A/N: I haven't said it lately but I really do need to thank AliyahNCIS (every chapter) for being my security blanket/beta. Now if only she'd get her Jibbs muse back! Thanks to everyone leaving reviews. You guys are awesome!

***JIBBS***JIBBS***JIBBS***

It was a couple of hours later before Gibbs was able to make it home. He unlocked the door quietly and closed it behind him. He heard noise coming from the kitchen and decided to investigate, hoping he'd find his wife. He stood in the doorway and watched a harried looking Jenny straightening things up – loudly. Her hair was haphazardly up in a ponytail, as if it was a last resort. She was wearing black yoga pants and one of his big T-shirts that was falling off one of her shoulders as she banged a few pots around, trying to find a place for them. She must have just finished doing dishes because she still had on rubber gloves. He knew she was angry about something and he should tread carefully but he couldn't help himself. "Damn, you look sexy."

Jenny whirled around, obviously startled. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you drunk?"

He snorted. "Nooo," he drawled, as he crossed his arms.

She looked at him in disbelief. "Don't start with me, Jethro. It has been a night from hell, and I am in no mood for whatever you're fishing for…" she said as she looked down at herself. "No matter how misguided you are." She rolled her eyes and threw the gloves at the sink.

"Come here," he said, crooking his finger before opening his arms wide. "Tell me what happened."

"I can tell you fine from over here. Your daughter decided that she was not going to allow me to put her down tonight or get anything done. Your son had a complete meltdown – wait. Make that two meltdowns," she sighed, running the back of her hand across her forehead to remove the sweat.

"What was happening with Sam?"

She shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. "What wasn't happening? Where do I start? Oh right – he was ticked off he didn't get to see Steve today. That was the first tantrum - thank you so much for getting his visiting hours cancelled."

Gibbs shifted on his feet uncomfortably and sighed. "And the other?"

"He didn't want to take a bath while I was holding Julia, and he decided we all needed to get wet. He was completely acting out, because he didn't get his way. He was disappointed! And who could blame him? He doesn't understand why he can't see his dad. And I'm the bad guy who's keeping him from him. It sucks."

Gibbs scrubbed his hand down his face. "I'll try to explain it to him. Is he still up?"

"No," she said emphatically. "At least he better not be. He completely wore himself out with his outbursts and was being an overtired pain in the ass. So I made him go to bed early."

"And my clingy daughter?"

"Sent her to bed early too," she laughed. "She was refusing to go down and I let her cry – which of course irritated the hell out of Sam." Jenny pushed the hair off her forehead and sighed. "But they're down. I'll pay for it, I'm sure. Julia will wake up in the middle of the night but whatever – I needed some peace and quiet. Not like my day at work was a picnic."

He felt for her and hated that he wasn't around to help. "I'll try not to stay so late anymore."

She shook her head. "You can't make any promises. I've done the job. I know how it goes, don't worry." Jenny leaned against the sink and hung her head. "I just need to unwind. Sorry to unload on you like that." When he didn't say anything she looked over and noticed he was no longer standing there. "Jethro?" When he didn't answer, she shook her head. "Didn't mean to bore you." She let go of the sink, grabbed the monitor and headed toward the living room. She sat down on the couch and took a deep breath before she set about tackling the work she'd brought home. About 10 minutes later, she felt his presence in the doorway.

Gibbs walked over to her. He gently removed her glasses and set them down on the coffee table.

"What are you doing?"

He reached for her hands. "Doesn't matter. What does is what you're about to be doing."

She raised an eyebrow but allowed him to lead her. "Oh?" When she saw they were headed toward their bedroom she began to protest. "Jethro, I told you that I'm not in the mood, and I'm tired."

"I know."

"Then what's going on?" she asked.

He directed her towards their bathroom and slowly pushed open the door. Her eyes widened to see the room illuminated by candles. He must have found where she kept them and set several up around the tub – which was filled with bubbles. On one side was a single glass of red wine and there was music – Sinatra – quietly playing. He had his hands on her arms and could feel the tension release as she took in the scene before her. He whispered into her hair, "I want you to unwind and enjoy. Anything comes up, I'll handle it."

She turned around to face him, a look of contentment in her eyes. "I can't believe you did this. Thank you."

He smiled as their eyes locked. "Least I could do after that day you've had, which was mostly my fault."

"It's okay." She watched as he turned to go. "You're not joining me?"

He shook his head. "All for you. Didn't want you to think I was trying -"

Jenny put her fingers over his lips. "I get it. Thank you." After he closed the door behind him, she gladly stripped off her clothes and gently got into the water. The heat felt amazing. She reached over and took a sip of the wine, smiling to herself. As crazy as that man could make her, the fact he could turn around and do something so selfless and wonderful made her love him all the more. She put the wine down and allowed the water to work its magic and relax her. After a few minutes, she realized something was missing. "Jethro," she called out.

It didn't take long for him to pop his head in. "Whatcha need?"

Jenny held up a washcloth and pretended to pout. "I can't reach my back." She lowered her head and looked up at him through her eyelashes. "It's lonely in here."

It didn't take long for him to slip into the tub behind her after first making sure the bathroom door was locked. "Well, we can't have that."

She leaned back against his chest with a giant smile on her face. She closed her eyes as his arms wrapped around her. "Now, it's perfect."

He kissed her temple before reaching over for the wine and handing it to her. Gibbs watched as she took another sip, savoring the flavor. "Feeling better?"

She ran her hand down his leg. "Much." Jenny turned her head partially to meet his lips which she knew would be more than happy to meet her halfway. His soft lips tugged gently at hers before she felt him deepen their kiss. She released a soft moan when his hands made their way up her stomach to cup her breasts.

"Gummy, Gibbs – where are you? Let me in."

Sam's words were punctuated by his banging on the door. Gibbs could feel Jenny tense up immediately and leaned his forehead against the back of her head. "I got this," he whispered. "You stay in here." He then cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "Be right out, Sam. Wait for me on the bed."

Jenny quickly turned around and curled into him. "You sure?"

He nodded. "Yeah, stay. I love you." He kissed her briefly on the lips and then got out of the tub. Jenny already missed his warmth.

Within a few minutes, Gibbs was dressed and slipped out to take care of his son. "You okay?" he asked as he knelt down in front of him.

Sam's lower lip began to tremble. "Gummy still mag at me?"

He shook his head. "Should she be?"

He sighed. "I yell a lot."

Gibbs got up and took a seat next to Sam. "Why were you yelling?"

"She say I can't visit Gaddy. Not fair!"

"But Sam," began Gibbs, "it wasn't her fault. Don't you know she'd have taken you if she could?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. But no matter what, do you really think she deserved the way you treated her?"

"But I wanted—"

"No - not good enough reason, Sam," he said over him. "Gummy works all day in a very important job, then comes home and takes great care of you and Julia. You're a big boy, right?" Sam nodded. "You should be helping her, not making it harder. Understand?"

He was about to protest again when Gibbs shot him a look. "Yes, sir," he sighed.

Gibbs smiled at the show of respect. He put his arm around him. "So are you ready to go back to bed?"

"I wanna tell Gummy sorry."

Gibbs smoothed the boy's hair down and nodded. "Sounds good." He heard Jenny moving around in the bathroom, so he figured it wouldn't be long before she came out.

After a few minutes, Jenny emerged wearing her fluffy lavender robe Gibbs had set aside for her. She saw them sitting on the bed waiting and folded her arms in front of her. "And what kind of mischief are you two up to?" she teased.

"Sorry Gummy."

Jenny's face softened. She sighed as she bent down in front of him so they could be at eye level with each other. "Thank you, Sam." She was a bit surprised when he lunged forward to hug her, but she immediately wrapped her arms around him and held him close. "I love you, sweet boy."

"I love you too," he said sincerely. Jenny's eyes widened as they locked with her husband's.

The surprised look on his face was quickly replaced by a very big smile. "Ready to try bed again?"

Sam let go of Jenny and reluctantly nodded. "Okay," he said sadly. He reached for his father's hand. She watched as the two headed off.

By the time Gibbs returned to the bedroom, Jenny had changed into shorts and T-shirt and was under the covers. It wasn't long before he joined her.

She snuggled up into his side. "Thank you for improving my evening on so many levels."

He wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head, which was against his chest. "Least I could do since I'm the reason it was bad."

She chuckled as her hand rubbed tiny circles on his chest. "Well, you made up for it. You know, I think that was the first time he said that to me."

"You're still my secret weapon," he whispered. "If he warms up to living here, it's because of you."

"He loves you too. It's just harder for him to admit it now since Steve is back in the picture. Your son is very loyal to those he cares about. He's just loved them longer."

Gibbs sighed, contemplating her words. "How are you planning on handling Steve?"

She lifted her head to look at her husband. "We probably should discuss it so I know what you're comfortable with me saying." When he nodded, she sat up, tucking her legs underneath her. "I'll take Sam after work tomorrow. I think I should make it clear we don't plan to cut him out of Sam's life but that we do want to at least share custody."

Gibbs bristled. "Share?" he sighed. "Well, I want us to at least be primary."

"Did you ask the lawyer what our chances for that are?"

He shook his head. "We just worked on the temporary order. Guess I should make an appointment. What a mess."

Jenny placed her hand on his arm. "That's probably a good idea but Steve still has a long road ahead of him. I wouldn't be surprised if he's not out of the hospital for months."

Gibbs reached up to caress her cheek. "Are you really okay with us having him? I know it was a shock."

She wrapped her hand around his wrist, rubbing her thumb over his pulse point. "We hadn't discussed it yet but when Julia was a little older, I was going to ask if we could adopt a little boy."

His eyes widened. "You serious?"

She smiled and nodded. "We both know there's no way I was going to risk fate and have another." He nodded - both remembering how worried they were throughout her pregnancy with Julia. "It might not have been the best timing and the circumstances less than ideal - but I couldn't be happier. Sam's an amazing gift, Jethro. Thank you."

He closed his eyes, relief evident on his face. When he opened them, he looked at his wife. "You're incredible, you know that?"

Unable to take the compliment, she shook her head. "Nah. I'm just a woman who loves you senseless."