What The Heart Wants
- Chapter 8 -
Gibbs opened his eyes to the ringing of the doorbell; Jenny wriggled in his grip and groaned as she turned to face him. Gibbs yawned and sat up, he looked down at the squinting eyes and red hair splayed over the pillow, 'good morning,' he whispered, 'depends on who's point of view, and its afternoon,' she promptly brought her knees towards her chin and closed her eyes. 'Jenny, you have to get up now,' he nudged her gently with his knuckles.
She ignored him, her face expressionless, 'Jenny, Jenny, don't pretend to be asleep, I know you're not,' she continued to ignore him, he rubbed the back of her knees gently, 'Jenny,' her face twitched, 'oh, Jenny,' he tickled the back of her knee and slipped his other hand down her side, 'Jenny,' he chuckled as a grin spread across her face and laughter spilled from her mouth. She opened her eyes and pushed him away.
He came back at her with more force, causing her to bend over as she laughed; she started to squeal and jumped off the bed. He followed her grabbing her around the waist and tickling her up to her armpits. She squealed and tried to push him off, 'No,' she laughed, 'no, no,' she screamed playfully as he picked her up and carried her across the hallway, 'No, no, stop it, stop it,' she squealed again as se wriggled to get free.
He put her down and pushed her against the wall, both were giggling as he tickled her, 'get off me,' she told him a little more forcefully, she collapsed into giggles again as he ran his fingers around the back of her knees. He lifted her back up to her feet and slipped his hands along the sensitive skin below her arm pits, she started squealing again and laughing with him. He leaned towards her and closed his eyes; she slipped her hands around his neck and parted her lips. Their tongues barely touched before they were interrupted by loud bangs coming up the stairs.
Di Nozzo, Ziva, McGee and Abby looking on from behind came flying up the stairs weapons out and poised to shoot, they stared at the scene in front of them, 'havin fun there boss?' 'What the hell are you doing?' Gibbs growled, why did they have to come bursting in then, he was so close, so close. Tony grinned at them and noted the position of Gibbs hands, one just beneath Jenny's right breast the other clasped around her butt as he trapped her between his chest and the wall. 'The director was screaming, we were making sure she wasn't in a er, dangerous situation,' he grinned widely. 'Were mommy and daddy going to make out in the hallway?' Abby asked innocent her eyes wide, it was if a light had come on in Gibbs head, he looked down and quickly removed his hands; he took two steps back and glared at his team.
Jenny looked away embarrassedly and wished for the ground to swallow her up, awkward silence, awkward silence, right on cue Anthony started to cry, 'ooh that's my cue to leave,' she hurried down the hall and into the boys room. She found Anthony sitting up crying, she lifted him into her arms and patted his back, 'shhh shhh, there we go, all better, all that fuss about nothing.' She realised the hall was quiet, too quiet, she poked her head out and saw five heads staring at her, 'what?' Tony rubbed McGee's head, 'aww diddums, all that fuss about nothing,' McGee slapped him away and glared at him, 'don't touch me Tony.' 'Don't touch me Tony,' Di Nozzo repeated scathingly, 'what you scared you'll like it?' McGee glared at him, 'No,' he snapped, 'You sure McGirlie, you sure you wouldn't like to be touched by a man, McWoman,' Gibbs rolled his eyes, Tony really could be juvenile.
'Why, do you want to touch him Tony?' Jenny asked smirking, Tony frowned at her, 'er no, why would I want to touch McGeek?' Jenny feigned thinking hard for a moment, 'hmm, you're always asking if he's gay, you're always finding reasons to stroke his stubble or rub his head, maybe you're trying to find out if he reciprocates your feelings towards him.' Ziva and Abby giggled, 'nicely done Jen,' Gibbs smiled.
Tony looked like someone had slapped him around the face, 'Did you just come to check on my safety or is there a reason why you're in my house?' Tony frowned, 'We brought the juice,' he stated, he watched Anthony in Jenny's arms for a moment, 'looks like you're too late boss.' Gibbs stared at him, 'the munchkin copped a feel before you.' Jenny glared at him, 'Get out,' she muttered looking down at Anthony's little hand resting on her breast.
She kissed the small head and turned her back on the group, 'Jenny,' Gibbs called after her, 'yes,' 'you need to call social services,' her silence confirmed what he already knew. He turned to his team, 'go back to work, Tony call social services.'
Jenny held Anthony tightly as she listened to them talking; she looked down into his little face and saw his beautiful smile as he grinned back at her, his eyes shining and little dimples on his cheeks. He grabbed a section of her hair and started playing with it, he giggled and gurgled as he twisted it around and watched it fall from his fingers, entranced by it. She slipped her finger between his fingers and he held onto her firmly, she rubbed the back of his fingers gently with the pad of her thumb.
She heard Tony asking what to tell social services and after silence, probably accompanied by a glare he answered his own question, 'I'll figure it out boss.' A few moments later she heard footsteps and the sounds of her door opening and closing, followed by deep breathing directly behind her. 'I know what you're going to say Jethro,' she waited for the response she knew wasn't going to come.
'Uh huh,' she rolled her eyes at Anthony who reached up to grab her hair again, his face the picture of determination. She sighed, 'that I can't get attached to them because it isn't practical for me to adopt them, with my responsibilities at NCIS, the long hours and the dangers involved, it wouldn't be an environment contusive to bringing up children. And it wouldn't go down well with Sec Nav, Director Shepard isn't allowed a personal life, having a personal life could interfere with her work, she could ask for time off, heaven forbid. Calling social services and having them find a suitable family for the boys is best for them, a stable home with loving parents who have the time to spend with them and you're right, you're totally right. You're always right, it's so infuriating.'
'You're not gonna speak are you?' Gibbs smiled behind her; he stepped towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder, 'sounds like you're trying to convince yourself it's the right thing to do.' She frowned, why did he do this; he always let her ramble on and just watched in silence. She looked down at the small boy happily playing with her hair in her arms, 'I,' she fought back the urge to cry, 'I know it's the right thing to do but I can't imagine, I can't imagine being without them.' Gibbs nodded, he could slap himself for forcing her to take the boys, it was the worst thing he could have done.
He knew she had wanted children, she had never said it outright but he'd seen her reactions to children in cases and the way she had looked longingly at the boy he had taken care of two years previous. He remembered asking her if she was offering to have his child, she'd replied, 'no Jethro, it was merely an observation,' it was obvious that a child was on her five point plan. Now here she was, single, alone, over 40 and the likelihood of her becoming a mother was practically zero and he thrusts two orphaned babies into her arms, idiot.
She was attached to the boys now; he'd seen her grow more attached by the hour. It hadn't been a gradual attachment, it had been sudden, bang, one minute she was nervous and daren't pick Anthony up the next, she was holding him close, rubbing his back in small circular movements with a toddler wrapped around her leg and she didn't seem to notice, it looked totally natural. Then she goes out and spends a fortune on them, in one afternoon she'd fallen for them, and they had become attached to her.
Aaron had accepted her as his carer and ran to her for everything, he sat nervously watching the door when she left the room and his face would light up when she came back in. Aaron was the same, he wasn't nervous when she left but he would go wild when he saw her, when she picked him up he would move his mouth as she spoke and wave his arms around. It was a horrible situation to be in, Aaron seemed to feel safe with Jenny, he still hadn't understood his mommy wasn't coming back, how can a two year old understand he would never see his mom again? He did understand he was safe with Jenny and he suspected Jenny had told him she would take care of him, if he was moved to a foster family he might not trust the next person and be terrified he would be given away again.
And, his own heart broke at the thought; it would break Jenny's heart to give the boys to social services. He pulled a piece of paper from his pocked, 'Jen, Abby gave me this yesterday, I meant to torment you over it last night,' he passed her the paper. She flipped it open and smiled weakly at the photograph, she was on her office floor surrounded by nappies, Anthony was on the floor on his back and Aaron was grinning at the camera. Her bottom lip trembled and she dropped the paper as her hand shook, this time she couldn't hold back the sob.
Gibbs slipped his arms around her and held her close, Anthony wiggling between them. Aaron stood watching from the doorway clutching his teddy tightly, why was Jenny crying, he didn't like Jenny crying, his bottom lip trembled and he watched her cry with small tears falling down his confused face.