"Really?" Zoya spoke slightly annoyed.

"Yes, I'm sorry honey. But it has to be me."

"I understand, I just wish you wouldn't have to."

"I know Zoya, me too. Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, I will manage. Esme is here too so."

"Alright, I'm sorry. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Be careful and safe."

"I will. I love you. Give the kids a kiss for me okay."

"I will. I love you too. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too but I'll be back before you know it. I've gotta go."

"Alright, be careful and come back in one piece."

"I will. Bye honey."

"Bye honey."

Zoya hung up the phone. She knew all too well that this was part of their job but she didn't like it, especially now with newborn triplets at home.

"Everything okay?" Esme asked.

"Yeah, Grisha just has to go away for a few days for work."

"Ah that sucks. If you need some extra help just let me know."

"Thanks Esme."

…..

After Callen had gotten his backstopping and update from Eric and Nell he grabbed the items he needed and placed his wedding ring safely in his desk drawer. He didn't like it that he had to go away but it had to be done but he would miss Zoya and the kids. He hoped it was over soon so he could go back to their newborn triplets. Callen grabbed one of the cars from the car pool and drove to the address he had gotten. Before going in he made sure his gun was in the back of his pants and he had his earpiece in and wore his button cam.

"Eric, Nell, are you getting image and sound?" Callen asked.

"Yes loud and clear Callen," Eric responded. "Good luck."

"Thanks."

He took a deep sigh to mentally prepare himself before walking up to the warehouse. Callen knocked on the door.

"Hello, can I help you?" A man opened the door slightly.

"Adam Stevens, I was told you were expecting me."

"Yes Adam, come on in."

Callen walked into the warehouse and saw the other members of the group.

"Everyone, this is Adam. He's here to help us achieve our goals. He has access to the building."

Callen scanned everyone in the room so Eric and Nell had their faces to run facial reg on.

"Facial reg scanning now," Nell spoke through the earpiece.

"So what's the plan?" Callen asked.

"In two days we will execute our plan. The convention center will host an event for specifically the African and Hispanic Americans. That place it the perfect scene for our plan. So many of these people together is our time to strike," Roy Hoovers, the boss, gloated.

Just the way he spoke these words made Callen sick to his stomach. He didn't like that he was under with a white supremacy group but this attack had to be stopped and it was rumored they would be using military grade weapons and explosives for this attack. Callen needed to find out how they had gotten their hands on these.

"Alright, sounds like a plan. What do you need me to do?"

"Well you have access to that building so you will get us in so we can place the explosives in places no one will look."

"I know the right places."

"Great, show us."

They had a map of the convention center on the whiteboard. Callen walked up to it. He had studied the map before and figured out the right places to place the explosives for maximum impact, cus that was what his undercover persona wanted.

"So, we'll have five explosives right?" Roy nodded. "So we'll place them here, here, here, here and here," Callen put red x's on the map as he spoke. "These are right under the structure points of the building so if we place them there the building will collapse in seconds."

"Great, just what we need. No time for anyone to make it out."

Eric and Nell were listening and marked the places where the bombs would go so the bomb squad could disarm them.

"Jimmy, how are the bombs coming along?" Roy asked.

"Almost done. Don't worry, I'll have them done in time," Jimmy answered.

"Great, and Sonny, are the weapons ready?"

"Yes, weapons are cleaned and loaded," Sonny replied.

"Great. So Adam, you will get us to where we need to go, Jimmy will place the bombs while Sonny and I will keep watch and shoot anyone who tries to intervene. So for now everyone just relax and let Jimmy do his thing. Come on Adam, I'll show you to your room."

Callen followed Roy to his room. It was a small room with just a bed and a chair. Bathroom was down the hall. For now there was not much to do but wait but Callen had to stay there.

….

Luckily for Zoya Esme didn't mind staying until after dinner. She put Maya in bath as Zoya fed the triplets. Once Maya was done with bath she could stay up for a bit. Zoya had already fed Luka and was busy feeding Elena so Esme went to feed Maksim. Once Zoya was done feeding Elena she took her upstairs and changed her for bed. After she had placed Elena in her crib she went down and she did the same with Luka. Once Luka was in bed Esme was done feeding Maksim.

"Thank you for staying longer Esme," Zoya said as she took Maksim from Esme.

"Not a problem. Happy to help now that Grisha is away."

"Thank you."

"Bye Maya, I will see you tomorrow."

"Bye Esme."

Esme left and Zoya went to put Maksim to bed as well. Maya could stay up to watch a bit of TV before Zoya took her up to bed as well. Since Zoya probably wouldn't get much sleep tonight she went up to bed early. She was about to go into bed when her phone chirped and she saw she had a message from Callen.

'Hey honey, how are you? Kids already asleep? I miss you," Callen's text read.

'Hey honey, I'm good. How are you? How's everything going? Yeah the kids are all asleep. I miss you too.'

'Everything is good here. Plan has been made. It's going down in two days. So unfortunately I have to stay here until then. Good to hear the kids are asleep. Sorry I'm not there to help you with the triplets.'

'It's okay. We both know it's the job. Esme didn't mind staying longer so she helped me put Maya in bath and fed Maksim.'

'That's good. I will see you soon. I love you.'

'Yes see you soon. Be safe. I love you too.'

'Always.'

Zoya went to get some sleep but only for like half an hour.

"AH! WHY WON'T YOU JUST STAY ASLEEP!" Zoya yelled annoyed. She was tired and she wanted to sleep.

First Elena woke up, then Maksim and then Luka. She loved her babies but right now she hated it that they were awake and not asleep. Zoya didn't get much sleep that night. The triplets kept waking up like every hour or so.

Esme was there early the next morning. Zoya was already up since the babies were already up at 6am. Maya was still in bed. She still had six more weeks of vacation time from school.

"Good morning," Esme greeted as she walked into the house.

"Good morning."

"How did it go last night?"

"It was okay. Babies were up a lot. They are peacefully lying in their play pens now."

"If you want, you can get some more sleep, I'll watch the babies."

"You sure?"

"Yeah no problem."

"Thank you."

Zoya went upstairs and got two hours of sleep.

…..

The next day it was finally time for the plan to go down. Callen was so done with this. He couldn't stand to be around them. He had to pretend to have the same believes as them but he hated it. Early in the morning they drove to the convention center. Eric and Nell had supplied Callen with a key and badge for the convention center. They went to the places Callen had pointed out to place the bombs without anyone noticing them. Kensi and Deeks were close by to provide back-up as well as the bomb squad. As soon as the bombs were placed Callen and the others went back to their van. Their van was parked across the street so they could still witness the blast. It was now 8am and the event was scheduled to start at 9am. So for now they would just wait. Callen had alerted the rest of the team that the bombs had been placed and that the bomb squad could disarm them. In plain clothes two members of the bomb squad walked into the convention center, pretending to be personnel so they wouldn't stand out to Roy and the others, since they were still watching. The bomb squad managed to disarm the bombs with anyone noticing it.

Just after 9am the event started. Roy wanted to wait a little longer to make sure the place was packing. At 10am there were a lot of people inside.

"Jimmy, blow them up," Roy instructed Jimmy.

"With pleasure," Jimmy replied with a smile.

Jimmy pressed the button but nothing happened.

"What's wrong Jimmy? Why isn't the building exploding?" Roy spoke slightly annoyed.

"I don't know, I've pressed the button and I have a good connection but nothing is happening."

"Did you connect it right?" Sonny spoke.

"Yes of course I did," Jimmy replied annoyed.

"Then why are they not going off?" Callen joined in.

"I don't know."

"Then we go to plan b."

Plan b, was going in there with masks on and start shooting up the place. But of course Kensi and Deeks were aware of this plan as well and they had made sure that wouldn't happen. Together with some REACT guys they had gotten into the convention center as well, posing as people attending the event but inside they had stashed their tactical gear. They had made sure the people inside were safe and they were waiting for them to come inside.

Callen and the others put their masks on and grabbed their weapons before making their way up to the convention center. As soon as they walked in they saw one of the employers, who was also an NCIS agent. Roy shoot him, but he was wearing a vest, but he still pretending to go down. Callen was at the back of the group. They walked into the first big hall. Roy started shooting at the ceiling but then he noticed that there weren't any people inside just about a dozen of federal agents with their guns pointed at them. Roy and the others started shooting at them and took cover. Callen took cover as well and started shooting as well. But he made sure he didn't aim anywhere near the agents.

"Federal agents! Drop your weapons!" Kensi yelled.

"How the hell did they know about this?" Sonny questioned.

"Don't know," Jimmy answered. "But this would explain why the bombs didn't work."

After a few minutes of shooting Kensi and Deeks had managed to sneak up behind them. Realizing that they were outgunned they dropped their weapons. All of them, including Callen were arrested. Once at the LAPD precinct they were all separated and once it was safe Callen was released.

"Next time, go a little looser with the cuffs okay," Callen teased Kensi.

"Oh please, they were that tight."

"We get everything?"

"Yeah we raided the warehouse and found the rest of the weapons and explosives. Eric and Nell did some digging and they found out how they got their hands on them. Someone from Seal Beach helped them get it. It has already been forwarded to the local MP's and they've arrested him."

"Good. Glad this is over."

They went back to the office and Callen stored his undercover items before he sat down behind his desk. He opened his desk drawer and fished his wedding ring out of it. It felt good to have it back on his finger. Callen finished his after action report before Hetty send him home.

Callen was glad that this was over. He had missed Zoya and the kids. He parked the car in the driveway and walked inside. He walked through the hallway into the living room.

"Hello," Callen said when he didn't see anyone.

Zoya came out of the kitchen when she heard someone.

"G! You're home!" Zoya exclaimed happily and she ran up to him.

Zoya flew into his arms and Callen caught her. "Yeah I'm back."

Zoya wrapped her arms around him tightly and kissed him deeply and Callen eagerly kissed her back. She was so happy that her husband was back home safe and sound.

"I've missed you," Zoya spoke as she released his lips.

"I've missed you too."

"Did the….?" Zoya wanted to ask how the case went but they were interrupted by the babies fussing. "I guess they noticed daddy is home."

"I guess so." Callen gave Zoya one more kiss before he walked over to the playpens. "Hey my little babies, daddy's home again."

Callen picked Luka and Maksim up as Zoya picked Elena up and they sat down together on the couch. Zoya sat close to Callen so Elena was close to him as well. Callen gave all three babies a little kiss.

"Daddy's happy to be home again. Daddy missed you."

"We missed you too."

"How did they do?"

"They did okay. Woke up a lot at night so didn't get much sleep."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"It's okay, it's the job. Luckily Esme helped out a lot."

"Good. Where are Esme and Maya actually?"

"They are outside in the swimming pool."

Happy that Callen was back home safe and sound Zoya leaned against him and just enjoyed the moment.

"UNCLE GRISHA!" They were suddenly interrupted by Maya's yelling.

She and Esme had come out of the pool and Maya saw Callen sitting on the couch. Maya run up to the couch and sat Next to Callen and hugged him, being careful of the babies.

"Hey Maya."

"I've missed you Uncle Grisha. I'm glad you're back."

"I've missed you too. Were you a good girl to Aunt Zoya and Esme?"

"Yes I was. I helped Aunt Zoya with the babies."

"That's good."

"Welcome back Grisha," Esme said.

"Thanks and thanks for helping out."

"No problem."

Callen was happy to be home with his family again, he had missed them. Before Zoya he never minded going on undercover ops but nowadays he missed Zoya and the kids. They all went outside and went into the pool. They had three floaters to put the triplets in. Zoya couldn't swim yet after her c-section so she just sat on the edge of pool with just her legs in the water. Callen, Esme and Maya were in the pool and Callen and Esme swam the babies around in the pool. Zoya took some pictures and videos of the playtime in the pool. The babies were loving it. Happily they sat in their floaters and tried to tick their little feet in the water. After the case he had and pretending to be part of the group it was nice for Callen to just unwind. This was who he really was. A federal agent and a husband and father. And he loved all three things. The family enjoyed a nice day in the pool and yard before it was time for dinner. Callen fired up the grill and the family enjoyed a nice BBQ. After dinner Callen took Maya upstairs for bath and Zoya got started on feeding the babies as Esme went home. Once Maya was done Callen helped Zoya with feeding.

"I'll take them up to bed," Callen told Zoya.

Callen first took Maksim up and then Luka and Elena. When it was time for Maya to go to bed Callen took her up too. He grabbed himself a beer before joining Zoya on the couch again. Callen sat on the part of the couch with the ottoman attached to it so he and Zoya could sit there together. Callen sat there first and Zoya sat in between his legs, with her back resting against his chest.

"Hmm," Zoya spoke as she nestled herself against his chest. "So how did the case go?"

"It went fine. No casualties and all of them are in custody and we recovered all the weapons and explosives."

"Good."

Callen had turned the TV on but before he had even selected a channel Zoya had fallen asleep already. Callen noticed after a while that Zoya had fallen asleep so he carefully stood up and carried Zoya up the stairs. He placed her in their bed and went down to watch a bit of TV before going up to bed as well. He had just gotten into bed when he heard a cry over the monitor.

"I'll go honey," Callen told Zoya.

Realizing Zoya was up in bed with her clothes still on she went to change into her pajamas before going back to bed. A little later Callen joined her in bed as well but Zoya had fallen asleep already again. The next few times the babies cried Zoya didn't even wake up. Callen got out the next morning when the babies were awake. He brought them downstairs and fed them. A little later Esme arrived as well and Maya had woken up as well. Callen didn't have to go to work today. He had taken some paternity leave and only worked three days in the week.

Around 11am Callen went upstairs since Zoya hadn't come down yet. He walked into their bedroom and found Zoya awake but still in bed.

"Hey sleepyhead," Callen greeted her but Zoya didn't respond. Callen walked over to Zoya's side of the bed. "Hey honey." Callen saw that she had been crying. "Hey, Zoya, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. I just don't feel like getting out of bed. I'm just so tired. I'm so tired that I didn't even hear our babies crying last night. What kind of mother am I?! Who doesn't even hear her own babies crying."

"Hey honey," Callen told her as he took her in his arms. "It's okay. You are a wonderful mother. I got the babies last night, everything is okay. You're just tired. I'm sorry you had to do the last couple of nights alone, but I'm here now okay. And everything is okay. You are a wonderful mother."

"If I'm such a wonderful mother how come I didn't even manage to give birth to our kids," Zoya cried.

"That's not your fault. Doctor said these things happen, more often with multiple babies. You did nothing wrong, it's not your fault that the babies had to be delivered via c-section. But everything is alright with them."

"I'm their mother. It's my job to take care of them."

"And you do that honey. And I'm their dad, so it's my job too. And as your husband it's my job to take care of you too. I know it's a lot with three newborns but I think we're doing an okay job so far."

"I love our babies, but sometimes it's just a lot. I'm sorry honey."

"It's okay. You have nothing to apologize for. You are a wonderful mother and you do a great job taking care of our babies." Callen gave Zoya a soft kiss on her head. "I love you honey."

"I love you too. I'll be right down."

"Alright." Callen gave her one more kiss before he left the room.

Zoya sat on the bed for a little while before she went to get a shower. She just stood in the shower for a little while just letting the water rush over her before getting out. She didn't know why she felt this way. She was just so tired and didn't feel like doing anything.