Rekindling the Flame

The Fires of Hell

Chapter 10 - The Fires of Hell

As the four of them sat in the living room watching television, Gibbs soon realised that Ziva had fallen asleep in his lap. Standing up quietly, he gently lifted her and took her upstairs leaving Tony and Jenny on the sofa.

"So Tony," said Jenny turning to him. "What do you think about everything that's happened? Are you ok with your Dad and me getting together?"

"Are you kidding?" replied Tony widening his eyes in surprise. "I'm the one that kept telling Dad to go for it." He turned away from the TV so that his body was facing Jenny.

"So, is it real? Are you boyfriend and girlfriend now?" he asked.

"Well I guess so to a degree. It's a bit more complicated than that Tony, but let's just say, we are going to try and give it go," answered Jenny trying to be an honest as she could.

"So are you going to have a baby?" asked Tony. "Because I would really like a little brother."

"Ah, not for the moment Tony," answered Jenny laughing. "Let's just get used to it being the four of us for a while hey?"

"Yeah I guess," replied Tony, a definite hint of disappointment in his voice. He fidgeted in his seat for a moment then said tentatively, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," replied Jenny. She picked up the remote and pressed the mute button. She could see from the way Tony was squirming in his seat, that this was important.

"What is it?" she asked, facing him and giving him her full attention.

"Well, um, I was wondering... well you see..."Tony began blushing redder and redder the more words he spoke.

"It's OK, honey, just take your time," said Jenny encouragingly.

"Well, you know how the other day you said that Ziva and I were like your children?" he asked.

"Yes, and I meant every word of that," Jenny replied.

"Well, I kind of think of you as...as our Mom, even before today. I've kind of felt that way from the beginning. Like, I know you didn't live here or anything, but you were like our Mom, helping out and doing stuff for us..." he paused as he tried to get the words right in his head.

"And, well....I was going to ask you this anyway, but now that you and Dad are, well...you know, I was wondering if you would mind if I called you Mom sometimes?"

He looked up cautiously, afraid for what he might see. When he saw tears in Jenny's eyes, he immediately thought the worst.

"Oh, that's OK. If you don't want me to, that's fine. I didn't mean to make you sad or anything, I just..." he blurted out.

"Tony, please, you've got it wrong," interrupted Jenny. "These aren't sad tears, these are happy tears. I would be honoured if you called me Mom. You are the most precious boy and having you call me Mom would make me so proud."

She held out her arms and Tony leaned into her, enjoying the comforting hug as she rubbed along his back and kissed his head.

"Tony, I had begun to believe that I may never have children and, as much as that made me sad, I had kind of accepted it," began Jenny, talking over his shoulder as she continued hugging him. "Then you and Ziva came along and, while I never expected to be called mom by either of you, I always hoped that you would both at least think of me as a mom. But to hear you say those words just warms my heart and fills me with so much love."

Gently pulling out of the hug, Jenny sat back so that she could see into Tony's eyes. "Honey, the word Mom is very, very precious and I know that you already had a Mom that you loved very much. Are you sure you want to use the word for me?"