"You know this is a party. You COULD be happy." Tony said sitting beside McGee.
McGee looked up from the file he was reading and gave Tony a small smile. "I am happy."
"Every party has a pooper, that's why we invited you…party pooper!" Tony sang with a smile. He pulled the file away from McGee and tried to read it.
"Tony, no." McGee pleaded, stretching across the table, trying to reach the papers. He relented when he saw that Tony had already read the first page.
"International adoption protocols?" Tony read quietly, glancing back at McGee.
"Yeah. I was…just reading. And seeing if maybe…well…what the next steps were." McGee mumbled, trying to avoid eye contact with Tony. "Maybe there was something we missed…something that might speed up the process."
"Tim…"
McGee shook his head. "Tony, it's fine. I want to do it."
"You shouldn't have to."
They stared at each other, each with a new found respect; Tony respecting McGee for his selflessness and work ethic, and McGee respecting Tony for his new family life and tenaciousness. The silence surrounded them until a small voice broke them out of their reverie.
"McGee?"
He looked down and smiled at the girl standing at his elbow.
"Hey Daniela. Happy to be home?"
"Yes." She pulled at the bottom of his shirt. "You promised to play Wii with me."
"Did I now?"
Nodding, the girl tugged harder. "Yes. And you cannot break a promise. Never ever. Right Papa?"
Tony grinned. "Right. You better go McGee. You can never ever break a promise." He clapped the younger agent on the shoulder. "Thanks Tim."
"Don't thank me yet." He said, following the girl towards the gaming system.
Shrugging, Tony stood up and watched as Daniela pulled McGee to the couch. "Thanks Tim." He repeated quietly.
#
Ziva glared at Jenny, and moved to the other side of the room to get a drink of water.
"She's still upset."
"Do ya blame her?" Gibbs retorted from his spot against the window. "Jen, you essentially told her that she has to give up the kids. Her kids. THEIR kids." He took a swallow of his drink before he continued. "Jen, you've never been a parent."
She glared at him and opened her mouth to chastise him.
"Let me finish Jen. You may never have been a parent, but you've been a child. How was it when your father died? How far did you go to find the truth? Now imagine being eight and four. Imagine that you saw your parents and your brother die...and you get uprooted from the life you've ever known. Then, after going through all this pain and suffering you find another family...and you're going to be taken away." He cocked his head to the side.
"Jethro, it's not like I don't WANT to help."
"But you can't." He finished.
She went silent and stared at the scene in front of her. Ducky watching McGee and Daniela battle in a video game on the TV, Jimmy and Abby helping Jacob quietly build something out of Lego in the corner, and Tony and Ziva. Tony and Ziva sat together on the loveseat, an eye on the kids and one on each other. They spoke in low tones, their fingers intertwined, their faces etched with confusion.
They had aged and matured in the past few months Jenny noted. The lines in Tony's face were more prevalent, his hair slightly lighter around the temples, smiles coming a lot slower, jokes and sarcasm almost nonexistent. Ziva had become more withdrawn, if that was possible, more internal and thoughtful. Her sentences were kept short, her emotions closer to the surface, always threatening to boil over. They moved together, finished each other's sentences more than they used to, and always seemed to be on the same train of thought. Silent looks they shared, the touches, it was all different, it was a sign of their grown affection, trust, love, and maturity. Tony pulled Ziva in close and placed a kiss on the top of her head. She melted into his body without resistance, where even last year he would be missing limbs or worse. They sat like that, Ziva's head on Tony's shoulder, watching everyone mingle.
"We are being observed." Ziva noted quietly.
"Let them." Tony replied without bothering to look up.
He felt her heart beat, her soft breath on his neck, her warm body against his. It felt wonderful and perfect. It felt like nothing he had ever imagined, and everything he had ever hoped.
"Mummy! PAPA!" Daniela came tearing across the room and standing in front of them. "I kicked McGee's butt." She announced proudly.
Tony grinned and pulled her close to them and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Good job! But, I think anyone can beat McGee."
The girl pulled back and cocked an eyebrow. "That is not what he said."
Tony rolled his eyes and stood up, gently removing Ziva from his lap. "Them's fighting words McGee!"
"Go kick his butt, Papa!" Daniela called, chasing after him.
Ziva rolled her eyes and smiled watching Ducky sit down beside Daniela to watch what was being called "the bowling battle of epic proportions."
She walked over to where Jacob, Abby and Jimmy were sitting in only what could be called a mountain of Lego.
"Where on earth did all of this Lego come from?"
Jimmy smiled up with an embarrassed smile. "It's mine. Well, it used to be mine. My mom had it in our basement and I figured that Jacob could get more out of it than me." He shrugged.
"Thank you Jimmy." Ziva gave his a soft kiss on the cheek and a squeeze on the shoulder. "It means a lot."
Jacob grinned and his hands started flapping.
"Whoa...slow down." Ziva laughed.
"He was exclaiming about all of his new Lego and how he was going to build a castle so no bad men can come and get everyone..." Abby translated, her voice trailing off. "And we can all live safe because he will kill anyone who hurts his family."
Ziva swallowed hard and knelt down in front of the boy. "Abby, can you sign for me?" She asked, unsure of her own skills.
"Sure."
"Jacob, you will be safe with us. Nothing and no one will ever hurt you or Daniela ever again. I promise."
Slowly Abby signed to the little boy who watched intently. He nodded and instead of signing back threw himself into Ziva's arms. He pulled away and gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek. With a determined look on his face, he went back to the giant pile of Lego and started building with renewed vigour.
#
The party was long over, Daniela and Jacob were in their rooms sleeping, Daniela with the light on and her door wide open.
Ziva typed on her laptop and chewed on her thumbnail pensively.
"You should leave the googling to McGee." Tony said coming up from behind her. "What are you looking up anyway?" He read the title and frowned. "Cochlear implants? Are those related to breast implants?"
She hit him. Hard. "No, they are for hearing. They are for people who are born profoundly deaf."
He sat down beside her. "What do they do? Are they like hearing aids? I thought they couldn't work for a kid like Jacob."
"They are implanted. I am just reading up on it now." She moved over so the both of them could read the screen.
"It's for kids like Jacob."
"It can be."
He sighed. "Is it selfish for me to want this? To want to hear my son's voice?"
Ziva shook her head. "I do not think so. It is not just for us, but for him as well." She closed the laptop and closed her eyes briefly. "Tony, what are we doing?"
"Right now, we're sitting on the couch."
"No. Us. Them. Everyone. What are we doing?"
"Ziva, I wanted to have this talk a little bit later once everything had calmed down." He took her hands in his and stared into her dark eyes. "I want this Ziva. I want all of this. I want us to be a real family. I want Daniela, I want Jacob. I want to be a father. I want you. I need you. I'm in love with this Ziva. And I'm in love with you."
She resisted, trying to free herself. "Tony, you were also in love with Jeanne." She reminded kindly.
"No. I loved Jeanne, but I wasn't IN love with her. There's a difference. Ziva, I'm in love with you. I'm in love with the way you wake up in the morning and flip the clock over so the numbers don't face you. I'm in love with the way you sing in the shower. I'm in love with the way your bra and underwear always have to match. I'm in love with your chocolate chip pancakes. I'm in love with the way you love Jacob and Daniela. I'm in love with everything about you."
"Even the fact that I am a Mossad agent, trained to kill."
"Even that." He leaned forward so their foreheads were touching. "Give us a chance Ziva. Please, that's all I'm asking for."
She hesitated, but nodded slowly. "Okay Tony. We will give us a chance." Gently she placed a kiss on his lips. The kiss became more frantic, more needy...
#
Ziva awoke with a start and groped for the closest piece of clothing, a large oversized OSU tshirt and her discarded yoga pants. She tore out of the room, leaving Tony scrambling for a pair of shorts.
Daniela was sitting up in her bed, rocking, tears streaming down her face, her hands covering her ears.
"Daniela...it is alright. It was just a nightmare." Ziva said calmly, rubbing the girl's back and gently removing her hands from her ears. "It is alright...we are here."
"They...kidnapped everyone." Daniela hiccupped. "I did not tell them! But they found you anyway. They took you away and killed you and killed Jacob. They took McGee and Abby and Gibbs and Jenny. No one could kill them because they took your guns. They killed you. I saw it. I saw it!"
Ziva looked up at Tony helplessly as she rocked the girl in her arms. The girl buried her head in her shoulder, her hot tears soaking into the material of the shirt. Softly, in Hebrew, Ziva started to mumble to the girl, running her hands through her soft damp curls. It seemed to calm the girl down slightly, her breathing evening out, the energy from her body spent.
"Do you feel better?" Ziva whispered into the girl's ear.
The girl nodded, her eyelids heavy.
They sat in her room until she was asleep and quietly tip toed out.
"Guess we're going to have to get used to get used to that." Tony muttered.
Ziva nodded slowly. "Yes. It will be tough." She sat on the couch and closed her eyes.
"I'll make some tea." Tony put the kettle on the burner and waited for the telltale whistle. He poured the hot water into a red teapot and added two teabags and brought it to the table with two mugs. "Peppermint tea." He explained.
"Thank you." Ziva sipped it gratefully.
He smiled and sat beside her. "You're welcome. You're good with her."
"It is easy when you have been through it yourself." Ziva replied quietly. "I was older than she was...but I still get nightmares. I still smell the fire, I still smell the flesh burning."
"Oh Ziva..." Tony put his mug down and draped his arm over her shoulder. "Have you told anyone about it?"
"No use. In Mossad you are to be strong. Death and dying, it is part of the job." She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"So what changed?"
Putting her mug down beside Tony's, Ziva gave Tony a soft look. "Everything." She shook her head. "I did not realise how much has changed until earlier today."
"What do you mean?"
"Tony, last year, if you had told me that we were doing...this...I would have killed you."
"And now?"
Ziva shrugged. "Look at us Tony. I am wearing your shirt. We just woke up in the middle of the night to calm down an eight year old girl. We spent the night together..."
He watched as the realization hit her. Her eyes grew huge, her breath picked up quickly, panic washing over her.
"Tony, we're..."
He took her hands in his. "Ziva...we're taking it one day at a time. One moment at a time."
She nodded. "I am sorry, Tony."
"It's alright. It's new for both of us." He yawned and looked at his watch. "It's late. Or very early, depending on which way you want to look at it. We should go to bed if we want to be at the hospital in the morning."
"And you promised Jacob waffles."
He nodded. "I did." Giving her a sideways glance he kissed her forehead. "Are you okay?"
"I am fine."
Standing up, he offered her a hand and pulled her off of the couch. "Let's go get a few hours of sleep before we have to get up again."
She followed him into the bedroom, allowing him to hold her until they fell asleep.
.