Disclaimer: I do not own it.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs was more than furious when he came home that night to his wife, Jennifer Gibbs. He stomped into the kitchen, where Jenny was preparing supper. Jethro ripped the cupboard open, yanked out the bourbon and a tumbler, and poured it clean to the rim. As she took a bite from the lettuce she was separating for salad, she watched him. After swallowing all of the alcohol, loving the burning sensation in his throat, Jethro looked at his wife, who simply smiled at him.
"No kiss tonight? What's wrong with you?" Jenny asked, knowing he was mad as hell, just not knowing what at. He walked over and kissed her mouth. "That's more like it..now you gonna tell me what's bothering you?" She asked, hands behind his neck.
"DiNozzo pissed me off."
"Well, that's nothing knew. What was it this time?"
"He wasn't even around, and he could still piss me off!"
"What happened?"
"I overheard McGee and Abby talkin' today. And you know what the news around the building is?"
"What?"
"DiNozzo and Ziva are dating! They moved in together! Damn it! Do they know how to follow rules! Do they even listen?"
"Jethro, Hun, you need to calm down. It's not a big deal. I already knew that."
"Did everyone know this but me?" He asked, ripping away from her, punching the countertop. His shoulders and back ridged as he bruded, hands pressing down on the counter, glaring at the wall. Jenny walked up behind him, hands coming up, one under his arm to his chest, the other to scratch the nape of his neck. She kissed his ear lobe.
"Honey, I know something that will cheer you up..."
"Jen, we haven't eaten." She smacked him on the back.
"That's not what I meant!...And stop smirking!" She said, not having to look at his face to know he was. "I meant, that I have a surprise for you. You know how you wanted to go to the Nationals game, but they were all sold out? And you pretended that you didn't care. You said, 'It's okay, we'll buy a six pack, peanuts and hotdogs and watch the game at home.', but I knew you were mad. Well, guess what?"
"You bought the good beer?" He joked.
"No, smarty. I got two tickets for the Nationals game! This weekend! Tomorrow!" He grinned like a dog, turning around to face her. She could see the sparkling in his blue eyes. She smiled back. He wrapped his arms around her waist, picked her up and kissed her silly. "Happy, now?"
"You bet."
"Now let me finish dinner if you want to eat tonight!" He smiled, kissed her once more, and let her go.
"You know something, Jen? I love this life. I never get tired of it. I love you, I love seeing you when I wake up, and go to bed, I love seeing you making dinner. I love it." She looked up at him at his place sitting on the stool at the island and smiled.
"I love it, too. You know, eight years ago, if somebody told me I'd end up marrying you, living like this, that you'd propose the way you did, I'd laugh in their face. But now, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I love you." They smiled at each other and she resumed finishing dinner. Salad, tuna steaks, and fresh corn. A tall glass of sweet ice tea got Jethro feeling like the redneck he was born to be. Jenny loved having a redneck boyfriend, and now husband. It made her feel less stuffy. Like she didn't live for just her job. He showed her fun.
After cleaning up and watching tv for a little bit, Jenny and Jethro went up to bed. Jethro woke up and pushed himself into a sitting position. Jenny did the same a few minutes later, rolling over to wrap her arms around him, kiss his lips, and smile.
"Happy Birthday, Sweetheart," she whispered. He got that cute little side smile on his face, blue eyes sort of twinkling, the charactarizing crows feet just as adorable.
"Thanks."
"What do you want for breakfast? I'll make anything you want." Jenny, contrary to popular belief, was actually a very good little cook.
"Nothing too big, Babe. Coffee and pancakes."
"Oh, come on..You know you want more than pancakes. Now go ahead, it's your birthday. Anything." Jenny said, knowing he was holding back from giving her too much to do.
"Jen...coffee...and pancakes." He said as a final word. She rolled her eyes and smiled, getting out of bed to walk down and make the pancakes. He smiled, shaking his head. He got out of bed, walked over to the closet, got dressed in jeans and jersey, and went down for breakfast. On the table was a card, a stack of pancakes with writing on it. The writing was chocolate frosting.
Happy Birthday, Hun,
I love you. 3
Jethro smiled, going to sit down. He motioned Jenny over, and he pulled her by the hand down onto his lap. He kissed her gently, strong arm around her back, big hand resting on her hip. She had no sooner turned into the kiss then the phone rang. She smiled once more before standing up, letting him place a butterfly kiss on her cheek.
"Hello?...Yeah, he's right here, hold on a sec...It's for you," Jenny said, handing him the wireless phone.
"Who is it?"
"You'll find out." He bent his eyebrows and brought the phone to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Happy birthday!" Ziva yelled. He smiled.
"Thanks, Ziver."
"Did Abby already call you?" She inquired testilly.
"Nope, you were the first one."
"Yes! I won! Well, I know you probably have plans with your wife, and Tony and I are doing something today, but if you could come to our apartment, we have something for you."
"Alright...We'll try, I don't know how long we'll be gone."
"Okay. Well, I will let you go. Have a happy birthday. And, Tony says happy birthday, too, but he does not dare come to the phone.." Gibbs smirked.
"Yeah. Well, I'll talk to him later." He said in a mean undertone.
"Better to seek forgiveness than to ask permission." She stated softly before hanging up. He hung up the phone, picking up the fork and digging into the stack of pancakes. Jenny placed a cup of coffee next to his plate and sat down next to him. Her elbows were on the table, head in her hands. She watched him as he devoured the pancakes. He looked from the pancakes to Jenny, back and forth. "Hi."
"Hi." She said, still smiling. Jethro kind of laughed.
"Jen, what are you doing?"
"Nothing...just watching you." He chuckled.
"Why?"
"I don't know...Do you like the pancakes?" She asked. He looked down at his now empty plate. He laughed again.
"I guess that's pretty obvious, huh?" This time they both laughed. He stood up, leaned over, and kissed her cheek. "Thanks, Hun." He picked up his plate and set it in the sink. He tapped on the radio on the counter, hearing one of Jenny's favorite songs. "I set on a narrow way, many years ago, hoping I would find true love along the broken road. But I got lost a time or two, wiped my brow, kept pushing through. I couldn't see how every sign, pointed straight to you." Jethro grabbed her hand and pulled her up into his arms, holding her tightly to his chest, spinning her around the kitchen, singing the words into her ear softly with the music. Her chin rested on his shoulder, hand on the side of his shoulder. She smiled gently, tears misting up her eyes. He remembered. "Every long lost dream, led me to where you are. Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars. Pointing me on my way into your loving arms..This much I know is true. That God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you..yes he did." As he continued on with Rascal Flatts' voice, and the melody of Bless The Broken Road, they swayed. She looked at him, a soft smile on her face.
"Leroy Jethro Gibbs, you never seise to amaze me." He smiled at her, taking his thumb to brush away the stray tears. He kissed her red nose.
"Don't cry, Baby.." She chuckled once.
"I don't mean to. It's just that...you remembered my favorite song, and you actually sang it, and you pulled me up to slow dance. That's just really sweet, Jethro."
"Course I remembered. I'll remember your favorite song, your favorite color, and your birthday, and every emotion you have. Because, damn it, I love you Jennifer Gibbs." She cracked a smile.
"I love you, too..Ready to go?"
"Yeah. Hey, you ain't goin' like that, are you?" He asked, looking down at her blouse and black pants.
"No, I'm going to change right now." She said, walking up the stairs. Ten minutes later, Jethro was pacing the foyer as Jenny walked down the stairs. She was in a pair of blue denim skinny jeans and a Tyler Clippard, the Nationals' pitcher's, jersey. Jethro himself had on right fielder Jason Werth's jersey on. His Nationals baseball cap was on backwards and his left hand was in his pocket.
"Jesus, Jen, what took you so long?"
"I couldn't find my jersey!"
"Well, hurry it up, will ya? We gotta get on the road."
So they drove. To the Nationals Park, laughing about little things. They sang to the radio and made bets on how many home runs would be hit, and who would hit them. Jenny bet Michael Morse and Jethro placed his bet on Danny Espinosa.
"Look at us, we sound like DiNozzo and the team!" Gibbs said, shaking his head. Jenny laughed. They arrived at the ballpark and made their way through the crowd, still holding hands, to their seats. BOX SEATS. As they stood for the National Anthem, their seating partners arrived.
"Jenny?" Ziva asked, also decked out in a Danny Espinosa jersey and skinny jeans, backwards Nationals cap. "Gibbs?"
"Hey, Ziver!" Gibbs greeted, standing up to kiss her cheek.
"Crazy seeing you here."
"Hon, you wanna grab the bag of peanuts? They're falling!" Tony yelled. Ziva snatched the bag mid-fall, with her ninja-like reflexes. "Thank you..Uh-ohhh..." He said, seeing Gibbs glaring at him. Gibbs walked over to him, smacked him in the back of the head, saying 'let's go.' They were standing next to the snack bar wall.
"When were you gonna tell me?" He asked lowly. Tony stuttered for words.
"We were gonna tell you...Ziva was gonna invite you two over for supper, and we were gonna tell you then...But I guess you found out before we could." Tony said, scratching the back of his neck. Gibbs dropped his head the side, shaking it. His head then snapped up, and he grabbed Tony's shirt, over his heart.
"You make sure you love with all of this, you understand me?" He said, punching over his heart easily, not enough to hurt him. "And you damn sure better not break her heart." He finished, pushing him back and releasing his Laynce Nix jersey from his grip. Tony was, to say the least, scared out of his whits.
"Everything all right here, Sir?" A security guard asked.
"Yeah..It will be." He said, walking back to his seat, trying to get the color to come back to his face. He warned him not to break his little girl's heart. She smiles back, lets him take her hand and they watch the starting pitcher, Tyler Clippard, begin the game. Before long it was the top of the inning, Nationals up to bat.
"Who do you think's gonna lead the Nats in home runs today?"
"I say Morse." Jenny said.
"I'm putting my money on Desmond." Tony countered.
"Well, I say Espinosa." Ziva said.
"Same here," Gibbs said. "He-hey, put 'er there!" Gibbs said, putting his hand up for a high five. Ziva slapped it with her own. After the last eight innings ended, Desmond had two homers, Morse had one, and Esinosa had three. The final score was 9-3, Nationals beating the Phillies. There was a momentem that carried the Nats to a six point lead. "Whatta game!"
Gibbs suddenly felt a small hurt in his stomach. It wasn't a pain, it was more of an awefull feeling of missing someone. He remembered a time when it used be him, Jenny, and Mike. But now...no Mike. Sure, he was happy he hadn't lost Jenny back in 2007, but something was missing. Mike. He tried to push the lump in his throat down. Jenny saw the pain in his eyes, and squeezed his hand. He looked at her, and she asked with her eyes. He smiled gently. Tony was thinking about how to pop the question when he saw that Ziva was watching him. He grinned, she smiled back.
"Are you two going to come to our apartment?"
"Yeah, I guess so." They drove to the apartment, where Tim, Abby and Ducky were waiting with a cake and silly string. The silly string, of course, was Tony's idea. Ziva and Tony made sure to get in front of them to get their can of string before the other two got inside. They rushed in, grabbed their cans, and waited for Jethro to walk in. Jenny knew the plan and was allowed in to get her own can. As Gibbs stepped inside, six different colored streams of silly string attacked him. He struggled to pull off and deflect the rushes of the party favor.
When he finally was found in the mercy, he balled the many strings and threw it at Tony, smirking.
"Hey! What gives? I wasn't the only one spraying you!"
"No, but I know it was your idea." he said, and everyone laughed, except Tony. He had a defeat on his hands to deal with now.
"Now, make a wish, make a wish!" Abby said, bouncing next to a chocolate cake.
"Alright," he said, thinking for a few seconds. What have I got to wish for? I got all I need. He blew out the candle, wishing that Tony is mature about his and Ziva's relationship and does things right.
As the party slowed down, and they were sitting around, listening to music, Jethro disappeared without notice, for a few seconds. He drove, and the team worried. They split up and looked for their family member.
Jethro was standing on the mound of the baseball diamond. He took his glove, pushed it on, and threw the baseball into his glove, repeating the motion until he had focused on a spot over the plate. He stretched his right arm. Ziva hid behind the bullpen fence. He adjusted the baseball cap, hunched over, staring down the plate.
"This one's for you, Mike.." He whispered before straightening and winding up to pitch it. Right down the middle, a perect strike. Ziva clapped.
"Nice pitch, Gibbs." He grinned.
"Thanks. What are you doing here?"
"Everyone is looking for you. Jenny told me to check the diamond. I did not know you pitched." She said, approaching him. He shrugged, handing her a glove, nodding her to the catcher's mound. She grabbed the catching helmet out of the dugout, pulling on the chest protector, strapped on the leg protection, and squatted behind the plate. They pitched and caught for about an hour.
"How was that one?"
"Outside." A pitch. "Strike." A pitch. "Another strike." A pitch. "Inside." A pitch. "Strike." She threw the ball back up and pulled the helmet off. Jenny and Tony had both shown up, one coming from looking for him at the bar, the other from the batting cage. Tony watched in amazement as Gibbs threw strike after strike, and Ziva caught the ball without budging, or flinching, or whining in pain.
"Whoa." Tony gaped.
"Damn, Jethro.." Jenny said, they looked at each other, both wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
"That is fifty three strike-outs!" Ziva yelled.
"Alright, get up off those knees before you can't stand up." He said, walking off the mound and taking his hat off his head, scratching, and putting it back on. "Hhwheewh." He puffed.
"Nice job, Dad," Ziva said, meeting him halfway, helmet perched on top of her head, but not over her face. He hugged her shoulders for a second.
"Thanks, Ziver." Tony and Jenny walked up to the pair that had spent two hours or so playing pass. Jenny grabbed his tee shirt.
"Do you have any idea how worried I was?" She asked in a low tone. He smiled, kissed her, and they walked away. Tony and Ziva stayed out there a little longer. He pulled her to the center of the field, knelt down, and proposed on the spot.
Gibbs' birthday wish had come true.