Tony picked up the bottle of wine from the kitchen counter, and walked past the dining table to the big window, where Ziva was standing.
She had the wine glass pressed to her lips, and a soft smile on her face.
Their street had been a stage earlier in the evening, with choruses of young people heading out for a much more exciting evening. Their neighbourhood was popular with students, and transplants to the city.
The netflix menu played on the television, still on mute. Tali's night light peeked out from behind her mostly closed door. The nightlight was star shaped, and Tony had never managed to make it work so it turned off after three hours, like the box promised it would.
Tali had gone to bed without too much fuss earlier, making a change from previous nights.
A brief period of regression is to be expected, Tony had read when he did a frantic google search about preparing kids for change, when Ziva sent her flight details.
Expect some clinginess, the website warned.
Expect disruption to routines, Tony had read, just roll with the punches.
Just roll with the punches, had been Tony's parenting philosophy from the start.
"Top up?" Tony asked, holding out the wine bottle.
Ziva's glass still had a splash of burgundy in the bottom.
Ziva shook her head. Her cheeks were rosy, and she was resting her spare hand on the windowsill.
"You okay?" he asked.
Ziva placed her glass on the windowsill. It had only been one night since they put the menorah away, and the windowsill looked so empty. The end of the holidays were so bittersweet.
"I have not had this much wine in a long time," Ziva declared, as a smile crossed her face. "Actually, I do not think I have had anything to drink for a very long time."
They were on their second bottle, and Tony had definitely had more than Ziva.
There would be sore heads in the morning. Mostly his.
Ziva always did better with hangovers.
"How long?" he asked, as he topped up his glass, and brought the glass to his lips.
Ziva looked out of the window, and up at the sky.
The fireworks were still over an hour away.
"I think the last time I drank was the night after we handed in our badges," Ziva declared. "That feels like a lifetime ago."
That was a lifetime ago.
Their daughters.
Tony was not surprised. Drinking was not one of Ziva's vices. When she first joined the team, she could drink him under the table, and like other people in their early twenties had a tolerance for shots.
Then after she came back from Somalia, everything was different. The team did less post-case trips to the bar, and when they did Ziva only ever had two drinks. She could not lose control.
Even on that night after they handed in their badges, Ziva had only had three vodka sodas, while he and McGee downed half a dozen beers each in quick succession.
He was not surprised that she had been temperate during their time apart. Her focus was only ever on the mission.
"No wonder your tipsy," he said, as he snaked his spare arm around her back. She was a stick, he should have forced more cheese on her, when they had their after dinner snack.
She leaned her head on his shoulder. He could smell her shampoo. It was coconut, different from the one she used to wear when they worked together. That apple sent had haunted him after he returned to D.C without her. He was once rendered completely silent when he smelt the artificial apple scent in a coffee shop, and found it on the barista whose dress sense was closer to Abby than Ziva.
"I am not," she said. A smile crossed her face.
Tony smiled back.
He had smiled so much more in the last ten days.
Ziva's smile broke into a yawn.
Wine always made her tired.
"I don't think Tali will be the only one who misses the fireworks," Tony said.
According to their five year old it was already the New Year. Tali had insisted that she be allowed to stay up to ring in the new year. Tony knew that their kid would be crashed out by ten, and would still be up with the sun on New Years Day. Tony also knew that if Tali did not get enough sleep, she would be terror the next day.
The family had settled into a New Years movie night, with popcorn and a cheeseboard. Tali even got some watered down grape juice, to match her parents wine.
When Tali's eyes started to droop, Tony quickly changed the time on the tablet, and played a fireworks display from Australia. Tali was easily fooled. She wished her parents a happy new year, and happily went to bed.
He and Ziva had settled in for a movie which did not involve cartoon characters, and Ziva had started to drift off, her head on his shoulder. The movie was supposed to be a funny one, but the humour fell flat.
Ziva was still struggling to sleep properly. The nights that Ziva managed to go to sleep, were often broken up by nightmares, and then when Ziva did settle back in, Tali usually found her way into bed with her parents.
When the movie had finished, Tony and Ziva had both gotten up to empty their bladders, and get more snacks. The movement seemed to have given Ziva a second wind.
"I think I will manage," Ziva said, as she reached for her wine glass. She took a small sip. There was a red stain above her lip.
Tony smiled.
They watched the street. Drunk young people spilled out of one of the apartment buildings. Even though it was freezing, they were wearing next to nothing.
Tony realised his daughter was closer in age to the merry students, than he was.
"I certainly drank enough for both of us," Tony said, his voice cracking. "While we were apart."
Ziva tensed up. Her head moving from his shoulder. She turned slightly, so that they were facing each other.
"I kinda understand all those Moms who drink things on the internet now," Tony said, as he put down his own glass of wine.
Ziva looked up at him with sad eyes. The same sad eyes that came over Tali, when they used to talk about Ziva, before she was home.
He saw so much of Ziva in Tali.
"I am sorry," she whispered.
Tony frowned.
When would Ziva stop apologizing?
It was water under the bridge.
They were together now, and that was all that mattered.
"You didn't make me drink," he said, softly. "It's always been a DiNozzo coping strategy, since the dawn of time. My Dad's best friends are Johnnie Walker and Jack Daniels."
Ziva nodded, and his face fell into a frown. Tony wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close.
"When I left you in Israel, it took me a lot of time to get my head straight, there were probably a few times I went to work with a sore head," Tony declared, his voice cracking as he spoke. "Then when it was just me and Tali here, I kinda missed adult conversation. Spending all day with a toddler solo is a lot. I got into the habit of a couple of classes on vino after bedtime. We're in France after all."
Ziva looked up at him, her eyes locked on his.
She could see right through him.
"You were lonely," Ziva said, her voice cracking.
"No," he said, shaking his head. "I had Tali."
Ziva's mouth opened, and hung open for a beat.
"You may not have been alone," Ziva said softly. "But, I know how lonely it can be when it is just you and Tali."
Anger bubbled up in Tony's stomach, Ziva did not have to be alone with Tali. He would have been on a plane the second she told him.
He gulped, trying to force the anger back down. He and Ziva had made promises that they would talk about things, once Tali was back at school and they had six hours a day by themselves to unpack the last six years.
"Maybe," Tony said. "I guess it's been a little hard here. I know you told me to lay low, but I was probably more closed off than I needed to be."
He watched as Ziva took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly.
"You should not have had to put your life on hold," she uttered.
Tony pulled her closer.
"I'd do it all over again," Tony said. "If it means we got to all be together."
Ziva's lip quivered.
"These last few years have been hard for all of us," Tony said. "But it's gonna be better now."
Ziva gave him a soft smile.
"And, I've had some great moments in the last few years too," Tony declared. "Our kid is all kinds of amazing."
Ziva smiled, a full beam of a smile, then looked toward Tali's bedroom door, with a soft look on her face.
"She is," Ziva replied, as she turned back to him.
They lingered for a few moments. Eyes fixed on each other. They said a thousand things without speaking a word.
Ziva got up onto her tip toes and pressed a kiss onto Tony's lips.
"Happy New Year," Ziva declared, as she took her lips off of his.
Tony was stunned into silence for a second.
"You're a little early," he finally said, with a smile.
The fireworks were only inside the apartment.
"According to our daughter it is already 2020," Ziva said, as she moved closer to him and placed another kiss on his lips. This kiss was longer, and sweeter.
He had dreamed of her lips of on his for years, and the kiss had been everything he had imagined it to be, and more.
The kiss broke apart, and Ziva smiled up at him.
"Are you okay?" she asked, as she placed her hand on his forearm. "With this?'
They were taking things slow.
Tali would always be their number one priority.
Everything was for her.
"Yeah," he said, his voice heavy. "Are you okay with this?"
Ziva nodded. Her eyes glimmered, and a smile crossed his face.
"Yes," Ziva said.
Tony reached for her, and pulled her close.
The voice in the back of his head told him to slow down. It had only been two weeks since Ziva had come home. They were still finding their way to each other.
They had not kissed like this yet. Not with desire dripping from them.
Slowly, he told himself.
"I do want to see the fireworks," Tony said, "We usually get a good view here."
Hurt washed over Ziva for just a second. She untangled herself from him, and turned back toward the window.
"Did you want more wine?" Tony asked, as he picked up the bottle.
"No," Ziva said, as she looked out of the window. A quiet hung in the air. "There was no wine in the house until today."
Tony poured the last of the wine into his glass.
"No," Tony said, as he took a sip of the wine. "There were a couple of times where I woke up with a sore head, and realised that our kid doesn't have an off switch."
Ziva put her hand in his and squeezed it.
"I realised pretty quickly that I was in danger of becoming like my Dad, and didn't want Tali to grow up like that," Tony said, as he thought of how much his father had changed. "So, I decided to only buy booze when there was something to celebrate. It wasn't an addiction, it was just a habit. It was easy enough to go cold turkey."
A habit that was easy enough to break.
"This time last year, I had a couple of wines while I was waiting for the fireworks. I fell asleep before they started, and woke up to Tali shaking me awake," Tony said, grimacing at the memory. "Dinner hadn't agreed with her. She's hard enough to deal with when she is sick, but it was even worse with me on like no sleep, and being a little worse for wear."
Ziva grimaced.
"Next time she gets sick," Ziva uttered, her voice getting distant. "I will look after her."
She still thought she had something to make up for.
"We will look after her," Tony said. "Together. Looking after her isn't a burden. I love her. Even when she is throwing up on me."
Ziva was quiet for a moment.
"I always knew you would," Ziva said softly. "I knew you would be a good father."
That anger from earlier bubbled up again.
Tony gulped it down.
He thought he had put that anger away, a long time ago.
Tony reached for Ziva, and placed a kiss on her lips.
The electricity from earlier came back.
Screw slow, he wanted her. He wanted all of her now.
They had waited so long for this.
"I thought you wanted to see the fireworks," Ziva said.
Tony smiled, there were enough fireworks between them.
"I"ve seen New Years fireworks a few times now," Tony said, with a smirk. "I think I can skip these ones."
Ziva's hand ran under his t-shirt, and up his back.
His body tingled.
God, he missed her.
So damn much.
"I've missed you," he said, as she looked at her. "So much."
"I have missed you too," Ziva said.
Tony placed an urgent kiss on her lips.
"We should take this to the bedroom," Tony said.
Ziva nodded, and took his hand.
"Daddy," a voice called out.
Ziva and Tony turned around, and found Tali standing in the doorway of her bedroom. There was a wet spot on the front of her pyjama pants. Tony's nostrils picked up a familiar smell.
It had been a long time since she had an accident.
Regression, he reminded himself.
"Daddy," Tali called out again. Her lip quivered. Her face flushed red with shame. "Ima."
Ziva rushed toward their daughter, she reached her, and bent down so she was at Tali's eye level. Ziva placed a hand on Tali's back, and waited for her reaction. Tali was a bit tentative with her mother. Ziva knew enough to let Tali lead the way.
"Daddy," Tali gulped. Tears ran down her face. "I'm sorry."
Tali then let out a huge sob that was too big for her little body . Ziva wrapped her arms around Tali, and she did not resist. Tali buried her head into Ziva's shoulders.
"It is okay," Ziva whispered. "It was an accident."
Tali's eyes stared at him. Deep into his soul.
Tony was suddenly stone cold sober.
By the time fireworks filled the Parisian sky, Tony and Ziva were in bed. Tali was laying between her parents, having finally drifted off to sleep. Her little snores filled the bedroom. Ziva rubbed rhythmic circles into Tali's back, for her comfort as much as Tali's.
Tony read the results from google search about bed wetting in five year olds, and watched as the time changed from 2359 to 0000.
"Ziva," Tony whispered, as he moved his phone to the nightstand.
Ziva turned so she was facing him.
"Happy New Year," he declared, his words punctuated by a yawn.
"Happy New Year," she replied, a sleepy smile on her face.
A/N:
I don't own a thing.
Thank you for all of the love this fic has received so far.
Just to clarify, I'm not making Tony an alcoholic. He just got into a bit of a habit of drinking every night, and decided he did not want to continue. Tony's life while Ziva was in hiding will be revisited later on.
Next chapter, will focus on the teething issues our little family are going through.
Fear not our dynamic duo will have some alone time to rekindle their relations in a future chapter. Also, I promise we'll have some happy moments for our favourite family.