Turning 12

As I slowly drifted off to sleep the night before I had at one point looked over to the alarm clock that sat on my nightstand. 1:15am, the clock read.
“Saturday at last, Nick and I can finally sleep in.” I thought.
It was Saturdays that I loved the most nowadays. Nick and I got to sleep in as long as we wished while JD got up to take care of her sisters. As I fell asleep I knew that today was going to be just like yesterday and Thursday, completely chaotic. Today; the string of birthdays continued. Much like Thursday when we had three birthdays, we had three more birthdays today. This time Kate and Drew’s eldest son Benjamin was turning twelve years old along with Jayden and Jocelyn. But in a few hours that was about to change for Jenny and me.
At one point later on that morning I heard the house phone ring followed by JD answering the phone and talking to Jenny for a few minutes. The next thing I knew JD was knocking on the door.
“Mom, Aunt Jen is on the phone. She wants to talk to you, something happened.” JD said from the hallway.
“Can’t she call back later? Doesn’t she know that Saturday is my day to sleep late by now?”
“She says it’s important, that it can’t wait.” JD answered me.
“Fine, come in.”
JD came in, I could tell in my half-conscious mind set that JD wasn’t her normal cheerful self that she usually was in the morning.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s about Grandpa Jasper.” JD answered as she handed over the house phone.
As JD left to take care of her sisters again and to make a pot of coffee, I brought the phone to my ear as I sat up in bed.
“What’s going on Jen? What happened to dad?”
“Dad was murdered this morning. You have to come into the office.”
“Okay.” I said knowing there was no point in arguing with Jen in light of what happened.
Before long I was stepping off the elevator and walked over to the squad room. I had been on auto pilot since Jen had called. Jethro, McGee, Tony, Kate and Ziva were already there. As I sat down at my desk, Jethro got up and headed up to Jen’s office. A few seconds later, Agent Shane Parker was literally on Jethro’s six. It was nice to know that Jen and I had the team supporting us, but the thought that Colonel Jasper Shepard was dead really hadn’t sunk in yet.
Meanwhile upstairs Jen was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Jen had every intent of letting Jethro investigate Jasper’s murder; but the minute Shane entered Jen’s office, Jen knew that this wasn’t going to be easy. Shane had been one of the agents that came to the agency under Leon’s administration. Shane and her team of agents were what we had called “Hollywood Agents”.
“So Director Shepard; who gets this case, Gibbs or me?” Shane asked bluntly.
“Agent Gibbs and his team will be taking this case, Agent Parker.”
“With all do respect; Director, you can’t do that due to the conflict involved with them handling this case.”
“Just because my sister is on Agent Gibbs’ team doesn’t mean that they can’t work this case. Agent Shepard will have to sit this case out.” Jen said.
By now Shane was completely pissed.
“You’re only giving Gibbs and his team this case because you’re sleeping with him. Then there seems to be the fact that you think that you owe him after the La Grenouille case.”
“That’s quite enough Agent Parker.”
Before Jethro could reprimand Shane, she had stepped out of Jen’s office with a smile on her face and paused by one of the filling cabinets that encased Cynthia.
Jen then looked to Jethro, who was able to tell that this wasn’t the time for a mutiny at NCIS.
“Do you think it would be inappropriate if, as Director, I went in there and slapped that smile off her face?” Jen asked Jethro just as she had seventeen years ago.
Jethro smirked just as he had then before he answered her.
“That’s why you’ve got me.” Jethro said as he started towards the door.
“Thank-you Jethro, but I do have one condition for you and your team working this case.”
“I know; Jen, I’ll take care of it.”
“Tell the rest of the team, Jethro.” Jenny said.
“I will, Jen.”
“Be discrete.”
“What’s that suppose to me, Jen?” Jethro asked.
“Just that I know you.”
Jethro left Jen and returned to the squad room. I was just about to go on a breakfast run when Jethro had finally comeback. As I got up from my desk, Jethro came over to me and hugged me.
“Everything will be okay. We’ll get the bastard.” Jethro whispered into my ear as he hugged me.
“Thank-you Jethro. Do you want anything?”
“Just coffee.”
“Some things never change.” I said as I left.
Once I was in the elevator Jethro turned to the others.
“The Director doesn’t want Jaylyn working on this case or knowing what we find, got it?” Jethro said.
Tony, Ziva, McGee and Kate nodded yes. Jethro then took the rear elevator down to Abby’s and Autopsy to fill in Abby, Ducky and Palmer. Jenny was looking down on from the overlook and saw everything that just happened. Tony, Kate and McGee returned to their desk to track down Jasper’s murderer. As Ziva returned to her desk the looked up to Jenny, fully understanding why Jenny didn’t want me involved with this case. I was still in the revenge phase just as Jen had been seventeen years ago.
Sadly Benjamin, Jayden and Jocelyn birthday party was put on the back burner in light of what had occurred. They seemed to fine with waiting for their party. I had decided that I would pick up the birthday kids and bring them back to NCIS while I was out. When we got back I saw my father’s service picture up on the plasma along with a picture of Jeanne. Ziva saw us come in and nudged Tony to change what was on the plasma.
“Why did you take that off the plasma?” I asked.
“We’re just following orders.” Kate answered.
I left the kids with the others and headed up to Jen.
“When have I given you any cause to take me off a case?” I asked.
“I had to, Jay.”
“Well if you thought I was going to fly off the handle and seek revenge on Jeanne Benoit, then you were wrong.”
“They already have a suspect?”
“Yeah and it is obvious that she did it. After all she still thinks that you killed her father fifteen years ago. If anything she is the one who is getting revenge here.”
After that Jenny and I went down to the squad room. Abby and Ducky came up with Jethro. As Jen and I got to the squad room everyone started wishing the kids a happy birthday.
“Joyeux Anniversaire.” Jethro and Jen said to the kids.
“Merci.”
“Yom Huledet Same'ach.” Ziva said.
“Toda.”
“Buon Compleanno.” Tony said.
“Grazie.”
“Happy Birthday.” Kate, Abby, McGee and I said.
“Thank-you.”
Next thing we knew the elevator had binged and a redheaded woman with cobalt blue eyes similar to Jethro’s that seemed to be around my age came over to the squad room.
“Dad.” The woman said.
Jethro thought he was hallucinating.
“Who is that, Mom?” the twins asked me.
“That’s Uncle Jethro’s daughter, Kelly.”
“Is that you Kelly?” Jethro asked.
“It is, Dad. I know it’s been a while but it really is me.” Kelly said.
“Yeah Kels, like thirty-one years.” Jethro said.
Today had just been full of surprises from start to finish.