Author's Note: Hi ya'll! I can't believe I'm updating this quickly, but my muse just wouldn't leave me alone and I decided to just let my fingers do the work. I really hope that you guys like this chapter, it's the end of the entire story (though maybe I'll do a couple of oneshots in this universe), so for now, you guys'll have to bid goodbye to Jade, Amelia, Heather and the twins!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NCIS
ENJOY!
(Continued from previous chapter)
The team arrived together with Ducky and Abby at precisely 11.30, and together they helped set up the barbecue party, everyone talking loudly and laughing merrily as they carried plates of steak, hamburgers, sausages and an assortment of other things onto the back lawn. They looked like a regular, happy family preparing for a special family occasion. But two members of their family were missing – the youngest of the batch were in their room, smiling deviously and hatching up a plan that was sure to make their mom have heart failure.
Once twelve o'clock struck, and the barbecue pit was in place and lighted, with a few sausages on top and Dylan and Jethro manning the grill while everyone else helped themselves to the drinks, Lina and Ariele appeared, looking with red and puffy eyes. They stayed in the kitchen until Lina was brave enough to call out for her mom.
"Mom?" she called out, managing to make her voice sound broken. Everyone's heads turned towards her, and immediately everyone exchanged looks of worry.
Heather gave her sisters a look full of worry before hurrying to the kitchen and closing the back door.
Ariele went straight for her mom, crying onto her shoulder. Lina wordlessly gave her their letters.
Heather read placed them on the kitchen counter side by side, now convinced that they were going to say the usual 'we are sorry to inform you…' in the beginning of the letters. But, reading the letters at the same time, they were a 'we are pleased to inform you…' letters.
"Adalina and Ariele Shepard you better not have been tricking me –"
But Ariele had suddenly moved out of her mother's arms, drying her fake tear on the neckline of her t-shirt. The twins were wearing the same, identical grins on their faces as their mom read their acceptance letter.
Heather just stood there silently, re-reading the letters even though she knew exactly what they were saying. Her eyes averted from one letter to another, and she confirmed that they were saying exactly the same thing – which mean that they were accepted.
"Girls, I'm so proud of you!" squealed Heather, wrapping both of them in a bear hug.
But it suddenly occurred to her that it also meant that they had almost gave her a heart attack for nothing –
"But what were you thinking?" her voice took a loud turn, and now she was shouting at them. "You almost gave me a heart attack, making me think that you hadn't been accepted and that you were emotional – I swear to God, if you do that one more time, I will lock you up in your basement and make sure you miss your registration date!"
The twins just stood there, wearing slightly ashamed expressions on their now extremely non-teary eyed faces. Silently though, they knew that their mom was proud of them.
"Now I want you to get your highly annoying asses on that back lawn and tell everybody the good news." She stalked out, as if it didn't matter that they had been accepted into the most prestigious arts school in DC.
Once their mom disappeared into the lawn, they looked at each other and grinned, high-fiving.
"I think we should've signed up for acting instead. Your performance – golden!" said Ariele with a laugh.
"Yeah, of course." Said Lina flipping her hair. Ariele rolled her eyes and laughed. "But the way you reached for mom and cried on her shoulder! That wasn't even planned – amazing. Fantastic. A plus for us!"
They high-fived again and went out into the back lawn, where they met the face of their irate mom and amused friends and family. They grinned at them, sure that they already knew their results.
"We got in." they announced together, in the most non-dramatic way possible.
They were met with cheers and congratulations, and they thanked everyone as everyone got back to chatting with one another. As the twins laughed along with the team, Dylan turned to Jethro.
"You still going to do it?" asked Dylan softly, though he didn't need to be – the others were so loud, it was impossible for any of them to overhear what they were saying. "Not afraid that it's gonna steal the twins' thunder?"
"I don't think they'll mind." Replied Jethro, turning over the sausages on the barbecue. "They've been asking me when I'll do it for a while now."
Dylan nodded.
"Good luck," he said, even though he knew Jethro didn't need it – they both loved each other so much, she was sure to say yes in a heartbeat.
"Thanks." Then, to turn the subject onto Dylan, he asked with a teasing tone, "When are you gonna pop the question to Heather?"
~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~
"Dinner?" Jethro asked Jenny a few hours later, after the barbecue party had died down and everyone else except Dylan and him had left already.
"Jethro," laughed Jenny. "We just spent the last how many hours eating and now you want to go for dinner? Are you ever full?"
"Okay then, how about a walk? Just the two of us?" he asked her. He didn't really have a plan – he just wanted to go with the flow.
Jenny looked at him and smiled. To hell with the others – she hadn't spent time with her boyfriend in two weeks. They could manage a few hours on their own.
As Jenny got up from her spot on the couch, Jethro caught Dylan's eye and smiled at him. Dylan nodded his head at him and Jethro nodded back before following Jenny to the front door, where she was waiting for him.
"Let's go." He wrapped an arm around her waist and led her out the door.
"Anything interesting in the past two weeks?" he asked her, as they walked down the street towards the park and a small row of shops.
"Budget meetings, anti-terrorism conferences, joint undercover operations between NCIS and FBI," Jenny checked off the list on her fingers. "I managed to get a bigger budget for this year. I'm thinking I should upgrade the monitors in Cyber. Or in Abby's lab. Or both."
"You got that much money?" asked Jethro in disbelief.
"I had to put up a good fight with Homeland Security." Shrugged Jenny, then she grinned at him. "Turns out, Director Johnson doesn't like women in power positions. But, I got more than I anticipated. Mostly by insulting the entire agency than just the Director."
Jethro laughed. That was Jenny.
"How about you?" she asked, as they turned left into the park. "Any interesting cases in the past two weeks."
"Mostly open-and-shut." He said. "But there was one case – there was a Petty Officer that was murdered while she was at a family party. Mum, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and her fifteen-year-niece was there."
"How did she die?" she asked curiously.
"Poisoned. Someone slipped cyanide in her drink and she died within minutes." He said. "Her family became suspects, but we narrowed it down to just the victim's sister and brother-in-law."
"What was the motive?"
"That was something we didn't have. We had evidence, and everything pointed to both of them, but we just didn't have the motive. Even after interrogation they didn't break." He said.
"And what happened to their daughter?" she asked him, leaning her head on his shoulder as they walked.
"She helped. The couple was fighting like cats and dogs, according to her. She said that they're only staying together for her sake, and that she knew that they had stopped loving each other a long time ago." He smiled, remembering the kind-faced fifteen-year-old that helped a lot with their case. "She suggested we put them in the same interrogation room and leave them alone. We did – and after a while they started shouting at each other, and they both confessed to killing the Petty Officer while trying to pin the murder on the other person."
"They hated each other that much so they killed an innocent person and tried to frame each other for it?" asked Jenny in disbelief. "And their daughter?"
"With her grandparents." He said.
"What's her name?"
"Vivian."
She smiled – that was a beautiful name. They continued walking in silence, holding hands. It was so nice to just spend time with each other, even if they weren't talking about anything. They were almost done with their walk when Jethro suddenly stopped, and Jenny realised that he had led them where they were hidden from other people in the park – it was a circle of flowers surrounding them, and just a single path where they had entered from.
As she admired the flowers around them, he was starting to sweat – he suddenly wished he had something special planned for them, for her – and was considering postponing proposing to her when she turned to him and kissing him softly, placing a delicate hand on his neck. His mind was made up – he couldn't wait any longer for her to be his – officially his, and he couldn't wait to put a ring on her left hand. He wrapped an arm firmly around her waist and kissed her back, making her dizzy with his kisses.
"Jen, I love you." He said, holding her face gently in his calloused hands. She sighed contentedly, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Feeling tingles where his lips touched her head, she said softly, "I love you too."
"I want to be with you." He said to her, with a serious expression on her face.
She was slightly surprised that Jethro was talking to her like this, but she had to admit that she liked it.
Jethro, meanwhile, was trying to concentrate on how to put what he felt in words. Every time he saw her, it made his day brighter and every time he smiled it made him weak in the knees. He loved everything about her, and he just wanted her to be his, and everything else would be fine.
"I want to – I want you to be mine." He said softly, looking in her eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the velvet ring box without her noticing.
"I am yours, Jethro." She was getting slightly worried now. What was happening to him?
"Not officially." He shook his head. She frowned, her brain whirring in her head. There was only one possible option why he was saying all this to her, but she didn't want to get her hopes up – "I want to marry you."
She was right.
She didn't gasp in surprise, nor did her eyes well up in tears. She simply smiled, a happy, foolish smile as she watched the man she loved for so long get down on one knee in front of her. He held out a blue ring box in his hands, and he opened it, revealing the beautiful gem that laid inside it.
Nestled snugly in between the blue velvet cushion in the box, was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. It was a beautiful oval shaped diamond with two smaller diamonds on other side of it. Her smile widened, and he sighed in relief – at least he had done something right.
"Jen, will you marry me – please?" he added, in hopes of it raising his chances of getting married with her.
She laughed at the way he phrased his question, and, feeling the tears well up in her eyes, she sniffed softly and said, "Of course."
He smiled, a smile that was so big it almost split his face into two, a smile that made her all the more happier that she had said yes. He took the ring out of its velvet casing and slipped it slowly onto her finger, and she sighed contentedly for the second time as she admired the gem on her hand. The band was two flat silver metals twisted across one another, continuing until the band met the diamonds. She liked to think that it signified their two lives intertwining.
He snapped the box shut and got up as he placed the box back into his pocket.
"You like it?" he asked, holding her left hand.
She nodded happily.
"It's perfect. You're perfect." She said, wrapping her arms around him. She pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. "I can't believe I'm gonna be the next Mrs. Gibbs."
"And the last." He promised.
"I better be." She said sternly, before laughing. "Is that why you were spending so much time with Dylan at the party? Did he know?"
"Told him first." He nodded. "No one else but me and him knew."
"So that's why you guys acted so shady." She said softly. "Come on, let's go home."
She made to walk out of the beautiful circle of flowers when he reached out, grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"What's the rush?" he asked her. "I wanna spend time with you here."
She smiled, leaning in to kiss him. She placed her hands on his chest, deepening the kiss. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist and pulled her closer. Her hands slid up behind his neck and intertwined while his hands gripped her hair tightly. Their passion increased as their kiss lengthened, and soon they were devouring each other, giving each other fierce, heated and sensual kiss.
Once they pulled away, they held each other tightly.
"God, I love you so much, Jen." He said, stroking her hair lightly and pressing a kiss onto her head.
"I love you – more than you know."
~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~
When they reached home, it was almost half an hour later, as they had taken their time strolling back. He held her left hand the entire way, loving the feel of the cold metal against his hand. He still couldn't believe he had successfully proposed to the most beautiful woman in the world.
She couldn't wait to tell her sisters, and she couldn't wait to see their reactions. So, as she and Jethro walked past the front door into the house, they headed straight for the living room. Everyone was still there, and they realised, looking at the clock, that they had been gone for almost one and a half hours. The twins were singing with Heather while Dylan played the piano. Jade and Amelia were watching and occasionally taking sips of their wine as they chatted together, watching the happy family.
"Where do you think Jenny and Jethro went?" asked Amelia. "They've been gone for a while now."
"To paradise and back." Said Jade, a smirk on her face.
Amelia laughed, and Jenny looked at her in surprise. She usually didn't approve of Jade's sexual jokes. Jade, however, thought it was perfectly normal, and laughed along with her sister.
"He did take me to paradise, just not the one you're thinking about." Said Jenny from behind them.
They swivelled around, chocking on their wine and spluttering.
Dylan caught Jethro's eyes and glanced at Jenny's left ring finger. He smiled when he saw the band there, nodding at him in congratulations as he continued playing the piano. He nodded back his thanks, and went to stand next Jenny.
"What other paradise could there – "asked Jade, before she was interrupted by Heather, who had stopped singing.
"Oh. My. God." She said, immediately going over to Jenny. Lina and Ariele stopped singing, slightly confused with what was going on, until Lina caught something glinting on her aunt's finger.
"Uncle Gibbs proposed to Aunt Jenny!" she whispered in her twin's ear, and they grinned at each other, hopping off the piano and hurrying over to their aunts and mom.
"Is that a ring?" squealed Heather. "Are you – did he – did you – "
Jenny and Jethro nodded, and before Heather could say anything, Amelia pounced on Jenny and gave her a bear hug.
"Congratulations, Jenny!" she said loudly, and Jade swooped in, wrapping her arms around the two of them and hugging them affectionately.
"I'm so happy for you! That's so great!" she said happily, no trace of the sarcastic person she normally was.
"You're getting married!" said Heather, wrapping all three of them in a sisterly hug. "My baby sister is getting married!"
At this point, they were hugging Jenny so tightly that she was almost turning blue, and Jethro spoke up.
"If you continue hugging her like that, I might never get to marry her." He said teasingly.
"You finally asked!" said Heather, as they all let go of Jenny and Jethro wrapped an arm around his fiancé. "We all placed bets – who won? I think it was the twins, I'm not really sure."
"Wait a minute, I'll go get the list. It's in my purse." Said Jade, standing up and going to the kitchen to retrieve her purse.
"You made bets on when Jethro would propose to me?" asked Jenny in disbelief.
"What? You think we would just wait and not bet on it?" said Amelia. "How long have you known us?"
Jenny shook her head.
"Can you imagine what will happen when we tell the team tomorrow?" Jethro whispered in her ear.
"Ducky will win the bet." Said Jenny immediately.
"Nah, Ziva will." Said Jethro confidently.
"Wanna bet?" she asked, smiling deviously. He returned the same smile. "Twenty dollars, and the loser has to buy coffee for a week."
"No problem." He agreed.
They went silent when they realised that Heather, Amelia and the twins were staring at them. They all scoffed.
"Double standards." Said Amelia, rolling her eyes lightly.
"Hey, this is different."
"Yeah, sure." Replied Heather sarcastically.
"Anyway," piped up Lina, stepping in front with Ariele. "We just wanted to congratulate you two."
"It was only a matter of time anyway." Said Ariele, smiling brightly at them. "Even the blind can see that you guys are so in love."
"Thanks, girls." Said Jenny softly. "I see all three of us have something to celebrate today."
They hugged briefly before they turned to Jethro.
"We look forward to you being our official uncle." Said Ariele.
"I mean, we have to sing at your wedding first, of course." Said Lina. Ariele nodded in agreement.
"Whoa whoa whoa," said Jenny. "We just got engaged. Don't you think it's a little early to start planning the wedding?"
"No." said both of them in unison. They wore a look of surprise on their faces.
"Didn't you know that we already prepared a set list like, the day we met Uncle Gibbs?" said Lina.
Jenny and Jethro shared a look. Before they could reply, Jade came back with the list.
"You were right Heather – the twins won." She announced. She took the collected money from her purse and presented them with the money.
"WOOHOO!" shouted Ariele, waving the money in the air.
"Jade, can I see the list?" asked Jenny softly, not wanting to interrupt the twins celebrating.
It was written in Amelia's beautifully cursive handwriting.
THE BET ON WHEN JENNY GETS ENGAGED.
Jade ($20) – 28 October (Jenny's birthday)
Heather ($20) – Early October
Amelia ($20) – Christmas
Dylan ($20) – 4th of July
Lina & Ariele ($20) – Early August
She noticed that Dylan's name was struck – they all made valid guesses, except for the twins and Heather. Like mother, like daughters, she thought, smirking slightly.
"I can't believe we won." Laughed Lina, high-fiving her sister.
"Today is definitely a good day." Said Ariele, clutching the hundred dollars as the adults looked at them, shaking their heads.
Jenny grinned at them, looking up at Jethro. He smiled at her and planted a sweet kiss on her lips.
"Wanna stay the night?" she asked. "At yours of course."
"Really?" he asked, surprised – normally she preferred him staying over. "I thought you wanted to stay over to celebrate."
"Yeah, but I wanted a bit of privacy tonight." She whispered seductively, fingering the top button of his shirt. She leaned up and whispered what she wanted to do to him, smiling when she pulled back and noticed that his eyes had gone all dark.
~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~
"I do." The words left her mouth before she even noticed he had asked – she had waited for this moment for so long. An entire year had passed since he proposed to her in the park.
Her sisters, Ziva and Abby were standing beside her in their beautiful dresses. Amelia was her Maid of Honour – Jenny had told them to sort it out themselves, since she refused to choose between the three of them. And since Amelia was the closest to Jenny, they agreed that she was the suitable option for Maid of Honour.
Amelia was wearing a red sweetheart neckline dress with broad straps that reached her knees, and a rose in her hair that was tied in a side bun. On her collarbone was a neckline with a small ruby that matched the colour of her high-heeled red shoes.
Next to her was Heather, in the exact same dress as Amelia, only the colour was a dark green that contrasted beautifully with her pale complexion. A green carnation was in her hair that she wore in the same style as Amelia. On her neck was an emerald that matched perfectly with her green stilettos.
Jade was next, in a deep purple dress. She wore an amethyst necklace and a purple balloon flower in her hair, which she wore down. Her feet were encased in purple high-heeled shoes.
Ziva stood next to Jade in a beautiful bright blue version of the dress, with a sapphire glinting on her neck. She wore a blue starflower in her brown hair which she wore in a half-tied fashion, the rest of her hair going in waves down her back.
After much negotiation, Abby stood in the black version of the bridesmaid dress, and she wore a black rose in her hair that she had worn down for once. She had borrowed Jenny's black stilettos even though she didn't want to (Jenny forced her or she wouldn't be allowed to wear black and wear yellow like the original plan). She wore a black opal on her neck.
McGee, Tony and the twins were sitting in the front row. The twins had been their flower girls, and they had agreed to let them sing in their reception. They wore identical magenta strapless dresses with a pleated skirts and a rose of a darker shape on the waist of their dress. The dress came down to their knees. They styled their hairs in a bun, with a few strands sticking out and framing their faces. On their heads were flower crowns made of pure white roses sat comfortably. They watched the ceremony with a huge smile on their faces.
Mike was best man, and Ducky had given Jenny away. They both wore suits that made Mike look sharp and Ducky look well – more gentlemanly than usual. Mike had stuck to the more common tie while Ducky wore his usual bow tie.
The bride and the groom turned to each other, leaning in to kiss for the first time as husband and wife. He captured her lips possessively and sensually, letting his lips linger much longer than necessary.
"You're beautiful, Jen." He whispered in her ear softly. She blushed.
Her dress was a pure white, strapless dress that laced up in the back. At her waist the fabric bunched up beautifully that was held by a silver metal flower. It had a cute sweetheart neckline and a slit at her thigh, her skirt flowing elegantly and creating a not-so-long train behind her. Her hair had grown longer since he had proposed, and it now went slightly past her waist it long, delicate waves. She wore a small purple orchid in her hair that matched the colour of his tie.
"You look wonderful too." She said, admiring him in his suit and tie.
They linked arms and walked down the aisle as husband and wife, and they left to get ready for the reception that was to take place at a hotel.
~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~
After all the speeches, it was time for their first dance as husband and wife, the twins appeared on stage.
"A few months ago," said Lina into the mic, and immediately all eyes were trained on them on stage. "I heard Aunt Jen singing this song on the piano."
"Uncle Jethro was right behind her, and she hadn't realised that until the song ended." Continued Ariele, smirking at her aunt. Jenny glared at her before she hid her face in Jethro's shoulder. "And after that, they disappeared for several hours."
The crowd laugh as the couple started to regret their decision.
"So, Aunt Jenny and Uncle Gibbs, we invite you to share your first dance with a song that so perfectly describes your relationship." Said Lina, as Ariele nodded at the band to get ready.
The band started to play the intro of 'Amazed' by Lonestar. Lina sang the first verse softly, watching the couple in front of them slow dance to the song.
Every time you touch me
I can feel how much you love me
It's almost more than I can take
The couple danced, Jethro in his suit, Jenny in a shorter version of her dress. Her hands around his neck, his arms around her waist, they moved slowly to the music.
"I can't believe I'm your wife." Said Jenny tenderly to Jethro.
"I can," he said softly to her. "I've been waiting for this for a year. But seeing you walk down that aisle, the wait was so worth it."
"I love you… so much." She said softly.
He smiled, just about to say his usual 'more than you know' when he remembered what she had said to him, the day she had been released from the hospital after the entire 'Katherine' affair.
"I'll love you till the day after forever."
The End! I loved writing this story, it was so many ups and downs with my writing schedule and stuff, I hope you guys find the ending satisfactory. I chose not to write the entire reception, I hope you guys don't mind, but it seemed a bit repetitive to me.
Anyway, my next update will be for On The Job, so please go check that out. Also, I have two new stories and I'd really like your input: The Break and I Won't Let You Go. For their brief summaries, go check out my profile. I was wondering which I should post first? What do you guys think?
Please leave a review!
- Natalia