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The morning came bright and sunny. Tony and the kids were outside playing in the backyard when he heard someone approaching. He turned and saw Abby, Tim and Gibbs walking into the backyard. Abby and Tim had their four children. They were close in age to Tony's children. They had two boys and two girls. They were five, four, three and six months. Tony smiled as his friends approached.

Gibbs was the first to talk, "Welcome back DiNozzo."

"Hi boss."

"Not your boss anymore DiNozzo."

Tony laughed, "Sorry, old habit."

Tony wondered what was going on. He found out soon enough when Abby brought a picnic basket filled with food. She smiled and told him, "We guessed that you wouldn't feel like cooking today, so we brought lunch. Barbecue ribs and all the fixings."

"You really didn't have to do that."

Abby laughed, "Of course we had to! You're home Tony! That's just like the best thing ever!"

Tony smiled and watched as the kids interacted with each other. Abby and Tim went over to them and started passing out little plastic Frisbees.

Tony sat down on one of the lawn chairs. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He wondered if this is what normal felt like. He hadn't felt quite like this since he left eight years ago. He wondered how his friends could welcome him home with open arms. If it had been him, he wouldn't have talked to him as easily. He'd taken it for granted that Gibbs hadn't quite talked with him. At least, not yet.

Gibbs sat down next to him and said, "Welcome home."

"Thanks. It feels good to be home."

"Does it Tony? Do you know how much you leaving hurt them? How much it hurt Ziva?"

Tony looked at him sarcastically and said, "Nothing hurts Ziva. She's able to compartmentalize."

Gibbs shook his head, "She loved you. She loved you and thought that you loved her. When you left without so much as a goodbye, she barely smiled and she never laughed. Then, we got the damn wedding announcement! Of everyone in the world that you could marry, you had to choose the very person that you swore you hated! When you left everything fell apart. I nearly lost my team. You don't deserve this, any of this."

Tony knew that he deserved that and more. However, his pride wouldn't let him admit that he'd been wrong. Wrong about Jeanne, wrong about coming back here and wrong about this being his home, "I shouldn't have some back. I'm seeing now that this was a mistake. I know that I was stupid and I wasn't thinking when I married her, but my heart overruled my brain. When I met her again in Mexico, something happened. I didn't think about NCIS, the team or Ziva…"

Gibbs looked at him harshly and said, "No, of course you didn't. You obviously weren't thinking. That was your first problem."

"There are more?"

"More than you can imagine. What you did didn't just hurt them DiNozzo. Just think about that! Maybe you should have thought about that before you came back here and disrupted everyone's lives once again."

Tony had the decency to look somewhat ashamed. He looked at where Abby and Tim were playing with the children, "They look like they've forgiven me."

Gibbs shook his head, "No, they are putting their feelings about you aside, for the good of your children. They, unlike you are innocent."

"I'll try to make things right."

"Sometimes you can't make things right. Did you know that Ziva didn't want to come here last night? Abby talked her into it. Did you also know that Ziva married an ass that she didn't really love because she was trying to forget you? Do you realize how your leaving your family effected everyone you now claim to love? Ziva was supposed to come here today, but she faked being sick so that she wouldn't have to face you again?"

Tony looked at him, "She came over here last night. She seemed okay with me being back."

"She was faking it DiNozzo! Abby cornered her and made her promise to come by and act normal! She shouldn't have had to do that! She should have been willing to come by because she cared for you! Not because someone forced her to. Maybe you should think about someone other than yourself for a change! You're not the most important person here Tony! The only ones that are, are those three children. You need to grow up DiNozzo. You have a lot of things that you need to make right! It's about time that you start doing that."

Tony shook his head. He didn't know any of that. He hadn't really cared. It was then that he realized that maybe he'd made a mistake come back here. That maybe, sometimes, you can't go home again. He wondered if he could ever find a way to make it right with his friends. He wondered if they could work their way towards being friends again. He wondered, not for the first time, if he'd made a mistake marrying Jeanne. He wondered what his life would be like if he had come back from Mexico. He sighed sadly and got up and went back into his house. Feeling lower that every before. He looked out the window of his home at his children playing happily. It was the first time since Jeanne died that he'd seen Sara and Stephen smile.

He went back outside and said, "I've got something that I need to do. Something that I need to make right or at least try to make right!"

He walked over to Abby and asked, "Would you mind keeping an eye on them for me Abs? There's something that I need to do. Something important."

Abby smiled at him. She had a feeling that she knew what he was going to do. She nodded and said, "Go on Tony and don't come back until you make her listen."

"Her?"

Abby nodded, "Ziva and don't let her tell you that everything's okay. You didn't realize this Tony or maybe you did, but you're a man so you probably didn't…"

"Abs!"

"Okay! Getting on with it. She loved you Tony."

Tony was speechless. He hadn't known that she'd been in love with him. He did know that they had been working towards something when he'd left. He hadn't realized that she'd been in love with him. He told her, "I didn't know that."

Abby looked at him, "I love you Tony, but you're such a man Tony. She… loved….you. And you broke her heart."

"I broke her heart?"

Abby looked at him, "Go Tony! Make it right. Or at least try to make it right."

Tony nodded and hurried out to his car. He hoped that Ziva would open the door or at least talk to him. Although, he knew that the chances were very unlikely. He guessed that he would just have to take his chances….