Title: Snapshots of an Unintended Life.
Chapter: 3 - The Missus
Fandom: NCIS
Characters: Tony and Ziva
Word Count: 1,065
Rating: PG-ish
Summary: Tony and Ziva deal with a life they never planned on living. A story in 10 parts.


She loves this time of year. The air is starting to turn crisp. The days are still warm, but the mornings and the evenings have a crispness to them. She loves the colours of the leaves, both the ones on the trees and those that litter the ground. They don’t have this in Israel.

Ziva rounds a corner on her route and checks her watch. If she continues at her current pace, she will arrive at the house just as Tony is getting into the shower. She will have enough time to make him French toast before he leaves for work.

When she enters the house 10 minutes later, she can hear the water running. She places her keys on the table in the hall, toes off her shoes, and drapes her sweatshirt over the banister, before moving into the kitchen.

She loves her kitchen, and it is her kitchen. She’s developed a certain amount of guilt over their current situation, and to make up for it, she spends a lot of time cooking. Tony had casually mentioned roast beef one day the week before. The next day he had come home to a full roast beef dinner, including Yorkshire pudding, which he had never had before. Ziva felt that the least she could do for the man who married her was keep him well fed.

She grinned to herself when she heard him reach the landing and groan.

“You’re trying to fatten me up, aren’t you? Am I being prepared for some sort of ritual slaughter?” He asked her as he leaned against the doorway to the kitchen.

“Yes. Once you have reached the desired weight, I will be sacrificing you to the ninja gods. Is that a problem?”

“Nope. Not as long as you’re cooking. I will go a fat and happy man.” He told her as she placed the French toast on the table. The room was filled with near silence as they began to eat.

Tony knew that without her job, Ziva had turned to more domestic pursuits to fill her time. His wife was a desperate housewife. She cleaned like Bree, had Lynette’s attitude, and was hot like Gabrielle.

The first time he had come home to find his laundry done and his shirts ironed he was embarrassed. He definitely did not expect her to do his laundry. He’d locked his door, only for her to pick the lock. After that she’d been in a remarkably good mood, so he randomly added extra layers of security between his door and his laundry. He suspected this wasn’t normal newlywed behaviour.

“You have plans for today?” He asked her between bites.

“Housework this morning. I might go to the city this afternoon. I need to return some books to the library, and I may punch the firing range.”

“Hit. Why don’t you come by the precinct? We can grab lunch; you can meet the guys.”

“Philly cheese steak?” she asked hopefully. He nodded.

“Only the best for my wife. 12:30?”

“Sounds good.” Ziva checked her watch and took Tony’s plate as a forkful of food made its way to his mouth. “Get out of my kitchen. You are going to be late.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Tony jumped at the sound of plates being slammed on the counter. “I didn’t…I’m just gonna…go!”

***********

His team was finishing up the paperwork on last week’s case when his phone rang.

“DiNozzo.” He said as he answered his phone and continued entering information on the form.

“Your missus is here.” Tony checked his watch. It read 12:15.

“Send her on back, Frank.” Tony hung up the phone and started to put his work away.

“Your missus? How noir.” Ziva said as she entered his team’s area.

“With getaway sticks like yours, Dollface, it could only be noir.” Tony adopted a thick private eye detective as he came around his desk.

“You’re getting better. Someday I may recognize the accent.” She told him as she gave him a quick kiss.

“Guys, this is my wife, Ziva. Ziva, these are the guys, Pete Stolp, Owen Cooper, and the rookie, Matt Raynesford.” Ziva shook everyone’s hands.

“Pleased to meet you, ma’am.” Raynesford said when she shook his hand. Tony waited for Ziva to snap, but was surprised when she merely laughed.

“He is cute, like a baby McGee.” She said to Tony before turning back to Raynesford. “I like you. You remind me of a friend, so I will let the fact that you called me ma’am slip.”

She patted his cheek, while the others chuckled, and Tony explained. “She really doesn’t like being called ma’am. She’s been known to pull her gun over it.”

“He first called me a dirtbag and made me handcuff myself to you. He did not even know how to use the talkie walkie.”

“You’re not from around here, are ya? How’d ya get a babe like her to marry ya, DiNozzo?” Cooper asked.

“I am from Israel. And he tricked me. He told me he was pregnant.”

“Funny. You ready to go?” Tony asked her.

“Yes. I can hear the Philly cheese steak calling my name. It was nice to meet you.”

“Take your lunch. We’ll finish up later.” Tony told his team as Ziva took his hand.

***********

Once they had their food, the settled at an outdoor table.

“I heard from Gibbs this morning.” He told her.

“Does he have anything?” She asked.

“Nothing concrete, just his gut.”

“So he is no further along than before.” Ziva replied in a voice that he knew was dejected.

“It’s Gibbs. He’s gonna fix this.” He placed his hand over hers to reassure her.

“I know. But that bastard is making life hell for everyone in the meantime. Abby is being forced to wear her Career Girl Barbie outfit. McGee has to report to Vance everyday. And I am cooking.”

“I miss them, too.” He told her. “But Gibbs will fix this, and we’ll go back to being coworkers.”

They continued to discuss Vance and what he could possibly be up to. When lunch was over, Tony walked Ziva to her car. As he walked back to the precinct, he couldn’t help but think about how his life had changed. And he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted things to change back. He liked going home to someone every night. When this was over, he’d miss the missus.