The three of them, Christopher Pacci, Jennifer Sheppard, and their boss Leroy Jethro Gibbs, were sitting in the bullpen, working on paperwork, when the M.E Dr. Donald Mallard, or Ducky as he liked to be called, came striding in. They all looked up. It was unusual for Ducky to come in to the bullpen at all, especially when they didn't have a case.

They all knew why he was there. It was a week before thanksgiving. He was coming up to deliver invitations to his annual thanksgiving dinner. Secretly, Pacci wondered why he even bothered at this point. Even the probie knew he hosted it every year. Jenny liked the invitations. She liked to have written proof of things. It was just the way she was. Gibbs didn't really care one way or the other. The invitations were part of the NCIS thanksgiving tradition.

Ducky strode through the bullpen, handing out the cards. First he handed one to Chris, saying, "I do hope you can make it, Christopher."

Chris just smiled in return, "I wouldn't miss it for the world Duck-man." He had a rocky relationship with his parents and hadn't been to a family thanksgiving in years; although, he considered everyone at NCIS to be as good as a second family.

Ducky next walked up to Jenny's desk, and handed her an invitation. She looked nervous when he handed it to her and he said, "The invitation extends to Ziva as well."

Jenny exhaled visibly at this as said, "We'll be there."

Ducky smiled and approached Jethro's desk. He held out the invitation, Jethro took it, saying, "I promised the kids I'd spend Thanksgiving with then."

Ducky sighed, "Every last one of them is invited."

Gibbs grinned, "Then you'll see all of us at your place."

They appointed day came and Gibbs slept in until Jimmy woke him at 0800. Nobody else was up yet, so he left Abby and Sarah sleeping in his bed and headed down stairs with Jimmy to make pancakes for everybody. He spent the rest of morning and most of the afternoon hanging out with his children. They played all sorts of games and he made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. They were all having a good time. Gibbs had them start getting ready at 1700 even though the dinner wasn't until 1900. He knew it would take a while.

Jenny opened her eyes at 1000, and squinted at the bright sunlight flooding through her bedroom window. She groaned and closed her eyes against the bright light. She heard a slight shifting of feet and rolled over quickly grabbing her gun from under her pillow. She watched as the door shut. She released the grip on her gun and sighed. Ziva. She got up and got dressed, then brushed her hair and her teeth and washed her face before heading down the hall to the kitchen. Ziva was sitting eating a bowl of cereal. "Good morning, " she said as she started to make coffee.

Ziva looked up and replied, "Good morning Jenny. Do you not have work today?"

Jenny shook her head, "No, we have thanksgiving off."

Ziva frowned, "We do not have Thanksgiving in Israel. What do you normally do to celebrate?"

"Well," Jenny replied, "You usually enjoy the day off, then have a large traditional dinner. That reminds me. Ducky asked me to make creamed onions for our dinner tonight."

Ziva frowned, "You will be having dinner with Ducky?"

Jenny nodded, "You've been invited as well."

Ziva cocked her head, "In school they told us that Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated with family."

Jenny sighed, "I don't really have any family, except for you and the people I work with. Chris and I have become almost as close as brother and sister, and I'm closer to Ducky then I ever was to either of my two grandfathers. Besides, you especially should know that family isn't always about blood."

Ziva smiled at that. She knew all about family being more than blood. She leaned back in her chair, "So we are going to make, creamed onions was it?, then go to Dinner with Ducky."

Jenny nodded, "That sounds about right." She looked at the clock, "We need to start around noon."

Ziva got up and put her bowl in the sink, casually tossing, "So how do you make creamed onions?" over her shoulder.

They stayed in the kitchen the entire day, discussing this and that while Jenny worked making the roux for the creamed onions, then continuing to sit at the kitchen table while the dished backed. Jenny had just turned the oven off to let the onions coast when she realized something. She turned to Ziva, "We need to find you something to wear."

It was just as Gibbs had expected. He himself managed to get dressed fairly quickly and had put several packages of frozen rolls in the oven so that they would be ready to bring to Ducky's. The problems mostly came from the kids.

First there was a fight between Tim and Tony because the two of them shared two jackets between them and they both wanted to wear the same one. Tony won out because he was older and more forceful.

Stan had tried to talk Kate out of wearing the tan checked dress with puffy sleeves and a peter-pan collar he had bought her at the Salvation Army store on the grounds that it was too childish and Dwayne had told him off. On top of that, both boys wanted to take showers and fought over who got to take one first.

Kate had come down stairs crying about what Stan had said and it took him 5 minutes to calm her down and convince her that although the style of dress was usually worn by younger children, she looked absolutely beautiful in it. When she had finally calmed down, he filled a bowl with cold water from the kitchen sink and told her to wipe her eyes with a paper towel to get rid of the redness.

Michelle and Sarah both had dresses from the Salvation Army as well, but they argued because Sarah wanted to wear her hair in a braid, and she didn't want her and Michelle, who also wanted to wear her hair in a braid, to have the same hair-do. Gibbs was finally able to convince them it was going to be fine.

Abby was his angle child, ready to go super quickly. Her and Jimmy, although to be fair Jimmy was far too young to fight about clothes. Gibbs had dressed him in a pair of corduroys and a red button down shirt and he seemed content to bang pots and pans in the kitchen while Gibbs waited and kept an eye on the rolls.

Finally everybody was ready to go. He grabbed Jimmy's diaper bag and carefully took the rolls out of the oven and put them in a basket and covered them with a dish towel to keep them warm. He then had Kate bring them out to the truck. He drove an old, faded red pickup truck, with a standard transmission. Abby and Sarah were, as usual riding in the cab with him, and Jimmy was on his lap. The rest of the kids climbed into the back of the truck and sat down. It was 18:45 before they were on their way to Ducky's.

Jenny had already decided she was going to wear her brown dress and she put that on before she started looking through her closet. Ziva was almost as tall as she was, despite being only 14, and she was sure she could find something suitable for Ziva in her own closet.

Fifteen minutes later and they stumbled across the perfect dress for Ziva. It was an old one of Jenny's, a green velvet halter dress that seemed to work perfectly with Ziva's budding figure. They looked at each other when Ziva saw herself in the full length mirror. They were both thinking the same thing. This dress was perfect.

Ziva sat with the creamed onions on her lap in the passenger side of Jenny's slightly aged black sedan. They were on their way to Ducky's. Jenny turned to her, "When we get there, you'll meet all of Gibbs' children."

Ziva cocked her head, "I did not know Gibbs was married."

Jenny glanced at her, "He's not."

Ziva frowned, "Then his children are…?"

"Adopted," Jenny cut in, "Gibbs investigated the murders of most of their parents."

"I see," said Ziva.

Jenny hesitated for a moment before saying, "There are quite a few of them."

Ziva looked out the window, "Growing up, my uncle had seven children. I do not think… "

Jenny's mouth twitched as she cut in, "Gibbs has nine."

Ziva whipped around to look at her. She was silent for several seconds before she said, "Oh."

They continued to drive in silence for the last five minutes of the drive until they pulled up in front of Ducky's house. They both got out of the car and headed up the driveway silently, Ziva looking around in awe. Jenny turned to Ziva and said, "Are you ready?"

Ziva nodded. She had met Ducky when she had first come to America and moved in with Jenny, and she had insisted Ziva let Ducky give her a check-up. She had been taken with the grandfather like attitude of the good doctor and was looking forward to seeing him again.

They made their way up the front steps and Jenny rang the doorbell. Ducky opened the door and said, "Welcome, I was just finishing up the squash. Why don't you join me in the kitchen?" He stepped aside so they could get through the door then shut it behind them.

Ziva clutched the creamed onions to her chest as she and Jenny followed Ducky down the hallway. Ducky turned to her and said, "It's good to see you again my dear."

Ziva smiled, "It is good to see you again, also Ducky."

Ducky smiled. They came to the kitchen and Ducky gestured to the casserole dish with the creamed onions Ziva was clutching to her chest, "How about we put that in the oven? I've set it at 150o, which should keep the onions nice and warm."

Ziva nodded, "that seems like a good idea."

Ducky had just begun to open the oven door for Ziva when the doorbell rang. Jenny said, "I'll get it," and hurried back down the hallway.

Ducky opened the oven door and Ziva slid the onions in and as he closed it again he asked, "How have you been, Ziva?"

Ziva sighed, "Life with Jenny has been good, as has school, but I miss Israel."

Ducky sighed, "I miss my homeland as well, but America is a great country, Ziva."

Ziva smiled, "I know Ducky."

Meanwhile, back in the front hall, Jenny opened the door. Pacci was there, carrying a white ceramic dish, covered in foil. He grinned when he saw Jenny, "Hey Probie, good to see you."

Jenny rolled her eyes, "If it's so good to me, why do call me probie?"

Chris raised his eyebrows, "Because you are a probie."

Jenny sighed, "You're going to keep calling me that forever, aren't you?"

Chris looked at her, "Just until I die," he said, before heading down the hall to bring his casserole into the kitchen.

He smiled as he walked in, "Hey duck man."

Ducky looked up and said, "Christophe, I'm so glad you can join us."

Chris glanced down, "Hey Ziva, long time no see."

Ziva frowned, "I do not that is a proper sentence."

Chris rolled his eyes, "still the same I see. I was only trying to say that I haven't seen you in a while, and that it good to see you again."

"Oh," said Ziva, "It is good to see you as well Chris."

Chris grinned, "Maybe you should not worry so much about grammar and focus on speaking well."

Hearing this, Jenny rolled her eyes. Ziva meanwhile pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Is using correct grammar not speaking well?" she finally asked Pacci.

Chris just shrugged, "Sometimes."

Ziva seemed even more confused at this until Jenny said, "Don't take what he says to seriously Ziva, your English is fine."

Ziva smiled, "That you Jenny."
Gibbs pulled his truck up in front of Ducky's house and stopped. He turned the engine off and

stepped out, bringing Jimmy with him. He then opened the door on the other side for Abby and Sarah, while the others hopped out of the back. Tony and Kate were first out. Tim had a little trouble getting over the tailgate, but he managed it. Stan hopped out after him, and Dwayne helped Michelle over then hopped down himself.

Just as Kate got down, she almost dropped the basket of rolls. Tony tried to take them from her saying, "You'll just drop them Kate."

Kate glared at him, "No I won't."

Tony rolled his eyes, "You almost just did."

Kate turned away from him to stop him from taking them and said, "Almost. I don't have to do anything like getting down from the truck again."

Tony shrugged, "Fine, but if we have dirty rolls it's your fault." And with that he began sprinting to catch up to Abby.

Abby was already sprinting up the driveway, and Tony raced off after her, saying, "You can't get to the door before me."

Abby turned around and stuck out her tongue at him, before turning back to her running, saying, "yeah I can, cause I got a head start, and there's no way you're going to catch me."

"Oh really," Tony smirked and ran right past her.

"No fair," yelled Abby, putting on an extra burst of speed to catch up with him.

Kate rolled her eyes and turned to Tim, "Can you believe them?"

Tim nodded, "Sadly, I can."

Kate snorted and grabbed him arm, saying, "Come on," and pulling toward the house after Dwayne and Stan, who were chuckling and following Abby and Tony up the walk.

Sarah bounded up and took Tim's hand and said, "Aren't you psyched about seeing Ducky?"

Tim smiled at her, "Uh-hu. And we get to see Jenny and Chris again. It'll be fun."

"Not to mention Ducky's cooking," chimed in Kate as they came to the bottom of the steps. Gibbs was right behind them, Holding Jimmy in one arm as Michelle clung to his other hand. He smiled as Chris opened the door and Abby jumped out from behind Tony and into his arms.

He stumbled backward but grinned and said, "Hey Abby-normal, good to see you too." He gently set her down and him and Tony preformed their secret handshake, which was defiantly complicated. Tony grinned.

Chris stood up and hugged Stan, patting him on the back and saying, "Stan my man, how the hell are you?"

Stan grinned, "Better, now that I'm here."

Chris embraced Dwayne next and Dwayne grinned, saying, "It's good to see you Chris."

He bent down and hugged Kate, saying, "That's my Katie, little lady."

She giggled and said, "Hey Chris, and it's Kate you know."

He held his face close to hers and looked her in the eyes and said, "I know,"

He scooped up Sarah and hugged her saying, "How's my Sarah Beara?"

She grinned, "Beary good."

He set her down gently and turned to Tim pulling him into a hug. He then stepped back and ruffled Tim's hair and said "Hey Timmy."

Tim smiled back and said, "Hey Chris," quietly.

Chris then bowed down and kissed Michelle's hand saying, "Queen Misha." She grinned and he pulled her into a hug.

He stood up and ruffled Jimmy's hair saying, "Hey there Jimminy Cricket." Jimmy giggled. He then looked at Gibbs and said, "Hey Boss."

Gibbs clapped his shoulder and said, "It's good to see you can still worm your way into their hearts."

Chris grinned, "Hey I try. Maybe I could come up with a cool nickname for you next."Gibbs promptly slapped the back of his head. Chris rubbed the sore spot and said, "That's exactly why I never try." Gibbs chuckled as he headed down the hall after his children. Chris shut the door before following.

Tony turned to Kate, "So, Katie, little lady."

Kate stomped on his foot and said, "So, Tony-Baloney."

He punched her in the arm in retaliation and Tim said, "Guys" and when Tony grabbed Kate's arm and Kate kicked Tony's shin he practically yelled, "Guys!"

Tony dropped Kate's arm as they both turned to look at him. He looked down at the ground and said, "I just thought…nevermind."

Tony grinned and lifted Tim's chin saying, "Go on tell us what you were thinking. Tim gulped, but said, "We're at Ducky's house now, maybe you two shouldn't argue."

Kate sighed, "He's got a point Tony."

Tony looked at Tim, "We weren't arguing."
Tim rolled his eyes, "yes you were."

Tony smacked the back of Tim's head lightly, "What would you know about arguing."

Tim bit his lip, "I know that you argue with almost everyone."

Tony frowned, "I do not."

Tim looked at him, "Yes you do."

Tony replied, "No I don't."

Kate glared at both of them, "Guys," they looked at her. She motioned toward the kitchen, they

both abandoned their argument and followed her toward the kitchen.

Sarah and Abby were already there. First, Abby had pulled Ducky into a bone crushing hug. He stepped back and said, "Abigail, I can't breathe," and Abby had released him before jumping into Jenny's arms.

Ducky, meanwhile was patting Sarah on the head, saying, "Sarah my dear, how are you?"

She smiled, "I'm fine Ducky."

Jenny gently put Abby down, them said, "Abby, Sarah, this is Ziva. Ziva, this is Abby and Sarah."

Ziva extended her hand which Sarah shook, "It is good to meet you."

Sarah smiled, "It's good to meet you too."

Abby just pouted and didn't say anything. Ziva frowned, clearly Abby had taken an irrational dislike to her, but she didn't know why. She didn't have too much time to dwell on it.

Dwayne and Stan stepped into the kitchen and greeted Ducky and Jenny. Jenny introduced them, saying, "Dwayne, Stan," gesturing to each one of them for Ziva's benefit, "This is Ziva." She shook their hands too. Dwayne seemed genuinely pleased to meet her; Stan might have been it was hard to tell.

Kate, Tony, and Tim burst into the kitchen, Kate still carrying the basket of rolls. She set them on the table and hugged Ducky. Tony meanwhile, had pulled Tim over to where Jenny was standing. He smiled and said, "Hey Jenny. Who's your friend?" gesturing toward Ziva while Tim sighed and rolled his closed eyes.

Ziva frowned. She wasn't sure how to react to Tony. Jenny smiled, "Tony, this is my daughter Ziva. Ziva, this is Tony and Tim."

Tony pointed to himself, "I'm Tony. He's Tim. I heard the name Ziva being thrown around a bit recently. It's good to finally meet you."

Ziva frowned, "How do you throw a name?"

Tony smacked his forehead and Tim cut in, "He didn't mean literally, It's just…"

Ziva sighed," another stupid American idiom?"

Tony glared at her, "It's not stupid."

Tim shrugged, "It's not logical either."

Just then Kate wandered over, "What's not logical?" Then she saw Ziva and she nudged Tony and whispered, "Who…?"

Tony looked up, saying, "Kate, Ziva. Ziva, Kate," gesturing vaguely between them.

Kate smiled and extended her hand, "Nice to meet you."

Ziva smiled, '"You are one of Gibbs' children as well?"

Kate nodded. Tony grinned, "She's our sister."

Kate sighed, "Unfortunately." Ziva giggled.

Just then, Gibbs walked into the kitchen, carrying Jimmy, followed by Michelle. Ziva's eyes turned toward him. She hadn't seen him before. She knew he knew of her. Chris had told him. Chris only knew about Ziva because he had come to meet Jenny at the airport when they'd flown back from Israel. She had asked him not to tell Gibbs at first, but he had talked her into letting him tell Gibbs, on the grounds that Gibbs would probably find out anyway. Ziva was curious after listening to their argument from the back seat, what this supposedly omnipotent man was like.

She was surprised when she saw him. She was expecting him to have a beard, even though she knew it was childish of her. She observed three things about him. The first was the intensity of his eyes, the second was the hardness in the lines of his face, the third was the tenderness with which he held the child in his arms.

She was nervous inside. This was a man who could love and hate with equal intensity. She didn't let it show though and instead looked up at him, taking a step forward and saying, "You must be Gibbs."

She thought she saw a hint of surprise flit across his face but it was gone in an instant as he replied, "That would make you Ziva."

She nodded once, "You do not look like I thought you would." It was a true stamen.

Gibbs just raised his eyebrows, "How did you think I would look?"

Ziva frowned, wondering how much she should tell him. He sensed her he, handed Jimmy off to Kate. He looked at her and said, "you'd never seen me before."

Ziva bit her lip and wondered how he could read her so well, but took the comment for what it was and continued, "I thought you'd have long brown hair and a beard."

Jenny had just straitened up from hugging Michelle and noticed the two of them and decided not to interrupt them.

Meanwhile, Gibbs cocked his head, and Ziva rushed on, "The way Chris and Jenny talked about you, they made you sound almost omnipotent and Ari," she paused, I was painful to talk about Ari, but then ploughed on, "used to say that God had long brown hair and a beard, and I thought since you were so omnipotent…"

She trailed off. Gibbs looked at her. From what he had gathered, he guessed that Ari had been someone close to Ziva, and that he was dead. He looked at her, "Ari?"

She fought to keep her face strait, "My brother."

Gibbs decided not to push her further and simply lay a hand on her shoulder. Just then Ducky announced, "Time for dinner," and he pulled her toward the dinning room.

Suddenly he felt a tug at his arm he looked down and Michelle was standing next to him. He looked at her and she inclined her head toward Ziva and asked, "Who…"

Ziva realized what this was about and before Gibbs could blink, stuck out her hand across him and said, "Ziva."

Michelle smiled and blushed embarrassedly but took the hand and said, "Michelle."

Ziva then turned to Gibbs and said, "I believe I have met all your children now, no?"

Gibbs smirked, "Not yet."

They came to the table, which, because Pacci had set it had everything laid out on a neat, symmetrical arraignment. Gibbs sat down. Tony as usual sat right down next to him, but some of the other kids were surprised when Ziva snagged a seat on his other side. Kate was sat next to Tony and gingerly passed Jimmy to him. He in turn passed Jimmy to their father. He settled the child in his lap then said, "Jimmy, this is Ziva."

"Iva," Jimmy repeated.

Ziva smiled, "Hello Jimmy."

Gibbs smirked, "Now you've met everybody."

Tony chuckled, but abruptly stopped when Ziva glared at him. On Ziva's other side, Jenny smiled. Ziva was defiantly going to fit in with the Gibblets.

A/N I know this is a thanksgiving fic, and it's almost Christmas, but it took me a while to finish and there's a least one NCIS thanksgiving fic that's been written recently, so…Also sorry it's so long, but I got a little carried away writing Tony/Kate teasing scenes. The reason I mentioned about how Pacci set the table is because I re-watched dead man walking recently and although I made him out to be kind of like Tony, it mentions that he is, as Tony says, "Anal" so I brought some of that into how I write him. Also in this story, Ari didn't go rouge, he was just Ziva's brother who was killed on a mission for Mussod.