Gibbs caught a whiff of something coming from upstairs and took a deep breath. Mmm...cookies! That was a surprise. Jenny didn't do the domesticated kitchen stuff too often. He decided to go see how she was doing. And a couple of cookies as a reward certainly couldn't hurt. He entered the kitchen to find her half-in and half-out of the refrigerator. He frowned.

"Jen, what are you doing?"

Jenny stood up quickly. "Oh Jethro. Nothing, just giving the fridge a quick wipe-down. Have a cookies."

Gibbs followed his wife with his eyes as she closed the fridge and rinsed out the cloth. She was practically stammering. What was she trying to hide? She was back to the N in 'fine'. Nervous, but why?

He grinned. "Dessert first Jen?"

Jenny almost blushed. "I do recall someone complaining about dessert, a long time ago. How it always came at the end of the meal when you were too full to eat it? So once in awhile, dessert first is probably okay."

Gibbs mind drifted back, remembering that night in Paris. Yes, he had been complaining about dessert, but it wasn't the food kind he'd been talking about and he had a feeling she knew that. Still, it was too soon to be teasing about anything like that, so he left it alone.

He watched as she leaned against the counter, letting it take all her weight. "What time did you get up Jen? You still look beat."

It was on the tip of her tongue to come back with some sarcastic remark, but to be honest she didn't have the energy to take the comment the wrong way. "After lunch. But apparently that still wasn't enough."

Gibbs moved closer to her. They'd been wary of each other today, keeping space between them, but he didn't want to make it a habit. He took her hand and stood beside her. "You don't have to cook tonight Jen. Why don't we just order in? What sounds good: Chinese? Mexican? Italian?" He smiled slowly. "We might even be able to find some fine French cuisine somewhere if you really want. You could look it up on your Palm contraption."

Jenny had to smile. Poor Jethro, he would forever be behind the times and perpetually confused when it came to technology. "Do you mean my Palm Pilot Jethro?"

"Aw Jen, you know I can't work any of those things. I leave it up to the smart and beautiful women in my life."

Jenny leaned in closer to him, forgetting for a moment that flirting with him was always a dangerous thing. "Oh? And how many women are in your life Jethro?"

"Oh, a whole list of them," he teased, watching her eyes narrow. He pulled her closer and put his arms around her waist. "But seriously, only two of them have captured my heart."

"Two?" Jenny eyebrows disappeared under bangs. "Do I have competition Jethro?"

Gibbs lowered his voice, holding her gaze. "Never," he whispered. "There is only one woman for me, and that would be you." He leaned down but instead of kissing her as he normally would, he turned and pressed his lips against her cheek. He didn't want to hurt or scare her, both were bad right now and fairly easy to do.

"So who is this other mysterious woman?" Jenny questioned, sure she knew the answer.

"That would be the girl who thinks she's my daughter," they laughed.

"Close enough I suppose," Jenny smiled, putting her arms around his neck. "She'll probably start calling you 'Dad' any day now."

Gibbs rolled his eyes. He held Jenny tighter, just glad for the excuse to have her in his arms. He knew where their teasing could lead them, but he wouldn't let it go far enough to make her nervous.

"So," he steered the conversation back to supper, "could the smart and beautiful woman with me find us somewhere to order dinner from?"

Jenny nodded. "I suppose I could do that Jethro." She smiled and extricated herself from his arms.

An hour later they were sitting in the living room holding Chinese takeout cartons and eating with chopsticks. The atmosphere was relaxed and Jenny savoured their normal conversation and their occasional laughter. Could it be this easy? Could they just go back to being them and forget this whole nightmare situation had ever happened? It seemed that maybe they could. Jethro was telling her a story about his team from before her time as director, back when Agent Todd had still been alive.

She laughed, amused and impressed at Tony's guts. "So he actually bought her half a bikini? And she didn't take him down right there? That must've taken some serious control." She was thinking that if Tony ever tried something like that with Ziva she would probably castrate him on the spot, if she didn't torture him first.

Gibbs chuckled. "No time, the helo was taking off in two minutes. But it wouldn't surprise me if Kate gave him a good dressing down later. That DiNozzo," he sighed, "he sure can get himself into trouble fast, but he's a good agent."

"I know how much you respect his abilities Jethro. He certainly stepped up to the plate as team leader last year."

The thought of last year, the explosion, the amnesia, the attack that could've been prevented, and the emotional moment when he'd left his team in Tony's hands, sure this was it, drew them into silence. If it hadn't been for the trouble Ziva had gotten into, he might never have made it back from Mexico. As it was, he couldn't regret a moment of not being there, because not being there meant he got to be here, with his wife. That was another thing that never would've happened if he'd stayed in Mexico with Mike for the rest of his days.

Jenny swirled her chopsticks around the carton. She'd eaten a bite here and there, but mostly she just played with the chopsticks and watched Jethro. She knew she should be starving, and maybe that's what that gnawing feeling in her stomach was. But her stomach itself wasn't cooperating with the idea of food and she hoped Jethro wouldn't notice how much she hadn't eaten. He would just worry.

He looked up at her just then, causing her to wonder again if he had some telepathic powers that he'd forgotten to mention. "You want to tell me why you've only had five bites of your food the entire time we've been sitting here?" he said suddenly.

Jenny sighed. He never was one for beating around the bush. He just chopped the bush down and kept on going. "It's not what you think Jethro. I am not punishing myself, going on a crash diet, or anything else." They'd gone over this territory before when she would go a day or two without eating because she was busy or didn't feel like it, or thought she could live off coffee. She placed a hand on her middle. "My stomach has been unsettled all day, I don't want to push it."

"You gotta eat something Jen," he said, pushing one of the fortune cookies her way. They didn't put any stock in words on paper stuffed into stale cookies, or at least that was how Ziva put it, but the fortunes were generally fun to read.

"You first," Jen said, breaking hers open and nibbling on the cookie.

He unfolded his fortune and read, "'All the effort you are making will ultimately pay off.'"

Jenny raised her eyebrows. "That could be prophetic. I wonder if they know you work for NCIS?"

Gibbs shook his head and crumpled up the piece of paper. It might have more meaning than she thought, given their current situation. "What's yours say?"

Jenny read it out loud before she processed it. "'Accept something that you cannot change, and you will feel better.'" She took her time folding it into the tiniest square possible before she looked up. "Who knew fortune cookie sayings could be so profound?" How could the tone of a room change so fast? They had been having fun, but now it was back to serious. She sighed.

Gibbs leaned back into the couch. "We have to talk about tomorrow, Jen."

She looked up suddenly from her tea. Jasmine tea always went well with Chinese food. "What about it?"

"I want you to go with your security detail tomorrow, no driving yourself."

"Jethro -"

"No buts Jen! It's not like they don't sit out there all night and guard the house when they know you're here anyways. You may as well give them something useful to do."

Jenny rolled her eyes but conceded the point. At this point a security detail was starting to sound like more than just a precautionary thing anyways. "What time are you going into the office?"

"Well, now that we've broken Ziva's habit of showing up at 0500 and waiting for two and a half hours to start work, I was thinking 0700. You?

Jenny laughed. "I remember the days when I would go into the office for 0600, but then I got married and sharing a bed with my husband for a couple extra hours was suddenly much more enticing than catching up on paperwork. I think 0730 is fine. Coming into the office at the same time is just a rumour waiting to happen."

"We're going to have to tell them eventually Jen," Gibbs said, before thinking that this was probably not the best time to bring up another big issue.

Jenny shrugged. "We've managed the past seven months, haven't we? Why spoil the fun now?"

"Because, I'm running out of excuses to come up to your office or MTAC to see you during the day."

Jenny laughed. "I guess we'll just have to have another argument. Then the 'kids' will expect you to be ordered to report to my office more than once, for that day anyways."

It was no secret that the NCIS team were more than just co-workers, they were family. They watched each other's backs, cared deeply for one another, and were there when life threw unexpected curve balls. Abby had explained it to her once, after Gibbs came back.

"It's like Ducky is the grandfather. He cares about all of us and takes care of us. Jimmy is the awkward second cousin who isn't quite sure where his place in the family is yet. Tony is the big brother. He annoys the crap out of us but he would also do anything to protect us. Timmy is the little brother everyone picks on but still loves. Ziva is the adopted older sister who is different but still an important part of the family. And the fact that she can practically kill someone just by looking at them is definitely a plus. Gibbs is the dad. He keeps us all in line and metes out discipline when necessary and rewards when they're deserved. And you director," Abby had smiled coyly, "you're the mom. You're in charge and you're strict but you're not in everybody's face. You fight the bad government guys for the respect our family deserves and you're there for the dad, to be his backup. You know."

Yes, Jenny had known exactly what Abby was getting at but chose to ignore the not-so-subtle hint. "And what about you Abby? What is your place in this family?"

"Oh Director, don't you know?" Abby grinned. "I'm the youngest, everybody's favourite." Then she'd swished out the door in her pigtails and plaid skirt and black studded dog collar. That was NCIS alright, one big happy family.