a/n: Welcome to the little collection about Katharyn! more insight into the non-angsty life of this non-canon Jibbs!
March-ish, 2018
Alexandria, Virginia
"Reproductive Artist"
Jennifer Gibbs yawned good-naturedly and swept a bright purple highlighter across the most important information in a paragraph on constitutional law. She had already underlined it, but she wanted to reiterate it's specific relevance to the case law she was studying.
She had a routine down pat these days – read a paragraph, highlight, look up to take a sip of coffee and see what Anna was doing. This time, though, when the line of purple ended and she sat back to grab her mug of coffee, she tossed the pen down and stretched.
Anna toddled from the baby gate that kept her out of the kitchen and made her way to Jenny, holding a small stuffed elephant in her hands. Jenny licked her lips and turned in the chair, holding her arms out.
"Anna," she sang gently. "What was the decision in Griswold v. Connecticut?" she asked brightly, smiling when Anna leaned on her knee and looked up at her with wide eyes. "Hmmm?"
It no longer seemed strange to her to talk out loud to the baby. It hadn't seemed strange for a long time, but now she found it helpful – Anna was an excellent sounding board for when she had to muse out lengthy legal arguments for her classes; she didn't interrupt or frustratingly contradict.
"Da Da," Anna said happily.
Jenny smirked and tickled her under the chin.
"Mm-hmm, you're always mad when he leaves," she murmured, glancing at the clock. Gibbs had left for NCIS an hour and a half ago, which was usually about how long it took Anna to forget he existed until he came home at six.
Jenny touched the stuffed elephant.
"What are you and Effie doing today?" she asked, using Anna's baby word for elephant.
Anna held up the elephant and leaned forward, resting her chin on Jenny's knee.
"Effie," she repeated in her high little voice. She pursed her lips and wrinkled her nose, and then held up her hand and made a small sign, which Jenny recognized as 'juice.'
She cleared her throat and picked Anna up, carrying her to the fridge. She took a sippy cup full of apple juice and handed it to her.
"While you drink that," she began, shutting the fridge and shivering a little at the chill. "Why don't we go check on Mommy's little stick," she murmured.
She waltzed Anna into the master bedroom's ensuite bathroom and sat her down on the sink, making sure she was perched far enough back not to jump down, and keeping one hand on her knees to hold her steady.
Anna stared at her mother over the top of her cup, contently guzzling the juice. Jenny smiled at her and reached over her head to the medicine cabinet, where she grabbed a white stick from the bottom shelf and held it delicately. She was almost sure of what it was going to say, but she still took a minute before she flipped it over. She'd had the box sitting in her purse for a week, and she'd taken the test this morning half an hour after Gibbs had left for work. She'd left it to go study, unwilling to wait and stare – and here she stood.
Anna smacked her lips and held out her cup, but Jenny gently nudged it back at her. She arched her eyebrows and looked at Anna for a moment, thinking about her –this would, after all, affect Anna as much as it would affect herself and Jethro.
She turned over the pregnancy test: two pink lines.
She smiled, and then turned, presenting it to Anna. She opened her mouth in an exaggerated expression, trying to convey excitement to her firstborn.
"What do you think, baby?" she asked softly, tilting her head.
She let Anna stroke her hand, and didn't object when the fifteen-month-old took the white stick from her, staring at it. The entire bathroom seemed to flip upside down and, as a sort of cruel conformation that she was, indeed, pregnant again, Jenny whirled to the side and threw up the morning's coffee and toast in the sink.
"Mama," Anna whined, her feet kicking against the edge of the sink. "Mama!"
Jenny turned on the water and rinsed her mouth out, blindly reaching for some mouthwash and praying that Anna stayed still for two seconds and didn't fall off the counter. She swished Listerine quickly, splashed her face, and took a deep breath.
She laughed under her breath.
"Mama's okay, Anna," she said dryly, straightening up. She reached out to take the baby slowly, trying to gauge if she was going to be struck with morning sickness again – and then her eyes widened in horror.
"NO!" she shouted harshly, forgetting herself.
It didn't do any good; Anna already had the damn thing in her mouth when Jenny caught her. The only thing screaming at her achieved was startling her into immediate tears – although the pregnancy test did fall right out of her mouth and hit the floor at Jenny's bare feet.
Jenny swept Anna into her arms and tried to soothe her before she started sobbing.
"I know, I know," she murmured. "I scared you," she soothed. She pressed a kiss to her cheek and rocked her a little.
She took a step back as Anna looked at her unhappily, and she stared down at the floor, unable to turn back time and stop her daughter from blithely chewing on probably the most unsanitary item in the entire house.
Anna held onto Jenny and whimpered, making the sign for juice repeatedly against her shoulder. She turned her curly auburn head and followed Jenny's gaze, and then stared at Jenny, eyes wide and innocent.
Jenny looked up from the floor, looked at Anna sheepishly, and then looked back. She swallowed, and steeled herself, setting her shoulders back.
"Well," she declared, to herself and to the baby, "No one has to know that happened."
She wasn't overly concerned about Anna's health, she was just annoyed with herself for thinking it was a good idea to let a baby Anna's age hold something and trust her not to chew on it. The slip up didn't exactly boost her confidence in herself when it came to having two babies to take care of in the future.
Still, she went about the rest of the day as usual – studied while Anna entertained herself with toys, then lunch – she cut up grilled cheese for Anna and had fruit herself – then they played outside, and when Anna went down for a nap Jenny finished research for an upcoming paper and lazily tried to come up with a clever idea to tell Gibbs.
She was happy – this wasn't a surprise; they'd decided they wanted another kid, and before Anna was out of her terrible twos, if it was possible – but the best part was going to be telling Gibbs. He wanted another kid badly, and she knew it was because he felt like he'd missed something when he was gone for seven months of Anna's life. Jenny, for one, was just glad that was the extent of his deployments – she'd had it a lot worse with her father.
Jenny finally decided it would be cute if she let Anna be involved, so right around the time she started dinner, she slipped the white stick into a small, clear Ziploc bag and put it in her back pocket.
She turned on some music and put Anna in her little pen – it was a convenient little thing she'd gotten from Jackie Vance that was like a colourful little fence that could be arranged in different shapes to sort of corral the baby.
Anna was smart, so about every ten minutes she figured out she could just clamor over it, and Jenny had to go place her back in – but it still cut down on the amount of time she spent darting after the baby.
Anna babbled to Jenny in her bubbly, high voice, making sounds that mimicked singing.
Jenny grinned, amused at the sound of her. She pushed stray hair out of her face and salted some boiling water on the stove, glancing at the door periodically, willing it to open. When she'd reached glance five hundred or so, it did.
Gibbs slammed the door behind him quickly, and Jenny put a hand on her hip, turning towards him. He gave her a little salute, and then searched the room.
"DA DA!" shrieked Anna, standing up in her pen. She clapped her hands. "Da Da!"
Gibbs strolled right over and picked her up, holding her high above his head and pressing kisses to her face.
"Miss me?" he growled, shifting her into a cradle and tickling her feet. "'M all yours, Annie," he promised, carrying her easily over towards Jenny. "What did you and Mom do today?" he asked, leaning over to kiss her.
Jenny put her hand on his shoulder and returned the kiss, winking.
"We learned all about our constitutional rights to birth control," she sighed meaningfully. "Then we wrote a paper on the evolution of the right to privacy – "
Gibbs pretended to fall asleep, and Jenny hit him gently, rolling her eyes.
"Navy Yard?" she asked shortly.
"The analyst who works on your days off is an idiot," growled Gibbs.
"Aw, shucks," Jenny simpered, fluttering her lashes. She gave him a look. "You're biased beyond belief; you don't sleep with Kevin."
"You could do Kevin's work in your sleep," Gibbs complained. He looked at Anna, and arched his brows. "I've heard her do it," he whispered loudly. "She stress-talks to me in her sleep."
Jenny ignored him, dumping a bunch of noodles into the boiling water. It struck her as fitting that this time around, she was cooking dinner when Gibbs got home – just like she had been when she'd first found out about Anna.
She wrinkled her nose and winked at him.
"Sexy stress talk?" she asked.
He gave her a dubious look.
"Nah, half of it's in a different language, and the English part doesn't turn me on."
"Why not?"
"'Cause I'm not in to fascist fundamental group conspiracy?"
"Doesn't it get you hot that I'm so smart?"
He glared at her, and then wandered off, sitting down in the living room with Anna and stretching out to play with her. Jenny watched them for a minute and then hurried up fixing the rest of dinner.
"We need a dog," Gibbs said suddenly.
She let his statement hang as she got plates out.
"I'll humor you."
"Humor me?" he snorted. "You gonna act like I got to convince you to get a dog?"
She turned off the heating elements and started fixing plates.
"You can't have a kid without a dog," Gibbs said. "You had Ike."
Jenny made a sad face for a moment, and then sat down at the table. She gestured for Gibbs to come sit.
"She had a bottle an hour ago; I'll feed her when we're done," Jenny said, indicating he should let Anna play in the pen while they ate.
"I'll feed her," Gibbs said, shrugging. "You go take a bath or something."
"Do you know how much money I'd get for you on the black market?" Jenny asked smugly. "Hard-working husband, voluntarily takes care of baby, is moderately attractive – piercing blue eyes – "
"It's my baby, isn't it?" he interrupted, glaring at her. "You know damn well you'd never let me get away with – "
"I know, Jethro, I'm joking," she laughed.
He narrowed his eyes.
"Moderately attractive?"
She burst out laughing.
"I'm the best you ever had!" he growled in mock outrage.
"The only I ever had," she muttered under her breath, cocking a brow. "With very little frame of comparison," she started – and shot him a grin, and laughed, shaking her head.
"'Sides," he drawled. "Piece of cake, takin' care of a baby."
They shared a look, because both of them knew it was the furthest thing from the truth. Jenny looked over her shoulder to check on Anna, who was lying on her back snuggling with her elephant. She turned back to Gibbs, opening her mouth, and then changed her mind.
"Did I miss anything interesting today?"
"We closed the meat puzzle case," Gibbs grunted.
"Ew. Good," Jenny murmured. She leaned forward on an elbow. "I've got a major exam in one of my classes on Friday – "
"I know," he remembered smugly.
"—so I'm going to leave early tomorrow to get some studying done while Anna is still with Ziva."
"I thought Jackie had her tomorrow?"
"Usually on Thursdays, but Kayla has something going on at school, and Jackie's on the PTA."
"You gonna be on the PTA one day?" Gibbs asked, gesturing wickedly at Anna.
"No, you are."
He glared at her. She pumped her fist in the air.
"Feminism!"
He glared again, and she rolled her eyes.
"Can you pick Anna up from Ziva's on the way home from work?"
He shrugged, and nodded.
"You sure Ziva can keep her that long, and deal with all her kids?"
"Two of them are in school; it's just Ellie, Anna, and Zach."
Gibbs made a face.
"That's a lot of brats," he drawled.
"It's only one more than you claim you want!"
"Yeah, well, she has to like hers, she doesn't have to like ours."
Jenny snorted – it was a good point, but there were very few people Jenny trusted more than Ziva with the well-being of her child.
"You wanna learn krav maga, Bananas?" Gibbs asked.
"Da Da," Anna said conversationally, sitting up. She stood and held her hands out. "Hug."
"C'mere," he grunted, beckoning.
She clamored over the pen and came towards him easily, much more easily than she had in the airport five months ago. He picked her up and held her on his lap while he finished eating.
"You want to give Mommy a break?" he asked gruffly. "We'll work on the boat some more."
He glanced up at just the right moment to catch Jen giving him an annoyed look, and he smirked.
"Kidding," he told Anna. "We'll make 'er some flash cards."
Jenny got up, taking his plate and hers to the sink.
"I'll do those," he said.
"Yep," she agreed, and rested her hand on his shoulder, bending to kiss his cheek and smooth her hand over Anna's hair. "Make them pretty, sweetheart," she requested, smiling.
She put her lips next to Gibbs' ear.
"Strip studying later, like the good ol' days," she whispered. She straightened and touched Anna's nose lightly. "That's before you," she trilled.
Anna, hardly capable of understanding the tease, smiled at her admiringly.
Jenny buried her face close to Anna's for a moment after she'd dressed her for bed, pressing her nose against the baby's cheek and crinkling it up. She took a deep breath, bonding for a moment, and then lifted Anna into a standing position, handing her the plastic bag she'd been keeping all night.
"This is for Daddy," she said softly, catching her daughter's eye. "You get to give it to him because you don't understand what it means," she sing-songed softly. "Your whole world is going to change," she laughed quietly.
She lifted Anna to the floor and nudged her a little.
"Night-Night time," she coaxed. "Where's Daddy?"
Anna took off at a cute little pace, darting out of the nursery and down the hall. She looked for her father in the living room, and then turned to look at Jenny curiously. Jenny crooked her little finger and scampered back into the empty room they used for storage, turning the light on.
Anna ran in unsteadily, giggling.
"Mama," she said softly. "Da Da?"
"Jethro?" Jenny called, sitting down cross-legged and pulling Anna into her lap. "Jethro, come say night-night."
Anna cuddled up to Jenny, and Jenny tapped her fingers on the plastic bag, humming softly.
"You won't be too much older," Jenny said quietly. "I don't think it will be a horrible adjustment for you. And," she paused. "You won't even have to share a room! No hand me downs," she started, and then put her hands to her lips as she heard Gibbs in the hall.
He walked past the usually empty room, then backtracked and stood in the doorway.
"Why're you in here?" he grunted.
"I followed Anna," she said primly.
Gibbs looked at them a moment, then smirked and crouched down, shifting onto his knees and crawling forward. Anna squealed in delight at him, and covered her face.
"What were you runnin' in here for?" he asked the baby, creeping closer slowly.
Jenny nudged Anna up and pointed, whispering to her. She gently pushed her towards Gibbs, encouraging her, and then leaned forward smugly to watch.
"We were rabbit hunting," she said mysteriously.
Gibbs paused, waiting for Anna to approach him. She put her hands out, clutching the white stick in the bag tightly, oblivious to it, and stumbled into his shoulder, kissing him in her baby way on the cheek.
"Whatcha got?" he asked, sitting back and pulling her onto his lap. "What's Mommy up to?" he growled, shooting her a look. "Rabbit skin to wrap you in?" he paused, squinting through the plastic and narrowing his eyes.
He looked closer, and then looked up, his eyes widening. He arched his brows, as if silently asking her a question.
Jenny leaned back, and lifted her shoulders, gesturing around.
"Anna gets to move in here," she said slowly. "It's bigger; good for the first born – "
"You're pregnant?"
She bit her lip.
"I'm probably about four weeks," she told him – judging by her last period and the scary early accuracy of these home tests.
He stared at her.
"We only scrapped your pill in January!"
Jenny laughed, clutching at her ribs and arching a brow.
"I – I know," she said breathlessly. "I'm good at this – I'm a reproductive artist … think how many kids we'd have if it weren't for that IUD – let's see, it takes me about one lay to get knocked up, we started when I was eighteen – "
He shook his head, indicating she should stop, and she whistled, not wanting to go any further herself. She kept looking at him, her lip bitten, expectant, and he grinned at her, hoisting Anna up easily under his arm and crawling over. She giggled and shrieked, her eyes wide.
Gibbs placed the baby in Jenny's lap and leaned forward to kiss her, slipping his hand into her hair. He dropped the plastic bag to the carpet next to her knee, and pressed his forehead into hers heavily long after the kiss had ended.
"We wanted them close together," she said softly, hugging Anna to her.
The baby looked up, staring with interest at her parent's hovering faces.
"Is this too close?" she went on warily.
He shook his head.
"Nah, we can do it," he said. "Can't be harder than the bunch of Marines they stuck me with in Ukraine," he growled.
She laughed hoarsely, biting her lip again.
"Well," she said weakly. "I – well … today I …" she flushed. "Anna put the stick in her mouth and chewed on it," she confessed.
Gibbs sat back a little, and she winced – why the hell hadn't she kept her pact with Anna to never speak of that? He stared at her, then looked warily at Anna, then the stick, and made a face.
"You – "
"I know where it's been!"
He looked like he was trying not to laugh.
"What where you doin' while she got it?"
Jenny looked sheepish.
"Vomiting."
Gibbs nodded, making a more sympathetic face. Anna didn't seem too fazed by the whole ordeal, and the guilty, appalled look on Jenny's face was amusing enough to make him feel better about any minor parental mishaps he had in the future – or had already had.
"If you ruined this one, we get another try," he joked.
She pinched his shoulder lightly, but accepted another kiss from him. He smirked and looked down at Anna, and she leaned back to get a better view. The baby looked up at them blithely. She lifted her hand and waved, standing and putting her hands on Gibbs.
"Da Da," she said.
"Think you can share?" he asked her.
Jenny watched him look at Anna, and almost couldn't imagine a world where his attention wasn't devoted solely to her; she'd been the center of his world since she was born. She thought, for a split second, it would be impossible for him to love another baby as much.
He kissed Anna's head, though, and gave her such a proud, smug smile – and then lunged forward to wrap one arm around Jenny and pull her close – that she knew she didn't have to worry for even a moment that Gibbs wouldn't be just as wonderful a father a second time around.
March-ish, 2018
Alexandria, Virginia
-alexandra
story #222