Happy Halloween! I know I said I was going to update every weekend but I've been cramming for my first round of college exams and I've been battling the cold from hell. So I apologize for this chapter's lateness. Thanks for all your reviews, story favorites and follows. I really appreciate it!
The beginning of the chapter takes place right after the last one, but it is the middle of night.
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
It was 4am and the two permanent residents of the Gibbs house were both awake. Gibbs was propped up against the head board with pillows stuffed behind him. Jenny was curled up around him, a thick, fuzzy white blanket was wrapped tightly around her. Since they had gotten home Jenny had been going between freezing and sweating. To make matters worse she had spent the past 2 hours throwing up everything she had eaten in the last day. She was exhausted and sick and all she wanted to do was sleep, but she couldn't seem to.
"Jen, go to sleep." Gibbs murmured sleepily
"I can't." Jenny whined pitifully
Gibbs started running his hand gently through her red curls. He felt rather helpless. He wanted to make his wife feel better, but the only comfort he could give her was someone to cuddle with.
"Kate's getting married."
"I know sweetheart, I was there." Gibbs said softly
"Our baby's getting married, Jethro. She's going to realize that working with us and being so close to us isn't what she wants with her life. She and Tony are going to move away, have babies of their own and we are never going to see them again." Jenny cried, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Gibbs was so surprised by the change in Jenny's mood; he wasn't quite sure what to do. He just pulled her closer and let her cry. He knew she was exhausted and it had been an emotionally trying few days. Barely three minutes later he was about to break the silence, but when he looked down he saw that Jenny was fast asleep. Gibbs pressed a loving kiss to his wife's head and pulled her tightly to him and closed his eyes.
Gibbs was sitting at the kitchen table with a large cup of coffee the next morning. He could never sleep in no matter how little sleep he had under his belt. He ran a hand over his face; he was exhausted. He hadn't recovered from the all-nighter on the Chimera and he had spent the night before comforting his wife. He was really worried about her. She hadn't been this sick in a long time and he had a feeling that it had to do with the way she was running herself into the ground at work. He was just about to take another sip of coffee when the front door banged open and Tony and Kate came through the door squabbling with one another.
Gibbs set his coffee mug down and marched into the foyer, "Hey! Keep it down! Your mom was up all night. If you're going to argue go into the kitchen."
Gibbs sunk back into his chair at the table, Kate and Tony joining him with their own cups of fresh coffee.
"What's wrong with Jenny?" Tony asked after taking a few sips of his coffee.
"She's got a fever thing and she spent most of the night throwing up."
"Poor mom." Kate looked up from her coffee and met Tony's gaze, "Don't you even start with me, Anthony."
"Katie….." Tony whined
"No, Tony."
"But Katie-"'
Kate picked up her stirring spoon and pointed it threateningly at her fiancé, "If those Play Boy magazines aren't out of your apartment by tomorrow I will not be staying there until they are gone."
"But Kate, they're classics."
"Tony, they are just magazines. But if you value paper over me, your hot fiancé, then that's your decision. You know how good I am at holding out." Kate smirked
Gibbs cleared his throat and set his cup on the table with more force than necessary, "These conversations need to happen when I'm not in the room or better yet not in the house. I'm going to check on Jen."
Gibbs quietly opened the door to the master bedroom and slowly approached the bed. Jenny was curled up on her side with the blankets pulled up to her chin and his pillow hugged tightly to her. He brushed some of her red curls away from her face and laid a hand on her forehead. He sighed in relief when his hand was met with cool skin.
Jenny was in the state between wake and sleep when she heard her husband quietly wander into the room. She lazily popped her eyes open and found him kneeling in front of her.
"You feeling any better, sweetheart?" Gibbs asked softly
Jenny pulled the blankets tighter around her before answering, "My throat still feels like sandpaper, but my head no longer feels like it's going to explode."
"Do you feel up to eating anything?"
Jenny shrugged her shoulders and sat up, "I don't feel nauseas, but I really don't want to throw up any more."
Gibbs helped her into a warm sweatshirt and pulled her out of bed and into his arms, "Just try a cup of tea and some dry toast and we will see how it goes."
"I love you, Jethro. Thank you for taking care of me. I'm sure you didn't want to spend your first night home from the case sitting in the bathroom holding my hair."
Gibbs pulled her closer and rubbed her back, "I love you, too. It's my job to take care of you. If I remember right there was something about sickness and health in those marriage vows, but I could be wrong."
Jenny shoved her husband teasingly, "Don't ruin the moment, Jethro."
Once in the kitchen, Gibbs pulled out a chair for Jenny and started making her tea and toast. She smiled to herself, her grumpy marine could be an adorable softy when he wanted to. Jenny looked between her daughter and her fiancé, watching them glare at each other.
"How are you guys this morning?"
Kate sent one final glare in Tony's direction before addressing her mom, "Tony won't get rid of his Playboy magazines, because he claims that they are classics."
Jenny snorted and glanced towards her husband, "When I was helping your father move out of your grandfather's house I found his stash of Playboys. I built a fire in the backyard and burned all of them."
"Ouch, Boss. Weren't you pissed?" Tony asked
Gibbs shrugged, placed a mug and plate in front of his wife, and sat next to her. "I got something way better than pictures out of it, so there was no reason to be mad." Gibbs said before turning to Jenny. "Make sure you eat all of that toast or you can't leave this kitchen."
Jenny sent a glare in her husband's general direction, "Jethro, don't start with me. Kate, not that I don't love to see you, but why are you here?"
"Oh, right. SecNav wants all of us in the director's office at 3PM. I told him that Jenny was sick, but he insisted and said it would only take an hour." Tony informed.
In the end, the meeting with the SecNav was short and sweet. He personally apologized for the ridiculousness of how the Chimera case was handled. He also informed them that Commander Skinner was being stripped of his title and was essentially demoted to a paper pusher till he retired from the Navy.
Team Gibbs, including the Director, were back at the office and knee deep in work by Wednesday. The MCRT was working a joint case with the Army CID and Gibbs was not having any of it. He wanted to send Colonel Hollis Mann back to the army base and never hear from her again. She didn't understand that the case was his and she was working under his authority. She also was completely oblivious to the wedding ring on his finger. He was tired of her incessant flirting. He knew she was obvious about it because even Jenny was starting to notice and she only saw them together when she walked across the catwalk.
But Gibbs had bigger fish to fry than Hollis Mann. His main concern was Jenny. Although her fever had gone away and her sore throat had disappeared yesterday, she was still being picky about her foods and was throwing up randomly throughout the day.
After a long day of dead ends, Jenny and Gibbs were eating at a local Italian restaurant before they headed home. He had watched Jenny twirl pasta around her fork and eat a bite occasionally throughout the entire meal.
"Jen, are you feeling okay?"
She looked up from her bowl more than a little startled, "Yeah, I'm just not very hungry."
Gibbs took her hand in his, "I think you should go to the doctor and get checked over. Do you think you could be pregnant?"
Jenny vehemently shook her head, "I don't want to get my hopes up again, Jethro."
Gibbs sighed, "You're sick either way, Jen. We will deal with the outcome when we cross that bridge."
2 days later Gibbs was impatiently sitting at his desk, his attention focused on the elevator. Jenny was supposed to be back from her appointment at any time and he was hoping it was good news. Not only did he want another baby, he knew how much it meant to Jenny. The bullpen, for the most part, was empty with exception of Hollis. He had sent Tony, Ziva and McGee to pick up their killer and book him. Kate had the day off and Hollis had decided to stay back and keep him company. She kept trying to engage him in conversation, but the elevator was holding his attention. Gibbs hoped that Hollis got the picture when Jenny came in.
"Jethro would you…" Hollis trailed off at the glare that was being sent her way. She cleared her throat awkwardly and began again, "Gibbs would you…" Hollis was cut off again, but this time by the ding of the elevator.
Gibbs used all of self-control to keep himself seated in his desk chair when he saw the familiar red curls getting off the elevator. He knew he had to wait till Jenny came to him. Jenny stepped into the entrance of the bullpen and stopped. As soon as Gibbs saw the tears in her eyes, he walked across the bullpen in barely two steps. He was about to gather her up in his arms when the most luminous smile broke out on Jenny's face, ultimately freezing him in his place.
"Did it? Are you?" Gibbs asked stumbling over his words, not wanting to ask the wrong question.
Jenny rested a hand over his mouth and looked him in the eye, "I'm pregnant, Jethro. Almost 2 and a half months." When she was done speaking she removed her hand.
"Mexico." He whispered, a matching smile blooming on his face.
"It would seem so."
Gibbs grabbed Jenny and kissed her fiercely before gathering her in his arms. Jenny hugged him tightly, tears of relief and joy making their way down her cheeks. When the doctor had come back in the room with her blood test and told her she was pregnant, she had never been so happy in her life. Jenny pulled a small black and white photo out of her coat pocket and handed it to Gibbs.
He reverently traced the outline of the baby, "She's beautiful."
Jenny raised an eyebrow, "She? Jethro, I don't even think the baby knows what it's going to be yet."
"Trust me Jen, it's going to be another little girl who's as beautiful as her mother and sister. The gut is never wrong."
Jenny rolled her eyes and was about to pull away when Gibbs picked her up and spun her around. Jenny let out a muffled squeal of surprise. "Jethro, what has gotten into you?"
"My wife just told me she's having my baby, my daughter is getting married to a guy I actually approve of –for the most part- the case is wrapped up and the weekend is ours to do whatever we want to." Gibbs said before pulling Jenny into another searing kiss.
The two broke apart at the sound of someone clearing their throat. Jenny pushed away from Gibbs, straightened her skirt and addressed Hollis who was leaning against McGee's desk, her arms crossed across her chest.
"Colonel Mann, I wasn't aware you still here. I thought you would be headed back to base." Jenny said, trying to not sound snippy.
"I just wanted to make sure that the suspect was brought in and charged before I left." Hollis said, jealousy clouding her blue eyes.
Jenny looked skeptical for a second, but turned her attention back to Jethro. "I'm going to go talk to Ducky. Meet in my office in 15 minutes?"
"If you're not there, I will not hesitate to drag you out of here."
Jenny smirked and patted her husband's cheek, "You keep telling yourself that, Jethro." Jenny winked over her shoulder and added a little swing to her hips as she walked toward the back elevator. As he watched his wife saunter away he didn't even try to stop the goofy grin from taking over.
TBC