Tony and Ziva sat in the garden, watching the stars in the sky. Ziva sighed and leaned on Tony's shoulder.

"The stars are beautiful, yes?" Ziva sighed.

"Yeah, but not as beautiful as you," Tony pointed out. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "And soon we're gonna see fireworks."

It was New Year's Eve, and Tony and Ziva had decided to watch the fireworks from outside their house, in the large yard that they had. Maria came outside with three mugs of hot chocolate and placed them on the ground beside the couple.

"Thanks," Tony smiled as he picked up his hot chocolate and had a sip. "Mmmm."

Ziva picked up her mug and took a sip, smiling as Maria sat beside her and joined them in their midnight watch. Maria took her mug and took a small sip, crossing her legs as she sat. She looked up at the sky.

"Wow," she whispered loudly. "I never really had the chance to look at the stars like this before, apart from the time when Ari…" She paused and looked over to Ziva, who was looking at her. "Ari always had a thing for stars."

Ziva smiled. "Yes, I remember. One time, Ari took Tali and I outside and we camped in our garden. I was not much of a camping trip, but we did not sleep in tents. The whole night we stared at them, and Ari would tell us stories and show us correlations in the sky. It was… what you call breath-taking."

Tony looked at the two girls. He had never had a brother who taught him about the stars, or took him camping. He sighed. Maria looked over at Tony.

"You ok, Tony?" she asked. Tony just nodded and looked back up at the stars. Maria smiled at another memory.

"I remember once I stayed with this family," she said. "For New Year's Eve, they would all go over what happened in the past year, good or bad, and be thankful that they're still here. And then they'd spend New Year as a family, no matter what."

Tony looked at his watch. It was 11:30pm. "So, who's gonna start?"

Maria put down her mug. "My year's been… eventful. January was probably the most eventful month, when I was hired as a hit-man by my brother's ex-girlfriend. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have met my sister at all. Then there was February and March, when I met some of Tony's old friends, and Tony made that 'Big Mistake'. In April I went for Katie's birthday party, and that was pretty awesome. May was when the twins were born, I got an A+ on my assignment, and I got three detentions in Math alone…"

"Why?" Tony asked.

"Little idiot sitting behind me. I don't remember much about June, but in July I had the most awesome birthday ever. August was alright, but there was nothing new there, apart from Andy and David's wedding. September was the usual, I start school again, make more friends and more enemies. Not much in October, in November, Tony spilled the beans to my crush…"

Tony let out a short laugh. "You got me back for that, though."

"And there was the Thanksgiving Dinner with the team and everyone. And finally, December, where I've managed to have the best Christmas ever with people I've known for just under a year. Ziva?"

Ziva thought about it quietly. "I will start in January, when Maria first came after me and I found out that I had a little half-sister. Around that same time I got engaged to a wonderful man…"

"Ziva, this is the time you take to remember stuff, not suck up to Tony," Maria joked. Ziva chuckled.

"Alright, alright. February was probably very tense, because of Tony's 'Big Mistake'…"

"Does everyone have to bring that up?" he whined.

"Yes!" both girls answered sharply.

"In March I met some of Tony's college friends, and they were lovely to meet. The house got done around that time, I remember. In April, Matt and Rebecca got engaged, and in May Tony broke his hand about a week before the twins were born, and the twins were born a week after. That was the most terrifying yet amazing experience I have ever had. In July we had Maria's birthday, and exactly a month later Andy got married to David. Not much happened until November, when we had that amazing Thanksgiving dinner and TJ decided to go missing. A few weeks later she decided to go missing again, and that's when she said her first word. Then there was the Christmas dinner, and finally I end here, sitting under the stars with my future husband and my little sister."

Both girls turned to Tony and waited for him to start. He took a deep breath.

"I'm gonna start in February, because everyone's started in January and we already know what happened then. That was probably the most awkward month ever, because of my 'Big Mistake' and everything. March was pretty cool, meeting all of my frat bros again. April was kinda nice, going to Rebecca's birthday party and having the 'Food fight of all food fights'. That was epic…"

"Not for me," Ziva pointed out. "I had to clean all of the food off you."

Tony smiled. "Yeah, the memory's still there. May was eventful: first I broke my hand, then there was your 'leaving' party, and finally having the twins. June was boring. July was… awkward. I mean me puking all over that innocent bystander."

"That was hilarious!" Maria laughed. Ziva joined her in her laughing and Tony pouted at them.

"No it wasn't. August was alright, going for the wedding. I dunno about September, or October, but November was pretty cool. We had Thanksgiving dinner with everyone, and Maria and I had those pranks and paybacks. And finally…"

"Thank goodness," Maria sighed.

Tony frowned at her. "And finally I come to December, where TJ went missing and ended up in my rucksack on our way to a crime scene, she said her first word, Kate said her first word, and we had the most amazing family Christmas ever." He wrapped his arm over Ziva's shoulder again. "And my year has been perfect because I got to spend it with my beautiful future wife." He kissed her lightly on the lips and smiled.

"Aw, you little suck-up!" Maria smiled.

"Just because you're jealous," Tony teased. Maria raised her eyebrows at him.

"Please, do not argue. Tonight would be perfect without any arguing," Ziva begged. Tony grinned cheekily.

"Is Ziva actually begging?" he asked. Maria stifled a laugh and Ziva glared at him.

"Tony, do not make me hurt you."

"What time is it, Tony?" Maria asked. Tony looked at his watch.

"Ten seconds to midnight… nine… eight…"

Maria and Ziva joined in. "Seven… six… five… four… three… two… one…"

Fireworks went up and lit the night sky. Maria gasped as she watched the different colours exploding – red, blue, white, pink, purple, green, yellow, orange and more. Ziva moved closer to Tony and watched in amazement at the different coloured fireworks. Tony looked down and smiled at the looks of amazement on both the girls' faces. Ziva looked up at him.

"Happy New Year, Tony," she whispered.

"Happy New Year, Ziva," he replied before pulling her in for their first passionate kiss of the year.