Warnings: None for this chapter.

A/N: Here is the next update. Little fluffy, but this story needed some fluff after all. Hope you enjoy!

Guest- Glad you enjoyed the update. Hope you like this one too!

NCIS Fan- You're probably right, I doubt Tony will let his daughter eat pizza with pineapple on it lol

"Dada," Kaitlin's voice cried over the baby monitor. "Dada!"

Tony woke up, blinking away the sleep from his eyes and stumbled out of bed. Rubbing his eyes he headed into Kaitlin's room and found his little girl standing up in her crib, tears running down her cheeks, lower lip stuck out in a pout. "Hey peanut," he cooed, lifting her out of the crib. "What's the matter?"

Kaitlin whimpered and snuggled against his shoulder. "Monster," she cried, pointing at her closet.

He rubbed her back and turned to look at the closed door. She had started to fear monsters two weeks ago at Gibbs house, making him check under every piece of furniture and in the closet every night. Tonight she had been asleep before they'd even made it up the stairs to her crib so he hadn't gone through the ritual. She must have had a nightmare. "Oh, peanut, there aren't any monsters, Daddy promises."

She whined and squirmed in his arms. Tony was too tired to go through the process of checking her room to get her back to sleep, so he grabbed her stuffed penguin from the crib and carried her back into his room. He settled her underneath his covers and climbed into bed with her, singing and rubbing her belly until she feel back to sleep. Her eyes fluttered shut and soon she was breathing deeply and evenly.

Tony smiled down at her before giving her a sweet little kiss on her forehead. "Sweet dreams, baby girl."

Kaitlin had taken to helping Jackson put cans on the shelves. Tony had driven up to Stillwater with his daughter a few days after Gibbs had called and said the store was almost ready. Now the toddler was happily following Grandpa Jack around the store helping him. And she had all the old ladies that stopped by the store throughout the day completely gushing over her.

Tony smiled. His baby girl had inherited his charm that was for sure. Of course, he couldn't blame them. She was incredibly cute trotting around the store with her little pigtails, white tee shirt, denim overalls and sneakers.

"Kelly used to follow him around too," Gibbs reminisced.

"Bet she just loved her grandpa," Tony remarked with a sad smile.

Gibbs sighed, heavily. "Thanks to the Core, she didn't get to see him that much. I wish they'd had a closer relationship before she died."

Tony watched as Kaitlin followed Jackson around, talking and smiling at him while he worked. There was a slight pain in his heart as he thought about Kelly never getting the chance to grow up and bring her children here... it was no wonder that Jackson had gotten attached to Kaitlin. She was as close as the older man was going to get to a great-grandchild. The trip to Stillwater had been just what they all needed, apparently.

Gibbs and Jackson needed to heal from Reynosa's reign of terror over them just as much as Tony and Kaitlin did.

Kaitlin was struggling to adapt to not having Tony in the same room with her when she slept. Her fear of monsters, Tony realized, was probably justified. Real life monsters had threatened her before, taken her father away from her, and she was desperate to keep her daddy with her. As if she knew that Tony was thinking about her recent obsession with monsters, her little green eyes turned towards him when she came to an unfamiliar corner of the store and she whimpered, "Dada... monsters!"

"No monsters here, Katie," Tony assured her, scooping her up off the floor. "Just a broom, baby girl."

"No! Make monster go bye-bye!" Kaitlin whined, burying her face against his shoulder.

Gibbs deftly moved the broom to a closet and closed the door so she wouldn't see. "Okay, the monsters are all gone," he said, cheerfully, smiling when the toddler opened her eyes to find the "monster" had vanished.

Kaitlin smiled, a look of relief on her face. Tony decided that it was probably time for lunch and then her nap. It would give Jackson and Gibbs time to finsih restocking the shelves without having to scare off the "monsters" every fifteen minutes or so.

In the kitchen he found some bread, peanut butter, and jelly. Tony put Kaitlin in the high chair and quickly made a sandwich for the two of them to split. His daughter was in love with peanut butter, she wore it proudly on her face after she ate it. Today really was no different. Tony chuckled while he cleaned her up. "You love your peanut butter," he mumbled.

Kaitlin grinned at him before yawning. Tony plucked her out of the high chair and carried her upstairs to their bedroom. Even though she was a toddler now, she still liked being snuggled and rocked before going to sleep. He sat down in the rocking chair and draped her favorite blanket over them and found a book, rocking while he read to her and snuggled with her. It didn't take her long to fall asleep.

Tony sat there, watching her sigh and dream. He had hoped that the trip to Stillwater would help her get over fear of monsters but so far it had only gotten worse. And perhaps it didn't settle him either... he was still weary of the real life monsters out there that could pose a threat to his baby girl.

He shifted and got out of the chair, heading over to the portable crib that Kaitlin really was getting too big for, and gently laid her inside. He tucked her blanket around her, made sure that Gwens was within reach and with a flick of his wrist he turned the baby monitor on. Running his fingers through his daughter's hair, Tony turned on his heel and made his way back downstairs to the kitchen where Gibbs and Jackson were having lunch.

"She asleep?" Gibbs asked between bites of his sandwich.

"Yeah. Went right down," Tony said, plopping down into a chair. "We'll see how long it lasts."

"You okay, Tony?" Jackson questioned, noticed the tired look in the younger man's eyes. "Seems like you could use a nap yourself."

Tony frowned, slightly. "Kaitlin isn't the only one worried about monsters. Except the monsters I worry about...are real. Paloma Reynosa got too close... this time, this time I was lucky... but the next time, the next monster that comes to town... I may not be so lucky."

Gibbs saw the inner turmoil in Tony. He could understand it because he felt those things too. They both had made a lot enemies in their time working in law enforcement and anyone of those enemies could use Kaitlin against them, to hurt her to hurt them. "You can't protect her from them all, Tony. Just... just have to do your best and hope for the best."

"Not exactly comforting words, boss," Tony drawled.

"I know. But it's the best I can offer," Gibbs sighed.

Tony rubbed his hands over his face and decided that Jackson was right... he needed a nap too.

Before dinner, Gibbs took Kaitlin down the playground. Kelly had loved going to the playground, her swings being her favorite part. It turned out that Kaitlin loved the swings too. As she sat in the bucket swing, laughing and smiling while Gibbs pushed her back and forth, he could see and hear Kelly. For a few seconds this little baby girl was Kelly.

Until she smiled, revealing her DiNozzo side and clapped her hands together, shouting, "More, Grampa!"

Gibbs grinned at her and gave her wish, pushing the swing a little bit higher. It warmed his heart to hear her giggle. Tony maybe worried about all the real life monsters in the world hurting his daughter and feeling guilty about his inability to protect her from all of them... but he was doing an amazing job being a father to Kaitlin. She was happy, healthy, and loved. It was what every child deserved.

He knew that it wasn't possible for all the children in the world to have such a warm and loving home like Kaitlin did. And he suspected that Tony made sure his baby got that because he had not gotten it as a child himself. Kaitlin had never known what it was like to live in fear of her father like Tony had.

"Boss, Jack says dinner is almost ready," Tony said, stepping up next to him. He smiled at the delightful look on his daughter's face while she was in the swing.

"Give her a couple of minutes," Gibbs said.

"You okay, boss?"

"Just thinking about Kelly. She loved the swings."

Tony looked over at Kaitlin sadly. She was smiling and giggling and no wonder Gibbs was missing his own daughter. If he could change the outcome of that crash years ago, he would. But he was powerless. "She sounds like she was great kid."

Gibbs nodded. "She was. You would have liked her. She enjoyed movies."

"Definitely a great kid."

The team leader didn't respond. He stopped he swing and gently took Kaitlin out, giving her a little kiss on her cheek. "You got one here too, Tony," he informed the senior field agent. "Cherish her."

Tony didn't need Gibbs to tell him that twice, but he replied anyways, "I cherish, her, always, boss."