December 2015
They were smack in the middle of moving.
Countless boxes had been randomly stacked by the house movers, and the majority of the labels Ziva had neatly written on each box were not visible. Tony's yells in the next room mixed with her daughter's cries right in her ears while she tried to calm her down.
He had been digging through the piles for almost an hour, in quest of Althea's favorite blanket. Their four months old baby hadn't stopped crying once since they had entered the new apartment, not even after being fed and changed. She was just tired and nervous, just like her parents. Relocations tend to have this effect on people.
Tony had finally found all the boxes labeled 'nursery', but apparently he wasn't having much luck.
"It's the fourth box I open, the fourth!, and there's anything but Althea's stuff in here".
The last two hours before the arrival of the house movers had been frantic, and they had started putting all the small things that were still around in random boxes, wherever they had found some free space.
According to Tony, the infamous fourth box contained a remote control, an alarm clock, some placemats, a rubber duck, Althea's snowsuit ("So we did put some actual baby stuff in here!"), headphones, the kitchen's wall clock, a folder with random documents and…
He started yelling even louder because the folder had opened and papers were flying everywhere, and then he just stopped.
The sudden silence, or relative silence, since Althea was still whimpering in her arms, surprised Ziva. She was expecting him to go on forever with his tirade, so she zigzagged through the maze of boxes to check on him. He was sitting on the ground all cramped among the boxes and a few items he had gotten out of them and was holding a small, square piece of paper. He looked at her standing in the doorframe and answered her unspoken question turning the paper around with a smile that was half wistful, half affectionate.
It was the old picture of him and his mother in front of her favorite theater. A few months earlier the frame that contained it had fallen and gone to pieces, and shortly after that, the picture had disappeared.
Althea probably sensed that her parents had suddenly calmed down and forgotten all the stress, the tiredness and the tension of that long day that was still far from over, and were just smiling at each other in surprise, because she chose that exact moment to stop whimpering and started chewing her tiny fingers instead.
Tony stood up, carefully climbed over the mess that separated him from his wife and daughter, and when he reached them he kissed them both, feeling suddenly content.
"We need a break" whispered Ziva, caressing his hair, ear, and jaw lightly.
He breathed a "Yeah" while he rested his forehead on hers, just savoring the much needed moment of calm and comfort.
She suddenly broke the silence. "You know, I've seen a little theater three blocks from here."
He pulled away to look at her in complete awe. "Did you really just suggest…?"
"Why not?"
"Have you looked around in the last couple of hours?" he laughed.
"I have. And I don't expect to get rid of this mess today, or tomorrow, for that matter. It's going to take days anyway. We'll be back in two hours, and I'm sure we'll be more productive then then we could ever be now." She tilted her head and flashed a knowing smile.
His kiss was a clear enough answer.
"What about Althea?" he asked, having a second thought.
"She's calmed down, and I'm sure she'll fall asleep once we get there. Have you ever seen her awake after the first five minutes of our movie nights?"
He lifted his index finger to tell her that she had made her point, and grabbed the aforementioned baby snowsuit.
Half an hour later they were standing in front of the lovely little theater that Ziva was talking about. It looked cozy and old-fashioned, just like the one Tony used to go to with his mother.
He held his daughter a little bit tighter and kissed her head, because the moment held a high symbolism for the two of them. Even if she was too little to understand, even if she was going to sleep on his chest through the whole movie, he wanted to consecrate it.
Then, with his free arm, he pulled Ziva to him, and held her close while he kissed her, trying to convey all the love and gratitude he felt, and trying to let her know how much it meant to him that she understood him so well.
In the end, it still didn't feel enough, so he looked her in the eyes and murmured "Thank you".
She just smiled and kissed him quickly, before taking his hand and letting the three of them in for their first cinema experience as a family.
A/N This was my first baby fic and it's the last of this little collection. It doesn't mean it's over, of course. When I'll come up with more family stories I'll publish them here.
Meanwhile, if you have liked these drabbles and are looking for more, there is one more family fic I've already published on this site, "Her mother's daughter".
Thank you for reading, and a special thanks to those who followed, favorited and to the guests who let a review. I always appreciate it!