"Can we paint it hot pink?" Tali asks, leaning over an empty workbench and swinging her feet a little. One foot kicks against a metal toolbox and makes a hollow thunking sound. It echoes in the basement.
Gibbs gives her a half smile. "If that's what you want. Don't think I have hot pink paint though." He raises an eyebrow and casually says, "We'd have to make a hardware store run."
"I like the hardware store!" Tali grins. "Mr. Donnelly always lets me take a piece of candy from the bin."
Gibbs's preferred hardware store is one that's been run by the Donnelly family for decades. It's got everything Gibbs could need for his various projects and anything they don't stock, can be easily ordered. The front of the store has a few penny candy canisters and as far as Gibbs knows, Eddie Donnelly's never made a kid under the age of ten pay for a piece of candy.
"Guess we'll be making a trip when we're ready to paint," Gibbs says easily, returning to the careful work of sanding down a piece of trim. He's aware of Tali's intense gaze on him as she watches him work. She fiddles with a piece of sandpaper, brushing it lightly against a spare piece of wood that may one day find a home in the dollhouse as a countertop.
There's obviously something on her mind, but Gibbs has come to learn that while much of Tali's personality comes from Tony, she also inherited Ziva's ability to remain tight-lipped about the things that are bothering her. From his understanding, that was a more recent development, after Ziva had reunited with the two of them in Paris. Tony had also let slip that all three of them are working through the lingering issues in therapy.
It's not something Gibbs would ever do, but he's proud of Tony and Ziva for putting their family first.
"Gibbs?" Tali calls.
"Mhm?"
"Can we add a workshop onto my dollhouse?"
Gibbs chuckles under his breath. "Yeah, kid, if that's what you want."
"Barbie's gonna build a boat," Tali grins impishly and Gibbs knows that Tony's been telling stories. Her smile falls as suddenly as it appeared and Gibbs squints at her carefully.
He brushes sawdust off the piece of wood he'd been sanding and hands it to Tali. She looks at it and then up at Gibbs, her head cocked in a silent question. Gibbs nods at the half-built dollhouse. "Go ahead, get the wood glue and I'll tell you where to place it," he says gently.
Tali bounces away from the work bench and grabs the container of wood glue, her tongue poking out between her teeth as she carefully uses the attached brush to coat the piece of trim in glue. Gibbs watches as she works, leaning back on the palms of his hands, but ready to step in if she needs help.
"Where does it go?" Tali asks, holding up the gluey piece of wood. Gibbs points silently and Tali presses the piece in place.
She grins up at Gibbs when she's done, the pride in her work shining on her face. Gibbs squeezes her shoulder, "Good job, Tali. Think you could help me cut the pieces for the porch?"
"Sure!" she hops forward and starts poking at the wood lined up, ready to be turned into her dollhouse's front porch. She and Gibbs work quietly for a while, noise coming from Gibbs's quiet instructions and the gentle rasp of the tools against wood.
After helping for a bit, Tali eventually sighs and pulls back from her job sanding down the rough edges. Gibbs raises an eyebrow.
"Gibbs?" Tali sighs, her voice sounding too serious for a seven-year-old.
He gives her a hum of acknowledgement.
"Is...is Ima gonna be like this forever?" she asks hesitantly, nervously digging her nail into a divot in the workbench.
"Hmm?" Gibbs raises an eyebrow. "Like what, kiddo?"
Tali hums and sucks her lower lip under her top teeth. "Like...like," she stutters, bouncing a little, "like she was scary this morning."
Ah, this morning. The whole reason Tali has been spending the afternoon in his basement, helping him work on her dollhouse.
From the brief version of the story that Tony had told Gibbs when he dropped Tali off, Ziva and Tali had been working on a fancy brunch. Bacon, pancakes, fruit, some kind of pastry - all at Tali's request. Something had happened, it was unclear from Tony's hurried retelling, but Ziva'd had a panic attack, something on the stove had caught fire, Tali had started crying, and Tony'd had to do immediate damage control, which included putting out the small fire and bundling Tali into the car and off to Gibbs's before running back home to deal with Ziva.
In a quick text nearly three hours after he had dropped Tali off, Tony had said that Ziva was better but if Gibbs could keep Tali for a couple more hours that would be great.
"Your mom," Gibbs starts, then pauses and rubs at his chin. Tali looks at him expectantly. He frowns and starts over, "You know your mom loves you, right?"
Tali nods, the unsettled look still firmly on her face. "But she yelled at me and there was a fire!" she exclaims.
Gibbs sighs, leaning against the work station. "Tali, you think your mom would've yelled at you if she wasn't scared herself?"
Softly, Tali replies, "No. Ima never yells, not even when Daddy and I accidentally broke the lamp."
"So maybe you should cut your mom some slack," Gibbs suggests and Tali frowns at him.
"What does that mean?" she asks, fingers playing with a discarded piece of extra balsa wood. She can't quite keep eye contact with Gibbs and her ruffles her hair gently.
"Means you shouldn't be mad at her or scared of her for a one-off," he explains.
Tali hums and acknowledgement that she heard him, but doesn't say anything. She picks at a glob of dried glue and sighs. "Maybe," she says eventually. When she looks up, her big brown eyes are full of tears. "I don't want Ima to hate me and go away again."
Gibbs's heart squeezes a little at the sad, broken tone of Tali's voice. He takes a couple of steps across the basement and kneels down in front of Tali. "Tali, kid, your mom could never hate you and I know she's not going away any time soon," he says softly, firmly. His tone brokers no argument.
"But she left before!" Tali practically wails, rubbing a fist against one eye. She flings herself forward, locking. her arms around Gibbs's neck and clinging tightly. "I don't want her to go away!"
In a reflex long since used, Gibbs's arms come around Tali's back and he hugs her tight. "She's not, Tali," he refrains from adding in an 'I promise' because no matter the intention, promises are sometimes broken. Tali still clinging to him, Gibbs stands up, knees creaking, and settles Tali on his hip, thankful that she's still in the skinny, knobby-knees and pointy elbows stage of childhood. "How about we leave the dollhouse to dry for a bit and see if we can scrounge up some cowboy steaks?" he suggests, knowing that cooking in the fireplace always gets a smile from the first-grader.
Tali nods against his shoulder, still sniffling, and Gibbs starts slowly up the stairs.
Forty-five minutes later, Gibbs and Tali are camped out in front of the fireplace. Tali's tears are gone and she seems happier and less anxious as she watches the fire slowly cook the steaks Gibbs had in his fridge.
"Did cowboys really eat steaks like this?" she asks, curled up against Gibbs's side.
He shrugs. "Maybe. Why don't you ask Ducky next time you see him? He'll have an answer."
Tali nods. "Ducky has an answer for every question," she grins, one of the few who actually like listening to the former medical examiner's long-winded stories.
The front door opens behind them and Tali jumps up at the sound of Tony's tired voice. "Hey, munchkin," he greets his daughter warmly as she runs for him, jumping into his arms and burying her face in his neck.
"Hi, daddy," she mutters, locking her arms around his neck.
"You have a good day with Gibbs?" Tony asks, catching his former boss's eye over Tali's shoulder. He shoots a grateful smile at the older man and gets a half-smile in return.
"We're makin' cowboy steaks," she informs her dad. "And we worked on my dollhouse."
Tony nods and raises his eyebrows. "Sounds impressive! I, uh, didn't realize you were eating dinner here. Ima and I picked up some take-out."
Tali suddenly gets quiet. "Ima came? Is she better?" she tangles her fingers in the collar of Tony's shirt.
"Yeah, she's better," Tony reassures Tali. "She wanted to make sure you're okay, T-bug."
Gibbs interrupts. "Got more than enough steaks, DiNozzo. Bring her in," he says quietly.
"Yeah?" Tony asks, confirming. Gibbs nods and Tali slides to the floor.
"Go get Ima," she says, bouncing a bit.
Tony salutes his girl and says, "Aye, aye Captain!" before heading back outside. He returns a few moments later, Ziva at his side.
She looks exhausted, dark circles under her eyes and hair scraped back into a very messy ponytail. Her eyes though, Gibbs notices, light up when she sees Tali.
"Hi, motek," she murmurs and Tali only hesitates for a minute before throwing herself against Ziva, burying her face in the oversized sweater Ziva's wearing. Ziva's fingers card through Tali's curls and something in her posture relaxes. Tony and Gibbs watch as Ziva kneels down and holds Tali close, whispering in her ear and stroking her hair.
"I am sorry, my little love", Ziva's voice is a little louder. "I did not mean to scare you like that."
Tali's response is muffled by Ziva's sweater, but the little girl holds her mother closer. Ziva kisses the side of Tali's head and stands up, hoisting Tali onto her hip.
"She's getting way too big for that," Tony comments to no one, and Gibbs realizes that in the span of an hour Tali's been held by all three of them. Ziva shoots her husband a Look that says she's not going to put Tali down any time soon, and Tony backs off, hands raised.
"Better enjoy it while you can, DiNozzo," Gibbs comments, reaching into the fire with a pair of tongs to flip the steaks. Tony nods, still looking at mother and daughter.
"Thanks for watching her, Boss," he says quietly, taking a seat on the floor next to Gibbs while Ziva and Tali sit on the couch so Tali can tell Ziva all about her dollhouse.
Gibbs shrugs him off. "You got a good kid, Tony," he says.
"I know," Tony smiles, looking over at his wife and daughter. "I'm damn lucky."
a/n: had this written for a bit, but finally sat down and edited it since i'm in isolation lol. this one actually has a vague plot and isn't just a character study :)