Ok before people get huffy I am not making fun of stay at home mom, ok well maybe a little, but that is because I think of one at my son's school who was a room mother with me last year. but I respect them. I don't know if i could ever do it and I know not every stay at home mom is a crazy as she was. So I say what ever makes you happy. working mom, stay at home mom. It's all good!

The next morning Tony woke up to something warm and fuzzy curled up next to him. It took him a moment to fully become awake and when he looked he saw a little ball of Abby. He smiled at the sight of his baby sister curled up in a ball with her pigtails all crazy and crooked looking.

There was a knock on Tony's bedroom door. It was Jenny who had come to wake them up for school.

Jenny's heart broke for her oldest born. She knew how much Ziva meant to him, and she knew the pain and heartbreak he was facing yet it was out of her hands. There was nothing she could do to make it better for him. She thought about how much easier it was when Tony was younger. When he was hurt a band aid and boo boo spray made it all better.

She walked into Tony's room and saw Abby all curled up. She couldn't help but smile. "How much sleep did you manage to get with the little fur ball snuggled up next to you?" Jen noticed how tired and glum tony looked. The usual mischief and happiness gone.

"I got some sleep. I didn't mind Abby here. I know she misses Ziva too. Al least she still has McGeek"

Jen cleared her throat and threw a stern glance at her son. That had reprimanded tony countless times for all the Mcnicknames.

"Sorry, McGee" Tony corrected.

Jen sat down on the bed and started to wake up Abby.

"Come on time to get up. You and tony need to get ready for school."

Abby tried to pull the covers over her head while mumbling "5 more minutes".

Jen pulled the covers off Abby. "No, NOW or you are going to be late."

Abby again pulled the covers back up over her head. "Who cares"

Jen was starting to lose patience. They were already running late. Jethro had gotten called out at 4am due to a dead marine and Jen was supposed to be in MTAC in an hour. She would be lucky to make it on time if she left right now provided morning traffic was not an issue.

Jen reached down and pulled the blankets off Abby again and this time she delivered a mighty swat to Abby's backside to add an extra incentive to get up.

"Ow! Jeeze I'm up, I'm up" mumbled Abby as she got up and backed away from her mother making sure she was out of the line of fire.

After Abby was on the bus Jenny went in to say goodbye to her son before leaving for work. She gave him a quick hug. "I know you miss her, but it will get better, I promise. Dad is working a case and I am in MTAC all day. Have a good day at school."

Tony didn't feel like getting out of bed, let alone facing school without Ziva there. He decided he was going to just go back to bed. Hell his parents would be working all day and even if he was caught what was the worst that they would do? Ground him? Who cared, now that Ziva was gone he had no desire to go out anyway. Spank him? The pain of a spanking was nothing compared to the pain in his heart at the moment. So Tony flopped back down in his bed and closed his eyes and prayed that sleep was come soon. The quicker sleep came, the sooner the pain would stop for a while at least.

Abby was glad to see McGee when she got on the bus. She missed Ziva like crazy but having her best friend to talk to was comforting. She couldn't imagine life without McGee.

While Tony was trying to cope with Ziva leaving, Ziva was in Israel trying to stay strong and alive. The minute they had gotten back Eli had dragged Ziva and Ari off to the dessert to begin training. He was preparing them for a mission that he was sending them on. It was a life or death mission. If they succeeded then they would live, but if they failed during this mission it would most likely get them killed. Eli was sending them on a mission in North Africa to infiltrate a camp and kill the leader Saleem.

Gibbs had just gotten back to the Navy yard when his cell rang. Looking at the caller ID he realized it was the high school calling. Oh god what could have happened now?

"Gibbs"

"Hi Mr. Gibbs, this is the school nurse at the high school. I am calling about your son Anthony…."

Gibbs was starting to get impatient (not that he usually had a lot of patience anyway). "Is Tony sick?"

The nurse continued "Well that is why I am calling. He did not come to school today and I did not receive a call telling me he was sick. In the future when he is sick either you or your wife need to call and tell me."

Gibbs was feeling anger and panic at that moment. "You're telling me my son is not in school. Where the hell is he and why are you calling me now at 12:30 instead of this morning?"

Feeling a little defensive the nurse answered back "It is NOT my job to make sure your child is in school."

If he could have jumped through the phone and strangled the nurse he probably would have done it. Instead he hung up and ran up the stairs to MTAC.

Jenny was in the middle of an undercover up on a cargo ship via satellite.

She quickly turned when she heard the commotion at the door.

"Jethro…"

"Jen do you know where tony is?"

"Huh, what do you mean do I know where he is, at school?"

"The school just called, he never showed up."

Jen began to panic. "Oh my god, you don't think he would do something stupid like try to go to Israel, do you?"

"I hope not Jen."

At that moment Jenny hated that she was director of a federal agency who couldn't leave what she was doing to go find her son. For a split second she was jealous of all the stay at home moms who spent their days baking cookies and spent every waking minute fussing over their children. Then she remembered that:

She didn't really like to cook and bake; she was not the domestic type.

She liked having a career.

"Jethro I can't leave, you are going to have to go look for him. I can put another agent on your team to help with the dead marine for now. Please call me as soon as you find him."

Gibbs gave her a quick peck on the cheek and left.

He tried calling Tony's cell phone only to have it go to voice mail. Damn when he gets a hold of him he was going to make sure tony understood the rule "Never be unreachable".

Gibbs wasn't sure where to even start but he figured he would try going home and seeing what if anything tony had taken with him.

Gibbs broke every driving law in the book trying to get home. When he finally made it he took the stairs two at a time to up to Tony's room. He yanked the door open and didn't know whether to be relieved or livid when he was Tony fast asleep in his bed. Unfortunately for Tony he had fallen asleep on his stomach with his butt in the air making it a prime target for one pissed off Gibbs.

Gibbs landed three quick but hard swats to Tony's backside.

Tony quickly rolled over as he tried to wipe the sleep from his eyes and get his butt out of the way of what was attacking it. When he was awake enough he looked up to see one pissed off father.

"Oh, hi dad" Tony managed in a feeble attempt.

"Oh, hi dad, you had your mother and I worried sick and that is all you have to say for yourself! Anthony I don't know whether to hug you because I am glad you are safe, or put you over my knee and spank the daylights out of you for worrying your mom and me."

"Um how about you go with your first option?"

Gibbs quickly opened his phone and called Jenny. "He is fine Jen. Seems your son cut school and then decided to be unreachable. Yes. No. I promise Jen."

Tony wondered what his mother was saying. She was probably making Gibbs promise to bust his ass for worrying her.

When he finally hung up the phone he sat down on the bed next to Tony. "Why Tony?"

Tony hung his head. "Dad I miss her so much. I just couldn't face school without her. I don't care if you punish me, nothing matters now that she is gone."

"Tony" Gibbs put two fingers under Tony's chin to make him look up. "Listen I know you miss her. But the fact is she is gone. You can't just stop living because she is gone. You can still write to her and someday you may even see her again. She isn't dead. I know it may not seem like it now but it will get better. You have family and friends that love you and have got your back. There are going to be other girls. And yeah you may get your heart broken more times than not, but you have to keep your chin up and know that it is all going to work out."

"Thanks dad. I'm sorry I worried you and mom."

"How about after work tonight you and I work on the boat and if you promise not to tell your mom or Abby, I will tell you about some of the times I got my heart broken."

"Really dad?"

"Yep"

"Um…. Dad? Are you um ….going to punish me….for cutting school?"

Even though a lot of people who knew Gibbs always said the second B stood for bastard, he did have a heart. And he knew how tough this was for Tony. "No Anthony I am not. I wish you would have talked to me or your mom and gotten our permission to stay home today. We both know how hard this is for you, but at the same time you are going to have to go back to school sooner or a later. However if I ever call your cell again and it goes to voice mail, I am going to make you write 500 times "I will not be unreachable when my parents are calling me. Clear?" Gibbs said with a smirk.

"Yes dad. And dad, thanks"

Gibbs wrapped his arm around his son. "I love you Tony."

"Love you too dad."

TBC-next chapter deals with Ziva in Israel.