Thanks so much for the reviews and alerts. They meant a lot. I'm glad you were pleased to see our family back again. I hope you like this chapter :)

Thank you as always to the Maudlin Muse for working with me :)

Chapter 2

Two weeks after they had brought their precious bundles home Tony had gone back to work. Ziva was a capable agent who caught criminals for a living. She was a lean mean fighting machine...sort of...

Tony turned his key in the door and entered his home, his sanctuary... to the sound of one of his princesses hearty

cries. He bumped smack into the boys who were both about to tuck into enormous ice cream sundaes.

"Does your Mom know you are about to eat that a half an hour before dinner?" he asked.

"Doesn't care." Kyle said as he scooped a big spoonful and popped it in his mouth. Michael followed suit.

"You sure?" Tony asked. Both boys nodded while greedily scoffing down their ice-cream. They didn't like where this conversation was going and they wanted to get as much down as quickly as possible. That didn't seem like Ziva, Tony thought...usually it was fruit or yogurt. Tony took the stairs two at a time.

He stuck his head into the bedroom and found Ziva in her pyjamas juggling one crying baby while she tried to change the diaper on the other. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail and she had a banana skin sticking out of her pocket.

"Can I help?" he asked. Ziva looked at him with tired daggers.

"Yes..." she said with a sigh.

"You sit hon and feed her...I have this." When he opened up the diaper though he gagged. "Jesu...maybe..." he started.

"Maybe what Tony? I should change the diaper while you breastfeed?" Tony schooled his face quickly into what he assumed was the look she was looking for.

"No...NO! Of course not Zi. I have this." he said. He lifted away the diaper with his arms straight while he tried to hold his breath. What the hell could this tiny little thing have eaten to make her smell so bad...well drunk... "Daddy's little girl smells like Uncle Timmy on a stake out...yes she does...yes she does." he babbled to the staring new born who suddenly turned up the corner of her mouth. "Zi...she smiled!...She knows her Daddy is funny...yes she does..." Ziva couldn't help but smile.

"Gas Tony...she has gas..."

Tony jumped at the sudden eruption that exploded into the now not so fresh new diaper.

"Awwww...she wasn't finished..." Tony smiled through his teeth as he reached for a new diaper.

"Uhhuh."

"No problems here Zi. I'll fix her right up and then pass her to you."

"Thank you Tony." Ziva said with a barely concealed smile. "THAT had brightened her day."

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

"So, Abby was wondering if we were going over this Sunday..." Jimmy tried tentatively. Amber smiled.

"I dunno Jimmy." she said. "It kind of messes with his routine."

"Um...yeah, well I know that a routine is important Amber honey but...so's getting out sometimes."

Amber gritted her teeth.

"You go then." she said. "We don't mind."

"I mind." Jimmy said. "I want to go with my family."

"No."

"Pardon?"

"No."

"That's not fair." Jimmy said. "I ….we..."

"WE are not here with Jack on Monday when he's fussy and out of sorts from his routine being disrupted. I AM! The book..."

"Don't quote the damn book Amber. I've read the book."

"We're not going." As far as Amber was concerned the subject was well and truly closed. Jimmy had other ideas. He was worried. As he watched his wife move from chore to chore he questioned what he was really not happy about. She had lost the baby weight quickly, the house that Gibbs had leased to them very reasonably was spotless. Jack was well looked after and a very good baby. He was a credit to her...that was it... to her. He didn't seem to have much of a look in where Jack was concerned. Amber had her routine and Jimmy went to work. That was his role...the provider. He wanted more.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Finally Tim was getting home in time for dinner with his family. As HE turned the key in the lock he was trying to think what to do for dinner. Sarah wasn't in and Abby deserved a break after looking after all the kids.

As his foot set on the bottom step he heard Jess squealing as what sounded like a ball bounced off the wall. "Dyllaaannn! STOP!" she yelled loudly.

"Who's a little bitty baby scaredy cat?" Dyl chanted as he bounced the ball again off the wall above his sister's head.

"I am NOT!" she said kicking at her brother.

"Well give me back my dollar."

"Finders keepers...losers weepers.." she chanted musically. Dyl bounced the ball again noisily at the wall.

"Dyl stop!" Abby did her best to yell in a whisper so she didn't wake the dosing baby. Jess let out a blood curdling scream and lunged at her brother sinking her teeth firmly into his leg.

"What on earth!" Tim said pulling Jess off Dyl and holding her firmly.

"She STOLE my dollar!" Dyl yelled. "She is SUCH a brat!"

"Did not! I found it!" Jess said as she poked her tongue out at her brother. Tim looked at Abby who raised her eyebrows and stood up with the baby.

"You SAW me drop it!"Dyl carried on regardless.

"Your call Tim...I think they BOTH need a spanking! They carry on like this every time I'm feeding..."

Both kids looked aghast. Such disloyalty...

"Mommm!" Dyl said. "She started it!"

"I did not! He did!" Abby kissed Tim's cheek and left the room with the now squalling baby.

"They're all yours. Ethan and I are going somewhere quiet to finish his feed." she said with a smile and a shrug.

"What about us?" Dyl asked. "What are we having for dinner?"

"Liver and Brussels sprouts." Tim said looking sterner and taller than he had a moment ago.

"Hmmm yum." Dyl said. Mom would never make them eat liver...he wasn't about to argue with that look on his father's face. "Nice."

"Too late Dyl." Tim said as he tucked his eldest son under his arm and whacked him a half a dozen times hard. "Shower and homework while I cook...And you better NOT give your Mom such a hard time again..." Jess eyes nearly came out of her head and Dyl's face flushed with embarrassment as he stood dumbfounded and rubbed the sting out of his bottom. It wasn't like his Dad to spank him in front of anyone. Guess he'd gone a little too far. Tim pulled Dyl back and gave him a hug.

"You need to behave Dyl." he said quietly. "Your Mom has a lot on her plate." Dyl nodded and walked sadly to the door.

Jess tried to leave with her brother who didn't seem quite the enemy in the room now.

"Not so fast Miss." Tim said taking his daughter's hand and turning her to the side and giving her the same amount of smacks he'd given Dyl. "You won't give your Mommy a hard time again either. You're old enough to know better."

"Dyl's older." she said feebly.

"Which has absolutely nothing to do with it...and NO biting Jess." Tim cuddled Jess and kissed her head before sending her off with the same instructions.

Now for dinner. But first to kiss his littlest son goodnight. It was their pattern for Abby to express some milk so he could have some quality time with their son later when the older kids were asleep. He loved the solitude of the evening feeds and it gave Abby a chance to catch up on some much needed sleep, but he couldn't wait til then to feel the soft velvety skin against his lips, or a whiff of that distinct baby smell. It was part of coming home. Like brushing Jess hair while she spelled her words to him or Dyl reading to HIM now while they rocked in his chair. He hoped he'd never be too big for that chair. Or messing with Sarah while they cooked the dinner when she was home and finally when he lay with his wife in the darkness of their room. Whether they made love or talked or lay in the dark listening to the gentle baby murmurs from the crib across the room. Even the kids fighting...it was all part of coming home and he loved it.

"Tim I am NOT eating liver!" Abby said with her hands on her hips, breaking into his thoughts. Tim grinned.

"Which one tattled?"

"Both of them." she giggled.

"I was only kidding."

"I guessed." she said. "Not like your Mom's here."

"Um...about that..." Abby's face was a picture. She should have guessed that they'd come but she could never really prepare herself.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Ziva placed Hannah with her sister in the wooden crib. They did have two, but the girls seemed to settle better when they shared a crib... so... whatever it took. She then staggered downstairs to the kitchen to see what she'd been smelling for the last half an hour.

"You look beat." Tony said as he looked at his wife properly for the first time. He plucked the decaying banana skin from her pocket and threw it in the trash. "Oh well it's good you have your PJ's on already, you can grab an early night."

"I have not JUST put my pyjamas on Tony. I am still wearing them. I have not had a shower or changed into my clothes and changed back. I have not had time to change them in the first place. And I will NOT be having an early night because I have to feed the babies...This is my big decision of the day...will I go to bed at 8:00 and wake up again two hours later...or will I stay up until 10:00, or no, not 10:00 by the time I feed them both and change them and settle them...11:30 and then to wake up again at 2:00. If they make it to 2...maybe 1:00. Maybe I should just stay up all the time..." she said as she dropped into a kitchen chair.

Tony dropped the spoon that he was stirring the sauce with and gathered Ziva into his arms.

"Honey your exhausted." he said. He shouldn't have gone back to work... it was too soon.

"I have to take care of my babies."

"They're OUR babies Zi and there's two of them. You're not Houdini."

"Yes. I know this...I have been holding them and changing them and nursing them …..all day, and I can count."

"Right. You're snippy cos you're tired..."

"And hungry. I am hungry. All I have had all day is that damn banana."

"Ok... food I can fix." he said rapidly slinging some pasta onto a plate and covering it with sauce. "Boyyyysss!" he called at the same time. The boys came running thunderously down the stairs and took their places at the table.

"Wow Mom you don't look so hot."

"Thank you Kyle." Ziva said with a half smile as she forked the pasta Tony had put in front of her. Tony was wildly doing cut it out motions behind Ziva's back but she wasn't that tired. "It is alright Tony...he does not mean any harm."

"Why do they cry all the time?" Mike asked.

"They are hungry. Their tummies are small, so they just have to eat every few hours." Ziva said. Even though she had been starving, after a third of her plate she could not eat any more.

"Why don't you go take a bath." Tony said. "I could give them formula in a bottle tonight..."

"No. I will feed them."

"Ok." Tony said but he was going to ring Abby or Kim after dinner and get some advice.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

When Gibbs came home it was to find his usually calm wife a bit stressed.

"I can't find Maddie anywhere." she said.

"Has she gone out to play?"

"Nope." Kim said, tears now filling her eyes. "She's not in her room. Not in the backyard, not the basement. She's nowhere."

"Calm down. She couldn't have gone far." Gibbs said as he hugged his wife. "Somethin happen?"

"The usual... The baby brother or sister. I told her to leave it alone and go do her homework and she stomped up the stairs...that was nearly an hour ago. I went to check on her and she was gone."

"Ok. That's where we start."

Gibbs bounded up the stairs and into Maddie's room. He noticed on her desk her markers were out of the packet...No sign of homework. He opened and closed the drawers of her desk...nothing. Suddenly a flash of pink right under the back of the desk caught his eye. After getting to his knees to retrieve it he had to chuckle. "Kiiimmm!" he called. He passed the note to Kim who narrowed her eyes and then she too had to chuckle as she read the letter that was scrawled with Maddie's printing.

Dear Mommy and Daddy

This is yo only daughter Maddie. I wanna have a brother or a sister and I am not gonna come back until I get one. Its not fer. If you wanna get me one …...or both...and have me back I will be in the garage.

Luv Maddie

"Awww Jethro...maybe she does need to have a baby brother or sister." Kim said. Gibbs smirked. "I know what she wants and it isn't a brother or sister."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Jimmy picked up the phone and called the person that had always been there for him. Ducky.

"Hey Dr Mallard." he said to the English voice on the other end of the phone. Ducky frowned. He'd only left young Jimmy a couple of hours before, it was unusual to say the least that he should call him in the evening.

"Is everything alright Jimmy?"

""Um...yeah...yeah...everyone is well …..they aren't sick..." he started. And then the words just poured out of his mouth as he unloaded all his disappointment and fears to the ME's willing ears. Ducky was a great storyteller but he was also a great listener. Not bad at problem solving either.

"Well...I would say Jimmy, that perhaps Amber experienced thoughts of being a less that stellar mother when young Maddie was able to...borrow little Jack. She NOW feels she has to make up for her mistake by being the perfect mother and wife. She probably doesn't even realise that she's leaving you out. This is about her I think Jimmy...not you."

"So what do I do?"

"I think she needs to break the cycle... get out...be with people. Talk to the other girls about all their struggles. She'll see that no one does it perfectly. It's not possible."

"I would love to go on Sunday but she won't come."

"Well then, maybe you need to take the mountain to Mohammad Jimmy."

"Ahhhh yeah!" Jimmy said finally breaking into a smile. "That just might work."

"It can't hurt."

"Thanks Dr Mallard. You helped ….a lot."

"You are very welcome."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Come on out." Gibbs said to the empty garage. Nothing. "I mean it Maddie, you don't come out you're gonna get it bare." Maddie put her hand on the door handle of the utility closet she was in.

"Am I getting a baby?" she dared..

"Nope. But you are getting a spanking." Gibbs said as he followed the voice.

Maddie went silent but it was too late. The door swung open and she found herself lifted from her spot in the dark.

"Nooo Daddy." she pleaded. "I just wanted to get a brother or a sister!"

"You scared your Mommy half to death."

"Weren't YOU scared?" she asked directly into Gibbs face. The quick glimpse of vulnerability he saw in her innocent face was almost his undoing.
"YES Maddie I was." he said seriously, and it was the truth. The fact that he'd reacted like the seasoned professional that he was didn't mean he didn't care, it meant he wanted to find her and he used his skills to meet that end. "That's why I'm gonna spank your bottom. You can't do that stuff to the people you love to get your own way. It's not right, and it's just plain mean." Maddie burst into tears.

"I'm soorrrry!" she wailed.

"Sorry you did it or sorry you're getting spanked?"

"Botthhh!" she wailed loudly. Gibbs shook his head and tipped her over his knee. At least she was honest.

He brought his hand down hard a couple of times before lifting up her school dress and lowering her underpants. He slapped her bottom hard a few times and then replaced her clothes.

"You have something you need to do?" he asked as he cuddled her to him in a tight hug.

"Say sorry to Mommy?" she sobbed into his shirt.

"Good girl."He kissed her head and turned her towards the exit. Maddie took herself slowly into the house rubbing her stinging behind.

"Sorry Mommy." she said to her Mommy who was standing in the kitchen trying not to hear.

"That's ok Maddie. Don't do it again. You scared me honey."

"If I got a baby brother or sister I'd be real good." she tried.

"Enough." Gibbs said. The child was incorrigible. "You'll be real good anyway Mads...or else."

TBC