Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS.

I've never been pregnant and therefore never given birth, but I've spent time with young children and babies.

Ziva gazed down at the face of her daughter. She never fully realised the love that a parent could have for its child until she met her daughter.

Ziva's labour and delivery had gone textbook smoothly. At around 8pm Ziva had started to feel some discomfort but it wasn't until her waters broke 45 minutes later that she realised she was in labour. Everything had been set up for a couple of days, the pool just needed to be filled with water. Ziva started the breathing techniques that she had learnt in the birthing classes and Tony called the midwife and Callie. Around 9.30pm, Callie arrived. This helped Ziva. She was feeling anxious, even though she and Tony had been prepping for weeks.

At first, the idea of a home birth sounded scarier than giving birth in a hospital, surrounded by doctors, but after copious amounts of research, Tony and Ziva changed their minds. Tony didn't really get a say in the matter. He wasn't the one who had to push a baby out of his body. Ziva liked the idea of a home birth. She felt more relaxed at home and more control over the whole situation.

The midwife turned up and Callie went home, leaving them to it. Everything was going smoothly and continued to do so. At 1.05am, Ziva finally gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl. The pool had been drained and packed away. The midwife gave the baby her checks and helped Ziva with the first feed. She left about 5.30am. It was now 7.30am.

Tony stood in the doorway to their bedroom staring at the incredible sight. The woman he loved so desperately cradling their daughter. Daughter! He remembered holding her for the first time, knowing that he would never forget it. Tony had always been impressed by Ziva's talents: her martial arts and language skills, but watching her give birth to their daughter the way she did, Tony was in complete awe. He had never seen anything like it.

'Hey.' Ziva's voice knocked Tony out of his daydream. 'Is that food? I am starving.' Tony walked over to the bed and placed the plate near Ziva. He sat down and draped an arm around her. The little baby yawned a little.

'She's perfect' he whispered, looking at his daughter

'I know' agreed Ziva. 'I still cannot believe she is here at all.'

'You were amazing' said Tony, kissing the tope of Ziva's head. Ziva picked up some grapes from the plate next to her, her engagement ring glistening in the early morning sunlight.

'Are you sure about the name?' asked Tony.

'As long as you are.'

'Tali Joy DiNozzo.'

'It is perfect Tony.'

'Nah, she's perfect.'

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Gibbs was, as per usual, in his basement. He wondered why people were so surprised to find him there. It was his house.

'Boss?'

'McGee? What are you doing here?' Tim waved his phone.

'I got a message from Tony. I thought you'd like to see it.' Tim handed his phone over as Gibbs put on his glasses. On the screen was a picture of a small baby girl, in her mother's arms. The message read 'A very tired, but beautiful Ziva gave birth to our daughter, Tali Joy DiNozzo at 1.05am 28th June 2014.'

'Tony sent it about an hour ago but I knew you wouldn't get it on that flip phone of yours so I thought…'

'Thanks Tim.'

'I guess Tony won't be in the office for the next few weeks.'

'No, I guess not' replied Gibbs, the corners of his mouth turning upwards into a smile.

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There was a knock at the door. Ziva opened it to find Senior standing on the other side.

'Hiya Grandpa' she said. Senior grinned at being called grandpa.

'Ziva! You look beautiful.' He stepped into the apartment and hugged her. 'How are you?'

'Tired, still a bit sore, but good.' Ziva was smiling. 'Come and meet Tali.'

'Where is she?' he asked, eagerly.

'Tony went to get her.' They walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa. Tony walked in from the bedroom, a tiny bundle in his arms.

'Hi dad' Tony said quietly. Senior stood up as Tony passed the bundle to his father. 'This is Tali.' Senior sat back down on the sofa.

'Hi Tali' he whispered. 'I'm your grandpa.' He paused, completely taken by his little granddaughter. For the second time in his long life, Senior was experiencing instant unconditional love. The first time had been when his wife handed his baby son over to him. Now, forty years later, his son handed his baby granddaughter over to him. Once upon a time Senior had hoped for grandchildren, but as he and Tony got older, plus their strained relationship, Senior wondered if he would see grandchildren. When Ziva told him that she was pregnant with Tony's child, Senior was over the moon. Now, he was sitting in his son's home, holding his beautiful granddaughter.

'Dad, you OK?' aske Tony. Senior had become very silent, very quickly. He looked up and nodded.

'Yeah, I just wish your other was here, Junior. She would have been a wonderful grandmother.' Ziva and Tony exchanged glances. Tony had started talking more about his mother in the past few months.

Senior brushed a finger lightly over Tali's cheek, her big eyes staring up at him.

'She is perfect' he said quietly. 'And the name, Tali Joy. It's perfect as well.' Senior looked up at Ziva, who was grinning. Senior remembered meeting Ziva for the first time, four years ago. He did not know his son that well then, but Senior heard how Tony talked about her, how he looked at her. Senior knew his son had feelings for Ziva, and every time Senior saw the two of them together, he saw both of them fall deeper in love. His own loved for his future daughter-in-law grew every time he saw her, and now she had given him a grandchild.

Senior stayed for the rest of the day, baby Tali glued to him, unless she needed feeding, in which case she was handed back to her mother. It was getting close to 9pm. Ziva and Tali had disappeared into the bedroom. Tali was quite clearly getting tired, and needed feeding before going to sleep. That left Tony and Senior alone. They had finished dinner and were sitting at the table.

'You should know something Junior.'

'What's that dad?'

'I've updated my will.' Tony looked at his father. 'Originally you were my sole beneficiary, but I've made a couple of changes. You are still my main beneficiary Junior, but there are now provisions for Ziva and Tali.'

'Dad, I don't know what to say.'

'You don't have to say anything Junior. I wanted to do it. If you and Ziva have more children, I will change it again.' Tony smiled. Senior paused. 'I would like to visit more often, as well' he added.

'To see Tali?'

'And you, Junior. The three of you are kind of a package deal now.' Tony laughed. He had never really had a 'package deal' family before. Even when his mother was alive, Senior travelled for work and Tony had very few memories of the three of them together.

'I'd like that Dad' finished Tony. The bedroom door opened and Ziva came back out.

'Tali asleep?' asked Tony. Ziva nodded.

'For now.'

'She's a doll, Ziva' said Senior. Ziva grinned. She loved hearing people compliment Tali. Senior had not stopped all day. 'You tow going to get married now?' he asked. Granted Tony and Ziva had only been engaged for three months, technically, but very little of their relationship had been done in the traditional order.

'Dad, can we let Tali get a little older first? She's barely a week old.' Senior laughed.

'I'm sorry you two. I'm a big ball of love today.

'Tony goes back to work at the beginning of August' said Ziva. 'Then we'll start to make definite plans.'

'This has been the best 4th of July, ever!' declared Senior.

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Tony sat on the sofa. One arm was on his daughter, sleeping on his chest. His other arm was draped over his fiancée. They were watching a mini James Bond movie marathon. It was his birthday, and what he wanted to do more than anything was to watch a film with his girls. The film ended and Ziva switched off the TV.

'Hey!'

'I have something for you.' Ziva leant over the arm rest and pulled out a wrapped present.

'Zi, I told you, you didn't have to get me something. It's only been ten days since Tali was born.'

'I wanted to Tony. You'll like this. Trust me.' Tony passed Tali over to Ziva and unwrapped his present. It was a framed photo of himself, Ziva and Tali. His father had taken it when he visited a couple of days ago.

'Your dad emailed it to me and I got Callie to print it off frame it for me. Thought you might want it for your desk.' Tony did not know what to say. He leant forward and caught Ziva's lips in a kiss. He loved her so much.

'I don't need anything else, Zi. I've got my girls and you're all I need.' He kissed her again. 'Forty-one is definitely the best birthday I have ever had.'

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Towards the end of Tony's paternity leave, Tony and Ziva invited the rest of team Gibbs over to meet Tali. Ducky, Abby, Ellie, Tim, Jimmy and Gibbs came over for dinner one night and most of them fussed over the baby. Tali was passed between Abby, Ellie, Jimmy and Ducky as if they were playing pass the parcel. Tim, who had practically no experience with babies, was reluctant to hold one so young and small.

Ziva was happy to see the team. She, Tony and Tali had ventured out for short walks over the past five weeks, but the only people she had seen had been the midwife, Callie and Arthur. Ziva was enjoying having other people to talk to. She missed her friends and wondered how much they would actually see each other now that Tali was here.

Tali started fussing after being passed around one too many times and so she was handed over to Tony, who sat very comfortably on the sofa, Tali lying on his chest, his free arm draped over Ziva's shoulders. Gibbs couldn't help but think that Tony seemed to be a natural. Granted it was with his own child and she was five weeks old now, but Gibbs recalled a time when Tony was scared of young children. He himself had been nervous when he first met Kelly. He had been deployed when she was born and by the time he return, Kelly was almost five months old.

A couple of days after Tony's birthday, Tony and Ziva invited Gibbs over for dinner and to meet Tali. When he arrived, Ziva handed Tali over to him. Gibbs was taken aback by the little baby. Memories of Kelly came flooding back to him. Kelly had been bigger and older, but there was something about Tali that Gibbs struggled to put his finger on. Maybe it was because Tony and Ziva wanted him to be an honouree grandfather. Maybe it was the numerous hopes and dreams that everyone seemed to have for Tali and her parents. Hopes of family life better than what her parents had. Like Senior, when Gibbs held Tali, he too experienced instant unconditional love for the second time in his life.

It was this visit that Gibbs brought the gift he had been working on. It was a toy chest, with Tali Joy painted on the lid. It fit perfectly in the corner of the lounge. Inside, were wooden letters that also spelt out her name. The final gift in the chest was a baby blanket. A note pinned to it explained that Shannon had made the blanket when she was pregnant with Kelly. That had been the final straw for Ziva, who hugged Gibbs tightly as tears welled up.

It started to get late and everyone was beginning to make their way home. Tony and Ziva asked Abby if she would stay behind for a little bit.

'What is it guys?' she asked, her usual bouncy self. Tony and Ziva looked at each other and smiled.

'We wanted to know' began Tony. 'If you would consider being one of Tali's godmothers?'

Abby's face grew into the biggest smile that either Tony or Ziva had ever seen. The three of them new that as godparents, Abby, Callie and Callie's husband Andrew, would play no religious role in Tali's life, but if something did happen to either Tony or Ziva (touch wood), they wanted those three people fighting for Tali. Abby threw herself onto both Tony and Ziva, Tali asleep in the baby rocker next to them. Tony and Ziva too Abby's hug to mean yes.

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Ellie and Tim were standing by Tony's desk, smirking. He was fast asleep, his head propped up by his hand. It was Tony's first day back after Tali had been born and he was playing catch up with work and apparently sleep too. Gibbs walked by and smiled at the sight of Tony asleep. He knew exactly why; still he couldn't help but have some fun.

'DiNozzo' he barked. Tony jolted awake. Tim snickered.

'Yes boss?'

'Sleeping on the job?'

'No boss. It's just that Tali refused to sleep last night, therefore neither did Ziva or I.' Tony saw Gibbs' eyebrow raise. 'Shutting up now boss. Going back to work now boss.'

When Tony got home that night, he found Ziva on the sofa, working on her laptop.

'How was work?' she asked jokingly as he collapsed on the sofa next to her.

'Exhausting' he said. 'I even fell asleep.' Ziva laughed. 'Where's Tali?'

'Asleep.' Ziva picked up the baby video monitor.

'How are you?' Tony had been a little nervous going back to work after Tali's birth. For the first month of Tali's life he had been there to help Ziva in whatever way she needed. Now, she had to do it by herself. It had been something that concerned both of them before Tali arrived. Ziva spoke about it to her midwife, and the woman who ran the birthing class they went to.

'I'm OK. We went over to Callie's for lunch and playdate with Arthur. Tali slept, fed and pooped. I slept, fed and'

'Pooped?' finished Tony. Ziva hit him jokingly and laughed. 'I've been thinking more about my idea. Talked about it with Callie.'

'Going to school?' asked Tony. Ziva nodded.

'I was thinking about researching photography classes. Try and find something in DC.' Tony grinned at her. He was so proud of Ziva. She had left NCIs a year ago not knowing what she wanted to do. A year later she was working for an NGO that she loved, helping people who needed it the most, and would be returning in the new year when her maternity leave was over. Ziva was also going to go back to volunteering at the woman's shelter, even though she had cut it down to one morning a week. Now, she was toying with the idea of further training. Both Ziva and Tony had learnt the basics of exposure and lighting due to their training at NCIS. Ziva just needed to learn how to move from taking pictures of dead bodies and evidence to taking pictures of smiling faces and landscapes. What she had done in the past few months showed the burgeoning talent that was in Ziva.

Ziva reached out and pulled Tony towards her by his tie. She kissed him, Tony deepening the kiss. The kiss broke and they rested their foreheads against each other.

'God, I love you Ziva' breathed Tony.

'I love you too Tony' whispered Ziva. Tony kissed her again. Tali started making noise over the baby monitor, indicating to her parents that she had woken up. 'Do you want to get her?' asked Ziva. Tony grinned and went into the bedroom. Tali was lying in her bassinet on Ziva's side of the bed.

'Hello baby' Tony said softly, picking Tali up and placing her on his chest. 'Did you miss me? I sure missed you today.' Tali made a noise that Tony took to mean yes. They went back into the living room and sat down on the sofa. Ziva made dinner, happy to give Tony some time with Tali, before the three of them settled down in front of the TV.

Later that night Tony looked over at Ziva. She was feeding Tali, and Tony was suddenly overcome with emotion. So much had changed in twelve months. They had spent summer 2013 separated across the globe. Tony hated to think that if Ziva had not come back, if they had not reunited, Tali would not exist.

'What is it?' asked Ziva. She looked a little concerned. Tony leant forward and kissed the top of her head.

'Just a thought I had. The difference between this summer and last summer. How much we've changed.' That caused tears to well in up Ziva's eyes. She too had thought about it, earlier that day after talking to Callie. They had both had taken steps to not live in the past, for their lives and Tali's. They had opened up to people, made new friends and became closer with old ones. The things they had done in the past year made them healthier and stronger as a family.

Hope you enjoyed reading this.