One

"We got him."

The whispered words brought her out of the deepest sleep she had experienced in the last two and half weeks of hell. She rolled over and blinked groggily, unsure if she had heard correctly.

"We got him." Gibbs whispered again.

She sat up and ran her hand through her hair, she was still half asleep but the words had made an impact that time.

"We got him?" She asked, her hand grabbing his, "are you sure?"

"One hundred percent, we got the man who killed SecNav." Gibbs replied as he reached out to brush her tangled hair behind her ear.

She nuzzled her cheek into the hand by her ear and squeezed the hand she was holding in hers.

"We got him." She said with a sigh of relief, "I have to get into the office!" She exclaimed quietly.

"No." Gibbs replied firmly, "Vance's handling things."

"But-"

"No." Gibbs said again, "you need sleep, you've been running yourself to the ground these last few weeks."

"We all have." She reminded him quietly.

"Yeah." He agreed, "And that's why we're not going back until Tuesday."

"What?"

"I'm taking my team out of rotation, and Leon is covering for you since you handled things on your own for the week he went to move Jackie and the kids."

"But that's four days." Jenny pointed out.

"Yeah, and we've barely seen each other or our kids for almost three weeks." He countered, "we found SecNav's killer, loose ends are all tied up and reports are done it's time to take a break."

He had a valid point, they had barely seen each other for the last two and a half weeks, Gibbs had been working eighteen hour days. His schedule had been hectic and none-stop, he would come home at 1900 and help Jenny get the kids ready for bed, go back into the office until 0100, come home and sleep for five hours, help get the kids ready for school and then start all over again.

Jenny's schedule hadn't been much better, the first week had been the worst with Leon in LA helping Jackie move but after that they had been able to switch off duties. Kelly and Dani had been their saving grace throughout the entire ordeal, they had stepped up to help out with the younger kids without either Jenny or Gibbs having to ask and had been the only reason they had been able to pull everything off.

As much as leaving the office for four whole days stressed her out she knew that everyone deserved a break and she also knew that she was on the edge of burning out. Although he still wasn't her favourite person she had to admit that Vance had proven himself over and over during the last few weeks and she trusted him with her agency implicitly. She also desperately wanted to spend time with the kids, she felt like she had been going a million miles and hour for the last few weeks and she just wanted to slow down.

"Alright." She conceded, "on one condition."

"Okay?" He replied, raising his eyebrow.

"Kiss me."

He snorted and grinned but reached up to caress her cheek, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, a small smile blooming as he pulled her closer.

"I missed doing that." She whispered as she pulled back to lean her forehead against his.

"Missed you." He muttered capturing her lips again.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and shifted closer to him as he deepened the kiss, she felt his tongue brush across her lips and she opened her mouth to grant him the access he was silently asking for. She played with the short hair at the base of his neck and moaned quietly.

"Shhh." He whispered against her lips, "love to hear you but really don't want questions from the kids."

"Oh god." She whispered, leaning her forehead against his shoulder as she laughed softly.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, she nuzzled his neck for a moment before burrowing into his side with a contented sigh.

"Are you going to come to bed?" She asked as she ran her hand over his chest.

"You don't mind?" He asked.

He hadn't slept in the bed since SecNav had died, with his hours he had been sleeping in the guest room so he didn't wake Jenny up coming in and out at all hours. She had fought it tooth and nail but he had been adamant that he wasn't going to interrupt her already non-existent sleep.

"I wouldn't have asked if I minded." She replied, "I sleep better when you're here." She admitted quietly.

"Alright." He kissed the top of her head and stood up slowly, "I'm gonna grab a shower."

She laid back down and listened to him moving around in the en-suite bathroom, by the time he finished showering she had almost fallen back to sleep. She felt the bed dip behind her as he climbed in and shuffled back against him as he wrapped an arm around her waist, she let out a contented sigh and let sleep claim her.

N*C*I*S

The first thing she noticed as she opened her eyes was the light streaming in through the partially closed curtains. She blinked and rolled onto her back as she tried to wake herself up completely. It took her a moment to realize that there should not be light streaming through the window at 0500, she bolted up in bed and reached for her alarm clock.

"Crap." She muttered when she saw the time.

She couldn't remember the last time she had slept past 0700, the clock on her nightstand read 1100 and she had to check the time on her phone to make sure it was correct. She tossed back the covers and threw her legs over the side of the bed, she was about to stand up when she noticed a folded piece of paper on the bedside table. She reached out to unfold it and smiled as she read the familiar scrawl.

Jen,

The kids are at school, took the baby to get groceries we'll be home in time for lunch.

~ Jethro.

She relaxed considerably when she realized that Gibbs had taken care of everything, she opened the top drawer of her nightstand and carefully laid the note in there before getting up. She took her time taking a shower and put on a pair of yoga pants and a loose t-shirt before making her way downstairs.

She was in the middle of folding a load of laundry when she heard the crunching of gravel in the driveway. She folded the onesie in her hands and stood up to help Gibbs unload the groceries. She made it to the front door just as he walked in carrying Ava's carseat in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other.

"Hey." She greeted, taking the bag out of his hand as she leaned in to give him a kiss.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked with a smirk.

"Well I slept for close to twelve hours so I'd say pretty good." She replied with a grin, "thank you for taking care of everything."

"You're welcome." He replied, kissing her again, "can you grab her and I'll bring in the rest."

She took the car seat and smiled down at the Ava who was sound asleep, one fist tucked under her chin and the other fist half in her mouth.

"How long has she been asleep?" She asked.

"About forty-five minutes, she'll be ready to eat when she wakes up."

"I'll go make some lunch."

She carried the bag of groceries and the carseat into the kitchen and deposited both on the middle of the island, she put away the groceries and pulled out everything she needed to make soup and grilled cheeses. She was just putting the pot on the stove when Gibbs wandered in, his arms full of bags.

"Remember when getting groceries meant one maybe two bags?" Gibbs asked as he dumped everything on to the table.

"Remember when you did laundry once a week and the house was quiet?" She countered, "or when you could go to bed naked and not worry about our son climbing into bed at five in the morning?"

Gibbs glanced over at her, watching the way she mixed water into the soup mix, her hair in a messy bun and the baby sound asleep in her carseat behind her. The kitchen was tidy but there were a few dirty dishes in the sink and the dish wrack was full of clean dishes and bottles. The laundry was never done, the house was never completely clean and privacy was non-existent but he wouldn't change it for the world.

"Wouldn't change it." He stated.

He walked around the counter and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest.

"Not for the world." He whispered against her hair.

She leaned back against him and smiled as she stirred the soup, he ran his hand across her stomach and kissed the top of her head.

"Me either." She agreed quietly, "especially now that we can actually spend more than ten minutes together."

She placed her hand over his on her abdomen and tilted her head to kiss him but just as her lips were about to brush across his Ava let out a distressed cry from her seat.

"Hey, hey." Jenny cooed softly as she pulled away from Gibbs.

She walked around the counter and carefully unbuckled Ava before taking her out of the carrier.

"Hey, Mommy's right here little monkey, you're fine."

She rocked back and forth for a few minutes, as soon as the baby was calm she settled her on her hip and put away whatever groceries she could as Gibbs took over making lunch.

N*C*I*S

Gibbs rested his head against the back of the couch, his eyes closed as he listened to the sound of music drifting from the piano. The familiar hymn sounded even better when it was Jenny and Kelly playing it, the soft sound of violin filled the room as Kelly joined in the music.

"How precious did that grace appear." Jenny sang softly.

It was rare that she sang in front of anyone but if Kelly asked she had a hard time saying no. He wasn't sure how they had landed on this particular song but he knew that Kelly was planning to play in church on Sunday and this was probably on her list of songs to play.

He lifted his head and opened his eyes to glance around the room, he couldn't remember them ever having a lazy Friday evening and he had to say that he liked it. Jake was laying on the floor playing with Ava, Dani was curled up in an armchair with a book and there was a small fire on the hearth and the soft music filled the room. He was used to spending his rare Friday nights off in his dusty basement with his boat, he was so grateful for the unexpected turn his life had taken.

Welcome Back everyone! Here we go again, just a little bit of fluffiness to get us off the ground! I love to hear from you guys, remember I own nothing… I just want to say thank you all again for your continued support for this series! (Bonus points to anyone who can figure out where this title came from!)

~Katie