Sorry it's so late again, but it was a busy day.
Disclaimer: Don't own NCIS, however cool that would be.
Chapter 8:
It was finally the day of the party. The decorations were up, everyone had bought presents, and Ziva had just finished cooking the roast beef. She packaged it up and headed off for Gibbs' house.
Abby, naturally, was the first to arrive. She put her gift under Gibbs' tree and walked into Gibbs' kitchen. She placed 7 cups on the counter, one for each of her coworkers, and filled them with each of their favorite drinks.
McGee and Gibbs would want coffee, and Gibbs already had a pot brewing. Ducky got an herbal tea, and Palmer got soda. Ziva would settle for water, and Tony would get hot cocoa. For herself, Abby had bought a Caf-Pow on the way over.
Once the refreshments were set out, people started to arrive. McGee arrived first, his face red from the chilly weather. He gave Abby a hug and she took his present to place under Gibbs' tree.
"Did you do that Abs?" he asked gesturing to the tree.
"Nope. It was all Gibbs," she replied. Tim raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Wow boss, I didn't even know you had a Christmas tree."
"It's been a while," Gibbs explained. Soon the doorbell rang. Everyone could tell it was Palmer, as he was the only one not used to just walking into Gibbs house. Abby let him and a heavily pregnant Breena into the house. "Breena! So glad you could come!" Abby welcomed, "How's the little one?" The two women continued their conversation into the kitchen. Palmer smiled and waved to the guests. "I hope we're not late!" he said worriedly. Gibbs smiled and shook his head. "Perfect timing, Palmer." Palmer let out a sigh of relief.
Gibbs turned and went to his basement to bring his gift upstairs. Palmer made eye contact with McGee and pointed to the Christmas tree which seemed out of place in Gibbs' home. McGee nodded to tell Palmer that he too saw the tree and he was not just imagining things. Gibbs returned to the living room and put a slightly sloppily wrapped gift under his tree.
Ducky and Ziva arrived next, almost simultaneously. Ducky brought an elegantly wrapped gift and set it up under Gibbs' tree as he admired the décor. Palmer greeted his superior and they soon began a detailed conversation about the history behind the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree.
Abby ran up to greet Ziva who was having a little difficulty carrying a roast beef and the present she had brought. Abby helped with the present and Ziva put the roast beef in the kitchen. "Your tree looks lovely, Gibbs." She said as she sat on the couch.
Tony was the last to arrive, but he had quite the load to carry. When he entered, he took one look at the tree, said, "Shoot! Wrong house!" and turned around to leave.
"Tony, you are not in the wrong house," Ziva explained before he could leave. He turned back around to face her and a look of embarrassment covered his face.
"Oh goodie!" Abby exclaimed, "Everyone's here!" She ran to the living room and cleared her throat for her speech. "Attention everyone! Please take a seat in the living room. We are going to do the gift exchange first, then eat the delicious meal Ziva has so kindly prepared for us." Everyone shuffled to the living room and paused their conversations. "Thank you all so much for coming!" Abby continued. "I can't imagine spending Christmas with anyone other than you guys. You mean so much to me." Her eyes welled up with tears.
Sorry this was such a short chapter, but I had to cut it short, it's time for me to go to bed. Gift exchange will be tomorrow and/or the next day.
Till then,
NCIS Obsession.
