in his room for dinner.
Ziva came back thirty minutes later. Tony was still bent over the counter working on dinner. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and purred into the back of his neck. "Abby would not let me leave. She wanted a detailed account of every second we spent together. She wanted all the dirty details. I had to sneak away when she used the bathroom."
Tony stroked Ziva's arm and leaned back into her slight frame. "Thank you Ziva." He spoke from the heart with heavy sincerity.
"For what?" She let her lips brush against the skin on the back of his neck as she spoke.
"For trusting this is real. Honestly, I was worried you might back out when everyone arrived. I didn't think you'd actually let them know." He held on to one of her arms that wrapped around his stomach, stroking her skin with his finger. He didn't want her to take his words the wrong way. This was Tony's fear. He'd been so scared that she wouldn't want to admit what they were becoming, and that she wasn't proud of what had transpired. Ziva nuzzled into the back of Tony's neck and let her free arm creep under his shirt to run her nails across his stomach. She set him on fire, but put all his concerns of offending her to rest.
"I want everyone to know." She gave his neck a last gentle bite before pulling away to start setting the table. Her words left Tony speechless, and in utter disbelief at his luck, as stood over the food.
Abby bounded down the stairs. She sounded like a herd of elephants. Her platform black boots weren't exactly made for stealth. "No fair sneaking out on me Ziva. I want details."
"Abby." Tony chided her as the rest of the group filed down into the kitchen. "Some things are private."
"Since when?" Abby sighed in frustration. "The one time you don't want to tell us every detail about your sex life is the one time I really want to know. Figures." She said with a pout.
"Well, I do not want to know the details." McGee added as walked into the kitchen.
"Oh McGee." Abby spoke bluntly. "Of course you want to know. This is Tony and Ziva. How long have we been betting on this?"
Tony and Ziva both turned to Tim with playfully disapproving looks. He blushed crimson. "How can I help?" He asked quickly, trying to distract them from asking further questions about the bet.
"You could get us all wine glasses from that cabinet." Ziva pointed to the china cabinet where the fancy glasses were kept, with a playful smile still across her face directed at McGee.
"Wine!" Ducky said with vigor as he clapped his hands together. "I brought some. Jimmy, where is that bag?" he asked him.
Palmer walked towards the door and retrieved a bag he'd left on the porch. "Here it is."
"I'm glad I brought the red. It will be perfect with dinner." Ducky added with pride.
Tim retrieved wine glasses from the cabinet as Ducky opened the first bottle. McGee studied the vintage. "Wow. This is really nice wine." He praised Ducky.
"Okay. Everyone get a glass of wine and sit down. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes." Tony announced.
Abby linked arms with Gibbs and dragged him to sit next to her at the table. "I have been so worried about you." She half reprimanded, half praised Gibbs.
With help from McGee and Palmer, the food was brought to the table. Tony sat next to Ziva. He wanted to be close to her, especially now that she'd both shown and told him that she wanted them all to know. Ziva let her hand creep over to squeeze the inside of Tony's thigh under the table. Her hand felt so right there. He covered it with his own and squeezed it tight.
Everyone piled food onto their plates, complimenting Tony and Ziva on how delicious the food looked. Tony had spent extra time on the presentation, and was even a bit impressed with his finished meal.
Abby took the first bite. "Holy crap this is good. Damn Tony, you can cook. I love us all being together. I've missed you guys so much!" Tony had often wondered if Abby's brain was in a never-ending ping-pong match, shooting thoughts back and forth at breakneck speed.
"It's only been a week, Abs." Gibbs reminded her.
"A week too long." Abby accused him with her fork.
"Speaking of the past week," Tony interjected, "should we discuss this now?"
"Let's just enjoy dinner." Gibbs spoke softly, almost wistfully, which was out of character for him, but appreciated by all at the table.
And despite all that the bad that had happened recently: the uncertainty of their fates, the unanswered questions, the desperate need for information and a solution, this seemingly impossible situation they faced, the stress weighing down on them all, and the automatic desire an investigative team felt to solve any and all mysteries, they took a break as they ate and enjoyed the company they shared.
Abby harassed Tony and Ziva for details about what had happened between them. She slipped and admitted that the ongoing bet about when he and Ziva would happen, involved a pool that had been started when Ziva had first joined NCIS. After so many years the pool had been forgotten. Ducky was declared the winner while they ate, and the money would be ceremoniously presented to him when the entire team was back at NCIS, and only then. Otherwise, Ducky refused to accept the money, which was stashed in Abby's lab.
More wine was poured and more of each other's company was enjoyed. Abby held back from pointing it out, but it was obvious that she wanted to bring up the fact that it shouldn't take such devastating circumstances to get them all together. She let herself simply smile, and filed her feeling of absolute happiness in the moment to carry with her.
After they'd all finished eating, Ziva stood up and grabbed a few plates to carry to the sink. Ducky grabbed her wrist. "No, no, no. You and Tony cooked. We clean." Ziva leaned down and placed a kiss on Ducky's forehead. He wasn't fooled by her attempt to distract him and gripped her wrist tighter pulling her back down into her seat. "This is not up for discussion, my dear. Sit." Only Ducky could radiate such a genuine smile while giving an order.
Ziva reluctantly sat down as Abby, Tim, and Palmer started to clear the table. Ducky refilled everyone's wine glasses and Gibbs supervised from his seat.
Ziva watched their friends buzz around the kitchen and smiled. This was exactly what she wanted in her life. It felt so perfect that it almost hurt. Her chest was tight and ached with happiness. Tony wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to lean against him. She tucked her head into the crook of his neck.
"Awwwwww!" Abby squealed from the kitchen. She was wearing an apron and a pair of bright yellow rubber gloves. "You two are so cute. Kiss her Tony." This wasn't a request she was going to give up without a fight. Tony bowed his head down and kissed Ziva on the nose sending Abby into another round squealing and dancing.
Gibbs sat across the table from rolling his eyes and hiding the smile that was creeping onto his face.
Ziva suddenly sat up and grabbed Tony's arm. "We forgot desert."
"No we didn't. I put it in the oven about 20 minutes ago." Tony smiled at her. "You were in the bathroom." Ziva's eyes lit up, and he mouth curved into a soft smile that shone at Tony.
Tony walked over to the oven and tried to peer into the darkness. "Perfect." He announced. "Everyone sit back down."
They'd finished cleaning from dinner and sat back around the table. Tony put on two mitts and opened the oven door. He lifted out a chocolate soufflé, which he placed in the center of the table. He handed Ziva two spoons. She split the soufflé open at the top and Tony poured in a cream sauce as steam escaped.
"Well this is very impressive." Ducky announced as the rest of the guests sat stunned around the table. "That is not easy to prepare. And an amazing presentation." He praised the two of them.
"It is Tony's specialty." Ziva said proudly.
"Wow." Tim said as Ziva passed around plates of the desert as Tony scooped it out. "I'm impressed."
"Well Timmy. I'm an impressive guy." Tony taunted him.
Everyone was served, yet no one would take the first bite, looking at Tony and Ziva for their blessing. "Please start." Tony asked.
"No!" Abby yelled, startling them all and halting everyone in their tracks. "You have to kiss her first. And a real kiss on the lips this time." She demanded.
Both Tony and Ziva rolled their eyes at Abby, but everyone else at the table put their spoons down, even Gibbs lowered his spoon, and stared Tony and Ziva down. Tony leaned in towards Ziva, who leaned in to meet him in the center, to give their little group what they wanted. He upped the ante by placing a hand under Ziva's chin as he kissed her. As soon as their lips parted, spoons were grabbed, and the soufflé was devoured. Except by Tony and Ziva. They stayed smiling at each other with their faces inches apart. Tony's fingers below her chin branched out and began stroke her cheek. This was big for them. This was their declaration in front of their closest friends. And they both found themselves overwhelmed by how perfect it felt to share this with the people at the table.
And when Tony and Ziva finally pulled away from each other to taste the soufflé, it was fantastic. Tony could make the hell out of a soufflé. Tony found Ziva's hand under the table. The squeeze they exchanged was their private conversation. Desert was incredible, but nothing could compare to that kiss.
Hello, and thanks, to everyone who is reading my little story. I really appreciate the reviews and it makes me want to get new chapters up as soon as I can. Can you believe that my boss has the gall to expect me to work during the day when there's important writing to be done (sarcasm)? I really adore this story and I love writing it.
I'm also well into another Damon story that is so much fun to write. By now it should be clear that I'm Tiva all the way to mayday. But I have a soft spot for Damon. If you've ever been intrigued by him maybe give my 'Jack Knife' story a chance. Don't be thrown off by the beginning. I'd never end without Tiva together. It's actually a Tiva story in the greater scheme. And what happens in 'Jack Knife: The Aftermath' is a significant part of my Tiva wedding (already with much written, and coming sometime soon).
And please excuse any minor details I may have gotten wrong in my story. Unfortunately, I don't get to write full time and research every detail of my story. Please forgive any mistakes about cooking, etc…Thanks!