A/N: Here's a short little ditty inspired by Zivacentric's response to the episode last night. Not really spoilerish, but if you haven't seen the episode, you probably won't appreciate it as much. I guess it depends on how shippy your glasses are :D.
If you don't like Zibbs, you're in the wrong story.
Enjoy!
"You're never alone when you've got kids."
His voice was low, tender—and nearly made her heart break. All the loss, all the pain of a father who'd lost everything… it was there, but it was no longer the only emotion in his voice. There was love there, as well.
But she understood. He was not alone, because he had a family again. Not so conventional as Shannon and Kelly were, with the white picket fence and house with red shutters, but a family nonetheless. And she knew that the unconventional family was just as complete—if not more so—as a conventional one.
She knew because she had done the same. After all, she'd come to America to escape what was left of her tattered family, only to find herself embraced and accepted by this team that was more than just a team. She had brothers in McGee and Tony, a sister in Abby, and a grandfather in Ducky. And Gibbs…
Well, Jethro was an enigma.
He— they, really—defied any conventional definition. He was her mentor in the field, her boss in the office, but at home he was neither. At home, they were simply themselves.
And it was only after coming to America, upon meeting this family, that she even knew for sure who her self really was. In Israel, she'd been what her father had shaped her to be—here, she was so much more.
And just how much more was epitomized in Jethro's next words.
"Good night, kid."
She watched him go, a smile playing on her lips. No one listening in would know the truth of his words. Because they did not see the warmth that sparkled in his eyes as he said them, or the curl to his lips that spoke of something secret. Not even their unconventional family knew what the nuances meant.
No one else could know that the words were not, in fact, spoken to her—but rather they were directed towards the tiny spark of life growing within her.
She'd told him the night before, with mild trepidation—because a tiny part of her worried he might not be ready to start another, more conventional family at this point in his life. But his reaction had been a broad, elated smile and a hug that had made her bones ache.
And then they'd shared a secret. Only they knew that soon there would be a new member to welcome into their beautiful, unconventional family.
