Thanks for all the reviews lovelies. We're coming to a close on this one, so there won't be too many more month long breaks between posts. I know, I'm a horrible person. Thank for your patience, I hope you like it! :)

Jenny was pulled out of her sleep by the soft chimes of her doorbell resonating throughout the house. She heard Jethro groan beside her and she reached out across the bed to locate him with a soft swat to his chest.

"Jethro," she murmured hoarsely. He groaned louder, and a sleepy smirk graced her face. She felt the bed bounce as he got up in blue boxers with his hair sticking up in different directions.

The sharp yaps of the puppy that Kelly had started calling Pretzel after Jenny's sarcastic comment nearly a week ago echoed from his place in the crate in Jenny's bathroom.

"I hate that damn dog," Gibbs growled, and Jenny laughed.

She rolled over onto her back and stretched in the bed, her fingertips touching the headboard.

"Get used to him," she said. "Your daughter has grown very attached to him, and no one has come for him."

Gibbs grumbled something that was no doubt insulting to someone and yanked the bedroom door open. He padded through the hallway and down the stairs, squinting at even the dim light left on in the living room. It briefly crossed his mind that he really ought to put on pants, but about a split second after that he realized that he didn't care. He swung the door open, and e was wide awake in an instant.

Greeted by the twinkling blue eyes, raised brow and surprised smirk of Emilie O'Sullivan, Gibbs actually had the decency to color slightly. Emilie laughed, the skin around her eyes crinkling with amusement.

"Oh please," she waved him off as he stepped aside to let her in, simultaneously reaching for her bags. "I'm under no illusions regarding my granddaughter's honor," she said, her voice lilted with a diluted, but becoming accent that was a result of both her Irish childhood and French schooling. "I suppose she's sleeping, yes?" Emilie asked, and Gibbs nodded.

It was four in the morning. The entire East Coast was sleeping, but Emilie was running on Paris time.

Jenny came down the stairs dressed in a pair of silk pajama pants and a tank top, and smiled at seeing her grandmother.

"Mamie," she greeted her excitedly, and Emilie smiled brightly, holding her arms out to embrace the younger woman while Gibbs shut the door.

"What is this I hear about suicidal tendencies," Emilie murmured only half-jokingly with her arms around Jenny.

Jenny rolled her eyes and pulled back.

"Jethro overreacting," she sighed, locking eyes with the aforementioned man; and Emilie narrowed her eyes at the tension between the two of them. "How was your flight?" Jenny asked, and Jethro muttered something about putting Emilie's bags in the guest room.

Though in reality, he just wanted to find some pants.

"As well as a six hour flight could go," Emilie replied, undoing the blush-colored scarf around her neck.

She wiggled her slightly red nose with a sniffle as Jenny led her into the kitchen.

"I would have come to get you. You should've told me you were coming so early," Jenny said, waving in the direction of the table as an indication for her grandmother to sit while she started a pot of coffee.

"Yes, I certainly see how full of life you are at this hour," Emilie teased with a grin identical to the one Jenny often sported. "No matter, mon petit pois. I arrived, non?"

"Oui," Jenny replied patronizingly, dumping an ungodly amount of ground coffee into the top of the machine.

"You ought to just inject yourself with caffeine," Emilie teased, and Jenny laughed.

"Not out of the realm of possibility," she replied as the aroma of brewing coffee started to fill the kitchen.

When Jethro finally walked into the kitchen ten minutes later, both women sat at the kitchen table with a cup of steaming coffee in front of them. Jenny gestured animatedly with her hands while rapid-fire French poured out of her mouth—the caffeine clearly having kicked in—all while her grandmother merely smiled and dumped copious amounts of sugar and cream into her coffee.

All of a sudden, Emilie stopped and joined Jenny in hysterical laughter—and Jethro had absolutely no idea why. He shook his head and reached into the cabinet to grab a coffee mug.

The noise startled Jenny and she noticed him mid-conversation.

"Jesus, Jethro, you scared me," she sighed, holding a hand to her chest. "Make some noise when you walk into a room would you?"

"I'll tie bells and whistles to my ankles," he replied dryly, taking a sip of his coffee.

"I'd appreciate it," Jenny said, and there was an almost imperceptible, harsh edge behind the usual playful banter in her voice.

He either chose to ignore it or not hear it.

"You getting Kelly today, or me?" he asked, turning away from her to refill his cup.

"What time does she want to be picked up?" Jenny asked, looking up at him mildly over her cup as he turned to face her again.

"Six," he replied shortly. " Kids have a staff development day," he said, clearly annoyed with such excessive wording. "Maddie and her parents are driving to see Tom's parents."

Jenny smirked.

"Kelly left that part out when she asked to spend the night?" Jenny presumed; and she laughed when Gibbs said it all with a look.

"I told you, you ought to learn to say no," Jenny teased mercilessly, and Gibbs rolled his eyes. "I'll get her."

"Yeah," he agreed shortly. "Shower," he said, pointing upstairs, and set his cup in the sink.

Jenny nodded.

"Talk some sense into her, would you?" he asked of Emilie before he left, and Emilie laughed softly.

"Weren't you taking a shower?" Jenny asked, turning around in her chair halfway to look at him annoyance.

"I'll do my best," Emilie promised. "But you know, Jethro, O'Sullivan women can't be told a damn thing."

Gibbs grinned his crooked grin and shook his head before heading upstairs to take his shower.

"He's blowing things out of proportion," Jenny sighed, getting up to pour herself another cup of coffee.

"What was that there?" Emilie asked as Jenny returned to the table, and Jenny wrinkled her brow.

"What do you mean?" Jenny queried innocently, but soon squirmed under Emilie's piercing, knowing gaze and raised brow. "It's nothing," Jenny amended.

"You would like me to think so, I'm sure," Emilie said before taking a sip from her own cup.

"Mamie, you don't have to know everything," Jenny sighed in agitation, and Emilie leaned forward slightly.

"Au contraire," Emilie countered teasingly with a twinkle in her eye. "It's more necessary to my livelihood than oxygen or water."

Jenny smiled weakly, and Emilie eyed her with genuine concern.

"Jennifer," Emilie sighed, reaching across the table to grab her granddaughter's hand in her wrinkled one. "You look very sad, and he looks very guilty."

"Yes, well, I'm sure we've both looked that way for a long time," Jenny said, leaning back in her chair with a heavy sigh. "A lot has happened in six years."

Jenny rarely saw her grandmother, but she spoke to her often. However, not seeing Emilie allowed Jenny to dictate their conversations to an extent. Emilie knew that Jethro was no longer in the Marines and she knew the most up-to-date news on all things Kelly. She didn't know why Jethro left the military or that Jenny had once left Jethro.

"You don't know everything, Mamie," Jenny said simply, hoping the look in her eyes would ward her grandmother off.

"You mean, why you left 'hm two years ago?" Emilie asked, and Jenny nearly choked on her coffee. "Or why you live 'ere and not with him?" she continued. "Or why, uh, you 'ave not told him the real reasons you are working for NCIS?"

Jenny opened her mouth to speak but shut it back promptly, and merely shook her head. Her grandmother always had an eerie knack for finding out even the best kept secrets.

"That's really not a normal talent, you know?" was all Jenny finally said; and the corners of Emilie's lips turned up slightly.

"More than water and oxygen," was all she said, and Jenny laughed.

"You don't hate him?" Jenny asked, almost hurt that her grandmother seemed to feel no different about Jethro despite knowing what he did.

"Do you?" Emilie asked, and Jenny knitted her brow, shaking her head vehemently.

"No, of course not," Jenny insisted honestly. "At least not for that."

"Well," Emilie said with a shrug as if that were enough for her. There was a heavy silence between them before Emilie spoke again. "You know that man has no idea how deep your pain runs."

"And you do?" Jenny demanded, meaning it to come out in a joking tone though it was nearer to accusatory.

"Oh yes," Emilie replied calmly. "I've known since you first told me you were becoming an agent. There is only one reason you wanted this job, Jennifer; and it was not for change."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jenny insisted angrily, her green eyes flashing dangerously as her hands tightened around her mug.

Emilie ignored the lie, and continued speaking in the same infuriatingly calm tone that managed to terrify Jenny at the same time.

"Jethro called me 'ere because he is concerned for your life, and fears you have no concern for it. he does not realize that you are so concerned with avenging your father's death that you are willing to sacrifice anything to do so."

"French,"Jenny pleaded shortly, well aware that she confirmed her grandmother's accusations in doing so.

Emilie had little else to say, but she fell into French anyway.

"Just remember that he cares for you. And that little girl worships the ground that you walk on. You will never forgive yourself if you hurt them getting where you want to go."

"I know that!" Jenny shot back before she exhaled shakily in an attempt to calm herself. "I'm not throwing myself in the path of some psycho to further my career; and don't ever suggest that Kelly is less important to me than any vendetta that I may have."

"But you're falling that way, Jennifer," Emilie said. "You're so certain that you would never put her second that you won't realize when you do."

Jethro walked into the kitchen, and Jenny cleared her throat as she stood up from the table. Her grandmother caught her by the wrist, and Jenny met her imploring gaze. Jenny nodded quickly in understanding, and Emilie released her.

"I need to get ready to get Kelly," Jenny announced. "Make yourself at home, Mamie."

When Jenny walked into the Tyler house, Ellen greeted her with a sunny disposition that Jenny could not dream of attaining at six in the morning no matter how many cups of coffee she had.

"Hi El," Jenny murmured with a smile.

"The girls are still dragging themselves out of bed," Ellen laughed, leading the way up the stairs.

"I'm still dragging myself out of bed," Jenny joked wryly.

"I'm sorry to get you up so early. I would've brought her home, but Tom's mother acts like we killed her dog if we throw off her schedule by one measly minute. The only thing the woman does all day is watch her neighbors, and make her husband rearrange her furniture. She has no schedule to disrupt."

Jenny laughed as they walked into Maddie's room. Both girls laid passed out on Maddie's bed, snoring.

"Kelly!" Jenny shouted, and Kelly shot upright, looking around wildly while Maddie's eyes shot wide open. Jenny and Ellen fell into a fit of laughter, and their daughter's glares only served to intensify it. "Rise and shine, honey," Jenny said, and Kelly's glare turned into a disgruntled pout. She sighed heavily, and rolled out of bed onto the floor and she crawled over to her bag. "Really, Kelly, walk," Jenny sighed, fighting a smile.

"Too tired," Kelly mumbled, and Jenny walked over to help her get her things together while Ellen tried to coax Maddie out of bed. Kelly looked up at Jenny with pitiful, tired eyes. "Will you carry me?" she asked.

"Oh, no," Jenny refused. "If I have to be awake and walk out of here at the crack of dawn, so do you, kid." Kelly groaned theatrically and threw her head down onto her knees before she sat back up and looked at Jenny like she had taken away her reason for living. "Come on," Jenny laughed, brushing the pieces of hair falling out of Kelly's ponytail away from her face.

"Fine," Kelly sighed, pushing herself to her feet before she bent over to throw her bag over her shoulder like it was full of bricks.

"Bye, Ellie," Jenny said, waving with a smile as Ellen literally dragged her daughter out of bed. "Have a safe trip."

"If we ever get started," Ellen sighed in exasperation when her daughter held onto her bed post. "Madeleine!" Ellen barked, and Maddie let go with whine. "Thanks, I'll call you when we get there," she said to Jenny before redirecting her attention to her daughter. "Clothes, now," she ordered as Jenny left the room with Kelly.

Five minutes into the ride home, Jenny glanced over at Kelly. The brunette had propped her elbow on the arm rest of her door and rested her head on her curled fist.

"Kelly," Jenny called, shaking her gently. Kelly grunted, not unlike her father, in response; and Jenny laughed. "Do you remember Nan?" she asked. "Kelly," Jenny prompted, forcing the young girl to venture into the land of the living.

"Who?" Kelly asked, still looking slightly dazed.

"Nan, my grandmother. I call her Mamie," Jenny reminded her, but Kelly shook her head.

"Not really," she replied, and Jenny nodded.

"No, I guess you wouldn't. You've only met her twice or so," Jenny murmured, and took her eyes off the road for a moment to look at Kelly.

The little girl really did look exhausted, and Jenny decided to take pity on her.

"I just didn't want you to be surprised if she was up when you got home is all," Jenny said. "Go back to sleep."

Kelly nodded in agreement and leaned her head back against the door.

When Jenny pulled into her driveway, it was easy to see Jethro's blue truck on the side of the street where she had missed it the previous night.

"Kelly," Jenny called out softly, stroking the child's cheek with the backs of her fingers. Kelly merely mumbled in disgruntlement and Jenny smiled. "Kelly, wake up," she said more forcefully. Kelly opened her eyes and turned to look at Jenny. "We're home, come on," Jenny prompted, and Kelly inhaled deeply before exhaling heavily through her nose.

"Okay," Kelly replied, her voice hoarse and slurred with sleep, and Jenny smiled before she got out of the car.

She took Kelly's bag from her when she walked around to the passenger side door.

"Thank you," Kelly said gratefully as Jenny shut the door behind her and led the child toward the house with her hand on Kelly's back.

Jenny turned her key in the door and let Kelly go ahead of her while she shut the door behind them and locked it. She nearly jumped out of her skin with a gasp when she turned around. Kelly had disappeared, while Jethro seemed to have materialized out of thin air and was standing in the archway between the hall and the foyer.

"Jethro," she exhaled, holding her hand to her chest.

"You alright, Jen?" he asked, genuine concern etched into his face.

"I'm fine," she insisted, walking toward the stairs. "Why?"

"You're jumpy as hell this morning," he said, walking toward her; and she stayed put, resting her hand on the banister.

"I'm fine." Jenny repeated. "You're just quieter than usual is all," she added lamely, backing into the other banister as he got closer. "Why aren't you leaving for work?" she asked, eyeing him warily.

It was six-thirty on a Thursday. Given the argument they'd had, she expected him to be throwing himself into old cases and ignoring her.

"Jenny," he started, lowering his voice; and he towered over her with his hand gripping the banister she was leaning against. "What I said the other night. I didn't, ah—I didn't mean to hurt you when I said it, Jen," he said, his blue eyes sad and pleading even while his face remained ironically impassive.

Jenny ran the tip of her tongue over her top lip, seeing that he was going to ignore her inquiry about work.

"I know," Jenny assured him—and she did know. She sighed heavily. "I told you not to lie to me and you didn't."

He ran his hand over his morning scruff roughly before he spoke.

"I wouldn't've resented you, Jen," he insisted, and she smiled weakly.

"You would have, Jethro," she said, her large, green eyes boring into his.

She knew it and he knew it. He let his arm slip off the banister back to his side, and she saw the guilt in his eyes. She cupped his cheek with her hand.

"Maybe you wouldn't now-I don't know-but back then you would have," she said.

"I don't want you to be her, Jenny," he insisted, his voice raw with pain, and she understood the double meaning in his words. "I know the difference."
She tilted her head to the side and inhaled through her nose with pursed lips, looking up at him.

"Jethro, I know that," she sighed, leaning into him slightly as she felt his fingertips curl around her hip. Her voice quieted to something near a whisper. "But you can't control what happens to me, just like you couldn't control what happened to her." She paused, and her voice was stronger when she spoke again. "Until you understand that, you won't be happy with me."

Gibbs glared at her, resenting the insinuation.

"I am happy with you," he growled fiercely, and Jenny laughed softly.

Jenny knew that he wanted to be; and that was what kept her there. But she had known for ten years that there were times when he would rather be sleeping next to a ghost.

"Keep telling yourself that, and maybe one day it'll be true," she murmured with a twinkle in her eyes behind the sadness there.

He just narrowed his eyes at her, screwing his face up in frustration, trying to come up with something to say to her. He loved Shannon, and the way his wife had been taken from him would never permit him to stop loving her; but that didn't mean he loved Jenny any less.

He settled for a hoarse, "Jen."

"It's alright, Jethro," she said. "You'll get there," she soothed. "And I'll be here." She paused before spoke again.

"I want it to be your choice, Jenny," Jethro said. "Don't do it 'cause you feel like you don't have another one."

Jenny eyed him with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Leroy," she teased him, raising a brow. "Are you implying that I can't catch another man?"

"You know damn well that isn't it," he said. "Don't act like you haven't looked in a mirror lately."

Jenny just laughed genuinely before she smirked and he saw some of the light he had missed come back into her eyes.

"You callin' me pretty, Gibbs?" she asked with a smirk.

"I don't keep you around for your cooking," he jibed lightly, and Jenny gasped in mock outrage.

"Jethro!" she laughed, and shoved him. "I'm a damn good cook and you know it."

"Keep tellin' yourself that and maybe it'll be true," he mocked her, and she pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes.

"We'll be alright, Jethro," she murmured, resting her hand on his chest. "We will," she said, more for herself than him.

"I don't need to get there, Jen," Jethro insisted again. "I'm there—I don't—I can't get any happier, Jenny," he said, and Jenny smiled sadly.

"Oh, Jethro," she sighed. "I really hope that isn't true."

Jethro walked into Jenny's bedroom later that evening to wake her up from a nap and found Kelly sleeping beside her.

He smiled. Kelly never had been a particularly loud child, so it hadn't worried him when he hadn't heard anything from her for about thirty minutes. Jenny was napping, Emilie was napping. Kelly apparently figured she deserved a nap too. He bent over Jenny, and shook her gently.

"Jen," he called out, and rubbed a calloused thumb along her cheekbone. "Jen, wake up."

Jenny blinked her eyes lazily before she finally looked at him with heavy eyes.

"What time is it?" she asked hoarsely, and moved to stretch only to notice the child attached to her arm.

She smiled and slipped her arm out from Kelly's grasp to wrap it around the brunette instead. Kelly merely mumbled incoherently and snuggled further into Jenny's side with her head on Jenny's chest.

"1600," Jethro said quietly so as not to wake Kelly and Jenny wrinkled her brow a moment, before she managed to realize that was four 'o'clock through the still lingering haze of sleep.

"Okay," Jenny sighed. "Is my grandmother up?" she asked, and Jethro shook his head.

"Pretty jet lagged," he said, and Jenny murmured her agreement.

"I didn't even fly for six hours and I'm exhausted," she whispered.

"You look it," Jethro said, and Jenny glared at him half-heartedly.

"Why don't you sleep, Jen?" he suggested, but Jenny shook her head, sitting up and doing her best to get out of bed without waking Kelly.

She planted her feet on the floor and snatched her hair tie off of her night stand. She gathered her short hair into as much of a ponytail as she could manage, and glanced at Kelly once more before she led the way out of the room.

"Noemi won't be back until tomorrow, and someone has to cook," Jenny said as she walked down the hallway with Jethro.

"Order out," Jethro said as if that were the solution to everything, and Jenny laughed as they walked into the kitchen.

"Kelly and I may be used to your love for the greasy and fried but I refuse to subject my grandmother to overcooked Lo Mein," Jenny said, opening the refrigerator door.

"You love it," Jethro joked, and Jenny rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Need some help?" he asked, and Jenny raised a brow skeptically.

"Choppin' somethin'!" Jethro insisted, flinging his hand out at her current task.

"The last time I asked you to dice an onion you handed me chunks," Jenny laughed, chopping carrots.

"It was in pieces," Jethro defended himself. "What are you makin'?" he asked.

"Pork chops," Jenny replied absently, raking the chopped vegetables off into a bowl before she drizzled them with oil and sprinkled seasoning over them. She located a spoon and tossed them around in the bowl before she dumped them on a baking sheet and spread them out a bit.

"You look good in here," Jethro said, focusing more on the way she looked in her jeans than the way she was putting the vegetables in the oven.

"Do I?" Jenny asked, sauntering back over to the counter to quickly cut apples into slices before she started in on an onion.

Magda had always been able to chop an onion without so much as one tear, but Jenny had never gotten the hang of it. She turned away for a moment as she felt her eyes start to burn.

"Chauvinist," Jenny laughed and Jethro smirked from his place leaning against the counter.

He just shrugged. Being an agent fit Jenny, but this fit her too. Maybe it was the undercover work or the pregnancy scare or both, but damn if he wasn't thinking about her standing there holding a baby with green eyes and dark hair on her hip instead. He hated himself for it, but he was.

"Jethro," Jenny's forceful voice shook him out of his daze.

"What?" he asked absently.

"I said stop staring at me like that," Jenny chuckled nervously, looking up at him through her bangs before she set the chopped onion aside and walked away briefly to grab the meat out of the refrigerator. "What were you thinking about?" she asked, seasoning the pork chops heavily with salt.

"Nothin'," he said, shaking his head.

Jenny stopped and set her wrist on the counter, not touching anything with her hands.

"Jethro," she pressed.

"Jen," he mocked, and she sighed in exasperation, rolling her eyes before going back to preparing the food.

"Stressing me out entertains you, doesn't it?" she grumbled, chopping more forcefully than before.

"Yeah," Jethro agreed with a cocky grin that Jenny knew was there despite having her back turned to him. "Not just you though," he added, and Jenny laughed.

When Emilie walked downstairs forty minutes later, the house smelled of sweet meat and roasted vegetables. Jenny and Jethro sat on the couch speaking in hushed tones. Emilie wore silk pajama pants, a dark camisole and a heavy cardigan and her long white hair was twisted into a bun. The townhouse always was a little too cold for her tastes.

"It smells lovely," Emilie said, making her presence known.

Both Jenny and Jethro looked up in surprise and Emilie greeted them with a pleasant smile despite the suspicious, amused look in her eyes.

"Did you sleep well?" Jenny asked, trying to get out of Gibbs' grasp despite the tight grip he had on her.

"Very," Emilie said, and Jenny smiled.

"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes," Jenny said, glaring at Jethro while she struggled.

Emilie laughed.

"You did not have to cook for me Jenny," Emilie assured her as she walked into the living room.

Jenny ignored her grandmother for the time being, and turned to glare at the man holding her hostage.

"Do you want to eat or don't you?" she demanded, and smirked triumphantly when that got him to let her go. "Go wake Kelly would you?" Jenny requested, before she stood up too quickly and her head spun. Her balance wavered, and Jethro was out of his seat in an instant.

"Jen?" he asked, grabbing her by her shoulders with his brows knit in concern; but Jenny waved him off flippantly. "What's the matter with you?" he demanded nonetheless.

"I'm fine, Jethro," Jenny insisted, incredulous annoyance inching into her voice. "I stood up too fast. Don't blow an artery."

"You aren't, Jenny," he snapped, his eyes flashing. "You're seeing Duck tomorrow," he said, and Jenny scoffed.

"I will not bother Ducky with food poisoning," Jenny growled indignantly. "He has more important things to do than confirm what I already know," she snapped.

"I don't care what it is. I'm havin' Duck test it," Jethro said with an air of finality, and Jenny groaned.

"Fine," she agreed. "Waste his time then. Go wake Kelly up, please," she sighed before walking past him into the kitchen.

It was there that she found her grandmother, who had the manners to make herself scarce. However, that did not mean their argument had gone unheard.

"Bastard," Jenny grumbled, walking over to the stove, only to find that her grandmother had already turned it off. She moved to pull the food out, absentmindedly grabbing the hot pan with her bare hand. She cried out in pain and dropped the dish back on the rack. "God damn it!" she hissed.

Emilie was by her side quickly, pulling Jenny over to the sink. She turned on the faucet and held Jenny's hand under the cold water. Emilie said nothing, waiting for Jenny to speak instead.

"He thought I was pregnant," Jenny laughed bitterly. "Now he thinks I have some exotic disease. He goes from overbearing to acting like he could care less and back again."

"You've really ever thought he didn't care?" Emilie asked, clicking her tongue at the angry red marks on Jenny's hand.

"I don't know," Jenny admitted, rubbing her forehead with her good hand. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "No," she finally decided. "He just-God! He drives me insane," Jenny growled.

"As you do him," Emilie laughed, and turned the water off, grabbing a paper towel to dry Jenny's hand. "Where are the clean towels?" she asked.

"To your left," Jenny said, pointing to the drawer next to the sink.

Emilie grabbed ice cubes from the freezer and dumped them into a small plastic bag before she wrapped the bag in the towel and handed it to Jenny.

"There, hold that in your hand," she instructed.

"Thank you," Jenny murmured, curling her hand around the ice with a slight wince.

Kelly walked in ahead of her father and smiled politely at Emilie.

"Hi," she greeted her, but her immediate concern was Jenny.

"Mommy what happened to your hand?" she asked, tugging Jenny's arm down to inspect the damage.

"I forgot to use mitts when I took the food out," Jenny said, and laughed when Kelly looked up at her with judgmental amusement.

"That was smart," Kelly giggled sarcastically at Jenny's expense.

"I thought so," Jenny shot back primly despite her smile and Kelly laughed harder before she returned her attention to Emilie.

"I'm Kelly," she said with a bright smile while Jethro grabbed Jenny's hand for his own inspection behind them.

Emilie smiled at the child.

"I know," she replied. "I've met you before, though you've grown so much."

Kelly gasped, immediately apologetic.

"Oh! I'm sorry I didn't remember you," she apologized, and Emilie laughed, her blue eyes twinkling with the crinkling of the skin around her eyes.

"That's alright," she assured Kelly. "You were very young and it was only twice. Your maman has cooked good food though, so let us heat hmm?"

"Mhmm-hmm," Kelly agreed, nodding happily in anticipation. "She's a good cook, don't worry," she added, and Emilie laughed.

"I hope so. I taught her all that she knows," Emilie boasted as Jenny finally hissed at Jethro in annoyance and yanked her hand away from him.

"She did not," Jenny protested to Kelly, and glared at Jethro before turning to her grandmother. "I've learned a couple of things on my own since I was fifteen," Jenny said.

"Of course you have, dear," Emilie soothed in in teasing patronization, patting Jenny's arm.

Jenny gasped and both her mouth and eyes flew open in shock.

"Mamie!" she giggled. "I am trying to make my child believe I was born a culinary genius."

"It's okay, I'll pretend," Kelly said with a grin.

Jenny placed her hands on either side of Kelly's head and placed the crown theatrically.

"Thank you, baby," Jenny said just as theatrically, and Kelly giggled again shaking her head.

"Can we eat now?" Kelly asked, swaying from side to side energetically with a plate in her hand.

"Yes, Miss Impatience," Jenny teased, resting a hand on her head affectionately.

Kelly wrinkled her nose at Jenny, but grinned.

Jenny took the plate from her and hanged her a handful of silverware instead.

"Put those on the table, please," Jenny requested, and Kelly ran into the dining room with them. Jenny backed into Jethro accidentally and jumped forward, holding her hand to her chest.

"Jethro," she laughed breathlessly, and he took the plate from her.

"Go sit, I'll do this," he offered, and she bit her bottom lip, worried he would put it on the plate wrong. He rolled his eyes. "Fine, stand there and supervise while I do it," he amended, and Jenny smiled.

Jenny sat in autopsy the following day and grimaced when Ducky produced a needle. She moaned, and Ducky eyed her sympathetically.

"I do apologize for the pinch, my dear," he murmured, and Jenny looked away as the needle neared her skin.

She hissed in pain as it pierced her vein.

"It's Jethro's idiotic behavior that has me here, Ducky," she laughed. "You're only doing as I ask."

"Yes, well," he said, peering over his glasses as the syringe filled with dark red blood. "I apologize nonetheless."

He slid the needle out carefully and held a small piece of gauze over the puncture mark. Jenny took over the task and stood up.

"Thank you Ducky," she said with a grateful smile.

"Anything for you, my dear," Ducky insisted with a pleasant smile of his own. "I'll have this sent up to Mr. Hodges right away, and not to worry, he needn't know who the sample belongs to."

He saw Jenny exhale in relief.

"I appreciate that Ducky," Jenny said, but bit her lip, clearly wanting to say more. "Ducky," she called out abruptly, and he looked at her expectantly. "You remember when you came to see me as week ago?" she asked.

"I do," Ducky replied slowly, wondering if something had come of the subject of their conversation.

"You didn't say anything to Jethro about it, did you?" she asked, and Ducky wrinkled his brown.

"I promised to keep your confidences," he said as if that explained everything.

"It was a very bad day, Ducky. You have to understand that. I shouldn't have said what I did. It wasn't my place."

"I understand the gravity of it, my dear," Ducky soothed her. "Jethro will not hear it from me."

Jenny nodded, raking her hand through her hair.

"I need to get back," she laughed nervously. "Jethro will have my ass for being down here so long even if it was his idea." She stopped in front of the autopsy doors. "Thank you, Ducky."

He called after her as he walked through the autopsy doors.

"Although I do think he should hear it from you!"

Jenny strode into the bullpen and found Gibbs, Decker, and Burley standing around Gibbs' desk wearing identical stricken expressions.

Burley noticed her first, and there was none of the usual playful mischief in his eyes when he met her gaze.

"Jenny, you got to see this," he said, and the other two men looked up, noting her presence.

Jenny looked between the three of them in concerned confusion before her eyes settled on Gibbs.

"What?" she asked before her gaze fell to his desk. The color drained from her face when he realized what lied there. "Where did you get these?" she asked, lifting a photograph that had to be at least four years old by the age Kelly looked in the picture.

"Reed's apartment," Gibbs replied shortly. "He isn't obsessed with you 'cause of Boone. He's obsessed with Boone 'cause of you."

"That's not even half of 'em," Decker said as Jenny went through the pictures.

"Did you have a warrant?" she asked, looking up at the three of them. "This won't hold up without one," she said, motioning to the photographs.

"Thought I heard a disturbance," Gibbs said dryly, and Jenny smirked.

"Gibbs, I don't even know who this guy is. Why the hell is he so focused on me?" Jenny demanded.

"You know 'im," Gibbs countered, and Jenny wrinkled her brow.

He tossed a photograph in front of her that could have been Michael Reed if she squinted her eyes and tilted her head to the side. While the Michael Reed they had in their sights looked about ten years older than he was with a wild appearance, the man in the photo looked to be in his late twenties. With startling, gray eyes and a dazzling smile any woman would have looked twice at him. Despite the stark contrast between the two men, the name was the same; and Jenny recognized the man in the photograph.

"That wasn't his name," she said, snatching the photo up. "At least that's not what he told me." She looked up at Gibbs with lips parted in bewilderment. "I haven't seen him in five years, Gibbs. I mean he wasn't happy when I ended it, but Jesus. He wasn't obsessed with me or anything," she laughed, finally dismissing the suggestion as ridiculous. "He was a fireman."

Gibbs picked up a folder off of his chair-the folder he had first shown Jenny when they knew it was Michael Reed taking photos of her. He held it up in the air.
"I found these in the bag he left at the prison after interviewing Boone. That's why they were recent." He jabbed his index finger at the photos on his desk. "Those are the collection he's been workin' on ever since you broke it off."

Jenny looked through the photos slowly; and sure enough, none that she found went back any further than four or five years. She leaned heavily on Gibbs' desk and tilted her head to look up at him.

"Why now, Gibbs? Why after five years would he just up and start killing women who look like me?"

"He didn't," Gibbs said, and Jenny held a hand to her temple.

"Gibbs, you're hurting my head," she sighed in annoyance. "Stop with the guessing game and just tell me what the fuck is going on," she snapped, her eyes flashing.

Gibbs glared at her, but he stepped closer to her and complied.

"We only noticed because he's gotten kill-happy. He's been at it for over a decade, Jenny; but there were months or years between the killings. You didn't get away from Boone, Jenny. You got away from him."

"Jethro," Jenny laughed disbelievingly. Everything he was saying was ridiculous. The very notion that she had dated a serial killer for years was ludicrous. "I was dating him on and off from the time that Kelly was two to when she was what-five?" she asked. "I would have known, Jethro. I mean, I don't think he would have dated me for three years. If he had wanted to kill me, he would've."

"He targeted you, Jenny," Gibbs growled, getting fed up with her stubbornness. "There were no killings during the years you dated him, but there was one just before."

Gibbs handed her a photo of a woman with the expected red hair and green eyes.

"Laura Stone," Gibbs said. "She was murdered two months before he met you and started calling himself Thomas Scott. There wasn't a killing or attempted killing anywhere that matched the profile until summer of '96," he continued, and Jenny exhaled heavily, knowing what had happened that summer. "Any woman nineteen to thirty that was attacked in the DC area was first assumed to have been a target of Boone."

"There was skin under my nails, Gibbs," Jenny reminded him, daring him to find a way to explain that away.

Gibbs clenched his jaw, and Jenny detected a flash of guilt in his eyes, but he held her gaze as he spoke.

"We never got anything off of that, Jenny," he admitted. "It's why your case is still open. We just assumed and associated your case with Boone. He was the biggest lead we had on your case, and it made sense."

"What does this say about my taste in men?" she laughed disbelievingly, and all three men around her looked at her like she had grown another head.

"That's all you have to say?" Burley asked incredulously.

Jenny thrust her hand out at him.

"Think about it. Every long term relationship I've ever had turned out to be with a lunatic."

"Hey!" Gibbs protested indignantly, and Jenny looked at him with a brow raised.

"Everyone already knows you're not all there, Gibbs," she dismissed him flippantly. "I knew what I was getting into with you. You don't count."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at her, unsure if he was teasing or serious.

"I need to-" she broke off. "Restroom," she sighed, snatching her hair out of its hair tie; and Burley and Decker stepped aside to let her in between them.

"She doesn't look so good, Boss," Burley said, and Gibbs threw the folder he held onto his desk.

"I know," he sighed, and he only stayed there a minute before he went after her.

He threw the door open, and she jumped at her place in front of the mirror before she glared at him and rolled her eyes.

"This is the ladies' room, Gibbs," she said, smirking. "You can't jut treat the abuse the door and treat it with the lack of respect for barriers that you give every other one."

Jenny looked up in the mirror as a female agent exited one of the stalls. The woman saw Gibbs and her eyes widened before she hastened past him without bothering to wash her hands.

"What did you do before I got here, eat probationary agents?" she laughed.

Gibbs locked the door, and Jenny turned around to face him with an eyebrow raised. She leaned back against the sink with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Aren't there enough rumors about us without you feeding the fire?" she quipped with a grin, but he walked toward her with a knowing look.

"Jenny," he prompted simply, and she drew her lips into a thin line.

"You knew," she laughed, but there no amusement in it. She looked up at him with her brows knitted angrily. "You knew that I had nothing to do with that case, but you still put me through hell for it and you lied to my face, Gibbs!" she hissed with bared teeth, her green eyes flashing as she dropped the facade.

"I did what I had to to keep you safe," Gibbs growled, emphasizing he end of his sentence by jabbing his finger in her face.

"Don't!" Jenny barked. "Don't you dare stand there and lie to me again Gibbs," she snarled. "All I heard for months was how I was in danger and excuses that you were never home because you were trying to keep me safe!" she spat before a shadow fell across her face and he saw the feeling of betrayal in her eyes. "The most dangerous person to me is you. I have never been safer than when I kept you at a distance."

He flinched involuntarily albeit imperceptibly.

"I wanted your case solved, Jen," he said. "The Boone case was my biggest lead." He was silent a moment, and when she failed to interject he spoke again without sympathy. "And I damn sure won't stand here and apologize for it. That bastard might still be out there if I hadn't caught 'im, Jenny."

"Well, congratulations, Jethro," Jenny praised him sarcastically, looking at him with tired eyes. "It's good to know your priorities are in order."

"Don't try to turn this on me, Jenny," Gibbs snapped lowly, and Jenny shook her head. "You can't make it my fault you're pissed 'cause I was going after a serial killer instead of holdin' your hand."

Jenny scoffed in shock and closed her eyes, scratching her forehead.

"No," she finally agreed. "It isn't your fault. It's mine.

She tilted her head to the side and rubbed her fingertips across her forehead and into her hair before she stood up straight. She rested her index finger on her lips before she spoke.

"I thought I knew what I was getting into with you, Jethro; but I had no idea."

She looked down at the white linoleum floor for a moment before she looked back up at him with guilt in her eyes as she decided to take Ducky's suggestion.

"Ducky knows," Jenny admitted quietly. "About Shannon." She saw the anger blooming in Gibbs' face, but she continued. "I made a throwaway comment a week ago. It was an accident."

Gibbs jaw jumped and he narrowed his eyes for a split second before his face was a mask of stone again.

"What'd you say?" he asked tightly.

"Does it matter?" Jenny demanded in exasperation.

"Yes!" Gibbs barked sharply, and Jenny drew back in surprise before she steeled her features against him.

"That the only person who'd ever been able to hold you down was her," Jenny sighed. She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead before letting her arms swing back down by her side. "I had been drinking and it slipped."

"What the hell do you mean it slipped, Jenny?" Gibbs demanded. "That's not somethin' you just let slip."

"Well, I didn't use those exact words," she bit back. "It was a sarcastic comment and I didn't realize what I'd said until it was too late."

"You had no right, Jenny," Gibbs told her, and Jenny scoffed.

"You think I don't know that, Gibbs?" she shot back. "It wasn't my place. I know that."

"Why'd you say it?" he asked, and Jenny realized that he was not talking about her loose tongue.

She parted her lips slightly and licked her lips before she replied.

"He came to see me at the townhouse when you suspended me," she said, bitter annoyance in her voice at the memory of her suspension and the corner of Gibbs' mouth turned up in a small smirk. "Kelly was there running around, and-" Jenny stopped with a sigh. "It just slipped, Jethro."

Jenny had never planned to have a child with Jethro because at the back of her mind she had always been afraid he would disappear-whether it was because of his being a Marine or because as time went on , she started to lose faith in how reliable he could be. She knew that he loved Kelly more than anything, but Jenny had always felt that part of that was because she was the only thing he had left of the first woman he had ever loved. She also knew that any child she had would never hold that same importance, and it had always kept her wary. She had said as much to Ducky in so many words, but she had never said it to Jethro; and she had no intention of doing so.

"Alright," Gibbs acquiesced tightly with a curt nod. "You'll be alright?" he asked, and Jenny nodded with a dismissive shrug.

"Fine," she replied, hoping he would leave when the watery taste in her mouth indicated that she was going to be sick again.

He rubbed the back of his neck and nodded again before he unlocked the door and left, letting it swing shut behind him.

Jenny bolted into the nearest stall and threw up what little she had in her stomach. She leaned heavily on the porcelain fixture, breathing raggedly, before she stood up with an agitated groan. She held the back of her hand to her lips and flushed the toilet.

She walked to the sink and rinsed her mouth and hands before she looked at herself in the mirror.

"Damn it," she sighed heavily in defeat.

She didn't need a blood test to tell her what was wrong with her. She knew what Ducky would say.

"That bastard," she muttered, yanking a paper towel out of he dispenser to dry her hands.

When Jenny got home, Noemi was back and appeared in the foyer with a smile at the sound of the door. Jenny heard Jethro's car drive away as he hung her coat up and turned to face Noemi with a tired smile of her own.

"Noemi, how's Magda?" Jenny asked, and Noemi winkled her brow in concern at Jenny's appearance.

"She's good," Noemi drawled. "Although I can't say the same for you. You don't look so hot."

Jenny laughed, walking past Noemi into the living room.

"Yeah, well," was all she said, bending over to grab a toy of Kelly's that was sticking out from under the couch.

Jenny was about to inquire after Noemi's own well-being when Kelly appeared with Emilie at her side.

"Mom!" she greeted her excitedly.

"Hi, honey," Jenny replied, managing a smile. She patted the couch beside her weakly, indicating that Kelly should sit. "Hi, Mamie," Jenny murmured.

Emilie smiled in response but there was question in her eyes. She had immediately picked up on her granddaughter's run-down appearance. Jenny shook her head slightly, following Kelly with her eyes as the young brunette hopped onto the couch beside Jenny, and propped her feet up in her lap.

"How was school?" Jenny asked, resting her hands on Kelly's shins.

"Good," Kelly replied earnestly, tossing her wavy, dark hair over her shoulders. "I passed my math test, and I got a hundred on my spelling quiz. And I got my tenth star for it, so I got a homework pass."

Jenny raised her eyebrows with a proud smile.

"You did?" Jenny asked, surprised. "That's great, baby. I'm so proud of you."

Kelly smiled, pleased with the praise and continued on telling Jenny about her school day. Jenny just rested her head against the couch, content to listen intently to Kelly's high speed recount of the day.

An hour later, Kelly was on the phone with Maddie and Jenny had just taken a shower. Noemi was cooking, and Emilie sat in the living room with a book in her hand.
Emilie looked up as Jenny walked into the living room, her damp red hair falling in her face.

"You look terrible," Emilie said bluntly, and Jenny laughed, truly amused.

"Oh, merci, Mamie," she giggled, but waved her grandmother off. "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired."

Emilie raised a brow skeptically at her granddaughter over her reading glasses, and set her book down. She pursed her lips and resumed reading her book.
"You're a little pregnant," she murmured sarcastically, flipping the page of her novel.

Jenny stopped in her place and looked at her grandmother in shock. Emilie looked up at Jenny's lack of a response and laughed sympathetically.

"Oh, darling, you weren't exactly hiding it well," Emilie insisted. "You've certainly never had such ample cleavage before," she remarked, and Jenny let out a squeak of indignant surprise.

"Mamie," she gasped, a little insulted. She never thought there was anything wrong with her breasts.

Emilie ignored her and continued with her criticism.

"You're ill ten times a day, and you look like you're ready to collapse."

"Did you ever consider that I might just be sick?" Jenny grumbled, walking over to sit by Emilie. Emilie glared at her, and Jenny threw her hands up in surrender. "Fine, I'm not sick," she gave in.

"What do you intend to do?" Emilie asked, setting her book aside. She took her glasses off and held them between her fingers.

Jenny shrugged childishly, and Emilie was reminded of a much younger Jennifer Shepard. Jenny stared blankly ahead, tugging her top lip between her teeth.
"I don't know how to tell him," Jenny admitted. "He doesn't want a child with me, Mamie. He said it himself."

"What he wants doesn't matter," Emilie insisted forcefully. "You cannot hide it from him."

"I don't think I'll have to," Jenny sighed, leaning back against the couch with closed eyes, and rested her crossed arms on her forehead. "I don't have the best luck with this kind of thing."

"Jennifer," Emilie murmured, and Jenny sat up again.

"Mamie, it isn't something to be pity. It's just a fact. I've been pregnant three times in my life, and I've miscarried every time," Jenny said shortly.
"I am not pitying you," Emilie protested, but Jenny held up a hand.

"You are," Jenny insisted harshly before she licked her lips and softened her tone. "And I appreciate the concern, but I don't need it. I made peace with the fact that I probably wouldn't have my own children years ago. Kelly is enough."

Emilie eyed her sagely.

"Jennifer, you can't make a decision like that based on what might happen," Emilie scolded gently.

"I know that," Jenny agreed. "If I get past three months of this I'll decide. But until then, I don't need another argument with him over something that won't matter in a few weeks." Jenny bit the inside of her cheek and pursed her lips before she spoke again, trying to sound as unaffected as she could. "It'll happen, and I'll manage. I always have."

Emilie shook her head in frustration.

"Jenny," she pleaded, but Jenny shook her head.

"That's it, Mamie. That's my decision," Jenny snapped with finality. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"Too bad," Emilie snapped back, her eyes flashing and her accent became more pronounced in her anger. "I am 'ere because Jethro feels that you are being careless. And I can see why. It is more than your own life at stake 'ere! You cannot just decide not to deal with something because it is too 'ard."

"I'm not!" Jenny shot back petulantly.

"You are!" Emilie barked, and Jenny stood there, effectively chastised. Her grandmother rarely took such a tone with her, but when she did Jenny knew that it was best to quiet. It did not matter if she was three or thirteen or thirty.

Jenny glared at her grandmother and set her jaw with a heavy exhale through her nose.

"And just what do you suggest I do instead?" Jenny asked coolly, crossing her arms.

"You might start with taking care of yourself," Emilie replied, and Jenny inclined her head mildly.

"Alright," Jenny agreed slowly. "I'll see a doctor."

Ducky. She would see Ducky, but her grandmother didn't need to know that.

"Good," Emilie said, nodding curtly as she set her glasses back on her nose and resumed reading.

Jenny glared at the almost undetectable smirk of triumph on Emilie's lips.

"It's rude to gloat," Jenny called her out with childish disgruntlement.

Emilie grinned but merely murmured a sound of unconcerned agreement and continued reading.

Finally, it dawned on Jenny that her grandmother may be very good at picking up on things and she knew the people around her very well. However, she had help.

"Heather," Jenny said abruptly, turning to look at her grandmother. "Heather tells you things. That's how you know so much."

"And you tell me things about her," Emile laughed. "Your sister is not the only person who reveals things to me about your life, however," she added cryptically.
Jenny growled low in her throat, and Emilie patter her leg sympathetically.

Later that night, Kelly at on Jenny's bed with the phone to her ear while Jenny braided her hair.

"Okay," Kelly said. "Bye Daddy."

She reached back over her shoulder, holding the phone out to Jenny.

"He wants to talk to you," Kelly said, and Jenny secured Kelly's hair with a tie before she took the phone and patted Kelly's side.

"All done," Jenny announced, and Kelly bounced around onto her knees to face Jenny.

"Thanks, Mom," she replied gratefully with a dimpled smile. She threw her arms around Jenny briefly and Jenny kissed her temple automatically. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, sweetheart," Jenny said, holding the phone to her chest, and Kelly hopped down.

"Closed or open?" Kelly asked, stopping at her mother's door with an expectant look on her face.

"Close it, please," Jenny requested, and Kelly nodded before pulling the door shut behind her.

Jenny held the phone to her ear as she got up to get ready for bed herself.

"Jethro," she greeted him neutrally.

"Jen," he drawled mockingly, and she smiled.

"What's wrong?" she asked, cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder while she pulled her hair back and turned on the bathroom faucet.

"I can't just call you, Jen?" he asked teasingly, and Jenny held the phone to her ear with her hand again, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
She turned off the faucet, and walked back into her bedroom.

"You don't," she laughed, and he chuckled. There was a silence before she sighed softly. "Jethro, I'm tired. Did you? Just call?" she asked. "Or was there an ulterior motive?"

"Nah," he said, and Jenny got the feeling he was lying. "Get some sleep, Jen."

"Okay," she replied, her suspicion creeping into her voice. "Good night, Jethro."

"Night," he responded gruffly, and she stayed on the line a moment longer than she would have before she hung up.

She hook her head dismissively and tossed the phone on her bed before returning to the bathroom to finish getting ready for bed. She didn't have the strength or energy to deal with Jethro then. That was a task for another day.

Thanks for reading! Keep reviewing! You guys give me ideas sometimes haha :)

-M