Silence filled the air as he attempted to process her words.

" Pregnant ?" he stuttered out. "As in…"

"Carrying a baby."

"Pregnant."

She nodded. You can repeat the word as much as you like, but it does not stop it being true," she joked. When he didn't crack a smile and instead stared at her with a blank expression, she took a step closer. "I understand this is a shock."

"That's the understatement of the century," he muttered. He ran a hand through his hair, turning on his heels and began pacing back and forth. Thank god he'd taken off his tie already, otherwise he thought he might have suffocated. "Is it…"

"Yours?" she finished, raising her eyebrows at him. "Do you really think I would be standing on your doorstep telling you this if it were not?"

"Well, there is that," he nodded, half chuckling. She always did make excellent points. "But it is mine?" He needed to hear her say it.

"Yes," she nodded, earnestly. "Absolutely."

"Woah, okay, I need to…"

Was it just him or was the room getting smaller? She watched him as he spotted the glass of wine on the table and walked over to it, before picking it up and drinking the entire glass in one gulp.

" Pregnant?" he half-yelled, mostly to himself as he resumed his pacing. She's pregnant. With your child.

Her eyes followed him as she watched the gravity of the situation sink into his consciousness. She herself had only really come to terms with it over the last few days - on the airport and on the plane ride - as she made her eight thousand mile journey to DC. It turns out the hours spent sitting in the confines of a metal cabin were a good time to think about things. And though she had an inclination for weeks before she officially confimed it, it was another thing to be facing the reality of it as she dropped such an unexpected revelation on him out of the blue.

"You know," she began, "I probably should go and-"

She turned towards the door and reached out to grab the handle, only to be surprised when she felt his hand tugging on her arm and pulling her back to him, their bodies pressed against one another.

"You're not going anywhere," he said, softly. Her breath hitched as her eyes trailed over her face and she gave him a half-smile, unsure as to how welcome it would be. Seconds later, one of his hands tangled in her hair and the other snaked itself around her waist, pulling her even closer. She inhaled the scent of sandalwood and musk that lingered on his skin. Oh, how she'd missed that smell. His gaze flickered to her lips and her heart lurched. Then, his lips connected with hers.

The fruity taste of red wine was still present on his tongue as he slipped it into her mouth in the deepest, most passionate kiss of her life. His hands found her hair, slightly tugging, and the hand he had resting on her waist slipped beneath the fabric of her shirt. She moaned into his mouth seconds before he pulled away, chuckling. A dazed, love-drunk expression cast over her face as she attempted to regain her breath, in awe at what just happened.

A tear slipped down her cheek and his hand cupped her face to wipe it away.

"You kissed me," she whispered in surprise.

"What were you expecting?" he smiled, his thumb gently caressing her temple as he continued to hold her head in his hand. His other returned to her waist and pulled her closer, not wanting to let her out of his grip.

"Not that," she admitted. "Honestly, I thought you might yell at me."

"Why the hell would I yell at you?" he asked, his brows knitting together in confusion.

"I thought you might be angry…"

" Angry?"

She nodded. "At me, turning up out of the blue after months of silence and dropping this news on you," she paused. "I am sorry that I have been so… quiet and avoiding you. It has been a lot to process."

"So that's why you haven't answered any of my calls, texts, or emails?" He raised his eyebrows and she nodded. "How long have you known… about the baby?"

She smiled. "I had a feeling shortly after you left Israel. It took me another three weeks to convince myself to take a test, and another three after that to confirm with a doctor. So, officially, about six weeks. I did not want to hop on a plane and tell you until I knew for certain."

He ran his hand through his hair again, exhaling. "Are you… are you okay?" His features softened as he looked at her. Of course his first concern out of everything would be her. How had she ever thought he would be any different?

"Morning sickness is… well, I do not know why they call it morning sickness when it happens at all hours of the day. But yes, I am okay."

"Is that why you looked so nauseated twenty minutes ago?"

She shook her head. "No… maybe… I was dreading telling you."

"Really? Why?"

"Because," she sighed. "I did not think you would be pleased."

"Then you don't know me at all."

"Why did you think that I wouldn't be pleased by this?" he asked, firmly. Though he knew her better than anybody, and most of the time he coould read her mind, he couldn't pretend that she still wasn't an enigma to him sometimes.

"Because this is a baby, Tony. It changes everything."

"I'm well aware of that, Ziva. But it still doesn't answer the question."

She sighed, biting her lip. "You are settled here. And this is… this disrupts your life in about every way imaginable."

"What are you talking about?"

"I am talking about how big of a responsibility it is and how much of an inconvenience it would be to your life here…" she laughs, nervously. "I cannot imagine you bringing home a date only to have them finding out you're having a baby with your friend going down too well."

He froze. " Friend ?"

"We are… friends, still, yes?"

"We're much more than that and you know it," he replied, his stare intense. She stopped pacing and he walked closer to her. "And what makes you think I'm even interested in dating?"

She glanced towards the wine glasses on the counter in the kitchen, of which there must have been a dozen, before she looked back at him. "They're all mine," he said, before she could ask. "I've…" he paused, letting out a small laugh to himself, "let's just say that I've not been handling your absence all that well."

"You have been drinking?" she asked, concerned. A chill raced through him at her words, her tone reminiscent of the way she had questioned him about his indulgence in alcohol when he was an agent afloat. "Often?"

"More than I probably should," he admitted. "Sometimes I manage a bottle a night."

"It is not healthy."

"It's easier to… not think about how much I miss you, among other things, when my veins are ninety percent alochol," he laughed. It is easier not to think about how much I miss you, among other things, she repeated in her head, taken aback by his honesty.

"It is still not healthy."

"I know," he nodded. "But it helps." He paused, biting his lip. "I'm not interested in dating, by the way."

"You are not? Why?"

"I don't know, Ziva," he said, "maybe it has something to do with the fact that I left the only woman I actually wanted to date, on the tarmac of an airport three months ago."

Her breath caught in her throat. "You wanted to date… me?"

He let out a chuckle of amusement. "Considering you're the love of my life, what do you think?" Their gaze locked as the words slipped from his mouth so casually.

"I-"

He took a step closer to her. "I don't know how I could have made it any more obvious for you? I can change with you. I'm fighting for you, Ziva. You know those weren't just words, right? I meant every single one of them and I still do."

Silence encircled them. Her heart beat erratically in her chest and her gaze flickered from his eyes to his lips, and for a moment, she contemplated kissing him. That was, until, her hand covered her mouth.

Her eyes widened as she spun around, racing towards the bathroom as quickly as her legs could take her. Second later, the contents of her stomach spilled into the tank and she exhaled.

"Is the idea of kissing me that revolting?" he joked. She hadn't heard him enter the room, but he was now hovering over her. She was about to laugh when she felt a second wave of nausea creep up on her. Instinctively, he crouched down beside her and reached for her hair, holding it back.

"Oh, woah, there you go," he muttered, as she rested her forehead against the side of the toilet. She sighed at the welcome feeling of the cool ceramic against her skin.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Tony, I-

"I know," he said, gently. He thought for a moment before he continued. "I know wine is out of the question but are you hungry?"

"I have just thrown up and you are asking me if I am hungry? "

He gave her a lopsided smile that made her heart leap. "You know what I mean. Is there anything you… feel like stomaching?"

"Unless you happen to have orange popsicles in your freezer, I doubt it," she laughed.

He nodded, releasing her hair. "I'll be back in fifteen. Please don't go anywhere," he said, pressing a kiss to her hair - a move which surprised her greatly - as he stood up.

"Where are you going?" she asked, sitting up properly.

"To get you orange popsicles!"