"I thought we were going to the grocery, Tony." Ziva reminded Tony, noticing they had just passed the road they needed to take.
"Were we?" Tony smirked. He saw his wife tense up out of the corner of his eye. She hated surprises, but it was Christmas time, after all.
"Daddy where we goin?" Their six year old daughter, Sarah, asked. Tony mumbled something to himself, and to anyone else it would have sounded like jibberish. To him, it was not.
"What was that?" Ziva raised her eyebrows. She was clearly losing her patience. Of course, Tony was only lighting the fire.
"Oh nothing. Just reminded myself that you both hate surprises, and how I seem to forget about it quite often." He confessed as a sly smile appeared on his lips.
Ziva's eyes narrowed as she studied his face. She knew, though, she wouldn't find out his surprise that way. He wasn't a criminal in interrogation, he was her husband, her partner. After knowing each other for seven years, they both know how to shield reactions and expressions. The only way Ziva was going to find out what Tony was planning, was to get inside his head, and she knew that was impossible. Quite frankly, though, she didn't particularly want to be inside his head...
Knowing she was getting nowhere, Ziva relaxed her muscles. Tony saw this, too, and smirked again.
"Already giving up?" Tony questioned.
"You wish." She smiled.
From the backseat, their daughter spoke again. "Daaddyyyy! Where we goin?" Sarah whined as Ziva had when Tony first began his spontaneous surprises.
"It's a surprise, princess. You'll like it. Both you and mommy." Tony answered.
"But I don't like guessing games, Daddy." Sarah came back.
"Don't guess, baby. Just watch out the window and you'll find out soon enough." Tony smiled, looking at his daughter through a mirror on the dashboard. Sarah sighed as she slid down in her car seat.
"How long is this going to take, Tony? We are going to be late for work." Ziva pointed out. If she knew that, maybe she could narrow down the possibilities.
"I have a feeling Gibbs won't mind."
Alright, maybe not. "A feeling?" Ziva tried again.
"Honey relax. I've got this under control. I promise." He carefully placed one hand on her shoulder, shifting his glance from the road to her for only a few seconds. Tony fixed his eyes on his wife's. The stare they shared was not long, but it was long enough to produce a smile on Ziva's face.
From then on, Ziva was quiet, and so was Sarah. Even though his girls weren't saying anything, Tony knew they were keeping a keen eye on the road. Each sign that appeared was read silently and carefully. They both had a "sixth sense", as Tony often called it. It was awareness. No matter how stressful or simple the challenge in front of them was, they were both, at all times, completely and utterly aware of their surroundings. It was truly amazing.
As they approached the turn off to a small town, Tony made his way over to the turning lane.
"What's down that road, Daddy?" Sarah asked from the back.
"I can't get anything by you, can I?" He chuckled.
"Nope!" She chimed back.
Ziva, however, was still studying the road, practically on the edge of her seat.
Somehow, and probably by luck, at least for Tony, she didn't notice the "Christmas Tree Farm" sign as they drove down a narrow path carved by car tires.
"I think you are lost, Anthony." Ziva suggested as her face scrunched up.
"Oh no, I'm far from lost." He smiled.
He put the car in park and shut off the engine. Ziva was still dumbfounded. "You have arrived at your destination!" Tony mocked a GPS system.
Ziva tried to speak, but was silenced by Tony's finger brushing against her lips. He unbuckled his seatbelt and made his was over to Ziva's door, opening it as she stepped out.
"I've got to make a phone call," he studied her reaction, which hadn't changed from her earlier expression of confusion, "you mind getting Sarah out?"
Ziva shook her head and opened the back seat door as Tony called Gibbs.
After about half a mile of walking, Ziva noticed a figure in the distance.
"Tony wait. There's someone here." She gasped, holding back her daughter and her husband.
Tony only laughed.
"What's so funny?" Ziva demanded, almost screaming.
"Just keep walking." He smiled.
All of a sudden, Sarah started running towards the man. Ziva rushed to hold her back but she wasn't fast enough.
"Sarah! Where are you... He's got a chainsaw! Tony!-" She was cut of by her husband's soft hand intertwining with hers.
"Relax. She's fine. That's Gibbs, I called him. And as for the chainsaw, baby haven't you realized where we are?" Tony was laughing, but trying not to be rude. Ziva considered this, and took in her environment. Trees surrounded her at almost every angle. But not just trees, evergreen trees. Christmas trees.
"Tony..." She gasped, truly taking in the large assortment of trees for the first time. This time, she wasn't on edge and tensed up, she was relaxed and at ease.
"Never has it taken this long. I must be getting better." Tony breathed, amused by the appearance of his own breath before him.
Simultaneously, the snow fell around them ever so gracefully and in perfect rhythm. Ziva glanced up at her husband, her brown eyes holding a twinkle the color of the snow.
"I knew you'd like it." Tony whispered, returning her stare. They studied each other for a moment before a smile came across both of their lips.
"You never cease to amaze me." She confessed. It was nearly zero degrees in DC, but Ziva's body was completely warm with happiness.
"Merry early Christmas, Zee." Tony said as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body against his. Ziva threw her arms around his neck as she smiled into Tony's kiss.
