Warm sunshine on her face was what woke Jenny up Saturday morning. She was smiling when she opened her eyes and found herself laying on Jethro's side of the bed still, facing the window. Jenny nestled her head back into the pillow, in no hurry to get up. But when she reached back with her hand and found no warm body behind her, she frowned and sat up. Jethro was not there. Well, where is he? she wondered.
Surely he would've left a note or something if he'd been call in to work. Usually Gibbs woke her to let her know, but sometimes he'd rather let her sleep. Jenny was just pushing back the covers to go looking for him, when Gibbs appeared in the doorway with two cups of coffee, grinning at her.
"'Morning."
"Good morning yourself. I was just coming to look for you," Jenny said, accepting the mug from him.
"Miss me Jen?" Gibbs couldn't hide the smug smile.
She took a sip of the coffee before remembering she was trying decaf for awhile. "The last time I woke up and you weren't here, I didn't see you for almost the whole day," she pointed out.
He noticed that she was just holding her coffee and drank some of his own. "Your is decaf Jen." She looked at him curiously and Gibbs shrugged. "I picked some up this morning."
"What time is it?" Jenny asked, trying to see the clock. "How long have you been up?"
He smirked. "Since ten. It's nearly noon now."
Jenny's expression was amusing to him. "This is getting to be a bad habit," she complained. "But at least before you slept in with me."
He moved closer and Jenny scooted over so he could sit on the edge of the bed beside her. "Would've loved to Jen, but I had a few things to do."
She lifted her eyebrow. "What things?" Jenny asked suspiciously.
Gibbs ignored her and took her hand, crossing his legs and getting comfortable. "The kids called a little while ago."
The corners of Jenny's mouth twitched. "I thought we weren't claiming them?"
He shrugged. "Not where they can hear it."
She looked at him expectantly. "What did they want?"
"Well, Tony was the one who called. But I could hear Abby laughing in the background and then she took the phone..."
Half an Hour Earlier At Tony's Place
"It's ringing," Tony whispered, fear written all over his face.
Ziva rolled her eyes. "It is not the first phone call you have ever placed to Gibbs, Tony. Brighten up."
"It's 'lighten up' Ziva!" he hissed. "If this call wakes him up on a Saturday and it's not for a case, he's going to kill me before I even hang up the phone."
"That's physically impossible Tony," McGee added from the kitchen where he was watching the spectacle with great amusement. "You should be safe until 0700 on Monday." He shrugged. "Then Gibbs might kill you."
"Thanks a lot Probie, care to trade?"
"Trade what?" McGee grinned. "I didn't get an assignment."
"Aargh...oh, hey Boss! How's it going? I didn't wake you up, did I?"
"What do you want DiNozzo?" came Gibbs familiar growl. "It's Saturday."
"Yeah, Saturday, I know Boss, that's the reason I called. You see, we, that is me, McGee, Abby, and Ziva, were kind of hoping that maybe you'd be able to, or interested in..."
"Can you form a sentence Tony?" Gibbs asked, his frown making itself known through the telephone line. Abby's laughter and Ziva's snickering were echoing behind Tony and he whipped around to glare at them, trying to focus on the conversation.
"Yes Boss."
"That's good. Two words. How about a sentence with words that tell me why you're calling me on a Saturday?"
Abby rolled her eyes. "Give it to me, Tony." She grabbed the phone out of his hand. "You're making a mess of it." She smiled into the phone. "Good morning Gibbs."
He sighed. "Hi Abs. Care to explain that?"
She shrugged. "That was just Tony. We don't let him out much."
Gibbs chuckled and Tony gave her a dirty look. "So, there a reason you're at Tony's place on a Saturday morning and calling me?"
"Oh, that. Well, we had a sleepover last night, with pizza and a James Bond marathon. I think we lasted 'til around 2 am, then everyone but Tony fell asleep."
Gibbs didn't even bother trying to figure out the relevance of her explanation. "And that has what to do with this phone call Abby?"
"Oh, right!" Abby said, as if she'd forgotten why they called. "See, last night we were talking in my lab and we decided this weekend should be a family weekend, hence the movie night/sleepover."
Tony made a cutting motion across his throat. "This was your idea, Favourite One. Don't bring us into it!" he whispered urgently. Abby ignored him and turned around to face the window.
"Abs?" the voice prompted.
"Sorry Gibbs, Tony was whispering and distracting me. Anyways, that was Friday. Today...well, tonight actually, is a dinner party at Ziva's place. So because it's family, you guys have to be there. I mean...if you want," Abby added as an after thought. "Ducky and Jimmy already promised they'd come. It is, in his words, 'a delightful idea'." She mimicked Ducky's accent. "Ducky might even bring his mother. That ought to make things interesting. Then Sunday everyone has promised to come to church, and we can have breakfast after, just like always. What do you say?"
Back to Gibbs and Jenny
"So what did you say Jethro?" Jenny asked, loving the re-telling of the conversation. It was hard to capture Abby's actual enthusiasm without experiencing it yourself, but Gibbs had tried.
"That I'd talk to you and see what you wanted to do. But Abby really wants you there."
Jenny thought about it. "I guess it would be fun. And it would be good to see everyone outside of work. We haven't really just spent time with them since they took us out to dinner a couple weeks ago."
"I'm in if you're in," Gibbs agreed. "Plus, I really don't want to have to tell Abby no. She'll give me that look and I'll feel awful for days."
"Pushover."
"Guilty," her husband admitted. Finally he sat up. "Alright, up and at 'em. Get your robe on and come downstairs."
"What's downstairs?" Jenny asked.
"I guess you'll just have to come with me and see Jen," was all Gibbs would say.
That was a tantalizing enough offer so Jenny slid out of bed and snuggled into her blue fleece robe, pushing her feet into slippers. Gibbs took her hand and led her down to the kitchen. What she saw, set up on the kitchen table, was so sweet she almost wanted to cry. A single red orchid with white accents leaned over a cylindrical, clear glass vase. A glass of orange juice sat in front of a tray, made up with bacon, eggs, and toast. And identical meal, except for the egg being an omelette, sat at the place across the table.
"Jethro," she asked in a whisper, "what...?"
He shrugged. "I just wanted to do something nice for you. And this," he handed her the flower and leaned over to kiss her, "is for my beautiful wife."
Jenny flung her arms around his neck and kissed him back. "I'll give you an A+," she said with a smile, while he pulled out her chair and replaced the flower in the vase. They sat across from each other, acting, as Tony would say, 'sickly sweet', as they gazed into each others eyes and left words for another time. Breakfast was eaten bit by bit. Jenny tried a little of everything, and tried to eat enough to make Jethro feel as if it was worth the effort. Gibbs still didn't think it was enough, but that could be brought up at another time.
"So," he said, leaning back in his chair, "should we call the kids back and say yes?"
"I think so," Jenny nodded, then frowned. "Though I don't know what I would wear."
Gibbs kept quiet on that subject. It was no good telling her that she always looked nice, because he thought she made sweats and bare feet look sexy. Jenny would just say she was biased. But if he didn't say anything, he'd either get accused of not listening or thinking something he shouldn't. Being a husband was hard sometimes, silence was to protect oneself from being exiled to the couch, but it was often misinterpreted.
"I think something casual will be fine Jen," he said at last. He picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. "Why don't you go have a shower and I'll make phone calls and then we can decide what else to do today. I'll find out what time we have to be at Ziva's."
"Okay," Jenny looked at him for a moment, her heart in her eyes. "Thank you for breakfast Jethro."
Having no clever comment to reply back with, Gibbs simply stuck with, "You're welcome Jen," and watched as she headed for the stairs.
He cleaned up the kitchen first, then picked up the phone and headed for the livingroom. May as well get comfortable. If Abby answered the phone he was going to be there awhile.
NCIS
The phone rang at Tony's place while the group was in the middle of A License to Kill.
"Let the machine get it," Tony said, staring at the screen, "this is the best part."
Ziva let out an exasperated sigh. "Tony, you think the whole movie is the best part."
"No!" Abby protested from where she was sitting in McGee's lap. "It might be Gibbs calling back with their answer." When nobody moved, Abby got up. "Fine, I'll get it."
Tony reluctantly paused the movie and Abby raced for the phone, grabbing it from the stand on the last ring and plopping into the nearest chair.
"Tony's place," she answered.
"Hey Abs."
"Gibbs!" she squealed. "Did you talk to Jenny? Did she say yes? Are you guys coming?"
"One question at a time Abby," Gibbs chuckled. "Yes I talked to Jenny. Yes we're coming. What time does Ziva want us there?"
"Oh." Abby was silent. "One sec, I'll ask."
She put the phone to her chest. "Ziva! What time is the party?"
Ziva frowned and shrugged. "5? I hadn't really thought about it." Abby nodded. "Oh, and ask if Jenny can bring a salad." She knew Jenny would feel less conspicuous if she could contribute to the dinner somehow.
"Let's say 5 pm Gibbs. Oh, that's 1700 hours sir!"
"Abby..." Gibbs warned.
She grinned. "I know, no 'sir'. Oh, and Ziva asked if Jenny can bring a salad."
Gibbs nodded. "Okay, I'll tell her. Be good Abs. See you tonight."
"Thanks Gibbs. Bye!" Abby hung up and smiled at the rest of the group. "They're in!"
"Great." Tony looked like he didn't care at all. "Can we finish the movie now please?"
Abby rolled her eyes at him and cuddled up close to her boyfriend again. "Whenever you're ready Mr. Wizard. But after this one, I think lunch is in order."
NCIS
Gibbs hung up with Abby an d dialed another number.
"Reilley's," a male voice answered on the second ring.
"It's Gibbs."
"Gunny!" Gibbs could hear the smile in his friends voice.
"How are you Bill?" Gibbs asked.
"Oh, we're doing just fine Jethro. Got a potluck supper at the church tonight, so Merry's busy getting food ready and I'm just trying to stay out of her way."
Gibbs chuckled. Merry was pretty adamant that no one stepped foot in her kitchen when she was in full cooking mode. He remembered that from the old days, when he and Bill would often share a meal after their shift was over.
"How are things with you and Jenny?" Bill asked.
Gibbs thought for a moment. "You know what Bill? This week was one of the worse we've had so far. But we were able to talk about it yesterday, and now I think we're doing okay."
"That's good to hear," Bill said sincerely. "I know you're not a believer Jethro, but I want you to know Merry and I have been praying for you two."
Gibbs was silent for a moment. Because he didn't think of God the way some did, it was strange to hear that sort of comment spoken so naturally. At the same time, he and Bill had been friends for a long time, and Bill had always been like that, talking about God as if it were the most normal thing in the world. After awhile, Gibbs had simply gotten used to it. Now hearing something like that just meant that Bill and Meredith cared about he and Jenny and how they were doing.
Finally Gibbs came up with what he thought was an appropriate response to his friend. "'ppreciate that Bill, I really do."
"So, when are you going to bring Jenny over to the house for a meal? Merry's been anxious to meet her." Bill decided to change the subject completely to keep things from getting awkward.
"Things are kind of up in the air right now Bill. How about I check back with you in a week or so, maybe try and plan something for the first week of November? Need to run it by Jenny first."
"Of course," Bill agreed.
The two men chatted about meaningless things like work and how the weather had been for several minutes, before hanging up. Gibbs had only just put down the phone when Jenny called him. He smiled and headed for the stairs, he was looking forward to today.