Disclaimer: We all know the drill.

Sorry it has taken so long to update. Had to wait for a beta. I am working on the next chapter. Thanks to Christina who did the beta for me. Please review and let me know what you think of the story. It will be more of a focus on Tali and Tony for the next few chapters. I promise he will read the letter.


Tali woke up, forgetting about yesterday's events for a minute. Then suddenly she remembered everything. However she knew she had to be strong for her Daddy. Her daddy had never had to go through one of the missions before. Usually she went and stayed with Aunt Nettie or with her grandparents in Haifa or Paris or Surry.

Tali got up showered, dressed and then headed downstairs where her Daddy was making his famous pancakes.

"They smell good Daddy. However did you forget it is Friday?"

"Ummm, Tali I have to tell you something and I thought your favorite breakfast would be a good start. I promise it is kosher pancakes for today. I will still obey kosher for the Sabbath."

Tali moved into her chair and said a prayer then started to eat her pancakes.

"Daddy? Are you sending me away?"

"Tali, no, however the day your Mom left I was going to tell her I had to go out to sea for four weeks. I am unable to get out of this trip. However Tony has offered to move into the house to watch you for the next four weeks. Would that be okay with you? If not then I will ask your Grandpa here and in Israel if you would prefer?"

Suddenly Tali heard Tony's name and her eyes got wide and happy.

"I really do not want you to go, however Uncle Tony would be nice to stay with. I just do not want to leave here. I like it here. I love my school and friends and my room. Will I be able to email you everyday?" Tali asked

"Sure pumpkin. I promise to check my mail every day. Tony is coming over tonight so we can teach him about the Sabbath. You will have to help him, I am sure he has never practiced the Sabbath like this, ok?"

"Sure Daddy." Stuffing more pancakes in her mouth. "Will you pick me up after school today? Also when do you have to leave?"

"I leave in four days from today, sorry for the short notice. However, Tony will be here all weekend so he can learn how things run and to make sure he is ready for Uncle-hood. So Tony and I will pick you up today so I can add him to the school list. Then we will come home and life as normal."

"Ok, Daddy, I promise to be good. Daddy can I call Grandma David?"

"Sure."

Tali immediately grabbed her special cell phone from her pocket and dialed speed dial 1.

"Tali, it …" Rick shook his head it was luckily only a 6 hour time difference. Since it was 0730 here it was 1330 in Tel Aviv or 1230 in Paris, or wherever her Grandmother was at this time. Rick then walked away to give her some privacy.

"Bonjour Grandmaman." (Hello Grandma)

"Bonjour mon amour. Est-ce que autres dans la chambre peuvent parler français ?" (Hello my love. Can others in the room speak French?)

"Pas, le papa Rick est ici et il ne peut pas parler français." (No, Daddy Rick can not speak French.)

"My little one have you forgot my rules it is rude to speak in a language others can not understand. You are safe, yes?"

"Yes, Grandmaman. I just miss you."

"She is gone I take it?"

"Yes," Tali sniffled a little.

"It is ok to cry you know that. It is okay to miss her. Is Rick good to you or do you need me to come get you?"

"Daddy Rick is great, he had to go to sea though and Uncle Tony, Aunt Ziva's boyfriend, is coming to stay with me. However I just miss you this is the first time you are not here. Can I call as much as I need? I have Grandpere's phone."

"As long as it is that phone you may call as needed. Shalom my love. If you need me you know what to do. I can be there rather quickly I promise."

"Ok Je t'aime plus que la lune et les étoiles." Tali said awaiting her grandmother's response. (I love you more than the moon and the stars.)

"Je t'aime plus que la lune et les étoiles. Mon petit." (I love you more than the moon and the stars. My little one.)

Then the phone went silent and Tali hit the end on the satellite phone her grandfather had given her when she moved to the United States less than a year ago.

Tali looked at the phone then put got up and went to her Daddy.

"Daddy I need Uncle Tony's phone numbers put in my phone, I have Aunt Ziva's phone number so I have a work number however her cell phone will not work right now."

Rick knew that Tali had a cell phone however he never paid attention to it before as she rarely used it. However when he took it from her he realized this was an encrypted satellite phone. The child had a more secure line than the president of the United States. When he opened it and looked inside it was all in Hebrew.

"Pumpkin I can not read Hebrew can you make it so it is in English and I can program it then for you?"

"Sure Daddy, sorry I forgot." Tali then reached and changed it to English.

"So Tali did Mommy get you this phone?" Rick was curious why his wife had never mentioned that a 6 year old such a phone.

"Nope, Grandpa David gave it to me when we moved here so I could call him and Grandmaman whenever I wanted. See I can even call his special office and the number is only mine and it goes directly to him not the secretary. Then this one goes to Grandpa Bashan and this one is for you, Mommy put it in there yesterday." Tali's voice went from happy sing song to a deep sadness. She hated the first few days of her mommy's missions.

"Do you know anything about this phone?" Rick kept asking questions he was now curious there was a lot more to his family than he realized.

"Well I know it is a special satellite phone. It is hard to have someone trace. However if a special equipment is used it only takes 19 seconds to get a trace. Also it has a special code I have to put in it to use," Tali started to worry should she tell her daddy so much about the phone. Why did he not know this?

"Pumpkin, I know this is a satellite encrypted phone I am just surprised though I guess I should not be with your Grandpa's being whom they are, that you would have such a phone. Here I have put in Tony's cell and his boss Gibbs. Ok? Now let's get you off to school before you are late."

Tali was soon dropped off at school and Rick headed towards the Pentagon.

Tony woke up and rolled over to grab Ziva then remembered what had happen the day before. He got up out of bed and saw the letter sitting on the floor it must have fallen when he sat it on the bed stand. He picked it up and started to open it. Then he quickly laid it down. He just could not read it yet. He would read it later. Today he had to get to work early and get all his paperwork caught up and meet Rick at 4pm to go pick Tali up at school.

Tony got his shower and grabbed a breakfast roll. Today was Friday and he would respect the Sabbath for Ziva. She had been teaching him about Jewish customs. She admitted she tried hard to follow a kosher diet and the Sabbath on Friday. He had confronted her about seeing her eat pepperoni pizza when they first met and he was following her at the hotel. He wondered if Rick, Hannah and Tali did the same, after all Ziva said it was a David tradition, one of the few she chose to retain.

Tony arrived to work at 6 am and started in on his paperwork. An hour later McGee and Gibbs showed up. Both greeted him and asked how he was doing. Tony by this time had his walls up and was able to act as if it was just another normal day.

"Umm, Boss, could I talk to you?" Tony had walked up to Gibbs desk.

Gibbs looked up to Tony. "In my office, let's go."

Gibbs got up and walked around Tony and headed to the elevator. They both walked in and as soon as it started to move Gibbs hit the emergency stop button.

Gibbs then looked at Tony and waited for him to start.

"Umm, well Boss, umm you see Rick is going out to sea and has asked if I could help watch Tali. So I need to arrange my schedule around her for the next four weeks. I know usually I am available anytime, however I really want to help, and Tali is such a great kid and…"

"Tony, that is fine this job is what you want to put into it. You know there are a lot of agents out there who have kids and still do this full time. However you will still have to cover the weekend watch and she can not come to a crime scene."

"Thanks, boss, I am working on getting someone to watch her next weekend. That will not be a problem."

"Did you open that letter yet?" Gibbs eyes and voice become more fatherly and warm as he asked this.

"Umm, not exactly. I am sure it is telling me to keep out of her desk. You know how Ziva is about her privacy," Tony tried to joke around about the letter.

"Tony, I set up rule 12 because I was hurt when I had a partner leave me, and thought if I made it a rule then I could prevent others from being hurt. However I see I was wrong. You and Ziva have something special. You remind me of Shannon and me when we were dating and even after we were married. Tony she will be back. Open that letter I am sure she is telling you how much she misses and loves you."

"Boss, thanks. I umm, well, we just, if she knows that you know she will kill me. So could you keep this between us? Abby will have it all around the building if she even suspects and I would rather have Ziva here when we announce our relationship."

Gibbs smacks the back of Tony's head.

"Hey what was that for?"

"For thinking I would say anything about this conversation. Now you best get my favorite agent a nice ring before she returns."

Then Gibbs released the elevator and they went back to there desks.

McGee watched Tony and Gibbs then finally sent an IM to Tony.

ElfLord: So any word on Ziva? What did her letter say?

ItalianStallion: Do I look like her keeper? Her letter just asked me to help care for Tali. Her step dad is going out to Sea and I am keeping her for a month.

ElfLord: You? Keep a kid for a month? Ziva will kill you if you have any of your girlfriends around her. That kid will eat you alive. You never get along with kids.

ItalianStallion: If you have not noticed McNosy I have changed my ways. Kids like me. Tali and I get long well, it is that DiNozzo charm; just wait when you see us together. She loves her Uncle Tony and I am going to spoil her rotten.

ElfLord: Uncle Tony? Is there something you have been hiding? Ziva will kill you if you start rumors. Just yell if you need help being rescued from the 6 year old. She appears to be a handful.

ItalianStallion: She asked if she could call me that. It means nothing. If anything starts I will make sure Ziva knows you started it. Remember what happened with the pictures from California? Tali will be eating out of my hand by next week just wait and see.

ElfLord: Sure she will. I bet $50.00 you do not last a week before you are asking for help and looking for a babysitter for the night. Which if you need I could help and I am sure Abby would also.

ItalianStallion: The bet is on, however I will go with $500.00 and say no help other than work related. Like having to go out in the evening related to a case.

ElfLord: You are on.

Tony laughed this would be like taking candy from a baby. At least he hoped it would be.

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