The next couple of weeks were definitely a whirlwind. Mike Franks, his old mentor, got himself into a bit of a mess with his Afghan in-laws and Leon Vance got dragged back into a mess with this North Korean assassin the director had a history with.

Jethro and Mike had gotten into it somewhat during the little mess that the older man has created, but that hadn't affected the pair's relationship any. The director, however, was clearly beating himself up over the situation Vance had put his family in.

The Gibbses also had to meet with the FBI, getting an update on the investigation. Tobias' team still hadn't gotten anywhere with Anderson or Evans, and Benson Long had done a phenomenal job at basically turning himself into Teflon. They hadn't gotten any other leads either. Jethro seriously doubted if they were ever going to get a straight answer about any of it given the players involved.

On top of that, Ziva's birthday was on the twelfth, and the team couldn't let that pass without doing something for her. The young woman, to all appearances, seemed to be doing extremely well, though. At peace with her decision to cut ties. She was studying like crazy for the citizenship test, and he had little doubt she'd do well.

Waking up to the sun and the sounds of birds chirping, Jethro moved so that he could snuggle in closer to Shannon who had just woke as well. "Good morning."

"Good morning to you too." His wife then moved onto her left side so that the both of them were face to face. Locking eyes for a moment, the couple kissed.

When they broke apart, his wife was the first to speak. "Happy birthday, Handsome."

Shannon's comment caught him off guard for half a second. Half-awake, the particular importance of the day had briefly slipped Jethro's mind. He hadn't really done anything for his birthday since he and Stephanie had separated back in 2000. Jethro'd seen no real reason to bother doing anything, especially knowing his thoughts would inevitably turn towards the two girls that he'd missed more than words could say.

Shannon eyed him. "You forgot, didn't you?"

"Just for a second," he admitted. He shouldn't have, though. They'd deliberately made reservations at Rock Creek Park Horse Centre for a trail ride that afternoon. The three of them generally preferred to do their own thing, but options were sort of limited in D.C without getting permits and such. That was something to consider for later, but they'd all frankly had enough going on since their reunion in April.

"Well, we didn't forget." His wife gave him a warm smile as she spoke. "And, as it's a Saturday, it looks like you're ours for the day."

He kissed his wife on the cheek. "That sounds pretty good to me." And Jethro meant it. Abby always said that he was hard to get a gift for, never really wanting anything, but she'd been wrong. This... having his girls back... it was all Jethro had ever wanted. Spending the day with Shannon and Kelly sounded perfect.

Heading downstairs a little over ten minutes later, Shannon started making the three of them some pancakes and bacon for breakfast while he contently downed some much-needed caffeine and chatted away with their daughter.

Jethro's not really needing or wanting anything didn't stop the girls from both getting him some gifts for his birthday. He got some new woodwork tools and a new espresso machine which went rather well with the 'Best Dad Ever' coffee mug that his daughter had given him for father's day back in June - a small gesture that had meant more to him than words could say.

"Hey!" he exclaimed with a laugh. "My plate's exactly the same as yours, Missy." Their daughter had stolen some of his banana pancake off of his plate.

"Come on, Dad!" Kelly immediately fired back with a small smirk. "You know that food always tastes better off of your plate."

"Mmmm…. you're right!" he said cheekily, stealing a piece of bacon off of her plate. "Definitely tastes better than mine."

Shannon rolled her eyes. "What am I ever going to do with you two?"

He chuckled. "I feel like we keep taking turns asking that."

"It certainly does seem that way!" his wife agreed, eyes oozing with mirth.

"Don't blame me," his daughter said with a wink. "I don't make the facts." Kelly then stole a piece of his bacon and gave a happy little hum. "Yummy."

He rolled his eyes, amused. "I'm so glad you're enjoying my breakfast."

After breakfast, the three of them chatted for a little while before deciding they'd play a board game as a fun way to pass some time.

"Definitely, Kellz!" he replied with a smile. "I think I saw the trivial pursuit box upstairs somewhere." Jethro then gave his daughter a sly, conspiratorial look. "Why don't we see if one of us can't beat your mother, the Trivia Queen?"

Kelly grinned. "I'm in."

"Oh," Shannon shot back, "you're both on!"

And with that, grinning, Jethro was headed upstairs to grab the board game from his and Shannon's bedroom so that they could play.

"In what year were the first Air Jordan sneakers released?" Shannon said, reading his question off of the card.

He smirked. This one was easy. "1984."

"1984," Shannon said, impressed, reading the answer aloud.

"Way to go, Dad!" their daughter said with a giggle.

It was Kelly's turn next, so she happily rolled the dice, moved her game piece, and then Jethro read the corresponding question off aloud for her. "Okay. Who was the first major author to read his own work in public for profit?"

"That's easy," Kelly said with a smirk. "Charles Dickens."

"Correct, Kellz!" Jethro told his daughter before turning to face his wife. "It looks like you have some competition this morning, wife of mine."

Shannon rolled her eyes in fond exasperation. "Pass me the dice, Old Man."

He raised an eyebrow, amused. "I'm six months older than you."

His wife eyed him. "And your point is?"

He shook his head, chuckling. "Just roll the dice, Shan."

The game had been a lot of fun and Kelly actually won, managing to successfully break the Gibbs matriarch's winning streak.

They then got ready, headed out for lunch, and then the family finally made their way out to Rock Creek Park Horse Centre to do some horseback riding for the afternoon.

For the first time in a long time, Jethro was actually enjoying his birthday.