La Samba preview
Tagged by @indestinatus...it is no longer Wednesday so let's call it...sneak peak Saturday?
“You’re such a girl dad,” Ziva observes with a fond smile as Tony pulls her hair into an expert braid. They’d agreed that calling Tali to say goodnight while looking rather disheveled was probably not a good idea.
“I’ll have you know—”he begins, cutting himself off.
“What?” she encourages.
He drops his forehead into her shoulder behind her. “Mm.” He kisses her shoulder blade, over the shirt they hadn’t even managed to properly remove, desperate as they were to have each other again. They’re dressed again, and they’ve sanitized the kitchen counter, too, because they aren’t gross. He lifts his head and tucks his chin over her shoulder. “I learned for you.”
“You what?”
“To braid hair.”
“When?” He hears bemusement and a smile in her voice. “Why?”
“That first summer. When I came over, you’d have it in a ponytail. Or braided. Or you’d put it up after we…God, your hair is gorgeous. So I looked it up. I can’t believe I’m admitting this.” It’s not that he’s embarrassed, exactly; it’s just one of the many plans he had for them that never worked out.
“But you never did it, back then?”
“Didn’t think you’d let me. Thought it would probably end with you pinning me to the floor. And not in a nice way.”
He feels her smile against his own cheek and jaw. “Saw you, on the boat. Wanting to touch my hair.”
“Wanted to do a lot of things on that boat,” he admits.
She turns in his arms. She’s still smiling. “You’re very cute, you know.”
His hands wander her back. “Cute?”
“Cute,” she confirms with a faint nod.
“But also hot, right?”
Her smile becomes a smirk. “Yes, also hot,” she confirms.
He hums into one thorough kiss, and then another, as his hands settle at her waist and hers dip into his messy hair. As they part, she laughs and combs his hair into something more like order, laughing again when he shakes his head like a dog to help her along. “Okay,” he announces. “Let’s call her.”
“Okay.” She pauses as he stares at her with what he knows must be darkened eyes. “What?”
“You’d best not look at me like that on the call. Need I remind you that she is onto us.”
“Okay, Dad who slept in the same room as me last night,” she teases.
“We didn’t do a whole lot of sleeping.”
She kisses his nose. “And whose fault was that?”
“Both of ours. Obviously.”
He loves the way her face just melts, like the past twenty-four hours are already a treasured memory.
But his face falls just a little, and she notices. Her gaze is curious. “She’s gonna be okay with it, right?” he asks. “Someday? Us?”
“We will figure it out,” she promises.
He’s not so sure. They can’t hurt Tali again the way they did before. They owe that to her. But he also can’t pretend about what he wants, not now that he has a second chance.
“Tony.” Ziva tugs at his hair at the nape of his neck, anchoring him back to her. “You were worried about it this morning?”
He bites his lip, but forces himself to nod. He sees his answer click something into place for her. She always sees right through him, doesn’t she?
“Well. I do not think it will be the most difficult thing that the three of us have been through together. Do you?”
“Guess not,” he admits, caressing her lower back, trying to keep a hold on the heaviness that had settled over him after their call with their daughter this morning. It might be the hardest thing, though. Figuring out how to do them differently. It might be the hardest thing he’s ever done. Not the same as thinking he’d lost her, or learning how to be a dad on a dime, but hard in a different way. He’s going to try his best for them. He just hopes his best is good enough.
“Come on.” She tugs at his hand. He follows her into the living room.
