NCIS: Ages & Stages: Growing Up McBaby

Chapter 18

Previously on Ages & Stages - Seemingly on cue her cell phone vibrated in her pocket causing her heart to race and palms become sweaty. She didn't need to look at the caller ID to know who was calling. Swallowing past the lump in her throat she pressed the button to answer and stuttered, "G... G... Gibbs? Is everything all right?"

And now...

Gibbs could tell something was wrong by the tone in Ziva's voice when she answered the phone. Normally she was a confident person even if she had done something wrong, but she sounded flustered and that worried him. Tony and Abby were usually the ones who would stutter their way through a conversation if they knew he wasn't going to like what they had to say.

"Nothing's wrong, Ziva. I came down to the cafeteria to take a little break and wanted to check and see how Timmy was doing. Has he given you any trouble?"

A million thoughts raced through Ziva's mind as she decided whether to tell Gibbs what had happened or wait until he arrived home. There were pros and cons to each side of the argument. Gibbs would likely be more upset if she waited until after he got home, but she also didn't want him to feel like she couldn't take care of Timmy and insist on coming home early.

"Uh, Timmy has certainly been having lots of fun." She glanced over at the toddler who was piling bubbles on top of his head and continued, "Both of us took a two hour nap and now Tim isgettingabath."

He hadn't heard every word that tumbled out of her mouth, but he did happen to hear the last word - bath. There could be multiple reasons why his son was in the tub and he was positive there was a story to go along with it. Huffing, he responded, "What happened?"

"I am so sorry, Gibbs. Timmy and I fell asleep on the couch after we arrived home and he woke up before I did. Apparently he was looking for cookies and managed to get down from the couch and crawl into the kitchen. I was eventually awakened by a large crash and found Tim sitting on the kitchen floor covered in flour."

Gibbs took a deep breath to calm down and think about what he wanted to say to his agent. After his argument with Ducky he'd decided to try and take a new approach when issues arose rather than jump to conclusions. It was obvious Ziva was already beating herself up over the situation and that she'd learned a valuable lesson.

Ziva nervously chewed on her bottom lip while she waited for some type of response from Gibbs. The silence was killing her and she realized maybe the older man wanted to make her sweat before stating his disappointment. After what seemed like several minutes of silence but in reality was more like twenty seconds, she couldn't handle the mounting pressure any longer and blurted out, "Please, say something Gibbs!"

The older man cleared his throat and spoke softly, "It's hard taking care of a curious one year old, isn't it? I would be a fool to admit that I'm not upset that my son was left unattended, but I also know it was a long night for you. I suppose I'm partly to blame for not installing locks on the cabinets and that will change in the next few days. I'm grateful Timmy wasn't seriously injured and that the only harm done was that he made a giant mess. I can tell you feel bad enough about what happened, but I do have a few questions for you."

The younger woman exhaled deeply and slumped back against the tub. "I appreciate that Gibbs. You are right, I feel terrible that I did not hear Tim when he needed me and was left unattended." Ziva groaned suddenly as Timmy splashed water out of the tub and onto her pants. Gibbs chuckled, "Let me guess, you were just given an unwelcome shower?"

"That is correct. You really know your son." She paused and added, "What were the questions you had for me?"

"I've had plenty of practice, Ziver. My first question is if you had any problems getting Timmy in the bath? He's been on this modesty kick lately and when I mentioned at the hospital that you might have to change his diaper he was upset. My second question is did you happen to snap any photos of Tim covered in flour?"