Notes: Thank you for the wonderful reviews, I am so happy you're liking it! This chapter may be slightly OOC and super cheesy but… I kinda like it? I hope you do too.

The Privilege Of Being Yours

Once again Gibbs watched Kate sleep; a habitual moment in which he reminded himself of how lucky he was. It was before anyone was awake, before the sun started to rise and the birds awoke with soft chirping. Still, the snow fell quietly, as he watched the gentle rise and fall of her back. She was sprawled across the bed on her stomach - her preferred sleeping position - that was, when she wasn't curled against his chest, and wisps of hair from her loose bun fell across her face. He could only just see them through the darkness, her slightly heavier exhaling making them dance across her cheek. He noticed the goose bumps on her arms, and pulled the duvet higher up, smoothing it over her shoulders and back.

He brushed the little wisps away from her face, stroking a hand over her hair he gently pressed his lips against her forehead. Gibbs moved his lips from her skin when Kate stirred and mumbled something sleepy and incoherent. Her eyes flickered open and met his, his face hovering above hers. She rolled over onto her back and glanced up at him, blinking as her eyes began to focus.

"You always watch me sleep?" Her voice was groggy and sleep-filled.

"When I can." He shrugged, leaning in to kiss the tip of her nose. He let his elbow fall beneath him and plonked down, dipping his head to kiss her collarbone and then rest it on her shoulder. "You sleep alright?"

She cleared her throat, a failed effort to push the sleep from her voice.

"Yeah, good. You?" She smiled, enjoying his warmth and weight as he lay half-on her. She played with his hair, raking her fingers over his scalp.

"Mhm, good." His voice was a mere buzz against her neck.

She yawned, "We should get up." Yet she made no attempt to do so.

"One thing first." He moved off her and shuffled over to the bedside table. Kate watched him, propping herself up, her eyebrows raised in confusion. He turned toward her again, and slipped some fuzzy reindeer antlers on her head -complete with bells- and snapped a quick couple of pictures of her on his camera.

"Gibbs!" She batted him away with her hand. "First, thank you for blinding me." She blinked to clear the blurred light stuck in her sight, "And second, why?"

"I wanted a picture of you," she cocked her head to the side and he half exhaled - half laughed. "In my wallet."

"You could have just asked." Any annoyance her voice once held was gone, and her smile warmed.

"Nah. That would be too easy." He grinned, as she shook her head at his answer and the bells on the antlers jingled.

She laughed and took them off, "Are these Sophie's?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, she let me borrow them." He took them from her and placed them, and the camera, back on the bedside table. "Right, come on sleepy-head, time to get up."

She groaned stubbornly, and dropped onto her back, her arm covering her face. Gibbs laughed again, defeated, and scooted closer, wrapping her up in his arms.

Breakfast was surprisingly calm. No digs at either Kate, or Gibbs, and Rosalie even managed a small chuckle at one of Gibbs' jokes. Kate had volunteered for her and Gibbs to tidy and clean the dishes, surprised that Gibbs hadn't grumbled at the idea, and actually offered to wash, whilst she dried.

"So when can I give you your gift?" Gibbs threw away his question like it was nothing, but Kate paused whilst mid-drying a spoon, and gawked at him.

"You got me a gift?" Her face lit up.

"Well, yeah, Kate. I did." He gestured toward her with the plate in his hand and she took it from him, drying it.

"I got you something too." She sounded proud of herself, as she placed the last plate into the cupboard.

"Really?"

"Well, yeah, Gibbs. I did." She mimicked his grumble.

"Hey!" He laughed, and flicked some water at her.

She giggled, flinching away and swatting him with towel. He grabbed it from her, but she didn't let go and so she crashed into his chest when he yanked it toward him. He leaned down slowly and captured her lips in his.

"KitKat!" The little voice drew them apart. "Nana said hurry up."

"We're coming now, honey."

Gibbs shook his head. "Present time?"

Kate nodded, stealing one last kiss from his lips and guiding him to the living room where eager children gathered around the Christmas tree.

Although strictly, and routinely organised by Rosalie, children will always be just that, children, and so it didn't take them long to tear into their many presents. It really does pay to have several aunts and uncles. Thomas' favourite gift was a very huge train-set. Jake's was something Spider-Man related and Sophie's was a personalised fairy doll, who, with a blush from Gibbs, she told everyone she was naming "Queen K" just like in Gibbs' story. Thank yous and hugs were passed around and as the children played with their new gifts, and Lucas chewed on a cookie, and pressed the buttons that lit up various colours and played several different tunes on his new toy, the adults exchanged gifts.

Rachel was aimlessly wandering around the room whilst talking on the phone to Sam, who had to work away for Christmas. Anna was gushing over her new locket, which had a picture of all her children in it, including Bonnie, which caused a few silent, bittersweet tears. The rest were having individual conversations and had more or less forgotten about Kate and Gibbs.

Kate slipped out a small box from under the tree and handed it to Gibbs. He fiddled with the tag, glancing at it. It read: "J, Merry Christmas. Your Katie x"

She blushed sheepishly when he looked up at her with a slight smirk on his face. He tore off the paper and opened the box.

"Kate, How-" He blinked at her.

"Is it the right one?" She chewed apprehensively on her bottom lip.

"Yes. It's, exactly the right one. How?"

It was, in fact, a watch. His much loved one, had been smashed whilst beating the crap out of the guy who tried to kill Kate, so she thought that it was only fair that she replaced it. However, it wasn't any watch, it was the old model. A very old model. The exact one he had recently broken. He lifted it out of the box and a scratch caught his eye. She had "Semper Fi" engraved into the back of it. He felt a lump form in his throat.

"Kate… This is-" He ran his thumb across the words and then clipped it around his wrist.

"Too much? You hate it, don't you?"

"No." Gibbs looked at her now, cupping her face with one hand. "Thank you. This is… it's perfect. Kate. Thank you."

"Really? You don't hate it?"

"I love it. And I love-" He stopped himself quickly and gulped. "I love what you did with it, and how it's the old one. I thought they'd been discontinued that's why I didn't bother. Thank you." His lips pressed hers briefly, but he kept his face close to her. "Right. Now you get your gift."

She wiggled excitedly in her seated position as he handed her a long, thin box, clearly gift-wrapped in store, complete with a little red bow and a tag that read "Katie, love G x" Kate would be completely and utterly lying if she didn't say that the thought of Gibbs writing the word love to her made her giddy, and her heart-rate increase.

When she snapped the box open she couldn't hold back the little gasp that seemed to escape her throat. Inside lay a familiar silver chain, one that was often paired with Gibbs' watch and contrasting against his tanned wrist.

"Is this your… I couldn't-"

"It's a gift, Kate."

"I can't take this Gibbs, it's yours."

"Not anymore. Turn it over."

She did. Engraved were the lyrics taken from the song they had their second dance to. John Martyn's Small Hours, her favourite song. "Get on up and fly away…" Kate smiled as the memory flooded into her mind.

He had just spun her toward him, and she bumped against his chest.

"So… what do you think?" She gazed up at him, as the lyrics stopped and the instrumental music filled the air.

"I like the song, Katie. Why?"

"It's my favourite. I listened to it a lot growing up. I was always the odd one out, at school, at college, and at home. I felt trapped into a life my mother wanted for me, married and popping out my fourth kid by the time I turned 28. I'd put on this song and feel free. Hoping that one day I could just get on up and fly away…" She sighed, dropping her gaze to his collar. "It's stupid, really. It just… it's a refreshing song. Like watching a sunset, sketching, or building your boat. Sparks up the same kind of feeling."

Gibbs brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it. "Nothing stupid about it."

"I can't believed you remembered." Her eyes were glassy but she willed herself not to cry.

"Yeah, well. I remember important things. I'm a bas-" he stopped himself, making sure all the little ones, and Rosalie, were out of earshot before continuing. "-a bastard but I've got a good memory."

Gibbs took it out of the box and put it around her wrist, hooking it on. He sighed with relief when it fit around her slim wrist almost perfectly.

"Did you alter this?"

He nodded, "I measured your wrist when you were sleeping."

"How tired was I!" She laughed, not missing the smirk appearing on his face. "Don't." She warned, remembering their breathless nights where they'd fall into a heap of exhaustion.

"Jethro," Kate's voice was quieter now, and she hugged him, wrapping her arms firmly around his middle. "Thank you." She whispered into his ear, her lips brushing against it. She could feel him smiling, his cheeks rising against hers, clearly proud of himself.

She released her grip on him, moving to look at him again. "You know. For someone who 'isn't really romantic'... you're pretty romantic."

"Don't tell anyone. It'll ruin my reputation."

She chuckled quietly, her fingers toying with the bracelet on her wrist. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"KitKat! Nana says we can go and play in the snow. Come with us?"

"Sure! I'll be there in a minute."

"Will you make snow angels with us?"

Kate giggled, and bopped a finger on Sophie's little nose. "Of course I will!"

"Don't need to make an angel, she is an angel." Gibbs mumbled, it was more to himself than anyone else although Kate and Sophie still heard and exchanged amused looks.

"No, she's a queen, remember?"

Gibbs' eyes widened and he looked between the two of them. "Right, my bad."

Sophie giggled, and followed her brother, and cousin as they ran through and out the back door.

"What does Sophie mean when she said that? She's referenced that twice now."

"Inside joke." He stood and extended his hand for her to take. "Come on, Angel. Sophie is waiting."

She eyed him suspiciously and then took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet.

Much to Gibbs' surprise, the Todd's family Christmas wasn't as chaotic as the day Kate had prepped him for. Admittedly, there were mild squabbles between kids hyped on too much sugar, and a stressed out Rosalie; but that was all. The day had smoothly passed. Snow angels were made, snowballs were thrown, and not without Kate's brothers ganging up on her. But Gibbs made sure to use his skilled shooting to his advantage and get them back for her. That was, until, Kate plonked a lump of snow on top of Gibbs' head and he glared at her, and then told her to run. She squealed, and did as he chased her around the back garden, through, and around the house, over a board game in the living room, but losing her outside again. She managed to hide from him, but not for long, as Sophie sold out her hiding place and Gibbs pounced on Kate, tackling her waist, and making them both tumble to the ground, in a laughing mess.

Gibbs was wandering through the house now. Each day leading up to, and on, Christmas had been hectic thus not having the time to explore the house in which Kate grew up. The echo of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" blurred and became more distant the further he moved through the house. Emily was putting Lucas to sleep in their room, whilst Thomas, Jake, and Sophie were curled on the sofa, sleepily paying attention to the TV. Once again, Sophie had curled into Kate's lap. Gibbs had offered Rosalie, Mark, Sarah and Rachel some help tidying after dinner but they refused, and that's when his impromptu adventure began.

Opposite the dining room, was a room he hadn't noticed before. He pushed it open slowly - and noisily - and found the light switch, flicking it on. It held a large stereo, a grand piano, shelves holding stacks of CDs and vinyl's, and various guitars mounted on the wall. He ran his fingers over the piano keys, pressing a few of them, and playing a simple 5-note tune. He scanned few the CDs, most of which he didn't know, but one he did, and a small smile appeared on his face. "John Martyn" he'd bet that was Kate's.

Gibbs grabbed a guitar from the wall, an acoustic one, and perched on the corner of the arm chair. He plucked at the strings a few times, before he began to play a few repeated chords, along with a beautiful tune. He hadn't played for a long time and so it was slower than it was intended to be, testing the waters, but soon the muscle memory kicked in and he was strumming and changing chords like a pro. He hummed a few of the lyrics, now playing up to the speed of the song.

He swung around when he heard a floorboard creak behind him, and found Kate perched on the piano stool, her arms crossed over her chest and watching him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt, just came to find you, tell you I'm going to bed now. Please, don't let me stop you. It's beautiful. What is it?"

"Eric Clapton. Wonderful Tonight." He spoke low, his voice caught in his throat.

"I didn't know you played."

He nodded slowly, biting the inside of his lip before hesitantly looking away from Kate and back to the guitar, starting to pluck at the strings again.

Her head snapped up as he began to sing, well, more like speak in tune, and she almost couldn't believe the scene in from of her. Leroy Jethro Gibbs, hardass, functional mute, and he was singing.

"We go to a party.", and she giggled at the way he sang party, his toothy grin reminding her all too well of when he'd said "please", for probably, the first time in his life.

He hummed the next like, and then began his quiet singing again.

"This beautiful lady, is walking around with me. Then she asks me, do you feel alright? I say yes. I feel wonderful tonight." The raspy notes he sang tickled Kate's ears. It wasn't anywhere near perfect and yet she found herself mesmerised by his gruff tone.

"I feel wonderful because I see the love light in your eyes." He was looking at her now, not paying attention to the chords, and yet so effortlessly transitioning from one to the other.

"And the wonder of it all… is that you just don't realise how much I love you."

Unlike when he'd recently started, nothing was funny anymore. Kate's eyes involuntarily welled up, and her breath hitched in her throat in a tangle of emotions.

He abruptly stopped playing, resting the guitar against the chair he was in and stood, walking over to her. He pulled her close with one hand in hers, the other cupping the side of her face. He pulled her in so she was flush against his front, swaying them side to side as he hummed the rest of the song into her ear. He let his thumb swipe away any tear that fell onto it, his lips brushing against her ear.

He pulled away to lock his gaze with hers. "My darling, you are wonderful tonight." He nodded, silent words filling the air. He pressed his forehead to hers.

"Katie."

"Yes?"

"You-" he stopped to take a deep breath, gulped, and then continued. "I-"

Kate pressed her finger against his lips now, and she shook her head gently, a small, understanding smile on her face. "You don't have to say it. I know."

He sighed happily, his eyes shimmering as he looked down at her, caught up in the moment, and they shared soft, smile-filled, kisses.

A while later and Rosalie found them in the 'music room,' let's call it. He was sitting in the arm chair, the guitar back in it's rightful place and Kate curled up in his lap with her head resting under his chin, peacefully sleeping.

"There you are! I wondered where you two got to." Rosalie spoke quietly.

"She fell asleep, I figured she needed it and I didn't want to wake her."

Rosalie nodded slowly. "Jethro, I know we didn't first see eye to eye, and I can be a little full-on at times." She adjusted her posture, standing a little straighter. " But, I care about Caitlin."

"I don't doubt that." Gibbs smiled, "You are her mother, or course you care."

"And, I don't doubt that you care about her too."

Gibbs glanced down at Kate, and dropped a kiss on top of her head.

"I love her. Very much, Rosalie." His voice was quiet, but there.

"I see that."

It was silent, and admittedly a little awkward. Gibbs scooped Kate up in his arms, careful not to wake her.

"I'm going to take her to bed." He declared.

Rosalie managed a small smile through her usual poker face. "Merry Christmas Jethro. Thank you for spending it with us. I hope we will also be seeing you next year."

Gibbs smiled, bobbing his head as he passed her. "Merry Christmas, Rosalie."

Gibbs carried Kate to her room, slowly laying her on the bed and covering her over. He climbed in next to her and gently kissed her cheek.

"Gibbs?" She murmured, her half-asleep, lazy pronunciation of the s in his name highlighting her slight lisp, making him smile.

"Shh, go back to sleep." He whispered, stroking her hair back from her face, his lips still against her skin.

Kate tilted her head, capturing his bottom lip with hers and kissing him.

"I love you." She whispered, her eyes only half open, still heavy, and clouded with sleep.

He wrapped his arms around her and she moved closer into his side.

"And I love you, Kate." He pressed his lips to her temple. "Get some rest."

A glowing smile spread across her face and she hummed happily, nestling into his side she drifted to sleep, content.

"Caitlin, please come and see us before Christmas. Perhaps in the new year? Or for Sophie's birthday in February?" Andrew kissed Kate's cheek.

"I will, dad, I promise. I wouldn't miss Sophie's birthday for the world."

"Plus, I owe Sophie a boat." Gibbs added, taking Kate's bag from her and putting it in the trunk of the car.

Sophie beamed up at him, bouncing on her heels excitedly.

As Kate said goodbye to Rosalie for what must have been, the twentieth time that morning, Gibbs shook Andrew's hand and thanked him for a lovely Christmas, and for inviting him into their home.

"So, Rach. You really okay with dropping my car back to me next weekend?"

"Oh, of course. I have to drive up to DC to meet Sam anyway, and I'll be coming home with him so it makes sense. Don't worry, little sister."

"Stop calling me that." Kate laughed, hugging Rachel.

"Oh, where should I drive to?"

"My house, Rachel."

"Aren't you living with Gibbs?"

Kate panicked, gulping and glancing over to Gibbs, her eyes wide, and she didn't miss him duck his head at her reply. "Uh, no. And we're not planning to anytime soon, before you start lecturing me."

"Okay, okay!" Rachel held her hands up in surrender. "We can grab some lunch when I'm there, it'll be fun."

"Sound's good, Rach. Thanks for that, again. Makes the drive home a lot less lonely."

After a few other goodbye's Kate and Gibbs got into the car, but she wound down her window.

"Bye everyone!" She called.

"Bye!" They chorused, and waved them both off.

Back on the long, and winding road, Kate sank back into the passenger side of the car and sighed.

"As much fun as that was, I can't wait to get home." She laughed slightly, and looked over to him when his reply didn't come. "You okay?" She asked, concerned.

"Yeah. Just tired, Kate."

She watched him, his grip on the steering wheel tighter than usual, his eyes focussed on the road and his driving unusually slow. She sighed, dropping her head back on the head-rest and closing her eyes.

The drive home was long, and quiet.