Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS. Any characters you don't recognize, I own.
Everyone knew Joann couldn't cook, so others rushed to step in before she could ruin anything edible.
"How many people are we looking at feeding, Shan?" Gibbs asked as Shannon dug out skillets and pans.
"Um, me, you, mom and dad, Uncle Phil, Aunt Marley, Uncle Arnold, Cousin Mary, Aunt Delia, Miss Brewster, Cousin Tom and Cousin Naomi."
"I am making breakfast for 12 people? I was right. This is gonna be a long holiday."
"Oh hush you. I figured scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast for everyone."
"Great idea." Gibbs grabbed a large mixing bowl and the two egg cartons Shannon handed him. He whipped up 20 eggs and added a bit of milk and a lot of cheese before oiling two skillets and putting most of the egg mixture in to cook. Shannon had gotten out the bacon and shaped sausage patties, and had put bread next to the toaster. As the food cooked, Shannon sliced up some bell peppers, tomato, onion and mushrooms as well as getting out the turkey sausage that Gibbs knew her dad bought for her. Shannon hated pork and refused to eat it most of the time.
Phil and Marlene his blonde haired, blue-eyed wife who preferred to be called Marley, both wandered into the living room as Gibbs shooed them from the kitchen.
"Jethro, was that necessary?" Shannon asked.
"Hell yes, Phil irritates me. And I know Marley irritates you."
"She's family, Jethro."
"So?"
"So I'm not allowed to say she irritates me."
"Shannon dear, I found this book on the living room table and I read the last page and oh, it sounds so exciting," Marley said.
"That's great, Aunt Marley. That's my new book. I just got it and I don't want the ending ruined, okay?"
"Oh, but wait until you hear this," Marley opened the back cover and began to read as Shannon groaned slightly. What was it with her Aunt Marley and reading the last page of people's books aloud, often before they'd even read the first page?
" 'Rose looked happily up at Ferdinand and sighed. Come what may, they knew they could conquer anything so long as they were together. Nothing could keep them apart anymore. She was his and he was hers and forever was theirs.' It sounds like such a good story, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, great story Marley. Listen, why don't you go sit with Phil while Shannon and I finish up here?"
"Oh, okay, all I wanted was to share that wonderful story."
"Okay, yeah, thanks. Good story." Gibbs hugged his wife as Marley went back to the living room. "Romance novels, Shan? Really?"
"Oh shut up. Next time I am bringing a biography. That way I already know how it ends."
"So I take it Hourglass Love is no longer something you want to read?"
"Why bother? Thanks to Aunt Marley I already know how it ends. Rose ends up with Ferdinand and not Charlie."
"Shannie!"
"Oh god," Shannon groaned.
"Aw shit," Gibbs said.
Together they said, "Naomi."
Shannon's cousin, Naomi, bounded into the kitchen with a huge smile on her face. Her smile fell as she looked at Shannon's flat stomach.
"No baby yet, Shannie?"
Naomi was Phil and Marley's daughter and she was a few years older than Shannon. She had never been married and Gibbs strongly suspected that it was because of how all she ever wanted to discuss, think about or ask about was having babies.
"No, not yet, Naomi."
"Why? You and Jethro have been married almost two years!"
"It just hasn't happened yet, Naomi."
"Have you seen a doctor? Oh those stupid Army doctors that don't care about their patients wouldn't know anything. Jethro, why couldn't you have gotten a real job?"
"I'm a Marine not an Army man. And the corps is a real job."
"Oh whatever, you are still military. You should have asked Frank about joining the family business. How do you expect to care for our Shannie?"
"Naomi, I'm fine really. And Jethro is a wonderful husband."
"Fine but next time you come, I want you to have a baby," Naomi said, walking out of the kitchen and into the living room.
"Oh that… that… that stupid, crazy, insane woman."
"Easy Shan, she's baby-obsessed, you know that."
"The very idea of you not caring for me."
"Well, it isn't the rich life of the guy who owns the coal mines. Or the life you were used to. Maybe you should have married Bobby, made Frank happy, had babies for Naomi, gotten post-it stock for Phil."
"Jethro!"
"Collected last pages of books for Marley. Become part of the Daughters of the American Revolution with Joann."
"Leroy Jethro!"
"Made a pretty trophy wife for Bobby to amuse himself with when he got tired of the town sluts. Made the whole town of Stillwater proud!"
"Leroy Jethro Gibbs! Where is all this coming from? What's gotten into you?"
"I'm not good enough for you, I never was."
Shannon sighed, "Jethro, for years I did everything for my family, tried to make everyone else happy. I knew it didn't matter what I wanted so long as they were happy. Then I met you. You were so kind and loving and amazing. My dad forbade me to see you or speak to you again. And I kept our letter writing a secret from everyone. When you sent me that plane ticket for Vegas, I agonized for weeks. I didn't know what I should do, what was expected of me. And then I realized that I didn't care. I was living for them, not for me. I got into Yale, for them. I was going to major in education and become a teacher, for them. I was supposed to marry Bobby, for them. And I wanted to live for me. I wanted to do what made me happy. So I got on that plane. You make me happy, Jethro. Living with you, being your wife, sharing my life with you. It's all I want, Jethro. It's the only thing I ever wanted enough to turn my back on my duty to my family. Yes, we're not rich. Yes, mom and dad hate you. But I love you. I love you so much, Jethro. Doesn't that mean anything to you at all?" Shannon's eyes were full of tears, making them glitter like emeralds.
"Hey, yeah, it does. I know all that. And I was being an ass before. Love you, Shan. I can't imagine my life without you. It'd be lonely as hell, that's for sure." Gibbs kissed Shannon quickly and dished up breakfast for everyone before making omelets for him and Shannon.
"That was quite the fight, Shannon dear, is Jethro usually that loud?" Joanne said.
"No mom, he just got frustrated."
"I knew he should have joined your father's business. The corps is no place for my daughter's husband."
"Mom, Jethro likes the corps."
"Is that any excuse for neglecting his wife?"
As Jethro came out of the kitchen with his and Shannon's plates, Shannon stood up and climbed onto her dining room chair. "Hey people, listen up. My husband is a Marine. I'm proud of him. He loves his job. He takes good care of me. He would do anything for me and I love him. So please keep all references to money issues, the corps being bad for Jethro or me being neglected to yourselves. Or better, yet, don't think about it at all. I sure don't. Thank you." Gibbs helped Shannon down and hugged and kissed her.
"Who knew my wife was such a bad-ass?" He whispered in her ear.
"I love you," Shannon whispered back.
The Fielding family sat around staring at Gibbs and Shannon. Gibbs took a big bite of his eggs. "Good eggs, Shan."
"Thanks, Jethro." Shannon began to eat too.
Eventually everyone in the family dug in and the only sound was of forks scraping across plates. Gibbs finished first. "Who's on K.P. duty, Shan?"
"K.P. duty?" Asked Arnold, yet another uncle of Shannon's. But unlike the others, he was her favorite.
"It stands for kitchen patrol, Uncle Arnold, military speak for who's cleaning up. And I think we are, Jethro," Shannon explained.
"Ten-four." Gibbs said.
"What's that one mean?" Arnold asked.
"Means something like okay, got it, done, on it. Something like that," Shannon started to get up as she was speaking, but grabbed ahold of the table.
"Whoa."
"You okay, Shan?"
"Slightly dizzy. I think I'm gonna be sick, Jethro."
Gibbs picked up his wife and carried her into the bathroom, holding her hair back as she vomited.
"You feeling okay, Shan? Was it the ranger candy?"
"This isn't the meds, Jethro. I think I might be pregnant."
"Whoa, wait, what makes you think you are, you know, pregnant?"
"I have gained a few pounds."
"Yeah but that's a good thing."
"I've never had a regular cycle, you know that."
"Yeah, I know but pregnant?"
"Repeating it isn't going to make it go away, you know. And eggs, my mom could never eat eggs when she was pregnant either. You should hear the stories my dad tells." Shannon shuddered and carefully stood, and began to wash her hands.
"Wow, okay, pregnant. Okay. I'm gonna be a daddy. Wow."
"Stop acting so shocked. We both know it takes two to make a baby."
"I know, just, wow. I'm happy."
"I figured. You should go to the pharmacy, get a test, we should be sure, Jethro."
"Why you sendin' me?"
"Marine scared of pregnancy tests? They don't bite, Jethro."
"Marines don't get scared."
"Yeah, I know, they get even. Sending you because I don't want to go outside."
"Okay, I'll be back soon."
It wasn't until Gibbs got into town that he remembered that Stillwater didn't have a pharmacy. The only place to get the test would be the General Store. Gibbs cursed and walked into his father's store.
