Summary: Jenny is dead and she left Gibbs a gift…A teenage son who has nothing in common with Gibbs…Or does he? Takes place right after Jenny dies.

Chapter 1

Jeremiah Jackson Shepherd…aka Jeremiah Jackson Gibbs, sat on his bed looking at the ceiling. His mother had never mentioned his father, not once! He had never asked; he had never wanted to know. But she was gone now, and he couldn't ask. All he knew was that she had put the name of his father in her will and it was expected that he go and live with that man.

He was sixteen, old enough to get an apartment, old enough to be out on his own! Heck, he could get a job if he wanted. That was naïve of him though, and he knew it. He needed to finish school if he ever wanted to get a good job, at least one that paid!

Meanwhile, Jethro Gibbs looked at the will that had been placed in front of him. "You can't be serious…" He looked at the lawyer.

"I am serious." The lawyer looked at him very sternly. "Jenny Shepherd named you the father of her son Jeremiah. The boy is sixteen. That would make sense since that was right around the time you two met and had a romance."

"She told you about that?" Gibbs looked at the man questioningly.

"She did. She told me a lot of things. I was her lawyer." He explained.

Gibbs just nodded and looked confused. "Jenny and I got together right after my daughter and wife were killed in a fire. It had only been a year or so, and I was still very hurt from losing them. But Jenny, she was the best medicine for me." Gibbs shook his head and sat down. The lawyer handed Gibbs a picture of Jeremiah. "My son…" Gibbs looked at the picture of him. It was a recent picture. Jeremiah had Gibb's eyes, jet black hair, and was medium build.

They were in the downstairs area of Jenny's house. Jeremiah came down and looked at Gibbs. "You're my dad?" He asked, looking at Gibbs confused.

"That's what your mom wrote in the will." Gibbs replied. "And you have my eyes, so I would assume that yes, you are my son."

"Okay." Jeremiah nodded. "Should I pack my stuff up to move into your house? I am sure that whoever gets the money from this place is going to want it sold quickly."

Gibbs sighed. "The money from this place is to go into a college account for you." Gibbs replied. "So, we have two weeks before the lawyers suggested putting it on market. Would you like to stay here longer?" He asked.

Jeremiah looked at the ground and shook his head no. "Too many memories." He replied.

"I understand." Gibbs nodded.

Jeremiah went back up to his room and put some clothes in a suitcase. He went back downstairs with his suitcase in hand. "You can have the movers get everything out of my room and send it to your place." Jeremiah told Gibbs.

"Okay." Gibbs nodded. "I do have a spare room, so you can move in there."

"Sounds good." Jeremiah replied. Gibbs had always had a spare room, even when his wife and daughter had lived there, but recently, he had been working on renovating his house and getting over losing them. Sure, he probably would never get over losing them fully, but he knew that if he could just turn his daughter's room into a guest room as well, he would finally hit that point of 'moving on' or 'moving forward', and that was what he felt he needed.

So, by the time Jeremiah got to the Gibbs house, he got to choose between two rooms. "You have two guest rooms?" Jeremiah looked at him strangely. Both rooms had queen sized beds in them and big closets.

"Yes." Gibbs replied; "I just decided to turn my office into a guest room." He lied.

"Whatever." Jeremiah replied, entering the daughter's old room and setting down his stuff. "This will do."

"Okay. Sounds good." Gibbs smiled at him from the doorway and then walked back downstairs.

Later that day, Gibbs ordered a pizza, half cheese, half pepperoni, and they sat down for their first meal together. "So," Gibbs began. "Do you have a girlfriend?" He asked Jeremiah.

Jeremiah looked thoughtful for a second. "Kind of." He replied.

"Kind of as in what?" Gibbs asked.

"As in, we have always been 'best friends' for as long as I can remember and she doesn't like me the way I like her." He replied.

"Well," Gibbs smiled. "You have to make a move on her at some point."

"I don't want to lose her friendship." Jeremiah replied.

"You won't." Gibbs replied.

"How can you be so sure?" Jeremiah asked.

"Because I made the mistake of never telling my best female friend how much I loved her, and one day, she was gone." Gibbs replied.

"You're talking about mom aren't you?" Jeremiah asked.

"Yep. I should have told her. There was so much I should have told her. You will regret it forever if you don't tell this girl you love her." Gibbs replied.

"Okay. I will tell her tomorrow at school." Jeremiah got up and set his plate in the sink. "So, what are you working on down there?" He asked.

"I'll show you." Gibbs replied, leading him out to the garage.

"A boat?" Jeremiah asked.

"Yup. A boat!" Gibbs replied proudly. "You should help me work on it." He suggested.

"I don't think I would be any good at that." Jeremiah replied.

"You should give it a try first. You know, your mom even helped me a little on it." Gibbs told him.

"Really?" Jeremiah asked.

"Really." Gibbs replied. "I would love it if you did too. You don't have to help me every day, just a little here and there. And when it is finished, we can take it out."

"Okay." Jeremiah agreed.

"Have you thought about what you want to do after high school?" Gibbs randomly asked.

"A little. I really want to be in the Navy or Marines, maybe get into special ops or Special Forces. Or one day be in the FBI or CIA."

"Oh no!" Gibbs protested. "None of my offspring will ever become an FBI agent."

Jeremiah laughed at that. "Fine." He agreed. "Military it is."

And father and son sat down in the boat and talked for hours. They got to know each other really well. Gibbs and Jeremiah found that they both liked camping and fishing, and he found out that the girl that his son liked was from Israel. "I promise," Gibbs told Jeremiah. "That I will get someone to help you speak Hebrew to her and you will totally win her heart."

Jeremiah thanked his dad for that. "But how could you have known her 'forever' if she is from Israel?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, she moved here when we were both in eighth grade. I was instantly drawn to her and I knew I wanted to date her so badly, but we ended up becoming friends instead. I think me not being Jewish is a problem." He replied.

Gibbs frowned. "That shouldn't be a big deal." He replied. "My mom was Jewish, my dad was Catholic, and you are Jewish."

"Really?" Jeremiah asked.

"Really." Gibbs smiled at him. "Where do you think you got that black hair from?" He asked.

Jeremiah smiled back. "I never knew." He answered.

"Well, now you do." Gibbs smiled at him. "And I have something that might help you win her as well." Gibbs led him up to his room where he opened a box that held a necklace on a silver chain. "It has both a star of David and a cross on it. I wore it all through high school as a testament to where I came from. I lost my mom when I was young too, and I never wanted to forget that part of my past."

"Cool. I can have it?" Jeremiah asked.

"Sure." Gibbs handed it to him. "Take good care of it. It is kind of old."

"I will. Thank you so much." He put it on and then hid it under his shirt. Gibbs looked at him strangely. "I am only going to show it to Leila." He told Gibbs.

Gibbs just nodded. "Tomorrow, you will start Hebrew lessons with a friend of mine. Do you have a car?" He asked his son. "I should have known the answer to that…"

Jeremiah laughed. "I have a permit. I want to get a license soon, but mom was just too busy…"

"It's okay." Gibbs replied. "We will work on you driving. Tomorrow, you can drive me to your school and then I will take the car to my work. After a month or so, if I feel you are ready and if you have had your permit long enough, we will get you a license and maybe a car. When is your birthday?" Gibbs asked.

"March 12th." Jeremiah replied.

"It is coming up. Maybe I will get you a car for your birthday. But only if you show me you are responsible."

"Okay. Thanks dad, for everything. I am going to get ready for bed."

"Anytime son. Good night." Gibbs smiled and watched as Jeremiah walked into his room and shut the door.

Gibbs looked at the picture of him and Jenny that he had sitting on his nightstand. "Thanks Jen…You left me a wonderful gift." He whispered, running his thumb over the picture of Jenny.

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PLEASE READ AND REVIEW…By the way; I don't know how long ago their affair officially was, so I just made it up!!! Please don't be too mad at me!!