A/N: I would just like to say thank you all so much for your kind reviews! I am glad you all like how cheesy and cliché this story is because I figure we get enough seriousness on the real NCIS and plus I just like writing fluff, it's fun!
Anyway, sorry the updates have been taking me so long. I had two midterms last week and I have two again this week so my life is pretty much owned by International Relations. Then Thursday night I leave for Ireland to spend my spring break touring castles, hanging with extended family, and freezing my butt off. So you will probably not get many chapters during the next two weeks, I apologize for that but I want to stress that I have not and will not forget about this story. I have a LOT of ideas and I will not stop until I have posted the entire story! Which, at this point, keeps getting longer! As always Read & Review :] Love you all!
Chapter 12
"My Strongest Suit"
"Oh now I believe in looking/like my time on earth is cooking/whether polka dotted/striped or even checked/with some glamour guaranteeing/every fiber of my being/is displayed to quite remarkable effect/from your cradle via trousseau/to your deathbed you're on view/so never compromise, accept no substitute/I would rather wear a barrel/than conservative apparel/for dress has always been/my strongest suit."~Aida
"Come on Ziva!" Abby and Natalie said simultaneously as the dragged Ziva into a bridal boutique. Hanging out with Abby and Natalie together was almost like being with two 8 year olds. When those two got something in their heads, there was no way it was not going to get done.
Ziva and Tony had of course told Natalie about the engagement the morning after it happened. Her reaction was nothing short of how Ziva had imagined it, she had jumped up and down excitedly and hugged both Tony and Ziva over and over again. Then they told the NCIS team about their engagement the Monday they went back to work, Gibbs and Abby already knew he was proposing and they assumed Abby would tell McGee, so they figured coming clean with it was the best way to go. Vance had agreed that if they were able to be professional together there was no reason why they could not still work together. Everything was finally settling into place, until Abby had suggested they go dress shopping, Ziva did not like dresses and she was not too excited about all the ruffles and lace that went along with wedding dresses.
"Abby we do not have to do this, Tony and I want a small wedding. I want a simple dress. Nothing about this store looks like it is going to be simple." Ziva said, trying to resist their tugging at her arms.
"Ziva, you HAVE to get a pretty dress. You can look like a princess!" Natalie said excitedly.
Ziva smiled at her, "Alright, I will try on dresses, but nothing too foofy."
Abby looked at her a little confused, "Oh, I think you mean poufy!" She said, laughing.
"Well, whatever. It cannot be poufy!" Ziva said, exasperated.
They walked into the store; it was filled with wedding gowns, some huge and flowy, others simple and elegant. Ziva was overwhelmed.
"I do not even know what I want. This is ridiculous." Ziva said.
"Here, you can just walk around and pick up anything you like and if you don't want to, just sit down and Natalie and I will bring dresses to you!" Abby said, running off before Ziva could protest.
Ziva walked around the store, there were so many dresses she did not even know where to begin. She finally just sat down by the dressing room and waited for Abby and Natalie to start bringing back dresses. She could see there was already a pile of them waiting, she groaned. This was going to be a long day, she wished Tony were here. Just as she thought that, a text appeared on her phone.
Hey Sweet Cheeks. Having fun?
Haha. I am not, but Abby and Natalie sure are. She texted back.
I bet they are, you could be a little enthusiastic Sweet Cheeks, this is our wedding :] Tony replied back.
It is not that I am not excited, I am just more excited for the marriage than for the actual wedding. We can still elope can we not?
:] me too. Don't worry about the wedding, looking back you will be happy we did it the right way.
Thanks Tony, I suppose you are right. Abby is coming back with her arms full of dresses, wish me luck.
Good luck, I love you Sweet Cheeks.
I love you too, my little hairy butt. :]
Ziva snapped her phone shut as Abby and Natalie were walking toward her toting piles of wedding dresses. Ziva groaned. This was going to be interesting.
Natalie had her arms piled so high with the bottoms of the dresses whose top halves Abby was carrying, that you could not even see her face.
Ziva pulled the dresses off her, "There you are little girl!" She said as Natalie started giggling.
"Okay, I did what you asked, no overly poufy ones." Abby said, hanging up the dresses in the dressing room.
"Alright but if I hate them, I will not show them to you." Ziva said before she entered the dressing room.
"Nope. We get to see them all. Do not attempt to out-argue me! You will not win!" Abby said smugly.
Ziva frowned and went to put on the first dress. Luckily Abby knew her well so all the dresses were strapless and they all had a relatively small amount of lace and jewels on them. She put the first one on and walked out.
It was pretty, a little heavy on the beads but it was all right.
Abby frowned, "I think there's better, what about you Natalie?"
Natalie nodded her head in agreement.
"Next!" Abby said.
It went on like this for the next probably 15 dresses. They were all okay, but nothing really stuck out.
Finally Ziva pulled on an off-white dress, it was simple yet elegant, strapless of course, the fabric was layered all over the top half of the dress and it clung tightly to her body, then from just under her butt the dress had beautiful layers of ruffles, they were not poufy, they made the bottom of the dress flow perfectly down, there was practically no train, which Ziva loved, and the creamy off-white made her tanned skin practically glow.
She slowly opened the door of the dressing room and walked out.
Abby gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.
Ziva was somewhat unsure of this reaction. "Is it all right?" She asked, timidly.
Abby finally got a grip and was able to answer. "All right? Ziva, all right is an understatement, a HUGE understatement. That dress is so stunningly beautiful, I want to marry you!"
Ziva laughed as she looked in the mirror, she did look good in the dress. In fact she looked better than good, she looked beautiful. She smiled thinking about how Tony would react to the dress, he would like it, it was very sexy and sophisticated but also had that classiness to it that reminded her of a Lauren Bacall movie.
"What do you think of it?" Abby asked.
"I think this is the one." Ziva said with a smile.
"You look SO pretty." Natalie said, admiring Ziva.
"Thank you my dear. Now how about we pick out a flower girl dress for you?" Ziva asked the little girl.
Natalie's face lit up. "Really? I get to be flower girl?!"
"Of course you do my dear! You are my flower girl and Abby, if she accepts that is, will be my Maid of Honor." Ziva said, turning her attention to Abby.
"Ohh Ziva of course I will!" She said as she jumped up to hug Ziva.
"I was thinking red for your dress. It will be classic but still romantic." Ziva said.
"Aww you are so sweet!" Abby said, hugging her friend once more.
Ziva took off the dress and handed it to the saleswoman who would keep it behind the counter while they looked for Abby and Natalie's dresses.
Abby quickly found one she liked. It was long and red with beautiful creamy gold lace around the middle, it had a halter neckline with smaller lines of the same golden lace and looked beautiful on the tall goth.
"Natalie," Ziva asked, "do you want a red dress like Abby's or do you want a cream one?"
"Can I have a red one?" Natalie asked.
"Of course my dear!" Ziva said, she then asked the saleswoman where the flower girl dresses were and she brought them over to a small section of the store.
There were several red dresses and a bunch more the saleswoman said could be ordered in red. They picked out a couple for Natalie to try on and she went in the dressing room, insisting that since she was a big girl, she did not need any help.
While Natalie was changing into her first dress, Ziva and Abby talked.
"You're great with her, you know?" Abby said.
Ziva smiled. "Thank you Abby. But, she is easy to get along with."
"Yeah, she's easy to get along with but not a lot of people really get her. She's an old soul and you see that. Plus she adores you, I'm glad you and Tony finally got your act together. For her sake especially, she needed a Mom." Abby said.
"Abby, did you ever meet her Mother?" Ziva asked.
"A few times, when she was born and then maybe five or six times after that. She was never really around. " Abby responded.
"I just do not understand it." Ziva said.
"Me either." Abby said, shaking her head.
Just then Natalie came out of the dressing room. "Ziva would you please zip this?" She asked.
Ziva bent down to help her and Natalie turned around.
"Ohh Munchkin, that is beautiful!" Abby exclaimed.
The dress was really quite lovely. It was floor length and had an empire waist with a gold band like Abby's dress. It was scrunched together at the top and had two golden ruffled straps. It was perfect.
"Do you like it?" Ziva asked her.
Natalie nodded her head vigorously.
Ziva laughed, "I love it too. How about you try a couple more on just to see and then we will go. Sound good?"
"Okay." Natalie said as she went back into the dressing room.
She tried on a couple more dresses until they decided that they were not going to find one that compared to the first dress. The girls bought their dresses and sent them off for alterations and made their way home. Ziva had driven them all since they were going to all have dinner with Tony later that night.
They got to Tony's and Ziva realized Natalie was asleep in the backseat. She carefully picked her up and carried her into the house.
"Hey!" Tony said, loudly, as the entered the house.
Abby put her finger to her lips signaling silence as Ziva carried Natalie through the door.
Tony made a quick 'I'm sorry' face and followed Abby, Ziva, and his sleeping daughter into her bedroom.
Ziva carefully laid Natalie on her bed, whispered something lightly in her ear, and kissed her softly on the forehead, before coming into the hallway to meet Tony and Abby.
"Long day, huh?" Tony asked as they made their way back into the living room.
"Yes, but she was quite the little grouper." Ziva said.
"That would be trooper, Sweet Cheeks." Tony said, smirking at her.
Ziva narrowed her eyes at him, which only made him laugh.
"Yeah she was the perfect little helper. " Abby added.
"That's good, I think I'll let her sleep until dinner. She could probably use a nap." Tony said.
"So that means I get some time to kick your butt at Wii before dinner!" Abby exclaimed excitedly.
"Hmm, strange, I thought we put the eight year old to sleep?" Tony said sarcastically, making Ziva laugh.
Abby stuck her tongue out at him, "Oh bring it on DiNozzo."
Ziva smiled, she was so grateful for her NCIS family, sometimes they were crazy and immature, but she would not trade them for anything.
A/N: There is a link to Ziva's wedding dress on my profile page, check it out! I think she would look amazing in it!
Also the link to Natalie's dress is there.
Abby's is like one I saw at a wedding I went to last winter; I do not have a picture. Sorry!
REVIEW PLEASE :]
