Chapter Twelve

Tony

He wasn't surprised Ziva had shown up when she did. Tony knew as soon as Ziva found out Tali was gone, Ziva would be there in a flash. He was actually surprised that she didn't show up sooner. He led her into the kitchen and flipped on the lights. He heard Lea close the bedroom door upstairs and sighed.

"Uh, sorry about her. She's a light sleeper and gets cranky when woken up," Tony apologized as he turned to Ziva. Even after all this time, she still looked as he remembered her. It was almost like she barely aged at all. He turned away for a moment, trying to ease his pounding heart. "Do you want anything to drink?"

She shook her head and sat down. "No, but thank you," she responded, ignoring his comment about Lea. "You wanted to talk?"

"Yea," Tony answered sitting on the opposite side of the table from her, folding his arms across his chest. "Don't really know where to begin….oh yea….why didn't you tell me we had a kid?"

Ziva closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "I am sorry," she began. "I never intended to keep her a secret. I wanted to tell you-"

"Then why didn't you?" Tony cut her off, his anger flaring up at her. "You had fifteen years! Why didn't you call?"

"I was scared," Ziva quickly said before she was cut off again.

"You? Scared? The Ziva I know wasn't afraid of anything." He glared at her. "I can't believe you."

"The Ziva you knew is gone. That was the whole point of me staying in Israel. I didn't like who I became so I needed to change." Ziva sighed deeply. "When I found out I was pregnant, I knew if I told you you'd come back. I couldn't have that. I made you leave me there and I couldn't have you coming back and disrupting your life. I told myself that after the baby was born I'd tell you."

"And again, why didn't you?"

"I didn't want you to disrupt your life for me...for us. You loved your life at NCIS and I didn't want to pull you from that. I didn't know if you wanted children anyways. What if you didn't and you wanted nothing to do with Tali? Every year it got harder and harder to tell you. I knew you'd be angry for not telling you, especially not telling you after years had gone by."

He slapped a hand on the table. "Then you didn't know me at all then," Tony growled. "I loved you, Ziva, and I would have been there for you and Tali. She's my daughter, of course I want to be in her life...wanted to be in her life." He saw a tear make its way slowly down Ziva's cheek and resisted the urge to wipe it away.

"Do you love her?" Ziva asked softly.

"Starting to," Tony answered honestly leaning back in his chair as he tried to calm down. "It was hard at first because I didn't know her. She just showed up and said she was my daughter. I didn't know if it was some sick joke or not, but after spending the day with her...how could I not? She's just like you Zi…"

A small smile formed on her lips and she shook her head. "She's more like you. Especially after this stunt she pulled."

Tony chuckled. "Yea, I guess you might be right." He sighed. "I'm still mad at you. I can't believe you didn't tell me. We could have been a family..."

"I know. I do not expect forgiveness. What I did was inexcusable, and I'm sorry," she sighed, wiping stray tears off her cheeks. "If I could do it over again, I would, but it's too late now." There was a pause before she spoke again. "So...Lea?" She asked, changing the subject before more arguing started.

"Girlfriend," Tony responded with a smirk. "Of almost a year now."

"Oh...good for you." He could hear disappointment in her voice and tried to ignore it. "Are you going to marry her? A year is a long time for you to be in a relationship."

"I think I'm a little passed the marriage stage at this point in my life," Tony sighed. "I got old, Ziva."

"I don't think it's too late you know." She smiled. "And you don't look that old to me."

"Maybe not, but it's getting late," Tony answered looking at the clock on the stove. "And I have to be back at NCIS in four hours. Can we call it a night and finish this later?"

Ziva nodded and stood. "Tali can stay here. I don't want to wake her. I'll pick her up at NCIS in the morning and we will discuss what happens next. I won't keep you two apart...we will come up with a plan."

"I wouldn't let you keep us apart anways," Tony said back as he stood and led her to the door. "You can visit the team when you come tomorrow. They missed you."

"I missed them too."

"And Gibbs, you have to visit him."

"I already did. Right before I came here."

Tony laughed. "Of course," he said. "I expected you to be here as soon as you landed, but now it makes sense why you were so late. You were visiting Gibbs." He held the door open for her and walked her to her car, his bare feet feeling chilled against the concrete. "See you later, Ziva."

Ziva nodded and looked him over. He thought she was about to hug him but instead turned and got into her car without giving him another glance. He watched her drive away and only went back into the house when he couldn't see her taillights anymore. He turned back to the house and went back inside, feelings of confusion and guilt plaguing his mind.


"Ima was here?" Tali asked him the next morning while she ate breakfast.

Tony wasn't able to get to sleep after Ziva left. He spent the rest of his night tossing and turning, napping here and there but never for more than an hour at a time. He finally gave up and got ready for the day, accidently waking Lea in the process, earning a glare from her as she locked herself in the bathroom to get ready. He made eggs, toast, and bacon (More for himself and Lea since he wasn't sure if Tali stuck to a kosher diet. He would have to ask her about that.) for the three of them before waking Tali from her sleep.

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

Tony looked up from his plate and over to her. She was giving him a look he had seen on Ziva's face countless of times. "It was the middle of the night. You had a long day and I thought you needed sleep. That and your mother didn't want to wake you up," Tony said. "Besides, you'll see her once we get to NCIS." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lea roll her eyes. Ever since Tali arrived, she had been acting possessive and jealous. He made a mental note to talk to her about it.

"I have to get to work," Lea then said, wiping her mouth on a napkin and taking her plate to the sink. She kissed Tony hard on the lips, as though she was marking her territory and hurried out of the house without saying a word to Tali.

"If I may be so frank, I don't like her," Tali stated, also taking her plate to the sink.

"She's not like this all the time, I swear," Tony sighed. "I'm sorry she's being so…"

"Cold? Jealous? Possessive? Rude?" Tali supplied, pulling her hair into a ponytail.

"Sorry," Tony muttered putting on his suit jacket. "Come on, we're going to be late too."