Rules for Dating My Daughter

Tony and Ziva, and Gibbs, deal with Tali's first date

Thirteen year old Tali DiNozzo was excited. As she opened the front door to the house, she called out for her Ima. "Ima? Are you home?"

Grandpa stepped out of the kitchen, "Sorry, Tals, your Ima is at the Navy Yard today. I'm here until one of your parents gets home. What's up?"

"Grandpa, Aaron asked me to the eighth grade dance! Do you think Ima and Abba will let me go? Abba keeps saying that I can't date until I am twenty, but I think he is just teasing me." Tali was excited about her first date, even if it was just a school dance.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at Tali's news. His first instinct was to have Tim run a background check on the boy's family. "What's his name, Tali?"

"Aaron Schmidt; he's in my science, math and band classes. His mother is FBI and his dad is NSA." Tali was accustomed to her family wanting to know about her friends' parents and families. She was pretty sure Grandpa, Uncle Tim and her parents did background checks on some of them. She guessed that was a fact of life with so many law enforcement and investigative members in her extended family.

Gibbs made a mental note to check the mom and dad out when he was at the office the next day. He could not be too overprotective of his granddaughter; he just had to make sure the family was good enough for her to have a date with one of them. He did not want any unsavory characters around his precious girl.

~TALI~

Tony was the first parent home that night. Tony invited Gibbs to stay for dinner, which he accepted. Anthony and LJ had arrived home from school about an hour before Tony got home. Tali was already doing homework when her brothers came home. She had just a reading assignment left when her Abba came in the door. Rivka and Beth were at gymnastics, and Ziva would pick them up on her way home.

Tony and Gibbs started making dinner for the family; Gibbs grilled some steaks outside on the grill and Tony made baked potatoes and a salad. Anthony had started on his homework after a snack when he got home. LJ had no homework, so he helped Grandpa with the steaks. Tali finished her reading and walked into the kitchen to help her Abba. Since she was the only one in the kitchen with him, she brought up the invitation to the eighth grade dance.

"Abba, Aaron asked me to the eighth grade dance." Tali decided to just be forthright with her Abba. "You know Aaron; he lives on the corner where the school bus picks us up."

Tony stopped slicing the tomatoes. He turned to Tali, and tried to be nonchalant, but failed miserably. "What did you tell him?"

Tali sighed, "Abba, I told him that I would like to go with him, but I would have to ask my parents."

"Okay, have you told anyone else yet?" Tony was inclined to tell her that she could go if and only if both he and her mother could chaperone.

"Grandpa. He asked for Aaron's last name, and I also told him that Aaron's father is NSA and his mother is FBI." Tali knew that the parents would be checked by both her Abba and Grandpa.

"Good. Would Aaron come over to talk to me and your Ima one day this week?" Tony wanted to check the kid out as well, and at least let him know that Tony and Gibbs would be watching his every move around Tali.

Ziva and the twins walked in at that moment. "Who is going to talk to us, Tony?" Ziva had heard only the last part of the conversation.

"Aaron asked me to the eighth grade dance, Ima." Tali explained. "Abba and Grandpa are probably going to check out his parents; his mother is FBI and his father is NSA." Ziva nodded.

"Aaron who lives on the corner where the bus stops?" Ziva asked her daughter. Tali nodded and sighed again. Why did her parents (and Grandpa) make this into such a big deal? She was only going to a dance at the school with a kid from the neighborhood, for crying out loud.

~TALI~

Aaron nervously rang the doorbell to the DiNozzo house. He knew that Tali's parents were in law enforcement like his parents. He also knew that her grandfather, uncles, and aunts were also federal agents. Tony answered the door and invited the boy into the family room.

Ziva was sitting at a table cleaning some of her knives. She looked up when Tony and Aaron came into the room. Aaron took one look at the knives and wished he had stayed at home. He really liked Tali as a friend, and that was why he invited her to the dance. Besides, all of the eighth grade boys were inviting eighth grade girls to the dance.

"Hello, Aaron." Ziva looked up from her cleaning to greet the boy. Tony sat next to Ziva and gestured to Aaron to have a seat across from them. The boy sat down nervously and then noticed that Tali's grandfather was also in the room. He looked from Mrs. DiNozzo to Mr. DiNozzo to Mr. Gibbs.

"Um, hello." Aaron's voice cracked, from nervousness. He wasn't sure who was more intimidating; Mr. DiNozzo was tall, but Mrs. DiNozzo had those knives. Mr. Gibbs glared at him.

Tony spoke, "Aaron, we understand that you would like to take Tali to the eighth grade dance. Why do you want to take HER?"

"Um, I, um, I like her as a friend, sir. I, um, have known her and, um, the rest of you, um, since kindergarten. I just wanted to have, um, a friend at the dance." Aaron was getting more nervous by the minute.

"Good. How do you plan to get to the dance?" Mrs. DiNozzo had one of the knives in her hand, checking the edge of the blade. Rumor had it that she was once Mossad. That scared Aaron more than anything.

"My, um, Mom, um, is going to, um, drive us there, ma'am." Gibbs looked the boy over, making Aaron squirm slightly in his chair. "She is, um, one of the, um, chaperones for the, um, dance."

Gibbs nodded, "I am a chaperone as well." Aaron looked at the steely blue eyes of Tali's grandfather, knowing the man would be watching him.

"Yes, sir." Aaron just wanted this grilling to be over.

Tony spoke next, "Remember that you must have her home by the time that we arrange before the dance. You must treat her with respect. You must also not do or say anything to embarrass or disrespect her to others. Got it?"

Ziva added, "You are not to go off with her alone at the dance. And you must not do anything to make her feel uncomfortable. Do I make myself clear?" Ziva pointed the knife at him as she checked its surface to make sure it was clean.

"Um, okay, sir. Okay, um, ma'am." Aaron's voice cracked again.

Tony and Ziva gave their approval for Aaron to take Tali to the dance. Gibbs just looked at the boy; those steely blue eyes would be watching his every move at the dance.

~TALI~

Aaron rang the doorbell at the DiNozzo house as his mother waited in the family car in the driveway. He was still a bit nervous about the dance, and he knew Tali's grandfather would be chaperoning. Tony answered the door, and invited the young man in. Tali was finishing getting ready, and Ziva was helping Tali fix her hair. Ziva had also allowed Tali to use some makeup, helping her daughter apply blush, mascara and eye shadow.

Anthony waited in the family room with his camera to take pictures of Tali and Aaron. He looked at Aaron fidgeting and felt sorry for him. He knew his parents and Grandpa had checked out both Aaron and his parents before allowing Tali to go to the dance with Aaron. "Hey, Aaron. Remember to treat my sister right and there will be no problems." Anthony smiled at Aaron, but somehow Aaron did not feel any less nervous.

Tali entered the family room, followed by Ziva. Aaron tried to put the wrist corsage on Tali's arm, but his hands were shaking. He was very glad his dad had talked him into a wrist corsage instead of a pin on corsage! Anthony took pictures of the two, and Tony and Ziva walked them out to the car. Ziva said hello to Aaron's mom and Tony watched as the Aaron held the door for Tali.

As the car pulled out of the driveway, Tali relaxed a bit. Her parents had been okay, not intimidating Aaron too much, but she still had Grandpa chaperoning at the dance. At the school, Aaron held out his arm to escort Tali inside. As they walked into the gym, Gibbs watched the two. Aaron could feel the man's eyes watching him.

The dance started and Aaron and Tali moved to the dance floor with the others. Gibbs moved along the perimeter of the room, watching Tali, and the other kids. During a break, Aaron got punch for himself and Tali, knowing those steely blue eyes were watching his every move.

As the dancing started again, Dylan, one of the troublemaker boys tried to get Tali to dance with him. She said no but he persisted. Aaron saw Mr. Gibbs moving towards Tali and Dylan. He was very glad that he was not on the receiving end of Mr. Gibbs' ire!

Gibbs moved closer, making sure Dylan saw him. He fixed his gaze on the boy as Tali reiterated her refusal to dance with Dylan, who had just taken Tali's hand in his and tried to pull her to the dance floor. Gibbs had the kid by the collar faster than he knew what hit him.

"I believe Tali told you 'no,' multiple times." Gibbs growled at Dylan. "Take your hand off her now."

"Ye-ye-yes, sir." Dylan slunk away, with Gibbs glaring after him.

Other than that incident, the dance was fun and Aaron and Tali had fun. Aaron relaxed some after Dylan was dealt with, and he later thanked Gibbs for helping get rid of Dylan. Tali got home before her curfew and thanked Aaron for taking her to the dance.

Tony and Ziva were waiting in the family room when Tali came inside. She suspected that they had been in the entry area, peeking out of the sidelight windows when the car pulled in the driveway, but she wisely said nothing.

"How was the dance?" Ziva smiled at Tali. "Did you have fun?"

Tali nodded, "Yes, Ima. It was a fun dance. Grandpa didn't get too overprotective!" Tali decided not to tell her Ima about Dylan.

Tony smiled at Tali, "I'm glad you had fun." He pulled her into a hug. "We know about Dylan," he whispered in her ear. Ziva also hugged Tali. She told them good night and headed to her room.

Ziva turned to Tony, "We survived Tali's first date. I am glad Abba was there to chaperone though." Tony agreed with Ziva, nodding and smiling at her as she added, "I hope we can survive more!"