A couple of days after Christmas Jimmy who was still staying at Gibbs house along with Jeanne and the kids was reading in the rollaway bed propped up in Tony's room. Jeanne was in the room with the twins though she was laying down Jimmy could hear them talking while Tony and Gibbs were at work. With two extra guests Mike and Jackson already went home promising to visit again. Jeanne knew her time was close but was glad they weren't alone. Sami looks at her, "Mama are you okay?"

Jeanne gives her a weak smile, "Yeah baby, I'm okay just tired. Come lay down with me." Sami climbs into the bed with her eager to cuddle. "Mama loves you and Johnny so much."

Sami hugs her, "I love you too mama and I love Johnny and daddy. Is daddy coming home soon?"

Jeanne nods, "Yeah, he'll be here soon. Is Johnny asleep?"

Johnny who didn't understand why she couldn't see him climbs on the bed, "No mama I was just looking at our picture books Aunt Abby gave us. Couldn't you see me?"

Jeanne shakes her head, "Mama's tired baby and it's hard. You know how daddy and I talked about heaven?"

Johnny nods, "Daddy says it's really nice there you'll be all better."

Jeanne nods, "Yeah I will be but I think I'm going soon."

Sami shakes her head, "No, don't go mama. I want you to stay with us."

Jeanne hugs her, "Oh baby girl I want to stay too but I will always be here with you. I'll be in your heart and I will always watch you."

Johnny sniffs as tears fall down his face, "But … what about … what if we get a new mama? I don't …"

Jeanne knew that wasn't likely, "Daddy will never find you a new mama baby okay. He loves both of you so much and he'll take good care of you. You have your Aunts, your uncles, grandpa … they'll all take care of you too."

Sami nods, "That's what they say but they can't love us like you do."

Jeanne kisses his head, "No one will ever love you like I do. Sami can you bring me my purse? I have something for both of you." Sami brings her purse. "Inside there's a pink box for you and a blue box for Johnny."

Inside were chains with a locket for Sami and a type of charm similar to what Tony had for Johnny. Tony started to wear his so Johnny would see it but theirs were different. "Mama, it's like daddy's necklace."

Jeanne nods, "Except yours has my picture in it. Daddy's has your pictures in it. This is so when you wear it I will always be close to you."

Sami sniffs, "Does it hurt when you go to heaven?"

"No baby, I will stop hurting when I go. I'll just go to sleep and then wake up in heaven."

Johnny sniffs, "Will it be soon?"

Jeanne sighs, "Yeah real soon but you'll always have family here okay. You'll have daddy and Uncle Gibbs because they love you very much. I love you too." She drifts off to sleep and the kids cuddle up with her.

Jimmy was starting to worry when he didn't hear anymore talking though he couldn't hear what they had been saying. Going into the room both kids were hugging Jeanne and crying. "Hey guys,"

Johnny looks at him, "I think mama went to heaven. I can't feel her breathing anymore."

Jimmy rushes over as fast as he could on crutches, "Okay, let me check mama out for you." Checking for a pulse and finding none Jimmy sat down on Johnny's bed with a sigh. "I'm sorry guys, mama went to heaven."

Sami busts into fresh tears, "I want daddy. She said he would be here and …"

Jimmy hugs her, "It's okay Sami … we'll go call daddy. Come here Johnny." Johnny joins them and Jimmy hugs both of them. "Okay, let's go downstairs and I'll call daddy. We'll also have to call some other people too but we'll call daddy first."

As they were going downstairs Breena knocks on the door and Sami lets her in, "Aunt Breena, mama went to heaven."

Breena looks at Jimmy who nods, "Oh sweetie, I'm sorry. Are you guys okay?"

Jimmy sighs, "We came downstairs to call daddy who had to go into work. Is there something …"

Breena nods, "I'll see what can be done."

Jimmy tried Tony and then Gibbs' phone knowing they would be the logical choice, "Where's daddy?"

Jimmy sighs, "I don't know Johnny but let me call Doda Ziva okay? Maybe daddy and Uncle Gibbs are in the special place at work." They knew about MTAC but they weren't allowed in there. After getting no response from anyone Jimmy went to the kitchen where the emergency list of numbers were and called Vance.

Vance was in a meeting about the port 2 port killer with Gibbs and EJ's teams when Jimmy got through. "This better be important."

Gibbs sighs in annoyance, "This is important and we have calls not only in the middle of the night but …"

Vance hangs up, "That was Mr. Palmer, he tried your guys cell phones and couldn't reach anyone. I was his last choice."

Gibbs frowns not thinking about why Jimmy could call, "This is important and why would I …"

Tony had a sinking feeling, "Are the kids okay? Why would he be trying that hard to reach us. What happened?"

Vance sighs, "Ms. Benoit passed away a short time ago. The kids want you to come home and …"

Tony looks at Gibbs, "I'm sorry but I have to go."

Gibbs, Ziva and Tim follow him out, "Come on Tony, I'll drive you home."

Tony grabs his phone, "I knew we shouldn't have left the phones out here. I knew something would happen but you insisted we didn't need them. My kids needed me and I couldn't talk to them because you had to run things your way."

Gibbs knew Tony was hurting and angry, "Tony, I'm sorry I didn't think. I just didn't want us interrupted by goodnight kisses or assurances. Let's just go …"

Tony shakes his head, "What's so bad about wanting to give my kids goodnight kisses over the phone? They are three years old and their mother was dying … I left them with Jimmy who had to call the director who still terrifies him to find me. If we're that much of a problem we'll just move out."

At the house Breena had already left and gone for a van to pick Jeanne up after getting help but knew the others needed some time. When Tony and Ziva got there she was hugging Sami while Johnny was with Jimmy. "Daddy!"

Tony scoops them up, "Are you guys okay? Dir. Vance told me about mama."

Sami shakes her head and Johnny puts his head on Tony's shoulder and stuck his thumb in his mouth. "Mama went to heaven. She said she would watch us but we want her here."

Tony kisses their heads, "I know baby, I know but … she was sick and …" He saw Breena join Jimmy on the couch. "Thanks for coming Breena."

She nods, "I thought I'd keep Jimmy company since you guys had to work. I'm sorry Tony."

Tony nods, "Thanks," Gibbs and Tim get there with Abby and Tony realizes that Gibbs would never put the kids in danger. "Sami, Johnny go with Uncle Gibbs, I need to see mama okay?"

They nod and Gibbs takes them knowing they were closest to him after Tony and he trusted that. When they were sitting down Johnny looks at him, "Uncle Gibbs, is daddy sad?"

Gibbs nods, "He cared a lot about mama and it's sad when someone goes to heaven. He'll be down in a little bit though."

Sami and Johnny exchange glances, "Maybe you should go with him. We went with Jimmy but daddy doesn't have anyone."

Gibbs was surprised by smiles, "Okay, do you want to go back with Uncle Jimmy?" Sami climbs in Jimmy's lap and Sami went with Ziva. Up in the room Tony was sitting next to Jeanne. "Tony …"

Tony looks at him, "I know you would never put them in danger Gibbs or hurt them. I just thought when it was time …"

Gibbs nods, "So did I. They're sitting down with Jimmy and Ziva but they wanted me to come up here with you."

Tony takes a deep breath, "They shouldn't have had to be here. They should've been asleep in bed or with someone else not home with an Uncle who couldn't find their dad. I'm glad Jimmy had the guts to call Vance but …"

Gibbs puts an arm around him, "He probably didn't think about who he was calling but how to help the kids. They wanted you and they're worried about you. We're all worried about you."

Tony shrugs, "I'm fine Gibbs … she was just an assignment gone wrong. I actually did care for her I just couldn't be in love with her. I couldn't give my life to her so instead …"

Gibbs pulls him closer, "Tony, it's okay to grieve and the fact you cared for her at means you loved her. You can't have kids together and somewhere somehow not love her. You might not have been in love with her but your love made two great kids downstairs."

Tony nods letting the tears fall, "I just remember being there when my mom died and that made things worse. Dad was away and the help saw me as a spoiled rich kid. The nurses called the nanny who picked me up and sent me off to my room because I was crying. She said there was no need to cry because we knew it would happen. How can you tell someone who just lost their mom that?"

Gibbs shakes his head, "I don't know but we know better and we'll let the kids do what they need to for Jeanne. They have love and family and just because you were at work doesn't make you your father. We're not going to send them off to their rooms to deal with this alone and we'll certainly not leave you alone to deal with it."

Tony nods, "Thanks Gibbs, I just need a minute alone … or two and then Breena can come do what she needs."

Gibbs nods, "The kids might need it too. Knowing Jimmy he got them out of here as fast as possible."

Tony nods, "Only if they want to come up. They might've had time or …" When Gibbs left he heard the doorbell ringing and wondered who would show up so late at night. Deciding to ignore the voices from downstairs he turns to Jeanne. "I'm sorry I wasn't here with our babies Jeanne but thank you for them. They will be my reminder of you not that I could forget you."

Later when Breena and Ducky who came by took Jeanne's body out she came back with a note. "We found this under her pillow addressed to you. I'm sure she …"

Tony nods, "Thanks," He took the note down to the basement to read while his friends and family were gathered upstairs.

Dear Tony~

If you are reading this then I must have passed away. If it's at Gibbs' house with you and the kids nearby then I'm glad. I'm sorry I kept them away from you for 3 years but I thought I was doing the right thing. I told them all about you and how sweet and loving you are. I shared memories of you with them and I hope you do the same. Tony I know you will take care of them but there's something I haven't told you yet. I didn't know what you'd think about it and I wanted it to be finalized before I died.

My father's estate, my estate and the money from the house is to be divided into three. Two of it goes into a trust for the kids to get when they turn 18 so they can go to school or do whatever they want. If they finish high school early and are ready to start on their own before then they can get it. I'll leave that up to you.

The third part is for you to be able to live the life you want. Come and go as you please, take time off to raise the kids if you want. Buy yourselves a new home or maybe a used one but something you can own as a family. Take some of it and do something you always wanted to do. Whether it's taking a trip to Hawaii like we talked about or starting your own business. Just make sure it's something you want to do.

I will always love you and I will always love our babies. Take care of them and of yourself.

Jeanne

Gibbs found Tony crying on the stairs holding the letter and sat with him letting Tony cry. He hadn't cried that hard in many years and to Tony he didn't know if he could ever stop. By the time he pulled himself together the kids had fallen asleep so Abby and Ziva put them in Tony's bed. Tony didn't have any energy for anything so he lay down with them but couldn't sleep. He just hoped that he could take care of the kids and that they would be okay.

A/N: Okay so Jeanne is gone, though the chapter didn't go quite the way I hoped. Next chapter might be shorter than usual or it might be longer I'm not sure since it's the funeral and I'm letting my muse take over the typing.