AN: This follows Razor's Edge, Dares to Stand and Play For Me in my T2 universe. You don't need to have read them, but if you enjoy this, you'll probably enjoy those, too.
Faith and Family
Christmas Eve, Navy Yard
"Come on, Zee," Tony said. "Let's see how Admiral Whitebeard's mission is going."
As the teammates snuck into MTAC, Tim was covering Parker's eyes and asking him to think of what he wanted most for Christmas. Tony felt the warm, fuzzy feeling he always got watching Tim when they spent time with his family. He couldn't see Parker's face when his mom came on the screen, but he could hear the stunned excitement in the boy's voice.
Tony smiled as Tim walked over to stand by Abby and she planted a set of big, red lips on Tim's cheek. Then Tony's heart warmed a little more as Tim kissed her on the temple. She was right, Tim did make a great Santa. Not for the first time, he thought about what it would be like to have a kid or two of their own running around the house, calling them Daddy. They hadn't really talked about it, and Tony knew there were a lot of hurdles with their crazy hours. But some day. He smiled. Right now, he'd start with their first Christmas together, the first one with the whole family. Sean, Eileen and Sarah were spending the weekend, and the team was coming over in the morning to join them. With Ziva back and everybody together, they had a lot to celebrate this year.
He waited at the back of MTAC, and when Abby led her friends out, Tim stopped by him.
"You're a good man, Admiral Whitebeard," Tony said, grin widening as Tim's ears turned pink. "Come on, let's go home and start decorating that tree."
"Sounds good," Tim said. "Glad to see Dolores didn't eat you alive. How did it go?"
Tony started telling him, enjoying the memory of exactly how the HR woman's face had cracked and brightened as she saw the present he had hunted down. It was a night for Christmas miracles.
When they got home, the house was lit up and the McGees' car was parked in the driveway next to Tony's.
Between Jethro and Tim's family, the first few minutes were a flurry of hugs and trying not to step on Jethro's paws as he dived into the middle of chaos. By the time the guys came back downstairs after changing into jeans and sweaters, Eileen had hot chocolate waiting for them. The tree was up and covered with lights, but no ornaments.
"Wow, thanks, guys," Tim said. "You did all the tedious stuff and left the fun part for us."
Tony was surprised Sarah didn't give her older brother grief for that.
"Before we start decorating, we have a present for each of you," Sean said.
"On Christmas Eve?" Tony asked.
"It's a family tradition," Sarah said. "Mom and Dad always let us open one present on Christmas Eve. Usually we get to pick, but not this year."
"We have something special for you boys," Eileen added, pointing to two gift bags on the coffee table. They were tall and skinny - the type of bags Tony always got when he was giving somebody wine.
Tim reached over for the one with the reindeer, looked at the tag and handed it to Tony. He kept the Santa one for himself.
They reached in at the same time, and each pulled out a small, tissue-wrapped item.
Tony opened his to find a basketball player in a red uniform with OSU inked in black on the jersey. He looked over to see Tim holding a wrestler in a green uniform.
"Those are from me. We wanted to give you something to start your tree off with," Eileen said. "Look at the rest of them."
Tim started pulling out more tissue-wrapped ornaments and placing them on the coffee table, and Tony quickly followed suit. His were wrapped in red and Tim's in green. All of the others had names on them.
"Wait, Gibbs?" Tim said.
"This one says Ziva," Tony added.
"We wanted these ornaments to be special," Sean said. "So after Sarah filled Abby in on the plan, she collected ornaments from each member of your team."
Tony blinked back tears. Sure, the team had always been family to him, but this was more than he ever expected. Sarah's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Come on, open them," she said. "Abby had them wrapped before she turned them over, and I want to see what everybody got you."
Tim reached over to swat her on the back of the head, lightly, before grabbing one of his ornaments. "This one's from Ducky," he said.
"Wait, let me find mine from Ducky," Tony said, searching through the pile. "OK, got it."
They opened them to find the medical examiner had gotten Tim a small metal typewriter. "The keys even work," he exclaimed as Tony unwrapped a martini glass with an olive stuck in it.
"Shaken, not stirred," the senior field agent said, affecting a British accent. He put the glass down and reached for another one. "This one's from Sarah," he said.
They opened the flattish packages to find matching gold badges. Tony held his up. "Very Special Agent Tommy at your service."
"Teamed with Special Agent McGregor, they're virtually unstoppable," Tim said.
"Virtually," the men said at the same time before breaking down into laughter, as they reflected back on their efforts to tag-team the petty officer who had been hyped up on meth.
"OK, now for Abby," Tim said. "Although she kind of has me worried."
"I don't feel any spikes," Tony said.
They opened the packages to find photo frames. Tony's was shaped like a film strip and Tim's like a computer monitor, but they both had the same picture of the two men snuggled on the couch. "Who would have thought two months ago we'd be getting these from her," Tim said.
"What do you mean?" Eileen asked. "Abby thinks you two are adorable together."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, now she does. She was a little... surprised when we first told her."
"Yeah, and now they gang up on me," Tim said. "There are days I understand why Gibbs has Rule 12."
Tony tapped the back of his head. "Oh, you love it when we conspire against you. Remember-"
"Tony, don't go there, please." Tim's ears turned bright pink, and Tony took pity on him.
"OK, OK. Let's move on to Ziva."
"Now for Ziva," Tony said.
Tim opened his to find a furry blue elf. "A snow elf," he said.
"Our little ninja's getting her holidays mixed up," Tony said. "That was Halloween." He opened his to find an Italian flag with Buon Natale on it.
"You'll have to tell her toda tomorrow," Tim said.
"I don't get it," Sarah said.
Tony smiled. "When we first met, Ziva used Hebrew more often. Every time she said something in Hebrew, I'd reply in Italian. Buon Natale is Merry Christmas in Italian. Toda is thank you in Hebrew."
"That's nice that you both keep some of your heritage alive like that," Sean said.
"It's a change from her fractured idioms," Tim said, smiling. "Come on, let's see what Jimmy decided on."
"The Autopsy Gremlin? This could be interesting," Tony said. He opened his package to find a coffee cup and looked over to see Tim holding a light saber.
Tim pulled out another package. "This one's from Dad."
Tony looked for one with "Sean" written on it. It wasn't until he'd looked at the other two, marked Jack and Gibbs, that he realized his also said "Dad" on it. For the third time that evening, he felt his eyes fill with tears. When Tim looked over, he just showed him the package. Tim reached over and hugged him, while Sean sat on the arm of the sofa next to Tony and put his hand on Tony's shoulder.
"You don't mind, do you?"
Tony shook his head and reached a hand up to cover Sean's. "No. I... No. Thank you."
"OK, now I'm dying to know what the ornament is," Sarah said, setting everybody else to laughing.
"Yes, little Miss McImpatient," Tony said.
They tore off the tissue paper to reveal matching photo ornaments. Tim's had a picture of the two men with "Our First Christmas" and "2009" on it. Tony's said "Family" and had a picture of him with the four McGees.
"Are you sure you and Mom didn't get your ornaments mislabeled?" Tim said.
Sean just smiled at him. Tony looked at Tim, then back over to Sean, realizing their mistake. "That wasn't Eileen that left the collage frame in the study," he said. "It was you!" Sean just nodded.
"Thanks, Dad," Tim said.
Eileen walked over to wrap an arm around Sean's shoulder. "Your secret's out," she said with a laugh. "You kids didn't realize he's the sentimental one, did you?"
Tony could tell Sean was getting a bit embarrassed because his ears were turning pink just like Tim's did, and decided to rescue him. "OK, should we open Gibbs' present first, or Jack's?" Tony asked.
"Gibbs," Tim said. "How much you want to bet he made his."
"No bets," Tony said.
Sure enough, they unwrapped honey-toned carved figures. Tim's was a German Shepard, the wood grain and stain giving him tan and black markings like Jethro. Tony was holding a piano carved to be a miniature likeness of the one that stood in the corner of their living room. A smile curved his lips, and he carefully set it down.
"So let's see what Jack decided on," Tim said.
When they unwrapped these ornaments, they each found a second layer of lined notepaper. Tony unwrapped his and started reading out loud.
"When Abby called to tell me about this, it reminded me how everybody on your team is as much Leroy's family as I am. This is an ornament we've passed down in the Gibbs family. Leroy agreed that all of you are his family now that..." Tony paused and cleared his throat. "Now that his girls are gone. It's time to start passing these on to the next generation."
Tony looked up and was glad to see he wasn't the only one with tears shining in his eyes this time.
"That's... Wow." Tim reached over to grip Tony's hand.
"So what are they?" Sarah asked.
Tony looked at his and found a small wooden sailboat, the sail fraying on the edge.
Tim unwrapped the notepaper on his to reveal a pink and white glass bell, with a silver bell tied with blue ribbon painted on the pink section.
"So do you think we can get Gibbs to tell us the stories behind them?" Tony said.
"Jack, yes. Gibbs? I know it's been a cold winter this year, but I don't think it's been that cold," Tim said.
Nobody could keep a straight face at that comment. When they stopped laughing, Tim and Tony started to hang the ornaments on the tree, while Sarah pulled out the boxes of generic ornaments both men had from their single days. Before long, the branches were covered in ornaments. Eileen sat on the arm of Sean's chair as they watched the three decorate.
"It's beautiful," Eileen said. "Now I don't know about you kids, but I think we're going to call it a night." She stood and offered Sean a hand as he levered himself out of the comfortable armchair.
"Night, Mom," Sarah said, hugging Eileen. "Night, Dad."
Tim was right behind her. "Night, Mom. Night, Dad."
When it was Tony's turn, he went with his instinct. "Goodnight, Mom," he said, wrapping his arms around Eileen.
"Merry Christmas, Tony," she whispered, kissing him on the cheek.
Tony turned to Sean. "Goodnight, Dad," he said. "Get some sleep so I don't have to tell Brad on you."
Sean pulled him into a bear hug. "You too, Tony. Don't let my boy keep you up too late."
Tony just shook his head.
"I think I'll go to bed, too," Sarah said. "Tim, I set up the air mattress in your study, if that's OK."
Her brother nodded. "We'll make sure to shut our door so Jethro doesn't decide to join you. His claws and the air mattress probably aren't the best combination."
In just minutes, the living room was cleared.
"Why don't we go upstairs so we don't disturb Sarah," Tony suggested. He held back a smile at Tim's nod of agreement. The present he'd picked out for his partner was wrapped and sitting in the top drawer of his nightstand. And after everything that had happened today, he really couldn't wait to give it to him.
They were quiet going upstairs and getting ready for bed, not wanting to disturb Sean and Eileen. Even Jethro stayed quiet, though that might have had something to do with the rawhide candy cane Tony used to lure him up the stairs while Tim shut out all the lights except the tree.
Tony used the head start to move the small package under his pillow so he could really surprise Tim. But when Tim walked in the door with a flat package wrapped in snowman paper, he was the one surprised. "You already gave me my present."
"Not all of it," Tim said as he put the package on the bed and stripped off his clothes. "But I wanted to save this part to give you closer to Christmas."
Tony waited until he was tucked next to Tim under the comforter before pulling his present from under the pillow. "Great minds think alike," he said.
Tim buried his face in the pillows, his shoulders shaking with laughter. When he surfaced, his face was pink with mirth. "Do you want to open mine first?"
Tony thought for less than a second. "Nope. I've been waiting almost two months to see your face when you open this. I don't want to wait any longer."
Tim raised that one eyebrow. "You got this before we moved in together? And kept it a secret this entire time? Should I be scared?"
Tony shook his head. "No. And when you open it, you'll know exactly when I bought it."
He passed Tim the package, and Tim slipped his long fingers under the tape to remove it without damaging the paper. He unwrapped the present, placing the paper to one side. As Tim opened the small box, Tony kept his eyes on Tim's face. He knew the moment Tim got it open far enough to see inside because he saw a giant smile light his partner's face.
Tim pulled the two rings out of the box and looked closely at the matching platinum bands. "Is that..."
"Enamel," Tony said. "I brought in a picture, and the jeweler worked off of that."
Tim reached over to kiss him, then took the larger band with the inset emerald and sea glass stripes intertwined in a helix and placed it on Tony's left hand. Another kiss, and he handed Tony the other band. Tony kept his left hand captive and slid the ring onto Tim's finger, then pulled him in for another kiss.
After a minute, Tim pulled away. "Before we get completely sidetracked, it's your turn to open a present." He grinned. "And you were right to go first."
Tony looked at Tim, shaking with barely suppressed laughter. "OK, now it's my turn to be scared."
He tore the paper off the flat package, revealing a folder. Inside, he found two plane tickets for a Caribbean vacation leaving in three weeks. "But how?"
Tim smiled. "Gibbs has already signed off on it. I told him to consider it our honeymoon, since we couldn't actually do a wedding, and he got Vance to agree to pull the team off rotation for two weeks."
Tony tossed the folder on the nightstand and rolled Tim over. "So I did the wedding and you took care of the honeymoon? Pretty good planning for not actually planning this." He lowered his head to Tim's and claimed his lips in a kiss. When they pulled apart, he smiled. "Shouldn't we have bells ringing or confetti or something?"
"Just wait," Tim said. "As soon as Abby sees the rings tomorrow, we'll have all the bells we can stand — you know she's going to be wearing them." His hand pulled Tony's head back down.
Tony finally had to pull away to breathe, and he propped himself up on one arm, looking at Tim. He took a deep breath and reached over to fold Tim's hand into his own. "I know you know this, but Timothy - no middle name - McGee, I love you. I'll be here for you in good times and bad. When we're enjoying lazy Saturdays around the house and when we're working our 49th straight day and can barely keep our eyes open. When we're playing in the bullpen like a couple of little kids and when we're helping each other up the stairs because we're as old and gray as Jack. And I'm looking forward to the first person at the Navy Yard who asks me about the ring so I can tell him I'm taken by the only person who's perfect for me."
Tim's eyes were focused on him, grounding him as he spoke. Tony smiled, and waited for him to reply.
Tim reached up to run his thumb along Tony's cheekbone and down along his jawline. Tony's breath caught, and he swallowed.
"And you, Anthony Dominic DiNozzo Jr., are the only person who's perfect for me. I'll be here in sickness and in health. I'll be here for you when we're running through the neighborhood with Jethro and when I'm exiled to the spare room with the flu. When we're chasing our kids and when we're chasing dirtbags. And when somebody asks me why us, I'm looking forward to telling them that I'm with the one person who completes me just by being himself."
The next morning, Tim woke to find he was alone in bed, and Tony was just coming out of the bathroom.
"You're never up before me!" Tim said.
"Come on, McSleepy! Let's go see what Santa left under the tree for everybody." Tony tossed him a sweatshirt and flannel pants. "You know Sarah's probably been up for hours."
Tim sniffed the air. "Mmmm, Mom's got the pancakes and bacon going." He scrambled out of bed and pulled on the clothes.
Downstairs, his dad and Sarah were already digging into pancakes, and his mother was just setting out plates for the two of them.
"Morning, sleepyhead," Sarah said. "Dad was about to let me go upstairs and wake you guys up."
"I was awake," Tony said.
Tim just rolled his eyes and reached for the syrup.
"What's that?" Sarah asked, reaching for his hand.
"Hey! You're all sticky," Tim said.
"And you're wearing a ring," Sarah said. "You weren't wearing that last night."
Tony held up his own left hand. "That was his Christmas present," he said. "We did our gift exchange last night after you went to bed."
Tim felt his mom pull them into a hug from behind, and his dad reached over to clasp each hand in turn.
"I told you you could call me 'Dad,'" he told Tony.
Tim turned to him. "You knew!"
His dad shook his head. "I didn't know he was giving you a ring. But I knew the sentiment was there. I can hear it every time he entertains me with stories when we're at Bethesda."
"Awww..." Sarah said. "That's almost sweet."
Tony reached over and head-slapped her.
"Great, now I've got two older brothers," she grumbled.
Tim laughed at the resigned sound in her voice. "Yeah, but that means you have Ziva and Abby as sisters, too," he said. "You and Abby together are way more terrifying than when Tony and I team up."
"And that's without our little ninja chick helping them," Tony said. "Come on, let's dig in or they're going to be here before we finish."
By late morning, everybody on the team had crowded into the house. Gibbs was the first one to notice the rings, but he just raised an eyebrow and smiled at the men. Tim wrapped an arm around Tony and smiled back.
Abby was next, though, so within seconds everybody knew about it.
"Rings?" She reached over to hug the men, one in each arm. "Aww, that is so sweet." She pulled away and grabbed Tony's hand to look, then Tim's. She looked at the rings, then up at them, then back at the rings. "What's with the colors?"
Tim smiled. "Tony's the one who bought them, so you should ask him. You weren't there for the discussion."
"Well of course not," Abby asked. "You always say you won't let me watch."
Tim could feel his face turn bright red, but he couldn't help laughing. When he looked up, even his parents were chuckling at Abby's comment.
"Not happening, Abbs," Tony said. "And Tim said discussion. Like talking. With Ziva and Palmer. You would have been there, but you were sick."
"Oh! That discussion," Ziva said. "I did not know it made such an impression on you, Tony."
"Somebody want to fill the rest of us in?" Sarah said. "I'm confused."
"When we were painting the study, we were talking about different colors of green," Tim said. "Tony and Ziva got into a discussion about the various shades."
"And Tim and Palmer just thought green was green," Tony said. "So Ziva decided to enlighten them."
"It was just an example," Ziva said. "I explained that Tony and McGee and Abby all have green eyes. But they do not have the same green eyes."
"Ah, yes," Ducky said. "The wonders of genetic combination that allow us to each reassemble our biological inheritance into something uniquely our own."
"Exactly," Ziva said. "Tony's eyes are darker, the color of an emerald. McGee and Abby have lighter eyes, but different shades. Abby's are on the yellow end of the spectrum, while McGee's are more blueish."
"It's like brown hair," Tim said. "All four of us have brown hair, but Ziva's is almost black. Jimmy's is dark brown and mine is light brown. Tony falls somewhere in the middle."
Tony continued, "After Ziva and Palmer left, we were talking about it, and, well, we got a little sappy for a few minutes, so I knew Tim would remember what we said and what it meant. And no, Abbs, we're not sharing the sappy part. We'll just say they remind us of what's special about each other."
Abby looked at the bands again, then at the two men. "That is so sweet!" She pulled them both into a hug, then pulled away. "Wait, so are these engagement rings or marriage rings? Because usually only the woman would get the engagement ring, but that doesn't really apply, and-"
Tim put one finger against her mouth to quiet her. "It's for good, Abbs. If we get to make it legal someday, you guys will all be invited, but as far as we're concerned, it's permanent."
Next thing he knew, he and Tony were squished into a giant group hug as everybody piled in to congratulate them.
By the time everybody was settled back around the living room, it was almost 1100.
"Let's open presents so we can eat," Tony said from his spot on the floor between Tim's legs. Tim sat up in the chair and leaned forward to ruffle his hair.
"He sounds like a little kid, but he's right," Tim said. "Mom, Ziva and Ducky have some amazing-looking stuff cooking for us."
Sarah and Abby, wearing matching Santa hats, appointed themselves elves for the morning and started passing presents around.
"Here, Ziva," Abby said. "This is from the guys."
The Israeli unwrapped the blue and silver snowflake paper to reveal a flat box. She opened it to see a hammered silver Star of David necklace, and looked up at the men, eyes shimmering. "Mazel tov. It is ... perfect."
"A lo davar," they said in unison.
Next Sarah went to hand a present from Ziva, Palmer and Ducky to Gibbs.
"Wait, my dear," Ducky said. "If you look, you should find three other packages similarly sized and wrapped. They all should be opened at once."
Sarah rummaged around under the tree and found the presents for Tony, Tim and Abby and handed them over.
Abby was the first one to get hers unwrapped. "Guys, this is amazing!" She held it up to reveal a scrapbook with a photo of her in her lab on the cover and smaller headshots of each team member ringing the outside edges.
"They're all basically the same," Palmer said. "I mean, the covers are different, and there are two extra pages in there for you in your book that aren't in the others, but mostly it's the same."
"Ziva found all the photographs," Ducky said. "I arranged them and wrote out the stories behind them, and Mr. Palmer put them together."
Tim opened his and smiled at the photo on the front cover of him at his computer, fingers flying and eyes intense. He leaned over and looked down to see Tony's had a picture of the senior field agent just releasing a ball of paper, probably aimed at his own head.
"What's on yours, Gibbs?" Abby asked.
He just held his up so everybody could see a picture of him in the bullpen, coffee in hand.
"Perfect," Tony said.
"These are really amazing," Tim said. He looked over at Sarah. "But I think we'd better wait to really look at them and appreciate them until later, or Sarah, Abby and Tony will burst from excitement." He ducked as all three hurled balls of crumpled wrapping paper at him.
"Well, we started with Bossman, so let's find one of his presents to pass out," Abby said.
"Same deal," Gibbs said. "You, Palmer, Ziva and these two open yours together."
It took a few minutes for the women to find all four packages and hand them out.
Tony hefted the one marked for him and Tim. "It's wood."
"Well, duh," Abby said. "You thought Bossman was going to go out and buy presents?"
Ziva looked at hers, then at the others. "Mine is different," she said.
"Different shape. Same idea." Gibbs said.
"Open yours first, Ziva," Tim said. "Now I'm curious."
Ziva unwrapped the oddly shaped package to reveal a wooden menorah with metal insets for each candle. "It is beautiful, Gibbs." She smiled. "I used to have one that had been my mother's, but it was destroyed when my apartment..." She trailed off. "I hadn't felt right just going out and buying one. This, this is perfect." She walked over and hugged the gruff former Marine, whispering something in his ear. Gibbs just placed a kiss on her forehead.
As she sat down, Gibbs said. "Go on, open them."
Tim leaned over to watch as Tony unwrapped theirs. A small nativity set emerged, each piece hand carved and polished. He looked up to see Abby and Palmer unwrapping similar sets.
"Thanks, Boss," they chorused.
"I know the perfect place for ours," Tony said. He scrambled up and threaded through the crowd of people and packages to place the small manger on top of his piano, setting each figure inside.
By the time he was seated again, Abby had passed a bulky package to Ducky.
"Abby, this is another set of packages that should be opened together," Tim's mom said. "There should be more there for Ziva, Gibbs, Jimmy and you."
Sarah handed out the bulky packages, being careful to keep them right side up.
"Oh, my," Ducky said. "Earl Gray, my favorite." He had unwrapped a small basket with a tin of cookies, two mugs and a tin of loose tea.
"Mine has tea as well," Ziva said, holding up a stack of individually wrapped tea bags. "Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. McGee. I will look forward to trying all these flavors."
Tim looked over to see Gibbs holding up a two-pound bag of coffee. "Thank you," he said.
"Gee, Boss. That ought to hold you for what, two, maybe three days?"
"McGee."
"On it, Boss." He lightly slapped the back of Tony's head.
"Now I know why you insisted on the chair," Tony said, tipping his head back to look up.
"Look, Palmer's got coffee, too," Tim said.
"What about Abby?" Ziva said. "That basket is not big enough to hold a Caf-Pow."
In reply, Abby held up a stack of gift certificates.
"Mom and Dad roped us in on this one," Tim said. "Abby just has to give us one of those and we'll bring her a Caf-Pow."
As everybody thanked the McGees, Sarah reached back under the tree to pull out a small package for Abby. "This one's from Tim and Tony," she said.
Abby tore off the paper to find a booklet of coupons with Jethro's picture on the front. She flipped through them quickly.
"What is it, Abby?" Ziva asked.
"A year's worth of IOUs for puppy time with Jethro," she said. "Thanks, guys."
"Speaking of Jethro, where is he?" Palmer asked. "I haven't seen him since we got here."
"Leroy's right here," Jack said from his place on the couch.
"Not me, Dad," Gibbs said. "Abby named McGee's dog Jethro."
"We wore him out in the snow earlier," Tim said. "He's probably still sacked out in the study with the rawhide candy canes Tony got him."
"He knew if he stayed here, Abby would try and put his jingle bell collar on," Tony said, smiling.
The forensic scientist shook her head, bells on her pigtails ringing. "I put it on when I got here, but he pawed it off again."
"See," Tony said.
"So who's next?" Tim asked.
"How about this present for Gibbs from you guys," Sarah said, passing it over.
Gibbs unwrapped the package and opened the box to reveal a planer, the metal dark with time, wood handle worn. "Thank you," he said.
Tim smiled and reached down to wrap a hand around Tony's. "You're welcome, Boss."
"And here's one for Jack from Tim and Tony," Abby said.
"Actually, Abby, that one should wait," Tim said. "Why don't you pass out the presents Jack brought first."
Abby looked at him, eyes narrowing in thought, but did so.
"Thanks, Tim," Jack said. "Before you kids open them, I'll tell you what I told the boys in a note with their presents. When Abby called to tell me you all were putting together ornaments for Tim and Tony, I wanted to be included. I called Leroy to ask him about an idea I had, and he agreed with me." The older Gibbs looked over at his son. "Leroy... You kids are Leroy's family. If the girls were here, these would be theirs. So Leroy and I want you to have these. We want them to go on to the next generation."
Even though Tim knew it was coming, he still had to swallow down a lump in his throat at Jack's words.
Palmer was the first to open his package, and he pulled out a small metal hot rod, paint faded and worn.
"Leroy got that when he was two or three," Jack said. "After he outgrew toy cars and was ready to move on to real ones, his mother rescued that one and made it into an ornament."
"That was the last Christmas before she died," Gibbs said quietly.
"Thank... thank you," Palmer said. "I'm...wow."
"Jimmy's speechless," Abby said. "That's as rare as Tony being speechless."
"Hey!" Tony said.
"She's right," Tim said.
"True," Tony admitted.
"Wait, shouldn't Tony have this one?" Jimmy said. "Not that I don't appreciate it, because I do. But Tony's the car guy."
"He got the one he was meant to have," Gibbs said, resting his gaze on Tony. Then he smiled and turned back to the group at large. "This one's right for you, Palmer. But it doesn't come with a map."
The team started laughing, while the McGees and Jack looked on in confusion.
"Dr. Mallard and I always get lost on the way to crime scenes," Jimmy explained.
"My turn!" Abby said. She unwrapped her to reveal a small dollhouse. "Jack, was this...?"
He nodded. "I gave that to Kelly when she was six. Leroy had made her a dollhouse, and I found this one that looked just like it."
Abby placed it carefully on the end table and dashed over to wrap her arms around Gibbs. "Oh, Gibbs," she said. He pulled her close and placed a kiss on top of her head.
"Your turn, Ziva," Tony said. Tim smiled, knowing his partner was trying to turn the attention off Gibbs before his tough guy facade crumbled — even in front of their close-knit family.
She unwrapped a metal snowflake, the edges rounded from use. The engraving in the center was almost worn away. She traced the numbers with a small finger. "1984? Jack?"
"I got that for Kelly's first Christmas," Jack said. "Always hoped I'd be able to add more snowflakes to the tree. Guess I've got a few new ones to get now."
Ziva brushed at her eyes and looked up. "I- Thank you. You do not know, could not know what this means to me."
Tim blinked his eyes. Jack had nailed everybody's ornament so far. He knew why Tony had the sailboat, knew Gibbs was acknowledging their shared need to work out feelings. But he wondered about his own.
"Jack, what's the story behind that one?" he asked, pointing to the small pink and white glass bell that hung near the top of the tree, far from Jethro's powerful tail.
Jack looked up. "Well, now, Tim, that's the oldest of all the ornaments. It's a traditional glass ornament from the German branch of the family. When couples got married, the bride would get a collection of these. This was the one representing the marriage itself. When Leroy's mother and I married, her parents passed it along to us. I gave it to Leroy and Shannon when they got married. And Leroy said it was time to pass it along to you and Tony this Christmas."
Tim reached his arms down to circle Tony's shoulders. "Thank you, Jack. And thank you, Gibbs. I... wow. I'm speechless."
Tony tipped his head up to place a gentle kiss on Tim's lips. "Thank you," he said after. "It means a lot to both of us. And now, Jack, we have a present for you."
Abby passed the wrapped package across to Jack. The older man carefully unwrapped it to reveal a small, square album. Tim didn't have to look to know what Jack saw when he opened it. The first page was a copy of the team photo that was framed in the study. As Jack turned the pages, Tim could see his delight at the collection of pictures of Gibbs with the team members.
"Jack, after we read your note last night, we wanted to give you this so you have something of us to take back to Stillwater with you," Tony said.
"Well, now, that's mighty nice of you boys," Jack said. "Of course, I'm going to want to hear the stories behind all these pictures after we eat."
"Of course," chorused the Gibblets.
Gibbs just glared at them, and Tim decided he'd better change the subject.
"That's it, then," he said. "Everything from everybody."
"Not everything," Abby said. "Before the warm fuzzies make Gibbs do the unthinkable and actually lose his second B, Sarah and I have presents for everybody. Well, the ones for Ducky, Jack and the McGees are different. But I think we have just enough time for our presents to everybody else."
Sarah looked up at the clock. "Still 45 minutes until the turkey is done. We have plenty of time."
The two women passed out boxes to Gibbs and all the Gibblets. Tony was the first one to open his.
"Sweet!" he said. "A Nerf gun!" He loaded it and was about to aim at Palmer when Eileen spoke up. "Not in here, Tony," she said. "Take the Nerf war outside."
The others unwrapped theirs quickly and hurried to the front hall to pull on boots, hats, gloves and, in Tony's case, a ski mask and scarf.
As they piled outside to start a Nerf war in the small yard, Tim looked at the living room window and saw Jack, Ducky and his parents looking out the windows at them. That was his last thought before a foam dart smacked him in the temple and he looked up to see Gibbs ducking down behind the bush in front of him. He found a secure spot between the steps and another bush and starting aiming.