Chapter 17

A month later…

Jenny stood in the D.C court house, dressed in a smart black suit, jacket and knee length pencil skirt with a light blue blouse, her hair tied up in a professional tight bun, she wanted to look as professional as she could, hoping it would make her seem like she had her life together and made her seem less nervous but the truth was she wasn't sure she'd ever been so nervous.

She felt a hand grab her own and squeeze it a little to comfort her. Jenny looked to her side and smiled at the man she saw beside her. Gibbs, still after almost a year they were together.

After the fire and Tony's sort of breakdown things were finally looking up. Jenny still lived with Gibbs and both still worked at NCIS, of course they'd been relocated to the undamaged area of the building until the fire damage had been fixed. The ice between Ed and Gibbs was thawing nicely, Jenny was impressed at how much Ed had really changed for Abby and Tony, he really did want to be a good father to them.

Abby of course still loved Gibbs and thought he and her mother were perfect for each other meanwhile Tony was warming up to him, both Jenny and Gibbs knew it would take Tony a while to accept the other man as part of Jenny's life and forgive him for what Tony saw as putting his mother life in danger.

Today they stood in court, they'd stood in this court for the past two days, Jenny and Ed fighting for custody of the children, now, in the next couple of minutes they would find out and for the whole time, Gibbs was at Jenny's side and she knew he would not matter what.

"In the case of Shepard verses DiNozzo-Sciuto, I have reached a final verdict" the judge spoke, getting Jenny's attention.

Gibbs stepped a little closer to the redhead, wanting to give her his support, he loved her so much and Abby and Tony and knew how much she loved her children and he wanted her to be able to raise them and he nothing more than to help her.

On the other side of the room stood Ed along with his lawyer, Tony and Abby stood beside Ed as they had been staying with him for the last couple of weeks, but that didn't mean that he would get soul custody.

"You have both been granted shared custody of the children, Anthony and Abigail, how you share the custody will be up to the individuals" the judge announced.

Jenny realised a breath she didn't know she was holding and let go of Gibbs' hand making him groan, it turned out she'd gripped his hand a little tightly, she looked at him and gave him a small smile, she was happy with the results, this way it was the best of both worlds.

Slowly they all made their way out of the court house and met outside, "Mummy" Abby ran over to Jenny and so the redhead picked up her daughter making her pigtails swing.

"Hey baby" she said pressing a kiss to her head as Tony and Ed walked over to them.

"Gibbs" Abby grinned reaching out for him and so he carefully took the little girl from her mother's arms, his chest wound still a little sensitive so decided not hold as close as he could. "Mummy and Daddy get to share me and Tony now" she told him with a grin.

"I know, it's great" he smiled back as he looked over at Jenny who was hugging Tony both smiling, he then watched her as she pressed a kiss to Ed's cheek and they smiled at each other.

Gibbs pressed a kiss to Abby's head, he loved seeing them all happy, it was all he ever wanted "Let me buy you guys dinner to celebrate" Gibbs suggested getting everyone attention.

….

An hour later they sat in the diner that Gibbs, Jenny and the kids often went to, they sat in a booth, Jenny and Abby one side, Ed, Tony and Gibbs opposite them. They'd just ordered their food and got their drinks.

"So I was thinking we could do it so the kids switch between us every three weeks and then split their time during the holidays" Ed suggested talking to Jenny across the table.

"That sounds good to me" Jenny nodded before looking over at her boyfriend who was listening to Abby who was telling him what she and Karen did at NCIS when she spent the day there a week or so ago, "What do you think Jethro?" Jenny asked reminding Gibbs that as her partner he would help raise the children with her too.

Gibbs looked up, his blue eyes meeting Jenny's green "Every three weeks sounds good, they're not being moved around too much" he nodded, although he did wonder if Ed felt that Gibbs was treading on his feet, although by the look on his face he didn't seem to mind.

"Then its settled, you can take them as they've been staying with me for the last couple of weeks" Ed spoke before turning to the kids "Is that okay with you two?" he asked them.

"Uh huh" Tony nodded, he wanted to be with both his mum and his dad, he might have liked them to be together but he knew that wasn't going to happen so at least this way he could get to be with them both.

"Mummy I need to the bathroom" Abby told her after a moment.

"Okay" Jenny nodded sliding out of the booth and offered the six's year old her hand which she took "Tony you need to come too?" she asked not wanting to move later during their meal just so he could go to the bathroom.

"Sure" he nodded following on his mother and sister.

"When we walk past the counter you can see what pie you guys can have for dessert if you're still hungry later" the redhead said as she guided her children to the bathroom, leaving Ed and Jenny alone.

"Sooooo….." Ed began as he turned to Gibbs who sat beside him "You're good with the kids" he mused "got any of your own?" he asked, realising he didn't really know much about the man who would help his ex-wife raise his kids.

"I had a daughter" Gibbs admitted "She and my wife died in a car accident" he said before reaching over to grab his coffee and took a sip.

"Oh I'm sorry" Ed said, feeling bad for asking.

"It's okay" Gibbs shrugged, he needed to move on and he knew that Jenny, Abby and Tony would help him do that. "I love Jenny and your kids that's what matters" Gibbs told Ed.

Ed nodded, running a hand through his slick dark brown hair that was so similar to Abby's "I trust you to look after them, even Jenny" he told him.

Gibbs nodded "And you do the same?" he countered.

"Of course" Ed nodded taking a sip of his cola, glad that they had finally reached an understanding of sorts. "You and Jenny have been together a year?" he asked after a moment.

"Round about" Gibbs nodded wanting to know what he was getting at.

"You going ask her to marry you?" Ed asked.

"Would you be okay with that?" Gibbs asked not meeting the other man's eyes, he still didn't want to feel like he was treading on Ed's feet.

"Jenny's one of my best friends, I want to see her happy" Ed paused before adding "You make her happy"

Gibbs smiled into his coffee before taking a sip thinking of that engagement ring sitting in the red velvet box on the shelf in his basement.

…

Hours later Gibbs sat on the edge of Abby's bed at his house, he'd just closed the book of fairy tales that he'd been reading to Abby.

"Oh no, you can't stop there, one more story" Abby almost begged him to keep reading and began to get frustrated but this was only because she was so tired from the long busy couple of weeks.

"I promise if you go to sleep now, I'll read you an extra story tomorrow night" Gibbs tried to make a deal, running a hand through her black hair.

"Two more extra stories tomorrow" Abby tried, her big green eyes looking at Gibbs, reminding him so much of her mother.

"Okay an extra two stories tomorrow, but only if you go to sleep now" Gibbs told her.

"I'm asleep" Abby told him, nestling deeply into her pillow and pulling the blanket around her. Gibbs pressed a kiss to her forehead before going over to the door and turning on her night light before walking out, closing the door quietly behind her.

Gibbs walked down the hall towards the stairs but stopped and put his head around Tony's bedroom door to check on him. He smiled at the sight of Tony asleep in his race car bed and was satisfied he was okay so closed the door before continuing down the stairs and then going through the living room into the kitchen.

He leant against the door and smiled at the sight of Jenny finishing washing the dishes from the dinner he had cooked them. Gibbs loved how natural she looked in his house, how over the time she really had found herself at home in his house or their house.

Gibbs had shared his house with many different women but none of them had made it feel real and truly home apart from Jenny. It only made him love her even more than he already did.

Pushing off from the wall he walked over to Jenny who was drying the dishes and wrapped his arms around her waist, he smiled with satisfaction when he felt her jump a little and her breath hitch.

"Jesus" Jenny breathed as her hand went straight to her chest to stop her heart from beating so fast.

"Just Jethro" Gibbs whispered against her ear before pressing a kiss to her neck making her move her head to give him a better access to her neck. "I love you" he mumbled against her neck.

"Love you too" Jenny sighed before moving to turn around to face him as her arms going around his waist and began to run her hands down across his butt and then felt something in the back pocket of Gibbs' trousers. "What is this?" she asked moving back still in the confines of his arms and showing him the red velvet box.

Gibbs smiled at her as he took the box from her hand before slipping down onto one knee "Will you marry me?" he asked her as he opened the box to show her the simple diamond engagement ring.

Jenny didn't even need to think about it for a second "Yes" she told him with a grin before he slipped the ring onto her finger and got to his feet just in time for her to pull him close and kiss him with all the passion she could muster.

-The End-

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