Thank you so much for waiting. I have been preparing by stockpiling chapters for the month of July so that I can focus on my Camp NaNoWriMo project. :D Very special thanks to fiftyshadeswritergal who has edited somewhere around half a dozen chapters or more for me in preparation for this month. Thank you, fiftyshadeswritergal! You are such a jewel! :D I appreciate it very much!

Thanks for reviews on the last chapter to the following: Sarai, Troubled-Angel-26, his-red-head, Hetwaszoietalsals, Loads of Randomness, DS2010, Louisa, Guest who, Fan, Dawn248, Suzy Q1068, and fiftyshadeswritergal. :) I appreciate hearing from all of you!

Hugs and please enjoy!

...

Tony was shocked when he asked for the bill - how could they continue to eat when they were filled to the brim with happiness?! - and discovered that some sweet person had paid for them.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked, holding out his hand to her.

Kate was admiring her own hand in the light. "Oh, yes!" she said with slight distraction in her tone as she gazed at the sparkling diamond.

Tony smiled proudly and put his arm around her as he led the way to the door.

"Hello, Tony, Kate."

That sounds like ...

It can't be ...

Why is ...

"Gibbs!" Tony said in a hybrid of shock and horror. "What are ... why are ... hello, director."

"Hello, Agent DiNozzo and Agent Todd," Jenny said with an amused quirk in her smile.

"We're just ... just ..." Kate stumbled over her words. She looked at Tony and her eyes conveyed her confusion over what to say.

We haven't told anyone! Barely anyone even knows that we're dating!

But now we have to explain this somehow!

"Congratulations," Gibbs said, causing the two agents to switch their panicked glances from each other to focused solely on him.

"For...?" Tony said cautiously.

Gibbs chuckled at them with amusement.

"You've been dating for a long time now. It's good that you're committing to each other."

"Really?" Kate asked with a surprised sparkle in her eyes.

"Really?" Tony echoed, even more in shock than Kate was. "But what about the rules?"

"Yeah," Gibbs assured them. "Sometimes that is one of the rules that can be bent a little."

Like if Jenny happened to get interested ...

"Congratulations from me as well," Jenny seconded before smiling and raising an eyebrow at them. "However, fraternization is still not supposed to happen in the workplace. In the next week or so we'll have a meeting and discuss some options as to how we can make this work in the office as well. Does that sound workable?"

Kate and Tony nodded quickly but they were eager to go. Work was not exactly the first thing on their minds. But then ...

"Um ... please do not tell ..."

"Don't worry. Tel your family first. Abby and Tim will find out from you, not before."

"Thank you!"

And then Kate and Tony were headed for the door, excited to tell their family.

Gibbs and Jenny saw them off with indulgent smiles before turning back to each other.

"I hope they have all the happiness in the world," Jenny said liberally.

"All?" Gibbs asked. "Don't you think that you'd want some left over for ... others?"

"Love grows. The more we use the more there is," Jenny said wisely before eating her final bite of dessert. "And talking about love, there is a little girl who I love very much and that I need to get back to before too long.

"Are you ready to go?" Gibbs asked, reluctance heavy in his tone.

"I guess I am," Jenny said softly.

...

Abby started as she heard the key in the door handle but then smiled when she saw it was Gibbs and Jenny returning - together.

"Hello, Abby. How was Z..."

"Your night out!" Abby interrupted eagerly. "How was it?!"

"Fine," Jenny said distractedly. "Where's Zizi? Was she good? Is she in bed? Is she sleeping? Oh ... did she have nightmares? I never thought of that! Did she have a nightmare, Abby? Did she miss me?"

Abby raised an eyebrow and turned to Gibbs. "So the dinner was just fine? And also, why do you think I'm dramatic if you actually dated her?!"

"Hey!" Gibbs quickly corrected her with a frown. Abby just smiled mischievously before turning to Jenny. "She had a great evening and was good as gold. I love her so much!"

"Really? No problems?" Jenny asked in surprise, not sure if that was a good thing (in that Ziva could be left with a babysitter when necessary) or a bad thing (in that Ziva was often rather wild when it was just Jenny at home).

Abby tilted her head to the side a little and thought back over the night. Despite the argument over cookies and the refusal to get out of the bath ... "Oh, it was great!"

Gibbs picked up on the fact that there might have been a slight stretching of the truth in that statement but decided to trust Abby's judgment in reporting.

"Just let me get some money to pay you," Jenny muttered, reaching for her purse.

Abby put up her hands in refusal. "No, no pay. I wanted to do it and it was so much fun! Thank you! I think that I have a new little buddy and I can't wait until next time!"

Jenny opened her mouth to protest but Abby shook her head so firmly that her ponytails hit her lightly in the face. "No," she insisted.

"Thank you," Jenny said, reluctantly setting her purse to the side.

"I sent pictures to my friends," Abby said happily. "I'll send them to you, too, since they are so adorable of Ziva! We had a lot of fun. Tim thought that they were cute. But Tony and Kate haven't replied yet, which is weird since usually they are really good on replying to texts."

Jenny and Gibbs exchanged a look behind Abby's back as she gathered up her bag.

"I'm sure they'll be in touch soon," Gibbs said in an absent tone.

Abby looked up with a bright smile. "They'll love the pictures once they see them, I'm sure!"

Jenny smiled and nodded as Abby headed toward the door. "Thank you again, Abby."

"My pleasure! See you soon! Night!" Abby paused next to Gibbs and kissed his cheek. He kissed hers in return and watched her leave fondly.

"She's a good girl," he said reflectively. "All of them are good, the whole team."

Jenny nodded. "It doesn't hurt for them to hear that from you sometimes. You don't verbalize it enough, do you?" She had not been around too much but she already suspected. Gibbs shrugged with perhaps the slightest bit of guilt over that fact. "You need to try to do it more often," Jenny insisted.

"I guess," Gibbs said, looking up at her.

"They need to know that you care," Jenny continued. Then she stopped. Gibbs' eyes were saying that he would like to tell someone else that he cared. She blushed a little and shooed him toward the door. "It's late. I need sleep to deal with a toddler in the morning. You need to ... I don't know. Build your ark."

Gibbs smiled, amused, then quietly went to the door before turning back to her. He opened his mouth to say something, then went silent. He nodded toward her. "Thanks, Jen."

"Thank you, Jethro."

Then he left, his heart a little lighter than when he had first arrived to pick up Jenny for the night. He was aware that she was watching him from the window and that knowledge made him smile to himself in pure pleasure.

...

I hope that you enjoyed! You should be getting another update in a week. :D