After the incident the rest of the day seemed to drag by. McGee kept pretty quiet after his comment. Though he did apologize profusely and agreed to pay for Tony's lunch. Gibbs offered Tony his sympathies and reminded him that his basement was always open. Ziva was furious and spent an hour muttering under her breath about McGee's big mouth. Tony bolted as soon as Gibbs dismissed them for the night. So far their petty officer was the only victim and it seemed to be pretty cut and dry. The officer had numerous complaints of sexual harassment and assault. He was under investigation for the rape and eventual suicide of a fellow officer. The rape victims husband was the lead suspect. Based on the widowers social media posts. He didn't care if he lived or died and Tony couldn't say that he blamed him. He had to fight not to give up after Sofia and her death was peaceful compared to the death of Officer Clarke. Tony prayed that Mr. Clarke would be let off easy and get the help he needed.


Tony returned home to a rare moment of peace between his children. They sat on opposite ends of the coffee table. Carson had a math book open and Gavriella was looking over a half answered work-sheet. For once Carson was antagonizing his sister for being smart. He was actually seeming to care about the problems.

"The answer to number thirteen is ninety-four. You actually got ninety-three but the ink is smudged and the nine looks like an eight." Gavriella explained.

"I doubt Mr. Callahan will take that excuse." Carson scoffed.

"Just change the three to a four and we are done." Gavriella replied.

"Why is this so easy for you but hard for me?" Carson asked

"Largely because you don't try." Gavriella replied.

"I know I am lazy and you are a genius." Carson scoffed.

"Carson most of these are right and at least close. Why because you tried. Yeah you may not get a perfect score but you can bump up your grades." Gavriella explained.

"Believe it or not! It's not that easy for me!" Carson snapped.

"Carson, I..." Gavriella started.

"Save it nerd!" Carson spat.


Tony knew that the peace would not last long but he was hoping it would have lasted longer than it had. He also knew that Gavriella had not meant to hurt Carson's feelings. His children were brain and brawn. Carson was a star athlete but struggled in school. He had once admitted that he wished he could be smart. Gavriella on the other hand was a genius but her muscles were not as strong as she would like. She regularly remarked that she yearned to be as strong and fast as her brother. Tony desperately wished that his children could be everything they wanted but Dyslexia and ADD had hindered Carson's brain. As much as Cerebral Palsy hindered Gavriella's muscles.

"I really didn't mean to hurt his feelings." Gavriella insisted.

"I know but your brother is as sensitive about his brain as you are about your body." Tony explained.

"Why is Carson the way he is. I know that I am the way I am because I was early and I got tangled in the cord. So why does Carson have his problems?" Gavriella asked.

"It's his physiology. Truth be told I have wondered if I don't have the same issues as your brother. I struggled a lot too." Tony explained.

"I wish I could help him. I really want him to do well." Gavriella commented.

"Sometimes it's hard to accept help from family. That being said I can see about getting Carson into a tutoring program. That will really help him." Tony explained.


By the weekend the case was wrapped. Mr. Clarke had surrendered himself to police and was currently in the care of psychiatric hospital. Tony was glad things had ended the way they did. With Mr. Clarke getting help. He was even more relieved that both children seemed happier. Carson had found a new garage band to make noise with and Gavriella had made a new friend on the bus. A girl on the autism spectrum by the name of Cat Feldmen. She hated riding the handicapped bus as much as Gavriella but her parents had similar concerns to Tony's. He knew the happiness would not last long. Whether he liked it or not he was raising two teenagers. Gavriella would not hit eleven in six weeks but girls became teenagers around the time they stopped using diapers. They actually became adults somewhere in the twenties. Boys held off on teenager-hood until their ages actually ended with teen but they didn't come out until somewhere around thirty.


Both kids were out and Tony did not know what to do with himself. Carson was at band practice and Gavriella had gone to the science museum with Cat and her parents. Finally Tony decided to get a little sunshine. He grabbed his wallet and keys of the table and headed out the door. He found himself walking around several blocks. Until he was drawn to a house with a wheelchair ramp out front. A large handicapped accessible van was parked in the drive. The driveway was twice the size of any other in the neighborhood. He was studying the house when he heard a loud honk. He jumped out of the way and a familiar car turned into the drive. Jimmy stepped out and headed for the door but stopped when he saw Tony.

"Tony? What are you doing here?" Jimmy asked.

"I was just staring I guess. What are you doing here." Tony asked.

"Ziva lives here." Jimmy replied.

"Really?" Tony asked.

"Yes, her nurse has that stomach bug that's been going around and Juliana has a soccer game. So I am going to watch John." Jimmy explained.

"How is John doing?" Tony asked.

"A lot better but he is still weak or else Ziva would have just brought him along." Jimmy explained.


Before either man could say another word or take another step the peace was interrupted by the scream of a siren. An ambulance swung around the corner, raced up the street, and screeched to a halt in front of the house. The paramedics leaped out and raced into the house. Moments later they rushed out carrying John on a stretcher. He was blue and shaking violently. Ziva and Juliana came rushing out behind the medics.

"What happened?" Tony asked.

"He's been congested since getting out of the hospital. He started having big seizures last night and today he could not breathe and this seizure is going on an hour." Ziva explained.

"I would say double pneumonia." Juliana called.


A/N: Tony gets a glimpse of Ziva's personal life in the next chapter. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.