Gibbs flicked through the invitations to Toni's 1st birthday party with a deep sigh at the realisation that his gut instinct hadn't failed him. Tony and Kate were not on the guest list even after all this time. Ziva was yet to forgive and Kate had just managed to understand that she was wrong to have punished Ziva and Toni for their loss.

He looked up at his oldest daughter as she tied the laces of her running shoes. He studied her light hearted expression with a slight frown.

"Yes?" She smirked as she caught his gaze.

"Tony" Gibbs challenged.

"What about her?"

"Your brother, Ziva; they're family too, seeing them is unavoidable."

"We'll see about that." Ziva muttered before setting off for her early morning run.

Gibbs sighed as he dialled the familiar number and prepared for the backlash.

…

"Knock, Knock" Tim smiled as his girlfriend mumbled sleepily something he didn't quite catch, "You need to get up, Abs, you said you'd help me pick a present out for Antonia."

The fourteen-year-old groaned but sat up reluctantly, "Just pick something from Frozen, she loves that trash and yet she hates Bert! Who could hate Bert?!"

Tim laughed and sat down on her bed, "Maybe she'll grow to love him, now go change!"

Abby leant over and placed a kiss on his cheek before gathering some fresh clothes and stumbling into the bathroom, arriving back half an hour later fully dressed and radiating enthusiasm.

"Well someone's had an attitude adjustment," Tim chuckled at his girlfriend.

"Hey!" Abby giggled as she settled herself on his lap and playfully kissed him on the nose, "You ready to go?"

"In a minute" Tim winked as he pulled her in for what he hoped would be an intense make out session.

…

Ziva loved her morning jogs, she loved Antonia with all her heart but she could be stressful at times, she needed some time to herself, to be a normal teenage girl. So lost in her thoughts she was unaware of the young male dressed in a posh suit carrying a coffee, in fact at 06:30 she didn't expect anyone to be in the park. Crash, unfortunately she was unable to stop herself from slamming and knocking the coffee all over the front of the young man.

"Oh My Goodness, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there." Ziva panicked stuttering out numerous apologises to the man.

"It's Ok Miss, not every day I can say I've been knocked off my feet by such a tiny but gorgeous woman." Sebastian replied, he always considered himself a flirt but this girl blew him away.

"My name is Ziva, I'm so sorry about your suit, I can pay to get it dry cleaned if you want or buy you some more coffee." Ziva felt as though her heart was pounding and she was talking no stop, but the more she spoke the more his eyes lit up.

"Please to meet you Ziva, I'm Sebastian, how about we go for a coffee and forget this ever happened." He replied.

Ziva really wanted to arrive but she had been away more time than she should of and needed to set up Antonia's party. "I'm sorry, I can't I have to set up my daughter's birthday party." Ziva said walking away starting to jog slowly as not to waste more time.

"Hey, take this remember you owe me a date, this is my number call me," Sebastian shouted thrusting a piece of paper into her hands, he wasn't normally this forward but he didn't want to lose her. She thanked him before sprinting off.

…

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kate sighed nervously as Tony came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Yes. I do, I think this is something we need in order to move forward." He mumbled as he kissed the side of her head and went in search of his car keys.

Kate remained rooted on the spot staring at her reflection in the mirror. It had affected her and Tony's life so much to the point that they almost didn't get through it and yet here they were about to rebuild burnt bridges like it was that easy. With another heavy sigh Kate collected the little pink present bag and made her way downstairs and out to the car.

It didn't take nearly as long as Kate had hoped for them to reach their destination. By this point the whole family were probably already here, they should have come early before the party or maybe even left it a couple of days. But that what got them here to begin with. Waiting, Kate wasn't entirely sure what they had been waiting for exactly but it had cost them both valuable time with their niece. The rest of the family had tried their best to visit without upsetting Ziva. It had been months. Kate knew that if they waited any longer Tony might begin to resent her for this decision. Resent her for the space she had needed away from Ziva and Ziva's young daughter.

Kate gave Tony a small smile. She had to be the one to make the first move. It was her fault even if Ziva hadn't quite forgiven Tony, he wouldn't have said any of it without her insistence that she didn't want them around.

She opened the door with what she hoped was unnoticeable reluctance and grabbed a hold of Tony's hand as he rounded the car to meet her.

"Here goes" He joked half-heartedly as they rang the doorbell. Jenny answered with pleasant surprise and pulled them both into a hug.

"Hi, you two! Kate, you look beautiful as always"

"Thanks, Jen" Kate smiled

"Your brothers and father are already here but I'm not sure if Timothy can pull himself away from my daughter long enough to notice you've arrived," Jenny laughed but paused for a minute, "Does Ziva know?"

"No, afraid not, mum" Tony sighed as he wrapped an arm around his mother's shoulder.

"Where is she?" Kate asked quietly.

"She upstairs changing Toni for the party," Jenny replied. Kate nodded and made her way to the stairs allowing Jenny some time with her son. The door to Ziva's room was open slightly and Kate lingered in the doorway watching Ziva tickle the small child in her arm as she tried, what looked like in vain, to get her into a pink princess dress.

Kate took a deep breath and forced the words out, "Need some help?"

Ziva's head shot up at the noise as Toni continued to wriggle around.

"Gibbs invited us," Kate explained, cursing herself for such a pathetic response to the silence.

"Did he?" Ziva said blankly. Kate's eyes trailed from mother to baby and back.

"I can explain. Sort of."

Ziva just nodded as a reply and Kate struggled to find a way to continue. Ziva looked the same almost since the last time she'd seen her. Less tired maybe. Toni looked completely different, so much bigger than the tiny baby she used to be.

"I didn't want kids." Kate and Ziva was equally surprised by the starting point but Kate continued anyways, "They were never really my thing, I helped look after Tim and Jimmy of course and Abby when they were little and I liked it but I never pictured myself a mother. Marriage, never on my life goals but that was different; it sharing your life with someone not being completely reasonable for another human. It was drunken stupidity that cause me to get pregnant and I couldn't take being a father away from your brother. It was hard enough adjusting to the idea of a child never mind actually having one but once I'd accepted it I couldn't wait then it just went away just like that. Antonia would have been a constant reminder of what we'd lost every milestone would have been a stab in the heart and I couldn't take it. Even, you. You were 16 and from the minute you found out you were so happy to be having her and there I was at 23 selfishly putting myself first and believing I was too young still. You were everything I couldn't be, Ziva, and I punished you both because of it. I'm sorry, unbelievably sorry; for the time wasted, the upset, the hurt…I…sorry."

"Kate, you and Tony…what you did hurt. Having my family go through something so horrible and then being told I can't see them because of something out of my control. It's like you were upset that Toni was healthy or because we weren't suffering with you. You have no idea how much damage you've done. You missed moments in your niece's life that you can't ever get back. She may not even remember you or Tony." Ziva spoke calmly as Kate stood silently looking directly at her feet to hide her shame and upset. Kate had gone through this encounter so much in her head that she didn't really know how to feel about Ziva's actual reaction, "But I understand how much pain you both went through and how much the situation really affected you both. I don't want either of you to miss out on Toni's life. She deserves all the love she receives and it would be unfair on her to deprive her of an aunt and uncle because of how I feel. And I love and miss you, Kate, so much; same goes to my brother. I've hated every second"

Before Kate could even process what she'd said Ziva had wrapped her in a hug.

"Thank you," Kate whispered as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why don't you hold her," Ziva suggested. Kate nodded and slowly took a hold of the small girl being handed to her. Toni wrapped her little chubby fingers around the ends of Kate's hair and babbled away to her aunt. Kate grinned and Ziva watched the scene with fondness. Tony stood in the doorway watching his wife and sister before finally entering the room and giving Ziva the biggest hug he possibly could.