A/N: so I had no idea how to have the boys react to Quinn so it took a while to get this chapter out. So in order to make up for it; it is really long. Sorry if the dialogue gets tedious. By the way in my mind the time of year is early July. PS next few chapters will feature Jenny more. And Jethro will be referred to as dad unless addressed otherwise.

An Unknown Child

9

Previously:

"I will not have a 'roomy' Dinozzo. My daughter is moving in." He motioned for Quinn to come over. "Guys this is Quinn Rain Gibbs; formerly Tanner. My daughter."

Tony's face fell when he realized he was flirting with his boss' daughter. Quinn watched as his face fell and the blood drain from his face as he paled. She started cracking up in laughter and was quickly joined by Abby and Ziva. Tim and Ducky smirked as the three women laughed. Even Jenny was shaking with quiet laughter.

"Let that be a lesson to start working and stop flirting Agent Dinozzo." Jen's voice called to him. Jen turned her attention back to Quinn and Jethro. "Jethro I leave you now to get things set up with your team. Quinn could you join me?"

"Sure Jenny." Quinn follows Jenny back up the stairs to Jenny's office. Quinn catches up and walks beside Jenny up the stairs. Jenny throws an arm around Quinn's shoulders. They walk like this the rest of the way to Jenny's office. Once there Jenny slips off the heels she was wearing with a sigh of relief. She then led Quinn over to the couch and sat down. Quinn sat next to her and leaned against the back of the couch, bringing her legs under her.

"We waiting for something?" Quinn asked her.

"Your father to square away the details to Tony. And I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"Do you need help getting a plane ticket for you both?"

"That would be helpful. You can get me the details later. I would like to leave this weekend and return about 8 days later."

"Do you need help taking care of any details over there?"

"No, my neighbor is a lawyer and the school knows my situation. They gave me both summer assignments for my AP Chemistry class and my Pre-AP Calculus and English classes. I checked my email last night on my iPod touch. I can work on them on the plane and while Dad works on the boat. They'll be finished in no time. Anything else?"

"Do you think I still have a chance with him?"

"I would say that he never stopped caring about you. You just need to show that you'll stay. That's what he needs right now."

"How did you know that I was the one who left?"

"You left him six years ago and came back as director. That and Ducky confirmed it when you went to the bathroom."

"OK, but now that you mentioned it. Why are adults dumb?"

"You heard that?" Quinn asked and Jenny nodded. "You have turned a blind eye to the fact that he still loves you. My guess is that you do that because you don't think that you're good enough for him or that you don't want to hurt him."

"Are you sure your only 15?"

"Drama knows no age limit. That and because all of my classes are upper level classes, all my friends are upperclassman; so I get all of their drama. I have become quite good at dealing with it and finding solutions."

"Well then now that that is out of the way: I just thought of something. You're father's job is very demanding. So he might be called out of town for stretches of time."

"I assumed that; his house looks like no one lives there. But is there a point to what you're telling me?"

"I wanted to let you know that you could stay at my place if he goes out of town. And if you didn't want to stay with me; Abby will be more than willing to take you."

"I figured she would; she calls me her little sister. Do you think that the rest of the team will think like that?"

"Why?"

"Because it was just me and my 'mom' and 'dad', I had no other family. I kind of like the idea of having a family; even if I am only related by blood to one of them."

"Then yes I do. Give them some time to get used to you and they will be like a family to you."

"Will they do stuff with me when they don't have work?"

"Yes and you might have multiple people for any given activity."

"Meaning?"

"What do you like to do?"

"Shop for books, shop for music, shop for movies. I sometimes like to shop for clothes, but I need to be in the mood for that. I like to work out and go see plays and movies."

"Ok well for any type of shopping you could bring Abby or me. For books I would bring Tim, movies Tony and music Ducky and for clothes myself and Abby. For working out your father, myself, and Ziva. For going to see movies bring Tony and for seeing plays myself and Ducky."

"Do you realize that you are pretty much on every item I just listed? You trying to tell me something?"

"Don't be afraid to ask me for anything. If my plan works and I get another shot with Jethro, I want you to feel comfortable around me. I don't want to be the typical stepmother."

Before Quinn could reply the door slammed open and her father stood in the doorway.

"You ready to go Quinn?"

"Yea. Jenny's getting us plane tickets to Arizona. She'll bring the details and stuff by later."

"Thank you Jen."

"It is nothing Jethro. Now go get your house ready for Quinn to live in."

And with that Jethro and Quinn left the office and left the Navy Yard. They headed home to get started on the house work that needed to get done before they left.

"How are we getting your stuff here?"

"Ummm clothes wise I will probably not pack much. I will wear my clothes that are still at the houses in Tucson. But the rest of my stuff will need to be shipped here. We'll need to get two moving vans. One for the piano and they will have to be people who know how to move pianos and the second for everything else I want to bring."

"You have two houses?"

"Yea. One in the city and one that is a ranch house."

"What are you going to do with the houses?"

"Well the one in the city I am definitely selling, along with anything in it that I don't want. But I kinda want to keep the ranch house. I love it there."

"Do you have horses?"

"We own three; one for each of us. And we do boarding so total we have about a dozen horses."

"You keeping all three?"

"I don't know. I was thinking that we could use the ranch house as a vacation spot. There are a ton of trails near the house that we can both ride or hike. So maybe we can think about that. And look at the house before you decide, please?"

"That sounds good. I haven't been horseback riding in years. Now what did Jen tell you up in her office?"

"Well she asked about school and if I needed any help with anything, that's how she came to get us the plane tickets. Then I asked if the team will welcome me into the family, she said that I might need to give some of them a little time. Then she told me that if you needed to go out of town for a case that I could stay with her. I think she is trying to send a message."

"Oh really. And what would that message be?"

"That she wants another shot. She might be trying to prove it to you by being there for both of us."

"She doesn't want another shot." He sounded bummed out by this fact.

"I don't believe that, and I think that you don't believe it either."

"And why do you think that?"

"Because I saw her face when you said that Stephanie was to replace someone else, not Mom. Her face was a look of shock and anguish. So to me the question is not whether she wants another shot; it's whether you want another shot. So do you want another shot with her?" They pulled up outside the house and went inside before he answered.

"I would like nothing better than another chance with Jen. She is the only one I have truly loved since your mother passed. But back to the business at hand; do you want your bed from your house or a new one?"

"New one. The ones at my house are twins. They are way too small for me to move in as I sleep."

"Okay, so getting a new bed and mattress along with other room furniture to match, a couple sets of bedclothes and some towels. Anything else we need to buy?"

"Some paint. The room is a very boring shade of white; it needs some life."

"Do you have a color in mind?"

"I have a couple ideas."

"Let's go then."

"Okay. Do you want me to pay for some of this?"

"How about I buy all the furniture and one set of sheets and you buy the rest of the bedclothes and the towels and paint?"

"Deal."

They left the house again and headed to a furniture store. Quinn picked out a beautiful bedroom set in stained black wood. It came with a full size frame for a bed, a bedside table, a desk with a hanging bookshelf and a chair. They then picked out a small bookshelf and a tall bookshelf. Quinn picked out a mattress that was comfortable to her and Jethro paid for them. The store would have it delivered by Tuesday (the next day).

Next they went to a Bed, Bath, and Beyond where Quinn picked out two pillows, and three sets of sheets, a quilt and a comforter. Her dad bought one set of sheets and the quilt for her; while she paid for everything else.

The final stop for the day was to a hardware store where he picked up a set of light bulbs for every room in the house. And Quinn browsed the paint selections. She settled on a light blue paint for the trimmings and the door and a sea-green color for the walls. She then grabbed paint rollers and thick brushes and a paint tub and a sponge. As she headed to meet her dad at the register she saw a small can of accent paint in shiny silver. She grabbed a can and hurried on her way. They each paid for their goods and headed back home. They pulled everything into the living room and sat down on the couch for a few minutes.

Quinn looked at the clock on the wall and saw that is was only 1:30 in the afternoon. "So how about we eat some lunch then pull all the furniture out of my room and start painting. That way we have it done before the new furniture gets here tomorrow."

"Good idea."

So they both headed into the kitchen and pulled out leftover take out and heated in the microwave. They ate rather quickly and then moved into Quinn's room. They both lifted the mattress out of the frame as well as the box spring. Her father then hauled it out of the room as Quinn took apart the bedframe. She left the bed in a pile and moved the boxes that were in the room over to the door. When she finished with that her dad came back in.

"So I tossed the mattress in the truck to take to the dump. And I placed a call to Habitat for Humanity to come get the bedframe; they'll send a truck in 10 minutes. So let's get this stuff out to the front yard."

"Got it. What about the boxes?"

"I'll put them in the crawl space. The entrance is in the other bedroom. So Quinn and her dad carried the bed pieces out to the front yard then carried the boxes over to the entrance to the crawl space.

20 minutes later the truck came and picked up the frame and left. Dad then climbed a ladder to the crawlspace where Quinn handed him the boxes. Once that was finished the walked back into Quinn's room where they used two screwdrivers to undo the coverings on the electrical outlets and the phone jack. Quinn placed each one in a zip-up bag then retrieved all the paint and painting supplies. Her dad went to the basement and came back with a few more supplies including: a few more brushes and tubs, a roll of painter's tape and a roller that could reach the ceiling.

Quinn took the roll of tape and put some around the open outlets then headed into the bathroom and placed the tape along the edge of the sink counter and where the shower stall meet the wall. Her dad came in a removed to towel bar and the one outlet covering for her. She headed back into the bedroom and opened the light blue can.

"This is for the room's door and trims and the bathroom walls and ceilings the other can is for the opposite. Let's start with the trimmings and door." So they started painting and 3 hours later they were finished. Jethro reclosed the cans of paint and Quinn used the rest in the tubs to paint the outlet coverings. She set them out to dry and left the room. She grabbed her quilt and comforter and threw them in the washing machine.

She was just coming into the kitchen when she heard the door open and a voice call out.

"Jethro."

And Jen walked into the kitchen.

A/N2: so I am ending it here, otherwise it will go on forever. I don't know if I should show the trip to Tucson. So until I hear otherwise that trip will take place in flashbacks. But that won't start until after the next chapter. Which I won't start until I get a chapter updated for some of my other fics. Again let me know what you think.