Tony smiled as he looked down at the woman asleep in his arms. His wife, his best friend, the mother of his children, his soul mate. His chest warmed and his smile grew as she shifted in her sleep, pulling herself closer to him. He brought his hand up to her face and brushed a stray lock of silky brown hair behind her ear before placing a soft, tender kiss on her cheek.

As tired as he was, Tony didn't let himself drift off to sleep. This was the first time he had spent alone with Kate for almost 7 months, and even though she herself was sleeping, he couldn't have planned a more perfect evening.

It was 'date night' and so, Abby and McGee were baby sitting. They had never really had a date, not a proper one anyway and Tony wanted to show Kate what he would have done for her. He had taken her to this quiet, secluded spot on a nearby beach he had found one night nearly 10 years ago. He had packed several thick blankets to keep them warm and had cooked a romantic meal.

When he had told Kate to dress warm, she became skeptical. It was supposed to be 'date night'. He was supposed to wine and dine her.

"Okay, Tony. Why does it smell like dead fish?!" Kate huffed as Tony led her to the spot he had set up earlier that day, he eyes had been blindfolded since they left the house.

"Just trust me, babe" Tony smiled, coming to a stop. Kate's grip on his hand like a vice.

Once Tony removed the blindfold from Kate's eyes, she was gobsmacked. It was so beautiful. The sea glistened under the moonlight and there were candles flickering all around them. Tony had laid out a blanket on the sand and there was a picnic basket in the middle of it.

"Oh, Tony!" Kate gasped, jumping into his arms and placing a big kiss on his cheek. "Its perfect!"

"So are you" Tony smiled back, placing a sweet kiss on Kate's lips, causing her to smile, as he led her to sit down on the blanket.

The smell of dead fish was long forgotten.

After checking in several times with Abby and McGee (after all, it was the first time in 7 months that she had really been away from the babies for more than a few minutes), tiredness soon overcome Kate. Her and Tony were lying down on the blanket, wrapped up in a few blankets just staring up at the stars. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep, the beating of Tony's heart lulling her.

They would be lying if they said the last 7 months had been easy. They had been anything but easy. After the birth of the boys, they had spent the next two months in the hospital. Lucas and Oscars' lungs were extremely underdeveloped and they had had a few close calls, they had even lost Lucas for a few minutes when he was 3 days old. Tony had gone back to work after about a month, Kate telling him that it was probably for the best and that they needed to keep to the routine they had before hand. Tony spent most of his nights in the hospital with Kate and his sons, Amelia and Lily also as they refused to be away from Kate and their little brothers. If it wasn't for Kate's father, Rachel, Abby, McGee, Gibbs and Ziva, Kate and Tony wouldn't have made it. As much as both Kate and Tony hated to ask for help, this was a time in their lives where they needed as much help as they could get and they were grateful they had such amazing people willing to help them. Kate still hadn't gone back to work, not properly at least. She had helped out with a few cases but nothing like she used to. When she was at work she just wanted to be at home with her kids, and when she was at home she just wanted to get back to work. It was a vicious cycle. But, she had decided that she would go back after Christmas, which fit in perfectly as the boys would almost be one then.

Kate stirred in her sleep, her eyes opening slowly. She sat up, stretching out the kinks in her back.

"How long have I been out?" Kate asked, yawning.

"About an hour" Tony smiled, sitting up himself.

"Sorry"

"Don't be, babe. I love watching you sleep"

It was true, Tony loved watching Kate sleep. She was so beautiful, even at her most weakest and vulnerable she still looked flawless. And Kate asleep under the moonlight, there were no words to describe such beauty.

Kate shot Tony a weird look before resting her head on his shoulder, his arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her close to him once again.

"Thank you, Tony" Kate smiled, placing a kiss on his shoulder. "Tonight was... Perfect"

"Really?"

"Yes, Tony. I've missed you so much. I love our kids, don't get me wrong, but they just take up so much time and energy, I feel like I never see you anymore. Not properly"

"I've missed you too" Tony sighed, placing a kiss on his wife's temple. "C'mon, we better get back"

"Just five more minutes" Kate bit her lip, and raised her eyebrows seductively, lying back down on the blanket, pulling Tony with her so he came to lie on top of her.

(-)

It was a little after 9am on a Sunday morning and the Todd-DiNozzo household was uncharacteristically quiet. Normally, the girls would be up and watching their cartoons and the boys would be awake, screaming at the top of their tiny, now fully developed (or as Tony so often put it 'over developed') lungs for their morning feed.

"Tony" Kate said, her voice slightly on edge.

"..yeah Kate?" Tony said sleepily, his face still buried in the pillow.

"Its silent"

"That's good, go back to sleep" Tony said, waving his hand.

"No Tony... Its quiet"

"Oh my God!" Tony shot up, looking around their bedroom realising they should have been woken up three hours ago by screaming babies. "Its 9am...Why isn't there any screaming?!"

"I don't know"

Both Kate and Tony shot out of bed and ran to the boys' bedroom, only to find it empty. Shortly after the birth of their sons, Kate and Tony had moved into a bigger, more family-friendly home. Granted, it was almost an hour away from work (56 minutes each way if they were lucky) but the benefits far outweighed the burdens.

It was a four bedroomed house (the boys were still sharing but they were too young to really care), with a giant back garden complete with grass, a swing set, a basketball hoop and plenty of room to run around and play in. And not to mention, a white picket fence and hanging flower pots on the front. They had moved into a quiet, child-friendly neighbourhood, the school a five minute walk away and neighbours, who were more than happy to mind the kids while Kate and Tony were at work.

"Where are the twins?" Tony swallowed hard.

"'Melia, Lily?" Kate shouted. No answer. "Oh my God, Tony. What if something bad has happened?!" Kate's eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sure they're okay. There's a reasonable explanation for this" Tony kissed Kate's cheeks before they both ran down the stairs, praying to any and every God that would listen that they were down there.

Kate stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she entered the living room, causing Tony to run into the back of her. Her heart was pounding in her ears and her eyes were full to the brim with tears.

"Oh my God" Kate gasped, her eyes moving to the sofa. "Dad, what the hell?!" She snapped, not in a nasty way, but in a more relieved way.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, Katie" Richard Todd smiled, one of his grandsons in his arms.

"Scared me?" Kate laughed.

"We thought something had happened" Tony laughed nervously, picking Oscar up out of his Moses basket and hugging him tightly.

"Oh. I'm sorry you two" Richard sighed, sounding deflated. "I thought it would be a nice surprise"

"It was a surprise alright" Kate sat down on the sofa next to her father, kissing him on the cheek. "Just maybe, ring us or something next time?"

The girls came hurting into the living room and jumped on Kate, happy their mother and father were finally up. Richard had helped Amelia and Lily cook Kate and Tony breakfast and the girls couldn't wait for their parents to wake up so they could give them it. Once they had had their breakfast, the day was spent lounging around the house in their pyjamas, watching films and spending time as a family. It wasn't often they got to see Richard, so they all made the most of it. He had five children and countless grandchildren, but it was safe to say, Kate, Tony and their beautiful family was by far his favourite. Maybe he was biased because Kate was always his little girl and secretly his favourite, but it was impossible not to love each and every one of them.

Richard knew the moment he met Tony that his daughter had met her soul mate. Sure, she had constantly complained about him for four years prior, but there was a way in which she complained about him, a twinkle in her eye whenever she said his name, a smile whenever she thought of him. Whether or not she knew it at the time, she was in love with him, and the way Tony was with her, childish and immature, it was clear he felt the same way. But when Richard first actually saw Tony with Kate, the way he looked at her, held her, listened and comforted her... How he had come all the way to Indiana with her, just to make sure she was okay, that's when he knew that they were going to be together forever. He was glad Kate was finally, genuinely happy. After all the crap she had been through in her life, she deserved it. Tony seemed to make her happier and happier every day. Richard loved watching the way his children were with their spouses, he really was lucky that he and Martha had raised such amazing children. He especially loved watching Kate and Tony, though. They literally lit up around each other and their love was so strong that it radiated and just filled the room, making whoever was sharing it with them, instantly happier. They truly were made for the other, even a blind person would be able to see that. They brought out the best in the other, and they had both grown so much over the past few years. Everybody, including Kate and Tony, knew that, no matter what life threw at them, they were strong enough to overcome it and they would fight and come out stronger for it.

What's a soul mate?

It's uh... Well, it's like a best friend, but more. It's the one person in the world that knows you better than anyone else. It's someone who makes you a better person. Actually, they don't make you a better person, you do that yourself because they inspire you. A soul mate is someone who you carry with you forever. It's the one person who knew you and accepted you and believed in you before anyone else did or when no one else would. And no matter what happens, you'll always love her. Nothing can ever change that.

I hope you liked this chapter! I wrote about four different ones, not really knowing how to end it? But, I liked this one the most. I know it's quite short, sorry, but I hope it was cutesy enough or you. I can't believe its taken me almost a year to write this, thank you so much to everyone who has stuck by me, especially if you've been there from the beginning. I wouldn't have been able to do it without your support! Please review this chapter, it's the final one:D (I might do a sequel, just got to know if anybody is actually interested!)

PS sorry for the Dawsons Creek quote, i'm in a cringey mood and I think it is so cute and it kinda its in with the chapter?