A nurse came into the room.
"Can I take them now?"
Zoe nodded and handed Shannon and James over.
"You shouldn't stay too long, too."
She said calmly.
"I'll stay for a little while with Tony, thanks."
She used the tone which made clear that she doesn't want to argue.
The nurse left with the two newborns.
"Where does she go?"
Tony asked disappointed.
"Tony, I was lucky they gave them to me now, anyway."
Zoe could left the hospital two days later.
Abby gave her a ride to the dublex house Gibbs had bought for them.
"He already brought your things here. You won't have to do much."
Abby explained.
"What the hell is he doing?"
Zoe cried out when Abby pulled into the driveway.
She got out of the car. Gibbs was carrying a huge amount of wood into the house.
"Dad? What are you doing? I thought we agreed that we won't change much...is that your boat?"
She suddenly realized what this was about.
"He didn't get it out of the basement, so he took it apart."
McGee explained.
"And forced you to help him?"
Zoe asked pitiful and earned a nod.
A few days later Tony got home. He had to use a wheel chair but sometimes he could walk a bit. Luckily he didn't need a full time rehabilitation. He just was a bit weak on his own legs.
He got to the house where Zoe already waited for him at the front door.
He got out of the car. She ran over to him and kissed him intensely.
McGee got his wheel chair out of the trunk.
"Baby, my legs won't carry me that long."
Tony said after breaking apart for air.
"Sorry, Honey."
"So, this is our new house?"
He said while sitting down.
"Yep, you like it?"
Tony waited before he answered.
"You thought that through, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you'll be living in one house with your father."
"That's not the first time."
She answered confused.
"Actually I wanted to say, I'll live in one house with your father."
She smiled .
"Tony, this is the easiest way! When you were in the coma I had to decide what to do. And after Shannon's death, we thought it would be the best to live together. But of course I wanted privacy, and Dad, too, so we decided on this. There are two wonderful apartments! And a basement for Dad's boat. And a huge garage, for your car, Dad's , mine and the one I built."
She kissed him softly.
"It'll work!"
Tony nodded and they entered the house.
"Tony!"
Kelly ran towards him and jumped on his lap.
"Hey, sweety!"
He hugged her then looked up at Zoe.
"It will work."
The day never seemed to end. All what Zoe wanted was to get into bed with Tony. Nearly nine moths she was waiting for that. She looked one last time after their kids. God, they were the best children. She only dreamt of kids like that. They already slept nearly all night and didn't cry a lot.
She put herself near to him and started to kiss his neck. He already was fading into sleep from all the painkillers.
"Hey."
He said dreamily and pulled her closer.
"Hey."
They kissed eachother.
"You're too tired for that?"
She asked softly.
"I'm never too tired for that!"
He grinned and tried to roll her over but fell back on the matrase.
"Maybe, I really am too tired for that."
Zoe chuckled a bit.
"It's ok."
She kissed him once again and settled her head on his chest.
"Tony?"
"Mhm?"
"We have to think about how to arrange everything."
"Arrange what?"
He knew exactly that she was talking about the wedding. He was thinking about nearly nothing else the last few days.
But more than that he thought about the proposal. He wasn't satisfied with that. He wanted a ring for her. He wanted it to be romantic and special, not only a question he had made in the hospital.
He had decided to let her think he had forgot that he had asked her. Tomorror he would ask her for real. He had told it to everybody so they would back him up.
Gibbs and Abby would take the kids. He had ordered chinese food of Zoe's favourit restaurant. It was not perfect. It was not extraordinary. It was not even the way he wished he could do it. But it was the best he was able to for the next months.
Zoe opened her eyes. She heard Shannon mumple through the baby phone. She got up without waking her boyfriend and got to the twin's room. She took the little girl and carried her into the kitchen. Luckily she noticed her hungry daughter before she had started to cry.
There was a knock on the door. It wasn't that early, about nine AM, but Tony seemed to sleep for a thousand years..
It was Gibbs. He kissed the head of his granddaughter and then his daughter's cheek.
"Where's DiNozzo?"
"Shhh! He's asleep! Those painkillers are pretty heavy."
She answered softly. Ok, the apartment had four rooms, a kitchen and a big bathroomand a smaller one, but it wasn't that big that you can speak all aloud in the kitchen without waking Tony in the bedroom.
"Abby's still asleep, too. And Jay, thank God! He has his father's sleep!"
She laughed softly.
Until the kids are bigger they had turned the fourth room into a guest room. Zoe was sure that Abby would take it pretty often. She had helped her through the pregnancy, through Tony's coma and everything what came to her in the last few months.
"Yeah, you know, I think you and Tony need a bit of privacy, why don't you give me the kids tonight."
Gibbs told her innocently.
Zoe looked at him suspicious.
"What are you up to? You're not giving privacy to me and Tony without a reason!"
She asked while he started to make coffee.
"Morning!"
A cheerful Abby stood in the door. He voice was just as loud as ever.
"Shhhh! God! Why do I have to remind everybody to stay quite? I have two babies and a man on painkillers in here!"
Just like on command the door bell rang.
"Fine! Now they are all awake!"
She handed Shannon to Gibbs and started to the crying James.
A tired Tony came into the room, slighty limping.
Abby got to the door and returned with McGee.
"Morning! Bagles!"
"I'll kill you!"
Tony mumbled.
McGee looked a bit nervous but settled down on the big table.
Zoe returned with James in her arms. He had already calmed down. The moment his second child was in the room Tony was fully awake.
"Morning sunshine!"
He took the little boy and kissed Zoe good morning.
"I" she pronounced the word extremely "didn't want to wake you."
"It's ok!" he said playing with his son.
He looked up on the table.
"Hey McGee! You brought bagles! Good thought!"
"I told you when...forget it."
Tony grabbed a cup of coffee Zoe had just put down. She immediatly took it away from him.
"Not for you!"
She handed it to Gibbs.
"The doctor said you're not yet allowed to drink or eat too hot or too cold!"
"Yes, Mummy!"
He answered ironicle.
"You're lucky that I am a mother and that our children are in the room, Mister!"
"You won't start call eachother mummy and daddy, will you?"
Gibbs asked disgusted.
"I took thirteen years to call you dad! You really think I would call Tony that?"
Gibbs took a sip of the coffee.
McGee put in a huge amount of sugar and milk.
Abby and Zoe went to the children's room to change them.
"Abby, you think a guy can forget that he asked you to marry him?"
"What?"
Abby looked up from Shannon.
"You know, yesterday I wanted to talk about the wedding, but Tony didn't have a clue what I was talking about."
"Mhm, strange. Maybe you got him wrong in the hospital."
"What do you mean? Get him wrong?"
"Maybe he didn't mean marry me soon. Maybe he meant marry me some time in the future."
Zoe put her son back into his bed. She really wasn't satisfied with that answer.
6 PM
Gibbs had managed it that Zoe gave him her children at last and she and Tony were sitting at the kitchen table.
She took somehing of her meal.
"Oh, my! This I call chinese food! Where did you order it? It tasts like at the Southern Dragon."
"That's where I ordered it."
She looked surprised at him.
"They only deliver if you order at least two days before!"
Then everything was clear to her.
"You planned this! You told Gibbs and Abby to take the kids!"
He grinned childish and took her hand.
"Zoe, this isn't the way I wanted to do this, but I can't stand long enough to do something better."
He stood up and kneeled next to her. He got a little velvet box from his pocket.
Zoe started to smile.
"Zoe Emilia Jetson. Mother of my children. Love of my life. My best friend. My lover. Will you marry me?"
He opened the box. The ring was perfect. The small line of white gold, four perfectly clear diamonds on it, two small, two a bit bigger.
"Of course I will!"
She answered with tears in her eyes.
"Two for us and two for Shannon and James."
He explained the meaning of the diamonds when he slipped the ring on her finger.
They kissed eachother passionatly.
"Tonight I don't care if you're tired!"
Story Notes:
Please read "my place in life" before. When I finished it I felt this gap and just had to fill it...Thanks to Eve and Mel!
Author's Chapter Notes:
Zoe and Tony start their life together and have to deal with the little problems
Chapter End Notes:
Please read "my place in life" before. When I finished it I felt this gap and just had to fill it...Thanks to Eve and Mel!