Hi thanks for all the reviews, glad you all like it – does anyone have any suggestions for cute scenes? Now or when Tali is older, any are good, let me know if you do.

Hope you like this one

Chapter 11 – Milestones

Gibbs crouched in front of his desk smiling at the little girl who stood wobbling in front of him, he had his hands ready to catch her should she fall, she caught hold of his arm and giggled happily, then she looked over the short gap where her mother was kneeling smiling at her daughter, she held out one hand to her "ma ma ma" she said, Ziva smiled and held out her arms to her daughter.

Tali hesitated and looked around, Gibbs was next to her assisting her now, her uncle Tim and Aunt Abby were standing next to McGee's desk, Abby looking like she was about to burst with excitement, and there was her daddy standing behind mommy, holding a video camera at the ready.

Gibbs watched Tali look around, trying to decide if now was the right time, she must have decided it was because she turned to face her mother and took a tiny shaky step towards her, she paused before taking another, then another, two more and she giggled as she tumbled into her mother's arms.

Ziva laughed in delight as Tali took her first stumbling steps towards her and giggling stepped from Gibbs to her mother and fell into her arms, she scooped her daughter up laughing as she kissed her cheek, Tony whooped from behind her stopping filming and moving over to his wife and daughter "yay" Abby squealed bouncing forward "Tali took her first steps, you did catch it on film didn't you Tony"

Tony grinned "damm I didn't press record" he said "only joking" he said hurriedly as he caught everyone's thunderous glares "of course I got it, wouldn't miss that for the world" Gibbs laughed and ruffled Tali's hair "clever girl Tali" he praised, she giggled happily smiling at everyone as they surrounded her, she grinned at her daddy "dada" she said proudly "yeah princess" Tony said with a smile "you are so clever aren't you little ninja" he smiled at her, then he sighed "what" Ziva asked, he looked at her "she will be one next month" he said "god this year has flown by" Ziva smiled at him "I know" she said moving forward "things always seem to come sooner than they should" he smiled at her and kissed Tali's forehead, then he crouched and set her on her feet, she looked at him "dada" she said "yeah" he said softly gazing at her proudly, Ziva smiled at him happily, Tali giggled and fell back against her daddy before sliding down and beginning to crawl, Tony laughed "I can walk but crawling is so much easier" he said, everyone laughed back, smiling at the tiny child sitting on the floor grinning up at them, she grinned toothily at them showing her three teeth off proudly.

Tony smiled as they all calmed down and moved back to their desks, Abby regretfully went down to her lab to check her samples, Ziva pulled out some toys for Tali and set them up in the middle of the bullpen for her, she sat with her favourite toys, a bead maze and a little farm with plastic animals, they all thought it was adorable when she sat there making animal noises "moo" she said happily holding up a plastic cow, Tony nodded "yep that is right little ninja" Tali looked over at her mother "mama oink" she asked holding up a pig "yes tateleh" Ziva said pausing in her work to smile at the little girl, Tali giggled and then picked up a small black and white plastic dog "woof" she said "woggy" she smiled and then crawled over to where all her toys and things were kept in a box behind Ziva's desk, she pulled herself into a standing position and tugged out a soft golden toy dog that McGee had got for her "woggy" she said happily.

Ziva smiled "yes Tali doggy" she said empathising the'd', Tali giggled and carried the dog over to Gibbs "Geebees" she said holding the dog high "woggy", everyone smiled as Gibbs looked down at her and smiled "really" he said leaning over in his seat "what is it Tali" he asked "woggy" she said looking at him with an expression often seen on her father's face that plainly said 'duh'.

He smiled and nodded "very clever sweetheart, and what sound does the doggy make", she frowned at him "woof" she said "that's right sweetheart" he praised, she beamed at him, then she looked at McGee "woof" she said, he smiled at her "yeah Tali woof" he said, she giggled happily before making her way back to her toys and sitting herself down again to play with her toys.

Gibbs watched her play happily with her toys smiling at her, she had such an innocence to her, she was their ray of sunshine after dealing with pain, their joyful life after working on a death, all she had to do was smile or giggle and a huge weight was lifted from their shoulders, she was just so pure and so so perfect.

Once she had finished her work Tony looked at Ziva "why don't you take Tali home" he said gently, Ziva looked at him "you are not coming" she asked confused "I will stay a bit longer Zee, but you should take Tali, look she is exhausted" everyone looked at Tali who's playing had slowed, she was now sitting hugging her doggy and Bernie rubbing her eyes. Ziva looked at her and then nodded "alright don't come home too late though" she said grinning at him as she moved round to pick up Tali's toys, Tony smiled and moved to help her before picking Tali up to give her a hug "I won't" he said "just want to finish a few things up then I will be home" she nodded and gathered her things up, taking the dog and Bernie and putting them in Tali's bag whilst Tony hugged her "night night ninja" he said, Tali mumbled and rested her head on his shoulder "dada" she mumbled, Tony smiled and rested his head on hers briefly before giving her a kiss and saying "go to mommy ninja, I will see you later sweetheart"

Tali sleepily held out her arms and Ziva took her hugging her tired daughter close, "goodnight" she called "see you tomorrow" she smiled as the rest of the team called out their farewells to her as she stepped into the elevator, as she rode down she looked at Tali pressed against her chest, she was staring up at her mother sleepily, Ziva smiled down at her "you tired my tateleh" Tali mumbled and rubbed her eyes in response, Ziva smiled "don't worry you can sleep soon my love"

Tali decided she couldn't wait till she got home and passed out in her car seat, Ziva had difficulty juggling her exhausted daughter and two bags plus an armful of stuffed animals that Tali clung to into the apartment, once she managed to get the door to their apartment open she dumped their bags and carried Tali through to her room, there she carefully prised the toys out of Tali's grip and placed them in the crib along with the other toys, she was surprised that there was still room in there for Tali, she took out a clean baby grow and carefully undressed Tali sitting her on the edge of the dresser, she stared at her mother exhaustedly "I know tateleh, just give me a minute" Ziva promised, she smiled "arms up then little ninja", Tali giggled tiredly and raised her arms so her mommy could take her top off.

She didn't realise what she had called Tali until she was buttoning up her baby grow "Oh no" she sighed "now I am calling you ninja, your father is never going to let me live this up or is it live it down" she frowned "oh I don't know hey Tali", her daughter yawned in response, she lifted Tali up and cuddled her for a minute before carefully laying her in the crib, she rearranged the toys so that Tali could reach them before bending to kiss Tali's forehead, she mumbled and closed her eyes, a tiny sigh escaped her lips before she fell asleep. Ziva watched her listening to the rhythmical sound of her breathing before she crept out leaving the door open a crack, she tidied a few things up before moving into the main bedroom and changing into her nightwear, then she curled up under the covers, her gaze fell on a picture on her bedside table, it showed Tony and Tali together, both of them were grinning at the camera, they were at the park across the road walking home after taking Tali to play for the first time, she had loved it, especially the swings, on the way back Tony had lifted Tali and placed her on his shoulders, bouncing around making her giggle in delight, when Ziva had taken the photo, Tony was grinning looking up at Tali who was staring at him her eyes shining in delight as she laughed at her daddy, it was a magical moment that she had captured, she had fallen in love with that picture.

She smiled at it before turning out the light and rolling over, how her life had changed, nothing was how she had imagined it, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

XOXOXO

Tony very quietly slid into the apartment an hour later, he let out a small sigh, he, McGee and Gibbs had stayed late to finish off their work, he was glad Ziva had taken Tali home, he didn't want to disrupt her sleeping pattern too much, especially as she was close to sleeping through the night.

Ziva had left a lamp on for him and he was glad as he carefully hung up his jacket and dumped his bag and grabbed his phone and headed to the bedroom, before he entered though, he paused and pushed the door to Tali's room open and peered into the crib at her, he smiled at her peaceful expression before backing carefully out and heading into his own room, switching the lamp off as he passed, he crept into the bedroom and carefully changed into some sleepwear before sliding under the covers next to Ziva, she sighed and rolled over, he noticed how her hand slid under the pillow "hey" she mumbled "hey" he said eyeing the pillow "are you still sleeping with a gun", her eyes fluttered open "never stopped" she mumbled "Ziva" he growled "that was dangerous whilst you were pregnant" she frowned at him "I have slept with a gun for longer than I can remember, I think I remember how to not shoot myself in my sleep, and I was careful if this was the first time you noticed it" he scowled at her and sighed "do you really need it" he asked "I can protect you now" she smiled sleeping and kissed him softly "was that meant to terrify me" she asked, he growled again before pulling her close and kissing her head "you underestimate me" he said, she rubbed his arm "believe that if you want" she said teasingly and snuggled in against his chest, he chuckled and settled down closing his eyes with a smile on his face.

XOXOXO

When Ziva woke up, Tony was still sleeping soundly apart from the occasional rumbling snore within his chest, she smiled and shook her head before looking at the clock, it was 5am and she felt wide awake, she thought and then kissed Tony and ran her fingers through his hair until he awoke "seriously" he mumbled "it is bad enough with ninja waking us up" she smiled "I want to go for a run" she said "so you will have to get up to Tali if she cries" he yawned and nodded before closing his eyes "have a nice one" he said, she smiled swinging herself out of bed and pulling on some running clothes, she grabbed her trainers and laced them up before grabbing a water bottle and filling it, then with a smile she grabbed her keys and left the apartment.

It felt nice to be running again, she ran across the road to the park and began to run the path she had mapped out but not actually tried yet, she smiled as she felt the wind against her face pulling her hair in its ponytail out behind her, the sharp taste of the air at the back of her throat felt familiar and welcoming. She hadn't had the time to go running since Tali was born, they were too exhausted, collapsing into bed once she was asleep and sleeping as long as she would let them, she was glad that she was back again, she wouldn't be able to do this every morning but she hoped she would be able to do it regularly now.

She ran the route, it took her an hour and 15 minutes, she hoped that she would be able to cut that down to an hour soon, then once she was back she headed back up to their apartment and went straight to the shower.

When she came out Tony still wasn't awake, she frowned in surprise and then pushed the door to Tali's room open, then she smiled "hello tateleh" she said softly, Tali giggled from where she was standing in her crib, clutching at the bars peering through them at her, "did you not wake daddy sweetie, he will be pleased" she said as she crossed the room to the crib, Tali squealed and held up her arms, with a smile Ziva picked her up, then she looked at the clock; 6:30, "let's let daddy lie in" she said softly and carried Tali into the kitchen and sat her in the high chair, she placed a few toys on the tray as she pulled out some Weetabix and added milk until it was a mush for Tali to eat, then she sat in front of Tali who dropped her toys when she saw the food gurgling in anticipation, smiling Ziva put a bib on her, Tali scowled and tugged at it "you are not eating without it tateleh" Ziva said smiling at her "you get half of it down your front" Tali grumbled but stopped trying to take the bib off when Ziva offered her the first spoonful she opened her mouth willingly and took the food, in between mouthfuls she giggled and gurgled, Ziva watched her smiling at her antics, she offered her the next spoonful and Tali took it, then she blew a raspberry spitting some food out "Tali" Ziva chided, but Tali just giggled.

"ah food fights have begun" she turned and smiled at Tony as he came out of their room "how long did you run for" he asked "hour and 15 minutes" she said "when I checked on her she was awake but standing up in her cot" "yay" Tony said "maybe she can sleep through the night now" Ziva smiled "that would be nice but she was still awake at 6:30" Tony shrugged and poured some coffee. Ziva looked back at Tali covered in food, she sighed "I'll clean her up and dress her" she released Tali from the much hated bib and lifted her from the high chair and carried her into her room.

She set her daughter on the rug handing her Bernie from the cot and opened the chest of drawers "so which of your many outfits would you like to wear to day Tali" she asked, Tali didn't seem bothered she just reached for some more toys gurgling happily, shaking her head at her daughters antics she selected a pair of leggings and a long top, she wiped Tali's face ignoring her protests "can't have everyone seeing you covered in food" she said to Tali "people would think we didn't love you" from behind her Tony laughed, she turned to see him standing in the doorway "I think everyone knows how much we love Tali Zee, she is the most spoilt child on the planet right ninja" Tali giggled.

Ziva smiled and handed Tony the clothes "you dress her" she said "I need to get ready" Tony nodded and then crouched in front of Tali "hey ninja" he said, Tali looked at him interested "ready to get dressed" he asked, Tali chirped, he smiled and lifted her up carefully slipping her out of the baby grow and into her top, then he found a pair of socks and wriggled them onto Tali's tiny feet tickling her as he did so making her giggle and kick happily, he smiled at her as he slid her into her leggings, then he lifted her and made aeroplane noises flying her around, she shrieked and giggled happily, "Tony" Ziva shouted "she has just eaten, be careful" "Ah mommy has a fair point there princess" Tony said lowering her back into his arms, Ziva came it and eyes him, he grinned innocently making her roll her eyes at him, "you know with you as her father I do sometimes worry Tali will never grow up" she said teasingly, Tony grinned and gave a mock bow "I will take that as a compliment" he said, and Ziva smiled "come on then my two children let us go to work shall we", grinning her husband and daughter followed.

Terrible ending I know but I hope you liked it – next will be Tali's birthday I think

If you have any chapter suggestions I would love to hear them

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Mysticgirl101