Author's Note: In our last chapter, Tony DiNozzo makes the right impression and so does Senior Aide Claudia Bailey. The two take an interest in one another.

The following chapter contains:

An analysis of the great Anthony DiNozzo;

A first date for Tony and Claudia;

Suzanne continues to deny and suppress morning sickness

"Good Afternoon, Scheduling and Advance, Mrs. Gibbs speaking."

Suzanne chuckled at the caller, simply said hello. "Just one minute, I'll see if she's available..."

"Line two, Claudia."

Suzanne Gibbs placed a call on hold, transferred the incoming call to another extension.

"Claudia Bailey..."

"Hi. Tony DiNozzo calling..."

She smiled and purposedly turned her desk from the view of others.

"Thank you for the flowers."

"I'm going to work on the notes from Connie and the Press Corps." Suzanne retrieved the file from Claudia's desk.

Tony persuaded, charmed Claudia Bailey to meet him after work for cocktails. They agreed to a bar nearby her home. At 5, they met at the Grille. Claudia kept on her work clothing-dark jeans, oxford shirt and a blazer. He sat at the bar, patted the nearby barstool beside him.

"I invited the Boss and the First Lady for libations..." Tony said, drinking his beer. "But I think they're unavailable."

"You know her family's visiting." Claudia reminded. Tony snapped his fingers, forgot that Simon and Susan were among the guests.

"They're probably all at dinner. Besides, Suzanne is a light-weight drinker; drinks a margarita or two and needs a ride home."

Tony laughed. He shared with Claudia highlights from the bachelor and bachelorette party from early October. It was common knowledge Suzanne Gibbs drank on occasion, usually margaritas, Central American beers (Tona, Gallo) and maybe a glass of chardonnay.

"…and there was Suzanne! She was done after two drinks!"

"If I were still married…I'd be unavailable too!" She paused for a moment.

Claudia chuckled, pouring her beer into a cold glass. "They're still newlyweds."

Sign of class, Tony thought. She drinks beer from a glass, not hit the bottle.

Tony's brow furled slightly in interest from the last comment. Without hedging, he waited for Claudia to continue her thought.

"You're married?"

"Was..." There was a small indentation, a visible sign of where a wedding band once rested.

"My husband was killed in an IED explosion-Afghanistan about 3 years ago."

"I'm sorry, Claudia." Tony's face showed concern. "I'm really sorry to hear that."

"Thanks." She slowed down her consumption, taking small sips. "Wonderful man, dedicated to service."

The two sat and listened to the chatter, the jukebox spinning out a mixture of sounds.

"Well…you're the one who said…"

"I do want to know about you, Claudia." Tony's smile was of reassurance.

"Honestly, I'm…I'm new to this dating thing." She continued sharing. "I had a blind date several weeks ago with a professor from Hamilton—didn't work out."

"I took a break as well." Tony admitted. "I went to church, support groups…all in order to get over this 'lost love'."

"I threw myself into work with the Owens Administration, focusing my attention to both environmental and veterans affairs." She paused, reflected on her words. "It helped me through…I guess I work too much."

Claudia smiled, ordered another lite beer to drink.

Tony's initial impression of Claudia were based from her outward appearance, how she carried herself against the other 'poli-heads' on TV—well-read, statistical-quoting, linear-thinking Claudia Bailey from the White House. He detected more upon their first meeting, intriguing him to investigate.

"What do you do on weekends?"

"Get ready for political spin shows on Sundays..." She glanced around the crowded bar area, spotted several renowned journalists in the area. "A lot of wheeling and dealing goes on at this bar."

"Do you like movies?" Claudia asked. "Other than Bond films?"

"I appreciate movies."

"Well, it looks like our 'Power Couple' stood us up." Claudia glanced at her watch, just a few minutes after 6. "The evening's young…and there's a James Bond festival at the Atlas—Sean Connery and Roger Moore. Maybe we can go, watch them together tonight." She suggested, smile with a slight tilt of her head.

"Sounds like a plan."

"I used the line from 'Moonraker' in your note. Did you like it?" Tony asked.

"I got a chuckle." Claudia admitted. "Thought I was the only one who quoted obscure movie lines."

"The last time I went to a Bond festival…" Tony reminisced. "I got kicked out because I quoted the entire dialogue from heart!"

Claudia laughed.

"Détente?"

"Agreed." Claudia smiled. She recognized the 'Moonraker' theme and allowed him to indulge in his Bond attitude. He was, after all, quite charming, if anything, like the super agent.

"An understanding…" Tony assisted with putting on her coat. His hand gently brushed her shoulder. As a reflex, Claudia faced him. "An understanding I respect you as both a woman and an egghead?"

"Okay…" She chuckled. The two began to walk out.

"Trust?"

The dialogue changed to the present; he remained a stranger in Claudia's eye. They met only the evening before.

"FOH!" She smiled. Politely stated yet understood by Tony—eff out of here!

Their movie date was fun. Claudia understood as to why Tony DiNozzo was often misunderstood and mislabeled as misogynistic. A hatred for women, she concluded, was not Tony. He had manners, readily and voluntarily displayed the lessons of proper behavior. He opened doors and pulled chairs for her.

Tony DiNozzo enjoyed the company of women. From Claudia Bailey's understanding, the level of respect depended on first impressions.

"I'm sorry to admit that my initial impression of you, from the political yak shows, is completely opposite of who you are." Tony said. "But…I'm going to be completely frank with you and say you're a stunner."

Claudia smiled, realizing that she felt very comfortable around Special Agent DiNozzo. Remembering what was said during intermission—'In this town, you're either a good-looking woman with nice personality but dumb as a bag of rocks or frumpy but well-respected colleague in the political arena. There is no grey area.'—she felt confident that successfully, her essence was understood. She was not an individual who thrived on triviality or nonsense. Tony liked it.

Tony insisted on walking Claudia to her apartment, though she lived only a few blocks away. They reached her doorway.

"Thank you." Claudia smiled.

"Thank you for suggesting the movie." She offered a hand for a handshake. Instead, Tony moved closer, gently kissed her on the cheek. Immediately, he reached for both hands, held her hands.

"Can I call you?"

"You have my number." Claudia replied. "I'm not going to sit by a phone, just waiting for you to call…"

"I'm really going to call you." He whispered.

"Okay." Still, her expression was of skepticism.

"Claudia, I am going to call and ask you out for another date."

"Good night, Tony." She smiled.

Claudia walked into her house, flipped on her main light switch. From the street, you could see a silhouette. The cellphone rang. She did not immediately recognize the number but decided to answer.

"Hi, this is Special Agent DiNozzo...may I speak to Claudia, please?" Tony stood in front of her townhome, leaning on a streetlight. Claudia peeped out the window, waved and chuckled.

Suzanne and Jethro spent the weekend entertaining Susan and Simon before they left. Their first two days of their weekend were filled with various activities. Suzanne and Susan shopped for home accessories, while Simon and Gibbs enjoyed a Wizards basketball game. The two left Saturday evening on their perspective flights, meaning Sunday belonged to the couple.

"Mmm…Don't answer…" Jethro whispered. With a finger, he traced her shoulder. She wore the white chemise, the soft silky negligee with spaghetti straps.

There was a slight tremble on the nightstand. The noise was courtesy of Suzanne's charged cellphone.

"Jethro…" she whispered.

"Come on, Sugar…" He pushed a strap downward, kissing her shoulder. "Please don't answer the phone."

It was Jethro who begged. He held her gently in his arms, kissing her neck, her shoulders.

"I'd like to finish what we're starting…"

"Rule 3: Never be unreachable." Suzanne replied.

"You're…busy right now. You're unavailable…" He whispered. Jethro kissed her, climbed on top, stroking her hair. "You're tied up…" He chuckled.

"Susie…"

The vibration stopped. She enjoyed the attention, giggled and stroked his silver hair. They kissed with a mixture of short and long lip locks. Moments later, the phone trembled once again.

"It's the boss…" She reached over, glanced at the number. "I've got to answer it."

Her greeting was usually chipper. Only Suzanne answered 'Yeah, Gibbs' when annoyed.

Jethro smiled.

After a brief pause, she answered the initial question.

"It's 7:30…on a Sunday." She sat up. "We're still in bed."

"You're not at Mass?" The President asked.

"I went yesterday—5 o'clock at Holy Trinity." Suzanne reached for her glasses on the nightstand. "Jethro and I are going to his 11 o'clock service."

"Have you seen the news?"

"Nuh uh. TV's downstairs." Jethro worked his mouth to her ear, sucking gently on her earlobe. Her eyes fluttered, neck drooped and eyes closed.

"I needed you here two hours ago." His response was easy to decipher: the problem was immediate.

"It's a PR nightmare, Q. I need you and Claudia to fix it."

"I'll see what I can do from here…"

"You don't understand…" Owens chuckled. "When I say come here, I mean you get up from the bed, flip your hair out, pull it back or whatever you do, slip on your jeans and come to work!" The President suggested.

"Yes, Mr. President."

"The coffee will be waiting, so don't stop in the kitchen. Come straight to the wing. Apologize to Gunny for taking you away. See you in one hour, Mrs. Gibbs."

The line disconnected.

"Damn!" Suzanne groaned.

"Oh, come on, Suzanne…it's the Sunday I've had off in a while."

"You heard him." Suzanne rolled over, facing Jethro. "PR nightmare; he needs me in the office." She sighed heavily. "Hopefully, I won't be too long today!"

Suzanne sat at the edge of the bed, stroking Jethro's silver hair, smiling, simply admiring her husband. Jethro sighed in disappointment.

"I voted for the man, please tell him that…" Jethro rolled his eyes. "We had a good thing going on until he called..." Jethro muttered.

Suzanne suggested, kissing Jethro briefly on the lips, gazing into his eyes.

"Should I tell the President he interrupted a private sit-rep?" Her tone was very seductive.

"I'd like that."

Suzanne lovingly patted his forehead, chuckled as she left his bedside to prepare for a workday.

"Oh come on!" Suzanne groaned moments later. "I can't zip up my jeans!"

Oh, God…she thought to herself. I can't be pregnant?! What if I am pregnant?

"Finally gaining some weight, Suz?" Jethro interrupted.

"I just bought the jeans…" She was fighting the jean zipper slightly. "It's no way I gained a whole size during the European junket."

"The European measurement chart…maybe?" Gibbs suggested.

"Maybe." Suzanne sighed. "Think I can…breathe in these."

The phone chimed once again. She answered while flipping through her closet.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Take another hour. I'll keep Micro-man at bay…" Claudia chuckled.

"Tempting as it sounds…" Suzanne responded, looking at Jethro, returning to sit at the edge of their bed. He volunteered to rub lotion across Suzanne's back.

"It must be really serious for a 7:30 call. You know what this is about?"

"The idiots didn't proofread the Promo spot on Tweet. He is pissed."

"What?!" Suzanne's voice climbed an octave, an emphasis for disbelief. She quickly moved throughout the home, grabbing, searching for coordinating accessories. Jethro was making a conscientious effort to seduce his wife back into the bedroom with soft, loving caresses and kisses.

"It's been in the loop for six weeks…the whole roll was FUBAR'ed?"

Claudia paused. "Beyond recognition, and it's trending! He is beyond pissed! Look on the official site and see it for yourself…" Claudia continued.

"Oh, I believe you…"

"Suzanne, it's a mess right now! The press is having a field day… "

"So basically, we're cleaning up Jane's dirty work…?"

"I'll swing by and pick you up. You might get a promotion from this, McGibbs…" She suggested. "I'm actually with Tony."

"Sounds like you may need an extra hour…"

"We met for breakfast." Claudia chuckled. "I shared with him the answers from the latest domestic battle on the Hill. I'm scheduled live for SOX Network two hours. I'll tell you more about it. Be there in 30."

"Thanks, C." Suzanne disconnected the line.

"You and Claudia are working together?" Gibbs asked in astonishment. He recalled that weeks before, the two were not on good speaking terms. Simply put, their relationship was rough.

"Claudia and I have worked through some of our work-related issues." Suzanne shared. She carried on the conversation from the bedroom into the closet with a slightly raised voice.

"The group interview helped us all understand one another." She smiled. "Anyway…we had a really good talk, even a few margaritas after work last week. She understood I wasn't looking for the publicity, that I was the same person before and after."

"Naturally." Jethro responded.

"Also, she's enjoying DiNozzo's company." Suzanne snickered, smiled while buttoning a shirt.

"After all of this Europe stuff, I guess I need to pay more attention to style. I never know where someone will take a picture." Suzanne emerged.

As the President requested, she slipped on denim jeans and a t-shirt with "Foxy" logo on the front, detailed with a full-tailed fox. She slipped on a baby blue oxford shirt, leaving the first two buttons opened and rolling the sleeves to her elbow. Since her sudden notoriety, Suzanne paid extra attention to clothing detail. The white oxford shirt with pearls, along with a sweater, matching loafer shoes, accompanied the look.

"I might need to get on TV today…" Suzanne modeled the outfit. "How do I look?"

"Very professional and yet relaxed." Jethro touched her hair, gazed into her eyes. "You look very nice, Honey."

Jethro stroked her cheek.

"Have I mentioned how proud of you I am?"

"Thank you." Suzanne smiled, touched his hand.

"Jethro, I can make you some coffee…"

"I'll do it." Jethro kissed her briefly on her lips. "I'm awake anyway. You get to work."

"Please tell Reverend Mike the circumstances." She grabbed her purse and backpack from the closet. "I'll try to get home soon as I can."

The horn honked. Fred peeped downstairs, ran up the stairs to alert Jethro and Suzanne with three sharp barks.

Jethro followed Fred downstairs. Glancing from the window, there was Claudia's convertible in the driveway.

"That's Claudia—waking up the neighborhood." Gibbs peeped through the blind.

"Come on, Newlywed!" She yelled, leaning her head outside. "Give 'em a break!" Suzanne came down with her belongings quickly.

"What is she talking about?" Jethro asked while Suzanne quietly chuckled.

"Inside joke…" She leaned to kiss him on the lips.

"I love you, Jethro."

She opened the door, walked on the porch.

"I love you, too, Suzanne."

Ten minutes passed before Suzanne groaned, rolling the windows down to rid the air of Claudia's special brand of coffee.

"Claude, your coffee is making me sick."

"You're still sick?" She asked, her eyes concentrating on the road. "Face it: you're still in denial."

"No." Suzanne said. "Your fru-fru coffee from that boutique...it's disgusting!" Suzanne said. "it could also be you're speeding."

"Let's think about some of the early signs of pregnancy...agitation, sensitivity to certain smells, headaches, sleepiness..." Claudia rambled and added an exhaustive list of symptoms, most of them Suzanne experienced. "It's definitely not my driving."

"It could be migraines too..."

"And it could be a 9 1/2 lb, 22 inch baby growing in your stomach." Claudia stopped at the security booth, flashed her credentials along with Suzanne's and exchanged pleasantries. The officers opened the gate, where Claudia parked in the assigned space.

"Suzanne, you need to get checked out for the sake of your health." She left the engine idle momentarily, showing concern for her friend while speaking candidly-just the two, away from others. "The sooner, the better."

Suzanne sighed heavily. "Alright, you win, Claudia. I'll make an appointment with Dr. Pauley."