Sadie studied herself in the bedroom mirror. She wanted to rip off her hot pink Mighty Mouse shirt but the other clothes in her wardrobe weren't much better. She could not believe her parents were still buying her clothes from the Gymborie and other kiddie stores. She hated having to listen to screaming toddlers and the soundtrack to "Frozen 5" while she shopped for clothes. While her friends were all shopping at Forever 21 and other teenager stores. Even Uncle Jimmy had started to let Emma dress like a teenager and not only was he super over protective of her but also Emma was three months younger than Sadie and wouldn't be thirteen for another two months. Even worse it was clear to her that she was ready for a training bra but her dad kept saying that she still just needed an under shirt.
"Are you ready for school, Sadie?" Ziva asked.
"Yes I am, Ziva." Sadie replied.
"What did you just call me?" Ziva asked.
"Ziva it's your name." Sadie replied.
"That may be but you have always called me mom, mommy, or Ima." Ziva replied.
"Well you are not my mom and all my friends with step-parents call them by their first names. Why should we be any different?" Sadie asked.
"If you want to call me Ziva that is fine it just took me by surprise is all." Ziva replied.
"While we are talking Ziva I want you and dad to..." Sadie started.
"Ziva phone!" Tony yelled from downstairs.
"We will talk later Sadie OK? Ziva asks.
Sadie wished that she had gotten a chance to say something to Ziva about being treated like a baby. It wasn't just the clothes. Her parents wouldn't let her ride the bus. Being a car rider wasn't so bad when she was in elementary school and she could carpool with Jimmy and Emma but now that they were in middle school it was down right humiliating. Emma was lucky Jimmy had gotten remarried to a teacher and Franklin Middle and they moved to a house two blocks from the school. Hopefully things would change by the time she started high school next year. She smoothed out her shirt and walked downstairs.
"Dad? Ziva? May I talk to you?" Sadie asked.
"Ziva is still on the phone but I am here." Tony replied.
"I need new clothes!" Sadie cried.
"We just bought you new clothes last month when you started eighth grade." Tony commented.
"I know but they are baby clothes!" Sadie cried.
"They were in the girls section." Tony replied.
"Yes but they have stupid cartoons on them and I need a training bra." Sadie explained.
"Sadie those are mosquito bites." Tony said.
"That is so disgusting dad! They are breasts! Just say it I have breasts and they need a training bra! Even Emma has a training bra!" Sadie cried.
"Sadie I am sorry..." Tony apologized.
"No! I don't want to hear it! I am becoming a woman deal with it Tony!" Sadie yelled.
"Don't ever call me that again!" Tony snapped.
"TONY! TONY! TONY!"Sadie yelled storming back upstairs.
Tony watched as his daughter stormed upstairs. He was in denial but it was getting harder and harder to ignore. His baby girl was becoming a woman. She had lost her baby fat long ago and was transforming from a skinny little girl to a woman with curves, hips, and worst of all real breasts. He knew she had outgrown her kiddie clothes but he wasn't ready for her to wear the shirts and pants that made it obvious that she was a girl. A girl who was smart and athletic, feminine but not prissy. The type of girl he would have tried to get into his bed in college and high school. High school where Sadie would be going next year.
"I heard shouting what is going on?" Ziva asked.
"Sadie and I had a fight." Tony replied.
"Really? You and Sadie never fight." Ziva commented.
"She thinks I treat her like a baby and she is right." Tony sighed.
"She is thirteen." Ziva reminded.
"I know but I am not ready for her to be a woman and to bring home guys like me." Tony explained.
"Well we have to face that." Ziva replied.
"Easy for you to say. Just wait until Jack becomes a teenager and wants to start dressing like one and thinking about girls." Tony replied.
"Tony, Jack never will want to dress like a teenager and we will never know if he is thinking about girls. He cannot use his limbs, see, or talk. He only grunts when he can." Ziva reminded.
"It's hard Z, one kid is growing up and the other is frozen in time. He hasn't grown in two years but Sadie has grown what seems like two years in two months." Tony commented.
"They said all kids were different but ours are very different." Ziva observed.
"Back to Sadie what should we do?" Tony asked.
"I will take her shopping for some new clothes this afternoon." Ziva replied.
"Great I can leave Jack with Gibbs and we can go as a family." Tony replied.
"No Tony this is going to be a girls only trip. From now on I will take Sadie to buy all her clothes. I will help her get the right sized bra and offer advice when I can but you will stay at home, take Jack to the music shop to listen to the piano, or go shopping for yourself but shopping is going to be for me and Sadie only." Ziva explained.
"So that's it me and Sadie are over? I have done all can for her?" Tony asked.
"No Tony you will coach her soccer team, show her what a man should be and when the time comes put the fear of God in her dates and comfort her when her heartbreaks." Ziva explained.
"Gibbs is right being a dad is only going to get harder." Tony sighed.
"Oh yeah" Ziva agreed.
Sadie was curled up on her bed. She had sent a quick test to Ivy complaining about her parents and then threw her phone down on her bed. At this point she was lucky to have a real phone. Even if her parents had shut off date and WiFi. At least she could text and make calls.
"Sadie? May I come in?" Ziva asked.
"Sure" Sadie sniffed.
"Your dad and I were talking." Ziva explained.
"Let me guess I am grounded for a year." Sadie guessed.
"No you will apologize for being so mean to your father but you do have a point. You are a growing girl and should be treated as a teenager. You and I will be going clothes shopping for some more age appropriate clothes and a few training bras." Ziva explained.
"Really?" Sadie asked.
"Yes we have also agreed that starting Monday you can ride the bus to school. You will still have to go over to Emma's after school but you are ready for more independence." Ziva explained.
A/N: Sadie is really growing up isn't she? Tragedy strikes the family in the next chapter. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.