Almost Skinny Love (NCIS/Tiva/McAbby)

Chapter Four

Recap:

"Tony, put the gun down," I ordered.

"What, McGee, you find something? Maybe it belongs to--"

Ziva appeared in front us, beautiful as ever, smirking with a swollen belly covered by a T-shirt, plastic tubes running into her nostrils, and a cart of oxygen being wheeled behind her.

"Ziva...." Tony finished his thought, looking dazed by his long lost love.

Chapter Four

*Present, Tony's POV*

Ziva was beautiful. Eyes full of gentle fire, plastic nubbins fitted into her tiny nose, and a bulging tummy that could indicate only one thing.

"Ziva," I whispered in shock. Her eyebrows raised playfully at me.

A silence buzzed around us. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it was sorta tense, waiting. I stepped tentatively towards Ziva, and when she didn't flinch away from me, I practically ran into her arms. She melted into my arms and her eyes fluttered shut.

"McGee?" She murmured from my chest.

"Yeah, Ziva?"

"Get over here and hug me."

I practically heard McLover's grin as he was welcomed into our circle.

We just stood there, embracing each other. The three musketeers.

After about five minutes of hugging, Ziva whispered into McGee's and my shoulders, "who wants tea?"

We all chuckled, pulling apart. I nodded appreciatively, still in euphoria.

"Sure, Ziver, long as I get some coffee," a deep voice grumbled from the doorway behind me.

Ziva's eyes lit like a lighter. "Gibbs!"

She half ran, half galloped past me over to Gibbs, dragging her oxygen tank all the while. Gibbs enveloped Ziva in his wide armspan with a huge smile. It was nice to see Gibbs so happy after all this time. The four of us stayed like that awhile: Ziva in Gibbs' arms, McGee and I standing comfortably shoulder to shoulder.

I turned and sauntered as quietly as possible into the kitchen to start on tea and coffee, putting Jamaican Blend in the Keurig for Gibbs and putting the kettle of water on the stove. Tim appeared in front of the island the stove was on, leaning on his elbows placed on the granite. He looked all methodical, staring of in space like that.

"What cha thinking about, Elf Lord?" I asked, grabbing Yorkshire "tea dust" out of the fifth cupboard I looked in.

McGee glanced at me with his pissed expression I knew all too well.

"Nothing important, Tony, shut up," he snapped. I set the bags down in their cups and held up my hands in surrender.

Ziva and Gibbs rounded the corner then, and it looked like they were having an intense whisper contest.

I grabbed Gibbs' coffee out from under the machine and set it on the table.

The kettle started to whistle, so I snatched it off of the stove and poured it's contents into the three cups, handing the cups to McGee and Ziva.

"Ah, let's um, talk things out?" McGee suggested from in front of me. We all agreed and shuffled quietly into Ziva's quaint little dining room, each of us taking a seat in the four chairs surrounding the table.

"So..." Ziva said awkwardly, tapping her thumbs on her cup.

"So?" McGee asked lightly to everyone.

I had so many questions. Why was Ziva here? How is she pregnant? Who's kid is it? How far along is she? Why wasn't she in Israel? Did everyone know about her not even leaving DC? Does she really need that tank of oxygen?

"GAH!" I burst out accidentally. Everyone turned to look at me. My face burned red; I could practically see my embarrassment in the reflection of Ziva's dark eyes across from me.

I calmed down a little bit. "Okay, I just have... A few...questions, I guess." I confessed.

Ziva nodded and gestured at me to continue.

I didn't know what to say. There was so much....

"Why was I lied to?"

The question tumbled out before I could restrain it.

Everyone seemed to hold their breath. Ziva's face turned pale, Gibbs leaned back in his chair with his eyebrows raised, and McGee looked down at his hands.

None of them looked me in the eyes.

"Because," Ziva whispered. "I knew you couldn't handle it the way everyone else could. You're too dramatic."

Ouch. That stung.

"Everyone else? Who else knows? Knows what, even?" I tried not to get worked up.

Ziva rubbed her forehead with the heel of her hand and finally looked at me with broken eyes. "The team knows. I couldn't tell you, I don't want you to hurt for me." She said with a tone one could easily mistake with one of rudeness.

"Why? I mean, what do they know?" My voice wavered, and I could feel Gibbs staring at the side of my head. I couldn't look at him, only Ziva's burning expression. It wasn't the kind of burning that was meant to burn me; it burned her.

"Tony, I'm pregnant. And i-"

"I know! I can see that, Ziva! I could see from a mile away!" I cut her off harshly.

I could imagine Gibbs' eyes narrowing, and Timmy's eyes squeezing shut on either side of me. I couldn't look at them, only Ziva's breaking expression. This time, I could tell she was breaking.

"Tony," her voice shook, "it's yours. It's your child. And I, I'm sick. With breast cancer. I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry." She was sobbing into her hands.

I couldn't speak. I was stunned. My child? Breast cancer? My Ziva? No, she wasn't mine, however hard I wished.

"Ziva, I-"

"Well, I think Tim and I will start the cars, it's chilly out there. I'll call you when it's time to come down." Gibbs interrupted, standing with McGee and leaving with a kiss on Ziva's forehead from them both. Ziva's eyes never left mine.

The door closed.

I reached across the table, plucking Ziva's cup out of her warm hands and replacing the cup with my own hands. She squeezed my fingers gently in her palms.

"How is it mine?" I asked, staring down at our hands.

Ziva sighed. "I do not know, Tony. We were drunk, undercover, I redressed you before you awoke the next day. I did not want you to hate me, so I prayed you'd forget. You did."

I nodded a little bit, still inspecting our hands, and I realized I was crying. I blinked away the tears furiously.

Ziva pulled away at her hands, but I gripped them tighter; I gripped my lifelines tighter.

"I'm so sorry, Tony. You do not have to care for her. I know-"

"I want this child just as much as you, Ziva David. I love you. So much. I can't let you raise the child I helped make on your own. I love you Ziva David. I've been without you for months. I've been a wreck; even ask McGee! I've missed you so much."

There it was. I had set my heart on the table, and now Ziva could stab at it, or protect it. She squeezed my hands again.

"Tony, I love you. I love your movie references, your sarcasm, your eyes, I love everything about you. I just couldn't bare to hear you couldn't feel the same, that you couldn't care for our child. Thank you for loving me, because I love you as well."

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Hi! I'm sorry it's sorta a cliffhanger but it's 11:02 here now, and I need my sleep! Thank you so much for the loving comments, they really make my day every time! I hope you enjoyed this piece of loveness even though it's sorta boring :) -Morgan