Tony and Ziva were walking down the streets of D.C. holding hands and enjoying a comfortable silence. It was a cold night in December, only a few days away from Christmas. It was the first night the two of them have had off in a week after working a case. Tony decided to celebrate by taking Ziva for a romantic dinner at her favorite restaurant.

…

"Thank you for a wonderful evening, Tony." She says to him when they reach his door. "Anything for you, sweet cheeks." He smiles and places a soft kiss on her lips. Ziva pulls him back for a deeper kiss. They start to get lost in each other, but Ziva pulls away. "Maybe we should continue this inside?" She whispers in his ear as she slides her hand down below his waist. Tony grins as he unlocks the door and pulls her inside. They continue kissing again as he slams the door shut. "Junior, you're finally home." Tony suddenly felt like someone dumped a bucket of ice water down his body. He pulls away from Ziva to see his father standing in the living room. "Dad? What the hell are you doing here? You weren't supposed to get here until tomorrow." Senior laughed. "So I caught an earlier flight. My apologies, I didn't know you were bringing company home." Ziva felt herself blush and looked down. "I see my son has finally come to his senses and swept you off your feet, Ziva." He laughs as he pulls her into a hug. "Yeah dad, a warning would have been nice." Tony sighs, clearly already frustrated with his father. "And if you don't mind, we would appreciate if you kept me and Ziva's relationship out of conversation. Gibbs doesn't exactly know about us yet." Senior looks confused but nods his head in agreement. "You know you shouldn't keep something like this from your boss, Tony. But I will keep my lips zipped. "Well I should get going, you two have a lot to catch up on I'm sure." Ziva says as she grabs her bag. "I'll walk you out." Tony says as he follows her. "It was great seeing you, Ziva. I hope you will come over tomorrow to join Tony and I for dinner." "Of course I will. I shall see you tomorrow then." Ziva says before she heads out in the hall way. "I'm so sorry, Ziva. I had no idea he would be here tonight." Ziva smiles and kisses him. "It's okay. I will see you tomorrow, okay?" Tony nods and pulls her in for a kiss. "I love you." "I love you, too." She smiles before she walks away.

….

Tony sat at his desk at the end of the day rubbing his eyes, trying to shake off the headache he had. Ziva walked over to his desk and looked at him with concern. "Is everything alright, Tony?" Tony looks up at her with his tired eyes and nods his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just can't stand sleeping on that damn couch." He sighs. "Also you can forget dinner tonight, because he has a date tonight. With that woman who lives across from me." "Oh, I am sorry." She says. "Don't be. I'm actually still in shock that he even came in the first place." Ziva gives him a small smile. "How about I come over tonight and make you dinner?" "That actually sounds perfect, Ziva. Thank you."

….

After grocery shopping Tony and Ziva head back to his place so they can start dinner. "I wonder how dad's date is going." He wonders out loud as he unlocks the door to his apartment. When they walk in the place is completely covered in Christmas decorations. "Did your father do all of this Tony? It looks so beautiful." Tony looked around his apartment and smiles a bit. "Yeah I guess he did.I didn't know it could look like this." He says as he walks over to the bedroom with Ziva to open the door. Both of them stopped dead in their tracks when they see that Tony's father was in bed with his date. "Oh my God!" Ziva screamed as she ran out of the room and into the kitchen. "Junior! I didn't know you would be home so soon." Tony's father said as he got off the bed. Tony slammed his door shut and started cursing. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Senior opened the door and came out in Tony's bathrobe. "Sorry about that Junior. Didn't mean for you to see that." Tony was beyond furious. "You know I just bought that bed, dad. And now I have to go and burn it." "Oh come on Junior, lighten up." At this point Ziva grabbed her bag and went for the door. "I'm going to go, Tony. I am sorry." She stutters as she runs out the door, avoiding contact with Senior's eyes. She was too embarrassed to look at him right now. "Ziva wait!" Tony calls as he runs after her. "I'm so sorry, Tony. But I cannot look him in the eyes after what I just witnessed." "How do you think I feel, Ziva?" She sighs. "I'm sorry. Listen, you should go talk to him. If you want to come over my place after you're more than welcome to." She gives him a kiss and starts walking down the hallway. Tony sighs as he watches her leave and heads back inside. "Well dad you managed to scare off my girlfriend. I knew this was a mistake. You staying here." Senior sighs. "What can I say, Junior? I'm not going to change. " Tony grabs his coat and his keys. "I know you're not going to change. Dad this is my home, I told you the rules and you broke them. I knew you shouldn't have come here for Christmas." Senior looks at him shocked. "Do you want me to leave?" "I think that is for the best dad." Senior sighs. "I'm sorry son." "Me too, dad." He says as he walks out of the apartment and heads to Ziva's place.

….

Ziva opens the door to see a very frustrated look on her boyfriend. She stands to the side to let him in and pulls him in for a hug. "I take it that the conversation with your father did not go very well." Tony doesn't say anything. He just sighs as he wraps his arms around her. "I'm sorry for leaving so quickly before." "Oh I don't blame you for that, Ziva." Tony lets her go and gives her a kiss. "I don't know what I expected. I know he is ever going to change." Ziva looks up at him and runs her fingers through his hair. "We should get some rest now. Maybe tomorrow will be better?" Tony silently agrees and follows her to the bedroom, hoping that she is right.

….

"You know we still have time to wrap the case up and still watch the movie in MTAC." Tim says. "I'm not really in the mood, McGee." Tony sighs. "Come on it will cheer you up." Tim pushes. "I left the DVD in my apartment anyway." Tony says hoping it will stop Tim from pushing him. "So go get it." Tim pushes again hoping it will change his mind. Tony rolls his eyes and heads out.

….

Tony rushes home quick to grab the DVD in his apartment. Before he heads out he notices a Santa hat sitting on his floor. He picks it up and places it on the picture frame of him and his mother when he was a child. He can't help but miss her, especially around the holidays. After looking around his apartment again he decides to walk over and light the Christmas tree where he notices a small box sitting underneath. Carefully opening the box he see's a white gold diamond ring. But it wasn't just any ring. It was his mother's engagement ring. Tony was stunned. He thought Senior pawned it years ago when times were tough. Tony couldn't help but feel guilt wash over him. His father was trying to reconnect with him by giving him this ring and he just pushed him out.

….

The team waited for Tony in MTAC to return with the movie to watch. "Sorry I'm late." Tony says as he walks in "I got a bit distracted. Funny even when Senior is not here he still has an effect on me. "All he was doing was trying to reconnect with me, and I blew it." Gibbs heard a buzzing at the door. "That would be Abby." Gibbs says as he heads towards the door. "Don't worry, Tony. I'm sure he will understand." Ziva said reassuringly. "Hope you didn't start the movie yet." Abby smiles as she walks in. "Got something for you DiNozzo." Gibbs says as he steps aside and lets Senior walk in. "Thanks Gibbs. Merry Christmas, everyone" Senior says as he walk towards Tony. "Dad." Tony smiles at his father and pulls him in for a hug. "Thanks for the ring." He whispers in his father's ear. "Merry Christmas. Love you." " I love you too son."

…..

After the movie at MTAC, Ziva, Tony, and his father headed back to Tony's place to ring in Christmas together. "I just need to talk to my dad a second alone, Ziva. Is that okay?" Tony asks his girlfriend. "Of course." She smiles and gives him a kiss. "Take your time." She says as she heads into the kitchen to give them a moment alone. "She's a keeper, Junior." Senior says as he sits on the couch. "Dad you had no idea I was even seeing anyone before you came to visit. Why did you bring me mom's engagement ring now?" Tony says as he sits next to his father. "I know your mother would have wanted you to have it. For the longest time I was just not able to part with it. So do you have any future plans on giving that to Ziva?" A small smile forms on Tony's face. "Yeah, I was thinking about asking her soon actually." "I look forward to having Ziva as a daughter-in-law. Merry Christmas son."

…

Tony lies awake in his bed, with his sleeping girlfriend curled up at his side as he thinks about his mother's engagement ring. He knows he wants to ask her soon. Before he even can think about doing it he knew there was one person that he would have to tell before he did it. "What is wrong, Tony?" Ziva asks as she sits up a little. "I can tell something is on your mind." Tony sighs and pulls her back down to him and wraps and arm around her. "I think it's time we told Gibbs about us, Ziva."