Author's Note: And now, the wedding.
This story and trilogy has been an absolute blast to write and I thank you all for reading and reviewing.
This chapter will be much longer than I usually write but it'll be worth it. I basically did snippets of a ceremony and reception. I tried to do like one big one with vows and all that jazz but it fell flat.
I'm going to have to work on that.
Heh, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it.
Anyway, the wedding night and epilogue should be posted by Friday.
Enjoy and thank you again for reading.
Disclaimer: NOT MINE. I WOULDN'T BE LOOKING AT SNOW RIGHT NOW IF IT WAS.
The room was bustling.
Everyone was putting on make up or dresses. Frantic conversation was going on, along with laughter. Excitement was rampant throughout the atmosphere. The wedding was less than an hour from starting.
Ziva was quietly brushing out her hair, calm amidst the chaos.
She had let it dry into it natural waves, knowing that Tony loved it when she left it alone. She was going to leave it down but borrow Alex's bumblebee hairclips so two tendrils framed her face. She wore very little makeup and had a light pink lip gloss on. It tasted like apples and was her favorite.
Standing, she removed her black silk robe and put on her lacy blue underwear set.
It was a light blue and very comfortable. Also, she knew that the material was easy to rip.
Once Tony saw them, he'd go primal and she didn't want anything slowing him down.
She picked up a bottle of jasmine scented perfume and applied a little to all of her pulse points and behind her knees. Next were the white thigh high stockings. She sat down and rolled them on slowly.
"Damn. Maybe you should go down the aisle like that."
Ziva chuckled and shook her head at her sister in law.
"No, Alex. I don't want to kill your brother. At least not while he's vertical."
"Ooh, kinky." Jenna praised while zipping up her black and fuchsia bridesmaid dress.
She had gone with those colors for all the dresses along with a simple design. They were like cocktail dresses with angel hair straps.
"Abby, do you want to help me get into my dress?"
"Sure."
Ziva opened the dress bag and pulled it out gently. It was white and beautiful.
The top was like a bustier with beads accenting it until it went into a full white skirt.
She took it off the hanger and stepped into it, moving her hair aside so it could be zipped by Abby.
Looking into the full length mirror, she slid into her simple white heels and smiled.
"You look great, Ziva. You look like one those brides out of the magazines."
A knock at the door sounded and her aunt and father came in.
Immediately, Nettie smiled and hugged her, tears of joy pouring from her eyes.
A brilliant smile lit up her father's face and he kissed her brow.
"Oh, look at her, Eli. She looks like a princess."
"A queen, actually. How are you, Little One?"
The endearment went back to her childhood and she cherished it.
"I am well, papa. Is Tony okay?"
"He's fine, dear. Just a bit nervous." Nettie assured her.
"Has he thrown up, yet?"
////////////
Tony rinsed out his mouth and sighed deeply.
The reality of the situation had hit him and his stomach had rebelled. He was actually getting married. Him, of all people! Fear filled him but then, he touched the ring that Ziva had given him. The fear faded away and was replaced by love for his crazy ninja chick.
The door opened and Gibbs limped in. The paint gun shot had taken him out for the rest of the evening. After they got back to the hotel, he had gotten an ice pack, glared bitterly at the world, and slammed the door to his room.
"Let's just leave him alone. Can you believe McGeek beat Andrew?"
"No. Come on, we better go check on them."
The rest of his bachelor party had been spent laughing at (and filming) a drunken McGee and he watched both Kill Bills with Phil until about 3AM.
Still, seeing Gibbs limp around in a tux was hilarious.
He actually had to look and act his age.
"You good, DiNozzo?"
"Yeah. Ziva ready yet?"
"Just about. Eli said that she looks really good."
"She always does. I'm actually getting married. Me, of all people. Can you believe it?"
"It's a sign of the apocalypse. The twins are with Ducky and everyone's here so move your ass."
Tony nodded and adjusted his tie one last time before following Gibbs out.
It was time to get his girl.
////////////
Ziva peeked out from behind the door as the wedding party walked and gulped a little.
There was a huge turnout of people from NCIS and some people from MOSSAD.
She spotted her father's main bodyguard and smiled.
Rafi had been around for as long as she could remember and she knew that under the tough warrior exterior was a big teddy bear. He was already crying.
I'll have to hug him, later. It's so good to see him alive.
She heard rapidly approaching footfalls and she turned to see Tony, looking haggard but excited.
He had on his tux and his hair was down to his ears and spiky.
A soft gasp escaped him as he spotted her and she blushed pink as he looked at her approvingly.
His celery gaze made her so weak.
Stepping forward, she fixed his tie and he smiled at her.
"You look beautiful, Zee."
"Thank you. You better go. Gibbs looks like he's about to spit nails."
He was glaring back towards the doors, contained only by Jenny being across him.
"Yeah. I'm a little late. I had to throw up again." he explained sheepishly.
When he got particularly nervous, he either got really quiet or really sick to his stomach.
"There's no need to be nervous. I love you. That's what matters. Now, go."
She shoved him forward and bit back a laugh as the sound of a head slap reached her ears when he made it down the aisle.
////////////
Eli watched his daughter walk down the aisle and smiled.
She had said that she had wanted to walk by herself and he understood.
Ziva had come so far on her own and she wanted to walk into a new portion of her life that way.
She was glowing with joy and she looked at Anthony with such love; it brought even more tears to his eyes.
Ava had looked at him like that on their wedding day and every day afterwards.
To lose her to an idiot with a gun had been devastating.
Ziva held them together. She became the backbone of the family. She sacrificed so much, suffered so much, and now she was finally at peace.
He met her at the end of the aisle and took her hand.
"Who gives this woman to be wed?" the pastor and rabbi asked.
Nettie took her other hand and said, "Her father and I do."
Eli looked at her one last time before releasing her.
She stepped to Anthony and the young man gently wiped her tears away.
That was his job now.
It was time to let his little girl go.
////////////
His foot came down on the pillow and the glass within shattered.
Then, he grabbed Ziva and kissed her fiercely.
She dropped her flowers and wrapped her arms around him, bringing him flush against her.
The cheers and applause of their loved ones rang in his ears as he broke the kiss.
"I love you, my beautiful bride."
She smiled and whispered that she loved him, too.
Cooing brought him out of his daze and his eyes widened as he saw a pink dress clad Ava help J.T. stand up in his little tux.
With shaking legs, they took one step and another and another...
Immediately, cameras started going crazy but Tony could only watch them.
Ava and J.T. were walking.
They were walking!
Ziva gasped and knelt down, opening her arms and Tony did the same.
The twins crashed into them, sending all four to the floor.
She laughed and said, "They walked, Tony! Our babies are walking!"
"Yeah, and this one's crushing my liver."
Ava cooed and sat further on him, playing with his tie.
////////////
"And now, for the first dance. If the bride and groom could take the floor, please."
They stood as the first few notes of Chicago's Color My World began to play and Tony led her out.
He wrapped his arms around her and they slowly swayed.
"We're actually married." he said with awe.
"I know. It seems like only yesterday that I wanted to kill you."
"You wanted to kill me? I thought you wanted to do me?"
"I did. That's what kept you alive."
He looked at her with shock and she shook with silent giggles.
"Crazy ninja chick." he grumbled affectionately.
////////////
Ziva yelped as a handful of cake nailed her in the face and she glared at a laughing Tony before wiping it off.
Oh, he was going to go there, was he?
Very well, then.
She slid out of heels and advanced upon him slowly, grabbing a chunk of cake.
A slow and easy smile curved her lips.
He paled as he realized what she was going to do.
"Oh, shit!" he yelped, sending everyone into laughter as he ran off.
She bolted after him, dodging guests and tables as she chased him out of the reception tent and across the lawn.
With a lunge, she tackled him and straddled him, putting the cake right in his face.
He sat up and she cracked up.
"You look like you did when you face planted in the snow!" she crowed, reminding him of their impromptu snowball fight months ago.
He wiped frosting out of his eyes and shook with silent laughter.
"Do you want me to get a napkin to get that off?"
"I want you to lick it off.", he purred, moving his hips against hers.
Heat blossomed in Ziva's core and she was abruptly reminded of just how long it had been since they made love.
Now that they had made it through the wedding and all the family drama, they could address that need.
Kissing him, she rolled off of him and extended a hand to help him up.
They needed to throw the bouquet and garter.
Then, they needed to kiss their now mobile babies goodbye.
After that, Ziva was going to have her husband, whether he was clean or not.