***
Gibbs was pacing the squad room, Tony was sitting in Ziva's chair and McGee was typing furiously at his computer.
"You're plane ticket was for Tel Aviv" McGee tells them.
"She's gone to Tel Aviv?" Tony gasped in astonishment.
"She was very upset" Gibbs offered.
"You let her run away and get on a plane to Israel…ALONE??" he shouted. Gibbs stood back and let Tony release his grief. The elevator dinged but could not be heard over the tension filling the squad room.
***
We were about to round the corner into the quadrangle but I stopped her.
"Wait here" I whisper. Ziva doesn't argue. I take a deep breath and go to face up to what I did.
When I enter, my father has his back to be and Gibbs is right in my eye line. His eyes go wide.
"Dad? What are you doing here?" I say.
He turns around and I can't read the expression on his face.
"Bethany?" he says. He runs towards me and picks me up in a huge embrace. He squeezes me tight.
"Dad…can't breath" I say. He puts me down.
"Bethany where the hell have you been!" Gibbs yells taking me by the shoulder. All I can do is beam at him.
"What? Why are you smiling?" he says confused.
"I'm just really glad to see you, I'm sorry I ran off" I say hugging him. He returns my hug.
"I'm just glad you're ok" he says.
"What are you doing back here?" I say turning to my father.
"A case…but that doesn't matter, Gibbs told me…" he said tears brimming in his eyes. My smile gets bigger.
"Oh…that" I say, I'm smiling so much my face is starting to get sore.
Gibbs and my father look at each other oddly.
"I've got a surprise for you!" I say,
"Oh really? I already found out about the plane tickets" my father frowns.
"No…" I say pulling Ziva out from her hide out behind the bill board. I sort of fling her in the direction of Gibbs and my father. Silence fell upon the squad room.
"Ziva?" he whispered. Tears trickled down Ziva's face as she approached him.
"Your father!" Gibbs started.
"Was wrong" she said simply.
"Guess my trip wasn't so wasted after all" I say to Gibbs. My father strides up to Ziva and takes her in his arms and pulls her into a passionate kiss. They pulled apart and Ziva looked around her.
"Welcome home" Gibbs said, giving her a hug. McGee rose from his desk and approach them.
"I resigned from Mossad…I can never go back" Ziva stutters. No one knows what to say in response.
"I was wondering if I can train as a field agent?" she asked, Gibbs looked at her proudly.
"Welcome aboard Special Agent David" he said smiling.
"Thank you Gibbs…maybe I should speak to Vance too" she suggests.
"All in good time" he says. She turns back to my father.
"I missed you" she said. He took her face and held it close to his.
"I thought you were dead!" he half sobbed. Their forehead were touching.
"Marry me…" he said. Gibbs looked at me, I looked back at him. McGee's jaw dropped.
"…before anything else happens to you…" he finished. Ziva broke apart from him and stared at him in shock. She stared at him…the look on my father's face proved to me that he hadn't intended to say that but he didn't regret it at all.
"Ziva?" he asked. I felt the fear of rejection radiating of my father.
"Yes…" she whispered. So quiet I was almost certain she didn't say anything.
"Yes, I will" she said through tears. The frown instantly melted away from my father's face. Ziva suddenly ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him.
"I love you so much!" he cried into her hair.
"I love you too!" she said clutching at his shirt.
"Finally!" Gibbs said. I smiled and went over to him. He put his arm around me as we watched them embrace.
"You're not angry at them?" I say to him as if they were not even present.
"No. You know me" he says. I frown at him.
"I do" I start "The normal Gibbs would have head-slapped them from here to Timbuktu by now" I say. Gibbs sighs.
"I can't step in the way of other people's happiness" he says. I pause noting the sadness in his voice.
"But you gave up your own happiness" I say. Gibbs shook his head.
"She did…Jenny did, I was willing to risk anything, we were just like them once upon a time" he said quietly.
"I'm sorry, Gibbs" I say putting my arm on his shoulder.
"It's ok" he says. He suddenly snaps out of his reverie.
"Oi, you two! Back to work! David! I'll fill out your training forms. Shouldn't really need to do the training, I've seen you in action!" he said, going up to MTAC.
***
"Ziva, could you help me get ready?" I ask, dumping a pile of shopping bags on her desk. She looks at me gratefully but with a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
"I'd love to…but Gibbs would kill me" she says. Right on cue, Gibbs whirls around the corner.
"Go, I'll see you this afternoon" he says. Not even facing them. He heads over to his draw and pulls out a small bag. It is neatly packaged. He hands it to me.
"What's this?" I ask. He smiles warmly at me.
"Graduation present" he says. I open the package slowly.
"If you don't like it, I still have the receipt, you can change it" he says, I gasp when I open it. It is a beautiful silver bracelet with Aqua jewel drops twisted into the clean silver.
"Aw, Gibbs! It's beautiful! Thank you! I love it!" I say giving him a tight hug of appreciation.
"I'll see you later!" he says grabbing a mug of coffee and heading up to MTAC.
"Don't be late" I scold.
"Of course I won't" he says smiling. I try to put the bracelet on but struggled by myself. Ziva sees this and comes to my aid.
"Here, let me" she says taking the delicate silver piece from me. She gently clasps it around my wrist.
"My graduation present it at home" she says. I love hearing her refer to her home as mine and my father's home. She sold her apartment a few weeks after my father proposed. She pulled back fiddling with her engagement ring on her finger. I went with my father to choose it. He was like a kid in a candy shop…he wanted the best for her. She deserves it though.
"You getting used to that yet?" I ask, motioning to her ring finger.
"Yeah, I still can't quite believe it" she says beaming, I've never seen her so happy. However, she still hasn't told her father yet. She has tried to contact him on several occasions but he hasn't spoken to her since we went to him in Tel Aviv and she told him she was resigning from Mossad.
The elevator dings and Abby flies out, closely followed by my father.
"Look who I found!" he says as Abby rushes up to me. She engulfs me into a hug.
"Hey! Happy graduation! I wish I could come!" she says pulling away from me and handing me a gift wrapped in pink paper with yellow skull and cross bones on. I open it and it is a pearl photo frame.
"Abby! It's gorgeous! Absolutely perfect!" I say hugging her back.
"Thank you so much! It feels like my birthday…even Vance gave me a card!" I say laughing.
"It's not everyday a girl graduates!" My father says wrapping his arms around me.
"My daughter, eh? All grown up!" he says. I pull away from his grasp before he can embarrass me further.
"I've booked a table at Giovanni's at 8 for a celebratory dinner!" he says.
"Everyone has to be there!" he finishes.
"Ducky told me he'll be there so don't worry about him" Abby begins.
"I'll be there!" McGee chirps.
"aw, guys! You're the best!" I say beaming.
"Come one, we better go" Ziva says rising from her desk.
"I'll see you, later!" My father says wrapping his arms around Ziva and pulling her into a hug, kissing the side of her neck. Gibbs frowns
"DiNozzo!" he scolds. He unwinds himself from her.
"Sorry, Boss" he says.
"You will be" he replies. When my father sees Gibbs has his back turned, he kisses her passionately on the lips.
"Drive carefully" he says. Ziva chuckles at this.
"Don't I always?" she smiles. I collect my bags and thread my arm through hers.
"Come on, we have a graduation to get ready for" Ziva says pulling me towards the elevator.
***
"What do you think?" I say twirling around in my dress. It is a ruby red colour and falls just above my knees. It has thin straps and it flows out as I turn. I slip my feet into low heeled, red sandals. My long, brown, curled hair falls over my shoulders as I bend over to do up the buckled straps.
"You look amazing!" she says. I admire her for her handy work with hair straightners and eye shadow.
"Thanks" I say.
"Do you want your present now, or later?" she says smiling. She pats the bed to the side on her. I sit down beside her. She pulls out a locket and puts it in my hand. It is a silver, heart shaped locket…it's beautiful.
"Ziva…it's beautiful, could you?" I ask, pulling my hair over my shoulder so she can fasten around my neck.
"I'm glad you like it…it was my mothers" she says.
"Ziva, I can't take this if it was your mothers…" I say trying to remove it but she stops me.
"No, no…I want you to have it. Please…" she says. I lean over and hug her.
"Thank you, so much!" I say onto her shoulder.
"There is no one else I'd rather give it to" she says. Her cell phone beeps and we separate, I get up and inspect myself in my long mirror.
"That was you're father, he says he's going to meet us at your school" she says, reading her phone.
"What's he doing?" I ask.
"Don't ask me" she says knowingly. He's up to something but I decide I want to be pleasantly surprised.
"Are you alright?" I ask, noticing how pale Ziva looks. I've been so wrapped up in my own world today.
"Yes, I'm fine" she answers.
"Are you sure?" I say, "If you're not well, maybe you should stay here and rest, catch up on some sleep?" I suggest. She shrugs.
"I wouldn't miss this for the world" she replies.
"As long as you're sure" I say.
"Bethany?" she says nervously.
"Yeah?" I say adjusting the bracelet on my wrist from Gibbs and the necklace hanging from my neck from Ziva.
"I think I might be pregnant" she says barely as a whisper. I smile erupts on my face with excitement.
"You think?" I say.
"I'm late…I'm never late" she tells me.
"Oh…" I say.
"Please don't say anything to your father…I don't want to tell him until I'm sure, promise you won't tell him" she begs me.
"Of course I won't…we have time to get a test from the store" I suggest.
"No, no, this is your day…I don't want to spoil it for you" she says.
"I don't mind…you're happy right?" I ask noticing her unease.
"I don't know…what if you're father doesn't want another child…I don't know if I'm ready to be a mother" she says on verge of tears. I put my arm around her.
"Of course he will…he loves you, you'll make a great mom!" I say.
"Do you think so?" she says.
"I know so, you're a fine mom to me" I say, not really realising what I'm saying.
"Then I'm very happy…but we're not sure yet, so don't get your hopes up" she says.
"Well lets go" I say grabbing her hand.
We drive to the store in silence. I wait in the car while she rushes in. Within about 5 minutes we are driving back again.
"I'll do it later" she tells me, "We'll be late otherwise" she says.
"Ok, as long as your ok waiting that long" I say, she nods.
"Are you nervous?" she asks me. To be honest, I haven't really thought about it.
"I'm more nervous about that" I say pointing to the package she has in her hands.
"I shouldn't have said anything…I've ruined your day!" she says looking away.
"No, you haven't…I feel honoured that you confided in me first" I say patting her on the hand.
We drive to my school in silence.