Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS

'Hi.' Abby looked up and saw Tony standing in her lab. 'You OK?' he asked. Abby nodded, smiling slightly. It had been a strange day. Tony sat down on the chair next to her desk.

'I was thinking you should come for dinner, tonight.' Abby shrugged her shoulders. 'Come on Abs. Tali is dying to see you. She keeps asking when Babby's going to come and play with her.' Abby smiled at the nickname her goddaughter had given her. 'Ziva's making lasagne.'

'The spinach and mushroom one?'

'That's the one' said Tony, knowing that Abby's attention had been caught.

'My favourite' said Abby, a little smile growing on her face. Tony stood up, knowing he had her.

'How about it? You favourite lasagne and your favourite people in the whole world.' Abby stood up, grabbing her coat, bag and parasol.

'It has been a while since I've seen Tali and Ziva.'

'I thought I was your favourite' said Tony, protesting.

'Since when DiNozzo?' said Abby, laughing, as Tony followed her out of the lab.

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Tony walked into the apartment. Tali was playing near her toy box and Ziva was standing in the kitchen doorway.

'Guess who I brought home with me?' he asked Tali and Ziva. Abby stepped in.

'Babby!' cried Tali. She was excited to see her godmother.

'Tali-kins!' Abby replied, running over to join Tali by the toy box. Tali's current favourite thing to do was to stack building blocks on top of each other and then knock the tower down. She giggled every time the blocks fell.

Abby and Tali played a little bit longer before they ate dinner. Tali didn't exactly eat her lasagne, more spread it around her face and highchair table. After dinner, Abby played with Tali a little bit more. Abby loved having godchild. She was also Tori Palmer's godmother and the two girls where her first prayer every time Abby prayed.

Looking up, Abby noticed the time.

'I'd better go guys.' Abby went to stand up.

'No' cried Tali. She didn't want Babby to leave. The three adults gave Tali a sympathetic look. Abby pulled Tali over to her.

'I'll come and play with you soon Tali-kins' she whispered. 'I promise. You're my favourite person in the whole world.' Abby gave a kiss on the cheek and got up. Tali went over to Ziva who picked her up.

'You were right Tony' said Abby, as she put on her coat. 'Favourite lasagne and favourite people were a good idea.'

Abby had, unfortunately, a rather stressful day. What started as a promising field trip, to do research for a case, quickly turned into a suspected Ebola leak, which then quickly turned into a hostage situation with Abby on the wrong side of the situation. There was a reason why she was a forensic scientist, not a federal agent. However, the hostages were saved, the bad guys caught, and Abby went back to the familiarity of her lab.

When Abby got back to her lab after the whole incident, it felt like home. At the beginning of the day, Abby had wanted to move her lab to an office that didn't have views of people bunion, shake things up a bit. But after being away from it, not having the familiarity of it, Abby was now unsure if moving to another part of the building was a good idea. Spending time though, with people that she loved and adored was exactly what she needed.

Abby hugged Tony, and then Ziva and Tali.

'Say bye, bye to Abby' said Ziva to Tali.

'Bu-bu Babby' said Tali quietly, waving.

'Bye, bye Tali' said Abby again, waving. 'Thanks for dinner Ziva.' Tony closed the door as Abby left. Tali gave a massive yawn and rubbed her eyes.

'I think someone is very tired' said Ziva quietly, stroking Tali's hair. 'Do you to put her to bed?' she asked Tony. Tony smiled and took Tali off Ziva, who went to clean up dinner.

Tony had missed putting Tali to bed during those months where he was team leader. He didn't realise how important it was to a parent, to spend that time with your child, especially when they were young like Tali. Tony also didn't realise how long bedtime could take; brushing teeth, pyjamas and story time all took a lot longer than both Tony and Ziva realised before Tali was born.

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Tali twirled clumsily around in her Halloween costume before falling on the floor. This year she was a little lamb, complete with a little black nose that Ima had painted on and clip on ears in her hair. They were at Papa's, having gone trick or treating for the very first time in his building. Ima had dressed up as a cat burglar, pairing the cat ears from last year with her black leather jacket and a swag bag. Dada had dressed up as Maverick from Top Gun.

'Tony, are you coming?' called Ziva. Tony emerged from the bathroom, scratching at his neck. He had got Poison Oak from working at a crime scene a few days ago. 'Tony, stop scratching' said Ziva severely. 'You will only make it worse.' Senior checked his watched.

'You'd better get going if you don't want to miss Abby's party' said Senior. Senior had opted not to dress up this year. He wasn't going to Abby's Halloween party.

'Tony' said Ziva sharply. She had spotted him trying to scratch his neck again. 'Stop it. I will put some more lotion on it tonight.' Tony looked a bit sheepishly.

'Listen to her son. She's right. It'll only get worse.' Tony glared at his father and wife, and stormed off towards the front door. Tali giggled.

'Dada silly.' Ziva and Senior laughed.

'Yes, he is. Sometimes it feels like I have two toddlers, not one.' She bent down and picked up Tali. 'Shall we go and see Abby?' Tali nodded her head vigorously. 'Say bye-bye to Papa.'

'Bu-bu Papa' said Tali, waving at Senior.

'Bye, bye my little lamb' said Senior, kissing Tali on the cheek. Tali gave Senior a kiss too, and a big smile. Tali simply adored her Papa and the feeling was mutual.

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Abby's party had started by the time Tony, Ziva and Tali had arrived. Abby came over when she saw them, dressed as Velma from Scooby-Doo.

'Oh Tali, you look so cute as little lamb.' Tali reached out to grab the fake glasses Abby was wearing. Abby eventually took her off Ziva, going around the party, showing off Tali's costume to Ellie and Delilah who were chatting. Tony and Ziva wandered over to the drinks.

'Ellie seems happy' said Ziva. Ellie's husband, Jake, had been in Dubai when a terrorist attack had taken place. For far too long, Ellie did not know if her husband was alive or dead.

'Yeah, Jake's coming home in a couple of days. I think they're hoping to get away for a vacation.'

'I suppose with Jake travelling for the NSA so much and with what happened in Iraq, they didn't have much time together over the summer' added Ziva. They each had a drink in one hand, their free hands clasped tightly together, fingers interlocking.

It was great news that Jake was OK and was coming home, but the whole situation reminded both Tony and Ziva of that summer before Tali existed. The summer where Tony spent it following Ziva, criss-crossing the middle east, trying to avoid Benham Parsa and the Brotherhood of Doubt. They had spent almost four months not knowing if the other one was safe and unhurt. When Tony had been forced to retreat back to the US before finding Ziva, it had been some of the hardest days of their lives. During their reunion in Ziva's apartment, after they were both safely back on US soil, Tali had been created. Tali was proof of their love.

'Do you think they will be OK? Jake and Ellie?' asked Ziva. Tony kissed the top of his wife's head.

'I hope so' he said quietly. However, something gnawed at his gut.

In the show Abby does go to church, as does Pauley in real life.

Hope you enjoyed reading.

Happy Easter