Hey guys, I apologize for not updating in three months. With finals, working for UNICEF/visiting my Aunt & Uncle in Chile, moving to Israel for summer, all the family time/weekend trips to Jordan, Bahrain, & Dubai, going to the World Cup finals in South Africa, & having to deal with switching my fall study abroad program from Greece to Spain, I just lost track of time and forgot about my story! So thanks to everyone who has stuck with this story for so long, you all are amazing! I hope you like this chapter and I promise it will not be another three months before I update again! But now I am in the South Pacific on vacation so hopefully I can get more updates done!
Chapter 21~For Good
"I've heard it said/that people come into our lives for a reason/bringing something we must learn/and we are led/to those who help us most to grow/if we let them/and we help them in return/well, I don't know if I believe that's true/but I know I'm who I am today/because I knew you."~Wicked
Disclaimer: I own a lot of stuff, unfortunately NCIS does not fall into that category. Now that I've said that…PLEASE let me buy it, pretty please?
"Did you print out the tickets?" Ziva asked as Tony walked into their living room.
"Yep, we leave from Dulles at 21:05 Friday night. Which means we will get there by 22:00 and be at the hotel hopefully by 23:00 which means a decent nights sleep and we can get up and explore the city all day Saturday, then we leave Sunday afternoon at 13:00. " Tony said at he plopped down on the sofa next to Ziva, who was busy on her laptop.
"So what shows look good?" Tony asked.
"I have narrowed it down to three that I think Natalie will like best; The Lion King, Mary Poppins, and Wicked." Ziva said.
"Well, I think she would love The Lion King and Mary Poppins, those are two of her favorite movies. But, what is Wicked?" Tony asked, looking slightly confused.
"Well actually it is the one I thought she would like the most, it is supposed to be the true story of the witches of Oz, I think Natalie would like it since she has been loving the Wizard of Oz lately." Ziva said, showing Tony the productions website.
"True, she does love the Wizard of Oz. That looks good." Tony said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Okay, I will order the tickets right now." Ziva said as she began to place her order. "So how are we going to tell her about this weekend?"
"Well," Tony began, "I thought we could just pack everything and hide it in the car then tell her we are going on an errand and just show up at the airport?"
Ziva laughed, "I think she will like that."
Friday finally came around, Tony and Ziva had been very discreet about packing clothing for the weekend and as far as they knew, Natalie was completely oblivious.
It was 19:00 when Ziva walked into the living room where Natalie and Tony were sitting, "I need to run to the grocery since we are all out of breakfast food, would anyone care to join me?" She asked them.
Natalie perked up, "I'll come!" She said, as she jumped up and ran to her room to get her shoes, she knew Ziva was more likely to buy her at least a little junk food if she accompanied her to the grocery store.
Tony laughed as Natalie sped out of the room. "Well that was easy enough! Did we pack everything?"
"Yes, everything we will need is in the car." Ziva said, grinning from ear to ear, she was almost giddy about her first weekend away with her family. Her family, lately those were the most beautiful words in the world for Ziva. She grabbed her purse from the table since Tony had already packed travel backpacks for her, Natalie, and himself earlier that day and stowed them in the trunk, they were ready to go!
Natalie ran out of her room, "I'm ready!" She said, almost bolting out the door to the car.
With that the DiNozzo clan piled into Tony's car and headed out for their weekend adventure.
Tony made his way onto the freeway when Natalie said, very matter-of-factly, "This is not the way to the grocery Daddy."
Tony and Ziva looked at each other, they were nearing the airport so they figured now was as good of a time as any to tell her.
"That's because we're not going to the grocery store, Peanut." Tony said, grinning into the rearview mirror.
"Well, then where are we going?" Natalie asked, sounding extremely confused.
Ziva turned around in her seat and pulled the plane tickets out of her purse. "Well my dear, we are going to New York City to spend a nice weekend together and see a musical."
Natalie's eyes lit up, "Really?" She asked.
Ziva laughed, "Yes, really."
"Are we seeing Wicked?" Natalie said, her voice almost a whisper as she tried not to give away how much she had wanted to see it.
Ziva smiled and pulled their Wicked tickets out of her purse as well.
Natalie squealed, the excitement practically lifting her out of her seat.
Tony laughed, "Now there's the typical Natalie reaction I was hoping for!" He pulled into the airport parking lot and put the car into park.
Natalie quickly jumped out of the car and practically jumped Ziva. "Thank you Mommy." The little girl said, clutching Ziva tightly.
"Your welcome my darling." Ziva said, hugging the little girl back.
Natalie then moved on to Tony. "Thank you Daddy." She said, going in for a hug but instead Tony scooped up his little girl in his arms.
Natalie laughed as Tony kissed her on the cheek. "Anything for you, Peanut." He said.
"All right we should get moving!" Ziva said, looking at her watch. "We don't want to get held up at security."
Tony placed Natalie back on the ground and the family made their way into the airport.
They made it through security relatively fast and spent the remainder of their time waiting to board the flight by telling Natalie all the things there were to do in New York. By the time they boarded and the flight had taken off, Natalie was fast asleep, head pressed to the window she had been staring out of so intently.
Tony smiled; tucking her in tenderly with the blanket a flight attendant had provided her.
Ziva, getting sleepy as well, settled down on Tony's shoulder.
Tony exhaled in pure contentment; this was what life was supposed to be like.
It was a quick flight, less than an hour; Tony woke Natalie up just as they were landing because he knew it was her favorite part of the flight.
The got off the flight and headed for baggage claim and Natalie was obviously struggling to stay awake. They grabbed their bags, hailed a cab, and as soon as they got on the road, Natalie was passed out in Tony's arms.
They arrived at the hotel and Tony was determined to not wake Natalie up. Thankfully the doorman loaded their bags onto a cart and Tony never had to put Natalie down. Tony walked up to the check-in desk and whispered his information.
"Tony DiNozzo." He said, his voice hushed.
Thankfully the check-in clerk got the situation and whispered back. "Welcome Mr. DiNozzo, your room is number 259. You requested two keys. Breakfast is complimentary every morning and ends at 10. Please enjoy your stay with us." With that she handed Ziva the keys and they headed up to their room.
Ziva opened the door and Tony walked in and set Natalie down on one of the beds. The baggage arrived a minute later and they were all ready to settle down for the night.
Ziva took Natalie's pajamas out of the suitcase and Tony took off her shoes.
"I do not think I have ever seen her this tired." Ziva exclaimed.
"Yeah, the excitement just built up and she crashed." Tony said, placing her shoes on the ground.
Tony and Ziva worked quickly and carefully so as not to wake Natalie up. When they were done Tony bent down to kiss his little girl on the forehead, whispering his goodnight into her ear and Ziva did the same. Then they got ready for bed themselves.
Finally settled into bed, Ziva snuggled into Tony's side. "This was a wonderful idea Tony. You have really made her very happy."
"Are you happy?" Tony asked.
Ziva smiled and kissed him softly on the lips, "Happier than I have ever been."
"Goodnight my ninja." Tony said, pulled Ziva closer.
"Goodnight my love." Ziva responded, and they both fell asleep.
The next morning Tony woke up to what felt like a weight on his chest, opened his eyes and realized there was a little girl sitting cross-legged on top of him.
He opened his eyes and adjusted to the light, "Hey there, munchkin." He said, sending her toppling backwards and laughing hysterically, which in turn woke Ziva up.
"Hello my darling." Ziva said, pulling Natalie close to her for an early morning cuddle.
"Little girl, it is 7am, why are you up so early?" Tony asked, brushing a lock of Natalie's hair back from her face.
"Because I want to go see everything!" Natalie exclaimed, almost jumping out of bed.
Ziva and Tony both laughed, "All right! Hold your horses, how about we head down to breakfast at 8 and then head out to explore before the show? That sound fair?"
Natalie nodded and ran off to the bathroom to brush her teeth and get her clothes ready.
The clan quickly got ready and headed downstairs for a quick breakfast and by 8:45 they were out the door and ready to explore New York City. They spent the morning exploring Central Park, which Natalie loved, and by 1:30 they were back in Midtown for the Saturday matinee of Wicked.
Natalie had been buzzing with excitement all morning and by the time they got into the cab and headed back to Midtown, she was almost bouncing.
They walked into the theatre and the minute they walked in and Natalie's eyes lit up with wonder, Tony knew he would never forget this day.
As they took their seats, Natalie couldn't stop looking at everything around her, sitting in between Tony and Ziva she pointed out every little detail she noticed about the set and the Gershwin theatre.
Then the curtain closed and the musical started.
Tony watched Natalie almost as much as he watched the show, the looks on her face were just priceless to him. How her eyes lit up when Glinda floated onto the stage in her bubble and how Elphaba flew on her broomstick as she sang about how she was going to defy gravity. Natalie sat poised in her chair, leaning forward with her head in her hands, completely focused on the scene in front of her. Tony honestly could not have been happier.
When Elphaba and Fiyero sang "As Long As Your Mine" Tony felt a hand sneak into his own and looked over at Ziva who squeezed his hand.
Tony smiled, this truly would go down as one of his favorite memories.
When the musical was over Tony looked down at Natalie who seemed to be in a sort of trance from the wonderment of the theatre, then as she snapped out of it and jumped into her Dad's arms.
"Thank you so much Daddy. This was the best day ever." Natalie said, hugging Tony.
Ziva smiled at the sight before her. "I would have to say I agree, this has been the best day ever."
Tony smiled and pulled Ziva into their hug, just happy to be with the two people he loved most in the world.
A/N: Comments are greatly appreciated; I hope I haven't lost my touch! Hopefully the warm air of the South Pacific will get me back in the writing groove! It is, after all, the place where this story started!
P.S. read my newest story, it's called "Mine" Thanks!