Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS
Senior was putting on his coat in the entranceway of Tony and Ziva's house. He had come over for their weekly family dinner. He turned to Ziva and Tony, who were standing nearby.
'Is it alright if I bring someone to dinner next week?' he asked. Tony raised an eyebrow.
'Oh yeah? Who do you want to bring?'
'A friend' replied Senior, smiling. Tony and Ziva looked at each other briefly.
'Of course, you can bring a friend' said Ziva.
'Thank you my dear' said Senior, hugging his daughter-in-law. 'Dinner was lovely as always Ziva. I will see you next week. Bye girls' called Senior. Tali and Tilly ran into the hallway, Tilly wearing a unicorn onesie.
'Bye Papa' they said, hugging Senior. Tilly had become more confident in walking and now preferred it 85% of the time.
'OK girls' said Tony, once Senior left. 'Bath time.' Tony took the girls upstairs whilst Ziva went into the kitchen to clear up dinner. Both had a good idea about who Senior's friend was. It had not escaped Tony and Ziva's notice that Senior had been in a good mood the last couple of months and his old high school sweetheart probably had a lot to do about it.
A week later Ziva opened the door to find Senior standing on the doorstep with a very beautiful woman who reminded Ziva of the British actress Helen Mirren.
'Hi Ziva' said Senior, as they stepped into the house. 'This is Maggie. Maggie, this is my daughter-in-law, Ziva.'
'Hi Ziva' said Maggie, shaking Ziva's hand.
'Hi. Tony and the girls are in the family room.' Ziva went back into the kitchen. Senior took Maggie into the family room to find Tony lying on the floor with Tali and Tilly sitting on top of him.
'Oh hey, Dad' said Tony.
'Junior, what's going on?' said Senior, he and Maggie chuckling slightly.
'Just playing a game with the girls. Who's your friend?' Tony added, a small smile on his face.
'Um, this is Maggie' said Senior, indicating to the woman standing next to him.
Tony pushed the girls off him and scrambled up off the floor.
'Hi' he said, offering his hand. Maggie shook it. 'I'm Tony.'
'Yes, I gathered that' said Maggie. 'You look like your father' she added. Tony laughed awkwardly and ran a hand through his hair.
Tali and Tilly got up off the floor and went over to the adults.
'Girls, do you remember my friend Maggie?' asked Senior. They nodded.
'Hi' said Tali to Maggie. Tilly waved.
'Hi girls' said Maggie.
'Did you bring Penny with you?' asked Tali. The adults laughed.
'No, Penny's at home' said Maggie.
'Oh.' Tali's disappointment was visible a mile away. Tilly went over to Senior.
'Papa' she said, hugging his leg.
'Hi, Bug.' Senior bent down and picked up his littlest granddaughter. 'Have you changed at all since I last saw you?' Tilly was still wearing a unicorn onesie. Tony laughed.
'She has changed. We had to buy a second onesie so that we could wash the first one.' From the moment she put it on, Tilly didn't want to wear anything else except her unicorn onesie. Fortunately, she was young enough not to notice that her parents were switching it out for a clean(er) one.
Dinner was sweet and sour chicken. Maggie talked about living in Asia, and about what she ate in China, Thailand and Vietnam. Tali and Ziva listened intently to all of Maggie's stories. Tony was glad to be able to put a face to the name of his father's girlfriend. Yes, he had the photos Senior gave him, but Maggie was no longer eighteen years old. That would just be too weird.
Tony was in the kitchen, having lost Rock, Paper, Scissors to Ziva (paper covers rock). Maggie came in and put some dishes next to the sink.
'Oh, Maggie, you didn't need to do that' said Tony.
'No, I wanted to. Dinner was lovely. Ziva's an excellent cook.' Tony chuckled.
'You don't need to tell me twice' he said. Maggie smiled.
'He was nervous, you know, your father. When he came to pick me up tonight.'
'Oh?' Tony was busy wiping a large pan.
'Yeah. I think he might have been worried about introducing me.' Tony put the pan on the drying rack, wipe his hands and turned to Maggie.
'Me and Dad have a, um, uncomfortable history when it comes to his romantic life' said Tony. 'There were several years where we barely talked, let alone have dinner every week.'
'I know about his previous relationships. He told me and I told him mine' said Maggie. 'I know you encouraged him to call me.' Tony smiled.
'Even if you two didn't start dating again, it's nice to have childhood friends. Me and Ziva have very few and the ones we do have, we work hard to keep in contact with them.' Tony had emailed his old RMA roommate, Travis, only that morning.
'Thank you Tony' said Maggie. She went back into the family room and Tony finished washing up.
Afterwards, Tony stood in the doorway between the kitchen and family room. He watched his wife, daughters, father and father's girlfriend chat away. They were discussing what the girls were going to be for Halloween.
'I'm going to be Toothless' said Tali.
'Toothless?' asked Maggie.
'Toothless the Dragon' explained Tali, with grandeur and waving her arms in the air.
'Oh' said Maggie, still not fully understanding.
'It is from a movie' said Ziva.
'And a book, Ima' protested Tali. 'Don't forget the book.'
Tony chuckled from his vantage point. Ziva looked over.
'Hey, you coming to sit down?' Tony smiled and went to join his family. 'You OK?' asked Ziva. Tony nodded.
'I'll tell you later' he said quietly.
'What about you, Tilly?' asked Senior. 'What are you going to be?'
'I be nicorn' Tilly said, sounding very excited.
'Really, Tilly' began Tony. 'A unicorn? You don't want to be something else?'
'Hey, do not change her mind. A unicorn is a simple costume. All we have to do is stick her in her onesie' said Ziva.
'Assuming she still wants to wear it on Wednesday' said Tony.
'Tony, it is the only thing Tilly has wanted to wear in two weeks. What makes you think she is going to change her mind?'
'The fact that she's only twenty-two months' said Tony.
'It will be fine, Tony' said Ziva, patting her husband's knee. 'If Tilly does change her mind, she can wear one of Tali's old costumes.' Tony waved his hands in the air in a sign of surrender.
Tali turned to Maggie.
'Do you want to come trick or treating with us?' she asked. 'Papa's coming, aren't you?'
'Yes, I am Bean' replied Senior, smiling.
Maggie looked at Senior, then at Tony and Ziva who nodded. Maggie turned back to Tali.
'I would love to come Tali. Thank you for inviting me.' Tali laughed and hugged Maggie.
Ziva glanced at the clock.
'OK, girls, bath time.' That was the sign for Senior and Maggie to go home as well. Everyone got up and said goodbye. Ziva took Tali and Tilly up to give them their bath and Tony watched Senior and Maggie drive away.
He had missed his mother tonight, more than he normally did. Tony and Senior agreed wholeheartedly that Joy DiNozzo would have been an incredible grandmother. They were both sad that Tali, Tilly, and Ziva would never get to meet Joy.
That being said, Tony believed deep down that Joy would have approved of Maggie. She was kind, caring and told some truly fascinating stories. Maggie and Ducky could have a competition for the best story and story teller. The thing that Tony really liked about Maggie was that she made his father happy.
Which would make his mother happy.
Hope you enjoyed it. This chapter turned into something a little different that I originally planned.
Thank you for reading and reviewing.