#8: Matching Tattoos

Gibbs sensed the presence of someone else in his house before he heard it. He then heard footsteps on the stairs leading down to his basement. The light vanilla and citrus scent told him who it was.

"Jen," he said, not turning around. She walked over, swung herself through the arched framework of the boat and sat cross-legged on the flat plywood the boat rested on. She wore a strappy vest top, denim shorts and tennis shoes. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. She looked wonderful. Gibbs smiled at the memory of her aged 25 in a similar state of dress in his basement. His partner of four weeks, she had a fire and passion that matched his. She didn't let him intimidate her, which he liked. His newly divorced ex-wife Diane had turned up, found Jenny in his basement at gone midnight and had engaged Jenny in a screaming match which had resulted with him being hit in the head by Diane with a seven iron. She had accused Jethro of cheating on her with Jenny when they were still married. Ironic, because at this point, he still hadn't even kissed Jen. The mischievous twinkle in Jen's eye at this moment told him she was thinking along the same lines as him. He poured some more bourbon into his mug.

"You want some?"

She nodded.

"Top shelf, mason jar," he said, indicating the stack of shelves. She jumped off the boat and went over to them. She could see the jar in question and reached for it. Gibbs glanced at her and saw her vest top ride up, displaying an intricate tattoo above her right hip.

"What the-"

He grabbed her and span her to face him, pushing up her top.

"Hey!" she said.

There, carved into her skin, was the word 'Anthony' in black, characterised swirly lettering set on a background of a finer curled design.

"Who the hell is Anthony?" he snapped.

"My boyfriend," she replied and pulled her top back down. She grabbed the bottle of bourbon and poured some into the jar. She took a gulp, enjoying the warmth of it, and noticed Gibbs staring at her.

"Whaat?" she said, in very good imitation of him. The reddening of the tips of his ears told her it didn't go unnoticed.

"How long?" he asked.

"4 years, 7 months, 6 days,"

He could hear the happiness in her voice.

"You gonna marry this guy, Jen?"

"Who knows? If he asked, yes. But he's never been one for commitment."

Gibbs smiled and thought of another one who had never been one for commitment – Tony, his senior field agent. Tony DiNozzo. Anthony DiNozzo.

"Hang on, Jen. It's not DiNozzo, is it?"

Jenny nearly fell over laughing.

"Tony?" she cried, and carried on laughing.

"I'll take that as a no then," he said.

She nodded, her eyes watering with mirth. Once she stopped laughing she straightened up.

"Anyway, I better leave you to your boat."

"Yeah, bye, Jen," he said.

Tony DiNozzo had just finished putting Izzy down for the night when he heard her mother come in through the front door. He went down the stairs to meet her and frowned when he saw the tears running down her cheeks.

"Baby?" he asked, wrapping her in his arms, "What's wrong?"

He lifted her chin so her gaze met his. Her long red hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail and her green eyes were sparkling with tears.

"I can't keep lying to him, Tony, I just can't."

"I know, Jen, I know. We'll tell him soon, I promise."

She nodded and dried here eyes. He lowered his mouth to hers in a tender sweet kiss. Minutes later, she withdrew.

"Izzy asleep?"

"Yeah, out like a light."

"I'll just go see her, can you get dinner on the go?"

Tony nodded and went into the kitchen. Jenny toyed with the wedding ring, which hung on a chain around her neck, before going to see her daughter. Jenny had been a very small 4 and a half months when Jethro had left, and nearly four months later, Izzy was born. A week later, Gibbs returned. He had no knowledge of Izzy's existence.

Jenny looked down into the crib and smiled.

"Isabella Sophia DiNozzo, you are going to be a real heartbreaker when you grow up."

At just eight months, Izzy had her father's big dark blue eyes and a smattering of her mother's fiery red hair. She had creamy white skin, a button nose and a tiny rosebud mouth. Jenny rubbed her thumb against her daughter's little cheek and smiled, before heading down to the kitchen.

She stopped in the doorway, watching her husband cooking. He tossed the pasta and noticed her. He smiled at her and leant forward to grab some spices. The wedding ring on the chain around his neck swung forward. He quickly mixed up a sauce. If there was anything her man could do, it was cook Italian food. She reached into the fridge, uncorked the half bottle of wine and split it between two glasses.

Dinner was Jenny's favourite time of day. Izzy was always asleep, and she could just enjoy the company of the man she loved. When bedtime came, Tony made love to her with a practiced ease and finesse that had come from their five year relationship. She lay in his arms and drifted off into an easy sleep.

Gibbs woke up early on Saturday morning with a headache. He spent an hour working on the boat and drank two cups of coffee. Still his headache didn't clear. Maybe some fresh air would do him some good. There was a park near Jenny's house, and he decided to go there.

Twenty minutes later, he sat down on a bench in the park with a fresh cup of starbucks. He glanced at the children playing. There was a lovely little red haired baby sat in the sandpit, clapping happily. She reminded him of Kelly. Her father was crouched at the edge of the pit, with his back to Gibbs. The baby reached for him, chortling. He picked her up and stood, she stuffing her fist in her mouth. The man turned and pointed out the ducks on the pond to the baby. Gibbs nearly dropped his coffee. It was Tony. With a baby. DiNozzo. Wearing a wedding ring. He seemed totally at ease with the baby, who Gibbs assumed was his daughter. Tony pointed at something else and the baby clapped in delight. Jenny. Crossing the park from the snack stand, carrying a bottle of water. She smiled when she saw them. She walked up to Tony and kissed him full on the mouth, before taking the baby. Gibbs stared in shock. The moment Jen took the baby he knew she was her mother. And Jen was wearing a wedding ring. Jenny and Tony? No way!" But the evidence was right in front of his eyes. As Gibbs watched, Jenny whispered something in Tony's ear and his face cracked into a smile. Gibbs wondered what she said.

Jenny loved weekends off, when it was just her and her little family. She watched Tony with Izzy. He was a natural. She went up on tiptoe and whispered in his ear, "Ready for another one?" Tony stared at her and saw the confirmation in her eyes. She was pregnant again. His whole face lit up and he squeezed her, before kissing her again.

"I thought you said it wasn't DiNozzo," said a voice from in front of them, making them break apart.

"Gibbs!" said Tony in shock. Jenny just looked guilty. Izzy chortled again and pointed at Gibbs, cracking a grin not dissimilar from her fathers.

"Who's this?" he asked.

"Isabella," answered Jenny, softly. Tony waited apprehensively for Gibbs to say something or start shouting. Gibbs just turned around and walked off.

"Well," said Jenny, "That didn't go very well."

"I know," replied Tony. With Izzy on his hip, he put his other arm around his wife and they walked home.

Jen was halfway through cooking dinner later that evening when the doorbell rang. Tony had just finished giving Izzy a bath and getting her ready for bed.

"I'll get it," he called, supporting his very sleepy daughter on his shoulder and heading for the front door.

"Gibbs!" he said in surprise, for the second time that day, "Um, would you like to come in?"

Gibbs nodded and Tony gave him access. Tony took Gibbs into the kitchen where Jen was just finishing cooking.

"Jethro?" queried Jenny.

"Hi, Jen."

"You want dinner? There's plenty."

"Why not?" replied Gibbs. He watched Tony make up a bottle for Isabella and feed it to her. Tony and Jenny moved around the kitchen in a way that suggested they had been doing it for a long time. Once she had had enough, Tony took Izzy up to bed and Jenny washed out the bottle. Tony returned, and within minutes Jenny served three steaming plates of chicken stir fry and they all sat down.

Gibbs looked at them, "Everything."

Jenny looked at Tony, and then she started talking.

"I met Tony three years before I became Director, in a bar on the navy yard. We started dating pretty steadily over the next three years. Then I became Director and discovered Tony was the senior field agent of my major crime response team, and you were my team leader. Tony joined the dots and worked out we have a past together, so we decided to keep the relationship secret. 6 months into the job, he proposed, and two weeks later I found out I was pregnant. We married at ten months, and you left at ten and a half months."

"But you were nearly four months pregnant!" he burst out.

"Four and a half. But very small, and I wore looser clothing. Anyway, I informed the team of my pregnancy, but not the paternity. Izzy was born a week early, and then you returned the day after her due date."

"That was eight months ago, why haven't you told me since?"

"It was too difficult," said Jenny, "And I feared it would break up the team."

Gibbs looked like he was struggling to process it all.

"If it helps," said Tony, "I love her."

Jenny squeezed his hand, "And I love him."

"Is SecNav aware?" asked Gibbs.

"Of course," replied Jenny," He accepted the relationship provided it does not interfere with work. Any promotion that comes Tony's way must be first approved by two colleagues who believe said promotion is justified and not in anyway a misuse of my power."

"Well then, I guess there's no reason for everything to not come out into the open then."

"I guess not," said Jenny, looking at Tony.

So, Monday morning, Gibbs called Ziva, McGee, Abby, Ducky and Palmer into the bullpen to where he, Jen and DiNozzo were waiting.

"Well," said Tony, clearing his throat, "The reason we called you down here is, well, last year I married Jen, and I'm Izzy's father."

Everyone nodded, except Palmer, who looked shocked.

"Wait!" said Gibbs, "Who didn't know the baby was Tony's?"

Only Palmer raised his hand.

It was Jenny's turn to be shocked.

"What? You all knew? How?"

Ducky spoke first, "Isabella has Anthony's eyes."

"Tony has Izzy's picture in his wallet," explained Ziva.

"I saw you kissing in the park one Saturday," said McGee.

Tony nodded and looked at Abby.

"You always smell like vanilla and citrus," she said simply.

"Oh," said Tony, and he looked at Jenny, "Well, we have some more news."

"We're expecting again," said Jen.

Abby screamed and hugged them, followed by Ziva, Ducky and McGee. Gibbs shook Tony's hand and kissed Jenny's cheek.