The rest of the workweek passed in a whirl but Jethro had managed to finish the rest of the work in the kitchen. On the other hand, he'd got home late Friday night because his team was now working with the Coast Guard to locate a helicopter that went down. Agent Borin had point on the search and rescue case as the two agencies pooled all of their resources together in an attempt to rescue Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 24, also known as the Ghostrunners.
Unfortunately, they had found no sign of the helicopter or crash. God only knew what had happened to the missing crew members. So, as it stood, CGIS was running that investigation and NCIS was on standby for largely forensic purposes.
Saturday morning, Jethro and Shannon both ended up sleeping in slightly, getting up at 0820 instead of their usual time. Well, technically, they'd both woken up well before that, but neither one of them had the desire to get out of bed quite that early on their day off just for the hell of it.
When they finally got up, the pair had a quick shower and got dressed in comfortable clothes. Jethro was sporting on a pair of khaki pants, a white crew-neck t-shirt, and an all-black hoodie. Shannon, in contrast, had her hair pulled up into a sleek ponytail and had thrown on a charcoal grey turtleneck sweater and a pair of dark blue jeans.
Satisfied, the couple made their way downstairs and Shannon cooked them both some bacon, eggs, and toast for breakfast, remarking that she loved the new kitchen layout as she brought their plates of food over.
His wife swallowed a bite of her eggs and then looked over at him. "What's a favourite memory of yours from when we were dating?"
He thought about it for a minute. "When we were housesitting and there was that bad storm that knocked down all of the power lines. We just laid there and talked and ya started makin' shadow puppets on the wall." He smiled affectionately at her. That night had been when it really hit Jethro just how hard he'd fallen for her. When he'd realized that he was head over heels for the lively redhead. "What about you?"
"When you brought me to the Birthday Ball for the first time," she said. "It meant a lot to me that you'd asked me to go with ya and that you were so excited to introduce me to all of your buddies."
He tilted his head slightly. "That was our first getaway too if I recall."
She nodded happily. "It was." She burst out laughing. "You guys all really let loose and I didn't expect the little dance-off after the cake cutting ceremony."
He shook his head, amused. "Hickory's little performance there gave me second-hand embarrassment, but it was definitely a fun night."
Shannon laughed. "Luke Dockry was certainly something else."
He gave a little chuckle of his own. He hadn't spoken to the man in a couple of years but the man was as solid and boisterous as they came. Making a mental note to get ahold of Hickory and see how the guy was doing, Jethro replied to his wife's latest comment. "Yeah, yeah, he was. I believe his son Paul's a homicide detective with the Falls Church Police Department now."
"Oh, really?" she replied. "Well, good for him."
He nodded in agreement, shovelling a forkful of eggs into his mouth.
They finished eating and then his wife quickly cleaned up the kitchen while he threw a load of laundry into the wash. Satisfied with the state of the kitchen, his wife threw on a jacket and started playing with Bailey in the backyard while Jethro grabbed his tools and tried to fix the leaking faucet in the downstairs powder room.
That didn't take too long as Jethro happened to have the part that he needed on hand, so he dealt with that and then brewed and poured two fresh cups of coffee and headed into the living room to join his wife.
Jethro passed one of the cups of coffee to his wife, receiving a small smirk. She took a few sips of her drink before looking up and saying, "I love you."
He chuckled. "It was more of a favour for myself."
She rolled her eyes at him playfully, taking a sip of the warm liquid she was holding.
Jethro sat down beside his wife on the couch before taking a sip of his own drink. The pair talked for a little bit before pulling out a deck of cards and playing a few different games, the radio on in the background until lunchtime rolled around.
The afternoon was pretty calm, which was rather nice.
Jethro called Mike Franks in Baja and caught up with his mentor, Leyla, and, of course, his adorable five-year-old goddaughter Amira. He spoke with Tobias briefly as well, the pair deciding to grab brunch the following day.
Little after 1630, Jethro and Shannon both threw their jackets on, hopped into his old pickup, and drove out to Alexandria for dinner with their daughter and son-in-law. The couple had invited him and Shannon over for dinner earlier on in the week during one of Shannon's chats with the thirty-year-old over the phone.
They chatted for a few minutes and then sat down for dinner: Chicken Alfredo stuffed shells, homemade garlic knots, and a spinach-apple salad with a strawberry shortcake cheesecake for dessert. Kelly was really starting to get comfortable in the kitchen.
After eating, they all made their way into the living room, chatting and passing Paisley around as they did so.
Kelly gestured upwards. "From your mouth to God's ears, Babe." She gave Michael a quick kiss and then eyed both Jethro and Michael with a playful smile. "Leathernecks… Can't live with ya, can't live without ya."
Shannon gave a little snort in response. "Oh, Marines are definitely their own brand of pigheaded. I've got some good tips for ya, though."
Jethro smirked. "The Few, the Proud."
"Oorah!" Michael fired off cheekily. The Staff Sergeant then shot Kelly a matching look. "You know you love us."
Kelly chuckled. "True, although I sometimes wonder why." She glanced at the time and held out Paisley to Jethro. "Mind taking Paisley for a minute, Dad?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Do ya even need to ask?"
The thirty-year-old redhead laughed. "I'll take that as a yes."
"Smart woman," he quipped. Jethro held out his hands for the bubbly nine-month-old. "Come see Pappy, Kid." He then put on a stage whisper, baiting his daughter. "Maybe Grammy'll give you some more cheesecake."
Kelly rolled her eyes in fond exasperation. "Yeah, thanks for that, Mom."
Now it was Shannon's turn to smirk. "I warned you, Sweetheart."
Michael quirked a brow. "She's got ya there, Smiley."
Jethro made a funny face for Paisley as he chimed in. "Yeah, she did."
Kelly shook her head in amusement as the little girl giggled and cooed before making her way out of the living room.
Kelly walked back into the living room with two gift bags in hand two or three minutes later. Their daughter handed both Jethro and Shannon one of the small bags that she'd just brought in with her. "These are for you two." She then took a seat beside Michael, leaning against her husband and eyeing both Jethro and Shannon with a look of happy excitement mixed with slight uncertainty.
Michael gestured to the small bags, grinning. "Well, go on."
Shannon chuckled. "Alright, hold your horses."
They both started rummaging through the small gift bags. The first thing that caught Jethro's attention was the tiny pair of baby shoes. Is Kelly…. She's not pregnant again is she? It hasn't even been a year yet.
Looking back in the gift bag, Jethro pulled out a white onesie with some black lettering on it: 'See you in May, Grandpa.'
Jethro glanced over at Shannon who'd just pulled a white onesie out of her gift bag as well: 'I love my Grandma.'
Kelly glanced between them both and as the message really sank in. They both turned to Kelly and Michael, now confident in their suspicions.
"A baby?" Shannon was beaming, pure joy radiated off the elder redhead as the news registered. "You two are expecting?"
"I'm eight weeks along," Kelly confirmed happily. "Baby's good. I'm good."
"That's great," he said, thrilled by the news. "I'm really happy for you both."
Michael took Kelly by the hand. "We weren't exactly planning on having another kid so soon after Pais, but we're both thrilled."
"Having two really young kids will certainly pose a challenge," Shannon agreed, "but I know you both can handle it. Congratulations, you two. This is fantastic news."
The pregnancy definitely came as a bit of a surprise, but an exceedingly pleasant one. Jethro couldn't believe that his daughter was pregnant again. Jethro was trilled for her and Michael. Hopefully, this pregnancy would go smoothly.
