"Daddy how much loooonnggerrrr?" whined the curly haired four-year-old swinging Tony's hand. He, Gibbs, and Abby had been in line for almost half an hour so that Shira could see Santa Claus. With Ziva still away on assignment, Abby had eagerly volunteered to join the family outing. Oddly enough, Gibbs too had offered to come. In fact, it had been him who got the idea into Shira's head of the necessity of seeing Santa. Unfortunately, it seemed that almost every other parent in D.C. had the same idea that day. The mall was packed with stressed out last minute shoppers, families trying to take a picture with Santa, and an especially annoying group of Dickens-dressed carolers. Despite all of this, Tony smiled down at his anxious daughter. She had been too scared to sit on Santa's lap the year before, but this year she had been begging to go for days on end. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet, making her dark curls flounce.
"It's almost our turn Shira, but you've got to let the other boys and girls get their turn too." Tony told her as he crouched down beside her. He squeezed her hand and planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Fiiiiiiine." Shira sighed. Tony stifled a laugh. Neither she nor her mother had much patience in their blood, and they both made the exact same agitated face when they weren't getting what they wanted. Shira suddenly let out a tiny shriek as she was whisked off of her feet and into the air.
"Grampa Gibbs!" she cried out through her giggles.
"See?" Gibbs asked the laughing girl. He hoisted her to his side and pointed towards the mall Santa a few feet ahead. "He's right there. I promise he'll be there still when you get to the front of the line." Shira's pout faded slightly, but a trace of anxiety still lingered on her lips. Her giggles subsided entirely and she became very serious indeed.
"I have to tell Santa what I want for Christmas so it comes true Grampa." She said calmly. Her large, round eyes were focused intently on Gibbs' face.
"So what are you going to ask for that is so important, little one?" Gibbs asked her. She shook her head quickly.
"I can't tell you or it won't come true." She said almost in a whisper, her eyes stretched wide. Gibbs smiled one of his rare full smiles. Shira was highly talented at eliciting those from him.
"Shira," Abby cut in, "that's for wishes, not Christmas presents. You can tell us what you want!" Abby grabbed her little foot as she spoke, trying to earn a smile from the now sullen toddler. Shira shook her head stubbornly again.
"This one's a wish and a Christmas present." She explained as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I won't tell." Gibbs and Abby tried to cover their laughs. Tony rolled his eyes. As if keeping the myth of Santa Claus alive in a half Jewish house wasn't hard enough, now he was going to have to mind read his daughter's biggest Christmas desire. Great.
They finally reached the front of the line and Shira jumped down from Gibb's arms and raced to the elf shepherding the kids to and from Santa's chair.
"You two go on ahead," Tony said, nodding at Gibbs and Abby. "I'm going to try and call Ziva again. She should get to at least hear this." Abby caught the hurt in his voice and gave Tony that "poor kicked puppy" look he hated getting from her. Gibbs knowingly grabbed her arm and pulled her along.
Tony squeezed his way out of line and struggled towards the side of Santa's candy decorated house. For what had to be the 10th time that day he dialed Ziva's number. He heard nothing but ringing.
"Damn it." he swore louder than intended, earning a glare from one of Santa's elves. Twice more he dialed, getting the same result, before leaning over the candy-cane railing in defeat. It wasn't her fault that she wasn't there. She had orders. There was nothing they could do about it. But still, she should be there. With his head down on his arms he heard the voice of his daughter talking animatedly, presumably to Santa still.
"Please Santa, mommy just has to come home for Christmas. She already had to miss the end of Hanukkah, and I really want her home for Christmas so daddy can be happy again." Tony's head snapped up and his eyes searched for his daughter's. She was partially blocked from his view by the elf he had just offended, and he instead made eye-contact with Abby. Her eyes were full of tears and her hands were clamped over her mouth. Tony felt his heart constrict. His four-year-old daughter's only wish was for him to be happy. A pang of guilt twisted his stomach—had he really been that transparent? Had he let it show to his daughter how much it killed him when her mom was gone? Well, then again, Shira was almost as observant and intuitive as her mother. Keeping anything from the two of them was damn near impossible.
"Daddy says you're real, but I don't think mommy is so sure." Shira continued. "Maybe if you bring her home she will believe in you too!" she said logically. Tony shifted so he could see her face. Her bright green eyes (currently, the only visible part of her that was clearly his and not Ziva's) were lit up and locked onto Santa's. Tony forced himself to look at the poor soul playing Santa that was having to listen to this adorable girl's sad parent story. To his surprise, the man playing Santa did not look uncomfortable, nor did he make any motion to hurry Shira along. On the contrary, his eyes were focused intently onto hers and were full of emotion. Tony was fairly sure Shira had gone well over her allotted time, but the Santa did not want to ruin this moment.
"I'm sure you make your dad happier than you could ever imagine." He told her quietly. Shira nodded, as though she already knew this to be true.
"I know. He tells me that. But he'd be much happier if he had both of his little ninjas home." Her words finally cracked a smile in Tony's face. The last sentence had clearly thrown the Santa slightly, but he didn't ask questions. That is, he didn't have the chance to ask questions for a split second later Shira was screaming out "IMAH!" Like her mother, she often switched to Hebrew when she was highly excited or upset. In a flash, she was off of Santa's knee and darting into the mall mob.
"SHIRA!" Tony yelled. Where the hell was she going? Why hadn't Gibbs grabbed her? Only the daughter of Ziva David could get past Gibbs that easily. Tony shoved his way through the crowd, but Shira was too small to be seen.
"SHIRA!" he cried again, and then he saw it—a flash of pink light. Suddenly, Tony was incredibly grateful that he had caved and bought her the light-up sneakers she had begged for for Hanukkah. Following the pink flashes he pushed and weaved his way through the crowd of angry shoppers, receiving more than one rude remark. As long as she kept running, he could track her. He caught glimpses of pink between stroller wheels, shopping bags, and heavily furred boots. When the lights stopped flashing, Tony panicked again; someone must have picked her up. As he was about to call out her name again, he heard her voice. Not Shira's, but the one voice that could make his heart pound even faster than an unexpected sprint through a crowded mall after his runaway daughter. And then he saw her. Not five feet away, cooing soothing words in Hebrew to their now crying daughter, was Ziva.
Tony stopped dead in his tracks. Though her words were directed at Shira, her eyes were solely on him. She laid a kiss onto Shira's curls as she spoke.
"Hitgaagati eleykah" she murmured as Tony approached.
"I missed you too." Tony responded, although he was fairly sure she had been talking to Shira. He stroked his hand down Ziva's arm, in part to make sure she was real, and in part to make sure she wasn't going anywhere.
"Mommy, he's real he's real!" Shira suddenly exclaimed. She raised her head from Ziva's shoulder and looked seriously at her mother.
"Who's real?" Ziva asked curiously, peeling her eyes off of Tony to look at her. There were still tears shining on Shira's face.
"Santa!" she squealed. "I asked him to bring you home for Christmas and he DID!" She cried out. She then sniffled loudly and reburied her head in Ziva's neck. "So now you hafta believe." She said softly.
"You're right baby," Ziva said as her eyes made their way back to Tony. "I do believe." He still had his hand on her arm protectively, but he shifted it up to her cheek. He had so many questions to ask her, but first he desperately needed to kiss his wife. He ran his thumb along her cheek, and leaned down to brush his lips against hers. Their reunion was cut painfully short by Shira's squirming in Ziva's arms.
"Ewwww guuuyyss!" she protested. Her parents exchanged a quick glance, before attacking her with kisses on the cheek in unison. Shira screamed out a garbled mixture of laughter and squeaky protests of the onslaught of affection.
"Hey Shira!" came a voice from behind the family. "Come here! Auntie Abby and I want you to show us the toy store." called Gibbs. As Shira hopped to the ground Tony had never been more grateful for his boss's intervening. He watched Shira run into his arms with several flashes of pink light.
"I cannot believe you bought her those ridiculous shoes." Ziva said into his ear. Tony smiled.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me you were coming home today." He said back.
"I did not know until yesterday!" Ziva said with a laugh. "And then Gibbs made me promise not to tell." Tony shook his head. It all made sense now, why Gibbs had been willing to go to the mall, why he had let Shira run past him. Wrestling his features Tony tried to glare at his wife with mock anger, but the smile could not be swept from his face.
"So that's why you've been ignoring my calls." He said. Ziva wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, smiling.
"Yes. That is why I ignored your calls Tony." She explained. "I knew I could not lie to you."
Tony leaned down and kissed her again, this time letting it linger. Since the day they had first kissed (not counting any undercover missions) he had discovered that he would never in his lifetime be able to get enough of her. All too soon they were jostled apart roughly by the unforgiving Christmas mall crowd, who had clearly had enough of the swooning couple standing in the middle of the holiday rush. Tony laughed as Ziva stumbled into him. Brushing a stray hair out of her face he said,
"I still can't believe you didn't tell me sooner Ziva; I was going crazy here."
"I am sorry Tony, but I told you I did not know." She reached up and delicately held his face with both of her hands. He knew this gesture of hers well.
"I also did not know that it was possible to miss two people as much as I missed you." She whispered. Tony smiled; she could always soften him with just a few words. He leaned his forehead down to rest against hers.
"Ziva David, getting sentimental on me?" Tony asked in feigned surprise. She laughed softly.
"David?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "I have not heard that name from you in a while."
"Forgive me," Tony replied as he pulled her body close to him again, "You've been gone a long time Mrs. DiNozzo. It looks like we have some catching up to do." he growled before kissing her again.
"mmhmmm" she said against his lips, "I like the sound of this catching up. But Tony," Ziva mumbled as she pulled away slightly. He wished she would stop doing that.
"Tony I have to tell you something. I have made a decision." She said seriously. It really was striking how she and Shira could go from laughing to business-mode in mere seconds.
"Okay," Tony said hesitantly. Ziva let out a small breath.
"I am going to tell the director that I will not be taking any more long-distance assignments." Her words were calm and delivered as though practiced. Tony raised his brows at her. "Why do you look so surprised?" she asked.
"Ziva David does not refuse orders." He said simply. Ziva smiled crookedly.
"Well Ziva DiNozzo does." She stated.
"Is that so?" Tony asked. Ziva nodded assuredly.
"Well I've got to say I'm relieved." He continued. She looked up at him with narrowed eyes.
"Because I may have already informed him that he was not to be taking my wife away from me any more…" he trailed off. Ziva balked at him.
"Tony! You did what? Why?" she asked, astounded at his lack of hierarchical propriety.
"Because! He asked me into his office to discuss, certain…behavior problems." He began. Ziva smirked openly; that wasn't hard to believe.
"And I simply explained that I would be in a much…um, friendlier, mood if he would stop splitting up my family." Much to his surprise, Ziva laughed at his confession.
"So, I take it, you're not mad?" he asked nervously.
"No Tony, I am not mad." She said, shaking her head.
"You're not even a little upset that I went around you to try and keep you here, that I interfered in your work, that I—"
"Tony," Ziva cut him off, "my husband wanted me home. I have a family to be with. A family that wants to be with me. How could I possibly be upset about that?" Before giving him a chance to answer, she reached up and kissed him.
"It was very stupid though." She whispered.
"Yeah well, I've always been a little stupid when it comes to you sweetcheeks."