Kelly was driving over to her father and Jenny’s home to pick up her sisters for lunch and a bit of shopping one Saturday afternoon. Kelly wasn’t about to call Jenny her mother let alone her step-mother any time soon so she just called her by her name. She had been on her phone talking to Emily for the drive over.
“Emmy, it’s just crazy that he expects me to be all chummy with her. He knows that won’t happen, she comes from money and I don’t. Jenny and I have nothing in common whatsoever.”
“Jenny is actually quite nice, Kelly. And just because she comes from money doesn’t mean that you can’t find something in common. I mean you get along with your sisters and they come from money.”
“That’s different; the five of us have someone in common.”
“You and Jenny have someone in common too, Kelly.”
“Yeah she and I have Dad in common, but it just bugs me that she’s changed him so much.”
“Jenny hasn’t changed Jethro at all.”
“Yes she has. He was into my mom; he was a small town boy who fell in love with a small town girl who worked for everything like he did. Three ex-wives later and Jenny gets her hands on him and he’s Mr. Suburbia living in a monolithic five bedroom, three bathroom home that rivals every other house in the DC area; Emily.”
“I’ve been in their house before, Kelly and it’s not that bad. You’re just use to living on a Marine base or in an Airstream. Your sisters and Jenny don’t have to since Jethro is a retired Marine now and Jenny inherited her money when her father died.”
“Not that bad; it’s a five bedroom, three bathroom house complete with a state of the art kitchen, study and whatever else she managed to have in that house. She has turned my dad into a different man.”
“No she hasn’t. He is still the same man he was when you were a kid, now you just have to share him with eleven other people.”
“That’s easy for you to say Emily; your dad didn’t remarry like mine did and well your mom just likes being married.”
“Can you blame her? Her first two marriages weren’t exactly perfect.”
“That’s cause my dad and yours were married to their jobs and they didn’t let her boss them around like Victor does.”
“She has him whipped that’s why. Anyway I got to go, Em; I’m at the mansion.”
“Okay say hi to your sisters for me.”
Kelly rang the doorbell. Noemi answered it as Delilah, Emiliana, Arabella and Madison rushed to the door.
“Dad and Jenny at it again?” Kelly inquired.
“For once no, we’ve just been cooped up in the house all morning with nothing to do.” Delilah answered her older sister.
On a subconscious level Delilah found it a bit weird that she had an older sister that wasn’t dead like she and her sister had thought since she had spent the past eighteen years being the oldest in the family. Since Kelly came back into the picture, Delilah had to relinquish that role to Kelly.
“Wow they’re not acting like rabbits for once, that’s a new one.” Kelly said as she and her sisters headed to her car.
“Wow they’re not acting like rabbits for once, that’s a new one.” Kelly said as she and her sisters headed to her car.
At this point Madison was getting fed up with Kelly’s angst against her mother. So in the middle of the street Madison in true Madison fashion let loose on her older sister.
“What the hell is your damn issue with our mom?”
“Madison.” Arabella chastised her younger sister.
“No, Aria; I want to know why Kelly has been a bitch when it comes to mom.”
“It’s a long story.” Kelly answered.
“Start explaining, we have time.”
“I’d rather not.”
“I see what your issue is.” Emiliana said.
“Enlighten us, Lena.” Madison said.
“Kelly has an issue with mom cause in her opinion mom has changed dad, mom replaced her mom in dad’s heart and mom comes from money which in Kelly’s opinion only exacerbates things more.” Emiliana explained.
“If that’s the case then get the hell over it.”
The quintet finished airing things and Kelly realized that she and her sisters were just as well off or at least they’d be just as well off as Jenny was some day.
It was another hot June day and even though the air conditioning had been on in the house things were still a bit hot inside. Jenny spent most of the morning in her study overseeing an MTAC op. Jethro was in the basement sanding the birthday present he was intending to give Amira in a few days time. Jenny had decided to slip into one of her string bikinis and tease her husband all the way into the hot tub out back.
“Hubba-hubba.” Jethro muttered under his breath as Jenny descended the basement stairs.
“You like what you see?”
“Haven’t decided yet.” Jethro answered as he wondered how he got so lucky to have Jenny as his wife.
“Well decide soon.” Jenny said as she tossed Jethro a pair of his swim trunks and sauntered back up the stairs.
Jethro rolled his eyes at her as she went back upstairs and he had connected the dots.
“Don’t you roll your eyes at me Leroy.” Jenny called back.
Jenny then headed out back to the hot tub after she had left two beach towels on one of the chairs in the kitchen that sat in front of the center island and instructed Noemi to make sure Jethro picked up the towel on his way out.
By the time Jethro came out the hot tub was running and was completely warm. Jenny sat in the middle of the hot tub along the back portion of it. The water came up about midway on Jenny’s abdomen.
“Well it’s about time you showed up.” Jenny said with her head slightly tilted in a seductive sort of way.
“You know I like making you wait.”
“Oh I know, just remember payback is a bitch.”
At one point Jethro took note of a scar on Jenny’s right shoulder that he hadn’t seen before.
“Where did this come from?”
“Oh that, it’s nothing.”
“It isn't anything Jen, something or someone did that to you and I want to know what happened.” Jethro said.
“I took a bullet to my shoulder one time while was working with Ziva overseas before I became the Director.”
“At least that explains why you would only hold the girls on your left side whenever you held them.”
“Yeah Jethro, you know as well as I do that holding a four year old when you have a damaged shoulder makes thing more than just a bit unbearable.”
“I’m glad Ziva got you to a hospital in time back then.”
“Jethro, I’m never leaving you. By now you should know that I would never let you be a widower a second time around and to be a single parent on top of it. I’m a fighter just like you.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Jenny and Jethro stayed in the hot tub for a while longer. Before long the girls and Kelly were back from their afternoon out together. When the quintet got back to the house they had found Jenny and Jethro in the hot tub. Kelly handed her dad one of the towels as he got up and out of the hot tub. Once he was out he handed Jenny the other towel and like the complete chauvinist gentleman nature, Jethro helped Jenny out of the hot tub once she had the towel around her.
There is no way in hell she can look that good after having four kids eighteen years ago. Kelly thought to herself.
After dinner that night Kelly had decided to stay the night. In bed after the quintet had settled in Jethro took a break from the case report he was reading to ask Jenny something.
“Jen, I want Kelly to live with us. She’s the only connection I have to Shannon; that okay with you?”
Jenny set down the book she was reading before she answered Jethro.
“It’s more than okay with me, Jethro. Kelly is your daughter and the girls’ sister; she’s family. She belongs here.”
“Thanks Jen, it means a lot.”
With that the two of them returned to their reading before falling asleep.
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