Sometimes you have to be a part from people you love. But that doesn't mean you love them any less. Sometimes it even makes you love them more.
Jethro watched his children play with their mother in the snow, through the kitchen window. Snowballs were being thrown; the buckets that had been filled were being dumped in an attempt to bombard Jenny with more snow. He watched Jackson get swept up and thrown into a pile of soft snow, pulling his mother down with him. His eight year old daughter seemed to be missing from the snow fight he realized. It had been Christina's idea to play in the snow in the first place, demanding that Jenny played with her.
The sound of the back door opening and closing alerted Jethro to his daughter's whereabouts. She began to walk into the kitchen and immediately turned around at the sight of her father. He took one quick glance at Jenny and Jackson who were getting to their feet, brushing the snow off of each other, probably getting ready to come in. With that he followed Christina into the living room, where she was sitting by the Christmas tree.
"Hey," He said quietly. "You okay?" She shook her head and brought her feet under her. "You want to tell me what's bothering you?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know what to get mommy for Christmas."
"What do you mean? You make something for her every year and she loves it."
"But Jack actually gets her a necklace every year and she likes it more. I want to get something for her like him." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. Jethro smiled and put an arm around her shoulder, pulling him into her side.
"I tell you what, you can buy her a bottle of perfume."
"What kind? Does she even where perfume?" Jethro simply nodded and pulled Christina closer to him. He traced small patterns into her arm getting her to doze off into sleep, much like he does with her mother.
"Jethro!" He heard Jenny yell from a floor below him. "Jethro, where the hell are you?" He heard her drop her bag on the floor, her shoes being kicked into a pile by the front door, and the faint thumping of her bare feet coming up the stairs. "Jeth-"
She was stopped at the site of Jethro at their bedroom door holding a wrapped box. "You called?"
"Where the hell were you this morning?" She asked, pushing herself into the room. " I wake up and you're gone. No note. No nothing. God forbid I ask Ducky, it'll just add one more person to the 'Let's worry about Jethro' fan club. Not that there should be a fan club, but since you're so damn-" She was stopped by a finger to her lips and the site of the wrapped box.
"To answer your question Queen of Ramble, I was out buying you this. And two if I left you a note, you'd come find me. Apparently it didn't matter since you came looking for me anyway."
"How did you-"
"Know?" He finished her sentence. "Besides the fact that your French shampoo gives you away, it's the smell of bourbon that follows you. No one in Paris drinks our bourbon," He said emphasizing our.
She sat at the edge of their bed, crossed legged, watching Jethro walk around the room with the box in his hands. They hadn't said anything for what seemed like forever, but a minute in silence seems longer than it should be. "You want to tell me what's in the box?"
"No." He said putting the box down in front of her. "You can open it if you want."
She looked up at him and slowly began to unwrap the present, until it was a small white box. She lifted the lid and pulled out the tiny bottle. The lid was golden with a silver inscription on the side which was the logo. She unscrewed the lid and immediately smelled lilies. "Jethro, this is perfect" She said with a smile, getting onto her knees.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him before looking back at the bottle. "So I take it you like the perfume?"
" I love the perfume Jethro, absolutely love it." She smiled yet again. "It might just be my favorite."
Jethro smiled at the memory as he watched Jenny unwrap her present from Christina. While at NCIS, Jethro was able to tell where Jenny was. As odd and creepy as that may sound, the perfume gave it away. The less amount of perfume that was lingering in the air, the longer she had been away. The more perfume the closer she was. It was a game they played.
The smell of Lilies and bourbon mixed together made Jethro's senses go wild. It had thrown him off when he smelled it on Hollis. But when she told him that she didn't wear perfume, he was slightly surprised. As he went into the Interrogation Room he smiled at the realization that Jenny was taunting and teasing him, a game that they both played well.
"Christina this is wonderful," He heard her say, being pulled out from another brief memory. Jenny looked over at Jethro who had a small smile across his face.
"Do you like it mommy?"
"Christina, I love it." She said kissing her daughters forehead."How did you know that I liked Lilies?"
"Daddy helped." She said proudly. Jenny looked over at Jethro once again who had simply shrugged and made his way out of the room.
"Well this just happens to be my favorite perfume," She said getting a smile and a giggle from her daughter.
While Christina and Jackson secluded themselves into their own worlds, Jenny took the opportunity to find Jethro, who was sitting on the back porch overlooking the freshly snow covered backyard. He heard the door open and quietly close and the perfume. He wrapped his arm around her waist as she sat on the arm of the chair.
"When did you buy it?"
"About two weeks ago," He said. "Christina wanted to buy you something like Jackson and the necklaces. She didn't think that her homemade crafts were good enough." Jenny smiled as she lowered herself onto his lap.
"How did you get it? I thought they only sold them in London."
"Well I've got contact in London and they," He took a quick look at Jenny who didn't look like he believed him. "They sell them in a little store by the coffee shop."
"It was you," She said looking down at him. "You sent them to me." He looked up at her with confusion across his face. "In the pocket of my coat when I left in Paris. And the one inside my purse the first night as Director and the one on my bedside when I got kidnapped. It was all you," Jethro barely nodded and kissed her temple before settling into the chair with his arms wrapped around Jenny.
Before they knew it, Christina and Jackson had been at their sides, watching the snow begin to fall. It was a perfect Gibbs Christmas. All revolving around Lily perfume.