Jenny Sheppard was nervous.
Which was absolutely ridiculous because, she had had been in worse positions than this. Like that time she and Jethro had had their covers blown in Deli, and they had faced an ambush of 50 or so terrorist cell member, 2 of whom were strapped with bombs on their chests, and were threatening to blow up the town square.
She took a deep breath to calm herself, and focused on the large screen in front of her, trying to ignore his voice behind her.
“Target vehicle approaching’, Jenny glanced at the young female agent who had said the statement, before nodding briefly.
Another man spoke in Hebrew but she could clearly understand him when he said “Acquiring target.”
The room fell silent then, as they all seemed to watch the mission that was playing out on the screen.
“We have a hard lock,” A voice announced over the speakers.
“Target confirmed. Engage.”
“Weapon free.”
All eyes in the room were plastered to the plasmas a white van winded down the dusty road.
“Good lock on target,”
A few seconds later, the van burst into flames, and the room seems to let out a sigh, agents shaking each others hands.
“Confirming target hit. Thank you.” The Hebrew man says again.
Jenny smiled at them.
“Good job everyone” she said, watching them depart.
As the agents filed out of the room, many shaking Jenny’s hand, she let her mind wander to her daughter .She would be asleep by now, with her blue teddy under her arm, and the blanket tucked under her chin. Jenny felt a pang of hurt in her chest when she realised it had been the first time in her life, that she hadn’t tucked her daughter in.
“He’s your problem now, director.” Tom Morrow said, snapping Jenny from her thoughts.
She stood with a deep breath and turned to where she knew ‘he’ was sitting.
“Hello, Jethro.” She said with more courage than she felt. She knew she had hurt him when she left, and when he had found out that she didn’t actually lose the baby. Their baby.
She saw the surprise in his eyes, and then anger bubbled into his gaze.
He leant back into his chair, his hands clenched into fists.
“Don’t seem so excited to see me,” Jenny said, with strained humour.
He still didn’t answer her, instead got to his feet and left the room.
*
The case was finally wrapped up. Ari was dead, and Kate was put to rest. But somehow, Jethro didn’t feel any thrill from it. All he could focus on was Jenny, and his daughter.
When he had seen her in the park that day, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He had a child, a beautiful young little girl, who didn’t even know who he was.
He sighed, knocking on her door lightly. A few seconds later, he heard little footsteps running towards the door, before it opened to a small red head child.
His breath caught in his throat, like it did the first time he had seen her, only a few weeks ago.
Just as his voice returned, Jenny ran laughing after her daughter. Her laughter subsided when she saw her ex lover standing there.
“Amanda, honey, why don’t you go back to bed, and I’ll be in there in a minute?” Amanda nodded to her mother, racing back inside.
“Come inside,” was all Jenny said, holding the door open for Gibbs. He stepped in reluctantly, and silently followed her to the study, where she poured two glasses of bourbon.
“I can’t blame you for being mad,” She said, feeling the need to overcome the silence that filled the gap between them.
He scoffed lightly. “Yeah, well considering I just found out that I’m a father, I think I have a have a right.”
“Jethro, please. I had to do what was right for her and I…I still do.”
“Does that mean not letting her have a father?” His voice was starting to rise now, and Jenny winced.
“I never meant to hurt you.” She whispered, her voice so tiny, that she wasn’t sure if he had heard her or not, until he lifted her chin with his finger.
Then suddenly, their lips were crashing together, 6 years of pain, and longing all built up, exploding into a couple of seconds of leisurely kissing.
When they pulled away, Jethro laid his head against hers.
“I know you didn’t, Jen. But it’s hard for me to just forgive you for something as big as this. I mean, you said that she was dead!”
“Mommy?” A small voice came from the doorway, causing both Jenny and Jethro to pull apart, and turn to their daughter.
Jenny knelt down to eye level with Amanda, holding out her arms for her.
“What’s wrong sweetie?”
Jethro looked on at his ex-lover and his daughter, and couldn’t help but feel tears come to his eyes. Jenny was such a good mother, and she had raised Amanda from an infant, without Gibbs, or anyone else to guide her.
“You said you were going to tuck me in!” The six year old wrapped her arms around her mothers’ neck, and Jenny hoisted the girl onto her waist.
“Okay, I’m going.”
“No, I want Daddy to do it!” Gibbs’ head shot up at those words, the ones he hadn’t heard since before Kelly died.
“Me?”
Amanda nodded, holding out her arms to him. Jethro took her, exchanging a surprised look with Jenny.
“Her room is this way,” She said, suppressing a smile, as she led Jethro out of the study, and up the stairs to Amanda’s room. When she looked back, she saw her daughter asleep, her head buried in the crook of Gibbs’ neck.
“In here,” She whispered, admiring him as he lay their daughter onto her bed, tucking the covers under her chin.
“Good night, angel.” Jethro said softly, kissing her red curls gently.
Jenny kissed Amanda on the forehead, before backing out of the room silently, shutting the door partially, before she turned to Jethro.
“What now?” she asked, almost dreading the answer.
“Well, of course I want to be part of her life. I have missed 6 years of it, and I am not going to miss anymore.”
Jenny nodded.
They walked in silence to the door, when Jenny spoke up.
“Stay the night?” Jethro looked at her, searching her face for answers to questions unspoken.
He remembered how much it hurt when she left him, and he knew he couldn’t deal with it again, if se decided to leave. However, something inside him told him, that wasn’t going to happen. Not now that Amanda was in their lives.
“Okay,” And he grabbed her gently, pulling her upstairs to the bedroom.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.