Ziva continued to look out the kitchen window as she was just finishing up drying the last plate from lunch; Tony 's sandwich still sat at his place at the table untouched. Ziva had been unsuccessful in getting Tony to take a lunch break and to her it looked as though little if any progress had been made on the swing set.
It did not help matters that Ben was asking Tony every few minutes if he was finished yet causing the usually mild mannered man to raise his voice at his son sending little Ben into the house crying.
"Mommy, daddy mad at me and send me away", Ben cried as he fell into Ziva's chest as she kneeled down to console her little boy.
"Oh Ben, daddy is just frustrated and I am sure he is not mad at you", Ziva said as she kissed the top of Ben's head and brushed the falling tears from his cheeks with her dish towel.
"Yes he is, he yell at me and told me to go away", Ben said and cried louder as if hearing it a second time hurt his feelings all over again.
Just then the doorbell rang and Ziva carried a still sobbing Ben with her to answer it. Standing on the front porch was Gibbs.
Ziva took one look at Gibbs and said, "Thank God you are here, he is driving us crazy". I can't get him to take a break and come in for lunch and he is snapping at both me and Ben and will not allow either of us in the backyard.
"Daddy be mean, he need take timeout", Ben added as he reached his arms out for Gibbs to take him.
Gibbs carried Ben over to the window and looked out to see his senior field agent sitting on the lawn, surrounded by colorful pieces of metal and plastic all in disarray. Tony had the swing set box propped up in front of him, apparently he had given up on trying to follow the directions and was now attempting to assemble the swing according to the picture on the box.
Gibbs handed Ben back to Ziva and said, "I will handle it". Gibbs opened the patio door and he walked up to where Tony sat and smacked the back of his head, causing Tony to drop the two pieces he was trying to force together. "What the hell", Tony said as he turned around to look and see who had hit him.
"Oh, hi boss", Tony said rubbing the back of his head.
"That was for making your son cry", Gibbs said as he studied the mess strewn around the lawn.
"Sorry about that, but he kept getting in the way and asking questions. He kept moving pieces around getting me mixed up and besides I asked Ziva to keep him inside but she never does what I ask", Tony said as he waved his arms around very animated.
Gibbs bent down and picked up the swing set directions and calmly said, "DiNozzo, go inside and eat your lunch.
"But I'm not finished yet boss, I…. "
"DiNozzo…lunch…now! Gibbs said much louder this time. He had no intention of making Tony look bad in front of his son and wanted Tony to get most of the credit for building the swing set but at the same time he needed some time to sort out the rather big mess Tony had managed to create.
Tony stood up and dropped the two pieces to the ground that he had been working on and made his way inside the house. He walked over to the kitchen sink and washed his hands wondering where Ben and Ziva were. Just then Ziva entered the kitchen and saw Tony at the sink.
"I see you have finally come in for lunch", Ziva said as she watched Tony take his seat at the table. She poured him a glass of lemonade and placed it next to his sandwich and chips.
"Thanks", he muttered as he picked up his sandwich and took a rather large bite. He looked around the room and asked, "Where's Ben"?
"He is upstairs lying down", Ziva said as she sat down at the table with her husband. "You know he is not used to you raising your voice with him".
"I know and I am sorry. I will apologize when he wakes up", Tony said as he took a sip of lemonade.
"That will make him happy, especially if you let him help you, he treasures the times you two do things together", Ziva said as she reached across the table and took Tony's hand in hers.
Tony sighed, suddenly feeling ashamed at his behavior. "I'm sorry I yelled at you guys and kicked you out of the backyard". He paused to take another big bite of sandwich, "It just turned out to be a lot harder than I thought and I wanted to do this on my own for our son and..." Ziva looked across the table at her husband and said, "Gibbs is only here to help, you can still do most of the work yourself".
"You don't think he will mind"? Tony asked.
Ziva smiled at her husband saying, "I think he enjoys showing you how to do things. Just look around our house and yard at all the things you two have built together. You know Gibbs would never come right out and say it, but you mean a lot to him".
Tony looked at Ziva surprised, "You really think so"?
"I know so", Ziva said with confidence.
Tony's grin lit up the room and Ziva could tell Tony was ready to get back to his project.
"So, does that mean I can join you in the backyard and plant my flowers now? I promise I will not get in your way", Ziva said as she smiled at Tony.
"Sure, you were never really in the way, I was just…you know how I sometimes get", Tony said as he got up from the table, placing his empty plate and glass in the sink. Then, with a quick kiss placed on Ziva's cheek he said, "Tell Gibbs I will be back in a few minutes, I need to go to the store real quick", and with that a shocked Ziva just shook her head, wondering what her husband was up to now.
Ziva turned and looked at the plate and glass sitting in the sink. She could not for the life of her understand why her husband could not simply open the dishwasher and place the items inside. She was beginning to wonder if he even realized the appliance was there.
About one hour later, Ben was up from his nap and he and Ziva had just joined the men out back. Ben was excited to see the progress that had been made on his swing set while he was napping but he was hesitant to go over to take a closer look. Tony noticed this and knew he had to do something. He walked over to Ben and scooped him up, tossing him in the air. Ben loved when they played like this and his laughter brought smiles to everyone's faces. Tony tossed him up one more time then sat him down in front of him.
"Ben, I am sorry I got angry earlier, you didn't do anything wrong, daddy was just having a hard time with the swing", Tony said as he knelt down in front of his son. "I got you this while you were asleep", Tony said as he handed his son the gift.
Ben opened the bag and pulled out a Fisher Price tool belt and hard hat. He began to jump up and down and asked his daddy to help him put it on. Tony fastened the belt around Ben's waist and loaded in all the plastic tools and finally placed the yellow hard hat on Ben's head.
Tony pulled his little boy in for a hug and said, "Are we friends again"?
"It's okay daddy, we friends, we having good time now", Ben said hugging Tony tight. "Me and Gibbs help you now daddy", Ben said as he pulled the plastic hammer from his belt and began pounding it on anything he could reach.
Working together, Gibbs and Tony were making great progress; Ben helped too but neither Gibbs nor Tony cared that it slowed them down, just a little bit. Gibbs was having Tony do most of the work after showing him what to do on each step. Sure he could have done it faster by just doing most of the work himself but he could sense without being told that on this particular project, it was important for Tony to be the one who built the swing set for his son.
Tony was taking a short water break and he looked over to Ziva. She was placing her flowers around the side of the house. She had a mixture of large and small plants of various shapes and colors sat in designated spots ready for planting.
Tony walked over to get a closer look. "Are you sure you want these here"? He said pointing to the yellow snap dragons. Ziva stopped what she was doing and said, "If I did not want them there I would have put them someplace else". Tony looked at Ziva and said, "Fair enough, but if you take these and move them here and then take these and put them like this I think you will like it better", Tony said as he began rearranging Ziva's flowers. Suddenly he felt Ziva's death grip as she not so gently squeezed his hand and said, "If you want to use this hand again, I suggest you remove it from my daisy". Tony looked down at his hand and said, "Well actually this is not a daisy it's a…." He felt Ziva's grip become tighter and she said, " I do not care what it is called ".
"Ow…ow…ow…that's okay, lots of people make that mistake", Tony said shaking his now freed hand.
Ziva waved the gardening tool she was holding menacingly at her husband and said, "Go back to your swing set or I will hurt you with my shovel". Tony looked at the gardening tool she held and said, "You know Ziva, that is actually called a spade".
The look Ziva gave Tony sent him hurrying back to Gibbs and Ben to put the final touches on the swing set. Ziva returned to planting the flowers and she paused a moment to look at the new arrangement and had to admit that it did look better. "How does he know these things", she asked herself.
It was late afternoon by the time the swing set was finished. Tony just finished filling the sand box and asked Ben what he wanted to do first.
"I go down slide", Ben screamed as he began climbing the ladder. Tony stood behind him making sure he would not fall. Ben made it to the top and sat down. Tony counted for him 1-2-3 go and Ben slid down the slide, flying off into the sand box. He had a less than graceful landing but did not seem to mind. "Yuck, I gots sands in my mouth", Ben said as he spit out the sand and was on his way up the ladder for another slide.
Ben played on the swing set having a great time with Gibbs, Ziva and Tony taking turns pushing him. Tony and Gibbs decided to not install the foot holders on the rock wall until Ben was older since the toddler was something of a daredevil and would likely try and climb the wall when nobody was looking. Ben did not seem to notice and was content with his slide and swing. He did not seem to care for the monkey bars at this time. Tony and Ziva both knew it was because he could not reach the bars on his own and they both felt as he got taller he would enjoy playing on them as well.
Tony fired up the grill and Gibbs prepared his special steak sauce. Ziva decided they would eat outside on the deck so they could keep an eye on Ben while he played.
Later that evening, after the steaks, corn and fruit salad had been consumed and while Ziva relaxed on the deck admiring her flowers; Gibbs walked up to Tony, who was pushing Ben on the swing. Like so many times before, he wanted to tell the younger man that he loved like a son how he really felt but found it hard to choose the right words so instead he simply said, "You did good today DiNozzo", and he hoped it would be enough.
Tony nodded at Gibbs not knowing how to respond. While continuing to push Ben and without looking directly at the man he loved as much as his own father he said, "The weather is getting hot enough, I think I should get the pool cover off and get the water ready for Summer, I could use the help next weekend if you're free". And he hoped it would be enough.
A/N: Please review and let me know if I should continue this or end it here.