This is it. It's finished. I can't really believe it.

Thank you. All of you, who have stuck by this since the beginning. All your reviews and e-mails kept this fic going.

Pippy, if it weren't for you, this chapter wouldn't excist. You're the greatest best friend ever for poking me with that flag.

So...Review, tell me what you think about this final chapter.

But, who knows, the tale of the Triplets, Ziva and everyone else may not be over. We'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks guys :)

xoxElle

"In life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate."
~Issac Asimov

Bonnie sighed and placed her shaking fingers on the keyboard, listening to the bustling from the room next door where a day she will never forget was just starting to happen.

It's been five years since the explosion that both destroyed our family and brought us closer together. We lost our loved ones and received extensive injuries to our bodies and minds, and we'll have to carry those scars with us for the rest of our lives. I'm only 24, and I've had to live through things that no-one should live through.

So, that's why I've written this book, to show the world that even through the worst things imaginable, family will always be there to support you in the end.

The explosion killed my brother, Andrew DiNozzo, the Director of NCIS Jennifer Gibbs and her unborn child, as well as my brother Cole's girlfriend, Faith Rogerson.

I'm one third of a triplet, and only one tiny part in the group that is my family, and when that explosion happened, every single one of us felt the effect of the loss. My mother, the strongest person I've ever known, lost another son, the man I know as my Uncle lost his wife and child for the second time, and my brother lost another love of his life. I lost a brother, my step-father lost a step-son, my husband lost the woman who he'll always consider his mother, my Aunt and Uncles lost friends, the cutest kids I know lost parents and the wisest guy I know lost the closest thing he's had to a daughter and grandson.

And to those who survived and now walk with the battle scars are the ones who give me the biggest inspiration.

My husband, Brendan Gibbs, was seriously injured that day. He was told that he would never walk again. But, he never let that stop him. He's now an intern at Bethesda Naval Hospital, and our six year old son Denny loves sitting on his father's lap whenever they go down a hill. Brendan's never really been the same emotionally, he's suffered PTSD and still lives with the grief of Jenny, his adoptive mother's death.

My brother Cole, another third of the triplets, always wanted to be a doctor. But when he was left to be the legal guardian of our niece Violet, after Andy died, he decided that having to face people being sick and dying was not what he wanted, He moved to California three years ago, a part of me always knew that he would move away to somewhere sunny, and started working with underprivileged kids. Andy's boyfriend Vincent was close with Violet, often making the trip from New York to L.A to visit the little girl who stole his heart and visit the man who he calls his best friend. I secretly wanted them to get together, but I don't think their respective partners would agree with me.

Oh Ducky, this wise man told me to write this book as a coping mechanism, he's now married to my Aunt Netty and they're living it up in Scotland, Israel and here in America, They never stop moving. Jimmy Palmer, the greatest dancer ever, is now the head Medical Examiner at NCIS, has 3 kids with Michelle and another on the way.

My Uncle Ari and his wife Kate, they're some of the best people I know. Kate's leg was injured that day, and she still walks with a slight limp today. My Uncle Ari saved my son, my little brothers and sisters, his daughter and the kids I know as my little cousins that day. They both work at NCIS now, as the new Team Leader and Senior Field Agent for the Major Case Response Team. Their daughter Mady passed away a year after the explosion when they found a tumour in her liver. They've been so strong after everything that happened, and now they have a three year old son, Jonathan, walking around their house.

Jethro Gibbs. This man is just…I don't know how he's still going, He's been the Director of NCIS for five years to the day this book will be released, the day that everything went to hell. His son and daughter, Riley and Hayley are now in school and they will always know what a great woman their Mother was. Gibbs always makes the time to see Brendan between his intern schedule to make sure that he's still coping with the PTSD.

Abby and McGee are the cutest married couple I've ever met. Even after everything that has happened, even before the explosion, they still act like they're a young couple in love. He leaves her black roses for her to find (I feel I should clarify, she's the happiest Goth. Ever.), they text each other all the time and when they look at each other…it just makes me realize that there is still happiness in the world. Abby still works in the lab at NCIS, but McGee retired early to spend more time with his family. Hey, he has the money; it's how I'm getting this book published. They have a daughter, Carmella, who attends school with all the other kids in the family…and I can tell she'll be skipping a few grades already, little blonde pigtails and all.

I guess this leaves me with two last people…

Tony DiNozzo will always be my hero, the man I call Dad, who saved my brothers and I by giving us a place to live, for giving our mother a reason to believe in love, for making our family of four into a family of over twenty, for giving my mother more children to love, and for being the man to hold this family together. He was barely injured in the explosion, so he was the one that stood strong and made sure the rest of us didn't succumb to the depths of despair when we had to be strong for those hurt. He's lost a son and step-son, and still manages to get up every morning to cook the family, my little sister and brothers, Isobel, Dexter, Nickolas and Leonardo pancakes and waffles. He turned down a promotion to be Team Leader again at NCIS, instead letting Kate take the job. He's Deputy Director now, his office has a basketball hoop and ball in it.

This is the part where things get serious, and all those pent up emotions come out.

My mother Ziva, I don't know how she did it. She had triplets at 15, then Quintuplets at 30. How does that even happen? Super-uterus! She raised Cole, Andy and I alone until we were 15 before finally getting together with Tony. I still believe it was one of the greatest things that has ever happened to us, that fire, it destroyed our house but led us to a home. Ima smiled more, laughed more and was generally happier with Tony.

But…all good things come to an end, don't they? Well, that's what they say anyway. It was a little over a week after the explosion when she checked herself out and handed Dad those divorce papers before fleeing to Israel, leaving us all behind to deal with another thing to plague our family. I understand why she did it. She lost another son, one who was 19 and had a child himself. We were afraid for her. She went off the grid…not even our Grandfather, the Director of Mossad, could find her.

When I began writing this book, she was missing. Now that I'm finishing it, I know where she is.

She found her way home. She'd been after the guys who had planted the bomb five years ago. One guy, Saleem, had her captive most of that time. I will never forget the day I opened my door and found her battered and bruised body slumped against the railing of my patio, hair short from being torn out and her body in more shades of purple then I thought possible. The look on Dad's face…the sound of Cole's voice when I told them she was home made everything seem…lighter. She gave me the courage to live life regardless of circumstance, to fight for what I knew was right, to always stick by family and to just…be.

I'm writing this to remember those we've lost in the past. Pete DiNozzo, who never got to see the world. Hilary, a friend we lost many years ago, but left her mark forever in ink above Cole's heart. Jenny and Faith, who were taken too quickly from our lives.

I miss Andy, my big brother. I know can't bring him back…but whenever I see his daughter smile I know a part of him is still here.

And if he was here today…he'd totally kick my ass for writing a book about him.

"Geez" Tony said over Bonnie's shoulder before she closed her laptop, placing it on the table in front of her. "That was…Intense"

Bonnie shrugged. "It was hard to write. I miss him"

Tony turned around to face the mirror, adjusting his bowtie. "We all do Bonnie" he said before grinning over his shoulder. "So, I'm your hero, huh?"

Bonnie threw a pillow at Tony from the couch she was sitting on, making him turn. "I'll go get Ima if you keep being mean to me"

"I'm so scared" Tony said sarcastically. He turned back to the mirror, letting out a girly squeal at the sudden appearance of Ziva standing in front of him, making Bonnie start laughing hysterically behind him.

"Hello Tony" Ziva smirked.

Tony smiled and leaned closer. "You shouldn't be in here. My wife might find out"

Ziva rolled her eyes. "I still do not know why you insist on this second wedding. You never filed the divorce papers"

"Good thing I didn't" Tony murmured before leaning down and capturing Ziva's lips with his own, his hands going straight up to tangle in Ziva's shoulder-length hair.

"Oh come on. I'm still in the room" Bonnie groaned.

Tony untangled a hand and waved behind his back, signalling from Bonnie to leave. With a roll of her eyes, the 24 year old grabbed her laptop and made her way out of the hotel room.

Abby crashed into her as soon as she got out the door Kate straight behind her. "I lost Ziva!" the Goth said with a huff.

"Three guesses where she is" Bonnie said, nodding at the door that was strictly groom's party only.

Abby just shook her head as Gibbs, McGee, Ari, Brendan and Cole came up the hallway to find out what was going on.

"They're missing their own wedding" McGee stated as he stood next to Abby, the couple sharing a look and a roll of the eyes.

"The kids are all downstairs with Ducky" Brendan said to Bonnie and she stood next to him, her hand going to shoulder. "They're hiding under tables"

"At least they have not gotten into the cake" Ari said with a smirk. It was a lie. He had helped the kids all sneak a bit of icing when the tables were being set up earlier that morning.

"DiNozzo couldn't keep it in his pants for an hour. I'm going downstairs for some coffee" Gibbs said, turning and walking down the hall without another word.

Inside the hotel room, nothing outside of it matter. Tony and Ziva made their way towards the bed as the newly tailored jacket hit the ground along with the bowtie, Ziva's white dress joining the growing mess seconds later.

After all, they were still married. Why would they need a second wedding anyway?

The human life is made up of choices. Yes or no. In or out. Up or down. And then there are the choices that matter. Love or hate. To be a hero or to be a coward. To fight or to give in. To live. Or die. Live or die. That's the important choice. And it's not always in our hands.