Tony reached out and grabbed Ziva's hand. Part of it was to reassure her, part of it was to stop her nervous tapping. She smiled softly, looking out the window. Neither of them believed how easily they were able to leave Israel, no problems at all, almost like they were a normal couple on a normal vacation heading home to their normal kids and family. But they knew that they were anything but normal. Her eyes looked around the first class cabin, searching for a face. A face of Mossad. The face of her father. But she got none.
"Zee, no one is here."
She took a deep breath. "For now. My father would not let me get away that easily."
"Maybe he realised that what we have can't be broken up…you know, he had a family too." Tony his thumb over the back of her hand.
Smiling she nodded. "Maybe you are right." Leaning against the seat she knew that he was wrong, very very wrong.
"McGee and Abby are going to have the kids when we arrive at the airport." He gave her a smile. "You should try to get some sleep." He placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
Ziva closed her eyes, but she knew that no sleep would come. And probably not for a while.
#
"Daniela…I'm going to count to THREE." Marguerite warned as the girl tore through her closet. "If you don't find something dressy on the count of three I will find something…"
A slammed door was her response. She sighed and picked up Jacob. "You're looking handsome today."
The boy smiled and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
"What are we going to do about your sister? Timothy and Abby are coming to pick you guys up right away and she isn't dressed yet?" She opened up the door to Daniela's room and found her sitting on her bed surrounded by clothes. "Daniela, you have to find something to wear."
The girl's chin quivered and her eyes pooled with tears.
"What's up Daniela?" Marguerite sat down on the edge of the girl's bed. "What's wrong?"
"…What if Mummy and Papa decide that they do not want us anymore?" She wiped her face with her hands. "There are many children in Israel that do not have a Mummy or a Papa." She reasoned. "They went away because they don't want us anymore. They went to find new kids."
"Who told you that?" Marguerite was a tiny woman, but was a force of nature when upset.
"David." Daniela sniffled. "He said that no one wants us."
"Dan, how about you find something to wear. I'M going to go have a talk with David."
Daniela nodded. "Okay."
Marguerite shut the door and placed Jacob on the ground. She marched towards her oldest son's room and threw the door open.
"What the hell Mom?" He shut his laptop, glaring at her over his glasses. "Ever hear of knocking?"
"I'm going to knock you one." She grabbed the teen by the back of his shirt. "How dare you? How DARE you tell Daniela that Tony and Ziva were going to Israel to find other children. How DARE you make her believe that they're not wanted. Do you KNOW what she's been through? Do you?"
"Mom…"
"Shut up." She glared at her son. "I don't want to hear from you." She reached over and grabbed his laptop and his Ipod. "You're grounded."
"Mooom."
"Forever." She roared. "Your father will hear about this." She slammed the door with such force it knocked over a handful of pictures that hung on the wall.
"Mom, you okay?" Her youngest son Bennett, stuck his head out of his room where he had been playing with Jacob.
"Did you know about what David did to Daniela?"
He shook his head. "No, but it musta been bad."
A knock at the door interrupted. "Ash, can you grab the door. I'll grab Daniela and Jacob."
The girl nodded. "Kay." She skipped down the stairs and opened the door. "Hi Mr. McGee, Miss. Scuito. Mom said to come in. She's getting Daniela and Jacob and yelling at David."
"Thanks Ashley." McGee stepped inside and waited until he saw Jacob thunder down the stairs. The boy was wearing tiny jeans, the black ewok shirt that McGee had purchased him and a grey zip up sweatshirt.
MCGEE! ABBY! He ran into McGee's arms and gave Abby a kiss on the cheek. Lets go.
Your sister? Abby signed, ruffling the boy's hair.
He sighed and looked expectantly at the stairs until Daniela came down. She was wearing a pair of black yoga pants, and a teal hooded sweatshirt.
"I am ready." She said, her eyes still red and puffy.
"Are you okay sweetheart?" Abby wrapped the girl in a hug.
"Fine."
Marguerite sighed and grabbed the kids's overnight bags. "I'll be speaking with my son. He told Daniela that Ziva and Tony were on their way to Israel to find other children."
"Oh Daniela." Abby cooed, hugging tighter. "They're coming back because they love you guys."
The girl pulled away. "Can we just go? I really want to see them."
#
"Where are they?" Tony looked at his watch for the umpteenth time. "They're late. Do you think something happened? I should call McGee again. He didn't answer his phone last time. Maybe they're in an accident. I'll call Abby. Abby always picks up her phone." He rambled searching his pockets for his phone. "I lost my phone." He said pitifully.
"The one in your hand?" Ziva cocked an eyebrow and smiled.
"…Yeah. That one." He blushed and typed the number in again. "McGee…where ARE you guys?"|
"Jacob had to pee again." McGee lamented. "It's the fourth time. I think this child has a bladder the size of a shot glass."
"What do you know about shot glasses McStuffy?" Tony sighed.
"Okay, we're on our way. Give us 10 minutes, at most."
"Well hurry up." Tony shut the phone and shoved it in his pocket. "They're on their way. Apparently they had to make some unscheduled pitstops."
Ziva smiled and wrapped her arms around his middle. "Stop worrying. We've waited for over a week, we can wait a few minutes longer." Her eyes drifted over towards a family, a small infant being passed from person to person. She sighed, and held him tight.
Tony followed her gaze and kissed the top of her head. "Zee, once everything gets figured out…the legal issues, the wedding…I PROMISE you…we'll go to a fertility specialist."
She smiled weakly and leaned her head against his chest.
#
Daniela took off running, her shoes hitting the tile airport floor. Tears streamed down her face blurring her vision. She ran into Ziva's open arms, almost knocking the Israeli to the floor. Jacob was quick behind, wriggling free from Abby's hand and ran to Tony, hiding his face in the collar of Tony's shirt.
"You are back." Daniela hiccupped, her hands linked around Ziva's neck. "You came back."
"We told you we would." Ziva comforted the girl, running her hands through her dark curls. "We'd never leave you. Never."
Tony picked Jacob up and held him close, feeling the boy's tears soak into his shirt. He rubbed the boy's head, waiting for him to look at him.
"They must have been away for a really long time." An elderly lady commented to Abby and McGee who were standing awkwardly off to the side.
"A week." Abby said quietly, her hand finding McGee's. "They were gone a week."
"That must have been hard." The lady gave them a soft smile. "I haven't ever seen a reunion quite like that for a week."
"…it was a long week." McGee said meekly squeezing Abby's hand.
"I bet." The woman wandered away leaving the two NCIS employees staring at their co-workers.
"Now can we be a family?" Daniela whispered tearfully. "Please?"
Ziva sat down in the middle of the airport, not caring what anyone else thought and held Daniela tight. "We are going to do everything we can."
Tony sat down beside the two of them, pulling Jacob on his lap. "We love you guys, you know that, right?"
Daniela nodded. "Yes, but…"
"No buts. There are no buts in love. Now that everything is figured out in Israel, we're going to work hard to be together." Tony said slowly. "Do you understand?"
Sniffling, Daniela nodded. "Yes."
Jacob nodded solemnly before a grin crossed his face. He slowly lifted up his grey sweatshirt and revealed the Ewok shirt. E-W-O-K He signed with a grin. Tony sighed and looked up at McGee who blushed.
"Really McGeek? Star Wars? Could you not have picked something more manly?"
"You're not going to like what he has in his backpack." Abby said with a giggle. "It's a light sabre."
Ziva laughed and pulled Daniela up into a standing position. "Okay, enough tears." She wiped Daniela's eyes with the corner of her shirt. "Everything will be fine." Walking over to McGee and Abby, she happily accepted the bone crushing hug.
"We missed you." Abby whispered.
"We missed you too."
#
"Can you keep the lights on?" Daniela asked, pulling the blanket up to her chin.
"Sure." Tony sat down on her bed and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Is everything okay?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"You sure?"
The girl sighed deeply. "Yes. I love you, Papa."
He smiled and got up off the bed. "I love you too. " He gently closed her door and sat down on the couch beside Ziva.
"I have a stack load of messages." McGee said, taking a swallow from his beer and wrapping his arm around Abby. "Your realtor, child and youth services…"
"We will get back to them tomorrow." Ziva said, leaning against Tony's chest. "Why is Daniela's light still on?"
"She wanted it on." Tony shrugged.
Ziva sighed, she knew that the light kept away the demons. She had slept with her light on until she was thirteen.
"Oh, and Jacob's doctor called." Abby said with a smile.
"We were only gone a week." Tony complained. "And all this happened. I feel like…"
"We missed a lot." Ziva finished with a sigh. "It seemed like a lifetime."
Abby smiled softly. "I guess things change when you have kids."
Ziva ran her hands through her hair, the light catching her ring.
"Oh my God ZIVA! What is that?" The forensic scientist jumped up and ran over to her, grabbing her hand. "Is that an engagement ring?"
Ziva looked at her hand. "Oh, yeah. That."
"THAT?" Abby tried to rip her hand out of it's socket. "That, Ziva David is an engagement ring. And a giant one at that!" She glared at Tony. "Why didn't you tell us!"
"We forgot?" He looked from Abby to McGee to Ziva. "It happened…and then we had to leave. I didn't think…"
Abby shook her head. "You know you guys are meant for each other when you continue living your lives and you forget you're engaged." She sighed. "You two are made for each other."
McGee gave Tony a smile. "So, when's the wedding?"
"We haven't really thought about it." Tony looked at Ziva and shrugged. "The sooner the better."
"Have you told Gibbs?"
Ziva and Tony exchanged glances. "No." Their faces fell.
"Shit." Tony mumbled.
"Crap." Ziva exclaimed.
"This I've got to see." McGee said with a smirk, taking another swallow of his beer.
.
Yay! New chapter! Sorry for the delay, I'm working 20 hours a week teaching ESL and advanced critical thinking and taking full time classes.
I might go insane. Hopefully it's wear a chicken suit insane, not rifle insane.
Oh, and I'm not sure WTF is up with the formatting. I think it's 's way of saying it hates my story.