A/n: Hey guys! New chapter :) Hope you like it. Shout outs at the end.
Jethro walked into the bathroom the next morning to see Jenny applying a generous amount of makeup to a violet bruise on her right cheek.
She jumped upon seeing him in the mirror but gave him a small smile.
"Hey," she murmured, but scrunched her nose in dissatisfaction at the still visible bruise on her face.
"I did that," he said, his expression full of guilt and she looked up to meet his eyes once more.
"It's fine, Jethro," she sighed in irritation, brushing past him. "I told you that."
She had spent half the night trying to coax him back into the bed, convincing him that she would be fine. Even still she had the feeling that he had simply waited until she went to sleep before he got out of bed again.
"That was before I saw what I did to your face," he countered as they stepped into the kitchen.
"Jethro, it was an accident. It isn't as if you did it on purpose," she muttered, grabbing the bag of flour from the fridge.
She emptied about a tablespoon into a small cup and turned on her heel, heading back up the stairs.
She mixed some of the flour with her foundation once she was back in the bathroom and applied it to the bruised area, nodding in satisfaction as the purple color started to disappear under the makeup.
"You can't do this anymore, Jenny. There's something wrong with me, and I'm obviously capable of hurting you. You need to let me just ride this out. Alone," he said, and she turned on him, with a no-nonsense look about her.
"There is nothing wrong with you, Jethro," she insisted. "You have a war wound. That's what this is. If you had come back missing a leg or an arm, would you have told me to leave you then?" she demanded testily.
"If I had come back missing an arm, I wouldn't have hurt you like I did. There wouldn't be a possibility that I could do it again," he challenged tersely.
"Jethro, I know how much I can take. I told you, I'm tired of other people deciding that for me; namely chauvinist men like you and my father. If I can't do it anymore then I will tell you, but I don't see myself going anywhere for the foreseeable future, so get used to me," she said, smiling sweetly, though her tone indicated that she was not looking for any contradictions.
When she received none, but saw that his opinion had obviously not changed, she cupped his face.
"Jethro, I …bruise easily. I'm okay," she tried to assure him, but sighed when he pulled away from her. "I have to go make sure my sister hasn't burned my house down. Have a good day at work," she finished lamely, before turning to leave.
She passed Kelly in the hallway as she made her way toward the stairs.
"Hi, honey," she said, smiling at the pink pajama-clad child.
"Hi," Kelly replied, rubbing her eyes. "Where are you going?"
"To my house," Jenny answered, brushing a stray curl out of Kelly's face.
"Can I come?" Kelly asked and Jenny shrugged, nodding and held her hand out for the brunette to take.
When she pushed her front door open she nearly slipped on the water, sitting on her hardwood floors. She made her way through the mess and made her way toward the sound of running water, and her sister's frantic voice.
"Oh my God," she shrieked, running for the sink, but not before telling Kelly to stay put.
Her sister sat in the floor looking like a drowned rat while the kitchen sink spewed water.
Jenny flinched as she was soaked with water before she could get her hands around the hole.
"What happened?" she demanded of her sister, even as water made its way around the blockade of her small hand.
"Jenny, I'm so sorry," she apologized. "I was cleaning the dishes, and my wedding ring fell off the edge of the sink down the drain. I opened the pipe, but I forgot to turn the water off,"
"Turn it off now!" Jenny commanded, and her sister did as she was told, ceasing the water attack on Jenny.
Heather watched her sister for any signs of bubbling anger, but was shocked when Jenny started laughing. She laughed nervously, pushing wet strands of hair from her face.
"This has to be a dream, a really bad, bad dream," Jenny laughed, wiping water from her face.
In retrospect, she also unknowingly wiped away her carefully applied makeup, revealing her bruise to her sister.
"Oh my God!" Heather gasped, sitting beside her sister. "What did you do?" she demanded and shock flashed across Jenny's eyes before realization dawned on her.
"I'm fine, Heather. I fell," Jenny sighed, moving to her feet only to have Heather pull her back.
"I'm a nurse, Jenny. You can't lie to me," Heather countered, grabbing Jenny's face gently.
"Heather, I'm not lying to you. I did fall," Jenny said pointedly. Technically she wasn't lying. She did fall; it just didn't cause the bruise, rather the other way around.
Suddenly, a thought dawned on Heather and her face told her emotions.
"You weren't here this morning. Did you go to Jethro's house last night?" she demanded. "Jenny did he do this to you? Oh! I will kill him!"
"Heather!" Jenny snapped pleadingly, nodding in Kelly's direction. "It was an accident," she said, sotto voce so as not to be overheard by Kelly.
It was then that Heather caught sight of the handprint mark on Jenny's arm and her eyes flashed.
"Was that an accident too?" she hissed. "And don't tell me you fell, because I don't know anything you can fall on that leaves a handprint shaped bruise wrapping around your arm."
"Heather, please," Jenny all but begged. "Heather, he didn't do it on purpose. I was too close when he woke up. He's a wild sleeper."
"That's bull, and you know it," Heather snapped. "Why would you try to cover it up if it was an accident, and why lie to me and say that you did it yourself?"
"Because I knew you would jump to conclusions exactly as you are know," Jenny countered sharply.
"Jenny, I swear to God, if I ever see any other marks on you again or hear the slightest indication that he's hurting you…"
"You won't," Jenny insisted. "He isn't the type. He's over there beating himself up about it, no matter what I say."
"Fine," Heather acquiesced reluctantly.
"Thank you," Jenny sighed, moving to her feet. "Kelly, stay with Heather until I get back," she said, walking past the child quickly in an attempt to keep the state of her face from Kelly until she could cover it up again.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When Jethro returned home, he sighed wearily as he walked through the front door. His first day at NIS had been nothing like he expected. The team leader, Mike Franks was different to say the least. Jethro also had the feeling that he did not care for him too much. He had yet to learn his name, instead calling him 'Probie.' His entire day had consisted of watching per Franks' instructions. He had spent nearly two decades as a Marine sniper and now, he schlepped.
He climbed the stairs to his daughter's room and knit his brows in confusion upon finding it empty. He made his way down the hall and laughed softly upon finding both his daughter and Jenny curled up in his bed, the soft, blue light of the television flashing on their faces. He grabbed the remote from the end of the bed and turned it off before shutting the door behind him.
Jenny trudged down the stairs the following morning to find Jethro asleep on the couch with a book over his face. She smiled and grabbed a blanket from the hall closet and laid it over him before continuing into the kitchen.
She sat on the kitchen counter eating a cinnamon roll when he walked in half an hour later. She had developed a sugar habit as of late.
"What are you, five?" he teased, and she smirked.
He rested his hands on her hips and she smiled against his lips when he pressed them against hers.
"Yay!" Kelly cheered from the door way and Jenny gasped, her face flushing bright red.
Jethro laughed as Jenny buried her face in his chest in mortification.
"Does this mean you're getting married now?" Kelly asked, almost jumping up and down.
"No," Jethro laughed, lifting his daughter into his arms.
"Why not?" she demanded, crossing her arms with a disatisfied pout on her face.
"Because," he replied simply.
"Because why?" Kelly demanded. "If you marry her, she can be my mommy for real."
"I don't have to marry her for her to be your mommy, Kel," he replied.
"Well if you aren't going to marry her, then why were you kissing her?" she asked.
"You don't have to be married to do that either. Stop asking so many questions," he said, tickling her, sending her into a fit of giggles.
"Daddy, stop," she shrieked in laughter. "Aunt Jenny, help me!"
A/n: Ah! I did get shout outs up, so...
Autopsy Gremlin, ladybugsmomma, alix33, MariskaBaby92, NCIS FTW, ncis4ever21, TeamCarlisleandEsme8, Kikilia14, Shy Chey 97, left my heart in Paris, AzNeRd, and dinoZZodaVid008, you're all lovely! Thanks for reviewing :)
Monkeys :)