Ziva stood at the kitchen sink, drying off her tea mug with a towel. She had just gotten done tucking her little princess into bed and was getting ready for bed herself. Setting her mug down in the cabinet, she heard the click of the front door open and whipped her head around.
"Sup' David?" Tony waltzed into the apartment, carrying a bag.
"I am getting ready for bed, how did you get in here?" She questioned.
"A long time ago a ninja taught me lock picking skills," he smirked and set the bag down on the kitchen table.
"What is that?" Ziva looked inside the bag.
"The flowers for Tali to carry tomorrow. Jeanne wanted to make sure she had them ahead of time," Tony stared at Ziva, waiting for a response.
Before he could process, her brown eyes suddenly engulfed in red "I thought I clearly stated months ago, Tali and I would not be attending…"
"Well, Tali told me she wanted to be the flower girl…" Tony began to try and explain, "and you should've seen her Zi, she looked so cute picking out her dress at the store"
"No," Ziva felt her hands curl into fists, "No, she is not going"
"Yeah, Zee-vah, she is…I got her dress down in the back of my car, I'll go get it" Tony turned on his heels to head for the door.
"Get that dress and I will shoot you," Ziva blurted out, rage still formed in her eyes.
"Excuse me?" Tony turned around again to look at her.
"You heard me. My daughter is not going. You go get that dress and I will make sure you won't end up going either, " She walked towards him, fists still curled at her side.
"You're joking, right? You can't seriously be threatening me right now…" He stood looking at her in bewilderment.
"Do I look to be joking, Tony?" Her head tilt sideways.
"What the hell is your problem?!" Tony's hands went up in the air.
"My problem?!" Ziva scoffed, "My problem is you trying to force my daughter to go to your…your…" Ziva stumbled on the words.
"OUR daughter, yeah she's going to my WEDDING" he pronounced strongly at the two words, making them echo in Ziva's ears.
"No…" Ziva whispered and then spoke louder, "No, our daughter is not going to your wedding, Anthony. That is final," She began to walk towards the door to let him out, tears filling in her eyes.
"Why won't you two come? I don't understand what the big deal is," Tony complained as he followed her towards the door and stopped shortly.
"You do not see what the big deal is? That is interesting," Ziva commented sarcastically.
"No I don't, Ziva" He replied, wondering when the hell she picked up on the use of sarcasm.
"I do not want our daughter watching you marry another woman and I do not want to watch you marry another woman either," Ziva blinked quickly to anchor the tears in her eyes from coming out.
Tony looked down for a moment then back up, "What do you mean?"
Frustrated, the tears slipped out of Ziva's eyes "Tony… do you not get it?!" She cried out, "I am not watching the man I love get married to another woman and I am not going to let our daughter sit there and wonder or even be the damn flower girl. She already asked me the other day 'Mommy, why did Daddy not marry you?' Do you know how much that hurt to answer and say 'because your Daddy doesn't love me anymore" She covered her sobs with her hands over her face.
"Zi…" Guilt washed over his face, he reached out to touch her arm, but she flinched away.
"No, Tony. We were supposed to have the happily ever after. We had one little fight and a year later you are already moving on, getting married to a woman you swore meant nothing compared to what I meant to you! You said you thought it was love with her, but you were wrong. You found love with me… was that all a lie? It was not supposed to be like this, Tony…where I go be Rachel and watch Ross get married to another woman!"
Tony's lips curled up slightly, "You really did pay attention to all those Friends seasons I showed you…"
Glaring back at him for making light of the situation, Ziva opened the door "You need to leave and go get some rest…" She wiped her eyes quickly, "You have a very big day tomorrow."
"Don't do this, Zi…" he whispered, trying to grab a hold of her. She moved away from his body, arms crossing over her chest in a protective stance.
Tony glanced one last time at the crying Israeli in front of him, he touched her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before slowly walking out the door. She closed the door quickly behind him and he sank down against it with a thud.
What the hell was I doing? Why did I even begin to think that my ex and my daughter would come to the wedding? Fuck, did you see the look in her eyes? She can't be okay…should I go back in? She won't even let me, I'd have to pick the fucking lock again and probably wake Tali in bed. Tony rubbed his hands over the back of his neck, breathing in deeply. And Tali asking why I didn't marry her mother? Fuck, am I a jerk or what? Christ, I would've married Ziva David a hundred times, I still would, even tomorrow…God, what I wouldn't do to see her standing up there in a white gown and glowing. Shit…did I just admit I want to marry Ziva and not the woman I am tomorrow? Damn it Dinozzo, you've got a decision to make and it's not an easy one either.
Ziva looked into the bag filled with the flower bouquet for Tali. Her eyes closed and a distant memory filled her mind as she remembered walking through a church in Israel, bouquet in hand.
The piercing cries of her mother in her mind and the image of her father and Orli, a young Mossad officer standing in front of the church, hands intertwined. Young Ziva, dropped the bouquet in the middle of the church aisle and ran towards the large wooden doors.
"Ziva!" Ari yelled, trying to catch up with her as she ran out the door. Quickly making her way through the streets, Ziva had thought she'd gotten away from her older brother. She stopped shortly in front of a produce stand on the street and looked at the happy families together. That's all she wanted, her happy family back. She stared at the mothers and fathers who smiled at their children and told herself that she would make that happen one day. She would be someone's mother and she would make sure her children's father would never walk away for another woman.
Dropping the bouquet of flowers into the trash, Ziva wiped the tears streaming down her cheek. She inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of the flowers that had been left in the room before walking to her daughter's bedroom. She leaned over the two year old's bed and kissed her temple "I am so sorry I failed you, tataleh"