He made his way down the aisle of the theatre, scanning for a redhead and waiting to smell her perfume. Not many people wore her perfume. After all, how many women had a husband or significant other that would take the time to specially order their other half's perfume from Paris? He found her in the fifth row, sitting dead center. He made it through the people and moved her trench coat, taking the seat she'd reserved for him.

"You made it," she whispered.

He nodded his head and leaned over, giving her a soft kiss. "I wouldn't miss this, Jen."

She smiled at him, slipping her fingers into his. "I know. You haven't missed anything. The lights just went down."

The two sat in silence and watched the ballet performance. It was the end of the year performance. Their five year old wasn't the star of the show, but she was the star to them. Lindsay did an incredible job at her recital. She'd been taking ballet since she was three. An hour later, the proud parents were waiting for their daughter in the lobby of the theatre. Jen touched Jethro's arm. "I'm going to go backstage and get her." She was afraid Lindsay might get lost in the crowd.

He nodded his head and stood in the corner, waiting for them. Ducky found him first. The whole team was in attendance for Lindsay's ballet recital. She would probably have them in interrogation if they hadn't been there. The pint size redhead was a master of intimidation without trying. She was also artful in guilt trips.

"Jethro, you and Jenny may have a prima ballerina on your hands."

He laughed softly. "Thanks, Duck."

"She's quite the performer," he added. "Reminds me of," he trailed off as he and Jethro heard agitated banter.

McGee, Abby, DiNozzo, and Ziva appeared. DiNozzo and Ziva were bickering as usual. "Stop stepping on the back of my heels!"

"If you'd walk faster, you wouldn't have that problem, Tony!" Ziva responded, annoyed with him.

"There's a crowd of people!"

"You two…knock it off," Gibbs said, giving them a look. The bickering between the senior field agent and Israeli seemed to worsen each year. On some days, Gibbs had to find sanctuary in Jen's office before he shot either one of them. He'd be most likely to shoot DiNozzo. He looked at McGee. "Did you get it?"

McGee nodded his head. "Got it, boss." He had recorded the ballet recital and had been recording all of Lindsay's recitals since she'd started dance.

"Where's our favorite Gibblet?" Abby looked around and didn't see her. The Goth was itching to give Lindsay her roses and a big hug.

"Jen went backstage to get her."

Abby nodded her head. The group made small talk until a small interruption happened.

"DADDY!" Lindsay yelled and ran towards him, hugging his legs. She was the small interruption that had darted threw the crowd at warp speed to get to the man that hung the moon in her opinion. He lifted her up and kissed her cheek as Jen walked over to stand next to them. Jen hadn't been able to convince her daughter to change out of the costume except for the tutu. According to Lindsay, the tutu was itchy. Her dark red hair was still in a bun, and she still had on the small amount of make-up Jen had put on her for the part.

"Hey you."

"Did you see me?" she asked excitedly with her arms around her father's neck.

"I did. I was here for the whole performance," he told her. Lindsay had been afraid work would keep him from seeing it.

"Still got on your ballet slippers, Linds?" Her father asked her, touching the rosy pink slippers. She nodded her head with a trademark Gibbs smirk.

Jen laughed softly. "She wanted to keep them on along with everything else." Like her parents, Lindsay was too stubborn to be talked out of something.

"Oh, I see," Jethro replied. Lindsay rested her head on her daddy's shoulder and looked around at her extended family. They all showered her with compliments about the recital. Abby gave her the dozen black roses finally.

"Thanks, Abs," Lindsay told her, leaning over in her dad's arms to give her aunt a kiss on the cheek and the tight hug Abby had been waiting for. Abby smiled. Lindsay Gibbs had to be her most favorite five year old on the planet. She was the most mature five year old Abby had ever known. Of course, her parents were Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Jenny Shepard and along with the company she kept…how could she not be?

"L.J., give me a high five," DiNozzo said to her. Jen watched them high five and subtly rolled her eyes. Tony was the reason why they had a whole wall to wall bookcase filled with movies in their home. In turn, Lindsay would recite lines from movies. Her knowledge of films might rival DiNozzo's one day. It had started one night when Tony was their last babysitting option. Surprisingly, he was a good babysitter for Lindsay even if she intimidated him to get what she wanted sometimes.

"Are you hungry, Linds?" Gibbs asked his daughter. She nodded her head and started scratching her bun. The pins were starting to aggravate her since she wasn't onstage and able to concentrate on the pins.

"I want chicken fingers and mac and cheese," she told her daddy matter of factly. "Oh, I want mommy too."

Gibbs laughed and looked over at Jen who had walked off to socialize. She was talking to Lindsay's ballet teacher and another parent. He put her down and watched her walk over to her mother. Lindsay tugged on her mother's pant leg. "Mommy…"

"What, Linds?" Jen asked, looking down at her. Lindsay scratched at her bun for the millionth time. The look on her daughter's face let Jen know that she wanted her. "Okay, c'mere." Jen lifted her up carefully and rested her on her hip, kissing her cheek. "You're getting too big for me to carry." Jen was three months pregnant with their second child, and they hadn't told Lindsay yet.

Lindsay shook her head and put her head on her mom's shoulder, still scratching her head. "Am not."

"Yes, you are. We'll get something to eat, and I'll take your hair down in the car. Stop scratching, please." Jen held her and finished talking with her teacher. She walked back over to everyone and adjusted Lindsay in her arms.

"I can get her," Gibbs said to her.

Jen shook her head no and kissed her daughter's head. "She's fine, Jethro."

He nodded his head and walked to the car with them. He placed his hand on Jen's back during the walk and took Lindsay from her, putting her in the backseat. Jen took his spot once he moved out of the way. She started removing the pins from her little girl's hair. "Linds, sit still." She was curious about what everyone else was doing.

"Okay," she replied softly and sat still for her. Lindsay was the spitting image of her mother except she had her father's blue eyes.

Gibbs turned the car on, letting it warm up. He walked over to his team. "You know the place. We'll meet you there." The place would be Lindsay's favorite restaurant. They disbanded to their own cars and drove to the restaurant. Lindsay swung her feet in the backseat and waited for the door to open. She smiled at her father, and he helped her out. Jen retouched her lipstick and got out of the car. They took their daughter's hands and walked into the restaurant with her. The others followed minutes later. Lindsay ran over and took DiNozzo's hand, smiling up at him.

"I wanna sit with you."

"Are you going to be my date for the night?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Nope."

Ziva laughed. "Tony, you can't get a date even with a five year old."

Gibbs attempted to hide his amusement as did McGee. Ducky chuckled while Abby gave Lindsay a thumbs up. Jenny shook her head with laughter. Her daughter liked playing hard to get like her mother and was most definitely going to break hearts in her future.

"Haha…funny," Tony said sarcastically and lifted Lindsay into his arms. "You break my heart, L.J." She patted him on the top of his head.

"It's okay, Tony," Lindsay replied, her voice somehow being a combination of sympathy and sarcasm.

The hostess led them to a table in the more private area of the restaurant. She recognized the group because they came in often. Gibbs pulled out Jen's chair for her and leaned in close to her ear before she sat down. "You okay?" he whispered.

She looked at him, nodding her head. "I'm fine. Not tired yet." She sat down and didn't bother with a menu. She knew what she wanted and what Lindsay wanted. Gibbs sat down next to her and rested his hand on her thigh. They both watched the other end of the table. DiNozzo sat down, and Lindsay folded her arms across her chest, cocking her hip to the side and staring at DiNozzo. He looked at her.

"What's wrong, L.J.?" He must be guilty of something with the Director look and stance he was getting from her.

"Pull out my chair like daddy did for mommy," she said to him simply.

"Right, sorry." He got up and pulled out her chair, pushing it in after she sat down. He looked over at Gibbs. The older man shook his head with a smile.

The group chatted and placed their drink orders. Ducky, Jen, and Gibbs were in discussion while McGee and Abby were also. Tony and Lindsay were discussing movies as usual. Ziva piped in occasionally, but it was hard to get into conversation when Tony and the five year old were in discussion. Ziva could put her two cents worth in considering she had taken a film class to better understand Americanisms.

Tony looked at Ziva. "You've never seen It's a Wonderful Life?"

She shook her head. "No, Tony."

"C'mon, it's a classic. 1946…Jimmy Stewart…Donna Reed…Lionel Barrymore…Frank Capra directing."

Lindsay slapped her hand over Tony's mouth. She knew as well as anyone else that he'd keep rambling about the movie. Ziva laughed out loud.

"Thank you, L.J."

"Welcome, Z," she replied. She'd had trouble saying Ziva when she was younger, so Z had stuck. "Watch Miracle on 34th Street."

"Oh!" Tony acted like he'd been pinched or struck by lightning. "L.J., you make me so proud! How'd you know about that one?"

"Me and mommy watched it." It was summer, but Lindsay had insisted on watching Christmas movies. Her favorite holiday was Christmas.

Tony grinned and looked down the table at Jenny. "Miracle on 34th Street, Jenny?"

She looked at him, sipping her water. She put down the glass. "You aren't the only one that enjoys old movies, Tony."

"I've gained respect for you."

She narrowed her green eyes at him, knowing she'd make the agent fumble over his words.

"Okay, that came out wrong…I didn't mean that I didn't have respect for you before, Jenny. I have a new and different respect for you…that's what my original point was supposed to be."

She laughed and nodded her head. She enjoyed giving DiNozzo that look every now and then. It worked every single time in making him nervous and sweat a little bit. Soon enough, the food came, and everyone dug into their meals. Lindsay didn't finish all of her food, so Tony got a to-go box for her. She slid out of her chair and walked over, standing in between her mom and dad.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Jen asked her, putting down her fork and turning to her.

"I'm sleepy."

Jethro and Jen exchanged glances. They were both right on what time exhaustion would hit Lindsay. She'd been going all day since 0600. Now, it was close to 2100. Jen pushed her chair back some and put Lindsay into her lap.

"If you fall asleep, it's fine," she whispered in her ear, smiling as Lindsay snuggled into her. Lindsay found a piece of hair to twirl around in her fingers, a habit she'd had since being a baby.

However, she fought with sleep. Ducky was telling an interesting story that she'd never heard. In the middle of the story, Jen felt her hair not being twirled anymore and looked down.

Lindsay had lost the battle with sleep.

"I'll need a box too," she whispered to Jethro. She hadn't been able to finish eating because of holding Lindsay. He nodded and got a box. Ducky insisted on paying the dinner bill. No one argued with him, but they did contribute to the tip. Tony grabbed Lindsay's yellow trench coat and gave it to Gibbs.

"Here ya go, boss."

"Thanks, Tony." Gibbs took the yellow coat from him.

"Jethro, she's out cold," Jen informed him as she looked up at him.

"I know she is." He lifted Lindsay from her and let Jen stand up. She put on her coat, yawning softly.

"I can carry her out." Jen held her hand out for the keys. She was ready to get into the car and go home.

He knew better than to argue and gave Lindsay back to her mother. Lindsay mumbled in her sleep and buried her face into her mom's neck. Gibbs placed Lindsay's coat on her back, and Jen held it in place as she left the restaurant. Everyone told each other bye and went their separate ways.

When Jen and Jethro pulled into the driveway, she let him carry Lindsay into the house and up the stairs. It was a trying task to get Lindsay into her pajamas. She could be just as grumpy as her father after waking up especially if she hadn't wanted to wake up. She finally was in her pajamas and tucked in. Lindsay was kissed goodnight by both parents.

"Do I need to carry you to bed?" He asked, watching Jen. She had been going since 0400. The Director of NCIS had to get an earlier start on an already early day. It was the only way she was able to leave the office early and get her daughter ready for the recital.

"I think I can make it across the hall."

"Just checking."

She yawned and sat down on their bed, taking off her heels. "When are we going to tell her?"

Jethro shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Got anything in mind?"

"No…that's why I was asking you, Jethro." She yawned again, taking off her jewelry and putting in on the nightstand. "I'm too tired to think about it."

"Then we'll talk about it later."

"Thank God tomorrow's Saturday." She got up and walked into the bathroom, removing her clothes and throwing them into the hamper. She came out in her underwear moments later.

He was lying on the bed in a t-shirt and boxers, arms propped up behind his head. He grinned slyly. "Hey, you know what happened last time you came out of the bathroom in your underwear?" He admired the black lace bra and panties.

She removed her bra and threw it over her shoulder at him. He caught it. She slipped on one of his t-shirts that needed to be thrown away. It had seen better days. At times, she wondered if he sanded his shirts when he worked on the boat. "Oh…I think I do…you got me pregnant." She put on a pair of shorts, walking over and slipping into bed with him.

He chucked softly, slipping an arm around her. "Yeah…that's right…I did."

She rolled her eyes at him for being a typical male and rested her head against his chest. Within minutes, she was snoring lightly. She rarely snored, but that's how drained she was from the day. He watched her sleep for a long time before falling asleep himself.