Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or it's characters. I do not make any money from this, I am just barrowing for the enjoyment of my readers. I claim Nicole Conrad as my own, I did create her.

AN: Ok, so don't hate me but I'm kinda stuck on Life Ever After. Have no fear it will get done I just can't promise when! Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. In the meantime I'm also working on Giving Up The Heart and now this one...So! Yes! This is a sequel to A Child's Eyes! Not sure where it is headed, but I didn't know where the other one was going either and look where it ended up! So enjoy and let me know what you think. Thanks. dark rollling sea.

A Child's Heart

Chapter One: Frustration Mounts

Gibbs sat in his basement and stared at his boat, neglected for so long while his arm was immobilized in the horrendous white contraption the doctors called a cast. They had removed it last week, ten full weeks after he had been shot while trying to rescue his new adopted daughter Nicole. His arm constantly burned with pain, his shoulder throbbing with each movement as his muscles were moved once more.

They had been dormant for so long, trapped while the bones healed back together, and the muscles fused back to a normal state. Scar tissues built up in the hole that was entrenched through his shoulder, filling the voids, making the muscles solid once more. His clavicle had refused itself and the acromion had reattached itself.

His shoulder was stiff from nonuse and the pain was still pulsing through, sometimes with even more fierceness than when the bullet had torn it all apart in the first place. But this was something he would not admit, he would not break down, he would endure the torturous pain of using his arm again, without the aid of high doses of pain medication.

He stared at the tools sitting, covered in dust, on the table and then slowly turned his head to face the boat. How he ached to work on her, to feel his hands smooth the boat, and form the wood into something tangible. He heard soft footsteps coming down the stairs behind him but he did not turn to look. He knew who it was.

Her feet padded quietly across the cement basement floor, disappearing when she reached the rug by the couch. He could feel her presence come up behind him and then her small hand gently gripped his left arm. She was so careful around him, never coming in contact with the right side, knowing full well that it was excruciating for him.

His lips curled without his permission into a small smile as she leaned her head against his left shoulder, not breaking the silence that encased the room. She reached out with her other hand and slowly ran it down the ribbing of the boat. Gibbs watched her hand, his smile disappearing as he bit his lip. She sensed his apprehension and turned slightly to look up at him.

"It'll be ok, Gibbs," she said softly with such innocence and truth in her eyes that he swallowed back the tears that threatened to form in his eyes. He slowly nodded, not trusting his own words as he looked away from her once again. His left arm pulled from her light grasp and moved around her gently coming down surrounding her shoulders pulling her closer to him. He leaned down and kissed the top of the twelve year old's head and left his cheek gently pressing against her.

Gibbs heard another set of feet on the steps. They came down a couple before stopping and then a soft noise before nothing. He hugged Nicole tighter and took a deep breath, relishing in the fact that there was a child in his life once again. He fought the tears and closed his eyes to ward off the memories of the past, not that he didn't want to remember Kelly; he just didn't want it to intrude now. He opened his eyes again and shifted slightly, bringing his head up and glancing over his shoulder. Looking up the stairs he saw Jen sitting on the third from the top, watching him and Nicole sitting in front of the boat.

She glanced at her wrist, checking the time, before she pushed herself to her feet again and came down the rest of the steps, coming up slowly behind Gibbs and Nicole. She reached out and ran a hand through Gibbs' hair, ruffling it, before her hand slipped softly to Nicole's shoulder.

"It's time for bed, Nic," she said quietly as the girl looked up at her. Nicole nodded once and then looked at Gibbs for a moment before she leaned close to his ear.

"Give it time," she whispered to him before she kissed him on the cheek and moved to go up the stairs and out of their sight. Jen's hand came to rest on Gibbs' left shoulder and she rubbed a gentle circle over his shirt causing him to look at her with sadness in his eyes. She also saw the pain circling deep within his orbs, something he tried desperately to hide from her.

"You staying here tonight?" Gibbs asked leaning his cheek against her arm as it stilled on his shoulder. Jen thought about it for a moment. Through their entire two and a half month relationship she had managed to split her time equally between his home and her apartment. He left it up to her to choose which place she stayed at, which play she called home.

"Do you want me too?" she asked dropping her arm to his back, resuming her rubbing gesture. He didn't answer her and she studied him. His eyes were clenched closed, his right hand was tightly fisted, his shoulder tense. Her hand slowly came up his back and came into contact with the right shoulder, causing his eyes to open. He looked up at her with a frown on his face but still didn't say a word to her. She slowly nodded, seeing in his eyes that he wanted her to stay.

They could hear Nicole moving around in the upper level, getting ready for bed. Gibbs was growing fatigued himself and hated the feeling. Lately he had trouble keeping himself from feeling tired. He had been off work since the shooting and Jen wouldn't even let him in the building. He spent his days sitting in his house with nothing but the DVD player Nicole had made him buy so long ago.

The team stopped by when they could to visit him but for the most part he was stuck in his home, a prisoner of sorts while his damn shoulder healed. With the cast off he was now in a detailed physical therapy program to get the muscles back into shape and to gradually help him regain the use of his shoulder. He had done three sessions since the cast came off and each time he had felt like pulling his service weapon out and shooting the young man who was manipulating the shoulder.

But he practiced his restraint and remained idle, knowing it was just the kid's job. The young man was not doing it on purpose and nothing would make his shoulder be normal once again besides the agonizing routines he was put through.

Jen circled behind him and wrapped her arms around him under his own arms, laying her head against his left shoulder blade, clasping her hands across his chest. She kissed his neck softly and then put her chin on his shoulder.

"Let's go upstairs," she said. He nodded slowly and stood, while she released her hold on him. They came up to the top of the stairs to see Nicole come from the bathroom clad in her pajamas. She smiled at them both and bounced across the floor, closing the gap between them. She stopped in front of Jen first and hugged the woman before she turned to Gibbs.

"Night, Gibbs," she said as he bent down in front of her. She kissed his cheek and hugged him before he let her go and she headed for her room. He watched until she closed the door before he turned and saw Jen heading towards his own room. He stood for a moment waiting in the hallway, thanking God for giving him a family again.

He reflected on how much had changed back in August when Nicole Conrad had come into his life after her mother had been murdered. He had ruthlessly and diligently tracked down the killer for the young girl, firmly forming a connection to her in the process. When the end came he was unable to give her up and had fought with everything he had to be able to adopt her and keep her in his life forever.

He had won, they had let her live with him and now he was her father. He was solely responsible for the young woman that resided in the room next to his. A smile crossed his face, knowing that nothing meant more to him than her safety and happiness. It was also during this time that his feelings for Jen came to light, knowing that they had been there, just buried deep within him.

Never did he think she would still harbor the same for him, but to his surprise she had. They had agreed to give it a try, knowing full well it would be difficult to restart their relationship with a twelve year old in the mix, but the pull was strong. And here he stood now, between the two women in his life, and he realized he hadn't been this happy in almost twenty years.

He slowly made his way down the hallway towards his room, where Jen was waiting for him. His right arm was cradled in front of him, as was becoming habit when it was sore, as he carefully made his way through the door. Jen caught sight of his demeanor and looked down at the sheets she was sitting on top of. Gibbs caught the avoidance and tilted his head to the side before he spoke.

"What?" he asked softly, knowing what she was about to say.

"Take some pills, Jethro," she whispered softly, her eyes coming up and meeting his own.

"I don't need them," he said with a small shake of his head, his eyes locking onto her hers, daring her to contradict him. She bit on her lower lip gently before conceding with a small nod, after which she patted the bed next to her.

"Then come to bed," she said lying back against the pillows. Gibbs came around the bed and laid down, as Jen snuggled into him. He wrapped his good arm around her as she drew random patterns on his shirt clad chest. His shoulder would get better he told him self with frustration, this was temporary. It was something he repeated to himself a lot lately as the frustration of the situation bared its teeth at him.

Time would pass and his shoulder would be fine. He went through this before he could make it through this again. It wasn't this bad last time something in his mind told him but he tried to ignore it. It would be ok, his shoulder would be 'normal' again. He would return to work, and he would have his family. He just had to be patient, he would be patient.

There were his thoughts as he drifted to sleep. These were his thoughts every night as he drifted to sleep, since the cast was removed. Some nights he was alone in his bed, some nights Jen shared it with him, but every night he told himself his shoulder would heal in time. The frustration was simply temporary; it was what kept him going.

TBC…