Santa's Helpers

Christmas 2022: Gibbs, Tony and Tim dress as Santa, which leads to some surprises and the best gift of all.

Gibbs walked into the weekly family dinner at the McGee house with a large pot of vegetable and beef stew. It had been made from one of his mother's recipes that Jackson had passed along to Shannon many years ago. He set the pot on the stove to keep the stew warm until serving time. He turned and hugged Delilah and Ziva who were getting the rest of the meal ready for serving.

Gibbs went into the McGee family room, where Tim and Tony were trying to get the train set and Christmas village arranged under the tree. The older kids were off playing, but fourteen month old LJ was more interested in the brightly colored houses and people that his Abba and Uncle Tim were unpacking and putting under the tree. He lost interest when he spotted his Grandpa, running over to him and putting his little arms up, "Up, Ga!"

Gibbs picked the little boy up and hugged him, as LJ showed Grandpa the figure he had clutched in his hand. He babbled, so serious that Gibbs, Tony and Tim smiled, and then said, "MOOO," as he held the cow out to his Abba.

"So, who's up for helping me with the Christmas toys for the kids in the hospital next Saturday?" Gibbs volunteered every year for the NCIS toy distribution to needy families and to hospitalized kids. He loved seeing the joy on the kids' faces when Santa handed them a toy. "We need a few more Santas. Palmer is an elf this year."

"Autopsy Gremlin is Autopsy Elf?" Tony laughed. "Is he wearing an elf outfit too?" When Gibbs nodded, Tony laughed more, "I will be a Santa just to see Jimmy in an elf outfit!"

Tim smiled, "I would be glad to be a Santa, Boss, er, Dad."

~Santa~

Tony and Tim met Gibbs at his house at 0730. Gibbs had brought their Santa suits home so they could change at his house before they left for the Children's Hospital. Gibbs had already dressed in his Santa clothing, including the beard and hat. The two younger men quickly shed jeans and shirts to put on the Santa outfits. Tim tried not to notice Tony's boxers, which were Christmas themed, with a bow printed on the front and the message 'Your present is in here.' Tony smirked at Tim, "A Chanukah gift from Ziva."

"TMI, Tony." Tim really did not want to know that little tidbit of information.

"What's TMI, Tim?" Gibbs came into the room to see if his boys were ready to go. "Oh, geez, DiNozzo… You're right, Tim, TMI!" Gibbs gave Tony a light head slap, and all three laughed. They finished dressing, and got ready to leave. Tony grabbed his phone and snapped several 'selfies' of the three Santas, and then sent one to Ziva and to Delilah.

"Let's go." Gibbs herded them out the door. Tony was driving since his truck had a crew cab. Tim called 'shotgun' and Gibbs smiled at his boys. Some things never changed.

They backed out of the driveway and the next door neighbor's grandkids had just come outside. The two younger kids pointed to the truck and yelled out, "Hi, Santa!" Tony and Tim waved to the kids. "Probably made their day," Tim observed.

On the way to the Children's Hospital, several children noticed the truck of Santas and waved to them. All three waved back and smiled. Once at the hospital, the group met up with the others who were helping that day. A trailer full of toys was waiting for the Santas. Each Santa had a specific set of rooms assigned for toy delivery, including a list of names of the children in the rooms and a copy of each child's letter to Santa. Tony, Tim and Gibbs were assigned to one of the floors with the cancer patients.

Each grabbed a sack of toys that had been pre-packed for their specific children and headed inside. Jimmy met them at the elevator in his elf outfit. Tony tried not to laugh out loud, but when he and Tim made eye contact, both of them burst out laughing. Gibbs glared at them, but he had to admit, Jimmy did look somewhat silly. He smiled hoping nobody saw the smile hidden under his Santa beard.

The group arrived at their assigned floor. With the three Santa's helpers and Jimmy the Elf, they would give a gift to every child on the floor. The children who were mobile had all been gathered in the sitting room area of the floor. Two little girls spotted the group exiting the elevator and pointed excitedly in their direction. "It's Santa!" "Look, there's Santa!" "It's THREE Santas!"

The group could hear the voices of the children as they neared the room. Jimmy went in the room first.

"Hi, everyone! I'm Jimmy the Elf and I am here to help these Santa's helpers bring you Christmas presents." Gibbs, Tony and Tim walked in behind Jimmy and all three smiled at the kids. "Let's let them get settled and then each of you will get a chance to visit with Santa."

Tim and Tony moved to a pair of arm chairs that were near one of the windows in the room, while Gibbs found a rocking chair by the Christmas tree in the corner of the room. A little girl of about two ran over to Tim, wrapping her arms around his legs. "SANTA! I LOVE YOU!"

"Ho ho, hello, there. Let me sit down and I will give you a hug too." Tim smiled at the little girl. Tim put his sack of toys on the floor next to his chair and scooped the girl into his lap. "What is your name?"

"I Mandie. I two." The little girl looked at Tim and held up two fingers. She looked at his bag, "Do you have present for me?"

Jimmy looked at the lists of children, quickly finding Mandie on Tony's list. He walked over to Tony, and told him to look for pink Cinderella paper in his bag for Mandie's gift. Tony dug in the bag and pulled the gift out and handed it to Jimmy. Jimmy took it to Tim, who then handed the package to Mandie.

"Thank you, Santa." Mandie gave Tim another hug and then squirmed off his lap. She picked up her gift and ran over to her mother and grandfather who had been taking pictures. "Santa give me this! Open now?" Tim nodded his head to Mandie's mom, and the little girl tore the pink Cinderella paper off her gift.

"OH! Dress up clothes! Mama, what I put on my list to Santa!" Mandie was jumping up and down, her gift was a princess dress up kit that was the first item on her letter to Santa. Jimmy showed Tim and Tony the letter. According to the list, there was a second package in the bag for Mandie. Tony dug in the bag again and came up with a second gift wrapped in the pink Cinderella paper.

"Ho, ho, ho. Santa has found another gift for Mandie!" Tony smiled and held the gift out for Mandie, who ran over to him.

"For ME?" She asked Tony if that was hers.

"Yes, Mandie, and you may open this one now too." Tony smiled at the little girl as she began tearing the wrapping paper off the second gift. She tugged so hard that Tony nearly lost his grip on the box, but he managed to grab it before it fell.

The paper fell off the box, and showed a plush princess doll with a pink dress and a shiny crown. "Thank you Santa." Mandie hugged Tony's legs and he picked her up and hugged her.

"Merry Christmas, Mandie!" Tony thought about his nearly three year old twins at home. Mandie reminded him of his girls.

Gibbs had been pulling presents out of his bag, and calling out names. The children came up to get their gifts and Gibbs had them open the gift where everyone could see. The others watched and cheered as paper flew and squeals of delight could be heard. Parents and grandparents snapped pictures of smiling kids with Santa (aka Gibbs.) When all the kids had opened their presents, Gibbs had all of them sit around his chair, and parents took pictures. Jimmy took several of Gibbs with the kids smiling up at him.

Tony pulled two boxes wrapped in Spiderman paper from his bag. He read the name tags and the Christmas list page for the child. "Joshua," he called out. A boy of about twelve slowly walked up to Tony.

"You know, I don't really believe in Santa. I only did this for my mom because she got really excited when we were asked to give a wish list for Santa."

Tony held up the letter, "Well, Joshua, the letter did get to Santa as you see, because he gave it to me this morning when he gave me the presents to give to you.

"It says here that you like to play video games, and you like to watch movies. And I see that you want a radio controlled monster truck for Christmas. I know something about movies; which ones are your favorites?"

Joshua gave Tony a look, and then replied, "I like the classics; my favorite Christmas movie is 'It's a Wonderful Life.' Bet ya never even heard of it!"

Tony chuckled, "We watch it every year with my family! Ask McSanta over there," Tony pointed to Tim. "Or ask Santa by the Christmas tree! We watch it together; all twenty something of us!"

Joshua took his gifts from Tony, and sat down next to him. He started unwrapping the larger of the two packages, "You're joking with me, man. You really watch 'It's a Wonderful Life' every year?

Tim overheard the conversation, "Yes, we do. Everyone, from the babies to the old grandfathers, watches it. It's a tradition!"

"Come on; you guys are family and you watch my favorite Christmas movie together every year?" Joshua was skeptical; he thought they were just trying to act like they knew about him and to be friendly.

Tony grinned, "Yep. He's my brother of the heart and that Santa down there," Tony pointed at Gibbs, "He's our dad of the heart." Tony watched Joshua look from him to Tim to Gibbs. "And, Jimmy the Elf is one of us too!"

Tim pulled up a picture from the previous Christmas on his phone, "Here is our family getting ready to watch the movie last year." Tim showed Joshua the picture of a panoramic view that he had pieced together from several different shots. The last part showed the beginning of the classic movie on Gibbs' TV.

"Wow. You guys have a big family! It's just me and my mom. Sometimes my grandmother comes to visit from California." Joshua was genuinely impressed with the size of the family. "I see Jimmy the Elf; which ones are you guys?" Tim pointed to himself, Tony and Gibbs. "I wish I had a family like yours."

Tim and Tony shared a look. They would have a discussion when Joshua was out of earshot later in the day, and they would bring Gibbs and Jimmy in on their idea.

"Hey, let's get your gifts open. I have to deliver some more presents, and I wouldn't want to miss seeing you open these." Tony gently directed Joshua back to his packages. The boy finished tearing paper off the larger gift and saw the R/C monster truck that he wanted. He tore the paper off the smaller package and opened it to see a collection of movies, including 'It's a Wonderful Life.' Joshua grinned a huge grin.

Tony felt tears forming in his eyes. Joshua came over to him, "Is it okay if I give you a hug, Santa?" Tony nodded and hugged the boy back.

"Merry Christmas, Joshua."

After all the presents were handed to the children, the families gathered near the tables for refreshments. Tony corralled Jimmy, Tim and Gibbs into a corner away from the crowd.

"Joshua, the big kid, has no family except his mom. He likes to watch 'It's a Wonderful Life.' What do you say to being his family this year and having him and his mom join us for our family tradition?" Tony looked at his brothers and dad one by one. "We all know what it's like to be alone at Christmas."

Gibbs walked over to Joshua's mother and asked her to join the family group. She followed him over to where the three Gibbs' sons waited.

"Ma'am, we would like to invite you and Joshua to join our family for one of our Christmas traditions tomorrow evening." Tony was the spokesperson for the group. "Every year we watch 'It's a Wonderful Life' as a family after Christmas dinner. There are a whole bunch of us, twenty eight at last count. Do you think you can get Joshua out of the hospital for a few hours?"

Shelly, Joshua's mom, looked from one to the next, Tony, Tim, Gibbs, and Jimmy, who were all smiling and nodding. "Jimmy the Elf, is a doctor, if that helps." Tony gestured towards Jimmy. "And Gibbs here can pull strings if needed." Tony gestured towards his Dad of the heart.

Shelly was speechless; she wiped tears from her eyes. "Yes! If we can get him out, yes, please!"

Thirty minutes later, Gibbs, Jimmy, Shelly and one of Joshua's doctors had made arrangements for the boy to be released for the afternoon and evening to be a part of the Gibbs' extended family for Christmas. They decided to leave it as a surprise for Joshua when Tony came to pick him up the next day.

~Santa~

When Tony, Tim and Gibbs got back to Gibbs' house, the others were there for their Christmas Eve family gathering to decorate Gibbs' tree. Tony filled them all in on the plan for their guests the next day. Everyone was excited to have another two members of their family of the heart and Abby told them she would make up certificates for Joshua and his mom showing that they were now members of the Gibbs family of the heart.

Tony and Ziva dropped their kids off at Gibbs' house on Christmas day about 1200 and then went to the hospital to pick up Joshua and Shelly. When they arrived, Shelly had Joshua ready to go, but he was surprised when he saw Tony.

"Hey, kid, you are going to be spending Christmas with us this year. This is my wife, Ziva, and you will get to meet the others shortly. Gibbs, Tim, Jimmy and the others are already at Gibbs' house." Tony introduced Ziva to Shelly and Joshua. She smiled and shook hands with both of them.

"Are you ready to go?" Tony smiled at the boy who nodded. "You are going to get your Christmas wish for a family like mine!" Joshua grinned as Tony led the group to the car.

At Gibbs' house, Tony introduced Shelly and Joshua to the family, and the kids all welcomed them to the family. Breena, Abby and Delilah called the family into the dining room for the meal and Joshua was seated at the end of the table opposite Gibbs. He grinned at his mom. Tony and Tim grinned at each other, and Ziva squeezed Tony's hand. The kid's grin was the best gift they had that year.

After dinner and dessert, the family moved to the living room, where Tony put the DVD in the player and started the movie. Joshua gave Tony a thumb's up from his seat in the recliner next to Gibbs and pressed 'play' on the remote. LJ climbed up into Gibbs' lap and leaned back against his Grandpa. As the movie played, he sucked his thumb and rested against Gibbs. Gibbs shifted and LJ crawled over the chairs and settled next to Joshua, smiling up at the boy. Joshua wrapped his arm around LJ, who snuggled into his new friend. Joshua smiled and watched the movie.

After the movie, the family wished Joshua and Shelly a Merry Christmas as Tony and Ziva prepared to take them back to the hospital. Joshua shook hands with Gibbs, Tim, Jimmy, Leon, Clayton, Jared and Nick. He hugged Delilah, Breena, Abby and Kayla. He high-fived all of the kids starting with Tali. Anthony, Rivka, Beth, Tori, Charles, John and Katie all took a turn. When LJ's turn came, he wrapped his little arms around Joshua's legs. "Love oo." Joshua knelt down and hugged LJ.

Tony and Ziva got them back to the hospital and helped them inside. Shelly thanked both DiNozzos multiple times and Joshua hugged both of his new friends. "Thanks, Tony. Thanks, Ziva."

~Santa~

On 27 December, Tony got a call from Shelly. Joshua had slipped into a coma overnight on Christmas night and had passed in his sleep on the morning of the twenty seventh. He was at the hospital for end care as his tumors had returned for the fifth time with a vengeance. Shelly thanked Tony repeatedly for making Joshua's last day memorable. She asked him to thank the extended family for adopting them and making them feel a part of the big family. She planned to take Joshua's remains to California and be near her mother and cousins in California.

Tony hung up the call with tears in his eyes. He gathered his family together and explained what Shelly had told him. Ziva held his hand as he told them that Joshua had passed away. She wiped tears from her eyes as Tony told his children that they had made Joshua's last day happy as part of a big loving family.

Ziva had the family join hands as she recited the blessing for the newly deceased. "Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha'olam, dayan ha-emet. Blessed are You, Lord, our G-d, King of the universe, the Judge of Truth."

"Dayan ha-emet." Tony, Tali and Anthony repeated.

After, Tony called Gibbs, Tim, and Jimmy to give them the news.