Hi I'm so sorry for publishing this late. I recently started a 9-5 job and its really killing my brain cells and ability to think creatively! So there may be some delays from now on but I will try my best to keep them as short as possible. I did make this chapter extra long so hopefully you'll forgive me!

Thank you for all the insightful reviews you have made- I really enjoy reading them! Sometimes more than writing this story!

Anyway, as usual- If you like what you read, please tell me what you think! Or tell someone to read this. In fact just tell the whole world!

(I didn't have time to proofread this closely so please overlook any grammatical errors.)

They strapped into a car and Tony drove back into the city, with Shmeil providing adequate directions. It was not long before they reached their destination and Tony was carrying Tali into a distinct Israel coffee house. Shmeil had spoken about this woman very fondly for the entire car ride. So much so that his eyes lit up and his voice was raised slightly when he even spoke her name.

Delilah.

Tony had never heard of this woman before. Ziva certainly never mentioned her. But then again, as events have evidently shown him, Ziva was apparently a complete mystery to Tony. According to Shmeil, Delilah was the sister of Ziva's mother. This entire time, Tony was too occupied with all things relating to Eli to realise that Ziva had a mother and by default, another family that did not carry the 'David' name.

In fact, Tony realised that this was practically the first time he ever heard about anyone stemming from Ziva's maternal family side. He was aware that Ziva's mother died when she was young, but that was it.

The smell of ground coffee and cinnamon sparked his senses and brought him back to earth. They all sat down in a booth and Tony instantly ordered a black coffee with extra, extra sugar. His mind was instantly transported back to the first time his boss accidentally took a sip of his sugary mess and slapped in over the head for his terrible taste in coffee. He smiled at the thought.

What was that saying? Old habits die hard?

Tony was surprisingly nervous. He never did well to 'meet the family' with any of the women he was interested in. Actually, he could count the number of women on a single hand that made it past the 'one month relationship' stage.

Come to think of it, the last few instances involved a French drug lord, the Secretary of the Navy and a Son of Bitch Mossad Director.

*(Author's note: I'm referring to Jeanne, Agent Barret and Ziva)

Tony huffed at that thought. Who could blame him? After all, he was known for a being a serial womanizer back home. Maybe he learnt one lesson too many from Gibbs- How to be bad at relationships.

To calm his nerves, Tony distracted himself by surveying the coffeehouse. He absentmindedly played with his daughter's curly hair when he spotted two baristas working through their orders idly. There were a few tables filled, but no work that was too tiring for the single waitress on a Thursday late morning. There was a gentleman reading his newspaper in the corner, donned in a suit. Tony could easily tell from his business attire that the man had a little more than just change in his pocket. His attention shifted to the leggy woman who was transfixed on her female friend, engaging in a conversation. Had he known more Hebrew, and was childless, he would have definitely made his way over there with a line or two. They were his type of women.

"Tony," Shmeil said, breaking his attention from the women. Tony glanced over and saw a woman walk through the door. He could instantly tell that this woman was related to Ziva, without a doubt. Something about her long, curly black hair and doe eyes that gave her away. He instantly stood up and walked around to her.

Shmeil began with the introductions. "Delilah, please meet the very special Anthony DiNozzo." Delilah smiled warmly, her wrinkles tightening around her mouth. She bypassed Tony's extended hand, reaching for an embrace.

To Delilah, this wasn't any formal greeting, this was family.

"Tony, please meet Delilah Haddad, Ziva's aunt"

"Hi," Tony said and turned to a very curious looking Tali, peering from behind her father's coat. "This is my daughter Tali."

"Oh yes, I can see Ziva through every inch of her being" The woman poetically voiced. Tony could tell that she was older, around Orli's age. Delilah tentatively walked over to Tali, who still kept an eye on the foreign woman until she sat down, directly opposite. "I brought you something" She said in Hebrew. Instantly Tony inwardly grimaced. He could see how this whole coffee visit could easily just become one American vs Two Jews and a halfie. Even his own halfie knew more Hebrew than he did. Delilah pulled out a doll. It barely extended past the length of Tony's hand when he passed it over to her daughter. "I made it just for you," Delilah said in English. Tali's eyes were instantly captured by the small doll and reached up to grab it. Tony could see from her curiosity that this gift was already well received and took the liberty of speaking on behalf of her daughter.

"Thank you," He said. Delilah smiled back and replied.

"She is the newest treasure in our family. I hoped to have met her sooner with Ziva but circumstances did not allow it."

"Okay." Tony sensed some hesitations in her response but knew it wasn't the time nor place to investigate them. He just met the woman after all.

"How are enjoying Tel Aviv?"

"Oh. Yeah. Magical. A real show stopping city" Tony replied. He gazed back on his past few visits to Tel Aviv and realised that none of them were particularly entertaining. Something about killing a rogue Mossad Agent and going on an amazing race to find his former partner didn't exactly classify as enjoyable….

"Oh, Tony is just getting used to this beautiful city," Shmeil chimed in. "He still has a lot more to explore."

"So, you will be staying for long?" Delilah asked, her interests peaked.

"Yeah, maybe." Tony replied vaguely. "I gotta tell you, I'm sorry but Ziva never mentioned that she had an aunt from her mother's side."

"Yes well," Delilah looked down and smoothed out her linen dress. "My family and the Davids, well let's just say that we have had some friction over the past. Ever since Ziva's mother's death….we have grown apart. Eli was very focused on his work and keeping his family-" She made a gesture with her hands, like an enclosed circle that seemed rigid. Tony nodded in understanding. Eli was a control freak, go figure.

"Did you ever meet Eli?" Delilah asked tentatively.

"Oh yes, a few times." Tony responded and then smiled. "We certainly had some friction over the past too." Delilah smiled back at his comment. They had a common understanding about Ziva's father.

"I missed out on a lot of key moments in my niece's life. She meant a lot to me. I am so very glad she moved to America. When I found out, I was relieved; she was out finally out of Eli's clutches." Tony listened to her words and kept his mouth firmly shut. She did not need to know exactly how tumultuous Ziva's relationship was with her father.

"So, you hardly kept in touch." Tony stated.

"Within the last few years we certainly grew closer. I work as a translator, so my job takes me to many places in Israel. When Tali was born, I was stationed on the other side of the country and did not have the chance to visit. But I called often, and she called too. I knew Ziva was trying to forge broken bonds. And I could not have been happier when she first made contact. I think her mother would have been glad."

"Ah Rivka." Shmeil chimed in. "Ziva was the spitting image of her mother. If only you had the chance to meet her DiNozzo, those two women were like two peas in a pod."

"Honestly, one Ziva was enough for me, I would barely handle two." Tony joked and they all laughed. Tali joined in, completely oblivious to what was going on around her. Tony noticed that the entire time, she was intently listening to the conversation. She liked hearing the different tones, the sounds of words. It had to be for those reasons because Tony was fairly convinced that she understood about 3% of the conversation anyway.

They spent another hour just talking. Tony filled them in on his background briefly and in return, received a history lesson about Ziva's maternal family. Historically, their family dated back hundreds of years; apparently, they were known as the scribes to the powerful. So Delilah carried a family name entangled with a great degree of respect and an even greater degree of intelligence. Tony listened with an element of interest and self-reflection. He had no idea what his family contributed to the greater good. Of course, Tony stemmed from a family of hard-working immigrants; he was the image of the American dream after all. His father sure made a successful investment or two in his life. Granted, the old man fell broke pretty frequently but still, Senior's money benefitted the someone right? For the greater good? Oh, who was he kidding? Back in the day, Tony was no stranger to using the "My family came from a bunch of Italian renaissance painters" just to pull the chicks. That was as good as his family name was going to get.

It was terribly unfortunate that in death, Tony was learning so much about his best friend. He regretted never asking her questions about her life than ran deeper than a jealous query like, "Who's your new boyfriend?" Of course, she was a seemingly closed off person, but they pushed and pulled until they slowly met each other half way. With each day passing, Tony was opening himself more and more to Ziva. But apparently, it just wasn't enough to make her want to stay in DC. Things would have been so much different. She would be alive, for one.

Eventually the sun began to pass into the afternoon and Tony decided it was time to return back to their own house. The ride back to Shmeil's was pleasant. Tony's listened to whatever stories Shmeil had to recount. He exercised the same amount of attention that he would give Ducky when the old man rambled on about his days in Scotland. Tony smiled at the idea of putting Shmeil and Ducky in the same room together; that would easily be an effective interrogation tactic. The culprit would talk just to shut those two up.

...

Tony spent his afternoon on the front porch, listening to the wind blowing through the trees, intertwined with his daughter's melodic tones and laughs as she played in the garden. Shmeil was regretfully excused himself to his study for a few hours to catch up on paperwork but Tony wasn't complaining. He welcomed the silence and the time alone with open arms. His hand was resting on the box of Ziva's things as he gazed out to the sunset. He was eager to sift through everything but every time, hesitated to lift his fingers and open the box. Sure he was intrigued in what he would find, but he was more scared. Tony initially planned to do this with his daughter but figured he needed his own, personal heads up before he showed her anything. If she was still the freaky, Mossad ninja he once knew so well, this box could easily have been filled her extensive knife collection, or even mementos from all her kills. Tony smiled as he joked to himself. He glanced up one more time to see his daughter clearly preoccupied with her toys and then pried open the box.

There were definitely no knife collections, or snippets of hair and teeth from her victims. But instead there were pictures, and letters, a key on a metal chain and a small golden trinket. He picked up the trinket and examined it. It was a small flower, no larger than the size of his thumb and it was made from gold. He could easily tell from the weight of the small thing. He wondered whether it was a small family heirloom and mentally noted to ask Shmeil or Delilah at a later time. He placed the trinket back in the box and pulled out the first folded piece of paper. It was titled the 'Last Will and Testament of Eli David'. Instantly he folded it up again and placed it aside, feeling like he would be intruding if he read something so personal and private to Ziva. The next two pages he pulled were all written in Hebrew and he began to set them aside until his eyes glanced over a word, sprawled on another letter in the box. He instantly froze and absentmindedly placed whatever was in his hand on the bench and picked up the letter in question.

"Dear Tony," it started. Tony glanced up quickly to check on his daughter and leant back in his chair, daring to unfold the paper fully.

"7/29/2013
Long time, no speak. I know it would have been much easier to call you directly. But if I am being honest, I would have not known what to say, or how to even say this. I know it has been some time since we have last spoken. I am currently sitting in front of the television and watching Casablanca. It is all dubbed in Hebrew, you would honestly hate how they have butchered it in translation. Anyway, I am rambling, I am sorry but it is only because I am struggling to put what I want to say in words. I thought writing a letter to you would be easier, but it is almost worse.

I am pregnant"

Tony stared at the letter, knowing exactly what she was going to write but still turned the page over to find the other side blank as well. She never finished the letter. It was dated in 2013. Tony creased his eyebrows in confusion, wondering why she never finished it. Was she interrupted? Did she forget? Was she scared? He received his answer the moment he set that letter aside and picked up the second one.

"5/02/2014

My dearest Tony,

Before I even begin this letter, you must be wondering why I am even sending you a letter instead of picking up the phone. Well I thought I would pay tribute to one of your timeless, stupid films and do this the classic, old school way. Firstly, please forgive me. I know it has been a long time since we have last spoke but there was a reason why I have stayed silent. I was afraid to tell you this sooner. I was not sure of how you would react or what you would say. I can only hope you will one day forgive me.

Tony, I was pregnant. And I had the baby earlier this year. It is a girl Tony, I named her Tali after my sister. I had been struggling to think of a way to tell you about her but I knew that I didn't want to keep this from you any longer than I already have. I need you to know this because she is-"

Tony frantically flipped the paper to find it blank again. She failed to complete this one too and Tony was getting frustrated. His anger was slowly building as he checked the date of the second letter; 2014. She had planned to tell him years ago, yet for some reason, failed to do so, again. He closed his eyes momentarily in frustration and placed the letter aside, picking up the final one that laid amongst the photos. This one was dated in 2015. Tony opened up the letter, expecting to reach another frustrating end but was winded by the words he read on the page. There were four simple words; 1 of which he never tired from hearing her speak and another 3, of which Tony wished to God he would have heard her whisper sooner.

"07/20/2015

Dear Tony,

I love you."

Maybe she never planned to finish any of these letters. Maybe she just wrote them as a way of laying her heart out, without ever intending Tony to read them. But low and behold, Tony was sitting there, his heart collapsing in itself as he continued to read and reread those words in her voice. He knew it in his heart, but he never really knew it. Not until now at least.

His hands began to tremble, he was feeling overwhelmed. So, without reflecting or dwelling anymore, Tony folded everything back up and hastily placed them back into the box. He could not sift through these things anymore, he refused to read her writing because Tony knew that if he spent another minute looking through her things, he would crumble. He rapidly rubbed his eyes, as an attempt to clear any tears that were threatening to fall and walked over to his daughter. He needed a distraction badly. Not long after, Shmeil joined them and immediately noticed Tony's change of behaviour. He was distracted, distant and unfocused. Schmeil instantly received his answer as he spied Ziva's box laying on the front porch. Tony saw Shmeil glance over at the box and instantly looked the other way. He was in no mood to discuss anything Ziva-related. Shmeil knew that Tony would come to him when he was ready, so he stayed silent and they all went about their afternoon, pretending nothing had happened.

...

It came night fall and Tony's 'butler-babysitter-protective' detail came 'round to pick him and Tali up. Tony never planned to stay for more than a couple of days with Shmeil, he had his own life to get on with after all. But it helped knowing that there was someone close-by that meant something to Tony, and Ziva. The ride back to the safe house was quiet, as per usual. Tony's mind was cluttered and he was absolutely drained. He glanced down at the box between his hands and sucked in a silent breath. Tony needed a break from mourning, from feeling depressed all the time. He needed to drink or pop some sleeping pills or sleep with a pretty woman; he needed something to make himself feel alive, or dead to the world. He wasn't sure which one would give him greater satisfaction at that moment. He could hear Tali's voice behind his headrest and for the first time in his life, he needed her to shut up.

He just needed silence, he needed to not think, he needed to not be needed all the fucking time. In an effort to prevent himself from wilding out, he hastily exited the car once they arrived and pulled his daughter out of her seat. He didn't even bother grabbing the bags nor did he wait for his agent to 'secure the premises' before he barged in the front door and pulled out his phone.

He ignored all his daughter's calls and dialled Orli's personal number and waited impatiently.

He had pulled a complete 180 in a total of 5 hours. He went from the persistent, strong single dad to the angry, emotional man with a kid he needed to get rid of. Everything about her reminded Tony of Ziva, and he could bare to look at Tali, let alone hear her speak. He just needed a break.

"Tony," Orli answered.

"Orli, I need you."

"Is everything okay?" Tony listened to her panicked outburst. He knew she was referring to Tali and replied.

"Yes, she is fine. I just need you to take her for a day, please." He began pacing the room.

"Are you okay?"

Tony paused for a second to answer. It was just long enough to indicate that he was the complete opposite of fine and Orli noticed immediately.

"Not really. I just need…..I am a terrible person I know, you can lecture me on the responsibilities and consequences of shitty parenting but I just need some time to clear my head. I'm not thinking straight, I'm not even seeing straight and I can't be there for….Tali if I don't even know what the hell I am doing or thinking right now."

"Okay Anthony, just take a breath-" Tony was in no mood to listen to her.

"Can you do this for me or not?" He asked aggressively. He didn't even care at that moment that if his daughter heard him. He felt like he was suffocating and he needed out.

"Yes of course, I am on my way." Tony hung up at the sound of Orli's answer with no response. He began packing his daughter an overnight bag, shoving anything and everything he could get his hands on.

He was not running away from his responsibilities, he kept telling himself that over and over again.

He just needed a small break.

He still loved his daughter more than he could love another human, he kept telling himself.

But he just needed a break.

He promised himself that once he got some time alone, he would bounce back to his usual self and everything would be fine.

But, he just needed a fucking break.

He eventually stopped ignoring his daughter, who was desperate for his attention and sat with her on the couch. She was singing a song to herself, but Tony blocked any voice he heard but except the one that kept ringing in his ears. The one that came alive in his mind the moment he began reading those letters. The one he heard the moment he sounded out the words, "I love you."

It wasn't long before there was a knock on the door and the agent let in Orli. She was dressed in her usual pant-suit and Tony momentarily wondered the woman slept in this attire too. As soon as he saw her, he bent down to his daughter, who was asleep on the couch by then and placed a long kiss on her forehead.

"I will see you very soon. Orli will take you. You know her, she's a real hoot. Be good little lady, I love you." He handed Tali to Orli. Orli examined Tony quickly, gaged his stance, his postured, his rigid figure. She was afraid that he was going to do something stupid but she trusted him nonetheless. Orli knew he would not risk anything to lose his daughter and this was just a minor hiccup on the road. He was a single parent for a hot minute, he wasn't expected to be perfect just yet? So Orli saved her impending lecture for a time when he could withstand it.

Instead, they exchanged a long glance before she said.

"I'll keep her safe" and walked out the door with a sleeping baby in her arms. As soon as she pulled out, Tony geared up and went outside to find the guarding agent.

"Give me the keys and the directions to the nearest bottle store."

YIKES! Tony is really falling down the rabbit hole in this chapter. I needed to write a small part of his character reacting this way. I am sure some of you who have experienced the loss of close loved one before (and I apologise if you have), understand the crazy emotions and roller coaster/emotional moments that happen. I certainly understand those feelings from personal experience. So it just made sense to me to show the world that Tony isn't always the fluffy teddy bear that he is usually portrayed as!

Okay that's it from me. I'm excited to publish the next few chapters; we've now reached the point when things get exciting!

xx