Hey guys I'm deeply sorry for the long wait, but I'm at the end of my apprenticeship and I have my final exams in May, which leads me to the bad news I have for you. I have to fully concentrate on my exams so there won't be any updates until the end of May. I'm very sorry to disappoint you all, but those exams are very important for me and my future.

I promise as soon as they're over I'll update again!

Thanks for all who favorited/followed and reviewed this story. You guys are awesome!

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.

Chapter 20

It was late when Ziva and Tony returned from their trip to the Fallon's. They had gotten stuck in traffic and had had called McGee to tell him, that it would be late when they would arrive at NCIS. They weren't surprised that the others had already left as they finally arrived, since McGee surely had plans with Delilah and Gibbs was at home with Jo.

The trip had been in vain. They didn't know that Thorne had taken drugs, for them he had been always an angle. They told them that it had always been their son who had gotten into trouble. Thorne and Fallon had gone through thick and thin and later Meredith Kelley, Thorne's first girlfriend, had joined the duo. But half a year later, just before the end of school, Thorne and Kelley had broken up and the Kelley's moved away.

Ziva and Tony grabbed their things and left the NCIS building again. Since Tony had driven with Gibbs to the motel, Ziva offered him a ride. He was thankful for the offer, he didn't feel like taking the bus.

"So? Ready for the first night in your new home?" asked Ziva as they got into her car.

"Yes very much so! I just have to pack my things at Gibbs' and then we're off to our new home. As I know my daughter she has already packed everything and is just waiting for me."

"And on Saturday you'll go looking for the rest of the furniture you still need?"

"Yeah." Tony briefly considered whether he should follow Jo's request and ask Ziva if she wanted to accompany them again, but in the end he didn't. She shouldn't waste her free time in a furniture store, besides they were likely to work on the case. "That means that Saturday is packed, probably even half of Sunday too."

"Big plans."

"And you? Do you have any plans for the weekend?"

"Not really. If Gibbs has mercy with us, I'll meet a friend of mine for brunch. But other than that I have not any plans. I'll just lounge on my couch and read one of my favorite books. Besides I'm sure that we are all working on Saturday except you of course."

"So, you don't have any plans for Sunday?"

Ziva glanced confused over to Tony before she looked back on the road again. "No, why?"

"Well, I thought that Jo, Lu and me could do a little housewarming party. We'd invite everyone for dinner and show you our new home."

Ziva smiled softly. "Sounds good. What time will the party begin?"

"I can't state a time yet. I have to see how quick we are with the furniture but I think that we should be finished around 05:00pm. But I'd text you time and the new address as soon as I know when we're finished."

"Like I said, I don't have plans on Sunday. Whenever the party starts I'll be there."

"Then you're our first official guest."

"What is with the others? Do they already know that you're planning a party?" asked Ziva and turned into Gibbs neighbourhood.

"I've told McGee who told Abby about it and Abby passed it to Ducky and Jimmy. I'm sure Jo already told Gibbs, which means that the team knows about it."

Ziva stopped in front of Gibbs' house. She hadn't driven as fast as usual since she enjoyed the time she spent with Tony, but even a slow drive was eventually coming to an end. "I wish you a nice weekend and will see you on Sunday."

Tony got out of the car, got his bag out of the back and before closing the car door he leaned down again. "I'll text you the further information. Have a nice Saturday."

"Bye."

Tony watched Ziva driving off into the early night and went to the front door. As usual the door wasn't locked and he found Gibbs and Jo down in the basement, working on a new project. "Hi you two. I see you're studiously at work."

"We have to do something while we're waiting for you, DiNozzo."

"Exactly, Dad. You're the only one of us who hasn't packed yet." Jo got up and welcomed her father with a kiss on the cheek. "We're just waiting for you."

"Alright, alright, I get it. I'm going up to pack now."

While Jo continued working on the project they started, Gibbs followed Tony up to the living room. "You got anything useful for our investigation?"

"Not really. The trip had been in vain. The Fallon's knew nothing about Thorne's addiction. Apparently it was Thorne who had been the good boy and Fallon the troublemaker."

"That means something must've happened for Thorne to turn to drugs. Or somebody had killed Thorne and wanted it to look like a suicide or an accident."

"Hey, err-" Tony glanced to the steps of the basement to ensure that Jo was still out of earshot. "There's new information of our private investigation concerning Cole."

"And what?"

"One of my contacts has found out that Cole had gotten a lot of money on his bank account the day after the explosion."

"How much?"

"10,000 US dollars."

"The payment for the murder." concluded Gibbs.

"Think so, too. But the account has been inactive for a long time and we can't trace where the money came from since the other account is inactive too. My contact wanted to look into the other account, but he got blocked, his request refused."

"That means were at a dead end."

"We just have to dig further. There will be a time we're finding something that'll help us." Without saying anything else, Tony turned around and went to pack his things.

"I've got to say that I haven't expected this." stated Gibbs as he got out of his car and saw for the first time the new house of Tony and Jo.

"We were just as speechless as you are right now when we first saw it." answered Jo.

Gibbs turned to father and daughter. He was glad that two have their own home again, but he was still a little sad. He enjoyed the presence of them in his house, even if he'd never tell DiNozzo that. Through it had been only a few days, he was already missing them. At least the house wasn't that far away from his. "Will you be alright?"

"Sure, boss. The beds have been built up today and tomorrow we'll look after the remaining furniture and bring Lu's things here. I'd offer you a tour through the house, but I think this makes more sense when it's fully furnished. You'll be coming on Sunday?" asked Tony again to make sure that Gibbs came.

"Sure, DiNozzo. Looking forward to it." Gibbs gave Jo a kiss on her head and opened his car door. "I hope you two have fun tomorrow. I'll see you on Sunday."

"See you on Sunday." Father and daughter stared after Gibbs before finally turning towards the house.

"Ready to spend the first night in our new home?"

Jo grabbed her bags and grinned at her dad. "It'll be strange at the beginning, but I think we'll manage." She went to the front door and called out to her dad. "Come on, old man, the door won't open itself!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming."

Tony followed his daughter and fished the keys out of his pocket, unlocking the door. When they were inside, they put their things down and looked through the still empty house. This was it. Their new start in a new home. "How about we're ordering pizza and while we wait for it we'll put our things into our rooms?"

"Sounds good. How does the plan look like for tomorrow?"

"Well, we should be at the furniture store when its opening. Before that we have to pick up Lu, so we have to get up very early. We have a long day ahead of us. Furthermore we have to get Lu's things too. She already said she'd pack the little things in boxes, so we just have to load everything into a van I'm borrowing from a friend."

"Okay. Then it'd best if we're going straight to bed after dinner, otherwise we won't get out of bed tomorrow morning." She took her bags and went to the stairs. "I'll be bringing my bags into my room. Oh and I take my usual pizza."

Tony chuckled. "I've expected nothing else."

They already had the most part of their new furniture. It was astonishing how fast they always agreed on something and until now there hadn't been any long discussions about the furniture.

Tony and Jo had a hard time in the morning getting out of bed, but they managed to get out in time. Before they left the house, Tony called Lu so that she knew that they'd be on their way. On the way to Lu they made a quick stop and bought something for them and Lu to eat, since they hadn't had anything at home and Lu surely hadn't had breakfast yet too. As expected Lu hadn't eaten anything yet and they sat together enjoying a little breakfast before going to the furniture store.

The only thing they still needed were a couch, a dining room table and matching chairs. They already settled on the rest and frowned as he made a quick calculation of the costs, but there wasn't anything he could do. They needed the new furniture.

"Look! The couch in the corner would be great. It's big enough and the color fits too." Jo pointed out at a couch in the back.

They went over to the couch Jo had pointed out and looked at it. Indeed, it was big enough to fit several people on it. Moreover it would fit to the armchair they had already selected and Jo was right, the colour fit into the room. He looked at it and decided that it should fit nicely into the corner they planned to put the couch in.

"I think Amelia is right. The couch is miraculous. Enough people could fit and it's extremely comfortable." Said Lu as she and Jo sat on the couch.

"Looks like we can cross off the couch on our list then. Now we need a dining table and chairs."

"A friend of mine recently bought a new table and it looked perfect. It was big and it was fine woodwork, easy to take care of. She bought it from this store and I think it would be the perfect table for us."

Jo excitedly got off the couch and turned to Lu. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's search for the table." Jo held out her hands for Lu to help her get off the couch.

The three went to the dining area of the store and looked for the table Lu told them about. There were a lot of different tables and Tony wasn't so sure they'd find the one they were searching for anytime soon. There were small tables, large tables, tables made out of metal, plastic or wood. Tables to no end. Against his belief he was glad that Lu found the table rather quickly.

"There!"

Tony and Jo turned to the direction Lu pointed out. It was really a nice table. It was made of a darker wood, but it wasn't too dark. The legs of the table were massive ones, so that the table stood secured and could overturn that easily. And it was big. About eight people should fit at the table and the chairs looked comfortable too.

Jo looked at the description of the table. "Here stands that this table can be bought in two variations. Just with chairs or with a bench and some chairs."

"A bench would be interesting, but the table will be standing in the middle of the room, so it would be impossible to lean on something."

"Just chairs then."

"Would be better."

"Now we have everything." replied Lu.

"Yeah. Now we're off to buy the electrical devices. There's a shop on the way home."

"So we're going to the cash register now and on our way home we'll stop at the electrical shop?"

"Exactly. Then I'll driving you to the house so that someone's there when the furniture is being delivered while I'll pick up Lu's stuff. When I'm back we can start building everything up."

"It's going to be a long day." stated Jo.

Tony and Lu laughed. "You didn't really think that everything will be quickly done, did you? Our day just started."

Tony breathed out relived. It was done, all pieces of their new furniture was built up and stood on its place, the electric devices were also put up and the little things were stored away in the cupboards.

While he put the last furniture on its place, Jo and Lu had started to clean everything and when he looked at the clock he saw that it was already 03:15pm. Two hours ago he had texted everyone with the address and that the party would begin at 05:30pm, enough time to take a quick shower.

Yesterday had been a long and hard day, but he and Jo worked fast at making up the furniture so that they hadn't too much left for Sunday. While they were working Lu went grocery shopping for the party since she could do much helping with the furniture.

"Okay, that was it. Everything's finished."

"Alright. I'm finished cleaning soon too." stated Lu.

"If it's okay I'd like to take a shower now, I'm full of sweat my clothes are even sticking on me. When I'm finished I'll help you with the preparation."

"Okay, dad. When you're out, I'm going to take a shower too."

Tony went upstairs and Jo helped Lu finish cleaning the house. It was incredible how a house could suddenly look homey within one day. "That's it. Everything's clean. Would you like to help me in the kitchen?"

"Sure." Jo followed her into the kitchen. They just started to cut the vegetables as someone rang the doorbell. Lu was just cleaning her hands as Jo stated that she'd go looking who it was.

Jo was surprised as she saw who it was. "Ziva. Come in. We haven't expected anyone yet. The party starts not until another two hours."

Ziva smiled at Jo. "I know, but I thought that after the day you all had yesterday that you'd be happy about every bit of help you could get."

"You want to help us preparing for the party?"

"I would like to."

"Sure. We're glad have any help we can get. Let me get your coat." said Jo but Ziva declined.

"Don't worry, just tell me where I can put my coat." She took off her coat and looked at Jo. "You and your dad have found a nice house. I wouldn't have imagined something like this."

Jo giggled. "Believe me, dad and I were also very surprised. Though it's a little bit big, it fits to us somehow. Besides it allows that Lu can be with us."

"Where are the others?"

"Lu and I are working in the kitchen and my dad is taking a shower."

"Well then, while your dad is working on his beauty, I could help you with the preparations."

Jo led Ziva to the kitchen where Lu was just cutting the last vegetables. "Who was at the door, Amelia?"

"A kitchen help." grinned Jo.

Confused turned Lu around and smiled as she saw Ziva. Now she knew what Jo meant. "Ziva, dear. You're early."

"I'd like to help."

"You know I'm not happy about guests helping with the work, but Amelia and I would be grateful for some help."

"How can I help?"

After Lu gave her some instructions of what she could do, the three women worked and told some stories. Everybody was in a good mood and had a lot of fun.

When Tony got down to the kitchen again, freshly showered and dressed in jeans and a black shirt, he was surprised to see Ziva already there. He looked stunned at the clock, scared that he completely lost track of time in the shower but was relieved as he saw that he hadn't been too long gone. Besides he was sure that Jo would have come knocking on the door if he'd have showered too long.

None of the women had noticed Tony entering the kitchen and lounging at the door, enjoying the picture in front of him. His daughter, the woman who was like a mother to him and his best friend and partner working alongside in the kitchen, preparing the party and telling each other stories of their lives. He loved the sound of their laughter after Jo told them something funny. It brought life into the house.

Moreover he couldn't take his eyes off Ziva. She looked beautiful, wearing white pants, a blue pullover and a light summer scarf. Her hair was open, slightly curled and a smile lightened up her face.

He'd have stayed in this position forever, watching them working together, but he was discovered by his daughter too soon. "Dad, don't just stand there! Come in and help us. You can take over for me so that I can take a shower too."

Amused smiled Ziva at Tony and he couldn't do anything else but smile back at her.

I wish you all a good week and sorry again for putting a break on my stories.

Next update is planned around the end of May.

Maybe I'll finally find some time during my break to answer to your reviews. I already feel very very bad for not having it done by now!

Please feel free to get in touch with me via PM or my twitter account (at tv_addict007) if you want to know something about my stories or have questions in general.