Hi guys, t'is me again. OK so here's my next story. Please read and review.
Aaaahhh the weekend. A time for chilling, shopping and spending time with family; and that was exactly what Penny and Jenny intended to do.
The last couple of months had been very hectic for the two sisters. Jenny was constantly busy in her role as director, and as a result she hadn't spent much time with Penny. She had also been spending a lot of her spare time with Gibbs. Their relationship had been going well since they had decided to give it another go, but they had agreed to take it slowly.
Penny enjoyed seeing her sister happy, although she was worried that she was over doing things and not taking enough time to herself. She was also feeling a bit gutted that she wasn't getting to spend as much time with her as she would have liked.
It was for that very reason that Jenny had suggested that they spend the weekend together. A lovely girlie weekend with the morning at a spa, then off for some shopping before sitting down to some home movies that their eldest sister Heather had found and posted from LA.
'Right Penelepops are you ready to go?' Jenny asked using the nickname she had christened Penny with as a small child.
'Yup, just gotta grab my purse.' Penny replied cheerfully.
Jenny stood in the hallway of their Georgetown house whilst Penny ran up the stairs to get her purse. She checked her reflection in the mirror and straitened the fuchsia pink, knee length, short sleeved dress she had on, and put a cream cardigan over the top. She looked up with a large smile when she saw Penny running down the stairs towards her.
The two sisters got in to Jenny's car as she drove them the twelve miles to the hotel in which they were going use the spa. Penny couldn't wait to get her neck, back and shoulder massage. Jenny on the other hand was looking forward to her pedicure.
After driving for nearly an hour Jenny finally pulled the car up outside the large hotel. It was cream on the outside with a gravel drive which was lined by trees.
'Wow Jen this place is amazing!' Penny exclaimed.
'Yeah, well that's one good thing about being director; my pay cheque can now afford this kind of place.' Jenny replied jokingly.
Penny laughed as she got out of the car, and the two women walked into the entrance of the hotel and down towards the spa.
'We have reservations for Shepard.' Jenny said as she announced their arrival.
'Of course, Director Shepard right?' The young receptionist asked.
'Yeah that's right.' Jenny replied, realising that she had asked Cynthia to make the reservations for them so would have booked them under director.
Penny and Jenny stayed in the spa for the whole morning before travelling back into DC to do some serious damage to their bank balances. They were now relaxed after their pampering, but were now in need of some retail therapy.
They went into one of Jenny's favourite designer shops and milled round the various different outfits. Penny picked up one dress that she liked the look of and held it against her as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. It was a black halter neck 1950's style dress, with red satin straps and bright red roses all over it. As she twirled round the price tag caught her eye; glancing at it she nearly fainted at the price before carefully putting the garment back.
'Dare I ask how much that was?' Jenny asked.
'Waaaaay above my pay cheque.' Penny replied as they headed towards the changing rooms to let Jenny try on some things.
One by one Jenny came out of the changing room wearing a different outfit, parading them in front of Penny for her approval.
'Ooo I love that one.' Penny said as Jenny appeared wearing a bright red halter neck dress similar to the one she had seen earlier.
'Do you think Gibbs will like it?' Jenny asked as she once again checked her reflection.
'To be honest I think Gibbs would like you in anything.' Penny replied with a smile.
Suitably happy with Penny's reply Jenny disappeared back inside the changing cubicle.
'So how you finding it in Gibbs's team?' Jenny's disembodied voice came over the curtain.
'I love it! They're a great team, if not a little dysfunctional. And Gibbs is great.' Penny explained with a smile.
'Yeah he's a little unorthodox but what he doesn't know isn't worth knowing.' Jenny replied as she reappeared from behind the curtain. 'Have you been Gibbs slapped yet?' She added.
'Nope.' Penny said a little smugly.
'Well you're lucky then.' Jenny said with a laugh.
'Hah does that mean you were then?' Penny asked as she laughed with her sister on their way to the till.
'Ooo quite a few times.' Came the reply.
As Jenny and Penny came out of the shop ladened with Jenny's new purchases, both of their stomachs gave loud, angry grumbles.
'Fancy grabbing something to eat?' Jenny asked.
'Hell yeah, I'm starving.' Penny stated.
They disappeared off into a quiet little side street where there were one or two little cafes, each with a few tables outside. Jenny left Penny sat at one table as she went in to order. Penny enjoyed spending time with Jenny; she really admired and looked up to her, and loved her more than anyone would ever understand.
Jenny had been there for Penny when no one else understood how she felt. When their Dad had died their Mom had fallen apart, and Penny had been distraught not only at the loss of their father, but with the torment of having been the first one to see his body. Jenny had always been a bit of a daddy's girl, but she would never forgive him for committing suicide with Penny in the house, knowing it was a possibility that she might have seen him like that.
After his death their mother Sarah almost had a nervous breakdown, meaning that Jenny had to step in to take care of Penny. Penny had had nightmares nearly every night after Jasper's death, and would wake up most nights screaming. Jenny was the one who would get up with her and would bring her into her room on occasion.
It was because of all of that that Penny really admired Jenny, and really looked up to her.
Once they had finished their lunch they did a little more shopping, with Penny buying some new boots and a couple of new tops, before heading home. They were exhausted when they got back to the house, but they felt happy with their day out.
They both flopped down onto the sofa in the downstairs living room and breathed a sigh of relief.
'Aw thanks for today Jen; I've really enjoyed myself.' Penny said.
'Yeah me too, we'll have to do it more often.' Jenny replied with a large smile. 'Right shall we put on these DVDs Heather sent us?' She added as she got up from the sofa and went to the DVD player.
Their eldest sister Heather had found a lot of old film footage from when they were children and teenagers, and had them transferred on to disc. They looked very professional, although they should since her husband worked in the film industry in LA, with a title on the opening screen and a menu with brief clips of each video.
They watched the first few DVDs, laughing at the sight of Jenny's first Christmas at a few months old, her first day at school and footage of Jenny, Heather and their parents Jasper and Sarah at the beach on vacation. The footage showed Jenny, aged about six, and Heather, aged about eight, burying their dad in the sand.
'Aw I wish I'd been around back then; it looks like you all had such great fun.' Penny said with a small pout. 'That is one of the down sides to having a nineteen and seventeen year age gap between the three of us; you two were already grown up by the time I arrived.' She added.
'Yeah but I got to see you grow up, and you were such a lovely child. And we had lots of fun too.' Jenny explained.
Turning their attentions back to the DVDs they moved on to the teenage years, and Jenny dressed as a cheerleader practicing for her team's performance.
Just as it ended Jenny decided to go into the kitchen to make them both a drink.
'Put the next one in but don't start without me.' Jenny ordered with a mock glare.
'Absolutely, Madam Director.' Penny replied, calling Jenny by the one thing she hated.
As Jenny disappeared in to the kitchen Penny placed the next DVD into the player, which took her to the menu. The first few times the clip went round in the background of the menu screen Penny didn't pay any attention to what it showed, but suddenly something caught her eye. Pressing play she could feel her heart pounding in her ears and her breath catching in her throat, surely she must be wrong and she hadn't seen what she thought.
She fast forwarded the film to the part she wanted to see. It had been filmed in May 1984, the month before she was born, and it looked like a family picnic or some sort of gathering. It showed Heather with her then boyfriend dancing and carrying on, before the camera panned round to show a very heavily pregnant Jenny.
Penny stopped and rewound the clip again a couple of times before pausing it and letting the information sink in. When she heard a noise behind her she turned round to find herself face to face with Jenny, who had clearly seen the clip as well.