Chapter 15

When Gibbs picked her up he discovered that she had changed her mind about celebrating. Or at least it seemed that way by the way she was dressed. She had on a really pretty emerald green dress and her hair was flowing down her back with lots of curls. Smiling at him she grabbed her gold clutch purse and they walked out to his car.

They had placed their order and their drinks had arrived. Beer for Gibbs and Sam had ordered red wine. They Gibbs opened his jacket and handed her a long slender box beautifully wrapped. She gave him an arched brow and he returned the look with a half grin.

Unwrapping it and opening the box inside she saw a beautiful gold charm bracelet. She had not been expecting such an extravagant gift, she gasped, "Oh Gibbs!"

It was time to go home and once again he needed to go through the bullpen. His eyes were drawn to Samantha's empty desk and he realized that if she no longer worked at JAG he could see her. But then all the lies came to mind. Not that she had a choice from what she had told him. However, he had to wonder if anything else was false. On top of that, she had never indicated that she had any interest in him at all.

With a sigh he decided to treat himself to dinner out so he didn't have to make a meal when he got home. Callisto's was his favorite place so he stopped in there.

Maria showed him to his seat and because of how many times he had been there he didn't even need to look at the menu, he just placed his order as soon as his waitress arrived. It was only a few seconds after she had left the table he heard a voice that sounded familiar call out a name that was also familiar.

His eyes searched the room for the pair and spotted Gibbs after only a few moments. He was with a beautiful woman with golden blonde hair whose voice had been familiar. They she turned a bit and it hit him! Gibbs was having dinner with Samantha Blaze! As he looked on in shocked Gibbs reached into the box she was holding and pulled out a gold bracelet that he clasped around her wrist.

AJ couldn't watch the two of them on a date together with the added stab of Gibbs giving her jewelry. He got to his feet and walked to the front of the restaurant. "Maria something has come up, can you have them pack up my dinner to go, please?"

"Of course Admiral AJ!" she told him and called the kitchen to make the request. Just a few minutes later his meal was handed to him, he paid for it and left a hefty tip for bailing on his waitress.

Well now he had his answer as to whether she could be interested in him or not. He couldn't believe she was dating Gibbs!

By the time he got home AJ just decided that he didn't even want the dinner in his hand. Putting it in the refrigerator, he removed his uniform then took a quick shower and went right to bed. Then he couldn't sleep. All he could see over and over was Gibbs putting that gold bracelet on her wrist.

"Gibbs this is beautiful, but it's too much!" Sam protested.

"I'd love to take the credit Sam, but you should read the card in the box," he told her.

She gave him a look that said, if this is from whom I think it's from you're going to be sorry' then reached for the card and her suspicion was confirmed. The card read, 'Have a nice birthday, Sam' and was signed, your father.

Sam simply put the card back in the box and then removed the bracelet and did the same with it. "You can give this back to him Gibbs."

"Sam, he's your father! All he wanted was for you to have a great birthday."

"No, he wanted me to have a 'nice' birthday. Gibbs you know he wanted a son and all he got was me. He made sure that all my life I have known that. So please return the gift the next time you see him," Sam told him calmly with no emotion at all showing in either her voice or face.

To be continued…