The next morning:

Tony woke up to the scent of coffee brewing and stretched. He rolled over to find the other side of his now king sized bed empty and sighed. Oh well if she had left it was for the best. She didn't need his crap anyway. He got up and went to his kitchen slowly and saw her standing there dressed for work.

"Good morning, you were sleeping so peacefully I did not want to wake you."

He said" Morning back at you, coffee smells good and so does whatever is cooking."

Ziva smiled. "I made french toast casserole this morning. It is something comforting before you fly to New York later."

Tony touched her face. "Thank you that's sweet. I might need that today."

She kissed him gently. "Do not shave for me while you are off, I like it when you do not."

Tony said " All right though it's only for a few days. I'll miss you my ninja."

She said " Me too but I will call you later and see how your trip went."

He smiled. "Unless I call you first, now I need to pack some clothes and some music for the flight."

She said "We will eat first and then after I leave for work you can pack."

A few hours later: Tony had gone to where his mother was. He laid her favorite flowers, white lilies down for her and said " Mom it's Anthony. I had something happen at work that made me think about you and well I just needed to visit. I'm a federal agent with NCIS now and there was a case that hit home." "I miss you a lot, think I found the right woman for me who can cut through all my bullshit. You would like her a lot. I didn't bring her this time though."

He felt tears sting his eyes and ran his hand over the stone for a minute.

It read Camilla ( Paddington) Dinozzo 3-5-1942 -7-10-1976

Devoted wife and loving mother

Then he heard footsteps and turned around slowly. "Dad?"

Anthony Dinozzo Senior was there also with flowers that he laid by his former wifes grave. " Junior, what are you doing here ?"

Tony said "I had a tough one at work and I got overwhelmed so I came up to see mom. I need to know what happened when she well left."

Senior took a deep breath and touched his wifes stone. "Anthony your mother had two miscarriages before we had you. Then we found out she had ovarian cancer, they did a hysterectomy but when they were in there they found out the cancer had advanced very rapidly."

He swallowed for a moment. "She was on borrowed time at that point. Her stubborn streak which you have made her decide that she didn't want us to see her suffer so she chose to end it the way she did. For a long time I was angry with her for taking time away from both of us that we should have had with her."

"That is the truth and I should have told you long ago instead of letting your mothers family hurt you by lying about what happened to her. I should have talked to you about her before now instead of shutting down on you son."

Tony said "Well at least now I know what happened to her. You had to be hurting too Dad, I have lost people I have cared about since."

Senior sighed. "I am sorry son that I made you think you couldn't feel. I was wrong for that and I should never have done it. Can you try and forgive me?"

Tony exhaled. "Sure Dad I can. I need to go slow and try and process this all first though."

His father nodded. "I understand, it will take you some time. I know a place here in town that has a great rib eye , do you want a late lunch or an early dinner on me?"

Tony said "Sure that sounds good .I'm a little hungry, I'm staying at the Waverly Inn."

Senior said" Why spend your money on that? I'm home and there is an extra room at my place with a king sized bed. "

Tony shrugged. " I guess I can cancel, I wasn't sure you'd be in town since this was kind of spur of the moment. After we eat, I'll go get my stuff."

His dad nodded. "All right , you look tired son, I hope you're getting enough sleep and not working too hard."

Tony sighed. "Well I can be a little lazy while I'm here for a few days on a break can't i?"

His dad patted his shoulder. "Sure whatever helps you feel better."

Later : Seniors Penthouse on Park Avenue in New York City, beside Trump Tower

Tony said "You redid the place since the last time I was here. I like the colors, the plum and gray."

Senior said "It needed a change all that tan wasn't my taste. It was more Valerie's when she lived here."

Tony nodded. "Looks good, is the spare bedroom still back the hall?"

His dad replied " Opposite mine through the left wall."

Tony said "I'll put my bag in there later."

Senior said " Let me it doesn't look that heavy. I'm sure you could use a little time to unwind a bit. " He took Tony's suitcase to the bedroom then.

Tony sat on the couch for a moment and then pulled his feet up slowly. He had his head down on the armrest when his father came back.

His dad said " You look comfortable, let me get you a pillow."

Tony said "Sure Dad thanks."

Senior came back with a pillow and put it under his sons head gently. "There you are." Then he wandered over to his fireplace and started a fire going. "I know this isn't quite like when you are at Gibbs's place but I figured you would like a fire and a nap maybe."

Tony replied "I do the Dinozzo machine isn't running at full speed right now.I needed a break I think to recharge a little."

Senior ran his hand over Tony's forehead. "You don't have a fever, maybe you just need to catch up on some rest."

Tony yawned. "It's been a busy few months Dad." Then his eyes closed slowly.