Chapter Four
When Ziva visited the garden with Tim, she loved the setting and they booked it. She had finally found the wedding dress she wanted and was happy that Tony had convinced Tim to have a new tux made. Sarah was thrilled to be Ziva's maid of honor and excited about her dress which was being altered by the same shop that was doing Ziva's.
Ziva also asked Breena to be a bridesmaid and was surprised and thrilled when she called her friend Monique and found she was not only coming to the wedding but also agreed to be a bridesmaid. In talking of their shared past lives as covert operatives, they discovered neither woman had thought she'd ever be involved in a wedding, much less getting married.
Once Ziva had her attendants selected, Tim asked his brothers to stand with him. The three of them had already talked about the difficulty of picking one brother over the other to be best man and agreed that Tony was the best choice. Truthfully, shy Rob would have been just as happy sitting with their dad and although he wasn't shy, after years of involvement in covert operations Geordie wasn't entirely comfortable with a spotlight anywhere near him. But they were happy to stand with their brother and readily agreed.
Gibbs and Ducky had many discussions about walking Ziva 'down the aisle'; at times Tim worried about their decades' long friendship rupturing over each man's wish to escort Ziva. When he threatened to instead ask Jimmy, Uncle Dave or Uncle Jim the two older men quit bickering and Ducky eventually prevailed.
Ducky also spoke to Abby's brother Luka and her doctors, hoping to find that she would be well enough to attend the wedding. Although she was greatly improved, the doctors thought that the flight from New Orleans to DC in addition to the wedding and reception would be too much for her. When he told Tim and Ziva that, they were quiet as they too had been hoping their former colleague would be able to attend.
The wedding plans gradually came together. The aunts, Claire and Liz, and Gram Maisie helped where they could: selecting the flowers and helping with the invitations, but some things had to be decided by the bride and groom. One Saturday they met with the caterer at the garden and taste tested several different appetizers and types of cake. They tried samples of cake including red velvet (Ziva's request), vanilla bean, butterscotch (Tim asked for that), a fudgy chocolate and at the caterer's recommendation pumpkin since they were having an autumn wedding. While the couple liked the pumpkin flavor they knew most of their family would not and they nixed the butterscotch also. Eventually they decided on the fudgy chocolate swirled with the vanilla bean and the traditional bride and groom on top. It would be three layers although the two main layers would be proportioned for the number of guests. Following tradition, the top layer would be saved and frozen for their first anniversary. Geordie and Rob were on task to select the music; both brothers knew what Tim liked and had been around Ziva enough to know what she liked. Tim quietly made one request of his brothers, to make sure that the music also reflected Ziva's heritage.
As summer waned and August rolled into September, the team was busy with back to back to back cases. They were so busy that it was only an innocent question from Ned Dorneget that made Tim and Ziva realize they'd neglected a few important things. One, their wedding bands and two – and this was Ned's question - where were they going on their honeymoon? The wedding bands were an easy problem to solve. This time Penny went with them to the safety deposit box and much to Tim's amusement, selected Sarah and Robert Baxter's wedding rings. Penny took them with her to have them cleaned, saying she wouldn't give them back until the week of the wedding.
When it came to their honeymoon, they were planning on just taking a week after the wedding. Between Ziva's new job and all the medical leave Tim had been forced to take, neither of them felt right about being away for more than a week…that is not until Dad took Tim for breakfast at the diner one Saturday morning.
"You two decided where you're going on your honeymoon?"
"Not really. We're just going to take a week so we won't go too far. Maybe the Caribbean or Hawaii."
"Still in hurricane season…Caribbean's probably got some good bargains but I'd rather you didn't."
Tim shoulder bumped his dad, taking the Caribbean off their list, no sense worrying the family. "I've never been to Hawaii. You have any place in mind?"
"Yeah, two of the most romantic places I've ever been."
"Yeah?"
"Paris and Florence."
"Wow, that's…that's a long flight, a day's flight each way."
"Tough, you're going for two weeks…no don't give me that look. Vance brought it up with me, wanted to make sure you were taking two full weeks. You need to start your marriage off by spending time together, Timothy, just the two of you. If you really want to go to Hawaii, that's great, but wherever you go, you're off work for two weeks after the wedding, got it?"
"Dad…after all the time off? Oh, but Ziva was working. You're right, she should have the two weeks and I guess I'll have to be with her!" Tim was grinning by now and his father grinned back, "That's great son, now is there going to be a problem with her new job?"
Tim shook his head, "No, she told them before she accepted the offer that she'd need time off in October. She was thinking one week but I'm sure I can persuade her to take two."
XXX
After discussing their destination choices, the couple decided on Florence, Italy. Ziva wanted to show Tim Paris in the springtime, they'd save Hawaii for another trip and she had never been to Florence, much to Tim's delight. When he went online to look for flights and hotels, he read through information on several different sites. After sifting through and filtering out dozens of hotels, he found a small one on a side street near the center of the city that looked like it would be quiet and close to everything they wanted to see and do. He read the reviews of the place on every site he could find and then had Ziva read through it and look at the pictures; from there they went to the hotel website and liked it even more. Liking the look and the location and feeling very comfortable with the reviews, they booked it.
Excited about their choice, Tim picked up his phone to call his dad only to have it chirp with an incoming call. He laughed at the caller id, "Hey Dad, I was just going to call you!"
"That's always good to hear, Timiny, especially when you sound as happy as you do!"
"I am! I'm excited - Ziva and I decided to spend our honeymoon in Florence."
"Wonderful, that's great and good timing because I have something I want to tell you about that."
"Dad?"
"Is Zeever around?"
"Yeah, hold on, I'll walk over to her and put you on speaker."
Ziva was online reading the "Wikipedia" entry for Florence but looked up when Tim walked over to her and put the phone on speaker. "Hello, Gibbs."
"Zeever." Gibbs took a deep breath, "You two…I'm so proud of both of you, proud and very happy you found each other and you've already shown your commitment to each other through some very tough times. And I…" Gibbs' voice got a little rough, "we were lucky enough to finally find the connection between us…Tim, we missed so much. Your trip, your honeymoon, I want to pay for it."
Tim's eyebrows shot up and he looked at Ziva in shock. "Dad!"
"Listen to me, both of you…like I said, we've missed so much, every birthday, Christmas, graduation…everything, I want to do this, son."
"Dad, it's so much."
Gibbs managed a chuckle, "Would you rather I buy you presents for each of the birthdays, Christmases, graduations and other events that I missed?"
"No but…"
"Tim, I have the money if that's what you're worried about. For all of Tony's clowning around about it over the years, I don't pay alimony to anyone, the house is paid for and I don't have that many expenses. You're paying for your own wedding; I thought about it but decided I'd rather pay for your honeymoon trip."
"Gibbs, this is so generous."
"You're my kids, Ziva." Tim looked at Ziva, worried and she nodded, she had this. "Gibbs, we are your kids, but we are not your only children."
"Got them covered."
The couple looked at each other and nodded. "Dad, you're unbelievably generous, yes we love your gift!"
"That's a relief. I was worried I'd have a bigger fight on my hands."
"Guess we've learned some about family, Dad."
"Me too, Timothy. Oh, hey when you make your flight reservations, make sure they're first class." Tim and Ziva grinned at each other; they'd planned on using their various frequent flier miles to upgrade to first class.
"Dad, we have enough frequent flier miles to go first class without extra cost. And we have to use them – Ziva's are expiring at the end of the year and some of mine will fall off then too."
"You sure?"
"Yep, sure of at least one way; we'll let you know, how's that?"
"That's good kiddo."
After they hung up, Tim and Ziva just looked at each other and then Tim lifted Ziva right out of her chair, "We're going to Italy and Daddy's paying!" They twirled around the room in sheer delight at Gibbs' generosity and excitement over their lives.
Before the day was over, Tim booked their flight from DC to Pisa; from there they'd take the train to Florence or Firenze as it was called in Italy.
Once their friends heard they were going to Italy, all kinds of advice started to flow their way. Through Breena's brother-in-law, they were advised to reserve seats on any trains they wanted to take before they left and also to buy tickets to see the famous statue of David. Not knowing yet where else they might want to go, they thought they might buy 2 week Eurail passes. Then they started looking around to see what side trips they might want to make. Pompeii went on the list as well as a possible trip north to Milan, Lake Como and some of the smaller towns and villages in Tuscany. They decided not to go too far afield, they wanted to relax and they knew there was much to see and do in Florence itself.
Tony and his girlfriend Darleen were almost as excited about them going to Florence as they were. During the weeks leading up to the wedding, Tony continually passed words of advice, things to see, drink and eat along to his friends. One of the most helpful things he did was to teach Tim key words and phrases in Italian. Ziva spoke it fluently but Tim wanted to know for himself how to ask how much something was, where something might be, the words for north, east, south and west, left, right and other important words and phrases.
Finally it was October and the weather was holding up well, with forecasts for sunny skies and low humidity. Ziva's dress was finished and taken to Ducky and Maisie's home for storage. As the brownstone was closer to the wedding location than anyone else's place, the bridal party would dress there. Tim and Rob's tuxes were also completed; those went to their dad's house as the groom's party would be dressing there. Geordie would wear his dress uniform and Tony of course had a tuxedo all ready to wear.
Tim's godfather and uncle had been away for nearly four months on a float and there was some worry when their ship, the Baton Rouge, was scheduled to be included in exercises in the Black Sea. The exercises were cancelled, however, when the crisis that prompted them in the first place was resolved. The ship returned to Norfolk and Uncle Dave and Uncle Jim were safely home 10 days before the wedding.
Jack didn't want to miss any of the fun, so he flew in Friday afternoon, a week before the wedding. Monique also arrived on Friday so Tim and Ziva gathered them both in one trip to the airport. That night kicked off their bachelor/bachelorette events. Ziva requested her bachelorette party be fun but not expensive or sleazy. After thinking about what her almost sister-in-law liked to do, Sarah arranged a paintball game for Friday evening followed the next day by a cooking class and then a tea. She wasn't surprised when Breena got excited about the paintball; she was however, astonished when her Aunt Claire, both grandmothers and Aunty Liz wanted to play. They had a wonderful time; although Sarah was a little concerned about the ferocity demonstrated by her Gram. The cooking class was also fun and a late afternoon tea topped off the weekend. Ziva was surprised when Maisie asked for a ride home but was perfectly willing to accommodate the older woman.
While the ladies were shooting, cooking and drinking, Tim had his bachelor events, carefully planned by Tony. Told to be ready by 7 PM Friday evening and to dress casually, Tim grinned as a stretch limo rolled up to his place and his dad and Tony climbed out to escort him to the vehicle. They drove to a steakhouse where they found his brothers, Grandpa Jack, almost grandfather Ducky, Jimmy, Ned Dorneget, Rick Carter, Uncle Dave and Uncle Jim and a couple of friends from college. There were 14 of them in total. They had a great dinner punctuated by a lot of laughter as Tony, Rick, Ducky, one of his college buddies and Geordie told stories of Tim in his younger years – the NCIS folks talked with love about the greenest probie they'd ever seen while Joey, his college buddy, told stories about their lives at MIT and Geordie told some stories from their earlier lives that made the others realize that maybe Tim hadn't been all that green, more shy and unwilling to share details of his past life. After that, they piled back in the limo and went on to a comedy club for an open mic night. Tim laughed so much his sides hurt and he really enjoyed seeing his father snort beer at least twice. The following day, Gibbs, the groom, his best man and groomsmen drove to a nearby marina and rented a catamaran for the day. Tim enjoyed every minute as they spent the day on the water, fishing for their dinner and reaching home just as the sun set.
While the others were out having fun on Saturday, Ducky and Jack had a surprise they'd arranged for Ziva, with the help of Director Vance and one of the linguists from the agency. Once the youngsters were out of the way, Ducky and Jack drove to the airport with a sign that Frances the linguist had helped them make. They had also exchanged photos with the person they were meeting so there would be no doubt. They stood as close to the Customs area as they were allowed, peering in. Jack was the tallest and he spotted their quarry. "There she is! She's through Customs; she'll be here in a minute." He and Ducky took the sign and held it between them while Ducky mentally practiced the welcoming phrase Frances taught him. When the woman saw the sign, her face broke into a big smile and Ducky stepped forward and greeted her just as planned. The woman kissed his cheek and said in passable English, "Thank you! I know you must be Ducky, I have heard much of you!" Ducky replied and then introduced Jack to Ziva's Aunt Nettie, both men relieved that she spoke more English than they'd expected. From the airport they hightailed it back to Ducky's, not sure when Maisie would arrive with Ziva. Nettie knew she was a surprise for her niece and couldn't wait to see her. When they reached the house, Ducky showed her to her room and then made her a cup of tea. Nettie was amazed that he knew just how she liked it. Ducky smiled, "Ziva told me years ago that you taught her about tea and she likes it just the way you do."
"Oh, so sweet, my Zivaleh."
"Yes, she is. Now would you like to get settled in or would you like to look at some photos while we wait? They should be here within the hour."
"It has been many years since I have taken such a long flight. I think I would like to freshen up and then if there is time, look at the photos."
"Excellent!" Ducky had already shown her where everything was, so she went off to unpack, shower and change. She was just combing her hair after her shower when she heard voices, her niece's voice. As Ducky was making tea, Ziva stood in the kitchen telling him of their day. Maisie was standing close by her so when Ziva heard another person in the house she swung around and saw her aunt. She blinked in astonishment and then in tears as she went into her aunt's outstretched arms.
While they were catching up, Jack sent a text to Tim asking him to pick him up at Ducky's. When he had a return text from his son, Jack sent him a rather testy reply that nothing was wrong and he wanted Tim. He'd forgotten that his son and two of his grandsons were trained investigators; Gibbs had known something was up with his dad for days now; he'd been like a kid with a big secret. He figured it was some sort of surprise for Tim and Ziva and he didn't want to mess with it, so he shrugged it off and told Tim he guessed his grandfathers wanted some extra time with him. Tim was just glad he'd washed up after they'd been fishing; he hoped he smelled like soap and sunshine rather than fish or fishy bait. He pulled a clean shirt out of his go bag, changed and headed off to Ducky's.
He wasn't horribly surprised to see Ziva's Mini when he pulled up but was very curious to see what his grandfathers were up to. When he walked in, his jaw dropped as he saw Ziva in the arms of a woman whose photo stood on the fireplace mantle at home. He must have made a noise as the two women parted and Tim joined them, "Nettie? Aunt Nettie?" He greeted her in Hebrew and she kissed him softly, welcoming him to her family. That brought tears for all of them.
Maisie and Ducky served an early dinner, knowing that their guest was exhausted but needed to eat before she slept. Ziva and Tim stayed until Nettie had retired to her room and then they took Jack home, leaving Ziva's car at Ducky's. On Sunday Ducky hosted a barbecue and pool party. Monique and Nettie got to meet Ziva's crazy family and as Tony said, "see us in our native habitat". It was a fun afternoon complete with a rousing game of volleyball. Ziva's aunt and her friend were heartened by the kindness, love and support of the family and both were very pleased with Tim.