Title: Spectacular Views
Author: rekkidbraka
Rating: T
Pairings: Tony D. and Ziva D.
Category: Romance
Disclaimer: No infringement intended.
Spoilers: None
Summary: Tony and Ziva house-hunt.

-------------------- Spectacular Views ---------------------

Walking through the small 1940s-era home north of Washington D.C., Tony and Ziva listened as the real estate agent pointed out its most charming features: the authentic wooden flooring, which was the original floor laid when the home was built; the easy flow from room to room, meant to give the cozy house a more open feel; the stone fireplace, another original feature. After asking if they liked the home, the agent left Tony and Ziva to look around the little house while he took a cellphone call outside.

"What do you think?" Ziva asked as Tony studied the fireplace.

"I think we could really heat up this old room, Sweet Cheeks," Tony answered, a sexy grin playing at his lips.

"Oh yes," Ziva said, smiling, "if we built a fire."

"Huh? Yeah... sure." Tony replied absentmindedly. "A fire. Right. That'd work, too." Ziva rolled her eyes and walked off to look at the kitchen area. Tony frowned at her reaction and then followed her to the smallish room. "So, my bride, can you whip up the kind of gourmet meals I've grown accustomed to here? It's not exactly a five-star kitchen but we can improvise. Tell you what -- I'll just start eating more snacks. Oh, it'll be tough, giving up all those healthy steamed vegetables, but I'll make the sacrifice. Anything to keep peace in the family."

Ziva smirked at her husband.

"Speaking of peas, we will have them for dinner tonight. With baked chicken." She opened the oven door, examining the appliance. Tony made a "yuck" face, sticking out his tongue as he frowned.

"But it's SATURDAY!" he whined, "The Buckeyes are playin' tonight! I gotta have pizza and the Buckeye Brew I had overnighted from Columbus!" Tony pointed to the white block "OHIO STATE" lettering on his red sweatshirt. "It's Game Day tradition, Lamb Kisses! Baked chicken and peas are what MICHIGAN fans tailgate with and you see how THEIR season's goin'!" Tony snickered. "Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of sneering little blue and yellow..."

"You want pizza and beer every night, Tony," Ziva interrupted, now looking over the new refrigerator/freezer that was included with the home.

"Yes I DO! Because what you see before you," Tony argued, thumbing his chest, "is a finely-tuned system, my ninja! Look, you can't just run the 'Stang out there," Tony pointed to his vintage '66 Mustang, parked at the curb, "on whatever junk gas is on sale! It needs PREMIUM fuel, special motor oil. Ziva, I'm like my Mustang; I need my pizza and my beer to keep on runnin' smooth. Baked chicken and peas gums up the works! Goes against everything my system intake was built for! It's un-American to feed a man healthy things on college football Game Day." He leaned back against the kitchen counter, looking down. Tony shook his head sadly. "Even me bein' here, checkin' out this house? It's unconstitutional, my bride. But I'm taking these chances to keep that sweet, sweet smile on your pretty face, y'know?" He glanced up at Ziva, green eyes sparkling.

Ziva stared at him, unsmiling.

"Yes, that's the smile I so love," Tony said. He moved his index fingers to the corners of Ziva's mouth, trying to manipulate her lips into a little smile. She stood stock still, continuing to glare at him. Tony fiddled with the sides of her mouth for a few more seconds and then stopped, saying, "Well, I know it's in there. Somewhere. Deep... deep... down inside." He gulped with fear, quickly tucked his hands into his jeans pockets, turned and high-tailed it towards the front porch area, taking a seat on the large hanging swing in the crisp, cold autumn air. After a while, Ziva joined him.

"You are right," Ziva said softly. "We should not have come to see this house today. It was a mistake." She stared down at the stone pattern of the porch floor.

"Huh?" Tony asked. "A mistake? Honey, what're you talkin' about? This place is great! I like it. What's wrong?"

"It is a nice house. But we cannot afford it." Ziva sighed. "Tony, we just got married. We just became Sarah's parents -- legally." She studied the small front yard forlornly. "Perhaps we are drinking down more than we can swallow." Tony put his arm around Ziva's slim shoulders, hugging her to him.

"Biting off more than we can chew," he sweetly corrected.

"Yes, that too," Ziva replied, nestling her head against Tony's chest. Tony grinned, pushing her black hair back so he could kiss her on the forehead.

"Hey, we didn't sign any papers so what's the harm in looking?" Tony now gave the little gated front yard and surrounding neighborhood of close-set 1940s homes another perusal. "And I really do like this little house. Neighborhood seems nice. Gotta front and back yard for Sarah and McFlea to play in." Tony frowned. "Then that mutt really WILL start pickin' up McFleas. Plus every girl cat for miles around. It's just the boy cats that hate him. He's a chick magnet, he is. Like his old man. It's a DiNozzo man thing, Ziva... Can't be helped. But I digress... The house is nice, honey, and we could afford it. Look, we'd just have to..."

Tony's voice trailed off. He stared at the house next door, where a family was in its yard changing their Autumn house flag to a new flag. The man and woman wore matching monogrammed cardigans. The son and daughter, elementary school age children, carefully folded the old flag and took it into the house, their white dog (who wore a pink sweater) trotting primly behind them. The man climbed a small stepladder and started to unfurl and hang his new flag but stopped, seeing Tony and Ziva sitting on the porch of the home next to his.

"Hiya!" he called out jovially, waving. "Welcome to the neighborhood!" His wife, eyeing Tony and Ziva with a mix of curiosity and disdain, offered a small, tight wave. Tony and Ziva smiled and waved back.

The man hung his flag. On a dark blue background, a huge yellow block "M" stood out. Tony's eyes popped. Ziva snickered.

"Then again, nice as this place is," Tony said, snarling, "maybe we oughta keep looking around."