A/N: The second to last chapter! It took long enough, I know.

Disclaimer - After all this time….I still don't own a thing L

Chapter 11 - Christmas Day

Tony's POV

Finally, it was Christmas day and Tony had just about managed to keep his promise to Abby; just meaning he had "analysed" the handwriting and concluded it must be McGee who had got him his Secret Santa gift and knowing McGee it would be some hi-tech gadget that he would no doubt be unable to figure out. Well its Christmas morning so he can open it now. Tearing into the bag he was surprised to see it wasn't a hi-tech gadget but a DVD boxset of Cary Grant movies. "Thank you." he said to no-one in particular, he'll be watching those later.

Ziva's POV

Ziva had saved her Secret Santa gift until last and to say she wasn't surprised would have been an understatement. It was rather a racy piece of nightwear and she knew exactly who it was who had bought this sort of garment for her…"Tony!" she seethed. What possessed him to buy this she didn't know, she did know however that she wouldn't be wearing it anytime soon. She will be having words with him later to discuss this.

McGee's POV

McGee was spending Christmas with his sister Sarah and her boyfriend Nick. They were taking it in turns to open a present. Sarah pulled the familiar bag from under the tree.

"Hey Tim, this is for you. From…No name." she passed it over to him. She had seen the reluctance in his face to open it. He stared at the bag for a moment. "Well open it." she urged.

"I will." he mumbled as he pulled out a smallish package, tore off the paper and tossed it to one side. He opened the brown box to reveal a USB Cup Warmer. He chuckled to himself 'someone had obviously heard him complain about his coffee getting cold - now that won't be a problem.

Abby's POV

Abby had been invited to her brother "Kojak"'s for Christmas which she had gladly excepted. She watched her niece and nephew's open their presents first before she opened hers. She hoped that one day she would have a family of her own. That made her think of Tim 'Wonder if he liked his gift?'; she had overheard him complaining about his coffee always getting cold.

When it came to her gift she took note of how precise and neat the wrapping was 'Gotta be Ducky's work." she thought. He was always so careful when wrapping presents for people, unlike Tony who would wrap it 5 minutes before giving you your gift. One Christmas he had given her a present sealed with staples; his excuse? "I ran out of tape!" Lame. She set the paper to the side and carefully opened up the box. Her jaw dropped, "Wow!" she exclaimed, "Duckman is awesome!" it was a small black handbag with a black lace trim and a blood red rose was embroidered in the centre. She had wanted to get it for a long time no but never got around to getting it. Guess she didn't need to now.

Ducky's POV

Ducky was spending Christmas with Dr Jordan Hampton, he'd taken his mother along with him. Jordan says she's a treat to be around and she's only been around her for up to an hour at a time, wait until she spends a day with her. She even let them bring the dogs along too, much to Ducky's dismay. They took it in turns to open presents, Ducky - being the gentleman - opted to open his last. He opened his 'Secret Santa' present first. It was neatly wrapped in blue paper. He took care in opening the gift, "Oh, do hurry up and open it Donald!" his mother complained. He shook his head at his mothers impatience. As he tore the last piece off a smile graced his lips. Bowties, silk to be exact and a variety of them; spotted, striped and even a novelty one with little Rudolph's on.

"Fantastic!"

"Will you be wearing that this afternoon?" Jordan asked, pointing to the Christmas bowtie.

"I shall."

"Oh, bravo Donald!" his mother exclaimed clapping her hands happily causing Ducky and Jordan to laugh and the dogs to bark.

"Oh, quiet!" she shushed the dogs.

"Hey, there's another one for you." Jordan passed him another parcel. He could tell it was a CD by its shape. He tore off the paper and his smile beamed; a collaboration of classic pieces. He will be listening to this when he does his next autopsy.

Paula's POV

Paula was spending Christmas with Gary; her now fiancé; he had proposed to her this morning - her first gift. The last gift she opened was from Secret Santa. Se unwrapped it to find two books by Thom E. Gemcity; Deep Six and Rock Hollow. She smiled widely at this - she had been meaning to getting around to buying them as she was curious about what case/s they were based on and the characters. "I have no excuse to have not read them, now." she chuckled to herself.

Gary looked at her slightly puzzled. "I'll tell you later." she replied.

Kate's POV

Kate was home with Toni - the dog. She was going to drive out to her brothers house for Christmas, he only lived on the outskirts of D.C. The whole family was staying at his; it was like a mansion compared to her 2 bed town house. All of her siblings were married and had children, but Kate wasn't as eager as them to settle down and have a family. Her mother was constantly leaving her messages on her machine or dropping hints whenever she spoke to her. Once again, Caitlin Todd found herself alone on Christmas. She had yet to tell her mother regarding the past weeks events; won't she be happy? She'd opened her gifts from Abby and Ducky and Toni had torn through the wrapping to get to her new chew toy. Kate started clearing away the discarded paper and shoved it into a bin bag. As she cleared away she noticed one last present she hadn't opened. She picked up the small package and studied it carefully, it was neatly wrapped. She settled back down on the floor in front of the tree, Toni sat on her lap and looked at the gift her head cocked to the side and her ears perked up - this made Kate laugh as she patted the dog's head. She looked up at Kate and back at the gift, she was getting impatient. Kate carefully unwrapped the small package; it was a jewellery box, not small enough to be ring but big enough to a necklace or bracelet. She let out the breath she didn't realise she was holding and opened the box slowly. Her eyes welled up with tears, it was absolutely beautiful. A gold necklace with a heart pendant complete with a single diamond in the centre. She knew exactly who it was from. Toni barked as a small card fell out of the box lid. Kate picked up before the dog could 'attack' it. It read in small letters 'Katie-girl, you will always have my heart.' She jumped up and sprinted to the phone and hurriedly punched in his number. It rang and rang and rang but he didn't answer so instead she quickly got dressed and grabbed hers and Toni's stuff and took the elevator down which seemed to be going really slow, too slow in fact. She had to get to Gibbs'.

Gibbs' POV

Gibbs was spending this Christmas alone like many others he had before. He didn't get many gifts which was the norm; only the odd gift from Abby and Ducky. His dad had sent him one and a card too and he felt bad he'd not gotten him something this Christmas then again he didn't know what to get for him anyway. He sat at his workbench in the basement and opened his last present. It was similar in size to the one he'd gotten Kate. He held it up to his ear and shook it hoping to get an idea of what it was. He couldn't place the sound so he decided he'd better open it. As he did he noticed the box was from the same store he'd gotten Kate's gift from and that was why she was in there; buying his gift. He open the box to find a set of dog-tags one said Gibbs but the other was blank. He thought for a moment, it couldn't have been Kate - she'd left the store empty handed from what he could see anyway but then again who, besides Ducky, who would put so much thought into a gift. It had to be Kate. Tony would've bought him a DVD, McGee one of his books, Paula probably something he'd never use like a cookbook, Ziva more than likely some sort of , Ducky a bottle of bourbon and Abby a gadget (although the digital camera had come in handy). He'd seen Kate jogging in the park, she'd stopped for a drink and something in the morning sky had caught her eye, a graceful smile place on her lips. It was the perfect moment to snap a picture of her. She looked breathtakingly beautiful in the early morning light. It was perfect. No, she was perfect. He smiled as he remembered that day. Abby got 2 Caf-Pows that day. He heard his cell ringing from upstairs and decided to leave it as he didn't want to be bothered with, 'Merry Christmases' and 'Have a great day'. Eventually the caller had gotten the message and gave up. He poured himself another bourbon and stared at the dog-tags in his hand.

A/N: I know a little late but work and life get in my way sometimes. Chapter 12 very very soon.