As much as Tony tried to fight it. He could not stop thinking about Ziva. He wished that Gibbs was there to slap him on the back of the head. He couldn't think of her as Ziva the radiant, exotic, angel. He had to think of her as Miss. David his children's English teacher. Then there was that pesky vow to never love again he had made. He looked at his children. Noah was in the backseat playing a game on his phone and Holly was beside him. Completely pale, holding the pink bag on her. Tony felt for his daughter. He thought it was tough growing up without his mom. He could not imagine how hard it must be for Holly especially now. As hard as he tried to be a super dad being both the mom and the dad. There were certain things he couldn't do for her. His understanding of the menstrual cycle was that it started in the tween years and ended in the forties or fifties. It happened once a month when the uterine lining fell away. That was the text book explanation from the books he bought when it first hit him that he was going to raise Holly on his own. The rest of his knowledge came from his youth woman had hair trigger emotions and didn't want to have sex or maybe they couldn't. He could still feel the pain in his stomach from when he asked Kate for sex during one of her periods. Maybe he did need a woman in his life to be a mother for the twins. He had Abby and Breena but they weren't mothers or even step-mothers. They were just friends more like aunts or cousins. Then there was Miss. David. Miss. David she would be a great mom but no she was. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice that he was drifting lanes. Until a car blared it's horn at him.

"Jesus Christ, dad watch out!" Holly yelled.

"Oh I am sorry" Tony apologized getting back over into his lane.

"What is wrong with you?! We could have been killed!" Holly snapped.

"I am sorry. I was just distracted." Tony apologized.

"Idiot" Holly muttered under her breath.

"What's wrong with her?" Noah asked from the backseat.

"She isn't feeling well." Tony explained.

"What's wrong? Is she contagious?" Noah asked.

"No don't worry about it." Tony assured

"Just make sure I don't get sick." Noah warned.

"Achoo" Holly sneezed in Noah's face.

"What was that for?" Noah asked.

"Being an idiot." Holly snapped.

"What's in the bag, crazy pills? Cause you are crazy." Noah retorted.

"Jerk" Holly sniffed.

"Holly I am sorry." Noah apologized.

"No you aren't. You just don't care." Holly sniffed.

"It's OK, Hollz." Tony assured.

Tony was officially lost. He didn't know how to handle it when somebody cried. Most of the guys he knew didn't cry at least not in public. Well Jimmy and McGee during his Probie days but they weren't his little girl and when Abby cried all he had to do was tell Gibbs that Abby was crying and it was taken care of. Holly had cried before but this wasn't a scraped knee, dead goldfish, or falling out with Julia Fielding. This was a major life change that made her into a woman. A woman in a house full of men. It was so much easier when she was just a girl. A girl could be one of the guys but she had breasts now, there was a pink razor in the bathroom, and now she had her period. She was a woman and sure she could wear baggy shirts and keep her hair short when she ran around with Noah and Christopher but she was still a woman. A woman who would have feelings and hormones. Why couldn't boys develop faster. He could handle Noah's awkward erections and exploring his body. God and every pair of socks he had in high school knew that. Holly was a a different story. He couldn't handle that. He hadn't lived it but Kate had and Kate was six feet under. The rest of the drive home was silent except for Holly's soft crying. When they got home Noah made a beeline for the fridge and Holly ran upstairs to her room. Tony reminded Noah to get started on his homework while his ramen noodles boiled. Then went upstairs to Holly's room. He knocked on the door until Holly yelled for him to come inside. Holly was lying on her bed facing the wall. The pink bag was lying beside her on the bed.

"Hollz? Are you OK?" Tony asked.

"No" Holly sniffed.

"Want to talk about it?" Tony asked.

"No" Holly replied.

"Do you want me to call Abby or Breena?" Tony asked.

"No" Holly replied.

"Is there anything I can get for you?" Tony asked.

"No" Holly replied.

"What can I do for you?" Tony asked.

"Nothing you can't do anything." Holly replied.

"Well I can still call Abby or Breena and they can help you." Tony offered.

"I don't want Abby or Breena and I certainly don't want you or Noah! I just want mom! I am sick of this. Miss. Fielding was just learning to use her wheelchair when Julia started last year but she was still there to help her. I am sick of being the girl without a mom!" Holly cried.

"I know, Holl and I am sorry." Tony apologized.

"You don't understand. You don't understand." Holly sobbed.

"I know I don't." Tony replied solemnly.

"Nobody does" Holly sniffed.

"Miss. David lost her mom when she was a kid too and she said you could call her anytime you needed to talk." Tony replied handing her one of the slips of paper.

That night Tony found himself growing restless. Holly had only emerged from her room long enough to eat dinner and Noah was playing soccer in the yard with Chris. He just laid on the couch and starred at Ziva's phone number. Why would Miss. David give her phone number to him. Just for some breakfast thing she held on Saturday mornings. Was it possible that she liked him? Was he ready to move on and love somebody else? Would the kids be ready? Holly wanted a mom but he didn't know how Noah would react. Noah's problems had happened right before Kate died and her death was extra traumatic for him. Finally Tony realized there was only one person who could help him at a time like this. He grabbed his keys and walked out of the house.

"Noah! I'm going to Gibbs's house! Tell Holly if she asks about me!" Tony called.

"Will do" Noah replied.

"Come inside soon you are getting wheezy." Tony told his son.

"Fine" Noah sighed.

"I gotta go soon anyway." Chris replied.

"Keep an eye on your sister she isn't feeling well." Tony reminded.

"She's acting so weird!" Noah whined.

"I'll stay and keep an eye on her. " Chris offered.

"How did McGee's son end up being such a player?" Tony wondered aloud as he climbed into his car.

Gibbs set his sand paper down on his work bench and studied his latest creation. It was a small bookshelf for the Palmer's spare room. They had given up on getting a baby through pregnancy or adoption and were going to make the spare room into a small library. He felt bad for them, they had tried so hard for so long and had nothing to show for it. He secretly hoped that now that they weren't trying anymore. She would just happen to get pregnant. He picked the sandpaper back up and went to work evening out the bad spots. He heard footsteps on the stairs and then somebody took a seat on the landing.

"Problems Tony?" Gibbs asked his Senior Field Agent and surrogate son.

"Oh yeah" Tony replied.

"Is Holly OK? Do you need more time off?" Gibbs asked.

"She got her first period." Tony replied.

"Oh" Gibbs replied.

"I don't know what to do for her. I don't know how any of that stuff works and she won't talk to Abby or Breena." Tony sighed.

"Call Breena in the morning. She can help Holly." Gibbs replied.

"Why not Abby?" Tony asked.

"Abby is nice and she adores Holly but she can be a little intense and right now Holly needs somebody level headed." Gibbs explained.

"OK" Tony replied.

"What's her name?" Gibbs asked.

"Excuse me?" Tony questioned.

"I said what's her name?" Gibbs repeated.

"What are you talking about?" Tony asked.

"Well I doubt seriously that you drove all the way over here at eight o'clock at night to tell me that your daughter started her period." Gibbs explained.

"Yeah but how do you know it's a woman?" Tony asked.

"You have been flustered ever since you got here. So what's her name?" Gibbs asked.

"Miss. Ziva David" Tony replied.

"Holly's teacher?" Gibbs asked.

"Uh-huh" Tony replied.

"Is she single?" Gibbs asked.

"She's Miss David" Tony reminded.

"Well does she have a boyfriend?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't know we just talked about Holly and she gave me her number. For Holly and so we could keep in touch." Tony explained.

"Well it sounds like she likes you." Gibbs replied.

"I really like her but I don't know if I am ready." Tony explained.

"Tony it's been ten years since Kate died. I know it's hard she would want you to be happy." Gibbs explained.

"What about the twins?" Tony asked.

"What about them?" Gibbs asked.

"What if they don't like me dating again?" Tony questioned.

"The only reasons for your children to dictate your relationship. Is if your girlfriend is hurting them or taking advantage of you and they come to you." Gibbs explained.

"I know but what if they hate me for dating again?" Tony asked.

"Kate died when they were two. Noah barely remembers her and I don't know if Holly remembers her or the idea of her." Gibbs explained.

"I know but it's been just the three of us for so long." Tony explained.

"It will be a big adjustment for everyone but you will get used to it. Together." Gibbs explained.

"So I should go for it?" Tony asked.

"Go for it." Gibbs replied smiling. His boy was finally ready to move on.

A/N: Will Tony take Gibbs's advice and "Go for it?" Tony and Ziva have breakfast together in the next chapter. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.