Hi glad you liked the last one hope this one is good thanks for all the suggestions too
Chapter 12 – Time is slipping through our Fingers
Tony grunted as he heard giggling, then he rolled over to see Ziva sitting on the edge of their bed smiling at Tali who was on her hands and knees patting his stomach a huge grin on her face "hello my princess" he mumbled a grin sliding onto his face as he reached over and picked Tali up sitting her on his stomach "is it your birthday today ninja" she giggled, he grinned "how old are you today" he held up one finger, Tali giggled again and grabbed his finger "that's right your one" he said, he sat up pulling her against his chest, then he smiled at Ziva "this time a year ago you went into labour" she smiled "yes a whole day of pushing a small human through an even smaller hole, unforgettable" she moved round and kissed the top of Tali's head "but it was worth it" she said, Tony smiled "sure was" he said and swung himself out of bed.
They had asked for the day off and Vance had granted it much to their delight, they had the whole day to spend with their little angel on her birthday, not that she understood, they fed her and dressed her before bringing out her presents, they hadn't held back and her pile of presents was even bigger than her, she giggled happily in delight tossing the paper all over the place whilst Ziva laughed as Tony wrestled with a few toys trying to put them together swearing under his breath "language Tony" Ziva chided "there are innocent ears in this apartment" he smiled "I am pretty sure she doesn't understand" he said, Ziva sat on the arm of the sofa watching "even so if her next word is bad I am not going to be the only one out to get you" she threatened, he smiled "duly noted" he said "Tali" he said turning to his daughter "don't say any bad words until you are at least 20"
Tali stared at him "jeez Tony she is only 1 now suddenly you are wishing her life away" Ziva said, "oh no I am definitely not wishing it away" he said "ah ha" he then exclaimed sitting back "finished" he tilted his head to one side "what is it supposed to be anyway" Ziva laughed.
At that moment there was a knock on the door, Ziva furrowed her eyebrows wondering who that could be as she rose from her seat and went and opened the front door.
Abby shot past her into the apartment squealing "happy birthday Tali" making Tony yelp as in his surprise he banged his head on the cabinet behind him, Ziva turned to see Gibbs and McGee standing in the doorway grinning "hello" she said "what are you doing here" she asked as she stepped aside to let them in, Gibbs smiled as he kissed her brow "quiet day at work" he said "Vance let us go, he will call if there is a case, and we couldn't miss Tali's birthday" Ziva smiled as she shut the door "and was giving Tony a concussion part of the plan" she asked as they stepped towards Tali and the pile of presents which increased as their team added their own, Tony was still sitting grumbling as he rubbed his head, Gibbs smiled as he greeted his other agent, Tali was giggling at her daddy until she spotted the rest of her family, she looked at Abby and laughed holding up her arms for a hug.
Laughing Abby bent and picked her up "I can't believe you are one baby girl" she gushed "that makes three of us" Tony said still rubbing his head smiling at Tali as she giggled happily "open presents" Abby urged "yeah we haven't got all day" Tony joked looking at the pile.
Tali certainly was spoilt, she got everything she could possibly need and more, from more farm animals, to hundreds of brightly coloured books with interactive parts which awed her, building blocks, lots of little dolls, a very loud musical piano that everyone was soon regretting showing her how to use as she sat there giggling merrily slamming her fists against the keys. Gibbs surprised them all when he produced his present from the box it was in, it was a wooden rocking horse that he had made for her, absolutely beautiful, painted in bright colours with swirling patterns, it looked just like a carousel horse, it even had a seat back for her to lean against, it had a little faux leather saddle and a bridle attached with reins that Tali clung too, the smile on her face as she sat on it was absolutely beautiful, her eyes were wide with delight as she rocked back and forth, Abby snapping photo after photo madly.
Nobody stopped smiling as they watched Tali play with her toys and Tony and Gibbs set more things up for her, Abby and Ziva went and made a huge birthday cake with 'Happy 1st Birthday Tali' written in swirling writing and after they all ate lunch they sang happy birthday to Tali who sat giggling on Ziva's lap reaching out determinedly to get to the cake, smiling Ziva passed her to Tony and went to fetch some plates and a knife, when she turned round Tony had taken a dollop of icing and was allowing Tali to eat it scraping it off his finger to suck at her own mumbling in delight "Tony" she growled, he grinned "yes Zee" he said innocently whilst everyone else laughed.
Tali grabbed at the icing then and splatted it against Tony's face causing everyone to almost collapse laughing so hard, Tony scowled at his daughter and then placed a dollop neatly on her nose and he smiled as she nearly went cross-eyed trying to see it "now I ask you" McGee said looking at the two of them "who is the bigger child" both of them grinned cheesily as everyone laughed and Abby leapt around snapping more photos.
Gibbs reached over and took Tali from Tony "you are cheeky" he said to her as she looked at him eyes shining, then she patted his cheek covering it in the icing still on her hand, giggling she moved to the other cheek, he raised his eyebrows "done" he asked, he could hear everyone snickering, he smiled and wiped the dollop off of her nose, she grinned at him "good job you're so cute sweet pea" he said smiling at her, he heard a yelp and looked over to see Tony wrap his arms around Ziva wiping icing across her cheeks "Tony" she gasped before she began to laugh, she struggled half-heartedly before turning to look at him "seriously" she said "yep" he said a twinkle in his eye "seriously" she smiled reaching behind her to grab some ammunition before she wiped cake and icing across his forehead, he scowled "yep" she said "seriously" Tali was laughing hard at her parents' antics, even Gibbs couldn't help but smile at them, they were perfect for each other he had to admit.
The two of them looked around the room and then with a smile both of them launched at Abby and McGee and covered them in icing, Gibbs laughed from where he stood with Tali watching, but it wasn't long before Abby gleefully leapt at him, covering both him and Tali in cake, still laughing he looked over at Tony and Ziva, Ziva was still laughing as she backed away from Tony "no Tony" she said giggling "that is taking it too far" Tony grinned though as he leapt towards her wrapping one arm around her and ignoring her protests opened his hand above her head allowing a handful of flour to rain down on her, covering her, then he stepped away as she stood there scowling at him through the still airborne flour, then she sighed "this really doesn't surprise me Tony" she said stepping towards him and wrapping her arms around him, then she very gently kissed him on the lips and Gibbs saw Tony relax slightly as he kissed her back, then he yelped as she swiped an egg off the counter and broke it on his head. Tali laughed at her daddy as he stood there egg yolk dribbling slowly down his neck, he looked at Ziva, "I guess I deserved that" he said and everyone laughed.
More cake and icing bombs flew around their kitchen before they all stopped laughing absolutely covered in cake all of them, they ate what was left, Ziva setting Tali in her high chair with a few small chunks which she nibbled at happily. Ziva couldn't stop smiling, this was a perfect first birthday for Tali, she couldn't have asked for anything better, surrounded by friends and family.
XOXOXO
When the party ended hours later everyone helped wash up and clean the kitchen, then Abby and McGee left together after they were thanked for Tali's many presents, Gibbs stayed and helped them sort everything out "you might need to move again" he joked as he and Tony began to pile Tali's many new toys up out of the way "or Tony's man cave might have to become a playroom" Ziva called from where she was giving Tali a bath, Tony pouted and Gibbs smiled at him.
"Thanks boss" Tony said then "for everything, that was a perfect day for Tali, she loved the rocker you made for her" Gibbs smiled "no problem Tony, she deserves to have a nice birthday" Tony smiled happily and they continued. They were just finishing when Ziva re-emerged from the bathroom with Tali all dressed and ready for bed rubbing her eyes tiredly "hello little one" Gibbs said moving over to take her from her mother "I bet you are exhausted after this exciting birthday" Tali mumbled and rested her head on his shoulder sucking at her thumb. Gibbs smiled and held her for a bit before handing her back to Ziva "well" he said "I should head off home so Tali can get some sleep" Ziva smiled "thank you" she said moving forward to hug him, he smiled back as he hugged her gently "no problem Ziver" he said, he ruffled Tali's dark brown hair before with a smile heading to the door, Tony followed "see you tomorrow boss" he said, Gibbs nodded "yes see you tomorrow DiNozzo" and with a smile he left.
XOXOXO
Tony closed the door and looked across the living room at Ziva "well that was eventful" he said brightly, she raised her eyebrows at him "you think" she said, she was still covered in flour and bits of cake and he could imagine he looked just as bad, he moved forward "do you want to shower first" he offered "I will put her to bed" she smiled and kissed Tali's forehead before handing her to her daddy and heading off to the bathroom.
Tony looked down at Tali lying against his chest, "hey princess" he said softly "did you have a good birthday" Tali mumbled and looked up at him tiredly "ok bedtime for sleepy one year olds" he said and carried her into her bedroom, he hugged her for a minute breathing in the scent of her baby shampoo, she smelled lovely, of shampoo and baby powder. Slowly he lowered her into her crib and covered her with a blanket, then he placed Bernie next to her and watched as her hand automatically gripped her stuffed hippo, he smiled "night night princess, I can't believe you are one, but remember one thing ninja" he smiled down at his tired daughter
"No matter how old you get, you will always be my little girl"
He smiled at her before quietly exiting and closing the door, Ziva had finished in the shower and was already getting into her night wear so he quickly jumped in the shower to remove the eggy flour paste from his hair before it became any thicker and turned to glue, when he was done and had changed he went into the living room to find Ziva sitting with her laptop open, he peered over her shoulder to see hundreds of photos taken only a few hours earlier "Abby just sent them all to me" she said with a smile "she took over 250 pictures" Tony whistled "wow" he said sitting next to her on the sofa and looking at them as she slowly flicked through them, they smiled as they looked at Tali's big grin, Abby didn't appear to have missed a moment of that day.
"aw'w" Tony said looking at one of Tali on her rocking horse eyes shining in delight, Gibbs was crouched next to her smiling at her glee as he rocked her back and forth "that is so being printed out and sent to the boss man" Tony said, Ziva smiled and nodded.
"oo I like that one" Tony said cheekily as they moved into the food fight to find one of him with Ziva in his arms, they were grinning at each other, Tony could see Ziva's eyes sparkling as she gazed at him, both of them covered in icing and flour and goodness knows what else, in the background he could see Gibbs holding Tali who was laughing at her mommy and daddy.
Ziva smiled at the picture "yeah cute" she said "I like this one" she said showing Tony one of him with icing on his cheeks and Tali with icing on her nose both grinning cheesily at the camera, Tony grinned "yeah love it" he said happily. They continued to flick through the photos for a long while smiling at their cheeky little daughter. Then once they were done Ziva closed her laptop and placed it on the table before curling up against Tony who wrapped her in his arms, he had done quiet and now she looked at him.
"what is wrong" she asked, "nothing" he said, she gave him a look "tell me Tony" she said softly, he looked at her and then sighed "it is just my father" she frowned, she had completely forgotten about him "what about him" she asked, he sighed again "I shouldn't expect anything less from him, but one year ago I sent him a letter telling him about Tali, I told him about you and me and I told him about how perfect our daughter was, I sat in that hospital room whilst you and Tali slept and wrote it, I asked for him to give me his blessing and be a grandfather to Tali if it wasn't too much to ask, evidently I was wrong" Ziva hugged him tightly "just because your father didn't respond it doesn't mean he doesn't give you his blessing Tony" she whispered "yeah because I am sure the post is exceptionally slow and it is taking almost a year to deliver his response" Tony muttered, she elbowed him "hey" she said cupping his face "if he doesn't want to be a part of this family then it is his loss, you offered him a place and he chose to ignore you, he doesn't know what he is missing, he doesn't know how privileged he should be to have you as a son, a kind wonderful man who set me free and gave me the most perfect daughter I could ever hope for, if he doesn't see how lucky he is to have you as a son maybe he shouldn't be lucky enough to have Tali as his granddaughter"
She smiled at him "both of us are the same Tony, our biological fathers don't realise how lucky they should feel to have Tali in their family, my father doesn't love me, I was just his tool and your father didn't want to be a father, but why should we be upset, we have a father Tony, Gibbs has been more of a father to me than mine ever was since I joined NCIS and I know you feel the same way about him"
He looked at her and then slowly he smiled "you're right Zee" he said kissing her forehead before grinning "and it isn't like she needs another grandfather, she has the two best grandfathers a child could want, Ducky to tell her the stories of the good old days and Gibbs to guide her and protect her" Ziva smiled "yes see" she said, he kissed her gently "I love you Ziva" he whispered "you and Tali are my world now", she smiled as she kissed him back "I feel the same Tony" she murmured "I love you too", he continued to kiss her, lovingly and passionately, she felt his hand slide around her waist and she smiled and pulled away, he looked at her "on the sofa" she said "really" she slid off of him and walked towards the bedroom, she heard him leap up after her and she gasped, then giggled as he scooped her up and placed her on the bed, scrambling over her, leaning over her to kiss her neck, she tugged his shirt off as he slipped her tank top off , slowly they stripped kicking the sheets aside to make room.
With a smile she rolled over so that she was on top straddling him, grinning at him she bent to kiss him and he ran his fingers through her hair smiling happily at her as she pressed herself against him "are we trying for number two" he asked cheekily, she laughed but apart from that she didn't respond, she kissed him and felt his hands slide lovingly over her body as she ran her fingers through her hair.
They made love deep into the night, almost a years' worth of sexual energy needing to be released, and they released it all in that night of passion, the same way that they had the night they had created their little princess.
Hi I know it is short, it just felt right to end it there it was quite a cute
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Mysticgirl101