1A/N: Yeah I know, it took me awhile to update. My bad. Thanks for the reviews

Ch. 8: Goodbyes are Hard to Do

Kate and Tony showered and then finished packing. Then they headed to her brother's so that they could see the kids before they went undercover. It had been awhile since they both went undercover at the same time. The last time they both went under was two years ago, and things didn't end as planned, but that was in the past. They weren't sure how the kids were going to react to the news, or even if they would understand what was going on. They were more afraid of the way Kayden and Annie would react because they were both old enough to remember the last time they went undercover, and how long they were gone for. Tony and Kate only had about thirty minutes before they were supposed to be at the office, so they were in a bit of a hurry.

They arrived at Chris' house around 8:30 and when they got inside they found Anthony and Kaylee already up watching cartoons. It was a Tuesday morning, but all of the kids were out of school for the day due to a teachers conference. The two young children had their backs to Kate and Tony, so they didn't see or hear their parents come in. Tony and Kate just stood there for a minute watching them, with smiles on both of their faces. Then Tony spoke up,

"Hey squirts"

Kaylee and Anthony both turned to see their parents standing there. Then they both jumped up and ran at them.

"Daddy!" Anthony yelled as he leaped into his fathers arms.

"Mommy" Kaylee cried as she also leaped into her mothers arms.

They both stood there holding their kids for a few minutes listening to both Kaylee and Anthony talking as fast as they could to both of them, relaying what had happened to them the last few days.

Then they switched kids so Kate could give Anthony a hug and kiss, while Tony did the same to Kaylee.

With all of the noise illuminating the downstairs, Kayden and Annie decided to go check it out. They stopped at the top of the stairs when they saw their parents at the bottom holding and talking to Kaylee and Anthony. Anthony saw them standing there, so he smiled and said,

"Mommy and Daddy are here"

This caused Kate and Tony both to turn around and see their two oldest children standing at the top of the stairs.

Kate carefully set Anthony back on the ground and locked eyes with her son at the top of the stairs. Tony then put Kaylee down and moved to stand next to Kate, then he said,

"Hey guys, did ya miss us?"

They looked at each other and then Kate clapped her hands once and held her arms out. Their response was taking off and racing each other down the stairs. Kayden lept off the last two steps into Kate's arms and hugged her tight, as Annie held on to her father.

"I missed you mom" Kayden told her, still holding onto her. She shifted his weight, so she could look him in the eyes, while still holding him.

"I missed you too handsome" she smiled at him, before kissing him on the forehead.

"Are we going home now dad?" Annie asked, looking at him. He smiled at her, and then looked at Kate, before setting Annie down.

"Not exactly" Tony said, looking into his daughters eyes.

"What do you mean?" Kayden asked, still in his mothers arms.

"Kade, your dad and I-" Kate started, but was interrupted by Tony.

"Guys why don't we go into the living room"

"It isn't good, is it" Kayden asked, getting down from his mothers arms and following them back into the living room.

"Guys take a seat" Tony told them. All four of the kids sat down next to each other on the couch, while Tony and Kate stood in front of them, deciding the best way to break the news.

"Guys, we have to go away for awhile" Tony began, "And I don't know how long we will be gone"

"Where are we going, daddy?" Anthony asked, looking up inquisitively at his father.

"Yeah, when do we leave?" Kaylee chimed in, looking up at both of her parents.

"Oh honey" Kate said, squatting down in front of her two youngest children.

"Your dad and I have to go away, but you guys are going to stay with Jackie when she gets back later today."

"But mom, you just got back. I don't want you to go away again." Kaylee said, beginning to tear uup.

"Mommy I want to go too" Anthony said, jumping up and throwing his arms around her neck.

"Oh baby. I wish I could take you with me, all of you." Kate told him, wrapping her arms tighter around him.

"This sucks" Kayden yelled, before jumping up and running out of the room.

"Kayden Andrew DiNozzo" Tony yelled after him, but it was too late, he had already run out of the front door.

"He's right. You guys were gone all weekend and now your leaving again. It sucks" Annie yelled, getting up and running out of the room.

"Antimony Caitlin DiNozzo" Tony yelled after her, but she was already up the stairs and a door was slammed shut. A few seconds later Sarah, Chris' wife, walked into the room.

"Is everything okay"

"Yeah can't you tell" Tony said sarcastically.

"Tony" Kate snapped, standing up, while still holding Anthony.

"Sorry" Tony apologized to Sarah.

"It's okay. I'm guessing you just told the kids about the assignment" Sarah questioned them.

"Yeah, and basically they either hate us, or don't want us to go" Kate told her.

"Well take it from the mother of two almost teenagers, whose father has to work weird hours and is always having to cancel things with them. They really do understand, they still love you, and they will forgive you" Sarah told both Tony and Kate.

"Thanks Sarah, for everything" Kate told her with a smile.

"Anytime" she answered while walking back into the kitchen.

"Guys I really am sorry" Tony said, walking to the couch and picking Kaylee up.

"We love you guys so much" Tony said, giving Kaylee a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you too daddy" Kaylee told him, "But I don't want you to go." she said before she started crying.

"Don't go mommy" Anthony said, holding his mother tighter and crying into her shoulder.

"Hey, you know what?" Tony said trying to interrupt the crying, "Your mom and I used to have to go away a lot before we had all you guys. But we still had to go away sometimes even after we had you guys. And you two probably don't remember because you were two small, but your mom and I had to go away a couple of years ago, for awhile." he said, looking at Kaylee and Anthony who were looking at him, "And you know what. We came back, every time we came back. And I promise we will come back this time."

"I still don't want you to go daddy" Kaylee said, looking at him the same way Kate would when she was sad.

"I know baby girl" he said giving her another kiss. Kate stood there smiling at Tony and Kaylee. He was so great with the kids, probably because he was a big kid himself, but it still melted her heart when she saw him with them, especially with the girls, because he was a completely different person with them than he was with the boys. He was so gentle with the girls, and he would never admit it, but she had a feeling he was really glad that he had two little girls, and so was she, because they had a tendency to bring out the very best side of Tony, his compassionate side.

"What do you guys say we go upstairs and see Annie" Tony asked looking at the others.

"Okay" Kaylee answered, while Anthony and Kate both nodded their heads and followed Tony upstairs.

Tony opened the door to the spare bedroom, still holding Kaylee, and walked in to find Annie laying on the bed.

"Hey baby" he said, while sitting down beside her on the bed, with Kaylee sitting on his lap. Kate remained standing, still holding Anthony.

"I'm not a baby" Annie told her father, without looking at him.

"Of course not munchkin" he said, changing tactics to see if he could get a smile out of his daughter.

"Don't call me that" she told him again. 'Well so much for that tactic. The only thing she had to inherit from her mother, and it had to be her stubbornness. Damn.' He thought to himself.

"Sweetheart your father and I love you very much. And that's not going to change just because we have to go away for awhile." Kate said, trying to get her daughter to understand, "Remember we came back the last time."

"I remember mom. You were in the hospital when we got to see you." Annie said, rolling over onto her back and looking up at her mom.

"Mommy was in the hospital?" Kaylee asked, looking frightened.

"Annie-" Tony began

"You remember that honey?" Kate asked, looking down at her daughter.

"Yeah I was six. The same age Kaylee is now."

"I know that happened, but that was two years ago. Everything is going to be okay this time." Kate said, trying to convince her daughter, and herself.

"Promise?" Annie asked, sitting up.

"I promise" Tony answered, "I'm not going to let anything happen to your mom"

"I still don't want you to go" she said, looking from Tony to Kate.

"I know. But what if I promise to take us all on a vacation when your mom and I get back" Tony asked, looking around at everyone in the room.

"Really?" Kaylee and Annie both asked.

"On one condition"

"What?" Annie asked

"I can call you munchkin" he said, smiling at her.

"Okay"

"I want you guys to look out for each other while we are away." Kate told the three of them. They just nodded.

"Well your mom and I really need to get going, we are already late." Tony told his children, their faces once again changing from happy to sad.

"That's nothing new dad" Annie commented with a slight grin.

"Funny kiddo" Tony replied with a smile.

"I love you daddy" Annie said, hugging him.

"I love you too munchkin" he told her, hugging her back.

After they said their goodbyes, they got into their SUV to head to NCIS. They never could find Kayden to say goodbye to him, and it really worried Kate, but she knew they couldn't wait any longer or her and Tony both would be out of a job, because it was already 9am and they were supposed to be at work. They began to drive off and Kate turned around to look out the back window at Sarah and the kids standing on the sidewalk waving to them. Then all of the sudden she saw a little boy break through them and run into the street after their car, waving his arms at them and Kate realized it was Kayden.

"STOP" Kate yelled at Tony, who immediately slammed on the breaks.

"Kate you scared the-" before Tony could finish his sentence or ask her what was wrong, she was out of the car.

When he stepped out of the car and turned to see where she went, he saw her running and then he saw Kayden running towards her. He watched as Kayden lept into his mother's arms for the second time that day and he couldn't help but smile as he watched Kate spin him around and hold him close. It really was something, the relationship Kate had with Kayden. It was something special just between the two of them. Like they had a connection that ran deeper than just mother and son, and even stronger than friends. He was amazed at the way the two of them were with each other. Sometimes he was a little jealous that it was her that had that bond with Kayden, and not himself, but most of the time he was just amazed at them, and he hoped he could have that kind of relationship with at least one of kids.

"I'm sorry mom" Kayden said, not letting go of his mother.

"It's okay handsome" she said kissing his cheek and hugging him again.

"I love you mom"

"I love you too Kade" she told him before setting him down.

Tony was walking towards them and Kayden slowly walked up to him, and without looking up at Tony, he said,

"I'm sorry dad"

"It's okay sport. I'm sorry we have to go" Tony said to him.

"I love you dad" Kayden said, looking up at his dad.

Tony reached down and picked him up, and hugged him tightly.

"I love you too son"

"Dad" Kayden said, leaning back so he could look Tony in the eyes.

"Yeah"

"Promise me you'll take care of mom, and I promise to take care of the little ones."

"I promise I won't let anything happen to your mother. And I don't want you to worry, okay" Tony told his son as he set him down.

"Okay dad" he answered before giving his dad one last hug and then walking back to his mom and doing the same.

Tony and Kate once again got back into the SUV to head to NCIS. They both knew they were going to be in trouble, but they really didn't care. They were just glad they got to say goodbye to all of their children.

As they drove away Tony reached over and laced his hand with Kate's and then kissed the back of her hand.

"You ready babe?" he asked her.

"As ready as I'll ever be" she told him with a smile.

A/N: Hopefully I will get the next chapter up a lot sooner. Be sure and review, it is much appreciated! Thanks!