Tony was nervously pacing back and forth behind his desk in the middle of the afternoon as well as the middle of a case. Watching him curiously, Ziva had her elbows up on her desk as she tapped her pencil against her temple.
Leaning back into her chair, Ziva shook her head then let out an amused sigh. "Your dad is going to get here tonight and pacing the floor will not make time go any faster. Actually," she smiled with a glimmer in her eye, "in my experience it slows time down."
Wrinkling his brow dramatically, he shrugged then sat at his desk. "Fine, but it sure is going to take a lot of effort to get through this case. Do you think the case will be wrapped up by tonight?"
Straightening back up towards her keyboard, she began to get back to work. "Well, if you focus on your own work then we just might!"
He decided to take his partner's advice and by the end of the day, any naval involvement was removed and the case was handed off to Metro. With Ziva, McGee, and even Gibbs wishing him good luck with his dad, Tony was headed to the airport to pick him up.
All the way home, Senior was chatting away about previous business accomplishments as well as ones he had high hopes of achieving in the future. Once they reached his apartment, Tony was ready to pull his eardrums out but he stayed calm and proceeded to take his dad's luggage up to his apartment. Once they both walked inside, Senior insisted on starting something up for their dinner while Tony got out of his work clothes then into his Ohio State sweats.
While Senior was cooking, Tony stood at the kitchen's island curiously, trying to figure out just why his dad had come to visit. Though he had come unexpectedly before, Tony had a strange feeling that this time was different.
After he had been starting off into space, he was shaken from his daydreaming by his father. "Junior…Anthony!" he tried a bit louder, finally getting his son's attention. "Dinner is ready," he smiled.
As the two were immersed in their family recipe for spaghetti, Tony was beginning to relax, thinking maybe his dad just wanted to be there with him but soon the quiet catching up was interrupted by Senior clearing his throat and almost glaring at Tony.
Looking strangely back at his father, Tony put his fork and knife down on his empty plate then leaned his head on his hand, determined to find out exactly why he was getting glared at and feeling like a teenager who had missed curfew.
Not having the patience any longer to wait and see what this visit and glaring was about, he rubbed his eyes from the late night. "Dad, I appreciate you calling this time to tell me you were coming but I don't know—uh…" he trailed off, not quite sure how to continue.
Tony was relieved when Senior soon picked up what he had attempted to start. "You want to know why I'm here," he said with somewhat questioningly but also with statement in his tone. A faint nod from Tony inclined his dad to continue. "I came because something is bothering me—has been bothering me for the past few years now."
"What's that?" Tony asked curiously.
"It's Ziva," Senior said quite bluntly.
"Ziva? Why are you worried about Ziva?"
A slight grin spread across Senior's face. "It's not Ziva I'm worried about. It's you."
Tony was a bit taken aback then cocked his head to the side. "Then why did you say Ziva and what are you worried about me for?" he asked, even more confused than before.
"I'm worried about both of you."
"But I thought you just said you weren't worried about Ziva!" Tony said, completely lost at where his dad was taking all of this.
"I'm not worried about her separately." A completely confused Tony compelled Senior to continue. "I'm worried about you two…together."
Tony's eyes widened as he shifted nervously in his chair. "The tw—two of us? There is nothing, I mean…we're just partners."
"Son, I may be old but I'm not blind. You'd have to be under a rock to not see the chemistry between you two."
Tony allowed his shoulders to relax a bit. "Well of course we have chemistry. We have to, we're partners, we have each other's backs."
"I'm not just talking about that kind of chemistry. Of course you two work well together but there is something more than just being co-workers, I can see it. Hell, everyone can see it."
"Are you saying you think we're…in love?" he forced himself to say.
"That's exactly what I'm saying and if you try to deny it then you are lying to yourself and the rest of the people that care about you, including Ziva."
Ignoring his dad's last statement since it was coming far too near the truth, Tony stood up and took his plate to the sink. "Why do you care so much about Ziva and I and this something you think we have?"
Senior took his plate and followed his son to the kitchen, shaking his head knowing that Tony was in complete denial. What hurt him was he knew that Tony took after himself in that aspect. "I care because one, you are my son and I'm concerned for your wellbeing and two, you two remind me of your mother and I." At the thought of his mother, Tony froze but kept listening to what his dad had to say.
"I don't want you to lose time with each other if you keep waiting for that perfect moment which will probably never come. Junior, love is something you end up just falling into and sometimes not even noticing it but if you want to take something to the next step, you have to jump in head first—taking that leap of faith. If you really do love Ziva like I think you do, then you should take that leap of faith and not lose any more time with her."
"Dad I…you're right. I do love her," Tony admitted. "I've known I've loved her since I thought I lost her in Somalia. I guess it's true that you only know you love someone when you let them go. I've been wanting to say something since then I just…I don't know what to say. I don't want to lose what we have now for something we could have."
Senior smiled and put a hand on his son's shoulder. "That is where the leap of faith comes in. I don't know much about love but I learned a lot about it when I married your mother. Since she passed away, I've never found that same love again and there isn't anything I wouldn't do to get that kind of love back again. It's an indescribable feeling to know that the one person you would give your life for would do the same for you."
Tony bit his lip then looked his dad in the eye. "What should I do? I've been trying to figure out just how to tell her, trying to get up enough courage."
"Tell her. Tell her exactly what you told me."
"When am I supposed to? I mean, I can't just go to her apartment and say that." he asked, depending on his father's advice more than he ever had before in his life, needing any support he could get.
Senior shrugged his shoulders then smiled. "And why not?"
Tony looked to his dad with a look of utter shock on his face but it soon turned into a big shock of realization that if he didn't do what he had to now he may never have the courage again. "I'll do it," he said happily but nervously at the same time.
As his son ran frantically to the door, grabbing his wallet and keys, Senior stood there with a big feeling of pride and happiness for his son, glad he was finally doing something that he himself would never be able to do again. Love like he had only came around once in a lifetime if people were as lucky as him.
Senior knew that tonight would be life-changing for his son and Ziva. It was a night that they would tell their children about one day, the day that daddy had finally come to his senses and swept this gorgeous woman off of her feet.
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this fun one-shot! As some of you may know, this summer is going to be extremely busy for me so it hurts me to say that this will be my last story of the summer. Not to worry, though! I shall continue writing during the summer whenever I get a chance and right when I get the opportunity, I'll be back publishing new stories! I have many ideas for many new stories so I look forward to when I am able to start publishing again! May you all have a fun and safe summer :) ~Lynn D.