1989

note: in episode s6e14 mentions Gibbs that he spends 6 hours in line to get a teddy bear for Kelly and in season 4 we get a glimpse of Gibbs and Kelly in the basement working on the boat. That tiny little line and the little glimpse of happy Gibbs with the little Gibbsling gave me this idea. hope you enjoy.

Gibbs comes home after a long day. It is about 9.30 pm on December 24th. It has been snowing for days. It seems like his wife and daughter have been out shoveling snow today. Kelly's little wagon is standing next to the front door. Gibbs comes into the living room where his wife Shannon is sitting. He has a wrapped gift under his arm.

"I finally got it," he says and places the gift on the coffee table. He sounds tired.

"how long was the line?" Shannon asks.

"6 hours," Gibbs says and drops down next to his wife on the couch. "I'm gonna put it in the basement," Gibbs says after a few minutes of rest. They then hear a sound of metal hitting the concrete floor in the basement.

"who is in the basement?" Gibbs asks and sits up. He is immediately on alert b the thought of some intruder being in the house and being a potential threat to his family.

"no one. Kelly is upstairs playing in her room." Shannon says.

"Stay here," Gibbs says and gets up. He pulls his knife that he always has on him. Shannon has never liked it when her husband pulls a weapon out. Gibbs slowly opens the door to the basement. It was already cracked a bit open, which is unusual. Gibbs notice there is a dim light coming from the basement. He slowly moves onto the top of the stairs and takes a few steps down to get glims at who is in the basement. He puts his knife away once he sees the little pink slippers in the middle of the room.

"Hey, Daddy." It is Gibbs's 5-year-old daughter Kelly who is standing near his boat with a block of sandpaper in her hand.

"I am doing it as you told me to daddy," Kelly announces proudly to her dad when he steps down the stairs to take a better look at what his daughter is op too.

"that is great Kelly but you can not be down here by your self," Gibbs says and walks over to his little girl.

"I'm not Daddy."

Gibbs looks around the basement.

"I don't see anyone else down here," Gibbs says with a raised eyebrow.

"you are here, daddy," Kelly says and turns back to her work on the boat. Gibbs can't help but smile. She is technically right about that.

"But I wasn't here when you went down here and I have told you not to work on the boat alone."

"I didn't daddy. I didn't touch anything until you were home." Kelly explains.

Bending the rules but never breaking them is a personality trade that she has picked up from him. it is very useful in his line of work but not something he is particularly proud of with his daughter. And yet he can't help but smile at how she always has an explanation to justify her adventures.

"will you help me, daddy?" Kelly asks looking up at her dad with her big brown pleading eyes.

"sure," Gibbs says and takes off his jacket and hangs it on the staircase railing and then starts helping his daughter on their shared project. Shannon has been listening in on her husband and daughter's conversation in the basement. When she hears Kelly and Gibbs is deeply engaged in their project Shannon gets up from the couch and brings the wrapped gift box to the master bedroom for safekeeping. The biggest and only wish on little Kelly's Wishlist the year for Christmas is the new popular Beary smiles. A talking teddy bear. Kelly has been talking about it for a month, so Gibbs and Shannon decided to get it for her. Gibbs had called Shannon to tell her he was stopping by the store to buy it on his way home. it had taken longer than expected. He had ended up standing in a line for 6 hours to buy the teddy bear for his little girl. While Gibbs had been standing in line his little girl had been driving her mom crazy ad home. First, they had baked Christmas cookies and then played Kelly's favorite board game, but Kelly had quickly lost interest in every activity Shannon sat up for her. All Kelly was focused on when it was Christmas morning and when her dad would be home.

Kelly is taking more and more after her dad's personality trade of being impossibly impatient. Kelly had been asking all day about when her dad was coming home so they could work on the boat in the basement. That has become one of Kelly's favorite activities, mostly because Kelly thought that meant she could stay up past her bedtime and because she got to spend time with her dad. Shannon hears Kelly's giggling from the basement and walks down the stairs to see her husband and daughter fully engaged in their manual labor on their basement project. She takes a seat on the stairs and observes them for a little while. Shannon loves the sight of them together. It is the side of her husband that she enjoys watching the most.

"you want to help us?" Gibbs asks and snaps Shannon out of her thoughts.

"me?" she asks and stands up and walks all the way down and over to them.

"Yeah, mommy," Kelly says.

Gibbs grabs some sandpaper for Shannon.

"Daddy can teach you how to do it," Kelly says and continues her work. It is clear she is putting a big effort to do it right to make her dad proud of her. Gibbs guides Shannon over to the boat and he places the sandpaper in her hand and guides her hand, while he is standing right behind her. their bodies are touching. It is distracting Shannon who is more focused on how great it feels to have her husband so close to her. he has one arm wrapped around her and the other one is guiding her hand with the sandpaper. Once in a while, he places little teasing kisses down her neck. Kelly looks over at her parents and giggles every one in a while. The sound of the little girl's giggle fills the room and her parents' hearts with so much love and joy.

Christmas eve couldn't have been spent in a better way for the little family.