Title: Surround Me
Author: rekkidbraka
Rating: T
Pairings: Tony D. and Ziva D.
Category: Romance; Hurt/Comfort
Disclaimer: No infringement intended.
Spoilers: None
Summary: Tony and Ziva face something tougher than an NCIS case: prejudice.

-------------------- Surround Me ---------------------

Baby Sarah ran through the newly-mown grass in the broad meadow at the park, dragging Tony The Tiger behind her. The late afternoon sun made her strawberry blonde hair seem even lighter. She screamed and laughed as she toddled at full speed around trees and flower beds.

Tony chased after her, only pretending to want to make the catch. When she rounded a tree, he'd be there to jump out from behind. Sarah squealed with a mix of fear and glee, tearing off in the other direction. Then, at the next obstacle, Tony would be waiting again to surprise her with a "BOO!" Finally, after about 20 minutes of this, Tony finally ran his baby girl down, scooping her (and Tony The Tiger) up into his strong arms. Sarah kicked and giggled. Tony nuzzled her nose and laughed.

"Your daughter looks JUST like you," a slender blonde woman, sitting on a nearby park bench, said as Tony turned around with Sarah and TonyTiger hanging onto his shoulder. "She's adorable." The woman, who Tony judged to be in her mid- to late-20s, smiled at him in a way he recognized from his old on-the-prowl days. "How old is she?" the woman asked, nodding slightly to indicate there was plenty of space for Tony to join her on the bench. He opted to stand beneath the shade of a nearby tree while he waited for Ziva to meet him. Gibbs had asked her to help on a case that morning and, despite it being a Saturday and she, Tony and Sarah having plans to picnic in the park, Ziva had agreed to assist.

"About nine months," he answered, catching his breath. "Started walking at seven months. Gonna have her running a 5K on her first birthday if everything goes according to plan." Tony smiled at his own joke.

"Nine months?!!!" the woman said, truly surprised. "Most babies don't even start walking until they're past a year! What? Do you have her on some special formula or something?" She stretched her arm across the back of the bench, again welcoming Tony to have a seat. He pretended not to notice.

"Nah! She takes after her mama." Tony gave Sarah a little kiss, which she responded to by kissing him back. "Isn't that right, Cuddlemuffin? My ... wife's the athletic one in the family." Tony swallowed hard, considering what he'd just said. Yes, he'd lied about Ziva being his wife; they were still only engaged. But their wedding date was fast approaching, they'd been living together for months and had been caring for Baby Sarah as her parents in every sense of the term except for having gone through with the legal adoption, which they'd planned to have completed immediately after they were married. So Tony felt as if he and Ziva were already a couple, that he, Ziva and Sarah were a family -- all that was left was to sign the papers and go through with the ceremonies.

"Ohhh..." the woman replied, disappointment evident in her tone. "Your wife. Well, she's certainly... lucky." As she rose to leave, the woman tossed her blonde hair and gave Tony a wink. "Wish my timing was better," she said, simpering, before turning to walk away.

Good GOD, Tony thought as he watched her go. THAT used to turn me ON? What did I ever used to SEE in chicks like her? I must've been INSANE. I'M the lucky one, because I've got ZIVA -- not the other way around. Baby Sarah tenderly batted his back with Tony The Tiger.

"Yeah, I know," he said, "Mommy's late and Mr. Stripeypants is gettin' hungry."

From over his shoulder, Tony heard a tiny voice issue a loud GROWWWL sound and then sigh impatiently.

-------------------------------------------

"Ha-HAH!" Tony said, looking up from where he lay on the grass. "Mommy to the rescue! Hope she brought chips." Baby Sarah lay on his chest, dozing. At Tony's movement, she woke up and smacked her tiny lips. Tony The Tiger sat against Tony's side.

"SORRY I am so late!" Ziva said breathlessly. She flopped down beside Tony and Sarah, carefully setting the large picnic basket she'd been carrying beside her. "THERE is my little princess!" she said, her dark eyes fixing on Sarah. Baby Sarah propped herself up on Tony's chest and gave Ziva a huge smile, squeaking with joy at seeing her. Ziva picked her up and hugged Sarah to her tightly, rocking her as she gave her a slew of kisses. Sarah giggled. Tony rolled over onto his side, watching them. His green eyes sparkled.

"Nothing for Daddy?" he murmured, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. Ziva narrowed her dark eyes at him teasingly before leaning over to meet Tony for a tender kiss. Baby Sarah, taking it all in, clapped giddily. "We missed you today," Tony said, stroking Ziva's arm. "Sarah ran me ragged -- all over the park. Got in my jog for a couple days." Ziva chuckled.

"Then I am sure you are both so hungry you could eat a house," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Would you like to see what is in our basket?"

"Sweet Cheeks," Tony said lovingly as Ziva handed him a blanket to spread on the grass, "I think you mean 'eat a horse.' Nobody eats a house."

"And why would you eat a horse?" Ziva countered, taking some neatly-wrapped sandwiches from the basket. "That makes no sense." Baby Sarah nodded in agreement, hugging Tony The Tiger closely to her chest.

"Well..." Tony searched for an answer but found nothing that worked. Peeking into the basket, he frowned. "No chips? What's a sandwich without chips?" Taking his sandwich, he unwrapped it, put it in front of his face and, manipulating the bread as if it were speaking, whined "I'm so LONE-LEEEEEEE!!!" Ziva stifled a giggle. Baby Sarah laughed out loud. Rewrapping the sandwich, Tony got to his feet, nodding towards a nearby snack stand. "This is a job for Snack Man," he joked. "Chips all around!" Lifting his chin, superhero-style, he headed off. Ziva smiled, shaking her head.

"Hungry, Teki?" Ziva unwrapped a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Sarah, handing her half. Sarah took it and chomped down, smiling back at Ziva with a mouth full of PBJ. "No, Sarah," Ziva gently corrected, giving Sarah a waggle of her index finger, "you do not eat with your mouth open. It is not polite. Mommy does not like it when you do that and neither does Daddy."

"Mommy?" Ziva heard a female voice, from not too far behind her, say under her breath. "No WAY that little girl is hers!"

"Yeah, I met the dad earlier - that's him over there at the snack bar," another woman replied, trying not to be heard. "HE's gorgeous. The baby looks just like him. But her? Please. I can't believe he's even WITH her. He could do SO much better." The woman snickered. Ziva felt her face grow hot.

"Aren't they supposed to marry other Jews anyway? I mean, I see him and he is NOT a Jew. Neither is that baby. Look at her -- she's so dark. Maybe she's not a Jew. Maybe she's, like, a Mexican or something. Who knows? I can't tell." Ziva's throat tightened; she suddenly found it hard to breathe.

"Yeah, no kidding," the other woman said. "If that's what he thinks is hot then he must be pretty hard-up. I just feel sorry for that kid, having to tell people that's her mom? Like people will believe that when she gets older." Tears began to well in Ziva's eyes. She hurriedly wiped them away. The womens' laughter trailed off as they left the park. Baby Sarah put down her sandwich and looked up at Ziva. Her eyes were wide and she looked sad. "Mama?" she said, reaching out her tiny hand to pat Ziva's knee. Ziva buried her face in her hands, sobbing. "Mama?" Sarah said again, sounding as if she, too, were about to cry.

"Ha-HAH! LOOK who got the LAST three packs of CHEEZ-E-POPS!" Tony plopped down next to Ziva and Sarah on the blanket, brandishing three packs of chips. His toothy grin vanished as soon as he saw Ziva's shaking shoulders and Sarah's tear-streaked face. "Hey... Ziva... honey... what's wrong?" Tony picked up Sarah, pulling Ziva to him. Both sobbed into his chest. Tony looked flabbergasted. "What happened? Ziva... Sarah... Shhhh... It's okay... C'mon... Shhhhhhh..." He hugged Ziva and Sarah close to his body, feeling suddenly protective of them although he didn't understand why.

After a few minutes, when Ziva and Sarah had calmed down and stopped crying, Tony decided he'd again try asking what had gone so wrong with their perfect picnic.

"Z? You OK now?" he said gently, touching his nose to hers. Ziva nodded. Tony pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and tenderly wiped her face. Folding it, he then wiped off Sarah's face. Sarah let out a ragged little sigh and rested her head on Tony's shoulder, staring sadly at a distant tree. "Baby," Tony whispered to Ziva, "what's wrong?"

"I heard some women," Ziva sniffled, trying to steady her voice, "saying that ... Sarah is obviously not my child. Because I am a Jew. Or perhaps a Mexican. Apparently, it is difficult to tell since I am so -- how did she put it? -- dark." Tony's eyes searched Ziva's for only a split second before she quickly looked down. He stroked her cheek.

"Oh, honey..." Tony sighed, his lip quivering slightly. "You know that's not true."

"And," Ziva continued, swallowing hard, "YOU are gorgeous and they cannot understand why someone who looks like YOU is with someone who looks like ME." She looked away, tears again welling up in her eyes. "YOU are not a JEW like ME, Tony, so YOU should not MARRY a JEW -- like ME." Ziva's voice broke as she wiped away the hot tears. Tony clenched his jaw, furious at what he'd just heard -- at what Ziva had heard.

"YOU believe that, Ziva?" he asked, his voice dripping with bitterness at how hurt Ziva was. "You think they're right? I'm too good for you?" He rolled his eyes, thinking. "Hmmm... lemme see... I'm the guy who used to chase anything in a skirt, used to think four months was a long-term relationship, used to panic if a woman wanted to see me after the third date, used to laugh at guys who wanted to get married and have a wife and kids and a house and a dog. That's who I am. That's the guy you fell in love with. Oh! And..." he laughed, mocking himself, "... then there was that whole thing where I wasted a year with Jeanne, trying to convince myself I loved her while I was using her for information. Didn't help that you were all I could think of when I was with her. But I guess I shouldn't have wanted to be with YOU or realized that I was falling in love with YOU -- since you're Jewish and I'm not. Right?" Ziva continued looking down, wiping her tears.

"Ahhh..." Tony went on, "... and SARAH! Yeah, why should anyone believe you're her mother? All you've done is - ah, I don't know - find her in that ratty old crib after her mother was killed and rescue her from that slum she was living in. And then you offered to take her in when there wasn't a foster family to keep her out of the orphanage and you took her back when the first foster family didn't work out and you did everything above and beyond to become her foster mom. You rocked her to sleep at night. You bathed her. You changed her. You hold her when she cries. But, no, she doesn't look like you so YOU can't be her mother." Ziva stopped crying, but still didn't look at Tony.

"Dammit, Ziva," Tony whispered, "the HELL with what anyone ELSE thinks about us! Or about you, me and Sarah! Ziva -- we are a FAMILY! You and Sarah are my whole world, baby. Do I care if you're Jewish? YEAH! Because I love that about you! I love that you're Jewish and I'm Catholic. I love that this baby girl came into our lives and she's just... she's been OURS since Day One. She looks at us and all she sees is Mama and Da-Da. You get home at night and she goes crazy to hug and kiss you. Think SHE'd agree you're not her mommy?" Finally, Ziva lifted her eyes to meet Tony's.

"Tony," she said, softly but still sadly, "I understand what you are saying. And I believe all of those things. But other people... they don't. It is just painful. That is all. I do not want Sarah being teased someday because of me." Tony pulled Ziva to him, touching his forehead to hers.

"Our Sarah," he said lovingly, "is gonna be the kind of girl who can take care of herself when she grows up." Giving Ziva a sweet kiss on the cheek, Tony added, "That's something she gets from her mother -- you, Ziva. And I can't wait until I'm your husband... and you're my wife. And this little Snugglepumpkin is Sarah DiNozzo." He frowned. "David? David-DiNozzo? DiNozzo-David? Whatever you want, Z." Sarah, still snuggled against Tony's shoulder, cooed softly. Ziva took her from Tony, cradling Sarah to her bosom. Sarah sighed contentedly.

"I think Sarah DiNozzo is a lovely name for our little princess," Ziva said, her voice now steady and calm. "Alright, then. We have our Cheesy Plops. So let us eat." She smiled shyly. Sarah, whose mood had mirrored Ziva's, now was happy again. And Tony, his shirt front damp from tears, felt as if he were falling in love with Ziva for the first time again -- noticing every little thing about her like he hadn't in a while. He chuckled at her calling the chips 'Cheesy Plops.' Tonight, when they got home and Sarah was fast asleep, he would prove to Ziva just how much he loved her -- how much he needed her. And she wouldn't have any doubts.

Propping up Tony The Tiger against the picnic basket, Tony picked up his sandwich. Bringing it up in front of his mouth again, he made it "talk" once more.

"Wherrrrre's my CHEEEEEEEESY PLOPS?!!!"

Stuffing a few of the snacks into the sandwich's "mouth," Tony chomped down, taking a huge bite. He opened his mouth, smiling broadly at Ziva and Sarah. Sarah gave Ziva a serious look and waggled her tiny finger at Tony.

"No, Da-Da," Sarah softly scolded. Tony frowned, raising one eyebrow as he looked quizzically at Ziva.

"That," Ziva said with a smile, hugging Sarah to her, "is my girl."