Disclaimer I don't own NCIS

Author's Note I just want to say i'm lucky enough never to have lost anyone that close to me, so if the grief i have depicted is not completely accurate, or if seems unrealistic then i apologise. Thanks for all of your reviews, and i hope you enjoy this!

A Father's Pride

'You're gone, gone, gone away,
I watched you disappear.
All that's left is a ghost of you.
Now we're torn, torn, torn apart,
there's nothing we can do,
Just let me go, we'll meet again soon.'
-Of Monsters And Men, Little Talks

Mark's parents arrived the next day, mid morning. Tom had spoken to the Naval officer who was dealing with everything and passed the information about what time their flight would land to Jenny. She left Ducky's the next morning and headed back to her large Georgetown house for the first time since her world had been shattered into a billion pieces. As she stood on the doorstep she mentally told herself she was only there to change and then get to the airport – even though the flight did not land for another two hours.

She placed the old key her father had had cut for her back when she started high school in the lock, and slowly turned it, applying the familiar amount of force that was needed to get the internal workings of the mechanism moving. She'd been told by so many people over the years to replace the door with a Yale one, but she'd refused point blank. The door meant a lot to her, it had acted as a gateway to so many people into her life, so many members of her family had walked through it, many of whom would never walk through another door again. It was a piece of her history. It was a part of her story.

When it came to it being able to pick the lock; well she knew that wasn't a possibility. She herself had tried to do so once before when she had forgotten to take her key and Noemi had already left to go home. It was safe to say that she had not succeeded that day. Additionally, there were many people who couldn't even open it with the key in their hand let alone without it. She'd never change it; the solid wooden door was too sentimentally valuable.

She pushed the heavy structure away from her, and looked at the entranceway which spread out before her. Leaning down she picked up the post which had collected on the floor and stepped in. Placing the letters on the sideboard without even giving them a second look and then closing the door behind her. It had only been vacant for a night; the house. But it felt cold, and as though it had been abandoned for centuries and centuries. When the door banged shut as it always did, the sound rattled through the building. The sound bounced off of the empty rooms and into another.

Already Jenny could feel the pricking of tears at the inside of her eyes, rapidly she blinked them away. Or at least she did until she walked into her room then into her wardrobe and where saw his clothes hung up beside her own. They'd never officially moved into one of their houses, but half of his stuff was at her place. He had stayed there practically every night. In fact the only time he didn't was when he had been out with his friends and got drunk. Those nights, instead of waking Jenny from her desperately needed sleep he would stay at his own house and she would go over the next morning with coffee and bagels for breakfast.

Her hand went to his shirts, running her hands over the material, soft beneath her fingertips. Walking further down she reached his hoodies and took the sleeve of one, smelling it as she did so. It smelt like Mark, like his aftershave and his body wash. Tears silently ran down her face as she thought of him, no doubt on some plane ready to be flown home with a flag across the top of him. He didn't deserve to be dead.

An hour later and Jenny was back in the wardrobe only now she had showered and dried her hair. She looked at her clothes, not knowing what to wear. What she wanted to wear was his clothes, she wanted to be surrounded by the scent of the man who had been too good for her, to feel like he was still there, still close to her. Part of her also wanted to make a good impression on the grandparents of her unborn child. So she looked at the rows upon rows of clothes hanging in her wardrobe. At the fancy dresses she'd bought for numerous balls her father's status had has her attending, at the summer dresses she had bought for Paris, at the business suits that she'd bought and not taken to Moscow. Then she looked at the hoodies which were Mark's all over again. She decided that now wasn't a time to impress. So she pulled on a pair of acid wash skinny jeans, a white vest top and marks NAVY zip up hoodie. Immediately she felt at home, immediately she felt like Mark was about to return. About to wrap his strong arms around her waist and softly place a kiss under her ear.

It hurt to remember that none of that was about to happen.

Looking at her smashed up phone she saw the time and knew she had to leave, so pulled on her favourite heeled ankle boots and left the house. By the time she got in the car to leave her hands were shaking with nerves. These people would be a part of her life from now on, and the person that was the reason they were meeting couldn't even be there. And that saddened Jenny. When they had spoken about her meeting his parents before the wedding he'd seamed so excited, in fact it had been contagious. Mark had had such a strong relationship with his parents even after they retired to Ireland. And Jenny, about to embark on a massive journey with Mark, had been desperate to make a good impression.

Now she was on her way to see them, on one of the worst days of their lives.

Jenny knew that she would ask them to stay with her, simply because she didn't want to be alone. Part of her didn't trust herself to leave the bottle alone when she was carrying a child. The spare bedroom was also always made up as Noemi was always prepared for guests. After all, there had been numerous times that Jenny's townhouse had been used as a safe house for a whiteness or child, and numerous times Gibbs had been kicked out of his own house by one wife or another and needed a room. It had been something Noemi had always believed in, and for Jenny it had always been a saving grace. Just as it would be now.

When she finally parked up and made her way into the crowded arrivals room she felt overwhelmed. There were so many people so many smiling and happy couples being reunited, so many children running to their mother or father… Jenny couldn't help but think about how her child would never get to run to its father's feet and be picked up and spun around whilst they both laughed a contagious laughter that made her heart swell. The red head stood there, and looked around. She didn't know how Mark's parents found her, but they did. Saying that their son had described her as having the most amazing red hair and captivating green eyes, and as soon as they had seen her they had known that it was Jenny.

"It's… it's lovely to finally meet you, I just-" Jenny cut herself off, looking up at the sky. Mark's mum just nodded. Marie, that was her name, and she was beautiful. Her hair was brown, but there was grey showing just a little. It suited her, and was cut so that it hit just below her shoulders. She wore boot cut jeans and a green blouse, Jenny couldn't help but admire her, she struck Jenny as the sort of woman who had looked beautiful her entire life and always would do. The dark brown eyes were dull, but she imagined that just like Marks they sparkled when she was happy.

"Mark spoke of you all the time and I can see why." Mark's father, Ben, said. He looked just like an older version of Mark, his hair was all silver, parted to one side and classically styled. Jenny couldn't help but wonder if Mark would have looked like him when he was older.

Jenny blushed; she didn't know what to say. "I thought you probably wouldn't have had time to book a room so you can stay at my house? I have plenty of room-"

"We wouldn't want to intrude sweetheart." Marie said, but Jenny just furiously shook her head.

"You wouldn't be intruding, not at all. Mark, he erm… he practically lived there with me, I just thought if you wanted to feel close with him…" Jenny let the sentence trail off. She'd heard from Mark that his parents were quite traditional, and she didn't want them to frown upon the relationship that she had shared with their son.

"As long as you are sure." With that Jenny took one of their bags and led them off to her car. She helped them load and then Ben got in the front with her and Marie got in the back. Jenny's phone was in a holder so that she could answer calls whilst she drove, meaning Ben could see the smashed screen. He nodded towards it before speaking.

"I take it you didn't mean to do that." His voice was light, trying to make conversation whilst it was laced with pain and sadness.

"No." Jenny said, smirking as she took her turn off of the main road. "I, I was sat on the roof at HQ, I'd just found out and Jethro was ringing me. I didn't want to answer so I chucked it across the rooftop. I'm surprised it didn't go over the edge, it really would have broken then!" She said it in a light hearted way, and it made Ben laugh. But she was quite sure that he was just humouring her.

"HQ?" Questioned Marie from the back. There was a conscious effort from them all not to mention Mark, because no one wanted to break down, but they were all on a high wire a mile above, about to fall off and shatter into a million pieces emotionally all over again.

"Yeah, I work for NCIS, Navy Cops." Jenny stated, clarifying, she saw the older woman nod in the background. Jenny already knew the next question.

"Is that how you met Mark?"

Jenny inwardly groaned, how was she meant to tell the people who could have been her in-laws that she was in fact out on the pull when she met him? Without sounding like a slut? "I actually met him in a bar, just before I went on a covert operation. I didn't see him for a long time because it kinda went south. But yeah, we actually met up again on my first day back in the Navy Yard. He was the first person I spoke to."

"You obviously meant an awful lot to him." Marie said, as Jenny pulled up outside the house.

Hours later, Marie had turned in for the evening after an emotional day and jetlag. Jenny had ordered take out for tea and they'd all gathered around the table to eat, but barely little was said. Ben and Marie had gone up not long after, and guessed that he'd stayed with her until she was asleep. Jenny hoped one day she would be able to have a relationship like that. But for now all she could think about was her fiancé.

The red was sat in her study, curled up in one of the armchairs; her head leant against the worn leather of the back as tear silently rolled down her cheeks. She heard Ben come down, but didn't move. Part of her had hoped he was back in bed with Marie so that she could just remain alone and didn't have to try and be strong for anyone. One hand was against her stomach, and she couldn't help but think about her child. In her mind she decided that if it was a boy then she would give him the middle name 'Mark' in memory of his father, or maybe the first name? Mark Jasper, in memory of the two greatest men she had loved and lost. MJ. Then she thought about if it was a girl-

"You have anything stronger than tea in here?" Asked Ben, as he stood at the door looking at the woman who would have been his daughter in law. When Mark had told them about her, both him and Marie had been dubious, they'd always told him to take it slow, and their engagement – in their opinion – had come about awful fast. But as soon as he had spoken to her he knew exactly why that had been. The red head reminded him so much of his son. The way that she had a no nonsense attitude. The way that she obviously had a massive heart.

Jenny smiled at his question before nodding over to the drinks cabinet. "There is bourbon over there, maybe some Jack, I'm not sure though." She said, smiling at his look of shock.

"Bourbon? Well, I'm guessing that is your poison of choice?"

"Yes, a … very good friend got me hooked." She stated, smiling at the memory of Jethro forcing her to drink the paint stripper and refusing to buy anything else in Paris.

"Can I get you one?" his voice was raw with emotion, emotion that his face did not show. But it was also soft, and warm, and so much like Marks it made her want to dry all over again.

"No, I can't." She said, without even thinking about it. As soon as he had poured his drink he sat down on the other chair, and looked at her. She looked so fragile from where she was sat, looked as though she had been broken so many times.

"You're pregnant." It wasn't a question, and that was what threw Jenny, she looked shocked for a minute, wondering how to explain it.

"That's not why we got engaged, I didn't find out until two days ago." She said, immediately wanting him to know that she had wanted to marry Mark because she loved him and because she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

"I didn't think it was." He said, smiling softly as he took a sip of the bourbon. His face made Jenny smirk; it really was an acquired taste. "I'd forgotten just how much this stuff tasted like paint stripper!" He exclaimed. Jenny just smiled, and leant her head against the chair still. "You mind if I tell Marie tomorrow? She cried herself to sleep tonight, it might just, I don't know, give her something to smile about."

"I don't mind at all, just no one else. I haven't even seen a doctor yet, I wanted to wait to tell anyone. As soon as I told Mark though he turned around and told the rest of his crew. They were all hugging him and congratulating me." Ben watched as Jenny's eyes glazed over. If he had ever had any doubt about why she was marrying his son then they all disappeared in that moment. Because the look in her eyes was of pure admiration.

"You got to tell him?" Ben questioned, surprised that she had been able to get in touch with him.

"Yeah, it's the advantage of being friends with the Director of NCIS. He got me a fifteen minute video chat with him. I'll never forget just how happy he looked."

"Mark had always wanted to settle down and have children. May I ask how you told him?"

"I said that we needed to move the wedding date forward because I wouldn't be this slim for much longer." Jenny said, and she watched as the smile grew on Ben's face.

"I want you to know, Mark may have told you that Marie and I were quite traditional in our ways, but we don't disapprove of the way you two did things. We always knew that with Mark's job things wouldn't happen the traditional way. We're not ashamed of him or you, we are proud of everything he did and everything he sacrificed." Ben watched as Jenny wiped fresh tears from her cheeks. "But I also think that we are going to be proud to call you the mother of our grandchild."