All roads lead to Paris

Part 32

Walking down the school hallway, Tali talked about how fun it was to be in the roleplay: "and the other moms and dads all cheered. Did you see that?"

Ziva, who was walking with her arm in arm, patted her head and said: "Yes, I saw. And I can promise, your dad was the one who cheered the most."

Tali smiled and asked: "Where is dad?"

Ziva chuckled and said: "On the toilet. He complained all the way through the show that he needed to go, but he didn't want to leave, because he wanted to see you play."

Tony came back from the restroom, walking fast and looking a bit confused. "Hey, you never guess who I met in there."

Tali asked curiously: "Who was it?"

"I've met Charlene's uncle, who she is living with now that her mother isn't here anymore."

Ziva looked at him, confused what was so special about it and asked: "And?"

"AND he seems really nice. And he knew me, well not me personally but seems like Charlene talked about us. He asked if we would meet sometime so the kids could spend some time together."

Ziva thought about what he said and asked: "Does he know about..."

Tony interrupted her, exactly knowing what she was going for and said: "Yes, he knows about her and what she did... He actually said that he is sorry that this happened and that he is there if we want to talk about this.

Ziva slowly nodded, confused that this man is related with such a monster. He seemed too nice to be related to a murderer and kidnapper who is, or better was, married to a weapon dealer.

"When are we going to meet them?" Tali looked at her dad with pleading eyes. She hasn't seen Charlene, besides school, for a pretty long time and really wanted to see her again.

Tony shrugged and said: "I don't know, we first need to talk to Charlene's uncle to set a date, but I'll promise it will be soon." He smiled at Tali and lay his arm around her. "Let's go home now!"

They all walked arm in arm to their car and drove back, Tali still talking about the roleplay and Tony and Ziva telling her how much they liked it.

On this evening, Tony decided to take them out for dinner. They all dressed nice and went to a small restaurant not far away from their apartment. Tony chose, of course, an Italian restaurant. It was nicely decorated with lights, inside and outside.

Tony stepped out of the car and went to the opposite door. "Madame"

He bowed as he opened the door for Ziva, who slapped him on the back immediately.

"That's embarrassing Tony, stop it."

He got up and looked at her with a smirk on his face. Ziva, who was a little pissed because he was even more childish than usual, said: "And just so you know, I don't need a man to open doors for me."

Tony smiled and said: "I know. Such an independent little ninja as you, doesn't need anybody, but I hope you still let me be by your side."

She bit her lip and then smirked. "Maybe."

They walked inside and got seated at a table next to the dance area.

It was not a typical Italian restaurant. There was a huge dance area in the middle of the room with the tables around it. Everybody would have a great view if anybody actually danced on the dance floor, but there was nobody. Yet there was music playing and the waiters took their way near the tables to leave the floor empty.

"Have you found anything, Tali?" Tony asked while looking through the menu.

Tali shook her head and said: "Not yet."

As the descriptions of the food were hard to understand, they took a lot of time finding something to eat. A few minutes later the waiter came, and they ordered what they picked from the menu.

Tony said, after the waiter wrote down their order: "Thanks. I would like to ask a question. Is the floor free to dance?"

The waiter said that it was, and Tony thanked him. As he turned around, he saw Ziva staring at him with her usual disappointed and annoyed look. He asked: "What?"

"You do not really want to dance, do you?"

Tony said, still thinking his question was appropriate: "If they play good music, yes."

Ziva rolled her eyes and said to Tali: "I think Aba is going to embarrass us today."

About half an hour later, they had eaten their food and were now enjoying the calm but happy atmosphere. The music switched to another song. Tony recognized the song and got excited. He looked at Ziva with big eyes and said: "That's our song, Sweetcheeks."

Ziva shook her head, knowing what he was going for. "No Tony, no. I won't do that."

She tried to not get dragged into this, but Tony was already pulling her up to drag her to the dance floor. She could not react fast enough.

He held her tight, so that she would not try to escape from the dance floor. She looked at him, with a partly threating but partly loving look in her eyes.

She said: "This is so stupid. I will definitely get revenge."

Tony smiled but not answered her. He placed his hand on her hip and his other around her waist and slowly danced with her in circles. Tali watched them, and so did the rest of the people in the restaurant.

They were the only people on the dance floor. Ziva could feel all the eyes staring at them. It was not a comfortable situation for her, but Tony did not let her go.

As she noticed that there was no way she could get out of this, she gave in and leaned her head against Tony's shoulder.

She listened to the music, now recognizing the song as well. She loved the song. It was slow but with a rhythm to dance to. Romantic, but not too kitschy. The perfect mix.

She smiled, now enjoying this dance as much as Tony did. She relaxed a bit but mean while Tony's anxiety got worse. He was nervously looking at Tali as they turned. His hand which rested on her hip went to his suit's pocket.

He said: "Ziva."

"Hm."

He took a deep breath and said anxiously: "Don't hate me after this."

She lifted her head and looked at him with fear in her eyes. Tony let go of her waist and knelt.

The people in the restaurant gasped as they saw him kneeling.

"Ziva David," he began with a trembling voice. Ziva looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I promised I will do it again, and now is the time."

He paused, opened the box in his hands and then said: "Will you marry me?"

Ziva smiled and said: "Yes, I will."

He got up and kissed her passionately. Around them the whole restaurant was cheering, including Tali who was smiling at them excited.