Guys. Please. Please don't hate me. I can't help where my muse takes me though! If anyone out there is feeling creative and want to take my works and finish them, let me know and I would love to read them. Anyways, here is yet again, another story. Enjoy!

"Uh-oh" Five year old Tim said. He nervously looked over the edge of the arm rest of the couch to see bits of cereal everywhere and the milk slowly oozing dangerously close to underneath the couch.

"Tony, get up!" The boy urged his nine year old brother urgently. Panic was beginning to set in. He could not move unless Tony got off the blanket that was covering them both, but Tony appeared dead to the world. That might have been because the older boy got a rude awakening at five that morning to go downstairs and watch cartoons. Tim was not supposed to go downstairs by himself if no one else was awake, so he found the compromise with Tony. The older boy had not been too eager, but with shameless puppy dog eyes and an endless promise that Tim would just keep pestering the older brother, Tony had finally caved. Tony's compromise was to grab a blanket and immediately fall asleep on the couch.

Tim did not care though as he was just happy that Daddy would not be mad at him for coming downstairs alone. Again. After turning the TV on, he had realized how hungry he was and got up to make some cereal. He was not going to risk using the toaster that was for sure.

Which is how he ended up in the situation he was in.

After a pleading look at his brother, he spared another glance to the mess and was trying to judge whether he should just leave it, or try and move his lump of a brother. He did not need to think long on it because when he looked up, he saw his father standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"H-hi Daddy" The five year old greeted sheepishly.

"Timmy." His father returned. "Tony." The man continued when he saw a suspiciously Tony like bulge on the couch. He was rewarded with a grunt.

"What happen Timmy?" Gibbs asked returning his focus back to his youngest.

"I spilled my cereal when I was trying to get comfy" Tim explained apologetically.

"Why was there cereal out here anyways?" Gibbs asked with no real heat. Tim knew very well that foods like that weren't allowed in the living room for this specific reason. His boys were clumsy.

"Was hungry" The boy answered contritely.

"Mm-hmm"

"And it's cold in the kitchen!" Tim explained further. Dad did not look upset, but sometimes it was hard to tell. He was real good at hiding how he felt sometimes.

"That's true I suppose." Gibbs replied.

And it was. It was mid-November so the house had a nice chill about it. Gibbs would come downstairs in the morning before the boys got up and make a fire in the wood burning stove. It looked like his boys beat him downstairs today while he was trying to have a sleep-in.

"How about we go clean this up then?" The father suggested and Tim grinned. He then looked at Tony who was still sleeping and had him trapped in. Tim gave him a beseeching look. Gibbs took pity on his youngest and positioned Tony so he was not trapping Tim in. He tucked the blankets further around the boy and made sure he was comfortable. Once they got the mess cleaned up, he was going to start a fire to warm the house up.

"You guys are up kind of early, huh?" That father noted as the two cleaned up the mess with the paper towels they grabbed from the kitchen.

"He made me get up" Tony called sleepily from the couch. He woke up with all the ruckus his younger brother was making.

"I didn't come down alone!" Tim answered, wanting to make that known right away. "Besides, we were just watching TV. Or sleeping in Tony's case"

"Which is what you should have been doing as well, Tim" Gibbs told the five year old. "Cartoons could have waited."

"But the good ones are on now!" Tim clarified.

A loud "humpf" was heard from the couch.

"Why don't you boys go back upstairs for a bit and you can watch cartoons later" Gibbs proposed.

"But I'm not tired Daddy. And I'm still hungry"

"'m comfy" Tony added.

Gibbs sighed. He had seen when Tim's body gave an involuntary shudder from the cold. He also knew he would not be able to convince his sons to go upstairs now.

"Okay, you boys win" The father said, admitting defeat. "Tim you get back under the blankets. I'll be right back and start the fire." The man explained. Tim hurried to obey. His bare feet were freezing. He briefly though about putting them against the bare skin of his brothers back, but quickly nixed the idea. Tony had done him a favor of coming downstairs with his after all.

Once Gibbs saw his sons were warm and snuggly he walked to the kitchen. He threw away the soiled paper towels before putting a pot of coffee on. He threw in a couple of pieces of bread into the toaster. It would have to hold Tim off until breakfast later.

It was Gibb's weekend off from on call and he was looking forward to spending it with his two boys. It was a rare weekend when none of his boys had plans and Gibbs had off. He was looking forward to spending it with his sons.

Once Gibbs came back with some buttered toast for Tim and a coffee for himself, he was Tony fast asleep. Tim was still eagerly watching the cartoons. He handed Tim the plate of toast before he started to make the fire.

"No juice?" Tim asked. Gibbs gave him an incredulous look.

"Yeah, probably not a good idea." Tim said with a chagrined look. Gibbs didn't answer that and instead continued with his task. Once it was going well enough, he got up and started heading to the kitchen.

"Dad wait!" Tim called out.

"What's up, Timmy?" he asked.

"Aren't you going to watch with me?"

"Tony's watching with you" Gibbs evaded.

"He's sleeping" Tim countered easily.

"There's no room on the couch." He tried.

"Sure there is" Tim disagreed. "I'll scoot over" Tim told his father happily. As if to prove his point Tim wriggled over an inch. Gibbs sighed. He had wanted to spend the weekend with his boys, but this was not how he had planned on it.

"Okay" Gibbs said resigned. "Give me a minute"

Sure enough after Gibbs added a few more logs to the fire and refilled his mug, he came back to the couch. He told Tim to stand up and he sat down and pulled the five year old to sit on his lap. Tim happily snuggled into his dad's lap, excited he was actually watching with him. As if Tony sensed the new presence he stretched out lazily and the father placed a gentle hand on his thigh and started to rub it soothingly to keep him sleeping.

"Are you comfortable?" Gibbs asked Tim softly.

Tim nodded. His mouth was currently filled with toast.

"Good" Gibbs said and leaned comfortably in the couch. With a full tummy, warmth fire and blankets and gentle rubbing of his arms from his father, Tim was quickly asleep. Gibbs was not far behind, not at all interested in the cartoons that were playing.

The fire was out but the embers were still going by the time Gibbs woke up. He saw that both of his boys were still sleeping, but now he had to get off the couch without waking Tim. He heard his body popping as he stood up and laid Tim back on the couch. He tucked the blankets around both his son's before adding more wood to the fire. He looked at the clock and saw it was not 7 am. A much more reasonable hour to be awake.

Gibbs made another pot of coffee and grabbed the newspaper by the time Tim woke up. He was still ruffled looking and was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes when he walked into the kitchen fifteen minutes later.

"Morning, Timmy" Gibbs greeted.

"Morning Daddy" Tim returned walking over to his father.

"Tony still sleeping?" Tim nodded. "Are you hungry?" Another nod as the boy climbed lazily on to the island chair.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Gibbs asked.

"Yup. Tony can choose what we have tomorrow." Gibbs explained. "So what's it going to be?"

"Pancakes."

Gibbs was not surprised as Tim always asked for pancakes. He always ate the plain too. But if that's what he wanted he would make them.

"I can do that" Gibbs agreed easily. He got started on the batter and asked Tim to set the table.

After a couple of minutes to wake up, Tim was finally up. Tim chattered away to his father, happy to have the man all to himself. When the table was set, Tim headed out to leave the kitchen mid conversation.

"Where'ye going Timmy?" Gibbs asked, clearly confused about what was happening.

"Potty" The boy said urgently.

"Oh. Wake up Tony up on your way back." The father requested.

"Yes sir" Tim agreed before rushing off.

After Tim finished his business and washed his hands, he thought about what his father asked him to do. He stared at the cup on the bathroom sink for a full minute before getting the courage to fill it up. He was feeling a little guilty for what he was going to do, but Tony was always pulling pranks on him.

He managed to avoid the squeaky steps and ended up standing over his brother who was sleeping away on the couch. He only thought on it for a moment before pouring the cold water on his brother's face. He quickly scrambled back when Tony shot up sputtering. It took Tony a second to connect why his brother was standing there laughing and why his face was wet.

"I'm going to kill you Tim!" Tony yelled and shot off the couch. Tim was still laughing as he ran into the kitchen. He hid behind his father and Tony came to an abrupt stop in front of him.

Gibbs was confused as to what was going on and he did not like that feeling.

"What's going on?" The man asked curiously.

"He poured water on me!" Tony cried out in injustice.

"You asked me to wake him up, Daddy" Tim said innocently, trying to hide his grin.

"Timothy. That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Sorry." Tim said with no real meaning.

Tony harrumphed, not happy with his brother. Gibbs did know that this was a mild prank and Tony had it coming, so he let it slide. He instead told the boys to sit down for breakfast.

"What do you boys want to do today?" The father asked once everyone was settled.

"Nothing." Tim said.

"Tony?" Gibbs asked, hoping for a suggestion.

"I actually agree with Tim on this one" Tony told his dad. "Movies all day."

"That so? So no one wants to go to the pool, movie theater or bowling?"

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess bowling would be fun" Tony said, trying to be nonchalant, but not quiet pulling it off. Timmy on the other hand, had no reservations about showing his enthusiasm.

"Can we Dad?" And we can get pop and nachos" He told Tony as he hopped in his seat.

"Okay Tiger. Settle down. We need to go buy groceries, but we can go after lunch." Gibbs told them. "So eat your breakfast and we can get going."

The rest of breakfast was spent with happy chatter about the plans for the rest of the day. They all helped to clean up. Saturday was a no bath/shower day for the boys, so Gibbs was content to use a wash cloth to wipe up the sticky syrup from Timmy's hand and face. He then sent the boys back to the living room while he grabbed a shower himself and got dressed. As he passed the boys room, he saw toys and clothes everywhere and decided they would have to clean it tomorrow.

When he got downstairs Gibbs tossed another log onto the fire. The boys were back to watching TV and were once more tucked under the blankets even though the chill was gone from the air.

"Go get dressed" The father ordered.

"In a minute" Tim answered.

"Don't you want to go bowling?" Gibbs asked.

"The shows not done yet" Tim complained. Tony wasn't as interested in the show and got up to go upstairs. He paused at Tim's comment. If his brother was going to put up a fuss, that put his day in jeopardy.

"Come on Timmy. They show will be on when we get back" To which he was rewarded with a glance from Tim. "The quicker we get ready the longer we can spend doing other fun things." The older boy wheedled.

"Okay" Tim finally agreed. He kept the blanket wrapped around himself and stumbled towards the stairs.

"Why don't you leave the blanket down here, buddy" Gibbs requested, not wanting his son to get hurt.

"It's cold, Daddy" Tim replied.

"Tim. It's fine with the fire going. I don't want you to trip on the blanket." The father explained.

"My feet are cold though. 'm not wearing socks" He whined.

"You're not wearing socks?" Gibbs asked with fake shock. "Well we don't want your little piggies to fall off, do we?" Gibbs said, before scooping his son up, blankets and all.

Tim let out a laugh of pure amusement.

"Daddy!" The boy shrieked as his father pretended to eat his tummy.

"Toe-nee! Help!" Tim yelled gleefully. He tried to wiggle out of his dad's hold.

Tony didn't need any encouragement and he jumped off the step onto his father's back. Gibbs stumbled, but managed to stay upright. He reached an arm back to try and snag Tony off his back with no luck.

"Uncle!" Gibbs told his sons, much to their delight. "We have shopping to do" he explained. Tony made no move to get off his dad's back.

"Alright, monkey, hold tight" He told the nine year old and headed up the stairs. He was breathing heavy when he got to the top and set his son's down carefully. He grabbed the blanket before sending the boys off to brush their teeth and get ready.

"Timmy gets the bathroom first" Gibbs yelled down the hall as both boys had made a mad dash for the bathroom.

"But dad-"Tony started to complain.

"Go get dressed and Tim will be out by the time you are done" Gibbs cut the older boy off.

Not only could Tony hold it longer, but Tim always managed to get toothpaste or water on his clothes, and Gibbs would prefer it on the boy's jammies than his real clothes.

Gibbs was glad to see both boys got ready without any more encouragement. He noticed Tony's clothes were looking kind of short. He would have to recruit Kate to help him shop later.

A few minutes later the boys were bundled up in their jackets and were ready to go when the phone rang. The two boys looked at their father with anticipated disappointment as Gibbs answered the phone.

"Yeah, Gibbs" He answered. Then a hefty sigh. "It's my weekend off Vance"

"Can't you get another team?" A long pause. "Yeah, I will be there in a little bit"

Gibbs shut his phone and pocketed it before addressing his son's. Tony looked crestfallen, but resigned with what he knew his father was going to say. Tim on the other hand look downright livid.

"I'm sorry, boys" Gibbs told them sadly. "I have to go in for a little bit. I promise the minute I am done, we can spend some time together."

"It's okay" Tony tried to appease, knowing how important his dad's job was. Timmy knew it too, but right now all he could think about was how his dad was going to abandon them for work. Again.

"It's not fair! Don't go Daddy!" Tim yelled at his father.

Gibbs crouched in front of his youngest and grabbed the boy by his waist so he could not run away.

"I know, baby" Gibbs soothed. "It is not fair at all. Right now a family is missing their little boy, and I am on the only team available to find him.

"I don't care!" Tim cried. "I wanna stay with you!"

Knowing that Tim was upset and that the boy wasn't actually that callous, Gibbs let the comments slide. He felt terrible for doing this to his boys, but Gibbs was literally the only team that could handle this case. He did not have the time to talk this out with Timmy and knew it would not appease the boy anyways.

"Tony, go grab some toys for you and your brother please" He requested. "You'll come with me to work until Grandpa can pick you up. Grab the Ipad too" Gibbs told him.

"Yes sir" Tony replied easily. They did not get to play a whole lot on the Ipad, and he knew his father was trying to make this easier on them by allowing unlimited access.

"I hate you" Tim pouted to his father as Tony wen to do as he was bid.

Gibbs sighed. The father let out a loud yelp in pain and shock when Tim kicked him in the shin.

"That's enough Timothy!" I get that you're mad but you do not get to kick me. You can stay here until we leave" Gibbs scolded as he walked his youngest into the corner. The father tried to ignore the tears he saw in his son's eyes. He left Tim in the living room and gathered the things he would need for work. A few minutes later the three of them were ready to leave.

"Come on Timmy, time to go" Gibbs called to his son who still stood in the corner.

Tim shook his head, Gibbs groaned. He did not have time for this. He grabbed Tim by the hand and literally dragged him out of the house. Tim knew not to push his father much more, but he was not going to make this easy for his dad either. Gibbs was quick to catch this. He asked Tony to lock up and picked Tim up and placed the five year old on his hip before heading out to the car which was parked in the driveway. Tim tried to wriggle his way out of his father's firm hold to no avail. Gibbs placed the boy in his booster seat and buckled him in before Tim could protest. Tony had caught and got in the back seat as well. With both boys buckled in, Gibbs got in and drove off to work.