Sixteen

Gibbs kept one eye out the window to the backyard as he began to cook supper, both girls were in their respective rooms doing their homework and Jake was outside kicking around a ball. He knew at least one agent from Jenny's security detail had an eye on him but he felt better knowing what he was up to. Jenny was still asleep and he wasn't planning to bother her for at least another half an hour. He heard footsteps coming down the stairs and through the living room and looked over at the entrance to the kitchen as his father appeared.

"Son." Jack greeted, giving him a small nod.

They had talked for a few minutes when he and Jenny had returned home from work but it hadn't lasted long and it had only been to explain why they were home from work.

"Jack." He replied, looking back to the cutting board in front of him.

"What're you making?" Jack asked, studying the array of pots and pans on the stove.

"Spaghetti sauce." He replied.

It was Fornell's recipe and he knew it was one of Jenny's favourites.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"No." Gibbs replied before pausing, "you can butter the garlic bread." He offered.

He knew he had valid reason to be upset with his father but he also knew that he needed to make more of an effort, for Jenny's sake and for the sake of the kids.

Jack nodded and made his way over to the counter, he sat on one of the barstools at the island and pulled the bread and garlic butter over to him.

"About last night, Son."

"We don't have to do this." Gibbs stated with a sigh.

"Yes we do." Jack replied, "I wasn't thinking, I just wanted Joann and Mac to know their grandkids I didn't think about how it would affect everyone else."

"No." Gibbs agreed, "you didn't."

"I should've."

"Yeah." Gibbs agreed again, "look… I get what you were tryin' to do but you have to let Jen and I make the decisions about what we do with our kids and how we do it."

After sleeping on it he really did understand what Jack was trying to do, a part of him was even grateful that he had been the one to reach out to Joann and Mac so that he didn't have to but the other part of him, the bigger part, was still pissed about the entire thing.

"Jenny was pretty upset." Jack stated, "she barely said a word to me today."

"It's been a long couple of weeks." Gibbs replied.

He wasn't going to absolve Jack of his guilt but he also didn't want his father to think Jenny's mood had everything to do with him.

"A teething baby, a full time job, three kids, moving and selling her house, she's a superhero." Jack stated.

"Yeah, she is." Gibbs replied, a hint of pride in his voice. "Just give'r some time, she'll come back around."

"And if she doesn't?" Jack asked.

"She will." Gibbs promised, "you just gotta back off a bit, Jack."

"I'm not trying to take over, just wanna be here for my grandkids. Wanna help you guys out, I know how hard it is having one kid, I can't imagine what it's like having four."

"We appreciate the help but we've got a system that works for us." Gibbs reminded him, "Look, I get that you wanna see the kids and that's fine, come and visit but from now on call and when you do come you be the grandparent and we'll be the parents."

"Alright." Jack conceded, "thanks for not kicking me out."

"I told you, don't give me a reason and we'll be fine." He replied, not quite willing to say 'you're welcome.'

They worked in silence for a few minutes, the only sound the occasional coo or giggle from Ava who was playing in her bouncy chair, a cloth book in one hand and a teething toy in the other.

"Where's Jenny?" Jack asked, glancing up at the clock.

"Napping." He replied, "I'm gonna go up and check on her, can you keep an eye on them?" He asked, nodding to Ava and then out to where Jake was still playing.

"You betchya."

Gibbs made his way upstairs and quietly opened the door to Jenny's bedroom, she was still curled around his pillow, her hair had worked loose of the bun it had been in and was spilled around her shoulders. He smiled softly at the sight and stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him he quietly made his way over to the bed and sat on the edge. He reached out and lightly ran a hand over her back before tracing it up and down her arm until she began to stir.

"Hey there." He whispered when her eyelids fluttered open.

"Hey." She muttered, turning her face into the pillow, "what time is it?"

"Just about 1700." He replied, pushing her hair back off her face.

"Shit." She exclaimed pushing herself up.

"Hey, relax, I've got everything under control." He replied, smirking as she dropped back onto the bed, "girls are doing their homework, Jake is outside and Ava is watching Jack work on supper."

"Why's Jack making supper." Jenny questioned tiredly.

"He was helping me out." Gibbs replied, "We had a chat."

He tensed in surprise when her hand landed on his thigh but he quickly relaxed as she started to absentmindedly move her thumb back and forth.

"Good chat or bad chat?" She asked, her voice still groggy.

"Good, told him that we appreciate the help but that he needs to let us make decisions."

"Thank you." She whispered in relief.

She knew it was a talk that they needed to have with Jack but she was grateful that Gibbs had done it without her having to ask him to or worse that she would have had to do it alone.

"Welcome." He replied, "how'd you sleep?"

"A little too good apparently." She smirked, "I'm going to go wash my face, I'll be down in a few minutes, okay?"

He nodded and leaned down to drop a kiss on her forehead before standing up and letting himself out of the bedroom.

N*C*I*S

Dinner started out as a relatively calm affair, with Jake monopolizing the conversation as he told everyone about his day. Jenny listened intently as she took bites of her pasta in between feeding Ava bites of her baby food.

"I have a genealogy project, I'm probably going to need some help with it." Dani stated when there was finally a lull in Jake's chatter.

"What's genea-geaneaolgy?" Jake asked, struggling with the big word.

"Like a family tree." Kelly explained, "remember the one I helped you with last year?"

"Oh yeah!" Jake exclaimed, "those are so cool."

"I just need helps with names." Dani said, looking over at Jenny.

"Well there's Mommy and Daddy, you, me, Kelly, Ava, Lilly and of course Grandpa and Papa." Jake replied as if it was the most simple thing in the world.

Jenny stopped her forkful of spaghetti midway to her mouth at the mention of Lillian, out of the corner of her eye she could see Gibbs had the same reaction and Kelly was watching Jack and Dani carefully.

"Lily?" Jack asked, looking at his grandson.

"Yeah, our baby sister." Jack explained, "Mommy and Daddy had her before they brought us home but she was too small so she went to Heaven with Aunty Shannon and Mommy's Daddy."

Jenny looked up at the ceiling closed her eyes and took a deep breath as Dani's chair scrapped across the floor.

"You have got to be freaking kidding me." She muttered, tossing her napkin on the table.

She pursed her lips and cringed as she heard footsteps going up the stairs followed by Dani's bedroom door slamming.

"Son?" Jack asked, his voice hurt.

Jenny ran her hands over her face and pushed her own chair back.

"I need a drink." She muttered making a beeline to the kitchen.

She either needed a drink or she was going to throw up, she wasn't sure which yet. She hadn't found the right time to tell Dani about Lilly, she knew it would upset and hurt Dani to know about it and had used that as an excuse not to have the difficult conversation. Obviously that had been a mistake.

In the dining room Gibbs ran his hand over his face and debated following Jenny, he felt a light tap against his shin and looked over to Kelly who nodded her head towards Jake. Gibbs felt his heart fall when he saw the big tears swimming in his son's eyes, they hadn't spilled over yet but they were getting close.

"Hey, what's wrong buddy?" He asked gently.

"I made Dani and Mommy mad." Jack whispered, a tear spilling down his cheek.

"No." Gibbs replied, gently but firmly as he used his thumb to wipe away the tear. "You didn't do anything wrong, Mom is just sad today, you know how sometimes you just feel sad?"

"Yeah…" Jake replied his voice wavering, "but Mommy was okay until I talked about Lilly."

"Sometimes Mommy gets sad when she thinks about Lilly because she misses her." Gibbs explained, "you didn't do anything wrong, 'kay?"

"Okay." Jake agreed quietly.

"Finish your supper." He instructed gently.

He looked up when Jenny reappeared in the room, she paused for a moment and nodded towards the ceiling to let him know what she was doing and he nodded in reply. He wanted to offer to go with her but he knew that the conversation needed to be between Jenny and her daughter, he had no place there.

N*C*I*S

Jenny leaned her forehead against the wall and tried to stomach up some sort of strength, she wasn't one to pray but in that moment she was willing to try anything. She desperately wanted to turn away from Dani's room go down the hallway and lock herself in her office and drink an entire bottle of bourbon but she knew it wasn't an option. She had known this conversation was coming but despite everything she had faced in her life this scared her more than anything, having a gun held to her head had nothing on the fourteen year old on the other side of the closed door.

She took a deep breath and tapped on the door.

"Go away."

"Dani." She begged quietly, "We need to talk, baby."

She stepped back in surprise when the door was ripped open.

"Don't you dare baby me." She hissed, "you haven't earned that, you don't deserve that."

She bit her lip and raised her eyes with a nod, Dani wasn't wrong she had every right to be mad and Jenny knew that.

"You're right." She replied, "you're right, I haven't earned it."

"You abandoned me." Dani stated, her voice breaking, "you abandoned me and then you went ahead and started a family and you never bothered to look for me, you never bothered to make sure I was okay."

Jenny couldn't stop the quiver in her lip as she watched the tears streaming down her daughters face, her wide green eyes flashing with anger and drowning in sorrow at the same time.

"Just answer me one thing." Dani demanded, "Were you going to keep her?"

Jenny closed her eyes and nodded.

"Get the hell out." Dani whispered, stepping back into her room.

And we're back with the angst… Yeah I know I'm awful but please know I was crying just as hard writing this as I know Isla will be reading it (I know you too well at this point LOL)… I know Dani looks bad in the end of this chapter but just put yourself in her shoes and imagine how hurt and confused you would be… (I really had to put myself in her shoes because I kind of hated her after her questioning Jenny and I created her, so I get it!) I'm going to try to update again soon! I own nothing but love to hear from you guys!

~Katie