Pride and Joy- part 10

Rating: Teen

A/N: If you like it, please review! PS, Tatte as in latte :)

Josh and Leo left Jed and Toby in his office. "We better fill in CJ and Sam," Leo suggested. "Let's go."

They found CJ and Sam in CJ's office, still perplexed as to what happened.

"Take a seat," Leo instructed as he closed the door.

"What's the deal, Leo? Toby looked like he'd seen a ghost," Sam queried.

"CJ, does the name Tzipi mean anything to you in relation to Toby?"

"No, nothing," she said as she shook her head.

"Toby got a girl pregnant back in the 70s. They had a baby girl name Tzipporah. Tzipporah's mom skipped town with her when she was 3 and went to Israel…"

"You don't mean…Tzipporah Rosencrantz is Toby's kid?" CJ asked gobsmacked again.

"Ron ran her finger prints for the security check; there was a match off Toby's missing child. The service is going to question her when she comes back to fill out her employment stuff in a few hours. We wait and see what happens."

"Why didn't Toby say anything to us?" Sam questioned, trying to get his head around everything.

"He didn't want to be pitied; the man spent the past 26 years not knowing if his kid was alive and safe. He's been in his own personal hell with this thing."

CJ nodded; while they may not be her biological daughters, if Mary or Molly or even Mallory were missing, she'd be out of her mind.

Meanwhile, Jed and Toby continued to talk about Tzipporah.

"I used to call her my Tzippo because she brought a spark of light to my life. Her middle name is Avigal, Abigail in Hebrew. It means 'father's joy' because she is. I may have been young, but I love my daughter."

"We had Liz young too; I understand exactly what you mean. What was her favourite toy?"

"She had this bear bought her; she called it Dov which is Yiddish for bear," he grinned.

"She speaks Yiddish then?"

"She did when she was small. My mom always spoke with a heavy Yiddish accent so she often chose just to speak the language. She probably speaks Hebrew too."

"She went to Columbia on a scholarship; that must make you proud."

"She could have dropped out of school, married a Kibbutz boy and have 10 kids and I would still be proud of her."

"I see we have same philosophy when it comes to our girls."

"Yes Sir, we do."

Jed eventually sent Toby back to his office with the understanding that he would be called once the Service spoke to Tzipporah. He didn't feel like writing or working at all so he shut the door, turned off the lights and lay down on his couch. Pretty soon, the emotions of the day took over and he fell asleep.

As promised, Leo waited until 4 pm to call Tzipporah Rosencrantz and invite her back to the White House. He told her it was ok to come in her casual ware; he wanted her there in 20 minutes and she didn't have time to go back to the hotel and change.

At 4:15, Tzipporah Rosencrantz arrived back at the White House. This time, she looked about 17; she was in jeans, Converse sneakers, a red sweater and a black pea coat. She had an Asian print satchel across her chest. Her black curls were unbound and framed her face very well. Once she made it through security, CJ was called to escort her to Leo's office and Josh got Toby situated.

"Hey, thanks for coming back," Leo smiled as he shook her hand. He motioned her to sit on the couch. CJ took a spot next to her.

"You guys don't keep a girl pining by the phone, that's for sure," she grinned.

'God, she looks like Toby', Leo thought. 'The same twinkle in the eyes.'

"You have the job if you want it but the Secret Service needs to clear some things up first," he explained gesturing to Ron.

"Oh, ok. What do you need to know?" she asked excitedly. She wanted the job and as far as she was concerned, she would tell them her bra size if they wanted.

"You were born in New York, right?" Ron started small.

"Yes, Brighton Beach at Coney Island Hospital," she nodded.

"Did you ever have a different last name?"

"I did, it was Fisher- Ziegler; my Dad died when I was small and my mom remarried and her husband adopted me."

"We ran your finger prints, which as you were told, is standard procedure. We got a hit off of yours but not under the name Rosencrantz."

"I don't understand," she frowned.

"The hit was off the database for the Center for Missing and Exploited Children; you're a missing child, well person," he explained.

"Is this some kind of hazing joke?' she asked as she looked from CJ to Leo.

"No, it's not," Ron replied sombrely.

"My biological father isn't dead, is he?" she asked in a small voice, finally connecting the pieces of her childhood. "My mom took me, didn't she?"

"Yes, she did. Do you remember your father at all?" CJ asked.

"A bit; he had curly hair like mine and dark eyes like mine too. He used to read to me a lot. He lived with his Mom and Dad; we shared a room when I was with him. His name was Tobias. He used to sing to me too. That's about all I remember. After we moved to Israel, Mom, wouldn't talk about him, she wouldn't show me pictures or anything. I found one and took it. I thought it was because she was sad he was dead." The bitterness was creeping into her tone. She dug for something in her bag and produced a picture of a man and a little girl. The picture was worn and starting to fade. She showed it to CJ who looked at it and directly at Leo and gave him the slightest nod.

"So, here's the crazy part of this whole situation," Leo started. "We were able to locate your Dad."

"Really," she said in a small voice, barely above a whisper. "Does he want to see me?"

"More than life itself," CJ smiled, a tear starting to form in her eye.

"Where is he?" she questioned with a frown.

"In his office; he works here," Leo explained. "CJ's gonna take you down there. Go talk to your Dad and you start in two weeks."

"I don't know what else to say; I swear I'm more articulate than this."

"Go see your old man; he's waiting."

CJ led her down the hallway to Communications and the stopped outside Toby's office. CJ knocked and opened the door. Toby was standing in front of his desk, wringing his hands.

"Someone would like to see you," she said in a small voice. He nodded once and Tzipporah walked in. "I'll leave you two alone." She left and closed the door.

Toby walked over and put his hands on the young woman's shoulders. She was a solid head shorter than the speechwriter.

"Is this us?" she asked as she handed the picture to him. She kept her head down, afraid that her emotions would get the better of her.

Toby reached over and took it. He didn't say anything. He reached into his own coat pocket and pulled out the duplicate.

"Yes, it is," his voice raw with emotion.

Tzipporah looked up at him.

"Tatte?"

"Tzippo?"

"Yeah, it is," was all she managed to get out before she burst into tears.

"Tatte's here." Toby pulled his daughter into his arms and held her as they both cried.