The updates are coming quick! It's my little gift since most of you have stuck around for so long! Enjoy!
-x-
"I got chu Uncle McGee!" Ty yelled, jumping up and down with a Xbox controller in his hand.
"You got me good, bud!" McGee laughed, restarting the X-Men game he was playing with the little boy.
Ziva and the kids had been coming over more often, they need a bit of light in their lives since home only reminded them of Tony. Delilah and Tim were more than happy to have the family over, understanding the pain that they were going through in the difficult transition without Tony.
Inside the bedroom, Ziva, Delilah and Isabella sat on the bed and looked at wedding decorations. Delilah had asked Ziva if she could help her plan the wedding since the date was coming quicker than she planned and her family lived out of state and wouldn't be able to help her. Ziva happily obliged thinking that she would never get the chance to plan a wedding herself, and because her and Tony had done it the easy way, by going to town court and signing for a marriage license.
"Hey, Isabella?" Delilah waited for the little girl to stop twirling her hair to answer. "Would you like to be my flower girl? You'd get to wear a pretty dress and have your hair done!"
Isabella stared wearily at Delilah and look towards her mother for an answer. Ziva giggled, nodding towards her daughter in awe. "You walk down the aisle and throw flowers on the ground, making a mess! That is your favorite thing to do at home." Isabella continued to stare at her, "Tataleh, you would get to wear a pretty dress like this…" She pointed towards the wedding magazine on the bed where there was a little girl pictured in a white, satin dress to match the bride.
Isabella beamed at the picture, nodding her head in approval with the clap of her hands, "Ya!"
Ziva shook her head laughing, "She has to see it before she agrees to it, that is the only way I get her to do anything. She is so stubborn."
"Wonder who she got that from?" Delilah joked, receiving a playful push from Ziva. "We'll have to ask your brother if he wants to be the ring bearer!"
Isabella cocked her head like a puppy, shouting "TY!"
Soon enough, Ty ran in as soon as he heard his sister calling for him, followed by McGee.
"What's going on ladies?" McGee asked, picking Ty up and setting him down on the bed beside them.
"Wring!" Isabella exclaimed, pointing to the little boy on the page of the magazine.
"A ring? Where!" McGee cooed at her, tickling her.
"Wight Der!" (Right there) Isabella said through fits of her giggles while he tickled her.
"She's talking about the ring bearer," Delilah corrected for McGee's sake. "Ty, would you like to be the ring bearer at our wedding? Your sister is going to be our flower girl, so you'd be walking down the aisle with her."
Ty climbed into his mother's lap, cuddling up to her chest. "What do I do?" He asked in a patient tone.
"You walk down the aisle with our wedding rings and when you get to Uncle McGee, you hand him our rings for us to get married." Delilah showed him pictures of the bearer pillow throughout the magazine.
"Ok," Ty agreed. "What rings do I give you?"
"They will be matching rings that we have ordered to go on our fingers." Delilah answered.
"Like daddy gave mommy?" Ty pointed down at Ziva's finger where her engagement ring and wedding band were.
Ziva looked down, biting her lip. She hadn't thought about how she was still wearing her wedding ring, it just came natural for her to keep it on at all times. The thought was now just crossing her mind that she should take it off soon considering that she was no longer married to this man anymore and had filed for divorce the week before.
Delilah noticed Ziva lost in thought and decided to answer for her, "Yup, those are wedding rings. Uncle McGee and I will have the same. See, this is my engagement ring." Delilah showed the little boy her hand, getting his attention away from his mother's hand. Ziva looked up towards her, consciously playing with her hands now and mouthed 'thank you'. "So, has work been busy? McGee hasn't talked at all about the case. I figured it's been a stressful one." She decided to change the topic on purpose.
Ty and Isabella exited the room following Uncle McGee back into the living room to play so the two women could talk privately. McGee figured it was best since Ty had just gave the room an ice breaker.
"Yeah, we have been ongoing with a petty officer murder. We are trying to find the lead suspect, we think he ran off to Mexico. The coast guard will now be looking for us, hopefully I will hear from Agent Borin." The Israeli continued, "It would be nice to see her. She was a dear friend of Tony and I for quite some time. She does not know about anything that has happened recently and I do not even think she has met Isabella!"
"I haven't met her either," Delilah commented, "But McGee has told me stories about how you dared him and Tony to ask her out on a date."
Ziva busted out laughing, "Oh, yes. She was not impressed with Tony asking her out. It was hysterical. Tony swore to me that she cornered him at the office and told him that he should've asked me out instead."
"And did he?!" The younger woman asked, raising her eyebrow since she never quite heard the whole story behind Tony and Ziva.
"No, not yet. He and I at that time were barely a couple. We were certainly getting closer again, after Somalia, Jeanne, Ray and everything else that was keeping us apart. But then the elevator collapsed with us inside a few months before that incident with Borin and we both realized that we were running out of time." Ziva continued playing with her wedding rings as she spoke. "God we were so fucked up then…hell, we still are." She put her head in her hands.
"Somalia? These people? I know little about you guys, it sucks." Delilah remarked, crossing her legs Indian style on the bed.
"There's a lot of back history, many things that I would not like to talk about tonight. To sum it all up, he and I have been to hell and back, and back to hell again." She replied, making a face when she brought her hands down.
"It seems like that," Delilah sighed, patting her friend on the back. "At least you've found some good in Mark? Are you going to bring him as your date to the wedding?"
Ziva groaned, "Do I need a date?"
"No," Delilah commented, "I just thought it would be nice for you to have someone there as comfort." She shrugged, trying not to make her reason seem clear.
"The kids hate him so fucking much. He came over the other night for a dinner that I cooked and they just sat there glaring at him. Ty would not even say one word to him and I know exactly what he's thinking." Ziva threw herself back onto the bed.
Delilah laughed, "They're your kids! They don't understand where their father went, it's normal. Trust me. I hated my step father so much for years, and I still do because no one could ever replace my dad, in my eyes."
"I think I hate him too, actually. I think I hate the whole male race, thanks to my husband." Ziva stared up at the ceiling.
"That's understandable. I would too," Delilah approved, settling back against the pillows beside her.
"Do you know if he is bringing someone…to the wedding?" Ziva turned her head, looking directly in Delilah's eyes, so she couldn't lie to her.
Delilah nodded, noticing the glossiness forming in Ziva's eyes when the thought set in.
"I guess Mark will be my plus one then…" She was quiet as she spoke the words, choking on the thought of seeing Tony with a woman or even, that woman.
"You don't have to bring anyone… I just thought that maybe it would make the night a bit less stressful for you. Not to mention, perfect revenge because you know I'm all about this asshole getting what he deserves." Delilah smiled.
"No, I will bring him. The kids will be in a mood anyways when they see their father with someone else…" She groaned again. "Oh my god, are my kids going to be a mess when they grow up because of all of this?!"
Delilah chuckled, "No, Ziva. You're raising two, perfect children. Trust me. They have manners and their both adorable, they'll be fine!" She reassured the emotional Israeli beside her.
It was going to be a long haul, but deep inside Delilah's heart, she hoped that her and McGee's wedding would repair some of the wounds of their friends. Even if they had to scheme a way to make sure that their NCIS family would be whole again.