Tiva Short Stories

3

"Ugh" I groaned and pulled a 4th shirt out of my closet. I pulled the elastic fabric it over my head and struggled to stretch it over my massive rounded belly. I sucked in and yanked at the fabric, still the underside of my big fat stomach was uncovered.
"Why do they call it maternity if it only fits until 37 weeks! " I exclaimed, frustratingly hearing the seams of the shirt breaking as I pulled in off, "What am I supposed to wear until I give birth, a trash bag ?"

"I have something that always fits... Nothing" my husband slyly flirted, wrapping his hands around my abdomen.
"Tony !" I snapped "That is how we got into this in the first place" I ran my hands down my massive belly and looked down praying that I would be able to see my feet again. My back ached and I was exhausted, having not slept well in months, as my body had become a night time playground for our daughter. Defeated by a baby... I smirked to myself, embarrassed. If any of my Ex. Mossad Colleagues saw me like this...

"Lighten up Ziv- Uhh" Tony joked, and tickled me, exciting the child within me, causing her to summersault.

"Hey I felt that !" He exclaimed, smiling at me in amazement of the strength of our soon to be new addition.

"Me too!" I sighed, How could this little life creature have so much energy ?

"Now I need to get dressed for work" I retorted , "Find something to do"

"Are you sure you want to go in today Ziva ? You're 37 weeks pregnant, you could pop at any moment!"

"There will be no popping until this case is done" I commanded my daughter, who kicked me in rebellion. "I am fine"

"Zivah are you sur..." He began to ask , but I repeated "FINE"

"Fine Ziv-Uhh, I'll go heat up breakfast" Tony settled, knowing that it was not a time to mess with me.

As he left the room , I wrapped my arms around my heavy stomach and remarked, He means well, your goofy daddy always means well . I pulled another shirt out of my closet, a pre-pregnancy tee shirt, I laughed at its smallness, wondering if I would ever be able to shrink down from my whale size, and tossed it back into my closet. In defeat, I realized there was only one place where I could find a shirt that would fit me... I waddled into Tony's closet and grabbed one of his button ups. I threw it on over my maternity jeans , and grabbed a pair of his boots as well, none of my shoes fit anymore.

I looked down at my watch, 7:53, work in almost an hour. I sighed and shuffled my way to the bathroom. I began to brush my hair, but the slippery brush slid out of my hands and clattered onto the floor. I began to bend down to grab it, but as I failed to see around my rounded abdomen, I accepted defeat and kicked it out of the way, grabbing a head wrap to tie back my curls instead. I reached for my toothbrush and my prominent stomach knocked over Tony's hair spray... Which he'll never admit he uses. I cursed in Hebrew
"Curse Hebrew to me" Tony joked and danced into the bathroom, "Out!" I demanded and smacked his head with the nearest book, What to Expect when You're Expecting "
"The 2 of us barely fit in here..." I stated the obvious. Tony's apartment was perfect for the 2 of us, but 3 is company.

I struggled to get ready for 10 more minute before heading down to kitchen in defeat. "Breakfast is ready...Oh and Palmer's wife dropped this off last night," Tony chirped, handing me a box of onesies, "Hand me Downs" he explained.

"That's so sweet, I'll go stick this in Tali's nursery" I smiled and brought the light pink and blue clothes to her room. The only advantage of this massive belly was that I could balance things on it . I rested the box on it and opened the door, instantly relaxing and dissolving into bliss as I entered the room.

Light pink covered the walls and Tali was spelled out over the white crib, hand crafted by Gibbs. On the left wall was a bookshelf full of children's books Ducky had given us, and above it a personalized wired baby monitor McGee had designed for us. To the right wall was a dresser with bright butterfly knobs and a rocking chair that Gibbs had made for us as well. It made me so happy to bring a child into a room made with love. I opened the closet and hung up the clothes, the majority of her closet already consisting of adorable hand me downs from Palmer and his little family. However Tony and I had chosen a few outfits, he had selected a black onesie that said "Little Ninja" and I had chosen a purple one that had "Daddy's little princess " across the front. On the right wall by the rocker I had a hand woven basket from Israel that I had originally had in my apartment before Tony and I moved in together, which I had filled with blankets and burp cloths for late night feedings. I did not worry about the sleep deprivation, "it couldn't possibly be worse than being a federal agent" I thought to myself. I smiled and pulled out a soft knit multicolored baby blanket and bent down to lay it in the crib, on top of the Israeli cotton sheets that were embroidered with polka dots . "Everything's ready but the baby" I thought to myself... And me. Although I couldn't wait to see my daughter sleeping in this crib, I was ironically terrified of having to care for a baby. Ex.Mossad, tortured by the best of the Middle East, fatal car accident survivor, and I feared a baby ... What has come of you I thought to myself. I stood up quickly, and was greeted with an intense searing of pain in my abdomen. I clutched by belly and slowly lowered myself and down into the rocking chair... Not doing that again I thought to myself. Though I wished to ignore it, in the the back of my mind I thought to myself You could be going into labor. I looked down at my watch again 8:32 AM, if this... Incident... Reappeared repeatedly 8 minutes apart... I was in labor... If not... A fat useless pregnant woman who hurt herself standing up. The pain did not cease until around 2 minutes later 7:34, and when it finally did, I was speechless and panting from it.

"Ziva, you coming?" Bellowed Tony from the kitchen, jingling his keys.
"Yup !" I hollered, simultaneously too proud and too scared to admit my situation. I pushed up from the chair slowly, not wanting to induce another... Incident.
I carefully found my way down the steps and to the car, relieved to have made it this long without experiencing another incident. I slouched into the passenger seat as Tony got in, and like clockwork at 7:44 I felt another pain grip me. I gripped the door handle with All my might, and breathed slowly, tying not to raise the suspicion of Tony who joked about the movie we watched last night as he drove. When it finally ended, I lightly stroked my stomach willing my daughter Hang in There. It was going to be a long day...