A/N: Hi :) So, as promised, here is the beginning of the second installment of this four-story series! I hope you enjoy, and if you haven't read For Better Or For Worse, I suggest you do so before reading this one. Please review!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any original characters. I do own Aiden, Aaliyah, and Janice.

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"Mommy! Daddy!" Tony and Ziva were suddenly awoken by their three-year-old twins Aiden and Aaliyah who were jumping on the bed. Tony shifted his son off of him and into the space between himself and Ziva.

"What time is it," he groaned and looked over toward the bedside table.

"Almost six," Ziva replied with a yawn as she pulled Aaliyah into her lap. She rested her head on top of her daughter's and ran her fingers through Aaliyah's hair.

"Time to get up!" Aaliyah chimed.

"And why are you up so early?" Tony asked his daughter sweetly. Aaliyah's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened as if her father should already know the answer.

"Puppies!" she exclaimed, clearly excited about something.

"We see puppies today, Daddy," Aiden added. Tony looked up at Ziva to see if she knew what their children were talking about.

"Yeah, Daddy," she smirked playfully at her husband. "Janice's dog had puppies, and she promised Aiden and Aaliyah that they could meet them today." The twins were nodding excitedly as their mother spoke.

"Oh she did, did she?" Tony asked, leaning back against his pillow.

"Yeah. Can we keep one?" Aiden asked. Tony and Ziva smiled as their son was nearly bouncing on the bed.

"No, I don't think so," Tony replied, to which Aiden folded his arms and stuck his lower lip out in a pout.

"Please, Daddy?" Aaliyah pleaded. Tony looked over at her and melted. She had the most powerful puppy-dog face that Tony had ever seen.

"We'll see," he relented. Aiden and Aaliyah smiled and jumped up in joy. "Why don't you two go on to the kitchen, and we'll be right there to get you some breakfast." The twins hopped down from the bed and ran from the room. With a sigh, Tony ran one hand through his own hair before turning to his right to see Ziva staring incredulously at him.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"You are unbelievable," Ziva stated.

"Why?" he asked.

"No, I don't think so," Ziva began, mocking Tony's voice. "Please Daddy?" she continued, mimicking Aaliyah. "Oh, we'll see."

"So?" Tony asked. "What harm would a dog do?"

"That is not the point," Ziva said. "You cannot go through these childrens' lives telling Aiden no and then telling Aaliyah yes to the exact same thing."

"I don't do that," Tony argued. Ziva raised her eyebrows, challenging her husband.

"Oh, come on, Tony," she said. "I get it. She's your little princess, and you don't want to tell her no."

"I can say no to her," Tony argued again. Ziva chuckled.

"Come off it," she said. "You have been wrapped around that little girl's finger since the day they were born." Tony shrugged and looked down at the bed; he couldn't dispute that.

"Alright, I'm sorry," he said.

"It's okay," Ziva smiled. "Now why don't you go make breakfast while I take a shower?"

"I believe it's your turn to make breakfast," Tony reminded her with his flashy, signature smile.

"I know. But I really need to clean up. I had a very...dirty dream last night," Ziva said in a quiet, sexy voice into Tony's neck.

"Oh, you did?" Tony asked hopefully. Ziva nodded.

"So, do you think you could take my turn this once?" she asked. "Please, Daddy?" Tony chuckled lightly.

"Only if you tell me what the dream was about," he replied. Ziva kissed him on the cheek and stood from the bed, smiling at him.

"I can do better than that," she said. "Maybe tonight I will show you instead." She winked at him flirtatiously and went to the bathroom to shower. After Ziva left, Tony got up to join his children in the kitchen. He prepared a meal of waffles and bacon, and then he went to prepare himself for work while Ziva clothed the children. Finally, they were ready to leave for the day.

Tony checked to make sure their apartment door was locked as Ziva went to knock on Janice's door. Very shortly, Janice opened the door and greeted them all with an inviting smile.

"Well good morning," she said.

"Morning!" Aiden and Aaliyah chimed together.

"Well you two seem rather chipper this morning," Janice observed cheerfully.

"We see puppies today!" Aiden said for the second time that morning. Janice chuckled at the kids' excitement of her promise.

"Yes you do," she said.

"They have been very excited about that," Ziva said, ruffling the top of Aiden's hair.

"Daddy said we can keep one," Aaliyah grinned. Janice directed her eyes toward Tony who opened his mouth in protest.

"I did not," he defended himself. "I said we would think about it. And that's only if any of them are for sale, of course." Janice chuckled again and shook her head.

"I'll see what I can do," she smiled.

"Well, we had better be on our way to work," Ziva said. She and Tony knelt down to hug their children goodbye. "We'll be back to pick them up this evening."

"Oh, I know the drill," Janice assured them. Tony and Ziva thanked Janice and told their kids goodbye before turning down the hallway and heading to work.

The past three years had been the best years of Tony and Ziva's lives. Aiden and Aaliyah had both turned out to be healthy, happy babies and were growing into beautiful children. Tony and Ziva knew they were blessed to finally have the family they had always wanted, and they also knew how lucky they were to have Janice. Instead of putting the twins in daycare, Janice had agreed to watch them while Tony and Ziva were at work. She was retired after all, and she loved being their full-time babysitter. Aiden and Aaliyah were just the right amount of energy and happiness to brighten Janice's days, and she was certainly happy to help out Tony and Ziva in any way that she could. And of course, Tony and Ziva felt completely confident in Janice's ability to babysit. It was obvious that she loved the children, and even though they certainly paid her for her time, it was no secret that Janice would just as happily watch the children for free.

Their current arrangement was definitely a happy one for everyone involved. However, Ziva had been wondering for a while how much longer Janice would be able to keep up with Aiden and Aaliyah. They were growing very quickly, and the older they became, the faster and more mischievous they became as well. Unbeknownst to Tony, Ziva had been pondering alternatives to leaving the children with Janice every day. It was this morning on the drive to work that she decided to fill him in on her thoughts.

"The kids sure do love going to Janice's, don't they," Tony was saying. Ziva nodded.

"Yes they do," she agreed. "But I have been thinking a lot lately."

"About?" Tony asked, sneaking a quick glance away from the road and toward his wife.

"What would you think about possibly looking into pre-school for them?" Ziva asked. The expression on Tony's face showed that he was clearly shocked by her proposal, as Ziva expected him to be. He was silent for a moment as he processed the question.

"For what purpose?" he asked.

"So that they are not constantly with Janice all day every day," Ziva replied.

"They love it there, and Janice obviously loves having them," Tony pointed out. "Why change it all of a sudden?"

"Think about it, Tony," Ziva began. "Yes they all get along, but Aiden and Aaliyah are already three years old. They will be starting school in a couple of years anyway. This would get them some experience with other children beforehand. Besides, Janice is getting older, and she is retired. She should be able to enjoy her own life."

"I think she can handle it," Tony shrugged.

"I just do not know how much longer she will be able to keep up with a couple of toddlers," Ziva said. Tony was silent again as he weighed the options.

"I don't know," he finally said.

"What problem do you have with pre-school?" Ziva asked.

"At least when we leave them with Janice, we know they are in good hands," Tony explained. Ziva realized his hesitation, and she too had thought this through.

"Tony, it isn't like we would just drop them at the first one we see," she said. "We would check out several and pick the one we feel is best."

"Well, if we do decide to do this, how would we break it to Janice? You know she loves the kids," Tony pointed out. Ziva smiled, having already taken care of this as well.

"It just so happens that I have already talked to Janice," she admitted.

"You talked to Janice about this before you mentioned it to me?" Tony asked, feeling annoyed that he was the last to hear of any discussion about changing the arrangement regarding their children.

"Only to find out how she felt about it," Ziva replied. "Janice has agreed to picking the children up after pre-school and watching them until we get home from work."

"See, she'll be watching them anyway. Why would we pay for both a pre-school and a babysitter?" Tony asked. Ziva shook her head; Tony could be rather stubborn.

"She would only have them for a couple of hours as opposed to all day," she replied. "They could still spend time together, but Janice would have the majority of her days to spend however she pleases, and Aiden and Aaliyah will get to interact with other kids. It is really a win-win situation." Tony thought over his wife's reasoning and realized she wasn't wrong.

"Well, I guess there's no harm in checking out a few schools," he finally relented as he pulled up to NCIS headquarters. "But tonight when we get home, I want to at least ask Aiden and Aaliyah about it. We should see how comfortable they would feel."

"Okay," Ziva smiled.

Tony and Ziva walked into work which appeared to be running business as usual. They arrived at their desks and greeted McGee and Gibbs who were sitting at their respective desks. After seating themselves at their own desks, they each pulled out some work to occupy their time until they heard Gibbs' desk phone ring.

"Yeah, Gibbs," he answered it. Tony, Ziva, and McGee all perked up, ready for instructions that were bound to follow. Sure enough, Gibbs slammed the phone down and stood up, preparing himself. "Grab your gear." His team members obeyed and quickly bustled to the elevator.

Fifteen minutes later, Gibbs parked the car at the crime scene which was on the outskirts of town near a pond. Gibbs crossed the small field to the pond to meet the officers who had called for NCIS while McGee, Tony, and Ziva got the necessary materials from the vehicle. Shortly thereafter, the three rejoined their boss down by the pond.

"Who found the body?" Gibbs was asking the officer in charge.

"An elderly gentleman out on a fishing trip," he replied. "Said the body turned up on the shore." Gibbs nodded and gave his team their usual instructions. As they processed the crime scene, Ducky and Palmer had arrived and were examining the body. The marine was identified as John Davis, and Ducky concluded that he had been dead over twelve hours and that the cause of death appeared to be a slit throat. The team finished up at the crime scene and returned to headquarters to deliver the evidence to Abby. They spent the rest of the day trying to make some headway on the case, and when they left for home that evening, they had compiled a mental list of what they were to do the following morning.

That evening, Tony and Ziva were sitting in the living room with Aiden and Aaliyah after eating dinner.

"So, did you have fun today?" Ziva asked. Both of the children nodded instantly.

"Yeah, we pet and held puppies," Aaliyah replied.

"Were they cute?" Ziva continued.

"Uh huh," Aaliyah nodded happily.

"So, Daddy and I were talking," Ziva began. "What would you two think about not going to Janice's every day, but going to a place instead where there are a bunch of other kids your age to play with?"

"Kids to play?" Aiden repeated. Ziva nodded.

"Yep. You would have a bunch of kids to play with and you would get to make crafts and listen to story books and all kinds of fun stuff," she explained. Tony and Ziva saw the excitement and interest on Aiden and Aaliyah's faces. "Doesn't that sound fun?"

"Yeah!" Aiden and Aaliyah were exclaiming happily.

"And then when you leave there, you would still get to go to Janice's for a little bit," Ziva finished. She and Tony observed their kids' responses and realized that they seemed very excited about the idea of pre-school.

"It looks like they're okay with the idea," Ziva said later that night as she closed hers and Tony's bedroom door after putting the kids to sleep.

"Yeah," Tony sighed.

"It will be good for them," Ziva said in a reassuring voice as she crossed the room and laid on the bed beside him.

"I know," Tony sighed again.

"Don't worry," Ziva said, rubbing her hand up and down Tony's arm. "We will make sure we find the right school." Tony nodded his agreement.

"I know we will," he said. He still wasn't too thrilled with the idea of enrolling the kids in pre-school, but he was realizing that he would in fact have to give it a try. Ziva laid her head on his shoulder and the two of them fell into a peaceful sleep, anticipating the next few days of work and searching for a pre-school.

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A/N: There's the first chapter :) I hope you enjoyed it. Please review!