Usually by December 22nd, Gibbs was ready for Christmas. All of his work was usually done, and the last-minute preparations were being made. The toys were all made and the list was checked… twice. Except this year, when the one job he'd needed to complete more than anything wasn't done.

'Twas three days before Christmas, and Gibbs was running out of time. With the ever-present reminder of the ticking clock, it was like the Advent calendar was a personal attack, counting down the number of days he had to get married.

So was it really any surprise that he was standing outside of Kate's apartment, sunflowers clutched in his shaking grasp, trying to work up the courage to go inside?

He held up a hand to knock, and then paused. How was he going to be able to tell her?

They hadn't (technically) even said I love you yet, and sure they'd practically lived together for a few days, but when it came down to it… he couldn't be sure of anything.

And why was he fooling himself into thinking that he was actually going to be able to convince Kate, who was still young and had so much life ahead of her, to give up the life she'd built to marry a man she'd known for less than a month?

Taking a deep breath, and trying to remind himself that he'd faced down much worse things, as a sniper, a Marine, a federal agent and as someone thrice divorced, he finally knocked.

The door opened, and there she was, smiling when she saw him. "Gibbs!" she cried, rushing about to embrace, and then stopping at the last second. And for good reason. She was covered in… what looked like flour. It was smeared across the apron, and coating her hands. "It's good to see you! I thought I'd finally scared you off after that vacation of ours."

"Never," he told her, stepping inside. "Brought ya flowers… but I saw ya already had… flour."

She giggled. "Did you just make a joke?"

"I'm a funny guy," he told, setting down the flowers on the hall table, and shrugging off his coat.

"Uncle Gibbs!" came a cry and he was almost knocked over by the force of two little girls jumping at him to hug him.

"Girls! You're covering him in flour!" Kate protested.

He was laughing though, as he ruffled their hair. "Hey girls. How are you doin'?"

"Good!" Laura said, without having to look at her mood ring, grinning a gap-toothed grin up at him, and seeing it made him smile.

"We're making cookies!"

"Mmm, what kinda cookies?" he asked.

"Gingerbread," Kate said, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek, before telling the girls, "C'mon I can't do all this work by myself. You're welcome to stick around, Gibbs, we need a taste taster."

"Gingerbread are Santa's favourite," Elle called, from her place at the counter.

"Mine too… but I can't just sit here and let the ladies do all the work. Wasn't raised that way," he told Kate, who was smiling at the sunflowers.

"Well if I see any ladies, I'll be sure to mention that to them," she told him and they exchanged a smile.

"Sorry for bargin' in on your evening," he told her.

"Don't be sorry. I'm not," she said, smiling. "I'm always happy to see you."

See if you're still sayin' that when I tell ya the real reason I'm here. "Got any extra aprons?"

"A bright pink frilly one that my mother gave me," Kate told him. "You're welcome to it."

"Thank you. Where…?"

"Drawer by the stove," she told him and he nodded his thanks, making his way over to the drawer, grinning at the twins who were just as covered in flour as Kate was.

"Are the two of ya makin' cookies or wearin' em?" he asked, and they giggled at his question.

"Ignore Gibbs," Kate told them, as he pulled the apron (which was a disgusting shade of pink) over his head. "He just likes to think he's funny."

"I am funny," he replied.

Her lips were twitching though as she stared at him. "Boy I wish I wasn't covered in flour right now so I could take your picture."

"Laugh all ya want," he told her, before going over to her. "Still need you to tie me up."

"Kinky," she muttered, and he glared at her, before shooting a nervous look at the twins who weren't listening.

"Katie," he hissed, looking over his shoulder, as she tied the strings of his apron for him, her hands brushing against his back, warm through the thin fabric of his shirt, and he shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts that were not appropriate- especially when the twins were around. But maybe after they went to bed for the night…?

She stepped back. "I'm done, Gibbs. And just a warning… I got flour all over the back of your shirt."

He grinned, turning around, and reaching a cautious finger in what he thought was icing for the gingerbread. "What's this?" he asked.

"Cream cheese icing."

"Great." He swiped a finger through it, and she laughed at him.

"So unsanitary."

"Ain't for eatin'," he told her, dabbing it on the end of her nose.

She made a face. "Gross, Gibbs."

He stepped closer, looking down at her. "Admit it, ya like it."

"You smearing icing on my face?" she asked.

"Nah. Consider it revenge for the flour."

"Hmmm…" She grabbed flour off the counter, tossing a handful of it in his direction. He shook his head, sending a puff of flour in every direction as the girls laughed. Kate ran around the other side of the counter, the two of them locked in a stalemate.

He flicked a spoonful of icing in her direction, and she screamed, dodging it as she laughed. However, she overestimated it, and he managed to grab her, wrapping arms around her waist, as they laughed.

XNCISX

"I knew feeding them sugar was a mistake," Kate said, curled up against Gibbs on the couch, watching the girls running around. After eating freshly-baked gingerbread cookies, Kate had somehow talked Gibbs into staying and watching A Christmas Carol with them (in reality it had taken very little convincing, but he had a reputation to protect).

"Your idea," he told her, before kissing the top of her head.

"You're the experienced parent… should have warned me."

"Felt ya wouldn't listen anyway."

"That's true," she conceded, smiling.

"Shall we wrangle them into bed?"

"Nah, let them have fun," she told him.

"Wooooooooo I'm a ghost!" Elle cried, running past, covered in a bedsheet. "I am the ghost of Christmas Presents!"

"Ah!" Laura cried, brandishing a foam sword. "I'll stick this sword in you!"

"You can't stick a sword in me!" Elle cried indignantly from beneath her bedsheet. "I'm a ghost!"

Laura took off, clearly looking for a better weapon, as Elle walked over to where Kate and Gibbs were sitting. "Woooooo I'm a ghost!"

"Very scary! Protect me, Kate!" Gibbs said, and Kate simply snuggled in closer, looked him in the eye and grinned.

"You're on your own, soldier."

"Betrayal!" he cried, clutching his chest.

Elle giggled, and he blinked in faux astonishment.

"Aw jeez… it's a little girl ghost, they're the scariest of all! Save me, Katie!"

"I'll save you, Uncle Gibbs!" Laura yelled, running back in, and Kate collapsed into hysterical laughter as she walloped her sister with her pillow. Elle hit the ground, laughing, and then as Laura kept walloping her, Gibbs intervened, scooping her up in his arms.

"I'm gonna get you!" he cried, and she started giggling as he tickled her, and soon it was Elle's turn to hit Gibbs with a pillow.

"Not fair!" Laura shrieked, and then she too was hitting Gibbs with a pillow until she was dotted on the head with an ugly throw pillow.

"I'm here for backup," Kate told him, pulling him off the couch, with a grin.

He looked down at her, face flushed, and eyes lit up, and he knew: God help him, he loved her. "Left it a little late, didn't ya?"

"Leave no man behind. I came back, didn't I?"

"An' I'm not complaining… odds are a little more even now."

She grinned, holding her pillow out as the girls approached. "I'm smacking anyone who gets too close!"

"Rarrrr!" Laura cried, rushing at her with the pillow, and Kate scooped her up. "We have your sister!" she told Elle.

"Surrender now and nobody gets hurt!" Gibbs added.

"You don't scare me!" Elle cried, tossing her pillow at Gibbs.

He managed to duck. "Shots fired!" he called to Kate, before dropping his pillow.

"Gibbs?" Kate asked, turning to him, still laughing, as she set Laura down. "What are you doing?"

"This," he told her simply, before pulling her into a kiss.

"Ew…" Ellie whispered.

"Gross," Laura agreed.

And then Gibbs pulled away and turned to the girls. "Attack!"

"That's just evil!" Kate cried, before laughing as Gibbs pulled her against him, tickling her mercilessly. The girls were smacking her with their pillows and squirm as she might, she couldn't escape from Gibbs. "You- ah, stop that tickles!"

Her sides hurt from laughing too hard, and she knew even as she laughed that if this was her family unit now, it was something she felt she could handle. "Say uncle!" he said.

"No! I won't- Ah! Gibbs!"

"Say uncle," he told her again.

"Jesus, Gibbs!" She finally managed to twist away from him, and was immediately sent crashing to the ground when she was tackled by the twins, each of them giggling, Elle having donned her bedsheet again.

Gibbs stood over her, grinning down at her. "Shoulda known when to quit."

"I never know when to quit," she told him from the floor. "One of my many good qualities."

"Ya do have a lotta those," he agreed.

They grinned at each other for a second, and then he whistled. "Hey! Twins!"

They both looked up. "What?" Elle asked, climbing off of Kate, who was giggling to herself.

"How about we go back to sittin' on the couch… quietly. And I'll read you another story. Okay?"

"Fine," Elle said, frowning.

"Okay," Laura agreed.

"Just as long as it's not one of your stories," Elle told him, wrapping her bedsheet around herself, as she climbed onto the couch. They left room for Gibbs in the middle, but first he offered Kate a hand.

"You okay?" he asked.

She dusted herself off. "I've had worse."

"Gotcha. Don't wear yourself out," he told her, running a finger down her cheek.

"I won't," she said.

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I won't!" she insisted.

Grabbing a tattered red book off the coffee table, he sat down between the twins, assuming a familiar position. "Now listen… I know it's not exactly the right day… but I figured it's close enough."

"C'mon Uncle Gibbs, read it to us!" Laura said. At a look from her aunt, she asked, "Please?"

"All right, all right." He looked over to where Kate was lying on the floor, leaning on a pillow and watching him, looking like a girl at a sleepover, listening to a friend tell a story. "Let's see… how does this story start?"

"Once upon a time?" Elle suggested.

"Nope. Nope, not once upon a time. Here, how about I read it?"

"Please do," Laura said.

He cleared his throat. "T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."

"Was it Mickey Mouse?" Laura asked.

"No, it wasn't Mickey Mouse."

"Why not?" Elle asked.

"Because," Kate said. "He lives at Disney World."

"Right," Elle nodded. "Can we go to Disney World, Auntie Kate?"

"Someday."

"Soon?" Laura asked.

"Sure, sweetie." Kate smiled.

"Ahem." Gibbs glared at them. "The stockins' were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that Saint. Nicholas soon would be there..."

XNCISX

"Dunno about visions of sugarplums," he whispered to Kate, closing the door. "But hopefully they're nice an' tired after all that activity."

"Nice choice for the story. I'm glad they still believe in Santa…" She shook her head as she said it. "Almost makes me wish I still believed, you know?"

"Yeah," he said, as she walked back over to the couch, collapsing onto it in a tired heap.

"Surely you had better things to do with your evening," she told him.

"Nah." He shook his head. "Somethin' more fun than this?"

"My employees are all out tonight. You should be too."

"I came because I just happened…"

"To be in the neighborhood?" she asked. "You've tried that line on me before."

"Yeah, and how's it workin'?"

"Not well. Need to be a little more original to woo me."

"Who said anythin' about wooin'?" he asked, offended. "Thought we were past that."

"We've barely dated for… what, two weeks? Although you did bring me flowers…" Kate grinned. "Not exactly expecting you to propose."

This is your chance, Marine. Tell her.

"Did the girls ever end up meetin' Santa?" he asked instead.

"No… guess I should be grateful. Hard to pretend around them sometimes."

"So magic… Santa… not your forte?"

"You know I don't believe, so why ask?" she said, looking up at him.

He took a deep breath. When he'd explained it to Ducky, he'd had nothing to prove that his story was true, except a magic snow globe. With Kate, all he had was words. Speaking honestly, as a functional mute, he was doomed. "Do ya remember how the snow just seemed to start… the first time I came to your toy store?"

"Yeah…?"

"And those gifts, how they just… appeared at Ducky's party?"

"Yes, and I knew it was you, Gibbs. Still no logical explanation on why, but I knew it was you." She smiled. "Why?"

"Katie, there's somethin' I need to tell ya."

"You're married," she said promptly.

"Wha- No. Not married." He took a deep breath. "Katie, I'm Santa Claus."

She blinked. "What?"

"I'm Santa."

She shook her head, smirking. "All right Gibbs, very funny, good joke."

"No, no, I'm not jokin', okay? It's real. The North Pole, gifts, elves, the magic, the sleigh bell-,"

She was shaking her head again, no longer smiling. "Gibbs, I-,"

"Trust me. Please."

She stood. "Gibbs, is there a reason you're making fun of me?"

"I'm not. Katie, I'm serious. I'm Santa Claus."

"I told you something very personal about my childhood, and now you're using it to hurt me, and I don't get why-,"

"Katie, wait-,"

"You need to leave," she told him. "Now."

He did without arguing, and he swore he heard her sob as the door slammed. As he walked away, Gibbs knew in his heart he'd run out of time. Yet he couldn't find it in himself to blame Katie.

It was his own fault, and he was truly out of time to make things right.