A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and alerts and subscriptions! It keeps me motivated to update and to keep writing! I was going to update with a different story but I had some inspiration from Valentine's Day so Happy Really Late Valentine's Day! :-*
Disclaimer: Isabella and Nahla are mine. That's it.
Valentine
"Happy Valentine's Day!" Isabella was the first one up which was very unusual, but then again it was normal for her to be the first one up on the special holidays; Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, her birthday.
"Good morning love," Ziva said sleepily.
"Prsmsdhtsoslzip," Tony said buried under the covers. Isabella giggled.
"Come on Daddy get up! Time to make pancakes!" she said jumping on top of Tony and shaking him with all her strength. Every year on Valentine's, he made special heart shaped pancakes topped with whipped cream and strawberries.
"Ok, ok I'm up I'm up!" Tony said throwing the covers off. He scooped Isabella off the bed and spun her around. She giggled and let her head hang down with her long sandy brown curls almost touching the floor. Just then Nahla joined in on the fun and climbed on top of the bed, barking happily.
"Nahla down!" Ziva didn't like when the dog jumped up on the bed without permission. Instead of listening though, she licked Ziva's face excitedly, urging her to get out of bed. It was almost time for her breakfast. Tony and Isabella giggled at Ziva's expense until she threatened Tony with bodily harm unless he didn't get the dog off of her. He set Isabella down and called for Nahla to follow him downstairs so he could feed her.
"Mama, can you put the pretty bow in my hair today?"
"Yes of course my love."
"Yay! Ok I'm gonna go get ready now. I can't wait to go to school today and eat my cupcakes!"
Since the private school Isabella attended went from kindergarten through twelfth grade, only the elementary grades were allowed to have little Valentine's celebrations if the teacher's allowed. Luckily, Mrs. Hurley, Isabella's 2nd grade teacher had agreed to a party. Isabella volunteered to make cupcakes, which really meant she got to pick out the flavor while her parents made them.
Ziva laughed and finally got up to start the day. Soon they were all down in the kitchen eating their special Valentine's Day breakfast, listening to the love ballads playing on the stereo in the den, of none other than Celine Dion. She was Isabella's favorite singer.
Bella hummed and ate happily. Her hair was slicked back into a nice ponytail topped with a big red bow. She couldn't wear her Valentine's outfit since she had to wear a uniform but it didn't make a difference to her. She was so concentrated on her pancakes and Celine, nothing could bring her down. Almost twenty minutes later, the David/DiNozzo clan were headed out the door and on to work and school.
When Bella arrived at school, she skipped inside her classroom with Ziva trailing behind holding the tray of cupcakes.
"Hi there!" Mrs. Hurley said cheerfully greeting Isabella and Ziva at the door to the class. "You're here very early today Miss Isabella."
"I wanted to show you the cupcakes me and Mama and Daddy made." Isabella said shyly. She absolutely adored Mrs. Hurley and was basically the class teacher's pet.
Ziva rolled her eyes playfully knowing full well Isabella only assisted in licking the bowl.
"Hello Miss David. It's good to see you again." Mrs. Hurley said extending her hand towards Ziva's free one.
Ziva winced inside. It bothered her a lot knowing she didn't have the same last name as her daughter or her significant other. She definitely wanted to fix that problem.
"It's good to see you too." Ziva said smiling. She and Tony tried to be as involved as possible in Isabella's school life-Parent Teacher Association and all that other good stuff-but with their work schedule, it wasn't always possible. Luckily Gibbs sympathized with them and always let one parent leave to attend school functions. The last time Ziva and Tony were able to attend a PTA meeting or program together, had been in December when the school had their annual Christmas pageant. The last PTA meeting had taken place in January. Tony had won best 2 out of 3 in a battle of rock paper scissors.
More students arrived with more parents holding various food trays and pots. Mrs. Hurley went and greeted all the parents while Bella eagerly showed Ziva all of her latest art projects and how much she loved her music class.
"And then we're learning this new song and Mrs. Carroll said that I could be in the musical if I practice really really hard!"
"That's wonderful my love!" Ziva said proudly. She loved hearing about her daughters' enthusiasm with all of her classes and school projects, but it was time to head to work. Gibbs understood that they couldn't be prompt all the time the way they used to, but he would be pissed if they were late two days in a row.
"I have to go now baby, but how but about you tell finish telling me and Daddy all about it when we come and pick you up?"
Isabella's green eyes widened. "You AND Daddy?"
"Yes. Me AND Daddy."
Bella squealed and jumped into Ziva's arms hugging her tightly and placing a great big kiss on her cheek. It wasn't often that he got to see both her parents when she got out of school. Most of the time, one picked her up from school and took her to ballet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while she only saw the other when they were tucking her into bed. The other times, she had a babysitter. Bella liked her babysitter, but she would rather be with her Mama and Daddy.
Bella jumped back out of Ziva's arms and started pushing her out the door.
"Isabella Noel what are you doing?"
"Making you go! If you leave fast then Uncle Gibbs won't make you and Daddy stay late! Hurry go Mama go!" Isabella knew her uncle all too well.
Ziva chuckle and headed out the door giving Bella one last kiss on the cheek before she completely kicked her out of her classroom.
"Oh wait Miss David before you leave I would like to speak to you about something." Mrs. Hurley said catching Ziva before she left.
"But Mrs. Hurley Mama has to go! If she doesn't go then Uncle Gibbs is gonna give them his Gibbs stare and then they're gonna have to stay late again, and then…" Now Ziva gave her famous stare. Isabella immediately quieted down and went back to her desk. She knew when not to play games with her mother.
"Yes?" Ziva asked anxiously. She knew Isabella was right about them being late.
"Well I can see that you're in a hurry so I think it would be best if we could set up a conference." Mrs. Hurley said when they were out of earshot from Bella.
"Is there a problem?" Ziva asked worriedly.
"I don't really want to call it a problem. Isabella's a wonderful student. I know as a teacher I'm not supposed to have favorites but she certainly is one of mine. Just keep that little detail between us." Ziva smirked. "But that's why I'm so concerned with her behavior lately. Here is my cell number and all my information and then some. Call me as soon as you can so we can set up a conference. I don't want to keep you any longer." She handed Ziva a folder with papers, and they said they're goodbye's.
"Ziva what took you so long? Gibbs is gonna have our ass if we're late again," Tony said in between bites of his mini powdered doughnuts when Ziva finally returned to the car.
"Bella's teacher needed to talk to me about something." Ziva said looking through the papers the teacher had given her.
"What about?"
"I am not sure. She said we needed to set up a conference with her as soon as possible," Ziva said still looking through the papers.
"What could possibly be wrong with Bella? The kid's practically a genius. She has the DiNozzo charm and good looks, your brain and crazy ninja skills. And that curly hair? Whoo! I love it!" Tony could brag all day about his daughter.
"Tony stop." Ziva said seriously.
"What? Come on we can brag about our amazing daughter if we want."
"Tony, I think we might have to take Bella to a behavior specialist."
Dun Dun Dun! Evil cliffhangers mwuahahahaha! It's not my best chapter but the next one will be better! So don't lose faith lol. And I'm so sorry it took so long for me to update! All of my professors made a secret pact and decided to overwhelm me with projects and essays and tests to study for. I promise I will do better at updating the next chapters to come! Keep the reviews coming! :]