"So, we're really gonna do this," Tony said, as he pulled up in front of the animal shelter.
Ziva unclipped her seatbelt, and looked at him through the rearview mirror. She raised just one eyebrow calling him out.
"We are," she declared.
With a careful blink of her eyes, she reminded him that he was the one who wanted this.
He was the one who had been looking into which dog would be the best fit for their little family.
He was the one who had raided Tali's craft supplies, and drawn a coupon to announce to Tali that they would be getting a dog before she started school.
He was the one who came back from yet another visit to a big box store with a dog bed, that Ziva had told him the dog probably wouldn't ever use.
Tali looked around the car, and through the windscreen to the building they were parked in front of, her mouth opened with a question, but she did not say anything.
It was finally happening and she did not want to jinx it.
"Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean after the other day."
It had been three days since Ziva had disappeared the morning after an anxiety attack. It had been two days since Ziva had gone back to therapy. It had been a day and a half since he had filled a new prescription for her, a higher dose of anti anxiety medication.
It had been a day and a half, since he had used a visit to the bathroom to google what to do when someone you love was changing their anxiety medication.
She still woke up durning the night, and often headed downstairs to room he liked to refer to as the sunroom, her favourite corner of the house, but she came back to bed pretty quickly, and the two of them would fall back to sleep next to each other.
"It's not too soon?" he asked.
Ziva shook her head.
She had been clear. She was determined not to let her mental health stop anything, especially something Tali was looking forward to.
Still, Tony worried if it was too much. A part of him would always worry.
"If I did not think this was a good idea," Ziva said, as she took off her sunglasses and folded them over her t-shirt, dragging the v-neck down with the weight. "I would have saved us a forty minute drive."
Especially since he was a little worse for wear. Gibbs had come over the night before to deliver the dining table he had made them. Gibbs had stayed for dinner and late into the night. Senior had come to dinner as well, mostly to hang out with Tali, and had also brought some wine for the grown ups to share. The riesling had gone down far too easily.
A little girl walked past the car, two adults slightly behind her, and a leash in one of the grown-up's hands.
At the end of the leash was a dog. A beagle mix with big floppy ears.
That would be them within the hour.
"Ima," Tali called out, as she tugged at her seatbelt. "Daddy!"
Tali had only been told they were going on an adventure, not that they were going to the animal shelter. The coupon for the visit to the shelter did not expire until the following weekend.
"So, we're really gonna do this," Tony said.
A dog had been part of the plan, the list of goals they had made in their stuffy Parisian apartment, after they decided to move back to the states.
In the plan they had scribbled out on a daggy legal pad, a dog was supposed to coincide with Tali's eighth birthday.
Tali was only just seven. Her seventh birthday had been the last big thing they did in the apartment, before they started packing up their life.
It had been Tony who had brought the dog forward. He had seen how Tali bonded with Odette's dog. He had wanted another being in the house that sometimes felt too big, even if it was the average size for the neighbourhood. He had thought a dog might help shake Ziva from the cloud that hung over her.
He also wanted to give Tali the childhood he had always wanted. For his seventh birthday, he had asked for a puppy, and he had really thought he would get one, his Nanny at the time had said seven was a lucky number, and he was turning seven in the seventh month of the year.
But, that was the year that his Mom started coughing up blood, and his Dad started each morning with a glass of scotch.
"I think this will be good for us," Ziva declared, as she opened her door to get out of the car. "All of us."
He pressed the button that disabled the child lock on the rear doors with a click.
"What are we doing here?" Tali asked, as she unclipped her seat belt and scrambled to get out of the car. "Are we getting a dog today?"
"All shall be revealed, monkey," Tony said, as he opened his door and pulled himself up.
He adjusted the buttons on his linen shirt, and determined that he needed to start limiting his snacks, now that he no longer burnt calories through incidental exercise. It was just too easy to get in the car.
Tali slipped out of the car, and then slammed the door. For someone so little she had a lot of force.
The family met each other at the path in front of the car. Tali reached out for Ziva. Ziva smiled under her squinting eyes. Tony pressed the button on the car key, and it beeped.
"Are we getting a dog?" Tali asked again, looking between her parents. "You said next week. Are we doing it now?"
Ziva's face broke into a smile, revealing the secret. For someone who used to deal in the currency of secrets, she had a terrible poker face when it came to Tali.
"We are going to talk to the nice people here about getting a dog," Tony said carefully, "Maybe, we'll take one home."
There was a dog crate in the trunk of the car.
Tony had hidden a brand new dog bed in the basement.
They expected to leave today with a furry friend for their family.
"And, if we meet a dog that might be a good fit for us we will talk about that," Ziva said, adopting his careful tone. "Remember what we talked about, all have to agree on the dog we adopt."
Tali's little face lit up.
"We're getting a dog," Tali declared, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "And, we're going to call her Lucy."
Tony frowned. Tali was going to be very upset if they ended up getting a boy dog.
He wouldn't mind having another guy around the house.
"Remember what we talked about," Ziva said as she took Tali's hand. "When we decided to get a dog."
A young couple walked past carrying a cat crate, and talking about names. One of them wanted Charlie and the other wanted to call the creature Boots.
Tali nodded. Tony took her other hand.
"It might not be a Lucy," Tali repeated, "But, I'll love them all the same."
The path was wide, and the three of them walked three a breast. Tali, despite having the smallest legs of the three of them lead the way.
"What would be a good boy dog name?" Tali asked. "I can't think of any."
Tony mentally ran through some dog names from movies; Beethoven, Marley, Odie, Toto, and Skip.
He was also partial to the classic Fido. That dog had been loyal to a fault.
"I think we will have to meet them to decide on their name," Ziva said delicately. "Sometimes you cannot name someone until you know them."
Tony hoped he had the power of veto if Tali suggested a ridiculous name. She had called her toy dog the Hebrew equivalent of doggy, so the bar was low.
"Is that how you decided on my name?" Tali asked.
Ziva stopped for just half a second. The question had knocked the wind out of her.
"Something like that," Ziva said. "I had a list of names, but I waited until I saw you before I decided to call you Tali."
Tony wondered how much of Ziva's story was true, but he was not about to let the truth get in the way of a good story.
And, Tali so loved stories about her early life. She wanted to build the legend of Tali DiNozzo.
In the passenger seat of a car by the entrance an elderly woman who was sobbing. Tony reminded himself that some people came here to surrender animals.
Senior's apartment building had a strict no pets policy. Not that it stopped a group of old ladies from feeding a colony of stray cats outside the lobby.
Senior was very excited by the thought of a grand-dog. He had brought a squeaky toy shaped like a hamburger in preparation for the new addition.
We didn't really get much time to prepare last time, did we? Senior had said as Tali ran off with the toy to show Ziva and Gibbs, who were in the garden.
"What else were you going to call me?" Tali asked.
Tony broke off from their trio, and moved ahead to open the door for his girls.
"I do not really remember," Ziva said, "It was a long time ago, and none of it mattered, as soon as I saw you, you were my Tali."
Tali broke off and walked through the door. Ziva followed behind, smiling at him as he held the door open.
There was suddenly a lot of noise. A dog barking. The painful meow of a cat. Excited chatter of families about to grow by four paws.
The lobby smelt like wet dog, and bleach.
Ziva followed Tali, and placed her hands protectively on Tali's shoulders.
"Are you ready?" Ziva asked Tali.
Tali nodded. The braids Ziva had tugged Tali'a hair into earlier that day bounced.
A woman who looked barely old enough to drive, stepped out from behind the desk, and held out a tablet.
"You must be the DiNozzo's," she said.
Ziva did not correct the girl, it was far too much of a story to explain, and in a few weeks it wouldn't matter.
"We are," Tony said, as the tablet was thrust into his hand.
"Bring this back when you're ready," the girl declared before disappearing behind the desk. "With some I.D."
There was a rather in depth form that required his attention, and the reading glasses Ziva had been nagging him to get.
Ziva stood on her tiptoes, and looked over at the form. She took her hands off Tali's shoulder, and reached over for the tablet.
Tali scampered off to the fish tank next to the desk.
She filled out the form scarily efficiently with a few clicks. She was a millennial after all.
"Would you say we are a quiet house?" she asked.
"Compared to the soap opera two doors down, yeah," he said.
Their neighbours two doors down were an older lady, and her adult sons. Most of their arguments were in Cantonese but they were certainly loud, and often at late hours. They almost always ended up with the younger son speeding off in a car that was illegally modified.
Ziva tapped out some answers, and scrolled to check them.
"I said that someone will be home most of the time," Ziva declared, referring to herself, "And, that we would prefer an adult dog but not a senior dog."
Tony nodded, and handed Ziva his drivers licence. Ziva walked toward the front desk, her sandals squeaky on the ground. She had put her hair into a French braid to keep cool. It gave him an amazing view of her slender neck.
He knew that senior dogs were less likely to be adopted, but he did not want to teach Tali about death with a dog who was only going to be with them for a year or two.
The kid had been through enough trauma. All of them had been through enough trauma.
Tali scampered over to Tony.
"Dad," she said, tugging at his hand, "Come see the fish, one of them looks just like Nemo."
Tony wished he could still enjoy that movie, but Palmer had once spent a good five minutes of their Dad check-in explaining how clown fish changed sex, and he hadn't been able to look at Marvin the same way. There had been a period during lockdown where Tali watched Finding Nemo and it's sequel on repeat.
The girl at the desk looked over the form, and started to ask questions.
"Yes, I would be the one at home," Ziva said, her voice carrying over the noise in the lobby.
"So, you're still working from home," the girl said, "Cool."
"Yes, something like that," Ziva declared.
Tony let Tali drag him toward the fish tank, and the two of them looked at the tropical fish. There were so many bright colours.
"Is the dog gonna stay with Ima, while I'm at school?" Tali asked. "And, you're at work."
"Yeah," Tony said, "And, then when you come home, you can hang out with them."
"Good," Tali said. "I don't want Ima to be alone. Especially when she is sad."
Tony's heart heaved . They had tried to protect her from it all, but she had seen through it.
Of course he should expect nothing less from a kid that was part him and part Ziva.
"A dog will be good for all of us," Tony said.
A hand touched his shoulder. A familiar hand. He turned slightly, and saw Ziva. She handed his driver's licence to him.
A few feet behind her stood the girl.
"I have a few dogs I think you guys should meet," she said, "Let's meet your fur-ever friend."
Tali clapped her hands together in excitement, and followed the girl. The girl had a high ponytail that swung as she moved.
Tali followed the girl and started asking questions.
"How many dogs are here?" Tali asked.
"Lots," the girl said, "We have space for over a hundred, but we never have that many here. Most of the dogs get adopted very quickly."
Tony moved toward Ziva, and reached for her hand.
"That poor girl," he murmured, "Tali's got like a million questions."
"What dog has been here the longest?" Tali asked.
"Sadie said Tali was cute," Ziva said, "So we have a little time before she gets annoying."
The girl, her name was Sadie Tony reminded himself, swiped a card by a sensor and then they all walked into a lobby. On one side there was a sign for cats, and another for dogs.
Tony looked through the window, and saw a grey paw hanging out of a cat cage. Maybe, one day they would come back for a feline friend. He rather liked the idea of a cat hanging around their house.
Sadie swiped a card again and they walked into the room.
Dogs started to bark.
Tony studied the kennels, they reminded him of prison, and that time he was framed for murder. He wanted to rescue them all.
Sadie and her long ponytail swished, and stopped in front of a kennel.
The dog came to the front of the kennel. Tali rushed to the front.
"Careful Tali," Ziva warned. "Do not put your fingers in the cage."
Tali stood close to the cage, so that she and the dog were almost touching, with the metal cage between them.
"This is Bella," Sadie said, "She's nearly four."
Ziva walked toward the cage and studied the dog, with her coffee coloured fur and dark snout. She did not look like a Bella, she needed a tougher name like Athena or Artemis.
"Hello," she said softly.
"Is she part German Shepherd?" Tony asked, as he watched his girls fall in love with the dog.
"We think she's a German Shepherd and chow mix," Sadie said. "They can be very stubborn, but they are great with kids."
Tony frowned.
"Just what I need in my life," he said in a stage whisper. "Another stubborn woman in my life."
Ziva turned quickly, and shot him a filthy look.
Sadie tried to hold back a laugh.
"Our yard is big, but not that big," Tony said, "I've met a few Shepherd's in my time. They need a lot of space, don't they?"
Sadie looked at the dog.
"They do," Sadie said, "But, if you take her out for walks every day she should be okay."
"Ima could take her on her runs," Tali declared.
Ziva looked at the dog, and then up at Tony, with her own puppy dog eyes. He motioned his head to move on.
They couldn't just pick the first dog they saw, could they?
They had to give the other dogs a chance.
"Shall we see the other dogs?" Ziva asked Tali, as she took Tali's hand.
Tali stood still for a second, and then moved.
"Bye Bella," Tali said waving at the dog.
They passed another kennel, and a pit bull mix, looked at them with sweet eyes.
In another kennel a pair of Jack Russell mix puppies shared a massive dog bed.
"And this is Teddy," Sadie said, as they stopped in front of another kennel. A dog that looked like a teddy bear sat in its bed. It was a soft white colour, with dark fur around its muzzle likely from scoffing his food. "He's at the upper end of your age limit."
"He looks like a bear," Tali declared, "Is that why he's called Teddy?"
"Probably," Ziva said.
"How old is he?" Tony asked.
"We think he's seven, labradoodles are considered to be senior at about nine." Sadie said, "But, we didn't get a lot of information about him. He was abandoned in front of our office last Spring."
Tony's heart broke for the sweet dog.
Who could abandon such a sweet creature?
"There are lots of dogs to see," Ziva said, as she shuffled Tali along.
If Tali had her way they would adopt all the dogs.
They shuffled along the corridor, and looked at the different dogs. There was a dog with only three legs, next to a dog who was missing an eye.
Tony recognised some of the dogs from the shelters website, when he had been looking into different animal shelters, they still had not found homes.
He hoped they found homes soon.
"Look Ima," Tali said, as she stopped in front of a kennel. "This one's name is Lucy."
Sadie was a few kennels further down, but saw that they had stopped, and moved back toward them.
Lucy had a golden coat, and looked like a dog from cereal advert. She, unlike the other dogs, stayed in the back of the kennel.
"I think she wants space," Tony said carefully, before moving back to meet Sadie.
Tali stepped back, and reached for Tony's hand. Ziva looked the dog in the eyes, and crouched in front of the cage.
The dog slowly got up, and shuffled toward Ziva.
Ziva stayed still. Eventually, Lucy reached Ziva's hand, and licked Ziva's hand through the bars of the kennel.
"Well that is a surprise," Sadie said quietly. "Then again Lucy had always been a bit of a wild card."
Ziva started speaking in soft Hebrew to the dog.
"I think Ima likes her," Tali said, as she let go of Tony's hand, and walked toward Ziva. Ziva offered out her spare hand.
"Come here, Tali," Ziva said, "You need to be quiet, and careful, but I think Lucy would like to meet you."
Tali offered out one of her tiny hands, and the dog licked her hand.
"I think she likes you," Ziva said.
The two of them were head over heels with the dog.
"What do you mean by the dog being a wildcard?" Tony asked.
Sadie looked at the dog and sighed.
"Lucy is picky with who she lets in," Sadie said, as she adjusted the tablet under her arm. "She's had a tough life."
That sounded familiar. No wonder she and Ziva had bonded so quickly.
Tali laughed as Lucy licked her hand.
"I wasn't gonna introduce her to you guys," Sadie continued, "She can be funny with kids, but she seems to like Tali."
Ziva turned and looked at Tony, and nodded toward the cage.
Ziva was in love.
"And men," Sadie said, "It'll be interesting to see how she reacts to you."
Tony nodded.
"Why is she here?" Tony asked.
"Her owner died last winter," Sadie said, looking down at the ground. "It was a sudden death."
Tony read between the lines and felt a wave of sadness. Last year had been terrible for a lot of families.
"Lucy was living with her owner's roommate, but money was tight," Sadie continued. "The roommate said that she thinks that Lucy and her owner had been in a violent house before they moved in with her. Lucy never did well with loud noises. She has anti anxiety meds for storms. She hates storms."
"That's why she doesn't like men," Tony said. "Because of that first house."
"We think so," Sadie said. "She's really protective too, someone she didn't like was having a look at her neighbour and she wouldn't shut up. She must have been onto something because that guy had been blacklisted by another shelter."
Tali turned to look at them. She was wearing a huge smile.
"Daddy," she commanded, "Come say hi to Lucy."
Ziva pulled herself up, and stepped back. Lucy gave her a sad look.
The two of them were already bonded.
Tony and Sadie moved closer to the dog. Tony bent down in front of the cage, ignoring the twinge in his back, and offered his hand to Lucy.
Lucy stepped back a little, and looked to Tali and Ziva. Then she looked back to Tony.
Ziva moved toward Sadie.
Other dogs barked and howled.
"Is Lucy available for adoption?" Ziva asked.
Lucy placed her tongue on Tony's hand. Tony's hand was now wet with slobber.
She was saying hello.
"She likes you Daddy," Tali declared, as if she had not just met the dog.
"Yes," Sadie said to Ziva, "We just need to find the right family for her, she needs a quiet home."
Tony turned slightly, so one eye was on Lucy, and one eye was on Ziva.
Ziva nodded slowly, reading between the lines.
"We use our words when we are angry," Tali declared. "Shouting just makes everything worse."
The three adults shared a look. Out of the mouths of babes.
"Why don't we take Lucy out into the yard," Sadie offered, "So that you guys can get to know each other better. Maybe, you are the family Lucy has been waiting for."
Sadie handed the tablet to Ziva to hold onto, and reached into her pocket for a bunch of keys, and a dog leash. Within a couple of minutes, Lucy and the three humans were being led toward another door and out into the yard.
The yard was a square of fake grass, closed in by three meter high chain link fences. There was one metal bench in the center. The yard, like the kennels, reminded Tony of prisons.
Tony and Ziva sat on the bench, and watched as Tali played with the dog. Sadie was talking with another polo shirt wearing worker. Both of them seemed amazed by how quickly Lucy had taken to Tali and Ziva.
"So," Tony said, as he rested his hand on Ziva's lap. "What do we think about Lucy?"
Ziva looked at him, with her sunglasses over her eyes.
"She has been through a lot," Ziva said, softly "You can see that in her eyes."
A psychologist had told Tony once, that people who had been through some types of trauma could smell it out in other people.
Maybe it was the same with animals.
Tali threw a tennis ball across the grass, and Lucy ran after it. Lucy picked it up, and presented it to Tali.
"Good job, Lucy," Tali said, as she wrapped her arms around the dog. The dog stuck her tongue out, and wagged her tail.
Both Tali and Lucy looked so happy.
"She's good with Tali," Tony said, "Do you think she'll be okay with the McTwins?"
The McFamily were going to be across the street, they'd probably be over a lot. They needed to be considered.
Sadie had said that Lucy could be funny with kids.
"I think so," Ziva said. "Sadie said she can be a little standoffish with men, and doesn't like fireworks. I think she will cope with two three and a half year olds."
The McTwins were loud, louder than he remembered Tali being at that age. Maybe, it was because there were two of them, and one kid's noise bounced off the other.
With her eyes Ziva followed Tali and Lucy as they ran around the perimeter of the yard.
"You fell in love the minute you saw her, didn't you?" he asked.
"With Tali or the dog?" she asked.
"I know you did with Tali," he said, "And, it looks like us the same with Lucy."
Ziva smiled briefly. He could not see under her sunglasses, but was sure the smile covered her whole face.
"She is a lovely dog," Ziva said, "And, she has been through a lot. We could give her a lovely life."
They had a reasonably sized yard. Ziva had already promised to take the dog out for runs every day. Tali had also promised that Lucy could sleep in her bed, the minute Sadie had revealed that Lucy was scared of storms and did not like fireworks or storms.
Ziva had given the dog a soft stroke when Sadie had talked about Lucy needing anti-anxiety pills when there were storms.
"I think this is meant to be," Tony declared. "I'll go talk to Sadie to see what we need to do to make it official."
"Are you sure?" Ziva asked. "She is more reserved with you."
Lucy had licked his hand when she was in the cage, and Tony had thought she liked him. When they got into the yard, Lucy had been happy with Tali and Ziva, wagging her tail and jumping all over them. With Tony, she hung back, and looked to the girls for guidance.
"It's like you said," Tony said, "She's had a tough life. She just needs some time to get used to me. I'm sure once I feed her a few times, she'll be all over me."
Ziva smiled again.
"Tali already loves her," Ziva said.
"Of course she does," Tony replied. "She's wanted a dog forever."
In their first weeks in Paris, when their days often involved Tony taking Tali on long walks through their new home, they had walked behind a poodle for nearly ten minutes. The whole time Tali had kicked out her legs in the stroller, and cried out Kelev, Kelev.
Doggy. Doggy. Dog.
"She has always loved dogs," Ziva said, averting her eyes, like she so often did when she spoke of the time that Tony had not been with them.
"And, this one is named Lucy," Tony said, "Just like she said it would be."
Ziva scoffed.
"The name is from a book we were reading," Ziva said with a smile. "She is no clairvoyant."
Tony nodded.
Ziva and Tali had gotten into the habit of curling up together at night, with Ziva reading a book aloud to Tali. Often the book was a little more advanced than what Tali could read herself, but she loved the stories.
He knew Ziva liked the time together. She had said that her mother had done the same thing with her, often after her sister had gone to bed, and so it was the only time they got one on one.
"Well, I'm glad you were reading The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, and not something with weird names," Tony said, "Gandalf is no name for a dog."
"I am definitely not going to read the Lord of the Rings to her at this age," Ziva replied.
"McNerd has probably read it to the twins," Tony joked.
Ziva shook her head, but a slight smile dawned on her face.
"You know we were reading Ballet Shoes before this, so she could have insisted that we name the dog Posy or Petrova," Ziva said.
Tony grimaced.
"We dodged a bullet there," Tony said.
Tali and Lucy walked toward Tony and Ziva.
"Ima, Daddy," Tali called, "Can we please keep Lucy forever and ever. I promise I'll look after her."
Ziva offered her hand to Lucy, and the dog slobbered all over Ziva's hand. Ziva then used that hand to stroke the dog. Lucy's tail started to wag.
Tony looked into the dog's eyes, and then offered her his hand. The dog slobbered all his hand. Ziva moved her hand off the dog, and Tony used his hand to stroke the dog.
The dog stood frozen for a second, and started wagging her tail.
"I think she is warming up to you," Ziva said. "Before we know it, you will be her favourite."
Tony nodded. He hoped so.
"So, we're really gonna do this?" Tony asked Ziva, as Ziva took over patting the dog. Tali held onto Lucy's collar.
"We are," Ziva said,
Tony pulled himself up, and patted Tali's head.
She looked up at him with her own version of puppy dog eyes.
"I'm gonna go see what we need to do to take Lucy home," Tony announced.
Tali's face broke into a happy smile.
"Really?" she cried out.
The last time she had been this excited had been when Tony had said that Ziva was finally coming home.
For so long Ziva coming home had been her only wish. Now, she got to wish for normal things like getting a dog and going to Disneyland.
And, Tony got to grant these wishes. He felt like Santa Claus.
Twenty minutes later a photo went out to all of their favourite people. It was of Tony, Ziva, Tali and Lucy standing outside of the animal shelter, with the caption Our family has grown by four paws… meet Lucy.
A/N: I don't own a thing.
I have never adopted a dog, so apologies if I got any of the adoption procedures wrong.
Thank you for all the kind comments, tweets, and reviews. Thank you for those lovely people on twitter who helped me decide what type of dog to give our favourite little family.
The next chapter will feature more of Tali.