Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS. Also, I am not a parent

Ziva and Tony sat on the sofa at their new weekly meetings. Tali was at school. It was one of the ideas Ziva got at their first shared therapy session the previous week. A weekly meeting of sorts for a couple of hours, where they could talk and share about their time apart and tell stories about Tali that they missed out on. Today Ziva told the story of when Tali first laughed (aged four months). Tony's story was about Tali and her shoes (aged three years).

'She refused to agree with me or Clara that we were right and she was wrong. We were late for school at this point, so I just took as she was.'

'With her left shoe on her right foot and her right shoe on her left foot?' asked Ziva. Tony nodded.

'Tali complained the entire walk to school but still refused to switch her shoes to the correct feet.' Ziva laughed.

'What happened?'

'I don't know because, by the time Tali and Clara got home from preschool, just after lunch, her shoes were on the right feet.' Ziva laughed again, as did Tony. He leaned forward and kissed Ziva. A moment of quiet intimacy.

They both enjoyed these sessions, even though they had only done two. They were an opportunity for Tony and Ziva to talk, to listen and to share. They were also working on the other ideas Ziva had; goals for them to work on and achieve as individuals, as a couple and as a family with Tali. They included a weekly 'question' session, a monthly date night, spending time with Tali one-on-one and as a family, and also starting to plan and research their very first family vacation.

'This was a good idea, Zi' said Tony. Ziva smiled. Over the past few days, she had also built up enough confidence to ask Clara if she could go with her to temple one day and also maybe join her boxing class. Clara was more than happy for Ziva to join her for both temple and boxing, though not at the same time.

'You want lunch?' asked Ziva. Tony nodded and twenty minutes later, Ziva came out of the kitchen with two baguette sandwiches. They sat on the sofa, eating and enjoying being with each other.

'I love you Tony' said Ziva, quietly.

'I love you too, Zi' replied Tony.

Tali stomped over to Ziva who was waiting for her in the playground. It didn't look like Tali had a good day. Fortunately, it was Friday and she would have two days before having to go back to school.

'Hi Tali' said Ziva. 'Everything OK?'

'No' said Tali, crossly. She threw her bag on the floor, her face in a scowl.

'Do you want to talk about it?' asked Ziva.

'No.'

'OK then.' Ziva picked up Tali's bag and they started to walk home.

'Ottie and Maddy wouldn't play my game' Tali blurted out as they got to the end of the street. 'And we had to play Ottie's game instead but I told them that it was my turn and that we played Ottie's game yesterday but they wouldn't listen.'

'So what happened?' asked Ziva.

'I didn't play with anyone at Lunchtime. Then we had math.'

'Oh.' Math was not Tali's favourite subject.

'Yeah, and Miss Fay wouldn't help me and I kept telling her I didn't understand it but she didn't listen.'

'Oh.' Ziva was going to let Tali just let it all out before she offered any thoughts.

'And I got some of my spellings wrong.'

'Oh no.' Ziva had been practicing with Tali all week. Tali nodded.

'I had miss morning playtime to do them again.'

'What about golden time?' asked Ziva. Golden time was the last hour before the end of school on a Friday.

'Ottie and Maddy still didn't want to play my game. No one wanted to play my game.' Tali stomped off in front of Ziva. Ziva couldn't help but smile as she watched Tali. Yes, her daughter was in a bad mood, but the sight of her still made Ziva happy.

They stood at the edge of the road, waiting to cross. Tali clearly got tired of waiting and stepped into the road.

'TALI!' Ziva grabbed Tali's right arm and pulled back onto the path.

'Ow, Ima. That hurt.' Tali pushed Ziva's hand off her arm and rubbed it.

'I am sorry Tali, but I did not want you to get hurt by the cars. Ok?'

Tali shrugged and by the time Ziva and Tali got home, Tali's bad mood and scowl still hadn't shifted.

'Hey guys' said Tony, when he saw them. 'How was school, Tali?' Tai stormed into her bedroom in a huh, slamming the door. 'I thought she had to be a teenager before she started slamming doors?' Ziva smiled.

'Tali had a bad day at school' explained Ziva.

Tony and Ziva decided to give Tali some space and she didn't have a scowl on her face at dinner. Things seemed to have improved. However, later that night Tony and Ziva were sitting in the living room when Tali came in.

'Ima, can we play my game?'

'Tali' began Tony. 'It's time for bed. You'll have to play tomorrow.'

'But I want to play my game.' Tali stomped her foot on the floor.

'No, Tali' said Tony, firmly but softly. 'It is time for bed. Please go put your pyjamas on.'

'I don't want to' argued Tali. She was getting angry. 'I want to play my game.'

'Tomorrow Tali' said Tony, a little firmer.

'But I don't want to go to bed' said Tali, crying now.

'Well, can you at least get into your pyjamas?' asked Tony.

'No' argued Tali, still crying. 'I want to play my game with Ima.'

Tony and Tali both looked over to Ziva. She was still sitting in her armchair, book in hand. Tony had been the one to tell Tali about bedtime, and so Ziva let Tony carry on, leading. Now though, Ziva was involved and Tali wanted her Ima to back her up. Ziva looked at Tony, then at Tali. She looked back at Tony. They had talked about this soon after their reunion. If they were going to co-parent, no matter their relationship, they had to have a united front.

'Tali, Daddy asked you to put your pyjamas on' said Ziva, calmly. 'Can you do that please?'

Tali scowled at her parents and stomped into her bedroom, the door closing loudly. Tony sighed and hung his head.

'That'll be fun tomorrow' he said. Tony glanced over at Ziva. 'You OK?' Ziva nodded. She might feel like crap right now, but it would pass. Ziva reminded herself that she had fought for every single moment with her family, the good ones and the bad ones. Tonight was a bad one.

Tony and Ziva knocked on Tali's door and went in. She was already lying under the covers, back to them.

'Tali, do you want a story?' asked Ziva.

'No.' Tony sighed again and they both stepped closer to the bed.

'We love you Tali' said Tony softly.

'Good night Tali' added Ziva, and they slipped out of the room.

It was almost 7 am and Ziva was sitting in her favourite armchair, writing in her journal. Last night she started writing about Tali's bad mood and how it made her, Ziva, feel. She was still writing about it this morning, worries of how it could impact her relationship with Tali and with Tony. It had been the first time Tali had a bad mood since Ziva had come home in January. There had been times that weren't fun or smoothly sailing, but apart from yesterday, things had been good. Yesterday had been a little bit of a wakeup call for Ziva. For the first time, she truly understood the need for parents who co-parent to have a united front.

'Ima?' Ziva look up and saw Tali standing near the sofa, wearing flamingo pyjamas and Kelev tucked under her arm.

'Morning Tali. Are you feeling better?' Tali didn't respond. 'Tali?'

'Are you going to leave?'

'No, baby. Why do you ask that?'

'If I promise to be good, will you stay?' Ziva put down her book and went over to Tali.

'Tali, what does that mean?' Tali started crying.

'I had a dream that you going to leave again' said Tali.

'No Tali' said Ziva, shaking her head. 'I am not leaving you.'

'But… you sent me away to Daddy because I was bad.'

'In your dream?' Tali shook her head.

'In… farmhouse… house. You and… Daddy told… me… off before… bed.'

Ziva pulled Tali into a tight hug.

'Listen to me Tali, I am not leaving. I did not send you to Daddy because you were bad, but to keep you safe.' Ziva looked at her daughter. Tears were running down Tali's face. Ziva glanced out of the room. It would be better if Tony was here too. Ziva picked up Tali and went into the bedroom. Tony was still asleep.

'Tony. Tony.'

'What is it, Zi?' asked Tony, groggily.

'Tali is sad.' Tony sat up a little, peering through tired eyes to find Ziva holding a crying Tali.

'Tali, baby, what's the matter?'

Ziva placed Tali between them, Tony and Ziva wrapping their arms around her. Over the top of Tali's head, Ziva told Tony what Tali said.

'She thought I left because she was bad or did something wrong.' Tony tightened his hug around Tali.

They sat in the bed, holding Tali as she cried. Tony and Ziva simply let Tali cry and did not try to get her to talk or stop crying. They had this gut instinct that their daughter just needed to cry, to let it out in whatever way she could. Both wondered how long had she been holding this in. Since Cairo? Since Ziva came home in January? Eventually, Tali's sobs subsided a little.

'You feeling better, T?' asked Tony, stroking her hair. Tali shrugged her shoulders and pulled Kelev closer.

'Do you want a drink? Something to eat?' asked Ziva. Tali shrugged her shoulders again. Ziva kissed the top of her head and went to get out of bed, but Tali grabbed her hand.

'Don't go' she sniffed.

'I am only going to the kitchen, Tali' said Ziva. Tali still didn't let go of Ziva's hand.

'Why don't we go and sit in the living room. Then you can see the kitchen. Ok?' suggested Tony. Tali agreed and Tony carried her into the room.

Ziva came back with a tray. It had a glass of juice, two coffees and some pastries they had bought a couple of days ago.

'Slowly' said Tony, as Tali gulped her juice down. 'Feel better?' Tali shook her head. Tony and Ziva glanced at each other. Tony nodded, giving Ziva the go-ahead.

'Tali, I did not send you away because you were bad. I sent you to live with Daddy to stay safe.'

'But I heard you tell Daddy you sent me to him because I was bad.'

'No, baby' said Tony. 'You are not bad, Tali. You never have been.'

'But why?'

Ziva paused.

'There was person who bad did things. Someone else, not you. They very mean to me. You and Daddy came to live here in Paris to stay safe.'

'Is the bad person gone?' asked Tali, very quietly. Ziva nodded.

'Yes, Tali. They are gone. They can never hurt anyone ever again.'

Tali seemed close to tears again.

'Tali we love you' said Tony. 'You are the best part of mine and Ima's life.'

'You make me laugh' said Ziva.

'Me too. You make the best stories and games' said Tony. 'You could sit through an entire movie without getting bored by the time you were three.'

'You love to read, and you have the best book collection' said Ziva. 'You are kind and brave, my Tali. You made me my monster-fighting kit. Only my Tali could make that.'

Tony jostled Tali a little and Tali gave her parents the tiniest of smiles. Tony and Ziva gave Tali massive smiles in return, their eyes glassy from tears.

'We are going to stay right here' said Ziva. 'The three of us, here on this couch until you want to leave. Ok?' Tali gave a small nod and Ziva and Tony wrapped their arms around her again.

'Are you OK?' Tony asked Ziva over Tali's head. He was concerned about how Tali's confession would affect Ziva.

'I will be' replied Ziva.

Hope you like it.

The next chapter will be a continuation of this. I did a lot of research about children with anxiety and how to talk to them and support them. Again, I am not a parent,

Thank you for reading. See you soon