Gibbs had insisted on stopping for the night, which felt like an odd cross between their year abroad and working an overnighter, only this time they'd shelled for nicer accommodation. He'd taken them out of their way and pulled in at a quaint little place by the Susquehanna, which flowed by in all its wide, brown glory. Jenny had tried telling him she'd be fine, but he was having none of it.

She sat down heavily on the edge of the bed and winced. She was only halfway to the finish line, but the curse of having more legs than torso meant that she already looked like she'd swallowed a small watermelon, or at least that's what her doctor told her.

The air of the room was brooding, and she watched on as a solemn-faced Gibbs placed their bags on the floor. He was quiet even for him, though his face remained impassive, and the way he flexed his now empty hands spoke of his disquiet.

She drew her brows together in concern. "What's wrong, Jethro?"

He stilled at the sound of her voice before coming over to sit next to her on the edge of the bed.

"Going to Stillwater", he said and swallowed roughly. "It brings up old things."

"Shannon and Kelly?" she asked with as much gentleness as she could muster. She was still afraid of mentioning them though less than she had been. Their sharing of wounds had changed things, and since then there'd been a new sense of candour between them.

"I haven't been back in years, place never felt right."

"How long?"

"1976."

A soft smile graced her lips. "I'd have been eight years old."

Gibbs gave a quiet chuckle, and his expression mirrored hers for a moment, but his eyes were distant. "I'd just joined the marines. I met Shannon for the first time at the station while I was waiting for the train out."

His eyes met hers and he slipped his warm hand into hers as it rested in her lap before lifting it to his mouth and brushing his lips across her knuckles. "What about you?"

She pursed her lips but was unsurprised by his question because he could read her almost as well as she read him.

"Something's bothering you."

She looked at him for a moment before deciding to continue this new trend of being candid. "I'm scared of becoming my mother."

"You planning on going anywhere?"

"Of course not."

"Then you'll be fine," he said, and placed his hand on the small of her back.

"What if I don't love it, what if I don't feel anything? I've got no idea about being a mom; I've never even held a baby."

"You have some idea."

"Since when?"

"As soon as you knew, you came back. That's instinct right there."

She made a face that was more grimace than smile. She hadn't given the baby a second thought, not really. "I came back because I was terrified."

"You could have done a lot of things, but you chose that. You're gonna be a great mom, Jen."

He gave her hand a firm squeeze and she felt the telltale prickle of tears beginning to well in her eyes. She tilted her head back in a vain attempt to stop them before they started, but they fell anyway. "God I'm sick of crying. I think I liked things better when I held it all in."

"Better out than in."

"Says the man who lives not to tell his secrets.

Gibbs shrugged at her and half smiled. "Yeah, well."

She moved her eyes across his face and studied him with care, sensing something below the surface. She locked her still moist eyes locked with his. "What don't I know?" she asked, unsure she dared to know the answer.

"Mom killed herself."

"Jethro…" she murmured as the horror of what he'd just said seeped through her.

He lifted a shoulder like it was nothing which in itself put the lie to his action. "She had terminal cancer, thought it was a better way to die."

"That's awful. How old were you?"

"Ten."

Jenny laughed wetly. "God. We're just one tragedy after another."

"We're still here."

"I want more than that."

"So do I."

His lips were warm as he pressed them against hers, as were his arms as they wrapped around her and pulled her close.

She'd tucked her head neatly under his chin but froze at a fluttering feeling that bloomed within her belly. She pulled back wide eyed at the sensation. "I felt it, the baby, it moved."

"You sure?"

"Well, it's about the right time, and it was definitely something."

He placed his hand on her belly and she moved it to where she'd felt it and her eyes shot to his as it happened again. "Did you feel that?"

"No. Might be too early," he murmured, but she didn't miss the look of pride on his face.

Jenny gave him a small smile and let his confidence assuage her fear. "Do you think it'll be a boy or a girl?"

"Girl. You?"

"Both genders are equally small and confounding"

"Come on, no women's intuition?" he teased, his eyes belying his mirth.

She smiled. "Not even a little."

"Surely your gut says something," he said, and spread his hand across her belly for effect.

"Well, other than the fact that it's hungry."

Gibbs laughed. "We better feed it then."

"Again."

"Yeah, well, baby's gotta eat"

"What about me?"

"You too."

More and more she found there was a lightness about them that had always been there, only now it was flourishing in ways it had never been able, along with the openness that neither had once dared allow.

"Jethro."

"Mm?"

"Do you think we'd have got here if I wasn't pregnant?"

"You left." he stated simply, but his voice held no malice.

She let his statement slide. "For what it's worth, I'm glad things turned out this way."

"Even though you're scared?"

"For us to be together, it's worth it."

Smiled and offered her his hand, helping her up off the bed. "You sure you don't wanna marry me?" He asked with a grin.

She pursed her lips in mock irritation. "Shut up, Jethro."

The broad Main Street of Stillwater spread out before them with cars parked along the side but little traffic.

"Looks idyllic," Jenny said, though she didn't sound entirely like she believed it.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Looks can be deceiving."

No more was said on the matter, and Gibbs pulled them into a space across from his father's store, noticing as he did that the man himself was out front cleaning the windows. The eyes of some of the townsfolk were on he and Jen as they got out of the car, and the place felt as uncomfortable now as it had way back when.

He'd never belonged, and he didn't like them, and part of him regretted coming in the first place, but the prospect of becoming a father again had him re-evaluating his idea of family.

He noticed Jenny glance at him, as if sensing his unease.

At that moment, his father looked up and caught sight of them having felt their gaze. Gibbs watched as his eyes flicked between Jenny and himself before lingering on Jenny, who's hair was glowing a vibrant shade of copper in the midday sun.

His father's gaze moved to her abdomen and then back across to Gibbs himself. Pieces assembled; puzzle solved. They locked eyes and he felt a dull throb of old anger. His mother's death had torn them apart, and they hadn't been right since, and the loss of Shannon and Kelly had been the final nail in whatever they'd had left.

"Leroy!" his father yelled from across the street. "I wasn't sure I'd see you again," he said and started to make his way towards them.

Gibbs shifted uncomfortably and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, well, things change."

"I'll say," he said looking pointedly at Jenny.

"You gonna introduce me to this lovely lady of yours?"

"How do you know she's mine?"

Beside him Jenny suppressed a smile while his father rolled his eyes and gave up on him and turned to her instead. "Jackson Gibbs, at your service, but you can call me Jack." He said and offered her his hand.

"Jenny Shepard," she replied with a smile and shook it.

His father beamed at her. "A good, firm handshake, you must be a strong woman."

"You have no idea," Gibbs muttered, at which Jenny shot him an amused look.

"Well she must be to put up with you. Why don't we all head inside," he said and pointed to the store.

Jackson closed the door behind them before leading them through the store to living quarters in the back. "How long are you staying?

"Just a couple of nights, but we'll go book a room at the place up the road," Gibbs replied, putting to bed what was likely his father's next question before it had been asked. He had no intention of subjecting Jenny to the diminished privacy of staying here and he wasn't too keen on the idea himself. The memory of hiding in his room so that his father would stop trying to talk to him was more fresh than it ought to be. His dad had tried endlessly to empathise with him and bring him out of whatever funk he perceived him to be in, but it had only made him feel more alone and even less understood.

"Nonsense!" Jackson exclaimed. "You don't need any accommodation. There's a perfectly good spare room upstairs; has a double bed and everything."

Gibbs let out a long steady breath and rolled his eyes skyward. He and Jenny had discussed sleeping arrangements on the way and eventually decided on staying somewhere else, but one look at his father told him it wasn't an option. He looked to Jenny in apology. "That okay with you?"

"I'll be fine," she said, smiling at him knowingly.

Jackson beamed at them. "Good, well that's settled. Coffee?" he asked, holding up a coffee pot before putting it down to rummage around in an overhead cupboard. "Oh, looks like I'm out of coffee. I'll just go get some more," he said, and headed out to the front of the store.

Jenny smiled at his father politely before turning her attention back to him. "I'll be fine, will you?"

Gibbs shrugged. "It'll be okay."

"Good to know, but that wasn't my question, though if the mattress is old and uneven, I'm going to be sending you out to look for a new one."

Gibbs laughed. "I'll book you a room up the road, though I can't promise it'll be any better. They shared a meaningful look as Jackson returned.

He smiled in their direction. "Now, where were we…" he said and proceeded to bustle around the kitchen

After a drink that was as painful as it was polite, Jenny had excused herself, which left Gibbs alone at the kitchen table with his father staring intently at the mug he was holding while his father fixed him with a penetrating gaze.

"She okay?" Jackson asked with a glance at the nearby staircase.

"Yeah, just needs to stretch out after being in the car," Gibbs said and followed his father's gaze, envious of the fact that she was able to disappear.

"I guess travel will do that to you. So, what brings you to these parts after all this time? I figured by this point in time you wouldn't be setting foot here again."

"A change in perspective."

Jackson smiled knowingly and Gibbs felt his sharp, blue gaze rake him for details. "That got anything to do with the basketball she's got up her sweater?"

"Yeah, it does."

"Heard you got married a couple of times, though obviously not to her seeing as she's got no ring on her finger."

"Didn't work out."

"That much I figured. So, where'd you two meet?"

"At work."

"Ah, that explains everything." Jackson quipped, grinning at him impishly.

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "I'm an Agent with NCIS, so's Jen. She was my partner."

"You mean like cops and stuff?

"We're investigators, we solve major crimes, things like murders and trafficking."

"Sounds like quite the job. She any good?

Gibbs tipped his head in assent. "Jen's a good agent."

"Guess that's gonna change now though."

"Already has."

You gonna marry her?"

"If she wants to."

"She's put the brakes on it then; any idea why?"

"Wants to make sure it'll last."

"I guess with two wives between herself and Shannon she's right to be. She knows about them?"

"She met the last one."

"What did she think of her?"

"They hated each other."

His father guffawed. "I'm not surprised!" he said and wiped tears from his eyes before his expression began to sober. His father looked him dead in the eyes. "It's good to have you back, son, but tell me one thing - what did I do that was so awful that you wanted nothing to do with me?"

Gibbs looked down at his hands. "You brought a date to their funeral."

His father inhaled sharply and looked away before meeting his gaze again. "I always thought that your mom and I had a love story for the ages, and I never regretted giving up the Force to be here and provide for you, but things don't always work out like we plan, and the best things don't always last, though maybe now you understand my position a little better. I know how you always hated me for getting on with my life."

Gibbs looked away. "I'm sorry, dad."

"So am I, son. So am I."