Chapter 28, Young Love: Spring 2035
A/N Thanks for all the reviews, favs and follows. Welcome to those who have recently started reading!
Tali walked into her parents' house with a smile on her face. Even though it was the middle of the day, she was hoping her Ima was at home. She had no classes in her Masters' degree program today, and had decided her apartment near campus was not where she wanted to spend the day. "Ima? Ima, are you home?" she called out hopefully.
Tony came out of his office and hugged Tali. "Ima is at the women's center today, teaching the self-defense class. She should be home around 1500." Tali hugged her Abba. Since she was little, she had loved being hugged by him; his hugs were warm and made her feel safe.
"Abba," Tali greeted her father. "I was hoping Ima was here."
"Will I do instead?" Tony could sense that Tali wanted to talk. From the look of her, he guessed it to be something serious, but good.
"Maybe," Tali took her Abba's hand and went to the kitchen. She started a kettle of water to make them both tea. "Abba, I've met a man and he makes me happy."
Tony's first reaction was to find the guy and check him out. However, an overprotective father was not what his twenty year old needed at the moment. "Tell me more, Tals."
"Oh, Abba, he is from Israel, and he is in the masters' degree program in forensics. I met him at one of the cafes near campus. We've been dating since November, and he just makes me happy. I don't know how to explain it, but it is like my soul is drawn to his." Tali paused, wondering how her Abba would react.
"Tali, that I understand. The very first day I met your Ima, it was like her soul found mine and grabbed hold and never let go. Ima will tell you the same thing.
"I'm happy for you, Tali. Are we going to get to meet him?" Tony could see the happiness in his daughter.
"I was going to ask Ima if I could bring him to our family dinner on Sunday. Or do you think the extended family might be too much for him?" Tali really wanted her family to meet Chaim. Sunday's dinner would be not just her immediate family, but Grandpa Gibbs, the McGees, the Palmers, and the rest of the extended family.
"Bring him along with you. He has to meet them some time, if he is going to be a part of the family!" Tony figured if the young man could pass the scrutiny of the entire family, he was a keeper. "I'll let Ima know you are bringing a guest."
~TIVA~
Sunday afternoon was sunny and a mildly warm day for March in DC. The weekly family dinner had been moved to Sunday this week because the high school basketball team had played in the regional tournament on Saturday afternoon. Anthony had played well and scored the most points for his team, leading them to a win and a berth in the state championship. Tony, still one of the coaches, had been bursting with pride at his son's accomplishments. Anthony had already accepted a scholarship to Ohio State, Tony's alma mater. He was planning to major in digital media.
Ziva was busy with meal preparations, with help from Beth, Rivka, LJ and Tony. They were expecting a total of twenty two people for dinner, so Tony and Anthony set up the folding table that extended their dining room table to seat the six more spaces needed. Gibbs arrived around 1500, bringing three vegetables in casserole dishes. The McGees arrived next, with each one carrying in a dessert. Anthony went out to help carry in the food, and to greet Katie. He and Katie had been dating since just before Christmas. Delilah and Tim greeted Gibbs and the DiNozzos. John went to find Rivka.
When the Palmers arrived, it was just Jimmy, Breena and Charles. Breena mentioned that Tori would be arriving with Jared shortly and she and Jimmy exchanged glances. Ziva noticed the look between them, and wondered what was up. She mentioned it to Tony when the two of them went into the kitchen to bring out appetizer trays. Tony agreed, "Bet they are engaged." Ziva nodded, "I am not going to bet against it."
Abby and Leon arrived next, followed by the Reeves family and Jared and Tori. Nick and Allison arrived last with Nick apologizing. "Allison is still having morning sickness all day."
Jared stood up and asked for the family to quiet down a minute. "Tori and I have an announcement." Tori stood up next to Jared. "We are getting married in July." Tori showed her ring and the couple had congratulations from the family. Just as they were all getting ready to move to the dining room for dinner, Tali came in the front door.
"Sorry we're late, Ima. There was traffic coming in from DC." The family looked over at Tali's 'we' and noticed a young man holding her hand. "Ima, Abba, Grandpa, everybody, this is Chaim Rubin." Tali took Chaim over to where her parents stood. Tony shook hands with him as did Ziva. She then introduced him to Gibbs, who nodded to Tali as he shook Chaim's hand. Her Grandpa's approval meant a lot to Tali, and she smiled at him.
She went through the rest of the family, and Tim joked that they would be giving Chaim a quiz later to see how many names he remembered. The three couples of young people sat at the extension table for the meal. Tony looked from the head of the table at the family. They were growing in numbers and before they knew it, there would be another generation. He looked at the three couples of the next generation: Jared and Tori, Tali and Chaim, Anthony and Katie. Ziva noticed Tony watching the young couples, and leaned over to him. "I think we are watching the next generation growing up and becoming families. Are we really ready for them to grow up?" She took his hand and gave it a light squeeze. He looked into her eyes and said in a low voice, "I hope that each of them will have what we have."
~TIVA~
Jared's orders were changed twice in April and he would be moving to Okinawa in early June. He and Tori decided to move the wedding up so that they could get married before he moved and then they could move together. The wedding was just the extended family and held in the Vance backyard. Abby had decorated the yard and enlisted the help of Ziva, Delilah, Ellie and Gibbs in cooking for the reception. Jared wore his Air Force dress uniform and Tori wore a tea length white dress with sheer sleeves and carried a bouquet of flowers cut from Gibbs' yard. Tali was her maid of honor and Clayton was Jared's best man. When Tori threw her bouquet, Tali had caught it. Chaim smiled and kissed Tali, and Tony and Ziva knew their baby would be the next one to walk down the aisle. When Jared threw the garter, Anthony was the one to catch it. Katie laughed and teased him, and Ziva noticed how they looked at each other. She wondered how long until they would also be walking down the aisle.
When the dancing started, Jared and Tori were the first ones up. Jimmy wiped his eyes, and asked Tori for the next dance. As father and daughter danced, Tony watched them and Tali and Chaim. He had a feeling that he would be the next one to dance with his daughter at her wedding. He was happy for his baby girl, but wistful for the days when she was her Abba's little girl. Ziva reached out to take Tony's hand and led him to the dance area.
"I am thinking we are the next parents of the bride." She whispered in Tony's ear. He nodded and then she said, "And it won't be long before we are parents of the groom." Tony was watching Anthony and Katie as she said that and he nodded again.
"Our kids are growing up, Ziva. Look over by Breena and Jimmy." He turned her so that she could see what he had noticed. John and Rivka and Charles and Beth were dancing as couples.
Tim and Delilah watched as Katie and Anthony danced. Tim squeezed Delilah's hand and whispered to her, "From the looks of it, we may be parents of the bride in the not so distant future." She nodded and smiled wistfully, "Tim, our babies are growing up on us."
Jimmy and Breena watched their daughter and her husband dance as they also danced. Tori looked so happy and Jared's look of adoration and love made Jimmy's heart happy. He whispered to Breena, "Our little girl has grown up on us." Breena nodded and whispered to Jimmy, "Charles is not so far behind her."
~TIVA~
On the day before Tali's birthday, Chaim called Tony and Ziva and asked if he could meet them for lunch. They agreed to meet at a sandwich shop near the campus at 1230. When Tony and Ziva arrived, Chaim greeted them, and led them to where Tali was already seated. Both Tony and Ziva noticed that Chaim was a bit nervous and they had a feeling what was to come.
"Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo, as you know, Tali and I have been dating for a while now," Chaim began. He took Tali's hand in his and she squeezed it lightly. "I would like your permission to ask Tali to be my wife." From Tali's reaction, her parents could see that she and Chaim had already discussed their plans and Tony was honored and impressed that the young man would ask for his and Ziva's consent.
Both Tony and Ziva nodded yes, and Ziva took Tony's hand in hers. Chaim turned to Tali, and took her hands in his. "Tali, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" He held out a ring and smiled at Tali. "Yes, Chaim, yes, yes, yes." Chaim slid the ring on Tali's finger and kissed her gently. Ziva wiped the tears from her eyes as Tony did the same.
"Welcome to the family, Chaim. Congratulations both of you." Tony was happy for his daughter, and Ziva got up and hugged them both.
~TIVA~
Anthony graduated with high honors from high school on a warm Saturday in June. Grandpa Gibbs and his immediate family minus Tali, plus Katie were in the audience. The rest of the family would be at the party afterward, but since the school had a small auditorium, each graduating senior was limited to six tickets for the ceremony. Katie was in the audience because she had ushered as a ranking member of the junior class. John had also been invited to usher, but due to a conflict with a robotics competition, was unable to be present.
"Anthony D. DiNozzo, III," as Anthony strode across the stage his family cheered and applauded. Ziva and Tony were proud of their first born son. He had received a full scholarship to OSU for basketball, and would be entering as a sophomore with the transfer credits from his joint enrollment at the local community college.
~TIVA~
The whole family attended the party after at the house. During the party, Anthony gave Katie a promise ring after asking Uncle Tim and Aunt Delilah for permission. Everyone cheered and Tali ribbed her brother, "Are you trying to beat me to the altar?"
"Not really, Tals, but I want Katie to know that I only have eyes for her. While I'm in Ohio, and she is here, we'll be on Skype every day." Anthony had known Katie was his soul mate for many years. She felt the same about him. "I want her to know that I am promised to her when I am away. Abba and Ima have that soul mate relationship, and that's what I feel about Katie. I hope we all can find that person whose soul is one with ours." Ziva listened to her son and daughter and felt her heart swell with pride. Her children wanting to emulate their parents' relationship nearly brought her to tears.
Tony had also overheard the two discussing relationships; he felt the tears well in his eyes and picked up an empty food tray to take inside. Ziva noticed and followed him in. He stood at the counter wiping his eyes. She walked up behind him and put her arms around his waist, "we have some special young adults, yes?"
Tony nodded and turned to face Ziva, "that we do, but do they have to grow up so fast?" He and Ziva stood hugging and both let the tears flow. They each wiped tears off the other's face and locked eyes. Ziva put her lips on Tony's and leaned into the kiss. They were standing that way when Tim came into the kitchen to get more ice.
"Oh, sorry…" Tim still felt awkward when he got in the middle of a "TIVA" moment, even after all the years had gone by.
"Hey, McInlaw, no biggie." Tony smiled at Tim. Ziva motioned to Tim to come in the kitchen and the three of them shared hugs. Anthony walked in to see what was delaying Uncle Tim with the ice and snapped multiple candid photos of the three, once Team Gibbs MCRT.
Later that summer, Anthony printed a collage of the photos along with some he had found from when Team Gibbs was active, and gave it to his Grandpa. Gibbs put the picture on his mantel next to the other pictures of family. His kids were his pride and joy; family truly was a connection of the heart, and Gibbs was thankful that these three had come into his life.