AN: Sorry for the delay in getting out this chapter. I've had an incredibly hard time writing it and still am not entirely happy with it, but wanted to give you something. I'm vowing to have this finished before Christmas though. To those who are reading and reviewing – thank you so much. I truly appreciate each and every one of you :)
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"Merry Christmas, son," Jackson enveloped Gibbs in a warm embrace and then turned his attention towards Tony. "Its good to see you, Tony. I'm very glad you could come." He then gave Tony a hug as well. Tony stiffened in surprise, but managed to force himself to relax a bit and returned the hug awkwardly.
"Merry Christmas, sir...I appreciate you having me..."
"Please, just call me Jackson. This one here may have you calling him sir, but I definitely don't stand on that kind of formality."
"Neither do I, dad," Gibbs said with a chuckle. "He knows better than to call me sir."
"So have you eaten?" Jackson asked as they headed towards the back of the store and then walked through the door into the living room. "I have some cheese and crackers and other things you can snack on, but I can fix you something more substantial if you'd like."
Gibbs shook his head. "No, we're good, dad. Ate at Pete's Diner. Tony bought a couple of pies there for tomorrow, as well."
"Well, thank you, Tony, that was thoughtful of you. That place makes some of the best pies I ever did taste."
"You're welcome." Tony said, forcing a smile. He then glared at Gibbs in reaction to the white lie.
"I'll put these into the refrigerator and be right back." Jackson took the pies from Gibbs and headed out into the kitchen.
"Why did you say that, boss?" Tony whispered fiercely once Jackson was out of earshot.
"You were so worried about a gift, I thought it would make you feel better."
"But its not true."
Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Give me twenty bucks for the pies and it will be true, DiNozzo. And will you please try to relax? There's nothing for you to be so nervous about. I don't think I've ever seen you so skittish."
"If you're going to be so worried about how I'm acting, you never should have brought me here," Tony shot back. "Its not like I asked for this."
"I..." Gibbs stopped as Tony's words hit home. He hadn't brought his agent out here to nag at him or make him feel even more uncomfortable, which was what he seemed to be doing. "You're right, DiNozzo. I'm sorry. I'm not going to say anything else."
Jackson came back into the room at that moment, carrying a tray of cheese and crackers. He easily sensed the tension between his son and Tony. "Here's something to eat in case either of you gets hungry," he said.
"Thank you...that's a really beautiful tree, sir...Jackson," Tony said, looking at the tree in the corner of the room admiringly. It was about seven feet tall, green and lush.
"It'll look even better after we decorate it. I took care of the lights already, but there are plenty of ornaments ready and waiting to be put up. I brought most of them downstairs, but there are still a couple of boxes up in the attic," Jackson said, looking meaningfully at Gibbs.
"I'll go get them," Gibbs said, quickly heading out of the room.
"Will he need any help?" Tony asked, ready to go after Gibbs, but Jackson shook his head. "No, no...he'll be fine. The boxes aren't too big at all." There was a long silence and Jackson looked at Tony thoughtfully. "So... I'm under the impression its not really your choice to be spending Christmas here..."
"What? No...I mean, yes...I do want to...I mean, I'm very glad to be here, sir...I mean, Jackson," Clearly flustered, Tony stumbled over the words and his cheeks reddened.
Jackson chuckled. "That son of mine can be pretty persistent when it comes to getting what he wants. Did he back you into a corner?"
"No...he...I fell asleep in his car and he just drove me here," Tony said, smiling in spite of himself.
"He did? You had no idea?" Jackson shook his head incredulously. "Well, not quite sure how that happened. He asked me about you coming with him a couple of weeks ago. I jut assumed he had invited you."
Tony shook his head. "It really is nice to be here...it was just unexpected is all."
"Well, that's certainly understandable. Even if I don't exactly approve of how he did it, I'm glad that Leroy brought you here."
"I'm glad too," Tony said, meaning it. Even if he wasn't particularly thrilled with the way Gibbs had gotten him to Stillwater, he knew Gibbs had his best interests at heart and he now believed that Jackson sincerely did want him to be there.
"Got the rest of the ornaments." Gibbs made no attempt to hide the open curiosity on his face as he came back into the living room. "Everything okay here?"
"Other than you having abducted this young man to get him here, everything's fine," Jackson said, his eyes on Gibbs as he put the ornaments on the floor with the rest of the boxes.
Gibbs sighed. "I just want him to have a nice Christmas...what's so wrong about that?"
"Nothing at all, son, but next time you might just want to try talking to him first, before resorting to such drastic measures."
Gibbs glanced at Tony who was unsuccessfully trying to hide the smirk on his face and smiled. He was glad to see his agent appearing happier and more relaxed. "Okay, next time I'll talk to him. You good with that, DiNozzo?"
Tony nodded. "Sounds good to me, boss."
"Alrighty then, now let's see about getting this tree decorated. We've got to get this one to sleep before Santa comes," Jackson clapped his hands together as he grinned at his son, then they both laughed as Tony rolled his eyes.
"Funny, guys...really funny," Tony said as he squatted down on the floor and began perusing through the ornaments.
xxxxx
Tony was fully into the spirit of decorating the Christmas tree. Christmas music was playing softly in the background and Tony was happily helping to place the ornaments on the branches as he munched on cheese and crackers. Many of the ornaments were old and unique, heirlooms that had been passed down through the family. "Did someone make this?" Tony asked as he held out a small wooden train.
Jackson smiled, a nostalgic look on his face as he took the ornament out of Tony's hand. "Yep, Leroy did. It was one of the first things he ever carved, must have been about what, nine years old?" he asked as he handed it to Gibbs.
Gibbs smiled fondly at the memory of learning to carve when he was just a boy. He'd loved it from the start, but never would have dreamed of the lifelong passion he would have developed for working with wood. "Looks a little bit clunky," he said with a chuckle as he looked at the little train with his now expert eye.
"I think its great," Tony said, his eyes on the train, a wistful look in his eyes. "I could never do anything like that."
"Sure you could," Gibbs said. "Just need to learn how."
"I couldn't learn," Tony said. "Anyhow...I'm way too old now." He turned his attention to some of the other ornaments, never noticing the meaningful look that was exchanged between Gibbs and his father.
xxxxx
"It looks beautiful," Jackson said gazing at the tree which was fully decorated and all lit up.
"It really does look good," Tony said, feeling very fulfilled with the job they had done on the tree.
"It does," Gibbs agreed with a nod. He then turned his eyes towards Tony. "Go put on your coat. Its cold outside,"
"Huh?" Tony gave Gibbs a questioning look. "Are we going somewhere?"
"We're going to take you for a walk in the woods," Jackson said.
"Now?" Tony asked, looking from one man to the other to see if there was any indication that they were joking. "Is this like Hansel and Gretel? Are you going to take me out in the woods and leave me there?"
"What's he talking about?" Jackson asked Gibbs as he zippered up his own jacket.
Gibbs just smirked. "Don't pay him any mind, dad. Just his weird sense of humor."
"I'm weird?" Tony asked as he walked across the room to retrieve his coat. "Its not my idea to go walking in the woods in the middle of the night."
Gibbs walked over to a closet and opened the door, retrieved a wool cap and scarf which he tossed to Tony. "Put these on."
Tony started to laugh. "Are you serious?" he asked staring back at Gibbs incredulously.
Gibbs nodded. There was a slight smile on his lips as he looked back at Tony, but his eyes were serious so Tony good naturedly put the cap on his head and wrapped the scarf around his neck. "There, happy now, dad?" Tony asked mischievously.
"Yep," Gibbs replied as he started walking towards the back door of the house with Jackson and Tony following behind him.
"How come you two aren't all bundled up?" Tony asked as they stepped outside into the cold night air and he quickly shoved his hands into his pockets.
"We didn't have the Plague."
"He had the Plague?" Jackson asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned back to Tony. "The Plague? Really?"
"It was a long time ago," Tony explained to Jackson. "I don't think about it anymore. Obviously some of us still do."
"Kind of hard to forget," Gibbs said, then whispered to his father. "He was really sick...he almost died."
It was on the tip of Tony's tongue to say he could still hear Gibbs, but he let it go. It was actually kind of nice that Gibbs worried about him, even though he wouldn't admit it.
The three men walked in silence for a short while. There was a light sprinkling of snow on the ground, not enough to make it slippery, but enough to add to the picturesque quality of the trees lit by the strikingly bright moon. The night sky was clear as well and countless stars could be seen above them. "So are we going somewhere in particular or just walking?" Tony asked.
Gibbs turned towards him then with his finger raised to his lips. "Shh..." he whispered. "You'll scare them."
Tony's eyes widened slightly and he could feel his heart beating more quickly in anticipation of whoever it was that Gibbs was talking about. He half expected to see a bunch of elves dancing merrily underneath the trees. Just then, they came to a clearing and Tony's breath caught at the beauty of the scene before him. Four deer were standing in a clearing. Two of them were drinking from a small pond. They were magnificent animals and the picture it made was like nothing he had ever seen before. He was filled with a sense of tranquility and peacefulness as they stood there silently watching them, hidden behind the trees, until finally, the deer, as one, made their way away from the pond and disappeared into the woods. "Wow...that was just...wow..." Tony finally said, unable to adequately put what he was feeling into words.
"Yeah...we've been coming here for years, ever since I was a little boy," Gibbs said. "I used to think they were Santa's reindeer."
"How..." Tony muddled that over in his mind for a few moments. "They're always here? On Christmas Eve at the same time?"
Gibbs and Jackson both nodded. "Every year that I've been here, sometimes there are only two or three, other times as many as four or five, but they always come," Jackson said quietly. The year before he had been at Leroy's house, but he assumed they had come that night as well.
"Well, isn't that weird though?" Tony persisted. He was trying to really grasp this, but couldn't quite do so. "They come on Christmas Eve...at the same time? How do they know to do that?"
"Don't know," Gibbs shrugged as they started walking back in the direction of the house. "They just do. Some things you just cant explain. Its just one of those things."
"I still don't get it," Tony muttered under his breath. No wonder Gibbs had thought they were Santa's reindeer. It was amazing for him to see what they had seen. He couldn't imagine the wonder and excitement for a little boy who still believed in Santa Claus to see those deer on Christmas Eve.
xxxxx
Tony was very happy to be back in the warmth of Jackson's house and was also grateful that Gibbs had insisted on the hat and scarf. "You like hot chocolate, Tony?" Jackson asked him and he nodded eagerly.
"Okay, be back in a jiffy."
Tony sat down on the sofa and rubbed his hands together. "Cold out there."
"I told you so," Gibbs grinned, taking a seat next to his agent. "Bet you're glad about the hat and scarf now."
Tony smirked as he looked back at Gibbs. "Just wondering about why you didn't throw in some gloves too."
"Honestly, I thought you had them in your pockets or I would have," Gibbs admitted with a chuckle. Maybe he was being a trifle overprotective, but he had never been able to erase the image of Tony under the blue lights at Bethesda, struggling to breathe. If erring on the side of caution helped to keep him healthy, he was all for that.
Tony smiled and then shifted his gaze towards the Christmas tree. "This is really nice...its cozy. I never had a Christmas like this before. My family's Christmases were just...artificial, I guess describes them best. Not just the tree, but the sentiments as well. This...this is just much better...much more real..." He looked back at Gibbs then, his eyes filled with emotion. "I'm really glad you kidnapped me, boss."
"Me too, Tony," Gibbs replied softly. "Me too."