Chapter Fourteen

Ziva

When Ziva first arrived back in DC, she was cautious and a little terrified. She didn't know what she was walking into, but after her talk with Tony the night before and the promise to talk more today, she felt a lot better. Not to mention seeing Tali safe and sound caused her to breath a sigh of relief. In the last day or two she worried more for her daughter than she ever had before.

Once apologies were exchanged, Ziva kept to her word and gave Tali a tour of her former home. She took Tali to where her old apartment was and to where Tony's old apartment was. They saw the White House, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln memorial all before lunch. As Ziva began the drive to Tony's, she glanced over at Tali to find her looking through the pictures she took during their outing. It was mostly selfies of them together in front of the different attractions.

"I want to get some of these printed. They'll look nice in a frame," Tali said, putting her phone into her pocket.

Ziva nodded. "We can do that. We can give your aba some copies too. He doesn't have any pictures of you yet."

"You didn't happen to bring any of my baby pictures for him did you?" Tali asked curiously.

Ziva smiled. "I did," she said nodding her head to the backseat of the car where where her backpack was. She knew Tony was not there to see their daughter grow up, so she brought all the pictures and videos she could gather of Tali over the years of her life. It would never make up for all the lost time, but it was something at least.

A short time later, Ziva was parking the car outside of Tony's. She checked her watch and then looked at the driveway of the house to find it empty. "Must not be here yet," she said as Tali started to get out of the car.

"Let's just wait on the porch," Tali said grinning as she made her way up the path to the house.

Ziva followed after her, her mind focused on the soon to be discussion they would be having. She knew Tony was still angry with her, but she was looking forward to their talk knowing their daughter was going to be there with them. Despite her lack of judgement in the past, Ziva was glad Tali met Tony and she hoped they would continue to bond during their time here in DC.

But we can't stay here forever. And what's Tali and Tony going to do when we have to go back to Israel? She thought a bit sadly.

"What are you doing here?" Came a voice, pulling Ziva from her thoughts.

Ziva never noticed the front door opening and Lea planting herself in the door frame. The woman looked furious that Ziva and Tali were there waiting on the porch. "Tony invited us for lunch. We are waiting for him," Ziva answered civilly as Tali began muttering under her breath in Hebrew.

"He never told me he was coming home for lunch," Lea replied looking suddenly offended.

"Well he said you'd be at work, so you're not the only one surprised," Tali quipped.

"I took a half day so I could surprise him with dinner when he came home, but I guess that's not happening now," Lea replied coolly. "I thought you were going back to Iran?"

"Israel," Ziva corrected her, using all her might to stop herself from knocking Tony's girlfriend to the ground. "How do you even mix those two countries up?"

"I'm not leaving after spending only one day with my aba," Tali huffed.

Lea rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Whatever. You better come in and wait. Don't want the neighbors getting curious about two women just standing on the doorstep," she said, moving from the doorway to let them inside. Once the door was closed behind them, Ziva watched Lea disappear into the study that was across the hall from the living room. She then led Tali into the kitchen to wait for Tony.

They didn't have to wait long. Less than ten minutes had passed when Tony came into the house through the door in the kitchen carrying a bag that looked filled with take out boxes.

"Oh there you are," he greeted. "I saw the car outside but didn't see either of you. How did you get in?" He looked at Ziva accusingly. "You didn't pick the lock did you?"

"No, your girlfriend let us in," Ziva answered, crossing her arms. "And she was very rude about it."

Tali snorted. "Ima's being polite too. She was being a bi-"

"Tali!" Ziva exclaimed, cutting her daughter off before she could finish the world.

Tony sighed and draped his blazer over an empty chair. "I'll go talk to her and be right back."

Ziva frowned as she watched Tony leave the kitchen. She didn't understand what he saw in Lea. Perhaps she was different when the two were alone. It hurt to think about so she turned her attention to Tali who was muttering to herself.

"I know you don't like her, but she is your father's significant other," Ziva whispered. "We have to be...civil at the very least."

Tali sighed and began looking through her phone. After a couple minutes, Tony came back into the kitchen with a slight frown on his face. He began taking the take out from the bag and put it on the table. "I wasn't sure what everyone wanted, so I got a few different things."

"Awesome, orange chicken," Tali said, grabbing the labeled box. "It's a favorite of mine."

"Then I did good," Tony replied with a grin before pushing a box to Ziva. "I hope it's still your favorite."

Ziva looked at the box and smiled. "Vegetable lo mein, you didn't forget." She felt a small swell of affection flow through her for the gesture. "Shall we talk then? We don't want to keep you from work."

"Let's talk," Tony agreed as he dug into his food. "Let's start with the obvious, how long are you staying and is Tali going home with you?"

"Well, I planned to be here about a week just to sort everything out," Ziva began thinking her original plans through. "And Tali's going to have to come home at some point. I won't make her leave when I do, but she's going to have to come home before school starts again."

"Why can't we just live here?" Tali injected as though it was the most obvious answer. "Then we don't have to play the 'Who's turn is it to have Tali' game."

"She has a point," Tony said with a mouthful.

Ziva made a disgusted face at him until he closed his mouth. Her daughter had a point she couldn't argue that. She knew it would be hard on Tali to be shipped back and forth between her parents. Everything Tali knew was in Israel though. Her school, her friends, Aunt Nettie, the farmhouse, everything. "It's a solution, yes, but-"

"But what, ima? There's school here. We both have citizenship. You can teach your self-defense classes here too," Tali began. "There's nothing we can't do here that we can only do back home. And just think of all the money you're going to save because you won't have to put me on a plane once a month."

"Just think about," Tony urged. "It's not a bad idea."

"I will think about it," Ziva said with a nod as Tali stared at her determined to get a definitive answer. Tali had her cornered. "I will think about it, tateleh."

"Fine," Tali sighed as she looked over at Tony. "Are you still mad at ima?"

Tony shrugged. "A little," he said honestly looking over at Ziva.

"It is deserved," Ziva said with a single nod. "I took those years from you...and Tali, and I know I can't make up for it entirely but-" She paused and reached into her bag. She pulled out a small box and a flashdrive. "This is all of Tali's baby pictures, school pictures, videos, and everything I had of her while growing up."

Tony looked shocked as she slid the box and usb drive over to him. "Wow," he softly replied. "Ziva...this is...thank you."

"It's the least I can do," Ziva said gently, placing her hand over his. She looked down at their touching hands and quickly pulled hers away as though a spark of electricity ran through her. She felt her cheeks flush and cleared her throat to try to continue the conversation. "I'll have to tell you all the embarrassing stories about her."

"I'm still here you know," Tali groaned.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you all the embarrassing stories about your mom," Tony responded as he smirked at Ziva. She noticed a familiar sparkle in his eyes, a sparkle she hadn't seen in a very long time.

"Isn't this nice," came Lea's voice as she appeared in the kitchen behind Ziva. Judging by the snarl in her voice, Ziva knew Lea didn't think the scene in front of her was nice. "Tony, sweetheart, I'm going out with Jennifer. I was going to make you dinner tonight, but your plans changed. Do you want me to bring you back some dinner?"

"Ah, no, that's okay. I'm going to cook for Ziva and Tali tonight if work doesn't run too late. We still have a lot to talk about."

"Okay, fine," she sighed, giving a side eye to Ziva and Tali. "I'll probably be back late." She kissed him quickly before throwing a glance at Ziva and walking out the door in the kitchen.

"She's awful," Tali spoke up once Lea as out of earshot of the door.

"She's not normally like this," Tony tried to defend his girlfriend. "She's just under a lot of stress from work, and well, how would you feel if your former...lover and child you didn't know about just showed up?"

"Understandable, but she doesn't need to be a donkey about it," Ziva sighed.

"Ass."

"Pardon?"

"You mean ass. Not donkey."

Ziva let out a small chuckle and smile. She never thought she would miss Tony correcting her English, but she did. It brought back a lot of pleasant memories of their time together. As they continued to eat and chat about future plans for Tali and their current situation, Ziva could see Tali watching her and Tony rather closely. Once again, the mischievous glint was showing in Tali's green eyes, and she couldn't help but wonder what her daughter was up to this time.