"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Tony fretted, keeping a watchful eye on Ziva and the tiny bundle she was holding.
"It is fine, Tony. In fact, it is better that fine, it is good. This is a good thing."
Tony wasn't so sure but the confidence in his wife's voice (It may have been a year and a half now but he still felt this awe when he thought of Ziva as his wife) did help a bit. Ziva knew what she was doing. She wasn't worried. She would tell him if she was worried or if this was a bad idea. And she wasn't doing either of those things so this was fine. It was good, even, like she said.
"People bring their babies to the beach all over the world, Tony," she said patiently. "I think it is fine if we also do it."
"But are you sure she'll be safe? It's really warm out."
Ziva smiled indulgently at him. She had grown up in a desert area and spent her childhood in Haifa with cousins. That was plenty of experience seeing babies in sunny beaches. Tony did not have this.
"And she is covered with light clothing, has a hat on and will be safely under an umbrella," she said soothingly.
Tony still didn't see too convinced and looked down at their daughter who was wriggling in her arms.
"Bah, bah!"
"She knows you brought that little beach ball with you," Ziva chuckled.
Their daughter had this absolute fascination with all balls. Especially ones she could hold as she wasn't anywhere near walking yet. It was only a little inflatable ball that was striped like a normal one. He was planning to 9nly blow it up part the way so that it remained squishy - the only way she knew how to hold things was to grab on and squeeze. He grinned; she was going to love it but then his face fell.
"What if the sand's too hot for her?" He fretted.
"We aren't going to just leave her on the sand," Ziva scoffed.
"But you said you wanted to put her on it!"
"Under the umbrella where it will be in the shade."
"Then what if it's too rough or sharp for her? Baby skin is really delicate!"
Her skin was so soft and smooth that it still sometimes didn't feel real to him.
"I am aware, Tony, that is why I put a thick layer of sunscreen on her. And I am not going to leave her on the sand, I just want to see how she reacts to it."
And with that, Ziva set her on the sand, safely under the umbrella and they both stood over her, watching. She didn't know what to make of it for a moment, scrunching up her face as she took in this new, strange texture. Then she kicked her legs and they held her breath. Ziva prayed that she would not start to scream.
Thankfully, she did not. In fact, a big, gummy grin broke across her face as she continued to kick the sand, getting it everywhere.
"She likes it!" Tony said with glee.
"She does," Ziva replied with her own smile.
Because, come on, their child not liking the sand would be cause for concern. Thankfully, it was the complete opposite. So much so, in fact, that she decided that kicking her feet in it wasn't enough and she had to get her hands involved as well.
"Maybe it would be better if she is on a towel," Ziva said hurriedly, lifting her up so she was unsuccessful at grabbing the sand and thwarting her from inevitably eating it.
She did not like this and let them know with a wail. Had Tony mentioned that their daughter could be loud? Because she could be. Incredibly so. Gibbs had said that that was a sign she took after him.
They did eventually get settled and somewhat relaxed. Tony was just happy that babies were fairly easy to distract, they took the string of toys off her stroller and put it across her car seat so she was happy spinning those around and around. He was incredibly grateful that they had removed the one that had the toys that flashed and made music. Whoever had created that one had not thought it through when multiple toys were spun at once. He could still feel the headache that that had caused. But the one she currently was playing with just had a bunch of plastic toys with different colours and textures and she loved it, which was the main thing. And it distracted her from the sand, another good thing.
"She does have enough sunscreen on, right?" He asked.
"I put a good, thick layer on and will top it up throughout the day," Ziva confirmed.
"Okay, good," Tony nodded, trying to think if he'd forgotten anything else. "Wait, have you put sunscreen on?"
He gave her a hopeful look at that. Which she immediately shot down with a knowing smile.
"I already have sunscreen on."
He huffed at that and then realised it was probably for the best. Applying sunscreen led to inappropriate gestures at best and their daughter did not need to see that. Even though he knew that she wouldn't ever remember it just the idea felt wrong. Was that him being paranoid? Probably but they really couldn't be trusted around sunscreen application, trust him.
"Do you have sunscreen on?" She asked, interrupting his thoughts.
"No, actually," he said, reaching for it. "Thanks for reminding me."
Ziva gave him a mischievous look. "Would you like me to apply it on you?"
He was extremely tempted to say yes but then the baby gurgled at him and reached out her chubby hands and he couldn't. With a sigh he shook his head.
"We better not," he nodded to the problem. "Little eyes are watching."
"She does not even know what she is seeing," Ziva scoffed. "And you always miss spots on your back."
"I won't be held responsible for my actions if you do more than put sunscreen on," he warned.
All that got him was a very flirtatious smirk. And yes, Ziva could do a flirtatious smirk. The baby giggled. He gulped; he was in trouble now.