Joss opened the door for the second time that evening and smiled as Shaw stood there with the ever present half scowl-half smirk. Harold, Grace, and Leila had come about twenty minutes earlier.

"Hey Shaw, come on in!" Joss invited as she stepped back to let her enter.

"Carter," she greeted dryly as she entered, tugging her black spring coat off. "Where's the pizza?" Shaw demanded as she took a large inhale. "I don't smell pizza."

Joss rolled her eyes as she hung Shaw's coat up on the coat rack nearest the front door. "I just called for it; pizza will be delivered in twenty minutes." she explained, not adding that she waited a little longer since she was missing.

Shaw shrugged. "Fine, I'll take cake first then."

"As I told Leila and Maddie: no. Cake is after dinner and we sing happy birthday," she said, making sure Shaw knew that the only other people that asked for that were no older than five. Joss then held out the party hat that Shaw was to wear. "Maddie's stipulation, and trust me when I say if you don't wear it she'll make you."

Shaw's lip raised in a snarl as she snatched the pink cardboard cone party hat before looking at her. "It's pink!" she said as if that offended her.

"Oh come on: this is not the worst thing you ever wore. You wore something that could be seen from outer space on that cruise, I've seen finger paintings less colorful," Joss stated, then chuckled at the look on Shaw's face. "Just put it on: trust me, you'll feel better once you see John," she assured her before patting the small FBI agent on the arm to go head for the living room. She just hoped John didn't get ribbed too hard by Shaw for the pink crown on his head that Maddie had nearly cried when he tried to take it off.

Shaw nearly crushed the hat in her hand but thought about how Maddie might make her put the damn thing on and shuddered as she just resignedly put the bright pink girlish hat on. With her luck Maddie would cry and it was like a rainbow weeping; the kid was born to smile and Shaw hated it when she wasn't.

She entered the living room and Maddie grinned as she climbed to her feet since she was sitting on the floor playing dolls with Leila to run over to Shaw and wrapped her arms around her waist. "Aunt Shaw!"

"Hey kiddo," she greeted awkwardly, patting the kid on the head.

"It's my daddy's birthday today!" Maddie announced as she leaned her head back to rest her chin on her thigh with blue eyes sparkling and the widest grin Shaw ever seen, she was afraid the kid's face was going to freeze like that.

Shaw nodded. "Yea, he's an old man."

Maddie released her and stared up at her. "Daddy's not old!" she stated with brows furrowed and Shaw could swear she looked like a miniature Carter when she was angry.

"Yea he is, kid, he's ancient compared to you."

"Nu-uh, Aunt Shaw, he's only a hundred," Maddie exclaimed indignantly.

Shaw laughed which earned a look from Carter in surprise. "Go tell him that kid, please!" Shaw nearly begged and preferably when she could hear it.

Maddie's face scrunched up in a frown. "I WILL! DADDY'S NOT OLD! YOU'RE IN BIG TROUBLE, AUNT SHAW!" she stated as she whirled around and ran off to go find her daddy. Shaw followed, wanting to see Reese's face when she told him how old she thought he was; she needed a recording for blackmail for future steak dinners. She was running out of the IOU steak dinners she racked up from the cruise when she saved Reese's ass with the Wixoms!

Shaw entered the kitchen and found Reese talking to Finch with Maddie tugging on Reese's hand to get his attention. Shaw burst out into loud obnoxious laughter as she saw what was sitting on Reese's head which earned her both the men's gazes. She motioned at his birthday crown. "Nice crown Reese, matches your dress," she sniped.

"Maddie picked it out."

"Sure; blame it on the kid," Shaw snickered as she eyed the pink crown. "You look like a cupcake," she stated, then scowled. Great, now she was hungry for cupcakes!

He rolled his eyes. "And you look like a cake topper but you don't see me commenting."

Shaw narrowed her eyes at the jab at her size. "You are so lucky there is a little kid around," she retorted amicably.

John smirked, "More like you are," he assured her as his arm was nearly tugged out of its socket from his daughter.

"DAAAAAADDDDDDY!" Maddie cried trying—unsuccessfully thus far—to get John's attention and was now resorting to climb up his body.

John looked down at Maddie and scooped her up. "Yes, buttercup," he murmured, giving Maddie his undivided attention.

"Aunt Shaw said you were old!" she stated with a big frown on her face and had her arms crossed over her chest.

John's brows rose as he shifted his gaze off Maddie and onto Shaw then back. "She did?"

"Uh-huh! And I told her you weren't."

"Thank you sweetheart…"

Maddie beamed at being his protector. "You're only a hundred!"

Shaw and Harold laughed as Reese wheezed. "Yea, Reese, you were born the same time as Mr. Peanut was created," she added with another snicker at his expense. She shrugged when Harold eyed her questioningly. "What?—I can't enjoy reading about the history of my favorite snack foods?"

John glowered at Shaw before eyeing his daughter innocently. "And how old do you suppose Aunt Shaw is?" he asked and Shaw's smirk faded instantly.

Maddie glanced back at Shaw and then back at daddy. "One hundred and sixteen," she announced sweetly.

Harold and John laughed. Harold eyed Ms. Shaw sour face. "That makes you as old as the first Hershey's milk chocolate bar," he murmured with a smile.

"What is it with you and your mother, kid?—I'm not older than your pops!" Shaw growled.

John grinned evilly. "Oh come on, Aunt Shaw, its okay to be honest here; perhaps you should take up Joss's suggestion on that moisturizer regimen, you're beginning to show your one hundred and sixteen year age," he murmured gently.

"You're dead to me, Reese!" Shaw snarled as she whirled around and stormed out of the kitchen.

Harold chuckled. "That will last all of five minutes," he murmured.

John smiled happily as he set Maddie down on her feet and she tore off to go back playing. "It will last until food gets here," John corrected.

Joss was glad how the party was going. John was still a little quiet and unaccustomed to being the center of attention but everyone else made up for it, including Shaw, who had first looked irate over something until food had showed up and they all ate and talked amicably. She had bought an extra pizza just for Shaw alone.

She exited the kitchen after getting a beer for her and Grace, and saw John sitting comfortably on the couch with Shaw next to him just listening as Grace, Harold, and Shaw talked. They better get to present time so they could sing happy birthday or Shaw was going to eat the cake without them. Joss caught Shaw trying to sneak into the kitchen three times!

"Present time!" Joss announced as she handed Grace her beer and set hers down on the coffee table.

"About fu—freaking time!" Shaw erupted, just barely remembering the 'no swear' rule.

Joss shook her head. "Maddie, baby; go grab daddy a present to open." she instructed as she sat down on the armrest beside John.

Maddie scrambled to her feet and Leila climbed onto Harold's lap. John looked at his friends sternly. "I didn't want anything."

"We know, John, but you can never go to a birthday party and not get a gift," Grace said reasonably. "And it's from your goddaughter," she added, knowing he was nearly as impossible to gift as Joss was.

Joss grinned as John folded when he learned it was Leila. "I picked it out for you Uncle John," Leila said as Maddie ran with the large bag.

John smiled as he took the bag and blew a kiss to Leila who then giggled. "Thank you, Leila," he murmured.

John eyed her parents sharply before looking at the bag. So help him if it was another car he was going to unfriend them. John rummaged through the large bag and found a simple small but brightly colored wrapped box. It felt light but that didn't mean anything. Last time he was gifted with a car they had wrapped the title and key in a box, sent it through the mail, and in the morning he found the damn black Lexus parked in his parking space.

"Don't worry John; it's a not a car," Harold murmured.

Shaw leaned forward. "We're friends right?" she demanded which earned her an elbow to the ribs from Reese. "How about I jam your elbow right up your…"

"Shaw! Kiddies!" Joss reprimanded with a firm look.

Shaw sighed. "Threat to be continued," she muttered.

John smirked as he undid the wrapping paper, sort of embarrassed as everyone watched and he opened the white box and blinked first then relaxed. Okay now this was the kind of gift he could handle.

"Come here, Leila, so I can give my favorite goddaughter a real kiss," he murmured before producing the four tickets to a Yankees game in June so that Taylor could come. "This will definitely be a nice outing with the family."

Leila happily slid from daddy's knee to run over to John to receive her kiss. She laughed loudly when he nosily kissed her cheek. Grace hid a smile; it was true that Leila chose the baseball tickets for him but with a little help from them. John made them promise to not give him a birthday gift ever again but he never said about not giving him something for an early Christmas gift as her wonderful husband pointed out. She did love loop-holes especially when it came to giving something someone they loved, something they deserved. They just had to find the right moment to give him their gift.

Shaw looked to Reese. "I didn't get you anything."

"It's okay Shaw." he reassured her.

"How about I'll treat you to a steak dinner?" she offered.

John glanced at her and looked dubious. "How about sushi instead?" he inquired, unable to resist making Shaw sweat.

Shaw clenched her teeth together as her steak and pastrami loving stomach nearly quivered in disgust. "Sure, sushi…" she agreed.

He sighed, "I can't even do this to you; we can have steak," John relented and she relaxed instantly.

"Thank god!"

Joss giggled. John and Shaw were so close it was so cute. She eyed Maddie who was practically dancing to be allowed to go get her gift for daddy. "Alright baby; it's your turn, go get daddy your present."

Maddie squealed as she whirled around, running to go get daddy her gift. Joss leaned over so she could whisper; "She's wanted to give you this for like a week."

He smiled as he wrapped an arm around her waist as he waited for Maddie to come back with the present. She climbed onto his lap. "Thank you, buttercup," he said with a big kiss to her cheek.

"Open it daddy!"

John removed his arm from around Joss's waist and opened the card first because Maddie had practically thrown it in his face as Maddie sat on his lap. He smiled as he came face to face with a handmade card. "Happy Birthday to the bestest daddy in the entire world," he read out loud as he eyed the drawn person that was apparently supposed to be him surrounded by balloons.

Their daughter was pretty good at drawing, but he knew that Joss or Grace had to have helped Maddie out with writing this since it was more coherent than any four year old could write, before opening the powder blue construction-paper card.

John felt like he was hit with a ton of bricks in the chest. "I love you so much and I'm so happy you came home to me and mommy," he whispered as he felt his throat tighten. He shifted his gaze off the card and onto his daughter. "Oh sweetheart, I love you and mommy so much," he murmured as he kissed his daughter again blinking a few times to keep the tears at bay.

John put the card aside and proceeded to open his birthday present and smiled softly as he removed a #1 Dad mug that had a bag of Godiva square chocolates placed inside it. He took the mug out to praise it.

"Tell daddy that's handmade, Maddie," Joss suggested.

He blinked in surprise. "It is?"

Maddie nodded her head enthusiastically. "I made it for you daddy….. Aunt Grace and mommy kind of helped," Maddie assured.

Joss snorted and Grace laughed. Kind of helped?—more like they did everything while Maddie watched and helped paint it.

John eyed his daughter with misty eyes and then at Joss and Grace knowing they had to more than just 'kind of' help because this mug was not lopsided and wasn't pink. "Thank you for the wonderful gift; I love it so much," he said softly before kissing Maddie again.

Joss grinned in success that they turned daddy into mush. That was one objective done. "My turn," she stated with glee as she got to her feet and hurried over to the large green wrapped present that sat in the corner of the room.

John eyed Joss as she came back to hand him the brightly wrapped present. "I thought you promised not to get me anything," he commented dryly. He distinctively remembered her promising.

Joss grinned as she scooped Maddie up to sit on her lap. "I made that promise with my fingers crossed, so the promise is null in void," she murmured coyly. "Now stop stalling and open it."

"Yea, Reese, open it so we can get to cake! Maddie, Leila, and I are hungry here!" Shaw stated impatiently.

He eyed Joss before proceeding to open his gift and smiled as he pulled out a bottle of Graziano Merotto from the Valdobbiandene region. It was one of his favorite wines and it was hard to find.

John looked at her. "You remembered I mentioned that this is a favorite." he murmured.

Joss smiled in return. "How could I forget?—and I had a little help in finding it for you." she admitted with a quick glance at Harold. John smirked as he thanked her. "You haven't finished opening your gift, John!"

He furrowed his brows as he looked to the box and saw it empty. "I'm pretty sure this is empty,"

She laughed as she motioned at the card he hadn't opened yet. "Typical boys; you're just like my son with opening the present first, then the card!"

John shrugged as he proceeded to do as she suggested and opened the card and smiled as he read the romantic birthday card before eyeing her. He'd show her how much he loved her once they were alone again. He opened the card and a giftcard to the pricy Italian place he loved slid out.

"Now you're done…for now." Joss teased coyly. John's gaze lifted and his eyes went smoky.

"Okay now that Reese opened all his gifts, besides Carter, that means cake, right?" Shaw demanded.

Joss chuckled as she set Maddie on her feet to go run off to play with Leila now that gift giving was done. "Not so fast, Shaw: we sing first then we can eat cake."

"I'll be a hundred and sixteen before I get to eat some damn cake!" Shaw growled despondently which had John and Harold laughing under their breath.

AN: See, told you the title will make more sense ;D The other title I had on tap for this chapter was 'Operation Mush' but I just loved the quirkiness of the other one! Next chapter:

Ch 3: Bow-Chicka-Wow-Wow

Yes, that's the title. And yes next chapter will be upped to M because it is a smut-a-thon :)