This story was inspired by the sight of an unusual object in our reception area. It's short, it's fluff (kind of).

The usual disclaimers apply, these people don't belong to me, I just like 'em... a lot. Not making any money off my writing. If I could, I'd be in a much better position than I am now. Many thanks to Rinne, for her beta and encouraging comments.

Reminiscing

"What's that?"

"You suddenly unable to read, DiNozzo?"

"No, Boss. I can see what it is, but why is it here?"

"What do you have against children, Tony?" McGee piped up.

"Nothing! I love kids! I'm just surprised to see that in the squad room."

"Oh, so maybe you have something against Christmas."

"No! I love Christmas! I love kids! I was just asking... oh, never mind!"

Gibbs smiled to himself, then said, "I'm in charge of the Toys for Tots drive this year. I thought I'd put a few boxes here to collect donations."

Raising his voice, "I expect each and every person in this department to donate at least two toys. They must be new. They must be in the original packaging. They cannot be wrapped." He looked around, noting other agents ducking their heads, hard at work.

"What about stuffed animals, Boss?" inquired McGee.

"What about them?"

"They don't usually come in a box, do they have to put into one?"

"No, McGee," Gibbs' tone was exasperated. "Just make sure it's not used. No sleeping with it to see if it's cuddly enough."

McGee opened his mouth to say something, but decided not to argue with his boss.

"What do kids like, these days, anyway?" Tony asked.

"Depends on their age, I guess," replied McGee. "Dolls, trucks, stuffed animals."

"Those sound so dull," snorted Tony. "Hey! Remember Wacky Wallwalkers?"

"Yeah!" McGee's face lit up. "I could never get mine to walk down the wall for more than two steps. And Koosh balls, remember those?"

Tony laughed, "Yeah, my friends and I used to throw them at each other as hard as we could, hoping we could knock each other out." Seeing the looks Gibbs, McGee and Ziva gave him, he hurried on.

"He-Man. What was it he said?"

"By the power of Gray Skull - I have the power!" came booming around the corner, followed by a bouncing Abby. "What are you guys talking about? Childhood favorite toys?"

"We were just remembering some of the more interesting toys we had as kids. What did you have?" asked Tony.

"I didn't really play with popular toys," replied Abby. "But I did collect Garbage Pail Kids cards."

"Why am I not surprised," murmured McGee, yelping when Abby smacked the back of his head.

"Sit and Spin!" McGee forgot the indignity inflicted upon him by Abby when he heard Tony mention his favorite toy of all.

"Yeah! Sit and Spin! I used to stare up at the sky and spin until I fell off it!" McGee remembered. "One time, I puked on our dog."

"Nice, Probie," grimaced Tony, who then chuckled. "Me too! Well, not on the dog, we didn't have a dog. I puked on the butler's shoes. He was not amused."

"There was this little girl down the street, I had this huge crush on her – that was before I met you Abby," McGee rushed to say. "She had this thing that went on her ankle and it had a cone-like thing attached to a rope. You'd twirl it around and jump over it, kind of like a hula hoop on one foot, with a rope attached to it. She used to wear these pink, clear rubber shoes and would jump for what seemed like hours." McGee's eyes turned dreamy at the thought.

Abby whacked him on the back of the head again. "Ow! What? I was just remembering her, it was a long time ago!" McGee rubbed the back of his head.

"You looked too happy thinking about her," warned Abby. "I remember those things, but I never got any. Some of my friends had them, but I wore black boots, even back then. I can't remember what they were called... rubber shoes, plastic shoes..."

"Jelly shoes." Everyone looked over at Gibbs in surprise. "They were called Jelly shoes and every little girl wanted them. They came in different colors. The toy was called Skip It. It had a counter on it so you could count the number of jumps you made."

Abby looked impressed. "Wow, Gibbs, I didn't know you knew anything about toys, let alone girls' toys."

Gibbs stood up to get more coffee. "I know a lot about kids and toys," he said, smiling as he left the squad room.