Three

Jenny chewed on her nail nervously and leaned forward on the porch swing, Gibbs was seated beside her with Ava in his lap, Kelly and Jake were playing catch in the front yard.

"What if she hates me?" Jenny asked quietly.

They were waiting for D'Arcy to arrive with Dani and Jenny had been a nervous wreck since the night before, she had spent most of the night pacing quietly around her room and going over every bad scenario she could come up with.

"She's not gonna hate you Jen." Gibbs reassured her.

"You don't know that." Jenny argued quietly, "What if I can't be a good mom?"

Gibbs turned to her and raised an eyebrow, "And what exactly are you doing with our three other kids?"

"You know what I mean."

"No I don't." Gibbs replied, "you're a good mom Jen, just don't treat her any differently than you do Kel or Jake and you'll be just fine."

"Are we really sure we can handle having another kid?" Jenny asked in a panic.

"Are you trying to tell me you're pregnant?" Gibbs asked, "because I know that we're pretty good at the whole getting pregnant thing but that would be a record even for us."

"Of course I'm not pregnant, what are you talking about?" Jenny asked incredulously.

"Well unless you're pregnant we're not 'having' another kid, way I see it Dani's already a part of the family."

"How are you so calm about this?"

"The same way you were calm when all of this started, the same way you kept a level head when you found out you were pregnant with Lily."

"I was a nervous wreck about Kelly, Jake and Ava and I seriously considered a complete breakdown when I found out I was pregnant with Lilian."

"But you kept it together, I'm not sayin' I'm not nervous but one of us needs to keep it together." Gibbs replied reasonably.

"We didn't even really talk about how we're going to handle this, how are we going to handle rules and punishments?" Jenny asked.

"The same way we handle it with the other kids."

"How involved do you want to be?" Jenny asked slowly.

"That's up to you." Gibbs replied, "I'm not going to ask for more than you're willing to give."

"I want Dani to be treated the same way as everyone else, she deserves that. She shouldn't have to suffer anymore than she already has because I made a bad choice, she deserves to have a father, to know what it's like to have a family."

Gibbs shifted Ava to his other knee and wrapped his now free arm around Jenny's shoulder, he pulled her against his side and placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

Jenny stiffened slightly in surprise but quickly relaxed into Gibbs' side, she would never admit it out loud but she liked it when he got into one of his rare touchy feely moods, they didn't have a lot of physical contact but it was nice to know he was there to support her both physically and mentally when she really needed him.

Kelly looked over and grinned at Jenny and her father, Jenny had shifted and tucked her feet under her to lean against Gibbs who was resting his chin on the top of her head and gently rubbing his hand up and down her arm. She discreetly pulled out her phone and took a picture of the rare moment of quiet between the two.

The sound of gravel crunching brought them out of their quiet moment as Jenny once again stiffened against him before sitting up, she stood up and readjusted her clothes, simple dark wash jeans, a knit cardigan and black boots. Gibbs stood up beside her and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze as D'Arcy's car came into view.

N*C*I*S

Daniella Morgan Shepard had spent many of her early years imagining having a family, a big house and lots of room to play, she had given up on that dream around the age of twelve, deciding to accept the hand that had been dealt to her instead. She hadn't known what to expect when she had been told she would be returning to her birth mother, she had spoken to Jenny a few times on the phone and from what she could tell she seemed nice. A part of her was still so angry at the older woman but the little kid in her, the one that dreamed of a family, was begging her to just let herself be happy about the turn of events. She didn't know what she was feeling as D'Arcy pulled up in front of the large victorian house, her eyes fell on a young boy and a red headed teenager who looked a bit older than her before skimming over to the two people standing on the porch steps, three if you counted the baby in the mans arms.

She had seen a few pictures of the family in front of her before, Kelly had sent her them over facebook so she could put names to faces but something about seeing them in person only added to her confusion. She was excited to finally be out of the group home, to be a part of a real family but another part of her was bitter that her mother had obviously decided to start the 'perfect' family even though she hadn't kept her. She knew a bit of Kelly's backstory, she knew that she, Jake and Ava were also foster kids but she couldn't help the small rise of anger that Jenny had decided to help them before her own daughter. She swallowed the anger and bitterness and tried to plaster a small smile on her face as D'Arcy stopped the car.

She grabbed her battered duffle bag off of the floor in front of her and opened the door before stepping out into the cool autumn air.

"There's my favourite family!" D'Arcy exclaimed, "how's everyone doing today?"

"Good! Mom and Dad made chocolate chip pancakes this morning, we were going to put banana's in them too but they make Mommy's tummy upset." Jake informed her, "I have my first soccer game on Tuesday, Mom and Dad are both going to come, it's going to be inside and everything, because it's too cold outside now. Are you Dani?"

"Yeah." Dani replied quietly, feeling suddenly uncomfortable in front of the chattering seven year old and the smiling teen.

"I'm Kelly. It's nice to finally put a face to the voice." Kelly greeted, holding out her hand.

Dani awkwardly shook her hand and stepped back, she had no idea how to act or what to say. She felt out of place in the presence of these people, she regretted her choice of outfit for the day and was fully expecting a scolding as soon as D'Arcy was out of earshot. She was wearing ripped black jeans, a baggy black knit sweater and beat up black combat boots. Her dark auburn hair had recently been cut down to a pixie cut and was sticking up messily, her nose, lip and ear piercings, an industrial bar on top of her left ear, a helix and rook piercing on the other ear as well as lobe piercings on both felt glaringly out of place.

"And Dani this is your mother Jenny, and her partner Jethro Gibbs." D'Arcy stated, "and that little lady is Ava Grace."

"You're so big." Jenny whispered, stepping forward. "I mean not big big, but proportional big." She quickly corrected.

"It's nice to meet you Dani." Gibbs greeted, giving Jenny a minute to pull herself together.

"Why don't we head inside so you can show Dani around?" D'Arcy suggested.

She had done enough of these introductions to know that sometimes families needed a little bit of help to get past the initial awkwardness of the situation. She watched Dani shuffle her feet and adjust her duffle bag.

"I know I've told you guys before but I love what you've done with the house." D'Arcy stated as Jenny closed the front door behind the group.

Dani tried to discreetly look around the room, the foyer was painted a light blue and opened on to a large stair case to her left was what looked like a family room and to her right was a large, bright living room. She took off her boots and followed the group into the living room, the room was bigger than she originally thought, standing in the doorway she was facing a large white fireplace with a grey couch in front of it. The couch was sitting on top of a large grey and white carpet and there were plush high-backed white chairs on either side of the fireplace. Above the fire place were three pictures, in the centre was a picture of large group of people only half of whom she recognized, to the left was a picture of just Jenny, Gibbs, Kelly, Jake and Ava and to the right was a picture of what she guessed to be a much younger Jenny and Gibbs.

"The dining room is this way." Jenny said as she lead them through the dining room.

Dani couldn't help but note how huge the dining room table was, she couldn't even guess at how many people could fit around it if they squished.

"I know it's a huge table." Jenny stated rolling her eyes, "when it's just the five of us, six now it's way too big but when everyone is here we barely fit."

"Everyone?" Dani asked wearily.

"When the older kids come home there'll be ten of us with you, twelve if Ducky and Jimmy come and if Uncle Toby and Emily are here it'll be fourteen." Jake explained as if it was nothing to have that many people in your house on a regular basis.

"Older kids?" Dani asked, "I thought there were only three kids, four if you include me."

"There are eight of us total if you count in my dad's team." Kelly explained, "they're the people who work with him but they're all really close, you'll like them, trust me."

"This is the kitchen." Jenny said, "everything in the cupboards and fridge is fair game, if you're hungry go ahead and grab a snack just try not to eat too close to supper." She added, giving Kelly and Gibbs a pointed look.

"Dad and I are really bad for snacking right before supper." Kelly admitted sheepishly, "although to be fair at least I don't snack during church and ruin my appetite for Sunday dinner."

"It was once." Jenny defended herself, "and it wasn't my fault, Abby had cookies."

"Mom can't say no to cookies." Jake said seriously, "Dad thinks it's funny."

Dani listened to the easy way they talked and bantered with each other and couldn't help but feel like an outsider as Jenny showed them the family room and then led the way upstairs.

"So this is Kelly's room, Ava's is right beside it, Jake's is right here and this is the guest room." Jenny said pointing into each room as she went.

Dani stopped and looked into the guest room, she was interested in the other kids room but something about the guest room caught her attention. All of the guest rooms she had ever seen had either been immaculate and barely lived in or had doubled as storage rooms and had only been used when distant relatives came to town. This guest room looked oddly lived in, like it's occupant had left that morning and would be back in a few hours. The large bed was made up neatly but there were a few stray items of clean laundry folded on it, there was a book laying face down on the bedside table, the desk chair was pulled out slightly with a sweatshirt thrown over it and the bulletin, dry-erase board combo above the desk was covered in pictures and notes.

Bring more buns for the next dinner, I'm a growing boy!

~Tony

STOP USING ALL OF THE INK IN THE PRINTER!

~McGee

Stop going through everyone's drawers Tony!

~Ziva

Has anyone seen my left boot? I'm missing one again!

~Abby

"It's more of a bedroom for the team then a guest room I guess." Jenny stated when she saw Dani looking around, "they haven't spent the night a lot since we moved here but when Jethro was still at his old place they stayed there a lot, this is your room here." She added, leading Dani into a pale grey room.

Standing in the doorway Dani could see the bed, a black metal frame with black nightstands on either side, there was a desk to the right side of the room with a bulletin board over it, to the left was a black dresser sitting directly under a large window. In the far corner of the room was a comfortable looking arm chair with bookshelves on either side, there were a few books on them but they were otherwise bare.

"We left it mostly bare so you can decorate whatever way you want to." Jenny explained, "Kelly and I picked out a few books that you might like, if you like to read that is."

"I like to read." Dani replied, at a loss for what else to say, "this looks great just the way it is, thank you."

It sounded lame even to her own ears but she didn't know what else to say, she felt overwhelmed and wanted nothing more than to be alone for a few minutes.

"Why don't you unpack a bit." D'Arcy suggested, "I'm going to go over a few things with Jenny and Gibbs and then head out if that's okay with you, I'll check back in in a few days, okay?"

"Sure." Dani replied with a small shrug.

"I'll just be in my room if you need anything." Kelly offered after everyone else had filed out, "I know that this can all be a little bit much."

She slipped out of the room before Dani could reply, leaving the younger teen by herself in the bright, clean room. It only took Dani about ten minutes to unpack her meagre belongings, she skimmed through the few books on the bookshelf and actually found a few that she had been wanting to read. Leaving the books she sat down on the edge of the bed, completely unsure of what to do with herself. She sat for about ten minutes before there was a knock on her door.

"I just wanted to check in, see if you needed anything." Jenny said as she entered the room after Dani had called out a quiet 'come in'.

"I'm okay, all of my stuff is put away."

"Okay…" Jenny trailed off, "you're welcome to just hang out in here if you want to be alone but you're also more than welcome to wander around, this is your home now too."

"Where am I not allowed to go?" Dani asked.

By the look on Jenny's face Dani could tell it was a question that hadn't been asked before, the slightly confused and taken aback expression on her face made that obvious.

"You're allowed everywhere." Jenny replied, "I would ask before you go into anyone's bedrooms and don't go through anyones personal drawers but other than that you're free to go where you want, maybe just let Gibbs or I know if you're going outside."

"What about lights out?"

"Lights out? Jake and Ava have bedtimes but as long as you're not being disruptive I think you're probably old enough to decide when to go to bed." Jenny replied.

"When do we have to wake up?"

"When you feel like it." Jenny replied with a shrug, "on school days you have to be up to catch the bus, you decide how long it takes you to get ready and work around that. The bus comes at 7:30, Kelly gets up at 5:30 so she can take her time getting ready, she likes to have a coffee with Gibbs and I before she leaves but Jake doesn't wake up until almost seven he just eats, gets dressed and goes. You're free to choose what you want to do."

"So there's no schedule? No rules?"

"We don't really have a schedule, we're all still new to this and it's hard to make a set daily schedule when everyone has different activities, we've been doing a late Sunday lunch together and then we spend the afternoon just hanging out but that's about as set as it gets here."

Not having a set schedule and structure to her life had been one of the biggest adjustments for Jenny, although her work schedule was hectic and often chaotic and always took over her personal life it was an organized chaos, being home all the time and having three, now four kids was just chaos, there was no organization to it. She had tried to be organized in the beginning but it had stressed her out more trying to be super organized, finally Gibbs had told her to just give it up and she had. She still kept lists and a calendar of where everyone needed to be and when but aside from previously scheduled school and work activities she just went with the flow.

"I try and do groceries on Saturdays and Tuesdays or Wednesdays and you're welcome to come with me but those days tend to change based on Jake's soccer practices, Gibbs' work schedule, how the baby is feeling, who all is home and if anyone has any big tests or assignments coming up."

She often gave up personal time or even basic tasks like grocery shopping to help either Kelly or Jake study, Kelly seemed to learn best when she was teaching so Jenny would clean or attempt to cook supper while Kelly explained whatever she was learning to her. When it came to history or music Jenny had no problems following, even advanced Calculus wasn't too bad but the minute Kelly started talking AP Chemistry or Biology she blanked worse than Gibbs.

"As for rules we do have rules but they're more along the lines of respect everyone, clean up after yourself, don't do anything that could put yourself or anyone else in danger especially when you're doing stuff online. You can tell your friends what Gibbs and I do but it's better if you don't tell people you don't really know, it's just a safety thing. Try not to break stuff if you can help it, I mean accidents happen but try not to be purposefully destructive."

"Can I close my door?"

"Of course." Jenny replied, "you're allowed your privacy and unless you invite us in or give us a reason to have to Gibbs and I will never go in your room without permission, Kelly and Jake both let me go in to put folded laundry on their beds but I never put it away for them, your drawers are your space. If you don't want me going in your room when you're not around I'll just leave the laundry in a basket in the hallway, just try and move it as soon as you get home so no one trips over it."

"We don't do our own laundry?" Dani asked.

"I do it all together because it's easier that way, Kelly will normally help me sort or even throw in loads and fold if I'm really busy but you're welcome to do your own laundry if you're more comfortable with that." Jenny said, "I know that when I was your age I didn't exactly want my parents seeing my underwear, but Gibbs generally stays away from the laundry in favour of other stuff and I personally don't care what you chose to wear for underwear."

Jenny watched Dani blush and look down at her hands and couldn't help but feel a bit bad for making her uncomfortable.

"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I just meant that I'm not here to judge what you choose to wear, underwear or otherwise. Gibbs and I have veto power if whatever you choose is way inappropriate but for the most part as long as everything vital is covered it's your body."

"Do we have any chores?" Dani asked, desperate for a change in subject.

"Not really, keep your room relatively clean, it doesn't have to be spotless but try not to let it be a pigsty either."

"I don't know what your definition of clean is." Dani stated.

"It's your room you have to live in it not me but for example Kelly makes her bed and puts away her clothes everyday but half the time you can't see the floor because she has art supplies everywhere or she's working on an assignment. When she's done she always puts stuff away but there tends to be some sort of project on the go all the time, I get that you might want to get five extra minutes of sleep in the morning instead of making your bed and that's fine, just tidy up when you get home, don't leave dirty dishes that kind of thing."

"Are we allowed to eat in our rooms?" Dani asked in surprise.

"Meals are eaten together in the kitchen or dining room but snacks can be eaten wherever, just bring your dishes back to the kitchen and don't leave crumbs everywhere."

"What's our curfew?"

"I have to talk to Gibbs about that one, it's never really come up." Jenny replied slowly.

Kelly didn't tend to stay out late and if she did it was to go to Tony's to do a movie night with him and the rest of the team, as long as she didn't have school the next day they didn't care how late she stayed out with the team.

"Do you have any other questions?" Jenny asked, "if you think of anything else you can always ask Gibbs or I, our cell and work numbers are written on the fridge downstairs so you can call us if you need us for anything." She added when Dani shook her head.

"Okay, thank you."

"You're welcome, I'll let you finish settling in, I'll just be downstairs if you need anything." Jenny offered awkwardly.

Dani nodded and watched Jenny hesitate a minute before she let herself out of the room, from her spot on the bed she could see out her large window that looked out onto the backyard where Gibbs and Jake were measuring a plank of wood. Part of her wanted to go out and ask to help but the other part of her was so afraid of being rejected that she stayed put.

She sat on her bed for another ten minutes before getting up and quietly leaving her room, she slowly made her way down the hallway until she reached Kelly's open door. She stood in the hallway and peeked into the bright room, Kelly's bed was to the far left a bedside table on either side of it with framed pictures on one side and a simple lamp on the other. There was a desk on the right side with a large bulletin board covered in drawings and photographs above it, under the large window looking out over the side yard was a window seat with built in bookshelves on either side. The bookshelves were half full, one with books and the other with miscellaneous knickknacks and art supplies.

"You can come in." Kelly offered.

Dani jumped when the older teen poked her head out of the closet and gestured for Dani to enter.

"I wasn't trying to snoop." Dani stated defensively.

"I know, I used to have a foster sister who would go through my drawers, that's snooping, standing in the hallway is not." Kelly replied.

She stood up and brushed off her pants, clean light wash jeans, Dani noted, paired with a white blouse and grey cardigan.

"Did you get all settled in?" Kelly asked, "I know it can be a bit overwhelming I know my first day was."

"How long have you been here again?" Dani asked, completely ignoring Kelly's question.

"Just over two weeks." Kelly replied.

"That's it? It seems like you've been here for longer." Dani replied as she gestured around the obviously lived in bedroom, "you seem really at home."

"My dad and your mom made it really easy to feel at home." Kelly replied with a small shrug.

Dani looked at her skeptically and tried to figure out how best to phrase the question she wanted to ask.

"Are they really as nice and laid back as they seem?" She finally asked.

"They're both great." Kelly replied, "I wouldn't exactly say they're laid back, they have rules but they're there for a reason and none of them are unfair, half of them you probably won't know until you break them but I've started a list, you can take a look if you want." Kelly offered taking a piece of paper off of the bulletin board and handing it to Dani.

Rule One: Never screw (over) your partner. (That one depends on who's saying it)

Rule Three A: Never believe what you're told always double check.

Rule Three B: Never be unreachable.

Rule Six: Never say you're sorry.

Rule Six B: Never quote rule six in front of Jenny. (It irritates her)

Rule Twenty-Eight: It's okay to ask for help.

"Those are just the ones I've figured out, the team has helped a little bit but they're pretty big on letting you figure it out on your own."

"Are these like house rules or something?" Dani asked scanning the list skeptically.

"No, the house rules are pretty simple, clean up after yourself be respectful the usual stuff, these are my dad's rules. He uses them with his team and Uncle Stan and your Mom had them when they worked together too, they aren't hard and fast rules in the house but they're good to live by." Kelly explained.

"Why are there two rule three's?"

"My Grandpa Mike originally had three rules when my dad started with him so dad made sub-rules." Kelly explained, "at least that's what I was told but no one knows whose rules are whose and no one knows what the second rule two is, I don't even know what the first rule two is."

"No one's asked?"

"You can ask all you want but the rules kind of come up when you break them and not before." Kelly replied with a shrug, "it's not like there's a punishment if you break them or anything they're more like guidelines, for us at least."

"So they're not going to snap at me for not knowing them?" Dani asked nervously.

"No!" Kelly assured her quickly, "they really only want what's best for us, I promise they won't just snap on you or suddenly become these horrible people." She added more calmly.

"How do you know? You've only been here for a couple of weeks." Dani reasoned.

"Because I know what my Dad's team has told me, and I like to think I'm a decent judge of character." Kelly replied, "all of them say the same thing, Jenny and Dad can be tough but they're fair and you won't find people with bigger hearts than those two."

"I guess you're right, I think I'm going to go for a walk." Dani replied, "thanks for the talk."

"Any time." Kelly offered with a smile, "my doors always open."

N*C*I*S

Gibbs glanced up from measuring the plank of wood in front of him when he felt a pair eyes on him, he scanned the yard until he saw Dani standing on the back deck. She was looking around hesitantly and pulled the ratty old sweater she was wearing around herself tightly.

"You can help if you want." Gibbs called out casually.

He wasn't quite sure what to think about Dani Shepard, her looks reminded him a lot of a young Jenny the only difference being the darker and much shorter hair but he hadn't spent enough time with her to be able to decide if she had inherited her mothers fiery attitude or quick wit.

"I don't know what to do." Dani replied.

Nonetheless she made her way down the steps and walked over to Gibbs slowly, she stopped ten feet away and shifted her feet and pulled on her sweater again.

"I didn't know what to do either but Dad showed me, he could show you too." Jake offered from his perch on a nearby stack of lumber.

Gibbs looked over at Jake and raised an eyebrow at the boy who had quickly become his son, Jake had helped him measure a few things but had quickly gotten distracted by the pile of lumber he was currently climbing on.

"Maybe I'll just watch for now." Dani said.

Gibbs nodded and decided not to push it, he gestured to a nearby sawhorse for Dani to sit on before going back to his work.

"If you're going to be out here you should probably put on a jacket." Gibbs suggested without looking up.

It was still fairly warm for October but the air had a bite to it that made Gibbs worry about one of the kids getting sick. Jake was bundled up in a fall jacket with a sweater underneath but all Dani had on was her knit sweater with a baggy cardigan over it that didn't appear to be doing anything for warmth.

"I don't have a jacket." Dani muttered.

It was said so quietly that Gibbs almost didn't hear it but he could have kicked himself for just assuming that the teen would have a a jacket.

"Here, take this." He offered.

He pulled off his jacket and removed the thick red USMC hoodie he was wearing and handed it to Dani, the sweater would be warmer than his thin fall jacket. He put his jacket back on and went back to work.

Dani stared at the hoodie in her hands for a few seconds before finally pulling it on, the cold overruling any hesitation.

N*C*I*S

Jenny glanced out the kitchen window and couldn't help the small smile at the sight that greeted her in the backyard. Dani was perched on a sawhorse wearing Gibbs' red hoodie, one of her favourites on him, listening intently to whatever he was telling her while Jake played on in the background. Her mind flashed back to the days when she would sit in Gibbs' basement and listen to him discuss facts about a case or go over details of an op they were about to do while he worked on the boat. It was a different time and a different place but even after they had gotten together and she had sat in the basement and watched him work while they were on leave, wearing the same sweater Dani was, she had never once imagined that one day she would see him teaching her daughter, their children about the thing he loved most.

I hope everyone had 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