Holding Onto Hope
By wanna-be-bold
AN: I cannot apologize enough for how late this chapter is. I had planned on getting this up a week and a half ago. I know I hate it when writers say this but, life REALLY got in the way of writing. With birthdays this month and classes getting ready to start life has been hectic. I promise not to just abandon this story, but updates will be less frequent (hopefully not as late as this one.) I would love to hear what you all would like to see in the story! I'll start taking thoughts and suggestions after this chapter so if you have any, leave a reply or send me a pm, and please leave a name so I can credit you if I use your ideas!
I wanted to get this chapter out ASAP so this has not been looked over by a beta.
Enough of me talking, here's chapter 6!
Ch 6
When Tony woke up at 8 am to the sound of pans crashing in his kitchen, his first instinct was to reach for his gun. He paused when he turned over and found the back of his couch instead of his nightstand. That's when the memories from last night came flooding back to him. He remembered the surprise of seeing Ziva on his doorstep after missing her for two years, then the complete and utter shock of finding out they had a daughter together from the night he left her in Israel. After stretching his sore muscles, he makes his way into the kitchen to see what Ziva is doing. He finds her with her back turned to him, looking through his cabinets.
"Good morning Ziva."
Slightly startled, Ziva turns around to say good morning to Tony before turning back to the cabinets.
"I am sorry Tony, did I wake you?"
"It was time for me to get up anyway. So, whatcha doin?"
"I hope you do not mind but, I thought I would make you breakfast to thank you for last night."
"Thanks Ziva but, what do you need to thank me for?"
Pausing her search for something edible in Tony's kitchen, Ziva turns around to face him.
"For not freaking out when I arrived last night. For accepting Tikva, and letting us stay here. I just, I cannot thank you enough."
"Ziva I told you, you don't have to thank me. I'm just glad that you're here, both of you. I mean, I was terrified when you first told me that we had a daughter, but now, after seeing her pictures and meeting her, I can't wait to get to know her."
"I cannot wait for you to spend time with her. She has a lot of your personality. And of course, your love for movies."
"She loves movies?"
"Oh yes, very much. She will pick up a movie from the shelf and bring it to me with these puppy dog eyes. I can never say no to her. We usually end up watching a movie every night at supper."
"So what's her favorite movie?"
"She loves many, especially the ones with that mystery solving dog."
"You mean Scooby Doo?"
"Yes, that is it, Scooby. She loves those movies, but the one she always goes back to is Mulan. It is really the only Disney princess movie I can watch multiple times."
"Wow, you know I never thought I'd see the day that Ziva David watched Disney princess movies."
"Yes well, I would do anything for her and it is her favorite."
Hearing her response, he immediately regretted his choice of words.
"Ziva, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it like that."
She takes a deep breath before responding.
"It is, it is okay Tony. I know you did not mean it like that. I am sorry that I took your statement out of proportion."
Tony decides it would be best to drop this line of discussion so he can learn more about Tikva before she wakes up.
"So Mulan then. What's it about?"
"Well, it is about a young Chinese woman who takes her father's place in the army by disguising herself as a man and ultimately saves the entire nation of China."
"I can see why she likes it, it reminds me of you. We should watch it."
"I think she would like that Tony."
"I would like that too. So, what are you making for breakfast?"
"Well, I was hoping to make pancakes, but it seems you do not have the necessary ingredients. Actually, you do not have much food at all."
"Yeah, um, I've been meaning to do some grocery shopping. I've been spending most of my time at the office, haven't really been home much. There's a store around the corner though, I could go get stuff for breakfast. What do you want me to get?"
"Some pancake mix, strawberries, bananas, apples, and anything you may want on your pancakes."
"Okay, I'll be back soon."
After he left, Ziva decided to take a quick shower before Tikva woke up and Tony got home. Now dressed and ready for the day, she picked Tikva up from her crib and carried her, along with some of her toys, to the living room then sat down on the couch to wait for Tony. Ten minutes later, he came through the door, arms laden with groceries. Setting Tikva on her play mat in the floor, Ziva gets up to help Tony carry his bags into the kitchen. She had only asked him to bring back a few items for her, so she was surprised when he showed up with twelve bags full of groceries.
"Did you clean out the store Tony?"
"Haha very funny. No, I got stuff for breakfast and figured I'd go ahead and buy food for the rest of the week so I wouldn't have to go shopping again."
"Oh, well that was very wise of you. If you would like I can start on breakfast while you put things away."
"Sounds good. Here's the pancake mix."
"Thank you. What would you like with your pancakes? I usually chop up fruit to add to mine and Tikva's. Or you could add something like chocolate chips."
"Why don't you surprise me?"
Taking Tony's suggestion to surprise him, she carefully examines everything Tony laid out for pancakes before remembering something she had brought with her, immediately coming up with a recipe that he would like. While Tony's back is turned to put away the groceries, she quickly runs to grab the desired item, bringing it back to mix it into his batter before making a healthy one for her and Tikva. Tony had just stepped out of his bedroom after taking a quick shower to find Ziva sitting their daughter down at the table and had to pause at how domestic the scene in front of him was and how right it felt. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and started again for the kitchen.
"Wow, something smells good in here."
"Have a seat Tony, I will bring you your plate."
Tony did as she asked and sat down across from Tikva as Ziva brought over his plate.
"These look amazing. What kind are they?"
"Chocolate malt."
"Where'd you get those from? I didn't have any here and I know I didn't buy any."
"I um, I had them with, from the plane."
Tony looks up at her amazed.
"You had chocolate malt balls on the plane?"
"Yes. I have been packing them with me every time I get on a plane since our little trip with the cyber terrorist."
"I – I can't believe you remembered. Thank you Ziva."
"You are very welcome Tony. Now, eat before your food gets cold."
"Yes ma'am." He jokes, giving her a mock salute.
Ziva brings over her plate and another smaller one with a cut up pancake and sits between her daughter and Tony.
"Did you sleep well last night nesicha (princess)?"
Tikva turns to her mother and nods her head before picking up a bite of her pancakes.
"Do you remember meeting your daddy last night?" Ziva asks as she points to Tony.
Tikva turns to look at Tony and studies him for a moment before turning back to Ziva and nodding again, still hesitant. This time, Tony decides to speak up.
"Good morning Tikva. Your Ima told me you like to watch movies." Tikva nodded at him and he took it as his key to continue. "I like to watch movies too. Do you wanna watch one today?" Tikva nods her head enthusiastically and signals to Ziva that she has finished eating.
"Well, it seems she likes that idea. But I did not bring any of her movies. Do you have anything for her to watch?"
"Of course."
"Alright then, I will go get her cleaned up while you get the movie ready."
As soon as Ziva leaves the room, Tony runs over to the bag he had hidden away earlier and pulls out one of many new movies for his daughter. He gets it put in the DVD player just in time for them to exit the bedroom.
"Are you girls ready for a movie day?"
"What are we watching Tony?" Ziva asks as she sets Tikva down on the couch and gets comfortable.
Tony crouches down in front of Tikva, speaking as if he's telling her a huge secret.
"Well, a little birdie told me that Mulan was your favorite movie," he said as he pulled out the case and watched Tikva's eyes get big, "so I thought we could watch it."
"Lan!" Tikva yells excitedly, clapping her hands.
Chuckling, Tony stands up and presses the play button. "I'll take that as a yes then." He sits down next to his daughter and soon gets comfortable. Before the movie starts, he looks over at Ziva whose eyes were glassy as she smiled at him. He smiled back, thinking how perfect this moment was before he turned back to the TV to enjoy the first of many movies with the two most important people in his life.
SO to ncis-loves-me for reminding me what Tony's favorite snack was!
AN: Thanks to everyone who is sticking with this story! It isn't finished yet! We still have some character development coming up and, what I'm sure you've all been waiting for, finding out who kept Ziva away for so long.
To my guest who wrote the long review, thank you so much for taking the time to read and review my story! Concerning Tony's emotions, we will definitely see him reacting to Ziva showing up but as for now, he's just happy to have her back and still kind of overwhelmed and in shock that she's actually there. And he's going to have a ton of questions for her that comes with some anger.