NOT THE MAMA!

AN: There was a TV show in the 80s called "The Dinosaurs." It featured a family of dinosaurs. One of the running gags was the baby dinosaur would sit on the dad's shoulders with a pot. He would hit his dad on the head with the pot and yell "Not the Mama! Not the Mama!" It was so, so very funny. I just loved it. And I thought that it kind of worked here.

"It's not possible." Dean said, even as he held the little girl in his arms.

"Apparently it is." Sam said, smiling at the little girl. He was waiting for his turn to hold her. But, from the looks of things, that was not going to be anytime soon.

"Dean." Sam said, holding his arms out to take Tali.

"She's not ready yet." Dean said. He had been holding the sleeping girl in his arms for an hour. He loved how she had come to him immediately when he had bent down and introduced himself to her.

"You're not ready yet." Sam replied. He could tell his brother was enjoying his time with the little girl.

"So you're...how did this...happen?" Sam asked as he and Tony watched Dean with the little girl.

"Ziva...I'm sure you remember me talking about her." Tony replied.

Sam and Dean nodded.

"Turns out... when she left the states for Israel, she was pregnant." Tony said. He was still angry. "I don't know...she...if she left because of her dad. Eli had just passed. That's what she said. She never mentioned the baby, of course." Tony shook his head. "Two years."

Dean smiled at Tali, and she just stared at him. She giggled when he made faces. She got quiet when he sang to her.

"She never told you anything for two years?" Sam said. "You had no idea."

"Not a clue." Tony said.

"Dude, that is just...messed up." Dean replied as he finally relented to Sam's puppy dog looks and gave Tali over to him to hold.

Tali just looked at Sam for a moment. She grabbed for his hair and held on to it. She then touched his five-o'clock shadow with her other hand.

Dean grinned. "She's trying to figure out how something with hair that long doesn't come with boobs."

"Dude...Shut up!"

Both Dean and Tony laughed. Tali giggled too when she saw the men laughing.

"Does she...understand you?" Dean asked.

Tony nodded. "She knows the basics, momma, daddy, eat, food, potty. She can string a few words together. But mostly, she points and teaches me what it is in Hebrew."

"So," Sam said, finally sitting and giving his legs and Tali a rest, though she seemed very contented to stay in his arms. "What exactly...happened? You've told us bits and pieces, but not the whole story."

"I think that Ziva found out she was pregnant and just left. She...She didn't want to have to tell me, to deal with me. I don't know, I'll never know. She's not around for me to ask. But, Ziva...left here went to Israel and raised the baby. She knew I was her dad. And Tali had a picture of Ziva and I sitting on a Vespa in Paris. But, I don't...I didn't take the picture..." Tony stated.

"But, you two weren't two...Right?" Dean couldn't believe he would have a relationship with Ziva after all he had said she'd done to him.

Sam steered the conversation back. "What about the picture? Who took it and why did Ziva get a copy?"

Tony nodded. "That's what I want to know. I didn't take it and Ziva didn't have her phone." He shook his head.

"We'd be glad to help you, Tony." Dean offered. "Whatever we can do."

Tony nodded. "I appreciate it. But, you can't drive the Impala to Paris." The agent knew how much the elder Winchester hated to fly. "And I'm sure whoever gave her that picture is long gone. They were just tourists, like us. Ziva never told me about contacts in Paris."

"That doesn't mean she didn't have any, Tony." Sam replied.

Tony nodded. No it didn't. This was looking sketchier and sketchier by the minute. And he didn't like it. He not used to this. It was usually only him, he had to worry about. Now he had this whole other, tiny, completely innocent person.

"You're thinking somebody was after her?" Dean asked, and he had to admit, the thought really did terrify him.

Sam looked at Tony waiting for his answer, the same feeling of horror in the pit of his stomach. Sam looked down at the precious little girl in his arms and hugged her even tighter.

Tony shook his head. He had already thought about that. "Ziva was the true target. Tali could have been used to draw Ziva out. In the end, though, Tali would have only been collateral damage." The agent had even considered, for about half a second, asking Sam and Dean to take Tali back to the bunker with them. But, he didn't want to saddle them with caring for a child. He knew that they were not ready for that, even for a few hours.

"What kind of woman never tells a man that he has a child?" Tony asked. "I had been told that Ziva had started to regret her decision. But, still..."

"Maybe she would have finally told you." Sam offered.

Dean interjected. "I don't think so...much easier to keep hidden. I mean why tell you? She had to think you would be pissed off after all this time."

Tony had been in a tailspin since he had discovered he had a daughter. He had not had time to think about things. He had had no time to just sit down and think through everything.

Sam seemed fascinated and transfixed at the little girl. He smiled and whispered to her. Tali just looked at him and giggled. She then snuggled up against him. She laid her head on his shoulder and buried her hands in his hair.

"I think Tali and Samantha are getting along." Dean said, watching the two interact.

Tony grinned as Sam gave his brother the 'bitch' face.

"Did she...did she, you know...see Ziva die?" Dean asked.

Tony shook his head. "I don't think so. She...the lady who brought her to me, said that Tali was mine said that she was found sitting in a closet hugging her favorite teddy bear and crying." He paused. "I'm hoping Tali never saw anything."

Dean nodded. He had been a little older than Tali when his house had burned. And he had carried the trauma around for years. He had not told John. He had not told Sam either. But Dean had not been able to watch anything with a big fire in it, on TV, well into his teenage years. He would just turn his head or read a magazine or something until the scene was over. He hoped that this little girl would not be traumatized like he was.

Sam looked at Dean as he talked. He felt for his brother. Sam recalled how, just seeing a fire on TV especially a house fire, nervous it used to make Dean. But, Sam never said anything, even when Dean got so anxious he had to leave the room. Sam knew Dean didn't want his little brother to know how much it bothered him.

Tony also noticed how much Dean reacted to what he had told the brothers about the fire. He knew about the house fire at the Winchesters' all those years ago. But, Dean had not been particularly open. And Tony had not pressed, knowing his friend's aversion to showing emotion and to the giving up of personal information. He could see, even now, that the mention of fire still had an effect on him. Or maybe it was just an expression of sympathy for Tali.

Tony took his daughter back from Sam and they all sat down in Tony's living room. His new apartment was a definite upgrade. Even though his last place had been surprisingly nice; this place, in the same building, was much larger, had nicer appliances, and a few added extras like washer and dryer and a separate tub shower in the master bath. This was all in addition to the fact, that it had a master bath. Tali's room was also very large with plenty of room for her to play. And there was also plenty of room in the living room for Tony's piano.

Dean knew he had gone there again. He saw how Sam and Tony were looking at him and he hated that they had seen him in a moment of fear, a moment of weakness. He quickly got himself back together. He made some smart-ass remark and then went into the kitchen to grab a beer.

"Dean!" Tony said, seeing what Dean had in his head.

Dean smiled and shook his head. "I'm looking out for the little lady." He replied, showing Tony a juice box he had snagged out of the fridge.

Tony smiled when he saw what Dean had. Tali smiled and clapped her hands when she saw it. Then she held her hands out for Dean to give it to her. Dean took the straw out of its plastic and inserted it into the box. He then handed it to the eager toddler. She took the box in both hands and leaned against Tony as she drank her juice.

"She is so adorable." Sam said as she watched the girl leaning against her father.

"You ready for this?" Sam asked him, seriously.

Tony looked at his friend. He considered his response. "I've been a dad for all of two weeks, Sam. I don't...I don't know. I used to be just an NCIS agent. Now I'm an NCIS agent with a family.

"Gibbs can..." Dean started. "I mean, there are other agents there who can tell you what it's like."

Tony nodded. "There are, Dean. There are plenty of agents who are parents." He paused. "But, they knew that they were about to become parents. They knew…they planned it out with their partners. They decided how…how it would work, all that."

"I find out Ziva's dead. And...oh, by the way…you're a Daddy! Congratulations!" Tony said, with all the sarcasm the statement required. "It's just…it's gonna take a little time. She jumps at certain noises she hears. They are all city noises. But she is associating them with bad things."

Tony took the juice box from Tali after she had finished it and placed it on the coffee table. He them shifted his position and settled his daughter into his arms so that she could sleep.

"Gibbs will help." Tony started. "But I just…Kelly was so young. I don't want to bring up sad reminders."

Sam and Dean looked at each other. They had no idea who Kelly was.

"Kelly?" Dean asked. "Who's…?"

"Oh, that's right, you don't know. Do you?" Tony just realized he had told the Winchesters a lot. But he had never told them about Shannon and Kelly.

"Know what?" Sam asked.

Tony told the Winchesters all about Shannon and Kelly Gibbs. The whole story, even down to the fact that Gibbs would never sleep in his and Shannon's old bedroom. He slept in one of his guest bedrooms.

Both Sam and Dean shook their heads. They had come to like Gibbs. They couldn't imagine the pain he would have gone through.

"You would be doing Jethro a favor by letting him help you with Tali." Sam stated.

Tony just looked at the younger Winchester, curious to know his reason.

Sam continued. "It might help to…heal his heart to have a little girl to help raise."

Dean grinned. "Aww, Samantha! You should work at Hallmark."

Sam glared at his brother.

"I tease Samantha a lot, I know. But, I agree with Sam. This really could be a good thing for the old man." Dean agreed.

"Good advice." Tony admitted. "But, Dean, never ever let Gibbs hear you call him that!"

Tony considered what the brothers had said as he stared at the little girl sleeping in his arms. He would need help, lots of help.

THE END

END NOTES: This is a weird way to end a story. I know. But I just wanted Sam and Dean to meet Tali. I just wandered how that meeting would go. Hope you liked my little synaptic misfire. Thanks for reading, JL