Following Tali

4 - Italy

Tony and Tali slept for the whole flight so not much really happened. After they landed Tony drove the rental car to the hotel for the night, the hotel room was the most basic they had been in, there was two single beds and a plain cabinet. Tony was glad he only booked the hotel for one night as he was sure it wouldn't keep Tali busy, in the morning Tony took Tali to a house he had rented since when they arrived in Italy. It was a nice house they had a good sized living area, a bathroom, a dining & kitchen area combined and two bedrooms. Both bedrooms where plain but they where allowed to decorate so after Tali had explored and got slightly used to the new surroundings he drove to a nearby hardware shop to buy paint and decorations. He let Tali pick out her own paint and some candy for being a good girl and staying by his side in the shop. They painted Tali's room as soon as they got back and unpacked everything they brought with them.

After a few days Tali was able to move into her room so Tony began to paint his room a crisper color as the last color looked worn. Tony spoke to Tali in English and only occasionally in Italian, although he always sang to her in Hebrew. Everyday Tony took Tali on a walk to either get food, go to the park or just to walk, they passed the same woman daily she always wore a large hat and clothes to cover most of her body. Tali loved the park here she met a few other kids who she would play with but they never really spoke, well Tali never spoke. Tali would only speak to Tony and when she spoke she would speak in a mixture of Hebrew, English, Italian, Spanish and German, Tony eventually decided to go online and buy some kids workbooks in all of the languages so he hopefully would be able to help her speak in one language consistently. He started to sit down with her everyday after they got back from their walk, they started on English then Italian and Hebrew. Tony started to take online Hebrew lessons as well so he would be in a better place to help Tali and so he could understand more of what she was saying.

After a month of being in Italy Tali had started to catch on to the different languages but she still didn't speak in public, Tony took her out for lunch to their usual cafe which served healthy homemade food without all the sugars and fats. Although today there was a different woman at the counter, she asked Tony what he wanted then tried to ask Tali who looked at her for a few seconds before turning away and picking up Kalev, "hey, hey I was talking to you missy" the woman said snatching Kalev out of Tali's hands and holding him up just out of her reach, Tali looked up at Kalev, at the woman then at Tony "Kalev" she whispered "Abba" she said turning to Tony asking him with her eyes for Kalev "That's my daughters" he stated staring straight at the woman on the other side of the counter "and?" She asked lifting Kalev higher, Tali clung on to Tony slightly crying "Can you give it back" he asked rolling his eyes "can she say what she wants" she said sarcastically "she speaks 5 languages forgive her if she doesn't like talking to people with an attitude like yours" Tony eventually finished grabbing Kalev from her hand and walking out. They decided to quickly stop at the shops before the went home to buy some food for a picnic, Tony gave Tali a few mini sausages while he cut the sandwiches in tiny shapes and sliced all the fruit. While they where walking up the hill he sent a text to a few of Tali's friends parents asking if they wanted to come meet them on the hill for a picnic, 3 of the boys and 2 of the girls where free so they met them up on the hill twenty minutes later. Everyone had brought some food or drink, while the 6 kids ran around playing the parents sat on the picnic mats watching and enjoying the view, everyone enjoyed themselves but when it started to get dark everyone went their separate ways home. At home Tali was out before her head hit the pillow and Tony went out shortly after.

When it got to two months Tony started planning for Tali's party the next month, the only thing Tali really wanted was her Ima and "Kai" she spoke a lot about Kai but she only really repeated the same few things over again. Tali and Tony had joint a group in the local hall down the road where they met once or twice a week, they had lots of kids toys so Tali was always quite happy to go off and play with a few of the other kids while Tony sat with another single father and watched over Tali. Tony had changed quite a lot since he became responsible for another human, he didn't flirt with every girl he saw, he didn't have one night stands or sleep with anyone his main priority was now Tali and she was the centre of his life. Tali had adjusted to life in Italy quite well she was happy not to be traveling so much but she still asked for her Ima at least 6 times a week, Tony never knew what to tell her so he kept telling her she was on a trip and travelling a lot like they did at first.

In the middle of the third month it was Tali's third birthday, a few days before they had gone on their normal walk and the woman with the big hats wasn't standing at the corner or walking along the road it was strange to Tony because for every day since they came to Italy she had been standing or walking when they walked. For Tali's birthday Tony arranged a picnic party in a park and hours drive away, he invited about 28 of Tali's "friends" everyone was pretty much just people Tali met at groups or in parks not her close friends. The party consisted of Tali and her friends running around the park, on the swings, the slide and the field area. She had a princess castle cake with a bit of everything on, they ate pizza, chips, apple, carrots and they drank juice and water. Nothing major went wrong, there where a few spillages, a few pushes and a few falls but considering there where 29 kids Tony didn't expect much else. All the parents said the party was great and thanked Tony for inviting them, Tali was happy that she got to spend her day outside and in a park.

A/N - The next part will have a little more Italy because They are beginning to adjust to life in Italy