Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS

Resolutions, Goals and Old Hobbies

Tony was never one for New Year resolutions or goals. Once upon a time, when he was a younger man, Tony did make the occasional one, only to have given up by Valentine's Day if not before. During his single dad years, it was even more difficult to stick with resolutions. With juggling between Tali and work, Tony managed to get to the gym on a semi-regular basis, and attempted to keep the takeout to a minimum but that was all he could realistically manage.

Now that Ziva was back, and his single dad days behind him, Tony was looking longing at the guitar that Damian had brought into work, remembering how much he loved playing the instrument.

'Who's guitar is that, Damian?' Tony asked his boss.

Damian looked up from the paperwork he was reading.

'Oh, 'smy son's' he said. 'It had its annual maintenance. Seb wants to be a professional guitar player' Damian added at Tony's raised eyebrow. 'You play?' he asked.

'Used to' said Tony. 'Then I became a dad.'

Damian laughed.

'I know what you mean' he said. 'I swapped knitting for chauffeuring the kids to their hobbies.'

The office door opened and some people came in for a meeting with Damian and Tony, but the guitar stuck in Tony's mind. For the rest of the day and the entire metro ride home, he thought about it.

Instead of going up to the apartment, Tony went to the basement. Each apartment had a small storage area. The most popular items to be stored were Christmas decorations, along with disused exercise equipment. Tony opened up theirs and rummaged around in it. Towards the back, still in its black case, was his guitar. He pulled it out and took it up to the apartment.

'What's that?' asked Tali, pointing to it when Tony walked in.

'My old guitar' said Tony. 'Pulled it out of the storage space in the basement.' Tony unzipped the case and pulled the guitar out. Tali reached out and strummed her fingers across the strings. It did not sound good.

'It's a little out of tune' said Tony.

'Tuning will have to wait until after dinner' said Ziva, joining her husband and daughter in the living room. 'Tali go wash your hands.' Tali got up and went to the bathroom. Ziva turned to Tony. 'What made you get your old guitar out?'

'I was chatting with Damian about old hobbies. His son plays the guitar. Now that there's two of us for Tali, maybe I could pick up an old hobby again.'

Ziva smiled. She had her volunteering at the American Library of Paris, her studies, her support group and working with Abby, even her running. Tony, on the other hand didn't have quite so many outlets, or things that were just his. There was work, that Tony loved and was thriving, especially in his new role as senior consultant, and he had reconnected with friends from Tali's playgroup days, but that was about it. Perhaps taking up an old hobby might be Tony's something else.

Tali came out of the bathroom, and the three of them sat down to dinner. Ziva remembered the first time this happened, when she came back. It had been New Year's Day 2020, over two years ago now. It had been a big deal for all three of them, including Tali, even though she was only five.

Now, their daily family dinner seemed so normal.

As soon as dinner was finished, Tali went over to Tony's guitar.

'Daddy, can you play the guitar?' she asked.

'Yeah I can play' said Tony. 'It's been a while though. I might be a little rusty.' He sat down on the sofa and started tuning the guitar. It took a while, and YouTube videos had to come to the rescue, but eventually, the guitar was ready to be played.

'You gonna play something?' asked Tali, excitedly.

'How about this' said Tony and he started playing. Tali listened, her eyes getting bigger.

'I know that. It's Harry Potter' she said, slightly amazed that she recognised it. They had recently watched the first film and Ziva and Tali had started reading the first book as well.

'Yep, that's right' said Tony.

'Not bad' said Ziva.

'Can you do another one?' asked Tali.

'Tomorrow' interjected Ziva. 'Tali it is your bedtime.'

'Already?' asked Tony. He had completely lost track of the time.

'But' began Tali.

'We'll play some more tomorrow Tali' said Tony. 'Change into your PJs and Ima will read you a story.'

Glumly, Tali got up to change. Ziva sat down next to Tony.

'You think you will keep it up?' she asked.

'Maybe' said Tony. 'There's plenty of tutorials on YouTube. I could even join a band' he added, joking.

'Something for retirement' suggested Ziva.

'Perhaps' said Tony, as he zipped up the case. 'You think about our retirement.'

'A little' said Ziva. 'And not in great detail but given how old we are, I do not think it could hurt for us to wonder what retirement might look like for us.'

'It may be another fifteen, twenty years before it happens' said Tony.

'True' said Ziva. 'But financially, we could retire tomorrow if we wanted to.'

'I don't think that would be a good idea for either of us' said Tony. Ziva smiled in agreement. As much as they loved Tali and each other, Tony and Ziva needed outlets from each other, something that was just their own, and no one else's.

A few weeks later, Tony's guitar sat in the corner of the living room on its stand. Tony didn't play it every day, but at least several times a week, following the YouTube tutorials he found. Ziva had even noted on Tony's improvement.

Ziva walked past Tali's opened bedroom door, putting some clean linen in the cupboard. She went back to find Tali staring at her bike. It had been a Christmas present just over a year ago. At first, Tali wanted to ride it multiple times a week, and they managed that. But then life got busy with the redecorating, and dance club, and the wedding to name a few things. The frequency of times they went out on their bikes declined.

'Tali?' asked Ziva, walking over to her daughter.

'I want to ride my bike more' said Tali suddenly.

'OK' said Ziva. 'This weekend we can go to the park. Perhaps after temple.' It was Thursday already. Tali nodded.

'I want to take the training wheels off as well' she added, a little quieter. Ziva crouched down so she and Tali were eye level.

'Really?' Tali nodded.

'I'm almost eight.'

'Yes you are' said Ziva, a little sad at the thought of her daughter getting older.

'And AJ said that eight-year-olds don't have training wheels' added Tali.

'AJ is the new girl in your class, yes?' asked Ziva. Tali nodded again.

'She's really cool' said Tali. 'AJ rides her bike to school every day, without her training wheels.'

Ziva smiled encouragingly again. As it was an international school, the number of students at Tali's school fluctuated on a regular basis. Tali talked constantly about AJ, who had lived all over the world with her mother.

'OK. I will talk to Daddy about taking the training wheels off' said Ziva. Tali smiled happily. 'And on Saturday, we will go to the park, yes?'

'Yes' agreed Tali.

Two days later, Ziva, Tali and Tony went to their nearest park with their bikes. Tony had gotten out the handful of tools they kept in the apartment, took off the extra wheels and added a kickstand.

Tali was very happy as she clicked on her pink sparkles helmet. Tony held the bike steady as Tali climbed, Ziva next to her on her own bike.

'You want to watch Ima. See how it's done?' asked Tony. Tali paused, unsure how to answer. Ziva kicked off and cycled forwards a little. Tali watched intently.

'I can stay nearby in case you fall' said Tony. Tali nodded slowly. She pushed off and managed to get her feet on the pedals quickly.

'That's it Tali' said Tony, jogging nearby in case Tali fell off.

'Keep moving' said Ziva. Tali squeezed her brakes and came to stop next to Ziva. She had a big smile on her face.

'Well done T' said Tony.

'Can we go a bit further?' asked Tali. Ziva nodded.

'You want me to come?' asked Tony. Tali shook her head. 'OK,' he said. 'I'll go sit on the bench and wait for the two of you.'

Smiling, and her tongue sticking out slightly, Tali pushed off on her bike. Following suit, Ziva did the same thing and Tony sat down on the bench.

Five minutes later, Ziva's phone started to buzzed. Tony pulled it out of her jacket pocket.

'Hello?'

'Ziva?' It was Annalise.

'No, it's Tony.'

'Sorry. Where are you guys?'

'At the park' said Tony. 'The girls wanted to go for a bike ride.'

'I'll be there soon' said Annalise. 'I want to tell Ziva something.'

Tony gave Annalise their location and hung up, just as Tali and Ziva came cycling up the path.

'Hi Daddy' said Tali, still smiling and a little out of breath.

'How's it going?' he asked.

'A little bit of wobbling but very stable' said Ziva, proud of Tali. 'What are you doing with my phone?'

'Annalise called. She says she wants to tell you something.'

'OK' said Ziva. 'Shall we go around again before Annalise comes?' she asked Tali.

'Yes' said Tali, and the two pushed off again.

Fifteen minutes later, Annalise walked over to Tony.

'Hi Tony.'

'Hi.' Tony hugged his wife's friend, both sitting on the bench. 'There's something different about you' he added. Annalise smiled. 'You look happy.'

'Thank you Tony. Where are Ziva and Tali?'

Tony scanned the park and spotted them on the bikes. He pointed over for Annalise.

'Tali looks like a natural' she said.

'Yeah. She wanted to take the training wheels off. Something about a new girl called AJ at school. According to Tali she's really cool.'

Annalise laughed and smiled. There would always be a cool girl at school.

Tali and Ziva rode over to the bench, coming to a stop.

'Annalise I can ride without my training wheels' said Tali, excitedly as she got off the bike.

'I can see that' said Annalise. 'It's big thing.'

'Tony said you wanted to tell me something' said Ziva. Annalise smiled and raised a hand to show the three DiNozzo's a beautiful, vintage engagement ring.

'No' said Ziva, excitedly. 'Jacques proposed?'

'Last night' said Annalise. She couldn't stop smiling.

'Great' said Tony, sounding disappointed. 'I owe Anton 20€.'

'Why?' asked Annalise.

'I lost the bet' said Tony. 'I said that Jacques wouldn't propose until September.' September was Jacques and Annalise's official anniversary, though everyone knew just how close they had been before they started dating.

'It is beautiful' said Ziva, looking closer at Annalise's ring.

'Sparkly' said Tali.

'Yes' said Annalise. 'I have a question for the two of you' she said. Ziva and Tali looked up intrigued. 'Will you be my bridesmaids, and Ziva my maid of honour?'

'Really?' asked Tali, her eyes wide again.

'Yes' said Annalise.

'Maid of honour?' asked Ziva, shocked.

'Yes' said Annalise. 'You are like my sister, Ziva. I want you two to be my bridesmaids, along with Yara. What do you say?'

'Yes' said Tali quickly, making the three adults laugh. 'Say yes Ima.'

'Yes' said Ziva, smiling. 'I will be your maid of honour, though technically matron of honour because I am already married.'

'That doesn't matter' said Annalise. She looked at her watch. 'I have to go and meet Jacques.'

'Tell him congratulations' said Tony. 'And that he owes me 20€. He couldn't have waited an extra few months, could he.'

Annalise left, laughing. Tali turned to Ziva.

'Can we go for another ride?' she asked.

'Come on then' said Ziva. They both got back on their bikes.

'See you in a few' said Tony, as he watched them ride off.

Ziva walked into Tali's school, and down the corridor towards the gym. It was Thursday afternoon and she was picking up Tali from her afterschool dance club.

'Ziva!' She turned around and saw the mother of Tali's friend Ottie, jog to catch up with her.

'Hi Angelique' said Ziva. The two women kissed each other's cheeks. 'How are you?'

'Good. What about you? It seems ages since we had a catch up.' Ziva chuckled. Angelique was right.

'I am busy' said Ziva. 'With school and work, and Tali, my week gets filled pretty quickly.'

'That's good' said Angelique. They reached the door of the gym where their daughters were dancing. Other parents were waiting too.

The dance teacher wrapped up the class and the kids went to find their parents. Tali and Ottie had become best friends very quickly during their first year of preschool. Their other best friend, Maddie had turned the duo into a trio during kindergarten.

'Did you have fun?' asked Ziva. Tali and Ottie nodded their heads, and chatted on their way out of school.

'See you tomorrow Tali' said Ottie, as they split up to go home. They lived in opposite directions.

'Bye Ottie' said Tali, waving.

Later that night, Ziva was sitting at her desk, studying, when her phone buzzed. It was Angelique.

'Hi Angelique. Everything OK?'

'Yes' said Angelique. 'I wanted to run something past you. I found this flyer in Ottie's bag. It's from their dance teacher.'

'Hang on' said Ziva, getting up. She went to the dining table and opened Tali's school bag. 'The blue one?' she asked.

'Yes' said Angelique. 'The girls' dance teacher is running a taster session for the parents and maybe even adult classes. I'm assuming it's going to be along the lines of what the girls do.'

'And you want to go but you are apprehensive about going by yourself' said Ziva. Angelique chuckled.

'There's nothing getting past you Ziva' she said. Ziva chuckled too. 'But yes, I want to go and would prefer it if I had a friend to go with. It's in a couple of weeks' time and the session is amalgamated with the girls' one.'

Ziva read through the flyer again. It would be fun to do, she thought. Something with Tali, but also Ottie and Angelique. It would be good exercise and Ziva still loved dancing.

'Ok' she said. 'I am in.'

A couple of weeks later, Angelique and Ziva, along with a couple other parents, arrived at the school an hour before usual to join their girls' dance club. The music started and everyone got up. The teacher stood at the front.

'Ok kids. What do we do before we dance?' she asked.

'Warm up!' shouted the kids.

'That's correct. This is what we do. Parents follow along.' The teacher started instructing on the warm up. Ziva felt good moving. At the moment, her exercise consisted of walking and running. It felt good doing something different.

The class moved onto the first routine. Tali and Ottie, having done it before, knew exactly what to do. It took a little while but Ziva and Angelique eventually got into the groove and started picking up the moves and routine relatively quickly.

At the end of the hour both women collapsed on the floor, panting.

'It has been a while since I have done something like that' said Ziva.

'Didn't you run the marathon?' asked Angelique.

'That was a year ago' said Ziva.

Tali and Ottie came over.

'Are you OK?' asked Ottie.'

'Yes. We're fine' said Angelique.

'If a little tired' said Ziva. The two women eventually stood up and picked up their bags. 'Ready to go?' asked Ziva to Tali. The girls nodded. 'OK then.'

When they got home, Ziva collapsed on the sofa next to Tony.

'How was it?' he asked, smiling. He put down the guitar he was playing.

'My legs are going to hurt tomorrow' said Ziva. 'But it was good. Angelique and I enjoyed dancing and doing something with our girls. If they do it again, we might go.'

'That's good' said Tony. 'I'm glad we've sort of gotten back into old hobbies.'

'Me too' said Ziva.

Thanks for reading. I hope you liked.

Apologise for being MIA. I just needed a break.

Stay safe and see you soon :)