Six
Warmth was the first thing she noticed, the next thing she noticed was the hand on her stomach and the firm chest against her back, she sighed happily and burrowed deeper under the covers. It had been a long time since she had woken up feeling that content and safe, she knew that in about ten minutes the anxiety would settle back in and she would be forced to face the real world but for the remainder of the time before her alarm she was happy to enjoy the comforting silence.
"Morning." Gibbs muttered against the top of her head.
"Good morning." She whispered.
"Do you want me to go?" Gibbs asked after a minute of silence.
Jenny shifted and placed her hand on top of his and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Not yet." She replied sleepily, "another ten minutes before the alarm."
She could feel Gibbs smirking against her hair and closed her eyes again, she opened them slightly when she heard the door squeak.
"Mommy?" Jake whispered, sticking his head through the crack, "can I come lay for a bit."
"Come on in, baby." She whispered, lifting the blanket up so Jake could crawl under, "did you have a bad dream?"
"No." He replied sleepily as he curled closer to Jenny.
"Just wanted cuddles?" Jenny asked with a small grin.
"Yeah." Jake said through a yawn, "hi Daddy."
"Hey bud." Gibbs whispered, running his hand over Jake's hair.
"Why're you in here? Did you have a bad dream?" Jake asked looking at Gibbs sleepily.
"No." Gibbs replied slowly, "I just wanted cuddles too." He added, grinning when Jenny gave his forearm a gentle squeeze.
"Okay." Jake whispered, "Mommy gives good cuddles."
Jenny smirked when she felt and heard Gibbs let out a small chuckle behind her, she gently pinched his hand in retaliation and reached out to shut off her alarm before it sounded and woke Jake up even more. She was hoping that he would fall back asleep for at least another hour and if she skipped her second cup of coffee she could probably stay in bed for an extra five minutes.
"Kelly must be up." Gibbs muttered as the scent of coffee reached his nose, "I smell coffee."
"It's freaky that you can do that." Jenny replied with a small laugh.
She couldn't smell coffee at all but she was sure that there was some if Gibbs was smelling it.
"She's up early." Jenny commented, glancing at the clock, "even for her."
"It's already 0515, she probably just woke up."
"Go ahead and grab a coffee if you want, I'm going to hop in the shower in a minute anyway."
She could feel Gibbs hesitating for a second, she knew he was enjoying the peace and quiet with her and Jake but also knew that he wouldn't mind spending a bit of extra time with Kelly.
"We'll be late for work if we just lay here forever." She added gently, "besides I'm sure Kel wouldn't mind some time with you."
"Alright." Gibbs agreed a bit reluctantly.
Jenny watched him roll out of bed and pull on his sweatpants, she smiled when he came back around to her side of the bed and dropped a light kiss on the top of Jake's head before leaving the room. She stayed in bed for another minute just to be sure that Jake was asleep before she too left the bed.
N*C*I*S
Gibbs walked into the kitchen fully expecting to find Kelly sitting at the table, reading the paper and drinking a coffee as she normally did in the morning. He was surprised however to see Dani sitting at the island, a cup of coffee in one hand and a book open in front of her, large black framed glasses perched on the end of her nose. She looked up guiltily when she saw Gibbs walk into the kitchen.
"I wasn't trying to snoop, I just couldn't sleep and needed coffee, Kelly showed me where everything was last night." She quickly apologized.
"Don't apologize, it's your home too, if it's in the kitchen it's fair game." Gibbs said holding up his hand, "as long as you made enough to share." He added with a small smirk.
Dani grinned and pointed at the full coffee pot, "it's all ready to go, I hope it's not too strong."
Gibbs poured himself a cup and took a sip before nodding approvingly, the teen would make any marine proud with her coffee making skills.
"It's good." He stated as he opened the paper he had grabbed from the front porch, he pulled out the sports section and left the rest of the paper on the counter.
There was a good natured fight nearly every morning over the political section of the paper, Kelly and Jenny both liked to read it while they drank their coffee and neither one of them wanted to concede and read it online, whoever was up first got politics and the other took the National section and then they switched if there was time.
"What're you reading?"
"The Boy in the Stripped Pyjama's." Dani replied, closing the book.
"That's… Up-lifting." He finished with a raised eyebrow.
"It was one of the ones Kelly and my- Jenny, left in my room." Dani replied, pausing slightly when she'd had to refer to Jenny.
Gibbs nodded, took a sip of his coffee, and unfolded the paper as Dani went back to her book, they read in comfortable silence for ten minutes before Kelly wandered into the kitchen, she made a beeline for the coffee pot and poured herself a cup.
"Good morning Daddy." She muttered, placing a kiss on Gibbs' cheek before taking a seat between him and Dani at the island.
"Morning, Kel." Gibbs replied as he slid the political section over to her, "you're lucky your mom hasn't made it down yet."
"Thanks." She muttered through a yawn, "Morning Dani."
"Good morning." Dani replied with a small grin.
"'S good coffee." Kelly mumbled.
Gibbs smirked and shook his head, Kelly was a morning person but it took her at least twenty minutes and one cup of coffee to actually function properly.
N*C*I*S
"Welcome back Director Shepard." Cynthia greeted when Jenny stepped out of her office.
"It's good to be back Cynthia." Jenny replied, offering the younger woman a smile, "although I'm not technically back until tomorrow."
Her meeting with SecNav had gone well, they had come to the agreement that Leon Vance would be officially promoted to Deputy Director, with that promotion he would be responsible for any major decisions regarding the MCRT so that Jenny could never be accused of favouritism. He would be moving to DC permanently to aid Jenny with anything else she may need in the office.
"I know you're not technically back yet but I was looking at your schedule and saw that you have your fire arms evaluation next week." Cynthia said, "I just thought you'd want to know so that you could practice."
"Special Agent Gibbs and his teams have their evals next week too, I'm going to the range with them after lunch." Jenny replied, "thank you for the reminder though."
"You're welcome Ma'am, I'll email you your schedule for the rest of the week." Cynthia offered, "I have it split up between you and Deputy Director Vance so it's fairly light but Vance will be out of town next week to help his wife pack up their house in LA."
"That's fine." Jenny replied with a small smile, "I'm pretty used to doing it on my own."
"Of course Ma'am." Cynthia agreed with a nod.
"Why don't you take a long lunch today, you deserve a break." Jenny suggested.
"Are you leaving for lunch Ma'am? I can call your security detail for you."
"No thank you, I'm going to be staying here."
Cynthia nodded and grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair, Jenny returned to her office as the younger woman took off for a well deserved break. She settled into her desk and opened the file in front of her, Leon had done well with keeping up with paperwork but he had offered Jenny the files to the biggest cases that had been worked in her absence so she could catch up. She was a page away from finishing the report in front of her when her office door opened and shut.
"Special Agent Gibbs, the door is there for a reason." She stated firmly, not looking up from the file.
"The door wasn't all the way closed."
Jenny looked up in surprise when it wasn't Gibbs who was standing in front of her desk but rather Stan Burley.
"I think I see you less now that you actually work in the building." Jenny stated with a small smile, "are you avoiding me?"
She had seen Stan exactly twice in the time following Gibbs' return from the hospital, he had come by the house once to drop something off and she had seen him the day he had come to pick up the keys to Gibbs' house.
"Not you." Stan replied with a shrug, "thought you might like some lunch." He added, holding up a white bag.
"I could use a break." Jenny said.
She closed the file in front of her and slid it into her drawer, rolling her eyes at the tooth pick wrappers in her drawer.
"Conference table or couch?" She asked as she walked around her desk.
"Couch." Stan replied, placing the take out bags on the coffee table, "it's Chinese, I hope that's okay."
"It smells great." Jenny stated.
She sat down on the couch and kicked off her shoes before grabbing the container Stan was passing her. She took a bite and smiled, realizing exactly how hungry she had been.
"So how're things at home?" Stan asked as he took a bite of his shrimp lo main.
"Good, the kids are doing really well." She replied proudly, "you missed dinner yesterday."
"Yeah, sorry about that, I had a thing."
"A thing?" Jenny asked with a raised eyebrow.
She watched Stan shrug and go back to his food without looking at her, she could tell something was bothering him but didn't know how to bring it up or if she even should.
"Is everything okay?" She asked after a few minutes of slightly strained silence.
Stan looked up at her and opened his mouth to respond but quickly shut it when the door opened and Gibbs came walking in.
"Just coming to see if you were ready to go." He stated, looking between Stan and Jenny.
"I just have to change into my boots." Jenny replied, nodding at the heels by her feet, "are you coming with us Stan?"
"Yeah, I gotta go grab my stuff." Stan replied, putting all of their garbage back into the bag before slipping out of the room.
"Can I borrow your extra cap, Jethro?" Jenny asked as she pulled balled up socks, her field boots and her windbreaker out of her cabinet.
"Where's yours?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"At home in my office." Jenny replied, "I was going to grab it this morning but I got distracted checking your son's homework."
"Why's he mine when he's distracting you or doing something bad?"
"Because he learned it from you." Jenny stated as she pulled on her socks and boots, "so may I?" She asked again, pulling her hair back into a pony tail.
"Yeah, it's in my desk." Gibbs responded, "did you know that Dani's reading the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas?"
"No, it was one of the books I gave her though." Jenny replied with a shrug, "why?"
"Just surprised me, seems a bit dark for her age."
"The world is a dark place, Jethro, our kids know that better than anyone."
"I know." Gibbs replied quietly, "just don't want anymore darkness for them than there already is."
Jenny sighed and nodded, she understood what he was saying and completely agreed with him. She could tell by the pained look on his face that he was beating himself up for how hard the kids had had it. She stepped closer to him and gave his arm a gentle squeeze.
"It is not your fault Jethro, what happened to Kelly wasn't your fault."
He placed his free hand on her hip and nodded, deep down he knew there was nothing he could have done but he couldn't push away the feeling of guilt that plagued him every time he thought of his daughter.
"You ready to go?" He asked quietly, "there gonna wonder what we're doing up here."
"They're going to think we're doing something inappropriate." Jenny replied with a laugh.
She grabbed her gun out of her desk and holstered it at the small of her back before following Gibbs down to the bullpen, greeting people as they walked. She stood beside Gibbs' desk while he grabbed his gun and caught the cap he tossed her way.
N*C*I*S
Gibbs grinned as Jenny pulled her ponytail through the back of her cap, he was having flashbacks of her first days at NCIS, the way she was standing there in black pants her NCIS windbreaker and black baseball cap reminded him of a much younger version of herself.
"Look at you Red!" Stan exclaimed with a whistle.
Jenny's green eyes flashed as she winked at him before remembering where she was, luckily only a few agents had noticed the commotion and were looking over at them with raised eyebrows.
"We should send a picture to Deck." Stan stated, pulling out his phone, "who knows when we'll get you in uniform again."
"I can take the picture so you can all be in it." McGee offered.
Gibbs shook his head but moved to stand beside Jenny on one side while Stan stood on the other.
"Come on you guys." Tony goaded, "give it some feeling."
Gibbs rolled his eyes but wrapped his arm around Jenny's waist while Stan draped his over Jenny's shoulder.
"Better?" Jenny asked, looking at Tony with a raised eyebrow.
"Much." He replied with a grin, "you look like you actually know each other now."
"I wasn't aware we were having a photoshoot in the bullpen." A voice deadpanned.
Gibbs turned to look at Leon Vance leaning against the stair railing, he was watching the group with a raised eyebrow and Gibbs could have sworn he saw a hint of a grin.
"Just documenting the reunion of NCIS' dream team sir." Stan replied seriously, "it's a rare opportunity to see the Director in her uniform, we thought it was important to mark the occasion."
"And why are you in uniform?" Vance asked, "Agent Gibbs' team is off call for today and you are not technically back until tomorrow Director."
"We all have our firearm exams next week, we're going down to practice." Jenny explained.
"Care to join us?" Tony asked.
Gibbs shook his head at the cocky tone of voice his Senior Field Agent used, he watched Vance raise an eyebrow as he saw the question for what it was, a challenge.
"Actually, I think I will." Vance replied, rising to the challenge, "I have to grab my stuff but I'll meet you down there."
Gibbs waited until Vance was out of sight before delivering a sharp smack to the back of Tony's head.
"Sorry boss." Tony muttered, rubbing the back of his head.
N*C*I*S
Jenny pushed the cart into the next aisle and smiled as she listened to Kelly as she talked about her day, Jenny had needed to do groceries after supper and Kelly had offered to help while Gibbs stayed home with Dani and the younger kids.
"And we got our Biology tests back, I got a ninty-seven!"
"That's great baby!" Jenny exclaimed, "have you told your father yet?"
"I told him before supper." Kelly replied, "speaking of supper was it just me or was Dani a bit quiet?"
"I noticed it too." Jenny replied with a sigh.
Although Dani wasn't normally talkative she had been almost completely silent during dinner and she had only had one word answers when Jenny asked about her first day at school.
"I'll talk to her when we get home." Jenny added, "if she hasn't gone to bed yet."
"Speaking of going to bed…"
"You're just the master of segues tonight aren't you?" Jenny stated as she studied the shelf in front of her.
"A little birdie told me that Daddy slept in your room last night."
"A little birdie meaning your brother?" Jenny asked.
"Maybe…" Kelly replied guiltily.
"So yes." Jenny replied rolling her eyes, "just to be very clear he was only sleeping."
"Thank you for the clarification however I never, ever, want to know what you and Daddy do in your free time." Kelly stated with a shudder, "I just want you both to be happy."
"We are happy, Kel." Jenny replied, pausing in the middle of the aisle, "What makes you think we're not?"
"I know you're happy... I just don't want either of you to be lonely."
"Kelly there's no chance to be lonely in our house." Jenny replied with a small laugh.
"It's a different kind of lonely."
"I don't want to know how you know that but I also don't want you to worry about your father or I, we're happy with things just the way they are." Jenny reassured her.
N*C*I*S
Jenny pulled into the driveway and her hand fell to her hip when she saw the cab idling in front of the house.
"What the hell." She muttered.
She looked over at Kelly who raised an eyebrow and shrugged, she had no idea who would be showing up after eight-thirty at night.
"Are you and Daddy expecting someone?"
"No..." Jenny replied slowly, "Are you expecting someone?"
"Nope."
Jenny watched as the passenger door to the cab opened and she had to fight back the groan when she saw who stepped out.
"Is that Grandpa Jack?" Kelly asked, squinting at the cap.
"Yup." Jenny replied with a sigh.
Gibbs was going to lose his mind.
And now we get into the good stuff... Thank you all so much for your reviews I love love love to hear from all of you and a huge shout out to Esquinzo who has been my sounding board for this story! I just want to remind you guys again that I am accepting prompts for a one shot collection and would love to hear what you guys want to read! Hope everyone had a very happy and safe halloween, have a great weekend! (I own nothing)
~Katie