Chapter 2
"I still can't believe you're going on a date with some guy you met at the supermarket" Cynthia, Jenny's roommate and best friend told her from where she sat on Jenny's bed.
After the breakup and eventual divorce with Tony and Abby's father, she'd been left with a mortgage and a pile of bills she couldn't pay, she'd confided in her best friend and Cynthia had decided that if they put their money together they could afford to rent a three bedroom apartment, Jenny'd had to get a new job to work more and get more money to support her children.
The redhead shrugged her shoulders "Do you know how hard it is for a single mother to be asked out on a date by a decent guy?" she asked her friend. It was true most men ran the minute she told them that she had kids, but this Jethro guy, he already knew and obviously he hadn't been deterred to ask her out.
"What's his name again?" Cynthia asked her as Jenny put an earring in.
"Leroy Jethro Gibbs" Jenny told him having memorised the name from the business card he had given her.
"Weird name" Cynthia mumbled "What do you know about him?" she asked after a moment.
Jenny shrugged her shoulders "He's an NCIS agent" she told her before checking herself in the mirror, it had been a while since she'd been on a date of any sort so she was a little nervous.
"Mommmy" Six year old Abby ran into the room and straight to her mother, her dark pigtails swinging behind her and Bert the hippo tucked under her arm.
Jenny wrapped her arms around her little girl "What's wrong sweetie?" she asked crouching down to Abby's level and brushing her fringe out of her face so she could see the girls green eyes that were so similar to her own.
"Tony won't let me choose what's on TV" she told her mother.
Jenny rubbed a hand down her daughters back "But didn't you get to choose yesterday?" she asked her, Abby's only response was to nod slowly, "Then you can pick what you guys watch tomorrow" Jenny told her.
"But I don't like Magnum" she almost whined, Jenny smiled knowing Tony was becoming slightly obsessed with the program, she'd already had to buy him one Hawaiian t-shirt and she saw him eyeing the sofa bed in a catalogue she'd left open on the coffee table.
Jenny thought for a moment "Well you don't have to watch TV, you could go play with your toys or draw or dress Bert up" she said with a smile. Abby nodded and hugged Bert close to her, The redhead pressed a kiss to her daughters head.
"You look pretty mummy" Abby complemented her as she walked over to the double bed that Cynthia was still sitting on and climbed up to sit beside her.
"Do I really?" Jenny asked running a hand down her side, she wore a black knee length dress which had silk almost netted sleeves, black tights and black stilettos, her hair half up and half down in a top notch.
"Really" Cynthia assured her friend as she slipped off of the bed and Abby did the same and all three of the women walked out of Jenny's bedroom and into the open living room come kitchen diner.
As they expected Tony lay sprawled across the sofa on his stomach his eyes glued to the TV watching an old episode of Magnum PI. "Hey buddy" Jenny walked over to him and kissed him on the forehead "Are you going to be good for Cynthia?" she asked him.
"Uh huh" Tony answered without taking his eyes off of the TV screen.
Jenny smiled before walking into the kitchen where Cynthia was starting to cook their dinner with Abby and Bert's supervision, "Thanks for doing this" she told Cynthia.
The women shrugged her shoulders, they'd been best friends since school, she'd always been jealous that the redhead seemed to have it all, the man, the kids, the house, but all that had ended when a watery eyed Jenny had turned up on her doorstep with baby Abby in her arms and two year old Tony gripping her hand tightly, she'd taken them all in without a second thought.
"You know I don't mind" Cynthia shoved the redhead gently, "You need this" she told her.
Jenny nodded "Yeah, he seemed nice" she told her friend "He was so nervous…." She began but then the door buzzer rang.
"I'll get it" Abby ran to where the button was by the front door, Jenny going after her.
"Who is it?" Abby asked with her natural cheery voice.
"Uh" a deep male voice she didn't recognise came through the speaker "It's Gibbs, is your mum there?" he asked just as Jenny came up behind Abby.
"Yeah I'm here come right up" She told him before turning to Abby and pressing a kiss to her forehead before leading her back over to the sofa where she sat down waiting for the inevitable nock at the door.
Moments later there it came, Jenny flattened her dress and flicked her hair over her shoulder before going to the door, taking a deep breath before unlocking the door and opening it, a smile couldn't help but grace her lips as she looked at him, he looked much like he had when he'd approached her in the supermarket, black trousers, grey shirt, white polo shirt just visible and black jacket.
To say Gibbs was surprised was an understatement, she'd looked nothing like when he'd asked her out, before she'd looked tired, her hair had been a mess, but now she looked god dame gorgeous, the dress hugged her curves perfectly and was just revealing enough to leave room for imagination, her legs, well they seemed as though they were never going to end and he was so glad he'd been right about her eyes, the prettiest green eyes he'd ever seen.
"Hi" She smiled at him.
"You look great" Gibbs told her after she'd broken him from the spell she'd put him under.
"You don't look so bad yourself" Jenny complimented trying not to smile but something about him just made her want to smile, "I'm just going to grab my coat" she told him before walking over to the back of the arm chair and picking up the black pea coat and slipping it on, pulling her hair out of the collar sending her red locks flying.
She then walked over to where Abby and Tony sat on the sofa, "You to be good okay" she pressed a kiss to both their heads and smiled at Cynthia before walking back over to the door.
"Ready to go?" Gibbs asked her with a genuine smile.
"Yeah, lets" She smiled before letting him walk her out, shutting the door behind herself.
….
Half an hour later they were seated at a local French restaurant, that they both coincidentally liked.
"Can I get you drinks?" the waitress asked them after they'd sat down.
"Bourbon no ice" Jenny asked much to Gibbs' surprised.
"Make that two" Gibbs told the waitress who noted it down before walking away. "Bourbon" he smiled at his dinner companion.
The redhead shrugged her shoulders "I've acquired a taste of it over the years" she told him just as the waitress came back with their drinks.
"Can I take your order?" she asked them.
"Steak au pave" Gibbs informed her, the waitress nodded before looking at Jenny/
"Make that two" she told the waitress but kept her eyes on Gibbs, who smiled at her, both finding it very strange that they had such similar tastes.
"So" Gibbs began when the waitress had left with their orders "Those were your kids at the supermarket?" he asked her knowing it was probably a stupid question.
Jenny nodded "Yes Tony, he's eight and Abby she's six" she said with a smile as she thought of her children. "Do you have kids?" she asked him.
Gibbs wasn't sure how to answer, yes he'd had a daughter, but it was never something he really spoke about, it always seemed to be the thing that ended up ruining his relationships, maybe for once it would be good if he was honest from the beginning.
"Did I say something wrong?" Jenny asked noticing he'd gone a little pale and his eyes seemed to be clouded over in memories.
"Uh no" Gibbs shook his head "I had a daughter" he told her "But she along with my first wife died when I was in the marines" he added.
"Oh I'm so sorry" she gave him a weak smile and reached her hand across the table to squeeze his, telling him that it was okay.
Gibbs gave her a weak smile in return, he was surprised she hadn't pushed him more to talk about them like his other relationships had, "What happened to Tony and Abby's dad?" he asked after a moment.
"We got a divorce" Jenny admitted "Shortly after Abby turned one, he just couldn't handle it, it just wasn't the life he wanted" she explained taking a sip of her bourbon.
"He see the kids often?" Gibbs asked, hoping that at least this guy was a good dad to the kids.
"Christmas if he can be bothered" Jenny admitted "He calls on birthdays and Easter though and sends presents"
Gibbs nodded "Must be hard" he told her.
Jenny shrugged her shoulders "They keep me busy, My friend Cynthia has been a huge help" she added "You said she was your first wife, how many have you had since?" Jenny asked after a moment just as their main course was put in front of them.
Gibbs smiled at her, he was smiling, he hardly ever smiled "I've been married twice since" he admitted "Divorced twice too" he told her as they both cut into their steaks and began to eat.
"Who was the friend at the supermarket?" She asked him as she leant across and nicked a spear of asparagus that she noticed he'd pushed out of the way onto the corner of her plate, much like Tony did with his broccoli that he never ate.
"That was Fornell" Gibbs added "He's actually married to my last ex-wife" he told her making her laugh, he liked her laugh, he liked her smile, he liked her.
"Really….and your still friends with her?" she asked as she put half of her huge steak onto his plate and then he put the rest of his asparagus on her plate, it was like a fine art they'd learnt over the years not the hours they'd been on this date.
"Not her but him" Gibbs explained "Let's just say Fornell always has to come to me" he added making them both laugh this time. They both loved how they'd easily fell into conversation.
"So Special Agent Gibbs, how did you end up at NCIS?" Jenny asked after a moment.
"I thought I'd make a good cop" He uttered the same words he'd spoken to Mike Franks.
Jenny nodded "and do you?" she asked him playfully.
"I'm pretty good" he told her, being the leader of the major case response team had to mean something right? "What about you Jen, what do you do?" he asked her, not sure where calling her Jen came from but he liked it.
"I'm a politics teacher at the local high school" she told him.
Gibbs nodded "You like it?" he asked her as he took a sip of his bourbon.
Jenny shrugged her shoulders "I only took the job because I needed the money and it also allows me to be home with the kids, I don't have to pay for a baby sitter, they can stay in afterschool day-care until I pick them up"
"What did you want to do?" he asked her.
The redhead smiled "I don't know, I wanted to be some powerful women in the political circle" she explained "But a teacher does me just fine" she added at the end. "Do you like your job?" she asked him.
"Yeah, putting the bad guys behind bars, getting justice for the victims and their family's is pretty rewarding" he told her with a nod as the waitress came back to take their now empty plates.
"Can I get you coffee?" the women asked them.
"Jamaican blend" Gibbs ordered and Jenny almost laughed.
"Make that two" she replied.
"We seem to have similar taste" Gibbs eyed the redhead carefully.
"Yes it seems we do" she told him with a smile as she looked at him for a moment, he was very handsome, he had a natural roughness that she liked, but he was also very sweet and charming, it was his eyes that caught her most though, they were so expressive, they told her all the emotion she doubted his mouth or face would ever speak of, he was a mystery and she'd always liked mystery's.
"Here you go" the waitress put two coffees in front of them as well as a little box with different packs of sugar in and a small jug of cream.
Gibbs watched as Jenny put a small dash of cream and sprinkled a little bit of sugar into her coffee, where as he himself just drank it black.
An hour later after a little detour through the streets before going back to his car Gibbs walked Jenny up to her apartment "Thank you for a lovely evening" she said as she leant against her door.
"Thank you" Gibbs smiled at her , "I'll call you?" he suggested.
"I look forward to it" Jenny grinned at him before leaning forward and kissing him lightly on the cheek before unlocking her apartment door and then walking inside shutting it behind her.
Gibbs stood outside her apartment door for a moment, thinking about that stunning women, he raised his hand to the spot on his cheek where he'd just kissed her and wiped away the smudge of lipstick left there before turning around and walking down the stairs out of the apartment block with a smug smirk on his face, wait till Fornell found out that asking the next women to walk around the corner in a supermarket wasn't as a bad idea as he'd told him afterwards that it would be
Meanwhile Jenny leant against the door of the apartment and bit her lip to stop herself from squealing with excitement, it seemed her luck was about to change.
TBC…
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