The Dance of Familiarity

Tony and Ziva's first three months together in Paris Fall 2016

Chapter 1 – The First Twenty-Four Hours

"Abba; Ima! Squishy me," Tali squirmed between her parents; the very same parents who were locked in a kiss after not seeing each other for three years. "YOU. SQUISHEDED. ME!" the two year old tried to get free of her mother's and father's arms.

Both Tony and Ziva realized at the same time that the little girl was between them as they broke for air. "Sorry, yaldati," they said together; both then broke out in a laugh. Ziva locked gazes with the emerald green pools she feared she'd never see again. Tony stared into those chocolate orbs that mesmerized him from the beginning.

"Down, please!" Tali squirmed again and both parents gently lowered their daughter to the floor. "Pancakes, Abba. Tali getting pancakes." She ran off towards his bedroom where the plate of pancakes had been abandoned.

Tony cupped Ziva's face with his hands, "Ziva… I…" He fused his lips on hers again; he could not get enough of the taste of her on his lips once again. The pair broke for air again at the sound of a plate crashing to the floor.

"Want some pancakes? They're probably cold, but I can make more or we can reheat the ones I made earlier," he offered as she followed him in the direction of the crash. Tali was sitting on the kitchen floor, a pancake in each hand, and also several on the floor.

"Uh-oh, Abba," she grinned at him and put more of the pancakes from the floor onto the plate.

"It's okay, Tali, we can make more pancakes," he bent to help her remove the spilled food from the floor.

"More pancakes? Ima pancakes?" the toddler looked at her mother and then at her father.

Tony grinned, "Yes, baby, we will ALL have pancakes for breakfast. Sound like a plan, your highness?"

"Ken, Abba." Ziva watched the two interacting and smiled. Even to a casual observer, it was obvious that the little girl adored her Abba and he in turn adored her. She had to wonder what if they'd had all of the little one's lifetime together, instead of just the past four months. . . She tried to shut the voices down before her inner doubts ruined the moment for her.

"Zi? Earth to Ziva," Tony called to the woman that he at one time thought he might never see again. She startled slightly and he lightly touched her arm. "Sorry," he spoke softly, "You seemed a million miles away."

"I…" she put her hand on his and smiled slightly. He shook his head.

"We'll talk later," he flipped his hand to interlock their fingers. "I just asked if you wanted some pancakes."

"That sounds delicious," she turned to her daughter. "Do you recommend the pancakes? Are they good?" she had a twinkle in her eye; to Tony she almost looked like the old Ziva… almost…

"Abba make good pancakes, Ima. Yummy!" Tali rubbed her hand on her belly dramatically and licked her lips. Ziva laughed out loud at the toddler's antics; ALL her Abba's moves.

"Pancakes for everyone then!" Tony mixed more batter in the bowl and reheated the pan. He dropped spoonsful of the mix onto the hot surface and sprinkled mini chocolate chips over the top of each one. Ziva watched as he expertly flipped each of the two-inch diameter pancakes when they were golden brown on the cooked side.

"You are good at this," she observed.

He nodded, "Mini-Ninja loves pancakes; repetition builds skill." He flipped a stack of three pancakes to a plate and handed it to Ziva. "For Tali; she likes them plain. No syrup, no butter. Cut them in quarters and she'll pick up the pieces with her fingers."

He then stacked another four pancakes on a second plate and handed that one to Ziva, "For you, my lady." He made an exaggerated bow, which sent Tali into a giggle fit. The last four pancakes went onto a third plate for himself. "Syrup's in the pantry and there's fresh butter in the fridge." He grabbed two forks from the utensil drawer and handed one to Ziva.

The three ate breakfast mostly in silence; Tony watched Ziva as she picked at the food on her plate. She looked as though she'd not had a real meal in months. He speared a piece of pancake from his plate and held the fork out near her mouth. She looked up at him; the man was grinning like a fool, but she could see pure, open, honest love in his eyes. No pity, no anger, no bitterness; just love. Love you do not deserve. She pushed the inner demons back; not today, she would not let them control her thoughts on what should be the happiest day in recent memory.

She took the bite of pancake into her mouth from his fork and smiled at the man who had her heart. What she had done to deserve him, she did not know. The father of her, no their, child; the one whose mere presence made her insides do that flip-floppy thing; made her heartbeat quicken. His proximity made her happy; made her feel whole. You do not deserve his love. She closed her eyes and willed the inner voices to be quiet.

"You okay?" he put his hand over hers, speaking quietly, searching her face for clues. He could sense conflict within her; had he said or done something to hurt her or cause her to doubt his love for her?

She opened her eyes, meeting his gaze, "I will be okay." He held out another bite of pancake for her and she took it from his fork. "You do not need to feed me, Tony."

"I want to," he spoke from the heart. "I love you, Ziva." He tried to put everything he felt for this woman, the mother of his, no their, child; the woman who had taken his heart so long ago. "I will always love you…"

Ziva swallowed the pancake bite that was in her mouth. She looked into the emerald green eyes that reflected so much love at her. She fought back the panic that started to rise within her and poured out her heart before the inner voices could shut her down, "Tony, I… I love you and I have loved you for a very long time."

He was about to lock lips with her when Tali broke the moment, "More pancakes, pweese, Abba!" She held her empty plate in his direction.

"Coming right up," he took her plate and put the three pancakes from his own plate on hers. He quickly quartered them and handed the plate back to his daughter.

She grinned, "Toda, Abba! Yummy!" No sooner did the plate touch the table than the little girl had pieces of pancake in both hands. She ate most of the pancakes from Tony's plate while her parents shared the four that were on Ziva's plate.

As Tony cleaned up from breakfast, washing dishes, bowls, and the pan, Tali pulled Ziva into the living room to the shelf of her books and movies. Tony came into the living room, just watching his two girls from the doorway. Ziva was on the floor with their daughter; Tali was sitting in her Ima's lap and the two were reading a Curious George book.

Tony looked carefully at Ziva; she was not the same Ziva he'd left on that tarmac. She had a world-weary look about her. He glanced over by the door for her luggage. All he saw was a large backpack; she always had been able to travel light.

"Um, do you want to take a shower or?" he shrugged at her, trying to be helpful, but choosing his words carefully. "Is that your luggage?" he nodded in the direction of the backpack.

"Yes, it holds what I needed. And, yes, I will take that shower, please," Ziva read the last page to her baby and stood up.

"This way," he led her towards the bathroom, grabbing her backpack from by the door. "Um, do, you, um, need, um, clothes?"

"I do not think your clothes would fit me, Tony," she smirked. "I have a change of underwear, one of your OSU shirts and a second pair of pants in my pack."

"Is that all you have?"

She nodded, "I had to travel light for so long. I have a third change of underwear and socks, plus a jacket."

He stopped her as she started into the bathroom, "We WILL go get you more clothing, Ziva, in the next day or so. Do you need anything else? Medical care? Shoes? I'll make sure you get what you need, Sweetcheeks." He brushed a light kiss on her cheek; she turned to face him and brushed her lips on his.

"Toda; we will talk more when I get the grime of the world off my body," she started to close the bathroom door to take her shower.

"NO! IMA! No go!" Tali grabbed her mother's leg. "NO!"

"Tali, let Ima take a shower. She'll be right back out when she's done," Tony tried to pry Tali from Ziva's leg.

"NO,NO, NO! Ima no go!" Tali's bottom lip started quivering; a sign that full-on melt-down was imminent.

"Leave the door open," Ziva suggested. "It is not like you have not seen me without clothes…" She started undressing and moving into the bathroom. Tony sat outside the door, leaning on the doorframe. Tali slowly let go of her Ima's leg when she realized that her mother was headed to the tub.

"Oh, bath!" the toddler seemed satisfied when Ziva ran the water so she sat down beside her Abba.

Tony smiled at Ziva, "Guess you are going to have an audience for your shower." He tried not to stare; motherhood had softened the curves of her body. She was as beautiful as ever; probably even more so. He could feel his own body reacting to the sight of her. He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face; not ready to go down that road quite yet…

After Ziva dressed in her change of clothes, Tony took the other items of her clothing and put them with his own clothes to be laundered. He suggested that the three of them head out to the superstore he and Tali frequented to get more food, some clothing items for Ziva, and whatever other things she needed. Once at the store, he encouraged her to pick out enough clothes for a week's worth of outfits, plus some extra pieces. He discouraged her from buying what he called 'practical, utilitarian' clothes; no cargo pants; get the red lacy underwear instead of the white cotton… At first, Ziva protested; he reminded her that they could well afford for her to purchase whatever she wanted.

"Besides," he whispered in her ear as the two were looking through a rack of dressier pants and jeans, "I want to show off my beautiful Ninja to the world. I want those other men to turn their heads to see the woman on MY arm!" He softly kissed her neck and put his arms around her. "I love you, Zi."

After checking out, Tony arranged to have their purchases delivered. The three then went to the café that Tony and Ziva had eaten at the last time they were in Paris for lunch. On the walk back to the flat, Tali nodded off in her stroller. They put the little girl in her bed with Kelev and then carried the bags of clothing and groceries in to the various rooms in the flat.

As Ziva removed tags from her new clothing, Tony pushed his shirts and other clothing to one side of the closet in the larger bedroom. "That's about half of the closet for you, Sweetcheeks," he showed her the space he'd cleared for her. He then carried the laundry basket to the washer and dryer and started a load of washing. He then followed Ziva to the living room. She sat on the sofa and patted the cushion next to her, motioning for him to sit.

"Tony, I… want to reassure you," she started. This conversation was not going to be easy, but she also knew it needed to be said. "I am done running; if you will have me, I plan to stay with you and Tali…"

He took her hands in his, locking his eyes with hers, "Ziva, you are a part of this family. You, me, Tali; we are a family; we are finally whole. Of course I want you to stay! I wouldn't choose any other way…" He put a hand on the side of her face and drew her to him. "Ziva, I love you." He wiped a tear from her cheek and gently kissed her.

"Toda; I love you as well. Will you hold me? I have missed the comfort of your arms around me so much," she snuggled into his embrace. The pair just sat on the couch holding on to each other, reveling in the touch that had been so missed.

"I used to cuddle with Tali when she was a baby; we would sit for hours in the rocking chair in the living room of the farmhouse and I would tell her about you," Ziva told him. "I told her about how nice it was to cuddle with you and to wake up in your arms. When she went through a colicky phase, telling her stories about you was the only thing that calmed her many times."

Tony chuckled, "I think that's a compliment… What was she like as a baby?"

"Always alert; always watching everything. She liked to watch the Disney movies on the TV from an early age. She babbled constantly; I guess she got that from you," Ziva gently poked his ribs.

"She is amazing, Ziva. Part you and part me; I never knew so much love could be packed into someone so small. We made an awesome kid."

"We did," Ziva nodded against his chest.

"ABBA!" said awesome kid called from the bathroom. "Come wipe; all done." Tony shifted and stood; Ziva followed him down the small hallway.

He helped Tali wipe and flush, "Good girl, Tals." He high-fived with the toddler.

"Ima, Tali is big girl; go poo and pee in potty," Tali held up her hand to her mother for a high-five.

Ziva touched her hand to the little girl's, and turned to Tony, "You are such a good father to her. In four months, you have her potty trained; speaking hundreds more words, and doing quite well with feeding herself." She put her hand on his arm as she spoke, "I am sorry that you missed her first two years."

"Can't undo the past, Ziva," he replied. "But I accept your apology."

"HUNGEE, ABBA! Ani raev!"

"Atah raev; do we need to feed the hungry tummy?" he tickled her lightly and she giggled and nodded. "Then let's go get a snack for everyone."

"Ima snack?" Tali tugged her mother's hand in the direction of the kitchen.

As Tony sliced an apple into toddler-sized pieces, Tali climbed into her booster seat. "Sit, Ima. Snack time. Get snack if you sit nice." She grinned at her parents.

After the snack, all three watched Cars. Tali sat between her parents to start, then draped across their laps. She sat in Ziva's lap for a bit, then in her father's lap, and finally back between them with a hand resting on each of their legs as if to anchor herself to her Ima and Abba.

Ziva made dinner with some of the groceries they'd purchased earlier in the day. After dinner, the three read story books until Tali's bedtime. Once the little girl was tucked under her covers, she looked at her parents expectantly.

"Yes, princess?" Tony bent to kiss her curls.

"Numi, numi, pweese?" she asked. "Ima and Abba sing." She pointed to Ziva and then to Tony. "Pweese?" Both nodded and together they sang their baby's favorite lullaby. Ziva gently rubbed her daughter's back as they sang and by the end of the lullaby, the toddler was asleep with Kelev clutched in her arms.

In the living room, both parents put books and toys back on the shelf for the night. Tony turned to Ziva, "She's down for the night, I hope. I usually watch a movie and then go to bed."

"A movie is fine. You choose." Ziva sat on the sofa; she was starting to feel the lack of sleep from the past four months as well as the energy drain from constant motion with the two year old. Tony used the remote to find a movie on one of the TV channels; he sat next to Ziva on the sofa and leaned back. She curled into his side and he wrapped an arm around her.

Very little was said between them in words. Tony absently fingered Ziva's curls; her hair was much shorter than he remembered. Ziva sighed against the warmth of his chest; she'd missed just cuddling with him so much. Both knew that a conversation about the tough things was hanging like an elephant in the room, but they would save it for another day.

She fell asleep against her favorite pillow about two-thirds of the way through the film; he didn't bother to wake her until the final credits rolled. He wondered when the last time she'd had a night's sleep had been as he tightened his arm around her ever so slightly.

"Ziva, come on," he gently woke her. "Let's go to bed."

She stretched and followed him to the bedroom. He motioned for her to use the bathroom first. While she was in the bathroom, he started gathering a pillow, sheet, and blanket so that he could sleep on the couch and let her have the bed.

She came out of the bathroom and he took his turn. Ziva took the pillow, blanket, and sheet in her arms as he came out.

"Going somewhere with my bedding?" he startled her from her thoughts.

"I was going to sleep on the sofa," she replied.

"No, you sleep in here; I will sleep on the couch," he responded and tugged at the bedding in her arms.

"But this is your bed…"

"I insist…"

They locked gazes; suddenly Tony started chuckling. Ziva giggled as his laugh was infectious.

"Ziva, this is ridiculous; we don't need to argue over who is sleeping where."

"I agree; it is not like we have not shared a bed before."

"Um, yeah, and we have a kid…" he gestured in the direction of Tali's room. "We BOTH sleep here; end of discussion." He put the pillow back as he sat on the bed and patted the mattress next to him.

She sat down beside him and spoke softly, "I would like that." She moved to lay down by his side. He sighed as she rested her head on his chest, over his heart. He wrapped his arm over her loosely.

"Good night, Ziva." He placed a kiss on her head.

"Good night, Tony." She raised her head and brushed her lips on his.