Shit scared pretty much summed up how he felt at that moment. When Ziva handed him their baby daughter for the first time, fear shot through his body like a drug. Because for the first time in his life, he was totally and utterly responsible for someone else, someone who couldn't take care of themselves, someone who needed him completely. Okay, technically Ziva was responsible for her too, but she was already saying that their daughter would be a daddy's girl.
But as her tiny little fingers wrapped around his suddenly huge seeming forefinger, his heart melted, a smile subconsciously spreading across his face, relaxing. She pushed her mouth open with her tongue and chewed with toothless gums, red faced and sound asleep. Later, they would see she had her mom's tanned skin, making her the envy of all her friends as a teenager and saving him a fortune on fake tan, and when she eventually opened her eyes, he would see his own eyes staring back at him, but only for a moment, before she returned to sleep. She'd inherited his hair colour but her mom's curls, which she would complain about for the majority of her teenage years, and he would argue against her using hair straighteners, and then would love when she reached her twenties.
If anyone had asked, he would've denied the tears that pricked at the corners of his eyes. Ziva saw them but chose not to comment, too tired and happy to start an argument, although Gibbs commented it would've been just like them. He said there was no shame in crying, but he blinked them away, not wanting his vision of his perfect little girl obscured in any way. Later, aunt Abby and uncle Tim would descend, Abby squealing that she was the cutest thing ever, and McGee looking decidedly uncomfortable but happy for them. Later Gibbs would arrive and hold his honorary granddaughter, a rare smile on his face while Ducky regaled them with yet another story. But right now, as Ziva dozed off, it was just him and her, father and daughter. And as first impressions went, Tony decided he rather liked that feeling. From now on, father and daughter would be just fine.