AN: Two Chapters in one to make up for not posting yesterday! Thank you all for being so understanding while I'm busy traveling! Hope everyone celebrating had a wonderful time with family this past weekend! I did :) Now enjoy some fluff with maybe a few tears! - Wild
"This is really good." Liat nodded with an approving smile as they finished the tiramisu dessert that Julia had also made for their evening.
Everyone else nodded in agreement while Tony made 'nom, nom, nom' noises licking every last bit off his fork causing the kids to laugh, and then mimic him.
"I told you! Mama is an amazing cook!" Rurik giggled with pride still licking his own fork and eating every last crumb off his plate.
"Kid, I'm sold!" Tony smiled widely, "Is there anything that your Mama isn't amazing at?" He asked with a slanted eyebrow and smile sharing glances with the other adults at the table who were beginning to feel the same about Julia.
"Mama is not a good fisherman!" Rurik's eyes widened and he shook his head seriously.
"That's because she is a fisherwoman, Rurik! She is not a man!" Lara scorned him and the adults tried not to laugh.
"Why is she bad at fishing?" Ziva asked averting an argument between the two when she saw Rurik's nostrils start flaring looking at Lara.
"She has no patience for it and says its too much sitting still." Rurik answered and the adults started laughing.
"Daddy won't let her come anymore because she scares all the fish away with her energy when she starts to fidget." Lara added with a smile which only made the adults at the table laugh harder and her smile widened.
"And 'da worms are ewww." Lena added making a scowling face shaking her tiny head and clearly not a fan as well.
"Yes! Mama won't put the worms on our hooks. She says it's disgusting." Lara smiled making a similar face of displeasure.
"Dis-gwusting!" Lena mimicked her loudly and pounded her little fist against the table with narrowed eyebrows sending up a roar of laughter amongst Tony, Ziva, Liat and Malachi. These children were incredibly entertaining all through dinner.
"And Mama is a terrible bowler!" Kristoff laughed deeply and smiling more widely than they'd ever seen with Rurik and Lara joining in as well. "She just throws the ball half-way down the lane and one time, all the way and broke the machine and the guy told us we could never come back again."
The adults all had tears in their eyes from laughter imagining Julia doing this very thing given her strength.
"That's it! I'm taking her bowling!" Tony laughed wiping the tears leaking out of the corner of his eyes, "I have to see this!"
"Daddy tried to tell her that it wasn't a canon ball and that she was supposed to slide it, not throw it down the lane and Mama told him that if he wasn't quiet she would throw him down the lane too." Lara repeated with a raging smile, delighting in sending the adults at the table with them into hysterical laughter by telling stories about their mother.
"Mama is naughty. She go Time Out!" Lena added very seriously pointing starkly across the room with narrowed brows, only making them laugh all the harder.
"It's true! When we got home, Mama had to go to Time Out because she said lots of bad words when we got kicked out." Rurik's eyes were wide and nodding with a big smile.
"Time Out, Mama!" Lena roared again from her booster seat with a smile enjoying the adults laughter as well.
"She went to Time Out?" Ziva asked imagining such a thing and couldn't stop the tears from falling as they could barely breathe from laughing so hard at not only what the children were telling them but also the way they were saying it.
"Oh yes, she had to sit on the Naughty Rug for thirty minutes! One minute each for her age at the time!" Lara nodded with big eyes, "Just like us!"
"Only Aunty Anni brought Mama a glass of wine in Time Out." Rurik answered with a puzzled expression sending the adults into another wave of laughter with each new detail of this story. "We never get wine in Time Out. Only Mama and Aunty Anni and Grandma."
"Grandma?" Tony choked at the idea with a raging smile, "Your Grandma Katherine went to Time Out before too?"
"Oh yes." Lara smiled widely still nodding, "She said bad words like Mama once and Aunty Anni brought her wine too! Aunty Anni likes wine in Time Out. Sometimes she puts herself in Time Out with a glass of wine and says it's a vacation."
The four adults were laughing so hard now they couldn't breathe with both Malachi and Tony slapping the table with tears in their eyes.
"Is that why Mama sent Aunty Anni on a real vacation right now?" Ziva asked remembering what Jack had said about Julia sending Annika on a real vacation after taking care of the children while Julia was down and recovering and that the twins had 'worn her out.'
"Yes." All four children answered in unison with sharp head nods and the adults all laughed again.
"She's in Napa. That's in northern California. Mama says they have lots of wine and spas so Aunty Anni will be relaxed and happy." Rurik smiled proudly with big blue eyes, "I miss Aunty Anni though, and her chocolate biscuits. She makes the best ones and always lets us help."
"She sounds like a lot of fun." Ziva smiled at him thinking the woman did sound like fun and hoped to meet her one day.
"Oh, she is! She and Mama are so funny together." Lara smiled widely. "Sometimes they kick Daddy out of the bed and Aunty Anni will lay in bed at night with Mama and they laugh and laugh and laugh about all kinds of things."
"Sometimes they lay there and cry too," Rurik added with a head nod, "But then they laugh too with tears in their eyes. They are bizarre."
"Bizarre?" Malachi asked with raised eyebrows of surprise to hear the small boy use the word.
"Yes, that is what Daddy and Grandpa call them, 'cuz sometimes Grandma and Aunt Kelsi join Mama and Aunty Anni in the big bed and they all laugh and laugh." Rurik smiled with pride, "And Grandpa says that women are bizarre magnificent creatures who have their own rituals. So we let the ladies do their rituals and we guys do our own." He sat up straighter and his voice went deeper mimicking what he'd heard said causing the adults to laugh again.
"And what are the guy's rituals?" Liat asked smiling and completely charmed by Julia's children already.
"We watch sports in the Man Cave or play Poker. Daddy and Grandpa drink beer and Toffee and I get to have root beer. Toffee is the best Poker player because Aunty Anni and Cousin Alexa taught him since he was little." Rurik answered sweetly smiling over at his big brother, "Aunty Anni is a card shark who is ruthless! That's what Mama says. She laughs like she's crazy when she takes all our loot!"
"I must meet this woman some day." Liat laughed hearing more stories about Annika. "She sounds like fun indeed!"
"So what do you guys do after dinner usually?" Tony asked with a smile wanting to do every thing right for Julia tonight and make this go smoothly without messing it up.
"Well, we have to do our after dinner chores and then we can play before bed." Kristoff answered already standing to gather his plate and flatware. "The three big kids," He motioned in a circle with his hand between himself and the twins, "have weekly rotating chores and Lena helps whoever is loading the dishwasher since she's still little."
"I not 'dat little!" Lena protested immediately with her already familiar slanted brow in place and flaring nostrils. "I big now too! I can hewp, Toff!" Her cuteness was almost too adorable to bear as she huffed and slid her long dark hair over her shoulder, brushing the long spiraled ringlets and waves away from her face.
"Yes, you can help. You are a good helper, Lena." Kristoff smiled at his little sister and helped her down. "She puts the spoons, forks and dull butter knives into the dishwasher bins with whomever has dish duty. Tonight, that's me." He informed the adults and then turned his attention back to his little sister, "You get to help me tonight, Lena Bug!" He smiled at her and instantly she was raging with smiles back at him and cheering.
The adults were, continuously marveled by the boy before them, in how well he handled Lena. Even during dinner, without asking from them, he cut her food into smaller pieces to which Lena replied 'thank you, Toffee' and he said, 'welcome' without any prompting for manners for any of the adults. Julia's children really, were well behaved and a delight thus far to be around.
"I feed Few-gus too!" Lena bounced up and down with excitement.
"And who is Few-gus?" Ziva asked the tiny tot with an amused grin of her own.
"Not Few-gus, Few-gus!" Lena giggled trying to correct Ziva but having trouble pronouncing her 'r's as well.
"It's Fergus. Our fish." Kristoff laughed softly and smiled, "Lena's chore every night, too is to feed Fergus one pellet of fish food."
"And kiss him goo-night!" Lena added still smiling and bouncing with excitement.
"She kisses the fish goodnight?" Liat asked with widening eyes and the children all erupted into howling laughter this time.
"She doesn't kiss Fergus!" Rurik roared with laughter and Liat smiled at their reaction.
"She kisses his bowl!" Lara added with a smile. "Kissing a fishy would be icky!"
"So you wouldn't kiss a fish but you will kiss a frog?" Kristoff asked her with raised eyebrows.
"Sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince!" Lara answered and Liat and Ziva both lost it in laughter though they tried to hide it.
"Real frogs are not princes. Mama has told you that over and over." Kristoff smiled shaking his head with exasperation.
"I know that! But I still like to pretend they are! A princess needs her prince!" Lara answered with a gleaming smile and batting her long dark eyelashes.
"Okay, so what are your duties for tonight then?" Tony asked Rurik and Lara as Kristoff already began clearing the dishes from the table, while Lena followed him every step of the way.
"I wipe the table and the counters down tonight." Lara beamed with pride, "I'm really good at that one."
"And I sweep the floor around the table and kitchen picking up all the dropped food." Rurik smiled as both he and Lara began to move as well, jumping right into their chores.
The adults sat back and watched with fascination. All four children had immediately set to work without hounding from the adults or needing to be told what to do. Kristoff rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher while helping Lena sort out the silverware and place them in the bins. Rurik started sweeping the kitchen first, having waited for Lara to finish wiping down the counters first and then table to catch whatever may have fallen on the floor. The household, it seemed, was a well-oiled machine that worked efficiently and quickly and without fighting amongst the children about who was doing what and when.
"You guys are really good at this." Tony smiled at them as the children worked quickly and were finishing up. "I am very impressed." And he was.
"Thank you." They all chimed in with smiles.
"Now what?" Malachi asked looking at the four sweet faces standing before them and looked at the clock in the kitchen. It was now 7:00 PM and Julia's note said the children would all go down to sleep 'lights out' at 9:00 PM. They still had two hours.
"Well tonight, Mama said that we have to take our baths first and get into our pajamas and then we can play." Lara answered with a growing smile. "She said we are sweaty and dirty from playing outside today and we need baths."
"And she said that we would get carried away playing tonight and it would get too late for our baths otherwise." Kristoff added with a smile. "It's tough sometimes when Mama can see things before they happen."
"Yeah," Rurik sighed with exaggeration, "We never miss a bath now. She always knows when it will get too late."
His remark caused the adults to chuckle once more.
"But not with Grandma and Grandpa!" Rurik suddenly beamed with pride.
"Or Aunty Anni!" Lara nodded with enthusiasm, "When Mama was sick and in the hospital, Rurik and I got really dirty at the ranch one night. We were sweaty and dirty and Aunty Anni said she would rather wash our sheets in the morning then bathe us at night. And we did!" She giggled. "She just sprayed us with a hose in the backyard instead of a bath!"
"It was so fun!" Rurik laughed with Lara and the adults burst once more into laughter.
"It sounds like it." Ziva giggled shaking her head. "So how does this work for baths?"
"Lena and I take a bath together now." Lara smiled brightly grabbing onto Ziva's arm. "But we need help because of our long hair. It is hard to wash by ourselves."
"And I take a bath by myself!" Rurik smiled, "In my room. But I need help too." His eyebrows narrowed, "Not because of my long hair but because I don't like the soap in my eyes."
"I take a shower. No help needed." Toffee smiled with a soft laugh. "And then the babies need baths." He added seeing all of the adult's faces go pale suddenly with wide-eyes. "I will help you don't worry." He added with another giggle and they all smiled again.
"Okay, so who is taking who?" Tony asked feeling more relieved to know that Kristoff was going to help them with the newborns, who were thankfully still asleep.
"We will take the girls." Ziva smiled sharing a glance with Liat, "And you will take the boy." She looked from Tony and Malachi down to Rurik, deciding that if Tony was going to succeed in getting this evening right, the last thing they needed was him freaking out over how to wash two tiny little girls long curly hair.
"Deal." Tony nodded thinking this sounded like a good plan. "We'll take the baby monitor with us since we only have one to bathe." He offered looking at Rurik while Ziva picked up Lena and Lara grabbed hold of Liat's hand.
Ziva grabbed his face with one hand squeezing his cheeks and pulled him close for a chaste kiss with a smile.
"Ani ohev otach, Ziva David." Tony smiled whispering quietly.
Lara bounced beside Liat with a raging smile, "I speak Hebrew, too!" She giggled, "I didn't know you were Jewish, Tony." She looked at him bewildered.
"I'm not. But the woman I love is." He knelt down in front of Lara while smiling up at Ziva. "So I like to tell her heart that I love her in the language that it speaks." He lay his palm gently over Lara's little chest, "What language does your heart speak, Lara?"
"Oooh, it speaks many languages, Tony. English, Hebrew, Farsi, French, Russian and Swedish!" She exclaimed proudly and all of their eyes widened considerably. "But Mama says the most important language is love. It's universal."
Tony's smile widened from ear to ear staring into the big dark eyes of the adorable little girl in front of him and seeing glimpses of what his own daughter might look and sound like. "Your Mama is right again, Miss Lara. The most important language is love…and it is universal." He pulled back enough to tickle her under her chin and cause of peel of giggles to escape.
"Me too! Me too!" Lena demanded in Ziva's arms wanting Tony to tickle her as well. She too let loose a deep squirming giggle in Ziva's arms when he obliged the request. "You so funny, Tony." Lena giggled again batting her incredibly long lashes at him.
"Yes, he is." Ziva smiled with a light in her eyes to see Tony's smile in interacting with the little girls and imagining him doing so with their own. "We better get going!" She kissed Tony's cheek on the way by and followed Lara still holding Liat's hand up the stairs towards her bedroom and bathroom she shared with Lena.
"You ready, Little Guy?" Tony asked looking down at Rurik who nodded with a smile and then took off up the stairs as well.
"Race you!" He squealed after he was already running away.
"Why do I always get the runners?" Tony sighed shaking his head thinking about all the times he'd had to chase people in his life. Then he smiled, tearing off after the little boy who was immediately giggling at the pursuit with Malachi right behind and the boys passed all the girls on the wide staircase.
"Boys!" Lara huffed as they went by causing Liat and Ziva to smile at each other thinking the same.
"What are you going to name your baby, Lady Ziva?" Lara asked suddenly while soaking in the mountain of warm water and bubbles, making Lena's hair into a Mohawk as she sat before her. Lena was too busy playing with the cups and water to care what Lara was doing to her.
Ziva and Liat were sitting on the wide tiled edges of the little girls bathtub that was more like a small pool.
"I do not know yet." Ziva answered her with a smile and sigh, staring dreamily at the too little dark haired girls in the tub before her and excited to meet her own daughter soon.
"I think you should name her Princess." Lara answered with a swift head nod while Liat and Ziva both snickered.
Clearly this little girl was obsessed with princesses in her four-year old cuteness.
"Hmm, well. That's a thought." Ziva tried not to snicker again and smile with the suggestion.
"I'm serious." Lara turned her eyes directly to Ziva's with a serious expression. "I think you should name her Beautiful Princess. It suits her." She nodded sharply and then turned back to doing Lena's hair with bubbles and Liat had to cover her mouth from laughing out loud at what just happened. "It would make it easier for her true love prince to find her, if she is just called Beautiful Princess. He will know where to look."
This time Liat couldn't hold back her laughter and burst into a fit of giggles as did Ziva; the sight of the both of them losing it while trying to hold it back caused a wide grin to appear once more on Lara's face.
"That is very true, Lara." Ziva smiled with an exaggerated head nod and still laughing, "If only I had a name like that, maybe Tony would have found me sooner." She laughed thinking about the kinds of women that Tony had dated and fantasized about before and couldn't help but laugh, given the little girl's sincerity on the subject.
"Is Tony a prince?" Lara asked with eyes widening very excitedly.
"No, he's not a prince." Ziva shook her head still giggling.
"Then what is he?" Lara asked with eyes narrowing.
"He's something." Ziva laughed out loud again as did Liat, with the both of them unable to stop now caught up in a fit of giggles. "What? I do not know yet."
"He is your husband?" Lara asked with smiling eyes as both she and Lena now were fascinated watching the two women helping them bathe unable to stop laughing.
"Not yet. Soon." Ziva answered trying to sober up and stop laughing, wiping at the tears in the corners of her eyes again. "He is my fiancé right now. That means we are getting married soon."
"How soon?" Lara asked with relentless questions.
"Soon." Ziva answered not knowing what else to say, "We do not have a date yet."
"Well you should get one! Before someone else marries Tony first!" Lara admonished her with wide-eyes and a head nod.
"Who else is going to marry Tony first?" Ziva asked her already laughing at the question and the look on Lara's face.
"Me!" Lara giggled bouncing in the tub and Liat and Ziva lost it again laughing. "I will marry Tony! He can be my frog prince!"
Tony and Malachi exchanged looks sitting on the edge of the bathtub in Rurik's room, looking at the wall behind them and hearing the sounds of muffled continuous laughter coming from the other side.
"What do you think they are laughing at, that is so funny?" Tony asked Malachi trying not to smile at hearing both Liat and Ziva's laughter so much this evening. It had been long since missed and felt good to all.
"You." Rurik answered swimming in his deep bathtub that was practically lapping the edges so full of water and bubbles.
"How do you know that?" Tony asked with incredulous eyebrows at the tiny blonde boy attempting to do the breaststroke across his bathtub and swimming like a frog with bare naked buns in the air and sticking out of the bubbles.
"Daddy says, that whenever Mama and the ladies are laughing in another room it usually means they are laughing about the men they love who drive them crazy." Rurik answered with a bright smile scooping up handfuls of bubbles and covering his head now, neck deep in the water.
"Sounds about right." Malachi laughed shaking his head at the little boy's assumptions and pleased himself to hear Liat laughing like this again. It had been more then a year given the growing distance between them over time.
"Mama never lets me have the tub this deep! I love it!" Rurik smiled still swimming around.
"Great." Tony sighed hearing that bit of information. "Well what Mama doesn't know-" He began to say.
"Oh, she will know!" Rurik stopped swimming and sat up smiling with a large head nod, "She knows everything, Tony!" He leaned in and whispered, "She has eyes everywhere and can even see into my brain and look at my memories!" He palmed with the sides of his soapy head with outstretched fingers and a giggle, "She won't get mad though, don't worry, Tony. She likes you."
"She does?" Tony asked swallowing the lump in his throat with a smile watching the little boy now rolling his body over and over like an alligator in the water, splashing it all over the sides.
"Yes, silly!" Rurik smiled with a giggle at getting dizzy, "Mama would never let anyone take care of us if she did not like them. It is very special as we are pieces of her heart, and Mama is very protective of her heart." He repeated, clearly having heard this many times before from someone. "You are doing a good job. Don't worry." He finally stopped spinning and smiled.
"Are you getting married soon too?" Lara asked Liat while she and Ziva began rinsing the little girls hair after helping them wash.
"No." Liat answered softly shaking her head with a soft smile.
"Are you already married?" Lara kept asking more questions while Liat poured the water gently over her head with Lara's head tilted back and looking up.
"No." Liat answered quietly, "I am not married."
"Oooh," Lara answered dramatically and then paused, "You should marry Malachi! He loves you." She spoke suddenly and both Ziva and Liat froze in their movements.
"Why do you say that?" Liat asked quietly continuing to rinse after the moment of being stunned.
"I can tell by the way he looks at you and smiles. Daddy looks at Mama like that and so does Uncle Henry. They both love Mama a whole bunch and look at her all the time when she doesn't know they are looking." Lara answered matter-of-factly with a smile, "Tony looks at Lady Ziva like that and Malachi looks at you like that, too." She smiled more widely, "Aunty Anni said its called the 'look of love' when I asked her." Lara giggled, "She also said that I am very observant. Which means I see everything around me."
"Yes, you are." Ziva answered with a small smile and a deep breath, looking over at Liat and making sure she was okay with what Lara had said.
"Sometimes love is not enough of a reason to get married." Liat answered Lara quietly, swallowing the lump in her throat with unexpected emotions as well. "Sometimes when two people love each other, their lives are very different and so they cannot be together." She thought about Malachi being the Director of Mossad and how different their lives had become over the last year, in wanting different things from life.
"Like Mama and Uncle Henry." Lara answered in understanding nodding her head even as she climbed over the side of the tub, shivering and standing before Liat as she wrapped her in a big fluffy towel and Ziva did the same with Lena. "They both love each other very much but cannot be together anymore. They will always love each other but now they are both married to other people and love them too."
Liat and Ziva were both surprised to hear that Lara was so familiar with their story and understood it so well.
"How do you know that?" Ziva asked her quietly as they continued to dry the little girls.
"Mama told me when she was pregnant with Jilly-Bean and Rafe. And why they each had a different daddy because I asked her. Mama always tells me the truth in a way that is 'age appropriate' for my 'level of understanding." Lara repeated with a smile, "I am very smart for four years old so 'because' is not a good answer for me. I will just keep asking more questions."
"I can see that." Ziva laughed softly.
"I heard Mama crying one night while she was talking to Daddy and Grandma about what happened with Uncle Henry remembering and how there were two babies." Lara continued to tell her story of how she knew that as Liat started putting lotion on her skin that was part of the routine. "She said that when Uncle Henry remembered loving her, it was like someone you loved and had a life with, a child with, coming back from the dead. That you do not love the person you are married to now and have a life with any less, but you still love the person you thought died and came back to you."
Ziva and Liat both exchanged looks over the little girls' heads and remembered what Jack and said about Lara never forgetting anything she heard. They were now hearing the proof of that in hearing very grown up words and conversation coming out of the four year olds mouth.
"And Mama was really crying and upset 'cuz Daddy was yelling at her and crying too. Then Mama asked Daddy 'if she died today, the mother of his child and he moved on and married someone else and started a new life and a new family and then someday Mama came back from the dead, would he love Mama any less now or would he love his new wife and the mother of his new child less now or would he still love them both." Lara repeated in a ramble exactly what she heard that night. "Daddy was quiet then and Mama left the room crying and Grandma talked to Daddy but we followed Mama."
"We?" Ziva asked quietly with heart breaking hearing this tale.
"Kristoff, Rurik and I. We were hiding in the secret passageway in Mama and Daddy's room and could hear and see everything. We followed Mama to the garden and watched her cry in the dark for a long time while she sat on the bench by the angel statue. It was very sad." Lara sighed looking down. "But Daddy came out after a long time and sat beside her and told her he understood now. Because if Mama had died and he moved on and she came back, he wouldn't love her any less and he would probably react the same way that Mama had with Uncle Henry, needing to kiss and touch her again. Then Mama cried more and Daddy held her and they kissed and made up and stopped fighting about the babies and Uncle Henry."
"Wow. You do have an incredible memory." Ziva spoke quietly with tears welling in her eyes at hearing the story of what happened between Jack, Julia and Henry.
"Are you going to marry someone else?" Lara redirected her line of questioning back at Liat again, still not satisfied with her answers. "Is that why you are not marrying Malachi?"
Liat's hand froze again about to put the pajama top over Lara's head and Asa's face flashed through her mind, as did the moment she called off their engagement. "Not anymore." She answered quietly. "I am not marrying anyone right now."
"Who is Eden's daddy?" Lara asked sweetly reaching out with tiny hands to palm Liat's baby belly and giggled feeling the baby move and kick beneath her touch. "Hello Eden! I'm Lara!" She leaned in giggling more with another kick.
Liat and Ziva both couldn't help but smile and at the sweet innocence of the moment as Lena quickly turned and joined her sister with hands on Liat's baby belly, both little girls standing naked, freshly bathed and smelling of sweet baby lotion themselves.
"Does she not have a daddy anymore?" Lara asked Liat again with a sad tone and puppy dog eyes. "Did her daddy die like my Daddy Mikael?"
"No," Liat answered immediately seeing actual tears well in Lara's eyes over being sad at the thought that Eden's daddy had died too. "Malachi is Eden's father." She cupped Lara's face gently with one hand and gave her a small smile.
"Oh good!" Lara's brilliant smile returned, "Cuz little girls need special daddies."
"They do?" Liat asked staring into the four year olds big dark eyes and worrying for the first time of the effect it, may have on her daughter to raise her without a father.
"Oh yes! Otherwise we will settle for frogs and never look for our prince! The one who really deserve us. The very special one. Daddy Jack is a good, good Daddy. He takes good care of me and loves me and he is making sure that I know what true love is so I do not settle for frogs and wait to find my prince." Lara beamed with pride stepping into her pajamas. "He tells me all the time that I am his beautiful princess. He's a good daddy."
"Did your Daddy tell you that?" Liat asked with tears in her eyes thinking about Jack having this conversation with Lara.
"Yes, and Uncle Henry and Grandma and Aunty Anni and Mama too. But I see it!" Lara nodded enthusiastically, "Because I am observant. I want to only marry a prince who gives me the 'look of love' when I am not looking and who smiles and kisses me like Daddy does to Mama and holds me when I cry like Daddy. Daddy really loves Mama and I want that too." Her eyes flashed to Ziva still rambling on without taking a breath, "That is how Tony looks at you, Lady Ziva and why I said I would marry him and he can be my prince!" She giggled and made Ziva smile. "Daddy Jack isn't my biological daddy but he is my Daddy. The only one I have now and I love him very, very much."
Liat and Ziva once again exchanged looks over the little girls' heads at what Lara was saying and the wisdom these children seemed to hold far beyond their years from the lives they'd already led in such short time. Their life experience at only four and a half years old had already made them 'extraordinary' like their mother.
"If you are not going to marry Malachi, can I?" Lara asked Liat with excitement and a new giggle, "He would be a very good prince. Like Prince Charming in Cinderella because he has dark hair too!"
Liat and Ziva both couldn't help but smile and laugh through their tears again at the perfect timing of this child and her ability to always know exactly what to say.
"If Malachi is Prince Charming from Cinderella," Ziva asked addressing the little girl now standing before her with a wide smile, "What prince is Tony?"
"Since Tony has dark blonde hair and big muscles and… he is furry… he's the Beast!" Lara giggled loudly, "From Beauty and the Beast and he was very handsome once the spell was broken!"
Her answer of Tony being the furry beast had Ziva and Liat both rolling backwards on the soft rug on the floor unable to stop laughing. Lena lay down with them and started laughing because they were and so, Lara did too.
Kristoff walked by the open bathroom door having finished with his shower already and paused with wide-eyes to see Liat and Ziva with both little girls all laying on the floor in the bathroom in hysterical laughter. His mouth formed into a tight grin and kept on walking towards Rurik's room.
"What is happening in there?" Tony asked again toweling drying Rurik while Malachi used the spare towels to sop up all the water on the floor that had spilt out. They could still hear the roaring but muffled laughter coming from the other bathroom.
"They are lying on the floor and laughing at nothing." Kristoff answered with a smile leaning against the counter.
"All of them?" Malachi looked up astonished to hear such a thing about Liat and Ziva.
"Yes," Kristoff answered. "Come see." He waved them all to follow.
Tony wrapped the towel around Rurik quickly and picked him up while Malachi abandoned his floor duties to follow. Both men and boys stood frozen in the doorway watching Liat, Ziva and the two little girls lying on the big white fluffy rug laughing with tears in their eyes at nothing.
"What are you laughing at?" Tony finally asked with a stunned smile on his face at the sight before him. He had never in all his life seen Ziva laughing like this.
"You!" Ziva answered with new tears in her eyes and laughing again.
"See! I told you!" Rurik beamed proudly in Tony's arms having been correct about what was causing the laughter. "Girls." He shook his head with a soft smile.
"Okay Giggle Gerties'," Tony smiled more widely at the whole scenario, "When you're done laughing feel free to join us downstairs."
"Giggle what?" Liat asked still laughing only now at, whatever Tony had said. "I do not understand this idiom!"
"Never mind." Tony shook his head laughing at them, laughing and ushered the others away.
"What is wrong with them?" Rurik asked shaking his head softly.
"They're having fun." Tony smiled at Rurik and then over to Malachi walking beside them back to Rurik's room. "It's good to hear them laugh again. It's been too long." His heart felt much lighter with the sounds of laughter again and hope that maybe, this night of babysitting hilarious innocence was exactly what everyone needed to lift some of the levity of the last year.
"Yes, it has." Malachi nodded with a big smile, feeling the same as Tony. "Liat is so beautiful when she laughs. I have missed that smile." He added thinking about the woman he loved.
"You should marry her." Rurik announced immediately when Tony sat him down to start getting his pajamas on and Malachi went back to work finishing up with water soaked floor.
"Marry who?" Malachi asked pretending he didn't know whom Rurik was referring to.
"Liat!" Rurik squealed with a smile, "If you do not marry her, I will. She is very beautiful and very nice."
"That she is." Malachi and Tony both chuckled.
"I wanted to marry Lady Ziva but Mama told me that Tony was already marrying her." Rurik sighed heavily pulling on his pajama shorts and Tony and Malachi laughed even more. "So I'll marry her sister instead." He finally smiled and then winked at Malachi throwing both men into a fit of laughter now.
"You are quite the little Ladies Man, aren't you?" Tony smiled shaking his head and watching as Rurik finished dressing.
"Mama tells me that all the time. She says I'm her Sweet Little Romeo." Rurik smiled widely with pride and then scrambled up his bathroom stool to start brushing his hair. "I wanted to marry Mama when I was little but Toffee told me I can't marry Mama because she's our Mama and always will be and that is even better than being my wife."
"Oh, when you were little, huh?" Tony chuckled with a smile and a smirk at Malachi seeing the little boy in front of them now who was only four. He remembered being little and wanting to marry his own mother, his first love.
"Yeah, when I was two, I wanted to marry Mama. That is little, Tony." Rurik looked at him in the mirror's reflection carefully combing his blonde curls that were very much like his mothers.
"Yes, it is." Tony answered with a serious head nod and smiled.
"I'm going to go start heating the babies bottles." Kristoff announced with a soft smile, "They will be waking and hungry soon."
"I'll help you." Tony smiled and shifted his gaze towards Malachi, "You got this one?" He asked nodding towards the little boy in dinosaur pajamas taking his time to comb through his blonde hair.
"Yes," Malachi nodded with a confident smile that he could at the very least handle this one small boy while he brushed his hair.
"So are you going to marry, Liat or can I?" Rurik asked Malachi the moment Tony and Kristoff were gone with a raging smile.
"I would like to marry her, Rurik." Malachi answered quietly with a soft smile, "Someday. But only if she'll have me."
"Why wouldn't she have you?" Rurik asked with narrowing eyebrows looking at Malachi as he put his comb away and reached for his own lotion to put on his arms, legs and cheeks as part of his own ritual.
"I wasn't always nice to Liat. I hurt her heart and made her sad." Malachi answered with a sigh folding his arms across his chest.
"Well you should say sorry and give her lots of hugs and kisses." Rurik answered with a confident head nod, "That will make her heart feel better. You should be more careful with her heart, Malachi." He turned his gaze intently to the man beside him, "Daddy says that hearts are a delicate matter and take longer to fix when broken then even a bone! And that takes a long, long time. Toffee has broken his arm twice and it was forever before it was fixed. Mama's heart is very delicate, too with so many missing pieces. Is Liat's heart missing pieces too?" He asked earnestly with big blue eyes of concern.
Malachi was stunned into silence listening to the little boy speaking of the delicate nature of hearts and how he should be more careful with Liat's as a warning.
"Yes, she has missing pieces, too." He sighed softly thinking of all the loss already in Liat's life beginning with her family as a child and the added pieces torn away with her time spent in captivity and being tortured.
"Then you have to be extra careful with it!" Rurik answered resolutely nodding and spread the lotion around his arm. "Are you baby Eden's daddy?" He asked with a curious gaze after a moment.
"I am." Malachi answered for the first time in his life and smiled at that realization of claiming Eden as her 'daddy.'
"That's good. Everyone needs a good daddy." Rurik answered putting the lotion back into the cabinet. "My biological daddy died when I was a baby. Jack is my only daddy now and I love him! He is the best! He plays with us and takes good care of us and he loves Mama a lot. That is very important."
"Yes, it is." Malachi answered with a soft smile.
"Kristoff has two daddies now. His biological daddy, Uncle Henry and Jack. That is what Toffee calls my Daddy because he calls his daddy, Daddy, and we call him Uncle Henry because he's not our Daddy. Just Kristoff and Jillian's daddy." Rurik rambled on with a sway of his head listing off the facts, "We have lots of daddies in this family but only one Mama!" He smiled brightly and giggled. "Toffee misses his daddy a lot when he is away."
Malachi's smile turned sad at hearing this news again and remembering what he'd seen on the ranch and in London with Henry. "I think his daddy misses him a lot, too."
"He does." Rurik nodded with big head swoops. "I don't miss Daddy Mikael. I don't know him or remember him at all. Jack is the only Daddy I know and remember. But it makes Toffee sad because he remembers when Uncle Henry and Mama were married and they were together all the time when he was a baby. He misses that." His eyes flashed to Malachi's, "Even if you do not marry Liat, are you still going to see baby Eden?"
"I hope so." Malachi sighed again hoping that would be the case and afraid all the more now, of being cut out of her life the more attached he became.
"I hope so, too. If you are going to be her daddy, you have to stay her daddy then all the time or she will miss you like Kristoff misses his daddy, because she will remember you, too." Rurik informed him with serious blue eyes. "You cannot be her daddy and then leave. That is what happened to us. Daddy was so upset when Mama and Uncle Henry made a new baby, he left us for awhile and everyone was so sad. I was sad but also very mad. He made Mama cry and he made Lara cry. But he came back and he won't leave us anymore. He promised. Uncle Henry left Kristoff, too, and it made him very, very sad. But it's better now that Uncle Henry remembers Kristoff is his son. Toffee has his daddy back and he's very happy again…most of the time. As long as Uncle Henry visits and calls him."
Malachi was listening intently to the wisdom of this four year old little boy who made more sense than anyone he'd ever known when speaking of the relationships with fathers. He was warning Malachi that if he were going to be in Eden's life from the start, he needed to stay apart of her life for good and not leave.
"You are a very wise little boy." Malachi ran his hand down the back of Rurik's head with a soft smile.
"You are such a good big brother, Kristoff." Tony smiled as they made the bottles for the babies in the kitchen. "You should be very proud of yourself for that. I wish when I was little, I had a big brother like you."
Kristoff smiled more widely at hearing Tony's compliment. "Thank you. I try to be. I wasn't always very good." He shook his head looking down. "I was really angry at Rurik sometimes when he was a baby. I was jealous and didn't want to share Mama with him."
"I think that's pretty normal." Tony tried to reassure him with a smile, "You were the first born."
"I wasn't though. Mama had a baby before me. Anya. I never knew her though until before she died." Kristoff swirled the bottles in the warm water. "And I wasn't very nice to her when I found out that she was Mama's first baby. I was jealous of her then because I always thought I was Mama's first baby. Mama never talked about Anya before."
"How old was Anya?" Tony asked quietly stunned to find out yet another piece of the puzzle that was Julia.
"She was eight when she died with the others. Mama wasn't supposed to have a baby then and so when Anya was born, they told Mama she died. But she didn't die. They just took her away instead." Kristoff answered sadly, "I didn't meet her until I was five and only knew her for a little while before they were all killed." He shook his head, "She was very nice. They all were. I was mean to all of them then. I didn't want to share Mama."
Tony listened quietly with his heart further breaking hearing the details surrounding another piece of Julia's missing heart and to see the sadness in Kristoff's eyes with regret at being mean to his 'new' siblings.
"Who was Anya's dad?" Tony asked quietly trying to figure out which children from the wall belonged to whom.
"My dad." Kristoff answered wiping the bottles off of the dripping water as he pulled them from the warmers. "Mama was working in South America when she met my dad for the first time. My dad was on a mission trip there at the same time. Uncle Mikael introduced them and the rest 'is history as we know it.' That is what my dad says." He smiled softly, "He said he loved Mama the first moment he saw her smile. They didn't plan to have Anya. She was a surprise, Mama says."
"Kristoff," Tony hedged carefully walking beside the young boy up the stairs again, "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." Kristoff nodded sliding his hand up the wooden railing.
"You said that Anya died with the others. Does that mean that all of the other children died at the same time?" Tony asked carefully with heavy heart.
"Yes, most of them with Nana Lena and Nana Marna, too. They were taking care of us at the time along with Uncle Ares. He was married to my Aunt Casey. They were both Gods as Mama calls them. The First Gens of The Program that made them Elite Human Weapons." Kristoff answered quietly. "The all died together. Nana Lena, Nana Marna, Uncle Ares and the other children."
"How and why?" Tony asked following Kristoff into the nursery, wanting to understand more about what happened and what made Julia who she was today.
"When Mama found out that Ulric was stealing her babies and what he was going to do with them, she started finding them to save them from the bad people. When Mama got us back from the bad Russians again, she put us all together in a safe house in France with Uncle Ares, Nana Lena and Nana Marna. Trying to keep us safe while she tried to find people to help us because so many people were fighting us and taking us all back and forth again and again. There were other children together in a different place, waiting to join our group and Mama was going to bring them back with her." He took a deep breath and sighed as they came to stand before the beautiful crib holding both sleeping babies starting to wake now.
"When she was gone, the bad Russians found us again. They took us back to Russia and after two days, they drove us into the forest because they knew Mama was coming for us. They stopped in the middle of the road and separated Rurik and I from the rest of them." Kristoff paused with tears welling in his eyes, "I think Nana Lena knew what was going to happen when she saw the man loading his gun. She knelt down in front of me and told me to be brave; that she loved me and not to be scared because Mama would come for me. She would always come for me and to take care of Rurik until Mama found us. She gave me a big hug and kiss and then kissed Rurik in his carseat as he was still a little baby. Then she picked up baby Jack from Nana Marna and told all of the other kids to hold hands in a long line with Nana Marna and they were marched through the grass into the trees. Two of the bad guys were dragging Uncle Ares because he was really hurt by them when he tried to stop them from taking us."
Kristoff paused for a long time staring at the two living and breathing little babies before him in the crib, lightly running his finger over their foot. "And then I heard the gunshots. One at a time. Bang, bang, bang…eighteen times, and then I heard baby Jack crying and then bang… No more crying." A silent tear slid down Kristoff's face and Tony's as well hearing this story and looking at the boy in front of him unable to imagine witnessing such horror.
"The guard who was watching Rurik and I picked up his carseat and ordered me to follow him as we went into the forest. He stopped in a small clearing and the other bad men were all ready throwing shovels of dirt onto them. They had been shot in a shallow hole all standing in a line, in their heads. They were still holding hands. The mean guard holding Rurik told the men not to bother burying the bodies. That Romanovs deserved shallow unmarked graves and that he wanted Mama to see them… and that we needed to get moving because she was coming fast." Kristoff reached up wiping at the tears falling and brushing them away. "We didn't see Mama again for a long time. Every time she would get close, they would take us again."
Tony was trying hard several times to swallow the lump in his throat at hearing of how Julia's children were executed along with her mother-in-law who so bravely faced her own death. "Why were you and Rurik separated from them?" He asked quietly not understanding that part.
"We were the only two declared Romanov heirs at the time. Most of the rest of the children in our group were Mama and Daddy Mikael's children that Ulric had stolen and made in his Genetics Program. We were the only two whom Great Grand Ma-Ma Marie had left the Romanov fortune. Whoever had us, controlled the money and the power of her empire." Kristoff swallowed hard looking up at Tony and seeing the same glistening eyes and felt it was okay to tell him this as he understood, losing his own Mama. "They also did it to hurt Mama. They knew that the only way to really hurt her was by hurting those she loved. I heard them say, they hoped the amount of loss would finally kill her or at least, get her to stop fighting for us and accept defeat." He paused again to sniffle slightly, "And if it didn't stop her, they were going to send a message that they would kill anyone helping her. They found the other children and guards and killed them the same day."
"You are also part Romanov?" Tony asked hearing what Kristoff had said about Marie claiming him as a Romanov as well.
"Yes, I am a Designer Baby like Mama. Though she never knew that at the time I was born. She is my only Mama but I have two biological dads. My dad Henry and Daddy Mikael." Kristoff answered quietly.
"And your mother had no idea that Mikael was also your father?" Tony asked with widening eyes realizing that Kristoff was the child that united two empires and royal families with Julia's bloodline and the memories of what Vance had said about the obsession with Julia's bloodline and those wanting to 'breed' into it ran rampant through his head.
"No, she never knew. Neither did my dad Henry. Not until after Mama remembered and found me again was she given the truth about me." Kristoff sighed deeply, "But that is why I cannot be the claimed heir of either royal family as the oldest living child. I have a father from each. So Rurik is the heir for the Romanovs, as he is all Daddy Mikael's. And the new baby will be for my Dad, as all his' baby… And instead, I am the heir to the seat on The Council. The one uniting them all."
Tony's eyes were wide in the dark now, understanding even more why Kristoff was upset about his place in his father's life with the impending birth of the new baby. The entire situation was heartbreaking for all involved.
"I think…you are the most incredible boy I've ever met." Tony spoke quietly after a few moments of silence with a smile to Kristoff. "Of all the children, I think you are the most like your Mama." He told him and watched the smile start growing on Kristoff's face into radiating at hearing such a thing. That he 'belonged' to someone as a 'whole' and it was his mother.
"You think so?" Kristoff asked with pride. "My dad says that all the time but I think he just says that 'cuz, he's my dad." He shrugged, "But you really think I'm just like Mama?"
"I do." Tony nodded with a smile seeing how happy the idea made Kristoff. "You may not be the heir for either of your fathers, but being able to claim Julia as your mother and knowing that you are 'just' like her, I think, is more important than any title of heir. You are the son of Julia Taylor, the son…of the infamous Phoenix." Tony smiled more widely seeing Kristoff's smile grow, "Now that, is a title to be proud of. Your Mama is so proud of you. I see it in the way she looks at you and hear it in her voice, every time she speaks about you. You make her very proud, Kristoff."
"I really like you, Tony." Kristoff smiled looking up at him, "You always know what to say to make me feel better...feel proud to be me. Mama does that but, well, she's Mama…that is just what she does. But it's nice to hear it from you, too." He paused a moment looking at Tony scoop up Rafe who began to fuss first, "You're going to be a great dad, Tony."
"Thanks Buddy," Tony answered with a soft smile really looking into the boy's brilliant blue eyes, "That really means a lot coming from you." He swallowed hard holding back his new emotions of pride in himself to hear that from such a boy, who had been through so much and seemed to be the expert from the child's point of view on good fathers and parenting. "You are a really good son; and a very good brother and someday, you will also be a very good dad, too. Of that, I have no doubt."
"Thanks. I hope so." Kristoff smiled handing Tony the bottle to feed Rafe and watching as he knew exactly what to do this time without asking, on how to feed the tiny baby. Tony had remembered the lesson Kristoff had given him. "You're doing a really good job tonight. Your Mama would be proud of you, too." He smiled.
Tony felt himself getting choked up to hear Kristoff say such a thing and nodded with a smile, "Thank you. I always hoped, to one day make her proud."
"You are." Ziva's voice came from behind them.
Tony turned to see her standing alone in the doorway with a smile on her face and unshed tears in her eyes. Apparently, she had heard part of the exchange between them as well.
The sight of Tony with a tiny baby cradled in his arms, swaying gently back and forth and giving him a bottle was breathtaking as Ziva had never seen it before. He looked perfectly calm and relaxed, at ease and it stole the beat of her heart when she first saw him.
"You are very good at this already." She smiled coming closer to them and running her fingers gently over Rafe's hair.
"I had a really good teacher." Tony winked at Kristoff with a smile making the boy smile as well.
Ziva carefully scooped up Jillian from the crib and Kristoff handed her the other bottle with a smile. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Lady Ziva." Kristoff smiled looking between the two. "I'm going to go help Lena feed Fergus. If someone doesn't watch her, she will feed him the whole container." He giggled softly. "Are you guys okay with the babies?" He asked ever the concerned big brother.
"We are. Thank you, Sweetheart." Ziva smiled down at him with pride at once again, seeing the sweetness of this boy who was such an excellent big brother.
"That kid is amazing. Isn't he?" Tony asked once Kristoff was out the door, smiling at Ziva as they both took seats in rocking chairs next to each other and the cribs.
"He is." Ziva smiled, "They all are, actually. I've honestly never met any children like them before."
Jillian's eyes were wide open looking right at Ziva as if studying her intently while eating.
"They have a very good mother," Tony spoke quietly with a smile, "And a lot of life experience already…what they've all been through." He inhaled deeply and shook his head thinking about what more he'd just learned.
"You are going to be a great father, Tony." Ziva smiled at him in the chair next to her, already softly rocking the baby while he fed him and knowing what Tony was worried about. "You are so good with them. All of them."
"Maybe because I can relate to kids. I've spent most of my life acting like one." Tony scoffed with a small chuckle feeling nervous suddenly to be given accolades on how well he was doing with the children.
"I'd like to think, we've both learned enough from the experiences in our lives such as these children and Julia and Jack all have… that we'll do okay with our child, too." Ziva sighed with a contented smile. "I know that we both want to give her the things we really wanted and needed most as children. The things our parents did right and the things they didn't." Her smile fell slightly in thinking about her father's failures... "How do you feel about moving into a home like this?" She asked suddenly changing topics onto something more happy than thinking of her father's failures. "I like the idea of bringing our baby home to a real house. A home we can all grow in as a family through the years, like this one." She smiled.
Tony's smile lit up at her question. "I love the idea. I was thinking the same thing honestly."
"Then we should start looking, now." Ziva smiled with excitement, "While we still have time before the baby comes."
"Okay." Tony smiled with his own excitement. "What about Liat?" He asked not wanting to move too fast and set back the progress she was making.
"I think she will be okay and this process will take months or more, if we build rather than buy." Ziva smiled softly with nothing but love in her eyes looking at Tony that he was concerned about Liat and 'thinking of others.' "We'll let her know she's more than welcome to come with us for as long as she needs."
"Or buy her a house down the street." Tony smiled laughing softly when Ziva did. "I don't want her to leave."
"Me neither." Ziva laughed softly with him.
"What do you think is happening between her and Mal?" Tony asked wondering what Ziva had observed with Liat this evening having been alone with her more. "Rurik told Mal that if he didn't marry Liat, he was going to." He laughed with Ziva over the adorable boys comments. "Said he wanted to marry you, but you were already taken so he'd take your sister instead."
Both Tony and Ziva were laughing and trying to stifle it as to not scare the babies.
"Lara said the same exact thing to Liat. That she wanted to marry you but you were taken so she'd marry Malachi instead." She laughed.
"My God, those two are hilarious." Tony laughed with Ziva shaking his head. "What was so funny that had you lying on the ground laughing like that? I loved that image by the way. Beautiful... and a memory I will never forget." He flashed his smile at Ziva.
Ziva smiled more widely at hearing Tony say that and seeing his smile before breaking out into laughter again at thinking of what Lara had said that sent them into a fit of laughter. "She said that Malachi looked like Prince Charming from Cinderella with his dark hair and that since you were blonder, muscular and furry…that you were the Beast, from Beauty and the Beast."
"The Beast?" Tony gaped trying not to smile and sound offended before laughing with her at the little girls' assessment. "Mal's Prince Charming and I'm the Beast…how is that fair?"
"I do not know, but she said the Beast was very handsome once the spell was broken." Ziva kept laughing even as she burped the baby in her arms. "She also is 'very serious' in thinking that we should name our baby Beautiful Princess…as it will make it easier for her own Prince Charming to find her with such an obvious name." She kept laughing as did Tony in hearing this.
"You know, I think she's on to something." Tony raised his eyebrows looking at Ziva with a big smile, "I like that idea. Naming my beautiful baby girl something so fitting, because of course she will be Daddy's Beautiful Princess." He winked.
"You cannot call her princess!" Ziva admonished with widening eyes and a smile shaking her head at the nickname.
"I most certainly will!" Tony challenged her with a wide smile and laugh, raising his eyebrows. "Bella principessa!" He kissed his fingers with his best Italian accent.
"Oh great." Ziva laughed shaking her head, "She will have you wrapped around her little finger."
"Of course." Tony nodded sharply with a large smile. "Just as her mother does." He smiled more widely looking at Ziva causing her to laugh deeply. "There is just one thing though, we must do before finding or building our dream home."
"And what is that?" Ziva asked still chuckling softly.
Tony smiled speaking more softly, "I need you to marry me, Ziva David."
After several rousing games of Go Fish and Poker in giant blanket and pillow fort they'd all made together, a dance party with popcorn, teeth brushing, several stories and goodnight kisses, all six children were now down for the night and in their beds by 9:00 PM on the dot. The four adults shared wide smiles amongst themselves that they had survived the three and a half hours of the evening with all six children and everyone was still alive and unharmed, bathed, fed and put to bed. Each child saying goodnight to them all with a hug, kiss and raging smile telling them each they 'did a good job.'
Tony and Ziva had just laid down in their bedroom for the evening when Rurik appeared in the doorway with a gigantic smile and carrying his favorite stuffed animal, a well loved and worn lion.
"Hello!" He smiled running at them towards their bed. "Can I sleep with you? I wanted to sleep with Liat but she was busy."
"Busy doing what?" Tony asked with quirked eyebrow looking from the small boy to Ziva with a questioning gaze about what exactly that could mean.
"They were kissing." Rurik replied already climbing up the end of the bed. "Toffee said when adults are kissing in private it's rude to interrupt."
"Liat and Malachi were kissing?" Ziva asked rolling over and propping herself up on one elbow watching Rurik climb up the bed. Her eyes were wide and flashing with Tony's about what this meant for Liat and Malachi.
"Yep." Rurik smiled widely with a head nod, sitting back against the headboard between them. "So I'm going to sleep in here instead." He giggled. "I like slumber parties."
"Well what if I was going to kiss, Lady Ziva?" Tony asked trying not to smile at hearing Malachi and Liat were apparently kissing and this little boy in their bed poised to sleep between he and Ziva this evening.
"You won't!" Rurik laughed shaking his head and sliding down between them under the sheets.
Tony's eyebrows narrowed and his mouth fell open as Ziva bounced with held back laughter before the first tiny sound erupted from her at Rurik's confident answer.
"What makes you so sure I won't kiss her?" Tony smiled leaning over and kissing Ziva over top of Rurik between them.
"That doesn't count. I am not interrupting. I was already here when you started kissing her." Rurik smiled with a small laugh, making his lion dance on his chest.
"Were is your twin?" Tony asked smiling wondering where Lara was in this adventure as the two were rarely apart.
"I'm right here, Tony!" Lara squealed with excitement and a smile from the doorway holding Lena's hand. "We're coming to the party, too." She giggled moving towards the end of the bed and scampering up. "Come on, Baby." She cooed with a smile to Lena, "You too!"
"I not a baby, Lawa! I'm a big giwl now!" Lena toddled forth and went straight for Tony's side of the bed, looking at him with big dark eyes and beautiful smile as she clung to her Lovie blanket. Tony's heart melted at the sight and carefully picked her up, pulling her into their large bed with them.
"Who said we're having a party?" Tony asked bewildered as the tiny girl snuggled down beside him pushing her brother over.
"Uncle Mal." Lara beamed into the dark with a smile snuggling down next to Ziva.
"Oh, he did, did he? Uncle Mal?" Tony's eyebrows knit, "When did he become Uncle Mal?"
"Tonight! When they were reading our stories. I asked him what I could call him and he said Uncle Mal." Lara answered with a smile fingering one of Ziva's long strands of curly hair that had fallen over her snuggled back against Ziva's chest.
"Well, why can't I be Uncle Tony then?" Tony asked with a slanted eyebrow staring at the little girl trying not to smile.
"Okay!" Lara smiled excitedly, "I have lots of uncles now! Does this mean you are Aunty Ziva then?" She rolled back and around to look at Ziva.
"I guess so." Ziva smiled running her hand over Lara's sweet head beside as the little girl lay facing her now.
"Oh good! More family!" Lara giggled and rolled onto her back again with a big yawn. "I love my family." She smiled with sleepy eyes and wrapped her arm over Rurik and held Lena's hand beside him. All three of their tiny eyelids starting to close with exhaustion and content smiles on their faces laying between Tony and Ziva on the bed.
"I love my family, too." Ziva smiled reaching over all of them to find Tony's hand with tears in her eyes.
"Me too." Tony smiled back at her running his thumb over the back of her fingers as they held hands over the tiny children between them. He couldn't wait for the day that their bed was filled with their own tiny children lying between them. "Ani ohev otach, Ziva David." He whispered into the darkness. "You are going to be an amazing mother." He smiled knowing how true that was now after seeing her fully in action and so at ease this evening.
Ziva smiled with new tears in her eyes, so happy and filled with love that finally, everything was starting to feel right again. "I love you, too. And you did it, Tony." She smiled thinking about what he'd done tonight in redeeming himself for his past failures. "You are going to be an equally amazing father... Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Tony whispered back with pride that, he had done it. That he hadn't failed Julia or himself this time and that he could be a great dad.
"Goodnight." Rurik, Lara and Lena all chimed in as a chorus with closed eyes and tiny giggles.
AN: No...it's not over yet. LOL I will tell you when it is!