8

Author's Note: So at last we come to the final chapter…I want to thank everyone who took time to read whether you managed one chapter, or got the whole way through the alphabet. My special thanks to all those who left a comment, especially those who've reviewed throughout! I also want to express my gratitude to the people who favourited and/or followed the story, and those who leave comments to which I cannot reply personally. It's been a long, and sometimes very frustrating process getting from A-Z, and it would have been much harder without you. Now, without further ado…

Zenith

I can remember the exact moment my life changed for good; I'd taken Rosalind and Hal for a picnic, we were just goofing around and a guy came up to me, he said 'you have a lovely family' and right there I knew I'd found them, the people I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

Seemed stupid to waste time, I've already wasted enough of that in my life, so that night I asked her, and she said yes. I would have been happy to get a special licence and do it as soon as we could, but Rosalind wanted everything done just so.

"I've been married before Tony, but for you, this is all new, and it's such a wonderful time, I want to share the magic with you."

That was just like her, one of the many, very many reasons I love her, because she'd been right, everything about getting married to the greatest woman on the planet was touched by magic. Doing things with her, for her, it meant the world to me, everything from asking her dad for his daughter's hand, to finding the perfect honeymoon hideaway, taking Tim and Hal for our suit fittings, choosing the rings…I'd almost given up hope of ever wearing one of those. Now there it is, third finger, left hand. I felt a tug on my jacket, Hal was smiling up at me. "Dad, Mom says it's time to cut the cake."

"Then let's go." He put his hand in mine and we walked over to the table; having him call me Dad, second best sound in the world.

"Here's my husband, right on cue." And there's the best.

"You called, I came." Her smile lit up the room and we held the knife together, waiting until everyone had their cameras ready. "Wait one second." I wanted this to be a family shot; a chair appeared out of nowhere and I lifted Hal and stood him on the chair so he could join us. "Careful now, be sure you don't touch the blade, rest your hand on Mom's, just like me, that's it. You ready Rosalind?"

We cut the cake, almost blinded by all the flashes from the cameras, Hal was laughing, he was having a great day, just like his mom…and dad. We'd talked about what he should call me, and Rosalind made the decision. "Hal never knew Gary, I want him to know where he came from, to know what a wonderful man his father was. Gary couldn't be a dad to his son, but I know he'd be glad to have someone like you take on the role he never lived to carry out. You love Hal, he loves you, makes sense to have him call you Dad, if that's what you want?" Of course it was what I wanted, and it seemed Hal liked the idea too.

The next couple of hours passed in a whirl, I danced with Rosalind, with my mother-in-law, my stepmother, yes, today Dad had even forgotten about his latest money-making scheme so he could join us, I danced with Abby, Ellie, Breena…then with Rosalind again, we slow-danced around the floor, holding a very tired young boy in our arms. As the music faded she took Hal from me. "I should get him to bed."

"I'll come."

"You stay here Tony, rest your dancing feet for a while, Aunt Grace will sit with Hal once he's sleeping; I'll be expecting to be swept off my feet when I get back." I kissed Hal goodnight and headed back to our table. I couldn't deny a few minutes to sit, and get a drink wouldn't hurt. I took a sip of water, didn't need any more champagne, high on life I guess. She wouldn't be long, with her mom's help Rosalind would get Hal settled for the night in her…our parents' suite. He was sleeping with them tonight so we could have our first night as Mr and Mrs DiNozzo undisturbed by an overtired four year-old. Weird thing is, I'm kind of looking forward to having Hal come into our room when we're home, with luck he won't see anything a child his age shouldn't see, but I never want him to feel isolated, like he's not the most special person in our lives.

I glanced around the room, so many smiling faces, everyone looked so happy, it was a day to be with the people who meant the most. The people who'd helped us both through the bad times, and been with us to share the good, pretty much everyone had made it today, although for some it had been a close run thing.

One person who almost didn't make it was Tim. He'd been working as part of a joint NSA, FBI, NCIS task force, that much we knew; what we didn't know was where he was or when he'd be back. The thought of getting married without my best friend standing up with me…couldn't do it, and she knew. "Tony, we can wait, when Tim's done with…whatever it is he's doing, we'll get married. I want our wedding day to be the happiest day of your life, and I know for that to happen Tim has to be there." She'd have done it too, postponed the wedding so I could have him here, how did I get to be so lucky?

We'd been on tenterhooks as the days ticked by, then finally we got word from Director Vance that he was on the way; he got back yesterday, just in time for a quick rehearsal. He looked tired, like he could use a day in bed to catch up on some sleep, instead he'd carried out his best man duties brilliantly, remembered the rings, made a terrific speech, toasted the bridesmaids…I hadn't seen him for a while, maybe he'd gone up to his room…no, he wouldn't leave without saying goodnight. It was a warm evening and the hotel staff had opened the doors onto the terrace, maybe he was out there.

It took me a few minutes to get outside, lots of people wanting to shake hands, offer a kiss, a word of congratulation, I breathed in the cool evening air, it was a lovely setting. Lots of flowers, trees hung with twinkling white lights, tables with candles flickering in the slight breeze, and plenty of chairs where people were enjoying a quiet break from all the activity inside. I could see Ducky and Gibbs with whisky tumblers in their hands, they looked pretty settled; Gibbs spotted me and pointed toward the far corner of the terrace, yep, there he was, I gave Gibbs a thumbs-up and walked over. Tim was looking up at the sky where a few stars were visible despite all the lights around us.

"Hey Tim, how are you doing?" He turned to me, and even in the half-light I could see his eyes were overly bright.

"I'm good, just wish…"

I sat beside him and squeezed his shoulder. "I'm sorry Tim, I wanted Delilah here too, guess with all the uncertainty over your mission…then when we knew you were coming she couldn't get a flight."

"Wasn't meant to be I guess; it's been a special day Tony, I'm not about to ruin it by whining."

"Only way you could have ruined the day was by not being here, you've helped to make it special Tim. I can see you're beat, don't feel like you have to stay any longer, if you want to get some sleep, you have a room upstairs."

"I'll be fine, just taking a time-out, when I get my second wind I'll be back inside, Rosalind's mom wants a dance with Thom E. Gemcity."

"Well, she's helping Rosalind get Hal to sleep, so we have some time. I could use a rest too." I leaned back in the chair, it was good to be quiet for a little while, I couldn't help looking down at my ring, still couldn't believe…When I looked up Tim was smiling at me.

"So Very Special Agent DiNozzo, how's married life suiting you?"

"I'm pretty sure it's a perfect fit Tim."

"That's great, you deserve to be happy…you've had a heck of a time since Ziva left." It was easy for us to say her name now, she was a part of the past, remembered with affection, but without pain or regret.

"Not just me, we've had to deal with…well, I don't need to go back over it, but I want you to know I was glad to have you at my side through it all."

"Works both ways, but…and I don't want you giving me the standard DiNozzo deflecting wisecrack…I have to tell you, what I said in my speech, wasn't an exaggeration, without you, I wouldn't be here today."

"No wisecracks, but that works both ways too, you did as much for me, when I was shot, you think no one told me you stopped me bleeding out?" I know he still carried some guilt that I was hit that day. "I'd do it again Tim, you've done the same for me." He opened his mouth and I knew exactly what he was about to say. "Don't you dare put down what you did; if The Chameleon had…you saved me, then I repaid the favour. You know, I sure hope the next year is a lot less…eventful."

Tim laughed a little. "Shouldn't be hard, though I've got to say Hal might just be keeping you on your toes…he's a great kid Tony, and you're going to be a great dad."

"I'm sure going to give it my best shot, with the way my dad behaved…yours too, I'd say I've got a good idea of what not to do, least most of the time, Dad has his moments, not often…but then he reminds me why I love him."

"I know what you mean, if ever I'm lucky enough to have a child, they'll never have to wonder if they're good enough…"

Sick as he might be, I'd have happily punched Admiral McGee in the mouth for the way he'd treated Tim, not good enough…there's none better. "We sure drew a couple of short straws in the father stakes, even so I don't think we turned out so bad, maybe it was despite them rather than because of them, but we're doing just fine."

"I'd say you're doing a lot better than fine Tony, look around, all this…corny or not, I'm going to say it. All this love, it's for the two of you, we all wanted to be here to share this." He turned toward the terrace, his arm making a sweeping gesture, I was about to call him out on his descent into schmaltz when I saw his face. I knew that look, sure enough I turned and there she was. "Delilah…how…?" Tim's whisper was barely audible.

Gibbs and Ducky looked like the cats who ate all the cream, Abby and Ellie stood either side of Delilah's wheelchair, and I could swear they'd both been crying; they were smiling now. Tim seemed to be in shock, like he couldn't quite believe what his eyes were telling him, time for me to get him moving. "Hey Tim, Delilah's flown thousands of miles to be here, least you can do is walk a few steps, go Tim, she's really here."

Tim almost stumbled his way to her, and as he got to her chair he fell to his knees and threw his arms around her, she held him close and suddenly it felt like we were all intruding on a private moment. Without a word being said everyone seemed to have the same instinct and left them alone; I caught up with Gibbs and Ducky. "You knew about this, didn't you?"

They were still smiling, Gibbs nodded. "We didn't say anything in case it didn't come off; Leon called in a few favours and got her a flight, she should have been here hours ago, a mechanical fault at Dubai International threw the timing out."

"But she's here now Jethro, thanks to Jimmy, he dashed to Dulles as soon as we got word Delilah's plane had landed."

Come to think, I hadn't seen Jimmy since we cut the cake. "Trust the Autopsy Gremlin to save the day." I turned to Abby and Ellie. "Were you in on this too?"

"It was Abby who went to the Director." Ellie had been learning how strong the bonds were that held this team together, and it hadn't surprised her when Abby suggested they seek help to get Delilah here.

"He was so good, got on the phone right there when I was in his office." There were fresh tears in Abby's eyes. "Tim's missed her so much, and today, he looked kind of lost without her."

I pulled her into a hug. "Abs, thanks for this, it's amazing."

"I can see I'll have to keep a close watch on you Tony, I turn my back for five minutes and you're already canoodling with another woman."

Rosalind had a big smile on her face, and I let Abby go with a grin. "This isn't another woman, it's Abby…Ow!" I got a punch from Abby for that comment. "Not that you're not a woman, of course you are, but…"

"I get it Tony; Rosalind, look who's here!" Abby was trembling with supressed excitement; Rosalind turned to me and the look on her face had my heart beating faster. "Delilah? She's here? Oh Tony…" She reached out for my hand. I pulled her toward me and kissed her, felt like the most natural thing in the world. "I love you Rosalind, never going to get tired of saying it."

"That's good because I'll never get tired of hearing it."

Tim got up from his knees, stood behind Delilah's chair and rested his hands on her shoulders; he didn't look tired now, he was on cloud nine; he looked around and smiled when he saw the person he was looking for. "Abby, I can't thank you enough, and the Director…I so wanted Delilah to be here, but I never dreamed."

I let go of Rosalind, just for a little while, walked over to Delilah and kissed her cheek. "See Tim, sometimes dreams do come true. Rosalind, come meet Delilah." She gave Delilah a kiss too, and squeezed her hand. "I am so thrilled to meet you at last."

"I can't quite believe I made it, it's been such a blur."

"Then take some time to relax, you can join the party anytime you want."

Delilah reached up for Tim's hand and he held on like he never wanted to let go. "We can rest any day, I came to share your day; there may not be much of it left but we don't want to miss another minute, right Tim?"

"One hundred percent." He glanced down at her. "Can I tell them?"

She smiled and nodded. "Go ahead, they're all family."

I thought Tim's smile couldn't get any wider, but it did. "Delilah…she's coming home, she has to go back in a few days, tie up some loose ends, but then…" His voice cracked, so Delilah picked up.

"I'm coming back to stay; being in Dubai has been a great experience and it was something I needed to do, but now." She tugged gently at a leather cord around her neck. "I want to use this." In her hand was the key Tim had given her, I could see a few people with tears in their eyes and I couldn't blame them. This was a special moment, and if there was one thing guaranteed to make this amazing day even better, it was seeing Tim and Delilah together, and knowing they're going to be together for a long time.

I felt like the luckiest man alive; having Rosalind by my side, surrounded by family and friends, seeing Tim and Delilah being congratulated by Gibbs and Ducky; Ellie and Abby waiting their turn alongside Breena and Jimmy…no doubt about it, this was the perfect end to a perfect day.

THE END