Seven
"Jack?" Jenny called as she climbed out of the car.
"There's my favourite daughter-in-law!" Jackson Gibbs exclaimed as the cab pulled away, "and my little Kelly Ann, have you gotten taller?"
"It's only been two weeks since I last saw you Grandpa." Kelly stated with a laugh.
"Well ya look taller, now get over here and give me a hug." He ordered with a grin.
Jenny grabbed her purse and a handful of bags out of the back seat before walking towards Jack and Kelly who were talking happily.
"How've you been Jenny?" Jack asked, "Can I grab some of those for you?"
"I've been good, and no thank you I've got them, you have your suitcase to carry." Jenny replied, "Kelly can you grab the last few bags?"
"Yes Ma'am!" Kelly replied with a mock salute.
"She's a spitfire that one." Jack commented as he watched Kelly jog over to the car.
"She's a lot like her dad." Jenny replied, "What're you doing here Jack?" She asked gently.
She knew Gibbs wouldn't be happy with his father showing up out of nowhere but she was hoping that the blowout would be minimal.
"Jake told me he had his first soccer game tomorrow and I wanted to meet my newest granddaughter, thought this would be a fun surprise."
Jenny fought to hold back a groan, she could understand that Jack thought he was doing a good thing and she hated that they would no doubt have to tell him otherwise in order to avoid another incident like this.
"Come on it's too cold to be standing outside." Kelly called as she walked past them again, "I'll grab your suitcase for you Grandpa."
"I can handle it just fine on my own." Jack replied, "you lead the way."
Jenny followed them inside and listened for any sound to indicate where Gibbs might be, she heard a door close softly upstairs before there were footsteps coming down the hall.
"Kelly why don't you take the groceries into the kitchen and make some tea for your grandfather." She suggested, hoping to get Jack and Kelly out of the way before Gibbs came downstairs.
"Sure, come on Grandpa, Ducky got a really nice Earl Grey."
Kelly and Jack were out of sight by the time Gibbs came down the stairs with Ava in his arms.
"She wouldn't sleep." He stated quietly, "how was grocery shopping?"
"It was good." Jenny replied as she slipped off her shoes and put her purse on the end table by the closet, "where are Dani and Jake?"
"They're both in bed, Jake passed out before his head hit the pillow and Dan said she was tired and went up about half an hour ago."
As much as she had wanted to talk to Dani, Jenny was a bit relieved that she was already asleep, one less thing to deal with.
"What's wrong?" Gibbs asked when he noticed the way she was avoiding making eye contact.
"You have to promise not to freak out." Jenny stated, "your father is here, he was getting out of a cab when we got home."
She closed her eyes and waited for the explosion but Gibbs only sighed and shifted Ava to his other hip.
"Why's he here?"
"He wanted meet Dani and see Jake's game tomorrow." Jenny replied, "before you ask I have no idea how long he's planning on staying."
"Bit of extra help this week might not hurt." Gibbs stated
"You're handling this really well." Jenny replied with a raised eyebrow.
"Yelling isn't going change anything, 'sides it might be good to have a bit of extra help this week."
Jenny reached out and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead and then to his cheek with a worried expression on her face.
"Who are you and what have you done with my partner?" She asked quietly.
Gibbs smirked and grabbed Jenny's hand from his cheek and gave it a quick squeeze before handing Ava over to her.
"Are you okay with him being here?" Gibbs asked, "it's your house too."
"I don't mind." Jenny replied slowly, "I just don't want any extra fighting or tension." She added.
"I'll be on my best behaviour." He promised, "now let's go and figure out how long he's staying for."
"You go ahead, I'm going to make sure the guest room is cleaned up."
"I'll need to grab clothes for work tomorrow before he goes up."
"I'll grab you something." Jenny offered, "you wear the same six things Jethro I think I can handle it." She added when he started to protest.
"Fine, just throw it in the bathroom down here." Gibbs replied, "I'll sleep on the couch."
"Or you can sleep in my room." Jenny offered quietly, "it'll be better on your back and shoulder than the couch."
"You don't mind?"
"I wouldn't have offered if I did."
"Alright." Gibbs replied, "I'll take her in to see my dad." He added, motioning to Ava.
"You go and see Grandpa with Daddy." Jenny cooed, "And then you need to go to sleep because Mommy really wants a few hours of sleep tonight."
Gibbs smirked at Jenny's baby talk and took the baby back, it was a side of her he was getting to see more and more of but he didn't find it any less entertaining.
N*C*I*S
Jenny walked into the kitchen to find Jack sitting at the table with Ava in his lap, Kelly was seated across from him and Gibbs was leaning against the counter silently watching the three.
"This is one gorgeous little girl you've got here." Jack commented.
"Yeah she's pretty great." Jenny replied as she leaned against the counter, "all of our kids are." She added, shooting Kelly a wink.
"Excuse you, I am absolutely fabulous." Kelly stated indignantly.
"You're right, I'm sorry." Jenny replied with a smirk, "you are fabulous."
She reached over and took Gibbs' cup of tea and took sip, she ignored his raised eyebrow and handed the cup back.
"There is more tea." He muttered.
"If you don't want me keeping you up all night going pee every twenty minutes I probably shouldn't have more than sip."
Jenny couldn't help but laugh at the slightly horrified look on Gibbs' face, she shifted so she was watching Kelly who was telling Jack about her latest assignment at school. She peeked back at Gibbs and smiled softly at the peaceful look on his face.
"What time do you both have to be at work tomorrow?" Jack asked after a few minutes.
"I'd like to be there for six or so." Jenny replied with a sigh.
She wasn't looking forward to going back to early mornings but she knew there was a mountain of paper work sitting on her desk.
"I don't have to be in until 0700." Gibbs added, "I'll make sure the kids are ready for school and take Ava in with me to the daycare."
"I can watch her for the day." Jack offered, "Jake's game is at three isn't it?"
"Are you sure, Jack?" Jenny asked, "she's teething right now and can be a bit of a handful."
"I'm positive, it's been awhile but I've been through it before and it'll be nice for her to be in a familiar place if she's not feeling good."
Jenny looked over at Gibbs who simply shrugged.
"Alright, thank you, Jack." Jenny said before turning to Kelly, "are you taking the car to school tomorrow?"
"If that's okay with you." Kelly replied, "I have to be there a bit early and I think Dani has to be too."
"That's fine, I'll use my driver your dad can take the truck and we'll leave the SUV for you Jack."
They had debated for awhile on buying a new vehicle but the decision to take Dani had sealed it for them, they needed the extra room so they had opted for an eight seater SUV. They had decided to keep both Jenny's car and Gibbs truck since they had both been completely paid off, after driving with both Gibbs and Jenny several times they had decided that Kelly could use the car for days when she had to be at school early and it helped to have an extra driver.
"I won't use it, I have no need for a licence in Stillwater so I haven't renewed it in awhile." Jack said, "I'll take a cab if I need to get anywhere."
"I'll come and pick ya up before the game tomorrow." Gibbs offered.
"Thanks son, now as much as I'd like to stay up and visit with you folks this old man needs his rest."
"It is getting late." Jenny agreed looking at her watch, "and it is way past her bedtime." She added, nodding at Ava.
"I'm actually going to head to bed too." Kelly said.
Jenny took Ava from Jack and accepted a kiss on the cheek from Kelly, she waited until the teen had said goodnight to everyone and left the room before saying her own goodnights and excusing herself to put the baby to bed.
N*C*I*S
It took her almost forty minutes to get the baby to sleep, after twenty minutes of rocking quietly to no avail she decided to try something else. She undid the top three buttons of her blouse and held Ava against her chest, she noticed a change in the baby right away. She let Ava run her small hands against her bare skin and ran her hand up and down the baby's back, although the baby was much calmer she still wouldn't sleep so after another ten minutes Jenny began to hum quietly before starting to sing. She was amazed when the baby almost fell asleep almost immediately.
She gently placed the baby in her crib and did up the buttons on her blouse before slipping out of the room and going into her room. Gibbs was already sitting in bed, a book open in his lap and his glasses perched on the edge of his nose.
"Been a long time since I've heard you sing." He stated quietly.
Jenny tensed and watched him nod towards the baby monitor, she had forgotten all about it being on.
"You used to sing all the time." He added.
"Things change." She whispered.
She grabbed her pj's off of the dresser and moved into her bathroom to change, when she reappeared Gibbs was in the same position.
"Still okay if I sleep in here?" He asked.
"Of course." Jenny replied, rolling her eyes, "has Jack gone to bed?"
"Yup, I checked on Dan and Jake and they're both sound asleep."
"That's good." She replied.
She climbed into bed and grabbed her glasses and a file from her bedside table, it was only 2130 and she wasn't quite ready for bed.
N*C*I*S
Gibbs smirked when he saw the file open in Jenny's lap, she had always read files or something work related before bed and had claimed it relaxed her, he had never understood it but anytime she didn't have something work related she would toss and turn for hours before finally falling asleep.
"You've got a nice voice." He stated after a few minutes.
He had always loved listening to her sing, whether it was under her breath while she worked at her desk as a probie or in the shower while they were on assignment. His favourite though was when she would sing with Dwayne and Laurel Pride when they had gone to New Orleans on a case or when she had sang for holiday's as part of a dare with Burley.
He offered her a small smile when she looked over at him with a raised eyebrow, it was rare that he complemented her and he knew it.
"That was rough." She replied quietly, "I haven't sang in close to eight years."
"Why?"
Jenny leaned her head back against the headboard and closed her eyes, after a minute Gibbs was sure she wasn't going to answer him but she sighed and ran her hand through her hair roughly before turning to him.
"I used to sing to Lillian when I was pregnant, it was just too hard after I lost her." She admitted quietly.
Gibbs saw how much it had hurt her to even admit it and he struggled to figure out what to say, he could see how much she was still hurting over the loss of their child and he understood what she was feeling. They were both too similar in the fact that they would never willingly show what they were feeling.
"Why start now?" He finally asked.
"I didn't even think about it." She replied, sounding almost surprised, "but once I started it felt right."
"It seemed to work." Gibbs commented.
"It did." Jenny whispered.
Gibbs watched her slip off her glasses and close the file in front of her before placing it on the bedside table, she reached over and turned off the lamp on her side of the bed and slid under the blankets, rolling on her side facing away from him. He closed his book, took off his glasses and turned off the lamp before laying beside her.
"You can keep reading." She mumbled, "the light doesn't bug me."
"I know, I'm ready for bed anyway." He replied.
He rolled over to face her and hesitated for a minute before resting a hand on her hip, she shifted back so her back was resting against his chest and he wrapped his arm around her waist. It was only a few minutes before both of them were sound asleep.
Hey Guys! Sorry for the delay! Writers block is killing me slowly... I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and thank you all so much for your reviews I absolutely love to hear from you! Please remember I own nothing!
~Katie
PS. I would still love to hear suggestions for one shots!