"Wow… Boss. You sure look… different."
He sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Yeah, Tony, thanks. That's why I called."
"So I can compliment your good looks?" Tony asked, smirking.
"You idiot," Ziva said, nudging him aside so that she was in the frame. "Gibbs, I am amazed. You learned how to use a computer."
"Well, he did have help," Ducky piped up, walking in with a cup of tea. "Jethro, is the computer working for you?"
"Yeah, thanks Duck," Gibbs said, turning away from the laptop to take the tea from Ducky.
"Things are going about as well as you'd expect up here," Tony said.
"You should not have left him in charge," Ziva said.
"I trust that he's competent enough, Ziva. 'Sides, thought you were supposed to keep an eye on him?"
"Well, I-," she stopped. "You are right, Gibbs. He is doing fine. The elves are worried."
"Any luck finding a chick, boss?"
"Toy production is going well," Ziva cut in, glaring at Tony. "Everything should be ready in time for Christmas…"
"That's good to hear, Ziver. What else, Tony?"
"Uh, let's see… We lost a day or two on baking when one of the ovens stopped working."
"How badly did it affect the quotas?" Gibbs asked.
"It was not that bad, Gibbs," Ziva tried.
"How bad, Ziver?"
"We have to work double time for a few days, but we will manage, and there's no point dying over spilt milk."
Tony laughed. "It's crying over spilt milk. Look, boss, there's no need to worry, we're doing great here. What about you? Found yourself a special somebody yet?"
"Tony," he started, annoyed, but Tony rushed to clear it up.
"Sorry, boss, it's just that the clock is ticking, you know-," as Tony spoke, Gibbs's phone rang.
He held up a finger, turning away from the computer, checking the caller ID. It was an unknown caller, but he picked up all the same. "Yeah, Gibbs."
"Oh thank God, you answered." It was Kate, and she sounded like she was about to cry. "I didn't know who else to call-,"
"Wait, Katie, slow down. What's wrong? Did something happen to the twins?"
"Something came up, a family emergency, and I have to go… and I need someone to watch the girls, and I'm so sorry to bother you, but-,"
"I'll be there," he told her, cutting her off gently. "Text me your address, okay? And Katie… take a deep breath. It's going to be okay."
He turned back to Tony and Ziva, who were trying and failing to look interested. "Who was that, boss?" Tony asked.
"Not important, Tony. Just keep workin' hard," Gibbs told him. "I gotta go." He slammed the laptop closed before standing, hurrying to look for his coat.
"Jethro, what is going on?" Ducky asked, and Gibbs turned, having forgotten he was in the room.
"Duck, I hafta go. Kate needs me."
"Should I accompany you, Jethro?"
"Nah, Duck, it's okay. I just… hafta go."
XNCISX
Arriving at Kate's apartment, he was surprised to notice that while the other doors on her floor were bedecked with wreathes and lights, hers was bare minus the gold 24 that reflected the lights. He knocked, unwinding his scarf, and the door was opened to reveal a red-eyed Kate, who seemed to have calmed down a little bit in the time it had taken him to get there. "Katie," he said gently, stepping in and putting his hands on her shoulder. "You okay?"
"I'm fine, Gibbs."
"What's goin' on?"
"Look, Gibbs, I promise I'll explain when I get back, but I need to go." She brushed a hand over her eyes. "I'm sorry to disturb your evening, but I couldn't think of anyone else to call, and you're good with the twins-,"
"Kate. Deep breath. And then go what ya gotta do. I'll look after the girls. Is there anythin' I need to know about them?"
"They haven't eaten dinner yet, they'll eat pretty much anything, no allergies," she reported, but he could see her mind was somewhere else.
"Are ya sure you're good to drive?"
She gave him a wan smile. "I'm fine, Gibbs, but thank you. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but help yourself to food and if I'm back late tonight, or tomorrow, you can stay in my room. I'm really sorry-,"
"Stop apologizin', it's not your fault," he said gently.
"You're the greatest," she said, squeezing his hand. "I really didn't mean to dump this into your lap."
"Hey, spending an evenin' with my favorite set of twins instead of just me an' Ducky starin' at each other? I'd take that any night."
"I just have to say goodbye to the twins… they don't really know what's going on, but I don't want to scare them."
"Spoken like a true parent," he teased.
She blushed. "I'm no parent, trust me Gibbs." And she walked over, opening the door to one of the rooms, Gibbs following her. "Girls, Mr. Gibbs is here. He's gonna look after you, but I'll be back."
"Really?" Elle asked, excited.
"Are you okay, Auntie Kate?" Laura asked, standing up from where she and Elle were sitting, Barbie dolls lying around them like the victims of a massacre. She was twisting her mood ring nervously around her finger, as she walked over.
Kate knelt down. "I'm fine, sweetheart, don't worry about me. Just be good girls for Mr. Gibbs, okay?" She smoothed a hand over Laura's hair, and Laura nodded.
"Okay." She hugged Kate quickly, and Kate smiled into the hug, before standing back up, walking over and kissing Elle on the top of her head.
"Love you, girls."
"Love you too!" they chorused.
Gibbs walked Kate to the door, a hand on her back. She stopped at the door, pulling on her coat. "I owe you one," she told him.
"Nah. What are friends for?"
She hesitated for a second and then took his hand, squeezing it. "I'll try and not be away too long."
"It's okay, Katie. We'll be waitin' right here for ya."
She nodded and left, the door closing quietly behind her. He stood there, in the hallway, unsure of why she had thought of him first… surely she had family that could watch the twins? He made his way back to the twins' room, leaning in the doorframe. There was a pathetic-looking mini Christmas tree that looked like a bundle of twigs, propped up in the corner of the room, and the girls were playing on the floor with Barbie dolls on the floor. They had a cheap-looking car, and while there were at least a dozen Barbie dolls, there were about two Ken dolls. Gibbs sat down on the floor, watching them playing together.
Laura was distracted though, looking at her mood ring.
"What's up, Laura?" he asked her.
She looked up, eyes going wide. "Oh! My mood ring. It says I'm sad."
"How do ya know that?" he asked.
"It's black," she said, holding out a hand.
"Why are you sad, kiddo?" he asked, doing what Kate had done and smoothing a hand over her head.
"Because Auntie Kate is sad."
"She's not sad, sweetheart, it's just that she had to go run an errand. Ya don't really mind me babysittin' do ya?"
She shook her head.
Elle looked up. "You're Santa, right?"
"Yeah," he said, surprised. "I am. But ya knew that, Elle."
"I did." She turned to her sister. "Laur, we have Santa babysitting us! Don't be sad!"
Laura smiled a little bit. "Okay," she agreed. She turned to him, and held out a Barbie. "Wanna play with us?"
He grinned. "I'd love to play with you. Who is this pretty lady?"
"That's Jack," Laura said.
"Laur, Jack is a boy's name!" Elle complained.
"Hold up," Gibbs said, taking the doll. "It doesn't hafta be a boy's name, Elle."
"Santa should have a boy doll," Elle told her sister.
"No, he shouldn't."
"Santa doesn't mind either way!" he tried again, and they listened. "What happened to your poor Ken anyway?" His attention had been drawn to one of the Ken dolls, whose head was apparently taped on.
"He had an accident," Elle told him seriously. "Henry ripped his head off. He killed Oscar."
"His name is Oscar?" Gibbs asked, suppressing a smile.
"Yep!"
"But our tree is named Oscar!" Laura retorted, frowning.
Gibbs grinned, plucking Oscar up from the ground. "Poor Oscar."
"We can't have two Oscars, Ellie!" Laura complained.
"We can too!"
"Here, Santa, put Oscar in the car."
"Oh, is he goin' for a ride?"
"Yeah!" Laura said, forgetting her anger for a second. "He and Jack can go for a ride!"
"Okay," Gibbs said, setting down Oscar and Jack in the car together.
Elle gave the car a push, and sent it careening towards one of the beds. The three of them watched silently as the car crashed into the bed frame, and Laura gasped as Oscar's head popped off and rolled underneath the bed.
The three of them looked at each other, then at the decapitated doll, before they all started laughing together.
"We killed him!" Elle cried.
Gibbs shouldn't have been laughing as hard as he was, but the look of sheer horror on Laura's face, and Elle's giggling set him off. He lay back on the carpet, laughing until his sides ached.
He sat back up, wiping at his eyes. "How about we go find some tape and bring Oscar back to life again?"
"So we can kill him again?" Elle asked, eyes lit up.
"… Sure."
"We're not killing him again, Ellie!" Laura protested.
"All right," Gibbs said, scooping Oscar's head up from underneath the bed. "This is a crime scene and it's off limits!"
"It is?" Elle asked, looking sad.
"Yes, and besides," he said, checking the time. "It's time to eat anyway."
"Good," Laura stood up, still clutching a brunette Barbie. "Because I want food."
"I was thinking pancakes and bacon," Gibbs said.
"But Santa, that's breakfast food!" Elle said, frowning.
"Then we'll have breakfast for dinner. How does that sound?" he asked. By the looks on the girls' faces, they agreed wholeheartedly with that plan. They followed him into the kitchen, giggling to themselves as he set to finding the ingredients for pancakes.
"What are we supposed to call you?" Laura asked, sitting on one of the bar stools, leaning against the counter.
"What do ya mean?" he asked, turning in place from the fridge, still clutching the bacon.
"We can't call you Santa around Auntie Kate," Elle said, clearly in agreement with her sister.
"Why not?"
"Did you tell her?" Elle asked.
"No."
"Do you like her?" Laura asked.
"Doesn't matter. And you can call me… Uncle Gibbs."
"Okay."
XNCISX
He was sitting cross-legged on the carpet while the girls played with their dolls again, setting up a card house.
Laura stopped what she was doing and turned to watch him, and he grinned, seeing her, trying to balance the card house, barely containing a curse word as it collapsed.
"What are you doing, Uncle Gibbs?" she asked.
He grinned to himself, before turning to her. "Buildin' card houses."
"Why?"
"It's fun."
"Oh." She paused for a second. "How do you do it?"
"Well, you can put two cards together like a triangle, see?" he said, demonstrating.
She nodded, enraptured.
"And then ya balance a card on top of it, and keep building… and if ya put two triangles together, you can balance a card between them."
"Can I try?" she asked.
"Sure. It's almost as fun as buildin' sandcastles."
"I've never built a sandcastle," she told him.
"Ya haven't? Well what about a snowcastle?"
She shook her head, sticking her tongue as she tried to concentrate on her building. "Oh no!" she cried as it crashed to the ground.
"Don't worry kiddo," he told her. "It takes a lotta practice to build them. I used to build them for my daughter. And she'd knock them over."
"Can I do that?" Elle asked, tossing the dolls aside, clearly tired of playing by herself.
"Knock 'em down? Sure."
"Santa doesn't have kids," Laura told him.
He sighed, and focused on his building, instead of saying anything else, but finally conceded to say something. "Not anymore."
Laura grabbed his hand, and he looked up. "What was her name?"
"Kelly," he told her, and smiled. "Her name was Kelly."
"Okay," she said, and then watched him in silence for a second, as he finished constructing the card house. The larger it got, the more she smiled, watching him. "Look," she said, and held out her hand.
He looked at the mood ring. "Green. What does that mean, Laura?"
"It means I'm happy," she told him.
"That's good. Elle, ya wanted to knock this down?" he offered.
"Yeah!" she cried and walked over, smacking the card house. It crashed to the ground, sending cards flying in all directions. She grinned, thrilled.
"Can I do it next?" Laura asked.
"Sure," he agreed, reassembling the card house, making it even bigger. And then he asked a question he was sure he'd regret. "So it's just the two of ya and your aunt, huh?"
"Yeah," Elle said, picking up a Barbie and changing her outfit, before looking at Gibbs. "Why?"
"Just wonderin'… how long have you been living with your aunt?"
Laura and Elle both shrugged, and he realized that they probably weren't as solid on the concept of time, so he changed the subject. "You haven't decorated yet."
"Auntie Kate said she was waiting," Elle reported.
"For what?"
"Dunno."
"And… there!" he said, moving away. "One card house ready for destruction!"
Laura smacked it half-heartedly, but it did the trick. It collapsed, instantly, prompting a smile from her.
"Jingle bells, Batman smells…." Elle was singing to herself as she played with dolls.
"Really, Elle?" he asked, amused. "Nice lyrics."
Elle giggled, but switched songs. "Deck the halls with poison ivy …"
Gibbs slapped a palm to his face, as Laura joined in. "Tis the season to be itching… fa la la la la la la la la."
"Throw the children out the window!" the two girls sang together, and Gibbs felt that it was an appropriate time to intervene.
"All right, my turn to pick a song," he said, cutting them off. "Nice lyrics by the way… those yours?"
"Yep," Elle said with a smile. "We made them up yesterday."
"They're charming. Maybe save them for Broadway though."
"What's Broadway?" Laura asked, surprised.
"It's where all the big musicals perform…" he said with a smile. "I've never been, but I've heard it's cool."
"Cool. What song are you picking, Uncle Gibbs?"
"You'll never guess," he said with a grin, and then cleared his throat. It had been a long time, and he'd never claim to be a good singing, but her could at least stay on-key. "You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm tellin' you why…"
The girls grinned at each other and joined in. "Santa Claus is coming to town."
"He's making a list…" Laura started.
"He's checking it twice," Elle continued.
"He's gonna find out who's naughty," Gibbs said, poking Elle in the belly, and then poking Laura. "Or nice."
"Santa Claus is coming to town."
They sang the rest of the song together, and once it had ended, the girls were both grinning at him. He smiled back, and started picking the cards up. "So, what do ya girls want to do next? Still a few hours 'til bedtime."
"How about a movie?" Elle suggested.
"Any movie?" he teased.
"A Christmas movie!" Laura chimed in, smiling.
"Which Christmas movie?"
"Rudolph," Elle suggested. "His nose is like my yoyo."
"No, we watched that last week!" Laura disagreed, frowning. "I wanna watch the Charlie Brown Christmas! Oscar is in it!"
"Hey, hey," he said, getting in between them, as it looked like they were about to duke it out. "I have a better idea. How about we watch both?"
"We can do that?" Laura asked, confused.
"Yeah, 'course we can. We've got time."
"Can we have snacks while we're watching?" Elle asked.
Gibbs laughed, and nodded. "Sure. What kinda snacks?"
"Popcorn," Laura said.
"Cookies," Elle said at the same time.
"What about both?" Gibbs offered.
"Both is good," Elle said with a grin.
"Yeah," Laura agreed.
"Okay," he said. "Two snacks, two movies, two girls! We're all set!"
XNCISX
She crept into the room quietly, closing the door behind her with a muted click. Except for a single lamp burning, the apartment was dark. She set down her purse on the hall table, and kicked off her boots, tossing her coat onto a chair, before stopping dead in her tracks.
Gibbs was sitting in the middle on the couch, dead to the world, a girl leaning on either shoulder, all three of them sound asleep. The DVD cases and crumbs on the table told a story all their own: the three of them must've settled in for a movie night and fallen asleep.
Though she felt as though she'd intruded on something personal, intimate even, she smiled to herself, pulling out her phone. She took a picture of Gibbs, a twin on either side of him in matching pajamas, before walking around the coffee table, careful to avoid the discarded Barbies, to place a hand on his shoulder.
He was clearly a light sleeper, for he was awake in an instant. "Wh-," he started, before noticing it was her. She held a finger to her lips, and he nodded. "What time is it?" he asked, rubbing a hand over his face, groggy with sleep.
"Just after midnight," she replied. "Can you help me get the girls to their room?"
He nodded, standing up, before looking her over. She knew she looked a lot more put together than she felt, but simply pulled Elle into her arms, grunting.
Gibbs picked up Laura effortlessly, and carried her into the bedroom, where a nightlight burned.
Kate followed with Elle, and the two of them tucked the twins into bed. Laura's eyes fluttered open briefly, and she saw Kate. "Auntie Kate?" she asked, sleepily.
"Shh, sweetie, go to sleep. Everything's okay."
"I love you," she mumbled.
"I love you too," Kate said, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her forehead. Gibbs was waiting in the doorway, and she walked out, careful to close the door.
He was staring at her, noticing for the first time the dark circles under her eyes. "You must be dead on your feet," he said.
She shook her head. "I'll be fine. Thank you again, you're a lifesaver. And you're so good with the twins."
"Just bein' a good friend," he said, smiling down at her, and tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. "And kids are easy…. 'M not so good with adults."
"You seem to manage being around me just fine," she teased, and then walked into the kitchen, flipping on the light. "I'm making some hot chocolate, want some?"
"I'd prefer somethin' stronger," he said.
She laughed to herself, shaking her head. "I usually do too after spending a night with the twins."
He leaned against the counter, content to watch her. "So," he started. "A family emergency?"
"Something like that. Stay for a drink, and I'll tell you all about it."
"Well, how can I refuse an offer like that?"
XNCISX
He'd intended to just sneak up to his room, that had been his plan on his way back to Ducky's place. But walking through the door at six in the morning, he'd realized it was futile as soon as he'd closed the door; Ducky was already awake.
"Jethro!" He was standing in the door to the dining room, a cup of tea in hand, looking surprised, and there was a hint of a smile on his face. "Were you out all night?"
"Yeah," he said, rubbing a hand over his face. "What're you doing up?"
"Jethro, I'm going into work. But let me fetch you some breakfast first-,"
"That'd be great, thanks, Duck."
"You must be exhausted," Ducky said, ushering him into the dining room. Gibbs didn't bother to remove his jacket or his shoes, collapsing into a chair at the dining table, wanting nothing more than to go upstairs and flop into bed. "Did you get any sleep at all?"
"A couple 'a hours," Gibbs said, feeling slightly more human as he took the cup of coffee in front of him.
"Was everything all right with Caitlin?"
"Yeah, just a family emergency with her brother."
"Which brother?" Ducky asked.
"Does it matter?" Gibbs asked. "Hey, speakin' of… how do ya know her?"
"How do I know Caitlin, you mean?"
"Yeah."
"I'm a patron of her family's shop... I was very close with her grandfather, the shop's owner. I'm Caitlin's godfather in fact… why?"
"Because, Duck… I think it's her."