It was their last night in Paris. Tomorrow they will close the door of their Parisian apartment for the last time.
The apartment was almost empty. Tali and Adam's bedrooms furniture were gone to D.C. Tony and Ziva had to share their bed with the kids for over a week, much to the joy of Tali and Adam. Adam was long gone asleep on his mother's chest. Tony grumbled:
-"Tali, your feet are very cold"
Tali moved her feet away from her father's legs, then she smiled mischievously and touched Tony's legs again.
-"Tali ! Stop !"
Tali giggled.
-"you know what's gonna happen if you don't stop ? The king of tickle is gonna have to crack down on you"
Ziva raised an eyebrow, she was hoping that Tali would fall asleep soon but now that Tony had provoked her, there was no way this would happen and on top of that they will probably wake up Adam during the fight.
Tali giggled again and touched her father's leg with her feet again.
Ziva warned as she saw Tony moving on the bed::
-"Tony don't"
-"It's too late Ziva, She's gonna have to face her fate"
Tony jumped and grabbed the little girl. Tali started to giggle and struggle. Ziva smiled and nonchalantly said:
-"you are going to hurt yourself..."
After long minutes of a tickle fight on the bed, Tony and Tali fell from the bed and collapsed on the floor. They both said:
-"ouch!"
The next thing they heard was Ziva saying:
-"why do I always have to be right"
And Adam started to whine.
Tali and Tony still on the floor looked at each other with a guilty smile.
An hour later, Tali was still not sleeping. Ziva knew that she was obviously anxious about leaving Paris for a new life. Tony was asleep with Adam next to him. Ziva turned to face Tali and whispered: ⠀
-"do you want to talk about it ?" ⠀
The little girl shook her head and Ziva cursed herself in her mind for giving that aspect of her personality to her daughter. Ziva smiled and gave a boop on Tali's nose. It was always making her smile and this time was no different. Ziva started: ⠀
-"I know how hard this is for you Tali. It's going to be a different world and you'll probably feel lost at first. But one of David's biggest strengths is our faculty to adapt to a new situation. And you are a David as much as you are a DiNozzo. I've been through this. I was living my life in Israel, with my work, my friends, my habits and then I had to move to the U.S. I've met new people which were very, VERY different from the people I used to know, and they became my family. Changing is difficult but you should remember one thing: home isn't a place, it's the people you are with. If I never moved to D.C I would not have met Aba, I would not have had my baby girl (she booped her nose again) and I would not be as happy as I am now. You're gonna be fine" ⠀
Tali smiled and asked: ⠀
-"you promise ?"⠀
Ziva raised her pinky finger and said: ⠀
-"I promise" ⠀
Tali locked her pinky finger to her mother's and smiled. She cuddled up to her mother's side and closed her eyes. Her mother had made a promise to her and she was always keeping her promises. She knew she would be fine.
They were finally home. Their new home for their new life. The first night had been pretty rough, especially for the kids. It was a beautiful morning. Tony was moving some boxes around the house under Ziva's instructions. Adam was wrapped in a baby sling on his mother's chest and Tali was helping her father. Ziva asked them to move Tali's stuff to her bedroom and Ziva went to the garage to see what they should deal with next. After quite some time Ziva came back from the garage. She was surprised that neither Tali nor Tony were back already. She heard a sound coming from upstairs, a melody. She rolled her eyes and smiled. She climbed the stairs and opened the door of Tali's new bedroom. Tony was playing guitar while Tali was listening, dancing and clapping around him. She loved it when her father was playing some music for her and he loved to see his little girl dancing. Tony noticed Ziva:
-"Sweet Cheeks, thank you for joining us"
-"what happened to 'moving boxes' ?"
Tony, still playing his song, answered:
-"I wanted to check if my guitar was still tuned. Spoiler alert, it was not, and Tali asked me to play a song for her. I could not resist her David pleading eyes"
Ziva squint her eyes. She was leaning on the door with her arms crossed around her chest. It did not stop Tony from continuing his song, on the contrary he walked to Ziva and used all his charming skills to get a smile from her. It worked. How could she be upset at him for being so charming. Once he had reached Ziva. he placed a kiss on Adam's head, still playing his song and waited for Ziva to give him a kiss. She hesitated and finally granted him with the reward he was waiting for. The day went on until the house was finally starting to look like a functional house and not a cardboard boxes warehouse.
