The next time the team and Zara got together, it was for the coroner's 30th birthday. They'd forced her into celebrating her birthday (something she'd never done since she'd split off from her family) and Garcia had snuck into the young woman's house using the key she'd been provided months prior to set up. Kanye West's new album played loudly in the background as they milled around the young woman's flat in the middle of Washington.
The entire team raised their glasses and made a quick toast, "here's to joining us in the 30s!" They all cried.
Zara raised an eyebrow at Hotch and Rossi, "you're still in your thirties?" she said with surprise. The pair pretended to be annoyed as Garcia pulled out a cake that was in the small shape of a lightning bolt. "HARRY POTTER CAKE!?" she yelled, turning to the team who grinned at Garcia and Jonathan maniacally. Zara turned to the pair and pulled them into a tight hug, "I can't believe that you guys did this for me." She turned to Jonathan's boyfriend Taylor, "he's a keeper" she said, pointing to Jonathan, who began to blush.
Zara turned back to the cake and was about to cut it before, she realized they needed candles. "I swear it would be quicker to light the cake on fire," Rossi said, still thinking about Zara's "you're old" joke a few moments ago.
Zara stuck out her tongue and grinned, as she and Reid quickly stuck the candles around the cake. "29...30...31," Zara said, tossing the remaining candles aside and grabbing a lighter.
A few moments later, the team was in the middle of a crowd-pleasing rendition of "Happy Birthday." Once they'd finished, Zara blew out all the candles, save for one. "It's an Indian thing," she said when Reid asked.
A slice of cake and a few drinks later, the entire team was sitting down in the large sitting area, wine/beer in their hands. "-So I said to her 'That's not my brother... that's me!" Jonathan finished, making them all laugh.
JJ wiped a tear from her eye, as she rested against Will's legs, "And they actually bought it?"
Johnny nodded, "Oh yeah. You can get anything by the police if you try hard enough."
"Yeah, as long as you're white. If Zara, The Morgans, or I did that, we'd be dead," Taylor laughed.
Hotch grinned, "As an agent, you know I'd have to report you, right?"
Everyone turned to him and someone (most likely Derek) muttered, "party pooper."
"Bathroom?" Tara asked, and Zara pointed to a door that was just visible on the end of the hallway. As she returned, she spotted a small picture sitting atop a table in the hall. She picked it up and immediately recognized one of the figures. It was Zara, dressed completely in a burgundy dress embroidered with gold. On either side of her were (Tara assumed) her parents. One of them was a tall man with a completely white, long beard, and a turban and the other was a woman wearing almost as much jewelry as Zara was. "Nice photo," Tara said loud enough for Zara to hear her.
Zara turned her head and spotted Tara standing by the small table. She smirked, "Yeah. It is." JJ and the others looked confused and Zara nodded, "You can bring it here for the others to see."
Tara picke did up gently and passed it to JJ, who smiled brightly, "you look beautiful!" she exclaimed, passing it round to Hotch.
"Don't I always?" Zara asked jokingly.
Garcia was speechless. "That is a lot of bling girl," Savannah said, her eyes wide.
"It's practically customary - to load the girl with as much jewelry as you can. She's only going to have the one wedding..." her voice trailed off, and she shook her head. "Kid of screwed up that last bit though." She brought herself out of that and continued, "that's not even the half of it."
"I was about to ask. Where's Adam?" Reid asked, passing the frame back to her.
Zara quickly got up and dug around in a closet by the room, before unearthing a large photo album. She placed it on the coffee table so they could all see. The first photo was of a large family, practically falling out of the sides of the photo. "Those are all of my immediate relatives and friends." Reid raised an eyebrow, "I'm Brown, okay? No family member left behind." She flicked through it and they saw various photos of Zara.
"Are these all from the wedding day?" Rossi asked, his eyes wide as the book continued.
"No, there's a whole lead-up to Sikh weddings... We had the Sangeet - which is basically where you have a huge pre-wedding party with all the girls side of the family, but you invite a few members of the boy's family. Basically, the bride and all the women sing rude and inappropriate songs about the boy and his family. Then we have the Mehndi- Henna, where they decorate my arms and legs completely with intricate designs. Then there's the Mayian the day before the wedding, where they rub me with a paste made of mustard oil and turmeric powder. Then there's the Chura, where my maternal uncles and aunts give me a set of red and cream ivory bangles, which I can't take off for six weeks after the wedding." She pointed to the bracelets she was wearing in the photo, that covered the majority of the henna on her arms, except her hands, where the intricate patter was visible. "After that we have the Anand Karaj, where we go to the Gurdwara-" she caught the confused look on everyone's face. "Temple... we go to the Temple. And that's where we get married. They read out specific sections of the Guru Granth Sahib and the couple perform the Laavan- they walk in four circles after each hymn. Then you're officially married. And then there's another party."
The crowd took in this information slowly. "That must take forever," Johnny said, shaking his head in amazement.
Zara nodded, "Yep. You're looking at about a week's worth of festivities, and a year's worth of planning. And a ton of people."
They continued to flip through the book, the others not hesitating to ask questions about the ceremonies. One section had pictures of women with golden pots that had lit candles on their head. "is that safe?" Taylor asked, in shock.
Zara laughed, "that is normal. It's called the Jaggo. It's the same night as the Sangeet, and you dance up and down the street- outside, where everyone can see you."
"You go outside and make noise?" Garcia asked with a grin. "I am down with that!" she cried.
Zara nodded, "you might be in luck. My mum called the other day, letting me know that one of my cousin's is getting married. And I can bring guests if I want."
Garcia and JJ nodded fervently, "Oh that would be amazing!" the pair cried.
Zara shook her head, "you're going to be dead tired by the end of it. Not going to want to eat another samosa for the rest of your life."
"There's going to be food?" The men all asked in unison.
"This is a brown wedding," Zara repeated with emphasis. "I would think that would be implied at this point."