You Came and Proved Me Wrong

It's been a year since Tony and Tali reunited with Ziva in Paris. They've been living a happy family life with occasional visits from Sr. They travel to DC for McGee's wedding where afterwards, with Gibbs and Senior watching Tali, Tony takes Ziva to the doorstep of the hotel where they had pizza and espresso in the rain and their first conversation about Tali David. He pulls her under the awning and, just as the rain starts to come down, he gets on one knee holding his mother's ring out to her and utters the question that, just last year, he never thought he'd get to ask. – I made this post today on Tumblr and it inspired this drabble that I put together in 3 hours (a record for me) and is the first thing I've written in 5 months.

May, 2017

"Tony, Ziva, Tali, thanks for coming."
"We would not miss this for the world Tim." With Tali on her hip, Ziva leaned in to give the new groom a hug.

Tony reached over to pat his friends back. "I'm glad we could make it McGroom." Ziva lightly tapped him on the shoulder while McGee just shook his head and laughed, grateful to have two of his best friends and their daughter here, alive, and in DC for his wedding day.

At Tali's squirming, Ziva sat the girl down, kissing Tim on the cheek and squeezing Tony's bicep before following the girl to where Abby, Gibbs, and Senior were conversing in the kitchen. Once she was out of earshot, Tim asked Tony what he'd been dying to ask him all evening.

"So Tony, is tonight the night?"

Tony smiled, tapping his suit jacket pocket. "Yep. Senior and Gibbs are watching Tali. I'm taking Ziva back to the hotel. It's supposed to rain. It's gonna be perfect Tim."

"Well I'm happy for you Tony. Asking Delilah to marry me was the best decision I've ever made. You guys are gonna be so happy. And I must say, it was a long time coming"

He shook his head and laughed, knowing that this should have happened years ago: before Bodnar and Parson's investigation, before they resigned, before he spent a summer trying to find her in Israel only to spend one amazing night together and making the hardest 180 of his life, before spending 2 years without her in his life, and before he thought she was dead (again) and had only Tali to hold onto before putting the pieces together and meeting her in Paris where they've spent the last wonderful year of their lives. "Yeah well, what can I say Tim. I love her and I'm a moron for waiting this long."

"Can't argue with that DiNozzo." Tim laughed before hugging Tony, nodding behind them when Senior came up to them, slapping his son on the back. McGee took that opportunity to find Delilah who was more likely than not getting her ears talked off by Abby.

"Congratulations Tim. Son, are you ready?"

"Yeah dad, I think I am. You've got Tali?"

"Her bag is in my car and we're ready to go to Gibbs for the evening and then I'll take her back to my place for the night."

"Thanks dad, I owe you one."

Senior smiled, pulling Tony into a side hug and loudly whispering "I'll take another granddaughter."

Tony gulped, his tie feeling tighter, but then smiled at the thought of the joy another little girl would bring into his life. "Not so fast dad, let's get tonight over with first and go from there."

Senior only laughed and then nudged his son when Ziva came back into the room.

"Ziva my dear." Senior greeted her, kissing her cheek and pulling her in for a hug.

"Senior, thank you for taking Tali tonight. She is very excited to spend time with you and Gibbs and it has been so long since Tony and I have gotten time to ourselves."

"No need to thank me my dear, it's my pleasure. It's not every day I get to spend time with my only granddaughter." He assured her, stressing the only as he had been doing a lot lately since Tony and Ziva had talked about visiting the states more often. "Well, we better get going so we can have some play time before getting the little munchkin to bed." He walked into the kitchen and picked up a squealing Tali, heading for the door while Gibbs grabbed Tali's other bag. The two men said goodnight as Tali waved, blowing kisses to her parents as they threw "I love yous" to their baby.

"Well sweetcheeks, are you ready to head out too?"

"Yes, let me just say goodnight to Abby. And how many times have I told you not to call me that in public?"

Tony looked sheepish as he followed Ziva into the other room as they said goodnight to the remaining guests before exiting the apartment hand in hand.

"Is it weird, Tony, to see McGee living in your old place." Ziva questioned as they got onto the elevator, prepared to head back to their hotel.

"I thought it would be weird, ya know, to be back in the place I lived for 13 years when someone else is living there but then I realized it was never really home." At her questioning look, he exaggerated, "A friend once told me that home isn't a place, it's in the smiles and laughter of those they love. You're my home Ziva, you and Tali."

Overcome with emotion, Ziva pulled him to her and kissed him then, cursing when the elevator doors opened and wishing they we're back in the elevator at NCIS so they could hit the off switch and stay in there forever. They pulled away, Tony leading them out the doors and into the waiting cab. Once they got to their destination, they paid the driver and ran up to the doors as they heard thunder rolling in. As they got under the awning, the rain came pouring down and Tony pulled her to him, stopping her from entering the building.

She looked at him puzzled for a second as he started talking about their daughter Tali and pizza and espresso before recognition dawned on her face. "Tony, this is the same hotel you followed me to 11 years ago, is it not."

Tony dipped his head and chuckled. "I tell ya, you can take the girl out of Mossad."

Ziva just smiled and shook her head. "You are forgetting I was last NCIS."

He leaned down, touching his forehead to hers, whispering "how could I forget" before kissing her gently.

When they pulled away, Tony had a sparkle in his eye and decided it was time to do what he came here to do.

"Ziva, I uh, I booked us at this hotel for a reason. It's where we had our first real conversation. Where you first talked about your sister Tali. And it was the first time I thought 'man, there's something special about this woman.' I didn't know it at the time just how special you would be in my life. We've been through a lot over 11 years Ziva, but I wouldn't trade it for anything because it brought us our beautiful daughter Tali and it finally brought us together. I still feel like there's something missing though Ziva and I finally figured out what that was." Ziva looked at him with curious eyes as he held her hand before starting to kneel down on one knee. Ziva gasped, pulling her free hand up to cover her mouth as she saw what was happening. "I love you Ziva." He reached into his interior suit pocket, pulling out a ring which Ziva immediately recognized as his mothers. "Ziva David, will you marry me?"

With tears streaming down her face, ones that Tony hoped and prayed were happy tears, Ziva slowly nodded, a string of yes's spilling from her mouth with increasing volume. Tony slowly slipped the ring on her finger and stood, cupping her face with his hands. "Yes?"

"Yes Tony, I will marry you, of course." With his hands slipping into her hair and hers sliding their way around his back, this kiss was reminiscent of the one they had on an Israeli tarmac almost 4 years ago, only this one held promise. Promise of a bright future. A future together.

**The line "I love her (and) I'm a moron" was inspired by a line in Scorpion (2x24) - Walter O'Brien. The part about a person's home being in smiles and laughter was loosely based on a line from NCIS: LA in 6.16. "You're my home" was borrowed from Scorpion 3.23. Each of these borrowed lines are from my other favorite ships so I had to incorporate them into this fic.