Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS.

I do not have children, though I have spent time around babies and young children. I did some research as well.

Tony walked up to the door of his and Ziva's apartment. He could hear Tali screaming and Ziva trying to calm her down. By the sounds of Ziva's voice, nothing was working. Tony quickly unlocked the door and went in. The apartment floor was littered with toys, DVDs and books. Ziva was pacing back and forth, bouncing Tali up and down. Ziva turned around and saw Tony standing in the apartment.

'Hey, Tali. Look who it is. It is Daddy' she cooed. Ziva handed a screaming Tali over to Tony. Tony bounced Tali a couple of times and within seconds, Tali stopped crying and started to calm down. Tony smiled, happy that Tali was no longer angry.

Ziva, however, looked furious. Without saying anything, Ziva ran to the bathroom, locking the door. Tony placed Tali in the rocker and went over to the bathroom door.

'Hey, Zi, are you alright?' he asked through the door.

'Yes. I'll be out in a minute.' Like she said, a couple of minutes later, Ziva came out of the bathroom. She looked exhausted and liked she had been crying herself.

'You alright?' Tony asked again. Ziva sniffed and nodded her head.

'Yes, Tony. I am fine. It…' Ziva tailed off.

'Tough day?' Ziva nodded.

'She has not stopped crying all day.' Ziva went into the kitchen, getting a glass of water.

'Until I came home?' Ziva nodded.

'I know it is a coincidence, but the time just sucks.'

'You know what Gibbs would say; rule 39.'

They sat down on the sofa, Tali in the rocker in front of them. She looked like she was getting sleepy.

'She has not had a proper nap all day. Only an hour. Max' continued Ziva. 'Which meant that I have not had a break. She did not feed properly either, which means I need to pump more than I normally do. Nothing would settle her. I feel like a terrible mother.' Ziva threw her head back against the sofa, staring at the ceiling. Tony gave her a knee a supportive squeeze. He had been concerned about everything Tali related landing on Ziva's shoulders when he went back to work.

'You go do what you want to do, Zi. I've got Tali for the rest of the night.'

'I need to pump, eat and shower, but I do not know which one to do first.'

'How about sleep?' suggested Tony.

'We all need that, but my brain is wired. I will not sleep properly.' Ziva turned to Tony. 'I need to get out, Tony. We did not leave the apartment all day because Tali was so fussy. I have not spoken to adult since you left for work this morning.'

As if on cue, Tali started to fuss again. Ziva went to pick her up out of the rocker, but Tony got there first. With Tali balanced on his hip, he walked over the side by the front door, picked up Ziva's keys and handed them to her.

'Go out. Get some fresh air, peace and quiet, food, or whatever it is you want or need. And don't come back for at least an hour.'

'Tony, no. You are tired too. You have had a long day at work.'

'Yeah, I did Zi, but some time with my daughter is exactly the remedy I need. You need to have a break from all things baby.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes Zi. Now, go. Get out of here and don't come back for at least an hour.'

Ninety minutes later Ziva walked into the apartment. For a minute, she didn't recognise the place. The toys, DVDs and books that scattered the floor not that long ago had been put away. Tony was sitting on the sofa, watching TV, whilst folding laundry.

'Hey' he said softly, spotting Ziva. How you feeling?' Ziva went and sat down next to Tony.

'So much better.' She leant forward and kissed him. 'Thank you for sending me out. I really needed it. Where is Tali?'

'In bed, asleep.' Ziva laughed. 'Went out like a light.'

'I am not surprised. She will need it. I think she only slept about an hour today.'

'I also made myself some dinner, tidied up, sterilised the pump for you and did some laundry. There's some food left, if you're hungry.'

'No. I went and got Falafel. Ate as I walked around Target.' Tony chuckled. He leant forward and kissed Ziva.

'I love you Tony.'

'I love you too Zi' he said after they broke, foreheads resting against each other. 'And trust me, you are a great mother.'

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Ziva stood by the front door, waiting for her fiancé and daughter to get ready. Today was Tali's first day at day care, a big day for all three of them. After weeks of looking around at the various providers near them, Tony and Ziva finally settled on Little Explorer's Day Nursery. Ziva did not got back to work until after the New Year, and she only worked three days a week anyway, but neither Tony or Ziva wanted to juggle going back to work and settling Tali into day care at the same time.

So, after a lot of research, mainly by Ziva, it was decided that Tali would start before Christmas for three days each week, for everyone to get use to day care.

'Tony, are you ready?' called out Ziva, picking up the rucksack they had packed for Tali. It had all her things including the stuffed dog she was attached to. Tony and Tali were taking forever to get ready. Finally, Tony emerged from the nursery with Tali dressed.

'I'm sorry Zi, but this is a big day for the DiNozzos.' Tony sat down to put Tali's coat on. She seemed happy, though oblivious to what was happening.

'Tony, you leave both Tali and I everyday to go to work.'

'Yes, but I don't leave my daughter with strangers. I leave her with her mother, my beautiful fiancée. There's a different Zi.'

Thirty minutes later, they arrived at the nursery, the brightly colour door and flowers painted on the window giving the location away.

Once inside, everything went smoothly. The staff already knew Tali, Ziva and Tony due to the intro days the nursery ran. Tali seemed quite relaxed about the whole situation. Tony and Ziva, however, were a slightly different story. It had been rare over the past four months for Tony and Ziva to both be away from Tali, but on the occasions it happened, Tali had been with Callie, or Abby. Like Tony said, this was different.

Ziva dropped Tony off at the Navy Yard afterwards, making her way home. Tony was unpacking his backpack and switching on his computer when Gibbs appeared at his desk, drinking coffee.

'How did it go?' asked Gibbs.

'Not bad' answered Tony. 'Tali appeared to be fine when we left. Ziva's not sure what to do today. She has the whole day to herself.

'Any tears?' asked Gibbs, taking another sip of coffee.

'There might have been a few, but not that much.' Gibbs raised an eyebrow and Tony crumpled under the pressure. 'Fine' he said, waving his hands in surrender. 'I was the one who cried. Not Ziva, not Tali. Me.'

'I knew it' came Tim's voice from nowhere. Tony turned around to find Tim McGee and Eleanor Bishop standing behind the partition behind his desk. 'Pay up probie.' Tim wiggled his fingers at Ellie, who pulled out a large bar of Hershey's. She handed it over glumly.

'You had a bet to see if I cried.'

'Yeah' replied Tim, who opened the bar of chocolate. The look on Tony's face made the smile on Tim's disappear. 'It was Bishop's idea.'

'Uh, no it wasn't. It was yours' argued Ellie.

'Why would you bet on if I cried? It was a big day for the DiNozzos.'

Tony, this isn't the first you've been away from Tali' said Ellie. 'You do it every day.' Tony sat down on his chair in a huff.

'I know, I just miss Tali when I'm not with her. So much changes so quickly. The nursery doesn't take babies under four months either. This was a big deal. And Ziva's getting ready to go back to work. She took six months off and that's almost over. A lot is happening.' Tim looked a little sheepish after that declaration. The bet had just been a bit of fun. However, since Tali had been born, Tony often had these revelations about life that Tim was not expecting.

'Why don't the three of you do some work?' asked Gibbs. Quickly the three agents got on with work, having forgotten that Gibbs had been watching the three of them. Gibbs was glad Tony, Tim and Ellie got on so well. His and Ellie's relationship as boss and probie had improved over the past couple of weeks since their chat about her training.

Tony's words about missing Tali ran through Gibbs' mind. He remembered what it was like to come home to Kelly, have her run over and hug him tightly, though at four months Tali hadn't even started to crawl.

However, Gibbs also knew, far too well, what it was like to not have Kelly or Shannon, or anyone to welcome him home. And Gibbs hoped desperately and deeply that Tony and Team Gibbs would never learn that feeling.

Hope you enjoyed reading. The next chapter will hopefully be up soon.

Another note, can we give Brian Dietzen a round of applause for his performance in Bears and Cubs (16x16). I thought he was excellent.