Chapter 12
~~Christmas Eve 2039 at Rose Hill Home~~
Early on Christmas Eve morning, Tony stirred awake on the bed and looked at Ziva. As he gazed into her face, taking in the peaceful look on her face as she was sound asleep, he smiled. A thought percolated through his mind: 'Mistletoe' . He carefully turned over in bed, taking a moment before he slowly got up out of bed, allowing Ziva to rest. Satisfied that he hadn't woke Ziva up, he silently crossed the room and got his sweatpants on. He made his way to the bathroom, picking up his shirt and slipping it on, then he went through his morning routine. He turned the sink on barely above a trickle, filled his cupped palms and splashed some water on his face a couple of times before shutting off the faucet and reaching out for a hand towel to wipe the water off. He sighed and smiled at himself in the mirror, then had a flash of inspiration. Picking up a red dry-erase marker, he drew out a shape and wrote out a word. It read, "My Ziva, I love you now, Always, and Forever. -Tony" Satisfied, he tossed the marker onto the counter in front of the mirror and made his way out of the bedroom and walked past Ethan's room. He took a couple of steps past, then stopped himself for a second, a thought popping up in his head. He reversed a couple steps back and looked into Ethan's room, where he saw Ethan just starting to stir. He quietly walked into the room and stood by Ethan's bed for a couple of moments, before reaching out and gently shaking Ethan by the shoulder. "Ethan?" Tony changed from the gentle shaking to a gentle tapping on his shoulder.
Ethan stirred awake, then stretched himself out. When finished, he sat up and looked at Tony, and a gentle smile formed on his lips. "Hey, Dad."
Tony put a finger on his lips. "Shh. Come with me, don't wake anybody up." He beckoned Ethan, then signed the last few words along with his speaking.
Ethan smiled, threw off his covers quietly, then put his sound processors on and followed Tony.
Moments later, Tony walked toward the kitchen cabinets opened one of the drawers, rooted around for a bit before grabbing a small box of tacks out of the drawer. "Here it is." He shook the box once, then turned to Ethan with a smile on his face.
Ethan looked at the box of tacks, then looked up at Tony. His eyebrows shot up and he smiled. "Ah that's right. Those mistletoes."
Tony smiled and nodded once. "Yes, this year's your turn." He held out the box of tacks and patted a box that was on the kitchen table. "Go ahead and put them up on those doorways. Same places as always, right?" Tony looked at Ethan.
Ethan scratched his head and looked around at the different doorways and smiled. "Ah, yes. Those traditions we did for those years." Ethan smiled at Tony as he raised his eyebrow.
"Oh yeah, that's right. You do remember the meaning of this?" Tony raised his eyebrows, holding up a mistletoe bundle and looking at Ethan.
Ethan chuckled and thought back in time for a moment. "Yep, anyone that steps under this mistletoe gets a hug or a kiss. Usually a kiss, though." Ethan scratched his chin gently, a slow, mischievous smile forming on his lips.
Tony nodded and chuckled, noting Ethan's smile. "Yup. No weird places like the closet, now, okay?"
Ethan chuckled as he nodded his head. "I'll put these 7 lucky mistletoe's up, alright."
Ziva walked up behind Ethan and reached her arms around Ethan. "Good morning, Ethan." She smiled as Ethan turned to face her.
"Oh, Ima!" Ethan smiled and returned the hug. "Didn't expect you to come up from behind me."
Ziva laughed. "You, Dad, just the same!" She signed to Ethan. "You two startle so easily when I come up from behind," she said.
Ethan shook head as he giggled. "Alright, you got me." He reached for the mistletoe bundles. "I'll go and hang these, now." He turned to hang the mistletoes over the doorways in their usual spots that they resided every Christmas.
Ziva turned around toward Tony, chuckling and shaking her head. "The kids always had fun with those growing up." She made her face pucker up like a fish and put her hands on either side of her face, flapping them from side to side, like the side fins of a fish. "Them giving each other a hard time with the mistletoe."
Tony chuckled, "Oh those 'fish kisses' in the air were priceless when they did that." Tony cocked his head to the side as his face changed to that of curiosity. "I wonder if the kids would pass that down to the youngins?"
Ziva chuckled as she shook her head slightly. "Oh, yeah. They might. We shall see."
Just then, they both heard a shriek followed by laughter. "Sounds like someone got it good," Tony chuckled as he cocked his head toward the doorway.
Ziva let out a short chuckle. Before Ziva could say something, Tali walked in toward Ziva and Tony and planted her hands in her hips and smiled. "Did you know what Ethan just did?" She turned as Ben walked in behind her.
Ziva tilted her head toward Tali, an eyebrow shooting up. "No." She held up a finger and quickly added, "Yes, I heard a shriek, then laughter. But, no, I do not know what he did."
Tali scoffed and shook her head. "Well, when I came out of the bathroom, Ethan was just standing there when I opened the door, and he was doing this." She mimiced a fish with the puckered lips and flapping hands. "Don't worry, I got him good though, for scaring me like that." Tali chuckled at how her little brother still had his sense of humor.
Ziva looked at Tali, a smile flashing on her mouth. "Showing a bit of Adam in him, too. Good to see him happy." Ziva chuckled.
Tony nodded with a smile. "Oh yeah. I've learned to live with the double personality aspect of things." A sudden itch cropped up on the back of his head, and he reached up to scratch it.
Tali raised an eyebrow, then turned and walked toward the island bar, turning to Ziva. "Ima, before I forget. I heard from Becky. She said she's on her way over. John's with her, and I think they might pick McGee up on the way over."
"Great to hear that. she wouldn't want to miss those challah french toast for anything, right?" Tony chuckled.
Tali nodded with a giggle. "I told her we are having it for breakfast." She held up a finger. "She was like, I'm coming over right now!"
Ziva chuckled and tilted her head toward Tali. "Yes, I shall start making those soon." She paused and sighed. "I wish your Savta could be here, but with the cold weather and all that, she couldn't come." Ziva flashed a smile and held up a finger. "But, she won't be alone. Your Aunt Jessica and her kids will be with her for the holidays. Makes me happy to know she's not alone, you know."
Tali smiled. "Yeah, that's good. Would you like my help with the challah?"
Ziva smiled and nodded. "Sure, why not?"
After the rest of the family had arrived and had their traditional Christmas dinner and watched their traditional Christmas movie 'It's a Wonderful Life', they gathered around the Christmas tree for the opening of presents.
As Tony slowly sat down in his glider, he sighed as he made contact and leaned back in his recliner and looked around the room at all of the family members. "Ready for your presents?" he called out.
A chorus of "Yes!"'s rose up from the family members.
"Alright, guess who's turn it is to be Santa this year!" Tony smiled and pointed toward Ethan.
Ethan's eyebrows rose in excitement. "I got a couple of assistants here." He pulled Sarah and Brett, who were sitting close to him and watching the whole thing, closer to him. "Allow me to introduce Elflets Sarah and Brett."
McGee laughed. "There you go!"
Tony scoffed in mock offense. "McGee! You taught Ethan that." He wagged a finger at McGee.
"What could I say?" McGee held out his arms, hands in air.
Ziva laughed and shook her head at Tony and McGee. "Boys." She turned back to Ethan.
Tony laughed, then turned back to Ethan. "Go ahead, pass 'em out, Santa."
Ethan smiled and nodded. He coached the young kids on where to take the gifts as they were being handed out, saving the largest and heaviest for last. When he got to those, he turned to the kids. "These are big, you want me to help you push 'em over?"
"Yeah!" Sarah piped up as Ethan dragged a larger gift over toward him. She braced herself at the back of the package.
"Ready? Push!" Ethan pushed the package, letting Sarah push the package with his "help". "This one goes to your Aunt Becky."
"Oh, for me?" Becky clasped her hands under her chin and smiled, before reaching out to receive the gift.
Ethan turned to another, larger, gift. "Oh, wow, this one's ginormous."
"Maybe you need a super-elf?" AJ stood up. "I'll help with that one."
Ethan turned to AJ and smiled. "Oh, sure, but it's to you."
"Oh, cool, that makes it even easier." AJ chuckled, as Ethan helped move the gift over to where AJ was sitting.
Satisfied that all the gifts had been distributed out, Tony glanced over at the tree, which was now barren underneath and behind the tree. "Everybody got their gifts? Start opening 'em! Let's start with the youngins." He pointed to Sarah and Brett.
After everyone had taken their turns opening their gifts and ooh'ing and ahh'ing over what everyone had gotten for Christmas, Tony said, "Okay, AJ, you wanna get a trash bag for all this wrapping paper?"
AJ smiled and stood up. "Sure, I'll go get it." He left, then came back moments later with a couple of trash bags in his hands – and got beaned in the head by a wad of wrapping paper thrown by Ethan.
"Whut?!" AJ dropped the trash bags as a smile lit up his face. He picked up a large wad of wrapping paper and flung it at Ethan.
"Hey now, that wasn't me!" Ethan laughed. "It was the Christmas fairy!"
AJ grabbed another piece of wrapping paper, which wasn't wadded up as much, and tossed it at Ethan, letting it float through the air. It landed onto Becky, however, who flung it up into the air. "Take that!" Becky laughed.
Tony, Ziva, and McGee watched as everyone got sucked into the wrapping paper 'fight' and the air was filled with wrapping paper flying, wadded or not.
In the midst of the wrapping paper fight, Tali grabbed her kids. "Hey, go throw this on Papaw and Savta!" She put a couple pieces of not-wadded wrapping paper into each of their hands and guided them toward Tony and Ziva.
"They're coming!" Ziva quickly whispered to Tony. She looked up and pretended to not see the kids waddling up to them with the wrapping paper.
"Oh, you got us!" Tony laughed as the young kids reached them and tossed the wrapping paper onto them. He took the wrapping paper and tossed it at Ziva with just enough force to make it float lazily through the air and land on her head.
Ziva laughed and batted the paper away and then tossed it in the same manner toward Tony, and laughed at how it landed on Tony's head, standing up vertically for a moment before slowly collapsing in on itself.
Everybody turned at looked at Tony and Ziva and laughed at how the wrapping paper seemed to take an eternity in deciding to fall over on Tony's head.
"Alright now, you got me." Tony laughed and grabbed at the wrapping paper and tossed it back toward AJ. "Go ahead start cleaning up."
"No!" AJ laughed and tossed the wrapping paper back at Tony.
Ethan grabbed the trash bag that he was filling with the wrapping paper, walked over with a smile on his face, and everyone else got up and followed suit with the other trash bag, and dumped the contents onto Tony and Ziva, causing them to shriek and laugh as a deluge of wrapping paper flowed over them.
The entire family eventually cleaned up their mess, however, still chuckling at each other and making little conversation. The adults helped the little ones with their cleaning up before they got ready for the night.
"That was a good one, huh?" Tony smiled.
Ziva chuckled. "Yeah, that was a lot of fun. Snowing wrapping papers wasn't part of our weather forecast, was it?"
Tony looked up and chuckled as he stuffed a large piece of wrapping paper into the garbage bag. "We can blame the weatherman for that one. Apparently his ability to predict weather inside buildings fall short."
AJ laughed. "Got all the wrapping paper? Good, I'll take these out."
Ethan grabbed another garbage bag. "I'll help." Together, AJ and Ethan took out the overflowing garbage bags to the garbage.
Eventually when everyone had gone to bed, Ziva and Tony walked around the now-quiet house, making sure everything was in their places, all the lights turned off, doors locked, before heading upstairs. Satisfied, they trudged up the stairs to their bedroom. Tony paused just outside the bedroom door, bringing Ziva up to a stop. He looked up at the mistletoe that Ethan had previously placed and smiled. Ethan must have put it there to make it extra-special for him and Ziva. "Oh, look. Mistletoe."
Ziva chuckled. "Well, you know what happens, right?"
Tony chuckled and as he stepped into the doorway, brought Ziva closer to him and looked deep into her eyes, smiling the whole time. "How's this for a start?"
Her eyes smiled back at him and they told him everything he needed to hear. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders and hugged him and planted a kiss on Tony's lips.
Tony's eyes twinkled with happiness as he put his hand on Ziva's cheek and gently stroked it, before planting a full on kiss on Ziva's lips under the mistletoe. Once they came up for air after their kissing, Ziva smiled at Tony, stroking his cheek, feeling the scruffiness of his stubble. "Tony, I love you now, always, and forever." Ziva smiled as she hugged Tony.
Tony laughed, realizing Ziva had seen the message he had written on the mirror previously. Tony smiled back. "Love you, too, my sweetcheeks. Now, always, and forever." He led her into the bedroom and closed the door, to continue their lovemaking.
~~UK Trip, December 2040~~
After a quick flight from home, Tony and Ziva arrived in London and made their way to the Hotel Waldorf Hilton, and checked their baggage into their hotel room. As soon they got settled in, Ziva and Tony changed to their evening clothes. As Ziva was freshening up from the flight in the bathroom, the phone rang. Tony walked over and picked it up. "Hello?"
"Room service calling. The carriage is on its way momentarily." The person on the other end spoke.
"Oh, good. Was just about to call you to make sure the carriage was still on." Tony smiled. He looked up as the door to the bathroom opened. "Oop, I gotta go. Thanks for letting me know." He hung up and walked toward the middle of the room.
"Who was that?" Ziva asked as she adjusted one of her earrings.
Tony held a hand out in the air. "Oh, that was room service. Welcoming us, letting us know if we need anything, don't hesitate to call."
Ziva raised an eyebrow. Room service usually doesn't do that. "They said that?"
Tony chuckled. "Oh, you know. Seems they wanted to upgrade their customer service relations."
"Sure." Ziva smirked as she walked across to the room toward the hotel windows.
Tony walked toward Ziva, intercepting her path and reaching his arm around Ziva. "Ziva. What do you say we go sight-see?"
"But we just got here," Ziva looked at Tony, a slight look of surprise/curiosity on her face.
Tony smiled. "I know, just thought we'd catch the sunset, maybe, while we sight-see?"
Ziva smiled. "Really? I don't see why not." She turned toward the door.
"Here, let me." Tony grabbed a shawl and draped it over Ziva's shoulders. He held out a scarf for Ziva.
"Thanks." Ziva took the scarf and wrapped it around herself, then took Tony's hand. "Let's go." A smile flashed across her lips.
Tony and Ziva left their room and went down the elevator. As they stepped off the elevator, Tony's eyes caught sight of a couple of people he was expecting to see, as part of a surprise he had planned for Ziva. He stopped and turned to face Ziva. He smiled as he pulled something out of his jacket pocket. "Will you trust me on this?"
Ziva gasped as she noticed the cloth. "Oh, no, Tony. Are you going to blindfold me?" Ziva felt her anxiety creeping up inside her. She had always hated being blindfolded, even to this day, since it brought up memories of the bad things that had happened a lifetime ago.
Tony saw Ziva's face go pale, and he shushed her, comforting her. "Hey, Ziva, shush, it is alright. You've got strong Tony with you now. Just a short distance." Tony smiled gently, stroking Ziva's cheek.
"Alright, I'll allow you to do this, since it's only a short distance, and I've got your arm to hold onto." Ziva nodded and smiled.
"That's the spirit." Tony smiled as he gently turned Ziva around, and placed the blindfold on her eyes. "Can't see anything underneath?"
Ziva shook her head. "Nope." She took in a deep breath, grounding herself to Tony's touch, relaxing, knowing that no harm was to come.
"Okay, here we go," Tony said as he turned Ziva back in the right direction and guided her toward the lobby doors, then stepped through them as they automatically opened.
"Ooh, chilly outside!" A brisk wind suddenly picked up momentarily before dying down. Ziva reached up automatically to hold her scarf in place.
Tony glanced at Ziva briefly and chuckled. "Yeah. Didn't expect that. Should get better soon though, honey."
Ziva smiled as her ears registered the sound of hooves clopping through the drive-up entranceway.
"Ah, here we are." Tony said as the horse-drawn carriage came abreast of them. Tony walked Ziva toward to the stage carriage, and stopped short of the carriage. He turned around to Ziva and slipped the blindfold off Ziva's eyes. "Part of the surprise for you." He held out his hand, welcoming her to climb into the carriage.
Ziva gasped, a happy tear leaking out of one eye as she smiled at Tony. "Tony! This is so sweet!" She held Tony's hand as she climbed up into the carriage, taking her seat.
Tony followed behind, taking his seat. As he did so, the carriage driver held out a large lap blanket. "Something to keep you two warm?"
"Why, thank you, sir." Tony smiled and took the blanket from the driver and draped it over his and Ziva's laps. "Ready to go for a ride, hon?" He smiled at Ziva.
Ziva smiled and nodded. "Let's ride and have a good time." She leaned onto Tony, relaxing in his warm embrace.
The carriage driver clicked at the horses, and they let out a short whinny as they started walking. Tony and Ziva rode wordlessly in the carriage, enjoying the London sights, the quiet ambiance of the city surrounding them, the sound of the hooves clacking against the pavement. Eventually, seemingly at the exact moment the sun set, they crossed over the London Tower Bridge.
Later in the evening, after they had gotten back from the carriage ride, Tony turned to Ziva in their hotel room. "Nice little carriage ride, wasn't it?"
Ziva chuckled lightly. "The way we crossed that bridge right at the same time the sun set? Oh, god, so beautiful."
A smile formed on Tony's lips. "Because I tried to plan it that way. For you, sweetcheeks."
Ziva smiled and smooched Tony. "Why don't you get dinner while I use the ladies' room?" She batted her eyes at Tony.
Tony chuckled. "Why, I'll certainly do that." He waggled his eyebrows at Ziva as she smirked at him and turned to walk toward the bathroom. He walked over to the phone and called room service to have dinner brought up.
As soon as the dinner tray arrived, Tony quickly made sure that Ziva was still busy. Satisfied, he quickly wheeled the dinner cart over to the middle of the room and set up two candles and lit them, then waited for Ziva to come out.
Moments later, Ziva came out, to see Tony leaning his hands on a chair, obviously intending for her to sit in that chair. "Your seat, my love."
Ziva gasped. "Oh, why thank you." She sat down, and scooted up as Tony gently pushed the chair in to the table.
Tony nodded as he sat down. "Do you remember that night, our first date?" Tony raised his eyebrow, smiling as he reached out and prepared to lift the cover off of the dinner tray.
Ziva perked up, looking at Tony as she sat down, "Oh yes. While we were following each other doing our missions, all we had were pizza." She smiled at the thought.
"Yup." He removed the cover, revealing two personal pan pizzas and a salad. "I'd say we definitely upgraded from the mission pizzas."
Ziva laughed at the little note that stood on the plate behind their pizzas. It read, 'No Rule 12". She looked up at Tony. "No regrets."
"Yep, that's right, no regrets. What a life we had back then." Tony chuckled. "I think I liked the family life better."
Ziva laughed and smooched Tony across the table. "No regrets, I would do it all over again."
Tony smiled. "Same here." He patted her hand and then grasped it warmly. "Same here, honey."
After they finished their dinner, Tony walked over to the stereo system and put some music on.
The first few strains of song sounded over the speaker, and Ziva's eyes slowly widened. "That song that we had playing in Berlin?"
"Ah, you remembered." Tony smiled as he walked over to Ziva and embraced her and started moving around slowly in a dance.
Ziva followed the dance motions as the song played. She closed her eyes for a moment and smiled, listening to the tune. "Seems so long ago that I've heard this the last time."
Tony's voice reached her ears. "Yeah, been a while. Now, no rule 12, no greasy pizza, no nosy Gibbs." He moved with the song, jerking ever so slightly as he felt Gibbs slap the back of his head, purely in memory. He winced ever so slightly.
"You okay?" Ziva whispered.
Tony reached up and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't miss those either." A blank look on Ziva's face prompted him to add, "Those head slaps, I mean."
Ziva chuckled as they danced through the song.
"Happy anniversary, my sweetcheeks." Tony smiled as he looked into her eyes.
Ziva gasped. "That's right, twenty years we've been married. I totally forgot, how time flies!" She reached out to hug Tony.
Tony laughed. "Yeah. It only seems like yesterday you just showed up in my life again. Here we are, twenty years later and a big family, what more could we ask for?" He hugged Ziva and kissed her on the lips.
Ziva smiled as she kept looking at Tony's eyes. "This is so beauitful, all of it. Every moment of my life with you has been the best moment for me. This is one of the best gifts I could ever ask for." She smiled and gently stroked Tony's cheek. "Happy anniversary, Tony. I love you, now, always, and forever."
Tony smiled as he held her close to him, "Every time I lay my eyes on you, hold you, touch you, I feel... alive. You still rock my world to this day. I cherish you every minute in my life. I couldn't ask for a better wife, a better mother, a better best friend than you. Even with everything we've been through, we've always been there for each other." Tony smiled at Ziva.
Ziva's eyes smiled along with her lips. "And you have been the best partner to be with. My rock through all the hardness I've been through." She smooched him on his lips.
"Oh yeah." Tony planted a full on kiss on Ziva's lips, as he held her in a tight embrace.
Ziva moaned gently at his touch, and she kissed him back full on, then they came up for air as they walked to the bedroom to continue their lovemaking to each other through the night.
~~Rose Hill Home Around June 2041~~
After the family had their fill of their cookout dinner, they settled in around the large round deck table. Ethan slid himself in the chair next to AJ, who sat next to Channah. Tony took up his spot on the other side of Ethan as Becky, John, McGee, Tali, Ben, their children, and Rivka, filled out the rest of the seats around the table except for the one next to Tony.
"Where's Ziva?" Tony glanced around, then looked at the house. "Oh, in the house, she's coming out now." He had seen her approaching the doorway carrying something. He quickly got up and hurried over to the door and opened it before Ziva got there. He turned and called out, "Here comes the cake!"
"Here we go!" Ziva carried the cake over to the table and set it down in front of Ethan, giving him a hug from behind. "Happy birthday, young man," Ziva said, smiling.
Ethan turned and smiled. "Thanks, Ima." He returned the hug.
Ziva stood up and looked at Ethan, pointing to the cake. "You like?"
"Oh Ima, it's perfect! Your cakes always taste so much better than those you get at the store. Thank you Ima." Ethan placed his arms on the table on either side of the cake, and looked down at the cake, smiling.
"Happy birthday!" Everyone wished Ethan happy birthday. "Blow out the candles!" One of the younger kids said.
"Make a wish!" Ziva said, stopping Ethan before he drew in a deep breath.
Ethan nodded. "Okay, here we go." He paused for a second to think of his innermost desires to record the world as he saw it unfold before his eyes, to have something tangible to look at for posterity. He opened his eyes, took a deep breath, then with one swift blow, blew out all of the candles... then stood aghast as his candles re-lit themselves.
Tony guffawed. "Oh! Prank candles! Whose idea was that?"
"what?!" Ethan blew out the candles, this time harder. They relit themselves again.
Everybody burst out laughing.
Ziva slowly looked at Tali, AJ, and Becky, who were giggling and laughing. "What did you do to the candles now?"
Tali broke down in a peal of laughter. "We switched 'em out before you got the cake ready."
Tony guffawed. "So that's why you kept going into the house. I should have known you were taking too many 'bathroom trips' to the house," Tony said, putting air quotes around the words bathroom trip.
Tali giggled. "There you go. Just a little friendly fun." She turned to watch Ethan, who had resorted to finally just taking the candles out one by one and dunking them into a small glass of water to finally stop them relighting.
Ziva chuckled. "Certainly didn't expect that. This'll be one birthday he will not forget, I can see that already." She batted Tali on the arm. Suddenly, she had a thought. "Oh! Before I forget." Ziva got up from her chair and went into the house, returning a moment later with a very large box. She set it in front of Ethan. "Here's your gift, Ethan. Go ahead and open it."
Ethan chuckled. "I was beginning to wonder about the presents." He tore open the wrapping paper, then opened the outer box, and gasped at the contents. "Whooaaaaa..." He looked closer at the contents.
Everybody leaned forward, anticipating what Ethan would be pulling out of the box next.
"Wow, a Nikon, very nice!" Ethan muttered as he pulled out the camera body, then one of the lenses from the package. He took the rest of the contents out of the large package, and within a blink of an eye all the contents were arrayed out in front of him: a couple of camera bodies, several different lenses, a couple of flashes and lights, and a tripod.
"Wow, what a nice setup, Ethan!" Tali gushed over all the bits and pieces of the photographic equipment. "You're set for a long time, now." She patted him on the shoulder.
"Wow, thank you, Ima and Dad, thank you very much!" Ethan's face was radiant in happiness as he pored through all the nooks and crannies of the new camera bag.
Tony chuckled. "Now you've definitely upgraded. Going from the little Minolta camera you got for Christmas years ago to this." He held out a hand toward the new equipment.
"Oh, definitely, he sure wore that camera out." Tali nodded in agreement. "How'd you know he needed it?"
Ziva smiled. "Just very observant. Noticed that he wasn't using the camera for a few weeks. He also mentioned that his pictures weren't coming out right." She shook her head. "I could see it, too. Sensor failure of some sort, all the images were sheared." She stopped and looked at Tali a little closer. She seemed to be glowing with happiness. She turned toward Tali. "Tali! You're... glowing!"
Tali turned toward Ziva, a huge smile spreading across her face, lighting up the table. "Yes, there's some good news for us to share with all of you." Tali paused to glance at Ben, who was smiling. She turned back toward Ziva. "We could not wait any longer. Just wanted to break the news while everyone is here." Tali tilted her head, her eyes radiant.
"Oh my, Tali! You and Ben are having a baby?" Ziva gasped in excitement as she clapped her hands together.
Tali shook her head. "Not one baby."
Ziva's eyes and mouth opened wider. "Twins?!"
Tali took in the priceless look on Ziva's face and smiled even wider. "Oh yeah, we're having twins, Ima."
Ziva grabbed Tali in a tight hug. "Oh my, you're having twins!" After a few moments Ziva released her from the hug, happy tears streaming from her eyes.
"When are they due?" Rivka asked. She was smiling, also.
Tali turned to Rivka. "They're due in January 2042, really looking forward to it." She held up a finger. "Before you go start asking, we chose to not know until time of birth if they're boys or girls or a boy and girl."
A collective "Awwww!" rose up from the family members.
Tali laughed. "We wanted it to be a surprise for you all."
Just then, little Sarah walked over and tried to climb up onto her lap. "Ima, me tired."
Ziva looked at Sarah, patting her back, then looked up Tali, "Aww, she sure got worn out from everything." Ziva smiled.
Tali cradled Sarah. "Yeah, I think she is tired too."
McGee looked at Tony and laughed. "Hey bro, looks like more elflets in your clan soon, right?"
Tony chuckled. "Right. Their problem now, not mine."
McGee chuckled.
Ziva shook her head and smiled. "More grandchildren for us to enjoy."
Rivka held up a finger and said, "Always a fun thing to see the cycle of life go on, more memories to create and cherish." Rivka tilted her head, looking at McGee, Tony and Ziva.
"Got a point there." Tony shrugged with a smile.
McGee nodded, patting Tony's shoulder.
Ziva smiled at Rivka. "Exactly, Ima."
"Anyone else have any exciting news?" Tony looked around at the children sitting around front of him and Ziva.
"Uhm." Becky cleared her throat, "John's got some good news, don't you?" She looked at John.
John blushed slightly. "Uhm. Well, you know, I've been working the beat for three years now?" He looked at the other family members for a second, then took a deep breath before continuing. "Well, apparently, they seem to have seen something in me, and I just got promoted to detective."
McGee sat up, eyes wide with surprise and happiness. "Whoa, way to go! Detective John in the house!" He shot a fist up in the air.
Tony pumped a fist in the air as well. "Ooh-rah, way to knock it out of the ballpark!"
John held up his hands. "I'd like to say one more thing." Everybody quieted down and watched John. "Okay, here we go," he silently whispered to himself as he rubbed his hands together for a moment, trying to calm his sudden nervousness. He turned to face Becky, then got down to one knee. "Rebecca Joy DiNozzo, will you marry me?"
Becky gasped, then squealed in delight. "Yes! Yes, I'll marry you!" She grabbed John in a tight hug before he could get up.
A collective gasp, then cheers arose from everybody else. Shouts of "Congratulations!" filled the backyard as everybody got up and hugged each other in happiness.
Tony and McGee slowly looked at each other, surprise obvious on their faces. "Now look what we've done," Tony muttered to McGee.
McGee slowly shook his head. "This is not what I expected, at all."
Ziva laughed at the two. "Now look what you've started. Remember what I told you years ago?" She clicked her tongue and winked at Tony, smiling.
Tony laughed. "Who could forget? For that matter, I didn't expect this either."
Ziva held out her hands in the air and smiled. "None of us did. Our blessings have grown indeed."
Ethan clapped his hands. "Way to go, Becky and John!"
AJ got up and walked to the edge of the deck and looked out over the backyard and sighed. Channah followed closely behind. "You okay, AJ?" Channah asked.
AJ looked at Channah. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a lot on my mind right now," he whispered to Channah.
Channah leaned her head on his shoulder and held him in her embrace. "It'll be alright. Just talk with them," she whispered.
Tony suddenly noticed the two standing at the edge of the deck. "You alright over there?" Tony called out to AJ and Channah.
AJ jumped slightly and looked at Tony. "Uhm." He cleared his throat, then looked at Channah, then back to Ziva and Tony. "I have a little problem." He let go of Channah and took a couple steps toward Tony. "I think I made an oopsie." AJ muttered just loud enough for Tony and Ziva to hear.
A short pause, then Tony said, "I see." He took a long intake of breath, his face changing.
Ziva's face also changed. "And you came to talk with us about it and you didn't know how to approach us?"
"I better take my camera stuff inside," Ethan said, hastily gathering up the camera equipment.
Tali started helping. "I'll help." She turned to Ben. "Could you take the kids in please?"
Ben smiled. "Sure, not a problem." He gently ushered the kids into the house.
Becky got up. "Dad, John and I've got something to show you in the house, but it can wait." She had seen the look on Tony and Ziva's face when AJ had approached them. She turned to John. "I think we better go in for a bit," she whispered.
"Oh, yeah, I got something in the car to show you, Dad. C'mon, follow me." John smiled and beckoned McGee to follow him.
Rivka got up. "I'm going inside as well. It's a little chilly out." She slowly made her way into the house.
Almost before the four of them knew it, they were all alone on the deck.
Tony sighed. "Okay, now, what kind of 'oopsie' are you talking about?"
Ziva suddenly had a hunch as to what AJ was trying to say, and she quickly took ahold of Tony's hand. "Hold up, Tony." She turned to AJ. "So, you made a mistake, is that what you're trying to say?"
AJ sighed and nodded.
"What now?" Tony tilted his head, looking at AJ. "Did you try to book a trip to Paris and end up with a trip to Transylvania instead?"
AJ let out a snort. "No, it's not that. I, er, got Channah pregnant."
Tony sat back and sighed. "Oh." This matter-of-fact answer caught him completely off guard.
"It's not the end of the world, AJ." Ziva's smile put AJ at ease. "It happened with us, too." She looked at Tony, still smiling, then looked back at AJ. "I wasn't married until right before you were born, in fact."
AJ turned sharply to Ziva. "You mean you and Dad -"
Ziva shook her head. "Yes, we made our own mistakes in the past. Look at Tali and you." She held up a finger, forestalling any comment from AJ. "Look, everyone makes mistakes here and there in life. But what's important is that you learn from it and have a plan for your future. You're almost 21, you've got school and a life ahead of you, a good job."
AJ nodded. "Her dad's the big concern for me. What will he say when he finds out? He's gonna bust a nut, for sure."
Tony let out a short chuckle. "Well, son. You afraid he's gonna chop you off at the knees for violating the honor of his daughter?" Tony waggled his eyebrows. He made the snip-snip motion with one hand. "Snip-snip!"
AJ blushed slightly, but still chuckled. "Maybe not that far, but you know the kind, right?"
Tony made a noncomittal facial expression and held his hands out in the air.
Ziva nodded. "We understand. You're welcome in this house any time, Channah, should your parents give you any problems."
Channah smiled. "Thanks, Ziva."
AJ nodded with a deep breath. "Thanks, Ima."
"Channah, when is the baby due?" Ziva asked Channah.
Channah nodded with a smile, "February 2042, somewhere in there."
AJ spoke up. "Right, one month after Tali has her twins. Wow." AJ shook his head, chuckling at the thought of three babies crying or laughing in the near future.
~~February 2042, AJ & Channah's Boston home~~
Ziva and Tony had flown in to Boston from visiting Tali and her family in Israel to pay a visit with AJ and Channah and to welcome their new baby daughter into their family after having been born just a few days ago.
Ziva and Tony were sitting by each other on the couch, holding the newborn. They looked up at the new parents, who were beaming with joy. "This baby's so beautiful. What name did you decide for the baby?" Ziva asked.
AJ looked at Channah, who said, "We've thought about a bunch of different names, but we decided upon Olivia Anne. It just seemed... right." Channah smiled.
AJ nodded. "That olive grove's been my favorite place all these years. That's part of why we chose that name."
"Oh, wow, a beautiful name." She smiled at the baby. "Hello, Olivia," she softly spoke to the baby, gently rubbing the top of her head as she slept peacefully.
Channah nodded. "Thanks. So far, she's been very good." She laid a hand on baby Olivia's back and gently rubbed it for a couple of moments.
Tony nodded and smiled. "How'd your parents take the news? Did they get the chance to see the baby yet?"
"Oh yeah." Channah's face turned into slight puzzlement and baffled expression. "Even though AJ and I got married before the baby was born, which I'm very glad about, my Abba's not speaking with me. He won't even look at me." She scoffed. "My mom is more understanding, why can't he be understanding?
Ziva nodded in understanding. "Ah, maybe being Israeli, he may have a different perspective than someone like Tony, for example. So, your mother did come?"
Channah nodded. "Yeah, she did come yesterday. We had a little talk, and I think she's more forgiving than my Abba is." She flashed a quick smile. "She even got to hold the baby too." Channah sighed. "Not Abba. He wouldn't even look at the baby, either."
Before Ziva could say something, the baby woke up and started becoming fussy. Ziva looked down at the baby. "I think she wants her mommy now," she said, picking the baby up and giving her to Channah.
Channah took the baby into her arms, chuckling at Ziva. "Yeah, I think she does. I'll be back in a few minutes." She turned to leave the room.
Tony turned to AJ and patted his shoulder. "Doing alright so far, my man?"
AJ sighed and nodded. "Yeah, been doing great. Glad you all came to see us. Means a lot to us. How's Tali and her family been?"
Ziva patted AJ's shoulder. "Tali and the family are doing good." Ziva paused to get her phone to show pictures of Tali's babies that she was holding. "Here, look, there they are."
AJ looked at the pictures. "Oh, cute! What are their names?" He looked back up at Ziva.
Ziva pointed to the boy in the picture. "This is Matan." She shifted her finger to point at the girl. "And that is Leah. Brett and Sarah are so happy to be big siblings to these babies already."
AJ nodded and smiled. "I'm happy to hear that Tali and her kids are doing well. How's Savta been doing?"
Ziva took a deep breath and sighed. "That's another story. She's doing okay, has some good days, and some bad days." She cleared her throat slightly. "Slowing down a lot. Your aunt Jessica is helping her out a lot, but I'll take turns helping soon."
AJ sighed, thinking back to what Rivka had said at her last visit. "Savta said something about the circle of life. I didn't understand it, at first. I think I'm beginning to understand, now." He looked at baby Olivia's basinette in the living room, biting his lips. He suddenly had this sense that his beloved Savta was coming to the end of her golden days.
Ziva nodded. "Your Savta did know something, then. As one life comes to an end, another begins. Only with our family, one ends, three begins."
~~Somewhere in Kenya Around September 2042~~
Near the city of Nairobi, the tour jeep driver pointed his jeep carrying Ethan, Tony, Ziva and McGee toward a protected wildlife reserve. Everywhere they went, they saw amazing views and heard sounds not heard in their lifetime: herds of kudu roaming over the vast savannah plains, elephants in the distance, hearing the occasional roar of lions.
"Wow, this is something," McGee muttered to himself as he looked out over the landscape at the wildlife.
Ethan sat by the window looking out at the parched landscape, marvelling at the views. Suddenly, a flash of tan exploded from the bushes as a male lion ran out and chased down a kudu, but the kudu barely escaped its clutches and ran for it. "Oh!" Ethan jumped back from the window a bit; the lion had jumped out at the kudu coming very close to Ethan's window.
"Oi!" The tour jeep driver slammed on the brakes as the lion ran around the front of the bus, chasing the kudu.
"Wow!" Tony gasped at the raw power of the lion. "Look at that!" He pointed to the lion.
Ethan quickly put his camera up to his eye and took aim, and just at the right moment, fired off a few rapid shots, capturing the lion/kudu conflict in all its majesty just as the kudu managed to slip free of the lion by running into a nearby river, jamming up the lion.
"Got it!" Ethan turned back to smile at Tony and Ziva, before turning back to his camera. He managed to zoom in and capture the frustrated, angry look of the lion's face as he realized he'd lost his chance at lunch, again.
Ziva looked at Ethan, who was fully enjoying his trip. She turned to Tony. "Look at him. Really loves his photography." She sighed.
Tony nodded. "Yeah. He's on cloud nine, you can see it in his face."
McGee nodded with a smile, "Tony, we sure never thought of this. We would never have known how cool this is without Ethan, right?"
"I don't think any one of us would have known if Ethan hadn't made a mention of wanting to come here for a vacation trip." Ziva smiled. "Worth it, though." She held out a hand toward Ethan. "I'm sure we'll have some really good pictures from this trip as well."
The tour jeep driver started up the jeep again, and they drove on to the wildlife reserve. After approximately an hour's drive, they arrived and got out of the jeep where they could sit and observe wildlife around them. Ethan went off a short distance to set up his camera equipment, and almost before he was finished, a couple of older men approached him.
Tony and Ziva were too preoccupied at first to notice, their attention drawn by a herd of elephants appearing nearby. "Oh, didn't expect you to turn up, Dumbo," he laughed at the closest one.
The elephant walked closer to Tony and reached his trunk out and caressed the top of Tony's head.
McGee laughed. "I think he likes you, Tony."
Ziva laughed and walked toward Tony. "No, we're not taking him home."
Tony guffawed as the elephant continued coiling his trunk up and caressing the top of Tony's head.
Unbeknownst to Tony and Ziva, Ethan had noticed the elephant, and he quickly turned the camera around to point toward the elephant and zoomed in to get a tight-frame shot, perfectly capturing Tony's bemused expression as the elephant ran his trunk over the top of Tony's head, and pressed the shutter button, forever preserving the image.
"Nice shot." Ethan turned to the sound of the voice behind him. "I bet that'd make it into the National Geographic magazine." A tall, lanky man stood before him, two cameras draped across his neck. He extended his hand. "Robert Olson."
Ethan chuckled, extending his hand and shaking the man's hand. "Ethan DiNozzo, and thanks." His eyes flicked down to the cameras, then back up to Robert's face. "You do photography as well, I take it?"
"Yeah, I do." Robert pointed to Ethan's head. "What are those? I don't think I've seen them before."
Ethan reached up and touched the headpiece on his sound processors. "These? Those are for my sound processors, they help me to hear. Meningitis took my hearing when I was young."
Robert's eyebrows shot up in amazement. "Wow, and you can hear again? That's amazing." He pointed toward Ethan's camera. "Could I see that shot you took?"
Ethan smiled. "Sure, I also got some pictures between a lion and kudu earlier."
Robert's eyes lit up. "Oh, cool!"
Just then, Tony and Ziva walked up. "Enjoying it here?" Ziva asked, signing the word "enjoy".
Ethan looked at Ziva and smiled. "Yeah, wait til you see this." He flipped the camera to picture view mode and flipped the photo to show that one Tony and the elephant.
Tony laughed. "That shot sure makes it look like the elephant's trying to adjust my hairdo for the region."
Ziva laughed. "I just walked in at the right time, look." She pointed to the far left side, where it showed Ziva just stepping into frame, looking directly at Tony.
Robert laughed. "That's a good shot right there."
"And the lion and kudu shots," Ethan said, flipping through the photos, stopping for a few seconds on each image.
"Oh, stop, right there!" Robert suddenly said and pointed to an image where the kudu had just slipped the lion's clutches and the lion's facial expression changed to that of total surprise. "Look at that lion, the way he knows he's screwed." He looked up at Ethan. "Hey, could you send me those pictures, and I can show my people?" Seeing the doubt rise up in Ethan's face, he quickly added, "Just to show 'em. If they like it, maybe we can work out a deal with you. What do you say?"
Ethan stood there, considering the offer. "Hmm. I still have copyright over these photos?"
Robert nodded. "Oh, definitely. Magazine policy says the credit always goes to the person who took that picture."
Ethan tilted his head slightly, considering it further. "I'll think about it. How do I contact you?"
"Oh, yes. My card." Robert reached into his top pocket and pulled out a tattered business card. "Don't meet too many people out here in this neck of the woods these days. Here you go." He handed the business card to Ethan, who took it.
"Thanks." Ethan smiled, pocketing the business card.
~~Sometimes around November 2042~~
At the Olive Grove Home, in the late afternoon, Rivka and Ziva were sitting in the living room on the couch. "So, everything's been going well, Ethan's really enjoyed it out in Africa," Ziva said to Rivka.
Rivka smiled at the photos that Ziva showed her. "The elephant with Tony, I'd like to put that on the fireplace mantel, if you don't mind?"
Ziva chuckled. "I knew you'd like that. I had this one framed for you." She got up and put the picture on the fireplace mantel, then returned to her seat.
"That looks good up there," Rivka said.
Ziva nodded. "Now he gets reminded every time he walks through the door. That picture's the first thing he sees, because I put it right across from the entryway door."
Rivka laughed. Just then, the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway reached their ears, and Rivka sat up and looked out the window. "Someone's here," she said.
Ziva looked out the window and saw Becky, John, McGee, AJ and his family all got out of the SUV. "Oh, looks like everyone's here now."
Rivka stood up and looked out the window. "I see Tali coming over now." She pointed out the window at Tali and her family crossing the street and making their way toward the house. She made her way to the kitchen to get started just as the family started filing through the entranceway.
Moments later, Ethan and Tony walked in, carrying in the groceries. "Food's here!" Tony called out.
"Oh, good, let me take that to the kitchen." Ziva quickly walked over to meet Tony and take some sacks of groceries from Tony, then took them in to the kitchen.
"I'm starting the grill up," Tony said, heading out to the backyard to cook the birthday dinner for Ziva.
"I'll help out," McGee said and followed Tony.
Eventually, after everybody had finished eating the dinner, Tali brought out Ziva's birthday cake that she'd baked earlier in the day. As she set it down on the table, everyone started singing in Hebrew, wishing Ziva a happy birthday. On it, were 60 candles, all ablaze.
"Oh, wow, that's a lot of candles," Tony chuckled at Ziva.
Olivia, Matan, and Leah squealed in delight at the sight of the birthday cake and the candles and slapped their hands on their high-chair tables in front of them.
"Savta!" Four-year-old Sarah clambered up onto Ziva's lap. "Candles!" She pointed to the candles.
"Yes, a lot of candles." Ziva smiled at Sarah. She felt a tug on her sleeve, and she turned to the tug.
Five-year-old Brett was standing by her side, holding onto her shirt sleeve, looking at the candles, transfixed.
"Come here, Brett." She reached down and pulled Brett up on her other lap. "See the cake?"
Brett turned to Ziva and smiled. "Oh, yes, cake!" He pointed to the cake.
"Sixty candles! Let's see if Savta Ziva can blow all of them out." Tony laughed. "Hey, Eth', get your camera ready."
Ethan jumped up and got his camera ready. "Ready!"
Ziva looked around her with a smile at all of the family members, then looked at the cake. "Ready? Here we go!" She took a deep breath, and blew at the candles, blowing out a majority of them. The two older grandchildren joined in with blowing the rest of the candles out.
The click of the camera shutter was drowned out by laughter as everybody laughed at how the grandchildren "helped" Ziva blow out the candles.
After everyone had their fill of birthday dinner and cake, everyone went to the living room where everyone sat down in a large circle, with a blanket placed in the center of the room. Tali and Ben placed the twins on the blanket, followed by Channah placing Olivia on the blanket before sitting down on the floor in front of the blanket.
Tony sighed. "What a day, right?" He looked over at Ziva.
Ziva looked over at Tony and smiled. "Wouldn't trade it for anything."
Ziva and Tony walked over and sat on the love seat and scanned the room, looking at their grown children, McGee, and Rivka, smiling. They then looked down at the happy children on the floor, and at Tali and Channah , who were was sitting next to each other on the floor not far from the couch.
Tony looked at the family. "Four generations sitting in one room." He scratched his head and looked up at the ceiling with a thoughtful look on his face. "We should make a picture of that."
Rivka gasped. "That's right, four generations."
Ziva nodded and turned to Ethan and made a picture-taking motion. "We need a picture."
Ethan's face brightened. "You want me to take a family picture?"
Tali looked up at Ethan and smiled. "I think that's a good idea. We'll set up for the family picture." She moved to sit in front of the couch and brought the twins closer to her.
"Here, let me sit with Olivia," Channah said. "AJ, you sit next to me."
"Okay, sounds good." AJ smiled and sat next to Channah.
"Right here, in front of me, John." McGee called out to his son and pointed to the floor in front of him. "Becky next to you, too."
"Savta, you sitting next to Ima and Dad?" Becky asked.
"Oh, sure, I can do that." Rivka sat on the recliner next to the love seat.
Ethan pulled his camera out of the bag and set it on top of his tripod and adjusted the camera as the family members settled into their positions. A quick glance through the viewfinder, and a couple of adjustments had everyone fitting neatly within the frame. "Okay, everybody ready?"
"Yes!" Tony called out.
AJ raised his hand for a moment. "Take the picture when you're ready."
"I've got the camera on timer, so when I press the button I gotta sit next to... AJ, I guess it is." Ethan stepped off to the side to ensure that he would clear the tripod, then when he was satisfied that everything was ready, he pressed the shutter button and quickly got into position and waited as the camera counted down. At the last second, he said, "Say cheese!"
Everybody said "Cheese!" just as the camera snapped the picture.
After a few hours of family visiting time, it was time for Tali, Ben and their children to go home to get some rest for the night. It was a good thing that they only lived across the street, so it only took them a couple of minute's walk. AJ, Channah and Olivia had joined with Tali and Ben for the night, while Becky and John had gone upstairs for the night. Rivka had gone to bed already. Tony and Ziva was cleaning up before heading up to bed when they noticed Ethan standing by the window in the living room, looking out, a thoughtful look on his face.
Tony walked up to Ethan. "Something on your mind, bud?"
Ethan jumped slightly and turned to Tony. "Oh, not much. Just thinking about things."
"What things?" Ziva walked up beside Tony.
Ethan sighed and looked at Ziva. "Well. Remember that Africa trip we took? The pictures I took?"
An eyebrow shot up Ziva's face. "Yes? What about 'em? I loved those pictures." She smiled at Ethan.
Ethan smiled. "Well, apparently, people liked my photos well enough that they sent me an email. Asking me to work for them for six months."
"What?" Tony gasped. "My boy! That's awesome!"
Ziva's face was radiant with excitement. "Ethan! That's wonderful news!"
Ethan smiled. "Thanks." The smile faded on his face. "But, that means I'll be gone for six months or so." His hands fell to the sides as he looked at Ziva, then Tony. "You'll be okay while I'm gone?"
Ziva walked closer to Ethan. "Ethan, are you worried about leaving me and your Dad alone?"
"Kind of. Everybody else's got their own lives now. What about you two?" Ethan shrugged.
"Oh that." Ziva batted her hand in the air. "We've got Uncle Tim to keep us busy." She smiled at Ethan. "Besides, you kids will come out and visit every once in a while."
"We'll also travel, don't forget." Tony added.
Ziva nodded. "I'll also be helping your aunt Jessica take care of your Savta."
Ethan nodded. "Yeah, I will miss watching you wrack each other's minds and having fun." Ethan chuckled at the memory of hearing his parents and McGee ribbing each other with their trademark sense of humor.
"Hey, don't forget. This is your new tomorrow, now, Ethan." Ziva clapped her hands on Ethan's shoulders and looked him square in the eyes. "I want you to take the world head-on, explore it. Live in it. You've made me proud of who you are."
Tony smiled and clapped Ethan on his shoulder. "Just goes to show it doesn't always take college know-how to land a good job." He pointed in the general direction of Ethan's photo equipment. "Sometimes all it takes is a knack for something to get someone noticed."
Ethan nodded and smiled at his parents. "Thanks for helping me out with my decision." He signed ILY and said, "I love you both tons." He turned to go upstairs to his room.
Tony called out after Ethan. "Love you, my son."
Ethan stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to Tony. "Love you."
Ziva held out an ILY sign and said, "See you in the morning, love you."
Tony and Ziva watched Ethan going upstairs, then after a moment, Tony turned to Ziva, and noticed tears streaming tears down Ziva's cheeks. "Hey, hey, now," he said softly to Ziva as he reached out to gently wipe the tears from Ziva's cheeks, and then pulled her closer to him, stroking her hair away from her face. "I've got you, sweetcheeks."
Ziva looked up at Tony. "Family is everything to us. All these years, we've made it through, raising our family." She took a deep breath. "Look at how wonderful they've become."
"I can hardly believe it myself," Tony's whisper reached Ziva's ears. "Was a good challenge, but we done it."
Ziva nodded in Tony's arms. After a couple of moments, she said, "A new tomorrow for us, now. Like my Ima said, the cycle of life continues."
Tony nodded and hugged her closer. "Yeah, and we get to watch our children have their new tomorrows as well."
A/N:
Dear Readers, This chapter is the final one in this story arc. Keep an eye out for a new story arc to come out soon. Thank you all for your reviews, DM's Tweets and Kudos.