The sound of the alarm going off at 0500 woke Jen from her sleep. She hit the snooze and was out of bed fifteen minutes later. With a soft groan, she stretched her back and stared at her lover, eyes closed and still under the covers. She knew he was awake and only enjoying the warmth of bed. She walked into her large closet, flipping on the light. She hated walking into her closet during the weekdays to figure out what to wear. Nothing seemed to fit properly in her opinion. She stood in the middle of the closet, surrounded by all of her clothes and various shoes. She sighed heavily and rested her hand on her baby bump, tapping her nails against her belly. Maybe if she checked the weather that would aide in her outfit decision making process. She needed to choose wisely; today was her last day at NCIS before maternity leave. She exited the closet and walked to her nightstand to take her phone off the charger. She couldn't tell Jethro to check the weather. He barely knew how to answer her phone much less use the features. As for the weather, it would be a cool March day.

Gibbs lay in bed with his eyes closed and enjoyed the quiet since the alarm finally stopped buzzing. He did feel eyes staring at him, so he moved out of bed, going straight to the bathroom for his morning routine and not meeting the eyes staring at him. If he stayed in bed any longer, Jen would castrate him. She had been moody all week. Her policy seemed to be if she was miserable he needed to be miserable also. If she was out of bed, then he needed to get out too. Still, he wasn't on her shit list like DiNozzo. Last week, he made a joke about her having a mood swing in the next five seconds while she was in full scene mode as Abby would say. Of course, he was much smarter than DiNozzo and knew never to say something like that to Jenny. He turned on the shower and brushed his teeth when he felt her eyes watching him for a second time.

"Jethro, I don't have anything to wear."

"Jen, there's a whole closet."

She poked her lips out in a pout and left the bathroom doorway, muttering under her breath. He rinsed his mouth out and joined her in the closet moments later.

"Okay…you got me. I'll help you."

She smiled, pleased that a pout was all it had taken. She kissed his cheek, showing him two options. "What do you think?" she asked of him, holding up two outfits. He made a face as he thought about what she would do if he picked the outfit she didn't want to wear. He chose the charcoal lightweight sweater dress over the gray pinstripe pants and teal v-neck sweater with button up underneath. Thankfully, she seemed pleased with his decision.

"Now, I'm going to get in the shower," he said as she looked at him. "…if that's okay with you," he added, playing it safe since her face was unreadable. There were too many thoughts going through her mind. "The bathroom will be all yours when I'm done." He walked back into the bathroom since she didn't seem to be paying attention to him.

While waiting on him to get out of the bathroom, Jen selected what he was going to wear for the day and went downstairs to put the coffee on. She made a piece of toast for herself and went back upstairs with perfect timing. He was stepping out of the shower and putting the towel around his waist. She stopped next to him, offering him a bite of her toast.

"Coffee's making," she told him before letting him have the remaining half of toast then removed her nightgown.

He watched her with that dreamy faraway look in his eye, the same look he'd get whenever he thought about Paris. He let out a low whistle at her.

"Oh, please, Jethro," she remarked, rolling her eyes at him. She didn't feel sexy and didn't care to be whistled at by him this morning.

He smirked and focused his attention on shaving as she took her shower. He tried not to laugh when he heard her body wash drop followed by her not so muttered curse word. He stepped to the shower door, knowing his name would come along. He opened the door as soon as she said his name. "Problem, Jenny?"

She mildly glared at him. "You know damn well there's a problem," she spat out, pointing to the bottle of vanilla scented body wash.

"Need me to pick it up?"

"Jethro!"

He chuckled silently and bent down to pick up the bottle, handing it to her once he straightened. Nothing besides him annoyed her more than to drop something and not be able to bend to pick it up. "Anything else, Jenny?"

"No, Jethro. Nothing else," she told him and slammed the shower door shut on him.

There went his idea of morning fun. He walked back to the counter. "Did you lay out my clothes?"

"Yes, I did."

He grinned, amused by her antics. He could select his own clothes, but Jen had taken it upon herself to choose what he'd wear these last few weeks. He'd become slightly used to it and shrugged it off as part of the nesting stage. If she wanted to pick his clothes, he would let her. It was mild compared to the other parts of her nesting. The house wasn't ever clean enough, and he believed she'd unfolded and refolded all the baby clothes nothing less of a hundred times. He enjoyed being taken care of by her, and she enjoyed being taken care of by him. He got dressed and went down to the kitchen to make breakfast. They rotated mornings on making breakfast if they had the time for it.

When Jen came into the kitchen, he smiled at her. She looked beautiful in the dress. Her hair was now shoulder length and layered. There were some perks to being pregnant. Her hair had grown faster and her nails were as long as they'd ever been. He handed her a cup of tea and looked her up and down.

"Uh…Jen…"

"What?" she asked, taking a sip of her tea and easing down into the chair at the island.

"Did you mean to put on those brown boots?" He didn't know if brown and charcoal went together, but he knew the pair of black suede boots was her favorite pair since they'd become broken in.

She sighed heavily. "No! I cannot see my feet!"

He laughed softly and kissed the top of her head, rubbing her shoulders. "Calm down. I'll go get your black ones."

Thank you, Jethro," she said softly. She started to eat breakfast, too hungry to wait for him. A few minutes later, he came down and back to the kitchen. He pushed the chair around so that she was facing him.

"What are you doing?" she asked curiously and with raised eyebrows.

"I'm going to put your boots on." He slipped the dark brown suede boots from her feet and rubbed her calves. "Don't complain in the middle of the day when your feet hurt."

"I won't. I'll call you to come and rub them." She grinned, her eyes sparkling at how sweet he could be.

He shook his head and put the black suede boots on her feet, zipping the side. He stood up and kissed her deeply. She returned the kiss and stroked his face. "Thank you," she told him.

"You're welcome." He kissed her forehead. "How's my girl?" he questioned, putting his hand atop her belly.

"Awake and active if you can't tell." She placed her hand over his and squeezed. He smiled like the proud father he was when he felt a kick. He leaned down and kissed her belly before sitting down next to her to eat breakfast.

"Jethro, I believe our daughter would like to have a name before she's born," she said, looking at him as she sipped her tea. They hadn't had time to thoroughly discuss names. When they did, nothing was ever agreed on.

"Why don't we ask the team to write names down, put them in a hat, and draw out two names?" He was kidding.

Jen put her cup of tea down and scowled at him. She put her hand dangerously close to his crotch and let him know her nails were sharper. He winced and removed her hand. "Jen, withdraw the claws. It was a joke."

The scowl remained on her face, and he kept a firm hold on her hand until she put both hands where he could see them. "It wasn't funny, Jethro. She doesn't have a name."

"It'll come to us. We have plenty of time."

She shook her head, not understanding how he could be so calm and not worry about what she did. He could be so infuriating yet she loved him no matter what he did. Her current worries were getting through her last day at NCIS, naming their daughter, the agency surviving Jethro as acting director, what her body would look like after birth, and most importantly the delivery but the last was a constant worry. Within seconds, her mood swing had passed. "Are you gonna finish that?" She reached over to take the piece of bacon from his plate. She always asked but never waited for his answer.

He tapped her hand with his fork, and she pulled her hand away, looking at him innocently. He shook his head and put the piece of bacon on her plate.

"Thank you." She kissed him lightly on the cheek.

At 0630, the doorbell rang. Both knew it was Stanley to pick Jen up and drive her to work. She quickly left the kitchen and got her briefcase and bag from the study. Gibbs walked to the door and opened it.

"Morning, Stanley."

"Morning, Agent Gibbs," Stanley replied.

"Is the director almost ready?"

Gibbs nodded and gave Stanley a thermos of coffee. Stanley nodded a thank you. "Who made it?"

"She did."

Stanley smiled. Both made a great cup of coffee, but he liked Director Shepard's better…so did Gibbs. Jen appeared in the foyer. "I feel like I'm forgetting something…" She looked around aimlessly.

"Your coat, Jen."

"Right!" She walked over. "Hi Stanley," she said, giving him her briefcase and bag. He took them and put them in the car. She grabbed her dark red trench coat from the rack, and Jethro helped her put it on. She faced him. "I'll see you at the office. Love you," she told him with a kiss.

"I'll see you there. Love you." He stood at the door, watching her get into the car. Stanley closed the door and waved goodbye. Once inside, Jen put on her glasses and started reading autopsy and case reports. She needed to get a head start on the day. Plus, however much work she finished would be less for Gibbs to handle as acting director.

Director Shepard stepped off the elevator and walked towards her office. She looked to the squad room as she walked by, taking this route for one certain purpose. McGee, Ziva, and Tony were watching her. She glared at Tony, and he quickly spun his chair around. Gibbs was standing in front of his desk, coffee cup in hand.

"DiNozzo, I wouldn't push your luck."

"Luck with what, boss?"

"The director."

"Oh, is she still mad about that?"

Gibbs smirked, taking a sip of his coffee and walking to his desk.

"I'll take that as a yes." Tony scratched his head and felt uneasy. He felt like the director might sneak up on him without him knowing and murder him. He would look over his shoulder all day. Gibbs laughed as he watched DiNozzo. He knew what the agent was thinking, and he did have every right to be worried.

Much to her relief, her last day at headquarters was a quiet one. There wasn't a case, so the team had been catching up on paperwork. Before lunch, Ducky entered her office. "Hello, my dear. How are we feeling?"

She was sitting at her desk, hands folded over her stomach. She hadn't noticed the doctor entering her office and looked in his direction. "What did you ask, Ducky?"

"How you are."

"I'm fine."

He shook his head. "You are a million miles away. What is it?" he questioned, taking a seat in front of her desk.

"Nothing. I'm only thinking about…" she paused as she tried to describe what exactly she was thinking about.

"Everything?"

She blushed softly and nodded her head. "Yes, everything. I'm thinking about not being in my office for weeks, the birth, and the agency," she answered, naming only a few things she was concerned about.

"There's no need to worry, director. Your office will be well kept so will the agency. I can't tell you about birth. That's not on my list of experiences," he said with a laugh, smiling as she shared it with him.

"Ducky?"

He nodded, urging her to continue. In his experience of Jenny, there was something tugging on her mind if she was quiet and would rarely voice it except if it was someone she deeply trusted.

"I'm scared," she admitted quietly and aloud for the first time in years. "All I know is being an agent and Director of NCIS. I don't know how to be a mother."

"Have you told Jethro?"

She met the doctor's eyes. "Would it make a difference?"

He made no comment but knew it would make a difference. "Your maternal instincts will come naturally. You didn't know how to be a NCIS agent in the beginning, but you learned from Jethro. Now, you are director. You will learn to be a mother, Jenny. You and Jethro will learn to become parents together. I imagine with the two of you it won't be easy either, but it will be worth it."

She listened to him and took his words in silently. He was right. Becoming a parent would be a learning process. She and Jethro would learn with each other, and it wouldn't be easy. They had always the habit of doing things the hard way. Her features slowly eased as she felt better. Ducky smiled, watching her forehead unwrinkle and the rest of her features ease. He stood up and moved the chair back to its place. "Glad I could be of help."

"Thank you, Ducky."

As he was walking to the door, Jethro opened the office door. "Hey Duck," he greeted.

"Hello Jethro," he returned the greeting, looking back to smile at Jenny before walking out.

Gibbs walked over to her desk and behind it, giving her a kiss. "Hey."

"Hi," she said softly and took his hand in hers.

"You okay?"

She nodded her head. "A lot on my mind."

He nodded his head and squeezed her hand before helping her to her feet. "Hungry?"

"You know I am," she answered, watching the smirk come over his face. He watched her roll her eyes. "Did you leave the food on Cynthia's desk?"

He shook his head. "Nope. We're going to sit down and eat today."

"We always sit down and eat, Jethro."

"Smartass," he mumbled and helped her into her trench coat. "We are going to wherever you want to go and having lunch."

She glanced over her shoulder at him. "Who are you and what have you done with my Jethro?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "I can't take my girl out for a real sit down meal?"

"You can, but you never do."

That wasn't the first time he'd heard her say that. "I am today," he told her, taking her hand and walking out of her office. Both of them decided to take the stairs once they observed the squad room. Tony was leaning back in his chair with his feet propped on his desk. McGee was still diligently working as was Ziva. The three of them were waiting on their take out orders to arrive. Gibbs and Jenny came upon the team without a sound and listened to the conversation.

"Okay, so…any final thoughts?" DiNozzo asked of his teammates.

McGee looked at Tony. "Twenty pounds."

"Really, Probie?"

"What's wrong with twenty pounds?"

"C'mon, it's more than that!"

"It's my answer. What's yours?"

"I'd say thirty pounds. Ziva?" DiNozzo looked in the direction of the Israeli.

"Tony, I am not participating. I do not agree with taking guesses at how much Jenny's gained during the pregnancy. I am not participating in this betting tub."

"Pool, Ziva…POOL!"

DiNozzo didn't notice the two figures behind him. Ziva was the first to notice, and McGee the second. He had followed Ziva's eyes. Tony, realizing his teammates had fallen silent, slowly swiveled his chair around. He swallowed hard as he stared at the face of Jennifer Shepard. If looks could kill, he would be dead and buried under the NCIS headquarters. "Oh, hey…how are you?"

She concentrated her death glare, redheaded temper rising with every second. Gibbs looked entirely amused by reaction of DiNozzo. The agent was beginning to perspire from sheer nervousness and fear. However, he noticed Jenny's fists were clenched which wasn't ever a good sign. "Jen, c'mon. You can kill him later. Jen," he said, rubbing her back. She glanced at him. "Kill later. Let's eat first." He had to do nothing less than pull her away from the bullpen. She did a lot of screaming in the elevator and thought of several ways to kill the agent on the way to the car. Gibbs somehow convinced her not doing anything and making DiNozzo extremely paranoid would be better than the actual kill. He was a good agent and entertaining at times; the team wouldn't be the same without him. The couple went to lunch and returned an hour later. The afternoon went by smoothly for the team, and the director spent hers in MTAC. Jenny was saddened by her last day of work when she left headquarters with Jethro at 1900 but grateful she wouldn't have to choose an outfit tomorrow morning.