AN: What's this, a new chapter so soon? Yeah, I don't know how it happened, either. I managed to find some flow and off she went, but I'm really happy with this one. Also, it's been almost a whole freaking year since I posted Ch 1, so thank you so much to all of you who are still following, especially those of you who leave me lovely reviews!
I have listened to a metric butt-tonne of Celine Dion writing this. I have no idea why, but overblown mid 90's romance bangers gets me in the mood for writing these two, always. The playlist is on Spotify if anyone wants it, try searching 'Writing Jibbs'. May you enjoy :)

Tony's eyes flicked to the date in the bottom corner of his screen and then to Kate, and a slow smile spread across his face. Things were a lot less complicated since Kate arrived, and the upside was that now he had someone who's chain he wasn't afraid to yank. Gibbs seemed less cranky about it all, Jenny seemed happier when he saw her, and things were overall better in his very special opinion.

"Well look at that, Katie," Tony said, taking a moment to relish using the wrong version of her name. "You've been here a whole one month and two weeks now, what do you think of good old NCIS?"

Kate looked up from the file she was reading and shot him a dirty look. "First of all, I've told you, I don't know, five times not to call me that, and second of all, you're mentioning it now because you forgot on the one month anniversary, aren't you," she said, grinning widely.

"Of course not! Well okay, yeah, but what's it like here, you know, compared to The Secret Service?"

"Honestly? You're all insane. Forget by the book, there isn't a book, it's all by Gibbs's rules, whether he's told you or not, and that...works, for the most part, surprisingly."

"What do you think of him and Shepard?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Why do I even need to have an opinion? It's their personal lives, it's got nothing to do with me."

"Everyone has an opinion."

"Fine. They seem good together. She's a lot like him, just prettier and with better social skills."

"Ha, don't let her hear you say that." Tony said, before whipping around to make sure Jenny wasn't behind him.

Kate laughed at his reaction.

"What?" He asked, defensively. "She sneaks like him, too."

Kate coughed pointedly, and Tony stilled as he realised they were no longer alone. He snapped his head to where she was looking to make sure it wasn't Gibbs or Jenny coming to kill him and was surprised to find that it was neither. There was a tall, sandy haired man wearing an NCIS cap standing at the end of their row.

"Can I help you?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, I was just looking for Agent Shepard."

"Wrong department there, buddy," Tony said, deciding now was a good time to chime in.

The man grinned. "Ha, she transferred out? Guess that makes sense."

"Not really out so much as down the hall. Who are you anyway?" Tony asked.

"Stan Burley," He said, extending his hand first to Tony and then to Kate. "I used to be on Gibbs's team, along with Shepard."

Tony's eyes grew round with the possibilities of everything this man might know.

"No, Tony," Kate said firmly, having noticed the look on his face.

"What, I haven't done anything? Anyway, she works down on the Middle East desk now."

"Do I, Agent DiNozzo?" Jenny's voice said, silkily from somewhere far too close for Tony's liking. He turned to find her standing behind him on the other side of the divider, having appeared in the walkway at some point in their conversation.

"Look, there she is!" He exclaimed, very keen to get the attention off himself.

Burley grinned when he saw her. "Oh hey, Shep."

"Shep?" Tony mouthed silently across at Kate, while Jenny set her chin and she moved in front of the desks to stand before Burley, which caused Tony to wince in anticipation.

"Wow, I can't believe it." Burley said, looking her up and down before his eyes lingered on her belly.

"What do you want, Burley?"

"Can't a former teammate come and wish you congratulations?"

"You can, thank you, but there's no way you came over here just to say that. To ogle me like a sideshow curiosity, maybe."

Burley held his hands up in surrender. "I came to collect my winnings in the office pool."

Jenny raised her brows. " Oh? And what did you bet on?"

"Oh, you know, this, that, a few things."

Jenny narrowed her eyes at him, and Burley shifted uncomfortably when it became clear she wasn't buying it.

"Okay, fine! I bet that you and Gibbs would get together while you were on your last assignment."

"You and half the agency. I heard you all got five bucks. What else?"

"That was it."

"That's crap. What else?" Jenny said, stepping closer as she pushed.

Burley scratched the back of his head and smiled at her sheepishly. "I bet that Gibbs would knock you up by the time you were stateside. It was a stupid joke! I made a joke, and Decker dared me to put a bet on it. Didn't think you'd actually do it."

"How much?"

"A thousand bucks," he admitted in a mumble.

Tony's wide eyes caught Kate's before they noticed Gibbs coming up silently behind Burley Gibbs and winced as his hand met resoundingly with the back of the man's head."

Jenny smiled at Burley with satisfaction, having seen it coming.

Gibbs scowled. "You bet on me; I collect. You bet on her and that's another 25 percent, and if my child is involved, you'll be lucky if I let you keep any at all"

"Oh, come on, Gibbs. There wasn't even a 'your child' when I made that bet."

Face still impassive, Gibbs held his hand out, and Burley reluctantly slapped a wad of bills into it. Gibbs then handed the cash to Jenny. He smiled widely at Burley. "How've you been, Stan?"

He rubbed the sandpaper down the particular rib of the hull he was working on and stopped to run his hand down it. He tilted his head to listen to the footsteps above him and smiled at the thought of Jenny moving around the kitchen where she obviously was. There was no way she was cooking, but she was doing something in there. He didn't think it was that she couldn't, but with time and energy more scarce than money and a housekeeper willing to do it, then there didn't seem to be much point. He'd been thinking lately about whose house they were going to live in as a family. His was drab in places and needed a lick of paint in others, but privately he considered his home a much better choice for raising a family. He'd been thinking a lot about family.

The laundry floor creaked as Jenny neared the top of the stairs, and he looked up in time to watch her walk down. It was something he'd come to enjoy even before they were together, but now he relished it. She was pinker in the cheeks and a little softer around the edges in a way that made him want to keep her close just so that he could touch her often.

She handed him a bowl of something fragrant and savoury smelling.

"Noemi?"

"She's really good." She said around a mouthful. "I might have to offer her a raise."

Gibbs took a forkful and tilted his head in agreement.

"Can you believe Burley bet that you'd knock me up?"

He let out an amused puff of air. "Yeah."

"Do you think he saw something we didn't, or did he get lucky?"

"Ah, he was just being an idiot. Decker bet we'd come back married."

Jenny snorted softly. "Now that wouldn't have happened."

"That a fact, Jen?"

She smiled coyly at him. "Ask me in a year," she retorted, answering a question he hadn't asked.

Gibbs smirked and shook his head, and they shared a moment in comfortable silence before Gibbs decided to break it once more with something that had been playing on his mind.

"I wanna take you to meet my dad."

Jenny put down the fork that had been halfway to her mouth and stared at him. "I had no idea he was around to meet."

"He's still living where I grew up. I haven't seen him since the funeral."

She didn't need to ask who's funeral, because unless he said otherwise, it was always going to be Shannon and Kelly. "What happened?"

"He brought along a girlfriend. Looking back it had been years since mom died, but bringing a woman I didn't know to something so personal seemed unforgivable."

"I'm sorry, Jethro. You know at my father's funeral, no one came. It was pretty much just me and the coffin."

"You've got no other family?"

"Mom bailed when I was a baby, said she wasn't ready to be a mother, and then she went off to have my sister with another guy."

"That's hard, Jen."

"I'm used to it."

"Doesn't mean it hurt you any less."

"My father and I weren't talking when he died. He was mad at me for taking a job at NCIS and not some plum job at the White House. He did his best for me, and I miss him, but right now I'm kind of relieved he's not here to see this. I'm not ashamed of being with you or being pregnant, but he'd be casting his shadow of disapproval all over us." She smiled ruefully. "No matter how hard I tried, I never was quite perfect enough for him. He loved me, though, and I loved him. Do you know why I joined your team, then took that promotion?"

"Nope," he said with honesty.

"I wanted to get to a position high enough in the agency to go after the man who killed my father."

"How'd he die?"

"Official cause of death was suicide. They said he took a bribe and killed himself out of shame, but that was a cover. He was killed by the arms dealer he was accused of taking money from."

Gibbs squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry, Jen."

"You were the first person I'd met that made me want to stay."

"That why you left me in Paris?"

"When you laughed, at me, I was so scared of you breaking my heart that I left anyway. God, it's a miracle that we ended up here at all."

"Sometimes things have a way of working out."

"I'm glad they did."

"Me too." He said, his voice soft. The fact that her eyes were moist not escaping his notice. She was fragile, and he could see the toll it took on her. What had remained stoically under wraps before was now beginning to unravel.

She obliged and let out a shuddering breath as he folded her into his arms. He caressed her hair and felt the warmth of her head through her hair against his palm, and for while he felt rather than heard her cry. As her breathing slowed with her tears planted a kiss on her forehead with all the gentleness he could muster, and Jenny partially disentangled herself from his embrace. When she emerged her face was red and wet, and her hair was mussed out of its tidy bob.

"I'm here, Jen."

She nodded and squeezed the hand he was still holding and took a deep breath. "I'd love to meet your dad."

"How about next week? I'll square it with Morrow."

She nodded. "Deal."

Jenny was long asleep when he ventured into the basement again and poured some bourbon into a mug. He planned on joining her, but he needed time to think on the conversation they'd had earlier.

Certain things about her suddenly made a lot more sense. She'd been out for revenge, possibly as a suicide mission, and he understood it completely. Her pain was familiar, both because he knew her and because it was so much like his own.

The fact that she'd been ambitious enough to use her job at NCIS to learn whatever skills needed and rise to the top caused a faint smile to spread across his lips. It was her all over, and part of what made her so brilliant.

Her parents were insult added to injury. He had half a mind to track her mother down, though to what end he didn't know. Maybe just to get a look at the sort of woman who could abandon her baby and then replace her like she'd been nothing, but it was pointless. It also wasn't his fight.

Her father was another matter. Jenny was a talented investigator, but it was hard to tell how much of what she remembered was due to her not being able to face the facts. Someday he'd pull the file and take a look for himself, but right now they needed peace and stability.

She was a lot more like him than Shannon had been, and, looking back, it amazed him how well they worked, now and from the moment they'd met.

There were going to be insecurities in her about her parents that would rear their ugly heads, he knew, and other things, and he would be there to bolster her when she needed him.

None of it changed how he felt about her.

He downed his drink and stood to leave, flicking off the light as he went and headed up the stairs.

Jenny shifted in her position in the passenger seat of the car and tried to find a way to arrange herself comfortably, but it was no use. Her entire body felt ached in some way. Pinched nerves and loosening joints, and tender places that no longer tolerated the pressure of sitting in the same place for too long.

They'd taken her car rather than Gibbs's truck for comfort reasons, and Gibbs was putting it through its paces on the way out of the city, mumbling something about it being a glorified Toyota as he took off from the lights. She reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the map she knew was in there and spread it across the dash in an attempt to familiarise herself with where they were headed.

"You let me know when we need to stop." Gibbs said, throwing a glance her way.

"I'll be fine, Jethro."

He rolled his eyes. "I can tell you're uncomfortable. Besides, being in the same position for too long is bad for circulation, moving is better for the baby."

"Have you been reading my pregnancy book?" She asked. She'd bought herself a week by week guide so she could match her symptoms with an explanation.

He shrugged. "Figured my knowledge was a bit rusty."

"That's very sweet," She said, smiling as she pictured him reading it. "I had wondered why it was never on the page I left it on."

"I couldn't remember."

"You didn't try."

His mouth quirked into a lopsided smile that confirmed her suspicions.

"Oh, that reminds me, I have a scan booked for next week; they asked me if I want to find out the gender."

"Do you?"

I thought maybe you might like to be prepared."

"Nah, let's keep it as a surprise. That okay?"

"Fine by me," she said, feeling oddly deflated.

A long beat of silence followed and he glanced at her once more. "What's wrong, Jen?"

"It's all starting to feel real now."

A small frown appeared on his face and he appeared to weigh her response before nodding once. He reached a hand out to find hers, and he held it as they drove on.