Thanks for the reviews! And to the person who said "Tony DiNozzo is a real man, a real character who would never act like this. You are crossing the line!"… You might want to check into the DiNozzo they have been showing on TV for the past two seasons (and the one coming up) because talk about needing to grow a pair of balls;)
Have a fantastic day, everyone!
-x-
"I cannot believe you followed us home." Ziva rolled her eyes, picking up the TV remote from the table and turning it off. They had only been home for a half hour or so, Ty and Isabella were busy playing in Ty's room with his brand new toys that his parents had bought for his birthday. The sun had already set in DC, now that the clock struck just past nine thirty and Ziva knew that the night would only grow colder.
Tony looked up at her from the couch, his eyes glistening with remorse and guilt. "Hey, it's my home, too. My names on the insurance, right next to yours."
"Not for long," Ziva murmured, the tone of her voice worrying Tony's. "We have to give Ty his bike before he goes to bed."
Tony followed Ziva up the stairs, not following too closely behind in case she felt the need to strike with all the pent up anger building inside her. He didn't blame her for feeling that way, hell, he felt that way about himself.
"Ty?" Ziva questioned as she stepped inside his bedroom along with Tony, "Would you like to open your last gift?"
"YEAH!" Ty yelled excitedly, eyes growing larger as Tony brought in the wrapped present which was almost taller than Ty himself. He started to rip pieces of the wrapping paper off, Isabella helping him along the way. Once the present was visible, Ty yelled again, "A bike! I finally got a bike!" His smile almost as large as the bike.
"You very own big boy, batman bike!" Ziva laughed, ruffling her fingers through his hair.
"Can I ride it?!" Ty asked, sitting down on the bike seat and starting to push the pedals with his small feet.
"Woah, big guy!" Tony laughed, stopping the bike before it ran into the bedroom wall. "No bike inside the house!"
"Then let's go outside!" The younger version of Tony started out the door before Tony blocked him, "No, buddy. It's way too dark outside to ride your bike. Tomorrow you have all day to."
Ty sighed, rubbing his eyes and slowly got off the bike seat. He studied the bike's design intently, pointing to all the villains' pictures on the bike and naming them to Isabella. Isabella however, paid little attention to her brother and focused on the odd behavior of her mother.
"Alright, I think you are both beyond tired after today." Ziva started, "It is definitely time for bed." She opened the covers of Ty's bed, throwing them back and helped him climb in. Tony picked up the bike, leaving the room to go put the bike down in the garage for the following day. Ziva watched as he left, closing the door behind him.
Walking back over to the bed, Ziva fixed her son's pillows to make sure they were fluffy enough. Isabella stood on her tippy toes next to Ziva, dropping her binky, giving a sloppy kiss to her brother's head as he laughed, wiping away her drool.
"Bewwa always kisses me like a dog." Ty complained through giggles as his sister kept kissing him. "Bewwa! Stop!"
Coming back upstairs, Tony went to enter Ty's room again to kiss him goodnight and tell him happy birthday when he noticed the door had been shut. Hearing the giggles inside the room, he realized the door had been deliberately shut on him from coming back in. He hung his head down and leaned back against the wall to wait for Ziva and Isabella to come out.
Ziva laughed, joining Isabella in kissing the little boy. Ty wrapped his small arms around Ziva's neck, giving her a big kiss in return and whispered "Thank you, Ima."
The emotion ran through Ziva's face at how it almost felt like her son had an understanding of what happened today, but she knew he didn't have the slightest clue. "Happy birthday, motek." She leaned down to kiss him once more on the cheek and covered him up with his blankets. Isabella held her hands up, allowing Ziva to pick her up and headed out of the room, closing the door behind her. Tony glared at Ziva, an icy glare given in return as she continued down the hallway into Isabella's room. Once again, she closed the door to their daughter's room and placed Isabella in her crib.
"Goodnight, Isabella Marie Rivka DiNozzo." Ziva whispered, kissing the tiny head of Isabella that laid in her crib. "Thank you for being a good girl for Mommy, tonight." She smiled, flicking on the nightlight that hung from the wall and placed the tiger stuff animal next to Isabella. "Sweet dreams." She stated before leaving the room, closing the door again.
Ziva made her way down the hallway, noticing Tony in the same spot as he was when she had walked out of Ty's room. His arms were crossed, one leg bent up against the wall as he waited for her to come closer.
"Now I can't even say goodnight to them?" He spit out, pushing off with one foot to follow her down the stairs.
"You lost that right, Anthony." Ziva answered, shutting off the lights in the kitchen.
It was completely pitch black in the room now, an icy feeling taking over as Ziva placed both of her hands on the sink counter. Her knuckles curled around the tile, growing white at how tight she was holding on. She took a deep breath in, focusing on not letting out the tears that were threatening to.
"Can we please just talk?" He took a step closer, looking at her lit up reflection in the small window above the sink as cars drove by.
"You cheated on me," She cried out, spinning around towards him in the dark and he made no sudden moves towards her. "How could you do that to me, Tony?"
"I never intended to, Ziva! That was the last thing that I would ever want to do to you! You've got to believe me!" He held his hands out to her and she ignored his offer.
"How long have you been seeing shrew?" Ziva questioned, eyes narrowing in on him as she waited for his answer.
"I've known her since I've been working for this team. She works at Head Quarters. I swear, Ziva, last night was a one-time thing. I don't even know if we did anything!" He indicated, trying to gain this memories from the previous night to make things right with her.
"You were a changed man from when I first met you, I thought. Seems that I was wrong, yes?" She tucked the hair sticking to her cheek from her tears, behind her ear.
"You weren't wrong. Fuck, Ziva, I promise on my mother's grave to you… that I love you and only you. I was drunk and upset that our marriage was having a rough patch, that was it! I went to the bar to have one drink and then I just started drowning away in the whiskey." Tony explained.
"You thought our marriage was a rough patch?" Ziva's eyebrows arched, her eyes stinging.
"That's not what I sai-" Tony said, but was interrupted when Ziva stepped forward with a predatorily gaze at him.
"Just you wait for the rough patch that is divorce." She threatened, poison dripping from her tongue as she let the thought linger in the dark of the room.
"Divorce?" Tony choked out, the world spinning around him now. "Zee, you can't –"
"Why would I want to stay with a man that betrays me?!" She screamed, a fiery glow taking over her brown eyes as the anger exceeded. "You are no better than Michael or even Ray, for that matter. Let alone, puts our children in this type of situation."
Tony was shook up now. He couldn't imagine a world of being alone again, being without them, his family. He knew they would have to rekindle everything, make amends to the three that he had hurt. But, he had never let it flash through his mind that his Ziva would want a divorce. "I didn't want any of you to see that, this morning." His voice cracked. "I don't want to be without you, all three of you. I can't be without you, Ziva."
"You should have stayed home then, Tony. Or perhaps, you should have not put your cock in a woman who is not your wife?" She shrugged, wiping the tears and deciding it was time to go to bed. "The couch is available for tonight only. If it is not to your standards, I am sure there is a prostitute downtown who will give you what you apparently cannot find here." And with that, she descended up the stairs to their bedroom where she would no longer find the comfort of her husband, the comfort of the man she believed she needed in order to breathe, live her life.