"Ziver?" Gibbs questioned her presence. "I thought you were in California?"

She smiled up at him. "There was a change of plans. Besides, this Christmas thing...I thought I might enjoy spending it with my family, this year."

Without hesitation, Gibbs pulled her into a hug. "I'm honored to have you," he pulled away and kissed her forehead. He realized then, that she was surrounded by packages and bags. "Let me help you get all this inside," he offered.

"Thank you," she replied as they grabbed all of the bags and put them in the living room.

"Ziva?" Tony stood from the table, swallowing what mouthful of food he'd had in his mouth as he walked into the living room to greet her. "What're you doing here? You were supposed to be soakin' in the rays..."

"The party was canceled," she fibbed. "And I thought there was no better place to be today, than here."

Tony took one look at everything she'd brought. With his investigative skills, it was no contest to figure out that she'd prepared for this; that it wasn't a last minute choice.

He met her eyes again as she looked at him with a depth he could only describe as genuine caring. He pulled her into her second hug of the morning. "Thank you. Now my whole family is right here..."

She noticed the others in the kitchen looking on in amazement of her arrival. She'd made sure that no one knew what her plans had been; not wanting anyone else to feel obligated to do the same. Her eyes nearly stung with tears at how proud she felt of all of them. But she quickly stifled them and pulled away. "Merry Christmas, Tony," she smiled.

He returned the smile. "Come eat with us. Jackson made a huge breakfast and apparently he thinks we can eat enough for twenty."

"Perhaps he knows you better than you think," she said with a smile.

11 00 11 00 11

Gibbs entered the guest room where Ducky was waiting. "Close the door, if you will, Jethro," he requested. Gibbs narrowed his eyes and complied. "I went to the impound yesterday evening," he told him. "I retrieved some items from the trunk," he told him as he pulled several shopping bags from behind the bed. "I didn't look inside, so I'm not aware of their state. But the trunk didn't seem too badly damaged..."

"Duck...ya didn't have to do that," he said as he approached them and took the bags, before sitting down on the side of the bed. "Thank you."

"You're quite welcome," Ducky said, patting his shoulder. "It was Abigail's idea, though. She was home, wrapping gifts as she had the epiphany that you'd been Christmas shopping before you'd been in the unfortunate accident. She phoned me, in hopes that I had a spare key."

"And she was right." He smirked.

"That she was," he smiled in return. "I'll leave you to that, and join the rest of your guests for breakfast." Gibbs nodded as the older man left the room, closing the door again as he exited.

Gibbs took a breath and opened the first bag. It had taken him a long time to find something for Tony. But that paid off now, because he'd seen things here and there for everyone that was in his home today.

In this bag, however, he didn't see Tony's gift. There was a small box he knew was for Abby. He opened it to make sure the skeleton-cat necklace was unharmed. He'd found it in one of those stores with goth clothes; in the display window. And he'd stopped on the way out of the mall to get a better chain for it. While he was there, he'd picked up a chain for Ziva as well, per Tony's gift idea for her.

And now he recalled how, while sitting in the car, he'd realized that he might've just stolen his idea. In fact, that's why he was calling him in the first place; just never got around to saying so.

The jewelry shop had been right next door to a sunglasses kiosk. He would've passed it by, but something interesting had caught his eye. A wooden Yorkie pup that held your glasses when they weren't in use. He couldn't help himself; it was perfect for Ducky.

Gibbs set the first bag aside and reached for the next one. This one wasn't nearly as important, but was filled with small things, designed specifically to give out at Christmas. A couple of the coffee mugs were shattered. But the ridiculous packages of candy and chocolate wrapped in green and red and gold seemed fine. And there were plenty for everyone to get something.

He picked up the last bag. What he saw when he opened it, made his heart sink...

Tbc...