A/N: This idea popped into my head randomly the other day, so I went with it. It is just a stand alone one shot, like most of my stuff, and is not involved with anything else I've written. Though, Chapter 5 of my Reflections series definitely influenced this. This is just a heck of a lot happier. This is essentially married Jibbs with Jibblets, and some fluff.
By the way, who else watched the new episode the other night? I'm talking about "One Man's Trash" (15x17). I really liked that last scene between Gibbs and Sloane. I'll be honest, she is the first woman I have actually hardcore wanted Gibbs to be with since Jenny. He needs to be happy at home with someone, he is not getting any younger.
Anyways, back to my favorite NCIS couple that I'll never get over.
"Mommy, tell story," Megan said, her l's and r's sounding more like w's.
"We already read a couple of books, it's time for bed," Jenny told the three year old.
Jenny was sitting with her two girls on her and Jethro's bed, where they had just finished reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar and If You Give a Moose a Muffin. Jethro was still at work.
"I want to hear story again, please?" Megan pleaded cutely, her l sounding nonexistent.
"Which story?" Jenny asked.
The little girl scooted off the bed and took off running into the hall.
Jenny tilted her head and looked at the five year old cuddled up to her left side, and ran her hand through the girls red hair soothingly.
"What do you think, Elizabeth, you ready for bed?" She asked the girl.
Elizabeth looked up at her mother and shook her head no before returning to looking through the moose book again.
Jenny smiled at her, always fascinated by the traits her girls picked up from their parents. Elizabeth had Jenny's red hair and green eyes, yet she had Jethro's monosyllabic 'communicate in looks' personality. Megan had brown hair, like Jethro had when he was younger, as well as his blue eyes. She had a much more excitable and talkative personality than her sister, though.
Putting Elizabeth at a table with her father and Grandpa Jack resulted in three people who just silently understood each other, needing no communication to feel comfortable or at ease with one another. Megan, on the other hand, was right at home with kindred spirits when she was among Tony and Abby.
Megan scampered back in the room, holding two of the barbies Abby had given the girls—a dark haired Ken doll and a redheaded Barbie. Megan tossed them on the bed and pulled herself back up the bed with Jenny's assistance. She grabbed the dolls and moved onto Jenny's lap, snuggling up against her, and held the dolls out to her.
"Story," she requested, her cute w sound making Jenny smile.
Jenny finally realized what story she was asking for. Months ago, she had told them a story about two spies who fell in love, using the barbies as props.
It was basically her and Jethro's story, just a much more tame and slightly tweaked version. Not that her girls knew that—they were too young to understand or care about how their parents had met. As far as they were concerned, their parents solely existed to be their parents.
"You mean the story about Penny and Ken, the super secret spies?" Jenny asked playfully, taking the barbies from her.
"Penny and Kenny," the little girl corrected.
"Oh, sure, 'Kenny'," Jenny amended, smirking about Jethro being known as 'Kenny' and the rhyming names.
She thought for a minute about how she would tell it this time, not really remembering how she had told it last time.
"Once upon a time, there were two spies, and their names were Penny and Kenny," Jenny began, holding a doll in each hand. "Kenny was Penny's boss, and he taught her everything she knew about catching bad guys. They worked with two other spies named Stanley and William, and a Doctor named Donny, and they all made a really good team...they were like a family of spies."
Jenny paused for a few seconds, trying to figure out how to best summarize the story, make it child friendly, and perhaps make it more sleep inducing as opposed to exciting. It was past the girls bedtime.
"One day, the guy who ran the good guy spy agency decided to send Kenny and Penny to Paris, because there were some really bad guys that they needed to watch out for. They had to stay in a super secret room in a building and hide from the bad guys, so that they could take pictures of them...so that the good guys would know what the bad guys looked like," Jenny continued, feeling a little lame as she tried to explain what their mission was in the simplest terms.
She knew it didn't really matter, because the little girls were not really absorbed in the story anyways. They were both just avoiding going to bed, even though they were tired—evidently, they both picked up the stubborn gene from their parents.
"Kenny and Penny fell in love while they were in Paris," Jenny continued, smirking to herself and even blushing as she thought about the real life situation. 'Fell in love' was her child friendly way of saying 'went at it like starved rabbits'. She had the barbies kiss, doing a kissing sound for effect, making Megan giggle.
"They ended up going all over Europe catching bad guys together, with the help of William and Donny too," she continued, glancing to her side where Elizabeth was drifting off, her hand on the book in her lap going limp. Megan was tiredly watching as Jenny moved the barbies around, her eyes blinking a lot as she tried to fight sleep.
Jethro got home and closed the door quietly, thinking that by now the girls were probably in bed. He hung his coat up, put his keys away, and then locked his sidearm up in the safe. He rubbed his eyes and stretched before he started up the stairs stealthily.
He glanced into the girls bedroom, surprised to find that the light was still on and it was empty, and headed to his and Jenny's room next.
He peaked in the room, his eyes landing on all his girls snuggled up together. Books and stuffed animals were scattered among them, and Jenny appeared to be telling a story. Elizabeth was asleep at Jenny's side, while Megan was rapidly drifting off in Jenny's lap.
The sight made him grin. It was certainly a welcoming one after a long and grueling day at work.
He stood quietly by the doorway, not making himself known as he just watched and listened.
"When they were done with their spy missions in Europe, Kenny was going to go back home, and Penny decided to go help a different team in another part of the world. Penny didn't tell Kenny that she wasn't going to go back home with him, because she didn't know how...she loved him too much."
Jenny paused after her voice caught, and Jethro watched her take a moment. She looked down in her lap, where Megan had finally fallen asleep, and she smiled and brushed her hands through the little girl's hair.
She apparently decided to finish the story, even though they were both asleep. She continued, sounding as if she was talking more to herself rather than telling a story.
"Penny left behind a note to Kenny, explaining that she had taken a different assignment for NCIS in another part of Europe. It was the cowards way out, and she knew it, but she couldn't stand to face him...because she knew she wouldn't be able to leave if she had to look into those annoying blue eyes of his."
Jethro smirked and stepped into the room.
"'Annoying blue eyes', huh?" He whispered as he walked over to the bed.
Jenny looked up and flushed a little.
"Jethro, you're home," she said quietly, sounding relieved, a smile lighting her face as their eyes met.
He nodded his head and smiled back at her, leaning down to give her a quick kiss.
"Think you should finish the rest of the story," he said, gently sitting down on the edge of the empty side of the bed next to her.
"You already know how the rest of the story goes. Besides, the girls are already asleep," she pointed out.
"Might need a refresher, I'm gettin' old," he joked, chuckling to himself.
"I won't argue with that, you old man," she teased, smirking at him. She reached across him and put the dolls down on the nightstand, and then glanced between him and the girls. "I guess it couldn't hurt to finish the story," she relented, putting her hand in his and intertwining their fingers.
"Kenny knew—"
"'Kenny', Jen?" He questioned, feeling a little disgusted by the name choice. "Penny's understandable, but 'Kenny'?"
"The male dolls are called 'Ken', but Megan decided Kenny is better. It's certainly a more normal name than 'Jethro'," she stated, giving him a mocking smile.
He rolled his eyes at her.
"Anyways, before I was rudely interrupted," she began again, swatting his knee. "Kenny knew that Penny leaving him was a mistake, because they were in love and they needed to be together. Though," she paused, looking up at Jethro with an accusatory look, "he was the imbecile who wouldn't admit that he was in love with her in the first place, which is probably why Penny decided to leave, because she thought he didn't love her the way she loved him."
"Hey, already said I was sorry, how many more times you gotta hear it?" He asked defensively.
"Another time wouldn't hurt," she replied, batting her eyelashes at him.
He snorted and shook his head.
"Fine, 'm sorry," he said, getting more comfortable next to her and leaning in to nuzzle her neck.
"Hmm," she sighed contently as his lips brushed against her neck. "Think we should get the girls into their own beds," she said, pushing his face away.
"Gotta finish the story first," he insisted childishly, smirking at her.
"Well, Kenny went after Penny, and he told her she was making a mistake, and he finally told her how much he loved her. They kissed and made up, a lot," she said suggestively, making him raise his eyebrows in amusement.
"Long story short; they opened up about everything, decided to be honest with each other about their pasts, and they came back to the States. Somehow, the sorry man managed to convince the hot babe to marry him—even though he'd already had two failed marriages," she mocked, making him glare at her.
"They got married, continued to enjoy their careers, and they had two beautiful daughters," Jenny said, smiling at their kids while he squeezed her hand. "To this day," Jenny said dramatically, "Penny doesn't know why she puts up Kenny, when she could have married a younger and hotter looking man."
"Hey," he protested, pinching her thigh in retaliation.
"I'm sorry, what I meant to say was; 'and they all lived happily ever after'," she said with a laugh. She put her face close to his and put her hand on his cheek. "Penny knows she actually got the hottest and manliest guy around," she said seriously, kissing him. He put his hand on her neck and deepened the kiss, pulling back when he heard a quiet snore.
"Think you're right, I'm gonna put the kids in bed," he said, getting up.
He reached into Jenny's lap and scooped up little Megan, the child's eyes fluttering open as he did so. She craned her head and looked up at him.
"Daddy," she said with a tired sigh. "I missed you," she said, patting his chest as her eyes closed again.
"I missed you too, Megs," he responded, smiling at the little girl as he carried her to her room. He placed her down on her little bed and began to tuck her in, while Jenny appeared in the room with Elizabeth in her arms.
"I could've gotten her, Jen, she's gettin' pretty big," he pointed out.
"I wanted to help put them to bed anyway," she said as she heaved the other girl onto her bed and pulled the covers over her.
Jethro wandered over to where she was, looking down at Elizabeth, whose eyes were blinking open and taking in her surroundings. She looked up at him and smiled, and he smiled back.
"Night Liza, we love you," he whispered, leaning down to kiss her forehead and brush his hand across her red curls.
"Goodnight sweetheart," Jenny whispered next.
"Night, Mommy and Daddy," she said, closing her eyes and snuggling more comfortably in her bed while Jenny kissed her cheek.
They both went over to Megan, who was fast asleep.
Jethro leaned down and kissed her forehead next, patting her head too.
"Night Megs, we love you," he echoed, pulling back and letting Jenny kiss her cheek too.
They both quietly exited the room, turning off the light on the way and leaving the door open just a crack.
"Damn good thing Kenny went after Penny," Jenny said, turning to him and putting her hands on his chest, letting them wander up to the back of his neck.
"Damn good thing Penny agreed to marry the 'sorry man'," he retorted, placing his hands at her waist and moving them to rest at her butt. He leaned down to kiss her, grateful to finally be home and have some alone time with her.
She pulled back and grabbed his hand, pulling him down the hall with her to their bedroom.
"Damn good thing we have our own room and a lock on the door so that we don't completely traumatize our children," she said with a chuckle.
He pulled her back towards him, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck.
"Jen," he mumbled against her neck, "I love you."
"I love you too," she replied, her breath hitching. "I'm serious about the room and locking door thing, though," she said as she squirmed away from him and tugged him to into their room.
"That's a damn good thing, too," he retorted, admiring her ass as she pulled him behind her.
"You bet it is," she said as she pulled them into their room and shut the door behind them. "I'm better than you deserve at your advanced age, Kenny," she quipped, looking far too pleased with herself.
He opened his mouth to reply, but found himself silenced as she pushed him against the door and attacked his mouth with hers.
He smiled into the kiss, putting one hand up to caress her cheek, and tangling the other in her hair.
He broke apart from her so they could both breathe for a couple of seconds.
"Callin' me 'Kenny' really does it for ya, huh?" He teased, smirking at her.
She gave him a mischievous look and put her lips up to his ear, her hot breath making his mind stop for second.
"Nothing will ever do it for me as much as 'Jethro' can," she purred, nipping at his earlobe.
A soft knock suddenly sounded at the door that she still had him pinned against.
Jenny let out a frustrated groan and her head fell against his chest. He closed his eyes for a second and tried to collect his thoughts and refocus. Jenny backed away and nudged him away from the door so she could open it.
"What's wrong, Elizabeth?" He heard Jenny ask, the genuine worried tone in her voice instantly making his protective instinct kick in.
He looked over and saw his daughter standing at the door in tears, looking frightened. He knelt down and pulled his little girl into his arms, letting her cry into his shoulder as he stroked her hair.
"You have a bad dream, Liza?" He asked.
He felt her shake her head.
"You feeling scared?" He asked next.
She nodded her head this time.
He scooped her up with him as he stood up, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. Jenny kissed her daughter's cheek and rubbed her back.
"It's okay, baby. We're here, you're safe," she assured her daughter soothingly.
Jethro and Jenny looked at each other, silently communicating through looks. Much as they had looked forward to finally spending some time with each other, they both understood that their daughter needed them.
"You want me to read to you?" Jethro asked his daughter.
She turned her head and looked at him, nodding yes. He smiled at her.
"I'll get some books we didn't already read. I needed to put this stuff away anyways," Jenny said. She gathered the books, dolls, and toys that had been left sitting on the nightstand from earlier and disappeared from the room.
Jethro turned to the bed and lowered his daughter into the middle of it, laying down next to her on one side.
"Make sure to thank your mom when she comes back with the books, okay, sweetie?"
"Okay, daddy," she agreed.
"That's my girl," he praised, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
She beamed at him and he ruffled her hair.
Jenny came back in and settled down on the other side of Elizabeth, handing him the books she had brought.
"Thank you, mommy," Elizabeth said promptly, looking up at her.
"You're very welcome," she replied, hugging her daughter to her side and kissing her on the cheek.
Jethro looked down at the books she had chosen; The Giving Tree, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and The Rainbow Fish.
He gave Jenny a grateful smile before he flipped the first book open, all of them snuggling up together so they could see the book.
"Once there was a tree..."
Jethro woke up early the next morning, the pink hue of the sunrise casting into the room. He rubbed a hand across his face and blinked his eyes open, letting them adjust. He looked to his side, where his other hand was trapped underneath Jenny's head.
Both of their girls were in their bed with them. Elizabeth was sprawled out near the foot of the bed now, her head by Jethro's legs and her feet stretched across Jenny's legs. Megan was cuddled up next to him, her tiny little hand resting on his stomach, while Jenny's arm was draped over her.
He focused on all his peaceful looking girls, a grin spreading on his face as he realized how immensely happy and grateful he was. He couldn't imagine a life without all of them in it, and he would never take for granted the fact that Jenny had given him an entirely new existence.