Saturday night at the DiNozzo's house. On Monday Tony and Ziva were going back to work. Ziva was still nervous about how this could affect her children. Ziva and Tali were inside the house. All the curtains were closed and Tali was getting impatient. Tony had ordered them to stay inside while he was preparing something outside and of course they were not allowed to peek. Tali walked quietly to the curtains and she was soon stopped by her mother who told her, in her mother tongue, that her father would be really pissed if she was ruining the surprise. After 20 more minutes, Tony walked in and victoriously announced: ⠀
-"everything is ready for you m'ladies" ⠀
Tali rushed outside followed by Ziva. Ziva's eyes widened when she saw the backyard. Tony had set up lights on the trees, improvised a tent with covers and mattress and placed a fire pit in the middle of the garden. Tali turned to her father with excitement and asked: ⠀
-"are we gonna go camping in the garden ?" ⠀
-"yes we are" ⠀
Tali was ecstatic. She was running around the garden, to discover the homemade campsite. Tony walked to Ziva, handed her a glass of wine and victoriously whispered to Ziva's ear: ⠀
-"you still think that it's a stupid idea to sleep outside when we have a house ?"⠀
-"shut up" ⠀
Tony laughed and said: ⠀
-"that's what I thought !" ⠀
He grabbed her hand and lead her to the campsite. They sat around the fire and Tali soon asked for her father to play a song with his guitar. ⠀
They were all gathered around the fire pit, roasting marshmallows, playing songs and making jokes. Adam was long gone asleep. Ziva was cuddled up to Tony. It was getting pretty late but Tali was still overexcited. She asked:
-"Aba can you tell me another story about you and Ima ?"
-"It's getting late Tali"
Tali put on her puppy dog eyes and begged:
-"Aba pleeeeease"
-"alright"
Ziva laughed at her husband weakness when it comes to their children. Tony continued:
-"alright, I told you about the time me and Ima were trapped in a box, I told you about when we went to Paris for the first time but I have never told you about the first time I met you ?"
Tali nodded and lay down on the floor, her chin resting on her hands.
-"so I was at work and I was very worried because I have heard that Ima was not doing ok. Then uncle Vance asked me to come in his office and I was very sad but then a little girl came in and I saw you. You were like this tall (he gestured to show her how tall she was) and you were the cutest little girl I have ever seen in my life"
-"Were you still sad ?"
-"oh I was still sad because Ima was not there but I was really happy because she had given me the most beautiful gift I had ever received"
Next to him Ziva was a bit tense. She knew Tony was avoiding all the parts about her potential death but she could not stop thinking about the pain and fear that she had caused. Tony tightened his arm around her to reassure her.
-"what happened after ?"
-"after ? I took you on a trip with me. We were walking in the streets in Egypt to find Ima. I has been a long day and we were both very tired. Then you pulled my hand and you just said: 'ima' so I looked in the direction and I saw Ima"
-"she was crying ?"
-"oh yes she was crying and she never stopped crying until you were in her arms. After we spent the evening together and what happened after is not for children's ears"
He smirked at Ziva in remembrance of the healing night they had shared in Cairo.
Those memories were still painful for Ziva but she she was happy to remember that this nightmare led to this moment of pure happiness.
Tony walked inside the bathroom, he looked at the shower glass door and he could clearly see Ziva's naked silhouette through the condensation. A little smirk appeared on his face. He opened the shower door and was stopped by Ziva's hand on his chest.
-"stop!"
-"what ?"
-"I thought I had been pretty clear about you joining me in the shower"
-"I thought you were joking"
-"I was supposed to go for a run before work this morning but I could not because someone was too 'awake' to let me go" she clearly glanced at Tony's manhood. "Now we only have time for a 'normal' shower before we get late on our first day at work AND we both know that the only way for me to have a normal shower is by keeping a safe distance between you and me" Tony admitted his responsibility with a semi proud and guilty smile.
-"alright.. your loss"
Ziva resumed her shower and Tony walked to the sink. He smirked once again and turned the hot water on which made Ziva yelled when her hot shower suddenly turned into a freezing one. Tony innocently said:
-"oups sorry..."
He waited for a few seconds and turned the hot water on again. Ziva yelled again:
-"TONY STOP OR I'M GONNA HURT YOU !"
Tony laughed and said:
-"no 'hot' shower for me, no hot shower for you sweetcheeks"
Ziva grabbed the shower head, opened the shower door and sprayed Tony with cold water. He yelled in return and rushed inside the shower to stop her. Tali was standing in the corridor listening to her parents' childish fight and she knew she would be late for school today.
