"I'm going home to see Tali", and one last glance to the newly appointed Special Agent McGee, and then to the young Bishop, Tony was done with that phase of his life and then unto the next.

One of the last phases of his life; his new found purpose, becoming a father.

It was about ten minutes to nine when he came through the door, car keys tossed onto the nearest table. His manner was off-beat, distracted, but somehow striding in confidence. Senior was stepping out of the bathroom when he noticed his son, who had gotten out a laptop, had returned. Tony was too preoccupied to notice his father looking down at him with a curious countenance.

"Uh, junior?"

"Yeah, dad can I help you?" Tony, still fixated on his work, let out a medium-strength sigh. He could sense his father's eyes on him, watching him.

He hesitated for a moment until Tony looked up from whatever task busied him. "I just want to let you know…" The old man only wanted to express how proud he was of his son, who had proven himself a superior man than he had been when Tony was still impressionable. It wasn't the right time, he knew Tony had a mind going a million reps a minute, so he settled, "…I gave Tali a bath and, uh, right before you walked in I still saw her sound asleep. We had quite a day. You know Tali is quite the little acrobat … Say, Junior-"

"Look, I'm trying to do some important things…I can't really talk right now, 'kay?" Realizing how bitter that sounded, Tony stood up and looked at his father, looked him right in the eyes, his voice was different now, more parental, "we talked about this".

Senior looked at his son and in that moment he remembers the exchange, the mature conversation right before Tali proclaimed Tony as her father by pointing to that beautiful black and white framed photography; Tali had simply said "Abba" while her finger rested on Tony's printed face. "I remember." He paused and went over to the other side of the wall, when he came back his son was still in the same position, waiting for some kind of assurance. Senior had poured himself a drink, whiskey by the color of it. "Do it. I told you something wasn't right. I felt it, Hell, You felt it. For the love of God, son! You've found her before... Are you positive you want to take Tali? Because my offer is still on the table to take her…"

"Dad, I appreciate that but I need to be with her." He saw the older man's disappointment. "Come on, you said it yourself, she's a DiNozzo."

"Oh, my boy, you do have your hands full."

Tony turned around and picked up his laptop and handed it to his father. "Me and Tali are leaving in the morning, you can still drop us off, right?"

"Of course." Senior scrolled through the page, "It says your flight leaves at 6, so get there at around 4, you think?"

"Sounds about right… uh, dad, thank you...for watching Tali and the support…it means a lot."

"Well, you thank me when you bring her home."

"I will." He takes a seat, "Right before I said good-bye to McGee and Bishop tonight, I talked to her."

Senior's mouth dropped almost not believing what his son had just said. "You, what? Talked to who?"

"The night before I spoke to Gibbs. And, oh, Gibbs, I knew he knew. He thought of Ziva as a, a daughter, and he just stood there when the news broke, he saw the fire. He knew. He knew and he didn't bother to tell me." Tony snapped his finger and let out a small chuckle, "You know he did that before when I was reassigned to that damn ship as an agent-afloat, nearly wanted to shoot myself..."

"So, how? …Why? What'd she say? Tali…"

"Yeah..." Tony rubbed his temples and followed through, "Orli, must have given Ziva a heads up after Kort was killed. She called me when I was walking from my car."

"Tony."

"Zi… Ziva?!"

"Tony, I should not talk for long, I have to make sure my" she pauses, "job is completely done before letting out any critical information, I want to explain everything, I do."

"Uh, Okay, … I was going to take Tali with me to-"

"Enough, perfect, T-L-V, I will meet you at the Aroma Coffee at the airport when you arrive."

"How do I let you know…..?

"Text me the flight number, only, you have my number now, I will not text back but know I will be there."

"Ziva…I..."

Ziva let out a sigh, she wants to say more, "Good-Bye, Tony"

And just like that the line went dead.

"She couldn't say a lot, I really don't want to think of what she's into over there."

"I hope she's okay. Such a lovely woman, Ziva."

"One thing she can do is take care of herself. She has proven that many times."

"Maybe she can explain why it took her almost three years-"

Tony snapped back a little and quietly he blurted, "Dad!" His face switched to pain, "I am sure she has a perfectly good, well thought out explanation of why she didn't bother letting me know that our farewell led to the creation of my daughter…and waited all this time".

The father switched glances with his son. Tony took out his phone and carefully typed two letters and two numbers into his phone. Message sent.