hello!
so, I have felt that for the past few chapters my writing hasn't been so great, and my muse kind of left me, taking me with it. But for some reason he returned (why is my muse a he? sure it is an it, because it doesn- FOCUS BRAIN), and for some reason the chapter just came to me! So I would love to know what you think, is this better? are you still reading? do you enjoy the story? also, I'm still kind of undecided on the Kari vs. Kibbs thing, so in your review please tell me what you think!
enjoy!
disclaimer: not mine. :((((
Chapter 19
Ziva stepped out of the studio into the cold evening air with an unseasonable smile on her face. Despite the icy chill that threatened to freeze her face off, it had been a good day. The competition had gone well; Abigail had performed her heart out, and for the first time Ziva had seen actual emotion on her face when she danced. And from such a talented dancer, it made the performance not just bearable, but enjoyable. And her sentiments had been shared with the judges, who awarded her with the overall high score for her age division. To say Abigail was happy was the understatement of the century. Her great evening was topped off when a girl who couldn't have been more than six years old came up to her shyly, and timidly told her that it was an honour to meet "Ms David" in person. Her mother, who Ziva had assumed had something to with the whole production (she had seen some crazy stage mums in her time…) found the daughter and started scolding her for running off, and all the girl could say was "but I saw Ms David" and Ziva melted. The mother introduced herself, and after a quick conversation Ziva gave her a business card for the studio, saying how the child was welcome any time, whether she wants to dance for fun or competitively. The child was almost beside herself with happiness, as she clutched the card with glee.
Ziva turned to lock up the studio now relieved of the stacks of CDs and random props she brought to the competition, and braced herself for the walk to the bus station. Her car was at the garage, and Tali said something about having "stuff to do", so she was fully prepared for the brisk ten minute walk. That was until she spotted a lone car in the car park.
It was a bright candy-apple red Ford '32 Deuce Coupe, the colour alone against the dark city skyline was enough to make it stand out from a mile away. The ostentatious image was completed with the plate "4NS CHIK" emblazoned for all the world to see. And then the window rolled down, and a very familiar head popped out.
"Get in. I'll explain on the way!" Tali said, the excitement radiating in her eyes as bright as the fluorescent floodlights of the car park.
"Tali?" Ziva said. She couldn't remember ever being to confused, "whose car is this?"
"Mine!"
It was only then that Ziva noticed Abby in the driver's seat, her head now stretched so she was next to Tali.
"Abby?"Ziva said, so if she was confused before, her mind was thoroughly blown now, "Tali, what is going on?"
"We're going to Ima's for dinner!" Tali said, as if it were obvious.
"And why is Abby coming with us to mum's for dinner?" Ziva said, still not following.
"She invited her," Tali stated. Ziva gave her a look to say that she still didn't follow.
"Mum wants to go over wedding plans, and seeing as most of the ideas that she's had e-mailed over were from Abby, she suggested that she come," Tali said slowly, as if talking to a slow child.
After Tali finished her little speech she grinned wildly at Ziva. Abby, who had a similar expression on her face added to the already surreal situation. So much so that Ziva decided what the heck, and popped the door open of the back seat. Which was where she got her next surprise.
"Kate?"
"Abby," Kate said in the way of explanation, and Ziva just made an understanding noise. What Kate didn't tell Ziva was that it wasn't all Abby's begging that got her there. It was more to do with the looks a certain team leader was giving her at that moment, that made her want to run a mile, but also made her want to go over there and…
"Where's Tony?" Ziva said. There was one half of their partnership that was missing for this ordeal. And if she had to go through this, then sure so did he.
"He said something about not wanted to be in a house with the craziest people he knew," Abby said brightly, and Ziva's eyes narrowed. She had to remember to give his a hard time about that later…
As Ziva settled into the back seat, she poked Tali in the back.
"Get in, I'll explain on the way?" Ziva said quoting Tali's previous words, "you have been spending for too long around Tony's movie collection."
The laughter from the car rivalled the blaring sounds of car horns from the rest of the world.
One short car ride, three songs (all sung at the tops of their voices. Of at least, Abby and Tali's, while Kate and Ziva watched on highly amused) and two near misses later they arrived at Rivka's house, where she welcomed them all with open arms and trays of home-baked lasagne. They all took their seats at Rivka's long dining table that was formerly filled to the brim with David children. But now, the inhabitants were much older, and the conversation was less to do with the smelly boys who pulled her daughters pigtails because he liked her, and more… mature.
"So how is it going with Finn?" Rivka asked as the table fell silent, each person with their mouth too full of delicious food to accommodate conversation.
"You know about Finn?" Ziva said. Unfortunately her mouth still contained lasagne, and the sight was not the most flattering.
"Swallow your food before you speak," Rivka scolded, and Tali stuck her tongue out at Ziva. For once it was Ziva getting told off, and not Tali. Which seemed to displease Ziva greatly, who glowered at her in retaliation.
"Who's Finn?" Abby said, hurtling herself headfirst into this family matter. Kate was quieter in her observation, eating her food politely, but doing little in the way of talking. Ziva noted this mentally, and decided that she was going to have to talk to the woman later. She had not really had a chance to connect with Kate, but from the way Tony saw Kate, and the sisterly admiration that filled Abby's face whenever she looked Kate's way made it clear that this was a woman that she wanted on her side.
"Finn," Ziva said, over pronouncing his name, "is Tali's secret boyfriend."
As Abby squealed in excitement, Tali had to shout to be heard over it.
"Just because you don't know about it doesn't mean it was a secret," Tali shot back. There was little malice behind the words, the fiery debate had been them from the beginning when they were both small.
"Girls," Rivka said firmly, and that effectively shut the two of them up.
"So, who is he," Abby said, scraping her fork against the side of the plate to get the last bit of lasagne. Damn, this stuff was good.
"Well, we've been dating for a month now-"
"A month!" Ziva said shocked. Her sister had been dating someone for this long and she hadn't heard anything about it?!
"It started when Tony got shot. You had plenty better things to occupy your mind at that time," Tali said firmly, and Ziva grudgingly had to agree with her logic. And then a thought popped into her mind.
"Have you told Ari about him?"
The loud Hebrew curse that Tali emitted answered Ziva's question. She defiantly wanted to be around when Hurricane Ari hit. This should be interesting.
"And when do we get to meet him?" Abby interjected. Ziva was surprised at the way that Abby had interjected herself into her family. But Abby and Tali seemed to get on like a house on fire, and there was nothing that Ziva liked more than to see her sister happy. So naturally, she did not object.
"Whenever," Tali said, and the subject ended.
The dinner dishes were cleaned and stacked, and at some point in the evening the party had migrated from the warm glow of the kitchen to living room. There they all sat, Tali and Abby squeezed onto a sofa with a number of bridal magazines balanced precariously on their laps, Ziva one the recliner and Kate perched on the loveseat. Tali's and Abby's excitement mounted with every turn of the page, and they were only on the first magazine. Maybe it had something to do with the bottle of red wine that her mum had opened once dinner had finished…
"Right, coming through," Rivka said, brandishing her own glass and the rest of the bottle, as she entered the living room. She then proceeded to sit herself down next to Kate, who was sipping her wineglass delicately, and looked slightly out of place.
"So, I had a list somewhere of things we still needed to organise…" Rivka said, shuffling around to look for the notepad. Kate, who spotted the paper when she first entered the room like the good special agent she was, retrieved the paper for her, to Rivka's delight.
"Thank you dear," Rivka said affectionately, "Now, Ziva-"
But she was promptly cut off by the shrill buzz of her mobile phone. Looking at the caller ID, she smiled.
"It's Tony. I should take this," Ziva said, moving to the kitchen for some privacy.
"Ask his whether he wants in mint cream or honey dew!" Rivka yelled at Ziva's retreating figure. Was it her imagination, or did Ziva's steps become a tiny bit quicker after those words.
"Hey," Ziva said picking up the phone. The tipsy chatter of the living room was just a dull roar in the background. Leaning against the counter, she let out a loud sigh into the receiver.
"Is it that bad?" Tony asked, and Ziva rolled her eyes.
"How did you get out of this?"
"With my amazing charm and wit," Tony said with a smile on his face. Of course he did.
"You didn't answer my question," Ziva said.
"Neither did you. Is the prospect of becoming the future Mrs DiNozzo really that bad?" Tony said back.
"It's not the name. Or the marriage. It's just the whole affair," Ziva said groaning.
"We could elope and get married in Vegas?" Tony suggested, and Ziva laughed at the prospect.
"We could, but you run the risk of my mother rearranging your balls for you," she said deadpan, "she's looking forward to this thing more than I am."
"Ouch, painful image," Tony muttered, "but you must have some idea of what you want your wedding to look like?"
Ziva bit back the lie that was right at the tip of her tongue. She used to mock Tali for her childish fantasy weddings, but it didn't mean she was immune to the desires herself. In the secrecy of her own head at night, she had let herself explore the possibilities, the dress, the flowers. But most importantly the man. And she had never let herself imagine someone like Tony, a complete idiot, who was still so intense, and lit her with a fire that still burned bright with every passing day.
"All I want is you," Ziva said. It was the most honest thing she could have said, and the vulnerability in her words made Tony push the jokes to one side.
"And you can have me," Tony said.
Kate excused herself to get a glass of water minutes after Ziva had taken her leave. She figured that at least one of them had to be sober enough to drive home, and by the looks of Tali and Abby, the designated driver was her.
Tracing her footsteps back to the kitchen she took her time, in no hurry to return to the mothers meeting going on in the living room. Someone had switched on the hallway light, probably Ziva when she returned to take Tony's call, and the previously dark hallway was bathed in light. For the first time Kate noticed the pictures that covered the walls. They filled all the spaces, pictures of Ziva when she was a child (who would have thought such a chubby toddled would grow to be Ziva?), pictures of Ari and Tali. The most recent one appeared to be all three of the siblings dressed formally standing on the stairs of this very house. Her eyes were first drawn to Ari, the man who she had first seen in the elevator on the way to legal, who had floored her temporarily with his sharp wit, and who had been gone the next moment. She could have seen him again, could have arranged to bump into him. She had heard on the office scuttle bug that he had got the job at legal, and he hadn't only done well in his interview, but had completely annihilated the competition. There was something about the man that seemed dangerous, and that had initially drawn her to him. But now in hindsight she questioned this. Did she really want some dangerous drifter, who Ziva had once described affectionately as "a complete nutcase with a gun"? But she calmly told herself to not push herself into giving an answer, telling herself that if anything was to happen, it would happen. And if not, then it was his lost.
The next person in the photo was a smiling Ziva, and again Kate was struck by how beautiful she was. Not anything that the media wanted to sell as beautiful, but her small features and her heart-shaped face was perfectly symmetrical, and her face was lit up with life. Maybe that was the reason she had felt awkward around her. Because she intimidated her. And Tony had told her all about how kick-ass ninja she really was.
Kate shook the thought from her head, and made her way to the kitchen, to hear the dying embers of the phone conversation. Walking into the kitchen she saw Ziva leaning up against the counter casually, clutching the phone against her chest with a small smile on her face.
"Did you ask him what colour he wanted the napkins?" Kate asked wryly, knowing that the answer was going to be no.
"I honestly think that if I asked him, he would make some comment about why the colours have such edible names, and then he would say the one that I want."
Kate filled her glass with water from the jug and took a sip from it, making no attempt at conversation. But Ziva seemed to preoccupied with her thoughts to notice. Suddenly she stood up straighter.
"I am getting married," she said, and the smile on her face grew.
"I'm glad you noticed," Kate quipped back, and Ziva smiled at Kate.
"Are you having second thoughts?" Kate thought suddenly, her eyes widening at the prospect.
"No!" Ziva said hastily, then she added, "I just never thought I would ever get married."
"Why not?" Kate said, asking the first question that popped into her mind, "you are smart, stunning, and have men who turn to a mess on the floor at your presence" (McGee may have been dating Abby, but Ziva still managed to intimidate him, until he reverted back to his probie self.)
"You're not so back yourself," Ziva said, and Kate took the strange compliment.
"So, what do you say," Kate said to change the subject, "mint cream or honey dew?"
"I think by the time I get back there at least three people will have chosen for me," Ziva said wryly, and they both returned to the living room, with the seed of a friendship being planted…
wooo! you likey? XD