A New Life
- Chapter 2 -
The ride to Baltimore was spent in complete silence the next morning.
Gibbs wondered how much the team would be gossiping about him leaving the building with the Director for a few days, and was willing to bet that the pool was already up and running. He smiled at that thought; they really were like his children.
Glancing at Jenny he saw that she looked worried about something, making him concerned for her.
"Jen?" She looked up at him and he could clearly see the stress and anxiousness in her green eyes.
"Are you ok?" Jenny just nodded and then resumed her gazing out the window, not feeling like sharing her emotions at the moment.
'Fine' Gibbs thought and flipped on the radio instead, the silence was killing him.
When they finally arrived at the hotel Jenny took a deep breath before getting out of the car. She walked up to Gibbs and hugged him tightly, surprising him slightly. Leaning into him she whispered in his ear.
"The mission starts right now. We are Mr. and Mrs. Black. Oh, and you could at least try to look as if you're in love with me." She looked him deep in the eyes and smiled widely before giving him a quick peck on the mouth.
"Will you bring my luggage honey? I'll get the key" Gibbs was still shocked as he watched the beautiful redhead walk into the hotel, but he tried not to let it show in case they were being watched. He did as he was told, acting like the loving husband he had once been, and picked up her bag.
'This is going to get interesting' he thought.
The suite waiting for them was quite something. The king-sized bed was neatly made with a red velvet bedspread covering it, in the bathroom there was a Jacuzzi and the view from the balcony was magnificent. Gibbs looked around, satisfied when he couldn't find any signs of them being spied upon, and went to look for Jenny.
He found her sitting on the bed with a sad look on her face, holding a hand to her stomach. He was immediately worried that she was unwell and went to sit down next to her, letting his arm hug her tightly around the shoulders.
"Jen, I'm worried about you. What's the matter?" Jenny decided that coming clean was the best way to deal with this, if she didn't talk about it she could jeopardize the entire mission.
"You know I like children a lot." He nodded in response to that and looked at her sadly, remembering the past.
"It just feels difficult to pretend to be adopting one, especially with you."
'Shit. I shouldn't have said that.'
Jenny saw Gibbs' puzzled look and knew he would not leave her alone for a second before she explained that further. Unwelcome tears started to form in her eyes and she looked away from him, embarrassed about letting him see her so vulnerable. Suddenly she felt his hand lightly touch her smooth cheek and guide her face to his again. The look he gave her was breathtaking and she felt she owed him an explanation for her odd behavior.
"Jethro I... Remember Paris?" He smiled at the memory of them in the city of love and watched her blush slightly as she realized which part he was thinking about.
"Of course you do. I'm sorry for putting you through that." He took her hand between his and squeezed affectionately, letting her know that it was ok and he was ready to hear what she was about to tell him. She took a deep breath, not sure if she should continue but decided that he had the right to know.
"A few weeks after I left I started feeling nauseous and tired all the time so I went to see a doctor. He confirmed my suspicions right away, I was pregnant." Gibbs gasped at that and felt extremely guilty for not being there and for not being able to help her through it.
"The stress and the pressure of the case I was working at the time overwhelmed me and... I lost the baby Jethro. I lost our beautiful baby girl." Tears were streaming down her cheeks and Gibbs hugged her tightly, letting her sob into his chest for what felt like an eternity.
'She must have kept all this inside her since learning about the baby. God Jen, why didn't you tell me? At least I could have helped ease the burden a little.'
Feeling Jenny relax slightly he leant backwards and spooned her on the bed, holding her like there was no tomorrow. She turned in his arms and lay on her back, still next to him, making his hand end up on her flat belly. Despite the sorrow he felt about loosing another child he couldn't help but smile at the thought of a pregnant Jenny. He stroked her belly and leaned in closer to whisper in her ear.
"You mean our little offspring was actually living here, inside you?" Jenny smiled at his words and met his eyes, not able to hide the emotions that were resurfacing with the force of an explosion. To her surprise she saw the same emotions mirrored in the ice blue eyes of her former partner. Caught in the heat of the moment he leant forward and placed a feather light kiss on her lips, giving her time to pull away if she wanted to. Surprisingly enough she caught his lips again with a passion and urgency that made him loose his head instantly.
Hands started to wander and if the phone hadn't rung at that exact moment they surely wouldn't have stopped at that. Jenny forced her pulse back to normal before picking up the phone. Gibbs could see her switch into agent mode and heard her decide a time and a place for the drop off.
"Tomorrow at noon, behind the old warehouse," she told him, knowing he would understand what she was talking about. He nodded and, realizing the earlier mood was gone, set about getting tomorrow planned out to the last minute.
Nothing could go wrong this time, not when the life of a baby was on the line.