Hush Little Baby
by
hollytiger
Summary: Well, it's official. Cote is leaving the show. No more Tiva. As far as we know! Now, this is what I want to happen should they kill off Ziva. Although I would be more than okay with Cote making guest appearances instead...would be a better idea in my opinion.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS. Or Tiva would have been together before this all happened...
May 20th, 2014
3:00 AM
The crying of an infant awoke Anthony DiNozzo from his slumber. Letting out a groan, he trudged out of bed and staggered down the hall. He opened the door to the nursery and saw his three month old daughter in her crib. He walked over to her and picked her up.
"Hey sweetcheeks, what's wrong?" asked Tony as he cradled her in his arms and sat with her in the rocking chair. The sobs coming from his daughter softened as he began to rock.
"Shhhh, it's okay. Daddy's here," said Tony. So much had happened in the last year. When the team resigned, he and Ziva had started dating. There had been no beating around the bush. They were no longer co-workers, so Rule 12 was not in effect. They had gone to his place, and made love. Several times. A month and a half later, Ziva found out she was pregnant. With that said, Tony proposed and the two got married at City Hall with only McGee and Abby as their witnesses. Gibbs was long gone on a mission, and they had decided to have a bigger ceremony when the whole mess with Parsons was finished. Then a couple months after that, Gibbs had been shot and they had been at the hospital.
September 2013
Gibbs slowly opened his eyes to see his team hovering over him.
"Hey boss, welcome back," said Tony.
"Where am I?" asked Gibbs.
"Bethesda. You were shot," said Ziva. Gibbs took a closer at his team as Tony, Ziva, Abby, McGee, Palmer and Ducky stood around him.
"There something you and DiNozzo wanna tell me, Ziver?" asked Gibbs as he stared at Ziva's round belly.
"Yes, we're having a baby," smiled Ziva.
"And we're married," grinned Tony, holding up his hand to show off his wedding ring.
"About time you two," grunted Gibbs. "When are you due?"
"February," said Ziva. "Valentine's Day."
Gibbs let out a smirk as the doctors checked him over.
"Good, I think we all need a little happiness in the world."
A month after Gibbs had been shot, when Ziva was five months pregnant, Tony and Ziva had a bigger ceremony. Gibbs walked Ziva down the aisle, with Abby as Maid of Honor and McGee as Best Man. Of course, there was drama, and someone tried taking a shot at the bride and groom. Everyone was okay, but Tony and Ziva vowed to find out who was after them. They found out Orli had hired a hit man to take them out when Orli had discovered that Ziva was pregnant out of wedlock. A big no-no in her eyes as she was strong in her faith. Orli had been arrested for three attempted murders.
November 2013
"Tony? Ziva? Are you ready to find out the sex of your baby today?" asked the doctor.
"Yes," they both said. The doctor nodded and squeezed a bit of gel over Ziva's stomach. She moved the ultrasound wand over Ziva's very round belly.
"Well, here she is," smiled the doctor.
"She?" grinned Tony. "It's a girl?"
"Yes," said the doctor.
"A girl," smiled Ziva as she looked at Tony. "Tony, we're having a girl for real this time."
"This is better than that fake pregnancy op," grinned Tony. He leaned down and kissed Ziva.
Tony continued rocking with his daughter, softly singing.
"Hush little baby, don't say a word..." started Tony. "Daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird..."
He looked up at the ceiling.
"I wish you were here Zi," started Tony. "I wish you could come back to us."
Valentine's Day 2014
"One more push Ziva!" cried Tony. "I can see her head!"
"I can't, Tony I'm so tired," moaned an exhausted Ziva. She had been in labor for nearly eighteen hours and their daughter was finally making her way into the world.
"One more Ziva, come on," said Tony. Ziva squeezed his hand as she put her chin to her chest. A loud wail filled the room as Ziva laid back on the pillow.
"It's a girl!" cried the doctor as she held up the wailing newborn.
"Oh I love you Zi," said Tony, kissing her.
"I love you too, Tony," said Ziva breathlessly.
As Tony cut the cord, he glanced over at Ziva and watched as her head drooped down to her side and the heart monitor started flatlining.
"Ziva?" cried Tony. "Ziva!"
The occupants of the room were in panic. The nurses shoved Tony out of the room and he watched from the hall in horror as the doctor and the nurses began performing CPR on Ziva.
"God, no, please don't take her from me," cried Tony as he got down on his knees and sobbed. Abby and McGee had just stepped off the elevator and saw Tony crying.
"Tony! What's wrong! Are they okay?" asked Abby.
"Ziva, she's dying," cried Tony. "I can't save her."
"The baby?" asked McGee as Abby sobbed into his shoulder.
"She's okay. Katie is alive and fine," said Tony allowing a sigh of relief wash over the godparents.
"Mr. DiNozzo?" called a nurse. "Would you like to hold your daughter?"
"My wife. Is she-?" asked Tony as the nurse handed him his daughter.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. DiNozzo," said the doctor as she came out. "But Ziva is dead. The stress must have been too much for her. She went into cardiac arrest and we could not revive her."
Abby sobbed into McGee as tears flowed down their cheeks.
"Can I, can I see her?" asked Tony.
"Of course," said the doctor, leading him back in. One of the nurses took the baby from him so they could take her to the nursery and Tony sat down in the chair next to his dead wife's bed. Ziva was clammy and pale but still somewhat warm. He took one of her hands and sobbed.
"You didn't say goodbye. Why didn't I have your six?" asked Tony. "Now Katie is without a mom. What am I going to do Ziva? I can't live without you. I meant it when I said it in Somalia. And I meant it when I said it at our wedding."
Tears strolled down Tony's cheek as he got up and set Katie back down in her crib. While her birth had been joyous, the loss of the love of his life had been horrendous. On Valentine's Day nonetheless.
Tony walked into the living room and sat on his sofa. The scrapbook that Abby had made for him laid on the coffee table. He started with the first page and turned page after page. Photos of him and Ziva from eight years of love and friendship filled the first several pages, followed by a picture of a positive pregnancy test. Then came pictures from their ceremony at City Hall. Abby had worn her red and black dress to match McGee's tuxedo. Then there were more pictures of Ziva as her belly grew bigger. Then there was the ultrasound picture from the day they found out Katie was a girl. In bright pink letters above the ultrasound picture, the words "Caitlin Tali DiNozzo" were spelled out.
Abby had taken a few pictures of Katie after her birth while Tony had been mourning Ziva. The funeral had been the worst part of the ordeal. Tony just couldn't say goodbye, even during his giving the eulogy.
February 17th, 2014
"Hi everyone," started Tony as he stood in front of the casket in the cemetery. "Um, I'm not really good at speeches, but this is what my wife wanted. So here it goes." He cleared his throat as he looked to his teammates. Abby was holding Katie in one arm, while dabbing her eyes with the other.
"When I first met Ziva, she had come to NCIS to stop our team from killing her half-brother Ari. Ari had killed my first partner, Kate. Over the next few months, when Ziva joined our team, we became close. We had movie nights up until the summer of 2006, when she learned that her father had been spying on us. I will admit, we had a fling at that time. I loved her with all of my heart. Gibbs had been gone from the team and so Rule 12, his rule, wasn't in effect. But when he came back, we had to end it publicly. We still dated, but I had to see a girl undercover so we could get close to her dad, who was an arms dealer. When that ended, Ziva and I resumed dating in secret. Jenny's death was the last straw. The team was split up, and Ziva and I ended things. I wasn't sure I was ever going to see her again. But I did. And the team was reunited. And then it turned out she was undercover dating her Mossad partner that went rogue. And then there was Somalia. When I thought Ziva had died on the Damocles, I didn't want to live. I couldn't live without her. But then there was hope when the Dubai team said that a woman, possibly Mossad, was being held captive. I knew that I still had hope that Ziva was alive. So we went and rescued her. For a few months Ziva stayed quiet about what happened in Somalia, but when we went to Paris, that changed. She finally opened up to me about the months of torture and abuse she endured. My ninja was fierce and strong. Then we started dating in secrecy again. I missed her naturalization ceremony because I was sent on a mission. And then she met that CIA bastard who broke her heart a year later. After the bombing at NCIS, we started dating again and this time, we opened up more to each other. It was only when we resigned a year later that Ziva and I took the big step. We found out we were having a baby, and then we finally said 'I Do.'"
Tony paused for a moment, as tears flowed down his cheeks.
"When Ziva went into labor three days ago, I was so happy. My little girl was on her way. But my world came crashing down when Ziva died in her hospital bed. Ziva, her aorta burst from the stress of her labor. It was so sudden that the doctors couldn't revive her. What could I do? Nothing. I couldn't save her this time. I didn't have my partner's back. I broke Rule 6." Tony turned to Ziva's casket and looked at her radiant face.
"This isn't goodbye, Sweetcheeks. I can't say goodbye. You will always have my heart. No one can take that from me. I love you Ziva. Katie loves you too. I promise to always tell her about you."
And then there was Katie's christening. With Abby and McGee as the godparents, Tony and Ziva had agreed that Katie was to be christened in the Catholic Church. Father Thomas knew of Ziva's death, as he and the rabbi from Ziva's synagogue had co-led the funeral. This was difficult for him as well. His words at the beginning of the christening were somewhat comforting.
May 19th, 2014
"Just a few months ago, we lost Caitlin's mother. Ziva and Tony had told me that they wanted their daughter to be baptized in the Catholic faith as an infant, and if she wanted to when she was older, that she could convert to Judaism. We are all of the same faith. We all believe in God. And Ziva is looking down on us all from heaven. So with that said," started Father Thomas, as he turned to McGee and Abby, "Tim, Abigail, do you promise to protect Caitlin, help raise her and love and cherish her?"
"We promise," said Tim and Abby.
"Do you also promise, should she continue her faith with the Catholic Church, to help her understand the faith and raise her in it?"
"We promise," said Tim and Abby again.
"And do you promise that if anything happens to Tony, that you will raise her to be a graceful and beautiful young woman and help her remember both of her parents?" asked Father Thomas.
"We promise," they said again. Father Thomas motion for Tony and them to follow him. Tony held Katie over the fountain and Father Thomas scooped some holy water in the bowl. He spoke as he poured the water over Katie's forehead.
"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I christen you Caitlin Tali DiNozzo."
As Tony added the final pictures from the previous day's events to the scrapbook, there was a knock at the door.
"Who the heck could that be?" asked Tony as he got up. He answered the door and found Abby and McGee standing in the hallway.
"Hi guys, what are you-?"
"We decided that you shouldn't be alone," said Abby. "We couldn't sleep."
"Abby, couldn't sleep. She was keeping ME up," added McGee.
"I'm sorry, it's the hormones," said Abby as she rubbed her barely round belly. "Junior wanted pizza."
Ziva's death had caused McGee and Abby to finally get married and Abby was now pregnant and just starting to show. They found out just a couple days ago that they were having a boy and they were going to name him T.J. Like Tony and Ziva, Abby and Tim had gotten married at City Hall. They had married a few days after Ziva's funeral.
"So, how are you?" continued Abby as she sat down in the recliner.
"I'm alright," said Tony. "Katie only woke up once so far tonight."
"I know it's hard, Tony," said McGee. "We all miss Ziva."
"I know, and Ziva wouldn't have wanted us to be sad," said Tony. "She would have wanted us to move on and be happy with our lives. But going to work and not seeing her sitting across from me..."
"Is weird, I know," said McGee. A cry came from Katie's room and Abby got up.
"I'll get her!" said Abby as she walked into the next room. As Abby disappeared out of sight, Tony sighed and relaxed into the sofa as McGee looked at the scrapbook on the table. He picked it up and started to look through it.
"Abs did a really nice job on this," said McGee.
"Yeah, I added the pictures from yesterday in it," said Tony. "Figured I will just keep adding pages as I go."
"Sounds like a plan," said McGee.
"I'm going to go visit Ziva's grave tomorrow, take Katie with me," said Tony. "You guys want to join us, you're welcome to do so."
"Sounds good to me," said McGee as Abby returned with Katie in her arms.
"Someone's hungry," said Abby. Tony got up.
"I'll get her bottle," said Tony, heading into the kitchen. As he entered the kitchen, sobs coming from Katie filled the living room and he listened to Abby sing to Katie. Tony smiled and looked up at the ceiling again.
"See my Ninja?" asked Tony. "I'm doing okay. Don't worry about us. I love you, sweetcheeks. I love you so much. See you later today. We're going to come visit you. Ani Ohev Otach. "
"Hush little baby, don't say a word...
Abby's gonna buy you a mockingbird...
And if that mockingbird don't sing...
TJ when he's sixteen is gonna buy you a diamond ring...
And if that diamond ring turns brass,
Timmy's going to buy you a looking glass."
If that looking glass gets broke, If that billy goat won't pull, If that dog named Rover won't bark, If that horse and cart fall down, So hush little baby, can't you see,
Ducky's going to buy you a billy goat.
Palmer's going to buy you a cart and bull.
If that cart and bull turn over,
Gibbs' going to buy you a dog named Rover.
Daddy's going to buy you a horse and cart.
You'll still be the sweetest little girl in town.
Daddy loves you and so do we. "