FAITH

CHAPTER THREE

Thirty minutes later Faith pulled into Jethro's driveway. Sure enough his car was there. She let herself into the house and went directly to the basement. Jethro was still wearing his dress pants and his white shirt. His tie and suit coat were draped over a sawhorse. The air was thick with the smell of sawdust and Jethro's shirt was dirty from sweat and sanding dust. Faith stopped herself from wrapping her arms around him. Instead she stood at the end of the boat and watched, waiting for him to speak first.

"I don't want to talk about it." His voice was gruffer than he intended but Faith did not take offense.

"Okay. Would you like me to go home and leave you alone?"

"Yes. No. I need some time is all."

"It's fine Jethro. I'm going upstairs and find something to eat. You know I won't push you."

"I know. Could you stay here tonight?"

"Sure. I'll be upstairs."

Jethro watched her go up the stairs and once again marveled at his good fortune. None of his ex-wives had ever been able to just leave him alone to think and work things out for himself. They always wanted to "help" him. One of the things he loved most about Faith was that she could let him have his space and not get her feelings hurt. Jethro put down the sander he was using, leaned back against his workbench and thought about the day. It had been so hard not to at least have Faith sitting next to him today. He had needed that but because their relationship was more or less a secret she was sitting clear across the room with her coworkers from JAG. Reaching for his glass of bourbon Jethro contemplated what he wanted to do about their situation. It was becoming clear to him that he was ready for a change but he wasn't sure if Faith was. They had talked a few times over the past year or so about marriage even though he had told her from the beginning he wasn't looking to get married again and she said she wasn't either. She had been married right after she got out of law school but it had ended badly after only two years. According to her, the whole experience soured her on the idea and she had strictly avoided the possibility ever since.

Jethro wasn't at all sure how she would react to a proposal but it didn't matter; he had already decided he was going to ask. He had to show her he was ready to take their relationship to a more permanent place. If she said no, they would just continue as they were and he would ask again later. Smiling to himself, he unlocked a drawer under the workbench and took out the small, black box he had secured there almost eight months ago. He raised the lid and looked at the elegant diamond and platinum engagement ring nestled in the black velvet. He knew she would love it; she had pointed it out to him one day when they were enjoying a weekend in New York City. Just for fun, or so he said at the time, they had gone into Tiffany's and Faith tried on the ring. It looked fabulous on her and they laughed when she had a little bit of trouble getting it off her finger. Unbeknownst to her, Jethro had paid close attention to the ring, noting the name of the design and the size she needed. The next week he called the salesman whose business card he had kept and ordered the ring. It had been sitting, locked away in this drawer ever since just waiting for him to get up the courage to do what he had known for months he wanted to do. Soon, very soon he told himself. Then he locked the ring box back in the secret drawer and went back to sanding his boat.

When Faith got upstairs she went to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. She made herself a sandwich and took it into the living room. With no idea how long Jethro would be downstairs she made herself comfortable on the couch and turned on the television. After watching the news and Sports Center, Faith went upstairs to change into some sweats and a sweater. While she was hanging up her uniform, Jethro walked into the bedroom.

"Hey, I'm glad you stayed."

"I said I would. Ducky told me what happened with Kate's father. I'm sorry Jethro."

"He was just upset. I understand. I'm sure I said some hurtful things to someone when Shannon died. Maybe someday we can talk and I can tell him what a great agent and person his daughter was. He didn't want or need to hear that today, certainly not from me. I understand. At least now, I don't have to go to Indiana. Mr. Todd made it very clear he doesn't want us there. I'm going to take a shower. Do you want to go eat or something?"

"I ate a sandwich already. How about I fix you an omelet instead and we stay home tonight?"

"That sounds even better. I'll be down in a few minutes."

Faith went down to the kitchen and put some bacon on to fry while she got out the eggs and cheese for an omelet. By the time Jethro came downstairs everything was ready and they sat down together. Faith wasn't eating but had some coffee while Jethro devoured his supper.

"What's on your mind, babe. You seem pretty far away."

Faith was running her finger around the rim of her coffee cup deep in thought. In fact she didn't even register that Jethro had asked her a question.

"Faith? Hello, anyone home?"

"Oh, gosh I zoned out there for a minute. What did you say?"

"I asked what was on your mind." Jethro stood up and took his plate to the sink. "Come on, let's go sit in the living room and you can tell me where your mind is tonight."

Jethro settled on the couch and pulled Faith in close to him with his arm around her shoulders. "Now, what's the matter?"

Faith considered her response and took a moment to decide how to say what she needed to say. "This is going to sound very selfish considering what you went through today but here goes. Today was hard for me Jethro. It was very hard for me to sit half a room away from you and not be able to offer you any comfort. You know I love you and I wanted so much to be there for you today but I couldn't. Not really."

"It was hard for me too. I wanted you beside me. The whole experience would have been easier if I could have been holding your hand. You want to know what I've been thinking about all afternoon? I've been thinking I don't really care who knows we're seeing each other. I don't think we need to take out an ad but I don't want to call you Commander Coleman just because my team is standing around."

"I couldn't agree more. When I went to your office today I felt like an idiot because I was acting like I barely know you. I don't want to do that again."

"Okay that's settled. I don't know what it means exactly but since we're on the same page I'm sure we'll work it out as we go. Now, no more talking. I just want to sit here with the woman I love and pretend the rest of the world has gone away for a while."

"That works for me."

So for the rest of night and the entire weekend Jethro and Faith concentrated on each other and enjoying being together. Jethro worked on his boat part of the time and Faith finally had time to finish a new novel she had started over a month ago. Monday rolled around much too soon for both of them and Jethro's phone ringing at 6:00 am was not exactly a welcome start to the week. He stuck his head in the bathroom as Faith was brushing out her hair and told her he was leaving for the Navy Yard.

"Okay, I'll be in court most of the day so hopefully I'll see you tonight. Be careful out there."

Jethro gave her a sweet slow kiss and said he'd try to call her when he was on his way home.

The case they caught that morning didn't take long for Jethro's team to close even if they were working one person short. By Tuesday afternoon their suspects had been arrested and turned over to the MP's so all they had left to do was the dreaded paperwork. When their boss' cell phone rang at 4:00 both McGee and DiNozzo groaned in anticipation of another late night. They lucked out but Jethro wasn't so lucky. He saw who was calling so he walked away from his desk to answer.

"Hey it's me."

"Hi, I was about to call and say I'd be home early. What's up?"

"I'm actually on my way home to pack a bag. I'm leaving tonight for Pensacola and I don't know how long I'll be gone. Hopefully I'll be back by the weekend."

"Well, I guess there's not much I can say to that. Call me when you get there, okay?"

"I will. I don't think this will really take all that long, they seem to be short on attorneys at the moment and a friend of the Admiral's asked for a couple of us for a few days. Hey, don't forget, I love you."

"I won't forget if you won't. Bye."

The team caught a new case on Wednesday that kept them busy for two very long days and nights. By Friday morning they were all weary and very glad Abby had found the final clue they needed to close the door on their dirt bag. Jethro was secretly glad for the all consuming case because Faith was still in Florida and not due back until Saturday afternoon. He realized during the week that he hated her being gone, he missed talking to her and he really missed waking up all wrapped up with her. Sometime Thursday night while he and DiNozzo were sitting in the dark hoping their suspect would leave his house, Jethro began planning his proposal speech in his head. On Friday morning when he looked at the calendar and saw what date it was he made his decision. He finally had a date in mind.

Faith called him late Saturday afternoon and said she was at home. Two hours later he was there with a pizza and a bottle of wine. They ate, drank and made love; the perfect Saturday night. On Sunday they went to Baltimore to an Orioles game then went home and repeated Saturday night's schedule. About 2:30 in the morning Jethro woke up and looked over at Faith who was lying on her side facing him. He propped himself up on one elbow and watched her sleeping. He asked himself for the umpteenth time if he was really sure he wanted to get married again. The answer was yes, but only if he could marry this particular woman. As he contemplated that question he let his fingers trail very gently up and down her arm. He didn't mean to wake her but he wasn't sorry he did.

"Hi."

Barely awake Faith looked at him through not quite open eyes, "What time is it?"

"2:37 am. I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay. Is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine. Go back to sleep."

By now Faith was more awake and looking at Jethro, seeing the look on his face, she wasn't all that anxious to go back to sleep. Instead she reached for him and pulled him down on top of her. "Why don't we stay up for a while?" The question barely escaped her lips before she was pulling him down for a very intense, passionate kiss.

"Staying up is good." Was the only response; verbal response that is, that she got from him.

Another weekend had come and gone and it was back to work on Monday morning. Faith spent most of the week in Norfolk at a conference and Jethro was swallowed up by a nasty murder case. By Thursday night the team was exhausted from working day and night but at least they had their man, or in this case their woman. Jethro sent McGee and DiNozzo home at 6:00 then went down to autopsy to see Ducky. The ME had mentioned earlier in the week that his mother was not well and Jethro had not had time to inquire about that.

As he entered the autopsy suite Ducky looked up from his desk and greeted him. "Ah, Jethro, shouldn't you be on your way home?"

"I wanted to ask about your mom. We haven't had a chance to talk this week. What's going on?"

"Mother is at a point where she needs nursing care and constant supervision. I have arranged for her to move to a very nice facility about twenty minutes from the house. I will be taking her there tomorrow morning. You know, I have resisted this for a long time but her recent time in the hospital has shown me that this is for the best. Her health is failing rather quickly and I know she needs 24 hour care. I considered home care but for a variety of reasons I feel this is best for both of us. Anyway, I shall be out most of the day tomorrow."

"I'm sorry Duck. Do you need any help tomorrow?"

"No, thank you. Everything is in order."

"Alright, you come to the house for dinner then. Faith will be back tomorrow afternoon and the three of us will have dinner." When Ducky started to protest, Jethro held up his hand, "I insist, Duck. You come to dinner. Be there at 6:30 or I'll come looking for you." Jethro gave his friend a quick hug and then left.

On his way home Jethro realized he should probably tell Faith he had invited Ducky to dinner if he wanted her to be there. Which of course he did. Figuring she was probably finished with her meetings by now he reached for his phone to call her but his rang before he could punch in her number.

"Hi, you on your way home already?"

"Hi yourself. What do you mean already? It's 6:30."

"You hardly ever go home before 7:00, at least that's what you tell me. Been sneaking out on me Jethro?"

"Hardly. How's the conference?"

"Mostly boring but thankfully almost over. I'll be back tomorrow about 2:00 I think. Got anything planned for the weekend?"

"Actually that's what I was calling about. I invited Ducky to dinner tomorrow. He's taking his mother to a nursing home or something like that tomorrow so I thought it would be nice if he came over and had dinner with us. Of course, if you had something else going or you just wanted to crash at home I can handle it."

"No, I think that sounds like a good idea and very sweet of you. How about I make lasagna? I'll be home in plenty of time and I think I already have everything I will need so why don't you guys come to my place?"

"That's fine with me. I'll call Ducky and let him know. I told him 6:30. Now, about the weekend. I have no plans except to become reacquainted with this very beautiful woman I've been missing. I don't think we'll have to worry about the weather at all because I don't think we'll be outside the house much. What about you, any plans?"

"Well, your plan sounds pretty good but I do have to be gone for a few hours on Sunday morning. I'm running in that half marathon with Marci and some of the guys from the office, remember."

"Right. Okay I guess I can let you out for a few hours." Suddenly Jethro turned serious and his voice softened noticeably. "I really miss you Faith. Seriously, I'm very anxious to have you home."

"I know. I miss you too, babe. For some reason this has been a long week. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you Jethro."

"Me too. Bye."

TBC