Jacob scratched at the incision area and sighed. It had been five weeks since his surgery and they were sitting in the doctor's office waiting to get the outer transmitter set-up and turned on. Ziva jiggled the little boy nervously on her lap until he squirmed away and plopped on the floor. There was so much riding on this - the ability to hear, the ability to live a normal life. Tony gave Ziva a wide smile and pressed a kiss gently on the top of her head. After what felt like forever, Tony heard their name called and met Michelle's smiling face. They sat down at the table, Tony pulling Jacob onto his lap. Michelle pulled out the external processor and the external transmitter and battery.
"Now it's time to see how well this works." Michelle said walking over and clipping the processor on. She placed the transmitter on Jacob's ear and gave Tony and Ziva a smile. "I just have to turn it on. I'll give you the thumbs up when I do. I doubt you want me to be the first person he hears." She said softly. Turning on the processor and transmitter, she gave the couple a thumbs up.
Tony and Ziva exchanged glances and Tony nodded. Swallowing hard, Ziva looked at Jacob. "Hey, Jacob." She said, her voice wavering slightly. The little boy stopped and cocked his head towards Ziva. "Jacob." She repeated softly. "Hey baby, can you hear me?"
Stopping, Jacob turned and a wide grin crossed his face, his eyes landing on her face. Tony cleared his throat, making Jacob jump slightly. "Hey, Jake. It's...Papa."
Jacob's eyes lit up, his mouth mimicking Tony's.
"We'll wait a few weeks before we turn on his other implant, I don't want to over stimulate him." Michelle said, watching as the couple went back and forth speaking to Jacob. The little boy giggled softly, and stopped, the first time he had heard himself.
An errant tear escaped and ran down Ziva's cheek. She wiped it away quickly, watching as Jacob spent time exploring his new world.
#
Life has a funny way of changing people. Ziva sat on the couch, her feet pulled up underneath her, a book of wedding dresses in front of her. Tony and McGee were out with the kids, leaving Ziva, Abby and Jen time to look through wedding dresses and locations.
Jen came into the room with a pot of tea and three mugs, pouring one for each before sitting down. The cool rain filled the comfortable silence as the three women flipped through magazines and books, each marking pages with brightly coloured sticky notes.
"So do you have anything planned?" Abby asked, an astonished edge to her voice.
Ziva shrugged. "Not really. We have had other things on our...dish."
"Plate." Jenny corrected with a smile. "How are they doing, anyway? I don't see Daniela as much anymore that I'm on my break from chemo."
"Every day is something new." Ziva said closing her magazine and picking up her glass of tea. "We have Jacob in speech class five days a week, and Daniela is still playing basketball and is starting dance classes. So we are busy, but good." She looked at the list on the coffee table and rubbed her temples. "I told Tony that I am happy being married here in the house by a justice of the peace, but he is obsessed with having a full Jewish wedding - including having a ketubah." She sighed but gave a good natured smile.
"I think it's cute." Abby said seriously. "He's trying."
"It is, but it would be far easier - and more practical for us to just sign papers." She rolled her eyes dramatically, but finished with a smile. "I have picked out a dress though." Opening one of the magazines, she leafed through to find the dress she had circled. It was an ivory, sleeveless with an intricate beading on the front. There was a short veil on the model with the same lace and beading. It was understated, simple and breathtakingly beautiful.
"Wow." Abby breathed shaking her head slightly. "I love it." She passed it over to Jenny who nodded in agreement. The older woman tucked the scarf that she had around her head under and ran her finger over the lip of the tea mug.
"You'll look amazing, Ziva." Abby added with a smile. "Any reason why you're choosing white?" The goth asked. The couple was an enigma...the traditional Jewish wedding and the choice of not wearing white.
Ziva made a slight face and shook her head. "Let us not pretend that either Tony or I are blushing virgins. But, ivory is a suitable option." She said with a light laugh.
Outside the unmarked town car moved slowly away from the house. All was quiet. Once they reached the main street they drove away quickly, the man pulled out his cellphone, speaking quickly in a language foreign from English. The man on the other line spoke harshly. And then the decision was made.
#
Their "traditional Jewish" wedding was less traditional Jewish and more a mish mash of things that made Tony and Ziva...them. They were going to have the kuhtuba, a flower girl and ring bearer, an ivory dress, a dance and party, and a hopefully broken glass. The bridesmaid's dresses were ordered, the tuxes selected, the flowers checked off. Things were falling into place.
"What is our first dance going to be to?" Tony asked as they were getting ready for bed. Jacob had an early morning speech appointment and Daniela had both a basketball game and dance practice back to back. They cherished the time with their children, but also the precious silence that seemed to be less and less now that Jacob was gaining a voice.
Ziva glanced over before crawling into bed and pulled out her iPad. "Now you must promise to listen to the song before you comment." She said seriously, opening a tab and loading a song. "Listen."
A few piano keys were hit before a strong female voice started to sing. He listened guardedly, until it got the chorus.
Where your road leads
I will follow
When your heart bleeds
I'll be there for you
When your night grows dark
And you can't find your tomorrow
Then you can follow me
Someday we'll look back and see
Our footprints in the sand
Sometimes you would carry me
And sometimes you'd be in my hands
If we can love forever
That won't be long enough for me
I want to hold you tender
Be your shelter
All you need
By the end of the song, Tony didn't care who sang it. It WAS their song. He waited until the end of the song before lowering himself into the bed and closing her iPad Closing the gap between them, he pulled Ziva tightly against his body. "It's beautiful." He whispered, kissing her deeply. He knew that regardless of where they were, he would follow her. He would find her and bring her back come hell or high water. He wished that they would have figured out their feelings years ago, the years of heartache avoided, even forever wouldn't be long enough. Eternity didn't seem so far away anymore.
#
"I. Love. You." Jacob said flatly. His speech was still flat and slightly garbled, but there were huge leaps of progress. He was relying less and less on signing, and was quickly gaining vocabulary. They were told that he may never fully lose the "deaf" speech, but the fact that he was speaking and hearing was all Ziva and Tony wanted.
"I love you too, buddy." Tony said softly, kissing his head. Jacob grinned and hugged Tony tightly. "Are you excited for the wedding?"
"Yes." Jacob nodded, his smile lighting up his face.
"Does that mean Mummy is going to be a DiNozzo too?" Daniela asked as she slipped into the room, folding herself onto the couch, pulling her legs under herself.
"Everywhere but at work, yes." Ziva replied, coming in from their bedroom and sitting on the arm of the couch. "We do not want to confuse Gibbs, do we?"
The kids giggled and shook their head. "No. That would be bad."
"I got to see Mummy in her wedding dress." Daniela said with a grin. "Papa, you are going to be so happy. She looks like a PRINCESS." The little girl said happily. The wedding was a week away and instead of nerves, both Tony and Ziva were just wanting things to be over so they could move on with their lives.
"I'm sure she does." Tony said flashing a look at Ziva, their eye contact lasting longer than normal. "But she always looks like a princess to me."
Ziva finally broke eye contact, feeling her face flush, and looked down at her daughter. "You are also going to look like a princess." She said running her fingers through the girl's thick curls.
"She never has before." Jacob replied quickly, his eyes wide, his grin huge.
The silence hung in the air before everyone started to laugh. Daniela flipped her hair over her shoulder, but shot a smile at her brother.
"Well we should start getting ready." Ziva said standing up. They had decided to have a bachelor and bachelorette parties on the same day. The first part was including the kids, the girls going for a manicure and pedicure at the spa and the boys catching a baseball game; then they were dropping the kids off and heading to spend the night separately. The kids sped off to their rooms to grab their overnight bags, and using those precious seconds of free time, Tony walked over and gave Ziva a deep soul searing kiss. His hands looped around her waist, holding her close, their bodies pressed against one another. Her fingers tangled in his hair, their tongues mingling.
"They're kissin' again." Jacob said loudly as he dropped his bag by the door and flopped down.
Ziva and Tony separated, a dazed look still on Ziva's face. She ran her fingers over her lips softly before blinking a few times and looking over at Jacob and Daniela. Daniela rolled her eyes with a smirk, while Jacob closed his eyes.
"I'll see you later." Tony said, placing one last kiss on Ziva's lips before walking over and scooping up Jacob. "Let's go little buddy." He said giving Ziva one last long look.
Ziva watched Tony leave before turning to Daniela who raised an eyebrow silently. The girl shook her head and looked at Ziva. "When you get married will you stop doing that?" She asked shouldering her overnight bag.
"Probably not." Tony admitted with a grin, his eyes following Ziva.
Taking Ziva by the hand, Daniela led her out the door. "We need to go before you two start kissing again." Daniela mumbled shaking her head.
#
"It is a stupid tradition."
"But it's a tradition none the less."
"I still think it is stupid."
Ziva and Jenny argued as dress bags were transported to the entrance. The girls were heading to a hotel overnight, while the men crashed at their house.
"I have not spent one night without Tony since…" Ziva shrugged and sat down on the step with an angry grunt. "This is stupid."
Abby carefully carried Ziva's wedding dress down the stairs and rolled her eyes. "Well it might be, but we're doing it. And you can't see Tony until the wedding...so go say your goodbyes."
"Give them a lot of time, they are going to kiss. A lot." Daniela said as she hopped down the stairs carrying her dress in one hand and an overnight bag in the other. "Come on, I will help with the bags." She shot her mother a look. "Go say goodbye. Abby promised me that we could go watersliding."
The Israeli glared at Jenny and Abby and gave Daniela a stare that the girl weathered with a mere shrug of her shoulders. Standing up with a huff, Ziva marched outside where Tony, McGee, Gibbs and Jacob were playing an impromptu game of catch.
"We are leaving soon." She announced. Gibbs scooped up Jacob and threw him over his shoulders.
"C'mon, let's go inside for a bit." He said as the boy nodded. "You too, McGee."
Ziva sat on the edge of the trampoline and frowned. "It is stupid that we cannot spend the night together...but Jenny and Abby insist that it is tradition." She muttered. When did she become so...so weak. Sighing, she kicked her feet as Tony came and sat down beside her.
"Hey, just think about it this way...when you wake up tomorrow, that will be the day that we get married." He took her hand and squeezed it softly.
"Husband and wife." She whispered softly.
They sat out there, in a comfortable silence before Ziva turned and laid her hand on his cheek. Leaning forward, she pressed a soft kiss on his lips. "I should go." She whispered. "I will miss you."
"Miss you too." He whispered, as she got up to walk away. "I love you."
"I love you too. Always and forever." She took a step backwards and gave him one last kiss before walking into the house.
Tony sat out there for a few moments in silence before Gibbs returned. "It's one night Tony. You'll survive."
The younger agent hummed in agreement. "I will. One more night."
So I'm feeling like there's one more chapter left...the wedding (or maybe one more after that) and then I will start the sequel to this. Yes, there is a sequel, but I don't want to drag the original on forever.
IF people want a sequel that is.