Archive of Our Own ^beta

Jimmy Palmer got attached to everyone. It was a known fact, one that his friends loved, even if it got him into some interesting situations, to say the least.

Specifically though - Jimmy was horribly attached to Ziva. Ziva, who had left NCIS, left their family, to stay in a place where he couldn't comfort her in the way they both knew she needed. He was upset, but he understood. He understood the want for a break or to even start over, especially after the loss of not just their year, but of the job and all it came with.

So, when Ziva called Jimmy one bright and early morning to tell him that she wouldn't be coming home and that, yes, she was safe, he didn't put up a fight. He accepted the news and promised to let her tell Tony, Gibbs, Tim, and everyone else in her own time.

Jimmy was the first to know that Ziva wasn't coming back home and he was also the first to know she was expecting.

Ziva had told the lanky doctor about the time she spent with Tony when he found her hide-out, that they had slept together, basically confessed their mutual love for each other in everything but words, and that they watched the other leave, not knowing when the next hello would be. When she called him in the middle of the night, rambling about pregnancy tests though, he was surprised, to say the least. She had told him they used protection, that precautions were taken, but as she listed off the pregnancy symptoms of morning sickness, extra trips to the bathroom, and a late period, they had their answer. They waited for the tests to be done just to confirm the idea.

Ziva's hands shook as she put the test down, set the timer, and picked up her phone to leave the bathroom. Her voice shook as she paced her living room back and forth, passing by the couch that Tony called Gibbs on with every lap of the room. She was stressed and being open about it, not sure about what to do when she got the result and what they meant.

When their timers went off, one on both ends of the phone, Ziva returned to the bathroom, and suddenly her end of the line went silent. She hadn't hung up the phone but was face to face with something she hadn't considered to be happening to her at all, if not for a long time.

They stayed on the phone together until Jimmy had to head to the office. There was a case, as always.

He spent his days sending the women articles and papers on parenthood, ones that he approved of or found helpful while he was preparing for fatherhood.

The doctor had offered to fly out to his best friend many times, but they both knew he couldn't take time off work or leave his family. So, instead, Ziva allowed for him to send her baby supplies, either from his own collection or from buying online.

Ziva texted him when her water broke, that she was going to the hospital, and that she had people there to help her through it. The actual phone call that Tali had been welcomed to the world happened after he had put his own daughter to bed. Victoria was passed out in her bed when her father's phone rang. Jimmy dashed across the house to grab it.

The new mother sounded exhausted on the line but had wanted to call Jimmy, to let him know, that Tali was born, and that he was her godfather. Neither of them had dry eyes at the end of the call.

Right as he was plugging in his phone for the night, he received a message from Ziva, a photo of a small and asleep baby attached. Tali was beautiful, and Jimmy dreamt about meeting her, holding her, and hugging her mother that night.