Two

Kelly Anne Gibbs shut the front door behind her and listened for any noise at all, coming home to an empty house had happened once or twice when Jenny had taken Gibbs to a doctors appointment but she had seen all of the vehicles in the driveway on her way in and coming home to a relatively full yet quiet house was unheard of. She had come to realize very early on that there was always something going on in the Shepard-Gibbs household, whether it was Jake and Ava watching TV or playing, Jenny or Gibbs doing something or the members of her father's team coming and going.

She slipped off her shoes and wandered into the empty living room, she couldn't hear anything coming from the dining-room or kitchen so she crossed back over to the den where she found Jenny covered in a blanket sound asleep on the couch, the muted credits to a movie rolling across the screen.

She silently backed out of the room and made her way upstairs in search of her father, she found him in Ava's nursery putting away folded clothes.

"How was school?" Gibbs asked without turning around.

"You know it really freaks people out when you do that." Kelly commented with a grin, "not me but other people and you're putting those in the wrong spot." She added.

Gibbs looked down at the onesie in his hand and sighed, he had done his best to be helpful with the kids but putting away laundry had been Jenny's thing. She liked everything put away a certain way so she could find it in the middle of the night if Ava woke up and needed to be changed, a task that had always fallen on her since Gibbs had been unable to pick Ava up with only one arm.

"Top left drawer." Kelly instructed as she walked over to the crib and picked up Ava who was laying one her back and chewing on her fist. "Is Jenny okay?"

"What do you mean?" Gibbs asked, he closed the dresser drawer and turned to face his daughter.

He tried not to think about how grown up Kelly looked standing there giving him a pointed look, the way Ava was settled onto her hip looked like the most natural thing in the world and that thought unsettled him. His baby wasn't a baby anymore she was growing up right before his eyes, she was already more mature than other kids her age but he had still been able to see some semblance of a child in her physical features but that was quickly disappearing as well. He was struck by the look on her face, not because it reminded him of Shannon as she had been known to do, but because it was so similar to the look Jenny gave him when she was about to tell him to cut the bullshit.

"You look just like Jenny right now." He stated.

"Jenny would say that you're trying to avoid my question." Kelly replied, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Jenny would probably use a bigger word than avoid."

"Dad." Kelly warned gently, "is Jenny okay?" She asked again.

Gibbs sighed, he didn't know how to answer that without lying to the teen. He and Jenny had both agreed that when it came to Kelly they wouldn't lie to her. She didn't need their protection from the facts and she had Gibbs' ability to see a lie or an omission of the truth for what it was.

They had talked about it and had decided to tell both Kelly and Jake about the baby, they had had very different conversations with each of them but they hadn't wanted it to slip out by accident. Even though they had talked about it Gibbs wasn't sure exactly how much Jenny would appreciate him telling Kelly about what she was going through.

"She's just tired." Gibbs replied.

"I don't doubt that but your eyes are saying there's something more." Kelly replied.

Gibbs hated that he managed to be unreadable to everyone except two of the most important women in his life, Jenny could read him like a book and Kelly did just as well.

"There's just a lot going on Kel, with Dani and both of us going back to work soon."

"She looks sad." Kelly stated quietly, "When she thinks no one's watching she looks sad, everyone says that this is the happiest they've ever seen her but I'm worried about her."

"They're right, this is the happiest she's been in years she loves you and Jake and Ava, we both do."

"But having us, especially Ava and Jake, around reminds her of what she lost." Kelly interrupted.

"No." Gibbs replied firmly, "none of you are a replacement or a reminder of your sister, Jenny loves each of you for who you are, not who you could've been or who you remind her of."

It was a fact that Jenny had been adamant about, Jake and Ava were not a replacement for the child they had lost, they were their own people and they would never be compared to Lillian.

"I just don't want to make things harder for her by being here."

"You're not makin' things harder Kel, you guys are the best thing that could've happened to Jenny and I." Gibbs replied honestly, "you'll get it when you have kids of your own, no matter how bad everything else is your kids are the bright spot."

"So things are bad?"

"Things aren't bad," Gibbs stated with a sigh, "she's grieving Kel, she never dealt with it when it happened and it's just kinda hitting her now."

"Can I do anything for her?" Kelly asked quietly.

"The thing she wants more than anything is to just be treated normally, don't talk to her like she's gonna break." Gibbs replied honestly, "stop worrying about her, it's her job to worry 'bout you, not the other way around."

"I know." Kelly admitted with a small sigh of her own, "I just can't help it, she's lost weight and I don't think she's sleeping except for when she finally just can't stay awake anymore."

"She'll be fine." Gibbs reassured her.

"It's just…" Kelly started, hesitating before continuing. "I don't remember Mom, and I never really had a mother figure growing up, until Jenny showed up. I haven't known her for long but Jenny's pretty much the only mom I can ever remember having and I don't want you to think that means I don't love Mom." She rambled

"But she's not here anymore." Gibbs stated, putting an end to her rambling. "Shannon wouldn't want either of us to stop living just because she's not here, you shouldn't push Jen away just because you're afraid of hurting my feelings or betraying your Mom's memory." He added giving her a pointed look, "'sides there's nothing saying you can't have two moms."

"And that's why I'm worried, I don't think I could handle losing another mom." Kelly admitted quietly.

I really really wanted to have a day each week to update and that day was going to be Thursdays and then everything went to hell last week and a I completely forgot to update… So so sorry guys! I hope everyone had an awesome weekend and I hope everyone has a great week, as usual I own nothing but Dani, Jake and Ava but please enjoy! I love to hear from you guys, thank you for your reviews!

~Katie